“Error!”

Error, who had been sneakily fishing in a nearby stream, immediately dropped her catch and transformed into her true form, carrying Seraphine and Echo toward the phoenix phantom.

Within moments, the sky filled with similar signals—Taiji twin fish, long swords, golden ingots…

Echo pulled out the phoenix jade pendant Seraphine had given her earlier. It vibrated constantly in her hand.

“Looking at the direction—the Golden Jade Tower?” Seraphine peered ahead.

Throughout the Secret Realm, cultivators who recognized their sect’s symbols rushed from all directions, while many curious others flew toward the Golden Jade Tower to investigate.

But after the long flight, before they could reach the tower, cultivators began feeling overwhelming pressure that made their hair stand on end and sent a chill down their spine.

“Void Refinement…” they whispered in horror.

How could there be a Void Refinement—Stone Giant!

Error’s body trembled as she flew cautiously at a great distance, afraid to attract the attention of the terrifying entity stalking across the land. She landed on a mountain and coiled up, pretending to be a red rock formation.

Echo took Seraphine’s hand and helped her down, whispering: “Seraphine, be careful.”

Both Seraphine and Error were Golden Core stage—they couldn’t resist the pressure of a Stone Giant two entire major realms above them.

Moreover, Stone Giants had no spiritual intelligence and didn’t know how to restrain themselves. This one rampaged across the land, smashing mountains and killing beasts, throwing the entire Secret Realm into chaos.

“Void Refinement,” Seraphine repeated grimly. She knew she was completely outmatched by a Void Refinement opponent. Rather than fear, what struck her was horror at the implications of a Void Refinement Stone Giant’s existence.

Looking across the Five Continents, how many Void Refinement cultivators were there?

They were all hermits who cultivated in seclusion, uninvolved in worldly affairs.

“Oh no!” Echo exclaimed. “The Spirit Heart in the Northern Glacier was eating its own kind—I accumulated spiritual energy but not enough to level up.”

Digesting a Spirit Heart was hard work requiring gradual processing. Since the entire Secret Realm belonged to Echo, Seraphine had simply left the Spirit Heart in the spirit ore under the realm’s spirit’s protection.

“If you had a Spirit Heart available, could you kill it?” Seraphine asked quietly.

Echo frowned, opened her status panel to calculate, then shook her head.

Advancing from early Soul Transformation to early Void Refinement required spiritual energy comparable to the difference between a creek and a great river. Echo would need at least fifty Spirit Hearts!

Poverty truly breaks a system’s heart.

And possibly its body.

Seraphine rubbed her forehead, her eyes cold with calculation.

Echo looked toward where the Stone Giant was rampaging.

The Golden Jade Tower glowed with countless layers of protective barriers. The cultivators inside had clearly brought out all their trump cards. As descendants of major sects, they had some methods at their disposal. Various colored lights flickered in succession, layer upon layer illuminating the golden little building.

But the Stone Giant stood stubbornly on the earth. It was so massive that nearby snow mountains looked tiny in comparison. It seemed attracted to the tower’s light, methodically pounding the protective barriers with fists like sledgehammers, or lifting mountain-sized feet to stomp down repeatedly.

The surrounding mountains wailed like newborn cubs, but the mindless Stone Giant understood no mercy, making their cries even more pitiful.

With a thunderous “CRASH,” the uppermost protective barrier shattered. Inside the Golden Jade Tower, a blue-robed woman spat blood and was caught by someone behind her.

“Senior Sister Feng!” Several Taiyan Sect disciples rushed forward anxiously.

A medical cultivator from Thousand Beauty Valley quickly moved to help regulate her spiritual veins.

After the chaotic spiritual energy in her body settled, this ordinary-looking but determined woman whispered to the others: “The protective cauldron my master gave me has shattered. It’s up to you now.”

Everyone, including Zhao Hangyi, showed expressions of resignation to death.

A defeated-looking cultivator nearby mumbled: “If I hadn’t led it to the Golden Jade Tower, I wouldn’t have brought this disaster upon everyone.”

Feng Zhen, one of the two Soul Transformation cultivators who had entered the Secret Realm, shook her head. “It’s not your fault. Unless we can kill the Stone Giant, it will keep moving once it senses cultivators, pursuing anything with spiritual energy. This Stone Giant’s cultivation is extraordinary—it would have found us eventually.”

Zhao Hangyi stuffed a handful of Spirit Recovery Pills in his mouth. “We’ve long known about this Stone Giant and sent word out, but we still underestimated how terrifying the Void Refinement truly is. We weren’t prepared.”

But… what preparation could they have made? Zhao Hangyi fanned himself frantically, thinking. What could we possibly do against something like this?

