Chapter 247 The Secret Realm Appears
"Why not! I should thank you, senior brother, for supporting my business, haha!"
Ji An smiled and took out two spirit gourds, handing them over. "Both are spirit artifacts with thirty-six layers of spiritual restrictions. Senior Brother can choose whichever you like."
He hummed in agreement and then said:
"Have you ever used the talisman I gave to my senior brother a few years ago?"
"No, Junior Brother, do you need it for something?"
As he spoke, Liu Yu took something out of his storage bag.
"No, no," Ji An hurriedly waved his hand and explained:
"These talisman soldiers are all of superior quality, reaching the level of late Foundation Establishment body cultivators. In critical moments, they will be excellent meat shields."
He took out two glittering golden talismans from his storage bag and said:
"These two are top-grade talisman weapons. I have nurtured them for two years, and they are comparable to a body cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage."
"It will take half a year to return from the Azure Mist Secret Realm. Extra preparation might just prove crucial."
He only drew three top-grade talismans, and by giving away these two, he only hoped to give the other party more leverage.
There are no places to replenish supplies in the secret realm.
"Has my junior brother's talisman-making ability reached this level?"
Liu Yu said with delight that talisman makers prefer drawing talismans because they are simpler than talisman soldiers.
Talisman soldiers require higher levels of spiritual strength and acuity from cultivators. However, since they are consumables and can be replaced by puppets, their prices are not high, and there are not many talisman masters willing to create them.
"I won't say more words of thanks; my junior brother's support gives me more confidence."
This expedition to the hidden realm will undoubtedly help us secure more rare resources.
Liu Yu solemnly put away the talismanic weapon and smiled slightly:
"In fact, with the accumulation of knowledge and combat skills that my junior brother possesses, he should be able to qualify for the Canglan Secret Realm."
Judging from the support he received, this junior brother was not afraid of facing one or two Foundation Establishment Level 9 demonic beasts at all.
"To be honest, I am not afraid of Foundation Establishment stage enemies when facing them head-on."
However, once you enter the secret realm, there are too many factors that affect combat, and I have too little experience in combat in complex wilderness environments.
If the sect's attraction talisman is 100% effective, I might choose to enter the secret realm.
Ji An's experience in wilderness combat was limited to a little over a month spent in the wilderness of Moya Mountain when he was at the seventh level of Qi Refining.
Entering a secret realm is not like playing a game or running a dungeon; the rewards you get inside are not fixed.
For him, the greatest temptation in the secret realm was the main ingredients of the Qi-Nourishing Pill, such as the Heavenly Origin Ginseng. However, he could also exchange his merits for Qi-Nourishing Pills by accumulating merits peacefully in the sect, without any danger.
He said he had no interest in gambling with unknown gains.
Liu Yu shook his head slightly and sighed:
"It's a bit of a pity that I can't fight alongside my junior brother."
"Haha, there will definitely be opportunities in the future."
In his previous life, Ji An was an unlucky player when it came to video games. Although he seems to be having good luck in this life, he doesn't want to take the risk.
Because there are several forbidden areas in the secret realm, no Foundation Establishment cultivator has ever survived after entering them, and it is rumored that there are Yuan-stage demonic beasts there.
If we enter the secret realm, who knows if these potentially lurking monsters might suddenly decide to venture out and patrol?
Ultimately, unless absolutely necessary, safety comes first.
"When the secret realm opens, the three sects will send their most elite disciples there, and the elite among the rogue cultivators will also risk their lives to obtain the Qi-Nourishing Pill."
With the departure of their most capable disciples, the situation on the front lines is far from optimistic.
Liu Yujian frowned slightly, his face showing worry.
These disciples are the backbone of the fighting force, usually responsible for providing tactical support to a small squad.
Ji An waved his hand gently and said:
"Senior brother, there's no need to worry so much. Since the sect is willing to let you go to the secret realm, they must have a way to deal with it."
Leaving aside other methods, if each sect simply sends two more senior uncles at the Chaoyuan stage, all problems will be easily solved.
The fact that no battles involving cultivators at the Chaoyuan stage have broken out on the front lines indicates that the time for a full-scale demonic calamity has not yet arrived.
