The Fairy: From the Traveling Merchant

Chapter 1024 Secret Realm
“Uncle-Master Wan Chong… Shen Wan Chong, the true disciple of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect?” Guo Jingyuan looked at the scene displayed in the “water mirror” and pondered, “I heard that the woman from the Feng family took the longevity pill provided by the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect. Is this a backlash?”

"However, the secret realm that Feng Xu mentioned is most likely the one that my Guo family ancestors guarded on the orders of their master. It's just that when the era changed, the branch that was entrusted with this mission died out, so now I can only find a few words in old documents..."

"Perhaps the Xin family's ancestors were descended from my family after they went into hiding. The treasures in that secret realm are destined to be with my Guo family."

Guo Jingyuan wasn't exactly making baseless accusations. His ancestors did indeed have a connection with a powerful figure who bestowed upon them a portion of the "Huangtian Miaofa" (Yellow Heaven Wonderful Method). Through generations of ancestors combining it with other inheritances, they continuously supplemented and perfected it, which is how the Guo family came to have the two true transmissions that directly point to the second realm of "Dongxuan" (Profound Mystery): "Liujia Shenjiang Zhenjie" (True Explanation of the Six Jia Divine Generals) and "Liuding Tianbing Midian" (Secret Canon of the Six Ding Heavenly Soldiers).

However, Guo Jingyuan's branch was actually a minor lineage. The true main lineage had been wiped out during the wars of the feudal lords more than 8,000 years ago. Therefore, he was completely unaware of the secret realm that his family was guarding. It was only after the rumors about the secret realm spread recently that he was able to "reconstruct" the "truth" from some fragments recorded by his ancestors.

"How could I let that woman Feng Qing get her hands on the treasure that my Guo family guards?" Guo Jingyuan snorted coldly. After obtaining the exact location of the entrance from the dialogue displayed by the "Water Mirror", he summoned the clouds and mist and chased after the direction of the secret realm.

……

In the small valley that served as the entrance to the secret realm, Gong Yun, who had rushed there after receiving the message, saw Zhao Chen's clone emerge from the ground and hurriedly asked, "What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Zhao Chen did not answer, but said directly, "Open the entrance to the 'Secret Realm' as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Gong Yun was somewhat surprised, but she immediately did as instructed. However, while casting the spell, she asked with some confusion, "Don't we need to wait for the Feng family member to use the 'token' to activate it?"

"Although that token is indeed an ancient artifact, and its authenticity is difficult to ascertain, it ultimately comes from 'Chenlu Biefu'. If it falls into that person's hands for too long, there's no guarantee that something won't go wrong... Therefore, I have already retrieved it."

"Just make it look like someone opened the secret realm with the token first." Zhao Chen replied casually, and seeing that the secret realm gate had already opened, he continued to instruct, "You'd better dispel this 'double illusion' body immediately. At most, I can only protect myself, and it's impossible for me to hide your existence under the nose of a real person."

“Okay, the formation inside has been activated. Be careful.” Gong Yun didn’t ask any more questions, showing her complete trust in Zhao Chen. She only said with a hint of regret, “It means that if you do everything, my opportunity to advance to a higher level of supernatural power will be gone…”

"Your opportunity doesn't actually lie in confronting a true master; that would be too much... You should take this chance to plunder the Helan Snow Mountain. Your seventh sister is still lacking a few types of Qi of the Gang Sha realm," Zhao Chen said with a smile.

He now knows that the so-called "opportunity for supernatural powers" actually comes in two forms: one is the opportunity to achieve "divine soul," and the other is the ritual prepared to obtain "rank."

Most ordinary cultivators are stuck at the second level, since they don't know about the existence of "ranks" or what the "Mysterious Heaven" will test them for receiving ranks, or what rituals are required. Moreover, the rituals differ greatly depending on the cultivation method.

However, cultivators like Zhao Chen and Gong Yun, who have clear "names" and can accept the rank, know the specific content of the ritual. Therefore, when "accepting the rank", they can obtain enough "spiritual energy of heaven and earth" to piece together supernatural powers.

Therefore, what Gong Yun lacked was actually the first type, namely, the opportunity for the birth of "divine soul".

"Are you helping me, or are you thinking about Wan'er?" Gong Yun gave Zhao Chen a meaningful smile, but didn't dwell on it. Instead, she readily dispelled the "double illusion" body.

Is this a prelude to settling scores later? Sensing that his main body was enjoying Feng Wan's "breath turning to frost," Zhao Chen actually felt "guilty" for a second before entering the "Four Elements of Emptiness" state of mind of the "Joyful" lineage and stepping into the entrance of the secret realm.

The entrance was inside a cave, which Gong Yun had originally set up with an array around it. However, at Zhao Chen's suggestion, it was removed, as it was somewhat superfluous—if there really was an array near the entrance, this secret realm wouldn't have remained undiscovered until now. However, the various restrictions inside the secret realm were significantly strengthened. Many powerful arrays wielded by the "spirits of blessed lands" were brought over by Gong Yun. If it weren't for the lack of "magical treasures" to suppress them, even a Dharma Aspect Realm cultivator would likely suffer greatly upon entering.

Thanks to the "Starry Night Stop" supernatural power bestowed upon him by his original body, Zhao Chen was quite at ease in these formations and quickly hid in the secret space that Gong Yun had created behind the withered ginseng fruit tree.

Before going in, he extracted "Zhang Xiang's" body from the main body's "warehouse" and threw it under the withered ginseng fruit tree.

This completes the loop, and Feng Qing should no longer have any doubts.

Holding a crystal in his hand, Zhao Chen waited quietly in the hidden space, hoping for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

……

On the other side, Feng Qing transformed into a blizzard and flew hundreds of miles before landing in a small valley at the entrance to the secret realm.

With a sweep of her divine sense, she quickly discovered the entrance to the cave that had already been opened not far away.

"So this is where it is... This valley has a unique terrain, seemingly naturally designed to isolate divine sense and make it invisible to others. No wonder I lived in the Helan Snow Mountain for so long and didn't discover anything about it!"

Feng Qing used the wind and snow sensor to check for any major danger, and without hesitation stepped into the entrance.

She knew that the commotion she had made flying across the sky was impossible to hide from her old rivals. If she didn't take the treasures from the secret realm as soon as possible, it wouldn't be so easy to succeed later.

The secret realm is filled with all sorts of wondrous formations, but without any magical treasures to suppress them, they are completely unable to deal with the Dharma forms revealed by the true beings.

That was a crushing defeat in terms of status, which could not be compensated for by any divine intervention.

Therefore, Feng Qing only took a dozen breaths to reach the deepest part of the secret realm, and immediately saw the withered ginseng fruit tree and Zhang Xiang "dead" under the tree.

"No wonder those formations didn't have anything to suppress them. I was wondering about that before. It turns out the divine tree that was supposed to be the suppressing object had withered away..."

"However, Zhang Xiang actually died here, and judging from the situation, his true spirit was attacked!"

Upon witnessing this scene, Feng Qing became wary, but more so of any potential psychological attack.

As her divine sense continued to extend, she finally saw the mural that Zhao Chen and Gong Yun had forged together.

(End of this chapter)