Leaving the Secret Realm
"Sister, can you tell me your relationship with Big Brother Long?" When Xue Bai got close, Yan Fengxian asked with a smile.
However, instead of answering Yan Fengxian's question, Xue Bai dodged it and requested something.
"FengFeng, can I ask you something first?" Xue Bai asked as she eyed the nearby Yan Clan members.
Understanding what Xue Bai meant, Yan Fengxian waved them away, leaving the two alone.
By now, Xue Bai had gotten close enough for Yan Fengxian to see through his cultivation base. So once she saw that the girl was only in the Vein Transformation realm, she completely let her guard down.
Even if the girl was an enemy, Yan Fengxian was confident in her strength. How could a girl at the 5th stage of the Vein Transformation possibly endanger her?
"What's wrong, sister? What do you want to ask me?" Yan Fengxian asked.
After Yan Fengxian spoke, she saw Xue Bai pull down the cloak from his head to show his face. And since Xue Bai had already gotten out of his hybrid form and looked like his normal human self, Yan Fengxian immediately knew who he was after pulling down his cloak.
"You! Xue Bai, how did you get into this secret realm? We didn't see you enter with us. Wait! How do you have a cultivation base?" Yan Fengxian's mind spun, and she quickly rattled off the three questions that were at the top of her consciousness.
Xue Bai didn't care for her curiosity and, instead, ignored all of her questions before merely pulling his cloak back over his head.
"Nevermind that; I need to leave this secret realm, and with your clan is the only plausible way. Will you let me follow you or not?" Xue Bai asked.
Though Yan Fengxian was annoyed at being ignored, she still took a moment to think about Xue Bai's question.
"You can follow us, but what will be in it for us?" Yan Fengxian asked. She was the daughter of Yan Zhenyu, the Great Xuan Empire's greatest businessman. And instead of foolishly accepting, she tried to bargain with Xue Bai.
Even though he did have a surplus of middle and low Yellow-grade spirit fruits in his spatial ring, Xue Bai knew that Yan Fengxian had inherited her father's greedy trait. And when she meant a reward, she didn't mean the cheap things on his person.
Yan Fengxian wanted some good loot that only Xue Feng would have.
Xue Bai did also have Huli Jing's spatial ring, but those were meant for his eyes only. The spatial ring that Huli Jing gave him was small, but it was also extremely valuable.
Just showing it to the world would cause Xue Bai's life to be threatened. So he wanted to keep that a secret.
So even though he felt like he was being robbed, he could only grit his teeth and answer.
"I don't have anything of value on me. But after we leave, I can mention this to my father, and he'll surely give you something worthwhile." Xue Bai answered.
Yan Fengxian agreed. She also didn't carry many valuable things with her and believed that Xu Bai also didn't.
"Alright, but put on this uniform. Wearing the cloak would only make you look suspicious." Yan Fengxian spoke as she handed him a set of robes with the Yan Clan symbol.
"However, keep the hood. Your face is rather noticeable." Yan Fengxian continued before Xue Bai left.
Thanking her, Xue Bai went to go and change quickly behind a tree.
But after Xue Bai left, one of the members of the Yan Clan couldn't help but walk up to Yan Fengxian.
"Young Miss, who is that girl you let stay with us?" A girl asked Yan Fengxian.
"She's a friend, and she's going to stay with us as we leave." Yan Fengxian answered ambiguously.
Yan Fengxian was an extremely good liar, and she managed to make the girl believe her. But the girl still had more questions to ask.
"But, Young Miss, anyone who can enter this secret realm is a part of the Three Great Families. So why can't she just go along with her clansmen?"
Yan Fengxian was caught off guard at the question, but as a trained heir to a dukedom, she kept her cool and made up a good lie.
"She was caught in an inner strife. So she is hiding with us to lay low." Yan Fengxian answered.
The Yan Clan girl nodded and didn't ask any more questions. The lie that Yan Fengxian made up made complete sense for the situation.
Xue Bai didn't take long to change out of his own light blue robes and into the new ones. And as Yan Fengxian said, he kept on his black hood.
Yan Fengxian was right with her previous words. Xue Bai was easily recognized in the Great Xuan Empire. From his unique appearance and status as a Young Duke, it would be hard for a citizen of the Empire not to recognize him. Especially not Duan Zhen and Wang Yichen.
Xue Bai only hoped that Yan Zhenyu would stop the other two heads from using their Spiritual Sense on his descendants.
Running back to the Yan Clan members, Xue Bai noticed Yan Fengxian squirming with a blush on her face. Curious, he ran over to see what she was so fidgety about.
"Xue Bai, you said that you learned about me from Big Brother Long, right? What did he say to you about me?" Yan Fengxian asked shyly.
A black line appeared on Xue Bai's forehead.
He had lied about the previous words and assumed that Yan Fengxian would realize that. But this girl was too head over heels for the protagonist and genuinely believed his words.
