"This kind of flying horse is usually gentle and won't harm people," said an experienced member of the exploration team, but he fell silent upon seeing Wang Xuan riding the young horse.

A strong wind swept through, and three flying horses landed, sending leaves flying in all directions. Two adult horses approached, their eyes cold as they fixed their gaze on Wang Xuan, hooves digging deep into the ground and shattering rocks.

Before reuniting with Zhong Cheng and the others, Zhao Qinghan had already dismounted, leaving only Wang Xuan on the white horse. He felt uneasy. The two adult horses were at least grand master-level creatures, and in the distance, a group of horses had landed on the peaks, watching them.

What did this mean? A gathering of "horse grand masters"! Even if he was strong, he couldn't single-handedly defeat such a horde—at least sixty or seventy "horse grand masters," plus possibly some "horse extraordinary" beings. This was a battle he couldn't win.

So, Wang Xuan promptly jumped off the horse, adopting a gentle demeanor, as if reluctant to part, and patted the young horse's head, saying, "Go reunite with your parents."

To his surprise, the young horse didn't leave; its sadness transformed into stubbornness as it looked at the two adult horses and took a few steps back. It then turned to another young flying horse of similar size, which had blood on its broad wings.

The two young horses glared at each other, snorting white mist, almost charging at one another. Eventually, the young horse with white wings stepped back arrogantly, tilting its head as if inviting Wang Xuan's young horse to join them.

The stray young horse snorted out white mist, defiantly raising its head and ignoring the invitation, continuing to back away, rejecting the idea of returning.

Without hesitation, Zhao Qinghan placed the last spirit herb, the Nourishing Lotus, in front of the young horse. The white horse hesitated briefly before directly chewing the spirit herb and swallowing it.

The two large horses glanced at Zhao Qinghan, then shot a glare at Wang Xuan. One of them began to glow brilliantly, its aura so overwhelming that Zhong Cheng and Zhou Kun collapsed to the ground.

The other team members also succumbed, unable to bear the pressure. At that moment, Wang Xuan was stunned—this horse was "horse extraordinary"!

Feigning weakness, he stepped back, leaning against the young horse, while Zhao Qinghan genuinely supported it to maintain its stance. Ultimately, the trio—two large horses and one small one—took off together, joining the main group, with the small flying horse protected at the center.

Wang Xuan gradually understood; these two young horses were vying for the position of heir! The wingless young horse was so stubborn, choosing to stray from the herd after losing.

His heart ignited with excitement; if he raised it for a while, it might become a horse extraordinary, especially since it dared to fight for its future throne!

"Farewell to the horse extraordinary and all the horse grand masters!" Wang Xuan announced.

The people around, just getting up, looked puzzled. What was this title?

The group of flying horses finally departed, not looking back, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The experienced member of the exploration team wore a grave expression. "I've seen this group of flying horses deeper in the Secret Realm before; why have they migrated out?"

Everyone's hearts sank. The older team members had ventured in with strong fighters, and now they had no idea what was happening inside. Given the many abnormal signs from the Secret Realm, something significant must have occurred.

"What are you doing here? Where are the others?" Zhao Qinghan asked.

"They were scattered. Today, we found a strange herb and wanted to harvest it, but countless monsters charged out, overwhelming us. Do you know what kind of monsters?" Zhou Kun said, his face filled with anger. "A swarm of mantises!"

He seemed embarrassed, having been chased for miles by a bunch of bugs.

Zhong Cheng added, "They weren't ordinary mantises; they resembled some sort of beast, each about four meters long, covered in black fur, with front limbs like sharp blades. Normal people can't defend against them; our team lost twenty or thirty members in an instant."

According to their account, even a grand master-level genetic super being was decimated by a special silver mantis, causing chaos and a mad scramble to escape.

"Your sister is missing, and you're just sitting here, not even thinking about rescuing her?" Zhao Qinghan looked at Zhong Cheng.

Hearing that, he felt immensely wronged. "When we panicked, my sister shouted to scatter to save more people. Then I split from her, and all the strong fighters chased after her. Look at me... there's not a single quasi-grand master left by my side."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Zhou Kun shared his frustration. "I ran off with Wu Yin, and the grand master-level genetic super being didn't even glance my way, just ran with Wu Yin and the others!"

Not just grand masters; there wasn't even a quasi-grand master with them.

Zhao Qinghan remained speechless. She couldn't exactly say his charm was lacking, could she?

"We all survived, so they must be fine. Those mantis beasts seemed unwilling to stray far from that strange herb," Zhong Cheng said.

He genuinely felt upset; even the strong fighter meant to protect him had ended up running after his sister. The disparity between people was disheartening.

"Facing death, some people instinctively avoid danger; it's a form of survival," Zhao Qinghan reassured him, having her own experiences of being captured and seeing the powerful retreat rather than rescue her.

"What strange items did you discover?" Wang Xuan asked.

"A black gold jujube tree! It's about four meters tall and bears over a hundred black gold jujubes. I've never seen such a prolific spirit herb!" Zhou Kun nearly burst into tears as he described it.

At that time, everyone was incredibly excited, on the verge of harvesting the almost ripe black gold jujubes, which meant everyone could share in the spirit herb.

