249: Coping and opening the secret realm

Ten days passed in a flash, and Lin Shiming opened his eyes, a spirit talisman landing in his hand.

He rose from the meditation mat, sighed, and walked to the main hall where they had gathered before.

On the nanmu table in front of the hall, the teapot was still steaming, and the aroma of tea permeated the air.

Zi Xuan Daoist sat in a grand chair, eyes closed in meditation, letting the rising tea mist obscure half of his face.

Zi Xuan Daoist waved his hand, and behind the Disciples, another meditation mat appeared.

The Disciples, respectfully bowing, then began to demonstrate their Sword Nurturing Art.

Lin Shiming was no exception; even at the end, he couldn't figure out a method, so he could only Cultivate slowly, dividing his time—seven parts cultivating Divine Sense and three parts cultivating Sword Nurturing Art—which caused his progress to be much slower than others.

One must know that his original talent for sword cultivation was not high; even on the Nine Leaves Enlightenment Platform, he cultivated Sword Intent, but he still hadn't reached the Realm of Sword Light Manifestation.

It was only after returning to the Family, with the System's prompts and the Root of Deduction, that he cultivated Sword Light Manifestation.

These ten days, the System's prompts appeared frequently, teaching him how to Cultivate the Sword Nurturing Art, but he completely ignored them, just focusing on bitter cultivation and the Spirit Splitting Art.

The extremely slow progress gave him a slight sense of peace.

But Zi Xuan Daoist's renewed summons of everyone made his heart race again.

In front of the hall, streaks of Sword Light began to condense; each Cultivator took out a top-grade Magical Artifact sword and demonstrated the results of their Sword Nurturing Art before Zi Xuan Daoist.

Zi Xuan Daoist occasionally looked at a certain Disciple, offering a few words of guidance.

At this moment, as they exerted their arts and revealed themselves, it was indeed as Lin Shiming had guessed: Chen Daoyuan cultivated a metal-attribute sword art, and Xie An cultivated a fire-attribute sword art.

Ye Yongchang cultivated a wood-attribute sword art, the same Grass Sword Art as him, while Ye Changqing cultivated a rare earth-attribute sword art; each of them had already achieved Sword Light Manifestation.

His inner conjecture was finally confirmed: Zi Xuan Daoist gathered so many Cultivators not to seize treasures in the Secret Realm at all, but merely to have them attract the Spirit Communication Sword, so even if the elderly Lin Xianzhi was frail, it was harmless.

After all, they only needed a sword sheath.

Even if he was only in the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!

As long as his Sword Light Manifestation was achieved, it would be fine.

"Why is your sword art cultivation so slow? Is there something you don't understand?" Zi Xuan Daoist walked up to Lin Shiming, his calm face showing no emotion.

"Please forgive me, Revered Master, this Disciple is foolish!" Lin Shiming quickly bowed his head.

The Sword Nurturing Art mainly relied on the spirit platform to nurture the spiritual sword; at this moment, other people's Sword Light covered their spiritual swords, burning intensely.

Only his Sword Light couldn't even cover one-third of the Zilai Sword, let alone incorporate the Zilai Sword into his spirit platform.

"These few days, follow me to Cultivate; I will guide you!" Zi Xuan Daoist said, giving Lin Shiming no chance to refuse.

At this moment, Lin Shiming's heart was already extremely tense, but at the same time, there was a feeling of utter powerlessness.

Before Zi Xuan Daoist, he couldn't even make the slightest small movement.

Lin Xianzhi also cast a puzzled gaze from the side; he wondered why Lin Shiming's progress was so slow, and why Lin Shiming hadn't sent him a Divine Sense message even once.

Of course, at this moment, he also couldn't send a message to inquire.

At such a close distance, if a high-level Cultivator possessed secret arts, it was highly possible to intercept a message.

Lin Xianzhi dared not gamble.

"Thank you, Revered Master!" Feeling Zi Xuan Daoist's undeniable tone, Lin Shiming kowtowed and quickly expressed his gratitude.

The Cultivators once again separated to nurture their Magical Artifact swords, preparing for the Secret Realm journey.

