Where the Secret Land Lies
The ascension to immortality was not glorious; looking back, however, one sees bright lights and a vibrant, lively world.
The mortal world yearns for immortality, laments its sorrows, and witnesses the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, a path filled with grief from which there is no escape.
Wang Xuan walked Zhou River, admiring its magnificent expanse. The shimmering water reflected the bright moon, and countless lanternfish hung in the night sky, connecting with the starlight that shone brightly with the human world.
The Zhou River originates from the Cloud Mist Plateau in the west and flows eastward. After its magnificent journey, it also features turbulent waves crashing against the shore at its sharp bends.
Wang Xuan walked along the river for a long time, seeing many people and various sights along the way. He was deeply moved that night and was trying to look ahead to his future.
In this world, who doesn't want to live a vibrant life? He's still a young man, and it's impossible for him to have a mindset of escaping the world. Naturally, he wants to experience life in a colorful way.
Regarding the path of spiritual practice, whether it was the Pre-Qin Daoist practitioners, or the Daoist school and Buddhists, it seems from today's perspective that the established paths may all have drawbacks and some problems.
He is still young. He will find his own brilliant future by clearing away the fog, provided that he does not fall into the traps set by the ancients along the way.
Zhou River is very lively at this time of year, almost like the Lantern Festival in ancient times, with people everywhere watching lanternfish.
Wang Xuan once again spotted three familiar faces from afar: Wu Yin, Zhong Qing, Li Qingxuan. Surprisingly, the three of them were able to get along peacefully together.
He was quite familiar with the first two, having met them multiple times. Almost every time they met, it was a battle of words.
The third woman, Li Qingxuan, had naturally curly hair and almond-shaped eyes. She had met Wang Xuan once in the Old Earth and tried to win him over.
She and Ling Wei didn't get along. Wang Xuan felt that her attempts to win Ling Wei over at the time were also driven by other considerations.
Wu Yin and Ling Wei had a good relationship, but her interactions with Li Qingxuan in the Old Earth were rather uneventful.
Now these three people are actually walking together, strolling along the Zhou River, watching the starfish flying all over the sky. Could it be that they have put aside their prejudices and want to cooperate?
Could something have happened in the secret place? Wang Xuan pondered, he would set off to search for it tomorrow and find out once he entered.
Under the stars and moon, Wang Xuan departed and returned to Yuan City.
Back at his residence, a question suddenly occurred to him: could the part about the indigenous people being blocked by 404 be related to the privacy of the chaebols?
That evening, he saw Lele and the three women, and inevitably some thoughts came to mind.
In the past, some wealthy families intermarried with indigenous people. Now, are there occasionally any descendants of them who have suffered the signs of decay?
He thought it was possible, so some articles were deleted?
The next day, Wang Xuan picked up his bag and set off straight for the Cloud Mist Plateau.
Regardless of the era, many people are passionate about going into the wild and exploring deep mountains, and some even make a living by live-streaming from the wilderness.
Wang Xuan took an airship to the outskirts of the uninhabited area in the west. There was a fixed dedicated line, which was quite convenient.
Ahead, the terrain gradually rises, revealing a lush, vibrant green landscape.
Even from the outside, you can already see some tall mountain peaks in the distance covered in snow.
"Brother, your gear isn't good enough; it's not suitable for the Cloud Mist Plateau." Along the way, a veteran adventure streamer came over to film some scenes.
Wang Xuan avoided being in the shot, disappearing into the woods in a flash.
"See that? A newbie, rushing forward like this right after arriving at the Cloud Mist Plateau, he's bound to break down soon. Come on, let's follow him down and film the scene of the rookie getting so tired that he throws up."
The experienced streamer was confident and strode after him. Because he was streaming, he had to live up to the expectations of his viewers and catch up with the so-called newbie.
In the end, he was so exhausted he vomited, and still didn't see the newcomer. But he still wouldn't admit he messed up, saying the rookie might have gotten lost and was vomiting somewhere else.
The Cloud Mist Plateau is truly magnificent, covering more than nine million square kilometers, an unparalleled expanse that most people wouldn't dare to venture too far into.
Wang Xuan had seen some people on the outskirts, but once he ventured deeper into the area inhabited by wild beasts, he rarely saw any adventurers, and only occasionally saw traces left by humans.
As the sun set, the lush Cloud Mist Plateau teemed with various wild animals. A large bird of prey circled and chased after Wang Xuan. Then, a bear-like creature appeared in the twilight, spotted him, and charged straight at him.
It had a full coat of red fur and was exceptionally strong, estimated to weigh over 1,200 pounds. When it ran quickly through the woods, it caused quite a stir, startling away all the birds and beasts in the vicinity.
"It should be considered a bear, it's somewhat similar." Wang Xuan stood up, not avoiding it, but rather looking forward to it. He had long heard that there were all sorts of ferocious creatures in the secret realm, and perhaps he was approaching the edge of it?
As the bear-like creature approached, it stood upright and slapped forward with one paw, which would have killed a normal person. Then it opened its blood-red maw and began to bite.
Bang!
Despite encountering a new species, Wang Xuan didn't tolerate it and slapped it back.
"Aww..."
