54: Inner perimeter opened

After Xuan De finished speaking, he immediately led his companions to appear within the Formation. Without saying a word, the five of them formed a small Arhat Formation and encircled the Blood Python Snakes that were still slaughtering each other.

Seeing this, Ye Ming could only put away the return gift he intended to give. He then revealed his figure within the Formation, with Cold Beauty and the others following closely behind.

"May the Buddha be merciful!"

Xuan De murmured softly, but his voice spread throughout the entire Formation, vast and solemn. He clasped his hands together, his whole body radiating golden light. Together with the other four people, he performed an incantation, conjuring a fifty-five-zhang tall golden Buddha statue in the air.

"Descend!"

Xuan De raised his palm and slammed it down in the direction of the Blood Python Snakes. The great Buddha above him extended its massive golden hand, which appeared slow but struck the location of all the Blood Python Snakes extremely quickly.

"Boom~"

With a loud bang, nearly half of the Blood Python Snakes were crushed to death. The large hand also left a three-zhang large swastika symbol on the ground.

After executing this move, Xuan De and the other monks quickly began chanting Buddhist scriptures on the spot to guide the deceased Blood Python Snakes to salvation. Next, it was Ye Ming's turn to act.

"It's my turn to strike!"

Ye Ming walked past Xuan De. Xuan De specifically opened his eyes and nodded to Ye Ming, curious to see Ye Ming's methods.

Unlike Xuan De, Ye Ming did not speak. He directly stretched out his hands and condensed a seventy-zhang white cloud-like massive hand in mid-air. The powerful Qi fluctuations caused strong winds to whip up around them.

Ye Ming didn't hesitate. He pressed his hands down, and the white massive hand immediately descended from the sky, striking the location of the Blood Python Snakes once more.

Xuan De was startled inwardly. This strike surpassed the Peak Golden Core Stage and was slightly more powerful than his own. Benefactor Ye was indeed no ordinary person.

The white massive hand landed in the same spot. After another earth-shattering loud noise, all the Blood Python Snakes were completely annihilated, their bodies even shattered. Ye Ming felt a pang of heartache and quickly went over to collect the remains.

In the tens of meters deep pit shaped like a large hand, Ye Ming packed the minced meat into a spare space ring, intending to sell it. Since Xuan De didn't want the snake meat and only half of the Demon Core, Ye Ming was still making a profit regardless.

After they finished distributing the Blood Python Snakes, they released two more Medicinal Pills and restored the large pit to its original state. For those in the Golden Core Stage, this was incredibly simple.

Having finished everything, they waited for the Blood Python Snakes to take the bait again.

Just like that, after Ye Ming and Xuan De cooperated for twenty-three days, their blood luring pills were finally used up, and the Blood Python Snakes in the entire Blood Jiao Lake were reduced by more than half.

The Snake King, hidden in the lake, finally couldn't help but swim out of the lakebed. It sensed that its evolutionary food source was rapidly disappearing; half of it was gone in just half a month. This also ruined its Jiao Transformation Plan this year. Unforgivable!

On the other side, Ye Ming and Xuan De, who were packing up the Formation and planning to go harvest the Black Jiao Grass, suddenly felt a terrifying Pressure coming from afar, accompanied by a deafening Beast Roar.

"Roar~"

"This is bad, Benefactor Ye, the Snake King here is angry! Let's go!"

Feeling this Pressure, Xuan De's expression changed, and he quickly urged Ye Ming to leave. According to records, the Snake King here was a Rank 4 existence nearing the Late Stage, even stronger than the Demon Kings in the other three areas!

Ye Ming was also aware of this. Over the past half month, he had learned many things from the golden Jade Slip. Without time to think further, Ye Ming quickly put away the Formation, then flew with Xuan De towards the Flower Fairy Sea area.

As long as they reached another area, they would be safe from the Snake King's indiscriminate attacks.

Instantly, the entire Blood Jiao Lake, just like the Demonization Forest, began to become turbulent. Many Cultivators gathering Spirit Medicine by the lake were swallowed whole by the Snake King, and none of those nearby managed to escape.

Only a few dozen people escaped that area. This time, at least a hundred Golden Core Cultivators died there. This crisis also taught Ye Ming that you shouldn't fleece the sheep too hard, or you might not even know how you died.

He had a space ring filled with Demon Cores, almost too many for a High-Grade space ring to hold, including the snake meat. If he sold everything, he would earn at least several million Low-Grade Spirit Stones. He was rolling in wealth.

After Ye Ming and Xuan De arrived at the Flower Fairy Sea, they began hunting Flower Demons and taking their Demon Cores. These Demon Cores were quite unique, emitting a fragrance when held, and the Medicinal Pills refined from them were highly sought after by Female Cultivators.

Four more days passed.

That morning, all the Cultivators in the Secret Realm suddenly felt a violent tremor, like a massive earthquake, and many cracks appeared in the ground.

Ye Ming, who had just collected a Demon Core, felt the tremor, looked up, exchanged glances with Xuan De, and then looked toward the horizon. That was the Inner Perimeter, which had always been blocked by a transparent Barrier.

Exactly one month had passed, and this Barrier was about to disappear.

"Crack~"

At this moment, almost everyone heard a sound like glass shattering.

Ye Ming looked at the boundless Barrier on the horizon, which was now covered in countless Cracks, and these Cracks were rapidly spreading.

In less than a few breaths, the entire Barrier shattered. Countless specks of light rained down from the sky, vanishing without a trace before they even hit the ground—they were fragments of the Barrier.

"The Secret Realm is now fully open. Those who wish may come to the nine heavens profound pagoda to Challenge the Trials. Countless treasures await you within this pagoda. You only have one year to complete the trials; the Secret Realm will close after one year!"

A vast voice echoed above the Secret Realm. The entire Secret Realm began to tremble again because of this statement. Several Beast Kings in the outer perimeter were so frightened by the appearance of this voice that they retreated into their dens, as if they had witnessed some great horror.

All the Cultivators turned pale because of this. Ye Ming was the same; his eyes filled with horror. Was this the Guardian Spirit of the Tai Xuan Minor Secret Realm?

As expected, just as the records stated, the Rank of this being surpassed the entire Cultivation World.

Ye Ming marveled inwardly. Seeing that Xuan De beside him hadn't recovered yet, he quickly reminded him, "Fellow Daoist Xuan De, don't space out! The nine heavens profound pagoda is open, let's hurry!"

After speaking, Ye Ming led Cold Beauty and the others ahead. It was said that the pagoda was extremely mystical, and he couldn't wait to see its true appearance.

"amitabha!"

Xuan De, who was behind, snapped back to reality, his shocked expression refusing to fade immediately. He lowered his head, clasped his hands together, recited a Buddhist phrase, and then led his Buddhist School Senior Brothers to catch up with Ye Ming.

At the same time, everyone rushed towards the Secret Realm's Inner Perimeter. However, just as they were about to arrive, a long river, whose length was unknown but tens of thousands of meters wide, suddenly spanned across their path.

"This, this is..."

"The Ferrying Taboo River! It's the Ferrying Taboo River!"

"The Secret Realm's Guardian Spirit moved it here!"

Everyone hadn't yet recovered from the previous voice when they were startled again by the Guardian Spirit's action. This was something they hadn't anticipated.

In the past, when this Secret Realm opened, the Ferrying Taboo River had never blocked the path. They were momentarily at a loss.