You promised yourself to be a caged bird, but you became the supreme young master?

"Okay, that's all for now."

"Assemble at the training ground in half an hour."

After saying that, Lu Guhong left without looking back.

In such a short time, Lu Heng had no intention of separating from Lu Qingyan.

For this practical evaluation, Lu Qingyan did not find any extra teammates.

After four months of cultivation, she had already reached the sixth level of body refinement, and together with him, who had mastered the proficient level of "Basic Sword Techniques," it was more than enough for her.

Naturally, there's no need to waste time or find another teammate.

"Ask anything you want to ask."

Looking back at Lu Heng, who seemed to want to ask something, Lu Qingyan casually spoke.

What is the secret realm of Qinghe City?

Lu Heng asked curiously.

The term "secret realm" had actually appeared many times in the many books he had read.

As the name suggests, a secret realm is a space independent of the real world.

Some are formed naturally, while others are created by powerful beings through their own might.

Even the smallest secret realm has an interior space larger than that of a city.

Furthermore, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is often extremely rich, dozens or even hundreds of times that of the outside world.

Putting everything else aside, in this environment, even weeds could become medicinal herbs.

The growth rate of ordinary medicinal herbs is dozens or even hundreds of times that of those found in the outside world.

This applies to both beasts and demons.

It is usually a logistical base for cultivating resources for first-class or even top-class forces.

As far as Lu Heng knew, the combined power of the entire Qinghe City was probably only enough to barely squeeze into the ranks of third-rate forces.

They have absolutely no ability to develop, let alone possess, a secret realm.

However, we can tell from Lu Guhong's words just now...

The secret realm that Qinghe City possesses may have significant limitations.

It's most likely about the opening time and restrictions on who can enter.

The former is that the opening time is completely uncertain, otherwise Lu Guhong would not have said that the secret realm would open ahead of schedule.

It is estimated that Qinghe City only has a vague idea of ​​when the secret realm will open.

The latter is...

Qinghe City, after all, possesses several forces at the Refinement God Realm level.

If there were truly untapped secret realms, it would be quite normal for a true cultivator to be unwilling to take the risk, but cultivators in lower-level Qi-refining secret realms would not be so.

The resources of the secret realm are one thing, but the orders from the Refining God True Man are another.

As expected, Lu Qingyan's subsequent answer was very close to what Lu Heng had thought.

"This secret realm in Qinghe City is said to have originated from a demonic sect that had been entrenched in Qingzhou for thousands of years."

However, for some unknown reason, that demonic sect vanished without a trace overnight.

In the Qinghe City area, only one secret realm remains, which opens every few decades.

The secret realm has a limited number of places and is only open to cultivators below the Qi Refining Realm.

Within the secret realm, there are countless medicinal herbs that are hundreds of years old, and even many that are thousands of years old.

Although there are restrictions before entering the secret realm, even just relying on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within the secret realm to cultivate is a tremendous opportunity.

It can make a person's cultivation speed several times faster than before, and make it easier to break through bottlenecks.

The reason my grandfather, as a member of a branch family, was able to reach the position of the second deacon of the branch family today is because he entered a secret realm when he was young.

The fact that the secret realm opened at this time is our good fortune.

So this time, given the chance, Lu Heng, you and I must strive to get this qualification.

As Lu Qingyan introduced the story, she also expressed some feelings.

For practitioners, birth and background may be very important, but how many practitioners can have an outstanding background and birth?

Born into a branch of the Lu family, even she doesn't actually have a real background.

At such times, for the vast majority of cultivators, there is often only one possibility to defy fate: opportunity.

The secret realm is their opportunity!

Lu Heng nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

Perhaps because they were the last in their batch, they only had five spots to be selected for the secret realm.

Given this, is it possible that someone will resort to underhanded tactics?

But in such matters, would those high-ranking Refining God Elders of the main family, who are waiting for the results of the secret realm's harvest, really allow it?

However, no matter what, Lu Heng would not let go of the possibility of entering the secret realm as long as there was an opportunity.

After all, for him, this might be the only reasonable and rapid way to improve his cultivation level, given that he is three months late and lacks cultivation resources.

………………

Sure enough, half an hour later.

Standing before nearly 200 students from other departments, Lu Guhong announced expressionlessly,

"No off-the-books tactics are allowed in this practical rating exercise."

Anyone found violating this rule will be severely punished.

Note that this applies to anyone.

This is the elder's instruction!

Alright, let's go.

Of course, the nearly two hundred teenagers on the training ground did not leave the city in a dense mass, as that would be somewhat disrespectful to the Qinghe City government.

Even if there is some connection between the two, the imperial court is still the most powerful force in the Great Qi Dynasty.

No one would choose to offend the imperial court unless absolutely necessary.

Under Lu Guhong's arrangement, the many teenagers in the arena set off in groups of twenty, each led by a branch cultivator in the late stage of Body Refinement.

He personally led the young men from the main family.

With the young members of the main family all possessing cultivation levels of at least the mid-stage of the Body Refinement Secret Realm, traveling a thousand miles a day would be no problem for them.

Before evening, they had already crossed most of Qinghe City and arrived at the city gate, ready to leave the city.

"Why not ride a horse?" Lu Heng asked Lu Qingyan with slight confusion.

Born into an ordinary family in this life, he still lacked some basic common sense.

In ancient times, the young men from prominent families who could be considered scions of noble households most likely used horses as their mode of transportation.

That's why the idiom "dressed in fine clothes and riding a spirited horse" exists.

In this world with cultivators, while it's not accurate to say that demons are used as mounts, spirit steeds with demon bloodlines definitely exist.

In the miscellaneous books that record the wars of this world, the most basic cavalry mounts of any dynasty's regular army are at least Tier 1.

"The Great Qi has a law that anyone who rides a horse freely within the city is considered to be rebelling."

"Besides the government, I don't think any family would dare to raise horses privately," the girl replied quietly.

Lu Heng suddenly realized what was happening and stopped asking questions.

Soon the group arrived at the city gate.

Lu Heng looked towards the city wall; this was the first time he had ever been here in this lifetime.

For ordinary people in this world, entering the wilderness teeming with demons and monsters is tantamount to certain death.

Apart from cultivators, ordinary people would never even have the idea or need to leave the city.

Now, having arrived in this world, he is about to leave the human city for the first time.