[I'm in the southwest of Feng State, almost reaching the West Continent. Is there anything?]
Zhang Ze looked at Li Yueqi's reply and calculated the distance, realizing that place was quite far away.
But his sister wasn't home, and he could find his brother. Zhang Ze remembered the last contact, where Li Jue said he was at Dragon Viewing Mountain, a place within the Cang Mountain territory.
[Nothing, heroine, take care on the road, I'm going to find Li Jue]
Seeing Zhang Ze's reply, Li Yueqi frowned slightly and felt annoyed again.
She got up, using a magical artifact she carried to collect the demon beast's corpse, then patted her robe and said to her two companions, "Let's go home."
After contacting Li Jue, the response was quick. The letter came shortly, but it only contained three words.
Putting away the little walnut, Zhang Ze carried Li and walked towards the place where the Thousand Mechanism Pavilion parked the flying ship.
Somewhere in Dragon Viewing Mountain.
Li Jue was carrying a dead wild deer, hiding his tracks all the way, crossing through shrubs, wading through icy water, and heading north for another mile before returning to his and his companions' hiding place.
After laboriously moving the large stone that blocked the cave entrance, Li Jue leaned against the rock, panting for a long time.
Since he and his junior brothers and sisters fell into this secret realm, their cultivation was slowly being sealed, decreasing a little each day. By today, it had already fallen to the third layer of Qi Cultivation.
Their spirit beasts were even more affected. If it weren't for Li Jue quickly using a magical artifact he carried to store the spirit beasts inside and protect them upon noticing something was wrong, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Senior Brother, are you okay?" Junior Brother Xie Xin came at the sound, took the dead deer off Li Jue's back, and helped Li Jue move the large stone back to block the cave entrance again.
"I'm fine, but if our cultivation continues to decrease in a few days, we might have to find another way to block the entrance." Li Jue sighed.
Seeing Junior Brother Xie's hesitant expression, Li Jue comforted him.
"My sister gets itchy hands if she doesn't beat me for half a month. Once she returns to the Beast Taming Sect and finds I'm not there, she will definitely come looking for me.
The old man too, we won't be in trouble."
"But... what if the time here is different from the outside?" Junior Brother Xie finally voiced his concern.
Li Jue made a shushing gesture and whispered, "How did you find out?"
Junior Brother Xie took a leaf out of his pocket, which had been attached to him before entering the secret realm.
Even after all this time, the leaf was still fresh, as if it had just been picked.
"Don't tell Xiaotao about this, understand?" Li Jue patted Junior Brother Xie's shoulder and walked with him, carrying the deer into the depths of the cave.
In the cave's depths, the petite female cultivator who controlled the giant elephant was sitting on a piece of fur, carefully sorting through all sorts of thousand mechanism magical artifacts and defensive items.
Now their cultivation was gradually being sealed, and to prevent falling back to mortal status where they couldn't use the storage ring, they had taken out some essential items in advance.
"Tao Qing, Senior Brother is back," Xie Xin said.
"Senior Brother, are you okay?" Tao Qing approached with concern.
"I'm fine. Not only am I fine, but I also managed to hunt a deer," Li Jue smiled.
Tao Qing was silent for a moment, then asked, "So... you still haven't found the little walnut?"
Li Jue's smile froze, and he sighed, "No, I retraced my steps but couldn't find it."
The grain avoidance pills they carried were plentiful, hunting deer was just incidental, and finding the little walnut was the real task.
"Perhaps it was carried off by a wild beast," Xie Xin comforted, "Tomorrow I'll go out with Senior Brother to search again, maybe..."
"Shh, that thing is coming," Li Jue immediately covered Xie Xin's mouth.
Tao Qing did the same, crouched down cautiously, and held her breath.
Outside the cave, there was the sound of a dragon's roar.