Thick black mist enveloped the entire mountain, with fierce winds howling through the air. The swirling, dense fog rushed downward, creating an overwhelming sense of pressure that sent dust and withered trees flying, unstoppable in its momentum.

The bright words above the sky were shrouded and eroded by the black mist, not allowing a single ray of light to penetrate. The whole world fell into deep darkness, with only the sound of the wind whipping past the ears and the noise of something being lifted and then dropped echoing around.

In the darkness, as the wind tossed him around on the ground, Chen Jinghao was still trying to reach for the direction where the mist was thinning. He opened his mouth to call out a name, but as he did, black smoke rushed into his mouth, leaving his throat instantly hoarse and unable to produce any sound.

The unknown was even more terrifying, as both his mind and body were tormented. It felt like a place out of hell, and he could vaguely smell the scent of death.

As he rolled on the ground, his head struck something, making him dizzy. His consciousness gradually faded, and blood oozed slowly from his wound, trickling onto the pitted and eroded tiles beneath him. He wanted to keep his eyes open, but his eyelids kept drooping.

In a moment of confusion, just before his eyes closed completely, a beam of pure white light pierced through the black mist, rushing forward with incredible force and speed.

What followed the light was a clear sound of a sword ringing, bright and distant, filling his ears and carving itself deep into his mind, forcefully dispelling the chaotic murkiness and rapidly spreading to the distant horizon.

A sword broke through the fog, manifesting the tangible against the intangible. The overwhelming black smoke parted in a straight line, extending to the other side of the sky, churning violently but unable to close back up.

The sudden and swift changes startled his eyes, which had been nearly closed, to open wide again.

There was a figure.

Thinking it was the person he believed it to be, Chen Jinghao opened his eyes wider, trying hard to discern who it was.

The light from the trajectory above illuminated the person slowly walking toward him, sword in hand.

Three thousand strands of black hair cascaded down, the corners of a white robe untainted by dust, the moon-white garment fluttering in the wind, exuding a gentle color mixed with an undeniable chill.

The figure looked somewhat familiar, but the color of the clothing was different; it wasn’t Lin Zhusheng.

With a slight glimmer of hope fading, he leaned his head back against the ground, watching the figure approach.

As the distance closed, the person took the last step onto the platform, their robe sweeping through the air, and they looked down toward him.

A glance that was breathtaking.

It was the simplest of glances, devoid of any meaning. The black hair danced in the wind, brushing against a pale, cold face, and when the distant mountain-like brows lowered, it resembled the spring of March, with a curve of light trailing from the corners of the eyes.

A person he had never seen before, someone who seemed like they shouldn’t exist in this world. The hope in Chen Jinghao’s eyes completely dissipated, and his mind became increasingly chaotic. As his pupils dilated and his vision blurred, he unexpectedly locked eyes with a pair of familiar eyes.

The pupils were light and clear, reflecting the light of a snow-white blade, focused and calm, just like during the sparring in the fluttering peach forest, just like what he had seen when he quietly observed.

“……”

His vision began to blur, and his eyes suddenly widened, his pupils trembling for a moment, wanting to see more clearly, but the view only became more indistinct and dim.

In the end, he closed his eyes in unwillingness.

— Lin Zhusheng didn’t expect the cutting card to be so powerful.

He rolled directly from the mountaintop to the mountainside. When he drew the cutting card and unsheathed his sword, he only intended to stop himself from rolling further down before he kicked the bucket. He didn’t expect that with one sword strike, half of the black mist would vanish, and without even directly attacking the Nightmare, he had already taken out 20% of its health bar with just one sword.

Standing firm at the mountaintop, he twirled the long sword in his hand and looked up at the black, unknown object clinging to the sky.

The light from the trajectory above began to dim at a visible speed, while the Nightmare’s health bar started to recover rapidly.

The words faded, and the secret realm began to change. The wasteland below and the distant mountains began to collapse, the ground trembling irregularly.

This thing was not only troublesome but could also heal itself; the entire secret realm could serve as its energy source. Until the whole secret realm was completely drained and collapsed, it could escape from here to invade more places.

Dealing with such a thing was a hassle, but Lin Zhusheng had plenty of strength and power.

