I wasn't sure what I had expected to find beyond the gate of flowers and cherry blossoms, but it certainly wasn't the environment we were currently in. The moment I stepped through, I felt as though I was being sucked through a vortex, whirled around as if caught in a crashing wave.

My sense of smell and sight were overwhelmed, assaulted by floral aromas and bright colours that made it impossible to get a sense of direction. By the time my vision returned, we had been transported somewhere entirely different.

I'd read a little about secret realms in preparation for the Blossoming Heavens, but no amount of reading could match up to the real deal. This was an entire world, contained within the world outside.

The Blossoming Heavens was governed by its own laws, had its own climate and weather patterns, and its own unique species that lived within. We were still with the other members of our group at least—I'd heard that some secret realms would send every person who entered to a completely different location within.

Given the experience of the elders outside, I would hope that in such an instance they would have prepared us for such an eventuality. Given that they had taken no measures to do so, it seemed this secret realm wasn't that sort.

Instead of vibrant spring flowers and a gentle breeze, our group of two human cultivators and nine beasts found ourselves in an eerie forest. Trees surrounded us, but they were dead. No leaves blossomed in their canopies.

A thick mist wound its way through the trunks and crept across the moss-covered earth. The wind blew through the empty branches, whistling a haunting melody that sent goosebumps running down my spine.

I saw a few of the beasts rise on their hackles briefly, before realising the surroundings were empty. "So, what's the plan?" I asked Meng Hou, the ape leading our party.

"Find treasure. Kill enemies. Take key," he grunted, staring at me as if I'd been dropped on my head as a child.

I felt as though this particular ape was giving beasts a bad rep. I knew they were intelligent, becoming as clever or even more than humans as they cultivated. However, this fellow's mind had no place for complexity or deep thoughts.

Wang Ren chuckled, breaking my train of thought. He placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Sometimes a simple strategy is most effective. Don't make that face, Sect Leader."

I sighed, nodding in agreement. He was right, but I had hoped for a little more preparation. The dangers within were unknown to me.

Were we going to encounter more creepy beasts who relied on puppetry and poison, the way Zhu Jie had. The environment certainly suggested so.

Meng Hou seemed unbothered by the haunted-esque forest and after sniffing the air a few times, started marching off in a seemingly random direction. With no other alternatives, I shrugged and followed after him.

For around the time it took to burn an incense stick, we encountered nothing except more dead trees and thick mists. The further we went from our arrival location, the thicker the mists grew.

Another incense's time later, it became almost impossible to see our direction. "Hold hands, form chain," Meng Hou barked back.

The comical scene that followed would've been easier to enjoy if I could see further than the inside of my own elbow. The nine beasts along with Wang Ren and I reached out and linked our hands, claws, and paws in a chain.

It was another simple strategy from our leader, but effective. This way it was impossible for us to become separated no matter what happened. Unless the chain was broken.

The wind intensified, growing from a gentle eerie whisper to a screeching howl. The mists filled the air and I couldn't even see my chest when I looked down.

Shadows flickered at the edge of my vision, forming shapes in the mist. Enemies or an illusion? I couldn't tell.

Meng Hou continued to lead us forwards, uncaring of the apparent dangers that lay in every direction. Either the giant ape knew something we didn't or he simply didn't care about the fact that we might be surrounded.

All of a sudden I felt my hand being tugged forward. The wind screeched. I heard the cry of a bird, then the roar of a tiger.

The mists swirled. "Don't break the chain, fools!" Meng Hou roared, but it was too late. I felt the avian claws of the beast ahead of me slipping out of my grasp.

In such a situation, moving was the worst thing possible. I felt Wang Ren's hand in mine, my Senior Brother stalwart against the dangers in the mist.

More bestial cries sounded around us. I heard dull thuds and scratches, the sounds of battle. The mist continued to swirl and shift, forming illusory shapes.

"Can you see anything?" I asked Ren over my shoulder.

"Just the mist, nothing real," he replied, his voice faint under the howling of the wind.

My face suddenly exploded in pain. Hot liquid splashed down my cheek, the tang of iron against my lips. Blood.

