After entering the secret realm, Qin Hao arrived on a vast plain.
Above was an azure sky, with an occasional white cloud drifting past. Below stretched an endless plain of lush green grass, resembling a painting.
“Is this the Netherworld Mountain Secret Realm?”
Qin Hao sincerely voiced his admiration. The scenery inside the secret realm was considerably better than the scenery outside.
“Junior Brother Zhang San.” A familiar voice rang out.
Qin Hao turned around and was surprised to see Zhu Zhuang!
Qin Hao unconsciously rubbed his head, a trace of puzzlement in his heart. What did Zhu Zhuang want with him?
Before Qin Hao could think further, Zhu Zhuang arrived beside him with a smile and handed him something.
A bag that looked extremely gaudy.
“This is a storage bag. It contains some pills. Consider it my apology to you, Junior Brother Zhang San. Please accept it.”
Qin Hao accepted the storage bag half-believing and half-doubting. After examining it, he found nothing unusual. It indeed contained some pills.
Seeing Qin Hao accept the storage bag, Zhu Zhuang smiled even more happily.
“Please put in a good word for me in front of eldest senior sister. The cold qi in my body still hasn’t dispersed.”
Indeed, after sensing him, Qin Hao discovered that Zhu Zhuang’s aura was rather unstable and that his strength had declined. Occasionally, cold qi emanated from Zhu Zhuang’s pores.
“Of course.”
As the saying went, one could not strike a smiling person. Since Zhu Zhuang had taken the initiative to show goodwill, Qin Hao naturally could not treat him coldly—at least not for now.
“Then may everything go smoothly for you, junior brother. May you find a fortuitous opportunity and advance further.”
After flattering him a few times, Zhu Zhuang turned and left.
Qin Hao did not pay much attention to this little interlude. He directly fastened the storage bag to his waist and began strolling casually across the plain.
However, one thing did make Qin Hao suspicious.
After he accepted the storage bag Zhu Zhuang had handed him, the vanguard disciples who had entered from the Heavenly Demon Sect seemed to deliberately avoid him, unwilling to approach him.
“Zhu Zhuang is a typical weasel coming to pay respects to a chicken—he definitely has ulterior motives.”
Qin Hao knew that Zhu Zhuang could not be showing excessive courtesy for no reason, much less merely to have him say a few good words in front of Qin Mengya. This was very likely related to Mo Bufan.
However, Qin Hao had confidence in his own strength. He did not take these little tricks to heart.
After an incense-stick's duration, the plain shook.
This piqued the bored Qin Hao’s interest. Was it finally about to begin?
According to the conventions of novels from his previous life, secret realms were generally filled with danger. The slightest carelessness could result in one’s body perished and dao disintegrated.
Only then would Fortuitous Opportunities seem hard-won.
“The first round trial begins!”
A voice devoid of emotion resounded across the entire plain within the secret realm.
A line of enormous characters appeared in the sky.
It read, “first round: demon beast tide. The leader demon beast is at the ninth layer of qi refinement, while the attendant demon beasts are at the fourth qi refinement layer. Fifty in total!”
Before Qin Hao could finish reading, he felt the earth tremble and the mountains shake. A dark mass appeared on the plain, accompanied by deafening bellowing.
“It’s a wild bull herd!” a dao sect disciple cried out.
“What are we going to do? That leading wild bull is at the ninth layer of qi refinement. We can’t hold it off at all!” a zhengyi sect disciple said despairingly.
“Stop shouting nonsense. There’s only one word for it: run!” A Heavenly Demon Sect Disciple turned and fled without another word.
Wild bulls were a common type of group-dwelling demon beast. They were not very aggressive and generally did not attack cultivators on their own. However, they were far from weak. Instead, they possessed immense strength and thick, rugged hides. Once provoked, they would be an enormous headache.
Because what one faced was not a single wild bull, but wild bulls in groups!
Among the vanguard disciples present, only Qin Hao and Zhu Zhuang possessed the strength to contend with the ninth layer of qi refinement leading wild bull. Anyone else who faced one could only be trampled beneath its hooves; some could not even defeat an Attendant wild bull.
