Mu Chen, however, wouldn't give up. "No, you're definitely thinking about something. Tell me, tell me..." He kept urging Xiao Yun to share his thoughts.
Xiao Yun looked at him again. "Didn't I already tell you I'm not thinking about anything?"
Mu Chen pouted his mouth. "Liar! You're a big, big liar."
Xiao Yun gently poked Mu Chen's face with his finger. "I was just thinking about how much time has passed since I joined the Eternal Sect. And how much the sect has changed in just these last few months."
He paused, then added, "Am I capable enough to carry the burden for our Senior Brother Huai?"
Mu Chen looked at Xiao Yun seriously, his playful mood gone. "You are doing enough, Yun," he said softly. "You are great just as you are." Mu Chen then gently placed one hand on Xiao Yun's cheek.
Xiao Yun's whole body trembled at the touch. He immediately stood up, making Mu Chen fall to the side.
Xiao Yun's face turned bright red with embarrassment. He turned his back to Mu Chen, not wanting him to see his flushed cheeks.
Mu Chen slowly stood up from the ground and sighed. "Tsk! Just as heartless as you always were."
He continued, his voice a little sad, "Xiao Yun, oh Xiao Yun, when will you be able to understand my feelings for you?"
Xiao Yun's face became even redder. He thought Mu Chen was just teasing him again, playing his usual games.
He said, "Stop saying those idiotic words to me, Mu Chen. Stop lying!"
But this time, Mu Chen's tone became sharp and serious. He stepped closer to Xiao Yun. "What if I'm not lying all this time? What if I'm saying the truth of my heart all this time? Will you, will you give me a chance?"
Xiao Yun's heart pounded even louder. He had never, in his entire life, imagined that Mu Chen would say such words to him. These were the very words he had secretly longed to hear for a very, very long time.
He sighed, his mind racing with thoughts of what their other senior brothers and sisters would think, or what their Sect Master would think.
He finally said, his voice quiet, "Let's not think about the impossible, Mu Chen."
With those words, he vanished into the night, leaving Mu Chen alone under the moonlight.
It was midnight. Everyone was sleeping soundly in their tents and little camps.
Suddenly, a new, panicked sound ripped through the quiet night from far away. People were screaming wildly, some crying.
A group was running desperately towards the settlements, as if they had found water in a dry desert.
Everyone woke up at once . people from the Eastern, Southern, and even Western Region camps.
They rubbed their eyes, but quickly grabbed their weapons, ready for whatever was coming.
The Eternal Sect disciples came out of their tents, one by one, looking ready to act.
Someone from the Southern camp whispered, "I know a few of them. I saw them with people from the Northern Region before."
Someone from the Eastern Region camp agreed, "Yes, look! They are from the 8th-tier sects of the Northern Region. I saw them standing near us earlier."
Someone from the Western Region said, "They are badly hurt, and there are even fewer of them than us. Let's go save them."
Another person from the Eastern Region added, "Look clearly, behind them! A huge group of dark tree monsters, different kinds of jungle monsters, and Nether Shadow Rats are chasing them."
" Maybe they are the unluckiest people we've seen besides ourselves."
This time, Xiao Yun spoke up, his voice clear. "Let's go. Let's save them."
Mu Chen looked at Xiao Yun but didn't say anything. He seemed to understand what Xiao Yun was feeling. He just nodded.
Bai Wei looked at the people in all three camps. "We are going to save them," he announced. "You all will be in charge of treating their injuries."
Without another word, all eight Eternal Sect disciples left the safety of their formation and ran towards the fleeing cultivators.
They ran past the terrified group and immediately started fighting the tree monsters, jungle beasts, and Nether Rats that were chasing them.
The fleeing group sighed with huge relief. Then, the people from the Southern, Eastern, and Western Regions came to help.
They took care of the newly arrived injured people, treated their wounds, and brought them back to the safe formation where their camps were.
From the safety of the camps, everyone watched the furious battle being fought by the eight Eternal Sect disciples.
Once again, the disciples used their 9th-tier talismans, which quickly brought the battle to an end.
The powerful talismans wiped out the monsters, saving the Northern Region survivors.
The Eternal Sect disciples returned to the settlements after clearing out all the monsters.
Meanwhile, the three regions (Southern, Eastern, and Western) were busy helping the people from the Northern Region.
This group was very badly hit. Most of them were wandering cultivators, meaning they didn't belong to any big sect.
The four main sects from the Northern Region Heavenly Ice Valley, Blue Ice Sanctuary, Ice Sword Hall, and Frost Blade Sect had very, very few people left.
Zhao Tie asked someone from the Frost Blade Sect, "Why are there so few disciples left from your four sects?"
The faces of the few surviving sect disciples instantly turned sad. Some of the girls even started crying loudly, unable to hold back their grief.
Before any of them could speak, one of the wandering cultivators, his voice heavy with emotion,
said, "They sacrificed themselves to save us. They were the ones who fought those beasts to let us escape and reach here."
Everyone in their group lowered their heads, their hearts heavy with sorrow for their lost comrades.
At this moment, Mu Chen spoke up, his voice firm but kind.
