53: fake fire

The desolate scene made Hong Yu freeze for a moment. This was quite different from what he had imagined, so he whispered to Guan Yi, "Senior Brother, didn't they say the flower in the mirror is incredibly precious? Why is this place so deserted?"

A Disciple guarding the entrance to the Secret Realm overheard Hong Yu and chuckled, chiming in, "A pill fire is good, but you need to have the life to use it. There used to be many people, but as more died, fewer and fewer started coming."

After speaking, the guard Disciple looked at Hong Yu with interest and teased, "What, Junior Brother is also interested in the flower in the mirror and wants to go in and try?"

Hong Yu nodded with a grim expression. For a death trap like this, how did Pang Hu have the nerve to call it a great Opportunity? It was more like a great snare.

The guard Disciple reached out his hand and said, "Hand over your identity token and the Secret Realm token."

Beside him, Guan Yi obediently took out his identity token and the token Pang Hu had given them to enter the Secret Realm, then tugged at the still-dazed Hong Yu.

Hong Yu snapped out of it and hurriedly took out his identity token as well.

After verifying everything was correct, the guard Disciple opened the entrance to the Secret Realm, made a gesture of invitation, and said sincerely, "I am not as brave as you, Junior Brother, to risk your life for such a slim, ethereal Opportunity. I wish you every success."

Do you think I want to? I don't have a choice!

After grumbling inwardly, Hong Yu entered the Secret Realm accompanied by Guan Yi.

In truth, Hong Yu had actually misunderstood Pang Hu.

Pang Hu wasn't wrong; there was just one thing he hadn't told Hong Yu.

It was true that for an ordinary Cultivator, failing to refine a pill fire would result in becoming its nourishment. However, for an Alchemist—especially one with a high level of Alchemy—failure would at most result in a serious injury, not the loss of one's life.

Furthermore, since Hong Yu was someone Xu Jing favored, Pang Hu had also informed Xu Jing of these matters truthfully. If Xu Jing made any further arrangements, Hong Yu's success rate for this trip would increase by several points.

The Secret Realm had cultivation restrictions. In Pang Hu's view, looking across the entire Xuan Yun Residence, it would be difficult to find even a few Disciples in the Qi Refining Stage whose Alchemy skills were superior to Hong Yu's. Thus, this flower in the mirror was indeed a massive Opportunity for Hong Yu.

As for describing the consequences so severely, it was out of Pang Hu's goodwill, thinking it would sufficiently grab Hong Yu's attention and prevent any accidents, as he wouldn't be able to explain himself to Xu Jing otherwise.

What he didn't know was that Hong Yu, who could refine High Grade Medicinal Pills, wasn't an Alchemy Genius at all. Hong Yu knew absolutely nothing about Alchemy, let alone pill fire.

It could only be described as a beautiful misunderstanding.

After Hong Yu and Guan Yi entered the Secret Realm, they found it to be a range of low mountains. The light was bright and the vegetation was lush, but fine dust floated in the air, and the distance was shrouded in mist.

Guan Yi sensed the concentration of spiritual energy and frowned, saying, "Junior Brother, be careful. Something isn't right here. The spiritual energy is mottled and impure; it's best not to absorb energy from the outside."

Hong Yu nodded, cautiously observing the surroundings. Soon, his gaze landed on a white stone slab beneath his feet.

The white stone slab was quite large, more than enough for both of them to stand on, and it was carved with several grooves.

Seeing this, Guan Yi said casually, "This should be the exit within the Secret Realm."

Hong Yu asked curiously, "Senior Brother, how do you know?"

Guan Yi smiled and began to educate Hong Yu on common knowledge of the cultivation world.

“Generally, Secret Realms are wandering Small Worlds. Once a powerful Cultivator captures one in the Void Realm, they can connect the Secret Realm to the real world through a Formation. Usually, for such refined Secret Realms, the entrance is also the exit. A Secret Realm like this, which limits one's cultivation to enter, was clearly refined by a Senior. You just need to input spiritual energy to be transported out.”

Hong Yu nodded in understanding, then heard Guan Yi ask, "Junior Brother, shall we set out to find that flower in the mirror? I see this Secret Realm isn't large. With our speed, it will only take a little effort to explore it completely."

"Alright, then let's go..." Before Hong Yu could finish his sentence, he saw a lotus-shaped flame floating in the air not far ahead, burning quietly.

Guan Yi was still wondering why his Junior Brother had stopped mid-sentence, but then followed Hong Yu's gaze and couldn't help but exclaim, "Junior Brother, do you think that could be the flower in the mirror we're looking for?"

"Shaped like a lotus, with pure white flames. I'm afraid it is indeed the pill fire we seek, the flower in the mirror," Hong Yu said with a serious expression.

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry and see if you can subdue it! Don't let it get away!" Guan Yi excitedly pulled Hong Yu and ran forward.

He hadn't expected the trip to be so smooth, finding the target as soon as they entered the Secret Realm.

"I'm afraid this is a fake fire," Hong Yu said in a low voice, but he still followed Guan Yi toward it.

When the two walked within a few meters of the flower in the mirror, they felt a wave of heat rush toward them, and they could even hear the 'sizzle' of the burning flames.

Guan Yi picked up a small wooden stick from the ground and slowly approached the flame.

When the stick was still a meter away from the flame, it spontaneously burst into fire.

Guan Yi tried to blow out the fire on the stick but found there was no way to extinguish it. He simply threw the stick on the ground, retreated to Hong Yu's side, and said excitedly.

"It's so realistic; it definitely can't be a fake fire."

Hong Yu, however, shook his head.

"Senior Brother, think carefully. The flower in the mirror is right near the entrance; wouldn't the people who entered before have tried to refine it? If this were real, then look closely at the surroundings."

Guan Yi looked as instructed and saw that the area around the flower in the mirror was completely clean, without a single piece of debris. Especially within a one-meter radius, it was incredibly tidy.

"The people who came before us weren't fools. If this were real, there would definitely be belongings left behind by those who failed."

Guan Yi nodded as if he half-understood, grinning foolishly. "You're still the smart one, Junior Brother, to have noticed that. So where do we go to find the real fire?"

"How on earth did you Cultivate to the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation with that IQ?" Hong Yu grumbled inwardly, but his face remained serious as he said, "I don't know either. Let's look around first."

"Alright."

Guan Yi cheerfully picked a direction and strode forward, volunteering to act as the scout leading the way.

Hong Yu followed closely behind. Although he had already adopted the mindset of just being a bystander, he was still full of curiosity about the legendary flower in the mirror.

Even if I don't eat the pork, I can at least watch the pig run.

Hong Yu and Guan Yi searched the Secret Realm for a long time. Along the way, besides not encountering a single soul, they found over a hundred pill fires identical to the flower in the mirror they had seen upon entering.