"Senior…" Upon seeing Li Yun waking up, Liu Chengxue asked in a hushed tone, "What just happened?"
"Uh…" Li Yun's expression froze, and he stiffly asked, "You saw everything?"
Liu Chengxue nodded.
"It's over." Li Yun's vision darkened. If only he had kept Liu Chengxue away.
Just after exchanging for the cultivation technique, driven by impulse, he had converted all the Secret Points into strength, neglecting Liu Chengxue's presence. Although the strength of the Divine Power Realm was formidable, it was not overwhelming. How could Liu Chengxue be deceived by the imposing aura just now?
If his speculation was correct, his identity as an extraordinary master may have likely collapsed. Liu Chengxue was not foolish; she must have guessed it from the momentum she witnessed.
Liu Chengxue became even more respectful and tentatively asked, "Senior, could it be that you are a certain Great Emperor?"
"Hmm?" Li Yun's eyes brightened.
Is there still a chance?
"Cough." Li Yun cleared his throat and calmly said, "I am not a Great Emperor, just an ordinary Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion."
"Ordinary…" Liu Chengxue was speechless.
Could an ordinary person generate such an aura? Could an ordinary person make a Holy Lord-level figure treat him like a deity? Even now, she still felt a lingering fear, as if facing an Emperor who looked down upon the past, present, and future, and could annihilate her with just a glance.
Seeing Li Yun pick up the book without saying more, Liu Chengxue wisely refrained from further inquiries. She understood that knowing too much would not benefit her.
At the same time, Li Yun, noticing Liu Chengxue's lack of further questioning, felt relieved. It seemed that his identity had not been completely exposed.
However, a question lingered in Li Yun's mind: what did she really see just now?
…
Hundreds of thousands of miles away from the Great Wilderness City. A streak of light slashed across the sky at an incredible speed. After a short while, the light stopped in a void, and the radiance dissipated, revealing an old man in black robes. With a majestic aura, his eyes gleamed with wisdom.
"Finally arrived."
Yang Qiu stood with hands behind his back, thinking.
He had spent nearly two hours covering the distance. If not for entrusting his magic cloud boots to the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, he could have been even faster.
"Is this the Bai Duan Mountain Range?"
Yang Qiu looked down below.
It didn't matter if he didn't look, but as soon as his eyes glanced over, they widened instantly. After seeing the situation below clearly, he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
In sight, a desolate expanse unfolded, with yellow sand whirling and a desolate scene stretching for tens of thousands of miles. Not a single human figure or even a ghost shadow could be seen. Continuous mounds extended to the end of the sky, fitting the description of poverty-stricken mountains and treacherous waters perfectly.
"This, this, this… I… I… regret it!"
Yang Qiu staggered back three steps in mid-air, his palm covering his chest as he howled in agony. His chest heaved violently, resembling a bellows, and a terrifying aura swept out, shattering countless mountains.
He was deceived! Absolutely deceived! All his wealth was exchanged for false information. He had foolishly made the trip himself, and to such a place. The spiritual energy was so thin that normal cultivation was impossible. How could there be any chance here? Even a spiritual herb would never grow in such a place!
"All my possessions!"
Yang Qiu's vision darkened. He almost fell from the sky. Suppressing his anger for a moment, the more he thought about it, the more infuriated he became. Taking a step back, the more he thought about it, the more he felt he had suffered a loss. He abruptly turned around, ready to fly towards the Heavenly Secret Pavilion but hesitated.
The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion was too formidable. Not to mention himself, even the Nine Nether Demon Sect couldn't afford to provoke him. If he went, apart from the uncertainty of retrieving resources, he and the Nine Nether Demon Sect might end up in a loss.
"I am angry!"
With a loud roar, Yang Qiu smashed a fist into the void. The force of the punch was fierce, like a meteor streaking across the sky, causing a thunderous shock in the empty space. Contrary to the expected scene of mountains collapsing and the earth shattering, the void began to distort gradually.
"What's going on?"
Yang Qiu's face changed. He stared, unblinking, at the distorted void. Symbols appeared, one after another, like shining stars suspended in the void, filling the entire sky and earth.
"Could it be…" Yang Qiu's eyes sparkled with dazzling light, and he said in disbelief: "The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion didn't deceive me?"
Before he could come to his senses, the surroundings changed. The stars turned crimson, and a terrifying breath swept across the sky and ground. The pressure was immense. Even Yang Qiu couldn't withstand it, falling from the sky to the ground.
"Crack!"
The earth was shattered. Looking down, Yang Qiu's pupils contracted sharply. In a radius of thousands of miles around him, the ground was covered with white bones, accumulating countless corpses. Some bones had long since weathered, perhaps belonging to ancient people from many years ago. Yet, some corpses still appeared lifelike.
From the bodies, it was evident that many of them had strength not weaker than his, at least at the level of a Holy Lord!
This was a forbidden land!
Anyone who enters, dies!
And precisely because of this, the information here has never been leaked, and no one knows that there is such a terrifying place here! If an ordinary person were to witness this scene, they would undoubtedly be overwhelmed. But Yang Qiu was different. Instead of panicking, he became extremely excited!
"That's right!"
Yang Qiu's body trembled and he took out a jade slip from his hand. After glancing at its contents and then at the formation in front of him, he exclaimed, "It must be right! Senior is indeed senior! He didn't deceive me! Everything is true; there really is a method to become a Saint here!"