The night before departure, in the Purple Sky Sect's camp.
Xiao Songlin specially summoned Ling Xiao and a few of the most outstanding true disciples.
The true disciples were Chen Wenyu, the head disciple of the Wooden Flag Peak, Yan Ze, Zhao Nan, and Luo Meiying.
They were the top five in the direct disciple competition.
Apart from these people, Wu Youlai, Wu Youqu, Yun Mengqi, Xing Zhantian, and Lie Mingqiang, who was known as the strongest true disciple, were also present.
Lie Mingqiang had already broken through to the King level and was officially promoted to an elder.
Xiao Songlin said, "This time, the Nest of Beasts will be extremely dangerous, and the real slaughter will begin. Every sect will do everything they can to reduce the number of competitors. So tomorrow, before entering the Nest of Beasts, the others will form a group with the inner disciples. The five of you are the strongest in our Purple Sky Sect, and you are the hope of our sect. So tomorrow, the five of you will form a group with Xiao 'er as the leader. Think of a way to reach the destination, understood?"
Ling Xiao and the other four nodded seriously.
Then, Xiao Songlin said to Yun Mengqi, "Miss, Xing Zhantian, and Mingqiang, you are in charge of taking care of the other group of disciples. If you encounter any danger, you must protect them and not let the other sects kill them."
This time, the Oath Assembly had gathered the elites of the Purple Sky Sect. If they were all killed, it would shake the foundation of the next generation, so Xiao Songlin's instructions were very necessary.
… …
Ling Xiao, Chen Wenyu, Yan Ze, Zhao Nan, and Luo Meiying followed Xiao Songlin's instructions and didn't follow the others into the Nest of Beasts. Instead, they waited for an hour before leaving.
There was still half a month before they reached the secret realm. As long as they could pass the first stage and reach the destination on time, they could enter the secret realm to search for treasures.
Ling Xiao's group of five walked through the valley between two mountain peaks and saw a towering stone peak. They finally understood why the Nest of Beasts was named.
The stone peak was extremely steep, and the peak was like a sharp blade that pierced through the clouds. At the bottom of the stone peak, there was a huge hole that led straight into the belly of the mountain, so it was not an exaggeration to call it a "cave".
From afar, this mountain cave was a marvelous sight. It was awe-inspiring.
After passing through the cave, there was a large stretch of mountains and forests. The sounds of birds and beasts roaring in unison resounded endlessly. It was truly worthy of the name 'Ten Thousand Beasts'.
After passing through the grotto, Ling Xiao and the others summoned their spirit beasts.
Ling Xiao's Golden Wolf King was the most dazzling. It was a peak tier-3 metal-wind attribute spirit beast, followed by Yan Ze's mid-tier tier-3 Fire Cloud Lion, followed by Zhao Nan's mid-tier tier-3 Scarlet Fierce Tiger, and Chen Wenyu's mid-tier tier-3 Azure Cloud Eagle. Luo Meiying's spirit beast was the weakest. It was a water-attribute healing spirit beast, Three-Tailed Cat.
Aside from Luo Meiying's spirit beast, which couldn't be used as a mount, everyone else's spirit beast was fine.
Ling Xiao was the first to speak, "Senior Sister Luo, you'll have to bear with it for a bit. Let's see who you want to ride with."
Luo Meiying's looks were only above average. She wasn't a beauty, but her extremely sexy figure made up for her lack of looks.
Before Luo Meiying could speak, Zhao Nan spoke first, "Meiying, why don't you ride with me? My Scarlet Fierce Tiger can carry two people."
When he said this, his eyes unconsciously looked towards Luo Meiying's towering chest.
Luo Meiying naturally knew his dirty thoughts. She immediately glared at him, then looked at Ling Xiao and said sweetly, "I'll ride with Elder Ling. I believe that Elder Ling won't be like the others who want to take Senior Sister's Ping Yi."
Ling Xiao smiled bitterly, "Senior Sister, don't call me Elder. From now on, you can just call me Ling Xiao or Junior Brother. Senior Sister, why don't you consider riding with Senior Brother Zhao?"
"That's right, Meiying. I'm a gentleman. Don't you believe me?" Zhao Nan looked at Ling Xiao with gratitude, then replied to Luo Meiying.
"Bah! You're a gentleman!" Luo Meiying spat, then walked over to Ling Xiao and said, "Junior Brother Ling is a gentleman. Junior Brother Ling, do you think I'm ugly?" "That's right.
"Of course not. Since Senior Sister is so fond of me, then ride with me. Everyone, let's set off immediately and reach the gathering place in the shortest time possible," Ling Xiao replied.
In his heart, he proudly thought, "It seems like my charm isn't just for show. As long as it's a woman, she'll be interested in me. Haha!"
Seeing that Luo Meiying insisted on riding with Ling Xiao, Zhao Nan's face revealed a helpless expression. He rode the Scarlet Fierce Tiger and led the way.
The others followed closely behind and immediately followed.
Ling Xiao and the others followed Xiao Songlin's directions and began to rush at full speed towards the gathering place of the secret territory.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, they would immediately move forward when they discovered any movement. This was also to prevent accidents from happening.
