82: Chapter 82 The Arrival of the Secret Realm

Li Changsheng stood amidst the crowd, gazing at the increasingly bright light curtain in the distance.

A Qi Refining stage Secret Realm.

Various factions were intermingled.

Fighting for Opportunity, conflict was inevitable.

He took a deep breath and gripped the green steel sword in his hand.

Behind him, Li Changqing and Shi Tiezhu stood by his side, their expressions tense yet expectant.

In the distance, amidst the crowd, several cold gazes were quietly sizing them up.

They were people from the Blood Fiend Sect.

They were also Zhao Yan's men.

The Secret Realm had not yet opened, but the murderous intent had already appeared.

After Elder Xuanzhen left, the plaza remained noisy and filled with discussion.

However, just as the crowd had not yet recovered their senses, the Secret Realm descended.

The moment the entrance to the Secret Realm descended, the heavens and earth changed color.

Above the Martial Arts Field of the Qinglan Sword Sect's outer sect, the strange light curtain that had been brewing for seven days suddenly contracted.

It was as if gripped and compressed by an invisible hand, finally transforming into a massive, slowly rotating vortex of light over ten zhang in diameter.

The center of the vortex was a deep, profound blackness, with no end in sight.

At the edges, however, seven-colored halos flowed.

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—layered upon one another, like a passage leading to an unknown world.

There was no warning.

The moment the vortex formed, an irresistible suction force instantly enveloped a radius of three miles.

Li Changsheng felt his body lighten, and he suddenly lost his footing as he was violently pulled into the air by a massive force!

The whistling of the wind filled his ears, mixed with the screams and cries of countless people, and his vision became blurry.

He could only vaguely see countless figures around him, also being swept into that massive vortex of light.

"Li Changqing! Tiezhu! Xiao Cao!"

These three names flashed through his mind, but he had no time to look back.

The next second, everything went black before his eyes.

It was a pure, absolute darkness.

There was no light, no sound, and he could not even hear his own breathing. His body felt as if it had been thrown into an invisible passage, falling, falling, falling endlessly.

He did not know how much time had passed.

Perhaps it was only an instant, perhaps it was a very long time.

The moment his feet finally touched solid ground, Li Changsheng could barely stand steady.

He stumbled two steps, steadied himself against a massive tree trunk, and panted heavily, taking a few breaths to suppress the dizzying sensation of the world spinning.

He opened his eyes.

Before him was an unfamiliar mountain forest.

The sky was gray and murky; there was no sun, yet there was light.

That light came from nowhere, evenly cast upon every corner, with no shadows and no changes in brightness.

The surrounding trees were shockingly tall.

Each one was dozens of zhang high, with trunks so thick it would take several people to embrace them, and branches and leaves that blocked out the sky, weaving a dark green canopy overhead.

The air was filled with dense Spiritual Qi.

Li Changsheng took a deep breath and nearly cried out in surprise.

The concentration of this Spiritual Qi was at least ten times that of the Qinglan Sword Sect!

No, perhaps even dozens of times more!

With every breath, he could clearly feel the Spiritual Qi seeping into his body through his nose and mouth, flowing slowly along his Meridians.

Sumeru Grotto-Heaven.

This was the Sumeru Grotto-Heaven.

He suppressed the shock in his heart and began to carefully observe his surroundings.

There was no one else around.

The teleportation at the entrance was random; everyone would be scattered throughout the Secret Realm.

This was a record he had seen in the books in the Scripture Pavilion.

He checked his belongings; his Storage Pouch was safely hidden inside his clothes, and the green steel sword he wore as a ruse was still at his waist.

Fortunately, it had not been lost during the teleportation.

Just as he was preparing to set off and explore, suddenly—

"Ah——!!!"

A shrill, miserable scream came from the distance, piercing the silence of the forest.

The sound was filled with fear and despair.

It was so sharp, like the howling of a malicious ghost, echoing in the silent forest, lingering for a long time.

Following that, there were a few more screams, each shorter than the last, until they abruptly ceased.

Li Changsheng tightened his grip on the sword hilt, glanced in the direction the screams came from, and then turned around without hesitation, cautiously moving in the opposite direction.

