Oh. My. Fate?! (Bl, Volume 10, Part 1)

178 Protect the Juniors!

The longer she thought about it, the more Ao Wen felt that there might indeed be more to this. Yes, a sect that established itself in a realm would have the chance to gather its strength much faster than others.

Don't even mention the part where nobody would bother them and no rivals could try and take advantage of the time when they were still growing, usually, the conditions for cultivation were better in a hidden realm. After all, these were realms that had been created through spiritual energy. From one side to the other, they were completely saturated with it. And they had the tendency to accumulate even more over time.

That was why a place like the demonic ancestor's poisonous herb garden was such a paradise for alchemists to go and gather ingredients. After all, spiritual herbs grew best in places where spiritual energy was dense and pure. A hidden realm was perfect for that.

"The sect that split off, do you know anything else about them?"

Xiao Li could only show an apologetic expression. "I'm afraid not. Back then, it really wasn't more than a story that was brought up every now and then. Honestly, I think that at the time when I heard of it, it had already happened several years ago. Even if I had inquired further, I'm not sure if I would've been able to find the truth.

"If senior martial sister Ao really wants to know about it, then I could try to find out more though. It'll be difficult, much more than finding out more about the Hei Dian Sect's history, but maybe it can still be done."

Ao Wen gave a hum but then shook her head. After thinking about her Master's reaction, she was already sure that they wouldn't be able to uncover anything. They shouldn't waste time on this. "Let's not talk about that for the time being. I'm mostly interested in this because of the other side of the realm.

"So far, we can't say when it was created or by whom. It could have been recently, but it also could've been a long time ago. Depending on that, the one to do this could have been an old sect that has already fallen, a sect that is still powerful like the Hei Dian Sect, or maybe even such a faction that split off like the sect you mentioned.

"Depending on the answers to these questions, our approach should differ but there is no way to figure it out from here. I'm a bit worried about what to expect on the other side though. We'll have to be careful."

Xiao Li nodded, then turned to look at Hua Lin Yu and leaned down to gently kiss his cheek, the very image of a man deep in love. "Senior martial sister can believe me that I understand very well what you're thinking. Without knowing much, it is always dangerous. With the juniors here, there is one more thing to worry about. We can defend ourselves if we are attacked and our chances at survival aren't bad. But for the juniors, even though they have learned a lot, it is not clear if they will be able to take it. They lack experience."

Ao Wen nodded and looked at her own little junior. Just like She Fen before, she couldn't help but think that it really would've been good if Xin Lan was still here. This Xiao Li wasn't bad strength-wise, but he just couldn't compare to an ancient dragon.

She sighed, feeling that this was something she shouldn't think about. Anyway, their little junior had managed to royally piss off Xin Lan. She didn't think that he would return anytime soon, maybe never. So what was she doing thinking back to the good old days when he had been around to protect their junior? Rather than that, she should think of ways to protect him herself.

Convincing herself, Ao Wen smiled and reached out, rubbing Hua Lin Yu's head. "Well, we will do our utmost to protect everyone. Thankfully, there aren't that many people. If one senior takes care of one junior each, we should be able to make it without any casualties." Of course, that was under the assumption that the highest level of the other side didn't exceed their own. If that was the case ... well, she didn't even want to think about it.

She forced herself to keep up her smile and then looked around to see if the other seniors had managed to find something. Anyway, while they shouldn't rush into things, they also shouldn't waste too much time.

Actually, most of them had already looked around enough and were slowly returning. This meadow, there really wasn't much to find in it. In fact, most of what they could see were the traces left behind by their juniors who had recently come through here. There were no traces of either the little black fox that had been mentioned before or anybody else. They also couldn't find any traces of other secret things that somebody might have tried to hide.

When they returned, the seniors couldn't help but look into the lake, trying to find the array on the ground. Unfortunately, just like before, nobody was able to see it. It really made them wonder if there actually was an array or if all of this was just ... well, an elaborate prank maybe.

But then, even though the Sect Master's second disciple liked to joke around, it also wouldn't be to this degree. No, he wouldn't dare to joke about something like this and waste the Sect Master and Elders' time to discuss something, as well as that of the seniors who came here. So there really had to be such a mysterious place that they couldn't even see the entrance of.

Actually, thinking about it this way, they were happy to know that it was hidden. Didn't this mean that it would be even more interesting to see what was going on? Yes, by now, they were itching to go and explore that place.