14: assassination

At this moment, the Grand Elder in the Secret Realm was roaring, "Elder Yang! Don't just stand there, can't you see I'm surrounded?"

Elder Yang of the Divine Sword Sect rushed over to help the Grand Elder out of the encirclement while asking, "Did you hear that? Someone obtained some kind of Divine Artifact!"

The Grand Elder punched the Minotaur in front of him into the air, then grabbed it with both hands and executed a beautiful back throw, slamming the Minotaur headfirst into the ground.

He laughed heartily, "Hahaha, satisfying! Old Yang, how long has it been since we fought with such passion?"

Elder Yang curled his lips and said, "At your age, you still chose to be a Fighter; aren't you afraid of throwing out your old back?"

Seeing the Grand Elder's fired-up appearance, he smiled with emotion, "You're right, I'm afraid it's been hundreds of years since we've engaged in hand-to-hand combat like this."

After kicking the last Minotaur to death, the Grand Elder said, "This Secret Realm is truly magical. Although it suppresses cultivation, it enhances physical functions. I feel like I've returned to my youth."

Elder Yang looked at his spirited old friend, then glanced down at the long saber in his hand, and laughed, "Let us two old guys compete with those young Disciples in this Secret Realm. Now that everyone is starting on the same line, with our experience, won't we be able to crush those youngsters?"

Upon hearing this, the Grand Elder heroically declared, "Good! We won't go back to rest tonight; let's strive to fight for one of those Divine Artifacts ourselves!"

The two old men were inexplicably fired up.

Jian Wuxie and Xiao Hongyuan exited the Secret Realm. Just as they were looking for a place to wait for A Fei to come out, they saw Lin Chuan and a girl in green beside the Secret Realm.

Jian Wuxie stepped forward to greet them, but upon seeing the girl in green's face, he instantly froze in place.

Xiao Hongyuan looked at her Junior Brother with a puzzled expression; why did he look as if someone had cast a immobilization spell on him?

She walked forward a few steps and also saw the girl in green beside Lin Chuan.

"Seria!" Xiao Hongyuan exclaimed in shock.

Lin Chuan turned his head, saw the two shocked people, and smiled, "Come over here, let me introduce you."

Lin Chuan pulled them to his front and said, "From now on, Seria will be here helping me guard the Secret Realm. If you want to buy a revival coin, just find her."

"H-hello, I'm called Sword.. Jian Wuxie," Jian Wuxie said, blushing and stuttering as he greeted the girl in front of him.

"Hello, Adventurer! My name is Seria," Seria replied sweetly.

Jian Wuxie blushed, not knowing what to do for a moment.

Xiao Hongyuan noticed Seria's pointed ears, walked over to Lin Chuan, and whispered, "Why are her ears pointed?"

Lin Chuan smiled, "She is an Elf; of course she looks like that."

"An Elf?!" Xiao Hongyuan gasped, quickly lowered her voice, and continued asking, "Isn't that a race from the Western Territory? How did she come to the Southern Territory?"

Lin Chuan didn't know how to answer for a moment; he couldn't just say she was conjured by the System, so he could only prevaricate, "She came to help me. As for how she got here, I don't know either."

Seeing that Lin Chuan didn't want to talk about it, Xiao Hongyuan tactfully suppressed the doubts in her heart.

Lin Chuan smiled and asked, "You and Jian Wuxie came out of the Secret Realm and aren't resting; are you waiting for someone?"

Xiao Hongyuan recounted the announcement from inside the Secret Realm and the matter of A Fei obtaining a Lord Artifact, expressing that she wanted to ask A Fei where he obtained the weapon.

Lin Chuan smiled, "Heh, then you don't need to wait; I can tell you."

Xiao Hongyuan immediately asked, "Really? Thank you!"

Lin Chuan smiled, "Heh, it's nothing. Actually, every time you defeat a boss, you have a chance to obtain their exclusive Lord Artifact; it all depends on luck."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hongyuan said somewhat disappointedly, "So that's how it is. My Junior Brother and I have also defeated quite a few bosses, but we only obtained a Rare-grade bracelet."

Lin Chuan smiled, "Don't be discouraged. I think A Fei is indeed very strong; his progress is very fast. By the way, how far have you gotten?"

"We just passed the Gloomy Forest today!" Xiao Hongyuan replied.

Lin Chuan nodded, "Then you really can't compare to A Fei; he has already passed the Thunder Ruins today! A lot faster than you."

Xiao Hongyuan was very surprised to hear this news; she never expected that a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child, all by himself, could be faster than the two of them.

She really couldn't imagine how he fought.

Having obtained the answer she wanted, Xiao Hongyuan, with black lines on her forehead, dragged the infatuated Jian Wuxie away.

Lin Chuan looked at the darkening sky and said to Seria, "Then you keep watch here; I'm heading back." After speaking, he slowly walked toward his residence.

At this moment, Yin Wu, hiding in the shadows, saw that there was no one around and slowly drew the long sword in his hand, preparing to assassinate the lone Lin Chuan.

Jian Wuxie, being dragged away by Xiao Hongyuan, complained annoyedly, "Aiya, I really am useless; why didn't I say a few more words to her?"

Xiao Hongyuan mocked, "What? Junior Brother, are you interested?"

Jian Wuxie blushed and retorted, "No way, I just haven't seen an Elf before and wanted to talk a bit more!"

"No, I have to go back and ask her if it's true that I can find her when I buy revival coins in the future!"

Xiao Hongyuan looked at Jian Wuxie's appearance and shook her head with amusement, not exposing him, just following Jian Wuxie as they walked back.

Lin Chuan, who was on the road, was still thinking about his grand plan to earn Spirit Stones when he suddenly felt a gust of wind attacking from behind his head.

He immediately rolled to the side, feeling a chill on his scalp as a lock of hair drifted to the ground.

Terrified, he quickly looked behind him and saw a masked man in black standing behind him, as if puzzled about why he had been able to dodge.

"Who the hell are you? Are you sick in the head?!" Lin Chuan roared angrily.

"Hmph, it seems the intelligence was wrong; you are not in Qi Refining, but a Foundation Establishment Cultivator!" the man in black said indifferently.

"But it doesn't matter; I was careless just now. With the next sword strike, you will surely die!" After finishing, the man in black raised his long sword, about to strike!

"Wait!" Lin Chuan yelled in terror.

Yin Wu did not answer, his whole body turning into a dark shadow as he closed in on Lin Chuan.

"Heh, do you really think I don't have a backup plan?" Lin Chuan said with a cold laugh, suddenly pulling out a Talisman from his hand and holding it high.

Seeing Lin Chuan pull out a Talisman, Yin Wu couldn't gauge Lin Chuan's background for a moment. He cautiously stopped his attack, held his long sword horizontally in front of his chest, and looked at Lin Chuan with a puzzled expression.

Lin Chuan's legs were weak at this moment, and he thought to himself, "Damn it, am I really going to die here?"

Thinking this, his expression was very arrogant. He shouted loudly, "Die!" and instantly threw the Talisman at Yin Wu.

Yin Wu immediately mobilized all the Spiritual Qi around his body, wanting to defend against this unknown Talisman.

The Talisman landed on Yin Wu's long sword, and suddenly a breeze blew past, brushing the dust off the long sword.

Yin Wu felt puzzled and sensed for a moment. Until the Talisman's effect ended and it turned to ashes, he didn't feel any attack coming.

"A Dust-Cleaning Talisman?" Yin Wu exclaimed in disbelief.

Feeling like he had been played, he angrily looked up at Lin Chuan.