"Oh, that? I only assumed your relationship. Brother Long did mention you to me at his awakening banquet, but he only said he saw you as a junior sister. I just hoped that you didn't see him as a senior brother." Xue Bai replied.
Yan Fengxian was stunned for a moment before blushing even harder.
'This little brat tricked me!'
However, with so many people around, she didn't say anything aloud and harumphed before walking away.
"Alright, my Yan Clan members, the secret realm will close in another 90 minutes. So we will first walk towards the exit. After that, you can all take advantage of the pure Spiritual Qi and cultivate here in this blessed land before we leave." Yan Fengxian stood in front of the group of people and ordered.
Since throughout the secret realm, the purity of the Spiritual Qi stayed the same, Yan Fengxian wanted to be near the exit while they cultivated. Though she didn't know what would happen if they stayed longer than the 24-hour time limit, she didn't want to be a test dummy and find out.
Since what Yan Fengxian said was accurate, and she was the leader of the group, no one had any objections, and they all followed Yan Fengxian to the exit.
Along the way, Xue Bai stayed next to Yan Fengxian and avoided any conversation that the Yan Clan members tried to initiate.
They were all kind and were just curious about Xue Bai's situation, but he didn't want to speak to anyone. Speaking and answering their questions would just create holes in his story and possibly expose him.
Xue Bai knew the Yan Clan members were loyal and wouldn't expose him even if they figured it out. It was better to be safe and just stay quiet.
Soon, with the help of a marker that Yan Fengxian had placed down when they first entered, the Yan Clan members quickly found the exit and set up a small camp around it. And after setting up a few detection arrays around themselves, the Yan Clansmen started cultivating.
The secret realm's Spiritual Qi was more than five times as pure as that of the outside world, and they wanted to take advantage of their last hour inside it.
Xue Bai also sat down with the Yan Clan members, but he didn't cultivate. But he just sat down next to Yan Fengxian and closed his eyes. He was rather tired at this point. He had been doing so much during this day-long trip to the secret realm and wanted a few moments of rest before returning home.
There were only 90 minutes until the entrance opened, but Xue Bai was now a cultivator and could regain most of his stamina and energy within that short time. Moreover, he had pills with him to assist his recovery.
So after pulling out a bottle of pills, Xue Bai swallowed one and tried to rest.
The pills he pulled out were a type of pill named the Tiger Strength Pill. Made from the blood of tiger demonic beasts, it was a pill that was famed for helping lower-strength cultivators regain stamina and energy quickly.
And while it wasn't meant for Vein Transformation realm cultivators like Xue Bai, he didn't care much. Li Rou's spatial ring had hundreds of these pills sitting in it, collecting dust.
Xue Bai could live with the pain of wasting a few.
With the Yan Clan members cultivating diligently and Xue Bai trying to meditate, the next 90 minutes were extremely quiet, with no sound filling the air.
The first sound that broke the deafening silence was the pulsating portal that suddenly manifested in front of them.
The portal was not quiet, and after a few pulses, all of the Yan Clan members and Xue Bai opened their eyes, waking up from their cultivation sessions.
"Only I could cultivate here a little bit longer. One more hour, and I could reach the 7th stage of the Muscle Nourishing Realm."
"Hahaha! I finally reached the peak of the Muscle Nourishing realm! Grandfather will surely be proud!"
All of the Yan Clan members had various emotions about the end of the Secret Realm, but nonetheless, they were all happy they were allowed to come here. Unlike most perilous secret realms that had death counts in the dozens and would ensure less than half of the people entering exited, Huli Jing's secret realm was extremely tame.
And since the Yan Clan members all traveled together in a single unit, no one died. In fact, no one was even severely injured, with the worst injury the Yan Clan group received being the scar a girl now has on her neck.
It wasn't much, and with how rich the Yan Clan was, the scar wouldn't last very long. Girls in the Baishen Plane were notorious for their love for their appearance. Scar treatment wasn't expensive, as simple lotions could remove it.
Also, beyond the Yan Clan group, sometime during their group cultivation session, the Imperial Family group arrived.
Currently, they were about 200 meters away in their own camp that they had also set up.
Now, the Duan Imperial Family group was likewise cultivating while waiting for the exit to open.
Xue Bai noticed them, but as he didn't know a single person in the Duan Imperial Family, his gaze on them didn't last very long.
Done with his glance around, Xue Bai turned to Yan Fengxian, who was just a few meters away from him.
"Xue Bai, you're awake." Yan Fengxian said as she spotted him, "How are your injuries? I saw you eating a Tiger Strength Pill."
Yan Fengxian was extremely observant, and once she saw Xue Bai swallow the Tiger Strength Pill, she assumed that the boy was injured.
"Sister Yan, how long until the exit opens?" Xue Bai asked, ignoring her question.
Annoyed at Xue Bai dodging her question again, Yan Fengxian was going to chastise him, but before she could, space behind her trembled, and the pulsating portal behind them let out a huge burst of Spiritual Qi.
"I guess it opens now." Xue Bai commented.
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