The Arrogant Immortal
Chapter 169 - 168: The Secret Realm Darkness Falls

Chapter 169: Chapter 168: The Secret Realm Darkness Falls

The surveillance agents reported the situation to their respective masters.

After hearing the report, Nangong Qi slightly shifted her thoughts about who the Child of Destiny was towards Xie Ying. The information she had received before was ultimately less credible than what she could uncover through her own investigations.

It wasn’t just Nangong Qi who thought this way; most of the others did as well.

"In terms of luck, Xie Ying surpasses many," Su Songting thought of Xie Ying’s Water Kirin, but then he remembered the decisive sword strike by Xie Jiu’niang during the conflict, "We’ll see."

"Yes, Young Master."

A disciple of the Su Family responded respectfully.

On the other side.

Xie Jiu’niang vigilantly watched the sky of the Secret Realm.

The sky was grey, devoid of clouds and the sun. Before entering the Secret Realm, she had already learned that here, day and night were indistinguishable, and there was no regularity. Sometimes it would suddenly grow dark, and each period of darkness would last for two hours.

Darkness was the most dangerous time in the Secret Realm, as Demonic Beasts and Demonic Plants would become especially active. The experience of their predecessors told them that if they encountered darkness in the Secret Realm, they must find a safe place to stay in, and it was best not to make noticeable disturbances, otherwise one might not even know how one died.

There were signs before darkness fell.

One would notice them with just a bit of attention...

Before Xie Jiu’niang could voice a warning, Xie Haoran spoke up, "It’s going to get dark, we need to find a safe place to settle immediately."

Xie Ying and the others agreed.

Xuanyuan You did not object.

Xie Jiu’niang knew there was a cave ahead, she used her contract to communicate with the Water Kirin, telling it the location of the cave.

Therefore, Xie Ying seized the opportunity to shine again.

They found a cave to settle down in.

Apart from the thick dust, there were no other irregularities in the cave.

Xuanyuan You said, "This cave was likely excavated by disciples who came here for training in the past."

"Is that very easy to discern?" Xie Jiu’niang retorted softly.

If everyone could see it, there was no need to show off.

Xie Haoran took the initiative to take out an Array Plate, setting up a Formation.

Xie Jiu’niang stood magically at the entrance of the cave.

She prevented the Contracted Beasts outside from finding a gap to slip into the cave, and all were blocked by the Formation at the entrance.

Seeing that Xie Haoran was only setting up a defensive formation, the cautious Xie Jiu’niang took out a Small Isolation Array.

After setting it up, Xie Jiu’niang noticed everyone was looking at her, "In the wilderness, it’s better to be cautious. I’m just being responsible for my own life."

"Haha, it’s good that Xiaojiu is like this," Xie Haoran thought without reading too much into it.

Suddenly, it became dark.

Inside the cave, they could not see their fingers in front of their faces.

Xie Ying took out a pearl that glowed in the night, and its soft radiance illuminated the entire cave.

The cave was not very big, just the size of a bedroom.

Xie Jiu’niang took out her sword and made a space just big enough to fit the Great Tortoise Shell into.

Then, she threw out the Great Tortoise Shell and slipped inside it.

Xuanyuan You curiously poked his head around, only to be kicked away by Xie Jiu’niang, who dared not look any longer.

Xie Jiu’niang lightly tossed out a phrase, "I need to rest, don’t disturb me unless it’s important."

Seeing the entrance to the small cave blocked by a rock, Xuanyuan You lost his curiosity.

Xie Jiu’niang took out the Time Leaf inside.

A plump silver leaf lay in the palm of her hand.

She noticed that after the Secret Realm darkened, the Time Leaf became particularly active, sometimes flickering with silver light.

But once she entered the Great Tortoise Shell, the leaf stopped shimmering.

Xie Jiu’niang placed the Time Leaf into her Sea of Consciousness and stepped out of the shell, noticing the leaf began to shimmer with silver light again.

Seeing that everyone else had found spots to meditate and were resting with their eyes closed, Xie Jiu’niang said nothing and stepped lightly to the mouth of the cave.

She took out a cushion and sat down to meditate.