"They chose to do that. Now, it's your job to honor their sacrifice by reaching the core area and leaving this Secret Realm safely." Everyone nodded, understanding his words.
The Northern Region group was treated for their wounds by the other three regions.
They set up their camp within the settlement, and the protective formation was activated again, keeping everyone safe from any more beasts.
The night passed quickly.
Morning arrived. Everyone woke up, got cleaned up, and started making breakfast. The Eternal Sect disciples also woke up and got ready,
expecting a good breakfast prepared by the many cultivators from all four regions.
At the same time, in the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Mountain Secret Realm, Young Master Venus looked very angry.
He glared at the five elders around him and said confused, "Is anyone going to tell me what is happening in this Secret Realm? Why are the Nether Shadow Rats disappearing so quickly?"
The five elders looked at each other nervously. Then, one of them sadly said to the Fifth Elder, "Fifth Brother! It's enough now. Tell our Master the truth."
Venus turned his gaze to the Fifth Elder. The Fifth Elder's face was covered in cold sweat, and his hands were shaking badly. He spoke through gritted teeth, clearly scared.
"It all started in the ancient forest area. A group of incredibly powerful cultivators appeared in the Western Region. They killed many of our Nether Shadow Rats and saved the people from the Western Region."
Venus's face turned bright red with anger, and his eyes became bloodshot. He roared, "And you are telling me this now?!"
The Fifth Elder stammered, "I, I thought with the help of my four elder brothers, we could easily kill them. But... but they easily killed three groups of Nether Shadow Rats..."
Before he could say more, a huge hand appeared and slapped him so hard that he flew backward and smashed into a large rock.
But he was still okay. He quickly stood up and ran back to Venus, then knelt down.
"Give, give me a chance, Master!" he pleaded. "This time, the group with the Central Region is the strongest. We can kill them together with those Void Refinement Nether Shadow Rats!"
Venus's eyes were still bloodshot, but at this moment, the other four elders also spoke at the same time. "Yes, Master, give him a chance. They are only at the Nascent Soul level. How could they fight against thousands of Void Refinement level Shadow Rats?"
Venus looked at them, a little convinced. He said, "Then I'm giving you only one chance. Kill them!"
In a vast, flat plain, a group of people from the Central Region was running for their lives.
This group was very different from the Northern Region people. They had almost no wandering cultivators left; most of them were gone.
The few wandering cultivators who remained were terribly injured. Some had lost arms or legs, many had lost an eye or had other serious wounds.
However, the major sects from the Central Region had most of their own people still intact. Only a few were missing, mostly because of carelessness.
At this moment, Han Li, who was running with the people from Shadow Fist Academy, saw a huge settlement in the distance, in the core area.
He immediately told the group with him, "Look! Look! There are people enjoying their time there while we are facing thousands of monsters!"
Others looked towards the settlement and saw people from all four regions (Southern, Eastern, Western, and Northern) happily eating breakfast together.
One person from the 9 Blade Pavilion said, "Aren't those arrogant people from the other four regions?"
"Yes, they are," a man from the Central Star Sanctuary confirmed. "They are the ones who spoke against us when we were outside the Secret Realm."
Another person declared, "We need to take their settlement and their food!"
At this point, some people from the Five Direction Formation Hall spoke up. "That's not possible right now,"
they explained. "You people from the sects might not know, but there's a huge formation protecting them. We need time to get ready first, then we can attack with all our strength."
Han Li quickly said, "But we don't have any time! Those Nether Shadow Rats and monsters and beasts are right behind us. They will reach us any moment now!"
Someone from the Star Sanctuary had a terrible idea. "Why don't we send these remaining wandering cultivators to negotiate with them? If they can get us into the settlement, then hahhahha..."
At this, someone from the 9 Blade Hall asked, "But will those wandering cultivators listen to us? You know we used them to keep the monsters away."
Han Li grinned cruelly. "They'll listen to us! They should know what's best for them. Just tell them to obey, or we'll kill them here right now. Hahhaha."
The others agreed and did as he suggested. The few remaining wandering cultivators were sent towards the settlement of the other four regions.
But these wandering cultivators had no intention of doing what they were told. They had already decided to tell everyone about the horrible things these "human monsters" had done to them.
They wanted revenge. They didn't want to live this terrible life anymore.
While the desperate wandering cultivators were walking towards the settlements,
the Eternal Sect members were enjoying a nice time with the people from the four regions.
Someone from the Frost Blade Sect offered Lan Suyin a bowl of soup. "Young Miss!" they said. "We don't have many ingredients for proper food, but we managed to make this. Please drink it."
Someone else gave Bai Wei a piece of bread. "Young Master," they offered, "I'm just a wandering cultivator from the Northern Region. I only brought some dry bread with me. Please have some."
And someone offered Zhao Tie and Xiao Yun some jerky. "Young Masters, we don't have much food to give you, but please eat this jerky I brought."
Everyone from the Eternal Sect felt a warmth spread through their hearts because of these kind gestures.
Then, Lan Ruo took out some food that their Sect Master had given them before they came into the Secret Realm. She offered it to the cultivators.
"Our Eternal Sect Master gave us food to carry for the Secret Realm," she explained. "There's enough for all of us here. Please take this."