Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

To the east, a spirit boat hovers in mid-air.

It was thousands of feet long, with smooth lines and a silver-white body. The surface was covered with dense runes, and the spiritual light of the runes flowed on the ship, emitting a soft white light, like flowing water.

A fourth-tier spirit boat. From the Hundred Arts Immortal Alliance.

Only the Hundred Arts Immortal Alliance can mass-produce this kind of fourth-tier spirit boat, and one of them is comparable to the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Ten people, both men and women, stood on the deck of the spirit boat, dressed in magnificent attire. Some had jade flutes hanging from their waists, while others had ancient zithers floating behind them. Their demeanor was quite different from that of ordinary sect cultivators—it was extremely refined.

To the west, a palace floats in the air.

The palace was entirely black, its surface covered with animal patterns—the patterns swirling and twisting like snakes and dragons.

The Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord's Mansion. The grandest spectacle, the procession pulling the carriage was terrifying—four Nascent Soul level dragons, each nearly a thousand feet long, entirely black, with scales like iron armor.

They were chained together, pulling the palace slowly across the lake.

The four-headed dragon's eyes were empty and devoid of consciousness—a Nascent Soul level demon beast that could already transform into a human, now stripped of its consciousness and reduced to a mere beast pulling a cart.

The leader of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Lord's Palace was the Myriad Spirits Saint Son, followed by nine others.

The Holy Son was tall and imposing, with a cold and stern face. His long black hair cascaded over his shoulders, and he wore a dark gold suit of armor with fine, intricate scales that gleamed coldly in the light. A short sword hung at his waist, its scabbard black and undecorated.

The sect members whispered among themselves. Holy Sons and Holy Daughters were beings reserved for dominant powers. Of course, there were those who didn't follow these rules—the Cloud Sea Azure Sea Sect had never had a Holy Son.

The sect's benchmark is called "Secret Disciple," which is an existence at the same level. Simply put, it is someone who has a slight hope of becoming a Nascent Soul Celestial Lord in the future.

However, the sect's requirements are extremely high, and I have never heard of anyone being called a secret disciple—or perhaps there are, but it has not been announced to the public.

The three Nascent Soul True Monarchs never showed themselves from beginning to end; only Foundation Establishment disciples appeared.

Nascent Soul cultivators can all condense a Dharma Body, but the strength of these Dharma Bodies varies. More importantly, as high-ranking members of the major hegemonic forces, who doesn't possess several methods that transcend their current level of strength?

No one knew whether the person coming from the other side was the real body or a dharma body. Different identities have different configurations, and it was unknown whether they were secretly carrying a fifth-tier spiritual treasure. Everything was unknown.

The three forces faced off across a hundred miles, their auras clashing, causing the world to change color and the winds to shift.

The Beichen Palace draws in endless starlight, with silvery-white starlight cascading down from the palace ceiling like an inverted waterfall.

The entire hall was enveloped in starlight, its aura subtly overshadowing the two opposing houses. The Beichen Hall was a high-grade fourth-tier magic treasure, and Beichen Zhenjun was a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator responsible for the sect's killing and warfare, making him inherently powerful.

Three powerful forces clashed and collided above the lake. The lake surface began to churn, and the undercurrents transformed into giant waves, hundreds of feet high, crashing against the air without splashing, because the waves were pushed down before they could even rise.

The world changed color—to the east was the white light of the Hundred Arts Immortal Alliance, to the west was the inky black of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable's Mansion, and in the middle was the silver-white of the Northern Star Palace.

The three colors tore, blended, and transformed in the air.

There was a moment of silence.

Half a day later, a voice came from the direction of the Myriad Beasts Spirit Venerable's Mansion, deep and resonant, like muffled thunder rolling in the distance: "Bei Chen, why did you bring eleven people this time?"

The voice of True Lord Beichen came from inside the hall, calm and unwavering: "Is there a difference? In the end, it's still strength that matters."

The other side did not deny it. For the seven overlords, opportunities at the Nascent Soul level were not lacking; only those at the fifth level were truly precious.

But the Ten Thousand Beasts Spirit Lord's Mansion was still unhappy—why should Bei Chen be able to break the rules at will? It was agreed that each side would have ten people, but he brought one more.

He wanted to say something else.

A pleasant, gentle female voice came from the Hundred Arts Immortal Alliance.

"Alright, alright, what difference does it make if there's one more or one less? The important thing is to get down to business."

Advise for peace.

Among the seven overlords, the Hundred Arts Immortal Alliance is relatively weak and usually plays the role of peacemaker.

Moreover, Bei Chen, that old devil, is bloodthirsty and will kill at the slightest provocation. We don't want to turn against him now.

The Beast Spirit Lord's Mansion snorted and said nothing more.

Inside the Beichen Palace, True Lord Beichen sat in the main seat, while True Lord Qingyuan reclined on a chair beside him, his eyes closed as if he were asleep.

Beichen Zhenjun glanced at him.

He was easy to talk to this time not because his temper had improved, but because True Monarch Qingyuan was sitting there, and he had to maintain a certain air of propriety.

---

Three days later, there was movement on the lake. Since the three major powers had already used the surviving bloodline of the Luo Tian Sect to deduce the time and location of the secret realm's appearance, no one was surprised.

A ring appeared in the sky above the lake.

The ring wasn't large; it started out only the size of a fist, suspended thousands of feet above the lake. But it was expanding—every so often, the ring grew one ring wider.

The edge of the ring is light gold, gradually turning dark blue towards the center, and then pure black towards the very center.

The three Nascent Soul cultivators attacked simultaneously.

Three beams of spiritual light shot out from the three fourth-tier magic treasures: the silvery-white starlight of the North Star Palace, the inky-black spiritual light of the Myriad Beasts Palace, and the milky-white spiritual light of the Hundred Arts Spirit Boat. The three forces simultaneously stabilized the ring.

The ring began to expand rapidly, growing from about ten feet to a hundred feet in size, resembling an inverted black lake when viewed from below.

The secret realm has opened.

"Walk!"

The Foundation Establishment disciples from the three factions ascended into the air simultaneously.

Lin Zhao took a step forward, his figure leaping out and rushing into the circle. The thirty-one people, like thirty-one shooting stars, disappeared into the inside of the circle.

After the disciple entered, the ring began to shrink.

The three Nascent Soul cultivators intervened again, completely freezing the ring. It finally stopped at a size of ten zhang and remained motionless.

The secret realm is expected to last for a year.

For these late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, ordinary fourth-tier opportunities in the secret realm are nothing special.

With the methods of a hegemon, opening or even destroying a secret realm is effortless, but a fifth-tier spiritual treasure is not easy to obtain—that thing has already developed sentience, and if anything goes wrong, it will vanish into the void, making it very difficult to find again.

It's not worth sacrificing a fifth-tier spiritual treasure for a few fourth-tier treasures. Entering the Core Formation stage would cause too much commotion and could easily lead to unforeseen complications. Using a Foundation Establishment disciple is just right.

The opportunity also falls into the hands of their own disciples. If it is a rare fourth-tier treasure, given their status, they can simply exchange resources for it.

Therefore, while the fifth-tier spiritual treasure and the secret realm are still integrated, we should try our best to record and lock onto its aura and location.

The disciples' mission upon entering was to cause trouble, the bigger the trouble, the better.

The more chaotic the situation within the secret realm, the more thoroughly the location and aura of the spiritual treasure will be exposed.

One year from now is the time to seize the fifth-tier spiritual treasure.