The forest was alive with fear.

  Trees shuddered, birds fled in frantic swarms, and the heavy air pressed down on them.

  The wind cut through the gaps of the trees, carrying heavy dust and blowing the fog away into the distant pce.

  The group stood their ground on the spot, some even had to hide behind the tree to take cover against the raging wind.

  And the aura that lingered just now, it came without a warning and vanished into thin air in a mere split second.

  But all of them felt it, something had awakened, and whatever it was, they didn't want to have any part with it.

  "Another direction! Go in the other direction!" Mad wolf immediately ordered and the rest of the group naturally had no qualms about this.

  It was better for them to stray away from that direction just now, or else they might stumble in whatever it was that the aura just now belonged to.

  Elias witnessed everything that had happened, his thoughts turning as he began to yout a series of operations in the dungeon.

  Doing so, then he smiled kindly, his eyes a deep pool of abyss with unknown depth.

  "For the first group of customers, I will need to entertain them dearly, else the reputation of my dungeon will be bad! Then let them have the taste of loots and benefits by killing monsters in here... " Elias concluded his pn, but then... He added another sentence to it. "But of course, please do your best to stay alive. The monsters here are quite hard to deal with"

  Elias had never considered himself a good person, never did.

  Back in his past life and even in the present one, he had always been the same.

  The rules are clear, it's either you win or I win. A world without cruelty? What kind of world is that?

  All he knew was that, a world without cruelty cannot exist, impossible to exist.

  But a world with lesser evil might be there. And he considered himself as a person of lesser evil and also lesser kindness.

  -

  The scene shifted back towards the group.

  The group, shaken by the terrifying roar and explosion, collectively decided to change course.

  Fear gripped their hearts as they realized the power lurking in the depths of the secret realm.

  Originally, each had ambitions of seeking out heavenly treasures, but now, the thought of venturing deeper seemed suicidal.

  Instead, they opted to stay close to the gate, moving in another direction to search for wealth.

  If anything were to happen, at least they wouldn't be too far from an escape route.

  They were not reckless, most of them had lived for decades in the cultivation world. Years of survival had sharpened their instincts.

  None of them had lived this long by being foolish, each one possessing a powerful trick up their sleeve.

  As they made their way through the dense forest, the towering trees loomed over them, their branches and leaves vast enough to serve as roofs, shadows intertwined like a massive twisted serpent, dancing on the ground floor of the forest.

  A thin hazy mist covered the ndscape, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

  Distant echoes occasionally sounded, sending shivers and bred some unwanted thoughts inside their mind.

  If they were alone in such a pce for too long, the anxiety and fear of the unknown would surely drive them to madness.

  Madness, a state that many would fall into once their lives were threatened.

  Especially when the so-called immortal was closing in to the end of their lifespan, madness will consume them.

  Some among them swallowed hard, regretting their impulsive decision to enter the realm so hastily.

  Some still had a stable mind, and all they could do was hoping for the best, praying that it would not be them that will die in this pce today.

  The Mad Dog and Mad Wolf brothers, leading from the front, exchanged sneering gnces. "A bunch of fools," they thought. "Seeking treasure without the strength to protect it"

  However, as their eyes swept over the group, they noticed a figure distinct from the rest.

  A woman in immacute white robes moved with grace, her long bck hair cascading like a waterfall.

  There were patterns all over her hands, and instead of being ugly, it made her to appear more mysterious.

  Her face, fwless and serene, exuded a natural beauty. With a sharp nose and wide and yet acute eyes.

  She's truly a big beauty... But something about her presence unsettled them.

  "A disciple of a major sect?" Mad Wolf sent a mental message to Mad Dog.

  "Unlikely... No big sect disciples were reported in the city this month. If they were here, they'd have hunted us down already."

  "Still, her aura and demeanor... She's not simple. Keep an eye on her."

  Their exchange, however, did not go unnoticed.

  The woman remained composed but had already sensed their scrutiny. She suppressed a smirk, her thoughts ced with amusement rather than fear.

  After all, her strength was above the two.

  "They noticed me? Interesting..."

  "And this pce, a secret realm, suddenly appears out of nowhere in the middle of a city?"

  "Only a fool would believe it that there is no hidden conspiracy behind this... " She analyzed the situation, and surprisingly she was very close to the truth of the whole event.

  "Though who or what had caused this secret realm to open here? Such power... Is this even possible to be achieved?"

  'Young dy, you had made such an unwise decision of entering this pce' an old voice sounded in her ears, but she simply shrugged it off with a sentence.

  "It's okay, you are here to protect me anyway" She smiled mischievously.

  "But young dy, the aura just now is not something to be trifled with... " The old voice continued, a tinge of worry evident in its tone.

  "It's okay, you worry too much. My father had given me so many treasures and artifacts to protect myself. I promise, nothing bad will happen... "

  "This... But... "

  "And in fact, my intuition is telling me that I will gain something from this pce"

  "..."

  "As... " The old voice could only concede to the woman's wish.

  Naturally everything that had happened just now fell into Elias's sight. It was a bit of a surprised as he could see what others couldn't.

  He focused his sight at the back of the woman's figure, there he saw it, a shadow hidden inside the woman's shadow.

  A shadow inside a shadow? Come on, if it's not the woman's protector, the cliche trope of a cherished noble dy coming out to the world to experience life, accompanied with a hidden powerful protector.

  Elias had seen it all in those novels back then, he knew the routine better than anyone else in this world.

  Then, is the protagonist also close by? He looked around the group for a while, but found nothing.

  Strange, a heroin had appeared but the protagonist was nowhere in sight. Well, it doesn't matter...

  "What matters now is that... The danger is coming. I hope you can survive little girl... "

  -

  As the group carefully made their way through the unfamiliar terrain, a sudden noise from the side jolted them.

  It was just a simple rattling sound, as if someone or something had stepped over a fallen branches on the ground.

  The noise was crisp and yet it echoed throughout the forest. Anything strange?

  "The scenery changed!"

  Instantly, a chill ran down their spines as they realized something unsettling, they had unknowingly entered a different area without noticing the changes of the terrain the whole time.

  What does this mean?

  Fear gripped them. These were not ordinary mortals, they are cultivators, their senses are not something of what a mortal could compare.

  And yet, none of them had detected the change in terrain. How could this not terrify them? It was as if something had blocked their awareness from noticing.

  "Everyone stopped moving," Mad Wolf commanded, his voice cutting through the group.

  A collective unease settled over the group. Their steps paused, hands gripped inside their sleeves, each ready to take action.

  But then, Mad wolf calmly assessed the situation and said "Each of you, use your detection skill now. Scan the area."

  Without hesitation, they obeyed.

  Detection skills were not particurly powerful but were invaluable for distinguishing illusions from reality and sensing hidden dangers.

  One by one, glowing auras radiated from their bodies, spreading out into the surroundings.

  And yet.

  "Nothing..."

  "Nothing? Impossible! We should at least detect the trees around us. They are clearly visible."

  "Not being able to detect anything despite seeing it?"

  "Illusion?" Mad Dog suggested grimly.

  A slightly stooped old man interjected, shaking his head. "That cannot be. I've practiced and studied this skill for decades. If this were an illusion, the energy wouldn’t simply vanish into thin air. Even if someone is stronger than us, such a phenomenon should be impossible."

  A heavy silence fell over them.

  If it wasn’t an illusion, then the only answer was.