Yu Youlan stayed close to Xinding, growing more and more intrigued by the little monk.
"This is the place."
Xinding stood before a stone gate dozens of zhang tall. Ancient Foundation Establishment grass grew around it, each plant priceless. This was the secret behind Xinding's visit to the ancient realm. He bent down and picked ten stalks. Once he returned, he could refine them into ten Foundation Establishment Pills. Even someone with the poorest aptitude could enter the Foundation Establishment Realm with those.
The outer layer of the Chixiao Ancient Realm was a dense, primordial forest. Within it stood a majestic hall, carved from an entire small asteroid. Such a grand undertaking had only been possible in ancient times; the cultivation world no longer had the means to accomplish anything like it.
"So this is the inner ancient stone hall." Yu Youlan marveled. It was her first time in the Chixiao Ancient Realm, and she hadn't expected the ancient stone hall to be so enormous. Even the palace of her holy land's patriarch wasn't this magnificent.
"But is such a huge ancient stone hall really just meant to test Qi Refining cultivators?" A question popped into Yu Youlan's mind. Were they, mere Qi Refining cultivators, even worthy of this secret realm?
Xinding had wondered the same thing. He decided to ask the Celestial Venerable Tofu. The Celestial Venerable had told him how to enter the inner ring and use the hidden power of the ancient realm.
"Celestial Venerable, do you know why this ancient realm was built?"
What secret in this world could the Celestial Venerable Tofu not know? "Heh. The origin of this secret realm is nothing worth mentioning. It was built by a few junior Tribulation Transcendence cultivators so they could pass an immortal's trial."
Junior Tribulation Transcendence