The curved knife, forged from special alloys, sliced through the air like the scythe of death, cold and piercing, distorting the surroundings!

Even though Wang Xuan had mastered the Golden Body Technique, he didn't want to test the blade with his neck. He reacted quickly and dodged the curved knife. However, as the blade passed, it still tore at his flesh.

Without the Golden Body Technique, the force generated could have easily ripped a large portion of the skin from his neck.

Wang Xuan's heart sank; he had just encountered three opponents, and none of them were easy to deal with. Their homeland was likely a superhuman planet, with astonishing secret arts!

Wang Xuan's body shimmered like a faint golden light as he moved quickly, avoiding the curved knife, but he couldn't evade the lightning strike.

With a loud bang, he was struck on the shoulder by a bolt of lightning emanating from the woman's organs, leaving a charred mark! If it weren't for the Golden Body Technique, his shoulder blade would have been shattered.

Wang Xuan's shoulder turned slightly blackened, but he held firm, feeling a slight numbness in half of his body. He gazed at the woman from a distance; these alien grandmasters were truly formidable.

He needed to quickly advance to that level!

Whether it was spewing true fire or vibrating with thunder, these were traits of grandmasters, indicating they were nearing the superhuman realm!

Suddenly, Wang Xuan unleashed his spiritual domain to attack his opponent.

The intricate hollow armor on the woman's head activated autonomously, glowing with patterns and light, blocking his assault.

Wang Xuan's heart raced; this was indeed a treasure!

He became increasingly convinced that these people came from an extraordinary star, with advanced superhuman civilizations.

The woman's eyes gleamed coldly; she too felt apprehensive. If the hollow helmet didn't withstand the impact, she would be in serious trouble.

As they engaged, both used their unique skills.

Wang Xuan discovered that the hollow armor on the woman's head could interfere with his perception, otherwise he could have avoided some of the lightning strikes in advance.

He felt a chill; he was still not a grandmaster, and his situation was perilous.

His shoulder, arm, and legs were scorched black, and his clothes were torn apart.

In another's place, they would have been directly killed by the lightning.

Nearby, the man quickly bandaged his wounds and rushed over. However, he no longer dared to sneak up on Wang Xuan from behind.

To his frustration, this shameless opponent was actively offering his chest to him!

He immediately realized that both the front and back of Wang Xuan were covered in spikes!

Thus, he gave up on attacking the front and back.

In fact, Wang Xuan's front was almost unprotected, only the back had a piece of armor, a mere bluff.

This man found himself at a disadvantage, feeling restricted and unable to unleash his full power. Eventually, he tested and discovered that his opponent's limbs were not heavily armored, focusing instead on attacking his head and limbs.

Wang Xuan was struggling; if it weren't for the man's ruined hands, his situation would have been much worse.

The only fortunate thing for him was that the man's nearly superhuman traits seemed to be entirely focused on his physique; he had neither spewed fire nor emitted lightning.

Wang Xuan was continuously hit by lightning, feeling increasingly overwhelmed; he was being forced into a passive role.

After his short sword cut through the man's curved knife, he had already been hit by lightning three times on his right arm, causing him to lose grip of the sword, which clattered to the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Wang Xuan's gaze became profound as his body suddenly roared. He activated the body technique recorded in the five-page Golden Book!

His organs radiated light, vibrating continuously, secret energy flowing, significantly enhancing his vitality. He first exchanged a fierce strike with the man.

Thud!

The man stumbled backward, his face contorting in pain. He looked down at his hands, which were bleeding from the twenty-two tiny puncture wounds, parts of flesh had fallen away, exposing his finger bones—a horrific sight.

He couldn't help but let out a howl. Since mastering the Golden Body Technique, he had never been so grievously injured.

After heavily injuring him, Wang Xuan withdrew his energy, calming his body.

He was now gathering strength; after consecutively using Old Zhang's body technique three times, he would be unable to activate it again for thirty seconds.

