After Lin Ji joined the battle, the pressure on the others in the formation eased significantly. 

Although they were all at the same level, the differences between the early, mid, and late stages of Foundation Establishment were vast, and each person had varying abilities to control their spiritual power. In his previous life, Lin Ji may not have lived long, but he had certainly seen his fair share of battles. Compared to everyone present, he was the strongest.

While the others struggled to maintain the barrier that trapped the Chaos, it allowed Lin Ji to look for opportunities to strike. However, the Chaos had absorbed an unknown amount of demonic energy over the years in the secret realm, and the moment it awoke from the ground, it was in its strongest state. Simply attacking its physical body wouldn’t completely eliminate it. 

Unless they could shatter it into pieces so it couldn’t reassemble, they would have to fight a war of attrition. The Chaos wouldn’t tire, but the people would, and eventually, they would be unable to keep up. As more people joined the formation and began attacking, Lin Ji realized this point.

Some had already been unable to hold on and were pushed back. If it weren’t for the others stepping in to support, the formation would have collapsed, and the Chaos would have gone on a rampage, making the situation even more uncontrollable.

Lin Ji wouldn’t let himself fall into a state of spiritual exhaustion again. Suddenly, he remembered the sword technique Meng Wanqiu had taught him earlier. His master’s movements were graceful and fluid, without deliberately emphasizing strength, yet he could channel spiritual power from his entire body into the sword. When he struck, the spiritual power surged from the tip of the sword like a tidal wave.

It was like the water beast he encountered in the water domain, where the quietly formed water wall was impenetrable and surged with power when it attacked him. Lin Ji wasn’t a water spiritual root, but he had practiced water-based techniques, so the principles of spiritual energy operation should be similar.

His companions, seeing him suddenly retreat and stop attacking, couldn’t help but panic: “Lin Shixiong!”

With Lin Ji’s cultivation level, retreating in time wasn’t a problem. Just like some disciples in the secret realm who pretended to be deaf and mute, hiding in some domain, waiting for others to defeat the Chaos, hoping to avoid encountering it themselves.

But the next moment, Lin Ji’s spiritual power surged dramatically, and his sword style suddenly changed. The sword moves became much gentler, but the lethality of the sword energy increased instead.

Lin Ji executed the sword technique Meng Wanqiu had taught him flawlessly. His heart also calmed down, no longer anxious due to the urgent situation. 

The sword is a gentleman’s tool, and one should wield it with a mindset of immersion and enjoyment; the sword technique would appear particularly graceful and beautiful. If it were someone else showing off at this moment, they might be scolded by their peers, but as Lin Ji’s sword moves became gentler, the force of his strikes grew stronger, and his own consumption of energy decreased significantly compared to the beginning. His peers could only remain silent and watch.

At this moment, they couldn’t learn from him; they could only attack with urgency. 

Of course, Lu Xiaobai wasn’t idle either. The Yan Yu Beast grew several times larger, lifting him into the air. He moved around the formation, throwing out the explosive talismans he had prepared before entering the secret realm one by one. 

Some disciples skilled in talisman crafting also threw out their talismans, but Lin Ji noticed that Lu Xiaobai was directing the talismans along a predetermined trajectory, not just randomly tossing them. 

The Chaos’s flesh exploded from his detonations, and after the black mist cleared, there were red cracks all over, looking terrifying. 

Lin Ji suddenly realized: the Chaos gathered demonic energy without a physical body; its body was pieced together from the corpses of dead demons, transformed into its current form. 

Lin Ji exchanged glances with Lu Xiaobai and attacked the cracks created by the talismans with his sword, while reminding the others. 

The other talisman users quickly withdrew to observe and look for weaknesses, while Lin Ji moved according to Lu Xiaobai’s talisman indications, his sword energy growing stronger. 

Finally, with everyone’s combined efforts, the Chaos’s assembled body split apart and was destroyed, turning into countless floating demonic energies. Once dispersed, these demonic energies had no support, meaning the Chaos had effectively been slain. 

With the greatest threat eliminated, as Lin Ji sheathed his sword, he recalled how Meng Wanqiu had effortlessly gathered his spiritual power back into himself. 

He tried to imitate it, but as he sheathed his sword, he felt the spiritual energy rushing back uncontrollably, forcing him to unleash his spiritual power again, scattering countless demonic energies. 

Lin Ji quickly retreated, feeling blood surge in his throat, which he forcibly suppressed. 