While the battle on the front lines may appear to be large-scale, the two sides are still in a probing phase.
"My senior uncle at the Chaoyuan stage is powerful, but he can't be in two places at once."
This time, all the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Enforcement Hall will enter the secret realm, and the sect's mid-level and high-end combat forces will be completely mobilized.
The situation in the other two sects is likely similar. The war hasn't fully erupted yet, but the threat of demonic and evil cultivators has already surfaced, and the situation is not optimistic.
With a worried expression still on her face, Liu Yu sighed softly.
There was some information he couldn't tell his junior brother. There was evidence that quite a few demon cultivators had already entered the heartland of human cultivators and were lying in wait.
These are all potential problems, and we can only hope that the sect has a better solution.
Ji An observed the situation and realized that his senior brother was probably worried about something he didn't know.
However, the other party did not say anything, and he did not ask, but he became secretly wary.
Three days later.
After lunch, Liu Yu cupped his hands and said:
"I have been staying at Crimson Flame Peak for several days. Thank you for your kind hospitality."
Today I'm going back to my cave to adjust my state and prepare for the trip to the secret realm in half a month.
"Junior Brother Ji, Junior Brother Du, see you again in six months!"
"May everything go smoothly for you, Senior Brother, may you turn misfortune into good fortune, and may your path to immortality be everlasting!"
"Haha, may your immortal path last forever!"
Liu Yu laughed loudly, and the Fiery Golden Wheel leaped out.
He leaped onto the magical artifact and flew away like a streak of flame, leaving a trail of fiery light in the sky before slowly dissipating.
"Tsk tsk, magical artifacts are really good things."
Du Huaiyuan sighed and said bitterly:
"Why haven't those merchant ships from Central Continent arrived yet? Based on their previous travel times, they should have arrived long ago."
The spiritual artifact he wanted to forge was the Tidal Wave Pearl, but after many years of searching, he still hadn't collected enough water-based spiritual materials to create it.
Without the materials, even the most skilled weapon refiner cannot begin the crafting process.
With the full-scale outbreak of the demonic calamity imminent, and lacking any magical artifact for protection, he felt extremely uneasy.
A gentle breeze blew by, and Ji An said softly:
“The cultivators from Central Continent who are supporting us have not yet arrived. I expect that if the merchant cloud ship is to come, it will be with those cultivators.”
He recalled Ye Changqing's words: cultivators from the Central Continent are not entirely trustworthy.
"After refining a spiritual weapon, it still needs time to nurture it, and I'm in a hurry now."
Du Huaiyuan said with frustration, "Nurturing the spiritual artifact increases its spiritual energy consumption time and water element essence, leaving me with not much time. The demonic calamity could erupt at any moment."
"Does Senior Brother have any top-grade defensive magic artifacts on hand?"
"I do have a water spirit bead of poor quality, but I want to give it to Yuhan for protection."
As Du Huaiyuan spoke, he looked tenderly at the female cultivator beside him, causing her face to flush.
Ji An watched the two exchanging glances and was speechless. So, I'm raising a wife for you!
"Senior brother, may I speak to you in private?"
He pulled the other person into the living room, waved to close the bedroom door, and said in a deep voice:
"Senior brother, have you decided to hold a dual cultivation ceremony with Yuhan?"
If you've made up your mind, hurry up and take her away! Don't just come here for no reason and show off your love to me!
"Yes, that's right," Du Huaiyuan said somewhat embarrassed, feeling a bit awkward about being caught red-handed trying to steal someone's boyfriend.
Having received an affirmative answer, Ji An nodded:
"Senior brother, you can take Yuhan back to your cave now, and then hold a dual cultivation celebration after she breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Is this appropriate?
Secretly pleased, Du Huaiyuan's voice carried a hint of amusement.
"Perfect match."
Du Huaiyuan leaned closer and lowered his voice:
"Yu Han mentioned that she borrowed two thousand spirit stones from her junior brother to buy Foundation Establishment Pills. Is that true?"
"Yes, Senior Brother, do you mean to?"