The group of cultivators unwilling to abandon the trial looked pale with despair.

“Let’s use the previous plan,” Feng Zhen said. “I’ll lead it away while you escape.”

“Absolutely not,” Zhu Shiyu, who was supporting her, protested. “Senior Sister, your contracted artifact’s backlash has injured you. Let me go instead.”

Feng Zhen shook her head. “You’re only Nascent Soul stage—going out there would be suicide. At least I have some chance.”

“How much chance?” Zhu Shiyu pressed.

Feng Zhen remained silent.

The calm exchange between the senior sisters made everyone’s hearts race. Zhao Hangyi sighed. “Even if we select people to lure it away and save the rest, setting aside whether our cultivation differences make success possible, that Stone Giant might not even have the brains to give chase. It might just keep focused on breaking our barriers.”

This won’t work, that won’t work either. If these weren’t all carefully selected elite cultivators, their resolve might have crumbled entirely.

A pink-robed woman sitting to one side, brewing tea, said quietly: “If no one responds to our distress calls, perhaps everyone should consider withdrawing their protective artifacts for personal use and fleeing together to let fate decide.”

Everyone nodded grimly.

Feng Zhen looked toward Siyi. “Meng Xiangfei’s cultivation surpasses mine, but she might not act. If Palace Lord Velka’scultivation were higher, would she come to our aid?”

Siyi rose and offered her a cup of tea, saying gently: “She’s coming now.”

Everyone stared at Siyi in shock. Though Luanyang Palace’s lord had exceptional talent and reputation, she was currently only mid-Golden Core stage. How could she contend with a Void Refinement Stone Giant?

Siyi, who had briefly encountered Seraphine days earlier, smiled. “The one who acts might be someone else entirely.”

⁂

Outside the oppressive silence and continuous pressure, Seraphine cracked her whip and pulled Xue Mengtao off her sword, snapping coldly: “Seeking death!”

Xue Mengtao bit her teeth and knelt on the ground. “My master is in the Golden Jade Tower!”

Seraphine said nothing, ordering Error to wrap up Xue Mengtao and gag her mouth. She was already irritated and didn’t want to listen to her “noise.” Seraphine looked at Echo.

Echo’s clear eyes focused on Seraphine’s waist as she asked: “Would this method work?”

Seraphine fell silent.

There was one optimal solution: Echo could assume her orb form to lure the Stone Giant away as far as possible. After rescuing the people in the Golden Jade Tower, her soul could return to her human body while the realm’s spirit either hid her orb or transported it back to Echo.

But there were anxious cultivators everywhere. Seraphine absolutely, completely, utterly refused to let Echo expose her extraordinary nature!

Yet she also needed to save the people in the tower.

Seraphine clenched her fists. “I’ll go lure it away. I have Brahma Bell.”

Echo shook her head. “Brahma Bell can’t resist Void Refinement power unless your cultivation were much higher.”

Even Echo couldn’t use it. Brahma Bell was contracted to Seraphine . It was a protective artifact forged by the abbot of the Temple of Heaven in recognition of Yunong Velka’s Dao heart for Seraphine. It only recognized her and could not be unbound and re-contracted for Echo’s use.

“I just tried asking the realm’s spirit to eject the Stone Giant from the Secret Realm,” Echo explained, “but Stone Giants are part of the trial system established by the realm’s spirit and Ink-Trace Venerable. They can’t be expelled from the Secret Realm.”

Seraphine looked at Echo and retrieved Brahma Bell.

The moment the artifact appeared, Seraphine’s hand was pressed down by Echo. The silver-haired woman leaned close and whispered: “Seraphine, don’t worry. I’ve thought of a solution.”

Seraphine replied expressionlessly: “If it’s another method that exposes you, don’t even think about it.”

“Hahaha!” Echo laughed. “It’s a method that won’t make you worry. When I was asking the realm’s spirit just now, I realized—I’m the master of this Secret Realm.”

She touched her forehead to Seraphine’s in a friendly gesture, feeling somewhat embarrassed as she lowered her eyes. “Being human for so long has slowed my processing speed. I need to reflect on this.”

“Since I can’t transport the Stone Giant out of the Secret Realm, I’ll simply evacuate everyone from the Secret Realm instead. I’m going to end the trial early.” Echo grasped Seraphine’s hand, her cool voice gentle. “But I should ask for everyone’s opinion first.”

Seraphine’s eyes lit up as she nodded.

Rather than expose that Echo was an “orb,” revealing her identity as the Secret Realm’s master was far preferable.

Seraphine cupped Echo’s face with her hands, unable to stop herself from saying: “So clever.”

Hehe.

Pleased with the praise, Echo looked into the distance.

