72: The secret realm opens, a series of deadly traps unfold.

The rest day passed in a flash.

The next morning, the area around the Tianjiao Platform was once again bustling with people. Unlike the clamor during the preliminary rounds, today's atmosphere was a bit more solemn and heavy. The stands were still packed, but the sound of discussion was significantly lower.

The two hundred and fifty-six qualifiers lined up neatly in the square specifically designated below the Tianjiao Platform. After the screening of the preliminary rounds, those who remained were all true elites; the weakest was at the Late Stage of the Condensing Spirit Realm, and those in the Divine Power Realm accounted for nearly forty percent. Each of them had a condensed aura and sharp gazes, and the invisible clash of their auras stirred up ripples of energy that were hard to see with the naked eye.

Lin Fan stood at the front of the line, flanked by familiar faces such as Ye Lingyun, Blazing Fierce, Bright Wisdom, and Blue Tide. The Heir of the Duke of Zhenguo and his brother were also not far away; sensing Lin Fan's gaze, the Heir of the Duke of Zhenguo gave a cold snort and turned his head away.

On the high platform in front of the square, in addition to the Imperial City Division ceremonial official, there were several Elders whose auras were as deep as the sea. They were dressed differently, representing the several top-tier forces supporting this convention, including the Heavenly Sword Sect Elder and the Great Xia Dynasty Consecrated Expert whom Lin Fan had seen before.

The ceremonial official stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the two hundred and fifty-six young and vibrant faces below, and said in a clear voice:

"Prodigies, your brilliance has already been revealed in the preliminaries, but the path of cultivation is not just about winning on the stage. A true powerhouse must go through wind and rain, experience dangerous environments, temper their Dao Heart between life and death, and seize fortune in desperate lands!"

"Therefore, the second round, the Secret Realm trial, is about to begin!" He paused, and his voice suddenly rose: "This time, the Trial Grounds is an ancient broken grotto-heaven jointly controlled by our Great Xia Dynasty and various sects—the 'Thousand Star Remnant Realm'!"

"Thousand Star Remnant Realm?" The Prodigies below stirred slightly. The name was somewhat unfamiliar, but the words "ancient broken grotto-heaven" were enough to explain its value and danger.

"This realm was formed by the fall of ancient stars; its space is broken and unstable, and it contains rich Power of the Stars and various Heaven And Earth Treasures. However, it is also filled with spatial cracks, star storms, and strange creatures born from the environment, and it may even contain ancient Restrictions." The ceremonial official explained in detail, "After entering, you must survive in it for seven days and collect as many scattered 'star core fragments' as possible."

With a wave of his hand, hundreds of transparent crystal phantoms the size of fingernails, in the shape of irregular polyhedrons and emitting a soft starlight, appeared in the air.

"This is a sample of a 'star core fragment', which is formed from the Origin of the Thousand Star Remnant Realm and contains pure star dao rhyme. The more you collect, the higher your final evaluation will be. At the same time, there are some 'inheritance star steles' left over from ancient times distributed throughout the Remnant Realm; comprehending them will also be beneficial."

"Trial rules: combat is not forbidden, but intentionally causing death is strictly prohibited. Each person will carry a 'body-protecting star talisman'. If you encounter fatal danger or choose to give up voluntarily, you can crush the star talisman to be instantly teleported back to this square, but it also means the end of your trial. Finally, based on the number of star core fragments collected, your performance in the Remnant Realm, and the degree of comprehension of the inheritance star steles, the top sixty-four will be comprehensively evaluated to advance to the final round!"

"Now, the body-protecting star talismans and the simplified maps of the Remnant Realm will be distributed!" Several imperial court attendants walked down the high platform carrying jade trays, distributing a silver jade talisman carved with complex star patterns and a Jade Slip recording the general regional divisions and danger markings of the Thousand Star Remnant Realm to each Prodigy.

Lin Fan took the star talisman and the Jade Slip. The star talisman felt warm to the touch, vaguely producing a faint resonance with the star pagoda inside his body. The map in the Jade Slip was very simplified, only marking a few large areas such as the "Star Shattering Wasteland", "Starfall Lake", "Ancient Stele Forest", and "Storm Canyon", as well as some red dots representing extreme danger.

