With three supreme masters, they were invincible upon descending the mountain.

Mu Xue frowned slightly as she looked at Hong Yun's excited expression.

"Uncle-Master, is this what you're looking for?"

She looked at the evil tyrant sealed on the high platform, hesitant to speak.

The figure was clearly pierced by nine golden chains and had clearly fallen into a deep sleep.

But within that figure shrouded in black mist, it seemed as if a pair of eyes were coldly watching her from across the void.

Mu Xue shuddered, a chill running through her body, shooting from her spine straight to the top of her head.

She didn't understand why her martial aunt was so agitated.

Hongyun shook her head, her eyes still fixed on the tyrannical evil.

Her voice began to tremble, carrying a morbid fanaticism.

"No, it's not that I need him."

"We... all need this gentleman."

"What?"

Mu Xue doubted that she had heard correctly.

Hongyun continued speaking without changing Muxue's puzzled expression, her tone becoming increasingly agitated.

"If this great one grants us power... the Xuan Yin Sect will surely rise to the pinnacle of the Great Xia once more!"

"To become the strongest sect!"

"No, it should be said that we should become the most powerful sect in the world."

"It definitely will, yes, that's it."

Mu Xue looked at her in disbelief.

That martial uncle, who scorned all men and was fiercely competitive throughout his life, now looked up at a god with the eyes of a fanatical believer.

"Rely on him?"

Mu Xue turned to look at the tyrannical evil.

Even though it was sealed, the demonic energy around it was still so intense that it was suffocating.

That was fear stemming from instinct.

"Uncle-Master... what exactly is this thing?"

"You don't understand."

Hongyun shook her head, her eyes glazed over as she drifted into memories.

"When I first encountered the power of adults, I felt the same way you did—that it was evil and that I was afraid."

She took a deep breath, and the memories in her eyes turned into fervor.

"But only those who have truly absorbed the power of adults will understand just how great that power really is."

No... I don't believe it.

Mu Xue took a step back. She felt that her martial uncle must have gone mad. This was not the martial uncle she knew at all.

"How could our Xuan Yin Sect possibly become stronger through such power?"

"Uncle-Master, what's wrong with you? You look so unfamiliar."

Hongyun looked at her, a complex expression flashing in her eyes, as if she were looking at her younger self.

"Silly girl, the Xuan Yin Sect has been established for three hundred years. It has grown from an unknown little sect to what it is today, all thanks to your rewards, sir."

"Although the world is unaware of my Xuan Yin Sect, so what?"

"If we weren't so few in number, we would have been able to stand on equal footing with those top sects long ago."

She became more and more agitated as she spoke, and an unnatural flush rose to her face.

"Now, if you, sir, can grant us power again, with your master's talent, he will surely be able to break through to that realm!"

"Then, we'll have the power to compete with those powerful sects!"

Mu Xue opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.

Is the woman bowing before the seal really that proud senior uncle?

"Uncle-Master, but..."

She tried to say something, but Hongyun had already knelt down.

His forehead slammed heavily onto the ground.

"Great master, please grant us strength once more!"

"We will definitely not let you down."

Hongyun had completely lost her mind, kowtowing repeatedly.

Their appearance was exactly the same as those who had been corrupted by the power of the evil tyrant outside the secret realm.

The only difference is that the evil tyrant has now been sealed away!

Sometimes, human nature is that simple. Once you accidentally open Pandora's box in your heart, no matter how well you hide it, there will always be a time when you reveal your flaws.

Images from her youth inexplicably surfaced in Hongyun's mind.

Back then, she was just like Mu Xue—proud, confident, and believing that she was no less than any man in the world.

Until her senior sister forcibly shoved that thing into her hand.

At that moment, she realized how ridiculous her previous thoughts had been.

Now, she has reached the peak of the Golden Core stage.

The next level is just one step away.

If she can regain that power this time, she will definitely become one of the fastest people in the world to enter the Nascent Soul stage.

With her and her senior sister's efforts, the Xuan Yin Sect will surely become the strongest in the world!

This was also the real reason why she volunteered to come here.

"My lord... please grant it to me!"

She kowtowed more and more frequently, her eyes growing increasingly fervent.

Just then, a wisp of almost invisible black energy drifted out from Hongyun's body.

