Just as Chi Yao entered the Secret Realm, a sharp bird cry rang out overhead.
She looked up to see a massive bird with a razor-sharp beak diving toward her.
Its target was unmistakable—Chi Yao, who had only just appeared in the Secret Realm.
Fortunately, Chi Yao was prepared. The instant the bird charged, she drew her sword to block.
But the bird's beak was incredibly hard. When Chi Yao's sword struck it, it didn't cause the slightest injury.
Instead, a tremendous force of impact forced Chi Yao to retreat step by step.
Behind her lay a bottomless cliff. If she kept retreating like this, she would inevitably plunge into the abyss.
At the critical moment, Chi Yao raised her other hand and fired an attack at the bird's eye. Sure enough, the bird immediately flapped its wings to dodge.
Seizing this opening, Chi Yao rushed into the forest opposite her, using the trees as cover against the bird's attacks.
This tactic worked to some extent. With the forest blocking its line of sight, the bird couldn't lock onto Chi Yao's position, and several of its attacks missed entirely.
Soon the bird grew furious, its enormous wings beating wildly in the air. A hurricane swept in, uprooting the trees around Chi Yao entirely, and her figure was completely exposed to the bird's view.
The bird moved fast. The moment it spotted Chi Yao, it opened its gaping maw and charged at her.
This time the bird's attacks were even more frenzied, and Chi Yao could only keep dodging.
She knew she couldn't tangle with this bird for too long. She had only just entered the Secret Realm and hadn't even seen what the assessment entailed. If she exhausted all her energy on this bird, it would surely slow down her assessment.
As Chi Yao dodged, she racked her brain for a strategy.
When the bird attacked again, the leaves swirling in the wind caught her attention.
After evading the bird's attack, she swiftly moved aside and released her spiritual energy, controlling the fallen leaves across the ground to transform into an even larger bird.
The bird indeed changed targets and began attacking the leaves. But leaves were soft by nature—even when scattered, they quickly reassembled.
The bird had no way to attack them effectively and soon grew enraged, darting about wildly in the air.
Chi Yao seized the opportunity to control the leaves, wrapping them entirely around the bird.
The feeling of being trapped in a cage made the bird struggle even more violently, its cries turning pitiful.
Chi Yao did not stop there. She continued controlling the leaves to constrict, wrapping the bird up almost completely airtight.
Only when the bird's cries gradually weakened into something like pleading did Chi Yao finally relent.
The moment the leaves dispersed, the bird fled in a panic, and the surroundings quickly fell silent.
Only after confirming there was no danger did Chi Yao take out her Assessment Token.
With a flash of white light, a line of glowing words appeared before her.
Her assessment task was to obtain a Dragon Scale from the Zhulong.
The token also indicated the Zhulong's location—a cold pool deep within the Secret Realm.
Chi Yao put away the token, glanced around, and after finding her bearings, immediately headed toward the depths of the Secret Realm.
Meanwhile, high in the air not far away, a white-robed figure was quietly watching Chi Yao.
Shen Yu's gaze swept over Chi Yao from head to toe. Only after confirming she was unharmed did the tension in his expression fade somewhat.
In truth, Shen Yu knew that with Chi Yao's abilities, she could pass this trial.
But as far as he was concerned, when it came to anything involving Chi Yao, even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance she might get hurt, he refused to gamble on it.
He also knew that Chi Yao wanted to achieve a good result in this trial, so he would not interfere with her assessment. He would only watch her from the shadows, preventing that one-in-ten-thousand accident from happening.
As Chi Yao walked farther and farther away, Shen Yu withdrew his gaze.
But the moment he did, a trace of murderous intent surfaced in his eyes.
He dropped back to the ground and walked, step by step, in the opposite direction from Chi Yao.
Not far away, the large bird that had ambushed Chi Yao earlier was trapped inside a Warding Barrier. No matter how it struggled and slammed against it, the barrier showed no reaction at all.
As Shen Yu's figure approached, the large bird suddenly trembled, immediately gave up struggling, and huddled up to make itself as inconspicuous as possible.
The instant Shen Yu drew near, the barrier suddenly vanished. The large bird, as if clutching at a lifeline, immediately flapped its wings to flee.
Yet the moment its body left the ground, an invisible force yanked it back and slammed it heavily in front of Shen Yu.
"Was ambushing people fun?"
Shen Yu's calm voice carried an intense pressure that made the large bird tremble again.
This kind of large bird was called a Windwing Bird. They were naturally vicious and liked to toy with their prey to death.
If Chi Yao hadn't driven it off earlier, it would have kept pestering her until it had drained all of her strength.
Shen Yu's eyes grew colder and colder. He raised his hand and slowly brushed it over the Windwing Bird's feathers.
