"Lou Mengyu, you're alive?" Qin Yang's eyes widened with ecstatic surprise.
Lou Mengyu stood pale and trembling, barely able to remain upright. The apocalyptic scene around her filled her with terror, but her greatest concern lay with Martial Heaven.
Why did Qin Yang attack Martial Heaven? And why has he forced him into this desperate situation?
"I never died at all!" Lou Mengyu cried out desperately, her voice cracking. Martial Heaven was her revered teacher—this... "Save Master Martial Heaven immediately!"
Countless thoughts flashed through Qin Yang's mind, leaving no time for deliberation. His figure suddenly vanished from his original position.
Within the sole intact space between the spatial rift and the spatial galaxy, a figure materialized—Qin Yang!
"You shouldn't have come here," Martial Heaven said coldly.
"Enough talk!" Qin Yang tried to pull Martial Heaven away, but realized the spatial gap through which he'd entered... had already sealed itself shut!
The entire space was on the verge of collapsing!
"You better compensate me properly later, boy," the Dragon Jade's voice suddenly rang out. "Or I'll make you pay!"
Suddenly, a jade-white light illuminated the space around Qin Yang and Martial Heaven.
A living, breathing white jade dragon materialized, enveloping both men as it surged toward the spatial rift.
To Lou Mengyu's horror, the jade dragon treated the spatial rift as if it didn't exist, flying straight through it!
In the span of mere moments, the dragon exhausted all the power stored within the Dragon Jade.
The jade-colored dragon vanished, and the voice of the Dragon Jade faded completely.
"Heavenly Realm Secret Key..." Martial Heaven cast a profound glance at Qin Yang, his heart churning with complex emotions.
Only the Qin Family's Heavenly Realm Secret Key could...
Qin Yang pulled out the jade pendant, startled to find the Dragon Jade had reverted to its original form - vivid and lifelike, yet its eyes were completely blank.
"Let's get out of here first!" Qin Yang swiftly lifted Lou Mengyu into his arms, and with her surprised cries, they flew toward the secret realm's exit.
Martial Heaven shook his head with a bitter smile, recalling the incredible events. He knew clearly that when Qin Yang had saved him, he hadn't even known the Heavenly Realm Secret Key could bring them out.
He saw the expression on Qin Yang's face darken as he discovered the crack fusion.
Whoosh! Something flew toward them.
Martial Heaven reached out and caught a spherical magical treasure!
He extended his divine sense but detected no one controlling it.
"A self-escaping magical treasure? This..." Martial Heaven marveled at the impossibility. The sphere continued struggling to break free.
When he released it, the spherical treasure shot after Qin Yang.
Outside the secret realm's gate, Gongsun Ming, Lou Mengyu, and the middle-aged man who had come to rescue them stood pale-faced, their shock still lingering.
They stared at the flickering gate that kept shrinking, complex emotions crossing their faces. Deep down, they all hoped that demon would die inside...
Jin Wanshan and Panda sat to the side, eyes fixed unwaveringly on the gate. It had been so long—why hadn't anyone emerged yet?
"Did they both perish?" Jin Wanshan's face paled.
"Impossible! That brat wouldn't die so easily," Panda said, though his voice betrayed his own worry.
Could Martial Heaven be dead? Jin Wanshan's heart still ached with distress.
"He's out! He's out!"
A voice suddenly shouted, and a figure emerged from the secret realm's gate.
Gongsun Ming and Lou Mengyu exchanged glances. "Is that Teacher Martial Heaven?"
But their expressions froze, and they even began to plan a hasty retreat!
Qin Yang, holding Lou Mengyu in his arms, slowly stepped out from the secret realm's gate.
Apart from Panda and Jin Wanshan, who rushed forward, everyone else recoiled in terror, nearly scattering like birds and beasts.
"Qin Yang! Where's Teacher Martial Heaven?" Jin Wanshan shouted urgently, his eyes darting back and forth at the secret realm's gate. He paced anxiously like an ant on a hot stove, muttering repeatedly, "Qin Yang, you've committed a grave sin! How could you kill Teacher Martial Heaven?"
