The Secret Realm Opens! Entering the Secret Realm! Gold-devouring Python!

As time passed, the setting sun had already dipped behind the mountains.

The space around the Secret Realm entrance gradually stabilized.

The spiritual energy vortex at the entrance gradually calmed.

At this sight, all human cultivators and spirit-intelligent demon beasts fixed their eyes tightly on the opening of the Secret Realm.

There were countless opportunities within the Secret Realm, especially one like this with no owner.

This was a once-in-a-thousand-years chance to change one's fate. No one would let it slip away.

Just as everyone thought the entrance was about to open—

A pillar of light shot into the sky.

Spiritual energy surged like a raging tide.

Ten thousand zhang of rosy radiance descended from the heavens, followed closely by the manifestation of ancient runes.

A hollow, mysterious voice devoid of all emotion rang beside the ears of every living being:

"Secret Realm open. Entry limited to fifty thousand. Humans with bone ages below forty and demons below one hundred years old may enter the Secret Realm!"

The voice was like a great bell and grand chime, echoing in the minds of every living being, beyond all doubt.

The moment those words fell, they stirred up a tremendous uproar.

The two Nascent Soul figures in the air remained utterly unperturbed.

Every Secret Realm had conditions for entry. Besides, they had already determined that this was an Inheritance Secret Realm, so they had long given up any hope of entering.

"Fuck your under forty! I don't believe it!"

The Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator closest to the Secret Realm entrance, an elderly man with an aged face, immediately cursed aloud.

His body shot toward the entrance.

He was already more than two hundred and twenty years old. If he missed this chance, he would die!

Therefore, he had to enter this Secret Realm!

Neither Hua Shisan nor the Chongyuan Black Flood Dragon high in the sky reacted to his actions.

When the old man reached the Secret Realm, the instant his head touched the entrance, a flash of sword light sliced him cleanly in half at the waist.

His body crashed heavily into the mountain forest below.

At this sight, those cultivators who did not meet the requirements were ashen with despair.

One after another, they hung their heads in dejection.

Some chose to leave, while others fled into the forest to wait.

As for what they intended to do, everyone knew perfectly well.

The others who met the requirements could not enter either, because more than a thousand qualified disciples from the Nine Splendor Sword Sect had to enter first.

Then came the people of the East Sea Dragon Court. Everyone else had to stand aside.

Though everyone was angry, none dared speak.

"Alas, Great Elder, it seems this Secret Realm has no fate with either of us."

Zhang Hongqing looked deeply regretful. He had originally hoped to find an opportunity of his own inside, but now it seemed all of it had gone down the drain.

The world was ever-changing; one intestine wrapped around another.

It was not just him. Of the Zhang Family members who had come this time, only thirty-one met the requirements.

And most of them were merely at the Qi Refining Middle Stage or had only recently entered Late Qi Refining.

Still, that was the common cultivation level of those entering the Secret Realm.

After all, cultivators with Triple Spirit Roots or Two Spiritual Roots were only a minority.

The vast majority had Five-element Spiritual Roots or Four Spiritual Roots.

The gap was not great.

It could be said that within the Secret Realm, without using Spirit Talismans, Zhang Xuanbing could sweep through ninety-nine percent of the people!

"If it is not in one's fate, it cannot be forced."

He then looked at the Zhang Family members who met the requirements. "Remember what I told you yesterday. Do not go where you should not go! Understood?"

"Understood!" everyone answered in unison.

"Good. This Old Man will await your triumphant return! Once the people of the Nine Splendor Sword Sect have entered, head in immediately. If anyone tries to stop you, kill them outright!

Do not hold back!"

"Yes, Great Elder!"

Yesterday, the Great Elder had given them quite a few Second-Grade Spirit Talismans. If they could not even get through the door, they might as well find a block of tofu and bash themselves to death.

And that was the advantage those Rogue Cultivators could never compare with.

When you were out in the world, you needed connections!

Sure enough, after the people of the Nine Splendor Sword Sect entered, thousands of streams of multicolored light rushed toward the Secret Realm entrance. As expected, the overwhelming majority were disciples of Golden Core factions.

Next came the Foundation Establishment factions, Qi Refining factions, and Rogue Cultivators.

Screams, sounds of slaughter, and the clashes of weapons rang out without end.

Within minutes, corpses carpeted the ground outside the Secret Realm entrance, blood flowing into rivers as though it were a hell on earth.

This time, tens of thousands of cultivators and demon beasts had died merely fighting for a place to enter the Secret Realm.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xuanchen had already stepped through the Secret Realm entrance.

After a brief bout of dizziness, his body appeared in an unfamiliar environment.

The moment he landed, he immediately concealed himself behind a moss-covered boulder.

His sharp gaze swept across his surroundings.

He was currently in a dense forest.

Ancient trees towered overhead, vines twisted around one another, weeds grew thickly, and the light was dim and murky. There was no path at all.

If he wanted to move forward, he could only carve out a path himself.

After sensing no danger, Zhang Xuanchen let out a breath.

He took a deep breath of the strange floral fragrance mixed with the scent of decaying leaves.

"Damn, the spiritual energy here is dozens of times denser than outside. It is almost as dense as a First-grade Mid-tier Spirit Vein site. But this place is a little too quiet."

Zhang Xuanchen muttered inwardly. Rather than relaxing his guard, he restrained his aura to the utmost limit.

With a flip, he leaped onto a massive tree.

After using the sun in the sky to determine his direction, he headed east.

He had to reach that Demon Cave and seize the opportunity there as quickly as possible.

If someone beat him to it, he would not even have a place to cry.

"Ah! My leg! Damn it! You beast, let go of me!"

A miserable howl drew Zhang Xuanchen's attention.

Suppressing his aura, he made several leaps and arrived at the source of the sound.

Looking over, he happened to see a female cultivator dressed in Bihai Immortal Sect robes being bound by a vine-like creature that gleamed with a metallic luster.

The immense force had turned the woman's face red, while every bone in her body crackled under the crushing pressure.

At that sight, Zhang Xuanchen's lips curled slightly. He had no intention of stepping forward to save her.

The disciples of the Bihai Immortal Sect had long been displeased with them. If she died, she died.

Besides, what had entangled her was a First-grade Peak Gold-devouring Python.

That was no easy opponent. Saving her would simply be a waste of time.

Just as he was about to leave, his eyes flicked to the side, and he suddenly spotted a lingzhi on a stone wall a hundred meters beyond the Gold-devouring Python, radiating a golden glow.

"A First-grade Top-tier Golden Crystal Lingzhi! A fine treasure that can constantly strengthen the body!

Since I have seen it, I cannot let it go!"

Having made up his mind, Zhang Xuanchen glanced at the female cultivator struggling to hold on with a defensive Spirit Talisman and silently prayed.

You better hold on.

Your buddy here moves fast.

In just a few breaths, he arrived before the Golden Crystal Lingzhi.

The instant he landed, a smaller Gold-devouring Python that had been hiding in the dark suddenly lunged at Zhang Xuanchen.

"Damn, you have some nerve! A First-grade Mid-tier beast actually dares bite me? You are courting death!"

Sensing the demon beast's aura, Zhang Xuanchen cursed under his breath.

His sword left its sheath, and a streak of sword light flashed forth, instantly cleaving the Gold-devouring Python in two.

The thick scent of blood immediately caught the attention of the other Gold-devouring Python.

Seeing its child cut down, it let out a furious roar, its eyes instantly turning red.

It released the female cultivator, whose bones had been crushed and who was barely alive, then charged toward Zhang Xuanchen.

"Fuck!"

"Your son charged straight onto my sword! Are you even being reasonable?!"