The young woman in green leaned against a tree, cradling a long sword in her arms.
Her high ponytail held her hair, with a few strands cascading over her ear.
At this moment, she kept her eyelids low and had no intention of engaging with anyone.
Song Qingsong looked at her and smiled, "I didn't expect Miss Yue to be here. Is the Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion also interested in this secret realm?"
"What? Just because your Divine Dao Sect is here, my Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion can't be?" The young woman in green didn't lift her head and her tone was full of hostility.
Song Qingsong's eyes flashed with annoyance, but he still smiled and said, "Miss Yue, you've misunderstood. The secret realm is full of dangers, and with you accompanying us, I can feel much more at ease."
The young woman in green remained silent.
Song Qingsong didn't push further and turned to say, "This secret realm can accommodate ten people, and there are exactly ten of us here, so there's no need for us to be on each other neck."
The others sighed in relief.
This was the best outcome.
No need to fight over spots, and they could enter the secret realm in the best possible condition.
The secret realm was filled with dangers, and having an extra ace up their sleeves meant added protection.
"The most crucial thing is that everyone here is a fellow cultivator of the righteous path, without a single member of the demonic sect or monsters. This is truly fortunate," Song Qingsong said.
"That's right. We are all fellow cultivators."
"At least we don't have to worry about someone stabbing us in the back."
"We just need to follow Senior Brother Song's leadership."
"Senior Brother Song will definitely protect us."
...
The others chimed in and flattered him.
Song Qingsong nodded in satisfaction. "Since it's like this, let's wait for the secret realm to open..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the ground suddenly trembled violently.
A gust of wind howled, uprooting trees, and everyone's footing became unstable.
"What powerful spiritual energy!"
The young woman in green suddenly raised her head.
Whoosh!
A dark shadow carried by a strong wind smashed down!
"Be careful!"
Everyone hurriedly dodged, and the dark shadow crashed to the ground, raising a large cloud of dust.
"What is that?"
As the dust settled, the object on the ground was revealed.
It turned out to be a Scarlet Flame Tiger!
However, its body was deeply concave, its bones shattered, and it looked like it was on the verge of death.
"This is a Golden Core stage demonic beast! Who could possess such immense strength to let him be in this state?" someone said, trembling.
Song Qingsong furrowed his brows. "Could it be that the secret realm's opening has disturbed the Beast King deep in the jungle?"
His immediate thought was that it was a demonic beast's doing.
If it were cultivators, it would be terrifying!
While they were discussing this, the young woman in green suddenly spoke up, "Someone is coming."
"Hmm?"
They followed the direction from which the Scarlet Flame Tiger had flown and saw two individuals slowly approaching.
The man had a tall and handsome figure.
The other person was wrapped in a white robe, with the hood pulled low, making it impossible to see their face, but their figure indicated it was a woman.
"Wow, this is impressive. A single kick sent it flying this far?" Li Ran walked over, crouched down, and reached out to examine the Scarlet Flame Tiger.
Fear filled its eyes as it struggled to escape, but with its bones shattered and no strength left, it couldn't muster any resistance.
It lay on the ground whimpering, almost as if begging for mercy, without the imposing demeanor of a Golden Core demonic beast.
However, its injuries were severe, and its breath grew weaker until it eventually closed its eyes completely.
Li Ran shook his head. "I should have known better it would die anyway. Why bother checking for its pulse in the first place?"
Watching this scene, the onlookers were in shock.
Clearly, this youth had killed the demonic tiger, but he looked so young.
How could he have possibly...
"He killed it with a kick?" They felt a shiver down their spines.
Li Ran stood up. "Oh, quite a crowd you all got here. Are all of you here for the secret realm as well?"
Their hearts skipped a beat. Did his words mean he was also here for the secret realm?
But there weren't enough slots!
At this moment, Song Qingsong cupped his hands and said, "I am Song Qingsong, a core disciple of the Divine Dao Sect. May I ask for your esteemed name?"
"Me? I'm Li Ran, from the Hidden Gauze Sect," Li Ran replied casually.
"What?"
"You're Li Ran?!"
The crowd erupted in excitement, and everyone took a step back.
Even the young woman in green stared wide-eyed at Li Ran.
It was him!
This youth before them was the incredibly talented demonic sect genius!
A seventeen-year-old Golden Core cultivator, a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy in the entire world!
They had just said there were no demonic sect members present, and then someone like him appeared?
"How troublesome..."
Song Qingsong's throat tightened, and he took a slight step back, clearly reluctant to draw attention to himself.
The first-rate talents were not so easy to deal with!
Li Ran, however, didn't mind. "So, all we need to do now is wait for the secret realm to open?"
"Not quite..."
Xiao Qingge stood behind him and whispered, "This time, the secret realm can only accommodate ten people, but there are already twelve of us here."
She hadn't expected so many people to gather for this secret realm expedition, especially all of them being prodigies from major sects.
Song Qingsong, from the Divine Dao Sect, Yue Jianli from the Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion, Murong Chuan from the Celestial Masters Dao... Especially Song Qingsong, who had the same seniority as her in the same sect.
If her identity were exposed now, it could lead to major trouble.
She wrapped her robe tighter around herself and lowered her head even more.
Li Ran chuckled, "Oh? That's very unfortunate then, let's just randomly pick two unlucky spectators and let them leave."
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