Wen Shan stared blankly at the scene before him, momentarily stunned.

  Those fellow disciples who had been alive just moments ago had leapt one after another into the pitch black fissures without hesitation.

  There had been no fear on their faces. No doubt. Not even the slightest pause.

  As though death was not an end, but an honor. A destined return.

  These so called righteous cultivators, who treated their own lives so lightly, made his heart tremble.

  He suddenly realized this secret realm was far more complicated than he had imagined.

  These people must have long harbored intentions regarding it.

  They might not know everything within the realm, but they had already prepared everything they possibly could.

  This was a gamble.

  A gamble staking their lives to seize the inheritance of the Hai Suan Dao path.

  Just as he began to wonder whether he too should jump into the fissure, the final cultivator from Bai Xing Forest walked to his side.

  She gently patted his shoulder.

  “Wen Shan, stay here.”

  He snapped back to his senses and looked at her in confusion.

  A gentle smile rested on her face.

  “I will stop the demon. Senior Sister… I leave her to you.”

  His lips moved, but under her clear gaze, no words came out.

  What could he say?

  That he was merely a powerless mortal who could not protect anyone?

  That all of this was madness?

  He could say nothing.

  Seeing his silence, she simply smiled again and turned away, walking toward Senior Sister.

  In her hand appeared a withered old vine.

  Wen Shan’s eyes flickered with recognition.

  Was that not the healing treasure Senior Sister had once mentioned when introducing Bai Xing Forest?

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  They had even brought something like that into the realm?

  He watched as the female cultivator gently wrapped the vine around Senior Sister’s body.

  At that moment, a deafening explosion erupted from the forest of towering trees.

  Flames. Blazing flames.

  A scorching wave, carrying the stench of burning wood, surged outward.

  The once vibrant forest was instantly swallowed by dark red infernal fire. The trees became colossal torches reaching toward the sky.

  Within the raging blaze, the demonic hound’s massive silhouette flickered. Its mocking roar echoed across the summit.

  “Ha! You think mere wood can stop me? Have you forgotten? I was born with an inextinguishable demon flame that burns all things!”

  The heat forced Wen Shan to stagger back, horror on his face.

  Of course.

  No matter how dense a forest, it would burn.

  And that beast’s flames were clearly no ordinary fire.

  How long could this forest delay it?

  His confidence faltered.

  Yet just as he thought everything would soon turn to ash, something strange happened.

  All the towering trees burning fiercely had their flames extinguished at the same instant.

  At the very edge of the forest, however, a single giant tree suddenly erupted with dozens of meters of flame and was reduced to ashes in a breath.

  No other tree was harmed.

  The hound’s laughter stopped abruptly.

  Shock filled the massive floating eye above its head.

  “This… another substitution? You humans and your tricks!”

  It snarled.

  “Do you think this alone can stop me? A forest is nothing!”

  With a furious roar, the beast leapt into the air, vaulting directly over the sea of trees. It became a streak of dark red light, carrying boundless killing intent straight toward Senior Sister.

  Wen Shan’s heart sank as the monstrous figure grew larger in his vision.

  Only three remained standing now.

  Himself. The Bai Xing Forest cultivator. And Senior Sister, nearly unconscious.

  Even if he could do nothing, the terrifying aura of the hound made his soul tremble.

  The Bai Xing Forest cultivator, however, showed no panic.

  As if she had anticipated this, she calmly inserted the vine wrapped around Senior Sister into the rocky ground beneath them.

  The withered vine suddenly came alive.

  Countless tender shoots burst forth, climbing up Senior Sister’s body.

  Then they pierced into her flesh.

  Wen Shan did not understand its purpose.

  But he saw relief appear on the woman’s face once it was done.

  She lifted her head toward the incoming hound. Several silver needles appeared in her hand.

  Without hesitation, she thrust them into several acupoints on her own body.

  The instant the needles entered, a fragrance beyond description spread from her.

  It was rich. Sweet.

  Irresistible.

  Wen Shan merely caught a trace of it and unconsciously swallowed. A strange desire rose from deep within him.

  The hound’s reaction was far stronger.

  The moment it smelled the scent, its enormous body halted mid air.

  Its forward charge ceased.

  All of its attention locked onto the Bai Xing Forest cultivator.

  She was no longer a person in its eyes.

  She was treasure.

  Something it had to possess at any cost.

  Seeing its gaze fix on her, she smiled.

  Without hesitation, she turned and fled in the opposite direction from Senior Sister.

  The hound roared urgently and did not even glance at Senior Sister again. It twisted in mid air and chased after her with madness in its eyes.

  Wen Shan remained where he stood, expression complicated.

  He looked at the departing figures, then at Senior Sister, tightly wrapped in ivy and still trembling in agony.

  In the end, he stepped forward and approached her.

  He needed to see how she was faring.

  But before he could kneel, a heavy thud echoed from not far ahead.

  Slowly, he raised his head.

  The demonic hound had returned.

  Between its jaws hung half of a small, bloodied corpse.

  Only five minutes had passed.

  A quarter hour was still far away.

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