Encountering an Opponent
The spirit boat sped along at breakneck speed, arriving above the Undying Sea in just one day.
This sea, Undying Sea, encircles the entire Tianyuan Realm. To the east, its boundary is the continent where the Tai'a Divine Kingdom is located. To the north, however, lies an endless expanse of water, seemingly without end.
The sea was deathly silent, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi was depleted, and even the Great Emperor could not cross it.
The God Burying Abyss is located deep within the Undying Sea, directly below the Tianyuan Realm.
The spirit boat flew down the cliff-like edge of the Tianyuan Realm continent. Because the sun was blocked by the continent, the spirit boat was quickly swallowed up by the huge shadow cast by the Tianyuan Continent.
The spirit boat, originally a hundred feet long, looked as insignificant as dust in front of the enormous continental plate.
"Puff!"
The spirit boat plunged into the Undying Sea, stirring up waves, but from the air, those waves seemed so insignificant.
Yi Yun stood by the porthole of the spirit boat, looking out at the deep and endless underwater world.
Fish are rare in this sea; when some creatures do appear, they are enormous, ferocious sea monsters.
Looking up, Yi Yun saw that the Tianyuan Continent actually seemed to be floating on the Undying Sea. The back of the continental plate was not connected to the seabed, but was mostly suspended in the air. Countless huge rock spikes extended from those suspended surfaces.
These sharp rock spikes, stretching for tens of thousands of feet, extend from the main continent of the Tianyuan Realm all the way into the depths of the Undying Sea, resembling ferocious beast teeth.
Seeing this scene, Yi Yun felt deeply the greatness and vastness of this world, and how insignificant he was within it.
Faced with the vastness of nature, people always feel insignificant, which may be one of the driving forces behind people's continuous efforts to become stronger and their single-minded pursuit of exploring the mysteries of the universe.
At this depth, the current had become increasingly turbulent, and the spirit boat began to approach the terrifying whirlpool stirred up by the God Burying Abyss.
The spirit boat is quite large, and therefore experiences much greater suction. The closer it gets to the God Burying Abyss, the more uncontrollable this force becomes. Even the Lin family's Supreme Elder could not control such a massive spirit boat in such a marine storm.
Therefore, in at most another fifteen minutes, the spirit boat will be put away.
At that time, people will need to rely on their own physical strength to approach the God Burying Abyss.
"That's about enough. If we go any deeper, the spirit boat will go out of control."
On the deck of the spirit boat, Fire Pattern Elder stood steadily, enduring the turbulent seawater near the God Burying Abyss.
Heaven Punishment Elder, "Let the younger generation come out. They should be able to withstand this level of water flow."
Heaven Punishment Elder spoke, he suddenly had a thought and tilted his head slightly to look into the depths of the ocean.
"Hmm? That's...?"
In the depths of the Undying Sea, a blurry Black Shadow slowly approached the Lin family's spirit boat.
Heaven Punishment Elder narrowed his eyes. He had excellent eyesight, and even in the darkness of the seabed, he could see clearly that it was a giant sea turtle.
Above the sea turtle was a light barrier. Inside the light barrier sat a group of people.
Even from this distance, Heaven Punishment Elder could make out the people's clothing. On their clothes was a flame-shaped Lineage emblem, a kind of insignia.
Among these people was an old man who clearly sensed Elder Tianzhu's gaze. He slightly turned his head to meet Elder Tianzhu's eyes, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"The Lihuo Sect!"
Elder Tianzhu frowned. The uninvited guest before him came from the Lihuo Sect, a huge sect.
In the Tianyuan Realm, not all forces exist in the form of Lineage. There are also many powerful sects in the Tianyuan Realm, whose strength is even greater than that of many Lineage!
"What are they doing here!" Fire Pattern Elder's face darkened. At this time and in this place, the sudden appearance of the Lihuo Sect near the sparsely populated God Burying Abyss was certainly not a coincidence.
"They must have the same goal as us. It seems our fears have come true. The Shentu Family won't let us explore the secret realm smoothly; instead, they'll try to sabotage us and fight us in the secret realm!"
As early as when the drug trial conference ended, when the Lin family proposed that the Shentu Family exchange information about the Empress Secret Realm's Secret Realm for the lives of Shentu Nantian, Granny Thousand Hands, and other high-ranking members of the Shentu Family, the Lin family's high-ranking members had already suspected that the Shentu Family might sell information about the Empress Secret Realm other forces in secret because they were unwilling to hand over the secret to the Lin family!
This is a win-win-win situation.