After absorbing the energy from the secret realm, the next step was to absorb the backup energy sources within the buildings. Those backup energy sources were not as durable as the secret realm and would be depleted with just a single draw.

The cutting card was limited to one hour, and he had no time to waste.

He couldn’t give the Nightmare a chance to absorb energy; he could only solve it with one sword.

Although he didn’t have all sorts of flashy sword techniques, he had practiced a sword technique that could solve problems in one strike. Because he needed to teach other disciples after returning, he had firmly mastered it at the request of the Grand Elder.

Once learned, it had to be used, and this time, failure was not an option.

The sword blade sliced through the air, creating a watery arc. He exhaled, closed his eyes, and then opened them again, twirling the hilt in his hand. At a subtle moment, he quickly halted and swung it fiercely.

“Whoosh—”

A sword opened the light of the heavens.

The brilliance emitted by the sword swept out, dispersing the black mist in its path. A torrent of spiritual energy surged from the wasteland, sweeping toward the distant mountains, life force bursting forth, turning the black mountains green.

The tip of the sword pointed directly at the Nightmare, which was trying to evade the sweeping sword wind, but there was nowhere to hide. The sword light filled the sky, illuminating the mountains and rivers; there was no place for it to escape.

The constantly changing black unknown object was cleanly split in two, and the shadow connecting it to the secret realm and the disciples also broke apart. As it writhed, it extended thin black shadows, trying to reach for anything it could absorb, but the shadow dissipated the moment it reached out in the residual light of the long sword.

Where the sword energy met was like being burned by invisible flames, seemingly slow but actually eroding at an incredible speed. Without energy to replenish it, its form continued to writhe and change, turning into a liquid-like substance that fell, but before it could touch the ground, it was burned away.

Controlling spiritual energy and the sword far beyond his own level, after swinging the sword, beads of sweat appeared on Lin Zhusheng’s forehead, and his breathing became rapid. Wiping away the dripping sweat, he looked up at the thing in mid-air.

He couldn’t let the Nightmare escape; he had to see this thing die with his own eyes. The health bar above his field of vision was rapidly decreasing, from tens of thousands to ten thousand to two thousand, and finally, under his gaze, it turned to 0.

【Main Quest: Defeat the Nightmare (1/1)】
【Quest Reward: Instant Life-Saving Pill】
……

A message prompt box instantly popped up with a bunch of notifications, which he ignored, raising his sore and swollen arm to turn the sword in his hand again.

As his gaze shifted upward, he looked at the slowly rotating words above the sky and said, “Sorry.”

The teleportation stone array had been destroyed, and the exit would no longer appear. In a situation where the outside world could not perceive or reach the secret realm, there was only one way to get out.

Gripping the long sword tightly, he twisted his wrist, pointing the sword tip directly at the bright sky.

When the sword light shone again, the disciples inside the building and the unconscious young master of the Qi Sect were completely unaware, only the three sect disciples at the foot of the mountain witnessed the entire process.

As reason returned, the clear sound of the sword seemed to still echo in their ears, and the black mist that they could not disperse no matter what finally dissipated, leaving no trace behind.

Above, the black object that obscured nearly half the sky, something they had never seen before, burned as it fell like flowing fire from high above, dissipating in mid-air before reaching the ground, yet even after dissipating, they could still feel the residual overwhelming pressure.

There were others here besides them, and they were very strong.

Just when they thought it was over, they saw another sword light ignite in the sky.

Snow-white light, blinding and dazzling, a group of people couldn’t help but close their eyes, only able to feel a cool breeze brushing past their ears.

“……”

When they closed their eyes and opened them again, the scene before them had completely changed.

From mid-air, in the normal space, a massive crack suddenly appeared and was slowly expanding. Behind the crack, the scenery changed, eventually settling on the familiar water surface and the altar on the island.

The space was torn apart; someone had forcibly created an exit.

—

On the eve of the opening of the secret realm at the South Sea boundary, the market closed at dawn, and everything fell into slumber, when a sound of a sword ringing broke the silence.

A beam of sword light carrying overwhelming spiritual energy swept across the long sky, waking the sleeping people, stretching toward the distant mountains. Wherever it passed, everything flourished; the spring mountains welcomed rain, and amidst the changing winds and clouds, heavy rain fell, sending ripples across the water surface.

