“Leaving it to fate,” made everyone feel a chill down their spines.
Even Path-Entering Martial Artists didn’t know what lay beyond; how could they be certain that this was indeed the exit?
Nevertheless, there was no turning back now; to stay here meant certain death.
Perhaps taking a risk might reveal a different world.
The first to leave were Mo Hai and Mo Ling.
Mo Ling clung to Mo Hai’s arm, fearing she might once again be separated from her grandfather after their previous isolation experience.
Under the watchful eyes of many, Mo Hai and Mo Ling stepped through the gateway to the unknown territory.
There was a water curtain behind the door.
Ordinary martial artists might mistake it for a common water curtain.
But only Xia Liu knew what it represented.
It obstructed Divine Sense, effectively isolating this place from the unknown region beyond.
“Everyone wait here; after crossing, I will come back to report the situation,” Mo Hai promised before leading Mo Ling into the water curtain.
As the water fell, the figures of the two disappeared completely from everyone’s sight.
After waiting for about three minutes, the atmosphere at the scene became more oppressive.
Mo Hai did not return to report any conditions.
Whether they arrived in the unknown territory or the Lingyun Mountain Range they were sucked into by the vortex was a mystery.
Everything remained an unknown.
“Brother Xia Liu, what should we do?” Han Mei asked weakly.
“I have no choice, even if there are lava and thorns on the other side, we must pass through,” Xia Liu explained and then nodded to several familiar people.
Ling Shiyu, Zhuang Hua, and others followed Xia Liu closely.
As he approached the water curtain, Xia Liu could clearly feel the strange power it contained.
As for what it was, he couldn’t clearly say; it was very special, somewhat like a formation, and yet not.
Passing through the water curtain, everything in front of them became dark.
Even Xia Liu with his Wisdom Eyes couldn’t see what surrounded them.
Suddenly, the darkness lasting no more than ten seconds, was replaced by a light shining ahead.
Xia Liu’s pace remained steady, neither fast nor slow, and his Divine Sense remained restricted, unable to spread out from his spirit sea.
As he neared the light, Xia Liu closed his eyes, having spent a long time in a space devoid of natural light.
Even those with Wisdom Eyes might be somewhat disoriented.
When he appeared in the place bathed in light, his Divine Sense surged outwards in all directions.
Observing the images reflected in his mind, Xia Liu quickly opened his eyes.
The most striking feature was the many structures nearby.
Those were man-made stone tables and rows of stone chairs, along with neatly pruned flowerbeds.
Looking further, they could see the azure Cloudsky, and looking down, they were above layers of floating clouds.
It was as exquisitely beautiful as a scene from a painting.
This was not a Different Dimensional Space but the Lingyun Mountain Range.
To be exact, they were now at the top of Lingyun Mountain!
“This is the peak of Lingyun Mountain!”
It was at that moment Ling Jue also came into view.
Seeing the familiar surroundings, he couldn’t help but scream out loud.
“It’s wonderful! We’ve made it out!”
Ling Shiyu jumped up in excitement.
In the Secret Realm, she was terrified; if it were not for Xia Liu and Han Mei’s company, she might not have made it this far.
“Sect Master Ling, Senior Xia, I just tried to go in and report the situation, but I couldn’t get in anymore.”
It was at this moment that Mo Hai came over with his granddaughter to apologize.
Xia Liu looked toward the passage he had just emerged from, there was nothing there except a stone gate, a sweep with his divine sense revealed.
Behind this small stone gate there was only rock, and beyond that was a cliff.
“It’s not your fault; now we can’t even get back into the secret realm if we wanted to.”
Although he didn’t fully understand the secret realm, from the current situation, that doorway was only an exit and not an entrance.
The techniques of cultivators are very mysterious; he was certain that within that dim space, there must be techniques at play, otherwise how could people be transported to the peak of Lingyun Mountain from the secret realm?
As Xia Liu pondered, more and more martial artists emerged from the passage.
They appeared outside the stone gate as if by instantaneous movement.
A few steps forward, and more appeared behind them; this phenomenon indeed had a somewhat mythic quality.
“Haha! I made it out!”
“Ouch! It’s not a dream! I really made it out.”
Seeing the many modern tools around them, some martial artists started to shout excitedly.
Some even pinched their own thighs like one might do in a dream, becoming excited when they realized it truly hurt.
Before long, all the martial artists from the space just now had come out.
“Thank you, seniors!” All the martial artists bowed in unison to Xia Liu to express their gratitude.
“Don’t mention it, you must have had some profound experiences on this journey; now go home.”
Most of these martial artists were from noble families, and they had never been through such hardships before.
In the secret realm there were not only those bizarre animals but also man-eating martial artists, the likes of Liu Lang.
Now they needed some time to process these experiences.
“Ah, this time probably many martial artists have perished in the secret realm,” sighed Ling Jue helplessly.
The annual event in the secret realm was nothing but a pretext.
It was an event organized by the Lingyun Sect in conjunction with several major families.
The main purpose was to cultivate both the personal and team abilities of the sect disciples and the noble family descendants outside.
Who would have thought that a real secret realm would appear; this was truly a tragedy.
“It’s all destiny, we can’t get in either, the door has already been opened; whoever can hold on till the end will have a chance to survive.”
At this point, Xia Liu didn’t know what to say.
He had done everything that could be done.
Clearing the waters of the strange fish, slaughtering the hordes of exotic rats, though he didn’t eradicate them all, those exotic rats would definitely be afraid and hide from humans the next time they encountered them.
The most critical thing, he had nearly exhausted his spiritual energy to open the exit gate.
What remained was up to the fate of those martial artists.
“Yes, whether they can make it out is up to them now. Senior Xia, since we don’t know the time or day, why don’t you come and sit at the Lingyun Sect?”
“Haha, of course,” Xia Liu said without elaborating, his storage ring still holding many warrior techniques and martial arts skills that he naturally would not use.
A move or two of martial arts was sufficient to cover his spirit art.
“Daoist Fellow Mo, Daoist Fellow Ji, you have also expended a lot this time; how about resting at Lingyun Sect first?”
“Thanks for Sect Master Ling’s kind offer, but my family has urgent matters to attend to, so I can’t stay here any longer,” replied Mo Hai after his response, bowing respectfully to Xia Liu and then departing from the mountain peak.
“Hehe, I feel the same way, I’ll be leaving first. Senior, thank you for granting me a new lease on life,” said Ji Wuming graciously.
Receiving Xia Liu’s reply, Ji Wuming quickly left without looking back.
He and Mo Hai were both in the same boat; how could they have the face to accompany Xia Liu to the Lingyun Sect?
They had both set their sights on Ling Shiyu and Han Mei before…