First, the Shentu Family will try to minimize their losses. They can choose several, or even a dozen, forces to negotiate prices with. Once an agreement is reached, they will sell the information about the Empress Secret Realm to them. These dozen or so forces will bring the Shentu Family a substantial income.
Secondly, by doing this, the Shentu Family has largely prevented the Empress Secret Realm from falling entirely into the Lin family's hands. If everyone goes in together and there's a struggle, then it will come down to who has the greatest ability and who has the best luck.
It is highly likely that, with everyone restraining and controlling each other, and scheming against one another, no one would dare to attempt to break the restrictions of the Empress Secret Realm at all costs, and would ultimately return empty-handed.
Knowing that obtaining the core inheritance of the Empress Secret Realm was an impossible task, the Shentu Family simply announced the news: anyone could enter the Empress Secret Realm, but no one could obtain it.
Furthermore, announcing the news of the Empress Secret Realm will inevitably lead to many powerful figures from various factions entering and fighting each other, ultimately resulting in their deaths. This weakens other forces, which is something the Shentu Family is willing to see.
Lin Jiaming was aware of these possibilities, but there was nothing he could do to stop them, not even with Soul Contract.
Because after the Lin family released the news, inviting the Shentu Family to negotiate, the Shentu Family had enough time to sell the information about the Empress Secret Realm.
The Soul Contract was only signed when the Shentu Family's higher-ups actually came to the Lin family for negotiations. By then, it was too late to try and restrain the Shentu Family from doing anything.
"What should we do...? The Shentu Family might have made a deal with these Lineage when they sold the information. If they join forces against us in the secret realm, we won't be able to move an inch."
The Empress Secret Realm is, after all, the place where the Empress chooses her successor.
When the Ancient Empress established this place of inheritance, she naturally knew that those who would enter the Empress Secret Realm in the future would be of different ages and their cultivation levels would vary greatly.
A person with high cultivation level is not necessarily talented; a person with low cultivation level may be the one she is looking for.
In this situation, the Ancient Empress would naturally provide some protection for those with lower cultivation levels. Otherwise, those with higher cultivation levels, older age, but less talent would indiscriminately slaughter others to reduce competition.
However, this protection is not ubiquitous; there are always places outside its reach.
If Lin Xin Tong were to leave this area and face a combined attack from numerous Lineage, including the Shentu Family, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Fire Pattern Elder frowned and said with a grim face, "If I'm not mistaken, the agreement signed by the Shentu Family should include a clause prohibiting other Lineage from targeting the Shentu Family in the secret realm, and instead targeting our Lin family. In that case, it will be difficult for Xin Tong to achieve anything in the Empress Secret Realm!"
"In half a year... Shentu Nantian's injuries should have mostly healed. He should also appear on this trip to the secret realm. He already had ulterior motives towards Xin Tong, and the Shentu Family knows more about the Empress Secret Realm than we do. If he has made any arrangements beforehand..."
Heaven Punishment Elder didn't say anything more; they couldn't imagine the consequences.
"The younger generation is actually in a better position. The Ancient Empress set up many restrictions to protect her successors. As for us old folks, our situation is much more dangerous. The empress's protection of us is pitifully little!"
The Ancient Empress originally intended to select a successor; why would she care about the lives of these old fogies who went in to search for treasure?
The Empress leaving some treasures to these people was probably just an impromptu act. After all, some of these treasures might not be usable by her chosen successors, and their value wasn't particularly high in the Empress's eyes, so she simply left them to her descendants.
The treasure belongs to the capable; if one fails to obtain it, or dies trying to acquire it, then one can only blame oneself.
"The Shentu Family's move is too insidious!" Fire Pattern Elder said indignantly. "The younger generation of the Lineage must be extremely careful this time. As for us old folks, we'll probably only dare to venture into the outermost, guarded areas of the Empress Secret Realm. We can't go any further in; the risks are too great. This means we old folks are almost destined to return empty-handed!"
"We've put in so much effort and fought against the Shentu Family for so long, only to end up like this. Compared to other Lineage, we haven't gained any advantage at all; in fact, we're at a disadvantage!"
"There's no other way..." Heaven Punishment Elder shook his head. "If we hadn't gone to such lengths to outmaneuver the Shentu Family, we wouldn't have forced them to release the information. Otherwise, the Shentu Family would have monopolized the secret realm, and we wouldn't have had a chance at all. Now, there's finally a sliver of hope... With that wolf Shentu Nantian in the secret realm, I can't rest easy."
"Let's ask Xin Tong and see what she decides..."
Although Fire Pattern Elder said this, he had already guessed Lin Xin Tong's answer in his heart. Given Lin Xin Tong's personality, this was the only answer she would give.
...(To be continued~^~)