681: Chapter 682 Seven Days

"Tell us about your situation!"

Once Dong Li put away the Void Cauldron, Xiao Ruobai was the first to speak. His voice was calm, but his gaze was locked onto Dong Li.

"What exactly is the old grudge between you and Zi Tianchen?"

Wang Xiaopang couldn't help but chime in as well, his Face still showing traces of lingering fear and the fire of gossip:

"Exactly! Dong Li, the way you two formed this grudge is just too unique."

"Pah!" Dong Li spat, swishing its tail irritably. "That's ancient history..."

It scratched its ear with a small paw, seemingly organizing its words, while a malicious smile flashed in its crimson eyes.

"Maybe a hundred and twenty years ago? I can't remember clearly. At the Myriad Treasure Pavilion in Yunce Immortal City, I had my eye on a Seven-Apertured Illusionary Heart Stone. That thing was very useful for my Illusionary Arts cultivation, and I was haggling over the price with the shopkeeper."

"Then that Zi Tianchen came barging in with a group of lackeys. With his nose in the air, he acted like the entire Immortal City was his backyard."

As Dong Li spoke, it seemed to remember something and added, "Oh, right, he was accompanied by a woman. She was dressed flamboyantly and put on an air of lofty purity. Zi Tianchen seemed to be desperately trying to please her, showing off his wealth."

It mimicked Zi Tianchen's arrogant tone at the time, putting on airs: "'Shopkeeper, this Illusionary Heart Stone is not bad. Wrap it up.

Fairy Qingyao, this object complements your temperament perfectly. A mere plaything, a small token of my respect.'"

"Hmph," Dong Li curled its lip. "I saw it first. Don't they know the rules? I couldn't be bothered with him and continued talking to the shopkeeper."

"That straw man probably felt he'd lost Face in front of the beauty, so he actually ordered his subordinates to snatch it? Trying to act tough in front of me?"

It sneered, tapping its small paw in the air, causing a faint, imperceptible wisp of illusionary light to flow.

"I didn't even use a heavy hand. I just slightly guided those shameful, dirty thoughts deep in his heart, making him instantly fall for it. And then, guess what happened?"

Dong Li's eyes narrowed into crescents, full of schadenfreude and a mischievous smirk from a successful prank.

"That guy's eyes went blank on the spot, his Face turned bright red, and his breathing became rapid. Then, under the shocked gazes of everyone, he started to... uh, unbuckle his belt in front of that Fairy, and then..."

"Fairy Qingyao's Face turned green at the time. Shocked, angry, and ashamed, she screamed and backed away. The guards of the Myriad Treasure Pavilion and the other guests were all dumbfounded."

Overjoyed, Dong Li continued, "In the end, his people couldn't stand it anymore. One of them knocked him unconscious with a palm strike, then wrapped him haphazardly in a robe and dragged him away like a dead dog."

"Tsk tsk, that scene... later it spread throughout Yunce Immortal City and became a laughingstock for a long time."

"I heard that Fairy Qingyao went into seclusion after returning and never came out again. Zi Tianchen was also severely punished by his old man and grounded for a long time."

"Pfft—!" Wang Xiaopang almost spat out, his Face flushing red from holding back laughter.

Xiao Ruobai, Fang Hanyu, Ling Xi, and Mo Yu were also speechless, their expressions odd. Ling Xi even frowned slightly and looked away.

"His heart is narrower than the tip of a needle!" Dong Li added indignantly.

"Just because I made him look like a huge fool once? Is it necessary to want to kill every fox he sees? What a psycho!"

"Wait a minute," Wang Xiaopang suddenly remembered a key point. "Dong Li, setting aside how narrow-minded he is, isn't this Secret Realm only supposed to open once every ten thousand years? How were you able to enter early?"

Mentioning this, Dong Li immediately wilted, its ears drooping, its tone depressed:

"Don't mention it! I was being chased! My opponent was quite formidable. In my haste to escape, I fled to the vicinity of the Desolate Mountain Range."

At that time, I felt something was off with the spatial Laws nearby—very subtle fluctuations.

"I was desperate. Sensing the center of the fluctuations, I gritted my teeth, burned some essence blood, and used my innate Divine Ability to force my way through. As a result, I fell into this hellhole!"

It gestured with its paws: "Once I got in, I realized it was a Secret Realm that hadn't officially opened yet. The Spiritual Qi was dense, and treasures were everywhere! I was even happy, thinking I'd found a blessing in disguise."

"But after only two days of freedom, just as I had my eye on a nearly mature Seven-Apertured Fire Lotus, the five of you crashed down onto my head like meteors! My Fire Lotus! You almost flattened me into a fox pancake!"

So that was it. The group understood; this fox had relied on its innate perception and luck to sneak in by exploiting a 'bug' in the spatial fluctuations before the Secret Realm officially opened.

"What do we do next?" Fang Hanyu asked the most critical question at hand, his gaze sweeping toward the direction where faint clamor and energy fluctuations were coming from.

"The exit is blocked, and the Immortal King's Divine Sense sweeps through from time to time. We can hide for a while, but not forever."

Dong Li perked up slightly and analyzed, "The duration of each opening of this Secret Realm is fixed. There are at most seven days left."

"Once the seven days are up, the Secret Realm's Laws will automatically activate, repelling all outsiders and ejecting everyone."

"This is the Secret Realm's self-protection mechanism; even an Immortal King can't stop it."

"We just need to find a sufficiently hidden place to evade the search for these seven days. When the time comes, we can naturally leave this place of trouble."

Xiao Ruobai pondered for a moment and nodded. This was indeed the safest plan.

The group was about to set off to find a more suitable hiding spot.

Just then—

"The fluctuation from just now seemed to come from this direction!"

A slightly sharp voice, accompanied by several sounds of breaking air, came from another direction in the stone forest.

"Search carefully! Don't miss any clues! By order of the Immortal King, anyone who finds the thieves who stole the dao-embodying mysterious crystal will be heavily rewarded!"

Everyone's expression changed slightly. Trouble had arrived! It was a Cultivator squad conducting a carpet search.

Ling Xi placed a finger to her lips and signaled a direction with her eyes. Xiao Ruobai understood and made a gesture.

In an instant, the group suppressed their aura to the extreme. Their figures, like ghosts, used the jagged rocks and the remnants of the Seven-Colored Illusionary Mist lingering on the ground to silently merge into the shadows and vanish, as if they had never existed.

"Boss, nothing found. It might have been a fluctuation caused by a battle between ancient beasts or a spiritual item being born."

"Forget it, let's check over there! Hurry up!"

The voices faded away.

At the junction of a boulder's shadow and a crack in the ground not far from the stone platform, the light seemed to distort slightly.

Xiao Ruobai and the others held their breath and concentrated until the squad of Cultivators had completely left their range of perception before relaxing slightly.

"Let's go," Xiao Ruobai said in a low voice. They needed to find a hiding place that was deeper, more complex, and less likely to be affected.

In the following days, the entire Desolate Secret Realm fell into complete chaos and unrest.

"Rumble—!!!"

In the distant sky, an earth-shattering battle broke out. Immortal light collided with violent beastly power, Laws wailed, and a mountain peak was swept by the aftershocks, instantly turning into dust.