"What kind of hellish place is this?"

"Are you kidding me? It's called the Falling Immortal River (Luoxian River), but tell me, what here is worthy of the word 'immortal'?"

"Exactly, the spiritual energy here is so thin. Is this really a secret realm?"

"What do we do now? I have no idea where to even start. Will there really be an immortal artifact emerging this time? Where should we look?"

...

As soon as they entered the secret realm and saw everything around them, complaints started immediately.

Before coming here, they'd gathered some information, but unfortunately, this secret realm only opened once every 900 years, and few people made it out alive. As a result, most of them knew very little about what lay inside.

The complaints were half-hearted—while there was some genuine dissatisfaction, much of it was just the various disciples testing each other out.

Despite the grumbling, no one was slow to act. Within moments, the group of a hundred people had naturally split into teams, with each sect forming its own group.

Zhang Yiyi discreetly observed her surroundings, realizing that all she could see in every direction was endless desert. There was nothing remotely "immortal" about it.

When her master and her martial uncle had entered this place, they had first landed on a snowy plain. It seemed this secret realm was enormous. If she wanted to find the immortal artifact, the first step would be to get out of this desert and find the mysterious immortal river.

"Senior Brother Mo, what should we do now?"

Zhang Tongtong asked Mo Yan in a low voice.

In terms of cultivation and experience, Mo Yan naturally led the Yunxian Sect disciples after entering the secret realm. Whether they would act alone or temporarily ally with other sects was entirely up to him.

Although Zhang Yiyi didn't particularly like Mo Yan, she accepted the established hierarchy, acting as though she was ready to follow his lead.

After scanning the surroundings, Mo Yan quickly took out a bagua mirror from his storage pouch. After fiddling with it for a moment, he wordlessly turned and headed southwest.

Seeing this, Zhang Tongtong and Zhang Yiyi naturally followed.

As the Yunxian Sect group moved first, several other sects quickly decided to follow from a safe distance, also heading southwest.

The rest of the people didn't waste time either. Each group selected its own direction and soon, the original group of a hundred had scattered.

"Mo Yan, what exactly is the meaning of this?"

Yuan Ying caught up with Mo Yan and demanded, "Didn't our two sects agree to work together until we found the immortal artifact? Why did you leave without even a word to our Lishan Sect?"

Mo Yan's pace didn't slow down at all. Even while walking through the desert, his speed remained constant.

"Didn't you just follow me here?" He didn't even glance at Yuan Ying, clearly not seeing any issue with his actions.

"What kind of attitude is that? If it weren't for the sect's orders, do you think I, Yuan Ying, would be willing to follow you around?"

Yuan Ying was furious. She couldn't believe how unprofessional he was being, letting a personal grudge from a few days ago affect their sects' alliance. It was as if he was deliberately undermining the Lishan Sect's dignity.

Both Lishan and the Yunxian Sect had only sent three disciples each, so they had agreed beforehand to ally until the immortal artifact was found. But who would have thought that Mo Yan would be so petty, acting as if Lishan had begged for Yunxian's help.

"That's my attitude. If you're unhappy, we can each go our own way. No one asked you to come along and suffer."

Mo Yan's tone was sharp, and he sped up further, clearly intending to irritate Yuan Ying.

The other four disciples from both sects kept quiet, but Yuan Ying, despite being furious, still considered the larger picture. She silently motioned for her junior brothers to follow and continued forward.

The six of them had just entered the secret realm and were moving swiftly, all while keeping their guard up, alert to any sudden dangers. No one spoke anymore, and the awkward atmosphere dissipated.

Zhang Yiyi had no idea what conflict had arisen between Mo Yan and Yuan Ying, the betrothed pair, but it was clear that Mo Yan's behavior had been extremely petty.

Half an hour later, Mo Yan waved his hand, signaling for the group to stop. He stated that, unless there were any issues, everyone should now begin flying on their artifacts to cross the desert faster.

Zhang Yiyi immediately felt awkward.

She hadn't yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage and couldn't fly on a sword, practically a burden to the group.

"Yiyi, I'll carry you."

Yuan Ying noticed that neither Mo Yan nor the other female disciple from the Yunxian Sect had offered to help their junior, so she took the initiative.

Despite Zhang Yiyi's low cultivation, she was quite pretty and charming, and Yuan Ying had taken a liking to her. Since she had promised to take care of her earlier, she would naturally follow through.

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

Zhang Yiyi didn't refuse the offer. Clearly, Yuan Ying was the only one willing to carry her, the burden of the group.

The six of them quickly set off again, flying on their artifacts. Several other sects' disciples, seeing them take to the air, followed suit and flew along, keeping pace from a distance.

No one from either Yunxian or Lishan Sect commented on the others' actions. After all, the path wasn't theirs to claim, and with no sign of the immortal artifact yet, no one wanted to cause unnecessary trouble.

There was no distinction between day and night in the secret realm, and after a full day of travel, nothing had happened. The supposed dangers seemed non-existent, and they hadn't encountered any other living creatures.

Along the way, Mo Yan fiddled with his bagua mirror twice more, confirming that they were on the right path. Without pausing, he led the group onward. They only had fifteen days to search, and no one knew how long it would take to get out of the desert—they couldn't afford to waste time.

However, Zhang Yiyi started feeling hungry.

After all, she hadn't reached the Foundation Establishment stage yet and hadn't completely transcended her mortal body, so her physical needs still had to be met.

Casually, she took out a bottle of fasting pills, poured one into her mouth, and swallowed it. No matter how it tasted, it would at least fill her stomach.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she stashed the bottle of fasting pills into her robe, not putting it back into her storage ring.

Next, she pulled out a water pearl from her storage ring, took a sip of water, and then tucked the pearl into her robe as well.

Yuan Ying, watching Zhang Yiyi eat and drink like an ordinary person while riding behind her, couldn't help but find it amusing.

"Is it good?" she asked with a grin, her mood, which had been soured by Mo Yan, gradually improving.

"Tastes awful," Zhang Yiyi replied honestly, though her expression brightened with anticipation.

"When we land to rest, I'll treat Senior Sister to something delicious. I brought a lot of food."

"Alright, I'll hold you to that..."

Yuan Ying wasn't particularly tempted by the food in Zhang Yiyi's storage pouch, but she found it hard to refuse such a warm gesture.

Before she could finish speaking, though, her spiritual power suddenly drained, and she, along with her flying artifact, plummeted from the sky.