The Xuanhuang Secret Realm

Ye Wuchen said no more. He gave the elders a slight nod, then stepped forward and transformed into a streak of white light. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the clouds on the horizon, carefree and composed, his bearing extraordinary.

"The competition continues!"

Yun Leizi withdrew his gaze and announced in a deep voice.

"Next match: Lin Ye versus Chen Feng!"

Chen Feng sprang onto the arena and saluted with his sword in hand.

"Lin Ye, please."

"After you."

Without wasting words, Chen Feng drew his sword.

The swordlight flared at once, shrouding half the arena. His Sword Qi was peerlessly sharp—compared with Liu Mang's fierce, overbearing style, it was keener and more refined. His sword momentum surged like waves, pressing forward step by step.

Lin Ye used his fingers as a sword, combining his insights into the Thirteen Swords of the Clear Wind and the Thunderbolt Sword Technique, and went straight at Chen Feng.

Sword Qi crisscrossed the arena, and the wind from their fingers howled.

The two figures darted back and forth across the platform. Sparks flew with every clash, and the shrill clang of metal left the disciples below with ringing ears.

After a hundred exchanges, they suddenly sprang apart. Sword Qi had carved several gashes into Lin Ye's arm, while the wind from his fingers had pierced Chen Feng's shoulder, blood seeping from the wound.

"Warm-up's over."

Chen Feng's gaze turned solemn. He slowly raised his sword, which rang out in a clear, resonant note. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth stirred and streamed toward the blade, gathering without end. A sliver of cold light flickered at the tip, its might astonishing.

"Take this sword—Cloud Severing!"

The sword swept out like flowing clouds slipping through a gap, vanishing without a trace, carrying an unyielding resolve to cleave through everything.

On the high platform, the elders were all visibly moved.

"To think he can draw in a trace of heaven-and-earth spiritual energy to empower his sword!" Yun Leizi exclaimed in surprise. "This boy has no small talent for the sword."

Lin Ye raised his eyes and slowly clenched his right hand.

He no longer held back. The seed of True Qi in his dantian trembled, and a wisp of pale-green True Qi, refined to the utmost, surged along his meridians and coiled around his fist.

A heavy aura that seemed to suppress everything slowly spread through the air.

Had he... already broken through to the True Qi Realm?

The three elders on the high platform shot to their feet!

Countless disciples below gaped in astonishment, and an uproar swept through the crowd!

Lin Ye's fist trembled with power. He spat out the words in a low voice:

"Thunderbolt—Mountain Suppressing!"

His fist slammed forward!

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth Chen Feng had drawn in was scattered by an invisible force.

The dazzling swordlight shattered with a crash, and the sword momentum collapsed like a landslide.

"Clang!"

His fist struck the spine of the sword with brutal force.

Chen Feng's whole body shuddered. His sword flew from his grasp and snapped into three pieces in midair. He staggered back more than ten steps, only managing to stop at the edge of the arena, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"I've lost."

"You were gracious."

"Lin Ye wins!"

The judge's announcement fell, and the entire arena went dead silent.

Just how much strength had this Lin Ye been hiding?

The fights that followed held no suspense.

With unstoppable force, Lin Ye defeated every other finalist, sweeping his way to the very end.

"The Outer Sect Competition is hereby concluded!"

Yun Leizi's voice rang across the arena. "The champion of this competition is Lin Ye!"

"His rewards: five thousand contribution points, the first three levels of the spirit-grade intermediate cultivation method, the Qingyun Art, fifty True Essence Pills, and the right to enter the Xuanhuang Secret Realm!"

"Thank you, Elder."

Lin Ye bowed and accepted the Storage Ring and the dark-yellow token flying toward him.

"The secret realm opens in three days. Enter with this token." Yun Leizi glanced at him. "You've advanced to the inner sect. By the rules, you may choose a peak to join."

Lin Ye answered without hesitation.

"This disciple wishes to join Green Bamboo Peak."

Yun Leizi nodded. "In three days, take your disciple token to Green Bamboo Peak and report in."

"Yes."

The competition ended, and the crowd slowly dispersed amid shock and heated discussion.

The name "Lin Ye" swept through the outer sect like a storm, then spread to the peaks of the inner sect.

