Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Watching everything unfold, Xuan Hao could not help silently smiling to himself as everything had ended up working out well with the ancient formation disc having already activated on its own to create a passage directly to the ancient secret realm, though… From the spatial fluctuations of the spatial passage that had been formed, it was clear that it had been affected by the spatial storm that now surrounded the ancient secret realm, causing it to already show signs of collapsing in his eyes.

Still, though the spatial passage had already partly begun to collapse, it was far stronger than any spatial passage he could ever hope to construct with his current strength as it seemingly relied on the larger and far stronger guardian formation guarding the ancient secret realm to form.

”W-w-what is that!?”

”An ancient gate… Leading to an immortal realm!?”

”Wow… Is it really an ancient gate connected to an immortal realm…?”

Of course, the instability and slow collapse of the spatial passage wasn’t something that the group of youths below noticed, as that would require a profound comprehension of the Dao of Space, something that was impossible for them to attain with their current cultivation realm.

Even Li Feng, who was far more knowledgeable about secret realms thanks to his background, didn’t feel anything off about the spatial passage that had appeared in front of them. Instead, only feeling a hint of excitement, as different from everyone around him, the jade pendant had also transferred some information about the secret realm in front of him as the spatial gate had formed.

”Everyone, this is not a gate to some immortal realm, but instead a special smaller world known as a secret realm. Not just is it a place that is filled with opportunities, but the strength of the native demon beasts and potential humans inside shouldn’t be much stronger than the Qi Condensation Realm.” And having already decided to enter the secret realm that had appeared in front of him out of the blue, he decided to share the little information he had managed to obtain through the jade pendant with the group of youths behind him.

After all, they had been together for some time and had already decided to enter the branch that had been established by the Star Shattering Sect. So, as future fellow disciple, he saw nothing wrong with sharing this information with them. Especially considering that even if they had other thoughts and potentially stabbed him in the back later, his true strength was already at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Making it difficult for them to pose any real threat to him even without mentioning the defensive abilities of the ancient jade pendant.

”A secret realm… Filled with opportunities?”

”Oh! I see, we can use this secret realm to increase our strength before trying to join the Star Shattering Sect!”

”Good idea! If we manage to breakthrough one or maybe two minor realms before reaching the Star Shattering Sect branch, we should all be able to enter without any problems!”

However, with everyone still young and unexperienced regarding the ways of the world, this worry was for nothing, as the group of youths just expressed their excitement at exploring this secret realm together and potentially using it to increase their strength and in turn chances to enter the branch of the Star Shattering Sect.

Compared to Li Feng who knew just how valuable a secret realm was, they were completely ignorant and hadn’t even known about the existence of secret realms before Li Feng had mentioned it to them. Having originally believed that the spatial passage in front of them led to the legendary immortal realm.

Faced with this kind of enthusiasm, Li Feng could only silently shake his head before starting to explain a few others things about the secret realm along with the potential dangers they might encounter after entering the secret realm, something that the rest alongside Xuan Hao hidden above made sure to memorize.

The reason for Xuan Hao’s attention being that the information shared by Li Feng this time around also involved some critical information regarding certain limitations that existed within the ancient secret realm. One of which was the fact that there was a cultivation restriction preventing anyone above the Nascent Soul Realm from entering the ancient secret realm.

Of course, this rule could be ignored, but to do so, one would need to be strong enough to force their way through the guardian formation upholding these rules, something Xuan Hao wasn’t exactly capable of.

Whoosh~

But it didn’t mean he was unable to sneak inside the ancient secret realm, as he made use of the time while Li Feng and his friends were distracted to test whether it would be possible for him to enter the ancient secret realm by temporarily sealing his cultivation base at the Nascent Soul Realm. A test that soon enough came back positive.

But… For him to temporarily seal off his cultivation realm came with an enormous risk, as he had no idea what might await him inside the ancient secret realm. Knowing from the spatial storm that surrounded the ancient secret realm that leaving would be impossible without making use of another ancient teleportation passage.

Even if he wanted to explore the ancient secret realm, the risk of doing so was simply too great and came with uncertain rewards.

Because of this, even as Li Feng and his group of friends gathered and stepped through the ancient spatial passage connected to the ancient secret realm, Xuan Hao found himself lost in thought regarding what to do.

Only when the gate was about to collapse did he finally step forward and followed the group of youths into the ancient secret realm.

Not because he had suddenly grown more confident or had discovered something valuable through the severely weakened divine sense that he had sent through the already collapsing spatial passage to search the area on the other side of the ancient spatial passage. Instead, it was because his system had decided to grace him with its presence for the first time since the completion of the main sect quest.

Handing him a side quest that had a reward that he simply couldn’t refuse…

[Side Quest: Search the Ancient Secret Realm of the Noble Li Clan] [Description: You have encountered the ancient secret realm belonging to an ancient noble clan that once stood at the pinnacle. Searching through the place might lead to finding something of immense value.] [Requirement: Find the ancient residence of the Noble Li Clan hidden inside the ancient secret realm.] [Reward: Heavenly Earth Vein Root (Heavenly Material)] The object in question being a piece of heavenly material that he had just recently learnt was needed for him to continue smoothly progressing through the Land Creation Realm.

But outside of just the heavenly material that would be useful for his cultivation, the information contained in the simple description of the side quest was more than enough to draw his attention and make him consider risking exploring the ancient secret realm even if there hadn’t been any mention of a reward.

After all, for the description of the quest to directly state that there was something of immense value hidden away inside the ancient secret realm, he could guess that whatever it was, finding this thing of immense value would be beneficial to his cultivation or understanding of the past and potentially even future cultivation realms.

Because of this, there was little hesitation as he sealed off his cultivation down to the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and entered the ancient secret realm. Feeling only a bit nervous as he wondered if the information that had been given to him by Li Feng had been correct, something he didn’t trust just because his own little test had succeeded earlier, but also the fact that the system had directly presented him with a side quest related to the ancient secret realm.

If he couldn’t even explore the ancient secret realm, he doubted that the side quest would have ever appeared in the first place.

Still, as he stepped foot inside the ancient secret realm just as the spatial passage crumbled behind him and didn’t get struck down by the ancient guardian formation that he could clearly sense covering the sky above him, he couldn’t help feeling himself letting out a breath of relief.

Not for any other reason than the fact that he hadn’t been attacked by the ancient guardian formation and would be able to freely explore the ancient secret realm while searching for the residence of the Noble Li Clan that had once controlled this long since abandoned secret realm.

As for the group of youths who had entered the ancient secret realm ahead of him led by Li Feng? They had already set out towards what looked like a small city in the distance. Clearly seeking out the nearest place with people in an attempt to learn more about the ancient secret realm before beginning their exploration of the place.