Chapter 68: Rewards of the Dao Evolution Secret Realm

Within the Daoyan Secret Realm, as He Jiaojiao slowly opened her eyes, the aura surrounding her gradually grew steady.

Seeing this, Lu Changfeng stood up slowly, intending to leave the place.

"You..."

He Jiaojiao quickly stood up, looking at him as she asked, "Where are you going?"

Hearing this, Lu Changfeng turned around and uttered, "Leaving."

"You... Aren't you going to team up with me?" He Jiaojiao asked, her expression stiffening.

"Your cultivation is too weak, and you are still injured," Lu Changfeng said calmly. "If you follow me, you will only be a burden."

"You!"

Hearing Lu Changfeng's words, He Jiaojiao's face flushed red. She wanted to retort, but then she remembered the moment when they had just killed He Guangyao. Lu Changfeng had only struck twice before slaying He Guangyao, who was at the fifth level of the Yuan Dan realm, leaving him no time even to trigger the protection of his jade talisman.

Instantly, she lowered her head, looking puzzled as she asked, "Then why did you save me? I thought we had already formed an alliance back in the plaza. He Guangyao targeted you because of me!"

Lu Changfeng's expression remained indifferent. "I saved you simply because I did not want to owe you a favor."

Hearing this, He Jiaojiao tightly gripped the hem of her clothes and kept her head down.

Seeing this, Lu Changfeng spoke once more, "Farewell."

With that, he slowly walked away toward the distant forest, showing not the slightest trace of hesitation or attachment.

"Lu Changfeng!"

"Are you... are you really leaving?!"

Watching Lu Changfeng disappear, He Jiaojiao stamped her feet in anger and shouted at the top of her lungs.

A moment later, she muttered resentfully, "Hmph! This young lady is still injured! What's wrong with protecting me for a bit? It's not like I'd let you suffer a loss!"

She stamped her foot again, her face full of indignation.

"Such a straight-arrow blockhead! Ugh!"

...

Time passed.

In the Daoyan Secret Realm, contestants were only allowed seven days of activity. Lu Changfeng did not pause for a moment, constantly seeking out demonic beasts to hunt wherever he went.

Unawares, four days had already slipped away.

"The number of people we encounter has decreased quite a bit during this time..."

Walking alone among the tree canopies, Lu Changfeng muttered softly, "It seems many people have already been kicked out of the secret realm."

On the jade talisman hanging at his waist, there were already hundreds of golden patterns. This indicated that Lu Changfeng had slain over a hundred demonic beasts in this domain.

"I can't stay in the outer perimeter anymore!"

He raised his head, gazing deep into the recesses of the forest, and murmured, "The number of demonic beasts in the outer perimeter has dwindled. I need to head into the depths of the secret realm and take a look."

With that, he concealed his cultivation aura and sprinted swiftly toward the depths of the forest.

Along the way, an obscure aura suddenly surged from his right side.

"Oh?"

Lu Changfeng instinctively halted his steps, turned to look toward the right, and muttered under his breath, "This is... the aura of the seventh level of the Yuan Dan realm?"

His eyes flashed slightly, and he immediately changed direction, dashing rapidly toward the source of the fluctuating aura.

A moment later, Lu Changfeng stopped, frowning, as he stood atop the canopy of a dense, ancient tree.

Before him, a vast expanse of ancient trees had vanished, replaced instead by a massive crater. Within the crater lay pools of steaming demonic beast blood, and countless scattered, mutilated chunks of beast carcasses littered the pit.

Standing beside the crater was a youth in a white robe embroidered with golden sword-shaped patterns. A slender, long sword in his hand was still dripping with fresh blood. It appeared that a battle had just concluded here.

The next instant, the white-robed, sword-embroidered youth turned around and gazed with an indifferent expression at the tree canopy where Lu Changfeng stood.

He said indifferently, "Come out."

Lu Changfeng had never intended to conceal his presence in the first place. He stepped out from the foliage with a calm demeanor.

"So it's Junior Brother Lu!"

The white-robed youth reined in his aura, smiled, and said, "Junior brother, you're a bit late. This seventh-level demonic beast has already been slain by me."

This person was none other than the chief senior brother of the Heavenly Sword Peak, Shen Jianxin!

As he spoke, a beam of brilliant golden light surged into the jade talisman at Shen Jianxin's waist.

Observing his jade talisman, Lu Changfeng understood everything in his heart. Over a hundred patterns indicated that the number of demonic beasts Shen Jianxin had slain was on par with his own, and might even surpass his by quite a margin.

At the same time, Shen Jianxin also noticed the jade talisman at Lu Changfeng's waist.

"Oh?"

He discovered that the golden patterns on Lu Changfeng's jade talisman were surprisingly close in number to his own!

Shen Jianxin's eyes flickered slightly, a sharp glint flashing in his gaze as he looked at Lu Changfeng. One had to know that his own cultivation was at the seventh level of the Yuan Dan realm, and slaying a hundred demonic beasts was already the absolute limit for this period of time.

Yet Lu Changfeng, with a mere cultivation base at the first level of the Yuan Dan realm, had actually managed to slay over a hundred demonic beasts as well?

This was truly beyond his expectations.

"Junior brother has quite an impressive harvest!"

"To have harvested the heads of over a hundred demonic beasts?" Shen Jianxin smiled and spoke indifferently.

"Senior Brother Shen is not doing poorly either!"

With a calm expression, Lu Changfeng replied, "I encountered quite a few demonic beasts killing each other off over the past few days, and these beasts were merely easy gains for me."

As he spoke, a trace of doubt arose in his heart, prompting him to ask, "Senior Brother Shen, what benefit is there for us in slaying demonic beasts within the secret realm? Aside from refining one's own spiritual arts, I feel no improvement whatsoever."

This was a doubt Lu Changfeng had held ever since entering the secret realm. After all, he had heard from Zhou Xuntong that the rewards for disciples participating in the Daoyan Secret Realm ultimately originated from within this very realm. Yet until today, he had not found a single thing that could be called a reward.

Meeting Shen Jianxin today only deepened his doubts, especially since Shen Jianxin had participated in the Daoyan Secret Realm more than once and was bound to know the secrets hidden within.

"Ah, so junior brother does not know?"

Shen Jianxin was slightly startled at first, then nodded slightly and said, "Then let me explain it to you!"

"After the secret realm concludes, we will be given an opportunity for a baptism!"

"And the demonic beasts you have hunted are the key factors that determine the strength of that baptism!"

Hearing this, Lu Changfeng was suddenly enlightened. He instinctively took out his jade talisman and looked at it. From the very beginning, he had sensed that the golden patterns on the jade talisman served a major purpose, but he never expected them to be the key to the entire secret realm.

Watching Lu Changfeng's reaction, Shen Jianxin spoke once more, "Junior brother, you must hunt more powerful demonic beasts. Only in this way can you ensure that the spiritual energy drawn forth by the jade talisman is pure."

Nodding slightly, Lu Changfeng replied, "Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Shen Jianxin looked at Lu Changfeng with a faint nod, then smiled and said, "You are quite the renowned disciple within the Daoyan Sect! Whether it is the Moon Cold Pool or the Dao-One Sword, everything you do catches people by surprise."

"I hope it will be the same this time! After all, that makes things much more interesting."

As he uttered these words, his gaze was filled with formidable self-confidence, as if victory were already guaranteed.

Lu Changfeng cupped his fists calmly and answered, "I will."