Chapter 124 – Paradise

  The prow of the flying ship cut into the shimmering veil that marked the boundary of the Secret Realm, and the wards carved into its hull flared to life. Bands of golden light raced along its surface like flowing rivers of liquid fire. Protective arrays buzzed and thrummed, their patterns shifting in response to the twisting energies of the barrier surrounding the Secret Realm.

  The moment they crossed the precipice, the ship lurched violently. The timbers beneath their feet groaned loudly as if they were protesting against the unnaturalness of the passage.

  Lin Yue gave a startled cry as she clung tightly to Jun De’s sleeve for support, while Shen Ruolan staggered and instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist for balance. Even Zhao Wuxian stumbled, and Jun De shot him a dark look, warning the larger man not to look to him for assistance.

  The deck tilted for a long moment before it finally steadied, but the trembling didn’t stop as the ship continued forward. The tremors would run through the ship in pulses, like the beating of a heart that was large beyond comprehension.

  The sky above them warped, clouds scattered and reformed in strange movements, folding over one another like ripples in water.

  The heavens fractured into countless hues, crimson that bled into emerald before shifting to silver and black. Bands of violet lightning snaked between the clouds, adding to the chaos.

  It was as if the world had been broken into shards of colour and scattered across the sky.

  Spiritual energy surged and collapsed in rapid waves. There were times when it was thick enough to choke the lungs of those who tried to breathe beneath its pressure as it forcefully poured into their meridians until their Dantians ached from too much spiritual energy absorbed too quickly.

  Then, in the next heartbeat, it thinned to nothing, leaving a cold emptiness that made them shiver from the absence. The air around them hummed, and each function in spiritual pressure rattled the protective wards surrounding the ship with harsh cracks of light.

  A pressure beyond what could be explained by the spiritual energy hung over the flying ship. It wasn’t wholly oppressive, but it wasn’t welcoming either. It was vast, and everyone present felt as though the eyes of a large, hungry beast were watching them carefully.

  The ship creaked onward as it finally pierced the barrier and slowly stabilized. The kaleidoscope of distorted skies and fluctuating energies began to part, revealing the first true, unobstructed glimpse of the Secret Realm.

  The distortions peeled back, and for a moment, the sight before them was breathtaking.

  The Secret Realm was every bit the hidden paradise the Elders had promised. It was a radiant expanse of verdant forests that rolled across an endless, floating landscape that stretched as far as the eye could see.

  Waterfalls spilled from the cliffs into glittering rivers of silver, and the sky above shone in the most vibrant azure. It was a land that was untouched by mortal hands, and the air was heavy with spiritual energy that was so pure that it made everyone eager to cultivate.

  The pressure weighing down on them eased as though a great weight had been lifted, and the ship steadied.

  Disciples let out nervous laughs of relief, with many smiling at the beauty unfolding around them. A chorus of birdsong echoed faintly through the air, and the realm seemed to be a tranquil sanctuary just waiting to be explored.

  Lin Yue looked up at Jun De and laughed in delight, and even Shen Ruolan let out a sigh of relief and rested her head against his chest as she stared at the Secret Realm.

  But oddly, the unease that Jun De was feeling only deepened as their flying ship drifted deeper into the Secret Realm.

  It was at that point, barely a minute or more since they entered, that the illusion around them began to fracture.

  The warmth drained from the air first, replaced by an unnatural chill that seemed to snake across the deck and creep beneath their robes and coil around their bones. The bright blue of the sky dulled as the clouds thickened until the heavens were a flat, lifeless grey.

  The trees swayed strangely, their leaves flickered in and out of existence like smoke until the entire landscape wavered and dissolved with a sound like shattering glass.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Senior Brother Jun De, what’s going on?” Lin Yue asked, but Jun De could only shake his head in confusion.

  The paradise was gone and, in its place, stretched a wasteland of dead, jagged stone and grey soil. Peaks rose from the earth like broken fangs, and the landscape was scarred with cracks that glowed faintly with tainted crimson light.

  The rivers of water, the few that remained, were black and sluggish, while foul vapours formed a mist across their surface.

  The nourishing and pure spiritual energy was gone as the air shifted, replaced by a suffocating tide of demonic energy that pressed against them. It felt oily and wrong as it crawled across their exposed skin and attempted to wriggle its way into their meridians.

  The smell and the bitter taste of the air made their stomachs turn and their heads pound.

  Disciples staggered and clutched their chests, while others gagged from the oppressive aura and the sickening taste of the demonic energy. Even the Inner Sect Elders were affected, reacting immediately to shield themselves and those around them by forming seals.

