Chapter 30: Lost in the Secret Realm

  At noon, a loud screech broke the silence of Chongming Isnd.

  Tang Mingli suddenly opened his eyes. "Did you hear that?"

  "I heard it," Sanbao, who had been meditating, opened her eyes. "It doesn’t sound human. More like the howl of a beast."

  "Young Master Tang, are you done resting?" Wang Suifeng zily stretched, "If you're rested, let’s set out. We don’t want others to beat us to it."

  Tang Mingli gnced up at the sky and realized it was already noon. He felt a bit embarrassed. He had expended a lot of spiritual energy st night refining an artifact. While he had recovered most of it, he still felt some fatigue.

  Sanbao noticed his discomfort. "I also just had a nice, refreshing nap. These past few days have been so tiring. If I don’t rest properly, I might get wrinkles on my face."

  Tang Mingli froze for a moment before smiling, a hint of gratitude in his eyes.

  "As a cultivator, you can maintain your youth with spiritual power. Who needs a beauty nap?" Wang Suifeng scoffed, looking at Tang Mingli with a side gnce. "Some people, though, sleep this long after just refining an artifact. Their spiritual power depletes so quickly. You're really weak."

  Tang Mingli narrowed his eyes and snorted, his tone sharp. "Some people just talk. If it had been you refining the artifact st night, you probably would have blown up the furnace and failed."

  Wang Suifeng didn’t seem to care. With his arms crossed, he chuckled. "Of course. Artifact refinement is something for the servants to do. Our Medicine King Valley doesn't need artifact refiners. If we need any, someone will bring them to us."

  "Useless!" Tang Mingli coldly spat out two words, standing up and adjusting his robe, his gaze sharp as a sword.

  Wang Suifeng sneered. "After all, some people pretend to be noble, but in reality, they’re just doing the dirty work for others."

  Sanbao rolled her eyes helplessly, breaking the silence. "Enough arguing. Let’s prepare and head out."

  Tang Mingli remained silent, but Wang Suifeng started humming a tune from Hai City, his tone light, seemingly mocking someone.

  A moment ter, the three of them finished preparing and set off in the direction of the beast’s cry.

  As they walked, the three of them kept their guard up, watching for any signs of movement around them. Surprisingly, they didn’t encounter any other ability users or see any spiritual beasts along the way. The entire forest felt unusually empty, with only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves. The forest was eerily silent.

  Strange. With such a loud noise, and so many ability users and martial artists on this isnd hunting for wildmen, they should have all heard the commotion and rushed here. Chongming Isnd isn’t that rge. How come we haven’t encountered anyone? Sanbao frowned, a sense of unease creeping into her heart. "We haven’t run into anyone along the way. Could it be that we started too te, and others have already caught the wildmen?"

  "If it were that easy to catch them, they wouldn’t have put such a big bounty on them," Wang Suifeng shook his head, his tone certain. "I’ll bet that not only have they not caught any wildmen, but they’ve probably been caught by them instead."

  Sanbao raised an eyebrow. "Wildmen can capture ability users and cultivators? What would be the point of capturing them? Didn’t the wildmen only attack ordinary civilians before?"

  Wang Suifeng smiled faintly but didn’t answer.

  Tang Mingli spoke, "Seems like Young Master Wang knows a lot. Why not tell us more?"

  Wang Suifeng shrugged zily. "I know many things. Do you expect me to report everything to you, Young Master Tang?"

  Tang Mingli crossed his arms, squinting at him. "If you really know something, don’t wait until we’re in danger. Don’t bme me for standing by if you refuse to speak now."

  "I believe Sanbao will save me," Wang Suifeng said nonchantly, his tone dismissive.

  Sanbao facepalmed in exasperation. "Can you two stop arguing? Finding the wildmen is the priority."

  The two of them gred at each other but said nothing more.

  At that moment, Tang Mingli suddenly leapt into the air, vanishing into the depths of the forest in a few swift jumps.

  Wang Suifeng and Sanbao immediately followed. However, after walking for a while, they completely lost track of Tang Mingli.

  "We should split up and search," Wang Suifeng said, taking out a small copper mirror from his sleeve and handing it to Sanbao.

  "This is the test communication artifact issued by the Kingdom’s Cultivator Association. If you’re in danger or find Tang Mingli, just call for help through the mirror, and I’ll know where you are. You can also use this artifact to contact others who are carrying it."

  "Kingdom Cultivator Association? There's such an organization?" Sanbao took the mirror, watching as a faint light flickered in its reflection. She couldn’t help but mutter to herself, *Isn’t this just a cultivation version of a walkie-talkie?*

  Sanbao continued to search the forest in the southern direction, but the further she went, the more she felt something was wrong.

  She stopped, carefully observing her surroundings, then slowly retreated to a nearby bush. Her gaze fell on two trees that appeared ordinary but gave off an eerie vibe.

  The trees in this forest grew haphazardly, stretching in different directions, with gaps between them. However, these two trees were upright, standing at equal distances from each other, not like the others, which seemed to be randomly growing. It was as if they had been deliberately pnted.

  These two trees are suspicious! Sanbao thought to herself, carefully approaching the two trees to observe them more closely.

  However, as soon as she stepped between the two trees, the surroundings abruptly changed!

  She found herself no longer in the same forest. In front of her was an entirely unfamiliar forest, the trees taller and denser, and a faint smell of blood lingered in the air. It was eerily silent, with no bird songs to be heard. She stood in the center of an open space within this strange forest.

  A teleportation formation?

  Sanbao immediately took out the communication artifact Wang Suifeng had given her and called into the mirror. "Wang Suifeng, I think I’ve entered some strange pce."

  A moment ter, Wang Suifeng’s voice came through the mirror. "A strange pce? Expin more clearly."

  Sanbao looked around, her tone grave. "I found two unusual trees. As soon as I stepped between them, the scenery completely changed. It seems like I’ve been teleported to another pce. It’s another forest, but the trees here are much taller and bigger."

  There was a brief pause on the other end of the mirror, then Wang Suifeng replied, "Don’t worry, I’ll go find those two trees. Stay where you are and wait for me."

  However, after a while, Wang Suifeng’s voice returned, filled with confusion. "I’ve been walking back and forth, but I haven’t found those two special trees, just a bunch of small bushes."

  Sanbao’s heart sank. Looks like I’ll have to rely on myself this time.