Martial Arts Secret Realm: Only I Can Know the Plot?

Before entering the secret realm, Sun Fan was at the second level of cultivation, barely touching the threshold of the Meridian Opening Realm.

I haven't found a suitable internal energy cultivation method yet.

Now—the Meridian Opening Realm. Not the beginner Meridian Opening Realm, but the kind where one has already established a firm foothold in the Meridian Opening Realm and can circulate internal energy freely.

This is not a normal speed.

Could it be that this kid has had another fortuitous encounter in the secret realm?

But what Zhang Guangcheng cared about more was not Sun Fan's level of understanding, but his eyes.

There was something new in those eyes—a faint, almost invisible trace of bloodshot color, like the trace of ink that cannot be dispersed no matter how much you stir it after it has been dropped into clear water.

"Old Zhang." Sun Fan nodded to him, his tone calm.

Zhang Guangcheng stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded.

"It's good that you're alive."

He didn't ask any further questions. Not that he didn't want to, but the occasion wasn't right. The lobby of the Secret Realm Management Department was crowded and noisy; it wasn't the place to talk.

"Come to my office tomorrow," Zhang Guangcheng said, then turned and left.

Sun Fan watched his figure disappear at the end of the corridor, then looked at Dong Dahai.

"They're all out?"

"They're all out." Dong Dahai nodded. "Red Wolf, Du Ming, Mu Xue'er, not one missing."

"Let's go," Sun Fan said. "Let's go back first and talk about it then."

The group walked out of the Secret Realm Management Department's lobby, through the corridor, and out of the building.

A night breeze blew by, carrying the chill of early autumn.

Sun Fan stood at the entrance of the building and looked up at the sky. The moon was round and bright, like a silver mirror. He had seen the moon many times in the secret realm—at the Shen family villa in Jingzhou, on the frozen lake in the snow-capped mountains, and on the night the Blood Saber Ancestor died.

Every time I look at the moon, it feels different.

Now, standing on the land of the Dark Martial Arts Academy, breathing the air of the present world and looking at the moon of the present world, a feeling he couldn't quite describe suddenly welled up in his heart.

It's not nostalgia, nor is it liberation; it's a more complex sense of rift, like the result of forcibly piecing together two completely different lives.

He spent several months in the secret realm, experiencing life-or-death battles, conspiracies, and the battle on the snowy mountain. To people in the real world, those events were merely "experiences in the secret realm." But to him, they were real.

The Blood Saber Ancestor's saber was real, the wound on his chest was real, the blood in his tiger's mouth was real, and the bloodstain on his heart was real.

"Class monitor?" Mu Xue'er's voice came from behind.

Sun Fan snapped out of his daze and turned around.

"Let's go."

He strode forward and never looked back.

The next morning, Sun Fan went to Zhang Guangcheng's office.

Zhang Guangcheng's office was on the third floor of the administration building. It wasn't big, but it was very messy.

The table was piled high with documents, and a calligraphy scroll hung on the wall, bearing the character "狂" (kuang, meaning madness), written with vigorous strokes like a drawn sword.

Zhang Guangcheng sat behind his desk with a pot of tea and two cups in front of him. Seeing Sun Fan enter, he pointed to the chair opposite him.

"sit."

Sun Fan sat down.

Zhang Guangcheng poured him a cup of tea, pushed it over, then leaned back in his chair, looked at Sun Fan, and remained silent for a long time.

Sun Fan picked up his teacup, took a slow sip, and waited.

"Yan Gaotian is dead?" Zhang Guangcheng finally spoke.

"Yes."

Zhang Guangcheng tapped his finger on the armrest.

"Did you kill him?"

"Um"

Zhang Guangcheng's eye twitched slightly.

Even though he had already guessed something the moment Sun Fan came out.

But when Sun Fan admitted it himself, he was still slightly shocked.

Throughout history, there have been instances of subordinates overthrowing superiors in dark martial arts schools.

But it's extremely rare to see someone as relaxed as Sun Fan.