Meanwhile, Lin Shiming arrived at Zi Xuan Daoist's cultivation room.

The room's furnishings were extremely simple: a stone table, a stone bed, and an incense burner.

As sandalwood incense burned, Lin Shiming's Divine Sense carefully scanned, only to find that the stone table and stone bed were all incredibly simple, not at all a pile of Spiritual Artifacts or Magical Artifacts as he had imagined.

As if noticing Lin Shiming's confusion, Zi Xuan Daoist in front spoke:

"When you reach a higher Realm, you will realize that cultivation Cultivates oneself, Cultivates the heart, Cultivates the Dao, and not external objects!"

After Zi Xuan Daoist finished speaking, he didn't wish to say more, throwing out a meditation mat and handing it to Lin Shiming.

Then he had Lin Shiming Cultivate the Sword Nurturing Art, and Zi Xuan Daoist gradually guided him.

When Lin Shiming nurtured his sword, he appeared somewhat strained, which caused Zi Xuan Daoist to frown.

Zi Xuan Daoist naturally knew that Lin Shiming was in the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

Seeing Zi Xuan Daoist's expression, Lin Shiming felt a little relieved.

At least, he didn't know he had three spirit platforms.

And just then, the System prompt appeared again:

"Using the spirit platform bound to the Grotto-heaven World to Cultivate the Sword Nurturing Art can hide the spirit platform's secret art!"

Lin Shiming was instantly overjoyed, almost unable to hide it on his face.

Moreover, at this moment, he suddenly remembered that his first auxiliary spirit platform, connected to the Grotto-heaven World, could channel true essence into the Grotto-heaven World.

And if he used this spirit platform to nurture his sword for the Sword Nurturing Art, he could then transfer this Sword Nurturing Art secret art into the Grotto-heaven World.

This secret art shouldn't actually be called Sword Nurturing Art, but rather Sword Nurturing Secret Art, as it's a spell cast on the spirit platform.

If the true essence of the spirit platform were all drawn into the Grotto-heaven World, those Spirit Communication Swords naturally wouldn't be able to detect it.

And with the System's prompt, he was somewhat curious: if he successfully cultivated the Sword Nurturing Art and bound it to the Grotto-heaven World, could he make this Grotto-heaven World nurture his sword for him!

At this moment, Lin Shiming's mind became active, but he dared not try; the person before him was at the Peak of the Purple Mansion Realm, and if he discovered the Grotto-heaven World, he might not even need to go to the Secret Realm.

With a solution, Lin Shiming earnestly began to Cultivate the Sword Nurturing Art.

And with Zi Xuan Daoist's guidance,

Another ten days passed, and his sword-nurturing method, even without the System's prompts, progressed rapidly.

He could already conceal the top-grade Magical Artifact sword, the Zilai Sword, within his spirit platform for nurturing.

This wondrous aspect made him sigh with emotion that the Qingxuan Sect indeed possessed boundless heritage; this kind of secret art, though easily turning one into a sword sheath, also offered terrifying power amplification.

Magic Treasures were so feared precisely because they could be incorporated into the body and nurtured by the Purple Mansion; even ordinary Magic Treasures, after three or four hundred years of nurturing by a Purple Mansion Cultivator, could potentially become infinitely powerful.

From a certain perspective, the quality of a Magic Treasure only represented its lower limit.

Once the Sword Nurturing Art was successfully cultivated, Zi Xuan Daoist waved his hand, dismissing Lin Shiming.

As Lin Shiming departed, unbeknownst to him, Zi Xuan Daoist stared at his retreating back for a long time, then looked at the sandalwood incense.

He cast a spirit art.

In the curling smoke emanating from the sandalwood incense, Lin Shiming's figure appeared dreamily.

Lin Shiming in the smoke cultivated the Sword Nurturing Art, full of flaws, with an understanding of the Dao of the Sword that was utterly fragmented.

But under his guidance, he slowly improved; at this moment, Lin Shiming's expression was also an object of his observation.

However, whether in terms of the Dao of the Sword or his expression, Lin Shiming, apart from initially appearing a bit tense and even secretly pleased, proceeded extremely smoothly afterward.

