I tamed beasts and achieved immortality in the world of cultivation.

"It's best to stay away from this thing. Let whoever wants to control it control it."

Chen Qing silently warned himself, while continuing to walk quickly in the northwest direction.

He only planned to stay in the secret realm for three days. Once the three days were up, he would leave immediately, regardless of what he gained. He had only come in to appease Lu Chenxing's urging. His attitude towards the secret realm had always been clear—he would take what he could, and if he couldn't, so be it; there was no need to risk his life.

He cultivates the path to immortality, not the path to death.

However, since we're already here, we might as well take the opportunity to learn about the secret realm and prepare for the future. Moreover, it's common knowledge in the cultivation world that secret realms mostly contain Foundation Establishment spiritual items.

Although the Lin Yuan Secret Realm is only a first-tier secret realm, the probability of producing Foundation Establishment spiritual items is not small, which is one of the reasons why so many cultivators flock to it.

It's worth mentioning that Lingyun Sect collects less tax on Foundation Establishment spiritual items, changing the 70/30 split to a 50/50 split.

After all, this concerns their path to enlightenment. As a righteous sect, Lingyun Sect should have some dignity. However, Chen Qing had heard that the demonic realm was not so kind. Not only did they want spiritual objects, but sometimes they even wanted to leave their lives behind.

Fortunately, over the past tens of thousands of years in the Canglan Domain, the independent cultivators, being the largest group, have also researched a lot of things, including a method to enter and exit without going through the secret realm rift, but Chen Qing currently has no access to it.

"I'm currently at the seventh level of Qi Refining. I estimate that I can reach the eighth level in two or three years at most, and the tenth level in about ten years. I need to start planning for Foundation Establishment spiritual items in advance."

As Chen Qing pondered this, he walked through the forest of corpses.

The light in the dense forest was dim, with tall trees blocking out the sun. Only a few streaks of grayish-white sunlight occasionally peeked through the gaps in the branches and leaves, preventing Chen Qing's vision from becoming too dark.

With his spiritual sense fully activated, Chen Qing could perceive everything within a radius of forty-three feet. He walked and observed, silently memorizing everything he saw along the way.

It must be said that the spiritual objects in this secret realm are indeed more abundant than those in the outside world.

In less than half an hour, Chen Qing had already discovered seven or eight kinds of spiritual herbs and medicines. Although they were not of high quality, mostly low-grade first-order herbs, these things would not grow so casually by the roadside in the outside world.

"No wonder so many people are desperate to get into the secret realm."

Chen Qing sighed inwardly, but kept walking.

His target was several relatively safe spiritual herb sites in the outer northwest region, all of which were recorded in the jade slips. Although most of them had already been looted by the first batch of cultivators who entered, the spiritual creatures in the secret realm grew at a fast rate, and after a month, some new ones should have grown.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Chen Qing stopped.

Ahead lay a relatively open space, sparsely covered with vegetation, revealing grayish-black soil. In the center of the open space, several spiritual herbs swayed gently in the breeze.

Chen Qing carefully examined the object from a distance for a moment and then made up his mind.

Silver Frost Grass.

First-grade mid-level spiritual herbs are the main ingredients for refining "Silver Frost Pill".

Silver Frost Pill is a kind of pill that helps cultivators in the mid-stage of Qi Refining to cultivate. It has a mild medicinal effect and is still in short supply on the market.

A batch of Silver Frost Pills requires three Silver Frost Grasses as the main ingredient, supplemented with several common spiritual herbs, with a success rate of about 30% to 50%. The ten Silver Frost Grasses in front of us are all of good quality. If given to someone with rich experience in alchemy, they could refine at least two batches, producing a dozen or twenty Silver Frost Pills without any problem.

Based on market prices, one Silver Frost Pill is worth about seven or eight spirit stones, and ten Silver Frost Grass plants can sell for about sixty spirit stones.

Sixty spirit stones.

Chen Qing touched the pitifully empty storage pouch at his waist. In the past, he wouldn't have cared much about these spirit stones, but now... even a mosquito's leg is meat.

Besides, why not take something that's free?

"Great, it's meant to be, I'll pick it!"

