Wait a minute, where is my master?

Such a mutation occurring right before his eyes left Jin Xu momentarily befuddled.

Then, he knitted his brows and turned his face to glance at the two women and Zhao Dabao beside him, who were utterly ignoring him, as if they were conversing with someone.

He turned his gaze back to the "mutated" amber-colored calf before him.

Jin Xu did not know what these three were saying to someone, because they were all just moving their lips without making any sound.

Those who didn't know better might think they'd left their vocal cords at home.

He also did not know what the other party's intentions were or what they wanted to do.

However, he knew when in doubt, let one fly!

Usually, this could resolve problems very well, or directly eliminate the problematic thing.

So despite the confusion in his heart, the little Taoist still raised his hand and condensed a golden Thunder Arc in his palm.

He prepared to give the little calf, which was trying to be mysteriously pretending, a blast.

"You're actually alright? Don't be nervous, I'm not a bad person, and I have no hostility toward you."

The calf, whose body had turned black and white with elongated ears and a horn growing on its forehead, hurriedly explained after seeing the golden Thunder Arc appear in Jin Xu's hand.

"Little Soul didn't lie; this person really isn't affected by illusions and is also very powerful. But isn't the spiritual power condensed in this golden Thunder Arc a bit too horrifying? No wonder it punched a hole through my chessboard in an instant!"

While the "mutated" calf was explaining, it thought to itself.

The little Taoist standing opposite it, upon hearing this explanatory statement, stopped the activity in his hand, but the golden Thunder Arc in his palm did not dissipate.

"Continue speaking, and also, what have you done to those three?"

Jin Xu's tone turned slightly colder, and a faint silver light began to gather in his eyes.

Although this three-inch calf had been quite friendly and took good care of him after he arrived on the Second Layer,

the test was now over, and yet the calf suddenly began speaking some very strange things and had teleported Yu Yaoer, Little Yu, and Zhao Dabao in front of him.

In Jin Xu's mind, the calf already carried the suspicion of threatening the safety of his companions.

"Your three companions are all very safe; this is also part of the Qingmu Secret Realm's Second Layer test."

The "mutated" calf spoke very quickly as it was beginning to regret causing such trouble and devising this second stage of the test in the first place!

So many years since the Qingmu Secret Realm began, there had never been a precedent of a custodian being threatened by a cultivator and needing to explain!

"Part of the test? Why can those three only move their lips but make no sound now, have they entered an illusion?"

Hearing the calf declare that this was part of the test, Jin Xu's tightly knitted brows slightly relaxed.

He had already activated his Spiritual Eyes a moment ago and seen the "mutated" calf's true form; its sea of consciousness was very clean, and its qi was extraordinarily peaceful, seemingly not belonging to a demon cultivator or an evil entity.

Thus, the little Taoist withdrew some of the golden lighting in his palm, tentatively choosing to believe what the other had said.

As for its true body, the silhouette that emerged behind the little calf turned out to be a very ordinary Gathering Spirit Grass.

Yes, it was the most common type of low-level Spirit Grass found in the Cultivation World.

If there was anything special about it, it was that on the left and right sides of its Gathering Spirit Grass shadow, there was a two-inch tall and a one-inch tall mythical beast, respectively.

The two-inch tall mythical beast looked just like the one on the roof of the watchman's residence.

The one-inch one was unknown to Jin Xu, but it seemed to resemble a rabbit.

"That's right, the three of them are currently communicating with me inside the illusion.

I heard from Little Soul that a cultivator who isn't affected by illusions had come to the Secret Realm.

Even when she brought the Red Dust Mushroom to find you, she failed to pull you into the illusion trial of the first layer.

But my situation is a bit special, I thought I could influence you, however...

As you can see, the result speaks for itself."

The "variant" bull sounded somewhat dejected, as it had used the unique horn on its head to activate its innate talent when altering its shape and transporting the three of them here.

Yet not only did it fail to bring the little Taoist in front of it into the illusion, but it was also forced to explain itself.

"How has someone as powerful as this entered the Secret Realm?"

The "variant" bull cursed inwardly.

The Nine Death Soul Flower was not the strongest among these ten-thousand-year-old Treasure Medicines; its main feature was its potent toxin.

So when Little Soul said the cultivator was unaffected by illusions and possessed frightening strength,

The "variant" bull, as a Gathering Spirit Grass watered by the blood of Xiezhi and mythical beasts, didn't take it very seriously.

Having absorbed the blood of two great mythical beasts, it could say its strength was among the highest in this Qingmu Secret Realm.

In its view, the cultivator that the Nine Death Soul Flower found formidable might not be something it couldn't handle.

Now, after seeing for itself, it realized it truly couldn't handle him.

"Another illusion trial?"

The little Taoist extinguished the silver light in his eyes and muttered to himself, then continued,

"Are all the trials in your Qingmu Secret Realm like this? Maybe you should rename it to 'Illusion Secret Realm' in the future!"

Jin Xu couldn't help but quip.

At this point, he had already retracted the golden Thunder Arc he had formed in his hand, and he was starting to believe most of what the "variant" bull in front of him was saying.

The Gathering Spirit Grass, now in the form of a little bull, wanted to argue that the trials on the third and fourth layers were not like that, nothing to do with illusions!

But as a Secret Realm overseer, it couldn't divulge these details.

All it could do was sigh deeply.

"Sigh~~~~"

Jin Xu had put away his Hand Palm Thunder by now, turning his head to look at the other three who were just opening their mouths soundlessly, and then glanced at the little bull with his right hand.

Curiously, he asked, "Since this phase is part of the trial, what happens to someone like me who can't participate? What about my pass to the third layer of the Secret Realm, and my Seven-orifice Exquisite Heart Fruit?

Also, what's contained in your illusion trial? Can I see what those three are going through?"

"Since you passed the trial of Black and White, the Qingmu Points you acquired do count. The black token you received earlier can also serve as a pass to the third layer of the Secret Realm,"

explained the "variant" bull with a look of dismay.

Regarding the latter questions of the little Taoist, as a watcher, it was not supposed to explain anything to a cultivator who had not undergone the final test.

Yet this cultivator had no chance of undergoing the test anymore.

The "variant" bull pondered for a moment, glanced at Jin Xu's palm, and sighed deeply once more.

Eventually, it cast its gaze over both women and Zhao Dabao, locking onto Little White.

"I shouldn't be disclosing these things. Cultivators who have completed this trial and go out from this pavilion, if they leak any information in the second layer of the Secret Realm, they too will be automatically ejected from the Secret Realm.

However, it's not easy encountering someone like you who is completely unaffected by the illusion. I will explain a bit for you."

With that, the horn on the "variant" bull's head shone, and a screen of light began to unfold above Little White's head slowly.