At the same time, within the Secret Realm, Su Feng—who had been moving relentlessly for countless hours since his arrival at this strange place—finally collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.
With labored, heavy breathing, he retrieved a glowing Qi Restoration Pill from his spatial ring and consumed it immediately. Following this, he sat cross-legged on the cold earth to channel his spiritual energy through his meridians. In just under ten minutes, a sense of vigor returned to his tired body, recovering enough for him to set out once more. Upon opening his eyes, however, his physical fatigue was replaced by a deep bewilderment; he looked around at the silent trees with evident confusion.
"There are no magical beasts at all," he muttered to himself. "Senior Brother said these places usually have fierce beasts, puppets, or some kind of trial, but here they simply don't exist."
Originally, he thought his lack of encounters was due to being far from the center, but he had already drawn quite close, and the heart of the Secret Realm was practically a stone's throw away. Even so, he had not detected even a faint trace of a living creature.
"Could they have gone extinct? It's highly unlikely," he questioned himself.
It was not uncommon for secret realms created by inexperienced cultivators in the Nascent Soul realm to collapse or lose their fauna over time. However, those places were usually barren, decaying wastes. This realm, by contrast, was not only overflowing with vibrant plant life, but it was evident that its creator possessed exceptional mastery; committing such a basic error as forgetting security trials or guardian beasts was almost impossible for such a master.
Still, it was a bit strange to have found nothing but lush vegetation after so much time.
Despite his lingering confusion, he decided not to give it too much importance; it was possible the realm's design was intentional. As long as there was no imminent danger to his life, he wouldn't have to worry so much about his younger sister, Lin Xian, allowing his mind to relax a little. After all, this realm was so vast that it was impossible to locate her easily; his best option was to wait until they both converged at the center of the Secret Realm as planned.
"At the very least, I'll take the opportunity to collect these rare spiritual plants and exchange them for contribution points."
Being first-grade plants thousands of years old, the reward from the sect would be considerably high. Originally, his priority was to find Lin Xian, but seeing that the environment presented no apparent threats, his frayed nerves steadied. Although she was weaker than him and had certain difficulties in direct combat, she was no novice when it came to the art of survival. Their Senior Brother had forced them to learn everything necessary to fend for themselves in the outside world without relying on the sect's protection, preparing them precisely for dangerous situations like this.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Su Feng collected a large quantity of spiritual herbs and glowing fruits, storing them carefully in his spatial ring before wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"If I sell all of this, I could buy a high-quality magical weapon for Senior Brother," he thought happily. After everything he had done to help him, it was the least he could do to show his gratitude.
If Wu Huang knew what was going through the young man's mind at this moment, he would have been truly stunned. Most "children of destiny" he had met in his past life were people who, while pretending to care for others on the surface, were unwilling to share their treasures when the time came unless they gained a massive benefit in return. Even if an object was of no use to them at all, they preferred to exchange it for spirit stones or other resources rather than give it to someone else selflessly.
Su Feng looked up toward the firmament; however, he was not contemplating the beautiful landscape, but rather calculating with precision the location of the center of the Secret Realm. It took him no more than a single glance to determine the correct direction, and he immediately resumed his march forward.
Along the way, he continued collecting various spiritual herbs and exotic fruits.
"How much capacity does this thing have?" he wondered, observing the ornate storage ring on his finger.
Being a gift personally delivered by the Sect Master, its capacity had to be far superior to the average ring, so he wouldn't have to worry about filling it in the short term. Besides, it wasn't as if he possessed so many resources of his own that he needed to consider the space limit in the first place.
Su Feng continued forward until, finally, he stumbled upon something extremely strange and unsettling.
"Ashes?" he asked, bewildered.
A thick, heavy layer of ash covered the vegetation, and a wide strip of land stretched out before him as if it had been scorched by a devastating, supernatural force. As he moved further in, the green landscape teeming with life transformed into an arid wasteland; there, the ground was burnt and buried under a gray mantle. It seemed as if a heat of unimaginable intensity had swept through everything in its path, leaving no trace of life behind.
"What could have caused this level of destruction?" he questioned aloud.
A conventional fire would have been incapable of causing such destruction. Unlike common vegetation, these plants, imbued with natural energy, were extremely resilient; an ordinary fire would not have been able to even singe the bark of the spiritual trees, let alone reduce them to ashes in such an absolute, terrifying manner.
Until now, this was the strangest discovery since his arrival at the portal.
Under normal circumstances, since it was something too mysterious and dangerous, he would have chosen to ignore it and continue on his way. After all, he didn't want to receive another scolding from his Senior Brother, nor face that look of slight disappointment he gave whenever Su Feng ignored his wise advice on a simple whim. However, on this occasion, the only path leading to the heart of the Secret Realm passed directly through that wasteland; if an exit from this secret realm or an ancient inheritance existed, it was likely to be found right there in the center.
"It seems I have no choice but to enter," he murmured, mentally apologizing to his Senior Brother for not following his warnings this time.