After descending the mountain, my aloof fiancée became completely devoted to me.

The evening breeze in the courtyard suddenly froze.

The moment Zhu Xiaohan finished speaking, a blindingly bright crimson light shot into the sky from the direction of the deep mountain secret realm in southern Xinjiang, tearing through the dark night!

Boom!

A rumbling sound came from the ground, causing the entire southern Xinjiang mountains and forests to tremble violently. The earth's energy flowed wildly, and even the bluestone ground of the Lin family manor showed fine patterns.

Alu's pretty face tightened, and she subconsciously clenched her sleeves: "Soul fluctuations? Could it be that Sister Aoxue's soul is sealed inside the secret realm?"

Adele's gaze turned solemn as she said softly, "The massacre of the Shen family, the anomaly in the earth's veins, and Miss Aoxue's amnesia and disguise—all these mysteries converge in this Peach Garden Secret Realm."

Lin Ping raised his eyes, his deep gaze piercing through the darkness of the night, locking onto the bottom of the deep valley. All the tenderness in his eyes vanished, leaving only a faint cold glint.

"It wasn't blocked."

His voice was deep and steady, and each word was clear.

"Someone deliberately separated her soul fragments back then and hid them in the deepest restriction of the secret realm, nurturing them with the earth's ley line essence, plotting to use the pure blood soul of the Shen family to completely control the entire southern border's ley lines."

Zhu Xiaohan immediately bowed and asked, "Sir, should we set off immediately into the secret realm to stop Ake?"

"Need not."

Lin Ping shook his head slightly, put his hands behind his back, and walked forward slowly and calmly.

"Ake's ambition is boundless, and her heart is blinded by greed. Now that she has encountered the soul restriction, she will only think it is an unparalleled opportunity to rise to the top in one step, and she will never stop."

"Let her go through it."

"The more desperately she tried to break the restrictions, the more thoroughly the things hidden deep within the secret realm were exposed."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned to look at the two women and gave them instructions in a deep voice.

"Xiaohan, immediately lead your men to seal off the entire Southern Frontier Valley, set up the Sky-Locking and Earth-Binding Formation, cut off all escape routes from the secret realm, and do not allow any outsiders to approach even half a step."

"Yes!" Zhu Xiaohan's figure flickered, her white clothes billowed up, and she instantly disappeared into the night.

"Adele, you stay at the manor to protect Aoxue's physical body, stabilize the remaining foundation of her soul, and guard against any remaining evil spirits lurking in the shadows."

"Yes, sir." Adele nodded slightly, turned and quickly walked into the bedroom courtyard, a layer of warm, protective aura quietly spreading around her.

Only Aru remained standing there, her bright eyes blinking, eager to try: "Sir, what about me? I'll go into the secret realm with you! I can fight and explore, I definitely won't hold you back!"

Looking at the girl's excited expression, Lin Ping smiled faintly and gently patted the top of her head.

"Alright, come with me to close the net."

His gentle movements stripped away his murderous coldness, revealing a man's tenderness and affection, only to be instantly replaced by a fierce fighting spirit.

With a swift movement, the two transformed into two afterimages, riding the night wind straight towards the bottom of a deep valley in southern Xinjiang.

……

The Peach Garden Secret Realm, deep within the underground passage.

Crimson light filled the entire dark space, and the rich fragrance of peach blossoms mingled with the chilling power of the divine soul, making the air almost stagnant.

Ake's clothes were torn in many places, her arms and shoulders were covered with fine bloodstains, bloodstains were hanging from the corner of her mouth, and her breathing was rapid and disordered.

She forcefully broke through several layers of earth vein killing formations. Her physical body was repeatedly torn and burned by the power of the restriction, and she was already seriously injured. However, her eyes shone brightly, and she trembled with excitement.

She stood on a circular stone platform, in the center of which floated a semi-transparent, snow-white ball of light.

