Chapter 97: The Early-Death White Moonlight in a Cultivation Novel (Part 28)

When the disciples guarding the sect gates saw Zhou Yanxi and her father returning, they were all stunned—especially at the sight of True Lord Chongyuan, who had been missing and presumed dead.

The two didn't linger and went straight back to Zhenyuan Peak. Truthfully, if it weren't for Dao Lord Daoyun still holding the line here, this peak likely would've already been snatched up by someone else the moment they left.

Afterward, the pair headed straight into the underground chamber of the peak to check on Senior Brother Yuan Hen's soul lamp.

Thankfully, they found that Yuan Hen's soul lamp was only slightly dimmed, indicating he was still alive. This discovery finally let them breathe a long sigh of relief.

Zhou Yanxi's timely return also shattered the petty, underhanded plans of certain disciples. The sect had originally considered adding an extra spot in the upcoming selection for the Langhuan Secret Realm, thinking Zhou Yanxi wouldn't return in time and her quota would be wasted. Some had even hoped to grab her slot under the guise of "being fair."

But now, all those schemes came to nothing.

In the end, a total of fifty disciples from Haomiao Sect qualified to enter the Langhuan Secret Realm. The trial would last for two years, and any cultivator who failed to leave in time would have to wait another fifty years for the next opening.

Someone might ask: Wouldn't staying in the secret realm longer be a good thing? There's abundant spiritual energy and all sorts of rare treasures!

But once the secret realm closed, its spiritual energy levels would plummet, and cultivators inside would be unable to break through.

Thus, remaining inside after the exit closed would only waste fifty years of cultivation time. For those nearing the end of their lifespan, that was nothing short of a death sentence.

Zhou Yanxi's second stop after returning to the sect was the library of Dao Lord Daoyun. Unexpectedly, her master was still angry.

After reflecting a bit, Zhou Yanxi realized he was likely upset that she hadn't sent word that she was safe earlier.

Sigh… Time to pull out the big guns: her tried-and-true "Coax-the-Master" strategy. If one jar of spirit wine didn't work, then bring several more. In any case, her master's tough attitude could usually be worn down with enough gifts.

Sure enough, after Zhou Yanxi bombarded him with jar after jar of fine spirit wine, Dao Lord Daoyun finally softened up and returned to his usual self, no longer glaring at her.

He didn't really care about the things she brought—what had upset him was the fear of losing his disciple again when she went missing.

When he heard that she would be heading into the Langhuan Secret Realm in a few days, Dao Lord Daoyun handed her several life-saving treasures. In return, Zhou Yanxi gave her master a Water-Avoiding Pearl and a few high-grade spirit plants.

Then, shameless as ever, Zhou Yanxi asked for more of the long-distance teleportation talismans that had proven so effective during her last escape.

Unfortunately, such valuable talismans were limited. Her master gave her two more, leaving himself with only one.

Altogether, Zhou Yanxi now had three of these talismans. But she knew she couldn't just strip her master bare. No matter how strong he was, these things could save his life too.

Though she was tempted, she quickly tossed aside that unfilial thought and reminded herself to always respect her teacher.

This time, the Langhuan Secret Realm would be jointly accessed by both human and demonic cultivators, totaling 400 participants. The four major sects each sent 50 cultivators, accounting for 200 human participants. The other 200 were demonic cultivators.

The Langhuan Secret Realm was notorious as a slaughterhouse—a place where grudges between humans and demons were often settled with blood.

Each time the trial opened, less than 20% of the participants made it out alive.

Simply put: once inside the secret realm, everyone became a competitor.

Faced with rare resources and treasures, no one cared about old alliances or sect loyalty—it was every cultivator for themselves.

Zhou Yanxi's entrance was relatively normal. She was dropped into a spiritual herb field filled with millennia-old plants.

But something felt off. As soon as she saw all those precious herbs just lying around, Zhou Yanxi's first instinct was: Too fake. There's no way I'm this lucky.

The secret realm only opened once every fifty years. There was no way so many ancient spirit herbs would still be here—unguarded at that.

This had to be bait for foolish, greedy cultivators.

If it was fake, then there was only one explanation: illusion formation. Zhou Yanxi didn't dare move and instead stood completely still.

Though she had learned a bit about formations from her father, this one was far too complex and unusual for her half-baked skills to decipher.

Just then, she noticed a faint fluctuation in spiritual energy nearby. Her soul sense detected something odd—a brief glimpse of a fox tail.

Aha. Time for verbal intimidation.

"Hey, you sneaky thing hiding in there—if you don't come out right now, I'm going to burn you with my Heavenly Flame!"

Finally, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox emerged from its illusion formation, unwillingly dispelling the false scenery.

It was pure white, its amber eyes gleaming with cunning, and three tails swayed behind it.

Upon seeing Zhou Yanxi, it immediately declared with pride:

"I know you came here for me. But listen up! I, your grandmaster, won't submit so easily!"

What a narcissist. Zhou Yanxi didn't even want to spare it a second glance for fear it'd puff up with arrogance again.

In truth, this fox was bluffing. It was the only one of its kind left in the secret realm, abandoned here long ago.

Its power was currently weak, so all it could do was build illusion arrays for self-protection. It had no offensive capability at all.

Zhou Yanxi didn't want to waste time arguing. She could already tell this guy was clearly scheming something.

"Hey there, human cultivator… if you sign an equality contract with me, I'll protect you until you ascend!"

Zhou Yanxi didn't even blink. She wasn't about to contract with this freeloading fox.

Why would she invite an ancestor-level parasite into her life?

Watching her walk away, the Nine-Tailed Fox felt dejected. No! He had to get out of here. He had rejected all the ugly losers before, but this girl with the Heavenly Flame—she was different.

He had to rethink his strategy—maybe he could at least convince her to bring him out of the secret realm.

As soon as Zhou Yanxi saw that it had three tails, she'd already decided to abandon the area.

A fox with three tails meant three lives. In its illusion domain, she'd never be able to kill it—unless she let her flame burn its own core, which was obviously a loss-making deal.

So she chose to retreat and search elsewhere.

What she didn't expect was… a fluffy tail had started silently trailing her.