Junior Sister must ascend this time!

Yun Qing and the other two immediately stopped in their tracks; something was amiss!

Yun Qing looked at Su Han: "Senior Brother Su, I'm leaving it to you."

Su Han pointed to herself, "Why is it me again?"

"Otherwise what?" Si Mingche shrugged. "Do you think our identities are appropriate for being here?"

Su Han then belatedly realized that she seemed to have boarded a pirate ship...

Having no other choice, he tore off the invisibility talisman on his body and chased after the two disciples from before.

"Junior brothers, wait a moment..."

The two disciples stopped in their tracks. Seeing it was Su Han, their faces lit up with surprise and delight. "Senior Brother Su?! What brings you to our ordinary disciples' quarters? Is there something you need?"

Su Han hadn't felt such admiration in a long time; that familiar sense of belonging returned. He cleared his throat twice and said, "I didn't have anything to do today, so I came back to see Yu Zi'an, Zhang Jie, and Wang Yi. I overheard you talking about a secret realm, and I wanted to ask what it's all about."

Yu Zian and the other two were the disciples who went to the Spirit Ruins Secret Realm with Su Han last time, and they were also Su Han's closest people before he became an elite disciple.

After returning from the Spirit Ruins Secret Realm, he became an elite disciple and never saw them again.

Upon hearing these names, the two disciples' expressions turned somewhat strange. One of them hesitated and said, "Senior Brother Su, you really don't know? He...they have already..."

Su Han sensed something was wrong, her heart tightened, but she still asked with a glimmer of hope, "What happened to them?"

The two disciples exchanged a glance, as if unsure how to speak.

A moment later, one of the disciples lowered his voice and said, "Senior Brother Yu and the others... haven't come out since they entered the secret realm last time. The elder in charge said they encountered a high-level demonic beast and died..."

Su Han remained silent for a long time, just standing there, showing no emotion, except that his palms were bleeding from being scratched by his fingernails.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice trembling with emotion, "When did this happen?"

The disciple said, "Just three days ago. We entered the great secret realm in the back mountain, which was said to have been opened by the alliance leader himself. There were more than a hundred disciples who went in at the time, but... when we came out, more than a dozen disciples were missing, including Senior Brother Yu and the others."

Another disciple added, "At the time, we all found it strange. Putting aside others, Senior Brother Yu and his two companions were the most powerful among those who went in. Even if they encountered high-level demonic beasts, it was impossible for them to be wiped out."

"But later, Elder Hu personally went to examine them, and it was confirmed that all three were indeed dead. He also told us not to mention this matter again..."

Su Han felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly, the pain making it hard for him to breathe...

Three days ago was the day he returned from the sect competition. As their most trusted senior brother, he hadn't come back to see them for so long.

If he had come back that day, would... would they have survived?

But could his return truly change things? He thought of what Ye Xuan had told him before—to stay away from the Alliance Leader—but he hadn't believed it. Yun Qing and the others had also hinted to him many times that the Alliance Leader wasn't as simple as he seemed, but he still hadn't believed them.

Only now has he realized that he has been running away all along, running away from the fact that he trusted the wrong person.

Su Han's eyes gradually turned cold. At the very least, he needed to find out why they died, didn't he?

He concealed his emotions and continued, "What's going on with you guys frequently entering the secret realm lately? Are disciples disappearing every time?"

The two disciples nodded. "Before, we wouldn't enter the secret realm even once or twice a year, but in just six months, we've already entered it eight times. This time, we'll be entering it again in just a few days."

"As for the disciples who disappeared, now that I think about it, the number was indeed increasing each time..."

"Also, don't tell anyone about this tonight, understand?"

The two disciples were a little confused, but they still obediently left.

After the two left, Si Mingche looked at Su Han and asked, "Are you alright?"

Su Han's eyes reddened. He wiped his face haphazardly with the back of his hand and said, "Yu Zi'an and the others are dead. I suspect it wasn't an accident, perhaps it's related to... um..."

Yun Qing covered his mouth, "Alright, stop talking."

Hatred really does make people lose their minds. This is the territory of the Immortal Alliance. If we're going to say anything, we should do it in a more discreet way.

So, the three invisible people, each wearing an invisibility talisman, huddled together and began communicating with each other using their spiritual senses...

Yun Qing: "Su Han, Su Han, please respond. Third Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, please respond..."

Si Mingche: "Answer."

Su Han: "...Can you be serious? What I'm about to say is very serious!"

Yun Qing and Si Mingche switched to their battle-ready expressions in an instant. "Please speak."

Su Han: "My three junior brothers, as well as the other disciples who disappeared in the secret realm, should be related to the conspiracy that Ye Xuan mentioned."

"I remember that the Alliance Leader attempted to ascend five years ago, but he failed and nearly died from the lightning tribulation. Although he survived by consuming many high-level pills, his cultivation level has been declining due to damage to his foundation."

"Since then, the leader of the alliance has searched the entire cultivation world for ways to stabilize his cultivation, trying all sorts of pills, techniques, and secret arts... but none of them were of any use."

Yun Qing knew about that matter; in recent years, the resources that the Immortal Alliance had demanded from the seven sects consisted largely of high-grade pills.

A single high-grade pill could be exchanged for a mountain outside, yet the Immortal Alliance demands hundreds or even thousands. Pu Hengzhi worries about these pills every year; even when she was still Liu Fushu, she wanted to storm the Immortal Alliance and kill this useless leader.

However, Pu Hengzhi stopped him. Killing the alliance leader, whose foundation was damaged at the time, would not have been difficult. But what made the Immortal Alliance even more daunting was that behind him were six powerful figures above the Void Refinement stage, and even two Tribulation Transcending stage experts.

The combined power of the seven sects could fight against it, but that would throw the cultivation world into chaos.

Moreover, the Immortal Alliance promised to open five great secret realms to the seven sects on a regular basis. For the sake of their disciples' opportunities and the continuation of their sects, the sect leaders of the seven sects would continue to contribute resources even if they were dissatisfied.

Su Han continued, "Until a year ago, the Alliance Leader went into seclusion for a long period of time. After emerging, his cultivation gradually improved, and he climbed back to the Void Refinement stage. That timeframe was exactly half a year ago, which was around the time when the secret realms were frequently opening."

"At the time, we thought that the alliance leader had found some secret method to repair the foundation, but now that I think about it, it may be related to those missing disciples."

"Only the alliance leader and a few elders can enter the underground palace, so is it possible that one of the elders, in order to curry favor with the alliance leader, secretly used those disciples to make pills and then presented them to the alliance leader?"

Yun Qing, Si Mingche: …………

This guy is hopeless, really!

And are you even a legitimate disciple? How did you come up with the idea of ​​turning disciples into elixirs?