Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist

Chapter 943: Chapter 159: Thousandfold Secret Realm

Thousandfold Mountain Range.

Located at the northernmost part of the Celestial Secret Domain, it is covered with clouds and mist all year round, and the mountains’ miasma is incredibly poisonous, impossible to resist without the Innate Realm.

At this moment, a large and a small figure merged into the clouds and mist of the mountain range, swiftly traversing.

“Thousandfold Forbidden Land, stop right there!”

Half a two-hour period later, a majestic voice echoed, Lin Chen and Yin Yue halted their steps, looking at the two youths emerging from the clouds and mist.

Their gaze swept over Lin Chen briefly, even though Lin Chen was in the Innate Third Realm like them, they lingered longer upon seeing Yin Yue, especially her silver hair.

“Are you from the Moon Soul Race Royal Family?”

“I am Yin Yue, the current Princess of the Moon Soul Race.”

Upon Yin Yue announcing her origin, the guarded expressions on the faces of the two young men vanished, replaced by smiles.

“So it’s the Moon Soul Race Princess, please follow us.”

The two youths led the way in front, Lin Chen and Yin Yue exchanged a glance and followed closely behind them.

Lin Chen’s Divine Thought continuously extended, within the clouds and mist he could perceive significant spatial fluctuations, indicating the presence of an array in the mountain range.

However, Lin Chen wasn’t particularly surprised, as his journey with Yin Yue to this place had been clearly explained by her.

To the Thousandfold Mountain Range, to retrieve a supreme treasure of the Moon Soul Race.

Only by obtaining this item will Yin Yue have the chance to quell the rebellion within her clan.

Yet obtaining this item is not so easy, which is why Yin Yue sought Lin Chen.

…

…

Half a two-hour period later.

The surrounding clouds and mist suddenly vanished, Lin Chen’s gaze was immediately drawn to the cloud layers ahead.

Though variation in thickness and altitude of cloud layers is normal, here the clouds were stacked layer upon layer, totaling a thousand layers…

The name Thousandfold Mountain Range originates from this.

Beneath the cloud layers was a plain with various buildings. Observing these relatively simple structures, Lin Chen’s mind conjured images of primitive tribes.

This place below seemed more like a habitat for a primitive tribe group.

However, Lin Chen dared not underestimate this “tribe” in the slightest, as according to what Yin Yue had informed him, it was home to the Entropy Race, another ancient clan.

The Entropy Race is renowned for array refining, and more than half of the arrays studied by all array refiners in the Flame Dynasty have origins traced back to the Entropy Race.

Speaking solely of arrays, no one can compare with the Entropy Race.

Of course, the Entropy Race’s fame in arrays doesn’t imply weakness in other fields. What is considered weak is only relative to array refining, for such an ancient clan that has existed for countless ages, its foundation is in no way inferior to a Super Sect.

Though the ancient clans are not widely known in the Flame Dynasty, Lin Chen learned the reason from Yin Yue.

Small population!

Compared to a Super Sect, boasting tens of thousands of disciples and hundreds of thousands of affiliated martial artists, each ancient clan numbers less than three thousand.

It’s not that these ancient clans are unwilling to expand their population, but rather to maintain their racial bloodline advantage.

Each major ancient clan possesses their own bloodline Divine Techniques, but the larger the population, the thinner the bloodline becomes, three thousand is the limit.

You cannot have both the fish and bear’s paw!

This is Lin Chen’s evaluation based on Yin Yue’s account regarding these ancient clans.

Preserving the bloodline, having bloodline Divine Techniques, allows the clansmen of the ancient clan to start on par with Genius Disciples of Super Sects.

This point Lin Chen could infer from these two young men.

These two appear to be around thirty years old, yet have already stepped into the Innate Third Realm, while his third senior brother, as a Direct Disciple, can definitely be regarded as a Genius Disciple, has yet to step into the Innate Third Realm – this is the difference.

“Please wait a moment.”

