**Chapter 366: Do Divine Monarchs Like Riddles Too?**
“Sure enough, they’ve scattered again.”
Zuo Qiu cautiously scanned her surroundings, ensuring there was no one around, before gingerly taking out a wisp of divine consciousness that Bai Feng had given her before entering the Secret Realm.
After a moment of sensing with Bai Feng’s divine consciousness, she directed her gaze towards a certain direction. “Looks like the master is over there.”
However, her master had mentioned that upon entering the Secret Realm, priority should be given to self-exploration. After all, time here was limited, and wasting most of it looking for people and running away would be a complete waste.
“Then I’ll head towards the master’s direction and explore along the way.”
Before long, Zuo Qiu made a decision similar to Bai Feng’s, and she took off into the sky, flying towards Bai Feng’s location.
But it wasn’t long before she suddenly stopped and landed on the ground, her brows furrowing as she looked around. She had sensed a trace of demon energy. Were there Demon Path cultivators teleported nearby?
So, she activated the mark under her tongue, a few strands of her hair gradually turning a fiery red. In her observation, she noticed the demon energy was faint; it didn’t feel like the aftermath left by someone from the Demon Path but rather like something hiding underground, with wisps of demon energy seeping through the soil to the surface.
‘This Secret Realm has problems!’
Zuo Qiu’s expression grew more vigilant. She took a few steps forward, not intending to investigate further, and quickly left the area.
She needed to relay this information to Bai Feng.
Meanwhile, Bai Feng, who was slowly making his way, encountered a few Demon Path disciples, and judging by their attire, they seemed to be from the Holy Heart Sect.
Come to think of it, he remembered Hundred Faced Saintess had mentioned that the Holy Heart Sect had become the puppet of the Divine Monarch, which was why she had escaped.
‘Looks like they’re searching for something.’
Bai Feng stood in front of the three Holy Heart Sect disciples, sizing them up.
These three seemed to have struck lucky, as they were not far apart after entering the Secret Realm. Oddly enough, instead of wandering around aimlessly like typical newcomers, they appeared to be searching for something.
Considering the Holy Heart Sect had become the Divine Monarch’s puppet, their actions were likely directed by him, and there were probably more cultivators under his orders than just these three.
“Doesn’t seem to be here.”
“Mhm, but it shouldn’t be too far. Let’s look over here.”
“Stay alert, be cautious of those righteous folks, especially that group of Heavenly Sword Sect sword cultivators! They’re even shadier than we are!”
“Ugh, if only the Saintess were here, we wouldn’t have to hide and seek in the Secret Realm. It’s so frustrating.”
“Don’t even mention her! Who knows where she gets the guts to defy Black Lotus! If she were here, I would…”
“What would you do? Those who chased the Saintess never came back! Don’t forget how she became the Saintess—she was the only one who survived all those people.”
Once that was said, there was an immediate silence among them, one person’s face reflecting a hint of fear.
Suddenly, Bai Feng, eavesdropping in broad daylight, found himself intrigued. He waited for a while, but no one continued the discussion.
How can they just stop mid-sentence like that?
Fortunately, he had done some research on Celestial Eyes before, so he figured he could nudge their emotions a bit.
Under Bai Feng’s subtle guidance, one person finally couldn’t hold back and muttered in frustration, “In my opinion, even though the Saintess made it out alive, she’s completely lost it! Just look at what she’s doing! Instead of taking down the righteous path, she’s out here disguising herself as other people. Not long ago, she even claimed to have found the Holy Son! Where did the Holy Heart Sect get a Holy Son? The Saintess only came about after that incident…”
“Shh, stop talking! One traitor saying something like that, if we see her, we’d just take her out.”
“Like you can take her on. Enough chitchat, don’t forget our mission.”
After that, everyone zipped their lips, no matter how much Bai Feng tried to steer the conversation.
‘Is the Demon Woman really that scary?’
Bai Feng smacked his lips. He could sense that even though the Demon Woman had turned traitor and left the Holy Heart Sect, these three still held her in awe and fear.
But he thought of the Demon Woman’s tricks. If he couldn’t identify her using the system, he’d probably be scared of her too! If only she hadn’t stubbornly disguised as Bai Yu Mo—if it were anyone else, he’d have a hard time telling them apart!
‘Forget it, let’s be straightforward.’
Bai Feng snapped his fingers, and in the next second, the trio from the Holy Heart Sect, who had been quietly exploring, suddenly stopped in their tracks, their eyes blank, and slowly stood in a line in front of him.
“Tell me your purpose in the Secret Realm.”
As Bai Feng reached for their storage bags, he asked them.
“Black Lotus instructed us to find something in the Secret Realm,” one of them replied, expression vacant.
“What kind of thing?”
“We don’t know, Black Lotus said once we find it, we’ll know what it is.”
Bai Feng frowned—doesn’t the Divine Monarch enjoy riddles too?
“If you don’t know what it is, how do you plan to find it?”
“Black Lotus gave us a Demon Crystal. After swallowing it, we can vaguely sense the direction of that thing.”
“Demon Crystal?”
With Black Lotus’s old witch techniques, Bai Feng suspected that Demon Crystals were probably no good.
At once, he looked at the Holy Heart Sect trio with a hint of sympathy.
“Are there others besides you?”
One of them nodded. “Yes, all cultivators from the Holy Heart Sect that entered the Secret Realm took this mission, and other sects controlled by the Divine Monarch probably took it too.”
“Did everyone swallow the Demon Crystals?”
“Yes.”
“Well…”
After pondering for a few seconds, Bai Feng concluded that this bunch looked more like cannon fodder. Plus, since everyone had swallowed those Demon Crystals, these Demon Path cultivators might have been specially sent by the Divine Monarch to meet their doom.
It’s just that he was curious to know what these Demon Crystals were really for.
After thinking this through, he looked at the controlled Holy Heart Sect trio and raised his hand, igniting Immortal Fire. The three didn’t utter a word as they were burned into ashes.
On top of their ‘ashes,’ a black crystal the size of a pinky finger appeared before him.
“Better safe than sorry; let’s burn this too.”
Bai Feng had no intentions of studying the Demon Crystal. He cranked up the heat, and soon, the crystal on the ‘ash mound’ vanished under the flames of his Immortal Fire.
‘Oh no, I think I forgot to ask about the Demon Woman. Ah well, I’ll just ask the next Holy Heart Sect disciple I see.’
After all, it wasn’t that important. He only wanted to satisfy his curiosity!