A hand supported his back, helping him land safely. Lin Ji turned around to see Lu Xiaobai’s concerned gaze: “You’re too stubborn. It’s already impressive that you could comprehend Master’s sword technique today. To control your spiritual power freely is not something that can be achieved in a day!”

After some thought, Lin Ji self-deprecatingly replied, “It’s my fault for not being able to do it; it’s not that it’s impossible.” 

His master had said that no matter how he operated his spiritual power, it wouldn’t harm himself. But Lin Ji couldn’t retract his powerful spiritual energy and couldn’t make the sword follow his thoughts without harming the outside world. 

In the end, it was still a matter of his skills being insufficient. 

Lu Xiaobai sighed, “…Fine.” 

But Lu Xiaobai felt exhausted from constantly reflecting on himself. 

In his previous life, if he had a technique he couldn’t break through temporarily, he would comfort himself that it was just not the right time, not that he lacked ability. When the time came to comprehend it, he would naturally understand. 

Now, while the others were cleaning up the remaining demonic energy, Lin Ji could take a moment to rest, while Lu Xiaobai hadn’t exhausted any energy from the start. 

Outside the sky, watching the crisis in the secret realm being resolved, the celestial leaders breathed a sigh of relief and returned to their seats. 

“Lin Ji’s talent in sword cultivation is truly rare.” 

Being able to change his sword style in an emergency and comprehend a new sword path showed that his talent was a combination of spiritual roots and comprehension, with no shortcomings, making him a true sword cultivator’s holy body. 

Yun Zongzhu sighed again in his heart, wishing Lin Ji were a disciple of the Yunshang Immortal Sect instead of being taken by the Peifeng Sect. 

Meng Wanqiu suddenly said sternly, “It’s not over yet!” 

But his urgent reminder didn’t reach the secret realm. Fortunately, Song Ruoci, who had arrived just in time during the later stages of the demon elimination, was scanning the surroundings for anomalies and suddenly exclaimed, “There are other demons!” 

Originally, the Wild Mountain Domain had no other demons apart from bones and demonic energy. After Lu Xiaobai lured out the Chaos, he had scattered it, specifically choosing this ambush against the Chaos. 

But now, it seemed the demonic energy had found a backbone again and was beginning to gather anew. 

The Yan Yu Beast suddenly let out a “gah” sound; it saw a red snake crawling over from who knows where, just as it reached near Luo Xiang. 

Due to the snake’s body being too close in color to the red soil of the Wild Mountain, and with demonic mist swirling around obscuring vision, the disciples didn’t notice. 

Lu Xiaobai had been keeping an eye on Luo Xiang’s movements, and with the Yan Yu Beast’s call, he quickly used the Earth Escape Talisman. 

Lin Ji didn’t manage to stop him, and when he saw Lu Xiaobai again, he was already standing in front of Luo Xiang. 

At the same time, countless demonic energies poured into the red snake’s body, causing it to explode, blood splattering everywhere, but its corpse kept growing larger. 

Lu Xiaobai pushed Luo Xiang away and drew his sword to defend, but he was swept away by the giant snake’s tail and fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. 

“Xiao Bai!” 

Luo Xiang hadn’t expected the sudden change to happen right next to her, and she quickly raised her sword to defend, but was repeatedly forced back by the giant snake’s power. Lin Ji also flew forward to confront it, his sword moves returning to their sharpness. 

Other cultivators quickly joined the fray. 

Lu Xiaobai was panting heavily; this blow had knocked him down hard. He looked at the center of the battle, confused: why, after he had finally set up a trap to eliminate the Chaos, was there now a giant red snake? 

Why did the demons always appear near his junior sister? 

The red snake had also been a demon in life, and after absorbing countless demonic energies, it now possessed most of the Chaos’s power. 

Just after killing one, another appeared, and the disciples were almost in despair. 

Lin Ji also noticed that while others could react and dodge the giant python’s attacks, Luo Xiang kept unintentionally colliding with it. It wasn’t that her cultivation was inferior to the others; there was always a sense that the giant python was targeting her. 

When Luo Xiang was knocked away, Lin Ji felt an immense sense of relief that he hadn’t refined all the Celestial Silkworm Silk he had collected in his cave dwelling into the Silk Fang Jin, allowing him to use the silk to weave a cocoon to block one of the attacks for her, and then used the silk to cushion her fall against the withered tree at the cliff’s edge, preventing her from tumbling down the cliff. 