The ball of light swirled with soft, spiritual light, and wisps of divine soul energy drifted out, pure and sacred, carrying a familiar aura unique to Shen Aoxue.

These are the fragments of Shen Aoxue's soul that she lost many years ago!

The stone platform was surrounded by ancient and obscure earth vein runes, which flickered with a dark red light, sealing and imprisoning this wisp of divine soul origin layer by layer.

"A fragment of the divine soul! It really is the core divine soul of the Shen family!"

Ake laughed loudly, her tone both manic and greedy.

"No wonder Mo Qi couldn't find the core of the earth's veins after years of searching, and no wonder Xiao Yu'er gained nothing from imprisoning the dummy! It turns out the real trump card is hidden in the deepest part of this secret realm!"

She stared intently at the suspended ball of divine light, her breathing rapid, her mind racing with calculations.

With the Shen family bloodline and the earth vein divine soul, as long as she refines this fragment, she can completely control the earth vein of the Southern Frontier, break through the shackles of martial arts, crush the likes of Mo Qi and Xiao Yu'er, and even completely control Lin Ping, replace Shen Aoxue's position, and possess all the opportunities!

After years of patience and scheming, today, it's finally her turn to reach the top!

"God is helping me!"

Without further hesitation, Ake raised her hand, gathered the remaining spiritual energy in her body, and slammed the blue-green spiritual light into her palm, striking the sealing runes on the stone platform!

"Break it!"

boom!

The spiritual energy clashed with the rune restriction, causing a violent shockwave that swept across the entire secret realm. The dark red runes flickered wildly, unleashing a tremendous backlash.

The sharp, restrictive energy raged and slashed fiercely at Ake's body, instantly tearing her already severely injured flesh apart and leaving her covered in blood.

Despite the excruciating pain, Ake remained oblivious, gritting her teeth and enduring it, frantically pouring spiritual energy into her as if it were free.

"Hold on! It'll all be worth it if we can break the seal!"

"The earth's veins and the Shen family's resources—from this day forward, they all belong to me!"

She frantically channeled all her cultivation power, gradually eroding the sealing power of the ancient runes.

As the runes shattered layer by layer, the power that imprisoned the divine soul light cluster weakened, and the snow-white divine soul aura became increasingly dense. At the same time, an extremely cold and eerie dark aura slowly leaked out through the gaps in the runes.

That aura was hidden beneath the divine light, extremely concealed, carrying an ancient, evil, and decaying feeling.

Ake was so engrossed in seizing the opportunity that she was completely absorbed by the ball of divine light and was oblivious to it.

Just as the last rune was about to shatter, a light footstep sound slowly came from the entrance of the secret passage.

"Greed knows no bounds, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant."

"Ake, you're in too much of a hurry."

The calm voice pierced through the secret realm with a booming sound, clearly reaching Ake's ears.

Ake's body suddenly stiffened, and she turned her head sharply, her eyes instantly filled with shock, anger, and panic.

At the end of the secret passage, Lin Ping slowly walked into the secret realm, his posture upright and his expression calm. Beside him, A Lu held a spirit blade, her eyes sharp and fixed on A Ke on the stone platform.

The two of them did not unleash any powerful aura, yet they caused the airflow in the entire secret realm to completely freeze.

"Lin Ping?! What are you doing here?!"

Ake gasped in shock, her face filled with disbelief.

She believed her plan was meticulous, that she had secretly navigated the entire process, and that the maze had blocked her senses. Lin Ping was clearly staying at the manor to protect Shen Aoxue, so there was absolutely no way he could have detected her presence!

After a brief moment of panic, Ake's eyes were instantly replaced by a sinister look, and she let out a sharp, cold laugh.

"I get it! You've been acting the whole time!"

"All that talk of infatuation, obsession, and misjudging people—it's all a facade! You deliberately let me out so I could break through the barriers and restrictions for you!"

"You're so cunning!"

Lin Ping stood in the center of the secret realm, his gaze sweeping indifferently over the cracked rune stone platform and the fragment of divine soul about to be unsealed, his tone detached:

"It's too late to see it now."

