Chapter 5: Repaying Kindness with Enmity (Part 1)

Guo Shier and the other three quietly flew toward the source of the noise. The closer they got, the louder the sounds became—the croaking grew increasingly terrifying, seemingly piercing straight through one’s soul—along with people’s shouts and explosions; it was a complete mess.
Monier looked worried. Guo Shier whispered, “Masteress, don’t worry. We’ll sneak over and take a look. We’ll try to avoid fighting if possible.”
Ahead was a small hill. Qi Nanshan said softly, “It’s right behind the hill. Let’s be careful.” He flew ahead first.
The four of them carefully made their way into the woods on top of the hill. The plants here were all unique; even the trees were mostly white or grayish-white, with some emitting a faint glow. So even without sunlight, it wasn’t completely dark. Especially for professionals, as long as there was a little light, they could see far away.
Below the hill was the edge of a swamp, where large areas of shallow water could be seen. The water appeared pitch black, with only the areas covered in plants glowing. At first glance, it looked like a heavy snowfall—everything white except for the water.
A giant toad-like sigil worm was crouched on the ground, confronting two tall figures. Qi Nanshan narrowed his eyes and said, “Damn it, they’re professionals from the Star Sect! With the strength of a Saint Master… That mutated toad is extremely powerful!”
After observing carefully for a while, Guo Shier said, “It’s not the toad that’s strong—it’s the disciples of the Star Sect who’ve been poisoned!”
Monier whispered, “They’re both junior Saint Masters, specializing in sigil martial arts. Their strength drops rapidly after being poisoned. Right now they can barely hold their own against the toad, but it’s uncertain how long they can last.”
Guo Shier said, “They must have been poisoned in a surprise attack by the toad; otherwise, the toad wouldn’t be able to defeat those two.”
The two disciples of the Star Sect were in a dire situation. One had half of his body covered in black venom, while the other had his legs soaked in it. This venom was extremely dangerous, capable of eroding protective runes. Since one of them couldn’t escape due to his poisoned legs, he could only confront the toad. Meanwhile, the toad leisurely taunted them.
Croak! A blast of black venom was spat out.
One of them raised his hand and fired a bead, which exploded with a loud noise. The toad jumped to the side, avoiding the explosion. As for the shockwaves from the debris, the toad, with its thick skin, paid no attention and continued to croak loudly.
Qi Nanshan said, “They’re in trouble. It seems they can’t even pull out their life sigil artifacts. Ordinary sigil artifacts can’t even shake that toad, and using explosive sigil beads… they won’t last long.”

Neither Qi Nanshan nor Guo Shier intended to go help. They themselves were being pursued by the Star Sect; how could they possibly assist two enemies? It was already good enough if they didn’t add insult to injury. Qi Nanshan disdained playing the role of a bystander and said lightly, “Let’s leave this place. Whether those two Star Sect disciples can defeat the toads depends on their own luck.” With that, he darted to the left. Guo Shier glanced back and followed suit, flying away as well. The four of them quietly disappeared into the woods, leaving no trace.

The croaking sounds gradually faded away as the four flew deeper into the secret realm. Below them was a vast swamp. Using their flying talismans, they flew seven or eight meters above the ground. This height was ideal—should any ambushing talisman insects attack, the distance provided a buffer allowing them to respond in time. If attacks came from above, they could quickly land and prepare for battle. However, they just wanted to get through this swamp as soon as possible, as such terrain was most unsuitable for fighting.

Along the way, they encountered swarms of insects. These were different from the mosquitoes Guo Shier had seen in his past life; each one was the size of a palm, and many were first- or second-grade mutated mosquitoes with white markings all over their bodies, looking quite terrifying. There were hundreds of them at once. Fortunately, Qi Nanshan was with them; otherwise, it would have been difficult to deal with them. With his Soul Flame, he burned as many insects as came at him.

They encountered countless small insects along the way, but the four of them didn’t bother with them and flew quickly, hoping to reach solid ground sooner. After over twenty days of non-stop flying, they finally reached the other side and entered the woods. Qi Nanshan looked energetic and showed no signs of fatigue. Guo Shier and Monier, being spellcasters, couldn’t compare to martial artists in terms of stamina, so both of them were very tired.

After setting up tents, Qi Nanshan stayed outside to guard while Guo Shier fell asleep immediately and slept for two full days before recovering. Fresh and alert, he stepped out of the tent and immediately smelled the rich aroma of food—roast meat. The Eagle Demon set up a grill, with the leg of a giant mutated talisman beast propped on the frame, flames burning beneath it with a crackling sound. He used his life talisman blade to make many cuts in the meat leg and poured seasonings and fat over it. Qi Nanshan and Monier sat aside waiting.

“Shier, it’s almost done. Come and try my cooking,” said the Eagle Demon proudly.

Guo Shier was surprised. “Uncle Eagle Demon, cooking in such a grand manner—aren’t you afraid of attracting mutated talisman insects?”

The Eagle Demon replied, “The old man has checked. Within a hundred miles, there are no strong mutated talisman insects.”

