And in Li Yunxian’s Storage Artifact, there wasn’t just a variety of Lingbao materials.
Everyday household items—pots, pans, and the like—were also fully stocked.
Some Hunters relied on disguises to live within the city, while others, having revealed their identities early on, could only survive in the wild under the watchful eyes of city surveillance cameras.
After reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, one could fast without eating, but Qi Refining Stage cultivators still couldn’t.
So those Qi Refining Stage Storage Artifacts in Li Yunxian’s possession filled the gaps in her mountain cave’s supplies.
She even took the materials and crafted a batch of provisions for herself in the cave.
However, everyone’s materials were mostly for forging artifacts; there were few items capable of making pills or Symbol Talismans.
Li Yunxian had initially hoped to upload these to Wanwuwu, but found she couldn’t.
The Secret Realm not only blocked cell signals but seemed to also shield against Wanwuwu.
Li Yunxian didn’t mind this much. After finishing everything, she set up a camouflage and early-warning array around her cave, then fell asleep peacefully.
The next day, Li Yunxian diligently resumed her pillaging.
She was so thorough that by the third day, both among the academy students and the Hunters, everyone had heard of the “Silver Ginkgo Fairy” who was raiding supplies.
Suddenly, both sides realized one thing.
She was a fat sheep ripe for slaughter!
Suddenly feeling the pressure of being attacked from both ends, Li Yunxian thought:
“The Hunters are one thing, but the academy students are more troublesome.
Killing Hunters is straightforward, but those at the academy… once I leave the Secret Realm, my Silver Ginkgo identity will be revealed, and that will make counterattacks troublesome.
Ordinary students don’t matter much; they can’t catch me anyway.
But some of those entering the Secret Realm are ranked in the top hundred of the Practice Arena.
For example, right now…”
Li Yunxian had activated her Acceleration Talisman and Symbol Talismans, weaving through the terrain in circles, but still couldn’t shake off those behind her.
No choice.
No matter how well she disguised her cultivation level, she was still only at Qi Refining Stage Four.
Another slash struck beside her, instantly carving a car-wide path on the cliffside.
Li Yunxian’s expression was helpless.
She had already lost the other students, but she simply couldn’t lose to Lian Ping.
If she kept this up, her spiritual energy would be exhausted first.
In her divine sense, the others seemed to have fled the area, scared by the fierce battle, leaving only beasts nearby.
After a moment’s thought, Li Yunxian removed all her disguises and retrieved her Xiayun Sword.
She raised her wrist.
The Xiayun Sword surged with full force, sword qi cutting straight into Lian Ping’s next slash of Dao Intent.
The collision swept across the surroundings, scattering sword qi and Dao Intent that tore apart the unsuspecting beasts on the ground.
Grass, trees, and rocks seemed to cry out in anguish.
When the sword qi and Dao Intent dissipated, the scene was a mess.
Lian Ping stared at the wreckage and then at the figure standing firm, no longer fleeing, holding the Xiayun Sword.
Lian Ping didn’t strike a second blow but stood there, twitching at the corner of her mouth.
She recognized Li Yunxian.
Her big fat sheep was gone.
She wanted to curse.
Taking a deep breath, Lian Ping sheathed her blade and turned.
“Wait.” Li Yunxian hurriedly called out to stop her.
Lian Ping gave Li Yunxian a cold glance.
***
After spending so much effort chasing her only to find out it was the big liar Li Yunxian, Lian Ping really had no fondness for her.
But she didn’t leave; she stayed and snapped, “What do you want?”
Li Yunxian chuckled, ignoring Lian Ping’s attitude, and leaned close, “Senior sister, are you interested in taking down that person from Lotus Mountain?”
The one from Lotus Mountain Li Yunxian mentioned was a Golden Core stage Hunter.
As the highest cultivator in the entire Secret Realm, he had barely acted at first but then took control of the area richest in spiritual energy, sending his subordinates out to gather resources.
Those resources naturally included the academy students.
If his subordinates couldn’t win…
The Golden Core cultivator had mastered a rudimentary teleportation technique, shrinking distances to a mere inch and arriving on the battlefield to offer physical support.
Many of the top hundred students were sent out of the Secret Realm this way.
Based on Li Yunxian’s perception, there were at least a third fewer students now compared to when the Secret Realm opened.
Of course, the number of beasts had also halved, thanks to Li Yunxian’s achievements and their internal conflicts, plus the students’ efforts.
But the Golden Core from Lotus Mountain still remained, which was a problem.
If, when the seven-day limit ended and the Secret Realm closed, the Lotus Mountain Golden Core was still here, Su Wenjing the fox would definitely mock her.
But attacking directly…
She was only Qi Refining Stage Four. Jumping up one stage to fight Foundation Establishment was plausible, but two stages higher was ridiculous unless she broke off another soul fragment.
And she had to follow Su Wenjing’s instructions not to destroy the Secret Realm on a whim…
Li Yunxian had been pondering these days and decided that a clever strategy was the only way.
After all, she wasn’t just a sword cultivator relying on brute force.
