A familiar sensation of teleportation washed over her as Li Yunxian watched the surroundings warp and twist.
Soon, she found herself standing in a mountain valley.
Right before her was a Foundation Establishment Demonic Beast. Upon spotting Li Yunxian’s arrival, it bared its fangs.
Li Yunxian:
Hmm, her luck is always like this.
Got used to it.
With the Xiayun Sword in hand, the Foundation Establishment Demonic Beast collapsed within a minute.
Li Yunxian stood still for a few seconds before it dawned on her.
Oh, she was in reality now—not the game world of Wanwuwu where slain creatures automatically decompose into materials and game currency.
The aftereffects of playing that game too much were truly frightening.
She looked up at the pig-shaped demonic beast standing over two meters tall, then sensed a newly arrived person within her divine sense.
Also a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.
Students arranged by the academies were undoubtedly all Qi Refining practitioners. Seeing a Foundation Establishment in the Secret Realm made their identity quite clear.
After a brief thought, Li Yunxian sheathed the conspicuous Xiayun Sword and replaced it with the Yellow-grade Low-Quality Spirit Sword that Duan Qiu had given her.
She first cast Qi Camouflage on herself.
But this time, she didn’t disguise herself as a lower-level Qi Refining cultivator. Instead, she masked herself as a Foundation Establishment Early Stage practitioner.
Then Li Yunxian added a Disguise Technique, shaping her appearance into that of a capable woman in her twenties.
Not long after these preparations, the Foundation Establishment cultivator arrived at the valley.
He was a lean man with somewhat shifty eyes. Upon seeing Li Yunxian standing over the towering pig-shaped demonic beast, his heart pounded with a foreboding sense of doom.
He had sensed unusual activity nearby—sounds of battle—and came over, hoping to scavenge something from the aftermath.
But…
From the moment he detected the disturbance to his arrival, the fight had already ended?
And he could also feel that the pig-shaped demonic beast was Foundation Establishment level.
Same tier combat ended quickly. Plus, this person…
The man cast a glance at Li Yunxian.
She didn’t have a single scratch on her.
Damn, he shouldn’t have rushed over so quickly!
Regret filled his mind.
Among Hunters, there was no camaraderie; black-on-black was the most common occurrence.
Seeing Li Yunxian raise her sword, the man broke into a cold sweat and hastily shouted in a flattering tone, “Fairy! Fairy! The Secret Realm is dangerous. This is exactly the time we should unite, not slaughter each other!”
Li Yunxian raised an eyebrow and looked at the man sideways with a faint voice, “You’re not worthy of uniting with me, but I could use some subordinates…”
The man felt the aura locking onto him and instantly lost all hesitation, bowing deeply while stammering, “Of course, of course. I wouldn’t dare be so bold.”
As a Hunter, he had done shameless things countless times; his attitude was slick as oil.
Li Yunxian knew the nature of these so-called Hunters—those evil cultivators labeled as such in the cultivation world’s “World Cup.”
They were all playing a role.
Their words were worth less than wind.
Li Yunxian stepped forward, said nothing, and reached out her hand toward him.
Her body language was unmistakable.
The man’s face twitched at her smooth “rob and plunder” gesture.
Originally, he had thought Li Yunxian’s aura was pure and elegant, her figure graceful as the wind, with an inexplicable charm, almost fairy-like—he even thought she might be of the righteous path.
But…
He had been thinking too much.
***
After a moment of indignation, he reluctantly took off a Storage Artifact ring from his hand and placed it in Li Yunxian’s palm.
After handing it over, he wailed, “Fairy, this is all my belongings!!”
His anguish was palpable—heartbreaking to witness.
Li Yunxian remained unmoved, coldly responding, “If that’s all you have, then also hand over the Storage Artifact hanging from your waistband and the ring in your left shoe.”
The man’s face immediately changed drastically. In a flash, he vanished like lightning right before Li Yunxian.
She smiled.
Two minutes later, a bruised and battered man was tossed beside the pig-shaped demonic beast like a dead pig.
Li Yunxian frowned in disgust and cast several Cleanse Spells on the three Storage Artifacts before coldly ordering, “Handle the demonic beast.”
Man:
“…Yes.” Choked voice.
Li Yunxian rifled through the contents of the Storage Artifacts with a detached expression, gathering the clearly human relics into one artifact.
She then used the freed space to store the demonic beast’s products the man had processed.
Treasure.
Li Yunxian lifted her foot. “Let’s go.”
The man, still sporting a swollen face, continued flattering her, “Fairy, where are you headed?”
Before Li Yunxian could answer, he quickly said, “I know of a Spirit Land beneath a waterfall. There must be something there to boost cultivation.”
Li Yunxian scoffed, “If you knew about the treasure, why didn’t you go get it before?”
The man forced a smile, “Naturally, I’m not as formidable as you, Fairy. There’s a mid-stage Foundation Establishment demonic beast guarding that place.
That treasure is useful even to mid-stage Foundation Establishment practitioners; for you, it would be even better.
