The secret realm of Jiaxi Town was actually connected to the winding stream that flowed through the small town.
Following the stream past a somewhat treacherous stretch, one would come upon a rather large underground water pool.
This was the source of Jiaxi Town's stream, and the secret realm lay hidden deep within that pool.
Strictly speaking, Jiaxi Town was not much of a place.
For a hundred li around, only this area was relatively flat.
The rest was surrounded by mountains on all sides, with a sizable river cutting through.
The location was rather isolated, with many roads leading outward left unbuilt.
Leaving the place meant trudging along quite a few rough paths.
Li Xingtian had a preliminary theory — the villagers of Jiaxi Town might well be the grave guardians left behind by a great Mahayana expert.
After all, besides burying their tombs deep, such great experts would naturally employ other methods — such as hiring people to keep watch.
Otherwise, there was almost no explaining why the villagers of Jiaxi Town were so devoted to guarding that little stream.
But time changed everything.
Mountains shifted and rivers transformed.
Something must have happened in Jiaxi Town long ago, causing all records and knowledge to be completely lost.
Only one tradition from the ancient past remained — the duty of guarding the stream.
Xu Linglong took the lead.
Li Xingtian followed carefully and cautiously behind the demon woman.
His master's encirclement was vast, divided into three inner rings and three outer rings.
The outer three rings were positioned outside Jiaxi Town.
The inner three would only close in once Xu Linglong entered the secret realm.
The more ground Xu Linglong covered, the more containment lines would close around her.
Every cultivator drafted from Tianyan Sect was an array formation expert.
The weakest among them were at mid-Nascent Soul stage, with quite a few at Body Integration stage.
The principle was simple — when they set up formations, their power multiplied tenfold.
Escaping would be nearly impossible.
Add to that his own master and the Daozi of Yuyang, working together to hunt their quarry.
With this lineup, wiping out a lesser sect from the Central State would be more than easy.
He had no idea how his master had managed to convince Haotian Sect to cooperate.
As for this mere demon woman, she was absolutely not getting away!
Back then, he had trusted her so completely, and yet she had turned on him without hesitation.
That cold, indifferent look in her eyes had haunted him like a recurring nightmare!
Old grudges and new hatred — today, they would all be settled!
Xu Linglong shot him a slightly puzzled look.
"Why are you being such a blockhead again today? We've walked this whole way and you haven't said a single word."
Li Xingtian's tone was flat.
"We're chance acquaintances. There's not that much to talk about."
"I really can't get through to you domesticated cultivators."
Xu Linglong gave a soft huff, her tone displeased.
"Haven't you heard the saying — at home you rely on your elders, but out in the world you rely on friends?"
"With a personality like yours, you're bound to suffer out there. Someday you'll remember my kind reminders."
Li Xingtian's expression didn't change.
"Then I hope I live long enough to thank you in person."
Xu Linglong shot Li Xingtian a sidelong glance at those words.
Li Xingtian met her gaze calmly, as if to say — what are you looking at?
Xu Linglong gave another displeased huff and stopped walking.
Her gaze drifted to the calm surface of the pool.
Without hesitation, she stepped forward and plunged in.
A moment later, a subtle fluctuation of spiritual energy rippled outward from the water.
Li Xingtian also stopped, sensing that pulse of spiritual power.
His eyes remained surprisingly calm.
He glanced toward the west and gave a slight nod, signaling that the array could be prepared.
Then his figure followed her down.
His master and the Yuyang Daozi were already waiting inside the secret realm.
Inside the secret realm.
A gray hue dominated nearly everything in sight.
Several dimly glowing array lines still flickered faintly, propping up the surrounding space.
A few more extended upward toward the vaulted ceiling.
Coiled Dragon array bases stood at the center and at the four corners.
The first impression this place gave was one of utter dead silence — a corner of the world that had been forgotten.
Li Xingtian stepped lightly onto the ground, his gaze settling on Xu Linglong, who stood motionless ahead of him.
She did not turn around.
Her voice carried a tone of wistful reflection.
"Do you know which great expert passed away here?"
"The spiritual energy here is extremely weak, and the barrier is easy to pass through. They've been dead for at least a thousand years, if not two."
