’This Secret Realm... it must have appeared in the world before...’

As he walked, this judgment surfaced in Chu Mu’s mind.

Based on what he’d seen along the way, it seemed a certainty.

With the Spiritual Qi in this Secret Realm being so dense, if it had been isolated from the world for thousands of years, then never mind anything else, most of the trees, flowers, and grasses right here would probably be rare treasures seldom seen in the outside world.

Although it’s extremely difficult for a plant to exceed its natural growth cycle, it’s ultimately just a matter of probability.

With such vast numbers, some were bound to appear.

In an environment isolated for so long, under the law of the jungle where only the fittest survive, them becoming commonplace would also be inevitable.

After all, if a tree that surpassed its normal growth cycle appeared in the forest, it would inevitably encroach on the growing space of other plants.

Any other plants that managed to survive would obviously have to be Spiritual Plants.

But here, while there were some Spiritual Plants among the flowers, grasses, and trees that had exceeded their growth limits, they were isolated cases, not the norm.

And in this forest, there were no signs of destruction or harvesting.

This was undoubtedly illogical.

’Unless... this Secret Realm has appeared before, and a large number of Cultivators descended upon it...’

Lost in thought, Chu Mu examined the tree before him. Compared to the others nearby, this one was much thicker, and the texture of its bark was far more intricate.

Spreading his Divine Sense, he could clearly perceive its fluctuations of Spiritual Qi.

’A Cangtong Tree...’

After a moment of identification, the tree’s name surfaced in his mind.

Cangtong Trees have a wide range of uses, but in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, their most common application is for crafting boats.

It was worth noting that the Cangtong Tree was itself a cultivated Spiritual Plant. Its normal growth cycle was about thirty years, after which it entered a new thirty-year cycle. With each cycle it surpassed, the Cangtong Tree’s value became increasingly precious.

The most valuable part of the Cangtong Wood was the innermost ring of wood, commonly known as the Wooden Heart.

In most Marketplaces, the vast majority of Low Tier Flying Boats were crafted using this Wooden Heart as the primary material.

This Cangtong Wood before him was at least a hundred years old, having already passed through several growth cycles. In the outside world, this would certainly be considered a rare treasure for him.

Chu Mu reached into his robes and pulled a Storage Talisman from a thick stack he had spent a fortune preparing. The Minghong Saber appeared, and within a few breaths, the Cangtong Wood before him was stripped of its outer bark, transforming into a jade-like log.

’One hundred and fifty years...’

He identified the age by its rings, then chopped the Cangtong Wooden Heart into several segments and tossed them into the Storage Talisman.

Looking around again, he saw mostly young Spiritual Plants and some common, mundane materials.

His earlier judgment grew even stronger.

Outside the valley was a range of sprawling mountains, quite similar to the terrain of the former Jade Emperor Valley.

But outside Jade Emperor Valley were mundane mountains, whereas outside this valley...

A jade-green dragonfly hovered in the air, the image captured by the Memory Stone playing back clearly.

Several surrounding mountain peaks were all very clear.

But in the mountains...

There were many Demon Beasts...

Chu Mu glanced back at the silent valley, his heart trembling involuntarily.

The valley was peaceful and serene.

Outside the valley, Demon Beasts were everywhere.

’What does this prove?’

’It proves there must be an extremely powerful Demon Beast in the valley, intimidating all the Demon Beasts outside.’

’And yet, Wangcai didn’t sense anything when we were in the valley just now...’

’Does that mean the beast has left temporarily, or perhaps it’s skilled at Concealing its Breath?’

’So, are people preparing to hunt this Demon Beast, or is there some kind of treasure inside?’

Chu Mu mused silently. The world of Demon Beasts was clearly governed by the naked law of the jungle.

Demon Beasts with strong Cultivation and high Combat Power occupy the best Spirit Veins, the places with the densest Spiritual Qi. And places with the densest Spiritual Qi are obviously the most suitable environments for Treasures of Heaven and Earth to grow.

Furthermore, a Demon Beast’s instincts are extremely sharp. If a treasure exists in a certain place, and the beast instinctively feels it will be beneficial, it will naturally guard the location and wait for the treasure to mature.

Thus, the notion of Demon Beasts guarding Treasures of Heaven and Earth was widespread in the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

Chu Mu subconsciously glanced toward the far end of the valley, feeling a stir of temptation. If that powerful Demon Beast had really left for a while, then...

’A Demon Beast is a treasure from head to toe!’

’Its flesh, bones, fur, and even its Divine Soul are all high-grade Spiritual Materials.’

’And the treasure that the Demon Beast was guarding...’

’A Demon Beast capable of occupying an entire valley and keeping other Demon Beasts from daring to come half a step closer couldn’t possibly be a mere Tier One Demon Beast.’

’Would a treasure needed by a High Tier Demon Beast be anything ordinary?’

BOOM!

ROAR...

Just as Chu Mu was pondering this, a boom echoed from the end of the valley, immediately followed by a soul-shaking roar!

WHIMPER...

Wangcai bent its front legs slightly, staring intently at the end of the valley. As it whimpered, its body began to tremble.

Fear...

Wangcai’s emotional fluctuations were very clear.

Within his line of sight, faint glimmers of light flickered, and he could seem to detect faint fluctuations of Spiritual Qi.

The distance was too great to see the situation clearly, but obviously, at the end of the valley... a battle was raging. And involved in it was a Demon Beast...