In fact, as the Sword Nurturing Art progressed rapidly, he even showed some joy.

He did not seem to be holding back, as he had guessed.

His understanding of the Dao of the Sword was not at all like holding back, but rather consistently within a certain baseline.

Very poor!

He just didn't know why an anomaly appeared on the Nine Leaves Enlightenment Platform.

Only then did Zi Xuan Daoist let out a sigh of relief; with a wave of his hand, he put the remaining sandalwood incense into his Storage Pouch, as if nothing had happened, and then took out a mirror.

The other ten Disciples, after cultivating, continued to close their eyes and meditate!

On the other side, Lin Shiming, who had returned to his room, continued to Cultivate the Sword Nurturing Art.

As for Lin Xianzhi, he had already thought of a proper way to handle it; once the sword was nurtured, it could also enhance his Seventh Grand Uncle's strength.

There was naturally no reason not to continue cultivating this sword art.

It was just a pity that Zi Xuan Daoist had them swear an oath of the heavenly dao again; otherwise, if passed on to the Lin Family Disciples, it could also significantly boost the strength of Cultivators like Lin Shijie.

Time passed quickly, another ten days, and at this moment, in front of the Qingxuan Sect mountain gate, countless Cultivators gathered at the Ascension Ladder, a mighty throng.

The Ascension Ladder was even more majestic, the entire ladder glowing with brilliant Spirit Light, with wisps of the Dao's sound encircling it.

This allowed the Cultivators ascending the ladder not only to condense their Spiritual Qi and true essence but also to cleanse their hearts.

And above the Ascension Ladder, on one side of the Qingxuan Sect mountain gate, was an enormous, spacious platform.

Lin Shiming and Lin Xianzhi now also stood among the Qingxuan Sect Disciples participating in the Secret Realm.

At the very front were six Purple Mansion Elders led by the current Purple Mansion Sect Master of the Qingxuan Sect, Qingzhu Daoist.

The entire Qingxuan Sect had over three hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators participating in the Secret Realm, including over two hundred Sect Disciples and more than one hundred Named Disciples from various Families.

As time passed, more and more Cultivators flew in.

A Spirit Beast crane cry echoed in the sky, and a gigantic Purple Mansion Golden-Crowned Spirit Crane, a fourth-tier Purple Mansion Spirit Beast, appeared on the horizon.

On the back of the Spirit Crane were the Disciples of the Spirit Beast Sect, led by someone Lin Shiming was somewhat familiar with, none other than Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal.

The Spirit Beast Sect had only three Purple Mansion Cultivators this time, but over two hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators participating in the Secret Realm.

After the arrival of the Spirit Beast Sect, came the Spirit Talisman Sect.

The Spirit Talisman Sect was driving a war treasure ship, its surface covered with various spirit talismans.

On the spirit boat, Cultivators in spirit talisman robes floated in, led by Golden Light Daoist, who had jointly resisted the Heavenly Demon Sect before.

Upon the arrival of the Spirit Beast Sect and the Spirit Talisman Sect, Qingzhu Daoist, as the Sect Master, also stepped forward with a welcoming smile.

Then the spectacle continued; a gigantic Heavenly Demon Banner transformed into a flying Magic Treasure, carrying countless Heavenly Demon Sect Disciples, flying in, the surging demonic mist like rolling black waves, coming from afar with a mighty presence, countless Devil Heads brandishing their claws in the demonic mist.

However, at this moment, the Ascension Ladder radiated streaks of golden light.

Under the golden light's illumination, the demonic mist dissolved like melting ice and snow, turning into nothingness.

Revealing Shamo Sanren, who led the Heavenly Demon Sect.

Shamo Sanren was covered in Rakshasa spirit patterns, appearing extremely sinister and charming.

"Qingzhu, is this how you welcome an old friend?" Shamo Sanren said with a hint of disdain.

"Qingzhu has his own way of treating guests. What, are all members of the Demon Sect so arrogant and rude?" Qingzhu replied extremely calmly, narrowing his eyes slightly as he stared at Shamo Sanren.