The two youths led Lin Chen and Yin Yue to a courtyard situated higher up in the region, one of the youths entered the courtyard, shortly returning: “The Second Elder requests your presence.”

In the courtyard, a white-haired elder stood there.

“Junior Yin Yue greets the Second Elder.”

“The princess’s status is noble, no need for such formality.”

The elder smiled invitingly, glancing at Yin Yue, “Princess Yin Yue is here for the treasure your clan kept in the Secret Realm, correct?”

“Yes, to be honest, there’s been a rebellion within my clan, I’ve come to your clan hoping to retrieve the treasure to quell it.”

Yin Yue made no attempts to hide, as it couldn’t be concealed. Though these ancient clans don’t interact much with the outside world, they do have contact with each other, so the Entropy Race would surely be aware of such a major event happening within her clan.

“The treasure of the nobles is stored in the secret realm, as long as it is a descendant of your tribe’s royal family, or if you hold the token, you can enter the secret realm to retrieve the treasure. This was agreed upon by our ancestors and your Moon Soul Race ancestors.”

The elder of the Entropy Race didn’t make things difficult for Yin Yue: “But a few days ago, someone from your Moon Soul Race also came here holding the token…”

Hearing this, Yin Yue’s expression changed: “Second Elder, that was a traitor from our race…”

“Princess Yin Yue, no need to worry.”

The Second Elder of the Entropy Race interrupted Yin Yue’s words and said in a deep voice: “The internal affairs of your Moon Soul Race are something our Entropy Race cannot interfere with. We can only follow the ancestral agreement, so this time when the secret realm is opened, all of you can enter.”

Lin Chen listened to the words of this Entropy Race Second Elder, his eyes showing a contemplative look. The agreement between the Moon Soul Race and the Entropy Race is that the royal family members and those holding the token can enter the secret realm. The Entropy Race follows this agreement, seemingly not interfering in the internal matters of other tribes and observing ancestral agreements. However, it seems they might favor the traitor from the Moon Soul Race.

The agreement between the Moon Soul Race and the Entropy Race is rather crude, without detailing what to do in such situations?

Therefore, the Entropy Race has great autonomy. If the Entropy Race were on Yin Yue’s side, they could refuse the other party by taking advantage that the one holding the token is a rebel of the Moon Soul Race, but they did not do so.

Of course, it cannot be entirely said that the Entropy Race favors the traitors of the Moon Soul Race. It might also be that the traitor of the Moon Soul Race holds significant power, making the Entropy Race wary.

Lin Chen gave Yin Yue a “calm down” look, and Yin Yue took a deep breath: “Thank you, elder, for making it possible.”

“No need to be polite. Our two tribes have had relations for many years. Stay first, and when the secret realm opens, I’ll have someone inform you.”

After the Second Elder of the Entropy Race finished speaking, the young man leading the way at the door came in: “Take Princess Yin Yue to stay in the tribe and make sure not to neglect her in any way!”

“Yes!”

Lin Chen and Yin Yue, in this elder’s courtyard, without even sitting down, were taken away and finally arranged to a courtyard.

The two entered the room silently. Lin Chen began to persuade: “Actually, there’s no need to blame the Entropy Race.”

“I am not blaming the Entropy Race, just expressing an attitude externally.”

Entering the room, the unpleasant look on Yin Yue’s face also disappeared: “Our arrival cannot be concealed from the traitor of our race, it’s just a way to lull them into a false sense of security.”

From the beginning, Yin Yue had guessed the attitude of the Entropy Race, knowing too well that the traitor in the tribe had grown powerful, while the royal family was left with only herself; the Entropy Race couldn’t possibly choose to stand on her side.

She had anticipated the attitude of the Entropy Race and made arrangements with Lin Chen in advance.

Lin Chen realized and was amazed that Yin Yue, whose emotional fluctuations were minimal, had acted so well.

“I learned this from you.”

Seeing Lin Chen’s look, Yin Yue said faintly, leaving Lin Chen momentarily stunned, learned this from me?

Is that slander?

