Lauren felt helpless. Searching the vast secret realm alone would be like hunting for a needle in a haystack. Her only option was to shadow Timothy and his group. Even if she followed for just a short while, at least she’d have a rough sense of their direction.

  Dante frowned. “It’s not a good idea to tail them so openly. What if we hide nearby instead?”

  Lauren shook her head. “Pointless. We’ve got twenty people—stealth isn’t exactly an option. There are three paths. We’ll just take the same one they do.”

  Dante thought about it, then nodded. “Fair enough.”

  The next sect to arrive was the Divine Sword Sect. Their leader, a young man with a calm smile, greeted Dante.

  “Dante, which path are you pnning to take?”

  Dante returned the smile. “Brother Seth, we were just discussing it.”

  The two had never fought before, so neither knew the other’s true strength. They kept their words polite, each addressing the other as “brother.”

  “Then we’ll go first.” Seth gestured for his group to move. The Divine Sword Sect disciples chose a path and disappeared into the fog without further discussion.

  Next came the Moonlit Sect.

  Timothy and his people arrived to find the Thunder Sect still standing at the entrance. He raised a brow. “What’s this? Waiting for us?”

  His face was still swollen from yesterday’s sp, and his eyes locked onto Lauren with barely restrained fury. Yesterday, his stare had been curious. Today, it was naked hatred.

  The other sects exchanged looks, puzzled. Most assumed Timothy was just being petty—unable to accept defeat with grace. After all, he’d been the one so eager to challenge everyone three years ago. Back then, no one he won to had acted like this.

  Dante broke the silence, voice steady. “We’re discussing which route to take. Senior Brother Timothy, care to join us?”

  The respectful tone caught Timothy off guard. Yesterday Dante had refused to even call him Senior Brother.

  But Timothy quickly sneered. “No need. We don’t walk the same path as vicious people.”

  His gre nded squarely on Lauren. The meaning was obvious.

  So she was the vicious one?

  Lauren gave a faint smile. “Oh? And who exactly is this vicious person you’re talking about, Junior Brother Timothy?”

  The question rattled him. His face twisted with dismay.

  More disciples were pouring through the portal now, pausing to witness the confrontation. When they saw Timothy being addressed as “Junior Brother” by the woman who had beaten him yesterday, several nearly ughed aloud.

  This wasn’t the time or pce to stir up trouble—the secret realm was dangerous enough. So most just took a quick look at the spectacle and hurried off.

  “Yes,” Timothy snapped, unable to restrain himself. “I mean you. If you’ve got the guts, don’t leave after the secret realm.”

  The words made Lauren blink—then almost ugh. Wasn’t that the cssic thug line? Don’t leave after school, see what happens?

  Her smile deepened. “Fine. I’m not in a hurry to leave. Let’s settle it once we’re out of here.”

  Timothy’s only answer was a cold snort before he turned, leading the Moonlit Sect down the right-hand path.

  Lauren exchanged a gnce with Dante and the others. Then, without a word, they followed.

  .....

  Visibility was poor in the thick mist, but cultivators didn’t need their eyes to notice what lurked around them. Perception cut through fog better than sight ever could.

  Indiana’s voice echoed in Timothy’s mind. “Senior Brother, they’re following us. It’s the Thunder Sect.”

  Of course Timothy knew. The knowledge made his chest tighten with unease.

  A new face suddenly appearing in the Thunder Sect? Someone no one had ever heard of? Suspicious as hell.

  Why was she hiding her identity? What was she pnning?

  No one knew when Lauren had joined Thunder Sect or which master had taken her in. All Indiana knew was that after Lauren had stabbed her, she’d vanished without a trace.

  Did she run straight to Thunder Sect back then?

  “Senior Brother?” Indiana’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

  “It’s fine,” he answered via transmission. “Let them follow if they want. There’s distance between us. We’ll lose them eventually.”

  Indiana hesitated. “I think they’re doing this on purpose.”

  Timothy’s brow furrowed. Truth was, he suspected the same thing. Was there a leak?

  He drew in a slow breath. “We’ll wait and see. If they’re after the same thing as us, then revenge will not have to wait.”

  Before he could dwell on it further, one of his juniors called out: “Senior Brother, Heavenly Spirit Fruits! There are tons of them here!”

  Heavenly Spirit Fruits—main ingredients in Foundation-Building Pills. For the so-called geniuses of the great sects, the pills weren’t essential. Real talent endured the heavenly tribution of building a foundation without help. Anyone who couldn’t? They’d never deserve the title genius.

  But that didn’t make the fruits worthless. Far from it. For ordinary cultivators, without a Foundation-Building Pill, breaking through was nearly impossible. Out in the market, Heavenly Spirit Fruit, Jadeite Mushroom, Purple Monkey Flower—anything that went into those pills—sold for a small fortune.

  One Heavenly Spirit Fruit was worth ten mid-grade spirit stones. Easy money.

  Timothy didn’t stop his juniors. He stood off to the side, arms folded, letting them pick their fill.

  Moments ter, the Thunder Sect showed up.

  Again, perfectly natural. Everyone came to a secret realm to hunt for treasure. And Heavenly Spirit Fruit couldn’t be cultivated—only found wild, and it was getting rarer by the year. Who wouldn’t stop to pluck a few?

  Thunder Sect disciples blended in, joining the fruit-picking spree like they just happened to be passing through.

  But Timothy kept gncing their way, his mind sharp and restless.

  No one wanted to fight this early. Getting injured over something common was suicide when you had to survive a month in this realm. The real battles always broke out at the end, when rare treasures surfaced and the clock was running out.

  Still, if Thunder Sect shared his sect’s goal…he wouldn’t hesitate.

  Lauren plucked five fruits in quick succession. As she reached for a sixth, another hand nded on the branch at the exact same moment.

  A hand she knew. Too well.

  Her pulse spiked, but she smothered the turmoil inside. Without hesitation, she spped the hand aside, yanked the fruit free, and slipped it into her storage pouch.

  Indiana froze, stunned. She staggered back a step, wide-eyed.

  “If you want it, I won’t fight you for it,” she said loudly enough for everyone to hear. Her voice trembled with just the right note of wounded innocence. “But why did you have to hit me?”

  Heads turned. Every cultivator nearby stopped what they were doing, eyes darting toward the sudden confrontation.