Chapter 1: New Discoveries (Part 1)

Guo Shieru stared at the professionals flying in from afar, filled with curiosity. Since entering the Wild Battle Secret Realm, they had rarely seen professionals. This realm was vast and teemed with spirit beasts; those who could reach such depths were mostly skilled professionals, while ordinary people and mid-to-low-level professionals could hardly get here.
Eagle Demon said, “Huh, those people seem to be coming for us. Look… they’re splitting up to surround us!”
The twelve people divided into four groups of three each. Two groups flew in from the sides and then encircled them from behind, while the other two groups came head-on. Zhang Yaojin was already annoyed. Seeing the group approaching, he snapped, “Want to die? I’ll give you that wish!”
Guo Shieru said, “Everyone, get ready for battle!” Having wandered outside for so long, he certainly wouldn’t be careless. Whether the opponents had malicious intentions or not, they needed to be prepared for combat first.
Luo Zhan said, “It’s them!”
Guo Shieru asked, “Who?” Immediately, he recognized the leading Grand Sage—it was the same group they had seen before. Realizing that after he took the soul fragment from that altar, it should no longer be usable, he thought, “Could it be they’re here because of this?”
Xian Ruidai asked, “What do they want?”
Eagle Demon laughed coldly and charged forward. Guo Shieru followed closely behind, saying, “They’re here to kill us!”
Xian Ruidai frowned. “Why would they want to kill us?” Still struggling to understand, she flew after them as well.
Soon, the two sides clashed. Guo Shieru observed carefully and found that the attackers were highly skilled—there was one advanced Grand Sage, four intermediate Grand Sages, two junior Grand Sages, and the remaining five were Sage-level professionals. With such strength, they could definitely fight against Guo Shieru and his group.
Eagle Demon glared coldly at the leading advanced Grand Sage.
The Grand Sage, upon seeing them, let out undisguised anger. He shouted, “What have you done to the altar?”
Eagle Demon retorted irritably, “What’s it to you?”
Guo Shieru asked, “Who are you? There are altars everywhere here. What could we possibly do?”
The Grand Sage stepped forward and said, “I’m Hanbing Baiyan, an advanced Symbol-Warrior Grand Sage of the Baiyan Family. Which family are you from? How dare you destroy altars in the Wild Battle Secret Realm?”
Guo Shieru turned and asked, “Baiyan Family? Xian Ruidai, do you know what family that is?”

Xianru Dai curled her lips and said, “Who knows where that little family came from? I’ve never heard of them.” Her tone was full of disdain. To the Gu Dai family, no such Baiyan family mattered at all.
Zhang Yaojin snapped angrily, “What do you care about our family? If you want to fight, then fight!” With that, he charged forward and swung a blade at her. He had inadvertently inherited the legacy of the Gu Dai family, which filled him with frustration and annoyance. The fact that the other guy kept asking about their family only made him angrier.
Hanbing Baiyan turned ashen with rage as he roared, “You’re seeking death!”
Zhang Yaojin was highly skilled. Having trained for years in various secret realm continents, his combat abilities far surpassed those of the professionals who stayed in their families. Even though Hanbing Baiyan was a high-ranking Grand Sage, he wasn’t afraid at all. He swung his life talisman sword at him. Combat among those who used talisman weapons wasn’t fancy—it was simply a clash of life talisman artifacts. Only with a Virtual Sacrifice Altar and their own sacrificial treasures would they resort to using those.
Hanbing Baiyan’s figure flickered slightly, and a giant axe appeared in his hand. In Guo Shier’s eyes, this couldn’t be called an axe—it was a combination of a sword and an axe. It was a two-meter-long, giant blue axe blade covered in countless talismans, with a silver line along its edge, exuding a chilling coldness. It was obvious this thing was extremely powerful.
Zhang Yaojin’s life talisman weapon was a giant sword with a strange shape, resembling a door panel. Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. If this life talisman sword were reduced in size, it would be no different from a kitchen knife from his past life—nothing more than a large kitchen knife.
This large kitchen knife was two meters long, with a rectangular blade that was pitch black and intimidating. When it swung down, the talismans on it flowed, and the sound it made as it cut through the air sounded like a high-pitched whistle, displaying immense power.
As both wielded powerful life talisman artifacts, their collision produced a deafening explosion.
Boom!
A powerful gust of wind pushed the two of them backward. The force was so strong that Hanbing Baiyan kept retreating. He hadn’t expected the other party to dare to clash their life talisman artifacts with his. Moreover, he realized that although the other person wasn’t a high-ranking Grand Sage, their life talisman weapon was no less powerful than his own, which surprised him deeply.
Now that the fight had begun, Guo Shier didn’t hold back. His Moon Blade suddenly flew out, transforming into an eight-meter-long giant blade. The crimson Moon Blade emitted an astonishing pressure. He shouted, “Fight!”
The Moon Blade swung down with a roar.
Hanbing Baiyan’s expression changed drastically. Realizing things were going wrong, he roared, “Attack together!” The Moon Blade gave off an extremely dangerous aura. He didn’t dare to block it with his axe and quickly called for his companions to join the attack.

