230: Chapter 230 Old Xu's Encounters

The wind in the Secret Realm carried a damp, decaying scent, completely different from the dry cold outside in the Northern Plains.

Xu Jianan huddled behind a fallen stalagmite, holding his breath, intentionally slowing even his heartbeat.

There was not a single intact spot on his entire body; his left sleeve had been torn away, revealing three claw marks deep enough to see bone, the flesh rolled back, and the edges of the wounds tinged with an unnatural black, clearly carrying some kind of sinister spiritual energy.

His right pant leg was also torn, blood trickling down his calf and into his boot, sticky and cold, making every step damp and extraordinarily uncomfortable.

"Damn it... these mad dogs from Sky Wolf Valley have been chasing me for three days and three nights."

Xu Jianan cursed in a low voice, his voice hoarse, his lips so chapped they were peeling.

He raised a hand to wipe the mud and blood from his face, his clouded eyes scanning the gray, misty forest ahead through the gaps in the stalagmite with vigilance.

Three days ago, he had stumbled into this Secret Realm by accident.

Back then, relying on a passage token from the Tianxuan Sect, he had escaped from the Tianxuan Sect, hiding and dodging along the way, terrified of being caught and dragged back by the people of the Tianxuan Sect.

As a result, he encountered spatial turbulence and was swept into it, barely escaping with his life, only to discover that he had actually arrived in the Northern Desert!

By chance, he discovered this Secret Realm and broke inside.

This Secret Realm had just appeared in the world, and there were no Cultivators inside, so he quickly found the Legacy of the Secret Realm.

Who would have thought that before he could leave, he would be cornered in the Secret Realm by the people of Sky Wolf Valley.

The Cultivators from Sky Wolf Valley were like local snakes in this Secret Realm, familiar with the terrain as if it were their own backyard, while he, Xu Jianan, was like a headless fly, hiding here and there, in an extremely sorry state.

What made him even more desperate was that the space in this Secret Realm was extremely unstable; he had tried to find an exit, only to discover that the path he had arrived on had long been swallowed by turbulence in the Void Realm, turning into a spatial rift of Chaos.

He could not get out.

"Am I really going to die in this damn place?"

Xu Jianan gritted his teeth, pulled a healing Medicinal Pill from his bosom, and stuffed it into his mouth.

The bitter taste of the medicine dissolved on the tip of his tongue, and the pain in his wounds lessened slightly.

Being hunted by the people of Sky Wolf Valley for the past few days, even his supply of Medicinal Pills had been mostly consumed.

If this continued, he feared he wouldn't last another two days.

Yet, facing the people of Sky Wolf Valley, he was powerless to resist.

Although the people hunting him in the Secret Realm were only at the Primal Chaos Realm and Asking Dao Realm, he had learned news from the mouths of the Sky Wolf Valley people.

This time, Sky Wolf Valley had even sent a Grand Elder.

That person was at the Saint Realm!

The Saint Realm!

Whenever Xu Jianan thought of the commotion caused by a Saint making a move, his scalp would go numb.

With a single palm strike, an entire mountain range would be razed to the ground!

It was only thanks to the obstruction of this Secret Realm that the Saint could not enter.

Otherwise, he would have long since been flattened into meat paste.

"Rustle—"

A series of soft, fragmented footsteps came from the distance, and Xu Jianan's pupils contracted sharply, his whole body tensing up.

There wasn't just one set of footsteps, but seven or eight, closing in from three directions.

"Found the old thing! He's behind the stalagmite!"

A rough voice exploded, accompanied by the sound of spiritual energy tearing through the air.

Xu Jianan cursed inwardly, darting out from behind the stalagmite and sprinting desperately toward the depths of the dense forest.

Behind him, several sharp claw beams tore through the air, grazing his back and shredding a piece of his robe to pieces.

"Damn it! If I can get out alive today, I will definitely not spare you!"

Xu Jianan roared hoarsely while running, his voice echoing through the gray forest and startling a flock of birds.

