The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Shen Yifei's heart fluttered at her words, and he was about to retort when he suddenly heard a scream from inside the cave, a scream that was extremely shrill and mournful.

Shen Yifei and Sun Yiran exchanged a glance, and their expressions changed.

"Let's go!" Sun Yiran tugged at his sleeve and crouched down to feel her way towards the cave entrance.

Shen Yifei had Sun Yiran follow behind, and he led the way inside. The cave was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, so he took out a tinderbox from his ring and blew on it.

After walking for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the cave suddenly widened, allowing three people to walk side by side. However, bloodstains began to appear on the ground, pools of blood.

The two walked a little further and turned a corner. Shen Yifei tripped over something and looked down to see a leg.

He shone the torch down and saw what was on the ground: a dead person!

It was the skinny rogue cultivator among the five. He lay on his back on the ground, his eyes wide open, his mouth agape, and the look of terror still lingering on his face.

Something pierced through his chest, leaving a hole the size of a bowl, extending from his front chest to his back.

"What could cause such a wound?" he asked in a low voice.

"Never mind that, just keep moving forward." Sun Yiran stood up and walked around the corpse.

Shen Yifei didn't leave the corpse unattended. He used his longsword to search through it and found the storage bag, which he then put into his ring.

After walking a few dozen more steps, a second corpse appeared on the ground.

This time it was the red-faced man from the Fiery Sect. He was the one who led the charge, and he died even more horribly than the skinny guy. His whole body was flattened, like a meat patty smashed by a hammer, half of his head was broken, and red and white fluids were flowing all over the ground.

Shen Yifei felt a churning in his stomach and quickly turned his head away.

"What the hell is this thing? How could it take such a bad picture?" he muttered under his breath.

Disgusting as it may be, the storage bag must not be thrown away.

The third corpse appeared deeper inside. It was the tall male cultivator from the Qingyun Sect, sitting on the ground with his back against the cave wall, his legs stretched out straight, and he was still clutching the flying sword in his hand.

His death was even more bizarre than the previous two!

There wasn't a single wound on his body, but he looked as if he had been drained dry, his skin wrinkled and stuck to his bones, his eye sockets sunken, and his cheekbones prominent, making him look like a dried-up corpse.

Shen Yifei looked at the corpse and a chill ran down his spine. He was familiar with this way of dying.

The vital energy is completely depleted, and the dantian is exhausted!

Sun Yiran clearly knew as well, looking at the corpse, "What exactly is in this cave?" Sun Yiran's voice trembled slightly.

Shen Yifei had no idea. He shook his head and, as usual, searched out the storage bag.

After rounding another bend, the view suddenly opened up before us.

This is a huge cave, about three or four zhang high and five or six zhang wide. Dozens of luminous pearls are embedded in the cave ceiling, emitting a faint white light, illuminating the entire cave as if it were daytime.

In the very center of the cave stood a stone platform, upon which rested several jade boxes and a small bronze cauldron. Beside the platform lay two people, the remaining Qingyun Sect disciple and the rogue cultivator.

The two men fell face to face, less than three steps apart. The Qingyun Sect disciple clutched a bloodstained sword, while the rogue cultivator held a dagger, its tip still embedded in the Qingyun Sect disciple's stomach.

Shen Yifei walked over, squatted down, and took a look.

The rogue cultivator was pierced through the chest by a sword and was beyond dead. The wound on the abdomen of the Qingyun Sect disciple was not deep enough to be fatal, but his face was pale, his lips were purple, and black blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating that the dagger had been poisoned.

The two fought each other to seize the treasure, and both died in the end.

However, the fact that these two made it to the end suggests that the first three died from the restrictions within the cave.

Shen Yifei sighed, reached out and closed their eyes, then began to rummage through their storage bags.

Sun Yiran stood aside watching him rummage through the things, neither helping nor speaking. Only after he finished tidying everything up did she speak: "Junior Brother Shen, your skills in searching corpses are quite proficient."

Shen Yifei turned around and smiled at her: "Senior Sister Sun, don't laugh at me. These were all bought with my life. If I didn't pick them up, they would just be a waste to leave them here."