Qin Yang's gaze remained fixed on Lou Mengyu's face. Her gently blinking eyes and faintly blushing expression made him feel as if he were living in a dream.
"I, Qin Yang, swear from this day forth, no one shall ever force you to do what you don't wish," Qin Yang murmured softly.
Lou Mengyu's delicate face flushed even deeper crimson under the weight of so many eyes upon them. She squirmed, desperate to escape, but Qin Yang refused to yield. In her mortification, she could only bury her face against his chest.
"Qin Yang, why didn't you let me finish?" Jin Wanshan sighed, his voice thick with frustration. "Martial Heaven didn't force Lou Mengyu into anything. In fact, he..."
Qin Yang lifted his head, his gaze piercing. "What exactly happened?"
The elder finally found his voice. "At first, Martial Heaven was unaware of the situation and offered his most precious gift - a Violet Radiance Crystal. When he discovered Lou Mengyu's resolve to die rather than compromise herself, he gave her a Soul-Parting Pill to induce a death-like state. Then he took her away."
"Everything could have been resolved without incident, but..." Jin Wanshan's hands fisted in his hair. "If you hadn't come, everything would have worked perfectly. Lou Mengyu instructed me to contact you, but I only found you at the ancestral hall..."
Qin Yang, feeling frustrated, asked, "If you had this plan, why didn't you tell me at the time?"
"I wanted to tell you! Did I get a chance?" Jin Wanshan exclaimed, nearly frantic.
Lou Mengyu, still in his embrace, softly spoke up, "I tried to tell you too, but the medicine's effects had already taken hold."
"Then why didn't Martial Heaven say anything?" Qin Yang pressed.
"Hmph!" A cold snort came from Martial Heaven. His coffin-like face provided the answer.
As a teacher of Celestial Academy, does he need to explain himself to students?
"Mr. Martial?" Jin Wanshan's eyes widened, tension easing from his shoulders.
Gongsun Ming and Lou Qinru, who had been ready to flee, also relaxed.
Martial Heaven glanced at them and gave a silent nod. Those two had fled so quickly he hadn't even noticed their departure. Their safe return was a fortunate outcome in this unfortunate situation.
"Eh? A surveillance talisman?" Qin Yang's eyes lit up as he looked at the spherical artifact floating beside him. "You saved my life. I was going to help repair it... but since you're here now, that's unnecessary."
With a wave of his hand, Qin Yang stored the surveillance talisman in his Qiankun Ring.
Martial Heaven could tell the talisman was of exceptional quality. How had it bonded to Qin Yang without being claimed by its rightful owner?
Jin Wanshan handed over the Demon Realm Ring. As he did, Qin Yang's mind filled with the cheerful voice of the three-headed Fire Dog demon beast.
"I think I forgot something," Qin Yang said, turning back to look at the secret realm's gate.
"My spirit medicines..." Qin Yang's mouth dropped open.
"I stored them all away!" Lou Mengyu said with a scolding tone. "Who wastes treasures like that? I nearly suffocated from the dense spiritual energy! Those are high-grade spirit medicines, and you just spread them out like a bed..."
Qin Yang laughed.
"What about Qin Wuyi?" Qin Yang asked.
"He... committed suicide," Lou Mengyu sighed. She had seen the mountain of corpses and sea of blood too; it was their deserved end. As for Qin Wuyi, he seemed to have been driven mad by the pressure, unable to bear the mental strain. Suicide was his best choice.
"So everything ends well!" Qin Yang said. "It's just a pity there are still so many treasures in this secret realm."
Chirp, chirp, chirp! The Treasure Rat nodded repeatedly, even giving a human-like sigh.
"Everything ends well?" Martial Heaven's voice suddenly rang out, causing immense pressure to weigh down on everyone's hearts.
This was the overwhelming pressure of a powerful cultivator, crushing like a mountain.
"Right, we still need to continue the assessment. The Northern Hunter Rankings... I've already slipped to over fiftyth place! This isn't good!" Qin Yang pretended not to feel Martial Heaven's pressure, his figure flickering as he tried to escape.
A black-faced man suddenly blocked his path.