[The next day, you arrived at the capital of the Qin Kingdom. It did not take long before you found Heaven's Revelation Academy.]
[After entering Heaven's Revelation Academy, you discovered that it was somewhat different from what you had imagined.]
[The academy before your eyes was very small. Rather than calling it an academy, it would be more accurate to call it a somewhat larger siheyuan.]
[The moment you and Gu Xinyue stepped into the courtyard, Fang Jingchun walked out, smiling as he looked at you.]
"You have arrived?"
[Just as you were about to speak, Gu Xinyue stepped forward and beat you to it.]
"Old Six! You do not look worried at all that we might have died in the secret realm."
"With Senior Sister's ability, how could you possibly be trapped by a mere Fallen Immortal Secret Realm?"
[Fang Jingchun said this as though it were the most natural thing in the world.]
[At that moment, you looked at Fang Jingchun and asked about Ye Chuxue's and Lin Qi's whereabouts.]
"Little Junior Brother, you mean them? They are cultivating in the back courtyard."
[After learning that Ye Chuxue and Lin Qi were currently in the academy, you exchanged a few simple pleasantries with Fang Jingchun before heading toward the back courtyard.]
[When you arrived there, you immediately saw the two of them sitting at a stone table, drinking tea.]
[When Ye Chuxue noticed someone had come, she turned to look in your direction.]
"Su Ming? You finally came back!"
[With a solemn expression, you walked up to Ye Chuxue. Without exchanging much greeting, you went straight to the point and asked,]
"From the last time I left up until three years ago, before something happened in the Fallen Immortal Secret Realm, did either of you go into the Fallen Immortal Secret Realm during that period?"
[Ye Chuxue rarely saw you look so serious. She put away her smile and began to think back.]
"Mm... we did go there once, about half a year before the incident in the Fallen Immortal Secret Realm three years ago."
[The moment you heard that answer, your heart sank. This was the result you least wanted to face.]
[Before coming here, you had been hoping all along that they had never gone to the Fallen Immortal Secret Realm. That way, the problem would not have originated among the people around you.]
[But now, you had no choice but to begin reassessing the identities of Ye Chuxue and Lin Qi.]
[As for Ye Chuxue, you knew her best. Across so many simulations, she was the one you had interacted with the most.]
[That made Lin Qi your primary suspect. Of course, in your view, Ye Chuxue still could not be completely cleared of suspicion either.]
[Seeing your expression grow darker and darker, Ye Chuxue could not understand what their trip to the Fallen Immortal Secret Realm had to do with anything.]
"What exactly happened, Su Ming?"
[You looked at the two of them, both staring at you in confusion. For a moment, you actually felt dazed, and instinctively began to wonder whether you had gotten it wrong.]
[After adjusting your emotions, you told them it was nothing. You only said that after returning, you discovered the secret realm had been contaminated, so you were worried about them.]
[Ye Chuxue and Lin Qi clearly did not believe your explanation, but neither of them pressed the matter further.]
[After leaving the back courtyard, you went directly to find Fang Jingchun and Gu Xinyue.]
"Senior Brother Fang, Senior Sister Gu! I want to ask if there are any ruins in Youzhou similar to the Fallen Immortal Secret Realm."
[When Fang Jingchun and Gu Xinyue heard your question, they exchanged a glance.]
"Little Junior Brother, why are you asking this?"
"Yes, Little Junior Brother! You are still far from breaking through to Deity Transformation."
[Seeing that neither of them had explicitly said no, your expression immediately brightened.]
"So Youzhou really does have another secret realm?"
[Seeing that you still refused to let the matter go, Gu Xinyue finally sighed helplessly and told you.]
"Youzhou does indeed have another secret realm. It is just that unless there is absolutely no other choice, we would never go there to cultivate."
[You asked why it could not be used for cultivation. You wondered whether the Spiritual Energy there had already been severely depleted.]
[Gu Xinyue nodded, then shook her head.]
"The level of depletion in that secret realm is about the same as the Fallen Immortal Secret Realm. It is just that the situation there is rather special..."
"A special situation? Senior Sister Gu, what exactly is going on in that secret realm?"
[Seeing that you kept asking, Fang Jingchun spoke up from the side to explain.]
"Little Junior Brother, there is a Blood Stele in that secret realm, and beneath it is suppressing a powerful Bizarre Insect from the Remote Ancient Era!"
"Five thousand years ago, after the previous Sword Pavilion Master discovered it by chance, he used his great strength to drive out all humans and stationed people there to guard it, preventing outsiders from entering."
[At that point, Gu Xinyue suddenly cut in with a grin.]
"Little Junior Brother! The one currently guarding that place is Third Senior Sister."
[After hearing this, you had not expected the true situation to be so complicated. At the same time, you were also very puzzled as to why a Bizarre Insect would be suppressed on its own like that.]
[You voiced the doubt in your heart to Fang Jingchun.]
"Senior Brother Fang, do Bizarre Insects not die as long as their host dies? Why would there still be..."
"For Bizarre Insects below the Deity Transformation realm, as long as you kill the parasitized host, they will die immediately. At that point, their true consciousness has not fully awakened yet, so they are easy to kill."
"Then what about those above the Deity Transformation realm?" you asked eagerly, looking at Fang Jingchun in curiosity.
"For those above Deity Transformation, even if you kill the host, they can still escape from the body and seek a new host."
[At that point, Gu Xinyue added a reminder from the side.]
"That is right, Little Junior Brother! You should know that Bizarre Insects have extremely strong vitality, so we absolutely must attack their dantian. That is their weak point."
"Exactly. A Bizarre Insect's greatest strength is its soul power. Against one at the same realm, if you do not destroy its dantian and let it escape, then in most cases, the only outcome is that you end up being possessed."
Seeing this, Su Ming could not help but feel a pounding headache.
"Where exactly did these Bizarre Insects come from? How are they this monstrous?"
Fortunately, he had learned this through the simulation. Otherwise, once his cultivation became higher, if he went to kill Deity Transformation experts and got caught off guard by this trick, he would be finished.
At that moment, Su Ming saw that in the simulation, Fang Jingchun was still explaining the matter of the secret realm to him.
"The Blood Stele absorbs the Spiritual Energy within the secret realm at all times in order to suppress the Bizarre Insect's true body, and sooner or later, the secret realm's Spiritual Energy will be completely exhausted."
"All we can do now is reduce the use of Spiritual Energy as much as possible and buy humanity a little more time."
[After hearing all of these explanations, you fell into deep thought.]
[For a moment, you did not know whether you should bring Ye Chuxue and Lin Qi there.]
[If the problem really did lie with the two of them, then bringing them there now might cause the Bizarre Insect suppressed beneath the Blood Stele to be released ahead of time.]
[But if you did not take them, and they continued contaminating secret realms, the consequences would be equally serious.]
[You were now faced with two choices. One was to kill the two of them directly. The other was to bring them to the secret realm.]
[In the end, you decided to take them to the secret realm first. The last time something happened to the Fallen Immortal Secret Realm, you had not been by their side and had no way to confirm whether anyone else had entered.]
[After pressing Fang Jingchun for a long time, you finally learned from him that the secret realm was called the Blood Demon Secret Realm, named after the Blood Stele.]
...