The female disciple, who bore the temperament of a noble young lady and the appearance of a fairy, cast a glance at the youth who floated in front of her, and after a moment of hesitation, her soft voice drifted over to the youth.
"Sikon… perhaps we should retreat as well."
As soon as the beautiful girl spoke, the youth next to her, who bore a slight resemblance to the youth ahead but lacked a few degrees of his aura and handsome appearance, added in a somewhat trembling tone.
"Brother, sister-in-law is right, this is the Demonic Realm. It's extremely dangerous for us to be here."
When the beautiful girl heard the address, 'sister-in-law', a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, but after hearing it so many times from this blunt younger brother-in-law of hers throughout their travel in the Secret Realm, she had long since been worn down and no longer had the strength to refute him. Besides, the engagement had been set in stone, and she herself held no resistance in her heart; rather, she worried about the youth in front of her opinion going sour because she seemed too eager. It was hard to meet someone who matched her talent and met her aesthetics so perfectly.
After a moment of silence, the youth in front finally spoke up.
"You two hurry back, I'll stay and search for the person."
"Elder brother!"
Not even a second after the youth spoke, the younger youth yelled in panic while looking at his older brother with terror.
"No, Sikong, how can we leave you alone and go back?"
"That's right, elder brother! What if we leave and something happens to you? How would I explain it to mother and father? And grandfather would surely skin me alive!"
The younger youth spoke with a hint of grievance in his voice, and his expression looked as if he was asking his brother how he could bear for him to suffer by forcing him to leave him alone.
Sikong frowned slightly with a hint of hesitation flickering in his eyes, but the next second he thought of that mysterious treasure that was inexplicably snatched from him when that old man merely grazed his storage ring, and his resolved harden.
With a calm tone, he spoke with no room for refusal.
"I still have the sliver of Spear Intent grandfather left within my Sea of Consciousness for my protection. As for you two… just honestly go back a report to our elders of my decision. The spatial distortions here won't disappear for another three months, and I'll only search for a week for that person before deciding to go back."
Hearing this, the younger youth and the beautiful girl glanced at each other, both seeing the hesitation in their hearts.
Even though they didn't know why their fiancée/older brother was so fixated on this old man who mysteriously appeared within their Sects' exclusive Secret Realm, they could guess after a simple deduction that he must have stolen a treasure from him. After all, rumors had been going around in the Secret Realm throughout the three months it was open, of that old man stealing others' opportunities.
They just wondered what kind of treasure was stolen for him to be so persistent, to even be willing to search the Demonic Realm that was filled with danger at every turn.
"Go."
Sikong said before the two could respond.
The beautiful girl and the younger youth looked at Sikong's back as he floated forward away from them— a look of helplessness appearing in their eyes as they watched.
Clenching his fists, the younger youth said through gritted teeth.
"Elder brother, when I go back, I'm going to report this matter to mother and father. If you don't return within a week, I will personally call Grandfather out of seclusion!"
"Hm…"
Sikong hummed in response without turning his head.
The younger youth sighed in defeat at this before turning to the beautiful and saying.
"Sister-in-law, let's go back."
The beautiful girl cast one last long look at Sikong's back before looking away and nodding.
Without another word, both the younger youth and the beautiful girl took out teleportation tokens and crushed them. The spatial distortions still over the small stream became visible as their figure vanished.
Sikong figure paused, and he cast a faint glance back at the spot where his younger brother and fiancée had vanished. Then, without a change in expression, he turned away and continued floating forward.
With a flip of his hand, he soon took out a red parasol that had no handle. After injecting his Spiritual Qi, the red parasol floated about his head and began emitting faint fluctuations that cascaded over his body.
Under these fluctuations, Sikong's body disappeared from sight, along with his scent and cultivation aura.
Despite only being at the peak of the Foundation Realm, with this red parasol, even a cultivator two realms above him at the Soul Emergence Realm would find it difficult to sense his presence. Even if he were standing a few meters away from them, as long as he didn't release any killing intent to trigger their sixth sense or cast a Spell to disturb the surrounding Spiritual Qi, he would not be discovered.
After concealing himself, Sikong continued floating forward, preparing to search for this dangerous Demonic Realm for his treasure. As for why he was sure that person had not left with another teleportation token, how could he not have left anything on that treasure after obtaining it?
No one should think of living after snatching his, Sikong's, things!
Meanwhile, one old man and a still somewhat bewildered baby tortoise were moving swiftly away from the small stream and deeper into the great forest. Strangely, none of the beasts in the great forest attacked this human who dared to trespass into the Demonic Realm. Instead, the moment they saw him, or rather, what he was holding, they would flee in panic.
Upon seeing such a bizarre scene, the old man's eyes flickered with thought. He glanced at the baby tortoise in his arms, and a strange light appeared in his heart.
The baby tortoise immediately snapped out of his momentary daze after sensing the intense gaze from above.
Looking up, he met the dark pupils of that old man, which were swirling with a strange emotion he unmistakably recognized as greed.
The baby tortoise was so frightened by the old man's gaze that its limbs instinctively retracted back into its shell. Even the golden marks on his black shell were flickering with a protective light.
The old man was closely observing this new specimen he had found, and seeing its reaction, especially the golden markings faintly shimmering on its shell, which undoubtedly signal some special bloodline ability, the greedy look in his eyes increased tenfold.
"Little bastard! What are you plotting against this young lord?!"
The baby tortoise's voice rang out like a clap of thunder in the old man's ears, instantly knocking him out of his initially good mood.
That voice still held a hint of immaturity to it, which signaled the creature's young age; however, that voice held a mysterious power that, after entering the old man's ears, rattled his soul.
For a brief moment, the old man thought he was experiencing his spirit flying away and soul scattering.
In that moment, the baby tortoise's body radiated a golden light that slammed against the old man's chest, freeing it from his grasp.
As the baby tortoise shone with a golden light, it landed on the ground and familiarly tucked its limbs inside its shell before rolling away to put some distance between itself and the old man.
Meanwhile, the old man who received a soul attack followed by and not so soft Spiritual Qi outburst, was thrown back several meters before slamming into a large tree.
After sliding down to the ground, the old man immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood. Almost the instant he coughed up that mouthful of blood, his appearance suddenly underwent a drastic change without any warning.
His appearance, which was that of an old man, had turned into a girl who looked no older than fourteen. The contrast was so great that anyone who saw such a transformation would have been utterly stunned.
However, An Mo wasn't just anyone.
His golden eyes glowed faintly as he stared fixedly at that girl's face, which can only be described as exquisite and even more perfect than a doll's. His reaction showed no surprise; after all, he had long seen through this little bastard's disguise from the beginning.
Rather, it was the girl who was staring at An Mo with a shocked expression.