"Let's play a game too, you and I."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Shen Yu applied a slight force, and a feather appeared in his hand.
The Windwing Bird immediately let out a miserable shriek.
Shen Yu merely frowned and tossed the feather in his hand, striking the Windwing Bird on the head.
"Shut up. You're disturbing my junior sister."
The feather, light as it was, landed on the Windwing Bird's head as if it weighed a thousand pounds, smashing it into instant obedience. It dared not make another sound.
Only then did Shen Yu's expression soften a little.
But his hands did not stop, and he continued plucking the Windwing Bird's feathers one by one.
The Windwing Bird rolled and struggled on the ground in agony, yet it dared not make the slightest sound.
Not until not a single feather remained on its body did Shen Yu finally stop.
He glanced in the direction Chi Yao had left, and as he withdrew his gaze, he also tossed away the last feather in his hand.
"Get lost."
As Shen Yu's voice fell, the Windwing Bird, as if granted a great pardon, immediately scrambled away on its bare, featherless body.
Meanwhile, Chi Yao had arrived beside the cold pool.
The temperature around the pool was very low, and a layer of frost had formed on the surrounding flowers, grass, and trees. Yet the surface of the cold pool was utterly still, as if it were nothing but a pool of dead water.
But Chi Yao dared not relax for even a moment, because she knew the Zhulong had already noticed her and was now lying in wait within the cold pool.
Gripping her sword, Chi Yao approached the pool step by step. When she was still two paces from the edge, a whirlpool suddenly appeared in the water.
Immediately after, an enormous head emerged from the water. The next moment, countless ice blades shot out from the pool, hurtling straight toward Chi Yao.
Chi Yao swiftly dodged to the side, but just as she evaded the ice blades, the Zhulong's tail came sweeping at her.
The massive tail was powerful and strong, and the moment it came sweeping in, it stirred up a gust of cold wind. Chi Yao had no time to dodge and could only raise her sword to block.
The Zhulong's scales were extremely hard; the sword left only a shallow mark on them.
However, after blocking the attack, Chi Yao did not retreat. Instead, she pressed forward, thrusting her sword toward the Zhulong's belly.
Just as she had anticipated, the belly was the Zhulong's weak point. The moment her sword pierced in, a wound immediately appeared on its belly.
After being attacked, the Zhulong grew even more enraged, and its attacks became increasingly frenzied.
Fortunately, thanks to Shen Yu's guidance, Chi Yao's swordsmanship had improved greatly, and dealing with the Zhulong was not too difficult for her.
Her figure weaved back and forth around the Zhulong, slowly luring it toward the shore.
The moment the Zhulong came ashore, Chi Yao stopped dodging and rushed at it swiftly, thrusting her sword into its belly.
The sword tip pierced through the Zhulong's body in an instant, pinning it firmly to the ground.
This was the best moment for Chi Yao to take a scale.
Yet Chi Yao hesitated.
Taking a scale from the Zhulong's belly would still count as completing the task, but she knew that to achieve the best result, she needed to take the reverse scale.
Seeing the Zhulong's tail already sweeping toward her, Chi Yao hesitated no longer. She drove her sword several inches deeper into the ground, then quickly retreated to evade the attack.
While the Zhulong was unable to free itself, Chi Yao drew out the pool's water, forming it into a rope of water that coiled tightly around the beast.
Her goal was very clear—she was determined to take the Zhulong's reverse scale.
Chi Yao approached the Zhulong again, and sure enough, beneath its neck she spotted a scale growing in reverse.
The instant she touched the reverse scale, the Zhulong struggled even more violently. Just as the water rope was about to snap, Chi Yao swiftly tore the scale off with all her strength, then withdrew her sword and retreated.
By the time the Zhulong broke free of the water rope, Chi Yao's figure had long since vanished.
The Zhulong, having lost its reverse scale, was furious, its eyes turning bloodshot. It wanted to chase after Chi Yao, but at that moment, a white figure appeared before it.
…
Chi Yao used practically the fastest speed of her life before finally getting far away from the cold pool.
The moment she stopped, she dared not rest even a second. She immediately took out her Assessment Token and placed the reverse scale inside.
Soon, a golden light glowed across the token.
This meant she had passed the assessment—and with an excellent result.
Chi Yao's taut nerves finally relaxed. But she had barely caught her breath when she heard a tremendous crash in the distance.
It seemed to be coming from the direction of the cold pool.
A trace of doubt appeared in Chi Yao's eyes.
Not long ago, after she had driven away that giant bird, she had heard a similar commotion.
However, the Secret Realm was home to many Spirit Beasts, and strange disturbances were common occurrences, so Chi Yao did not pay it much mind.
Now that her assessment was complete, she ought to hurry back.