Although they didn’t know what was happening, they could sense that the commotion was coming from the direction of the secret realm entrance. The elders and managers from various sects resting in the inns quickly set off, taking flying boats to head over.

The first to arrive were the elders and managers from the Tian Sect, who could directly fly on their swords without needing a boat.

Flying over the water surface, they reached the island, and after throwing out a lighting pearl, the first thing they saw was a pile of disciples lying on the ground in the darkness. These were the disciples who had entered the secret realm, all inexplicably unconscious, their bodies marked with strange patterns, but fortunately, their breathing was steady.

The secret realm had opened early, and through unconventional means.

The elders and managers from other sects arrived a bit later, and upon seeing the pile of disciples, they were all taken aback.

Most of the disciples were here, except for those from the Tian Sect, Qi Sect, and He Huan Sect. Among the disciples who had entered, only the young master of the Qi Sect was present, and he looked seriously injured.

Each sect took their disciples back and counted them. Finally, as the hearts of the three sect elders sank to the bottom, preparing to contact their sects to inquire if the disciples’ life tokens were still lit, the exit finally revealed a figure again.

It was the missing disciples from the three sects, and they emerged upright. Although they looked disheveled, they still maintained their consciousness. The third elder looked at Song Ming, who was familiar and somewhat reliable, wanting to ask what had happened, but the person didn’t say a word and directly rushed past him, diving into the pile of unconscious disciples to search and identify, growing increasingly dark-faced as he searched.

The third elder initially didn’t understand what he was looking for, but eventually realized.

All the disciples were present, except for one person. The friend of the other party, the only disciple of the Grand Elder, was not here.

The third elder suddenly joined in the search.

—

Once the rain started, it didn’t stop, pouring for a day and a night without a break. Gray-black clouds covered the entire sky, and the ground was devoid of light.

At the South Sea boundary.

By the muddy country road, a horse-drawn carriage rolled over the surface, the hooves splashing mud, and the lanterns on the carriage swayed, the light flickering.

The person in the carriage lifted the curtain, looking out at the rural fields. The gray fields, filled with water and long abandoned rice paddies, were unchanged from the scenery along the way.

As he lowered his hand from the curtain, just as he was about to retract his gaze, a fleeting flash of pale yellow and a faint cat meow passed through the grayish landscape.

“Whoa—”

The carriage stopped, and the person inside opened an umbrella and stepped onto the road, going back to find the fleeting pale yellow.

The lantern swayed in the rain, gradually approaching, and finally illuminated the figure lying in the grass.

It was a person, dressed in a light yellow outfit stained with mud, beside them was a small black cat, meowing in the rain and constantly patting the person’s face, as if trying to wake them up.

“……”

The person holding the lantern half-squatted down, reaching out to lift the face of the person lying on the ground. When he saw the brows and eyes, he paused.

“Splash—”

With a heavy head, Lin Zhusheng was jolted awake by the unavoidable bumps, and when he woke up, his whole body was still swaying.

The first to awaken was his consciousness, followed by his senses. He could vaguely hear the patter of rain and the sound of something constantly stepping through the mud, and finally, he opened his eyes.

Feeling pain all over his body, he struggled to lift his eyelids, and when his vision cleared slightly, he turned his neck with difficulty.

It seemed he was on some moving vehicle; he could still hear the sound of hooves, so he was definitely on a horse-drawn carriage.

“You’re awake?”

A voice came from beside him. His neck hurt too much to move, so he turned his eyes and saw a young man sitting next to him.

A man who looked quite young, but with white hair at such a young age, dressed in a white linen robe, was looking down at him, and from a nearby box, he pulled out a simple set of clothes and a towel, handing them to him, saying, “Change into some clothes first.”

The damp coldness was constantly seeping through him, and without needing to look, he knew his clothes were already soaked. Temporarily ignoring the pain in his body, Lin Zhusheng sat up straight, thanked him, and took the clothes.

In the intervals of wiping his face and changing clothes, he finally began to understand the current situation.

After coming out of the secret realm, he had collapsed by the roadside, and this kind-hearted friend had noticed and saved him. Now, a day and a half had passed since he came out of the secret realm, and they were at the edge of a village in the South Sea boundary, a long way from the secret realm entrance.