That's greed and desire.

The black energy, like a serpent, burrowed into the sealed platform and surged into the body of the evil tyrant.

The body, which had been sleeping, twitched its fingers almost imperceptibly.

next second.

A large mass of dark purple energy condensed in front of the Evil Tyrant and slowly drifted down.

It landed in front of the red clouds.

Hongyun trembled as she stretched out her hands and lifted the ball of energy as if she were holding the most precious treasure in the world.

"Thank you, sir... Thank you, sir..."

She began to kowtow again.

Mu Xue rubbed her eyes in disbelief at the bizarre scene before her.

She just... seemed to see black energy emanating from her martial uncle and disappearing into the black mist.

Even more terrifying, there seemed to be a giant face in the black mist.

The face grinned, greedily absorbing the black energy drifting from Hongyun's body.

But when she blinked again, there was nothing left.

"It's an illusion, it must be an illusion. This black mist has been sealed for so long without moving, how could it possibly move now? I must be seeing things."

Mu Xue murmured softly, patting her chest to comfort herself.

Hongyun had already gotten up from the ground, and she carefully divided the ball of dark purple energy into two parts.

He cut off a small piece and handed it to Mu Xue.

"Uncle-Master, what is this?"

Mu Xue was taken aback. She hadn't knelt down just now.

What should I do with her?

"This is for your master."

Hongyun explained.

"I wonder where that girl Ji Mingyue has gone. She didn't even come for such an important event."

"Please pass this one on."

She looked at Mu Xue's curious yet hesitant expression and suddenly chuckled, clearly in a good mood.

"Of course... you can also keep it for yourself to absorb."

"I'll give your master another one later."

Mu Xue shook her head repeatedly. She took the ball of energy and turned to leave.

She didn't want to stay in this place for even a second longer.

"strangeness."

Hongyun frowned slightly as she watched Muxue's departing figure.

"This girl is using an adult's strength, how come she doesn't react at all?"

"Back when I first touched her, I was instantly attracted. How come she was completely unaffected?"

After thinking about it, Hongyun didn't pay any attention.

"Perhaps this girl is too naive and doesn't realize the importance of this thing."

"If I had known, I should have let this girl cultivate the Heartless Technique in the first place."

"Unlike that girl Ji Mingyue, I always felt that letting her cultivate the Heartless Technique was a mistake."

Hongyun stopped thinking about it and turned to leave, plunging the ruins into silence once more.

Perhaps the next time someone sets foot here will be sixty years from now.

Or perhaps, the evil tyrant will break the seal ahead of schedule.

Everything is still unknown.

……

Ye Yaocheng walked through the secret realm, but it was no longer the same as when he first entered.

There are no birdsong and fragrant flowers, no medicinal herbs everywhere.

The sky was overcast, with dark clouds hanging low.

On the bare ground, only withered weeds swayed in the wind.

Desolate and barren.

Perhaps, this is what the world is really like.

Along the way, you can see people from time to time.

Some slumped on the ground, their eyes vacant.

Some muttered to themselves, as if talking to the air.

Some lay motionless on the ground, like zombies.

"The influence of this illusion is still too great. No wonder the Evil Tyrant is so powerful."

Although the power of the evil tyrant has been sealed, these people still cannot distinguish between reality and illusion.

It's not so much tragic as it is simply human nature.

In the distance, a screen of light appeared—the exit.

Ye Yaocheng turned around and took one last look at this world.

"Just wait, you wicked tyrant."

"Next time we meet, I'll settle all the scores."

He turned and stepped into the light curtain.

A flash of white light appeared before my eyes, and when I opened them again, I was already in the mountains and forests outside the secret realm.

The familiar sky, the familiar air.

Ye Yaocheng took a deep breath.

It feels so good to be alive.

He looked around, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Strange? I searched the entire secret realm and couldn't find Ji Mingyue, but I still can't find her after we came out."

"It can't be that they're really avoiding me, can it?"

He shook his head, found a rock to sit on, and decided to wait a little longer.

Perhaps I came out too quickly.

She should be hiding somewhere; she'll come out eventually.

Meanwhile, deep within the secret realm...

Ji Mingyue, who was lying on the ground, slowly opened her eyes.

The pupils... were completely devoid of light.