Ake gritted her teeth and concentrated her strength, her palm surging with spiritual energy as she fiercely protected the ball of divine soul light in front of her. Her posture was defiant: "Lin Ping, I risked my life to break through the secret realm's restrictions, and I discovered the opportunity first! If you know what's good for you, retreat immediately. Otherwise, I will detonate all the restrictions, and we'll both perish!"

She knew that Lin Ping's strength was unfathomable, and at this moment she could only use the secret realm's restrictions to threaten him in an attempt to force him to retreat.

Alu stepped forward, her eyebrows furrowed, and coldly rebuked, "You're courting death! The master allowed you to pass through the trials, giving you a way out, yet you stubbornly persist in your delusions, coveting what doesn't belong to you!"

"Shut up!" Ake's eyes flashed fiercely. "This is none of your business, you little brat!"

Before she finished speaking, she no longer held back and actively activated all her remaining cultivation, fiercely blasting towards the last sealing rune!

"If I can't have it, no one else can! At worst, I'll destroy the fragments of my divine soul, destroy the core of the earth's veins, and we'll all perish!"

As the mad roar subsided, the last ancient rune shattered with a deafening crash!

Click!

A crisp shattering sound rang out, and all the seals completely collapsed!

The snow-white ball of divine soul light instantly broke free from its restraints, hovering in mid-air, gleaming brightly.

At the same time, at the very bottom of the stone platform, a dark, malevolent aura suddenly surged and soared into the sky!

That was an extreme evil aura far surpassing that of the fake Shen Aoxue, cold, violent, and filled with endless bloody killing intent, instantly sweeping across the entire secret realm!

Amidst the dark, malevolent aura, a blurry female silhouette vaguely appeared, its outline exactly matching that of the real Shen Aoxue!

The phantom's eyes were dark and empty, devoid of any spirit. Its body was shrouded in the malevolent power of the earth's veins. It slowly raised its eyes and stared intently at Lin Ping.

Ake was stunned by the sudden burst of terrifying evil energy. Her body stiffened, her scalp tingled, and she panicked instantly.

She never imagined that such a terrifying source of evil energy was hidden beneath the fragments of her soul!

"What...what is this?!"

Lin Ping's gaze darkened slightly as he looked at the malevolent phantom resembling Shen Aoxue. His voice remained calm and unwavering: "The true culprit behind the massacre of the Shen family was the malevolent spirit nurtured by the earth's veins. It was also the mastermind behind stripping Aoxue's soul and seizing control of the earth's vein origin."

One sentence reveals the whole truth!

The Shen family was not simply slaughtered by the Mo Qi forces. The real root cause was this evil spirit of the earth veins that resided deep within the earth veins and relied on the bloodline of the Shen family to survive!

It steals fragments of Shen Aoxue's soul to nourish itself, manipulates the earth's veins, secretly instigates various forces to fight for power, and takes advantage of people's greed to continuously devour killing energy to strengthen itself!

Mo Qi's covetousness, Xiao Yu'er's scheming, and A Ke's ambition all became the nourishment for its growth!

Ake's face turned deathly pale, and her whole body felt cold. She finally realized that she had committed a terrible crime.

She thought she was seizing an opportunity, but in reality, she was unleashing the evil energy of the earth's veins that had been dormant for decades!

The malevolent phantom slowly drifted, its empty eyes locking onto the panicked Ake, emitting a hoarse, chilling laugh: "The greedy... are all sacrifices..."

An invisible force of devouring instantly enveloped Ake!

Ake's spiritual energy was instantly drained, her body swayed precariously, and her life force rapidly drained away. Terrified, she screamed shrilly, "No! Let me go!"

She desperately tried to muster her remaining strength to resist, but in the face of the extreme evil power of the earth veins, it was like an ant trying to shake a tree, completely futile.

He was about to be completely devoured by the evil power, and die!

hum!