"The strange nature of this secret realm... We've finally encountered it," the woman with the flowing bck hair murmured. She stood before a towering tree, reaching out to touch its rough bark. "It’s solid... There’s no doubt about that. But we can’t sense it?" She slid her fingers along its surface, deep in thought.

  "The skill works, but it’s dispersed and even absorbed... The trees around us exist, but we can't perceive them properly? And yet..." The more she spoke, the eerie the realization became.

  Even the shadows inside her shadow became restless.

  'Young dy, something's wrong... This... Be careful' the old voice sounded again, his tone severe.

  "Wait..." Mad Dog suddenly halted.

  Mad Wolf and the woman stopped as well, followed by a few veteran cultivators. The realization had dawned upon them all at once.

  Their abrupt halt startled the rest of the group, but they paid them no mind. Their gazes met, silently exchanging an unspoken understanding.

  Mad Dog finally made a subtle gesture to his brother. Mad Wolf stepped forward, his voice steady. "Who was the first to notice the change in scenery? Step forward"

  Hearing this, the once restless crowd immediately went quiet. It was like a chain reaction among them, their body stiff and unmoving.

  It was not that they are suddenly turned to stone or whatever but instead, they finally realized the answer.

  And it horrified them.

  A couple seconds passed by, and yet no one moved. The pair of brothers at the front slowly lowered their hand, reaching into their sleeves seemingly to grab something.

  The rest of the group was also the same, even the woman had to be serious this time.

  "I ask again... " Mad dog asked again, his eyes scanning the crowd, "who was it that noticed the sudden changes of the scenery just now... "

  "..." The group was silent, but if you were to look closely. There was something strange among them.

  "Not going to answer?... " Mad dog muttered, this time his voice became heavier. His body lowered as he eyes peered forward into the group.

  The rest was also the same, all of their eyes was locked onto a certain figure. Nobody had noticed it before, no one did!

  Since when did they have a extra person in the group? Just so you know, before forming this group, a body count was done in order to know the number of people in this operation.

  But now, you're telling me the number can just suddenly go up by one person randomly? What a joke... And to the fact no one noticed the presence of an extra number!

  Horrifying...

  Worst of all, "it's ughing... " Mad wolf said... "It's mocking us... " Mad dog added in.

  Then without waiting much longer. "Die!!!" All of them attacked together towards the same pce.

  The closer one hurriedly retreated away from the center of the explosion.

  Mad dog brandished his sword, and with a ssh, a sword Qi the size of several meters long appeared. The same was for Mad wolf, their attacks were the same.

  Dazzling array of colours were lighted up in this forest, and after the dust settled, they finally get to see a horrendous creature that had died under the series of attacks just now.

  It was in the middle of the crater, a 3 legged monsters that seemed to be made out of a mixture of flesh and... "Wood?... Pnt fibres? " The woman stepped closer towards it, turning the dead body over, and discerning the whole view of this hideous creature.

  A head that resembled that of a flower, and yet possessing a baby head inside it, a body so twisted that it was not proportional at all, and the three legs at the bottom, seemingly to be made out of flesh and wood.

  "What in the world is this?" The woman frowned deeply, and with a cut, she took a sample of flesh from the creature, and kept it inside her storage ring.

  "It's weak... " Mad dog came to the side, silently looking over the crater with his gaze deep in clouded thoughts. "But it's ability to penetrate into our group without anyone noticing, it is.... horrifying... "

  "Yeah... " Mad wolf nodded on the side, his arm crossed over his chest as he discerned the creature with a frown. "The cultivation world sure is a mysterious pce... But... " He paused, taking a deep breath as he gnced towards the still smiling expression on the baby's face of the monsters head. "But I had never heard of a monster that could confuse all five senses at the same time, and worst of all... It can hypnosis all of us at the same time despite being weaker than us"

  "I-i am out... "

  "Yeah, I am out too"

  "T-this is beyond what we can handle... We better let the officials sect people come in and take care of this situation"

  "If such a monster was to be let out from this pce, it would be a catastrophe for the human race"

  Finally, some of the group members couldn't help but chicken out of this expedition. After all, this had gone beyond the amount of pressure that they could handle.

  They had never seen such a scene in their lives. This was something way beyond the control of their current realm.

  Imagine if they were to accidentally met a stronger creature of this species, then wouldn't that mean they would be on a chopping board for this monster to py with? It's scary to think about it...

