364: Chapter 364 The Primordial Secret Realm

The twenty-five qualifiers had arrived one after another, standing scattered and maintaining distance from each other.

“Clang!”

The sound of a bell rang out from above the archway, and several figures appeared before it.

The leader was none other than Prince Rong.

Today, he wore a prince's python robe and a golden crown. His gaze swept over the twenty-five young Prodigies below, pausing for a brief moment on Ye Tian before moving on.

“The Taichu Secret Realm is the foundation of our Great Yan state and the source of our Legacy,” Prince Rong began. “It contains a world of its own, vast and boundless, holding ancient legacies as well as unfathomable dangers.

His Majesty has decreed that the fourth round of the Supreme Ranking competition shall take place within this Secret Realm.”

The crowd perked up, listening with rapt attention.

“The rules are as follows,” Prince Rong said slowly. “The twenty-five of you will enter the Secret Realm simultaneously. Within the realm, one hundred ‘taichu seals’ are scattered.

By obtaining a Seal and embedding it into the corresponding formation eye before the ‘Ancient Legacy Hall’ atop the ‘Wendao Mountain’ at the realm's center, you will gain the qualification to undergo an ancient Legacy trial.

Ultimately, the final rankings of this Supreme Ranking will be determined by the order and quantity of those who reach the Peak of ‘Wendao Mountain’ and successfully obtain a Legacy.”

“The Secret Realm will remain open for ten days. Once the ten days are up, no matter where you are, you will be automatically teleported back to this entrance by the power of the realm.

During this period, fighting and forming alliances are not forbidden; life and death are left to fate. Only by crushing your identity spirit pendant can you be immediately teleported out of the realm, which will also be considered an elimination.”

“Furthermore, within the Secret Realm, there are ancient Restrictions, dangerous lands, and ‘Secret Realm Creatures’ guarding the Seals. Their strength is unpredictable; proceed at your own discretion.”

The rules were simple, yet they hid endless dangers and variables.

One hundred Seals for twenty-five people meant an average of four Seals per person; the competition would inevitably be fierce.

With fighting not forbidden and life or death disregarded, this was an encouragement for mutual slaughter and plunder.

Wendao Mountain and the Ancient Legacy Hall were the final goals, but the path there was certainly not a smooth one.

And those ‘Secret Realm Creatures’ and ancient Restrictions were even greater unknown variables.

“Are there any questions?” Prince Rong’s gaze swept across them.

No one spoke. Those who could reach this stage all possessed extraordinary mindsets and already understood the bloodiness behind these rules.

“In that case,” Prince Rong nodded slightly, stepping aside to clear the path and pointing toward the Chaos vortex, “The Taichu Secret Realm is open! Gentlemen, please enter!”

As his voice fell, the pale gold runes suddenly brightened, and the rotation speed of the vortex behind them abruptly accelerated.

The twenty-five Prodigies exchanged glances. In the next moment, figures turned into streaks of light, charging toward the Chaos vortex and vanishing instantly.

Ye Tian gave a slight nod to his fellow disciples nearby and lunged out almost simultaneously with Yun Wuji, disappearing into the vortex. Yu Miaoqing, Feng Xuan, and the others followed closely behind.

The moment he entered the vortex, Ye Tian felt his world spinning. Around him was a bizarre, Chaos-colored passage where it was difficult to discern direction, with only a point of light ahead to guide him.

After an unknown amount of time, his feet hit solid ground, and his vision returned.

What met his eyes caused his heart to tremble.

He was in a bizarre land that defied verbal description.

The sky was not fixed; it was a series of ‘spatial rifts’ with constantly shifting colors and distorted halos flowing through them, which then sealed shut rapidly.

There was no sun, moon, or stars. Only at the highest reaches of the firmament, several incredibly massive ‘land fragments’ floated and drifted slowly, casting shadows below.

The ground was even stranger.

Beneath his feet was a dark ground with a glass-like texture. Within the cracks, there was no soil, but ‘Spiritual Energy Slurry’.

In the distance, ‘Law Crystal Clusters’ with shadows sealed inside grew like a forest.

Further away, there were inverted mountain Peaks with their tips pointing downward, suspended in mid-air.

There was also a labyrinth of giant stones that constantly shattered and reassembled, emitting dull thuds.

“Is this... the Taichu Secret Realm? A fragmented world that preserves parts of the original Laws of Chaos?” Ye Tian felt a sense of awe in his heart.

The environment here was more bizarre than any dangerous land he had ever visited!

He immediately checked himself.

His identity spirit pendant was still there and functioning normally. An arrow on it pointed in a certain direction, likely toward Wendao Mountain, and the number of Seals was ‘0’.

