"Where did you get this pill?" Jing Feng asked tentatively, looking at her.
Bai Ran turned her head, her eyes narrowing.
She stared into Jing Feng's eyes and spoke coldly, word by word: "Jing Feng, you've crossed the line."
The moment Bai Ran stared into his eyes, Jing Feng felt as if he saw the Venerable Lord. The dangerous aura, the icy tone, the natural demeanor of a superior.
His body reacted involuntarily and he knelt down, a chill spreading across his back. He blurted out, "This subordinate knows his mistake."
From this moment on, Jing Feng's restless heart dared not harbor any further transgressions. Regardless of how casual and unrestrained Bai Ran was, Jing Feng always remembered that soul-shaking tremor.
Long Jin Han, far away, sneezed, unaware that his subordinate was gradually being won over by Bai Ran.
Bai Ran turned her head, her expression returning to its recent placidity. She ignored the kneeling Jing Feng and continued to stare at the person in front of her.
The hallucination pill had taken full effect.
Bai Luohan's vision shifted, and Bai Ran, appearing from nowhere, was defiantly provoking her.
"Bai Ran! I will kill you!" Bai Luohan's face was filled with hatred. Gritting her teeth, she glared at the person opposite her, reached for her waist, drew out her Spirit Extinguisher Whip, and swung it towards Mu Rong Jin.
Meanwhile, Mu Rong Jin saw Bai Ran drawing her whip and attacking him. "Bai Ran! Don't be ungrateful! It's your good fortune from eight lifetimes to have me take an interest in you!" He then struck out with a palm.
However, Bai Luohan, at the third stage of Qi refinement, was no match for Mu Rong Jin, who was at the fourth stage. She was struck in her vital meridians by a palm and crashed heavily against a tree, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Stunned by their sudden frenzied actions, Qin Mu Bai froze for a moment before reacting immediately.
It was likely the help of that person lurking in the shadows again.
Could that person in the shadows be her...
Qin Mu Bai gazed blankly into the depths of the dense forest, hoping to catch sight of that crimson figure.
After delivering the palm strike, Mu Rong Jin regained his senses.
He stared at his palm in disbelief. What had just happened to him? He had momentarily mistaken Bai Luohan for Bai Ran? And then attacked and injured her?
He looked up at Bai Luohan, who had already fainted, and hurried to her side, shaking her body. "Luohan! Luohan!"
After two calls, Bai Luohan remained motionless. Mu Rong Jin panicked. "Luohan, hold on!" He scooped up Bai Luohan and rushed towards the exit of the secret realm.
The spoils from the Royal Secret Realm were all dependent on opportunities. Staying longer in the secret realm did not guarantee more treasures. The royal secret realm could be exited at any time, which was one of the royal family's trump cards for ensuring the safety of their young disciples. However, if one did not leave immediately and died within, the royal family bore no responsibility.
Mu Rong Jin, carrying Bai Luohan, departed without even glancing at Qin Mu Bai, who stood motionless.
Bai Ran, hidden in the shadows, glanced at the still kneeling Jing Feng. "Let's go."
Upon hearing this, Jing Feng followed her.
On the surface, the two wandered aimlessly throughout the forest. In reality, Bai Ran's spiritual power had already covered the entire woods.
She precisely located the treasures and picked them up as she strolled. Spirit herbs tens of thousands of years old, and divine artifacts only seen in the Ninth Heaven, were picked up with such ease, as if they were mere stones found by the roadside.
Jing Feng, despite his worldly experience, felt the corner of his mouth twitching. Was Heaven showing her exceptional favor?
If others saw this, they would surely spit up three liters of blood and complain about Heaven's injustice for a long time.
Actually, Bai Ran herself was also continuously puzzled.
Her memories should not have any issues. There were only two divine artifacts in the Vermilion Bird Kingdom: one in the hands of the royal family and the other with her grandfather. Yet here, there were dozens of divine artifacts.
Over the years, how could those who entered the secret realm not find even a single one?
Furthermore, there was a place her spiritual power could not penetrate at all, which made Bai Ran feel very strange.
Following the guidance of her spiritual power, she slowly moved towards that location.
Gradually, a thick fog began to drift before her eyes, and the atmosphere became eerie and strange.
Jing Feng, lacking immense spiritual power, had to slow his pace as the fog thickened. Bai Ran, however, relying on her powerful spiritual energy, maintained a steady stride.