After withdrawing her gaze, Chi Yao immediately activated the token in her hand, opening the passage back to the Tianyan Sect.
Soon, a Teleportation Array appeared before Chi Yao.
But just as she was about to step inside, numerous vines suddenly emerged from the forest, coiling around Chi Yao's ankles and dragging her deep into the woods.
Stones quickly scraped and cut her arms, but Chi Yao could no longer afford to care. Enduring the pain, she drew her sword and slashed at the vines.
Fortunately, the vines were not tough and were easily cut down.
Chi Yao's dragging body finally came to a stop.
But before she could rise, a vicious wolf with green-glowing eyes lunged at her.
It was a high-rank Spirit Beast, far beyond what Chi Yao could handle with her current cultivation.
As the wolf drew closer and closer, Chi Yao hurriedly got up to flee—but the vines that had vanished suddenly reappeared, coiling around her body and leaving her unable to move.
At the same time, the wolf reached her, jaws wide open, snapping at her.
In that critical moment, a sword suddenly flew in and forced the wolf back, followed by the appearance of a middle-aged man who engaged the wolf in battle.
Chi Yao breathed a sigh of relief. Before she could move, the vines binding her were cut away, and a gentle woman's voice sounded by her ear:
"Miss, are you all right?"
Chi Yao turned to look and saw a very beautiful young woman.
The woman's face was full of concern, and meeting that almost motherly gaze, Chi Yao suddenly felt her heart scald.
"I'm fine. Thank you for saving me, Madam."
"No need to thank me, Miss." The woman turned to look at the middle-aged man who had already driven the wolf back. "Husband, did you bring the healing salve?"
"You reminded me before we left—of course I wouldn't dare forget."
There was a trace of doting affection in the man's tone. With that, he took out a porcelain vial and handed it to the woman.
To Chi Yao's surprise, after taking the vial, the woman grabbed her hand and gently applied the salve to the wounds on her arm.
"They're only superficial wounds, but young ladies care about their looks, so they must be treated promptly or they'll leave scars."
Those words warmed Chi Yao's heart, and even her eyes grew slightly sore.
She had suffered a great deal in her childhood, and injuries were commonplace.
But back then, healing salve had been far too precious for her to afford, so as long as an injury wasn't life-threatening, she would usually just endure it.
As a result, her body was covered in scars.
Because of those scars, Chi Yao had always felt somewhat insecure.
It wasn't until two years ago, by a stroke of luck, that she obtained a bottle of healing salve. Its effects were remarkable, and the scars that had plagued her for so long finally faded away.
And now, for the first time, someone had considered her wish to be beautiful—or more precisely, had made her feel what it was like to be cherished and cared for.
Chi Yao stared blankly at the woman, and a absurd thought suddenly rose in her heart.
If she had a mother, would she be this gentle too?
"Father! Mother!"
Just then, a voice called out, interrupting Chi Yao's thoughts.
Running toward them was a young woman about Chi Yao's age. The moment she arrived, she affectionately wrapped her arms around the older woman's.
"Mother, why are you here? Didn't we agree you'd wait for me to come back?"
"Your mother couldn't stop worrying about you, so we came looking for you together."
The middle-aged man beside them answered for his wife first, and like her, his gaze toward the young woman was full of doting affection.
The scene of the happy family of three made Chi Yao feel almost suffocated.
She was like someone who had long lived in darkness suddenly catching a glimpse of sunlight—it left her uneasy and fearful, along with a trace of envy she had hidden deep in her heart, nearly forgotten.
"Mother, who is this…"
The young woman suddenly looked over at Chi Yao.
Strangely, though the young woman's eyes held nothing but curiosity and friendliness, the moment Chi Yao met her gaze, a strange, unsettling feeling rose in her heart.
"When your father and I came looking for you, we happened to see this young lady being attacked by a Spirit Beast, so we lent a hand."
The woman turned her gaze back to Chi Yao, pressed the medicine bottle into her hand, and patted her head.
"We're heading back now. Take care, young lady, and remember to apply the medicine on time."
The touch on top of her head left Chi Yao stunned.
She stood frozen in place, and by the time she came back to her senses, the family of three had already vanished.
Chi Yao lowered her eyes to look at the porcelain bottle in her hand. After a moment, she put it away, took out her Assessment Token again, and prepared to activate the Teleportation Array to return.
However, before she could make a move, that strange disturbance sounded once more.
This time, it was very close to her.
Chi Yao looked in the direction the sound was coming from, a hint of hesitation appearing on her face.
After some deliberation, she ultimately headed into the forest.
After passing through a stretch of woods, a white figure appeared among the trees.
It was Shen Yu.
At that moment, he was whipping a vicious wolf hanging from a tree—the very same wolf that had attacked Chi Yao earlier.