238: Chapter 238 The Secret Realm of the River of Oblivion

Zhao Fenghua was a Five-Star Martial King powerhouse himself and also a Fifth-Rank Formation Master. Of the fifty tokens possessed by the East Sea Zhao Family, he alone held two, allowing him to recommend two people to enter the Wangchuan Secret Realm.

The ownership of one of the tokens had been decided ten years ago, given to Zhao Qingfeng, the strongest among his grandchildren. The other token was given to Ye Yisong, though it was made clear that Ye Yisong only had this one Opportunity to use it; after the Secret Realm ended, the token had to be returned.

There was less than three months left until the next opening of the Wangchuan Secret Realm. At that time, the major forces of the East Sea would gather at the Secret Realm's entrance, Wangchuan Valley, to assemble the nine keys, open the Secret Realm, and conduct a new round of the resource-splitting feast.

Legend had it that the Wangchuan Secret Realm was a treasured land formed from the mutated heart of a Martial God level powerhouse after their fall. Initially, it could accommodate Martial Emperor level powerhouses.

In the first few hundred years after the Secret Realm appeared, it attracted a hundred Martial Emperor powerhouses from the five states of Great Wei. In the Secret Realm, these powerhouses fought fiercely over Medicinal Pills, Cultivation Techniques, weapons, and Legacies for cultivation, eventually punching a hole in the Secret Realm and angering the residual will of the Martial God, who expelled all the powerhouses from the Secret Realm.

Since then, the Secret Realm fell into a state of lockdown, and it was not opened again until three hundred years later.

When the Secret Realm reopened, the Martial Emperor powerhouses of the major forces heard the news and swarmed forward again, rushing towards the entrance of the Secret Realm, only to be blocked at the entrance, unable to enter.

The various Martial Emperor powerhouses sat around the entrance of the Secret Realm, each using their own methods, yet none could break through that barrier and gain entry, wasting an Opportunity for the Secret Realm to open.

A hundred years later, the Martial Emperors of the major forces from the five states reunited at Wangchuan Valley. A Loose Cultivator Martial Emperor from the West State proposed that Disciples from their sects or clans enter the Secret Realm to scavenge for Opportunities inside, which gained unanimous approval from everyone.

It was finally decided that Late Stage Martial Emperor powerhouses could send ten Disciples, Middle Stage Martial Emperor powerhouses could send five Disciples, and Early Stage Martial Emperor powerhouses could send two Disciples to enter the Secret Realm.

After the seven hundred plus Martial King powerhouses entered the Secret Realm, they repeated the history of their Old Ancestors, breaking out into a second Secret Realm war inside over sixth-rank Medicinal Pills, sixth-rank divine weapons, and sixth-rank Cultivation Techniques.

Unsurprisingly, the Secret Realm was broken again. The Martial God's will of the Secret Realm once again expelled all living Martial Artists, closed early, and fell into a deep slumber.

Of the seven hundred plus Martial King powerhouses who entered the Secret Realm this time, over three hundred perished in less than three months, causing immense heartbreak for the major forces.

Most of these Martial Kings who entered the Secret Realm to compete for resources were Late Stage Martial King powerhouses, the successors cultivated by the major forces. To have them perish in a single treasure hunt in the Secret Realm was simply unacceptable to them.

Furthermore, the resources in the Secret Realm had been scavenged through several rounds, and the quality was no longer what it used to be.

The Disciples from the major forces who came out alive only handed over treasures to their Old Ancestors that, in some cases, were merely a few High Grade fifth-rank Medicinal Pills; there wasn't even a single sixth-rank treasure.

Seeing this, some Martial Emperor powerhouses secretly harbored thoughts of withdrawing and did not intend to participate in the next competition.

This time, the Secret Realm slumbered for even longer, not opening again until five hundred years later.

Before entering the Secret Realm, the Old Ancestors of the various forces gave their Disciples and descendants repeated instructions not to engage in major conflicts within the Secret Realm to prevent it from shattering again.

