Entering the Secret Realm

"What do you think if we just knock him out and take him with us?" Gong Hanyu asked earnestly.

"The secret realm is right here and won't disappear. Can you really keep him unconscious indefinitely? Besides, the Ning family are no pushovers." Yun Shan hadn't failed to consider it.

The Ning residence was heavily guarded, leaving no opportunity whatsoever.

Moreover, Ning Qingyun didn't trust him at all right now.

"You'd better find a way to pin that matter on the Ning family and completely distance yourself from it. I still hope you can help him walk out of the shadows," Yun Shan reminded him.

"Rest assured, I know Qingyun is a sentimental person. We practically grew up together. I understand him and know what to do," Gong Hanyu replied with a faint smile.

"You two should find a safe place to stay. This ring contains enough food and water. Don't be greedy and go searching for treasures. Although no one has been able to come out yet, don't rush; the Research Institute is still investigating. Maybe one day you'll be able to get out," Gong Hanyu cautioned anxiously.

"Quite a few people went in earlier, so there must be survivors. Take this token. If anyone bears this symbol, you can present it—they are my family's people, and they will obey," Gong Hanyu pressed a token into Yun Shan's hand, engraved with an intricate pattern and icon.

"Back then, why did you leave for abroad without even saying goodbye?" Yun Shan asked, unable to help himself as he watched Gong Hanyu gaze toward Ning Qingyun with eyes full of concern.

"I had my unspeakable reasons." Gong Hanyu furrowed her brow slightly, appearing reluctant to bring it up.

"Then what did you say to him at the airport? His expression was so wretched when he returned." Yun Shan had harbored resentment toward Gong Hanyu, always believing something she did caused Ning Qingyun to become disillusioned with love and hastily marry Rong Xianxian to escape his family's manipulation.

Seeing how Gong Hanyu rushed around, worrying and caring for them in a way that didn't seem fake, he couldn't help asking about the past.

"I didn't see Qingyun at the airport at all. I left in such a hurry without greeting him; why would he go to the airport?" Gong Hanyu was filled with questions. Recalling her conversation with her aunt at the airport back then, her face instantly turned pale.

If Qingyun had overheard that conversation... Gong Hanyu felt a chill sweep through her heart.

It was a trap deliberately set by others, and she had foolishly walked right into it.

"I have to go. Take care of yourself." Seeing Ning Qingyun brush off Ying Cai'e and her daughter and step directly into the secret realm passage, Yun Shan hurried over. He dared not follow too closely, yet he was too uneasy to stay too far behind.

Judging by Gong Hanyu's demeanor, there might have been some misunderstanding between the two regarding past events.

The colorful clouds and mist at the entrance of the secret realm flickered twice in succession, and Ning Qingyun and Yun Shan entered the misty secret realm one after the other.

As soon as he stepped into the secret realm, before he even had a chance to assess the situation, Ning Qingyun felt the spiritual energy filling all the meridians and limbs throughout his body surge violently.

A crisp, cracking sound resembling popping beans echoed from his bones. Deep within his lower abdomen, at the dantian, the hazy purple flame phantom ignited and exploded instantly as if lamp oil had been poured over it. A dull, thunder-like roar rumbled from his lower abdomen, sending sparks flying. The fire eagerly devoured the spiritual energy flowing through the nearby meridians and nourishing the surrounding acupuncture points, instantly swallowing every trace of spiritual energy clean. With no fuel left, the ferocious flame blazed as if scorching his internal organs.

Ning Qingyun hurriedly circulated his cultivation technique. As he did so, countless wisps of spiritual energy rushed eagerly into his body, making every cell and pore feel as though they were emitting a sigh of comfort.

The density of the spiritual energy in the secret realm gave him the illusion of being immersed in an ocean of spiritual energy. To Ning Qingyun's pleasant surprise, the damage sustained by his meridians during the popping-bean phase was quickly repaired and widened by the dense, gentle nourishment of the spiritual energy, rendering them much tougher.

