The charming widow of the Marquis's mansion: The stable boy carries the flag and raises the dra

Kui San stood in a corner of the square, his face terribly gloomy.

In his hands, he held a soul lamp.

Those are the soul lamps of the disciples of the Puppet Spirit Sect who entered the secret realm; each lamp corresponds to one disciple.

The soul lamp is lit, which means that the disciple is still alive.

Conversely, it represents death!

The soul lamps of all the contestants, contained in Kui San's storage ring, were now being extinguished one by one.

Suddenly, the last dozen or so soul lamps went out at the same time.

Kui San held the extinguished soul lamp, frozen in place.

His face was ashen, his lips trembled slightly, and his eyes were filled with disbelief.

"They're...all wiped out?"

His voice was hoarse, with an uncontrollable tremor.

"How is that possible... how could they all be dead?"

"Based on the progress, Kui Bai should have already broken through to the Grandmaster level... and even has a Heaven-rank spiritual weapon... how could this be...?"

Kui San's expression grew increasingly grim; dozens of Heaven-Rank spiritual artifacts were gone.

Furthermore, all the carefully nurtured ninth-rank martial artists have also died.

For him, an elder.

lost heavily!

The season is only halfway through...

He suddenly raised his head and looked at the huge spatial rift in the sky above the square, his eyes filled with killing intent and confusion.

"Who did it? Who did it?"

"Who killed everyone in my Puppet Spirit Sect?"

His voice was somewhat hysterical, echoing across the square.

Those around turned to look at Kui San's distorted face. Some felt sympathy, some gloated, and some were indifferent.

"The Puppet Spirit Sect has suffered a huge loss this time. Dozens of elite disciples went in, and they're all dead so quickly?"

"In the past, someone from the Puppet Spirit Sect always came out alive. What happened this time?"

"Tsk tsk, the struggle for supremacy among dynasties is indeed dangerous."

Whispers rose and fell, reaching Kui San's ears.

His face grew even paler, and he gripped the soul lamp tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"Wang Long..."

Kui San squeezed out two words through gritted teeth, his voice filled with hatred.

"It must have been you...it must have been you!"

Wang Long is really hard to kill!

This made Kui San even more uneasy; he could not rest easy until Wang Long was eliminated!

Kui San took a deep breath, suppressed his surging emotions, and carefully put away the extinguished soul lamp.

He raised his head and looked at the spatial rift again, a sinister glint in his eyes.

Although all the disciples who participated in the competition died, he had no intention of returning home.

"Even if you come out alive, I will not let you go."

"The rules of the Warring States are to only guarantee the safety of the participants within the secret realm."

"Once you leave the secret realm, your fate is in the hands of heaven."

"I'd like to see how long you can hide."

The location of Wenxin Academy.

Qin Jiaojiao squatted on the ground, resting her chin on her hands, and drew circles on the ground in frustration.

She was extremely bored because Xiao Qiu wasn't around.

Most importantly, with Wang Long gone, there's no one to cook delicious meals for her anymore.

Her master wasn't there either; she was all alone.

"well……"

Qin Jiaojiao sighed silently, poked the ground with a twig, and made a small hole.

"When will Father and Master be able to come out...?"

Shen Qianqiu stood beside her, holding a book in his hands, and said with a smile.

"Only half a month left, it'll be here soon."

"Half a month..."

Qin Jiaojiao sighed again, her little face full of frustration.

"Half a month is such a long time... I haven't eaten properly for so many days..."

Shen Qianqiu put down his book, looked at her pitiful little face, and couldn't help but laugh.

"You silly girl, all you ever think about is food."

"Food is the most important thing for people!"

Qin Jiaojiao said confidently, hands on her hips.

"Father's cooking is the best. Even you, Director, have tried it, don't you think?"

Shen Qianqiu nodded, and couldn't help but swallow as he thought of the dishes Wang Long had made.

"It really tastes amazing; even the chefs at the academy can't make it."

"That settles it then!"

Qin Jiaojiao squatted back down and continued drawing circles.

"I wonder if they're alright."

He heard that so many disciples from powerful forces around him had died.

She was very worried about the safety of Wang Long and Xu Wanyun.

Shen Qianqiu looked at her with eyes full of affection.

He immediately took out two life tablets from his sleeve and handed them to Qin Jiaojiao.

"Jiaojiao, look."

Qin Jiaojiao took the life tablet and looked down at it.

Both life tablets were intact and emitted a faint glow.

"These are the life tablets of your father and your master."

Shen Qianqiu stroked his beard and said with a smile.

"The fact that their life tablets are intact means they are all safe and sound."

"Don't worry, they'll be out when the time comes."

Qin Jiaojiao held the two life tablets, her eyes slightly red.

She nodded vigorously, her voice slightly choked.

"Yes! I believe in Father and Master!"

Shen Qianqiu reached out and gently rubbed her head.

"Sweetheart, wait a little longer."

"When your dad gets back, he'll cook you a nice meal. I'm going to come and freeload too, haha~"

Shen Qianqiu stroked his gray beard as he spoke.

Qin Jiaojiao stopped crying and smiled, nodding vigorously.

"good!"

In the secret realm.

Wang Long and Xu Wanyun explored all the locations on the map.

Although there was some gain, it wasn't much.

They exchanged a glance and saw the same thought in each other's eyes.

Outside the map.

The map of the Heavenly Palace Secret Realm only marks the known areas.

Those unexplored blank areas, marked with the word "unknown," are like silent eyes, watching everyone who tries to approach them.

The unknown means danger.

But the unknown also means infinite possibilities.

After all, the current map was pieced together bit by bit by the participants from each year.

However, the participants in recent years have been somewhat lackluster, and the map has not been updated.

"Uncle Long, shall we set off now?"

Xu Wanyun's voice was soft, but a hint of anticipation flickered in her beautiful eyes.

As long as she stayed by Wang Long's side, she wasn't afraid of anything.

Wang Long nodded without hesitation.

"Let's go! This secret realm only allows those below the Grandmaster realm to enter; there's definitely no problem we can't solve right now!"

Wang Long felt that the twelve Grandmaster-level magical beasts they had killed were already the strongest beings in this secret realm.

As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at the distant, continuous mountain range.

On the map, there is a blank area to the northeast of the Tianque Mountains.

There are no labels, no information.

No one had ever set foot there before, and Wang Long really wanted to go and see it.

Most importantly, Wang Long had a feeling that something in that direction was calling to him.

If he had the time, he would also like to explore other locations further away.

"Little Chirp, fly that way."

Wang Long and Xu Wanyun jumped onto Xiao Qiu's back and pointed northeast.

The little chirp let out a clear and melodious cry, flapped its wings, turned around, and soared into the sky!

Flying towards that unknown region.

The golden figure streaked across the sky like a shooting star and disappeared at the end of the Tianque Mountains.

The further northeast you fly, the more desolate the scenery below becomes.

The once dense forest gradually thinned out, replaced by exposed rocks and dried-up riverbeds.

The spiritual energy in the air became increasingly thin, transforming from its initial dense, fog-like state into faint, wispy threads.

Xu Wanyun frowned slightly.

"Uncle Long, the spiritual energy here is so thin."

Wang Long nodded, his gaze sweeping over the increasingly desolate land below.

"Not only is the spiritual energy weakening, but even the aura of living beings is diminishing!"

This doesn't feel like a journey to the unknown; it feels like this road is an extension to the Netherworld...