The Beast Cage

As winter approached, snow fell on Jade Spirit Mountain.

The array formation of Jade Spirit Mountain did not isolate the snowflakes, allowing the magnificent mountains and rivers to be covered by the heavy snow.

Jade Spirit Mountain under a heavy snowfall has a unique and beautiful appearance.

From high above, the endless white snowfield stretches as far as the eye can see, with Snow Peak- capped peaks rising like giant pillars into the clear blue sky.

These mountain peaks stretch out like ancient dragons and snakes, winding and twisting in the sea of clouds.

Above the mountain peak, the ever-flowing Spirit Spring, like a misty jade ribbon, cascades down the cliff, transforming into countless pearls that fall into the clouds and disappear.

With the Empress Secret Realm about to open, Yi Yun encountered a heavy snowfall after emerging from seclusion. Looking at the scenery before him, it was truly a fairyland on earth, as beautiful as a poem or a painting.

Yi Yun had already received a telepathic message from the Old Madam, informing him that all the younger members of the Lin family who were entering the Empress Secret Realm should gather at Cloud Peak.

Cloud Peak, one of the eighteen main peaks of the Lin family, is usually the place where the younger generation of the Lin family trains and grows.

The younger generation usually cultivates on Cloud Peak, and many of them simply live on the back mountain of Cloud Peak for convenience.

Upon arriving at Cloud Peak, Yi Yun immediately felt that this mountain was full of vitality. Not to mention anything else, there are dozens of martial arts training grounds on Cloud Peak.

On those martial arts arenas, the young talents are sparring, their swords flashing and their energy surging.

The snowflakes on the ground were blown about by the True Qi, creating many open spaces on the training ground that were not covered by snowflakes, resembling giant flower patterns.

Yi Yun went straight to the main hall of Cloud Peak, which was the meeting place for this event.

When they were still some distance from the main hall, Yi Yun suddenly heard the roar of a ferocious beast!

The sound was so loud it made one's eardrums tingle, and Yi Yun's heart stirred. Following the sound, he arrived at the Cloud Peak.

Upon seeing the scene in the rear hall, Yi Yun was slightly startled.

In the rear hall square stood a huge Cold Iron Cage.

This Cold Iron Cage is a hundred meters long and wide, and as tall as a three-story building. Each bar of the iron cage is as thick as a wrist, like an iron pillar. Various intricate runes are engraved on these steel bars, which is clearly a kind of formation.

Inside the cage was a ferocious beast, seven or eight meters long, with a menacing appearance. It looked like a saber-toothed tiger.

Yi Yun didn't recognize the species of this wild beast, but judging from its aura alone, it should be an extremely powerful one.

Meanwhile, inside the cage, a person was fighting against the wild beast.

Yi Yun happened to know this person as well; he was Lin Yu.

Lin Yu held a blood-stained four-foot -Longsword. His hair was disheveled, his clothes were torn in many places, and he even had several wounds on his body.

"Ding ding ding!"

The sword clashed with the claws and teeth of the wild beast. Lin Yu maneuvered within the Cold Iron Cage, searching for the beast's weaknesses and constantly leaving wounds on its body.

Provoked repeatedly by Lin Yu, the wild beast became extremely enraged.

"Roar!"

After being stabbed in the back of the neck by Lin Yu, the saber-toothed tiger lunged at him recklessly. Its gleaming fangs were about to pierce Lin Yu's neck when, at that moment, Lin Yu ducked low, thrusting his Longsword forward with Sword Qi sound!

"Puff!"

The sword pierced directly into the saber-toothed tiger's soft belly, blood spurting out. Lin Yu's sword strike almost pierced through the saber-toothed tiger!

Then, Lin Yu flipped over and kicked upwards, striking the saber-toothed tiger squarely in the jaw.

The saber-toothed tiger let out a mournful howl, rolled backward, and crashed heavily to the ground.

It was convulsing all over, severely injured, and clearly unable to fight any longer.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Lin family steward in charge of Cloud Peak immediately opened the cage, subdued the saber-toothed tiger, and carried it away.

These wild beasts were raised by the Lin family specifically to hone their young disciples.

Wild beasts are not easy to capture, so we usually try to avoid killing them in battle and continue to heal their wounds before using them again.

Fighting against a raging beast in a cage is an extremely dangerous trial in itself. Many times, it is not the beast that is seriously injured, but the Lin family disciple.

Even with the Lin family stewards protecting them on both sides, it was not uncommon for young disciples undergoing trials to accidentally perish in the jaws of beasts.

"Brother Yu is amazing!"

"It's only been half an incense stick's time, and Brother Yu has already defeated a Mystic Scaled Tiger so easily!"

Around the cage, there were many young people watching, some of whom were clearly Lin Yu's underlings. Seeing Lin Yu display his prowess, they immediately surrounded him to flatter him.

"It's just a young Mystic Scaled Tiger. Defeating it is nothing to be proud of. The dangers in the Empress Secret Realm this time are far greater than this. My strength is not enough."

Lin Yu casually wiped the tiger blood off the blade of his sword. He ignored his underlings and instead looked at the other young people present. They were also sent by the Lin family to participate in the trials of the Empress Secret Realm.

