Chapter 047: Drained Once Again

The damn Heavenly Dao has abandoned all pretense of decency! For the sake of its own son, it’s thrown its dignity to the wind! Yan Shu once thought that guarding Brahma Sky City was already her limit, but she hadn’t expected the Heavenly Dao to stoop so low—it wouldn’t even allow them to exist in separate planes! Let it all be destroyed, then. Some people are alive, but she feels utterly dead inside.

Yan Shu lay on the ground, gazing up at the canopy overhead, not wanting to move at all. After stepping through the secret realm’s gate, she had been teleported here. The heavenly thunder had vanished, though whether that was because Xiao Jihan was nearby or because they were now close enough in the same plane, she couldn’t say.

Though Brahma Sky’s secret realm was only a novice-level domain, it still had varying degrees of difficulty. The outer ring posed little danger; Foundation Establishment disciples could handle it easily, but the resources were scarce—just some common treasures and opportunities. In the middle ring, those at mid-stage Golden Core could manage. But in the heart of the realm, even late-stage Golden Core needed to cooperate with others, or else risk grave peril; a single misstep could spell disaster.

All disciples who entered the gate were teleported randomly, their destination determined purely by luck. Some Foundation Establishment disciples were sent straight to the heart of the realm, opening their eyes to find themselves staring into the gaping maw of a fourth-tier demonic beast. Those quick to react crushed their jade tokens for an immediate exit, while the slower ones didn’t even have time to break their tokens before meeting their end.

Yan Shu had no jade token. If she wanted to leave, she’d have to wait until the secret realm closed after a month. In other words, she’d be forced to survive here for at least a month.

Thinking of this, a vague sense of foreboding crept over her heart. Xiao Jihan had obtained the inheritance and stayed inside the realm for ten years. Would the damn Heavenly Dao force her to linger for ten years as well?

Probably not. The open period for Brahma Sky’s secret realm was one month. Aside from Xiao Jihan, who had received the legacy, everyone else would be automatically expelled after a month. Even if the Heavenly Dao wanted to keep her, it couldn’t.

Her frustration subsided, and Yan Shu sat up, surveying her surroundings. She found herself in a dense forest, towering trees all around, sunlight filtering through the leaves in scattered spots. Thick undergrowth blocked her view, making it impossible to see the forest’s edge or distinguish direction and location.

Since she was here, she might as well accept it—consider it a trial. Her fourth senior brother constantly scoured the world for spiritual treasures for Xuan Tian Sect; now that she was here, she ought to bring some back herself.

No flying was allowed in any secret realm. Yan Shu summoned her Nine-Section Lightning Whip, glanced at the sun, and strode off in a chosen direction.

Her luck seemed decent; along the way, she encountered no high-tier demonic beasts, not even ordinary ones. Naturally, she also found no spiritual treasures.

She walked for half a day but never left the dense woods. Frowning, she sensed something was amiss. Wasn’t this forest a bit too large, its scenery a bit too monotonous? There were at least two or three hundred people from various sects and rogue cultivators entering the realm, so why hadn’t she seen a single soul?

Watching the sun sink and the scenery unchanged all around, it finally dawned on Yan Shu that she was trapped in a formation.

But she was hopeless in formations, pill refining, talismans, and artifact crafting—not a clue about any of it, not even how a formation was created, let alone how to break one.

Yan Shu, ever straightforward, thought, “Fine, I’ll just be a salted fish for now.” She didn’t need food, the place was safe enough, so she could simply cultivate in place for a month, then wait for the realm to close and be teleported out.

So, at ease, she found a flat patch of grass and began her cultivation.

Nothing in the world is difficult if you’re willing to give up.

Sunset, moonrise.

The once quiet forest suddenly grew noisy, with frequent howls and the sounds of animals moving about. Yan Shu’s hair stood on end; she remembered now that Brahma Sky’s secret realm was a place to suppress demonic beasts. Demonic beasts feared light and moved sluggishly during the day, so they only came out at night—true creatures of the darkness.

Previously, they had all been hiding, but now they’d emerged to hunt.

Yan Shu gripped her Nine-Section Lightning Whip, uncertain how large this formation was, whether there were demonic beasts inside it, or if those outside could enter. She didn’t even know where she was!

Regret washed over her; she shouldn’t have given up so quickly. She ought to have struggled a bit before lying flat.

Hiss, hiss, hiss—

Suddenly, the nearby undergrowth rustled. Yan Shu sprang to her feet, her Lightning Whip crackling with power; without thinking, she lashed it at the bushes.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion blasted the shrubs to ash, and a snake’s head, as large as a human’s, slowly rose into view.

A first-tier demonic beast.

Yan Shu instantly relaxed, swinging her whip without mercy.

Boom!

The serpent arced through the air in a graceful parabola.

Perfect.

Yan Shu was no longer afraid, certain now that she was in the outer or middle ring of the secret realm, since the beasts in the heart were all fourth-tier. The original book had mentioned that in places like Brahma Sky’s secret realm, fourth-tier beasts disdained grouping with others.

Two tigers cannot share a mountain, unless one is male and the other female—this saying well described the situation in the heart of Brahma Sky’s secret realm.

Though the outer and middle rings posed no real threat to Yan Shu, their occasional harassment was still annoying. She simply transformed her Lightning Whip into a dragon, letting it serve as her guard, handling any foolish beasts that approached.

The lightning dragon let out a rumbling roar, then nuzzled her cheek affectionately.

Yan Shu opened her eyes, surprised, and asked, “Are you hungry?”

The lightning dragon nodded, rubbing her face again with endearing familiarity.

Yan Shu found it odd—why would a whip feel hungry? It was as if the whip had suddenly gained a soul, truly becoming a living creature, a dragon.

This had never happened before; thinking back, it seemed to have started after she transformed the whip into a dragon to shield Xiao Jihan from heavenly thunder, feeding it spiritual energy and nearly being drained dry herself.

The dragon continued to nuzzle her face, so attentive it reminded her of the golden retriever she’d owned in her past life.

Yan Shu let a trace of lightning-infused spiritual energy flow from her fingertips, asking tentatively, “You want this?”

The dragon gave a jubilant roar, then leapt at her.

Seeing its ravenous excitement, Yan Shu could only laugh wryly, letting her spiritual energy flow for it to consume.

Yet, soon enough, she realized something was wrong.

She’d started the process, but when it would end was no longer up to her.

Her spiritual energy drained rapidly; she tried to cut it off but couldn’t.

“Hey, slow down!”

“Don’t eat so much! You’re draining me dry!”

“I… I really am out…”

“There’s nothing left…”

Utterly drained, Yan Shu collapsed to the ground, once again experiencing the emptiness of being completely depleted.

Meanwhile, the dragon beside her was brimming with vitality, its body thicker than before, lightning surging more fiercely.

It rolled gleefully through the air, not sparing a glance at the exhausted Yan Shu.

Just like a heartless scoundrel who pulls up his pants and leaves without a care.