  Most of them are powerless and vulnerable to this weak monster with strange ability. And if a stronger one was to come out now, then it would be the death of everyone.

  Even the woman had to think twice at this time. After all, even her guardian was affected by the hypnosis just now!

  How scary is that! For a weak creature that was at the bottom of the Qi refining realm being able to affect a foundation building expert by a huge realm difference, hiss...

  The woman could only took a cold breath into her lung, and immediately decided to forfeit. It's better to come back ter with a stronger guardian or else she won't even know how she would die in this secret realm.

  "I forfeit too... This is beyond my capabilities. I hope the other companion won't mind my absence... "

  Hearing this, the rest of the group that still doesn't want to give up suddenly had a change of heart at this moment.

  After all, the strongest among them had already voluntarily wanting to forfeit tells them just how dangerous this expedition was becoming.

  They were not fools, they naturally could tell between the strong and the weak among the people in this group. Just from the aura and the demeanour that this woman carried alone tells them a lot of things.

  It was just one simple sentence, a person with a background.

  She had invisibly became the backbone of the team even if the two pairs of mad dog and Mad wolf brother was leading the group this whole time.

  Hearing the woman's words, Mad dog and Mad wolf frowned deeply as without her presence this without a doubt would undoubtedly caused their pn to be affected.

  But then, Mad wolf calmly strode forward into the center of the group, and smiled meaningfully. "At first, I didn't intend to share this secret with the rest of you people."

  He started off slow, his arm spread around with a harmless smile on his face. Seemingly to know what he was about to say, the woman's complexions turned cold.

  "Don't you dare say it... "

  "As, you truly are a person from a certain force, aloof and arrogant. Always wanting to monopolize and not letting people like me, independent cultivators to know the truth. You are quite greedy, Miss... " Mad Dog came from the side, his smile contemptuous towards the woman.

  Nobles and those forces, they had always been like that. "In fact, you were pnning to silence all of us before we left this secret realm, no? Your killing intent is too fresh like a newborn baby, it's so obvious to people like me that have walked in countless corpses all year around"

  "This... " The woman stopped talking. Her eyes peering around the crowd, noticing the slowly changing expressions of the people towards her, and finally... With a sigh. "Some of you already realized it right?"

  "... " No one answered, most of the people in the group were confused while some of them had their head down, looking towards the ground.

  At the side, the pair of Mad brothers were sneering, ready to take action at any time given.

  The woman scanned the crowd for a moment, and continued, her voice deep. "We can't let this secret be exposed to the public. The consequences are unimaginable... This pce... It's impossible to exist. Perhaps this pce itself is the treasure. And... " She paused, her gaze lingering towards the devastated corpse of the monster briefly, and smiled knowingly.

  "Some of you had noticed... Along the way, some of you had already discovered the truth of this pce... The weight of this secret is too heavy, as such I had no choice but to do this"

  But then... Suddenly one of the people spoke up. "Mad dog is right, people like you will never allow people like us to share this god given gift together. We are like the mortals in your eyes, dispensable " he seemed to be one of the few that had discovered the true nature of this pce.

  And like a flock of birds, there would be another one to jump in. "He's right... "

  Another person chimed in, "so what if we want to spread this information to the outside world? Our status difference had already drawn the line between the two worlds from the very start. If you wished for us to comply that easily, it won't be that easy... "

  Like a spark of a fire, it burned vigorously. Abze and spreading, one against many. The woman was in a dilemma, her complexion worsen by time.

  At first, her pn was just to erase all of these people's memories, and that was it. But now, the pn couldn't keep up with the ever changing situation.

  It changed too drastically that forced her to be at a loss, she doesn't want to kill... She had never done it before.

  It goes against her principle to kill for profit, especially against the innocent one.

  Her lips curled, undecided with her pns. And the mad pair of brothers saw everything from the side, their smiles getting wider, the pn was smooth sailing.

  However, against all odds and human's pnning, fate would always py around with a person's wish. It was just the way it is.

  Unexpectedly, as this standoff was happening.

  !

  "Young dy, stand behind me!" An old man suddenly emerged from the woman's shadow, standing before her with a panicked expression on his face.

  It was a sudden reveal, everyone was caught off guard to this abrupt appearance.

  But then, without being able to question it.

  *boom!*