"It seems it has already begun," Wu Huang murmured, his gaze fixed upon the firmament.
A magnificent vision—a phenomenon linking heaven and earth—manifested in the heart of the mountain range. It was visible from thousands of kilometers away. Wu Huang did not waste a single second; he stored the spirit boat and dismantled the defensive formation in the blink of an eye before lunging toward the source of the phenomenon.
"Even though I don't care for this 'reward' of the Son of Destiny, the problem is that with such a glaring signal, the sharks won't take long to arrive in droves."
Those "sharks" were none other than the rogue cultivators. Excluding the demonic sects, they were the greatest danger in the outside world. Loose cultivators were unpredictable; they were people who had danced on the edge of a knife for years and who, against all odds, had managed to ascend. They were no ordinary individuals, and their methods were often as dark as they were effective. The most sensible thing was to avoid involvement with them unless one possessed invincible strength.
Wu Huang reached the location in an instant.
"So, not everyone managed to enter," he muttered, seeing his sect sisters fighting against a third-stage beast.
Without a word, Wu Huang threw himself into the fray. His figure vanished and reappeared in front of the creature, which, surprised by the new rival, could not react in time. He reached out, extracted a small dagger with an ominous aura from his spatial ring, and, with a fluid motion, traced a cut across the beast's hide.
The monster roared in fury and launched a massive swipe—an arm larger than Wu Huang's entire body—seeking to crush the human who dared defy it. The small dagger and the colossal claw collided. To the beast's surprise, the human's strength was gargantuan, and it felt the cold steel penetrate its toughened skin.
Wu Huang gave a side-smile and leaped back with elegance. The creature's arm slammed into the ground, creating a crater where he had been just a millisecond before.
"Idiot," he declared with a frigid smile.
The beast, blinded by rage, tried to strike again, but its body stopped dead. Confused, it looked at its own limb: a sinister black stain began to spread like a devouring plague across its skin, extending with unnatural speed until it consumed the creature entirely.
"As expected of the treasures of a demonic sect; their weapons are never simple," Wu Huang murmured as he tucked the dagger back into his spatial ring, watching the life fade from his enemy's eyes.
No matter how powerful a cultivator was, some methods of killing were as simple as they were difficult to avoid. Among the most insidious were, without a doubt, those linked to poisons and curses.
Facing swords, spears, or any conventional weapon only required a tempered physical body or a high-quality defensive treasure. However, curses and poisons operated on a different plane. Once the body was infected, fighting them was an uphill battle that demanded exotic resources and antidotes that only first-rate sects or ancient clans possessed in their vaults. Without the proper treatment, being under the effect of a curse or poison was, in practice, a death sentence.
Of course, there were special physical constitutions capable of not only resisting these dark arts but thriving because of them. But such prodigies were as rare as Heaven-Grade Spirit Roots; for the average cultivator, relying on that possibility was simply unfeasible.
Even so, while these methods were lethal, they were not infallible. Numerous means existed to prevent contagion, and although a high-level master could break those defenses, for a common or low-caliber assassin, they were insurmountable barriers. It was for this reason that Wu Huang could afford to act recklessly: his own defensive treasures were powerful enough to ignore any cheap trick that did not come from a true eminence.
"Senior Brother, Junior Brother is..." Zhong Ling began to say as she approached, but Wu Huang interrupted her with a gesture, pointing toward the firmament.
"I already know where he is. We are going to need all the support the sect can provide to protect this place," Wu Huang stated, his face somber. He already foresaw the headache that was looming.
Zhong Ling, Fan Qianxue, and Shi Lan contemplated the sky, stunned. They had not expected that magnificent vision to be caused by their Junior Brother.
"Prepare a defensive formation in the mountain range; deploy the Suppression Flags immediately," Wu Huang ordered. "As soon as our brother emerges, those 'sharks' will come to hunt. We must maintain the perimeter until our Master arrives."
"Understood, Senior Brother!" they exclaimed in unison, mobilizing toward their positions with martial precision.
Wu Huang sighed and activated a high-ranking communication talisman.
"Disciple? What is happening?" His Master's voice resonated immediately.
Wu Huang explained the situation from beginning to end, omitting no details. Following his words, a heavy silence ensued on the other end of the line.
"I will set out immediately along with the Sect Ancestors," the Master finally replied. "The Secret Realm has manifested in the Beast Mountain Range, within our zone of influence. Even if other sects and clans want to 'test the waters,' they won't be able to act overtly without us noticing. Listen well: do not try to fight to the death against the experts who arrive; use only the necessary deterrence to keep them at bay. I will be there soon."
The communication cut off. Wu Huang exhaled a sigh of relief; he only had to hold out a little longer.
"Anyway, considering how these realms work, they should only be in there for a few days. Perhaps establishing such a vast perimeter isn't..."
His words froze. His divine consciousness detected a massive perturbation. Suddenly, dozens of powerful and undisguised presences appeared on the horizon, darting like arrows toward the entrance of the Secret Realm.
"As expected," he murmured bitterly, as his body tensed and he lunged forward to meet the intruders.