101: The two counties were in an uproar

Beside him was another person, slightly burly with a rugged face; it was the second brother, Zhong Xue.

Standing with his arms crossed, he advised in a muffled, booming voice upon hearing this:

"Big Brother, stay calm."

"The Qi Family has been hiding like turtles these past years. Their head, Qi Yuan, is said to be plagued by old injuries and rarely leaves his home."

"They are used to being cautious. The daily messages of these juniors are naturally just trivial nonsense."

"Would truly important news really be put on paper and fly out of Green Cloud Mountain so easily?"

Chen Yin took a deep breath, suppressing his surging hostility, but his eyes beneath the hood remained icy:

"That may be so... but I still feel uneasy in my heart!"

"Fourth Brother has been missing for ten years. No sign of him alive, no corpse if he's dead!"

"Even the mother and son he kept in the Outer Alley vanished along with him! I cannot swallow this resentment!"

A heavy expression also filled Zhong Xue's rugged face. He patted his elder brother's shoulder and lowered his voice:

"Big Brother, I know you're suppressing your anger."

"Regarding Fourth Brother... we've searched for ten years and have exhausted almost every clue."

"The group of Loose Cultivators from Heishan Prefecture are the most suspicious, especially that female Cultivator named Ling Qi. She hasn't been seen since Fourth Brother's incident, as if she evaporated from the world."

"Second to them are the families we had friction with back then who still have some strength left."

"This Qi Family... is only slightly suspicious."

He paused before continuing:

"Qi Yuan is said to be over ninety, and his 'old injuries' have flared up recently, making his influence far less than before."

"How could he have taken out Fourth Brother? And wiped the slate so clean?"

"Besides, the Qi Family has been shrinking its influence and keeping an excessively low profile these years."

"I always feel..."

Chen Yin abruptly interrupted him, his sharp gaze beneath the hood sweeping across the silent alleyway:

"You feel?"

"Second Brother, we brothers have lived on the edge of a blade for so many years by relying on 'better to suspect wrongly than to trust blindly'!"

"The Qi Family is very suspicious!"

"That Qi Yuan, how could someone who established a foothold in Yunliao Prefecture in his early years be an easy target?"

"The Qi Family's contraction might exactly be because they have a guilty conscience and are biding their time!"

"And that Qi Xuanlin, taking over the Family at such a young age and guarding those few properties in Cloud Dream County so tightly all these years... his luck is simply too good!"

Zhong Xue sighed. Knowing his brother's suspicion was already aroused and hard to dispel, he changed the subject, his tone carrying self-deprecation and loneliness:

"Forget it, there's no use saying more for now."

"Big Brother, you should put your mind at ease."

"Your bone age is fifty-seven, just within the threshold. For this Earth Spirit Secret Realm, both you and Third Brother can enter to take a chance."

"This is the top priority concerning our future path! As for me..."

He shook his head with a bitter smile:

"I'm past the age. I only hope you can gain something in the Secret Realm, find an Opportunity, and have hope for Foundation Establishment. Then you can avenge Fourth Brother and bring glory to our name in the future."

Mentioning the "Earth Spirit Secret Realm," the hostility in Yin Sha's eyes lessened slightly, replaced by a touch of longing and solemnity.

He said slowly:

"The matters of the Secret Realm are strictly controlled by those few families in the prefecture city."

"Although we brothers have done a lot of dirty work for them, getting a slot will likely still require a significant price... As for Fourth Brother..."

His voice suddenly turned cold, filled with deep-seated hatred:

"His biggest mistake was falling in love and even leaving behind a Bloodline!"

"I warned him long ago that for people like us, emotional entanglements are a path to death!"

"He just wouldn't listen! And now... humph!"

Zhong Xue was silent for a moment before saying slowly:

"Fourth Brother was naturally romantic but valued loyalty."

"Otherwise, why would we have accepted him back then?"

"I thought he would restrain himself after damaging his foundation."

"Forget it, he's gone... Big Brother, should we continue to keep an eye on the market city? About the Secret Realm..."

The shadow beneath Chen Yin's hood shifted slightly, as if he were weighing his options.

After a moment, he said coldly:

"The Qi Family... there's no need to alert them for now."