Now that he had used it once, he cooled his heated body, preparing to deliver a complete three-hit combo to the woman.

Finally, after being struck by lightning twice, Wang Xuan's body turned cold again, and he activated the body technique from the Golden Book once more.

His entire being roared, unleashing his strongest power as he charged at the woman, knowing that if he couldn't defeat her, he would be in danger.

His flesh was glowing, secret energy surging as he braced against the lightning while engaging in close combat with the woman.

In an instant, the woman suffered greatly, her arm nearly torn apart, her palm drenched in blood.

Most crucially, during their life-and-death clash, Wang Xuan managed to dent the hollow armor on her head, ultimately knocking it off.

The woman's expression changed; she fully vibrated her organs, unleashing a thunderous strike toward Wang Xuan while rapidly retreating to create distance.

The man, with fingers exposed to bone, saw this and disregarded his injuries, charging back into the fray.

Wang Xuan, despite his heart being struck by lightning, was determined to take down his opponent.

His forehead glowed as he activated his spiritual domain, launching an all-out assault.

"Ah…" the woman screamed, suffering a severe injury. She couldn't withstand the unusual spiritual energy, her head pounding with agony.

At that moment, Wang Xuan felt lightning strike his heart, causing his once heated body to turn stiff, almost unable to move.

The man behind him approached with fierce intent, one hand aimed at his lower back and the other at his head, both strikes brutal.

Wang Xuan narrowly dodged the blow to his head but was struck hard in the waist, propelling him forward to attack.

He locked onto the disoriented woman, exerting all his strength, twisting her head with a crack, snapping her neck!

She ceased her scream, her head dangling to one side.

Stolen novel; please report.

At that moment, the man closed in, his terrifying foot descending to stomp on Wang Xuan's back, intent on crushing him immediately.

To his disappointment, Wang Xuan, despite feeling intense pain, had mastered the Golden Body Technique, blocking the lethal strike.

Though blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his body remained intact, unscathed.

He retaliated with a sweeping motion, and as the man dodged, he leaped up, preparing to attack him with all his might.

The man, seeing Wang Xuan's cold expression, felt an icy chill run down his spine and turned to flee.

Wang Xuan picked up the short sword from the ground and delivered a finishing blow to the woman before striding after him.

If such a strong enemy was allowed to escape, he would surely become a threat soon.

But he quickly cursed as the Secret Realm was filled with lakes and rivers.

The man dashed forward and, upon spotting a broad river, plunged in with a splash.

Wang Xuan watched as a creature with silver scales bit into the man's left leg, yet he still submerged, swimming downstream.

After watching for a moment, Wang Xuan turned and left; there was no way to pursue this man further.

He returned to the battlefield and began to tally his spoils. The two corpses had various bottles and jars filled with liquids of different colors.

When he opened them, some emitted a sandalwood scent, while others had a slightly pungent odor. He didn't dare to try any of them and collected them all.

Of course, what he valued the most were the hollow helmets worn by the two—truly extraordinary treasures.

Unfortunately, both items had been partially dented by his strikes. He tried to reshape them back to their original form, but he estimated that their effectiveness was likely compromised.

He placed one of the hollow helmets on his own head and immediately felt his senses sharpen even further.

Additionally, the unique clothes worn by the two had a metallic sheen; they were very soft yet extremely sturdy, impervious to ordinary swords.

Wang Xuan glanced at his tattered clothes, which had been scorched by lightning, and decisively stripped off a set of the black-gold attire. He couldn't afford to be picky right now; even with his cleanliness obsession, he had to wear them.

Who knew when he might encounter another fierce battle? He armed himself from head to toe.

Afterward, he collected the woman's helmet and battle attire as well, intending to give them as gifts.

Even though he had won, Wang Xuan felt heavy-hearted. The three opponents had been truly strong, and he had come perilously close to being defeated.

