Free Web NovelChapter 196.1: Entering the Secret Realm; Lu Changsheng Shakes the Sacred Land of Tai Cang! (I)
"The time has come, Brother Lu," Xia Chengfeng said.
Lu Changsheng nodded. "I'm ready."
"Good. Let us depart, then."
Just like that Xia Chengfeng, Zhao Yujian, and Lu Changsheng left the cave residence together. In the next instant, their silhouettes turned into streaks of light and disappeared beyond the horizon.
There were plenty of secret realms in the Ancient Region, but large secret realms that had never been explored were exceedingly rare. The secret realm Lu Changsheng and his companions were heading to was exactly one that had not been explored.
Xia Chengfeng and Zhao Yujian had discovered it by chance, and although the news had clearly begun to spread, they still tried to keep the exact location a secret. They hadn't even told Lu Changsheng any details about where this secret realm was exactly.
After several days of traveling, the three arrived at a mountain forest shrouded in mist. Lu Changsheng deployed his Sense Domain and noticed something unusual. A moment later, he realized he recognized the place.
"Is this place Heavenly Shackle Mountain Range?"
Although he was not deeply familiar with the third layer of the Ancient Region, he had studied its major mountain ranges before, and Heavenly Shackle Mountain Range was one of them.
"Indeed." Xia Chengfeng nodded. "The entrance to the large secret realm we're going to is going to be somewhere here. Back then, Zhao Yujian and I stumbled upon this place by chance. Quite a few Dao Foundation and Foundation Establishment experts know of it, but they've mostly kept quiet about it.
"The news of the secret realm opening here has been out long enough now, though. So who knows how many people have learned of it by now..."
Lu Changsheng extended his Sense Domain farther into the mountain range.
"Hmm?" Something caught his attention. "There seem to be quite a few people already near the secret realm..."
He had sensed a cluster of auras in the distance, where many Dao Foundation and Dao Lords had gathered. Most of them were clearly there for the secret realm.
Xia Chengfeng glanced in that direction. "We should hurry, then."
The three martial artists wasted no more time and quickly made their way toward the secret realm's location. Soon enough, they arrived at where the secret realm was supposed to appear.
It was a valley, and both Dao Lords and Dao Foundation experts were already scattered throughout it and along its surrounding slopes, and the moment the three touched down, eyes turned toward them from every direction, and whispers moved through the group of cultivators.
"That's Xia Chengfeng and Zhao Yujian from the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect. Who's the third one, though? I don't recognize him."
"Probably another supreme Dao Foundation expert from their sect."
"Wait... Isn't that Lu Changsheng?"
"Lu Changsheng? The supreme genius who dominated his entire generation across the Immortal Dao and Martial Dao when he was in the Divine Treasury Realm?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"But Lu Changsheng only forged his Dao Foundation a year or two ago. Is he really planning to enter the secret realm and compete for the Principle Divine Stones?"
"Heh. He's probably been dragged here by Xia Chengfeng and Zhao Yujian."
"Xia Chengfeng and Zhao Yujian are strong, but even they can't guarantee they'd walk away with the Principle Divine Stones on their own. Why would they burden themselves with a third person?"
The Dao Lords and Dao Foundation experts in the area exchanged hushed conversations, using various tricks that made it nearly impossible for outsiders to eavesdrop. freewebnøvel.com
Sure enough, Lu Changsheng had no idea what was being said about him—not that he would have cared. After all, anyone who had ever underestimated him was dead.
"Brother Xia, I don't see the entrance to the secret realm anywhere," Lu Changsheng said.
He had swept the area with his Sense Domain several times and come up empty. The concentration of cultivators told him they were in the right place, but he simply could not find the entrance to the secret realm.
Xia Chengfeng smirked. "We've arrived a little early. The secret realm's space needs to collide and overlap with the Ancient Region's space for the entrance to appear. We can't find anything now because that hasn't happened yet. Make no mistake, if the entrance were already open, everyone here would have rushed in long ago."
"I see. So the entrance is somewhere around here, but no one knows exactly where?"
"Exactly. No one knows the precise location. It could be inside the valley, outside it, or some distance away entirely. But according to the estimations of specialized Dao Foundation experts and Dao Lords, it will appear within a ten-li radius."
Lu Changsheng understood now. Since no one knew exactly where the entrance would appear, there was no point fighting for an advantageous position just yet. No one could tell where they ought to position themselves because no one could tell where the entrance would emerge.
For the time being, there was nothing to do but wait.
Just like that, time passed little by little. Over the following days, more Dao Foundation and Foundation Establishment experts trickled in, some drawing considerable attention when they arrived.
