Chapter 27 Ominous Mystery 2

Zhao Lingfeng's hand unconsciously touched his chest, remembering that strange draining sensation he'd felt near the seal. The air in these passages had always felt wrong, especially as one goes deeper. It was unstable, sometimes corrosive mists, and various places where the distribution of spiritual energy was either skewed to one side or another.

"Senior Brother Tan Rei," Zhao Lingfeng turned to the experienced cultivator. "In your explorations, did you encounter spaces that seemed completely devoid of spiritual energy? Places where cultivation felt... difficult?"

Tan Rei's eyes lit up with understanding. "Several. We marked them as areas to avoid, but..." His voice trailed off as he made the connection. "The deeper we went, the more frequent they became."

"Junior Brother Tao!" Wu suddenly called out. "Show them. Show them what happened after you ate that herb!"

A burly cultivator shuffled forward, looking uncomfortable under the sudden attention. Unlike Wu's weakened state, this cultivator seemed to vibrate with barely contained energy. His movements were jerky, almost aggressive, but there was something forced about them – as if the energy running through him wasn't entirely his own.

"Is this the 'brave brother' from the story?" Zhao Lingfeng asked Tan Rei.

"…Yes," Tan Rei replied awkwardly.

"I found it in one of those saturated areas," Tao explained, his words coming out rushed. "The spiritual energy was so dense, and the herb seemed fine…"

Tan Rei immediately interrupted with anger, "Fine? You clearly didn't listen to what the warning the herbalists said in our group!"

"Well… I thought it was worth to risk to help increase my cultivation. It was a good treasure after all! I can't have its effects be wasted!"

Qin Yi, who had been silently observing, finally spoke. "And because of your stupidity, you suddenly turned aggressive. Your actions were no different from agreeing to take poison."

Feeling the pressure of the two strongest cultivators and the harsh rebuke of Qin Yi, the brave brother turned docile, but he still looked aggrieved as if he did nothing wrong.

"During the battle, you've calmed somewhat," Qin Yi pointed out.

"Yeah..." Tao nodded, his hands clenching and unclenching rhythmically. "I think it helped burn off some of the excess energy. But at first, I couldn't control my temper. Everything made me want to lash out."

Zhao Lingfeng stared at the corrupted herb's victim, his theory solidifying. The evil spirit, bound by ancient seals, likely couldn't directly gather the energy it needed to regain strength. Instead, it was using corrupted beasts to collect and concentrate spiritual energy in specific locations.

They victims are maybe being used as something like living batteries. At the same time during the process, they may be also exposed to corruption. If beasts dare eats the treasures which are often found in those abnormal spots, then the number of corrupted beasts grow…

Zhao Lingfeng stared at the brave brother.

The cultivator still appeared a little prickly, but he seems mostly sensible.

Zhao Lingfeng made a mental note later to ask Qin Yi or Tan Rei to make sure that people keep an eye on him.

Now with this new information, he was able to shed a light on the mystery behind the unaffected beasts.

He looked over to where the Stone Claw Bear figure was. He felt his heart quicken for a moment upon seeing it laid down, unmoving. But, he relaxed when he saw the bear's stomach rise up and down.

It turned out to be asleep. 

Beasts like his companion and the other beasts that joined him on his journey were likely the original inhabitants of this realm trying to defend their territory against the corrupted ones. It was to the extent that beasts that should have no relation to each other stood side by side to fight, crossing boundaries like predator and prey.

Because there was a very dangerous common enemy.

I wonder… did these beasts seeing the corpse of that wolf boss see us as potential helpers to fight against the Ancient Evil Spirit?

If the intelligent Black Earth Python was here, Zhao Lingfeng may be able to get his question answered.

During this time, Qin Yi had remained mostly quiet throughout this exchange. The proud young commander's bearing had shifted subtly as he studied Zhao Lingfeng with new eyes. He was annoyed at being ignored, but acquiesced.

If it were normal times, he wouldn't be like this. But that terrifying scene he had witnessed and strangeness of the realm, made him aware that this place was anything but simple. Especially when he looked at Zhao Lingfeng, he realized now up close that this guy looked much weaker than him.

But he did not let his guard down.

In his view, he was mysterious. A strange beast tamer, somehow survived that blow from that beetle, and was now deep in thought without a care for the word, seemingly ordering and questioning people as if it was natural to the extent that Tan Rei would put his trust in him.

However, even patience had its limits.

"Enough!" Qin Yi's voice cracked through the chamber. "Fellow Daoist, I believe you owe us an explanation."

The words seemed to break an invisible dam. Cultivators who had been watching silently, their expressions a mix of awe and fear after witnessing the seal's activation, suddenly found their voices.

"What was that golden light?"

"Those patterns on the wall..."

"Why did the beetle have that black mist?"

Questions overlapped like waves crashing against a shore.

Zhao Lingfeng looked at the egg in his hand, then at his sleeping bear companion. He could feel the weight of dozens of gazes upon him. Some curious, some suspicious, and more than a few hostile. But most concerning of all were the people that were eyeing his egg with poorly concealed greed.

Zhao Lingfeng no intention of not giving an explanation.

Rather he had no choice.

This wasn't a game where he could solo an SSS-rank quest. Going solo was the biggest joke with how weak he was. Even when teaming up with the protagonist, they both still struggled to eliminate a pack of wolves.

The evil spirit that had been sealed here was clearly beyond anything a single cultivator, or even a small group, could handle.

He needed as much help as he could get.