"In fifteen minutes, the spatial passage will open to send you into the realm!" the ceremonial official finally announced.

Everyone immediately seized the time, either checking the map, adjusting their state, or discussing in low voices with their companions.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, this Thousand Star Remnant Realm seems to fit quite well with the star Dao you Cultivate," Ye Lingyun said to Lin Fan with a smile.

"Indeed. Fellow Daoist Ye's sword Dao will surely be tempered even sharper in such a broken space," Lin Fan responded.

"Hehe, I don't care what kind of Remnant Realm it is, as long as there's a fight!" Blazing Fierce rubbed his hands together.

Bright Wisdom pressed his palms together and said, "Broken space is full of crises, and it is even easier to breed Heart Demons and greed. All of you benefactors must keep your original intentions and not forget the purpose of the trial."

Blue Tide said softly, "My Profound Water Palace's Cultivation Technique also has points in common with the Power of the Stars; perhaps we can explore together."

The few of them exchanged brief words and agreed to look out for each other if they had the chance after entering. But everyone knew in their hearts that in such an environment, while an alliance was beneficial, it could also lead to friction due to the distribution of interests; everything would have to be handled according to the situation.

Lin Fan immersed his Divine Thought into the map in the Jade Slip. Combined with the map of Tianyang City he had obtained from the System check-in, he vaguely felt that some of the descriptions of spatial fluctuations in this "Thousand Star Remnant Realm" seemed to have similarities with the abnormal space-time nodes in Ancient Stele Alley.

"Perhaps I can find more clues related to the 'Initial Deciphering of Boundary Runes' there, or even check-in opportunities?" Lin Fan's heart stirred slightly.

The fifteen minutes passed quickly.

On the high platform, those Elders with deep auras stepped forward at the same time, each taking out a Magical Artifact—either a simple compass, a star Formation Flag, or a bronze ancient mirror. They joined forces to cast spells, and a majestic Spiritual Qi was poured into the Magical Artifacts.

Buzz, buzz, buzz! Above the Tianjiao Platform, space began to fluctuate violently and distort, finally tearing open a silver light gate ten zhang high and about three zhang wide! The interior of the light gate was a mass of Chaos, with the faint sight of stars rotating and spatial fragments floating; a desolate, ancient, and unstable aura of space-time spread out.

"The spatial passage is open! All trial participants, enter in order!" the ceremonial official shouted.

The two hundred and fifty-six Prodigies turned into streaks of light and flew into the silver light gate in an orderly fashion, their figures quickly swallowed by the Chaos.

Lin Fan followed the flow of people and stepped into the light gate.

In an instant, the world spun! The surrounding scenery changed rapidly, and the sharp hiss of space and the whistle of star storms rang in his ears. The body-protecting star talisman automatically activated a layer of soft silver light, wrapping him and resisting the disordered spatial tearing force within the passage.

After about ten breaths, his feet hit solid ground, and the chaotic scene before him suddenly became clear.

He was already standing on a desolate, broken land.

The sky was an eternal dark purple, with no sun or moon, only countless star fragments of varying brightness and size floating, emitting various ghostly lights that illuminated the land in a bizarre way. The ground was cracked, filled with bottomless ravines and huge meteorite craters, and in the distance, distorted Peaks and dried-up riverbeds could be seen. The air was filled with a rich Power of the Stars, but it was exceptionally violent, and the Spiritual Qi was also very thin, mixed with the dangerous aura leaking from spatial cracks.

Looking around, he was alone. It seemed that after entering the passage, everyone was randomly teleported to different locations in the Remnant Realm.

Lin Fan immediately spread his Star Domain to sense his surroundings. His Eternal Indestructible Body operated, adapting to the slightly heavy gravity and violent star energy of this place. His Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils opened, their golden light scanning for potential hidden dangers—whether environmental or "human".

["System, detect if the current location is available for check-in."] he thought to himself.

[Detecting current location: Thousand Star Remnant Realm · Random Landing Point (Ancient broken star grotto-heaven, space-time disorder, residual star Origin)]

[Check-in Rank: Four-star (upgradable)]

[Tip: Exploring core areas or special nodes can trigger higher-level check-ins]

A four-star check-in was equivalent to the outer city of Tianyang City. Lin Fan did not perform it immediately; he had just arrived, and the situation was unclear, so it was more important to familiarize himself with the environment first.