Sun Yiran didn't say anything more. She walked to the stone platform, picked up a jade box, and opened it to take a look. Inside was a purplish-red Ganoderma lucidum, about the size of a palm, similar to the two hundred-year-old Ganoderma lucidum she had dug up in the secret realm before.

She opened the second jade box, inside which was a pill that emitted a faint chill.

"Ice Soul Pill! A fourth-grade pill that can increase the cultivation speed of ice-attribute techniques. This is a good thing."

Shen Yifei leaned over to take a look. He had some knowledge of pills and knew the grade and uses of the Ice Soul Pill. This thing was worth at least two thousand spirit stones on the market, and it was priceless.

The third jade box contained a jade slip. Sun Yiran picked it up, pressed it to her forehead, and looked at it with a look of ecstatic joy.

"What's wrong?" Shen Yifei asked.

"It's the 'Heavenly Origin Weapon Refining Technique'." Sun Yiran's voice trembled. "The weapon refining method personally passed down by Tianyuanzi has been lost for thousands of years. If this thing were to be taken out, the entire cultivation world would fight tooth and nail for it."

Shen Yifei wasn't very interested in weapon crafting; he was more concerned with the small bronze cauldron.

He walked to the stone platform, picked up the small bronze cauldron, and examined it from all angles.

This cauldron was a size larger than his Myriad Things Cauldron, with three legs and two handles, and its body was covered with densely packed runes.

He tried to channel some spiritual energy into it, and a ball of blue flame immediately emerged from the cauldron, roaring loudly, which startled Shen Yifei.

"It's a pill-making furnace." Shen Yifei withdrew his spiritual energy, extinguishing the flames. "It's of a high grade."

Sun Yiran walked over and took a look: "This should be the alchemy furnace of one of Tian Yuanzi's disciples. It's been in the secret realm for so many years and it's still intact. It must be at least a spiritual artifact."

"Senior Sister Sun, how do we divide these things?" he asked.

Sun Yiran thought for a moment: "I'll take the jade slip, the Ganoderma lucidum and the Ice Soul Pill are yours, and the bronze cauldron is yours too. How about it?"

"Okay." Shen Yifei nodded readily. The jade slip was of little use to him, but the Ganoderma lucidum and Ice Soul Pill were good things, and the bronze cauldron was an unexpected surprise.

Shen Yifei put the small cauldron, the lingzhi mushroom, and the pills into his ring. Although he already possessed the Cauldron of Myriad Things, that thing was too evil to be used casually.

This bronze cauldron can be used as a decoy, so that when refining elixirs in the future, we can openly bring out the good stuff.

After the two finished dividing the items, they walked around the cave again.

There are some inscriptions on the cave walls that record the life of the cave's owner.

He was a disciple of Tian Yuanzi, surnamed Zhou, in the late stage of the Golden Core realm, and was in charge of alchemy. These things in the cave were left behind by him before his death.

Shen Yifei looked at the words and began to ponder them.

A late-stage Golden Core alchemist left behind a cave dwelling in the secret realm, filled with so many treasures. How many treasures must be hidden in Tian Yuanzi's own cave dwelling deep within that secret realm?

"Senior Sister Sun, are you going any further in?" he asked.

Sun Yiran shook her head: "I'm not leaving. I've already achieved my goal of coming in, and going any further is too risky. I plan to stay on the outskirts for another two days, and then I'll leave."

Shen Yifei nodded. He understood Sun Yiran's thoughts. A mid-stage Golden Core cultivator wasn't weak in the secret realm, but certainly not strong either. Now that they had made good progress, there was no need to gamble with their lives.

"What about you?" Sun Yiran asked. "Are you going any further in?"

"Let's go further in and see," Shen Yifei said. "We've come all this way, we can't leave without going in and taking a look."

Sun Yiran glanced at him, hesitated, and finally sighed: "Then be careful. If it really doesn't work out, just back out. Your life is more important than anything else."

"I see."

The two parted ways at the cave entrance.

Sun Yiran was still somewhat reluctant to part with him, but in fact, she was quite satisfied with this trip to the secret realm.

The biggest gain was meeting Shen Yifei!