The meridians, which had originally followed separate paths, interconnected and converged together into the flame phantom at the dantian. Nourished by the incoming spiritual energy, the flickering flame slowly stabilized, peacefully accepting the supply of spiritual energy.

After an unknown passage of time, the hazy purple flame phantom at his dantian transformed into a cluster of vigorous purple flames that illuminated the entire dantian.

A delicate bridge seemed to connect the edge of the dantian to each of the meridians.

The Qi Bridge Realm.

Ning Qingyun had just broken through his cultivation bottleneck, his mind immersed in the wondrous changes within his body, remaining completely oblivious to the outside world.

As he concluded his cultivation and his consciousness returned, a heavy scent of blood filled his nostrils, accompanied by Yun Shan's hurried panting and the intimidating low growls of a monster.

Ning Qingyun was suddenly startled. He had never expected that a cultivation level which had stubbornly refused to budge despite his diligent efforts would suddenly break through without warning or possibility of suppression under such circumstances.

And this was a desolate death zone!

Yun Shan was covered in blood, sprawled on the ground. It was impossible to tell where his wounds were, and his left arm hung limply, clearly injured.

An exotic beast resembling a lizard, with six legs and a single horn on its head, was swinging its long tail toward Ning Qingyun. Yun Shan scrambled up from the ground and threw himself forward to intercept the monster's tail.

The exotic beast's long tail was covered in bony spikes, sweeping through the air with the momentum of wind and thunder. If one were to take that blow squarely, death or severe disability was practically guaranteed.

Seeing the spikes on the beast's tail about to pierce Yun Shan's internal organs, Ning Qingyun remained indifferent.

Yun Shan cast a resentful glance at his direction, feigned a slip of the foot, and tumbled backward onto his back. The spikes on the tail swept past less than an inch above his chest, maintaining their momentum without the slightest deceleration, and viciously thrust toward the neck of Ning Qingyun, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground and had yet to rise.

The airflow stirred by the exotic beast's tail fluttered the stray hairs on Ning Qingyun's forehead. His expression remained unchanged. He raised his left arm slightly and traced a half-circle with his left hand, slapping toward the monster's long, bone-spiked tail. The moment his slender, distinct-jointed palm made contact with the terrifyingly spiked tail, a shrill, miserable screech rang out from the exotic beast. Its long tail began to burn away inch by inch into ashes as if scorched by fire.

"You've succeeded!" Yun Shan scrambled up from the ground in agitation, his face beaming with joy. He had noticed the very moment Ning Qingyun's conscious state shifted.

Two-thirds of the exotic beast's long tail had turned to ash, making it impossible to maintain its balance. It collapsed heavily onto the ground with a miserable howl.

Ning Qingyun stood up, approached the exotic beast, and drove his sword straight into its eye. The sharp blade penetrated the eye and entered the brain. The beast's body struggled limply a few times before falling completely still.

The exotic beast's entire body was covered in hardened, bone-like skin, leaving only its eyes as a relatively vulnerable defense, making them the easiest target.

"You've mastered the *Great Annihilation Technique*," Yun Shan asked excitedly.

"The beast's strength was mediocre. Did you inflict these injuries on yourself on purpose?" Ning Qingyun asked coldly.

"Boss, how can you say that? I was trying to protect you! That beast looked at you as if you were some divine elixir; I couldn't lure it away no matter what, so I had no choice but to go toe-to-toe with it. If you hadn't woken up, I wouldn't have been able to hold on much longer." Yun Shan felt deeply wronged. What was wrong with just testing him for a second?

The gruesome state Yun Shan was in made Ning Qingyun involuntarily knit his brows. He had long since declared a complete severance of ties with him.

In the Ning family, he lacked freedom and had been unable to shake him off.

He had expected to ditch him upon entering the secret realm, yet the man had actually followed him in—and it was evident from the circumstances that he had been wounded while trying to protect him.

Under such conditions, Ning Qingyun simply could not abandon him to fend for himself.