Chen Qing was about to walk over when he suddenly stopped. He saw a figure emerge from the bushes on his left before him.

She was a female cultivator wearing a gray Taoist robe. She looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Her face was ordinary, but her figure was quite alluring. Even though she was wearing a wide Taoist robe, it was hard to hide her impressive curves.

She clearly spotted the few silver frost grasses as well, a hint of joy appearing on her face. She quickly walked over, squatted down to accentuate her fuller curves, and carefully began to dig them up.

Chen Qing hid in the shadows, his eyes scanning the female cultivator's attire, and made a silent judgment.

He wore a simple gray Taoist robe without any sect insignia. He had two storage bags hanging at his waist, and his spiritual pressure wasn't particularly strong, around the seventh level of Qi Refining. This kind of attire most likely indicated that he was a rogue cultivator within the territory of the Lingyun Sect.

"A rogue cultivator from the Martial Kingdom..."

Chen Qing quickly made a mental calculation.

These cultivators are not very strong, and they probably don't have anything particularly valuable on them. If it were someone ruthless, they would probably already be plotting to kill them, since in this secret realm, killing and looting is the fastest way to get rich, and there are no consequences.

Chen Qing thought for a moment, then shook his head.

Although he wasn't exactly a saint, there was no reason for him to kill someone he had no grudge against just for a few Silver Frost Grasses.

"Forget it, there are plenty of spiritual creatures in the outer areas, no need."

Chen Qing turned and left, but he had only taken ten steps—

"ah--!"

A piercing scream came from behind, sharp and ear-piercing, especially chilling in the silent woods.

Chen Qing's expression changed, and he turned around abruptly. He saw the gray-robed female cultivator lying in a pool of blood, her body twitching twice before going still. There was a very thin line of blood on her neck, as if her throat had been cut open by something sharp, and blood was gushing out continuously.

Beside those silver frost grasses, a thin man had appeared out of nowhere, wearing a dark red robe. The style of the robe was completely different from the common styles in the Canglan Domain, and it was embroidered with some twisted blood-red patterns, making it look extremely eerie.

His face was ordinary, but his eyes were unsettling. His pupils were an unnatural blood red, as if they were congested or polluted by something, exuding madness and savagery.

"Cultivators from Blood Spirit Abyss."

Chen Qing's heart sank, and he immediately recognized the other party's origin.

Blood Spirit Abyss is a forbidden land left behind by the Spirit Abyss Secret Realm a thousand years ago. It stretches for hundreds of miles from north to south and thousands of miles from east to west, surrounded by malevolent and bloody aura. Many corrupted creatures live there, and some desperate cultivators hide there to eke out a living. Over the years, it has grown into a considerable size.

Those cultivators lived in the aura of malevolent energy and blood for many years, which affected their bodies and minds to some extent, making them bloodthirsty, crazy, and unscrupulous.

The person in front of me is a typical Blood Spirit Abyss cultivator!

Without saying a word, Chen Qing immediately activated the Concealing Spirit Technique, suppressing his aura to the extreme, while subtly retreating backward.

This secret realm is indeed no benevolent place.

He had been inside for less than an hour when he witnessed a murder and robbery. Sure enough, the most dangerous creatures in the secret realm were never the creatures of the secret realm, but their own kind!

In Chen Qing's view, those who enter the secret realm can be broadly divided into three categories!

The first category consists of spirit-suppressing envoys from the Lingyun Sect.

These people are the strongest and are specifically responsible for capturing the creature that controls the core of the secret realm, controlling it, and then killing the creature and seizing the "Myriad Manifestations Origin Core" from its body once the resources in the secret realm have been almost completely looted.

The second category consists of the most numerous ordinary cultivators.

After entering, they searched everywhere for spiritual objects, spirit stones, and materials from demonic beasts, trying to make as much money as they could. They were the most common sight in the secret realm.

The third category, though fewer in number than the second, is definitely the most formidable group.

Their target wasn't the resources in the secret realm, but other cultivators—after all, it's much faster to snatch them directly from others than to search for them themselves.

The cultivators from Blood Spirit Abyss before us are clearly of the third type!