He took out the map Jade Slip and compared it with the surrounding terrain. He quickly determined that he was roughly located at the eastern edge of the "Star Shattering Wasteland" marked on the map. This area was relatively open, with fewer danger markings, but resources were also relatively scarce.

"star core fragments, inheritance star steles..." Lin Fan looked into the depths of the wasteland, where more intense and chaotic star energy fluctuations were coming from.

He did not act immediately, but first found a relatively hidden meteorite crater and carved out a simple temporary Immortal Cave in the crater wall, setting up warning and concealment Formations. He wanted to take some time to carefully sense the rules of this world, especially the space-time anomalies, which might be beneficial to his 'Initial Deciphering of Boundary Runes' cultivation and the star pagoda.

Sitting cross-legged, his mind sank into his Dantian. The star pagoda was exceptionally active here, its body vibrating slightly as it autonomously absorbed the violent Power of the Stars in the air, which, after transformation, was turned into pure and gentle energy fed back to Lin Fan. The starry sky illusion on the first floor of the pagoda also seemed to produce a certain resonance with the outside world, becoming more vivid.

At the same time, Lin Fan released his Divine Sense, carefully sensing every tiny fluctuation of space. After absorbing the space-time dao rhyme, his sensitivity to space had greatly increased. Soon, he noticed that the spatial structure of this Remnant Realm was extremely fragile and chaotic, with a large number of tiny cracks and unstable "folds" that were hard to see with the naked eye. In some places, space even showed overlaps or faults.

"No wonder it's called a broken grotto-heaven. The environment here is both a test and a treasure house for Cultivating the Dao of space." Lin Fan understood. If he could successfully outline boundary runes here, the effect would probably be several times that of the outside world.

He tried to use his Divine Sense to draw a trace of faint spatial fluctuation and outline the simplest "Space-Stabilizing" pattern in front of him.

Here, the consumption of Divine Sense was significantly higher, but the moment the pattern took shape, the effect was also exceptionally obvious! The space within a one-foot range in front of him instantly became as solid as iron, and even the fine dust floating in the air froze for a moment.

"Good!" Lin Fan's spirits rose. Just as he was preparing to explore further, his brow suddenly furrowed. At the edge of the Star Domain, extremely subtle yet malicious energy fluctuations were detected.

Someone was approaching, and more than one person, moving very fast in an encircling Formation!

Lin Fan instantly withdrew all his aura, and the light of the concealment Formation flowed, merging him with the surrounding environment as if he were a lifeless rock.

A few breaths later, four figures appeared silently at the edge of the meteorite crater where he was hiding.

The leader was none other than a Disciple of the Mysterious Yin Sect who had met Lin Fan once during the preliminary rounds; he was Han Li's Senior Brother, named Yin the Nine Hells, and his cultivation had reached the Early Stage of the Divine Power Realm. The three people behind him were also Disciples of the Mysterious Yin Sect, with cultivations ranging from the Late Stage to the Peak of the Condensing Spirit Realm.

The four of them scanned the bottom of the crater with cold eyes.

"Strange, the Tracking Talisman clearly showed that kid's landing point was near here, so why is he gone?" one Disciple asked in confusion.

Yin the Nine Hells held a constantly rotating Black Bone Talisman in his hand, and a point of ghostly light on the talisman was pointing in the general direction of Lin Fan's hiding place, but it seemed to be interfered with by the chaotic energy of this place and was not precise.

"He couldn't have gone far. Spread out and search! Remember, don't kill him; just cripple his cultivation and take his storage equipment and star talisman. Junior Brother Han's revenge, as well as that lord's instructions, must be fulfilled!" Yin the Nine Hells' voice was raspy, carrying deep-seated hatred.

"Yes!" The other three responded and were about to spread out to search.

At the bottom of the meteorite crater, within the concealment Formation, a cold light flashed in Lin Fan's eyes.

They really came. And it wasn't just because of Han Li's personal grudge, but also because of "that lord's" instructions!

It seemed that this Secret Realm trial was not only a land of Opportunity but also a sequential killing trap carefully arranged by certain people!