But after entering the Secret Realm, upon seeing sixth-rank Medicinal Pills, how could they remember the Old Ancestors' exhortations? They fought with real fire, once again punching a large hole in the Secret Realm.

The Secret Realm cycled repeatedly between slumbering and opening.

Two thousand years later, the Secret Realm voluntarily spat out nine keys. Each key concealed fifty black tokens inside, which thoroughly established the method for entering the Secret Realm.

Every hundred years, the nine keys had to be gathered to open the Secret Realm. Each time the Secret Realm opened, it lasted for three months, and only Martial Ancestor powerhouses holding tokens were allowed to enter.

The nine keys passed through various hands and eventually ended up with the King of Donghai, the Four Great Families of the East Sea, the three major sects of the East Sea, and Hermit Hanjiang.

The Wangchuan Secret Realm had been opening for three thousand years, and the High Grade treasures inside had long been scavenged away. The Opportunities left behind were merely some fifth-rank Medicinal Pills and illusory, High Grade Legacies.

These High Grade Legacies were mainly the treasures left behind by Martial Artists who had fallen inside the Secret Realm during the first few hundred years of its opening.

But after three thousand years, most of the remains of the powerhouses and the Legacies they carried with them had been retrieved by their descendants and brought back to their families or sects.

Perhaps there were still a few hidden gems in the Secret Realm, but to the Martial Emperor level forces in other states, they were merely chicken ribs—not worth traveling hundreds of thousands of miles to compete for; otherwise, the nine keys would not have been entirely held by the major forces of the East Sea.

To the East Sea Zhao Family, while fifth-rank Medicinal Pills were very precious, losing a few to the Zhao Family's son-in-law was not unacceptable.

Besides, it wasn't even certain whether Ye Yisong would be able to obtain any fifth-rank Medicinal Pills after entering the Secret Realm!

As for the Legacies, Zhao Fenghua chuckled.

The major forces of the East Sea had held the keys for over a thousand years; if there were any Legacies inside, they wouldn't have lasted until now. It was nothing but hearsay.

Not only the Zhao Family, but the other three major clans would also give their extra black tokens to their own in-laws to use.

Especially Hermit Hanjiang, who only had nine Disciples in total, three of whom had already broken through to the Martial King Realm. He couldn't possibly use up the fifty tokens in his hands, so most of them were used up by him through various forms, either by trading or auctioning them off.

...

After Ye Yisong followed Xuenv to the East Courtyard, he dismissed the cleaning servants and went directly into the innermost cultivation room. He took out the two tiger soul soul-nurturing pills from his bosom and held them to his nose, sniffing gently. The pill fragrance was mellow and rich, and the Spiritual Qi was abundant, making his spirit feel invigorated.

Tilting his head back, he swallowed one, and Ye Yisong immediately activated the Soul Splitting Art, guiding the power of the Medicinal Pill to attempt to repair the three cracks in his Sea of Consciousness.

Once the tiger soul soul-nurturing pill entered his stomach, a stream of extremely pure Spiritual Qi rushed straight to Ye Yisong's crown, then enveloped his Sea of Consciousness, carefully polishing the scars upon it.

It was truly worthy of being a fifth-rank precious pill specifically for repairing Mental Energy; the effect was surprisingly good. In less than half an hour, it had already repaired one crack in Ye Yisong's Sea of Consciousness, and the repair speed remained undiminished as it began to polish the second crack.

When Ancestor Ye Rongming finally ended the secret discussion with the three people and his footsteps had just stepped into the East Courtyard, he saw Ye Yisong holding a large bowl of noodles, squatting on a stone stool in the courtyard, slurping them up non-stop, completely unaware that he had walked in.

"Ahem." Ancestor Ye Rongming coughed lightly to remind him.

"Old Ancestor, you're back."

Ye Yisong raised his head, wiped the noodles sticking to his mouth, and giggled embarrassedly a few times.