Bai Shengyi adjusted the spiritual energy within her body and nodded, "My cultivation has indeed been suppressed to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage."
"This secret realm is quite strange. Be careful."
While Lunhui Bi was speaking, Bai Shengyi lowered her head to check the Lingxi Bracelet. It only displayed a single point of light, indicating her own position.
"As expected, even the Lingxi Bracelet cannot be used in this secret realm."
Among the artifacts researched by refiners on the market, the Lingxi Bracelet and Lingxi Jade Pendant were the best communication tools and could be used in most secret realms.
Elder Yun had really gone to great lengths for the eight of them this time. He had gone to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion early to buy the lowest-grade Heaven-tier Lingxi Bracelets as a backup, but they still proved useless.
Qingmeng Vine sensed Bai Shengyi's frustration and nudged her comfortingly with its vine.
Lunhui Bi also said, "The aura of rules here is very dense, and it will be more repulsed towards external objects. Perhaps it will be fine once we leave this area."
Bai Shengyi agreed. She calmed herself and carefully observed the surroundings. Under the faint starlight, a deep, dark forest lay ahead, with lush vegetation underfoot.
"Rustle..."
A sound suddenly reached her ears, like the wind blowing through leaves. The sound was intermittent and particularly clear in the darkness.
Wrong!
Bai Shengyi looked up sharply, her gaze instantly falling on the trees in the dense forest ahead. However, there was nothing unusual there; everything appeared normal.
"What's wrong?" Lunhui Bi asked.
"Nothing," Bai Shengyi shook her head and continued to walk forward.
"Rustle..."
After taking only two steps, the cat, which had been indifferent to her, suddenly snuggled into her embrace, bristling defensively and meowing urgently.
Bai Shengyi immediately spun around, Lunhui Bi falling into her hand. It brought forth a spiritual light that pierced the darkness, surging into the depths of the dense forest!
"Caw!"
"Caw caw!"
A series of sharp, piercing calls echoed. Illuminated by the spiritual light, countless black birds, like a covering, swooped down towards Bai Shengyi!
"They are ninth-tier Nether Crows," Lunhui Bi stated.
Upon hearing this, Bai Shengyi noted that ninth-tier spirit beasts were only equivalent to the late Golden Core stage. She directly drew a barrier with her brush, enclosing herself. Soon, the sounds of Nether Crows colliding with the barrier echoed from outside.
Lunhui Bi, witnessing Bai Shengyi's one-and-done solution, couldn't help but admire, "My dearest owner, don't you find this sound very noisy?"
Although the barrier blocked the Nether Crows' attacks, the constant crashing of these spirit beasts was annoying, especially with the Nether Crows' unpleasant, sharp cries.
Unable to bear it any longer, Lunhui Bi kicked the Chunhong Sword out of Bai Shengyi's storage bag. With a flick of its tip, it retreated into her sea of consciousness. "Finally, some peace and quiet."
Bai Shengyi couldn't help but twitch her lips.
She cradled the Crescent Moon Cat with one hand and took the Chunhong Sword with the other, asking helplessly, "Are you afraid of noise for a brush?"
"Look at Little Vine Leaf, look at Er Gou. Who doesn't dislike the sound of these Nether Crows?" Lunhui Bi retorted defensively.
Bai Shengyi lowered her head and fell silent.
Qingmeng Vine drooped its leaves listlessly, and the Crescent Moon Cat listlessly buried its head in her arm.
Alright, she was the odd one out.
However, nights in the cultivation world were usually not peaceful. She still wasn't sure if there were other dangers, so she didn't want to waste spiritual energy dealing with these Nether Crows. Instead, she found two balls of cotton, rolled them up, and stuffed them into the Crescent Moon Cat's ears. Then, she made a hand seal and enveloped Little Vine Leaf with a stream of spiritual energy.
"There, now neither of you can hear it."
Having done this, Bai Shengyi continued forward with the cawing Nether Crows outside the barrier.
She herself didn't mind, but this scene was quite conspicuous in the darkness.
"Senior Sister, look quickly! There's a moving lantern in the forest!"
The Senior Sister rapped the Junior Sister on the forehead. "What lantern! Those are the eyes of the Nether Crows!"
As she spoke, she beckoned the other two. "Quick, let's go and see if a fellow cultivator is trapped by the Nether Crows and unable to escape."
Although these spirit beasts were not of high rank, they were extremely fond of attacking in swarms. Not long ago, they four had been ambushed.
The other two were not very willing, grumbling, "We are all rivals. Why should we save someone?"
"Then, according to your logic, Senior Sister shouldn't have saved you before, right?" The Junior Sister huffily took her Senior Sister's hand. "Let's go, Senior Sister, I'll go with you."
Saying this, the two of them ignored the other two and chased after them. Then, both the Junior Sister and the Senior Sister fell silent.
"Senior Sister, she... she doesn't seem to need our help?" The Junior Sister stammered uncertainly.
Bai Shengyi was picking a spiritual plant.
Perhaps because it was rarely visited, the forest harbored many medicinal herbs. For example, the sixth-tier Laughing Ling Flower in Bai Shengyi's hand, although not of high grade, was very rare. It often required luck to buy one at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
"Meow~"
"Master, someone is watching you."
The voices of the Crescent Moon Cat and Qingmeng Vine reminded her one after another. Bai Shengyi looked up and saw two female cultivators staring at her blankly not far away.
Seeing that the Nether Crows were about to turn and attack the two female cultivators, Bai Shengyi sighed, got up, and walked over. Then, the Nether Crows, which were about to hit people, crashed into the barrier again.
The infuriated cawing of the Nether Crows turned into "quack quack."
"Wow! You're so smart, Senior Sister! Why didn't we think of making a barrier like this? That way, we won't be afraid of those stinky crows ambushing us!"
The female cultivator addressed as Senior Sister smiled awkwardly and explained to Bai Shengyi, "We originally thought you were trapped in the Nether Crow's encirclement..."
She paused. "Since you're fine, my Junior Sister and I will leave now."
After all, they belonged to different sects, and they didn't know each other. If she stayed any longer, it would be awkward.
"Wait." Bai Shengyi's gaze fell on the small sword emblem on the other's collar, and she smiled, "You're from Yueqing Mountain, right? Let's go together."
Although her maternal grandfather had not asked her to take care of Yueqing Mountain before entering the secret realm, and had even told her to seek help from Yueqing Mountain participants if she encountered difficulties, Bai Shengyi, having met them, especially two young girls in the mid-Nascent Soul stage, couldn't just let them leave.
"Ah?" The other party was stunned, but it was the Junior Sister who immediately agreed.
"Okay, okay! You're much more righteous than those two from Hualing Mountain! I like you! I am Yue Miaomiao, a thirteenth-generation disciple of Yueqing Mountain, and this is my Senior Sister, Lan Xuerou. Miss, what's your name?"
Pretty and lively young girls always made people particularly fond of them, not to mention Yue Miaomiao's jade-green eyes, which resembled a cat's, further pleasing Bai Shengyi.
Her joyful demeanor made Bai Shengyi feel happy too, and she couldn't help but smile, "Me? I'm from Shenqi Mountain, and my name is Bai Shengyi."
Yue Miaomiao and Lan Xuerou:!
"You... you are Bai Shengyi?"