Mortal: Fairy Song Yu has issued you a task.

Chapter 23 Hideout

Junior Brother Lin!

Song Yu also looked surprised and abruptly stopped in mid-air.

"I didn't expect my senior sister to be here too..."

"We'll talk about this later! Junior brother, you come with us right now!" Song Yu interrupted Lin Jingchu without giving him a chance to speak. A flash of light appeared on the jade flute beneath his feet, and he sped off ahead.

Lin Jingchu sensed something was amiss and urged the Cloud-Piercing Leaf to turn and join the team.

The group flew at full speed and soon arrived at the light gate at the entrance to the secret realm.

Unlike the previous empty scene, several cultivators have now gathered in front of the gate of light.

Lin Jingchu's gaze swept across the crowd, and he saw a stunningly beautiful young woman with a graceful figure standing out from the crowd—it was none other than the main peak master of Bai Feng Peak.

Although he had only seen him once from afar at a sect ceremony, he remembered his figure vividly; there was nothing he could do about it, given his excellent memory.

As soon as Song Yu landed, he rushed to the stunningly beautiful woman and exclaimed, "Mother!"

Mother?! Lin Jingchu was startled again, his gaze quickly sweeping over the two women's exquisite faces, and he indeed found some similarities in their features. He immediately averted his gaze, keeping his eyes down and not daring to look any longer.

Peak Master Song's gaze swept over the group of disciples following behind Song Yu, and his brows furrowed slightly.

I had been delayed by other matters, and when I summoned her using a communication talisman, she brought a group of disciples with her.

"Now that we're all gathered, come with me." Peak Master Song turned and gestured to the disciples who were controlling the entrance to the secret realm.

The disciples dared not delay and immediately summoned their jade tablets for controlling the formation, rapidly forming hand seals.

Several beams of spiritual light shot out from the jade tablet, simultaneously connecting with the calm, still gate of light.

In an instant, the light on the surface of the gate began to flow violently and rotate rapidly, forming a vortex. The light inside the gate changed from pale blue to milky white.

Once the light gate had completely turned pure white, the group changed their incantations again, and specks of golden light gradually appeared within the white light gate, ready to gild it with gold.

But at that moment, the portal suddenly began to tremble violently.

"What's going on?!" Peak Master Song's expression changed, and he asked sternly.

The disciples controlling the formation instantly broke out in a cold sweat. "We don't know what happened either! The spiritual energy that was flowing normally has suddenly become chaotic!"

They desperately channeled their spiritual power, but the gate of light trembled more and more violently.

The next moment—

"Bang!"

The massive portal of light shattered with a deafening roar! A shockwave of spiritual energy swept across the entire area!

Peak Master Song reacted extremely quickly. With a wave of his sleeve, a solid blue spiritual light shield instantly expanded, blocking the impact for everyone.

The spiritual energy shockwave quickly dissipated, leaving only an empty rock wall and the broken foundation pillars of the array left behind after the two light gates disappeared.

The sudden and dramatic change left all the disciples present pale-faced and speechless with shock.

Song Peak Master's heart sank: It was still too late! She rushed to the secret realm immediately after receiving the message from the Supreme Elder, only to find that the other party had acted so quickly.

"You few, immediately lead all disciples to the nearest hiding stone chamber for safety, and no one is to leave without prior notice!"

Without hesitation, Peak Master Song gave an order to the disciples who were still clutching the now-worthless jade tokens. Then, without further ado, he used his spiritual power to envelop Song Yu beside him and transformed into a streak of light, shooting away swiftly.

"Quick! Everyone, follow!" The leader of the remaining Foundation Establishment disciples forced himself to remain calm and shouted loudly.

Lin Jingchu suppressed the turmoil in his heart and followed closely behind, stepping on the cloud-piercing leaves.

In less than half an incense stick's time, the group arrived in front of a waterfall.

The leading Foundation Establishment disciple flicked his fingers, sending several beams of spiritual light into the waterfall, causing a doorway to open up between the waterfall and the mountain wall behind it.

Lin Jingchu followed the others through the cave entrance, and a long, narrow stone chamber suddenly appeared before them.

The stone chamber was about ten zhang long and more than three zhang wide. The walls and ceiling were made of solid gray-white rock. Apart from the futons piled up by the walls and the lighting beads embedded in the walls, there was nothing there.

At this time, some disciples had already arrived in the stone chamber, and together with this group, more than ten people gathered at once.

Among the dozen or so people, Lin Jingchu immediately noticed the white-clad figure hidden in the shadows.

Song Yu sat quietly cross-legged in a corner of the stone chamber, her eyes slightly closed. In this corner, where the light from the illumination pearl could not penetrate, she was like a solitary orchid in a secluded valley.

It's clear that Song Yu was sent here ahead of time, but it's unknown where Peak Master Song is at this moment.

"Junior Brother Lin?!"

A surprised shout came from inside.

Lin Jingchu looked in the direction of the sound and saw a familiar face—it was none other than Uncle Mu, with whom he had chatted and grilled fish by the stream earlier.

"Uncle Mu! What are you doing here?" Lin Jingchu hurried over.

"About an incense stick's time ago, I was inspecting the magic array in the medicine garden when a fellow disciple rushed over and told everyone in the medicine garden to drop everything and come with me immediately. In the end, I was led here."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jingchu thought to himself: It seems that the sect has already noticed something amiss, but they are still a step too late.

Uncle Mu noticed his unease and comforted him, saying, "Nephew Lin, there's no need to worry too much. This hiding stone chamber is made of gray granite, which is extremely sturdy and has multiple protective formations. Even a Core Formation expert would have to put in a lot of effort to break through it."

"That's good then," Lin Jingchu replied, though his mind was still in turmoil.

He sighed inwardly and dragged a futon from the wall. His gaze swept over Song Yu's profile, and after a moment's hesitation, he finally sat down next to his Uncle Mu.

Shortly after he sat down, the magic array at the entrance of the stone chamber flashed with spiritual light, the restriction was activated, and five or six figures filed in.

"It's you?!"

"Someone surnamed Meng?!"

Two sounds rang out almost simultaneously, and the clearly hostile voices instantly silenced the noisy stone chamber.

Song Yu, who was sitting cross-legged in the shadows of the corner, opened her eyes, and a spiritual light quietly flowed in the depths of her azure, glass-like eyes.

Uncle Mu also heard the two's hostile exclamations and asked in a low voice, "Nephew Lin, do you know this junior brother?"

Lin Jingchu's expression had returned to calm: "We only had a few words exchanged earlier."

But Meng Guanyun's face was full of resentment, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "If it weren't for you, how could I have been interrogated and stripped of my elite disciple status!"

"What does this have to do with me?" Lin Jingchu felt that this person was unreasonable.

"What's it to you?" Meng Guanyun's anger flared even more when he thought about how his clan ancestor, Meng Yanzhou, had called him a fool and forced him into this dangerous place to help evacuate the disciples.

"What makes you think you're qualified to enter this secret realm?"

Lin Jingchu's eyes turned cold as he suppressed his anger and said, "So it was you who did this!"

Just as the two were glaring at each other—

boom--

The entire stone chamber floor suddenly lurched violently without warning!

Meng Guanyun and the others, who had just entered and hadn't even sat down yet, suddenly fell to the ground like tumbling gourds.

Those who were sitting cross-legged, including Lin Jingchu, were thrown off balance by this sudden change, ending up sprawled out and in a sorry state.