Everyone ascended, but I didn't get on board

Chapter 117: The Secret Realm

Looking at the suddenly collapsed mountain, Qiu Ci's head was buzzing, and there was only one thought in his mind: By the way...can the college reimburse the losses from the business trip?
Why do I feel like I have to pay to go to work?
Qiu Ci sighed and was thinking about where to start practicing.

Suddenly, from the ruins of the collapsed mountain, a dazzling golden light shot out and reached the sky. A burst of spiritual energy that was so dense that it was about to turn into substance suddenly erupted, and the entire ground shook violently.

This is... the earth's veins moving!
Both of them were startled and quickly made hand gestures to steady their bodies.

The next moment, layers of rosy clouds filled the sky, and golden lotus shadows suddenly appeared in the sky above the original mountain peak. In a moment, they filled the entire valley and spread in all directions, reaching dozens of miles away.

"This... the sky is full of strange phenomena, and golden lotuses are emerging. This is a sign that a rare treasure has been born." Zou Ling opened his eyes wide in disbelief, turned his head and winked at her.

Qiu Ci did not hesitate, and they both flew up and flew towards the collapsed mountain. The next moment, they saw a white rotating entrance suddenly appear in the ruins in front of them. The surrounding space had been distorted, and countless unfamiliar runes were flying around the entrance.

Is this the secret realm revealed?!
Before they even approached, the spiritual energy around them was already frighteningly dense. Even more astonishing was the aura emanating from the secret realm, bringing new life to the crumbling ruins. Vast tracts of trees were emerging from the soil, growing at a rapid pace visible to the naked eye. They even felt that it wouldn't be long before the forest, razed by the two men, would return to its former lush state.

"This..." Zou Ling stared at everything in front of him in shock. It took him a while to come back to his senses. He said seriously, "This strange phenomenon means there must be some rare treasure in the secret realm. However, there must be a very strong magic array blocking the entrance. This is not something we can decide. We must report this matter to the academy immediately."

"Okay." Qiu Ci also understood the seriousness of the matter and nodded in agreement.

"Then let's say goodbye here." Zou Ling clasped his fists, turned around and flew away without any delay, heading towards the academy at the fastest speed.

Qiu Ci also planned to take the training team back to the academy quickly, but as soon as he turned around, he heard a familiar prompt tone.

[Ding, signal from the affiliated experimental base detected.]

Her body suddenly stiffened.

At the same time, in the No. 2 base of Lanyuan.

Qiu Ci's real body suddenly opened his eyes and asked quickly.

"System, what is an affiliated experimental base?"

"Master, I've detected something in that secret realm that's related to the base. It's very likely that it was opened when the base was built on Blue Star. There should be something left inside, but I don't know what it is or what it's used for."

“Can you scan what’s going on inside?” Isn’t its scanning function said to be able to scan the entire continent?
[I'm sorry, Master. Your clone only carries the system's subroutines and has only the most basic functions. It cannot perform scanning outside.]

Qiu Ci was silent. The dog system was bound to her and couldn't be too far away from her main body, so she could only set up a subroutine on the clone. She hadn't expected to make such a discovery. Now it seemed the only option was to send the clone in to take a look. So she turned to the nearby guardian and told him about the clone's discovery of the secret realm. After a moment's thought, she instructed, "A secret realm opened up by Blue Star must have special defenses. Ordinary people shouldn't be able to enter, and they might even face counterattacks. It's not something the dean and his team can handle. Be sure to tell them not to trespass recklessly."

"Don't worry, Master." The guard nodded seriously and said, "I will tell them that it's dangerous."

After saying that, he planned to leave the tower.

"Wait!" Qiu Ci thought about it, but still felt unsafe. She knew too well the destructive power of Blue Star's technology. Think of the Immortal Alliance back then, which had dominated the Linyuan Continent for so many years relying solely on the lowest level of psychic machine authority. "Many people must have noticed the strange phenomenon just now. Hiding it is impossible. You should go there in person. If it really is a secret realm built by Blue Star, my clone should be able to take you in."

"Yes, Master." He nodded, and in a flash he flew towards the main hall of the academy.

Juanshan Shou was extremely efficient and went straight to the dean to tell him the news of the secret realm. However, he did not say that it was Qiu Ci who discovered it, but said that he sensed it himself.

The dean and his companions were convinced of this. Seeing the ancestor's seriousness, they immediately summoned several of the most powerful Pavilion Masters and headed towards the secret realm. After all, a secret realm that the ancestor attached so much importance to and personally visited must have great opportunities.

The few of them went very quickly, but three hours had already passed when they arrived at Luoyang Town. They successfully reunited with Qiu Ci (his clone). Qiu Ci knew their purpose and did not delay. After handing the training team over to one of the elders, he led the group towards the secret realm.

It was already dark at this time, but the miraculous thing was that the strange phenomenon in the sky had not disappeared. The shadows of golden lotuses were still blooming in the sky above the secret realm, and the spiritual energy around them was even more intense.

However, at the entrance to the secret realm below, a number of cultivators had already gathered. They were all independent cultivators, likely those who happened to be nearby and had come to search for treasure after seeing the strange phenomenon in the sky. However, at this time, they only gathered a dozen meters away from the entrance to the secret realm, with no intention of entering. There was even a hint of fear in their expressions.

The academy's group was initially puzzled as to why no one had attempted to enter. Logically, with such a rare treasure emerging, the cultivators would have been scrambling to get their hands on it. That was until a dark figure sprinted towards the secret realm's entrance, recklessly flying towards it, laughing wildly as it flew.

"Hahahahahaha... this rare treasure is mine..."

Zi La La...

He had just flown to the entrance and hadn't finished speaking when suddenly the magic talismans surrounding him lit up and red lightning appeared, all striking towards the monk and instantly wrapping him up into a red lightning ball.

The opponent didn't even have time to scream before he turned into ashes in an instant, without even a trace of his body left.

"God... His soul has dissipated." Dean Yu cried out subconsciously. The person just now was obviously a Nascent Soul cultivator. The red lightning was so powerful that the other party didn't even have a chance to escape. It was directly struck and destroyed. "What kind of lightning was that?"

Not only Dean Yu, but everyone present had never seen red lightning. No wonder all these wandering cultivators gathered here. Not only did no one try to go in, but they were also so far away. They were probably afraid that the lightning would accidentally affect them.

Everyone was shocked, only Qiu Ci silently exchanged a glance with the old man Juanshan, confirming that lightning of such intensity could only be a product of Blue Star.