26: The secret realm collapsed, and the star core stirred.

The campfire at the Azure Dragon Camp flickered in the twilight, illuminating Lin Yang's slightly weary face.

Liu Qingluan was using cloth strips to bandage the sword wound on his back, while Liu Hongluan held a bowl of freshly heated meat soup, her eyes filled with worry.

Not far away, Su Qingyue and Bai Wanqing stood side by side, whispering to each other, their gazes occasionally sweeping toward the center of the camp—there, the corpse of Lin Dongliu was covered by a white cloth, and several trembling traitors of the Lin family knelt beside it, waiting for their final judgment.

"Miss Bai says the spatial fluctuations in the Secret Realm are becoming increasingly intense," Su Qingyue said, walking over and handing a piece of roasted beast meat to Lin Yang. "The people from the Xuantian Sword Sect have already set off to return to the Secret Realm, seemingly in search of some 'Spatial Core'."

Lin Yang took the beast meat, and the chaos star core suddenly emitted a faint tremor, resonating with the aura of the ice soul pearl in his bosom.

He recalled the dark silver crystal he had discovered at the bottom of the cold pool; at the time, he only felt it contained spatial energy and didn't have the chance to investigate further. Thinking about it now, it might be the "Spatial Core" that Su Qingyue mentioned.

"I must go back," Lin Yang said, standing up. The wound on his back throbbed from the movement, but he forcibly suppressed it. "If that core falls into the hands of the Xuantian Sword Sect, it will likely lead to even greater trouble."

Bai Wanqing had approached behind him at some point, holding a Jade Slip engraved with sword patterns. "This is a simple map of the Secret Realm. There is a hidden exit in the southeast corner; if you encounter danger, you can evacuate from there."

She paused, then added, "Ling Feihong is also rushing toward the Secret Realm. His 'Feihong Sword Technique' has reached the Transcendent realm; you must be careful."

Lin Yang took the Jade Slip and said to Liu Qingluan and Liu Hongluan, "You stay at the camp; I will be back shortly."

The sisters shook their heads simultaneously. Liu Qingluan gripped her short dagger tightly. "Wherever Young Master goes, we go. Last time at the cold pool, if it weren't for Young Master, we would have already..."

"Very well." Lin Yang did not refuse further. The warning from the chaos star core made him faintly feel that this trip was dangerous; with the assistance of the twins' wood-element talent, perhaps he would have a better chance of success.

The three of them took advantage of the night to sneak into Qingmeng Mountain, returning to the Secret Realm following the route indicated on the Jade Slip.

As soon as they stepped into the corridor, they felt the ground beneath their feet trembling slightly. The star patterns on the rock walls had dimmed, clearly indicating that the energy was about to be exhausted.

Lin Yang quickened his pace, heading straight for the cold pool—the dark silver crystal was still hidden in the crevice at the bottom of the pool.

"Found it!" Liu Hongluan pointed to the bottom of the pool, where a faint silver light shone from the crevice.

Lin Yang leaned over and retrieved the crystal. It felt ice-cold to the touch, and the spatial fluctuations on its surface were more violent than before, as if it could shatter at any moment.

Just then, the entire Secret Realm suddenly shook violently, and the stalactites above began to fall like rain.

"Boom—" With a loud crash, the stone wall on the west side completely collapsed, revealing the pitch-black night sky outside. At the same time, a deep, resonant shout came through: "Lin Yang, leave the core behind!"

Ling Feihong's figure rushed out from the dust, his white clothes stained with dirt, his long sword pointed straight at the center of Lin Yang's brows. It was the opening stance of the Xuantian Sword Sect's "Feihong Sword Technique".

Two fellow Disciples followed behind him, clearly having received orders to seize the core at all costs.

"This is an ownerless object; it goes to whoever has the ability to take it." Lin Yang stuffed the core into Liu Qingluan's hand, signaling her to evacuate from the hidden exit, while he circulated his Chaos True Essence to meet Ling Feihong's sword momentum.

"You are courting death!" Ling Feihong flicked his wrist slightly, and three sword shadows streaked across like flowing light, aiming straight for Lin Yang's heart, throat, and lower abdomen. It was his signature technique, "Three Shadows Sweeping the Sky".

The sword wind, carrying with it Protective Aura, created a piercing shriek in the corridor.

