Incredible Sect Simulator

Even before Lu Ping and the others could make a move, the attack of the Nine-Clawed Red Bright Eagle struck again.

It flapped its broad wings, flames swirling upon them, brewing the Red Bright Fire.

This Red Bright Fire belonged to its Lifebound Divine Techniques, and once unleashed, it could threaten everyone present.

Swoosh, swoosh.

As it flapped its wings, large waves of fire surged forth, sweeping towards Lu Ping and the others.

The expanse of this Red Bright Fire was so wide that it enveloped Lu Ping and the five others within its attack range.

Lu Ping was the first to react, deploying the Void Celestial Fifth Rank Divine Light, swiftly dodging the attack.

At the same time, Zhang Tianqun and the other four also each used their Divine Techniques to evade and counter the burning of the Red Bright Fire.

The five launched a battle, jointly opposing the Nine-Clawed Red Bright Eagle.

After over a hundred rounds of fierce combat, Lu Ping seized an opportunity and wielding the Thousand-Star Demon-Slaying Sword, he struck the head of the Demon Bird.

This strike severely wounded the Nine-Clawed Red Bright Eagle, creating a deep gash on its head, causing blood to flow continuously.

However, as a Nascent Soul stage creature, as long as its Nascent Soul remained intact, such an injury was not much of a concern for it.

Having suffered a concealed loss here, the Nine-Clawed Red Bright Eagle sensibly did not linger in battle, flapping its giant wings to retreat and fly towards the distance.

"Don’t pursue it; we still don’t know what’s around. We should act cautiously."

Seeing the Nine-Clawed Red Bright Eagle escape, Liu Taixuan and Xu Dezhi harbored thoughts of pursuing, but Zhang Tianqun reached out to stop them, calling out.

"I can hardly believe there’s a Nine-Clawed Red Bright Eagle here!"

Jiuhua True Monarch remarked, casting his gaze towards Lu Ping.

"With Lu Daoist’s assistance this time, opposing the demon beast’s assault was much easier, ha ha ha, excellent!"

"Earlier, that Black-Horned Silver Serpent seemed to have been scared off by the sudden appearance of the Nine-Clawed Red Bright Eagle. We still don’t understand the surroundings, so we must guard against further demon beast attacks."

Liu Taixuan murmured, moving his body, "My old bones can’t take such a long struggle."

"We can’t probe around with Divine Sense. Seems like we’ll have to find another way."

"Let me try to explore for you."

Xu Dezhi said, then took a puppet from his Storage Ring.

This puppet was about three fingers in length and shaped like a mouse. Upon appearing, it scurried back and forth in Xu Dezhi’s palm, tumbling around and wagging its tail energetically.

Evidently, this was a Puppet Mouse, and Lu Ping felt magical power fluctuations emanating from it, roughly equivalent to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment.

"Let me send this little one to explore first."

Xu Dezhi smiled faintly and released the Puppet Mouse.

Upon hitting the ground, its body twisted from side to side and astonishingly transformed into numerous replicas, seemingly endless.

Under Lu Ping’s watchful eyes, within the blink of an eye, hundreds of Puppet Mice appeared.

"Go."

Xu Dezhi issued the command, whereupon these hundred Puppet Mice quickly scattered in all directions on their little short legs.

Such a means of reconnaissance might seem quite novel to Foundation Establishment and Crystallization Cultivators, but for these aging Nascent Soul stage monsters like Lu Ping, it was quite a common method.

Not long after, the reconnaissance yielded some results.

Xu Dezhi stretched out his hand, condensing a map in the void before him using magical power; a faint light emerged from his fingertip as he began sketching out the map of the area.

Lu Ping concentrated his gaze, and a vast map gradually took shape, marking various constructed areas and indicating some red dot locations.

Simultaneously, one could see white light spots on the map dispersing towards the map’s periphery.

From time to time, these white light spots would cease to exist, as if swallowed by something.

Evidently, these were the Puppet Mice, exploring the surrounding regions of this ruin further.

Everyone knew for sure that demon beasts must be lurking around, warranting extreme caution and patience in waiting.

Before long, Xu Dezhi furrowed his brow, ceasing to sketch, and exclaiming in surprise.

"Strange."

"What issue are you encountering?"

Zhang Tianqun inquired, glancing at Xu Dezhi before pointing towards the map drawn in the void.

"Why have all those little guys stopped moving?"

Lu Ping, Liu Taixuan, and Jiuhua True Monarch all looked over, noticing the small white dots on the map had stopped moving altogether with no signs of further mobility.

"For some unknown reason, upon entering a foggy area, those little ones all perished."

Xu Dezhi shook his head with a wry smile.

Fog.

Upon hearing Xu Dezhi mention this, learning that the Puppet Mice encountered fog and lost their vitality one after another, left Lu Ping and the others puzzled.

"Could you see what caused their demise?"

Liu Taixuan asked.

"It’s strange, I saw nothing."

The wry smile on Xu Dezhi’s face deepened, speculating: "I suspect the fog holds the power to obliterate creatures. These Puppet Mice are at the Foundation Establishment stage, indicating the fog’s lethality exceeds that stage, potentially impacting even Nascent Soul Cultivators."

"No rush; apart from that foggy area, there are still vast areas to explore here."

Jiuhua True Monarch spoke up, pointing at the red dots on the map.

"What do these red dots represent, danger zones?"

"Exactly."

Xu Dezhi appeared grave, saying: "These red dot zones were mostly determined through the loss of Puppet Mice; each red dot marks a danger zone."

Continuing, Xu Dezhi pointed to two small red dots, stating: "Here was where the Black-Horned Silver Serpent used to appear, and over here is the Nine-Clawed Red Bright Eagle’s lair."

"In this Secret Realm, I’ve already mapped out over sixty such areas."

"Most of these contain demon beasts whose strengths range from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage, with about thirty to forty percent being below the Golden Core stage."

"Besides that, there are certain toxic miasma areas, which we can simply circumvent."

Xu Dezhi briefly introduced.

Listening to his explanation, everyone nodded silently, realizing this place was indeed fraught with latent crises, far from the tranquil place they’d imagined.

Proceeding with caution and remaining vigilant is paramount.

The cause of the Puppet Mice’s demise remains temporarily unknown, left unexplored for now.

"These red dots mark demon beast zones, so we can’t venture hastily there, requiring a detour. But did you find any opportunities or treasures?"

Zhang Tianqun asked with a grin: "After all, that is the primary goal of our excursion here."