The bear-like beast, covered in red fur, screamed in agony. Its paw retracted backward, and it looked at the person opposite it with a mixture of confusion and fear, as if questioning its very existence.
In fact, Wang Xuan had already shown mercy; otherwise, the bear paw would have exploded.
"Come on, let me ride you." This was the first time he had seen a super-large beast since becoming a Grandmaster. He had also heard some ancient legends about Transcendent Immortals riding divine beasts.
He can't compare now, but he can at least ride an ordinary wild beast, right?
Of course, most importantly, he had seen an old, photoshopped picture of Putin riding a brown bear at breakneck speed.
Now, he's intrigued and is preparing to ride a bear across the Cloud Mist Plateau.
However, once he actually mounted this behemoth, the experience was terrible; it was nothing like what he expected. It leaped and bounded about in terror, and no amount of training worked. Wang Xuan felt like he was sitting on a violently undulating seesaw.
"Disappear immediately, or I'll braise your bear paw if I see you again." Wang Xuan couldn't stand it anymore and chased it away.
At night, he frowned as he walked through the mountains and forests. The bear-like creature was already considered a large beast, and he didn't see any other ferocious animals, which meant that the secret realm was not in this area.
Early in the morning, Wang Xuan set off again, tracing the Zhou River upstream, because there was a target marked by Old Chen in that direction.
Two days later, Wang Xuan was disappointed; that area could not possibly be a secret place.
On the fourth day, Wang Xuan killed a raptor weighing over 200 pounds. This creature could easily tear several bloody holes in the skull of an ordinary person when it swooped down from the sky.
Wang Xuan felt a glimmer of hope, but he soon realized that this bird of prey was already the overlord of the high plateau, and there was nothing more powerful in the sky.
On the seventh day, Wang Xuan climbed a snow-capped mountain several thousand meters high and looked out, concluding that there could be no secret place in this snowy region.
On the eleventh day, Wang Xuan arrived deep in the Cloud Mist Plateau. Beside a clear freshwater lake, he killed a feline creature weighing 1,700 pounds, which looked like a tiger or leopard but was even more ferocious and powerful.
This is the strongest species he discovered on the Cloud Mist Plateau, but it certainly has nothing to do with the legendary ferocious beasts.
Wang Xuan sighed. He had searched all the places Old Chen suspected, but he hadn't found even a trace of the secret place and had no clues whatsoever.
On the twelfth day, Wang Xuan unexpectedly discovered a patch of golden mushrooms. He was immediately excited and rushed over. Was this Golden Mushroom?
Half an hour later, he saw that the ground rats and wild foxes he had forced to eat were all foaming at the mouth, then bleeding from the corners of their mouths, and lying on the ground convulsing. He sighed, feeling somewhat helpless.
Unable to find the secret location, Wang Xuan traversed this uninhabited area without success.
"Old Chen, you really are unreliable!" Wang Xuan couldn't stand it anymore. He had been spending so many days alone on the Cloud Mist Plateau, enduring wind and rain, and hadn't found any valuable clues.
He believes that the secret place is not on the Cloud Mist Plateau at all, and that Old Chen was wrong from the very beginning.
"Am I forced to seek cooperation with Zhao Qinghan or Wu Yin?" He was somewhat unwilling.
Because whether it's cooperating with Goddess Zhao or joining Wu Yin's expedition team, it would be easy to expose his true strength.
Most importantly, he has too many secrets, which easily leads to a lot of speculation.
"Could it be another possible direction? There are mysterious spaces on the New Star, which can only be entered through a specific entrance, and inside is a completely new world."
Wang Xuan muttered to himself, if that's the case, then the entrance must be guarded by various organizations, making it impossible for him to sneak in quietly.
"Or is the Secret Realm on another continent?"
He believed that the secret place was most likely not in the Cloud Mist Plateau. Old Chen had searched for so long, and he had also explored the last few targets, but he hadn't found a single hair.
Disappointed, Wang Xuan embarked on his return journey, running wildly all the way, startling many birds and beasts into scattering and fleeing.
Several days later, he returned to Yuan City.
After spending more than half a month, Wang Xuan had gained nothing and was quite helpless. In the end, he went to the branch of the Secret Path Exploration Organization in Yuan City, hoping to use the code to have them send a message to Old Chen. However, his guess was completely wrong!
However, after he arrived and made contact using a code word, the other party first delivered a secret letter.
After reading it, Wang Xuan really wanted to go back to his Old Earth and beat Old Chen up. He was such a liar!
If he deciphers the letter correctly, it tells him that both the Blessed Land and the Secret Land are independent planets, not at all on New Star.
Clearly, after so many days, Old Chen has "resurrected" and learned the inside story and the truth from the Relevant Department.
Thinking back on the past two weeks, wandering aimlessly on the Cloud Mist Plateau, keeping company with wild beasts, and eating tasteless, charred roasted meat, Wang Xuan was filled with mixed emotions. The information was wrong; it could have been incredibly exhausting.
The Secret Realm was actually a completely new planet inhabited by life! This shocked him.
"Does this mean we can only cooperate with Zhao Qinghan and Wu Yin? Sigh!" After going around in circles, they've come full circle. Wang Xuan frowned. Are there any other options?