While he was changing clothes, the kind-hearted friend politely turned around, and after he finished changing, he turned back to ask, “How did you end up lying there?”

Lin Zhusheng scratched his head, “It’s a long story.”

He thought for a moment and tried to make it brief: “Well… I just ran out of strength while walking and collapsed.”

The story had to start from when he was in the secret realm. The cutting card had a one-hour limit; he dealt with the Nightmare and then had to open the exit. After finishing, he also had to carry out the unconscious disciples from the building.

After moving them, there was still time left. He couldn’t revert to his original state and couldn’t just stand there with the spiritual pressure all over him while waiting for his fellow disciples who were coming up the mountain. So, he opened a crack in space to slip away first.

As a result, he slipped away too quickly and forgot to orient the spatial crack toward the inn, randomly arriving at this inexplicable place.

His spiritual energy was still abundant, but he couldn’t muster the energy to open another crack. Without the big sword, he couldn’t fly and could only walk to find his way. Halfway through, the cutting card expired, and he reverted to the body that had been infected by the Nightmare, rolling directly from the mountaintop to the mountainside.

Then, unsurprisingly, he plopped down on the ground.

“?”

What a strange yet somewhat convincing reason. The kind-hearted friend’s eyes twitched, and after a pause, he asked where he was going.

Lin Zhusheng thought for a moment and then said, “The bay.”

The bay was where the flying boats docked, very close to the inn.

He had disappeared, and the elders should be looking for him; he needed to return quickly.

As he spoke, he remembered something and took out two small communication jade tokens from his backpack, trying to infuse them with spiritual energy.

“……”

The jade tokens showed no change at all. He pointed at the tokens like a fool for a long time, then casually put them away.

As expected, it didn’t work.

During the segment from the mountaintop to the mountainside, the Nightmare had exerted its power, and he had been too heavily infected; his spiritual energy was temporarily unusable. He could only manually remove the Nightmare from his meridians or wait for it to dissipate without the support of its host.

Neither option was feasible at the moment.

“The bay is quite close to where I need to go.”

The kind-hearted friend looked over and said, “I’m going to Luodu.”

Luodu, the central city of the South Sea boundary, wasn’t particularly close to the bay, but it was much better than here. This place was remote, with no village in front and no shop behind; it was difficult to find a carriage to travel.

Lin Zhusheng then realized that the kind-hearted friend was a somewhat famous dancer from the neighboring boundary, usually making a living by teaching dance. Recently, however, his younger brother at home had fallen seriously ill and urgently needed money, so he accepted an invitation from a well-known silk and bamboo guild in Luodu, which was generous with money and in need of dancers, to fill a vacancy for one night.

The kind-hearted friend was truly kind-hearted, giving him a ride and heading to Luodu together.

He quickly nodded and thanked him.

Luodu was prosperous; perhaps he could encounter disciples from the sect who could help him activate the communication jade tokens. If he remembered correctly, the Qi Sect was right next to Luodu, and if all else failed, he could go to the Qi Sect to find a way to contact the Grand Elder and his fellow disciples.

As he pondered, he felt a gaze occasionally land on him. He slightly turned his head and happened to meet the kind-hearted friend’s gaze resting on his face. Unable to resist, he touched his face and asked, “Is there something on my face?”

“Ah… no,” the kind-hearted friend apologized, honestly saying, “I’ve never seen someone with your appearance before, and I couldn’t help but stare for a moment.”

Lin Zhusheng didn’t understand what was so rare about his face, which several fellow disciples had commented was common on the streets. Habitually, he touched his face again, then suddenly paused.

Something was off.

It was as if he had just met his long face for the first time. He touched left and right, and the more he touched, the more his expression changed, with his brows and mouth corners starting to droop.

The kind-hearted friend watched him, seeing him grow increasingly sorrowful as he touched his face. Although it was inexplicable, he still kindly asked what was wrong.

Master Lin, the professional face pincher, hadn’t encountered anything; he had just finally realized that the face pinching experience card had slipped away from him, mourning for his lost face.

Having understood fully, the little cat, who knew exactly what he was thinking just by looking at his mouth, silently rolled its eyes to the sky.