Chapter 1863: Unknown Land

"These guys are incredibly brazen. If we hadn't arrived, they might have already gone for the kill."

Guangdong Ren frowned, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

Since arriving in the Thousand Gourd Realm, Guangdong Ren had also amassed considerable wealth. He had profited from the Wang family's affiliated forces; while the Wang family "ate the meat," Guangdong Ren "drank a few mouthfuls of hot soup." The behavior of other cultivators who had come to the East Fence Realm was truly unsightly; framing others was secondary, as they had even begun to fight amongst themselves.

With Soul Transformation cultivators preoccupied with plundering treasures, no one was maintaining order, and the Thousand Gourd Realm had descended into chaos.

"Let's find Seventh Brother and Martial Uncle Tian first; other matters can wait."

Wang Qingjing's tone was heavy. She had immediately sent someone to contact Guangdong Ren, and together they had come to the scene, hoping to find Wang Qingshan.

Daoist Xuanling was secretly astonished. It seemed the Wang family's power was considerable; otherwise, the three Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't have retreated so dejectedly.

"Ancestor, it's a good thing you arrived, or we might have been in grave danger."

Wang Huayang flew over and spoke respectfully.

"How is it? Have any of you gone inside?"

Wang Qingjing inquired about the main issue.

"Following your instructions, Ancestor, I haven't allowed anyone to enter."

Wang Huayang replied truthfully.

Hearing this, Wang Qingjing's face showed satisfaction, and she instructed, "You all continue to guard this place; we'll go inside and take a look."

Wang Qingjing, Guangdong Ren, and Daoist Xuanling arrived at the secret realm's entrance, their expressions varied.

"Fairy Wang, Daoist Guang, this is the entrance to the secret realm. Inside, there's a fifth-tier demonic beast. Its power is immense, and it's skilled in earth evasion techniques, making it effortlessly capable of slaying Nascent Soul cultivators."

Daoist Xuanling pointed at the entrance, his expression tense.

"Since we're here, let's go in and see. No matter what, we need to find him, dead or alive."

Wang Qingjing's tone was heavy.

"Qingjing, it's better not to go in. Your Seventh Brother's divine abilities are considerable; he might just be recuperating somewhere! We just need to guard the entrance. If something happens to you again, your parents will be frantic."

Guangdong Ren advised her, his tone gentle.

"That's right! If we encounter that fifth-tier demonic beast, we won't be able to escape at all."

Daoist Xuanling chimed in.

Wang Qingjing considered it carefully, then nodded, "Alright! We won't go in, but we can send some cultivators to scout ahead. At the very least, we need a general understanding of the secret realm to support our next steps."

"Naturally. Let's send in some low-tier cultivators to scout first!"

Daoist Xuanling wholeheartedly agreed, as long as he wasn't required to enter.

Wang Qingjing dispatched Wang Huayang and three other Core Formation cultivators into the secret realm, instructing them to follow Wang Qingshan's route from that day to see if the fifth-tier demonic beast was still present.

A colossal, heaven-reaching peak pierced the clouds. Narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, it looked like a gigantic gourd from a distance, standing proudly in the world.

Wang Qingshan and Bai Linger stood halfway up the mountain. Not far away were two humanoid skeletons. Upon closer inspection, their bone structures showed clear fractures, indicating they had suffered severe injuries before death.

Their magic power was slowly draining away. Fortunately, they had plenty of spirit stones and pills on them, otherwise they would have run out of magic power long ago.

Two dimly glowing storage rings were on the skeletons' hands, and a tattered red magic robe lay on the ground.

"To think they died here. Is there a powerful demonic beast around?"

Bai Linger said, frowning, her face full of wariness.

As time passed, she found that the restrictions on divine sense grew stronger in this area. Under such conditions, they could easily be ambushed by demonic beasts skilled in concealing their presence.

Wang Qingshan said nothing, controlling an ape puppet beast to walk towards the humanoid remains.

