The Core of the Secret Realm

"Uh … Well, this is great." Qiu Ling slowly got to his feet. He dusted his clothes off and stretched his limbs. Alright, he still wasn't back to his peak state but it was a lot better now that there wasn't any Blood Gem around anymore. If he took an hour, he should be able to regain his strength even if he just waited.

Not that he would do so.

Qiu Ling closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. His hands lifted, his palms facing the sky. The bit of energy he still had stirred and called for the elements around him.

The dew coating the grass lifted into the air and swirled around his figure, the water droplets glittering in the sunlight. Qiu Ling's magic surged and the drops rushed toward him, gathered above his hands to form a ball of water and evaporated. Mist drifted into the sky, obscuring the sun behind a white veil that slowly eased down and enveloped Qiu Ling's body.

Even his black robe seemed white for a spell until the mist finally dispersed in a sparkling flash, leaving only the energy behind that entered Qiu Ling's body and replaced what the Blood Gem had taken from him.

Qiu Ling's eyes opened again. The one that had turned red previously was back to the inky black it used to be before and Qiu Ling's lips quirked up in a smile. He bent down and plucked one of the flowers, taking in the sweet smell before turning around to the others.

"Let's go save Jing He."

He didn't wait for an answer and just soared into the sky, speeding toward the Leyuan region.

Xin Lan grabbed Bai Mu's shoulder and nodded at the sky. "Let's go then. After you've opened the array and those two are out you may go as far as it concerns me."

Bai Mu nodded, took a look at Hong Bao and the three of them followed behind Qiu Ling.

At the same time, Leng Jin Yu stood on the small isle in the innermost courtyard of the palace the secret realm's master had left behind. His hands were lifted into the air, his fingers pointing at two points opposite from each other that he had found to link the two statues together.

After these years in the secret realm, he had finally located all the spiritual energy vortexes and had even managed to find out how they were connected. If he wasn't wrong, he only had to manipulate the connection between the two parts and thus activate the whole net of energy. Then the core of the secret realm should be under his control.

Leng Jin Yu took a deep breath and calmed his mind. His thoughts flickered to the courtyard from his visions for a short moment and he tightened his lips. If this went wrong, then not only wouldn't he be able to leave the secret realm he would even lose his life. Not finding out who the person missing from this memory was would be a regret but even more so, that he would leave that person behind somewhere.

"Heaven, let this be the right way. Don't let me lose my life here. Let me hold on until we see each other again. At least until then …"

He lifted his head and his spiritual energy surged forth. It struck the point in the tip of the sword handle the man's statue held and the point at the middle of the fan in the woman's hand. The vortexes were disturbed and with a slight twitch of Leng Jin Yu's fingers they changed directions and the collective energy of the two halves rushed toward each other.

Leng Jin Yu stepped aside, barely evading the two rays of energy. He saw them bypass each other and enter the respective other statue, closing the ring of spiritual energy.

Leng Jin Yu exhaled and opened his eyes. The ground below the statues had lit up with fine lines. Was this the core of the secret realm? It seemed different from what he would have expected after the vortexes he found in the statues.

He traced the lines with his gaze, his brows slowly furrowing. This seemed … wrong. Not just unexpected but wrong. This form … Wasn't it —

The ground below his feet shook and interrupted his thoughts. Leng Jin Yu cursed, his brow furrowing even further. It couldn't be! This wasn't the core at all! It was actually an array used to destroy the realm!

"Ah … No! This can't be, this can't be!"

He couldn't die here! He still hadn't found out who that person from his memory was. He still hadn't met him. He couldn't … he couldn't go without ever looking into his eyes.

Leng Jin Yu looked up into the sky. It had taken him four years to decipher the vortexes in the statues but now it had been for naught. There was no chance that he would find a way out of this realm in just a few hours.

He was doomed. The crown prince was also doomed. Well, at least the Son of Heaven would only die here and then reawaken in the Nine Heavens. After finding out about his past life here and falling in love again, living with the uncertainty of what had happened to that past lover and carrying the burden of having to betray Qiu Ling, he should have passed at least one major trial. Heaven wouldn't punish him too badly. He would … at least get another chance.

One of the doors to the courtyard burst open and a young man hastened out. "Senior Martial Brother Yu! What happened? I felt —" The young man stopped talking, his eyes widening when he took in the scene in front of him.

The array glared bright red, bathing the statues and Leng Jin Yu's figure in a red hue. Looking at it from afar it was gruesome, like a bloody scene straight from a nightmare.

Leng Jin Yu sighed. "I'm sorry. I've let you down."

Even he himself didn't know whether he was talking to Zhong Jing Yi or to the person he had lost before meeting them.