Gradually, the two became separated!
"Where did she go? Why is she gone again??"
How could she disappear right before his eyes?
"Did a ghost take her??"
Jing Feng searched frantically in the fog, bumping around like a headless fly.
Meanwhile, Bai Ran had entered another area.
The moment she stepped into this place, she felt an increase in the concentration of spiritual energy.
Bai Ran did not dare to relax her vigilance, looking around as she walked.
She noticed spiritual stones buried under the soil, placed in every corner.
It seemed this was a formation, and Bai Ran's delicate eyebrows furrowed.
The spiritual energy within the formation was exceptionally dense, very suitable for cultivation. If ordinary people were not paying attention, they would sit down to cultivate.
The consequences of sitting down and cultivating with focus were likely unknown.
Bai Ran looked up at her surroundings. Where was the formation's eye?
The surrounding fog was dense, and she couldn't find her direction. She had no clue and paced back and forth within the formation, contemplating.
Mist permeated the surroundings, and the only thing visible was the sun, shrouded by the fog.
The sun! Bai Ran looked up at the sun in the sky and suddenly realized.
She summoned the fiery red sword from her spatial storage, unleashed her Qi refinement stage nine spiritual energy, gripped the sword, and thrust it fiercely towards the sun.
Like a blazing inferno, the sword pierced through layers of mist and swiftly flew towards the sun in the sky.
"Crack!" The sword pierced directly into the sun in the sky.
The sun within the barrier was not a real sun, merely a formation eye.
The barrier shattered.
As the barrier broke, a circular aperture appeared beneath Bai Ran's feet.
Bai Ran was startled. "Not good! This is a teleportation array!"
However, it was too late to retreat.
The air rippled, the scene changed, and Bai Ran appeared outside a palace.
The palace's magnificent golden gates exuded a majestic aura.
But outside the grand hall, countless skeletal corpses were piled on the ground. A group of mystical beasts, in an orderly fashion, picked up the bones and bodies of the deceased, brought them to a cleared area of land, dug a deep pit with their sharp claws, and tossed the corpses in, burying them.
Instantly, a seedling sprouted from the ground and slowly transformed into a towering tree.
Bai Ran's skin involuntarily prickled as she witnessed this scene.
So, the tall trees in this secret realm were all transformed from deceased individuals!
So, for the past few days in the forest, they had been walking amongst piles of the dead.
What the world called treasure hunting was actually picking up their遗物 (relics)!
Bai Ran calmed herself and turned to look at the towering, magnificent golden gate.
Her intuition told her it was extremely dangerous and that she might lose her life here.
But with high risk came high reward.
She was a person who gambled with her life. As long as she didn't die, she would fight to the death.
Bai Ran slowly walked forward and pushed open the palace gate. With a creak, the heavy gate slowly opened.
There was no light; the hall was extremely dim. Mysterious black energy, in wisps and clusters, drifted within the hall, exuding an eerie, terrifying aura that made one's hair stand on end and their skin crawl.
Bai Ran forcibly suppressed the unease in her heart and walked to the center of the hall.
"The prophesied person, how could they be such a young girl?"
A low, hoarse voice of an old man echoed.
Bai Ran felt a gaze upon her, but the hall was empty.
"Esteemed elder," Bai Ran said respectfully, bowing.
"At this moment, you are not yet able to receive the inheritance of this hall, nor can you wield this power," the old man's voice drifted slowly.
In the center of the hall, a piece of black jade materialized and floated directly towards Bai Ran.
Bai Ran accepted the black jade. It was completely black and felt cool and comfortable to the touch.
"When you reach the Golden Core stage, inject spiritual energy into this black jade, and you will be able to enter the palace again."
"Esteemed elder, may I ask what 'prophesied person' means?" Bai Ran asked, without looking up.
"Alas."
A sigh echoed. After a long pause, the old man spoke, "Your strength is insufficient. Knowing too much will only add to your troubles. One day, you will know."
After these words, the gaze disappeared.
She clutched the stone in her hand, suddenly feeling the burden on her shoulders inexplicably heavy.
The path back was incredibly smooth, so smooth it felt as if it had been meticulously planned just for her.
An uncertain path and an unpredictable future were enough to change a person, either strengthening their resolve and making them more powerful, or causing them to collapse under the weight and perish halfway.
However, Bai Ran could only be the former, and would only ever be the former.