He had originally planned to use it as a weapon for assassination, but in the end, he used it to save someone. 

But even though Lin Ji was reborn, multitasking was still a taboo, and this operation to save someone was indeed a bit cumbersome. 

The giant python was right in front of him, and Lin Ji heard Lu Xiaobai’s shout. This time, he accurately received the Hidden Light Stone to create a protective shield to withstand the heavy blow. If he had been off by even a little, his body would have been smashed by the giant python’s force, dying a very ugly death. 

Before his body was sent flying by the residual force, Lin Ji seemed to hear Lu Xiaobai shout, “Shuhua, help me!” 

The dust particles in the air floated up, no longer moving. At this moment, the wind and breath flowed as if they were grains of sand, frozen in time. 

The movements of the cultivators in the Wild Mountain Domain against their enemies were frozen, and even the celestial leaders watching from the Yunshang Immortal Sect seemed to be momentarily dazed. 

After a few breaths, they suddenly came back to their senses, only to find that the giant python in the secret realm had exploded into fragments. 

The cultivators in the secret realm also regained their senses and saw this scene, thinking that the giant python had been killed by Lin Ji’s spiritual power explosion when it got too close. 

But where was Lin Shixiong? Everyone focused and gasped in shock: 

“Lin Shixiong was blasted away! Quickly, save him!” 

At the critical moment, Lu Shixiong flew to catch him, and then the two of them tumbled down the cliff together. 

“…” 

Song Ruoci rescued Luo Xiang, who had fainted after being targeted by the demons, from the tree. 

He comforted the fellow disciples who rushed to the cliff’s edge to look: “Falling off the cliff? That’s definitely no problem!” 

The disciples were confused: “?” 

Song Ruoci quickly added, “Look, there’s a barrier at the cliff’s edge; they probably fell into another domain.” 

He also added in his heart: What could happen to Long Aotian falling off a cliff? Just don’t learn from the protagonist. 

The disciples breathed a sigh of relief; that was great! But would falling into another domain really not injure them? 

Song Ruoci felt a bit confused; he seemed to remember that Lu Xiaobai had looked at him before falling, asking him to take care of Luo Xiang, but he felt like he had an impression of this but couldn’t recall it actually happening, like it was a dream. 

The few breaths just now were too short; Lu Xiaobai wouldn’t have had time to do so much, right? It seemed he would have to go back and replay the events to figure out what happened. 

Song Ruoci looked down at Luo Xiang’s beautiful face and suddenly had the thought of wanting to save her. 

As the white moonlight of the male lead fades away, how could it be better to be alive? 

Outside the Spirit Water Reflecting Sky Mirror, the celestial leaders breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down. 

“They have once again defeated the monster; this time, the demonic energy has been eradicated, and the Chaos will not appear again.” 

The celestial leaders were very pleased, feeling that the disciples in this secret realm trial had experienced a heart-pounding ordeal, even more so than previous sessions, and believed their progress would be more evident. 

The Peifeng Sect leader was puzzled: “But why didn’t I see clearly how they killed the demon?” 

He was already an old man at the Nascent Soul stage; it shouldn’t be that he couldn’t see it… 

“Hmph.” Yun Zongzhu snorted with a smile: “The Peifeng Sect has taken in quite a few good disciples in recent years.” In truth, he hadn’t seen it clearly either. 

The sect leader took the other’s sarcastic remarks as compliments, smiling with a sense of calm: the air felt a bit sour. 

However, the celestial leaders present were also somewhat puzzled; their thoughts seemed to have paused for a moment. 

Meng Wanqiu didn’t have time to pay attention to the others and directly infused spiritual power into the spirit pool, trying to cut out a scene of his own disciple. 

He looked around: “Why… is there nothing?” 

“…” 

“Grandpa, are you okay?” 

Elder Shuhua called out this title again, sounding much more sincere than before. 

In the past, he thought Lu Xiaobai was simply outrageous; how could a kid let his own grandfather call him grandpa? Wasn’t he afraid of shortening his lifespan? 

But just now, he had seen the extraordinary techniques Lu Xiaobai had used… he was humbled. 

After all, Elder Shuhua couldn’t use the techniques Lu Xiaobai had employed when he was under twenty, and he never comprehended such secret arts until his death. 

Elder Shuhua’s possession of Lu Xiaobai was merely to help him quickly summon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to himself; he had assisted with that one moment. But recalling the scene he had seen not long ago, the elder still couldn’t believe it. 

