Chapter 197 - 203: Pressure

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"What’s the deal with these Yin Spirits that suddenly appeared?" Li Zhirui looked at the three Yin Spirits flying towards him in the distance, his eyes filled with astonishment.

Although this Secret Realm is rich in Yin Qi, making it very easy for Yin Spirits to be born, newly born Yin Spirits should start from the first tier, yet the ones appearing before him now were all second-tier Yin Spirits!"

"There’s a living creature ahead!"

"We can feast again."

"The number of these foreign creatures is getting fewer and fewer, perhaps it won’t be long before they’re extinguished."

"Yes, it’s not easy to enjoy such delicious flesh and blood, and now it’s running out so quickly."

These few Yin Spirits seemed to think they had Li Zhirui in their grasp and discussed unabashedly in front of him about how to taste his flesh and blood.

"Hmph!" Li Zhirui’s face looked extremely unpleasant, and without any hesitation, he took action. Lush, vibrant, giant trees appeared out of thin air, instantly surrounding the three Yin Spirits.

The towering trees formed an encircling formation, and since Li Zhirui controlled the spell, there was no fixed exit. To leave, one had to break out forcefully.

Even though he did not know the Thunder Method or the Fire Method, which counter Yin Spirits, the vitality-filled Wood-attribute Skill could also suppress the Yin Spirits.

The Yin Spirits were terrified; they had not expected that their opponent would take them down with just one move.

It should be noted that when they previously fought against solitary Demon Cultivators, they had never been so powerless, and with their superior numbers, they often managed to kill the Demon Cultivators successfully.

But they did not consider that at that time, they acted with nearly ten second-tier Yin Spirits; ordinary Demon Cultivators were no match for them, let alone Li Zhirui.

The Yin Spirits hurriedly made a move to break the spell, but before they could succeed, Li Zhirui added countless vines to the spell, entangling the Yin Spirits.

Before long, the Yin Spirits became prisoners in Li Zhirui’s hands.

"Spill everything about your origins!"

At first, they tried to be stubborn, but under Li Zhirui’s methods, they soon became docile.

And through their accounts, Li Zhirui’s expression gradually became very grave.

This group of Yin Spirits was originally disciples of the Seven Souls Sect—an ancient sect of the Demonic Tao that founded this Secret Realm—who became trapped here. After dying and their paths vanishing, they turned into Yin Spirits.

But Yin Spirits have a lifespan limit; even with all their efforts, they could only live for a thousand years.

Cultivators need to break through to the fourth-tier Nascent Soul Realm for a thousand-year lifespan, so for second-tier Yin Spirits to live that long is quite extraordinary.

Also, due to those original disciples of the Seven Souls Sect, the Yin Spirits in the Secret Realm inherited various legacies, eventually forming a force that dominated the Secret Realm.

Like those Spiritual Objects in the Secret Realm, they were deliberately planted outside to facilitate enhancing the Devil Beasts’ strength, ensuring the continuous survival and inheritance of the Yin Spirit race, as Yin Spirits were incapable of reproducing on their own.

"Among you, who is the strongest?" asked Li Zhirui.

A Yin Spirit said proudly, "Of course, it’s the Supreme Elder. It is said that he has already stepped into the threshold of the third tier. If it weren’t for the restrictions of the Secret Realm’s laws, he would have broken through to the third tier long ago."

Half-step to the third tier? Li Zhirui was startled; to achieve this in a second-tier Secret Realm indicated extraordinary talent. If it were in the outside world, the breakthrough would likely have been successful already.

"Have you found the exit from the Secret Realm?"

The Yin Spirits, inheriting from the Seven Souls Sect disciples, should certainly know their living space was nothing but a very large Secret Realm.

"Rumor has it that the exit has been discovered, but it seems very dangerous outside, so they aren’t planning to leave yet."

They had been trying to find the exit and gather news from outside since the first Demon Cultivator was captured.

As soon as they located it, they immediately dispatched several Yin Spirits to scout the outside, but none returned. That was when they realized how dangerous the outside was, and they stopped further attempts, only arranging some Yin Spirits to guard the exit.

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To ensure the authenticity of the information, Li Zhirui separately interrogated three Yin Spirits, but received exactly identical answers.

"This is bad," Li Zhirui said with a bitter expression.

Outside the Secret Realm, there was a Golden Core cultivator on guard, and inside were numerous Yin Spirits, as well as a half-step third rank Yin Spirit.

What was more important was that the Spirit Light in his Sea of Consciousness symbolizing the opening of the Secret Realm was gradually dimming, and it wouldn’t be long before the Secret Realm closed!

But what Li Zhirui didn’t know was that the outside world wasn’t just housing San Gui, a Golden Core Demon Cultivator!

The large number of Foundation Establishment disciples’ deaths had caught the attention of the high-level members of Yin Wind Cave, who specially arranged for two Golden Core cultivators to investigate the situation.

By interrogating a few of those Yin Spirits that went out to scout, they gained a deeper understanding of the Secret Realm, especially after learning about the inheritance from the Seven Souls Sect and the abundance of Soul-Nurturing Wood inside.

The Yin Wind Cave immediately resolved to fix the realm with a Boundary Fixing Stone and invest a large force of cultivators to occupy the place.

As for the disciples who died in the Secret Realm, they didn’t take them to heart at all, since they were only at Foundation Establishment stage, and it wouldn’t take much effort to train a large group of them.

——

"Sigh," Li Zhirui let out a heavy sigh.

Plagued by the increasingly large number of Yin Spirits in the Secret Realm, he couldn’t bear the harassment and had to hide in the space to avoid the masses of Yin Spirits.

But as he watched the Spirit Light in his Sea of Consciousness grow dimmer, his mood became more and more anxious and uneasy.

If he missed this opportunity to leave the Secret Realm, he would have no chance to break through to Golden Core, and after more than a hundred years, he would die a natural death, pass away silently within the realm.

Although he would become a Yin Spirit after death, would he still be Li Zhirui at that time?

Chirp!

Da Qing, looking at Li Zhirui’s worried face, immediately spoke up to comfort him, hoping he would cheer up.

"Thank you, Da Qing," Li Zhirui said as he stroked its blue shell, speaking softly, "I still have to try, after all!"

Even if it was dangerous, he didn’t want to surrender without a fight, he had to try before knowing if it was possible.

Chirp!

If you need me, remember to call me out.

Squeal!

Xiaoqing also chimed in with its voice from the side.

"Okay!"

After saying that, Li Zhirui left the space and moved cautiously towards the exit, following the guide in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Who’s there? Show yourself!"

With his powerful Divine Sense, Li Zhirui avoided all the Yin Spirits, but halfway there, he detected a gaze secretly watching him.

Spirit Light surged at Li Zhirui’s fingertips, and if that person was unwilling to come out voluntarily, then he could assist.

"Don’t attack, I’m coming out!" Seeing Li Zhirui getting serious, the person spoke in a low voice and slowly revealed his figure from a towering tree that reached into the clouds.

The moment he appeared, a dark light flashed through Li Zhirui’s eyes, because the person coming out was a Demon Cultivator! Moreover, his cultivation was only at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.