Sun Fan put down his teacup and gave a brief account of what happened in the secret realm—from entering Jingzhou, contacting the Shen family, and bringing down Ling Tuisi, to the battle on the snow mountain, killing the Blood Blade Ancestor, and rescuing Di Yun and Shui Sheng. He spoke very briefly, glossing over many details, but Zhang Guangcheng listened very carefully and didn't miss a single word.

After he finished speaking, Zhang Guangcheng remained silent for a long time.

"You mean, you killed Blood Sabre Ancestor all by yourself?"

"He was seriously injured," Sun Fan said. "The three people in Luohualiushui exhausted his internal energy, and I got lucky."

Zhang Guangcheng stared at him for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

"Getting a bargain?" He shook his head. "If you could always get a bargain like this, you wouldn't have to worry about becoming the martial arts champion at Dark Martial Arts School."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and put it down.

"The school is already aware of Yan Gaotian's situation. He violated school rules by entering the combat zone without authorization and targeting lower-year students, which is a very serious matter. Although he is dead, the school will still pursue the responsibilities that should be investigated."

Sun Fan remained silent.

“You killed Yan Gaotian, which is perfectly legal. He came to kill you, and you killed him in self-defense.” Zhang Guangcheng looked at him. “But you need to understand that Yan Gaotian spent three years at the Dark Martial Arts School. His connections, his relationships, the friends he fought with, the people he helped—they won’t just pretend this never happened because he’s dead.”

"Is Old Zhang warning me to be careful of retaliation?"

"I'm telling you to prepare yourself." Zhang Guangcheng stood up and walked to the window. "Dark Martial Arts School isn't a charity. Most of the people here are unreasonable. If you kill Yan Gaotian, someone will come looking for trouble. Not because of their deep relationship with Yan Gaotian, but because—you, a first-year student, killed one of the Five Tiger Generals of the third year. This in itself is a slap in the face to many people."

He turned around and looked at Sun Fan: "Do you understand what I mean?"

Sun Fan nodded.

He understood, of course. The ecosystem of the Dark Martial Arts Academy was no different from the martial arts world. The strong were respected, and the weak were preyed upon. What did it mean that a first-year student had killed the five top students of the third year? It meant that the "authority" of the third year had been challenged. How would those who had spent two years in the third year, who considered themselves at the top of the school's food chain, view him?

They would think—this first-grader is too arrogant.

Arrogance will get you beaten.

These are the rules of the Dark Martial Arts Academy.

"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Zhang." Sun Fan stood up. "I will be careful."

Zhang Guangcheng looked at him and suddenly sighed.

"You're a good person in every way, except you're too heavy." He walked back and sat down in the chair. "Young man, it's not a bad thing to be a little flamboyant when you should be."

Sun Fan smiled but didn't reply.

He walked out of Zhang Guangcheng's office and stood in the corridor for a while.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows, casting a golden glow on the hallway floor.

News of Sun Fan's return from the secret realm spread quickly within the Dark Martial Arts School.

He didn't spread it voluntarily; the records of the Secret Realm Management Department were accessed—who accessed them, no one knows; why, no one knows either. But the result was that in less than half a day, the entire Dark Martial Arts School knew: Sun Fan, a first-year student, had come out of the Secret Realm, and alive.

The word "alive" is not an ordinary word in the Dark Martial Arts Academy. It means a lot—it means he didn't die in the secret realm, it means he completed the mission, it means he may have had a fortuitous encounter, it means his strength has increased again.

But what's more concerning isn't "being alive," but another piece of news.

Yan Gaotian did not come out.

This news was accidentally let slip by Dong Dahai.

Here's what happened: The day after Sun Fan returned, Dong Dahai went to the cafeteria for lunch. He sat alone in a corner, ordered a bowl of noodles, and ate slowly. People at the next few tables were talking about Sun Fan. Their voices weren't loud, but in a place like a cafeteria, even the quietest whispers couldn't be kept secret.