The Water Kirin lay quietly by the entrance of the cave, occasionally bringing out food from its own space and eating with relish.

Xie Jiuniang communicated with her consciousness and asked, "Little Shuishui, after it gets dark in the Secret Realm, have you felt anything unusual?"

"Don’t know, I just feel like eating..." the Water Kirin cutely replied.

After eating all the stored Elixirs, Spirit Fruits, and Spirit Plants.

It looked at Xie Jiuniang with watery eyes and communicated through consciousness, "So hungry, Master, Shuishui is so hungry..."

Xie Jiuniang vaguely guessed the problem.

She gave it a bunch of Spirit Fruits.

It happily started eating again.

Xie Jiuniang and Jian Lingyan started chatting.

Jian Lingyan also felt there was something strange about the darkness, "Dog Master, it’s chaotic outside, the Demonic Beasts around are very active, and those who haven’t hidden are being hunted by the Demonic Beasts."

There were always some people who didn’t manage to hide in time.

Xie Jiuniang noticed the Water Kirin’s teary eyes again, "Master, Shuishui is still so hungry."

"Why?" Xie Jiuniang questioned.

"Eating feels so good for the body... Shuishui thinks being full is good for the body."

"Is that so?"

Thoughtfully, Xie Jiuniang gave the Water Kirin another bunch of Spirit Fruits and some Spirit Plants she had harvested that day, "Eat up, there’s more if it’s not enough. By the way, do you eat meat? I happen to have some Demon Python meat here."

"Thank you, Master. Shuishui is a vegetarian." The Water Kirin, an Auspicious Beast, usually only ate Spirit Fruits, Spirit Grass, and Spirit Pills.

Xie Ying secretly opened her eyes.

She saw Xie Jiuniang feeding the Water Kirin and closed her eyes again; the Water Kirin had been crying with hunger, but Xie Ying, who was poor, pretended to meditate and didn’t hear...

Contracted Beasts eat too much!

I can’t afford to keep them!

When the Water Kirin acted cute for food at the Sect, Xie Ying never stopped it. This also helped lessen the burden of keeping a Demonic Beast.

Xie Ying opened and closed her eyes, but how could Xie Jiuniang not know?

But, let it be.

After all, the creature was her Contracted Beast.

While Xie Jiuniang fed the Water Kirin, she and Jian Lingyan discussed the eerie night situation in the Secret Realm.

Not until the Water Kirin had its fill and fell asleep did the discussion end.

Xie Jiuniang turned back to the Great Tortoise Shell.

She noticed that the Time Leaf wasn’t flickering anymore.

The Broken Sword flew out of the Contract Space, circled Xie Jiuniang a few times, dipped half of its blade outside the Tortoise Shell to sense the external situation, and came back to tell Xie Jiuniang.

So, Xie Jiuniang put away the Tortoise Shell.

She just sat in the newly opened cave, blocking the entrance with a large rock.

It was the perfect spot to avoid the other five people’s line of sight.

She took out the Time Leaf again and let Jian Lingyan keep watch.

Sure enough, the Time Leaf flickered with silver light once more.

Xie Jiuniang used her Divine Sense to check the Time Leaf and found it seemed to be absorbing something from the outside.

It took nearly half of the hour.

After observing the Water Kirin’s bodily condition, Jian Lingyan and Xie Jiuniang concluded that the night phenomenon in the Lu Yuan Secret Realm was strange. A special kind of energy seemed to permeate the area, and it could possibly improve the qualifications of Demonic Beasts like how the Water Kirin kept eating and eating, falling asleep after being full. According to Jian Lingyan’s observations, the Water Kirin’s bloodline was gradually improving.

This improvement was extremely subtle, yet very rare.

Jian Lingyan said, "Master, if you want to confirm your guess, maybe feed the Water Kirin some more heavenly materials and earthly treasures?"

"We’ll talk about it next time."

Just now, Xie Jiuniang had fed the Water Kirin quite a lot.

Aside from the three specified Spirit Plants for the Sect’s mission, she had fed it everything she harvested during the day, including hundreds of kilograms of Spirit Fruits.