"Junior Brother Fang?"
Gu Xinyue stared in surprise at the white-robed man before her.
"So this is our little junior brother!"
Fang Jingchun looked at you with a faint smile. You nodded in reply.
"Senior Brother Fang, what brings you here?"
You hadn't expected the commotion you'd caused at the Lin residence to draw even Fang Jingchun.
"I sensed Fifth Senior Sister's Sword Qi, so I came to see what was going on."
Hearing that, Gu Xinyue felt a headache coming on.
"What else could it be? The Immortal Falling Secret Realm has been corrupted. We came to find the source."
When Fang Jingchun heard that the Immortal Falling Secret Realm had been corrupted, he froze in place, staring blankly at you all.
"How is that possible?!"
"Relic secret realms have never been corrupted before. In the end, they only ever dry up."
Seeing that Fang Jingchun didn't believe her, Gu Xinyue didn't bother explaining further. Instead, she led him toward the Immortal Falling Secret Realm.
If Gu Xinyue hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed a secret realm could be corrupted either.
Several days later, the three of you entered the Immortal Falling Secret Realm.
You could feel that the corruption inside the realm was worse than when you'd visited a few days earlier.
You realized you'd underestimated how quickly the source of the corruption spread.
Beside you, Fang Jingchun closed his eyes as soon as he entered, sensing the spiritual energy within. The longer he sensed it, the grimmer his expression became.
Before long, he slowly opened his eyes, fury filling them.
Without the Immortal Falling Secret Realm, the Human Race cultivators across Green Prefecture would have no future until a new secret realm or relic was discovered.
Seeing the disappointment on Gu Xinyue and Fang Jingchun's faces, you decided to offer a solution.
"Senior Sister! There's still a way to break through here in the Immortal Falling Secret Realm."
Your words made Gu Xinyue's eyes light up.
"What way?"
You then explained the Bronze Divine Hall inside the Immortal Falling Secret Realm, and the fact that only you could enter it.
"Little Junior Brother, you're something else! Extreme Realm of Qi Refining!"
Gu Xinyue patted your shoulder, her eyes filled with approval.
Fang Jingchun had been planning to return, but when he heard you could enter the Bronze Divine Hall, he grew interested too.
You flew toward a valley deep within the secret realm, and soon the Bronze Divine Hall came into view.
Right in front of them, you shoved open the bronze doors with brute force.
Once inside the Bronze Divine Hall, Fang Jingchun felt a wave of disappointment.
He'd thought the Bronze Divine Hall, which no one had entered in a thousand years, would hold some great opportunity. In the end, there were only the truths shown in its murals and a few stone statues.
What he didn't know was that the opportunity here could only be claimed by you, the one who'd pushed open the door and earned its recognition.
And so, the three of you began cultivating inside the Bronze Divine Hall.
The Immortal Falling Secret Realm had already been corrupted, so you had nothing left to worry about. You began absorbing the spiritual energy inside the hall to your hearts' content.
As far as you were concerned, you might as well use the spiritual energy here while you could.
As for Fang Jingchun, even without the Immortal Falling Secret Realm, he could still break through in the Blood Demon Secret Realm in You Prefecture.
Although Xia Qiange guarded the Blood Demon Secret Realm and kept outsiders from entering, people from the Sword Pavilion could still use it.
One year later.
After cultivating in the Bronze Divine Hall for a full year, Gu Xinyue finally broke through to the Void Refining Realm.
Your cultivation had grown much deeper too, and you were already close to breaking through to the Spirit Transmutation Stage.
What surprised you, though, was that after the three of you had cultivated in the Bronze Divine Hall for a year, its reserves of spiritual energy were still plentiful.
All three of you were taken aback.
"Little Junior Brother! It feels like this place could become your private cultivation ground."
Gu Xinyue looked at you enviously.
Her words suddenly gave you a daring idea.
You decided to stay here and break through to Spirit Transmutation!
When you told Gu Xinyue and Fang Jingchun your idea, neither objected.
In their eyes, the spiritual energy here was more than enough for you to break through to Spirit Transmutation, and it wouldn't be depleted in the process.
After saying goodbye to them, you closed your eyes and began a secluded retreat inside the Bronze Divine Hall.
That retreat lasted four years. After a full four years, you successfully broke through to Spirit Transmutation.
Although your cultivation had reached Spirit Transmutation, your Sword Dao had fallen behind.
For four years, you had failed to break through to the realm of Man and Sword as One.
According to the Sword Pavilion Master, reaching the realm of Man and Sword as One allowed you to challenge opponents above your level.
Though you hadn't devoted yourself entirely to Sword Skill cultivation during those four years, with Sword Skill Mastery and Sword Dao Supreme bolstering you, your results were no worse than those of someone else who'd spent four years in hard cultivation.
You hadn't left the Bronze Divine Hall for four years, and you no longer knew what was happening outside.
When you left the Bronze Divine Hall, you saw a familiar scene.
Many cultivators surrounded the hall. This time, though, alongside disciples from the Three Great Sects of Green Prefecture, there were also disciples from several sects in You Prefecture.
Everyone around you stared in disbelief, unable to understand why you had come out of the Bronze Divine Hall.
"Didn't the secret realm trial start today? When did this guy get in?"
"No idea. Why can't I sense his cultivation?"
After hearing the crowd's discussion, you understood what was going on and thought, Well, look at that. These people delivered exactly what I was missing.
The next second, your eyes narrowed. You raised your hand and unleashed a Great Void Sword Qi, releasing the full might of your early Spirit Transmutation cultivation. Wherever the Sword Qi passed, no one survived.
The disciples beyond its reach fled without looking back when they saw you were a Spirit Transmutation expert, afraid that if they ran too slowly, they'd be the next to die.
Watching this, you let the corners of your mouth curl upward. You'd never show mercy to Sinister Worms.
Over the next two days, you slaughtered your way through the entire Immortal Falling Secret Realm.
Except for a few who came to their senses, you killed every cultivator who entered the secret realm.
Seeing that everything inside the realm had been dealt with, you licked your lips and looked toward its exit.
You left the secret realm and hovered above the Sky Abyss, watching the various sects gathered nearby.
"Spirit Transmutation? Who are you?"
The leading elder of the Myriad Devil Sect barked at you.
You looked toward the voice and found that the man was an old acquaintance.
"Wan Yemo! I've reached Spirit Transmutation now. Let's see if I don't kill you!"
You knew Wan Yemo was in the middle Spirit Transmutation stage, a minor realm above you. But you had the talents Sword Dao Supreme, Young Supreme Being, and Sword Skill Mastery.
Even if you couldn't challenge opponents across such a wide gulf as you could with Man and Sword as One, killing a middle-stage Spirit Transmutation cultivator would still be easy.