The ape puppet beast walked to the side of the skeletons, bent down to retrieve the two storage rings from them, and returned to Wang Qingshan.

Wang Qingshan took the storage rings, and with a gentle flick of his wrist, a swath of green spiritual light swept past, revealing a pile of items on the ground: jade slips, ancient texts, jade boxes, porcelain bottles, magic treasures, talismans, ores, and more.

Wang Qingshan examined the contents of the jade slips one by one, while Bai Linger stood guard beside him.

"Daoist Tianfeng, Recluse Kuangyan, Master Qianyue, Rogue Cultivator Zizhu... so many Nascent Soul cultivators have been here."

Wang Qingshan's brows furrowed. In the storage rings, he found records from four Nascent Soul cultivators who had inadvertently stumbled into this area. They had left behind accounts in jade slips describing how they became trapped in the Spirit-Locking Land. All of them had come here seeking treasures and had accidentally wandered into the Spirit-Locking Land during their battles with demonic beasts. As for the size of the Spirit-Locking Land, they also didn't know.

The spirit herbs and pills were already ruined, but there were two spirit treasures.

He had obtained the progression maps of the four Nascent Soul cultivators, which was at least some gain.

According to the maps, none of the four Nascent Soul cultivators had explored beyond this point; they had stopped here.

"Be careful. Ahead, there might be powerful restrictions or demonic beasts skilled in concealing their presence."

Wang Qingshan cautioned, dividing the treasures in half, one share for himself and one for Bai Linger.

In perilous places like the Spirit-Locking Land, their chances of escaping were higher if they cooperated sincerely.

The two walked up the mountain, with the ape puppet beast leading the way.

"Daoist Wang, do you think we'll be trapped and die here?"

Bai Linger asked with a frown, her beautiful eyes filled with worry.

Clearly, no one had been here before, otherwise they would have taken the two storage rings. This meant that what lay ahead was unknown, and the unknown was the most terrifying.

"If we find a way out, we won't die. If we don't, it's hard to say."

Wang Qingshan's tone was indifferent. This was the first time Wang Qingshan had encountered such a situation since stepping into the cultivation world.

After walking for over a hundred steps, Wang Qingshan suddenly stopped, his brows furrowing.

"What's wrong?"

Bai Linger was slightly startled. Her divine sense was severely affected, and she hadn't detected anything unusual.

Wang Qingshan suddenly extended his right hand and embraced Bai Linger's slender waist. Bai Linger felt her delicate body tighten, and a strong masculine scent filled her nostrils, causing a blush to rise on her cheeks.

A faint, indistinct gray shadow swept past Bai Linger's original position, clearly some kind of demonic creature.

Wang Qingshan formed a sword art, and nine Azure Glaze Swords flew out from his sword scabbard, circling him. A dull clanging sound came from a certain direction, with sparks flying.

The nine Azure Glaze Swords instantly merged into one, transforming into a towering, gleaming blue sword that slashed towards a certain void.

With a muffled thud, a strangely shaped demonic beast appeared within their sight.

The beast had an ape's head, a rat's body, and eagle claws, covered in gray bristles. A pair of emerald green eyes stared directly at Wang Qingshan and Bai Linger. It was a fourth-tier high-grade demonic beast.

"Seeking death!"

Bai Linger's expression turned cold, and a blinding white light erupted from her eyes.

When the demonic beast saw the white light, its eyes became dull, and it let out a strange roar.

Seizing this opportunity, the towering giant sword descended from the sky and cleaved the strange beast's head.

With a dull thud, the strange beast's head vanished, and its headless corpse fell to the ground.

If they had faced it head-on, it wouldn't have been so easy for Wang Qingshan to slay a fourth-tier high-grade demonic beast. However, with Bai Linger's mastery of illusion techniques and her cooperation, Wang Qingshan found it much easier to eliminate this demonic creature.