Across Canglan Island, who doesn’t know that Lin Chen is the most kind-hearted and honest person who never beats around the bush?

“Let me tell you about the situation of the Thousandfold Secret Realm.”

“Alright.”

Seeing Yin Yue turn to the main topic, Lin Chen also regained his serious demeanor.

“The Thousandfold Secret Realm was not created by the Entropy Race. It’s only because the area here is particularly special; establishing a secret realm here can last permanently without dissipating. For this reason, many ancient remnant race powerhouses and the Entropy Race created this secret realm together at that time. Each tribe then hid some treasures within it, and the Entropy Race was responsible for maintaining the Thousandfold Secret Realm.”

“Why would each tribe hide treasures in the Thousandfold Secret Realm?”

Lin Chen asked in confusion; putting the treasures of their own tribes in another tribe, weren’t they afraid that this Entropy Race might develop inappropriate thoughts and claim these treasures for themselves?

“Because of an oath!”

“An oath?”

“Hmm, the ancestors of the Entropy Race swore an oath; the Entropy Race people would never covet the treasures of others according to tribes, otherwise, they would be punished by heaven, leading to the extinction of their entire tribe.”

Hearing the mention of an oath, Lin Chen’s expression turned a bit peculiar. Such an oath might have some effect on an individual martial artist, influencing their subsequent breakthrough in the Martial Path mood, but for an entire tribe… it likely has no binding force.

“Naturally, an oath alone is not enough; the Entropy Race also has agreements with other tribes. Should they harbor covetous intentions towards other tribes’ treasures, the other ancient remnant races could unite to destroy them.”

Yin Yue understood what was on Lin Chen’s mind and gave a reason why other tribes trusted the Entropy Race.

Each tribe has treasures stored in the Thousandfold Secret Realm. Once the Entropy Race shows interest in any one tribe’s treasures, the other ancient remnant races would also be concerned about their own tribe’s treasures and would surely not stand idly by. If united to hold the Entropy Race accountable, the consequences are something the Entropy Race cannot bear.

“As for why it is stored in the Thousandfold Secret Realm, it’s to prevent extreme situations like what happened to our tribe, and also because this secret realm is highly stable, no one below the Divine Level can destroy it.”

Lin Chen now understood; the Entropy Race’s Thousandfold Secret Realm is like an extremely safe vault, with no worries about someone breaking it open, and the Entropy Race plays a role like a bank. What a bank cares about most is reputation, and once that is gone, the bank ceases to exist.

The major ancient remnant races must have also given the Entropy Race some benefits; otherwise, the Entropy Race would not help guard the Thousandfold Secret Realm for them.

For the tribes, doing so can prevent their lineage from being severed in a catastrophe, as long as there are still people alive, they have a chance to rely on the Thousandfold Secret Realm to reclaim their tribe’s treasures and rise again.

“Speaking of the Thousandfold Secret Realm itself, it normally opens once every hundred years, unless requested by tribes to open the secret realm. Every time it opens, it attracts celestial pride from various tribes. This time I requested the Entropy Race to open the secret realm, and the celestial pride from other tribes will also come, otherwise, they’ll have to wait for the next century…”

“Does the Thousandfold Secret Realm have any other special features?”

Lin Chen caught onto the key point in Yin Yue’s words; celestial pride from other tribes…

Although each tribe left treasures in the Thousandfold Secret Realm, it’s intended as a backup measure in case of extreme situations encountered by the tribe. Normally, the training of tribe members still relies on the resources and inheritance within the tribe. There seems to be no reason for celestial pride from various tribes to come unless this Thousandfold Secret Realm has other unique aspects.

“The flow of time in the Thousandfold Secret Realm is much slower, inside a year equates to half a year outside; moreover, a martial artist’s divine soul, speed, and power are all suppressed inside. For many geniuses, it’s the best place for honing.” Yin Yue looked at Lin Chen, her charming eyes shining: “The Thousandfold Secret Realm is composed of multiple overlapping spaces, the greater the pressure you can endure, the slower the time flow.”