If he hadn't first ambushed one of them, and if the man who had mastered the Diamond Technique hadn't been pierced in the palm, the outcome could have been dire!

"How could they be so outrageously strong?" He had truly given it his all this time, yet he had only managed to kill two of them.

Thinking about the eight other powerful foes who would come seeking revenge, he couldn't help but sigh.

Were all the young people from superhuman planets this strong? He felt unprecedented pressure.

Wang Xuan frowned and muttered to himself, "Perhaps they are considered quite formidable among the young elites of their own superhuman planet."

He felt this speculation made sense; after all, anyone daring to come to the Secret Realm was definitely not ordinary; they must be elite!

"In that case, they might be seed-level young experts from a superhuman organization."

"If that superhuman planet has sects, these ten might be direct descendants or disciples of a certain sect."

"In that case, I'm quite formidable myself, having single-handedly taken out two of their core seeds!"

Wang Xuan said this with a confident and radiant smile.

"Moreover, I'm still just a nominal Grandmaster and haven't truly undergone a transformation; I need to step into that realm as soon as possible."

He stood up, knowing that if he could advance further, his strength would certainly increase significantly.

Then, Wang Xuan began to ponder.

The environment on their home planet might not be worse than the Secret Realm. Did they come here solely to harvest rare items?

Did they arrive via interstellar spaceship, or did they use some other special transportation of a superhuman civilization?

These individuals were quite knowledgeable about the Secret Realm. Did they treat it like their backyard, a long-abandoned medicinal field, or was there something else they sought?

Also, did only this batch of people come from that superhuman planet?

Wang Xuan shook his head; for now, he needed to address the crisis first.

He had learned from the three that one of the ten seemed to be a young man named Zhuo Yang.

Right now, the seven others were focused on gathering extraordinary medicinal herbs and would likely not arrive soon, giving him some time.

"Such rare items are usually found near the nests of superhuman creatures; I hope you all get wiped out."

Suddenly, he heard the sound of flapping wings and saw several giant wasps, as large as bulls, flying over the treetops.

Farther away, countless others were approaching, like a dark cloud moving in their direction.

"Is this a nest explosion?"

Even someone as strong as Wang Xuan didn't dare to confront this swarm of creatures head-on and turned to flee.

He traversed mountains and valleys, escaping for miles until he finally lost sight of the mass of dark wasps. Those creatures were genuinely unsettling.

He unexpectedly spotted several members of an expedition team. Clearly, they were also trying to avoid the wasps and had changed their route, with some fleeing to this area.

The crowd scattered.

If those eight were determined to pursue, it was likely that few would survive.

"I'll change my direction in hopes of leading the pursuers away." Wang Xuan could only try his best to avoid crossing paths with them.

Unfortunately, he did not spot Zhao Qinghan in this area; otherwise, he could have given her the helmet and special clothing to wear.

"Hmm?"

Not long after, his spiritual domain sensed two familiar figures—the Zhong siblings.

At first, he considered leaving directly, but remembering how Little Zhong's steel plate had been highly effective and had almost turned the tide of battle, he felt he should greet them.

"Those people are coming after us!" Zhong Cheng jumped up when he saw a figure clad in strange clothing appear.

Just as he was about to flee, he realized it was Wang Xuan and exclaimed, "Little Wang, how come you're wearing their clothes? Did you take them down?!"

He was incredibly excited, yet hard to believe.

Wang Xuan calmly shook his head and said, "Those people were quite unfortunate; two of them got overwhelmed by the poisonous wasps and died. I merely looted their bodies."

"Good riddance!" Zhong Cheng gasped for breath and sat back down, clearly exhausted from his escape.

Zhong Qing was in a similar state, her pure little face drenched in sweat, but she was looking at Wang Xuan oddly, as if in doubt.

"Where's Qinghan?" Wang Xuan asked.

Before entering the Secret Realm, Zhao Qinghan had promised that as long as she was safe, she would ensure Wang Xuan's safety, keeping him by her side.