With your strength, dealing with such a beast should be easy.”
Li Yunxian glanced at him without a word.
She knew he wasn’t lying about the treasure—the Spirit Land definitely existed, and there was truly a mid-stage Foundation Establishment demonic beast.
But whether it was only that beast? That was doubtful.
This man was surely racking his brain, trying to get her and something else to perish together so he could retrieve his belongings and make an extra profit.
And if that failed, at least escaping during her battle with others was better than being completely at their mercy now.
Of course, Li Yunxian would never fall for his scheme.
She had never intended to snatch anything—these opportunities were arranged by the academies for the kids.
Li Yunxian casually tossed the three newly obtained Storage Artifacts and said nonchalantly, “No. Why bother being so proper? After all that effort, you only get a little stuff.”
“Of course, killing is the fastest.” Li Yunxian uttered with an almost wicked grin.
The man looked at all his belongings being toyed with in her hands, feeling a bit suffocated. But as a Hunter, he recognized this behavior as justified.
Only…
“Fairy, please show mercy. We Hunters are already few in number. This Secret Realm is said to be controlled by the Four Great Academies, and their students will come soon.
If most of us are wiped out, those students might join forces and sweep us away.
Fairy, please reconsider!” The man pleaded earnestly.
Li Yunxian silently listened, collecting information from his words.
It seemed these demonic beings had been summoned a day or two earlier, with the academy students arriving slightly later.
No wonder he knew about that Spirit Land.
“Hm.”
Li Yunxian replied casually, showing no concern, “Then kill fewer.”
The man truly looked miserable this time.
Fighting beasts was easy—they had no intelligence, so he could escape. Fighting humans was much more troublesome.
Li Yunxian earnestly scanned the surroundings with her divine sense.
No one to the left, only two demonic beasts—never mind.
To the right was a Foundation Establishment Hunter—also fine.
Ahead… oh, two Grand Completion of Qi Refinement cultivators traveling together, apparently her dear senior classmates.
Li Yunxian smiled, grabbed the man by the collar, and swiftly headed forward.
Senior classmates, look what gift I’ve brought you!
A Foundation Establishment Hunter you can practice on.
Surprised? Excited?
This thing was useless for her training, so casually killing it would be a waste. But for the academy students, it was perfect.
After Fu Lan was sent into the Secret Realm, she was lucky enough to not go far before encountering a classmate.
Though they didn’t know each other, their eyes met and simultaneously sparked a clear and foolish delight, easily recognizing one another.
Knowing demonic beasts existed in the Secret Realm, they quickly chose to stick together.
But their luck seemed to end there.
They barely found a single ore before two figures suddenly appeared.
A man and a woman, roughly in their thirties or older by appearance.
Cultivators often appeared younger than their real age, so these looked at least one and a half times older.
Definitely not their peers.
VUZ…
They couldn’t gauge the cultivations of the two.
Fu Lan and her companion were already Grand Completion of Qi Refinement. The only conclusion was the two were Foundation Establishment Stage or above.
Fu Lan hesitated not a bit.
These two weren’t some top-ranked arena fighters but people who earned their Xuanwen Tokens through diligence elsewhere.
“Run!”
In the academy, not every Grand Completion of Qi Refinement cultivator could casually fight a Foundation Establishment.
Fu Lan shouted sharply, slashing at the man and woman before quickly pulling her companion and retreating.
Li Yunxian casually lifted the man as a human shield in front of herself.
The man grimaced and raised his hand to block the blade.
Li Yunxian narrowed her eyes, watching Fu Lan and the other’s skilled escape through the terrain, deliberately heading toward an area with demonic beasts.
The academy’s training was quite comprehensive.
Li Yunxian smiled with ill intent and kicked the man, “The academy people are here. Chase them!”
The man was frustrated but had no choice but to speed up and follow Fu Lan and the other two.
As they fled, Fu Lan used everything she’d learned at school—terrain advantages, sudden turns, and demonic beast interference.
They managed to avoid capture by the Foundation Establishment Hunter.
With Li Yunxian deliberately driving away obstacles, they even encountered two more classmates along the way.
Then another.
Skull.
Fu Lan’s eyes gleamed.
Their journey had been incredibly fortunate. Besides demonic beasts, they hadn’t met other Hunters.
Now they were five in total, with only two behind…
Fu Lan glanced back, her thoughts freezing.
Huh? Only one man was behind?
Was it a trap? After two seconds of thought, she looked around again.
No matter what traps awaited them, as long as they could devour the opponents, it wasn’t a trap!
Fu Lan quickly sent a covert signal to her classmates.
The others soon caught on, nodding slightly, then…
Li Yunxian stood leisurely on a nearby tree, watching the Hunter surrounded by five attackers.
Not long after, a scream rang out as the man’s head was cut off—swift and clean.
Li Yunxian praised silently in her heart, then turned away, pretending not to hear the screams of Fu Lan and the others.
“This Hunter wasn’t Foundation Establishment? Why didn’t he have any equipment on him?!”