At the Northern Glacier, two golden birds pecking at ice on the mountains dissolved into scattered light. At the same time, a clear, cool voice echoed throughout every corner of the Twin Dragon Secret Realm:

“Fellow Daoists, a Void Refinement Stone Giant is currently rampaging within the Secret Realm, and our power cannot resist it. I have a method to transport everyone out of the Twin Dragon Secret Realm and end the trial early. If you agree to my proposal, please release a phoenix phantom.”

Beside Echo, Seraphine lazily tossed out a golden-red flame that rose and transformed into a beautiful fire phoenix. Behind them, Xue Mengtao, bound by Error’s coils, quietly wiped away tears before adding her own spiritual energy.

Inside the Golden Jade Tower, the cultivators were first stunned by the voice, then watched as Siyi, Zhu Shiyu, and others unhesitatingly sent their spiritual energy toward the tower’s roof. After a moment’s hesitation, the rest followed suit.

The rooftop filled with numerous small phoenixes.

Echo closed her eyes. The Secret Realm’s mountains, rivers, and vegetation appeared before her. Through the realm’s spirit’s sight, she surveyed the divine continent and saw many cultivators not trapped by Stone Giants still hesitating. She continued:

“The Stone Giant seeks spiritual energy as it roams. Those unwilling to end the trial early should prepare to face a Void Refinement Stone Giant. Though the Twin Dragon Secret Realm is vast, compared to a Void Refinement cultivator’s range, it’s merely a cage.”

Soon, the hesitant cultivators also released their spiritual energy, and many phoenixes circled in the sky.

The Stone Giant that had been attacking the Golden Jade Tower suddenly looked up and leaped toward the sky phantoms, smashing them. The phantoms instantly dispersed, and when the Stone Giant’s mountain-sized body crashed back to earth, the entire Secret Realm seemed to tremble.

“Whoosh!”

Another wave of spiritual energy phantoms flew skyward.

Echo remained calm and continued persuasively: “Ah! I hope everyone thinks carefully, because ending the Secret Realm early requires considerable spiritual energy. I’ll need to charge a closing fee—just one… well, two fragments each!”

I have to split them with Seraphine.

Inside the Golden Jade Tower, Zhao Hangyi, who had just relaxed, desperately clutched his storage ring.

Seraphine let out a low laugh, looking up at Echo with tender eyes.

I underestimated you.

A gentle breeze blew past. The terrifying Void Refinement threat seemed imminent, yet it felt as insubstantial as wind passing without trace.

Echo quickly counted the spiritual energy phantoms throughout the Secret Realm and nodded.

“Good. Please prepare yourselves. I’m opening the door.”

Echo didn’t open her eyes. Instead, she brought her hands together.

Deep beneath the earth, the spirit that had condensed from these mountains and seas flicked its tail. Golden light appeared beneath the feet of the “guests” who had disturbed it for so long.

⁂

In Sunset Glow City, everyone looked up in surprise as the Secret Realm gateway suddenly blazed with light, falling like stars into the arena.

The crowd quickly rose as golden light spread across the ground like an unrolling banner. After two dragon roars, the light vanished abruptly, and thousands of people appeared in the arena—some sitting, some standing, all looking confused.

The resulting uproar helped everyone regain their senses. The moment the cultivators escaped from the Secret Realm recognized their surroundings, confusion transformed into joy.

“We’re out?”

“We’re really back!”

“Haha!”

“Echo?” Seraphine supported Echo’s weakened form, asking anxiously in a low voice: “Are you alright?”

Echo shook her head and leaned against Seraphine, stubbornly taking out several Spirit Recovery Pills to swallow. Only after her spiritual energy recovered did she breathe a sigh of relief and smile at Seraphine.

This system is fine!

This system is excellent!

She drew Nine Heavens.

Seraphine looked stunned. Before she could ask why Echo was drawing her sword, Nine Heavens rang with a low hum. The sky changed color as an ice wall shot up from the ground, firmly blocking the arena’s main entrance.

The arena fell silent. The previously jubilant cultivators turned in shock to see a beautiful sword cultivator holding hands with a gorgeous woman, both stunning in their own right. The sword wielder pointed ahead expressionlessly and spoke in a familiar voice:

“Please form a line here to pay your fees. Thank you for your cooperation.”

[Author’s Note]

A Spirit Heart that had finally finished consuming its own kind poked its head out, saw the devastated landscape and the terrifying Stone Giant charging forward.

Spirit Heart: Squeak!!!

Just when you thought the drama was over, I found a way to make it even more interesting. Find out what new trouble I’m brewing—20 chapters ahead at Pxtreon➡️LoveisLove520!