"The Secret Realm is the priority. Once we emerge from the Secret Realm... some old debts should be settled properly."

He took one last look toward the Hundred Refinements Pavilion deep within the market city, a cold light flashing in his eyes before his figure merged into the deeper darkness and vanished.

Zhong Xue glanced at the communication jade Talisman in his hand, shook his head, and silently followed... Time flowed like a stream, seemingly slow but actually fleeting. In the blink of an eye, another three months passed.

The long-brewing thunderclap finally exploded, spreading across the Yunliao and Linchuan prefectures and even radiating to other provinces and prefectures—

The guarding immortal clan of Southern Yue Province, the Zhao Clan, in collaboration with the Heavenly Mystery Cultivators enshrined by the Imperial Family, had spent years on deductions.

They finally succeeded in anchoring the spatial coordinates of the Profound Purity Sect's Secret Realm, which was rumored to contain "earth spirit qi"!

And they calculated its approximate arrival date to be half a year later!

To receive this once-in-a-century Opportunity, the Zhao Family had begun setting up a cross-Realm reception Formation at a vital point on the border between the two prefectures.

The proclamation then spread throughout Southern Yue:

For this opening of the "Earth Spirit Secret Realm," any immortal clan registered in Southern Yue Province could send juniors under the bone age of sixty to participate and explore the Opportunity together!

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves!

As soon as this news broke, the cultivation world of both Yunliao and Linchuan prefectures was in a total ferment!

Countless Cultivators spread the word, their excitement hard to suppress.

The legend of Earth Spirit Foundation Establishment was undoubtedly a sudden ray of light in the darkness for the vast majority of Cultivators trapped in the Qi Refining Realm with no way to reach Foundation Establishment—an Opportunity capable of changing the fate of an individual or even a Family!

Within a short time, the major market cities of the two prefectures were teeming with people, and the prices of various Medicinal Pills, Magical Artifacts, and Talismans, which had just returned to normal, began a new round of climbing.

There were even Loose Cultivators and juniors from small families from neighboring provinces and even further away who traveled thousands of miles upon hearing the news.

They tried to find ways to see if they could attach themselves to an immortal clan or use other means to fight for a slot to enter the Secret Realm.

As the core of the prefecture, Yunliao Market welcomed a level of hustle and bustle unseen in decades.

Inns were packed, wine shops were noisy, and the air was filled with a restless atmosphere.

Inside the Hundred Refinements Pavilion, Qi Xuantong put down his forging hammer and leaned against the second-floor window.

He looked at the crowded and diverse figures of Cultivators on the street below, his heart also filled with surging emotions.

He could hardly imagine the specific Opportunities of the Secret Realm, but this all-encompassing wave and the massive business opportunities it brought were very real.

Lately, business in the pavilion had been exceptionally booming, especially for various portable and consumable one-time Magical Artifacts like needles and throwing knives.

As well as sturdy defensive armor and boot-type Magical Artifacts that increased speed; they were almost in short supply.

Orders flew in like snowflakes, keeping him and Senior Brother Zhou Tong extremely busy.

He was now quite proficient in refining First-Tier Medium Grade Magical Artifacts.

Seeing the Magical Artifacts forged by his own hands being bought by Cultivators with great care, Qi Xuantong increasingly felt the all-encompassing pressure that the opening of the Secret Realm was about to bring.

Looking into the shop, Senior Brother Zhou Tong still had a lazy appearance, seemingly not very interested in the commotion outside.

Over these years, due to Dual Cultivation, Zhou Tong's cultivation had steadily risen to the ninth level of Qi Refining, a notch higher than Qi Xuantong's.

However, he hadn't shown much progress in the path of Artifact Refining or in actual combat.

On ordinary days, he still lingered in the red-light districts of the market city, as if he didn't have much enthusiasm for his future on the Great Dao.

Qi Xuantong hesitated repeatedly in his heart but still walked over.

He remembered the private instructions from Master Tie Feng.

"Senior Brother."

He spoke with deliberation:

"The Secret Realm is about to open, and the winds and clouds are gathering."

"Senior Brother, your cultivation has reached the ninth level, and you are in your prime. Have you ever thought about... also taking a chance?"