After three days of traveling, they had already encountered no less than ten attacks from Spirit Beasts.
Fortunately, these Spirit Beasts were only at the second or third level. There were no Fourth level Spirit Beasts. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had it easy.
At this moment, the five of them were resting on top of a towering mountain.
After three days of traveling, coupled with being attacked by Spirit Beasts, not only were their mounts tired, but even they couldn't endure it.
Originally, three days and three nights of traveling was a piece of cake for Ling Xiao. After all, his Qi was the longest, so he could still endure it.
However, there was a woman sitting behind him. Moreover, this woman often used her valiant "weapon" to poke his back, causing his Qi and blood to constantly churn. This caused his condition to not be too good.
The five of them each sat on a large tree branch to recover their Qi.
Ling Xiao took the opportunity to use his Spiritual Power to investigate the surroundings.
He was appointed as the leader, so he naturally had to be responsible for the safety of the group.
Now that his Spiritual Power could already cover a radius of three thousand meters, nothing could escape his senses. If there was any danger, he would be able to detect it immediately.
At night, in the dark forest, the roars of Spirit Beasts could be heard everywhere.
Ling Xiao, who was meditating, suddenly opened his eyes. There was a hint of vigilance in his eyes.
"Wake up, someone is rushing over here!" Ling Xiao called out to the few people who were dozing off.
In an instant, everyone immediately became vigilant.
However, their eyes were filled with doubt because they couldn't sense anyone's aura.
After a while, there was a rustling sound on the other side.
The other four stared at Ling Xiao in shock. They were all puzzled. "He can sense it from so far away?"
Ling Xiao didn't notice their expressions. Instead, he stared at the person running over.
"Little bastards from the Dragon Sea Sect, don't run!" A voice came from afar.
Not far from Ling Xiao were seven or eight youths, both male and female. They all looked battered and exhausted, and a few of them were covered in blood. It seemed like they had been heavily injured.
"Junior brothers and sisters, you guys run first. I'll hold off those bastards from the Giant River Sect." A young man who was the leader stood still and spoke very decisively.
"No, Senior, if you don't go, then I won't go either," a girl said.
"Hurry up! I can delay them for a while. You guys run! Remember, you can only take revenge for me in the future!" the youth urged.
"That won't do. Senior apprentice-brother, we definitely can't abandon you and run by yourself." Another person stood firm.
"Right, we'll fight to the death with those bastards from the Giant River Sect. Killing one is worth it, killing two is worth it."
"Yes, killing one is worth it, killing two is worth it."
… …
"Haha, I didn't expect you guys to be so courageous. Then you can all die together!" The voice from before rang out again.
Immediately after, a figure quickly appeared in front of them.
This person was around forty years old and was tall and skinny. He had a sinister smile on his face and wore gray armor. He held a blue dagger-axe in his hand.
After he stood still, another ten youths ran out. It was obvious that these were the people who had come to participate in the secret realm contest.
"Hurry up and leave! You're just going to die if you stay!" The leading youth from the Dragon Sea Sect pushed the girl and shouted at the others.
"Haha, don't you think it's too late to run now?" The middle-aged youth laughed proudly.
However, just as he was about to act, he glanced up and faintly said, "Come out with an idea, or don't blame me for being impolite."
Ling Xiao frowned and looked at the other four. They nodded at the same time and jumped down from the tree.
Ling Xiao stood up and cupped his hands towards the middle-aged man. "We are from the Purple Sky Sect and have been resting up here. We don't want to interfere in your matters."
With that, Ling Xiao looked at the four people behind him and turned to leave.
The Dragon Sea Sect and the Great River Sect were both ranked in the top ten, so Ling Xiao didn't need to be polite to the middle-aged man. After all, they were ranked eighth, and their overall strength was above theirs.
The reason why Ling Xiao left was because he didn't want to get involved in their fight.
It was best not to cause unnecessary trouble. Moreover, the middle-aged man was a low-level King, so if they really fought, they would be the ones at a disadvantage.
The middle-aged man didn't stop Ling Xiao and the others. After all, his goal was to kill all the little bastards from the Dragon Sea Sect.
When Ling Xiao and the others walked a few meters away, the middle-aged man coldly snorted. "Kill all the men. Keep the women alive. They're still useful."
The middle-aged man seemed to be a spectator as he called out to his own sect's disciples.
In an instant, a series of dazzling Xuan skills exploded on the spot.
"I'll fight you to the death!" The youth from the Dragon Sea Sect roared, and the dragon-shaped broadsword in his hand released powerful spiritual energy.
Whorl!
A series of strange noises resounded around him. The dragon-shaped broadsword was raised high, and a blue dragon shadow soared into the sky.
"Die!" The youth from the Dragon Sea Sect's face turned pale. With a roar, the dragon-shaped broadsword slashed towards the Great River Sect's disciples.
However, at this moment, a blue spiritual energy pierced through the youth's chest.
"No …" The youth roared unwillingly. The light on the dragon-shaped broadsword dissipated, and he gradually fell backwards.