When such a ragtag army encountered an orderly wild bull herd, it collapsed at the first strike!
Qin Hao had the highest cultivation level among the thirty vanguard disciples, and his combat power was formidable. He was confident he could clash head-on with the ninth layer of qi refinement leading wild bull.
Yet at this moment, Qin Hao was also running for his life.
“One would be manageable, but who can withstand fifty of them?”
Qin Hao roared inwardly as his legs moved like the wind, galloping across the plain and fleeing wildly.
After running for a while, Qin Hao sensed that something was wrong.
He glanced behind him. The fifty wild bulls maintained perfect order, not one falling behind. Their eyes were bloodshot as they desperately pursued Qin Hao.
Even when other disciples were closer to them, they did not spare them a glance, charging toward Qin Hao with single-minded determination.
“Did I kill your parents or something? Why are you only chasing me?”
Qin Hao had already begun hurling curses.
The fifty wild bulls doggedly followed behind him. If this continued, Qin Hao would definitely be caught sooner or later. By then, a pounding from their hooves would be unavoidable.
Although his Corpse King Physique could keep him from dying,
who would want to be trampled beneath wild bull hooves? Especially the hooves of an entire formation of wild bulls—the sensation would be utterly indescribable.
At this moment, Zhu Zhuang, not far away, revealed a smile that showed his scheme had succeeded. He laughed heartily.
“Senior brother really does have a way. A mere storage bag is enough to send Zhang San to his death, and we can even blame Zhang San’s death on the demon beasts. That way, we won’t have to fear eldest senior sister’s punishment.”
Just then, Qin Hao happened to glance at Zhu Zhuang. Seeing him laughing so heartily, Qin Hao grew angry. The fact that he was being relentlessly pursued by the wild bull herd definitely had something to do with Zhu Zhuang.
“Second senior brother, save me!”
Qin Hao shouted and accelerated toward Zhu Zhuang. Seeing this, Zhu Zhuang cried out inwardly, “Don’t!”
Because the wild bull herd followed Qin Hao over as well.
“Junior brother, hold them off for a moment. Your senior brother will go get reinforcements right away.”
Zhu Zhuang certainly did not dare let Qin Hao approach him. The cold qi left behind by eldest senior sister was still in his body. Whenever he used spiritual power, the cold qi would cause blockages. It might not be noticeable in a short time, but problems would arise if it continued for too long.
By then, he definitely would not be able to outrun Qin Hao.
The price of failing to outrun Qin Hao would be a barrage of wild bull hooves. His tendons would be crushed, his bones broken, and he would die on the spot.
The wild bull herd would not care whether he was the Second Senior Brother of the Outer Sect of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Zhu Zhuang broke into a sprint.
Qin Hao naturally could not let Zhu Zhuang get away and followed close behind.
As before, the wild bull herd kept its eyes fixed on Qin Hao.
And so, a comical scene appeared on the plain: Qin Hao chased Zhu Zhuang, while the wild bull herd chased Qin Hao.
The vanguard disciples, who had originally worried about being trampled beneath the hooves, all breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness. The wild bull herd had gone after Qin Hao and Zhu Zhuang.
This was wonderfully comfortable.
“Why do you think the wild bull herd keeps chasing Zhang San?”
“Perhaps it’s because he’s handsome,” a dao sect disciple said.
“Are you sure it isn’t because he’s hated by everyone?” a zhengyi sect disciple retorted.
“Are you sure you want him chasing you?” the Heavenly Demon Sect Disciple asked in return.
“That’s true. It must definitely be because Zhang San is too handsome, which is why the wild bull herd refuses to stop pursuing him.” The zhengyi sect disciple immediately changed his tune.
At this moment, the zhengyi sect disciple looked toward Qin Hao and discovered that Qin Hao was looking at him too. However, Qin Hao quickly withdrew his gaze.
This allowed the zhengyi sect disciple to breathe a sigh of relief.
I almost died.
Luckily, I changed my answer quickly.