"Hmm, I'll return these spirit stones. Deduct them from our spirit wine profits."
After lunch, Xia Yuhan bowed gracefully:
"Thank you for your guidance, Uncle-Master. I will remember it forever!"
Du Huaiyuan took the female cultivator's hand, and together they leaped onto the flying boat:
"Junior brother, farewell!"
As the flying boat sailed away, Ji An turned his head and said:
"Yulian, you'll have to work hard."
From now on, your pay will be doubled.
"You'll get the Foundation Establishment Pill in two more years, so hurry up and find your successor."
Xia Yulian lowered her head slightly:
"We have already found someone, but we feel that they are not perfectly capable of the task, so we are looking for a more suitable disciple."
Ji An nodded slightly and then gave the instructions:
"Huang Xuan, increase the strength of the mountain-protecting formation by one level. It must be kept active at all times from now on. Spirit stones will be withdrawn from the secret vault."
Doing this would consume more spirit stones, but remembering Senior Brother Liu's worried look a few days ago, he still felt more at ease doing it this way.
"Yes, sir!"
The following afternoon, Ji An rode the Golden Feathered Eagle away from Crimson Flame Peak and flew northeast.
This beast is almost as fast as a flying shuttle, and it gets quite bored staying near Crimson Flame Peak every day.
At the edge of the cold pool, a gray-feathered sand goose, its eyes flashing with disappointment, sullenly jumped into the water to catch fish.
The golden eagle's crest feathers stood on end, and it let out a joyful neigh as it swept away on the wind.
About half an hour later, its speed began to decrease.
Ji An switched to a flying shuttle and traveled forward with his beast.
Another hour passed, and the flying shuttle landed near the Qin Gong Hall on Lingxiao Mountain.
The sect's spirit boat hovered above the main hall. Disciples used telekinesis to move storage bags and various supplies into the spirit boat, while Ye Changqing directed the operation.
After a while, the spirit boat sped away.
Ji Anfei flew to Senior Brother Ye's side and asked:
"Is the spirit boat heading to Mingfeng Mountain Immortal City?"
A hint of weariness flashed across Ye Changqing's brows as he transmitted his voice:
"Yes, supplies at the front are being consumed very quickly, and the Bloodthirsty Vine defense line outside the Immortal City has been nearly half destroyed."
I believe that the full-scale war will begin when all the Bloodthirsty Vines are eradicated by the demonic beasts.
He coughed and said:
"Junior brother, let's go inside and talk. What brings you to the Diligent Work Hall today?"
Ji An patted the storage bag:
"Hand over some pills and exchange them for some medicinal herbs."
The two landed on the ground and stepped into the upper floor of the main hall.
"Pills are scarce, and handing them over now will earn us more contribution points."
What are you handing over this time? The Flaming Sun Pills you refined yourself?
Ye Changqing remembered that his junior brother had directly exchanged genuine pills for medicinal herbs, and then disappeared without a trace. He thought that there had been a problem with the other party's pill refining.
"Yes, a total of 432 Flame Sun Pills, including 22 high-quality pills, can be exchanged for contribution points. No pill refining task is required."
"Besides handing over the Flaming Sun Pill, I'm also here to exchange genuine Azure Lotus Pills for related medicinal herbs."
Taking out a large number of jade bottles from his storage bag, Ji An explained:
"The red jade bottle contains the Blazing Sun Pill, and the light blue jade bottle contains the Azure Lotus Pill, 260 pills in total."
Ye Changqing was surprised:
"Your alchemy skills are already good enough to attempt refining the Azure Lotus Pill?"
"Of course, I never do anything I'm not sure I can do."
"You're really something! After only two or three years of alchemy, you're already able to attempt to refine pills for the mid-Foundation Establishment stage!"
Ye Changqing began to examine the pills, and after about an hour, he finally finished.
"Some of the Azure Lotus Pills were made by Senior Sister Ge Ying, am I right?"
"Yes, Senior Brother has keen insight; some of them were indeed refined by Master."
Ji An was not surprised by this judgment; the other party was very discerning.
"Although my eyesight is gradually getting worse, my eyesight is still good."