Lin Yang moved with the wind, dodging two of the sword shadows, while his right fist condensed metal-element True Essence to meet the third sword strike head-on.

"Clang!" With a crisp sound, sparks flew where the fist and sword met. He felt his arm go numb; Ling Feihong's sword momentum was several times sharper than it had been at the Hundred Herb Hall.

"Innate Third-Layer, you do have some ability." A flash of surprise passed through Ling Feihong's eyes. His sword stance changed again, and seven afterimages attacked like a swarm of bees. The sword moves were tightly connected with no flaws; it was the "Seven Layers of Feihong".

Lin Yang retreated to the edge of the pool; he was in a desperate situation.

Just as the sword shadows were about to strike him, the chaos star core in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly erupted with a gray-gold light—countless sword move trajectories flashed rapidly through his mind. Ling Feihong's wrist rotation angle, the nodes of True Essence circulation, and even the subtle flaws in the sword momentum were instantly analyzed by the star core's "Martial Skill Deduction" ability!

"So that's it..." A flash of inspiration struck Lin Yang. He subconsciously imitated the starting arc of the "Seven Layers of Feihong", and his metal-element Sharp Metal Sword Qi carved out an arc almost identical to the sword shadow, precisely striking the flaw in the seventh sword shadow.

"How do you know my sword technique?!" Ling Feihong was shocked and furious, his sword momentum stalling.

Lin Yang ignored him. Taking advantage of this momentary gap, he condensed water-element True Essence into ice in his left palm, freezing Ling Feihong's lower body, while his right hand compressed fire-element and water-element True Essence to the limit—

"Thunder Blast Kill!"

The red and blue intertwined True Essence exploded in his palm. An invisible shockwave spread along the corridor, not only shattering the remaining sword shadows but also knocking Ling Feihong's long sword out of his hand.

He staggered backward, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at Lin Yang: "This is impossible..."

"The Secret Realm is collapsing; there's no time for nonsense." Lin Yang turned and rushed toward the hidden exit, where Liu Qingluan and Liu Hongluan were already waiting. As soon as the three of them rushed out of the passage, a deafening sound like the sky falling and the earth rending came from behind—the entire ancient Secret Realm had completely collapsed under the backlash of spatial energy, and the rising dust blocked out the sky and sun.

After moving far away from the Secret Realm, Lin Yang took out the dark silver core.

As soon as it was exposed to the air, the core vibrated violently, and countless fine star patterns appeared on its surface, resonating strongly with the light patterns of the chaos star core.

The star core automatically released a suction force, wrapping around the core. The dark silver crystal rapidly melted within the gray-gold halo, turning into a wisp of pure spatial Origin energy that surged into Lin Yang's Sea of Consciousness.

In an instant, countless bizarre and fantastic images flashed before his eyes: a cultivation world with floating immortal mountains, a technological plane with torrents of steel, a savage world where giant beasts ran rampant...

On the surface of the chaos star core, a fragmented star map slowly emerged, with countless points of light arranged around the star core, faintly forming coordinates leading to different Star Domains.

"This is... the orientation of the Heavens and Myriad Realms?" Lin Yang's heart churned with stormy waves. He finally understood that the "danger" Bai Wanqing spoke of was not an empty statement—the secret of the chaos star core was no longer just a struggle at the continental level, but involved the much broader Heavens.

Liu Hongluan tugged on his sleeve and pointed to the distant sky: "Young Master, look, what is that?"

Lin Yang looked up and saw a tiny crack in the night sky of Qingmeng Mountain, from which flickered a gray-gold light originating from the same source as the star core, as if a pair of eyes were peering through the crack, quietly watching this continent.

He clenched his fists, suppressing the disturbance of the star core deep in his heart.

Ling Feihong's roar still echoed in the wind, the threat of the Xuantian Sword Sect was right before his eyes, and behind that crack in the starry sky, there were clearly even more terrifying existences peeking.

But he knew that retreating was by no means a way out—what the chaos star core had bestowed upon him was never a path of retreat, but a Heaven-Defying path that could only move forward.

"Let's go back." Lin Yang turned and walked toward the camp, with Liu Qingluan and Liu Hongluan following closely behind.

The night was deep, and his silhouette was drawn long under the moonlight, carrying an unstoppable sharpness.