Li Xingtian asked curiously. "Do you know who it is?"
Xu Linglong walked forward and reached out to gently touch the Coiled Dragon array base at the center.
Her voice was heavy with sighing and melancholy.
"Buried here is the True Lord Yunxia — once one of the most powerful Mahayana cultivators."
"The legends of the past have now turned to dust. Everything is like an illusionary dream."
"The talk of reincarnation and rebirth now seems like nothing more than a dying hope."
"It's been over twenty-six hundred years. If reincarnation truly worked, this place wouldn't be in such ruins."
Li Xingtian's tone was calm.
"As for the idea of reincarnation, personally I think it's wonderful. It should be treated as a universal truth that everyone believes in."
Xu Linglong looked back, her tone curious. "Oh? Why do you say that, Daoist Li?"
Li Xingtian answered matter-of-factly.
"If they didn't believe in such things, we'd have nothing to dig up. The more believers there are, the more we get to dig."
Xu Linglong was momentarily rendered speechless by the sheer practicality of his words.
This man showed not the slightest interest in her personality or her peerless beauty.
The only thing he seemed to covet was simple — spirit stones and good loot.
Xu Linglong looked forward again and channeled her spiritual energy into the Coiled Dragon array base.
Her tone grew cold.
"Get ready to enter the actual tomb. There'll be plenty for you to dig."
Under the infusion of Xu Linglong's spiritual energy, the Coiled Dragon array base began to glow brilliantly.
The coiled dragon seemed to come alive, letting out a resounding roar.
The other array bases flared to life as well, and a spatial fluctuation rippled through the air.
Xu Linglong's gaze remained steady.
Against someone like this, it was better to first demonstrate her value.
A sensation of crushing spatial distortion washed over them.
Xu Linglong raised a hand and effortlessly resisted it.
The next moment.
Light erupted in all directions.
Li Xingtian looked ahead.
Four great mountains sat in the formations of the Four Symbols, each channeling a thick stream of spiritual energy.
Together, four streams converged to hoist something upward at the very center.
Right at the center, an ancient dark-iron coffin was suspended midair by the combined spiritual force.
Several chains descended from the heavens above, sealing the coffin shut.
The moment Xu Linglong entered, her previously calm eyes turned dead serious.
A pitch-black short blade materialized in her hand.
She focused her gaze on the coffin, sweeping her divine sense unreservedly across the surroundings.
"My, quite alert, aren't you? And your cultivation isn't low either. You actually noticed me."
A playful voice rang out from thin air, coming from the coffin far above.
A man wearing a monkey mask and dressed in white looked calmly down at Xu Linglong.
He chuckled lightly.
"She's quite pretty too. What a pleasant surprise."
Li Xingtian said nothing.
His expression was merely somewhat awkward.
The words weren't directed at him, yet they somehow felt like they were.
His master's comment stung a little.
Xu Linglong, with her divine sense fully open, naturally noticed the shift in Li Xingtian's expression.
She assumed it was simply his reaction to sensing danger.
Her eyes fixed warily on Chu Xingchen.
She demanded coldly, "Who are you?"
Chu Xingchen's fingertip revealed a sliver of a fine embroidery needle behind his back.
"Me? You come to my tomb and ask who I am?"
Xu Linglong gave a disdainful laugh. "Playing ghost."
The words had barely left her lips when a terrifying pressure descended, carrying a blazing blue light.
Xu Linglong raised her black blade, her spiritual energy surging.
At minimum, she exuded the pressure of a Body Integration cultivator.
She swung her blade to meet that streak of blue.
But the instant they clashed.
Xu Linglong's figure was sent flying like a streak of light, smashing directly into a nearby mountain peak.
The sheer force flattened the entire peak.
Chu Xingchen raised his hand, and that wisp of blue light continued pursuing Xu Linglong.
He mocked her as it flew.
"Can't even handle a casual strike?"
Xu Linglong's black blade transformed into a flowing dark line, spiraling toward the blue light.
Through her divine sense, she noticed that Li Xingtian's figure was already fleeing into the distance.
For a moment, Xu Linglong didn't know whether to curse Li Xingtian for selling out his teammate so quickly.
Or to praise him for being so considerate — saving her the trouble of telling him to run.