The more the better!

But numbers alone won't be enough.

Zhao Lingfeng knew deeply in his heart.

For now, Zhao Lingfeng could only turn his attention to the riled up cultivators.

It would be easier if people just followed his word, but he was too weak and can't give proper command. In this world, strength was the absolute factor to one's choice.

Unlike the old world, all one needed was pure strength to do everything.

That was how the cultivation world worked.

"Senior Brother Qin Yi, Senior Brother Tan Rei," Zhao Lingfeng's serious voice carried a gravity that made several cultivators straighten instinctively. "I believe we should discuss this... privately."

Complaints immediately erupted from the crowd.

"What? Why them—"

"We all saw what happened—"

"This concerns everyone—"

"Silence!" Qin Yi's command cut through the protests. His eyes swept across the gathered cultivators, carrying an authority that brooked no argument.

"Those who can still fight, maintain a perimeter. The rest, tend to the wounded. This secret realm has already proven more dangerous than any of us anticipated. Let's not add to our casualties through carelessness."

Tan Rei nodded in agreement. "Brother Qin speaks wisely. We'll share what we learn if it proves relevant to everyone's survival."

The cultivators grumbled but complied. None could argue against the two highest-level cultivators present.

Zhao Lingfeng let loose a sigh inwardly. If he had tried to take command, even if he acted reasonable by introducing himself and explaining, the result wouldn't be like this.

They watched as Zhao Lingfeng, Qin Yi, and Tan Rei moved to a secluded corner of the chamber, far enough that whispered words wouldn't carry. Qin Yi even stationed some of his most trusted people as guards.

It was unfortunate that they were at a weak cultivation level. Something like a simple sound barrier or sound transmission between minds would have made communication much simpler.

"Speak," Qin Yi said simply once they were alone.

Zhao Lingfeng took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts. The evidence was there. They had all seen it. The seal's activation had given his theory credibility that would have been impossible to achieve otherwise. Now he just had to connect the dots for them.

"This isn't just a secret realm," he began…

Zhao Lingfeng laid out his theory to Qin Yi and Tan Rei. Everything they'd encountered pointed to what likely was an ancient evil sealed within this realm. One powerful enough to corrupt and control spirit beasts. The strange symbols they'd witnessed were likely the seals for the evil. The golden light's purging of that black mist from the beetle had confirmed this.

This explained so much: the unnatural aggression in some beasts while others seemed desperate to band together against a common threat, the way spiritual energy felt wrong in certain areas, and most tellingly, the effects on cultivators like Brother Wu and Brother Tao. One drained of cultivation, the other filled with aggressive energy after consuming what appeared to be a valuable herb.

The spirit's methods became clear when viewed as a whole. Corrupted beasts were being used to herd both cultivators and other spirit beasts toward areas of concentrated spiritual energy. Some beasts were then left in these spiritually saturated locations, like cattle being fattened, while others were drained to near death.

Zhao Lingfeng also noted how the paths always seemed to conventionally point to go deeper, the strategically placed treasures, even bringing up his experience of sudden wall collapse which forced him down this route. Can this really be considered a coincidence?

They were being gathered, like pigs being herded and fattened before slaughter.

Yet there was hope in understanding this trap.

The golden seal's activation proved that powerful countermeasures still existed, and the spirit's reliance on intermediaries suggested it couldn't act directly. The remaining seals must still bind it, forcing it to work through corruption and manipulation rather than overwhelming force. But with each cultivator it affected, with each seal that weakened, their time grew shorter.

Once Zhao Lingfeng finished speaking, the two cultivators were deathly silent. They wore expressions that clearly showed disbelief, but their inability to speak up was telling.

After some time, Qin Yi's sharp mind caught something.

"You speak of an ancient evil," he said carefully, his fingers drumming against his sword hilt.

"But what makes you so certain it's just one?"

The question hung in the air like a blade.

Zhao Lingfeng remained calm with a mysterious smile.

I had been waiting for that.

"Earlier, I mentioned experiencing a wall collapse much further away," Zhao Lingfeng replied. "The patterns there... they were identical to what we just saw. If that was another seal, and this one here was also a seal..."

He let the implications sink in.

Tan Rei's face paled. "You can't mean..."

"What if this entire place is one massive formation?" Zhao Lingfeng's words came out barely above a whisper, yet they seemed to echo in their small circle. "Not just individual seals scattered about, but the entire place itself functioning as one enormous suppression array?"

"Preposterous," Qin Yi started, but his voice lacked conviction. "And yet... it would explain why no evil entity emerged when the seal broke. Because maybe each seal, is merely..."

"A component of something far larger," Zhao Lingfeng finished.

The theory was outrageous, he knew.

In any other circumstance, he might have been laughed out of the chamber for suggesting it. But they had all witnessed the golden light, seen the patterns, felt the divine power that had purged the corruption from the beetle.

"It's all speculation," Zhao Lingfeng admitted, "but consider this:

If I'm right…we're not just in a secret realm that happens to contain some seals."

Zhao Lingfeng paused, but he faltered to get the words out for the next sentence.

Seeing Zhao Lingfeng's great hesitance, the two became alarmingly nervous, sweating.

"So… What are you trying to say? What's making you so hesitant to speak. Just spit it OUT!!"

Qin Yi roared, brandishing his sword towards Zhao Lingfeng.

Zhao Lingfeng, however, did not even glance at the sword.

Slowly

and gravely,

he spoke,

"We're standing inside the seal itself."