74: Tianxuan Secret Realm

Soon, Gu Yuchuan returned to Coastal City. He immediately went to find the Black Tortoise Demon General and told him about being pursued. The Black Tortoise Demon General rushed out, his expression extremely grim.

Indeed, he needed to protect the Serpent. Given the Serpent's talent, in the eyes of the higher-ups, he was far more important than the Black Tortoise Demon General. If anything happened to the Serpent while performing a task for the Black Tortoise Demon General, the General would certainly be held responsible.

Soon, they all returned together. In truth, even if the Black Tortoise Demon General hadn't gone, the Serpent wouldn't have had any problems. Just as the Serpent had said himself, if it truly came down to a life-and-death struggle, those three Cultivators might not have been able to defeat him. He simply wasn't willing to let a situation of mutual destruction occur.

After returning, it was time to distribute the spoils. First, the two Spirit Fish at the first level of Qi Refining who had already pledged their loyalty to him were definitely his. He named these two Spirit Fish Yu Qiu and Yu Dong. After they swore Heavenly Dao oaths, Gu Yuchuan gave them Cultivation Techniques and Medicinal Pills, then arranged for someone to send them back to Bright Stream. They also carried a letter he had written to Bai Li, asking her to treat them well.

Returning with them were ten Spirit Fish that had not yet gained intelligence. Gu Yuchuan instructed Bai Ming to find a safe place with abundant Spiritual Qi for them to live well, hoping that two more intelligent Spirit Fish would eventually be born.

However, their arrival still put some pressure on the Yao Beasts at home. Although Yu Qiu and Yu Dong's cultivation wasn't high, their Bloodline was. In the Yao Race, Bloodline represented everything; a powerful Bloodline meant their cultivation would not improve slowly. As biological siblings, they naturally formed a single entity compared to others, which would certainly impact the current power structure.

Furthermore, there were those ten other Spirit Fish. Even if only one of them gained intelligence, that would be another High-grade Demon Beast naturally belonging to their lineage. This forced the others to work even harder. Of course, this was still healthy competition for the time being, which was exactly what Gu Yuchuan wanted to see. His subordinates couldn't just enjoy themselves while he, their Great King, was out struggling; he had to give them some pressure to let them know that if they didn't work hard, they would leave the center of power.

These Spirit Fish were the greatest wealth from this operation. The rest were just some Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, and such, along with two Low Grade Magical Artifacts. Compared to the Spirit Fish, these were truly not worth mentioning. After putting them away, he didn't even look at them much before preparing to rest. Over the past few days, his spirit had been highly focused, and he was truly exhausted.

Gu Yuchuan had only rested for one night when, just as the sun rose the next morning, the Serpent sent someone to find him, saying that the Heavenly Profound Secret Realm would open tomorrow and telling him to prepare early.

Gu Yuchuan felt a bit dazed. He hadn't expected it, but the day for the opening of the Heavenly Profound Secret Realm had arrived. Time really did pass quite quickly. Now, one matter could be put on the agenda: killing Ning Zhi. He hadn't forgotten that Ning Zhi had killed him in a Simulation. However, his recent Simulations hadn't involved the Heavenly Profound Secret Realm, so Ning Zhi hadn't appeared for a long time.

He sent word back to the Serpent saying he would set out today. As for going to this Heavenly Profound Secret Realm, he didn't even want to use the simulator. He had already been to the Heavenly Profound Secret Realm three times in the simulator. He knew exactly what was there and even where the dragon snake fruit the Serpent wanted was located. If he didn't even dare enter a place he had simulated three times, then there was truly something wrong with his Heart-Nature, and he might as well stop cultivating this Immortal Dao.

After reporting to the Black Tortoise Demon General, he prepared to leave. The Black Tortoise Demon General told him that a dozen or so others from the Yao Race were also going to the Heavenly Profound Secret Realm and asked if he wanted to go together, but he refused. With his information, traveling alone would be safer. Besides, if he followed a large group, any gains would have to be shared with them, which would be uncomfortable no matter how he looked at it. So, he set out.

The Heavenly Profound Secret Realm was located at the junction between humans and Yao, so there were bound to be members of both the Human Race and the Yao Race there. This time, Gu Yuchuan did not hide his aura and walked openly to the entrance of the Heavenly Profound Secret Realm.

He still remembered the few times he had come to the Heavenly Profound Secret Realm in his simulator; he had never been so bold. The first time he came, the war hadn't started yet, and it was still Human Race territory. Coupled with his low cultivation, he had been extremely cautious. The following times, although the war had begun, his cultivation was insufficient, so he didn't dare act like this either.

But now it was different. He was confident that any Qi Refining Cultivator would be, at most, neck and neck with him. It should be them who feared him, not him who feared them.

When he arrived, there were already some Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators there, from both the Human Race and the Yao Race. Gu Yuchuan looked at them; as expected, they were all Qi Refining Great Perfection Cultivators. Only Cultivators of this Rank would have enough confidence in themselves to be so open.

He looked at the Cultivators from the Yao Race and recognized a few, so he nodded politely to them. However, he didn't plan to join them and found a place to lie down on his own. He also scanned the Human Race's side; he didn't recognize anyone, and Ning Zhi hadn't appeared yet. He was thinking that if Ning Zhi were there, he would settle the score directly to save himself from having to think about it once they were inside.

All the Cultivators present appeared very relaxed, but in reality, they were all very tense. Everyone knew they were enemies. The current peace was only because no one wanted to be the snipe or the clam in a 'snipe and clam fight' where a third party benefits. Otherwise, since it was wartime, such an encounter between Human and Yao Cultivators would definitely result in a fight to the death. However, one could judge from a small part of the whole that once they were inside the Secret Realm or when they came out, they would certainly fight to the death.

Half a day later, there were even more Cultivators, and the Heavenly Profound Secret Realm was about to open. Gu Yuchuan finally saw Ning Zhi, his enemy. She truly looked like a peerless Beauty; it seemed as if no praise was accurate enough and any adjective was a profanation. She just stood there coldly, like a Fairy from the Moon Palace, someone to be viewed from afar but not trifled with.

A male Cultivator went up to try and strike up a conversation and was instantly frozen into a block of ice by her. From then on, no one dared to step forward and say a word to her.

Gu Yuchuan thought about it but still didn't make a move. There were simply too many people here. If he acted now, there would be too many variables, and it could very likely trigger a massive battle between the Yao Race and the Human Race. That wouldn't be good. If too few Qi Refining Great Perfection Cultivators made it inside, the difficulty of killing ten to enter the Trial Space would increase significantly. He would endure for now and wait until they were inside. The most important thing was still the planning within the Secret Realm.