Lian Ping looked at Li Yunxian and recalled the slash just now aimed at her, and her interest was piqued, “What’s your plan?”
Lian Ping knew the Secret Realm was artificial—no one could truly die here.
She had seen the Golden Core’s power from afar once, when the seventh and twelfth ranked arena students fought him.
By the time she arrived, both were dead.
Though it was unclear how long they resisted before she saw them, it was certain that if the opponent was only early Golden Core, their fate wouldn’t have been so dire.
He was probably mid or even late Golden Core.
Could she win if she faced him?
No matter how confident she was in her combat strength, Lian Ping had no such assurance.
She sensed a deadly threat.
Lian Ping believed others felt it too.
She had planned to find Cao Donghe, the second ranked arena student, but the Secret Realm was too vast.
No matter how talented or strong they were, they were still Qi Refining Stage.
Without divine sense perception, relying only on eyesight, she hadn’t even encountered the other top ten arena students, let alone Cao Donghe.
She’d only found someone ranked nineteenth.
And just now, when chasing the Silver Ginkgo Fairy, that person didn’t catch up.
If she couldn’t find anyone on her return, she’d be alone.
Thinking of this, Lian Ping felt like vomiting blood.
“That’s of course…”
Li Yunxian reverted to her Silver Ginkgo Fairy appearance, placing a hand on Lian Ping’s shoulder, “The Silver Ginkgo Fairy was utterly defeated by the academy’s top-ranked Lian Ping, forced to abandon most of her supplies just to escape.
From then on, she harbored a deep hatred for Lian Ping, pledged allegiance to Lotus Mountain, willing to serve the ancestor, gathering all sorts of wealth just to have the ancestor deal with Lian Ping.”
Lian Ping thought for a moment, “And then you secretly cooperate with him, stabbing him in the back?”
“We can also set traps.”
Li Yunxian pulled out an Array Disk and some Symbol Talismans from her Storage Artifact and waved them in front of Lian Ping.
Seeing Lian Ping’s confused expression, Li Yunxian wasn’t surprised.
She knew that in her original world, like the interstellar one, apart from artifacts, the other four arts were nonexistent.
But in the interstellar world, she could just pull those out—crossing worlds meant it didn’t affect her reality.
Once she felt safe, Li Yunxian planned to get them directly in Wanwuwu.
In reality, she chose to be cautious, waiting until her cultivation improved and she could ensure her safety.
After all, others had lived tens of thousands of years; a delay of decades or a hundred years didn’t matter.
As for those she’d taken for personal use…
Hmph—after robbing so many Hunters’ storage rings, who knew which unlucky one had placed a Storage Artifact inside?
She just used it casually!
What those were, she didn’t even understand!
Li Yunxian roughly explained to Lian Ping how these things should be set up, then stuffed all the Storage Artifacts she had onto her.
Lian Ping stared dumbfounded at the fifty or so Storage Artifacts in her hands, her eyes blank.
She knew the Silver Ginkgo Fairy was wealthy, but this level of wealth was beyond even her imagination.
Holding the pile, Lian Ping felt her hands tremble.
Her voice sharpened, full of disbelief, “You gave me all of these?!”
Li Yunxian casually responded with a “Mm” and continued, “Pick a suitable place. We’ll agree on a location. In the next couple of days, I’ll work on gaining the Golden Core’s trust and lure him there.
You can recruit a few more people, but not too many.
Hunters are all cowardly. If that Golden Core feels threatened, he might just skip it, and that’d be troublesome…”
Lian Ping’s head was buzzing; she barely caught Li Yunxian’s words as her attention remained mostly on the Storage Artifacts.
The trust weighed heavily on her.
So heavy that she momentarily forgot the resentment she had from being deceived by Li Yunxian.
Especially after briefly sensing several artifacts and finding them packed with genuine rare treasures—no fakes—she almost fainted.
She felt her resolve wavering.
She really wanted to…
But in the end, relying on her own inner strength, the very spirit that Li Yunxian dared to trust, she suppressed the urge.
In that moment of restraint, Lian Ping even felt the shackles limiting her from reaching the Great Perfection realm stir slightly.
Lian Ping thought:
No, is it really this restraint against greed I was missing?!
Because I’d never stolen before, I skipped this hurdle?!
Now she truly wanted to vomit blood.
***
After a long moment of silence, Lian Ping looked at Li Yunxian with some concern, “If you go to Lotus Mountain empty-handed, that Golden Core definitely won’t be so easily fooled.”
Li Yunxian knew this too, so she showed Lian Ping about twenty Storage Artifacts she still carried.
“I’ve got them. These are… the remnants of human cultivators harmed by the Hunters.”
Simply put, they were Essence Souls forged into materials.
“These are useless to the Hunters.” The essence souls were for Yao.
Li Yunxian smiled at Lian Ping, “After we take care of that Golden Core and leave the Secret Realm…” She gently caressed the Storage Artifacts in her hands, “We’ll send them to rest in peace.”
Lian Ping lowered her eyes, silently looking at the Storage Artifacts—only about half as many as she held herself.
Without much thought, she instantly understood the immense quantity contained within.
Lian Ping softly replied.
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