A genuine Flaming Sun Pill can be exchanged for 650 contribution points, while a premium pill can be exchanged for 800 contribution points.
Ye Changqing picked up the counting rods and quickly began to work on them, saying:
"A total of 284,100 contribution points can be redeemed."
260 Azure Lotus Pills can be exchanged for 75 batches of medicinal herbs, but the warehouse only has 25 batches available. The remaining herbs will take two to three years to arrive.
"Then let's do it this way, Senior Brother. I'd like to convert some of my contribution points into mid-grade spirit stones. Are first-class disciples eligible for a discount?"
According to sect rules, one low-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for twenty contribution points, but it takes twenty-five contribution points to exchange for one spirit stone.
"A-level disciples can exchange 20 contribution points for one spirit stone. There used to be no limit to this exchange, but now that war is coming, spirit stones will be consumed in large quantities. You have a maximum quota of 50,000 spirit stones."
Ji An took out the jade token and said:
"Then use up the entire credit limit."
"Wait a moment, I'll go to the storeroom and get you the medicinal herbs and spirit stones."
A moment later, Ye Changqing brought over a storage bag and said:
"25 batches of Qinglian Dan medicinal materials, 500 mid-grade spirit stones, and you now have 1.24 million contribution points left."
The 50 batches of herbs I owe you for the Azure Lotus Elixir are recorded in the jade tablet.
As the sun sets in the west, the evening glow burns the sky like fire.
Two hundred miles southwest of Qingyun Immortal City, a desolate mountain was draped in a layer of enchanting red glow.
The mountain was crowded with people, and the faces of the cultivators looked as if they had been smeared with blood. These were all rogue cultivators.
Three spirit boats lay suspended above the desolate mountain. On the deck of one of the spirit boats belonging to the Golden Spirit Sect, Lin Jiuxiao stood with his hands behind his back and said in a deep voice:
"The laws within the secret realm are not perfect. Unless absolutely necessary, remember not to fly away, otherwise you may fall into a spatial rift."
Everyone check the map and supplies. Remember to use the tether before entering.
"You are the sect's most skilled combat elites. Please remember that once you enter the secret realm, everyone except the sect's disciples will be your competitors."
If friction arises, do not be soft-hearted; be thorough in your actions.
Especially when dealing with rogue cultivators, you must be wary. These people may not be as good as you in combat, but they have far more underhanded tricks up their sleeves.
"Once you enter the secret realm, your life or death is in your own hands. If you lose your ability to fight due to uncontrollable reasons, you must find a safe place to protect yourself."
As the sun sets, a full moon rises.
Lin Jiuxiao and Zhu Xiangrong leaped out of the spirit boat, shouting, "Assemble below!"
All the disciples followed closely behind the cultivator at the Chaoyuan stage, landing on the flat summit of the barren mountain.
After exchanging pleasantries, the cultivators from the three sects took out their array flags and arranged them according to the positions of the Three Powers amidst a pile of rubble.
When the hour of Zi (11 PM - 1 AM) arrives, the moon hangs high in the sky.
The array flags lit up one by one, forming a pillar of light several dozen feet in diameter that shot straight into the sky.
A miraculous scene unfolded: the pillar of light soared seven or eight zhang into the air and disappeared, and through the changes in light and shadow, a patch of darkness appeared in the void.
Lin Jiuxiao raised his hand, and a long sword shining with a fiery red light appeared in the air.
The flying sword grew larger in the wind, instantly becoming more than ten feet long.
Zhu Xiangrong then took out a spiritual artifact shaped like his alchemy furnace, made a hand seal, and the furnace began to spin rapidly, growing larger and larger, with a dazzling red light emanating from its vents.
The cultivators from Falling Maple Valley and Yuanhe Mountain also made their moves, sending out dazzling spiritual artifacts: silver-white blade shields, seven-colored radiant pearls, golden spiked clubs, and yellow radiant seals.
Let's begin!
Lin Jiuxiao shouted and launched the first attack.
The red longsword soared into the air and crashed into the black void in an instant, spraying out fiery red spiritual light, like thousands of sparks falling, beautiful and enchanting.
(End of this chapter)
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