“You hurt my junior sister and my junior brother; you really… must be tired of living?” 

Long Aotian was furious, and it was no surprise that he blasted the giant python into pieces. 

What was surprising was that he had actually used the ancient technique praised in classic texts, a legendary secret art that no one had been able to realize until now: the Wind Rest Technique. 

The wind stopped, and time stood still. 

Even if it only lasted for three breaths. 

Just imagine, in a battle, if you could freeze your opponent for three breaths, it would be enough for someone with low cultivation to kill all their enemies with a single sword strike. 

At that moment, Lu Xiaobai, in his white robes, walked through the stillness, and the only sound in the world was the sound of his footsteps. 

Even the giant python couldn’t figure out how it had died. 

“Who exactly are you?” Elder Shuhua’s tone was filled with respect. 

But Lu Xiaobai lay on Lin Ji, unable to move a single finger, his whole body feeling numb. 

He didn’t know how long it had been, but he finally weakly said, “Help, I…” 

What did he summon Elder Shuhua for? Didn’t he have any awareness? 

Elder Shuhua responded with an “oh,” his eyes becoming much clearer, “You’ve overexerted yourself, right? Let me treat you!” 

Lu Xiaobai: “…” 

The Yan Yu Beast shrank down to the size of a chick, jumping onto Lin Ji’s back to check on Lu Xiaobai’s condition. 

It had also consumed too much spiritual power this time; if it hadn’t caught its two masters during the fall, they might have really gotten hurt. But it was exhausting to force itself to grow several times larger. 

Lu Xiaobai managed to pat the Yan Yu Beast’s head and, after a long time, propped himself up to sit up. 

Lin Ji hadn’t actually fainted; he had been knocked out by Lu Xiaobai. 

There was no need to think; he knew that when he woke up, he would complain endlessly. 

Lu Xiaobai forced a smile, taking out a Qi Nourishing Pill from his storage bag to consume. 

The exit of the secret realm was still far away; he couldn’t afford to collapse early. 

He didn’t know how Luo Xiang was doing; he hoped that the Yunshang Immortal Sect disciple who caught his eye would fulfill his request and take care of his junior sister. 

After resting for a while, Lu Xiaobai regained some strength. 

The Qi Nourishing Pill was a high-quality spiritual pill, very effective in preventing the loss of spiritual power and restoring physical strength. 

But it was easy to become ineffective if the body was too weak; the weaker the body, the harder it was to digest. Lu Xiaobai felt a heaviness in his chest. 

He rummaged through his storage bag and found that he didn’t have a second pill. He then searched through Lin Ji’s storage bag: “…No Qi Nourishing Pills prepared? Is it made of iron?” 

He was feeling worse and worse… Should he let A Ji share the burden? 

Lu Xiaobai propped Lin Ji up against the stone wall. Logically, if he slowly transferred his spiritual power, they could share the effects of the Qi Nourishing Pill. 

But A Ji also seemed to have consumed quite a bit of spiritual power; how could he transfer it to maximize the effect and help him recover? 

Lu Xiaobai turned his eyes, pondering for a moment, then suddenly lifted Lin Ji’s chin and pried his mouth open. 

Transferring spiritual energy was naturally best absorbed internally; there weren’t many openings in the body that connected inside and outside, and transferring through the ears or nostrils would be too strange… 

Lu Xiaobai didn’t hesitate to lean in to transfer energy, their lips not too close, not too far apart. 

After all, he thought he was being polite, and besides, he brushed his teeth diligently every day, so he didn’t have bad breath. 

But Lin Ji suddenly opened his eyes wide, seeing a magnified face in such a strange position. 

He was startled and scrambled up, reflexively pushing Lu Xiaobai away with great force. 

The Yan Yu Beast, who had been watching curiously, suddenly saw its master being pushed to the ground and not moving, and it began to squawk loudly. 

Strangely enough, the Yan Yu Beast couldn’t quite tell which type of bird it belonged to in the human world; its usual calls sounded like a mix of “gah” and “ah,” resembling a human child’s cry and a crow’s caw. 

But the more it called, the louder it got, sounding more like a duck quacking. 

How could Lin Ji’s master be so fierce? Did he just push his master to death? 

The Yan Yu Beast was anxious and squawked. 

Lin Ji: “…Hey!” 

He quickly pulled Lu Xiaobai up, thinking he was just pretending, but to his surprise, he had really fainted. 

Lin Ji was completely bewildered and at a loss; did he really have that much strength?