103: Demonic Passage

"Divine Sword Sect?"

"Prodigy Competition?"

"And the reward is a Heaven-Grade Secret Treasure!"

Everyone's breathing hitched, then their blood almost boiled.

If the previous Heaven-Grade Secret Treasure reward for "slaying the Vice Sect Leader of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect" was certainly out of their reach,

then this time, the reward for defeating Xiao Ling'er was not so certain.

Many Prodigies under twenty years old had their own amazing fortuitous encounters.

Among them were not a few like Xiao Ling'er, who possessed an Innate Ice Spirit Body or an Innate Fire Spirit Body, and there were even Core Disciples who had obtained mysterious Legacies or were fully Cultivated by top Sects.

Although they usually kept a low profile, this time, for the Heaven-Grade Secret Treasure, they might very well come and fight.

Moreover, with a Heaven-Grade Secret Treasure as a reward, the Divine Sword Sect's competition would surely become a grand event in Lei Province a month later!

"I need to go back and open the Sect's Secret Realm to let the Core Disciples go in and improve."

"Core Disciples under twenty who can rival Xiao Ling'er, this requirement is indeed very strict."

"Xiao Ling'er's strength is indeed astonishing; at least within the Foundation Establishment Realm, she has no opponents."

Can anyone under twenty surpass the Foundation Establishment Realm?

Yes!

But very, very, very few!

Su Fan merely used Xiao Ling'er as the standard, and with a Heaven-Grade Secret Treasure as the reward, he filtered out all the world-shocking Prodigies in Lei Province.

These Prodigies might even disdain to participate in the Leizhou Prodigy Ranking; they were all figures beyond the ranking.

"Since that's the case, we shall take our leave."

"See you at the Divine Sword Sect's competition in a month!"

"Hmph, can your broken Sect also Cultivate a peerless Prodigy who can fight against the Prodigy Xiao Ling'er?"

"You!"

...After the great battle, all the Secret Treasure rewards were distributed. Su Fan had no intention of holding a celebratory banquet.

Everyone left directly, rushing back to prepare for the Divine Sword Sect's competition.

With a Heaven-Grade Secret Treasure as a reward, such a grand gesture was enough to pique the interest of all the great Sects.

And as long as one could defeat Xiao Ling'er, one could receive the reward.

Theoretically, if three people won, there would be three items; if ten people won, there would be ten items!

As long as one could defeat Xiao Ling'er!

"Revered Master doing this puts a lot of pressure on this Disciple."

Xiao Ling'er's face was bitter.

No one would have thought that this number one Prodigy, who required all the Prodigies of Lei Province to challenge her together, was just a Disciple of the Servant Peak three months ago.

"Don't worry, I believe no one can defeat you."

Su Fan simply offered a word of comfort, then no longer paid attention to Xiao Ling'er's small emotions.

"You few, follow me."

...Su Fan led Chu Qinglian and several Disciples to the former site of the Blood Shadow Demon Pool Forbidden Ground, which was now where the Demon Realm passage was located.

This place was now firmly Sealed by a Heaven-Grade Secret Treasure, the Thunder Pool Lock, and Su Fan had also set up several layers of Formations around it to ensure the Thunder Pool Lock could continuously maintain its maximum power and Seal the Demon Realm passage.

"What is this place?"

Chu Qinglian asked, puzzled.

"The entrance to the Demon Realm passage."

Su Fan said calmly.

"The Demon Realm?"

Chu Qinglian, Xiao Ling'er, and Yu Ruoxue all exclaimed in surprise.

Little Gu Yuan's small bear face showed a dazed expression.

Chu Wuchen, on the other hand, carried two swords on his back, expressionless.

Aside from Yu Ruoxue, the remaining people present were Su Fan's most trusted individuals, and Su Fan had no intention of hiding the matter of the Demon Realm passage from them.

After describing the Demon Realm passage to everyone, they all fell silent.

"Revered Master, when will this Demon Realm passage descend?"

Su Fan shook his head.

"I don't know either. However, destroying the Blood Shadow Demon Sect this time has cut off a source for the passage to absorb flesh and blood creatures, which should delay their descent."

There were a total of eight Demon Realm passages, and Su Fan had only destroyed one of them this time.

"Then we need to Cultivate as quickly as possible."

Chu Qinglian sighed, feeling a sense of urgency again.

Not only Chu Qinglian, but even Su Fan felt a sense of urgency.

If the Demon Realm passage truly descended upon the Human Race world, it was far from something his current strength could contend with.

At that time, there would inevitably be battles at the Transformation God Realm level.

Su Fan could now slay any level of the Spirit Sea Realm, but he still couldn't participate in battles at the Transformation God Realm level.

"What do we do next? Guard this Demon Realm passage and establish the Divine Sword Sect's mountain gate?"

Chu Qinglian looked at the dozens of surrounding mountain peaks.

This area was like a new birth, completely unlike the former appearance of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect.

After leaving the Qingyang Sword Sect, Chu Qinglian felt a sense of belonging to a home for the first time again.

"No, we won't stay here; we're leaving... heading south."

Chu Qinglian froze.

She couldn't believe her ears!

She had just felt a sense of home, and now she had to follow Su Fan south again?

...It took a full three days for Su Fan and Chu Qinglian to set up layers of Formations around the thirty-nine mountain peaks belonging to the Divine Sword Sect.

Although it wasn't as overbearing as the Blood Shadow Demon Sect's Sect-protecting Formation, it was enough to serve the purpose of "dividing territory."

Xiao Ling'er and the other three settled the thousand or so slaves, finding an open space in the Divine Sword Sect to rebuild their homes.

Those who wished to leave could do so on their own.

Those who stayed became Servants of the Divine Sword Sect, maintaining the daily affairs of the thirty-nine mountain peaks and constructing some basic buildings.

After all this was done, the group traveled light and headed south again.

"It's not easy to establish our own Sect, so why are we running around again?"

Chu Qinglian, controlling the flying boat, couldn't help but complain.

"I need to find new talented Disciples. Near the Divine Sword Sect, there's only Bei Han City, and that area was previously deeply poisoned by the Blood Shadow Demon Sect. Even if there were Prodigies, they would have long since fled."

After hearing Su Fan's explanation, Chu Qinglian could only sigh.

It indeed made sense.

"However, with the Demon Realm passage about to open, I think you should focus more on improving your own Cultivation, and recruiting new Disciples isn't as urgent."

Faced with Chu Qinglian's confusion, Su Fan didn't explain this time, only smiling faintly.

In fact, recruiting new Disciples was the fastest way for him to improve.

For Su Fan, not only would each Disciple's Cultivation progress result in a small increase in his Realm,

but it also seemed that new Disciples were more likely to trigger the "ten thousand times" return.

Recently, Su Fan had triggered "several thousand times" return many times in a row.

If he wanted to advance from the Core Formation Realm to the Spirit Sea Realm, recruiting a new Disciple was a matter of urgency.

The group's goal was clear.

Head south, once again towards the Thunderfire Great Forest.

They would stop at each city, allowing Su Fan to search around.

While Su Fan was in the city, Xiao Ling'er and Chu Wuchen would go out to train outside the city, hunting Yao Beasts.

They would also find large amounts of high-grade Yao Beast flesh and blood for little Gu Yuan to eat, to further stimulate his ancient Town-region Bear Bloodline.

Seven days passed in this manner.

Su Fan and his group arrived at the third city.

As soon as they sat down in the restaurant, they noticed something was amiss.

There was actually the aura of a Demon Cultivator here!