It was not that he would not save those in danger.

But in this unknown Secret Realm, rashly rushing toward danger would only mean throwing his life away in vain.

The owner of those screams was already beyond saving.

He quickened his pace, traveling through the forest.

The ground beneath his feet was covered in thick fallen leaves; stepping on them felt soft and made a faint rustling sound.

Occasionally, unknown insects would crawl through the leaves, and Li Changsheng would pause, carefully observing to confirm they were harmless before continuing forward.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the path ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a clearing in the forest, about half the size of a Martial Arts Field.

The clearing was overgrown with various strange plants.

There were mushrooms as tall as a person, with caps of vibrant red covered in white spots.

There were arches formed by intertwined vines, covered in small, pale blue flowers that emitted a faint, lingering fragrance.

The most eye-catching thing was a half-person-tall Spirit Plant in the center of the clearing.

The Spirit Plant was entirely emerald green with thick, fleshy leaves, and faint golden patterns flowed between its veins.

At the top bloomed a palm-sized golden flower with layered petals, and the center of the flower emitted a faint golden halo.

golden-veined grass.

Li Changsheng's heart skipped a beat.

He had seen the record in the books in the Scripture Pavilion.

golden-veined grass, a third-grade Spirit Medicine, only matures after a hundred years and is the main ingredient for refining the "Golden Yuan Pill."

The Golden Yuan Pill can greatly increase the probability of a Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage achieving a Breakthrough to the Golden Core.

In the outside world, a single pill is hard to come by; Foundation Establishment Cultivators would fight tooth and nail just to get their hands on one.

And this stalk of golden-veined grass, judging by the density of the golden patterns, was at least two hundred years old!

He took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and did not rashly step forward.

Beside a Spirit Medicine, there is always a guardian.

He held his breath and slowly scanned the surroundings of the clearing.

Sure enough.

Beside that giant red mushroom, there was a pink, furry lump that was rising and falling slightly.

Looking closely, it was a Yao Beast the size of a calf, covered entirely in pink fur, curled into a ball, sleeping soundly.

Red Velvet Beast.

A Late Stage First-Order Yao Beast.

Books record that this kind of Yao Beast has a fierce temperament, extremely strong territorial awareness, and feeds on Spirit Plants, especially favoring the golden-veined grass.

It was guarding this place, clearly treating this stalk of golden-veined grass as its private property.

An adult Red Velvet Beast has strength comparable to Qi Refining Level 9, however, this one had pink fur, clearly indicating it was a juvenile.

Even though it was a juvenile, its strength was equivalent to a human at Qi Refining Level 6.

Li Changsheng silently estimated the disparity in strength between them.

About Qi Refining Level 6 strength, slightly higher than his.

But he had Talismans, the 'Green Wood Fist', and a hundred years of combat experience.

In a direct confrontation, it was not impossible to win.

But what if the sounds of the fight attracted others...

As he was hesitating, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from the distance.

Someone was coming.

Li Changsheng's heart tightened; he quickly flashed behind a large tree, held his breath, and concealed his aura.

The footsteps grew closer and closer.

Soon, three figures emerged from the forest and stepped into the clearing.

Leading them was a young man wearing a black martial outfit, at Qi Refining Level 6, with a sinister face and sharp eyes.

Behind him followed two men also in black martial outfits, both at Qi Refining Level 4, with standardized short blades hanging at their waists.

Li Changsheng's pupils constricted slightly.

That black martial outfit... he had seen it before.

In the market, those people from the Blood Fiend Sect wore this kind of clothing.

People from the Blood Fiend Sect were also in this vicinity.

"These three are a bit tricky to deal with, but they can be taken down."

Li Changsheng calculated in his heart.

"There is also the Yao Beast; to avoid injury, I'll wait and see first."

The moment the sinister youth stepped into the clearing, his gaze landed on the golden-veined grass.

His eyes suddenly lit up, filled with greed.

"golden-veined grass! A two-hundred-year-old one!"

He lowered his voice and said excitedly.

"We've hit the jackpot! This trip was not in vain!"