"No," Bai Shengyi replied concisely. She frowned slightly, taking a compass from her storage bag to compare. "The direction is also correct."
Thus, the two continued to follow the green bird for some distance.
"Meow~"
"Master, it says there are people ahead," Qing Meng Teng promptly translated the Moon Crescent Cat's words to Bai Shengyi.
Several pink clouds floated before the two. Bai Shengyi furrowed her brows, just as she signaled Feng Wuya to stop and hide them deep within the clouds, she heard voices discussing nearby.
"There's a magic treasure for scouting, someone's entered?"
"How is that possible? Song Sheng said these abandoned slaves only gathered the Flowing Light Cloud Brocade last time. They won't let anyone else in this time the secret realm opens."
"No matter what, quickly find the items. Otherwise, we'll all be in trouble when we get back!"
...
The voices gradually faded away, but Bai Shengyi and Feng Wuya remained still in their spot. After a while, seeing that no one returned and they had truly left, the two emerged from the clouds.
Bai Shengyi retracted the slender vine she had used for covert observation and stopped Qing Meng Teng from further investigation, to avoid alerting the enemy.
Her expression was grave, and she said to Feng Wuya, "Three Golden Core cultivators."
Feng Wuya did not doubt Bai Shengyi's words. He gasped in shock, then frowned tightly, his panic mixed with disbelief. "It's not Qing Bu Li and his group?"
"Correct." Bai Shengyi couldn't help but feel fortunate that she had been cautious and added a layer of spiritual energy barrier to shield their aura. Otherwise, with their Foundation Establishment cultivation, they might have been exposed to these people. These individuals clearly meant trouble, so caution was paramount.
"Feng Wuya, do you know who Song Sheng they mentioned is?" Bai Shengyi mused. "This secret realm belongs to the academy. Judging by their tone, they should have entered privately. But I remember Senior Sister saying that one needs a secret realm key to open it. Did they obtain it from someone named Song Sheng?"
Feng Wuya shook his head. Although he could always gather all sorts of information, like Bai Shengyi, he had only recently arrived at the academy and didn't know many people.
"Never mind, I hope we don't run into them." Bai Shengyi said. After Feng Wuya released another green bird, they continued on their way.
However, Feng Wuya remained very silent, a stark contrast to his previous liveliness.
Bai Shengyi asked, "What's wrong?"
"Abandoned slaves... are they referring to us?" Feng Wuya slowly asked. "Did I hear wrong?"
Bai Shengyi also fell silent. In truth, she had thought about it more than Feng Wuya. Her previous experiences in the Taoyuan Secret Realm had given Bai Shengyi a new understanding of this world, and she silently questioned some of the common perceptions on this continent. Are there really no other continents outside the Shenqi Continent? If there are, are the cultivators on those continents even more profound in their cultivation? In other words, is it possible that reaching the late stage of Golden Core, or even Mahayana, is the ultimate limit?
"I don't know," Bai Shengyi said. "But it's useless to think about these things now. Why don't you consider what we should do if those people are also looking for Starfall Emperor Huan, should we encounter them..."
Before the word "do" could be uttered, a loud "boom" suddenly echoed from ahead!
"I, I don't want to travel with you, and I don't know where Shengyi is," came Zhu Wu's timid yet firm voice.
"This Prince doesn't believe it!" Jin Lingyun's face instantly turned grim. "Jiang Ruomei, stop him!"
Zhu Wu dared not look back. While throwing out a fire talisman he had recently learned, he also summoned his natal spiritual artifact, the small boat he had used in Qianlian Sea, and fled forward rapidly. Although he had bad luck, he had possessed keen intuition since childhood, which was why he kept his distance when he heard Jin Lingyun talk about traveling together and taking care of him. As expected, their true intention was to make him help deal with Shengyi. As soon as he refused, the two turned hostile.
The Qianyun Secret Realm was full of clouds. While his spiritual boat was moving, Zhu Wu focused most of his attention on dealing with Jin Lingyun and Jiang Ruomei on both sides, completely failing to notice that the pure white clouds floating ahead had already turned into a soft, treacherous swamp. It wasn't until a rotten stench entered his nostrils that, with a loud "splash," the spiritual boat was overturned by an unknown object!
"Run! If you have the ability, run again!" Jin Lingyun seized Zhu Wu and beat him severely. "This Prince will ask you one more time, where is Bai Shengyi?"
Zhu Wu kept his mouth shut and said nothing.
"You..."
"Senior Brother Jin, hurry and move aside!" Jiang Ruomei exclaimed.
The sound of wind breaking through the air reached his ears. Jin Lingyun hurriedly dodged, only to see a deeply marsh crocodile miss its target, fall back into the swamp, and then, with a flick of its tail, sink into the mud, leaving only its back exposed, resembling a small bulging mound on the swamp's surface.
"Senior Brother Jin, let's leave here first. This is the territory of the Deep Marsh Crocodiles." Jiang Ruomei retreated a few steps, warily looking towards the undulating swamp in the distance. The more she looked, the more fearful she became. Deep Marsh Crocodiles were a unique species from the depths of the Wuwang Cloud Sea. They could summon lightning, had thick hides, and were pack beasts. The one just now was at least Rank Four, and how many Deep Marsh Crocodiles were hidden in this area was unknown. They were only two people now; if a fight broke out, they would be no match. She just wanted to leave quickly.
But Jin Lingyun, seeing Zhu Wu's obstinate defiance like black iron, became enraged. After knocking the person unconscious, he said, "Leave where! This Prince will cripple this brat first!" Jin Lingyun, with a dark expression, raised his sword and fiercely stabbed towards Zhu Wu's dantian.
"Boom!" The crocodile that had just dived into the swamp leaped out again, summoning a bolt of lightning to strike at Jin Lingyun. Jin Lingyun instinctively changed the direction of his sword to meet the lightning and was struck directly. As if this were a signal, four or five more bolts of lightning appeared, all heading towards the three of them!
Jin Lingyun, struck until his face was blackened, raised his hand and prepared to use Zhu Wu as a shield against the lightning.
Bai Shengyi and Feng Wuya, who had been chasing after them, saw this scene—
"Qing Meng Teng!" Bai Shengyi called out. The "Jadeite Bracelet" on her wrist instantly lengthened, whipping out and binding Zhu Wu, snatching him over.
Bai Shengyi looked at the numerous wounds on Zhu Wu, her face turning cold with anger. She handed him over to Feng Wuya. "Take good care of him, Wuya."
"Shengyi..."
As Feng Wuya called out in concern, he saw Bai Shengyi summon the Reincarnation Brush in one hand and charge into the lightning with the vine whip in the other. At this moment, Jin Lingyun, due to Zhu Wu's earlier bad luck, had been struck by four bolts of lightning and was dazed. Only Jiang Ruomei was still struggling to hold on. Seeing this, Jiang Ruomei's eyes lit up. Forgetting their past unpleasantness, she shouted, "Junior Sister Bai, please save us quickly!"