The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 291 - 177 "Heavenly Ladder
Ning Xiaoxian casually flipped through the book and found it to be her "Cultivating Gu Experience." The page she turned to was precisely the Chapter on "Soul-eating Gu." After swiftly scanning it, she realized that the man who had clung to her so tightly was a puppet possessed by the Soul-eating Gu and could no longer be considered a human in the strict sense.
Such a puppet could carry out any order from its master. The woman in floral clothing even wrote in the book that one could command the puppet to engage in sexual activities without time limit, far surpassing ordinary men.
Tsk, as if struck by Heavenly Thunder, how shameless can this woman be! Ning Xiaoxian’s face flushed with shame, but she collected the woman’s belongings anyway. Gu worms are valuable; taking them back for thorough study would be useful one day. After all, having many skills won’t weigh one down.
After some thought, she went beside the puppet, sprinkled some specially formulated bait powder made by the floral woman onto the wound, and sure enough, a ladybug-like creature emerged. Although it crawled out from the flesh, it was covered in gold light and not stained with blood at all – this was the Soul-eating Gu. With the host dead, it sought out its master. She gently picked the creature up with a jade knife and placed it into the Jade Bottle.
Tu Jin, seeing that her work was done, urged her, "Let’s go."
"Wait a moment!" she couldn’t help but ask, "Are you planning to leave dressed like this?" His clothes were riddled with holes, and if he were to go down the mountain, he could easily be mistaken for a beggar. At the very least, he was a swordsmanship expert; was his attire really acceptable?
Following her gaze, Tu Jin looked down at his own clothes, gave a smile, bent down to strip a garment from a dead body on the ground, and found a hidden corner to change.
She also took out a water flask and washed the bloodstains from her face—after all, when Tu Jin had killed the puppet, black blood had splattered all over her.
Tu Jin seemed to be quite familiar with the terrain of the secret realm. He led her on foot, effortlessly avoiding all traps and puddles, and his speed was no slower than hers in the treetops. It also appeared that he knew the locations of other teams. Under his guidance, they didn’t encounter anyone else on their journey.
What concerned her the most was: "How long has it been?"
"Twenty-six hours." With only twelve hours in a day, they had been in the secret realm for more than two days. Ning Xiaoxian knew her time was running out.
She bit her lip, unable to help herself from saying, "I hope the other teams are slower in finding the Treasures."
A gleam flashed in Tu Jin’s eyes: "I hope so too."
While they were on the move, the two talked a bit more, and Ning Xiaoxian learned that this man had actually entered during the last opening of the "Heavenly Ladder." In other words, he had been surviving here for ten years!
Hearing this news, her footsteps came to a halt, shocked.
Having only stayed in the secret realm for a little over 24 hours, she couldn’t wait to return to the vibrant world outside, yet this man had managed to stay here for a full ten years? Impressive! No wonder his clothes were tattered, no wonder he looked malnourished. She wondered, are there really foods fit for human consumption in this secret realm?
After a long pause, she finally asked, "Why didn’t you leave back then?"
"There’s something I need to find here." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
"You knew what you wanted was in this secret realm? I thought everyone who entered came in to try their luck, not knowing what was inside. You’re like me?" She had a bad feeling—if she didn’t get the Moonlight Cup this time, would she end up trapped here like him?
He glanced at her and said, "Do you know who created this secret realm?"
Of course, she had no idea.
"It was Fairy Su Xia, the third generation Sect Leader of Yunxiao Palace." Seeing that this girl was once again so startled she stopped in her tracks, he added, "Otherwise, why do you think this secret realm is located behind Qingjing Mountain?"
The third generation Sect Leader of the Immortal Sect was a woman! Listening to Tu Jin, she heard, "If you knew her identity, it wouldn’t be hard to guess what Treasures are in this secret realm."
"Did you find the thing you wanted?"
He remained silent for a long time before nodding.
At that moment, boisterous noises came from afar. They stood still and listened, realizing that strange sounds were coming from the north—probably a team clashing head-on with one of the local beasts, sparking fierce combat. Human voices weren’t as deep as many creatures, and wouldn’t carry as far.
She exclaimed in surprise, "Are there particularly powerful monsters in this secret realm? The biggest beast I’ve seen is a crocodile about ten meters long." If Fairy Su Xia was the master of this secret realm, why would she release various corrupted wild beasts here? For a woman to make her secret realm so creepy and terrifying, what kind of twisted mindset would that require?