Throughout this time, Lu Changsheng was doing what he always did in idle hours—working through various Principles and pushing his progress forward.
Finally, about ten days later, a terrifying wave of energy suddenly swept out in all directions. The fluctuation did not come from inside the valley, nor did it come from the slopes around it. The source was farther away.
"It's five li away!"
"This fluctuation in energy must be from a spatial collision! The secret realm's space must have begun to collide with the Ancient Region's space!
"We should go now!"
"Let's go! We need to be one step ahead. This is a large secret realm that has never been discovered before. Whoever enters first will have an upper-hand on the most valuable items."
The moment the gathered cultivators confirmed the direction of the fluctuation, they shot toward it without hesitation. Xia Chengfeng and Zhao Yujian had also been prepared for this moment. As soon as the energy wave appeared, they rose to their feet.
"Brother Lu, let's go!" Xia Chengfeng urged,
The three martial artists immediately rushed toward the source of the fluctuation.
At a time like this, speed mattered more than anything. Some Dao Foundation experts used the Wind Principle to push themselves forward, while the Dao Lords activated their enchanted treasures and shot ahead like lightning.
By ordinary standards, Xia Chengfeng and Zhao Yujian were not slow. However, since neither of them had comprehended the Wind Principle, they quickly fell behind the experts who had Principles or enchanted treasures boosting their speed.
Lu Changsheng had no intention of being left behind, so he told them, "I've mastered the Wind Principle, so I can be a lot faster than this. Brother Xia and Brother Zhao, I'll use my Wind Principle to carry us. Just go along with it."
The two men nodded without hesitation. "Very well. Thank you, Brother Lu."
Lu Changsheng unleashed the Wind Principle, which had already progressed past sixty percent. Their speed increased at once, and the three men began cutting through the crowd, overtaking cultivators one after another.
Even so, they were still not the fastest. One Dao Lord, carrying some enchanted treasure no one could identify, was moving like a bolt of lightning. He covered five li and reached the entrance in the blink of an eye, leaving everyone else in the dust.
Lu Changsheng and his group were the third to arrive—not too late at all.
Lu Changsheng looked out at the forest ahead. At first glance, there was nothing special about it. It looked like the kind of ordinary woodland one could pass through without giving it a second thought. Yet at that moment, the air above the trees began to distort, twisting and folding in on itself until a pitch-black opening slowly took shape.
The entrance to the secret realm! Lu Changsheng exclaimed inwardly, filled with anticipation.
However, they could not enter yet. The entrance had not fully stabilized; its edges were still twisting and shifting. Everyone had to wait until it formed completely.
Two hours crawled by before the opening steadied into a dark, motionless passage. No one could see where it led. But the size of it, the weight of it, left no room for doubt among the cultivators.
That was the doorway to the secret realm.
"Let's go!" Some of the bolder experts rushed toward the doorway first.
Lu Changsheng and his group, however, held back. They preferred to let others test the waters first. Only after they watched the first group enter the passage without incident did they start moving forward.
"Alright, looks safe. Let's go."
The moment Lu Changsheng stepped inside the passage, a chill wrapped around him. It felt as if he had crossed an invisible boundary. His body swayed slightly, and in the next instant, blinding light filled his vision.
When the light faded, he saw that he was standing in a forest of ancient trees. "So this is the secret realm?"
Lu Changsheng looked around. The trees were enormous, their canopies pushing up into the clouds. The place seemed full of vitality, but he quickly noticed the difference between this world and the Ancient Region. The air here felt thin and fragile.
Lu Changsheng threw a casual punch.
Boom!
He had only used his physical strength, yet the surrounding space trembled as if it might collapse at any moment.
Behind Lu Changsheng, Xia Chengfeng's eyes lit up. "Secret realm! We're actually inside a secret realm!"
Zhao Yujian scanned their surroundings, his expression serious despite the excitement in his eyes. "Everything here is fragile, Our Mind Space, our Principles, all of it carries destructive power that the space here can barely handle. Inside a secret realm, every Dao Foundation expert is effectively a world-ending force. Here, we're probably like those powerful figures from ancient myths.
"That said, this particular secret realm seems steadier than others, perhaps because it's a large secret realm. Clashes between Dao Foundation and Foundation Establishment cultivators should be well within what it can sustain.
"Regardless, this passage will only stay open for around three months. We must find the Principle Divine Stones before then. Whatever happens, we leave before the passage closes. Anyone still inside when it disappears won't be coming back."
Lu Changsheng nodded. "Then we need to find the Principle Divine Stones as quickly as possible."