Guo Shier’s attack came suddenly, and Hanbing Baiyan reacted quickly. He couldn’t rely on his axe alone to defend, so he gathered four intermediate Grand Saints to join forces. But in the haste, only two of them unleashed their life sigil blades, which collided with his axe against the Moon Blade.
Eagle Demon shouted, “Be careful!”
Zhang Yaojin roared in fury, “Damn it!” His large kitchen knife swung down again, cutting together with Guo Shier’s Moon Blade.
Crack! Crack! Boom!
Everyone was flung backward. The force of that strike created a violent gust of wind that exploded with force. Hanbing Baiyan and his companions were lifted into the air by this immense power. Guo Shier and Zhang Yaojin also lost their footing, sliding backward under the force of the wind, leaving a deep gash in the ground.
Hanbing Baiyan spat out a mouthful of blood, and his companions also spat blood repeatedly. This strike had dealt severe damage to all three of them.
Guo Shier’s soul trembled violently. The old man hiding in the Ancient Ink Lotus screamed, “Damn it, who? Who is it…” He couldn’t see what was happening outside the Lotus, but he could sense the intense turmoil in Guo Shier’s soul and knew he was in battle. He cast dozens of spells in succession, and Guo Shier’s soul quickly calmed down.
Guo Shier was overjoyed—he hadn’t expected the old man to have such a trick. Once his soul stabilized, the Moon Blade, which had been somewhat out of control, regained its stability. He charged forward again, the Moon Blade slicing down with a howl.
Hanbing Baiyan was terrified; his soul was in chaos. This head-on slashing, devoid of any technique, was the best way to test strength. The strike from the Moon Blade made him realize his strength was far inferior to Guo Shier’s, and what was worse was the latter’s ability to recover quickly.
He barely managed to control his axe and screamed, “Help me!”
Xianru Dai, Eagle Demon, Luo Zhan, and Zhang Yaojin all unleashed their life sigil blades, joining forces with the Moon Blade in its attack. This was a common fighting style among professionals—a pure test of strength. At this point, there was no room for tricks; not even Guo Shier’s Spirit Beasts or Spirit Insects could intervene. Fighting with life sigil blades was the most dangerous kind of battle.
The old man also sensed something was wrong. He screeched wildly inside the Ancient Ink Lotus, casting spell after spell. This was his stronghold. Though he was merely a tenant, he absolutely couldn’t leave—it meant disappearance. So he was also desperate.
In an instant, he cast over seven thousand spells, sending them rapidly toward the Moon Blade through the Ancient Ink Lotus. The old man was using his own methods to amplify the power of the Moon Blade.

Guo Shier immediately sensed something unusual—the Moon Blade was expanding on its own. He felt countless spells surging out from the Ancient Ink Lotus and pouring directly into the Moon Blade from his own soul. The Moon Blade grew from eight meters to eighty meters, and then to two hundred meters. Such a massive blade was terrifying to behold.

Hanbing Baiyan stared in fear at the enormous Moon Blade, wailing inwardly—where did this monster come from? His own Life Sigil Blade already had the power of a Sacrificial Treasure; how could he fight now?

Zhang Yaojin cursed, “Damn it… what the hell is this?”

Xianru Dai was stunned, saying, “Wow… is this… a Sacrificial Treasure?”

Zhou Xiaoling didn’t intervene either. Seeing the two-hundred-meter-long Moon Blade, she was completely frozen in shock. On Juehu Miluo’s altar, she had seen Bao Chengyong use a black sword. She felt there were some similarities between the Moon Blade and the black sword—their attacking power was almost identical, extremely terrifying.

Luo Zhan also stopped attacking immediately. He knew his intervention wouldn’t help much, especially after witnessing the Moon Blade’s astonishing power.

Yingmo forced himself to retract his own Life Sigil Sword. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to attack together, but he felt his Life Sigil Sword couldn’t even cut through anything. The power of the Moon Blade was simply too great; he could no longer control it, and only by retracting it did he feel a little better.

Hanbing Baiyan knew that if they fought head-on, they would all die here. Without hesitation, he shouted, “Retreat quickly! Don’t get in the way!”

Thanks to Shuai Lao Tou’s interference, Guo Shier couldn’t fully control such immense power for a moment, creating a gap that allowed Hanbing Baiyan and the others a chance to escape. Hanbing Baiyan was decisive—everyone quickly retreated, trying to avoid the Moon Blade’s slashes.

Shuai Lao Tou continued chanting spells fervently. Guo Shier couldn’t help but feel his soul tremble: “Shuai Lao Tou! Stop it… the Moon Blade won’t hold up under all this pressure and will explode!”

After all, the Moon Blade was a Life Sigil Blade, not a Sacrificial Treasure. With Shuai Lao Tou’s approach, so much power pouring in would likely result in an explosion. Fortunately, this Moon Blade had been forged by Guo Shier following ancient methods; otherwise, it would have long collapsed under such immense force.

Shuai Lao Tou also realized this and shouted, “Hurry up! Damn it, swing it already… idiot!”

With Shuai Lao Tou’s reckless actions leaving him unable to control the situation, Guo Shier could only desperately hurl the Moon Blade forward. At that moment, he didn’t care whether it would hit anyone—just swinging it was enough. Everything else could wait; if they continued like this, lives would be lost, and not just others’—his own life too.

The Moon Blade grew to 250 meters once again, its unstoppable force emitting a humming vibration in the air that made people’s souls tremble violently; the sense of fear penetrated deep into their souls. Hanbing Baiyan was terrified, and he frantically fled to the left, not daring to retreat backward, knowing he could not avoid the Blade’s strike. Escaping to the side still gave him a sliver of hope.