Once they arrived, she indeed did this, even letting Wang Xuan stay close to her at night.

Thus, Wang Xuan had been doing his best to protect her and prevent any mishaps.

Now, he felt a bit worried but remembered that Master Ma was by her side, which should ensure her safety.

Zhong Cheng said, "The poisonous wasps suddenly appeared, and we all panicked and ran in different directions. Sister Qinghan pulled a severely injured person onto a horse and called for me and my sister to hurry over. But then, Master Ma panicked and took off with them first."

"When the wasps erupted from their nests, the monsters in the mountains also fled, so this area might be relatively safe. You should find a cave to hide in."

Wang Xuan said, handing the hollow helmet and another piece of battle attire to the siblings, "These can protect you."

Originally, he intended to give these items to Zhao Qinghan, but since Master Ma had taken her away, having them on him would be a waste, so he might as well give them to familiar faces for their protection.

Then, he took the steel plate from his back and handed it to Zhong Qing.

Little Zhong, who was usually sharp-tongued, was rendered speechless upon seeing the object. Her face flushed bright red, and she finally said angrily, "Wang Xuan!"

"What's going on? Isn't this my sister's?" Zhong Cheng's eyes widened in shock.

"Sister, you actually let him wear this protective gear?"

Zhong Qing became increasingly embarrassed and scolded him, "Shut up!"

"This is the piece you had on your back!" At this point, he glared at Wang Xuan and said, "You didn't let him wear the other piece too, did you?"

His eyes were fixed on Wang Xuan's chest. "What did you do to my sister?!"

In the end, he was exasperated, staring at Wang Xuan like he was a villain.

Wang Xuan looked at him, thinking this guy had quite the imagination.

Little Zhong angrily shoved her brother over, not wanting to listen to his nonsense.

Zhong Cheng sighed in grievance, "I raised you, sister! The water spilled cannot be retrieved; the ancients did not deceive me. Now you're even helping an outsider to hit me!"

Even though Zhong Qing was good at arguing, she felt awkward and didn't want to engage with her brother.

"What exactly is this material? The poisonous wasps, which are as big as horses, stabbed me with their tails like spears, and it actually hurt the steel plate instead."

Zhong Qing stared at him and finally felt that he didn't seem to be teasing her intentionally, so she said, "It contains some solar gold."

Wang Xuan was instantly stunned!

Before entering the Secret Realm, he had seen the various organizations value different extraordinary items at the base on Brown Star.

Fifty grams of solar gold could be exchanged for five hundred million new star coins!

This was an absurdly exorbitant price.

Later, he learned that the weapons used by the Celestial Immortals seemed to contain some solar gold.

"Little Zhong, you're amazing! You have solar gold at your disposal!" Wang Xuan was indeed shocked.

The materials used by the Celestial Immortals had been refined into the barbed steel plate by Zhong Qing—what an extravagant move!

"What did you call me?!" Zhong Qing's eyes widened in fury, flames almost shooting out. Wang Xuan had actually called her that in front of her!

Beside them, Zhong Cheng became anxious and said, "What are you talking about, solar gold? Sister, you're taking advantage of being able to enter Great Grandfather's study, using his treasured materials extravagantly to forge this thing?!"

Wang Xuan understood immediately; Old Zhong was collecting solar gold to prepare for forging his own immortal weapons!

At the same time, he realized Little Zhong could freely enter and exit Old Zhong's study!

He looked at Little Zhong, imagining golden bamboo slips from the pre-Qin period and five-colored jade books… his eyes sparkled.

Zhong Qing defended herself, saying, "I came here to save Great Grandfather. Entering the Secret Realm requires survival, so of course I needed to use some good stuff; I will melt it down and return it to him later."

Then she glared at Wang Xuan and questioned, "What did you just call me?"

"Big Zhong!" Wang Xuan replied without hesitation.

To him, Little Zhong was like a mobile treasury worth establishing a good relationship with.