As soon as Zhao Wufeng finished speaking, the eight Soul Transformation stage sect leaders acted simultaneously. Eight streaks of spiritual light in different colors converged at the center of the arena, forming a massive vortex light gate.
"Disciples of all sects, enter the secret realm in order of your sect rankings!" Zhao Wufeng's voice rang out with majesty.
The Sword Heart Sect disciples were the first to step into the light gate, their twenty figures quickly disappearing into the mist.
Next were the Hehuan Sect, Shenmu Sect, Water Moon Sect... One sect after another entered in an orderly fashion.
The Five Elements Dao Sect was the eighth in line to enter.
"Remember the plan," Mu Wenyan sent a final secret voice transmission. "Converge first, then act."
As his words fell, seven sapphire-blue figures leaped into the light gate at once.
Amidst the dizziness of space shifting, Li Nanzhu felt herself enveloped by a dense mist. When she opened her eyes again, she was standing alone in a vast, white world.
Visibility was only about three zhang. The surroundings were deathly silent, with only the thick fog flowing slowly. The air was thick with moisture, and beneath her feet lay soft mossy ground.
Li Nanzhu frowned slightly; being trapped in the mist made her very uncomfortable.
She preferred bright, open environments. This oppressive fog gave her a suffocating feeling of being caged.
However, she quickly suppressed her discomfort and first checked her own condition.
A warm white jade pendant had appeared at her waist—the secret realm jade pendant Zhao Wufeng had mentioned. She carefully tucked the pendant into her storage bag to ensure it wouldn't easily fall off.
After finishing this, Li Nanzhu took out the Soul-Sound Bell.
Because the essence blood of everyone in the group had been added to it, it would not be interfered with by the secret realm's special environment.
She shook the bell gently. The crisp ringing sent strange ripples through the mist. Soon, she sensed responses coming from six different directions—the positions of her six senior brothers and sisters.
"Fortunately, they're all within sensing range." Li Nanzhu breathed a sigh of relief.
According to the previously discussed plan, the other six would converge on her location. Since she could determine their directions, Li Nanzhu decided to search the nearby area first to see if there were any flags.
She moved cautiously through the mist, staying alert. The low visibility meant every step required extreme care.
After walking for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a slight movement suddenly came from ahead. Li Nanzhu immediately hid her figure and held her breath to observe.
Through the mist, she could vaguely see a figure fighting a demonic beast. The beast looked like a leopard but had three tails—a tier 2 shadow leopard.
As for that figure... Li Nanzhu narrowed her eyes. Looking at the attire, it should be a disciple of the Xuan Tian Sect.
Under the probe of her divine sense, she indeed found a flag stuck behind the shadow leopard. However, it was blocked by the beast, and she couldn't see which sect the flag belonged to.
That Xuan Tian Sect disciple was also at the Foundation Establishment stage, which made Li Nanzhu sigh in relief. If it were a Golden Core stage disciple, she would have no choice but to retreat, but a cultivator of the same level... she truly didn't fear them.
She wasn't in a hurry to strike. Instead, she lurked quietly in the mist, waiting for the perfect moment.
The Xuan Tian Sect disciple's swordplay was quite sharp, and he quickly backed the shadow leopard into a corner. Just as he was about to kill the beast, an invisible divine sense attack directly struck his sea of consciousness!
"Ugh!" The disciple didn't even have time to react. He gave a muffled groan and slumped to the ground.
At the same time, a flash of sword light erupted from Li Nanzhu's hand, instantly slaying the uncontrolled shadow leopard.
The entire process was clean and efficient, taking place in the blink of an eye.
Li Nanzhu walked forward, first picking up the flag from the ground. When she unfurled it, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow—it was actually the Xuan Tian Sect's own sect flag!
"Quite lucky, aren't I?" she chuckled softly. "Too bad I've intercepted it."
According to the rules, this flag should have been worth twenty points, but since it was obtained by someone from another sect, even if it was taken back, it could only count for ten points.
She looked back at the Xuan Tian Sect disciple lying on the ground, the corners of her lips curling upward. She efficiently snatched the secret realm jade pendant from his waist and pressed her own pendant against it. Ten initial points were instantly transferred to her pendant. Adding the ten points from the flag, she now had a total of thirty points.
After trying to crush the pendant to no avail, Li Nanzhu unhesitatingly took the other's storage bag. A robbery had to be thorough to prevent the other party from becoming a nuisance upon waking up.
"A robbery must be thorough," she muttered to herself. "In case he wakes up and uses the items inside against my senior brothers and sisters, or comes to steal my points, that would be bad."
"This is all for the safety of my senior brothers and sisters," she found a rather reasonable excuse for herself.
After a moment's thought, Li Nanzhu summoned Suisui from the spirit beast bag.
"Suisui, get a bit bigger."
Suisui obediently expanded its form, growing from the size of a palm to half a person's height.
Li Nanzhu used a specially made spirit-binding rope to tie the disciple up securely and let Suisui drag him along. This would both prevent him from causing trouble when he woke up and allow her to eliminate him as soon as the protection period ended.
The person and the bone continued forward through the mist. Suisui made a faint rustling sound as it dragged the prisoner. Li Nanzhu carefully masked their tracks while sensing the fluctuations of the Soul-Sound Bell.
Not long after, the Soul-Sound Bell fluctuated again—Duan Xianxing's response was particularly strong, clearly nearby.
Li Nanzhu followed the sensed direction and soon spotted Duan Xianxing's sapphire-blue figure in the mist.
Sensing Li Nanzhu's aura, Duan Xianxing's eyes lit up. He hurriedly ran over through the mist.
When he saw the Xuan Tian Sect disciple tied up and being dragged by Suisui, he was stunned for a moment before lowering his voice in excitement. "Junior Sister! You've already got a prisoner so soon?"
Li Nanzhu nodded and waved the Xuan Tian Sect flag in her hand. "Good luck. I've got thirty points now."
Duan Xianxing rubbed his hands excitedly. "That's great! I've found a flag too, but it's guarded by a tier 3 iron-armored rhino. I can't handle it alone."
He had originally planned to wait for the other senior brothers and sisters to help, not expecting to run into Li Nanzhu first.
Li Nanzhu thought for a moment. "Take me to see it."
The two of them moved silently through the mist with Suisui dragging the prisoner close behind. After about the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, heavy breathing came from ahead.
Through the thick fog, a massive iron-armored rhino could be vaguely seen guarding a flag.
Duan Xianxing pointed at the rhino with a long face. "If it were any other tier 3 demonic beast, we might have a chance. But this fellow's hide is simply too thick; my sword can't break through its defense at all."
He shook his head helplessly. "Not to mention seizing the flag after killing it. How about... we wait for Fifth Senior Sister and the others to arrive?"
Li Nanzhu didn't answer immediately. Instead, she observed the iron-armored rhino carefully.
The beast was massive, its entire body covered in a thick shell. Its defense was indeed formidable, and with its tier 3 cultivation, even if Fifth Senior Sister came, they might not necessarily break through its armor.
She looked at the iron-armored rhino, then at Duan Xianxing, and suddenly revealed a strange smile.
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