I froze, raising my free arm into a guard and gently cycling my qi. I looked out into the mist, but could see nothing.

"Something just attacked me," I said.

"I didn't see anything," Ren replied, his voice tense.

"Meng Hou, what's happening?" I yelled out, hoping he hadn't continued ahead without us.

All I received in reply was the screeching of wind and the sounds of beasts screeching and roaring. It was unsettling, being unable to see what was going on around me.

I felt the winds shift, a sudden gust blowing past my ear. Acting on instinct, I flared my qi and raised my arm to guard my face. Heat tore down my chest, three deep gashes appearing along my torso, dripping with blood.

I silently cursed. Whatever was hiding in the mist, it was fast and able to adapt its attack patterns on the fly.

That didn't bode well for us. I wished I had asked the other beasts for their names before we entered, so that I might call out to them. At the very least, as long as I didn't lose Ren, we could fight beside each other.

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I tried to think how I could use my techniques to my advantage. My physique and qi were hyper specialised, more effective at healing than perhaps anyone else in the world, but when it came to fighting, I was at a slight disadvantage.

Not that my martial techniques were lacking—they were all lethally effective, if anything—just that I lacked variety. I felt another shift in the air, followed by something tearing out of the mist towards me.

I leaned back. Rather than blindly guard and let the creature strike wherever it desired, I changed tactics. Gathering my qi into my palm, I struck out in the direction of the gust of wind.

My palm struck something soft. I felt it ripple under the impact, before my arm shot forwards. Whatever I'd hit had vanished immediately.

If I had to guess, it felt as if I'd attacked the mist itself. Was the mist to blame for our predicament, rather than any creature hiding within it?

Wang Ren suddenly grunted. I heard a gust as he swung his glaive one handed, splitting the mist briefly.

"There's something hiding in the mist! When I split the mist it retreated as if burned," he yelled out.

That was useful information. I was about to reply when I heard the cry of an eagle. The next instant a piercing roar cut through the wind, banishing all sound.

A bright azure light exploded outwards, blinding me momentarily. The world was bright blue, no sound or sight.

When my vision returned, I realised the mist around us had been completely dispersed, forming a circle almost twenty-five metres in diameter.

Immediately my gaze swivelled around, taking in the situation. I only spotted seven beasts near us. The missing ones were the orange furred tiger and the badgerhog.

The white tiger fell back on its haunches. It looked drained. Whatever that technique had been, it must have used almost all its energy.

Meng Hou patted the tiger's back before, his eyes heavy. At the edges of the circle, I saw slithering roots crawling back into the white mists.

Roots? Looking around at the forest of dead trees around us, I gulped. If it was the trees that were attacking us, our situation was truly perilous.

I heard the screech of an eagle, followed by a flash of orange light. Flaming feathers exploded in every direction, striking at the retreating roots.

A strange screeching moan split the air as the feathers struck. The roots burst into flame, writhing and smacking the ground.

That was a seriously devastating technique. However, the eagle coughed, its previously glossy feather coat now looking thin and lacking vibrancy.

I reached a hand out towards the beast. It flinched. "I can help," I said, raising the other hand with an open palm and reaching out once more.

This time it let me touch its coat. I closed my eyes, appraising its condition. To my surprise, its core was still surging with qi.

On the other hand, its body seemed utterly drained of energy, with tiny wounds all across its skin and muscles. The techniques and physiques of beasts were truly different to those of humans.

I was no vet, but I believed I could alleviate the pain. With a thought, I activated my healing technique, sending a pulse of qi into its body.

The medicinal energies went to work at once, finding the places most damaged and rejuvenating the eagle's body. Its feathers regained a little of their lustre and new ones popped out to replace those which had been lost.

I wasn't sure that this was how bird's feathers usually grew, but then again what did I know? My qi returned to me, bringing a little extra with it. With how close I was to the peak of Qi Gathering, every tiny increase put a little more pressure on my dantian.

Unfortunately, our reprieve was not going to last. Even with the damage to the roots and the expulsion of the mists, it was already creeping back in.

