68: Chapter 68 The Secret Realm Opens

"Since everyone is here, let us open the Secret Realm," Elder Gu Jian of the Tianjian Sect spoke first, glancing around at the leading Elders from each sect.

"Then let us begin," Luo Li, Fairy Yunshang, and Su Wei nodded simultaneously.

Xiao Ye stood to the side, watching these four Golden Core Stage big shots nod with such solemnity. He muttered to himself, "Making it so grand, it's like a board meeting. All that's missing is a cup of tea in front of each of them."

In the next moment, the four of them each took out a Formation Flag and tossed it into the air. The four small flags unfurled in the wind, hovering in mid-air and emitting a faint glow. Each of them then formed a hand seal and injected spiritual energy into the Formation Flags—

Swoosh—

Four beams of light shot out from the Formation Flags simultaneously, piercing the clouds and converging at a single point in the sky. That point immediately twisted and deformed, the space shaking violently as if it had been wrung by a giant hand. Soon, a pitch-black spatial portal slowly opened, looking like a rift torn into the sky, dark and bottomless.

"The entrance to the Secret Realm is open," Gu Jian's voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.

"Tianjian Sect, enter."

"Yunlan Sect, enter."

"Jade Maiden Sect, enter."

"Hehuan Sect, enter."

The four of them spoke almost at the same time.

In the next instant, the Disciples of the four sects rushed toward the entrance simultaneously, a massive, swarming crowd.

Xiao Ye patted Xiao Yan's head: "Son, be careful inside. Don't try to be a hero."

"I know, Dad. You too," Xiao Yan said before flying in with the Jade Maiden Sect's team, his small figure vanishing into the black hole in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Ye didn't dawdle either. He turned back to the Hehuan Sect's team and flew into the portal along with the others.

Upon entering the spatial portal, Xiao Ye's vision went dark, as if someone had suddenly turned off the lights. Immediately after, an invisible force began to tug at his body, pulling him left and right like a washing machine on the spin cycle, tossing him about until he was dizzy and his stomach was churning.

"Holy crap—what kind of crappy teleportation is—"

Before he could finish cursing, his vision brightened, and the piercing light made him squint.

Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he found himself standing in an unfamiliar space.

He looked around—

The sky was a hazy gray, as if covered by a veil. The ground was yellow-brown, with sparse weeds growing on it.

There were mountains in the distance; they weren't high, but they rolled on endlessly, stretching beyond the horizon. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth mixed with the faint fragrance of vegetation.

Quiet.

Unusually quiet.

No sound of wind, no birds chirping, not even the sound of insects. It was so quiet it made one's skin crawl, as if he were the only person left in the entire world.

Xiao Ye looked beside him again—

Empty.

Not a single person.

"Huh?" He froze for a moment, then turned in a full circle—front, back, left, right—within a hundred-meter radius, there wasn't even a ghost of a shadow.

"Wait, where is everyone?"

He clearly remembered entering with the Hehuan Sect's team. How could he be the only one left in the blink of an eye? Was the teleportation formation bugged?

"This crappy Secret Realm even has random teleportation?" Xiao Ye scratched his head, suddenly remembering that Luo Li seemed to have mentioned it in passing—that upon entering the Secret Realm, they would be randomly scattered to various corners.

"Fine, random it is." Xiao Ye sighed and pulled the star-chasing sword from his waist, preparing to fly on his sword, only to find that the star-chasing sword actually couldn't take off.

What the hell? Can't fly? Helpless, he could only proceed on foot.

"golden beads, here I come."

However, in the sky.

The Golden Core Elders of the Hehuan Sect and the other three sects were hovering in mid-air, fixed in the sky like nails, their gazes scanning the Secret Realm below.

Luo Li looked behind him and counted—four.

One was missing.

"Zi Yun," he frowned, "where is Xiao Ye?"

Zi Yun's heart skipped a beat, thinking to herself that things had gone south.

The reason the supervisory Elders required the Golden Core Stage to enter the Secret Realm was that the sky of the Secret Realm possessed a certain suppressive force.

Without Golden Core cultivation, one simply couldn't fly through the air.

And Xiao Ye... was at Foundation Establishment Perfection.

She had been so dazed by Xiao Ye's combat power, which rivaled a Golden Core, that she had momentarily forgotten this point. Now that she remembered, she was breaking out in a cold sweat.

"There might be Disciples in danger; Elder Xiao likely went to protect them." Zi Yun spoke without a change in expression, forcing herself to lie through her teeth. Her face was the picture of composure, but her heart was cursing: 'This old fellow better not cause trouble for me.'

Luo Li nodded and didn't ask further, turning to instruct Zi Yun and the other two: "The three of you, each pick a direction."

Zi Yun and the others acknowledged and each chose a direction, flying off with a "whoosh" and vanishing over the horizon in an instant.

In the five-person team, four were flying in the sky, while one was crawling on the ground.

They were mainly patrolling from high altitude to prevent Disciples from being attacked by Advanced Yao Beasts and to provide timely rescue.

As for the fights between the Disciples of the four sects—they didn't care. They could fight or kill as they pleased; it had nothing to do with them. Whether they lived or died depended on their own abilities.

Only after flying a long distance did Zi Yun dare to look back, praying silently in her heart: 'Xiao Ye, oh Xiao Ye, don't you go causing any trouble. Otherwise, I won't be able to smooth over this lie I've told!'

On the other side.

Xiao Ye was currently sticking his rear in the air, lying in the grass and using the Seven-Star Dragon-Chasing Sword like a hoe, digging into the earth like a foraging marmot.

In front of him was a waist-high plant with long, thin leaves like bamboo that curled slightly, with several dark berries growing in the center.

This was the golden bead grass. The golden beads grew within its well-developed root system. However, only hundred-year-old golden bead grass would produce golden beads; if the age wasn't sufficient, digging it up would be a waste of effort.

Xiao Ye had already dug half a meter deep, but there was nothing in the pit but mud, not even a shadow of a golden bead.

"Damn it, I misjudged it—this one hasn't reached a hundred years?"

He climbed out of the pit grumbling and plopped down on the ground.

"Damn, digging for Spirit Medicine is too exhausting." Xiao Ye panted, looking at his mud-covered hands as he fell into thought. "No, I have to find someone to dig for me. Digging it myself will kill me. As the dignified President Xiao, how can I do such menial labor?"

Just then, the clanging of a fight came from not far away, mixed with the sharp shouts of women.

Xiao Ye's mouth curled into a smirk. He fished a black mask out of his Storage Pouch and snapped it onto his face, covering it completely. Then, he crouched down and crept over stealthily.

When he crested a small hill and saw the people fighting, a strange expression appeared on his face.

In the hollow below, two female cultivators were facing off with swords drawn. The atmosphere was tense, thick with the smell of jealousy and gunpowder, as if the words "life or death" were written across their foreheads.

Yunlan Sect—Mu Wanqing!

Tianjian Sect—Lu Manman!