But then a swarm of mantis beasts attacked, nearly slaughtering them all.

"Over a hundred spirit jujubes, within reach! Forget it, let's not think about it," Zhou Kun sighed, then leaned closer to Wang Xuan, trying to get in his good graces. "Little Wang, sell me that white horse; we can negotiate the price."

Wang Xuan smiled, "Are you sure? I should warn you; this is a monster, a grand master-level spirit horse. If you're not careful, it might just kick you to pieces."

"Why is it following you?" Zhou Kun asked skeptically.

Wang Xuan replied, "It was injured, and we saved it on the way. Now it refuses to leave and insists on following us."

In reality, after the white horse finished the Nourishing Lotus from Zhao Qinghan, it didn't seem as affectionate as expected and had already started to step toward the forest, clearly wanting to leave.

"See, I have a special bond with this spirit horse," Wang Xuan said, quickly chasing after it, wrapping his arms around its neck and pulling tightly to prevent it from escaping. To outsiders, it appeared as if they were close.

"Zhao Jie, how did you survive?" Zhong Cheng asked, genuinely curious like everyone else.

"That monster was flying close to the forest when it was attacked by a suspected extraordinary golden beast, which swallowed half its body. Little Wang and I fell into a river in the forest and managed to survive by sheer luck," Zhao Qinghan said, her expression reflecting the exhaustion of having survived a disaster.

"Surviving great peril always brings blessings!" the group believed her, not thinking for a moment that the two could have fought off such a monster; otherwise, they wouldn't have been captured.

As the sun set, the forest grew dim. Everyone ate some food and prepared to rest there.

Zhong Cheng began to sigh, feeling a bit scared and worried about his sister's safety. They had separated in the afternoon, and now, with the night completely dark and no news of her, anxiety filled him as he watched the increasingly dark forest.

"Is this really a grand master-level spirit horse?" Zhong Cheng asked, feeling a mix of embarrassment and excitement. Finally, he took a leap of faith and grabbed Wang Xuan's hand. "Can you ride this horse and look for the others? I'm really scared. If you can help, I will definitely reward you handsomely when we return to New Star!"

In that crucial moment, Zhong Cheng cared deeply for his sister, and his eyes turned red, nearly tearing up.

"Brother Wang, is this truly a grand master-level horse? If it is, please help us; we're all from New Star…" Zhou Kun also chimed in, showing some camaraderie.

"I'll go take a look!" Wang Xuan nodded. If he had the ability to save someone, he wouldn't sit idly by.

"You… be careful." Zhao Qinghan noticed his decisive choice and cautioned him to prioritize his safety first.

"Horse grand master, I'm counting on you," Zhong Cheng murmured to the white horse, nearly getting kicked.

Under the moonlight, Wang Xuan rode the unwilling white horse toward the direction Zhong Cheng had indicated.

Twenty miles away, he encountered a bloody figure, who appeared near death, sitting under a tree, weakly gazing at the moonlight.

"How did this happen? Where are the others?" Wang Xuan jumped off the horse and immediately noticed the bloodstains on the man's torn clothes. His right shoulder and arm were missing, clearly torn off by a person, not a monster.

"The Qin family… instructed the Moonlight Bodhisattva to kill…" the man struggled to speak.

"Why?" Wang Xuan asked quickly.

"In the afternoon, we encountered the Qin family, who deceived us into returning together to harvest the black gold jujubes. They had known about that place for a long time and understood the mantis beasts well. Many of us became bait, chased by those monsters… The Qin family then went off to gather herbs, and the Moonlight Bodhisattva pursued the remaining survivors," the man explained.

Wang Xuan immediately mounted the grand master horse and dashed forward. The leader of the Qin family had gone mad, ruthlessly forcing people to their deaths and then trying to silence them.

He sighed, realizing how dark and bloody the Secret Realm was, with even regular exploration teams being so ruthless, willing to annihilate another team at a moment's notice.

In the past, no such news had returned to New Star; it seemed everything was well-concealed.

In the distance, Wang Xuan spotted a glowing man shattering a quasi-grand master and then tearing apart the surrounding mantis beasts.

However, the situation took an unexpected turn. The glowing middle-aged man was clearly a Moonlight Bodhisattva, a grand master, and he was confronting a pale young man.

"What are you doing? Planning to rebel?" the young man said, his voice trembling and devoid of color.

The Moonlight Bodhisattva's tone was icy: "Ridiculous. You think you're ruthless and cunning enough to accomplish great things? Using those people as bait to send them to their deaths, then trying to force us to silence them. But do you even consider where this is? This isn't New Star. Do you think we're mere blades or dogs? Yes, we didn't spare those people. But what are you? Why should we give you the spirit herbs? You don't understand; this is the Secret Realm—a new world with a set of dark rules you know nothing about!"

The Moonlight Bodhisattva stepped forward and kicked the young man, tearing apart half of his body, causing him to scream in agony, teetering on the brink of death.

"My brother is nearby… he won't let you go!" the young man uttered his last defiant words before breathing his last.

"Are you asking me to kill your brother?" the Moonlight Bodhisattva sneered.