These people are both his allies and his rivals!

Lin Yu knew very well that in terms of absolute strength, he was far inferior to these people, after all, the difference in cultivation level was obvious. However, if they were to compare talent at the same cultivation level, he believed that he was stronger than them.

He's putting in all his effort in this Empress Secret Realm, determined to achieve something and show everyone.

As he was thinking, his hand holding the blood-wiping cloth suddenly stiffened slightly, and his hands subconsciously sank, causing the originally straight sword blade to bend slightly under his pressure.

He spotted someone in the crowd— Yi Yun.

Lin Yu narrowed his eyes, a hint of fighting spirit and provocation involuntarily flashing in his gaze as he met Yi Yun's eyes.

Beside Lin Yu, the boys who looked like his underlings were still excited. They were about to say something when they saw the change in their "big brother's" expression and realized something was wrong. They also looked at Yi Yun.

"Huh? Who's this kid?"

The younger brother was a little stunned, wondering why his older brother had suddenly noticed this person.

Many of the Lin family members present had only seen Yi Yun wearing a mask; very few of them had ever seen his true face.

"Yi Yun! It's Yi Yun!"

Someone in the crowd spoke up, and for a moment, the younger members of the Lin family were all slightly taken aback.

They had long heard of Yi Yun's great reputation, and today they finally got to meet True Person.

"So he is Yi Yun. He is the one who made a contribution at the drug testing conference and was appreciated by Old Madam Lin."

"Indeed, I heard that Yi Yun comes from a place called Eastern Barbarians Yi region, yet he has managed to reach this position in the Lin family. It is indeed not easy, but it is also due to luck."

For the martial artists of the Tianyuan Realm, the remote eastern region is collectively referred to as "Eastern Barbarians." Eastern Barbarians comprises many countries, with the Tai'a Divine Kingdom being just one of them.

Few martial artists in the Tianyuan Realm pay attention to these Eastern Barbarians countries, such as the Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom and the Tai'a Divine Kingdom. They just see them as a cluster on the map, but they don't know anything about their names or characteristics, and they are too lazy to find out.

Some people present knew about the Tai'a Divine Kingdom because of Yi Yun, but they subconsciously changed the word "divine kingdom" to "kingdom." In their view, the Tai'a Divine Kingdom was not worthy of the word "divine."

"Yi Yun, we meet again." Lin Yu suddenly spoke, walking towards Yi Yun while slowly wiping the blood from the blade of his sword. The scarlet beast blood, reflecting the sunlight, dripped onto the white snow, making it all the more shocking. To Yi Yun, it seemed more like a show of defiance.

"I heard you got a spot to enter the Empress Secret Realm, so you've been in seclusion ever since?" Lin Yu had already walked to within three zhang of Yi Yun and stopped. Following Lin Yu were several other members of the Lin family who had also obtained spots in the Empress Secret Realm.

Yi Yun glanced at the people present. Apart from Lin Xin Tong, he didn't really recognize many of the other top martial arts geniuses from the Lin family.

In truth, Yi Yun had no desire to have any contact with these people. However, since they were all his teammates who had entered the Empress Secret Realm, Yi Yun didn't want to appear too arrogant and strain their relationship.

"Hmm... I've managed to gain some insight, which is why I've been in seclusion until now."

"The Jade Forest Peak's third-grade Training Ground — the Heavenly Sun Pavilion —is usually reserved for Lineage elders. You've been in seclusion for almost half a year at a time..."

Lin Yu didn't continue speaking, but everyone understood that he was implying that it was a waste to give such Training Ground to Yi Yun. With Yi Yun's cultivation level, it would be difficult to bring out the full effect of the Heavenly Sun Pavilion, which would be a complete waste of resources.

"At our age, a month or two of seclusion is already the limit. Any longer and it's pointless. Strength is earned through combat, not by sitting around waiting."

"The fastest way to improve is through life-or-death battles. You don't think the Empress Secret Realm is just a game, do you? People can die there if you're not careful! None of the Lin family members selected for the Empress Secret Realm have dared to slack off in the past six months. They've already experienced countless real battles."

Lin Yu spoke proudly, his words carrying a natural air of authority, seemingly the killing intent and Battle Qi he had developed from his long-term battles with wild beasts.

This imposing presence permeated his voice, making his words resounding and highly infectious.

His words resonated with many talented young people!

These prodigies of the Lin family revere strength and the idea of bloody battles, believing this to be the proper way of life for martial artists, especially young ones.

As for long-term seclusion, that's something usually only middle-aged people who have used up their potential and old men whose cultivation is difficult to break through.

Yi Yun simply smiled at Lin Yu's words, offering no explanation.

Combat is naturally the best way to improve one's strength, but when the Pure Yang Power of the Purple Crystal and the Empress's relic is combined, allowing one to undergo a complete transformation, the benefits far surpass those of combat.

For Yi Yun, the five months of seclusion meant that improving his cultivation by one realm was nothing. The greatest benefit he gained was the purification of his Pure Yang Body. Ninety percent of the energy in the Empress's relic was used by Yi Yun to transform his body. As for the breakthrough in cultivation, it was just a natural consequence.

...(To be continued~^~)