  On the deck at the front of the ship, Mu Yany’s expression had darkened at the first oddity in the Secret Realm. Her Qi surged outward in a flare of pale blue light, sharp as a blade.

  “Activate the ship’s full defences! This is no paradise or Secret Realm; we have been deceived!” Mu Yanyu shouted, and her voice cut through the chaos of the deck.

  At her command, the protective wards carved into the hull blazed even brighter as layers of formations rose into domes of overlapping barriers of spiritual energy. The ship groaned under the strain as it forced itself onward through the malignant energy.

  While the ship’s wards fought desperately to protect them, it was far too late.

  A deep, rolling laughter suddenly split the dull grey sky, and Jun De shivered as he recognized it immediately. It carried a tone of mockery that made every disciple's blood run cold. The sound reverberated through the landscape unnaturally as it shook the air.

  “Oh no.” Jun De whispered, hoping he was wrong about what was about to happen. Shen Ruolan, having experienced something similar before, moved closer to Jun De while drawing the case containing the three Azure Kingfisher flying swords from her storage ring.

  From a fold of warped spiritual energy, the space above the ship twisted and tore apart like fabric. Xun Beiming, Sect Master of the Crimson Rebirth Sect, stepped out. His presence was suffocating; the cultivation of the early stage of Nascent Soul darkened the sky around him visibly.

  The leader of the Demonic Cultivators stared at the trapped ship with eyes that had a faint crimson glow, and a malicious smile spread across his lips.

  Worse, he wasn’t alone.

  All around him, the sky split open again as concealing wards were dropped to reveal wave after wave of demonic cultivators, all wearing the black robes of the Crimson Rebirth Sect.

  Dozens of Core Formation Elders, each cloaked in corrupted auras that twisted the air around them, hovered in the sky, their robes blackened with dried blood, and their skin showed the marks of their cultivation method.

  The Crimson Rebirth Sutra had made them all pale, with darkened veins that crisscrossed their skin. The killing intent was so strong around them that even the Inner Sect Elders tensed as they felt it press against them.

  Behind the Core Formation Elders were hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators, each riding on a flying sword or mounted on grotesque demonic spiritual beasts that had been transformed by their malignant Qi.

  There were massive winged wolves, skeletal birds whose feathers burned with ghostly green fire, or serpents with bone spikes that dripped venom.

  Each beast exuded enough force to rival an Outer Sect Elder, and their rider’s laughter joined Xun Beiming’s in a chorus as they stared at the flying ship like predators eyeing their prey.

  And then, like a swarm of locusts filling the skies, thousands of Qi Condensation cultivators appeared. They rode lesser demonic creatures such as bat-like horrors with too many wings, insects the size of horses, and winged lizards that hissed flames.

  Their sheer number nearly blotted out the sky, and Jun De estimated that they were facing five to one, if not worse, odds.

  The air grew heavier with each arrival, and the oppressive demonic energy thickened.

  On the deck of the ship, every Disciple now clutched weapons pulled from storage bags or rings, and even those who hadn’t fought the Demonic Cultivators in the past understood what was happening.

  Above them, Xun Beiming’s laughter finally eased off. With a grin that stretched across his face, he spread his arms wide to greet them.

  “Welcome, honoured guests of the Tranquil Mountain Sect, to Paradise! This will be your tomb, after we feast, of course.”

  At the rear of the formation, Mei Lian stood next to Ren Sihan atop a flying beast, and her pale hands were clenched into fists as she heard Xun Beiming’s words.

  “You lied to me!” She hissed, spinning on him.

  Ren Sihan turned toward her, and his handsome face was twisted into an expression of amusement. His laugh was sharp and mocking as he shrugged his shoulder indifferently.

  “This isn’t what we agreed to! You said we would capture the ship and negotiate for their Blood Essence!”

  “Naive little Mei Lian. Did you really believe that drivel? You truly are a fool.” Ren Sihan replied, his tone dripping with scorn.

  Mei Lian’s throat tightened, but she forced the words out past her hurt and anger.

  “No! This is wrong, I’ll stop you!”

  Ren Sihan threw his head back and laughed even harder.

  “Stop us? What can you do, fool? You’re a little girl with delusions of righteousness. The trap is already sprung, and the Tranquil Mountain Sect will be broken, bled dry and fed to the Crimson Rebirth Sutra.”

  Ren Sihan leaned closer and whispered.

  “And you will watch, and maybe, if you are lucky, you can take what scraps that remain as recognition for your contribution. You should be grateful; you need their Blood Essence as much as we do.”

  Mei Lian’s heart pounded, and her rage warred with despair as she glared at him.

  “Now shut that pretty mouth of yours and watch carefully. Afterall, we have you to thank for our success today.”