35: Black-faced monk

At the entrance of the Foundation Establishment Secret Realm, Lu Guangtian stood before the light gate, watching the last Foundation Establishment cultivator step into the Mystic Realm.

A cold smile played on his lips as he toyed with an ancient token in his hand, intricately carved with complex runes, subtly flowing with spiritual energy.

"They're all finally in."

Lu Guangtian muttered softly, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.

He looked up at the sky, then stepped into the light gate.

The token in his hand trembled slightly, as if responding to the Mystic Realm's call.

.......

Within the Mystic Realm, the spiritual energy was so dense it was almost tangible, and the air was filled with a faint fragrance of Spirit Medicine.

Xu Qi'an stood in a dense forest, holding the map Water Lingmiao had given him, carefully discerning his location.

"According to the map, I should be in the southeast corner of this forest."

Xu Qi'an murmured softly, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.

He found that while there were many spirit grasses and Spirit Medicines in the Mystic Realm, most were not very old, clearly having been picked by Cultivators who entered previously.

"It seems the good stuff has been mostly plundered."

Xu Qi'an shook his head, then swiftly headed towards the meeting point marked by Water Lingmiao.

Along the way, he passed through a patch of scattered rocks and suddenly felt the ground tremble slightly.

Xu Qi'an's brows furrowed, and his spiritual sense quietly spread out, discovering a stone monster of the Foundation Establishment stage emerging from the ground, followed by a group of smaller stone monsters of the Qi Refining stage.

"Stone monsters?"

Xu Qi'an's heart tightened.

He learned from Water Lingmiao that these stone monsters possessed extremely strong resistance, making ordinary attacks almost ineffective against them.

He quickly retreated, swinging the Ting He Sword in his hand, a clear, cold moonlight slashing towards the stone monster.

"Boom!"

The moonlight struck the stone monster, but only left a shallow mark.

The stone monster roared and its massive stone fist smashed towards Xu Qi'an.

Xu Qi'an did not dare to stay and fight, his feet tapping the ground, his figure retreating like lightning.

He activated the speed talisman, his speed instantly increasing several times, and quickly left the stone monster behind.

"These stone monsters are indeed troublesome."

Xu Qi'an muttered softly, then no longer hesitated, concealing his aura fluctuations to the lowest possible level, and continued towards the meeting point.

Not long after, Xu Qi'an arrived at the edge of a pool.

The pool water was clear to the bottom, surrounded by spirit grasses, and the air was filled with a faint smell of blood.

Xu Qi'an's brows furrowed, and his spiritual sense quietly spread out, discovering the corpse of a Cultivator lying by the pool.

And this corpse was exceptionally familiar to him; it was his enemy, Li Wanggao.

"Li Wanggao?"

"He's actually dead?"

Xu Qi'an walked closer and was startled.

There was a large bloody hole in Li Wanggao's chest; he had clearly been killed with a single blow.

"Who killed him?"

"Could it be the indigenous inhabitants of the Foundation Establishment Secret Realm?"

"It shouldn't be other rogue Cultivators of the Foundation Establishment stage; after all, Li Wanggao was Lu Guangtian's subordinate. Even if one doesn't respect the monk, one must respect the Buddha."

Xu Qi'an secretly became vigilant.

Moreover, although Li Wanggao was only at the first layer of the Foundation Establishment stage, he was after all the patriarch of the Li Family in Qingzhu Market, and his strength should not be underestimated.

To be killed with a single blow, the opponent's strength must be at least at the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment or above.

"The indigenous inhabitants' strength is actually so formidable?!"

Xu Qi'an found it hard to believe, because according to the information Water Lingmiao gave him, the strength of these indigenous inhabitants was not supposed to be like this.

If there was such a high mortality rate, which Foundation Establishment cultivator would take such a great risk to come here?

"It seems there has been a change in the Foundation Establishment Secret Realm here!"

Just then, Xu Qi'an suddenly felt a hidden aura attacking from behind.

His heart tightened, and he quickly activated several Hanhai Talismans in his hand, and layers of water screens instantly enveloped him.

"Boom!"

A black spiritual energy struck the water screen, causing ripples.

Xu Qi'an turned around and saw a Cultivator wearing beast skin clothes and a black mask on his face standing not far away, holding a cold, gleaming dagger in his hand.

"Seventh layer of the Foundation Establishment stage!"

Xu Qi'an's pupils contracted, and he was secretly shocked.

He hadn't expected there to be such powerful indigenous inhabitants in the Mystic Realm.

The Masked Cultivator didn't waste words, his figure flashed, and he attacked Xu Qi'an again.

Xu Qi'an did not dare to confront him directly, quickly activating the Ting He Sword, the sword light like lightning, slashing towards the Masked Cultivator.

"Clang!" The Masked Cultivator's dagger collided with the sword light, emitting a crisp sound.

Xu Qi'an used the force to retreat, while simultaneously activating the speed talismans he had placed on his legs earlier, his figure darting away like lightning.

Seeing this, the Masked Cultivator sneered and chased after him like a ghost.

Xu Qi'an did not dare to stop, fully activating his spiritual energy, his speed reaching its limit.

One chased, one fled, and they soon disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

Half an hour later, Xu Qi'an finally shook off the Masked Cultivator.

He leaned against a large tree, panting heavily, secretly feeling fortunate: "Fortunately, I was prepared."

Although Xu Qi'an had many hidden cards, the Masked Cultivator also did not reveal his.

At the same time, Xu Qi'an didn't know how many indigenous inhabitants were in this Mystic Realm, so he didn't plan to stay and fight.

He looked up at the hazy sky.

There was actually no sky in the Mystic Realm; Xu Qi'an suspected that this weather phenomenon was caused by some spiritual object.

Xu Qi'an took a deep breath and continued towards the meeting point.

"I hope nothing else goes wrong."

Xu Qi'an muttered softly, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.

This trip to the Mystic Realm was far more dangerous than he had imagined.

Xu Qi'an concealed his figure and quickly ran towards the location marked on the map given by Water Lingmiao.

Along the way, Xu Qi'an actually saw the corpses of many Cultivators of the Foundation Establishment stage again, and his heart felt a slight chill.