My little sect, which disappeared a thousand years ago, has become a sacred site!

Broken wasteland.

When Dugu Shiling's team explored this area, they also triggered a hidden level—the Time-Hunting Beast·Time-Freezing Orb.

The moment the level was triggered, Dugu Shiling and her disciples were swept into a separate space, in which a strange creature called the "Time-Devouring Beast" existed.

The Time-Devouring Beasts will not attack cultivators on their own initiative, but as they travel through time, they will continuously "gnaw" at the surrounding time gaps, causing time to become disordered in that area.

Upon successful capture, the Time Devourer will transform into a "Time Freeze Pearl," containing the pure power of time's origin.

The Time-Freezing Bead is extremely powerful, with two core effects:

Firstly, it can be actively activated to release the power of time confinement, temporarily stopping time in a designated area. The duration depends on the user's cultivation level, with a maximum duration of one incense stick's time.

Whether used for escape, ambush, or to assist in combat, it has remarkable effects.

Secondly, it can be worn on the body to passively absorb the power of time in the surroundings, slowly improving the cultivator's comprehension of the Great Dao of Time.

If Jun Anshi were here, he could directly hunt down these Time Beasts using the power of time.

Unfortunately, she wasn't there, so Dugu Shiling didn't rashly order her disciples to hunt her down.

Instead, she observed their movements. She watched the time-devouring beasts' movements and discovered that although they could travel between time rifts...

However, each trip requires expending one's own energy.

The more frequently they move between places, the dimmer their light becomes, and they need to stay still for a while to regain it.

"wait."

Dugu Shiling said.

"Once they are consumed to a certain extent, their movement speed will decrease."

"Use your spiritual power to weave a net, and instead of touching them directly, use the net to 'scoop' them out."

This wait lasted for almost half an hour.

The Time-Devouring Beasts traversed the time rifts, some swimming further and further away, while others gradually approached the group's location.

Dugu Shiling set her sights on a silvery-white, jellyfish-shaped Time-Devouring Beast.

After several trips, the light on its body dimmed considerably, and its movement speed changed from lightning-fast to leisurely strolling.

"Now."

Dugu Shiling made the first move, condensing an icy blue spiritual energy in her palm, transforming it into a fine net of spiritual energy, which enveloped the Time-Devouring Beast.

As the net fell, the Time-Devouring Beast's body trembled slightly and it began to struggle.

It rampaged through the net, trying to squeeze through the gaps in the mesh, but Dugu Shiling's spiritual net was woven extremely tightly.

As Dugu Shiling continued to shrink the net, its struggles gradually weakened, and its body began to contract, condense, and solidify, eventually turning into a bead the size of a thumb.

Seeing that it was effective, the other disciples followed suit and stayed in this area for a long time.

......

The Cangwu Secret Realm also has a day-night cycle.

Night fell quickly, and the gray-white hues in the sky gradually turned into a deep indigo. There were no stars, no moon, only endless darkness enveloping everything.

The various teams in the sacred land of heaven and man set up camp and lit bonfires.

The disciples took turns on guard duty, changing shifts every two hours to ensure that someone in the camp was always alert and ready to respond to any possible changes.

Nothing happened that night.

Time quickly passed to the morning of the third day. The sky brightened again, and the hazy light poured down from the sky, dispelling the chill of the night.

The disciples emerged from the stone house, rested briefly, tidied up the campsite, and continued their exploration into the depths of the vast forest with Jun Anshi.

The vast forest was much larger than they had imagined, and after two days they realized they still hadn't left the area.

It was noon.

Sunlight filters through the layers of tree canopy in the vast forest, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Jun Anshi walked at the very front of the group, his senses fully activated.

As she walked, she scanned the surrounding area with her divine sense, not missing any clues that might be spiritual medicine or opportunities.

Suddenly, she paused.

About thirty feet to the left of the direction the group was traveling, under an ancient tree, there was a rabbit.

The rabbit was entirely emerald green, with silky smooth fur, two long ears standing straight up, and ruby-like eyes looking this way.

These are not the main points.

The key point is that, according to Jun Anshi's perception of time, this rabbit exudes a rich power of time.

This rabbit is definitely not simple.

Jun Anshi's gaze met the rabbit's gaze for a fleeting moment in mid-air.

Then, the rabbit moved—it turned around and ran into the depths of the forest at a moderate pace and with a composed demeanor, not like it was running away, but more like it was "leading the way".

After running a few steps, it turned back to look at Jun Anshi, its ruby-like eyes gleaming with an indescribable light in the dappled light.

Jun Anshi did not hesitate.

"You all continue along the same route, I'll be right back."

She threw down those words and dashed off, disappearing into the depths of the woods in the blink of an eye.

The disciples looked in the direction where Jun Anshi had disappeared, their faces showing no panic, and they didn't even stop walking.

The scene where the Twelve Ancestors suddenly run off to chase after the demonic beasts is something they've witnessed many times since entering the secret realm.

They usually return quickly and have never disrupted the team's progress.

So this time, it should be the same, right?

"Let's go, speed up, and catch up with the Twelve Ancestors."

The most senior disciple in the group spoke, and the others nodded, quickening their pace as they headed in the direction where Jun Anshi had disappeared.

However, this time it was different.

Not long after Jun Anshi ran off, the disciples in the group suddenly changed their expressions drastically.

"Communication with the Twelfth Patriarch... has been lost!"

This sudden turn of events instantly caused a look of horror to appear on the faces of the disciples, their smiles froze on their faces, and a strange unease rose in their hearts.

The communication artifact was personally crafted by the Holy Ancestor, and its distance-crossing limit far exceeds the boundaries of this secret realm. The signal being cut off can only mean one thing.

Jun Anshi was no longer within their reach.

Not only the disciples of Jun Anshi's team, but also the other six captains immediately felt the communication with Jun Anshi being cut off, and their hearts sank.

The one who was most panicked was naturally Jun Mukong.

He immediately called out Jun Anshi's name loudly into the communication device:

"Jun Anshi! Xiaoshi! Did you hear me?"

No matter how he called out, the communication device remained completely silent, offering no response whatsoever.

Seeing this, Jun Mukong's unease grew even stronger.

He immediately switched to communications and, as Gu Changyuan had arranged beforehand, successfully connected with a disciple in Jun Anshi's team.

This was a double insurance plan set up by Gu Changyuan, specifically to prevent the team's disciples from being unable to contact other team leaders if the team leader had an accident, ensuring that the teams could communicate with each other at any time and deal with emergencies.

Connection successful.

"I'm Jun Mukong. Where's your captain?"

His voice came through the communication device and reached the ears of every disciple in Jun Anshi's team.

The disciple in charge of communications in that group responded immediately, his voice filled with obvious anxiety and unease:

"The eleventh patriarch, the twelfth patriarch... she suddenly went after something, and then suddenly lost contact with it."

We're heading in the direction she was last seen, but we haven't found her yet.

Send me your current coordinates, and I'll head over right away.

Continue searching in the direction she was last seen, keep communication open, and report any findings immediately.

"yes!"

Jun Mukong cut off the communication, turned around to look at the team behind him, and said in a decisive and urgent voice:

"There is an emergency, and we need to rush to the depths of the vast forest immediately."

Everyone, full speed ahead, without stopping.

Without any hesitation, the disciples immediately adjusted their formation and followed Jun Mukong as they sped towards the vast forest.

Moreover, other team leaders, including Gu Xing'er, Gongsun Qingling, and Dugu Shiling, also learned that Jun Anshi had gone missing.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and, with their respective teams, headed towards the vast forest from different directions.