This young man, who had only recently joined the sect, had forced his way into everyone's view with overwhelming strength.

Below the arena, Chen Feng approached Lin Ye, who was recovering his breath.

"Congratulations," he said quietly.

"Same to you." Lin Ye nodded. Chen Feng had also earned the right to enter the inner sect.

"Be careful in the secret realm." Chen Feng lowered his voice further. "Elder Wang and the people backing Liu Mang won't let this go."

"I know." Lin Ye's gaze was calm as he looked toward the inner sect's mist-wreathed peaks. "Good. I'll settle everything in one go."

In a quiet room in the outer sect of Qingyun Sect,

Lin Ye sat cross-legged on a stone bed, eyes closed as he regulated his breathing. Pale-green Qingyun True Qi coursed rapidly along its optimized route. With every cycle, the True Qi seed in his dantian grew a little more solid.

Of the ten people entering the secret realm this time, all the others were at least at the third level of the True Qi Realm. They were elite disciples from the inner sect's various peaks, with methods and hidden trump cards far beyond those of outer-sect disciples.

"My strength is never enough."

"I have to come away with something from this trip to the secret realm." He murmured to himself, a glint of determination flashing in his eyes.

He took out the Xuanhuang Token. It was palm-sized, its patterns ancient, with the character "Xuan" engraved in the center. It was the only proof of entry into the secret realm. If he crushed it in a moment of danger, he would be transported out.

After putting away the token, Lin Ye took out three more items:

The secret realm map Chen Feng had given him, the jade slip containing the Qingyun Art he had received as a reward, and the Storage Ring Zhao Mingxuan had sent him.

Three days later, at the entrance to the Xuanhuang Secret Realm.

It lay within the mountainside of Xuanji Peak in the inner sect.

When Lin Ye arrived, dawn had barely broken. Several people were already gathered in the white-stone plaza.

These inner-sect disciples had deep, steady auras and fine clothes. They kept their distance from one another, their eyes full of scrutiny and hostility.

Lin Ye's arrival drew little attention. Only two gazes lingered on him for a moment.

One came from a young woman in a water-blue dress, her bearing cool and distant. She glanced at the sword on Lin Ye's back, then looked away.

The other belonged to a young man in a red robe, tall and broad-shouldered, his face full of arrogance.

"Li Yan of Chiyan Peak. Fifth level of the True Qi Realm, one of the strongest among those entering the secret realm this time. He's domineering and vindictive."

Lin Ye understood, but his expression didn't change. He went to a blue stone in the corner, closed his eyes, and paid no heed to anything around him.

About a quarter of an hour later, the last two people arrived.

"Time."

An old, hoarse voice suddenly sounded in everyone's ears.

The crowd was startled. Before the hundred-zhang stone wall at the far end of the plaza stood an old man in gray, though no one knew when he had appeared. He was stooped, his face lined with wrinkles, and he held a withered wooden staff. His eyes were cloudy, yet he exerted an unfathomable pressure.

The Stele Guardian, a hidden powerhouse who had guarded the Xuanhuang Secret Realm for generations.

"I'll state the rules once." The old man's eyelids drooped, but his voice rang out with perfect clarity. "The Xuanhuang Secret Realm is an ancient ruin, a world unto itself. You have seven days. When the seven days are up, you'll be forcibly transported out, no matter where you are."

"Fighting and killing are permitted within the secret realm. But anyone who dares damage its core, or take out a forbidden object..."

The old man's cloudy gaze swept over the ten of them, and a bone-chilling cold enveloped the plaza. "Will be killed without mercy."

The plaza fell into complete silence.

"Take out your tokens and step forward."

The Stele Guardian tapped the stone wall with his staff.

"Hum—!"

Ripples spread across the wall like waves on water. A dark-yellow portal, ten feet high, slowly appeared. Beyond it lay a boundless, chaotic expanse, ancient and vast.

Li Yan was the first to move, striding toward the portal.

As he passed Lin Ye, he paused and spoke coldly, his voice low enough for only the two of them to hear.

"Outer-sect mudfish, you'd better stay out of my way in the secret realm. Otherwise, I won't mind crushing you underfoot."