With a flick of his hand, Chu Mu sent the two jade-green dragonflies circling around him speeding off, one to the left and one to the right, toward the source of the commotion in the valley.

"Wangcai, come here."

Chu Mu called out in a low voice, quickly retracing his steps back toward the valley.

Wangcai followed close behind. The man and his dog concealed their auras, finally hiding in the woods to one side of the valley’s entrance.

The distance was still great, making it difficult to see clearly with the naked eye, but he was now within the Divine Sense control range of his bamboo dragonflies.

At this moment, the two jade-green bamboo dragonflies, one on the left and one on the right, had both landed on treetops, their color blending in perfectly with the leaves.

They were difficult to detect, whether by sight or by Divine Sense.

And within Chu Mu’s Divine Sense Perception, it was as if he had two Celestial Eyes, one on the left and one on the right, monitoring the pool at the end of the valley.

Through the surveillance of the bamboo dragonflies, the entire scene was projected into his mind with perfect clarity.

At the pool, the most conspicuous sight was an enormous, visually stunning black serpent.

The giant serpent was coiled above the pool. The section of its body it held raised was already over ten meters tall.

Around the pool, a dozen or so Cultivators seemed to be in some kind of formation, besieging the giant serpent.

BOOMS echoed continuously and light flared in all directions. Faced with the Cultivators’ methods, the giant serpent was clearly still somewhat unaccustomed to them, its movements appearing extremely rigid.

But the serpent’s immense aura was undeniable proof that it was a Tier Two Demon Beast.

Moreover, it was no ordinary Tier Two Demon Beast.

Chu Mu glanced at the trembling Wangcai beside him, lost in thought.

It wasn’t as if Wangcai had never faced a Foundation Establishment Powerhouse before. At the Water Heaven Marketplace, in the nearby Black Markets, and even when entering the Secret Realm and facing a Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment expert who was fully displaying their Mighty Power, it had never been this afraid.

’Clearly, it’s probably not a matter of Cultivation, but... its bloodline?’

’So, this giant serpent has an extraordinary bloodline...’

Chu Mu looked at the dozen or so Cultivators besieging the giant serpent. Their uniform, water-blue Magic Robes clearly indicated their identity.

’The East Lake... Xie Family!’

The fluctuations of Magical Power from the battle were distinct, making the Cultivation levels of everyone present clear at a glance.

Every disciple of the Xie Family was at the Qi Cultivation Perfection level. Among them, there were even a few Cultivators whose Body Refining Cultivation was also clearly impressive.

Nine Cultivators formed an Array to entangle the giant serpent. Each of these Cultivators was decked out in Magical Artifacts, equipped for both offense and defense.

Outside the Array, three other Cultivators roamed, obviously ready to fill any gaps in the formation at a moment’s notice.

Further outside the Array, another Cultivator sat cross-legged. With his eyes slightly closed, a Beast Skin Talisman was already hovering before him.

Chu Mu was certainly no stranger to Beast Skin Talismans.

A Talisman Treasure. He had one too!

Despite the great distance, he could faintly perceive the terrifying aura emanating from the Talisman Treasure through the eyes of his bamboo dragonflies.

But the man was still frantically pouring Magical Power into the Talisman Treasure. Its Mighty Power was still increasing, waiting for the moment it would be fully unleashed.

As for the giant serpent, although it had been somewhat unaccustomed to the Cultivators’ Battle style at first, a Demon Beast’s instinct was clearly to adapt.

The powerful Demon Body of a Tier Two Demon Beast made it virtually invincible.

The various Magic Attacks only left shallow white marks on the giant serpent’s body. Only the onslaught of Top Grade Magical Artifacts could draw a few bloody lines, but clearly, they were still very, very far from being fatal.

Any casual movement from the giant serpent’s body was like a mountain crashing down.

The few mangled corpses on the ground were clear proof of the giant serpent’s dominance.

Chu Mu could see clearly that if not for the rather powerful nine-man Array restraining the giant serpent in the pool, this group of Xie Family Cultivators would likely have been wiped out at the very start of the battle.

The state of the battle was undoubtedly very clear.

The Xie Family Cultivators were using the Array to restrain the giant serpent while the Talisman Treasure charged up in the rear. Their hopes clearly rested entirely on that Talisman Treasure.

If the Talisman Treasure could unleash its full power, severely injuring or even instantly killing the giant serpent, only then would these Xie Family Cultivators have a chance of survival.

If not...

Chu Mu estimated the distance, already starting to wonder if he should get farther away. He didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

Facing such a terrifying Tier Two Demon Beast, even escaping would be a toss-up.

But just then, a sudden change occurred over the pool.

The giant serpent, which had been fighting only with its Demon Body, suddenly bared its fangs and spat out a mouthful of scarlet-purple venom.

The area struck by the venom was instantly corroded. Under this single gout of venom, three of the Cultivators in the original nine-man Array were corroded away completely, along with their Magical Artifacts.

Although the roaming Xie Family Cultivators in the rear quickly filled the gap, the Array that had been steadily pinning down the giant serpent had clearly spun completely out of control after this sudden turn of events.

The giant serpent roared. Its hundred-meter-long body stretched out, its tail sweeping horizontally. The nine Cultivators who were struggling to hold on were sent flying one after another like nine sandbags.

"Strike!"

And at that moment, the hovering Talisman Treasure seemed to have finally accumulated enough power. Following the man’s low shout...

A giant silver sword abruptly took shape and plummeted from the sky like a manifestation of brilliant heavenly might, its edge aimed directly at the rampaging giant serpent...

...