My junior sister sees everyone as a heretical cultivator.

Chapter 216 Bringing back the dawn, or sending you to your death.

After a moment of weightlessness, Lin Qingfeng's consciousness refocused.

His eyes shot open.

"This place..."

Lin Qingfeng quickly looked around.

They were in a primeval jungle.

Dozens of disciples from the Guixi Sect were waking up in twos and threes from the ground beside him, each with a similar look of bewilderment and shock on their faces.

Behind them stood a colossal tree that defied description.

Looking up, one can see that this giant tree is not the only one; they seem to be scattered throughout this forest.

Just as all the players were getting used to this new environment, a screen of light unfolded before everyone's eyes.

It was an overhead 3D map, clearly marking the location of the giant tree where they were, as well as other points of light scattered throughout the map.

They represent the rest of the guild.

All the points of light are drawn towards the area at the very center of the map by a line.

The map appeared for only a few breaths before quickly shrinking and disappearing.

Immediately afterwards, Elder Qian's voice echoed in their consciousness:
"Xihe rides the sun to patrol the celestial canopy, his body transforming into a divine tree that has stood for eternity."

"The foul air of ferocious beasts stains the forest, and the morning sun will not return you to the earth."

"Legend has it that the divine bird Xihe rode the golden crow chariot every day, traversing the sky, rising in the east and setting in the west, bringing light and vitality to the earth."

"However, in the ancient war between gods and demons, in order to protect all living beings, Xihe sacrificed her own divine soul and her mount, the Golden Crow, which transformed into the 'Guixi Divine Tree' to suppress the ancient ferocious beast, causing it to fall into an endless slumber."

"Over the years, the power of the divine tree has gradually weakened, and the seal has loosened as a result."

"The suppressed ferocious beast, its evil power seeping from the earth, is trying to erode this vast forest and devour the glory of the divine tree."

"Eerie whispers have begun to echo through the woods, and twisted shadow creatures are springing up as a result."

"As disciples of the Guixi Sect, you must enter this Guixi Secret Realm, which is about to be shrouded in darkness, to purify the corrupted forest and awaken Xihe's last will."

"Let the dawn return... or perhaps, send you to your death..."

The moment the background story ends, a series of rule prompts appear in the view of all players.

[Rules Announcement for the Guixi Secret Realm]

[Mission Objective]: All disciples must start from their respective Divine Tree starting points and reach the "Heart of Xihe" area in the center of the secret realm. Only disciples who have reached the central area can proceed to the next event.

[Map and Divine Sense]: During the mission, the minimap function will be completely turned off, flying will be prohibited, and the range of all disciples' divine sense exploration will be compressed. After reaching the central area, it will be gradually unlocked according to the progress of the events achieved.

[Monster Attack Mechanism]: Attacks received by monsters outside the aggro circle are adaptively reduced, while attacks received by bosses outside the aggro circle are immune.

[Death Penalty]: If you die in the secret realm, the remaining power of the divine tree will protect your soul, allowing you to be resurrected at your respective starting point on the divine tree.

Each death results in a fixed loss of 1% of the current level's experience points.

There is a chance of losing your equipment or items upon death, so please travel in groups to avoid losing them.

As the number of deaths increases, the time required for resurrection will gradually lengthen.

NPCs will be immediately removed from the instance upon death.

[Communication Restrictions]: During the mission, the sect channel will be closed, and only the [Guixi Secret Realm (Team)] channel and the "Nearby" channel will be open.

[Special Rule]: You may not log off during the mission. If you are forced to log off, you will be considered to have given up the opportunity and will be automatically removed from the secret realm when you log back in.

The last line of the rules announcement, tinged with an ominous crimson hue, slowly faded away.

【Guixi Secret Realm Channel (Team)】

[Shen Nong]: Holy crap! Does this death penalty also involve losing equipment? If the whole team wipes, that's a real blow!
[Sacrifice]: Only 1% experience, it's nothing. If equipment drops, only your companions will remember to pick it up.

【Yan Bu Liu】: The key point is that the resurrection time has increased! If too many people die, we'll all be at the finish line while you're still counting down at the starting line!
[Wang Xian]: Anyway, game time... and real time... flow at different rates... I'm going to slack off...

Lin Qingfeng pondered for a moment. The guild of nearly a thousand people had been forcibly split into dozens of small teams by the system, scattered throughout the secret realm, clearly to increase the difficulty and unpredictability of the mission. Lin Qingfeng withdrew his gaze from the void and landed on the four NPCs behind him.

A sense of relief washed over him.

This sect advancement mission involves teleporting all members and randomly dispersing them. This mechanism greatly tests the guild's organizational skills and the individual abilities of its members.

As the guild leader, the system assigning these four key NPCs to his team might be a kind of privilege.

But it is not important.

Importantly, the walking treasure hunt device associated with the "Strong Luck" entry is still available.

I forgot to put on the reins before, but it's not too late now.

With his knack for finding good luck wherever he goes, he might just stumble upon some hidden secret realm and seize an incredible opportunity.

At that time, while he, as the guild leader, is working hard to push the main storyline outside with a large group, he'll be enjoying a life of luxury inside. What kind of situation is that?

No, we absolutely cannot let this happen.

To prevent the "treasure detector" from getting lost unexpectedly, it must be insured.

With a thought, a ray of light appeared in Lin Qingfeng's palm.

The light coalesced and transformed into a rein woven entirely from moon-white silkworm silk.

The rope was soft, and each strand contained a point of light. As Lin Qingfeng moved, those points of light flowed quietly between his fingers.

At the end of the rope is a snap fastener made of an unknown metal, with fine runes engraved on it, its structure ingenious.

【Seeking the Thread of Fate】

Rank: Special Spiritual Treasure

Verse:

Opportunities are not predetermined; fortune and misfortune are determined by one's own heart.

A single thought can bind us together, even across vast distances.

Legend has it that there was a celestial fox adept at concealing its tracks, able to sense the cosmic energy and seek out unseen opportunities. A powerful being, in order to capture this fox, extracted the spiritual silk spun by its companion, the "Heart-to-Heart Silkworm," and crafted this treasure. Although the celestial fox could hide in the void and conceal itself within the river of destiny, it could never sever the bondage of this silk.

function:

【Contract of Unity】: This treasure can only be bound to one target at a time. Unless the binding is actively removed, the contract will remain forever.

【Tracing the Boundary】: The holder can ignore space, distance, and array barriers, and can sense the exact location of the bound person at any time. By circulating spiritual energy, the holder can even observe the surrounding conditions of the bound person.

【One Step to the Ends of the Earth】: The holder can consume spiritual power to instantly teleport to the bound person's side. This process can bring up to ten companions.

[Following Like a Shadow]: The holder can consume spiritual power to forcibly pull the bound person from any location to their front. (Note: This can also be an item they are carrying.)
【Formless and Shapeless】: It can make it formless, and cannot be detected by any divine sense, eye technique or magic.

[Note]: This treasure does not possess the power of killing.

This was the special spirit treasure that dropped when he achieved the first kill of "The Celestial Fox" in the event before last.

Its functionality is top-notch; it's practically a "lost-proof rope" tailor-made for Dong Changsheng.

Lin Qingfeng no longer hesitated.

Dong Changsheng had just woken up. He was about to open his eyes to look around when he asked some questions.

"here……"

His words stopped abruptly.

Because Lin Qingfeng was already standing in front of him, and with a "click," the reins in his hand were looped around his neck.

The metal buckle tightens itself, fitting perfectly.

Dong Changsheng: "???"

(End of this chapter)