Guo Shier asked doubtfully, “How is that possible?”
Qi Nanshan said, “Eagle Demon is right. I went to check, and there aren’t any powerful mutated sigil worms, not even ordinary ones—just regular insects. You can tell from their noises. I’m also puzzled, but… Eagle Demon’s grilled meat is fine.”
Before cooking food in the wild, one must first assess the surroundings to see if there are any powerful sigil beasts or worms. Otherwise, those fierce creatures might arrive before even starting to eat.
Guo Shier threw over a bottle and said, “Brush this on!”
Eagle Demon wondered, “What’s this? Another seasoning you invented? Hmm, what’s this smell? It’s sweet…”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Wild honey. It’s great stuff.”
Eagle Demon dipped his finger in it, tasted it slightly, and exclaimed happily, “So sweet… and fragrant too!”
Monier was very interested. “Wild honey? That’s excellent! Where did you get it? Is there more?”
Guo Shier took out another bottle and handed it to Monier, saying, “My wife, I found this by chance. There are only a few bottles. If we get the chance to find a beehive later, we might be able to get some more.”
Eagle Demon extinguished the fire and brushed the wild honey on the grilled meat. Immediately, a strong sweet aroma of honey spread out, stimulating appetite.
As soon as the wild honey was applied, the taste of the grilled meat changed, giving it a hint of honey-glazed meat. The four of them started eating. Under Guo Shier’s guidance, Eagle Demon’s grilling skills had improved greatly. Before, when he grilled meat on the grassland, he would just sprinkle some salt—nothing else. The meat that resulted was tough and hard, too tough even for those with poor teeth to eat.
Guo Shier commented, “It tastes good. It’s a shame there’s not enough oil; the meat isn’t tender enough. It’s passable though.”
Eagle Demon laughed, “I know you cook well! Let’s eat quickly. No need for so much talk.”
Guo Shier giggled. He and Eagle Demon had gone through many hardships together, and their relationship was special—like that between father and son or brothers, so joking around was fine.
After eating a few pieces of grilled meat, Monier stopped. She found the meat too greasy. Eagle Demon never cooked soup with his grilled meat, so they could only eat dry meat, which made them feel uncomfortable if they ate too much.
After a while, the four of them finished eating a large leg of meat. Eagle Demon took out the leg bone and began gnawing on it slowly by himself. As a carnivore, he was satisfied as long as there was plenty of meat.
They found a small pond, and Qi Nanshan, Monier, and Guo Shier washed their hands and faces. Qi Nanshan sighed, “I wonder if the old man has entered this secret realm. Shier, should we send a message sigil to check?”

Guo Shier thought for a moment and said, “Let’s wait a bit longer. The message tokens left by the old man are few, and once they’re used up, it will be even harder to find him.” A message token could reach Luo Jie as long as they were on the same continent or in the same secret realm, but if Luo Jie wasn’t there, the token would be useless. So Guo Shier didn’t want to take risks.

Qi Nanshan also didn’t dare to use the message tokens recklessly. If they ran out, they’d be at a loss. He said, “Alright, let’s try our best to search. There will be a time when we meet.” Even he sounded unsure. This world was too vast—countless continents and secret realms. Getting lost here meant one might not even find their way back.

Guo Shier said, “I don’t think this secret realm is very large. It’s more like a Token Worm secret realm. If the old man entered, would he look for another exit?”

Qi Nanshan nodded. “Definitely!”

Guo Shier said, “Then let’s look for another exit too, to see if there are any traces left by the old man.”

Qi Nanshan agreed. “Good. I think that’s a sensible approach.”

The four of them took off again, flying straight ahead.

Guo Shier had long become indifferent to the journey. Sometimes he thought about getting a carriage or flying vehicle as a means of transportation. Though such things offered comfort, they made them too obvious targets wherever they went. His strength was decent, but in a secret realm, it was only enough for self-protection—not enough to recklessly explore everywhere.

Along the way, they encountered several low-level mutated Token Worms. Guo Shier killed them casually—not to collect materials, but to provide food for the Blade Shadow Mantis. The Blade Shadow Mantis was still weak and needed constant feeding, so these low-level mutated Token Worms were perfect. Besides the corpses of the mutated Token Worms, he also asked Qi Nanshan to help refine Soul Essence Beads, as he couldn’t do it himself—only a Grand Sage could master that skill.

There were countless various mutated Token Worms in this secret realm, most of them low-level. So far, they hadn’t encountered a single Level 8 mutated Token Worm, which disappointed Guo Shier a bit. With Qi Nanshan around, he felt confident, but unfortunately, they hadn’t seen any signs of high-level mutated creatures along the way.

They also found no trace of Luo Jie at all. Guo Shier suspected that the old man hadn’t entered this secret realm. He said, “Grandpa Nanshan, let’s leave. It seems like our master hasn’t entered here.”

Monier agreed repeatedly, “Yes, let’s go out soon. This place is so gloomy it makes people feel uncomfortable.”

Qi Nanshan nodded as well. “Alright, let’s leave.”

Guo Shier recorded the coordinates of this secret realm. He found this Bug Talisman Secret Realm very interesting and thought he could return here if he had the chance in the future. He now had two Bug Talismans, and if he wanted to release the Soul Bugs from them to hunt, this was an excellent place.