Although the circulation of true essence in his body was suppressed, his Chaos Power was unaffected. On the contrary, it had a strange affinity for the surrounding Chaos Spiritual Qi and Law fragments.

“I should leave this conspicuous spot first and look for a Seal.”

Ye Tian scanned his surroundings.

While his current position offered a wide field of vision, it also meant he was more easily exposed.

He chose a direction with ‘Law Crystal Clusters’ to serve as cover and hurried away.

After traveling for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the pressure seemed to ease slightly, but the environment became increasingly strange.

He passed a swamp formed by ‘Spiritual Energy Slurry,’ where colorful bubbles occasionally rose from the flow. The scent released when they burst made his Divine Soul feel slightly dizzy, clearly possessing toxic or hallucinogenic effects.

He then passed through a ‘Law Crystal Forest.’ Within those crystal-clear clusters that were often dozens of zhang tall, the sealed shadows seemed to sense a living aura, squirming slightly and emitting resentment.

Ye Tian sped up, unwilling to provoke them.

Just as he was about to cross the crystal forest, a stone formation composed of ‘Shadow Stones’ appeared ahead.

His spiritual sense captured a trace of spiritual power fluctuation and a hint of blood scent.

The fluctuation and blood scent came from deep within the stone formation.

Ye Tian stopped immediately, hiding behind a Shadow Stone and concealing his aura.

He tilted his head slightly, peering through a crack in the stones toward the source of the fluctuations.

In the center of the stone formation, on a small patch of open ground, a ‘taichu seal’ floated, emitting a soft spiritual light.

And beneath the Seal, a ‘thing’ was prostrate, its form constantly shifting.

It had no fixed shape, sometimes like a puddle of squirming liquid extending several tentacle-like shadows, then condensing into a humanoid form, though its face had only two constantly spinning vortexes.

Its aura was bizarre; it wasn't a living being or pure energy, but more like an aggregate possessing a simple consciousness!

The energy level it emitted was roughly at the third-tier Peak, but the sense of danger it gave Ye Tian far exceeded that of a Yao Beast of the same level in the outside world.

At this moment, this ‘Shadow Aggregate’ seemed to be in a semi-dormant ‘predatory’ state, its body fluctuating slowly as it absorbed the surrounding Chaos Spiritual Qi and light.

On the ground beneath it, there were several inconspicuous dark red marks that looked like dried bloodstains.

“A ‘Law Creature’ guarding a Seal... an aggregate with shadow and disillusionment attributes...”

Ye Tian quickly evaluated in his mind. “The environment here is favorable to it. It can merge into shadows, create illusions, and its attacks might target the Divine Soul directly. Physical attacks will likely have limited effect.

Fighting it head-on is unwise, especially since it might alert other existences.”

As he was considering whether to bypass it or look for an opportunity, a human aura suddenly reached the edge of his spiritual sense.

Someone was coming! And more than one! Approaching from the other side, they had clearly discovered the Seal and this shadow creature as well!

Sure enough, two figures dressed in grayish-brown tight-fitting clothes with strange membranes covering their faces ‘drifted’ in from the other side of the stone formation.

They moved soundlessly, their feet making no noise at all as they stepped on the stone surface.

Their cultivation was one at the True Martial Tenth Level and one at the Zhenwu Ninth Level Peak. Each held a short, pitch-black dagger in their hand.

The two lay in wait behind several Shadow Stones, forming a triangle with Ye Tian as they observed the Shadow Aggregate and the Seal from afar.

They did not speak, communicating only through hand gestures and eye contact.

“They are professional assassins or death soldiers... not ordinary Prodigies,” Ye Tian judged. “They are also evaluating, waiting for an opportunity. Is their target the Seal? Or...”

Just then, the True Martial Tenth Level assassin lightly brushed his hand against a pouch at his waist, and a bit of dark red powder appeared on his fingertips.

He extremely carefully flicked the powder into the air. The powder did not scatter randomly but turned into several wisps of pale red smoke, drifting toward the Shadow Aggregate.

“Beast-luring powder or bait?” Ye Tian’s mind raced.

The aura of that powder seemed capable of stimulating the bloodthirsty or violent instincts of certain creatures.

As the red smoke drifted near the Shadow Aggregate, the constantly shifting Law Creature suddenly ‘paused’.

Its two spinning vortex ‘eyes’ abruptly turned toward the thin smoke, its body’s fluctuations intensified, and it emitted a clear restless emotion of ‘curiosity’ and ‘desire’.

It extended a shadow tentacle, carefully touching the red smoke.

Suddenly!

Cold light exploded in the eyes of the two assassins. Their bodies shot out like arrows from a bow as they launched a sudden, violent attack!