Shamo Sanren, being stared at like this, felt a bit uncomfortable; with a wave of his hand, a large amount of demonic mist surged out again, concealing the Heavenly Demon Banner within, and he said no more.

As soon as the Heavenly Demon Sect appeared, countless Cultivators driving coffin Magical Artifacts flew in from afar.

The leading coffin was a red sandalwood coffin with golden inscriptions, and on it was Xueshi Sanren, who was responsible for the Corpse Refinement Sect this time.

"So thin, Xueshi, have you been drained dry by your corpse refinement again?"

Before Qingzhu Daoist could speak, a teasing remark came from the sky.

Then, a giant sword, dozens of zhang long, arrived, breaking through the air with a host of Ten Thousand Swords Sect Disciples.

The Disciples of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect were particularly easy to recognize, with a thick, broad sword strapped to their backs.

"Old man Gu Jian, this old man has always prepared your coffin; just tell me when you're free!" The gaunt Xueshi Sanren, his slightly sunken eyes darting about, also retorted impolitely.

The atmosphere on the scene immediately became tense; the Secret Realm hadn't even begun, yet these Purple Mansion Cultivators were already at odds with each other.

The Spirit Talisman Sect and the Spirit Beast Sect looked down on the Heavenly Demon Sect, while the Ten Thousand Swords Sect and the Corpse Refinement Sect were mutually hostile.

The four Righteous Path Sects naturally colluded, united against a common enemy, facing the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Corpse Refinement Sect.

If it weren't for the latter launching a war, forcefully acquiring certain territories of the Zhao Country, and then strongly insisting on participating in this Secret Realm on the grounds of being fellow Cultivators of the Zhao Country,

The Secret Realm treasures, originally to be divided among Three Sects, now had to be shared among six Sects.

How could the Spirit Talisman Sect and the Spirit Beast Sect be convinced?

As for the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, it had already sided with the Three Sects of the Zhao Country, and for the sake of the Secret Realm, it naturally couldn't remain aloof!

"Do you all wish for your Junior Martial Uncles to watch a joke?" Qingzhu Daoist coldly shouted.

Upon hearing this, the others' expressions immediately tightened, and they looked at Qingzhu Daoist.

They naturally knew that the Golden Core Immortal Revered Masters were paying attention here, but the old animosity and grudges had not been a day or two.

If they couldn't fight to the death, meeting each other naturally meant a confrontation.

Especially these demonic Cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Corpse Refinement Sect, one eyeing the corpses of immortal Cultivators, the other eyeing their Divine Souls!

It simply made all Righteous Path Cultivators in the world wish they could exterminate them all!

"This Secret Realm is the Qingxuan Secret Realm, and it leads to a Small World. Our Qingxuan Sect has always believed that treasures belong to the capable, which is why we broadly invited fellow Daoists, not to invite you all for a discussion of the Dao!"

"As expected of the Qingxuan Sect, what a pleasant way to put it!" Before Qingzhu Daoist could finish, Shamo Sanren sneered.

Then, without waiting for Qingzhu Daoist to speak, he glanced at Xueshi Sanren and sternly shouted:

"The Secret Realm is the Zhao Country's Secret Realm, and the Zhao Country is not just your one Sect!"

"Since this is the Zhao Country's Secret Realm, even if your Qingxuan Sect doesn't allow it, you must!"

"Right, even if you don't allow it, you must. Otherwise, why don't we all not go in, fight a battle first, this old man has brought quite a few coffins!" Xueshi Sanren, seeing this, also revealed a glint in his eyes, staring at the several Righteous Path Purple Mansion Cultivators.

"Hmph, such banditry, can it even be called being people of the Zhao Country?" Golden Light Daoist was also extremely displeased.

"Whether it counts or not, you don't get to decide. Since the Golden Core Junior Martial Uncles have already discussed it, our two Demon Corpse Sects can also enter!" Shamo Sanren's voice continued to emanate from the demonic mist.

And Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal and Golden Light Daoist no longer spoke.

"Participate, yes, but with three agreements: anyone who dares to damage a single flower or tree on Qingxuan Mountain will be immediately executed!" Qingzhu Daoist spoke again!