The radius of the circle shortened with every breath. Soon we would be consumed once more.

"We need to get out of the forest," I shouted out.

"Obviously. You know direction?" Meng Hou snorted in reply.

"No, but we just need to keep going in a straight line. It has to end at some point," I replied in exasperation.

The ape nodded. "Form chain again. Keep moving. Go fast," he ordered.

All the beasts complied, even the tired ones. I rushed over to the tiger and healed it the same as I'd done for the eagle.

However, it had used a hefty amount of qi, which I was unable to restore. Nonetheless, it was grateful for my assistance, giving me a nod and a gentle purr.

The circle's diameter was just ten metres now and I could hear shifting soil in the edges, hidden from view. Even though we were down two allies already, we had no choice but to keep moving.

We began to move, slowly at first but quickening into a hurried march as we got used to each other's gait. Each beast moved in a different way to each other and us humans, but cultivators were all graceful. It didn't take much to adapt.

Right before the circle closed entirely, a sudden screech and the sound of scratching claws erupted on my right. A blurred form shot out of the mist, followed by eight lightning fast roots.

On instinct I raised a leg, kicking out at the object shooting towards my face. My foot hit something soft and I heard a snarl.

Seeing that I'd kicked the badgerhog, I hurriedly apologised and then glanced nervously at its furious gaze, wondering if it would attack me. To my surprise, it simply rushed behind Wang Ren and reached out a paw to his hand.

The eight roots had halted their attack once it escaped the mist, crawling slowly back out of sight. However, the mists were almost at our bodies once again. Our nightmare was far from over.

With the badgerhog back among us, it meant we'd only lost one companion. Yet I estimated that barely two hours had passed.

At this rate we'd all be dead before the first day was over.

Nonetheless, there was nothing for it. Clearly none of us had a method to permanently dispel the mist. The white tiger would drop dead of exhaustion if it was forced to continually use that light technique.

All we could do was rush forwards, following Meng Hou's lead. Hopefully we would be able to escape the forest before too long.

Also, knowing that it was the trees attacking us allowed us to alter our defence. Letting them strike at non vital limbs was better than suffering heavy damage.

For me, it was barely an issue. The lashing strikes hurt, but I could heal the damage almost immediately. I did the same for Wang Ren and the eagle in front of me, using the contact of our hands to engage my healing technique.

Unfortunately I couldn't do the same for the rest of our group. I had to trust in their strength.

I wondered what the benefit of this was. Was it a trial to see if we were worthy of even entering the Blossoming Heavens?

How were we supposed to find treasures while we were barely clinging to our lives? For now, all I could do was trust that this wasn't some great prank that the world played on the younger generation of cultivators in order to temper them.

It wouldn't surprise me if that was truly the case. Tricking them with the allure of treasure, only for them to discover it was purely a spiritual and physical tempering exercise.

No, such a thing couldn't have been hidden for tens of thousands of years. Perhaps we were simply too weak for this particular challenge, or it didn't suit our group's abilities.

All this time I had continued to wrack my brains for ideas. I refused to believe that I was completely useless against our unseen enemies.

At this point, I was confident in my ability to defend myself from the trees. However, my qi wasn't infinite. We needed a better strategy, or to escape the forest.

My energy senses were working overtime, taking in information from our surroundings. I noticed that the mist itself was filled with sparse spiritual energy. I'd become able to predict the attacks of the roots with almost perfect precision.

They appeared in the mist as thin streams of energy lancing towards the members of our group. I no longer relied on my eyes, given that there was nothing to see except mist.

Instead, using energy senses, I could make out the forms of the entire group as well as the roots and mist around us. All of a sudden I stopped, causing Wang Ren to bump into my back and the eagle to yelp in complaint as I tugged its claw.

I wanted to slap myself. The answer had been staring me right in the face this entire time but I was too focused on the idea of escape to realise.

My lips curled upwards into a smirk as I realised there might be a way to turn this situation on its head. Instead of blindly escaping, we might be able to scour this dead forest for the treasures that lay within.

"Everyone stop! I know how to defeat the trees," I called out.

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