However, just as he finished speaking, a dark red rune suddenly lit up on the ground ahead, as if he had triggered some Restriction, and a huge rebounding force sent him flying back, causing him to flip several times in the air before crashing heavily onto the ground covered in dead branches and leaves.

"Cough, cough... damn it..."

Xu Jianan braced himself against the ground, slowly sitting up from the dead branches and leaves, his mouth full of the taste of blood, his internal organs feeling as if they had been churned to pieces, burning with pain.

He looked up and saw that seven Sky Wolf Valley Cultivators had already surrounded him.

Seven of them, all at the Asking Dao Realm, each holding a long saber with faintly glowing dark red runes on the blades, clearly ready to strike and prepared to give him another slash at any moment.

The leader was a Black-Robed Elder with a sinister face, at the Peak of the Asking Dao Realm, with a token engraved with a wolf head pattern hanging at his waist, clearly a core Elder-level figure of Sky Wolf Valley.

The Black-Robed Elder stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at Xu Jianan, a cold, sinister smile curling at the corners of his mouth: "Old thing, run. Why aren't you running anymore?"

Xu Jianan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and grinned, revealing a mouthful of bloody teeth: "I'm done running. You've chased me for three days and three nights; if you still hadn't caught me, I fear even your Saint wouldn't let you off."

The Black-Robed Elder sneered: "Stubborn to the end. Speak, where is the Legacy you obtained in the Secret Realm?"

Xu Jianan's heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm on the surface and spread his hands: "What Legacy? I'm just a passing Loose Cultivator who stumbled in by accident. Aside from rocks and mud, there's nothing in here, let alone the Legacy you speak of."

"Heh—"

The smile on the Black-Robed Elder's face turned even colder.

He slowly raised his right hand, splaying his five fingers, and a ball of dark red light slowly condensed in his palm, emitting a heart-palpitating pressure.

"You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit."

With a gentle flick, that ball of dark red light transformed into a streak of light as thin as a hair, precisely shooting into Xu Jianan's left shoulder.

"Pfft!"

Blood sprayed, and Xu Jianan was knocked backward by that force, a finger-thick bloody hole appearing on his left shoulder, with blood gushing out.

"Hiss—"

He gasped in pain, cold sweat instantly breaking out on his forehead, but he gritted his teeth and did not cry out.

The Black-Robed Elder withdrew his hand, his tone remaining indifferent: "I'll ask one more time, where is the Legacy?"

Xu Jianan panted, looking up at the Black-Robed Elder's sinister face, and grinned: "You Sky Wolf Valley went to such great lengths just to snatch something from an old man? Aren't you afraid of being a laughingstock if this gets out?"

The Black-Robed Elder's smile vanished completely: "I don't like listening to nonsense."

He raised his hand, and another streak of dark red light shot out, this time targeting Xu Jianan's right leg.

"Pfft!"

Blood splattered, and Xu Jianan let out a muffled groan, collapsing to the ground, a large chunk of flesh at his right knee blown away, revealing the stark white bone.

Xu Jianan was sweating profusely from the pain, but he still gritted his teeth, not begging for mercy.

He had lived for over two thousand years; what storms and waves had he not seen?

Facing death, he would not stoop to kneeling before the people of Sky Wolf Valley.

The Black-Robed Elder watched him, frowning slightly, clearly somewhat surprised that this old thing had such a hard backbone.

But he was not in a hurry, simply crouching down slowly, looking down at Xu Jianan, his voice cold: "I will give you one last chance. Hand over the Legacy, and I will leave your corpse intact."

Xu Jianan lay sprawled on the ground, in excruciating pain, blood having already stained more than half of the ground red.

He looked up at the gray sky, and a lazy figure suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Young Master..."

When he left, he didn't say a word to the Young Master.

Perhaps the Young Master doesn't even know he has left yet.

Now that he had fallen into the hands of Sky Wolf Valley, he feared he would have no chance to see the Young Master again.

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