Liao Ze's gaze swept over the assembled leaders, his tone turning solemn.
"A hundred years."
"A full hundred years of lying low and biding our time."
"A hundred years ago, during the great war between the righteous and demonic paths, our demonic alliance fell just short of victory."
"We lost all our territory. Our sects were routed, and countless disciples were killed or wounded."
"We were driven by the righteous path to the desolate edge of the Northern Territory, where we struggled to survive."
"Everyone thought the Ghost Fire Sect had long since fallen into ruin, with no strength left to strike back."
"But they didn't know."
"For a hundred years, we never stopped."
"We expanded our sect in secret, nurtured disciples, stockpiled resources, honed our arts, and forged ties with our demonic allies."
"Now the Ghost Fire Sect's overall strength far surpasses its peak before the war a century ago!"
His words set the eyes of every elder and protector ablaze.
A hundred years of oppression. A hundred years of pent-up fury.
No one had forgotten the shame of fleeing in defeat back then.
No one had forgotten how the righteous cultivators slaughtered the demonic path, seized their spirit veins, and divided up their blessed lands.
Liao Ze continued in a grave voice:
"And it's not just the Ghost Fire Sect."
"Over the past hundred years, the entire demonic path of the Nine Provinces has lain low and built up its strength."
"Now, the time has come."
"The demonic path in Nether Province has already risen up in full force, launching a massive assault on the righteous sects."
"The flames of war have been fully lit!"
"In the other six provinces, every demonic force stands ready, waiting only for the signal."
"A new wave of chaos between the righteous and demonic paths is about to sweep across the entire Nine Provinces!"
"This time..."
"We'll take back every inch of territory, every resource, every shred of face, and every bit of fortune we lost a century ago."
"We'll reclaim it all with our own hands!"
Inside the hall, the eyes of every Golden Core elder burned with fervor, their auras surging.
"It's finally happening!"
"We've been holding back for a hundred years. At last, we won't have to hide in these Northern Wilderness Mountains and eat dust!"
"Those hypocrites of the righteous path occupied our spirit veins and killed our disciples!"
"It's time to settle old scores!"
"After a hundred years of recovery, the demonic path is stronger than ever!"
"We'll turn the tide in this battle!"
Low murmurs rippled through the hall, its fighting spirit boiling over.
Liao Ze raised a hand, quieting the restless crowd.
"I've already contacted the Joyous Union Sect in secret and reached a pact with them."
"When the time comes, the Ghost Fire Sect and the Joyous Union Sect will strike together."
Just then,
Liao Jun stepped forward, his gaze sharp as he spoke up.
"Master, honored elders."
"This disciple has a plan to cripple the foundations of the five great sects ahead of time!"
Everyone turned to look at him.
Liao Jun said gravely, "In two months, the Magneto Secret Realm will open right on schedule."
"By the rules of the Secret Realm, only Qi Refining disciples may enter."
"At that time, every elite of the younger generation and every gifted disciple from the five great sects of Spirit Province..."
"They'll all enter the Secret Realm to compete for opportunities and seize its resources."
"We can take this chance to sneak into the Secret Realm!"
"Once inside, we'll hunt down the young geniuses of the five great sects!"
"Slaughter their rising generation and sever the roots of their legacy!"
At these words,
everyone in the hall suddenly brightened.
The eyes beneath Liao Ze's mask gleamed faintly. He nodded slowly.
"This plan can work. We'll collect some interest first."
The Great Elder furrowed his brows and spoke up to dissuade them.
"Sect Master, Young Master."
"The Magneto Secret Realm is jointly controlled by the five great sects."
"Its spatial barriers are stable, and it's sealed by the combined Dao patterns of the five sects."
"Only the five sects' joint key can open it."
"For outside forces like us to sneak into the Secret Realm is nearly impossible."
"Forcefully breaking through the realm would come at an enormous cost, and the risk is too high."
Liao Jun replied,
"Great Elder, the sect's Void-Rending Glazed Token..."
"It can forcibly tear open a temporary passage into the Secret Realm!"
"That would be enough for a team of elites to slip inside!"
The Great Elder's expression remained grave.
"Every time the Void-Rending Glazed Token forcibly tears through space, it drains the spiritual artifact's source."
"The price is far too steep. It wouldn't be worth it!"
A brief disagreement arose in the hall.
Liao Ze fell silent for a moment, then made his decision.
"The price is worth paying!"
"One spiritual artifact in exchange for the complete annihilation of a generation of geniuses from the five great sects."
"That's a bargain we can't lose!"
"I'll personally activate the supreme treasure and open the passage to the Secret Realm."
Liao Jun's gaze sharpened. He bowed and volunteered.
"Master!"
"This disciple is willing to lead the team into the Secret Realm himself!"
"I'll give it everything I have!"
"I'll slaughter every disciple from the five great sects who enters for training!"
Liao Ze nodded slowly.
"Good."
"I grant you permission."
The scene shifted.
Cloud Abode, a stone chamber for secluded cultivation.
The wards were fully activated, cutting off every sound and preventing even a trace of aura from leaking out.
Su Yun returned from the Technique Pavilion without wasting a moment.
He sat cross-legged on the cushion and took out the jade slip containing the Myriad Phenomena Spirit-Seeking Technique.
His next goal was crystal clear.
First, he would cultivate this third-tier treasure-seeking secret art to perfection.
Su Yun sank his divine sense into the jade slip and began to study it.
At that moment, he truly felt how difficult it was to cultivate a third-tier art.
It was on a completely different level from basic first- and second-tier techniques.
Its principles were obscure, its patterns intricate, and its spiritual resonance paths twisted and difficult to understand.
Even if an ordinary outer sect disciple obtained the complete jade slip, they could study it for ten days or half a month without even finding the threshold of entry.
It was tedious, exhausting, and demanded exceptional comprehension.
No wonder almost no one in the Azure Cloud Sect cultivated treasure-seeking arts.
They did nothing to increase combat strength, took an age to master, and offered poor value for the time spent.
No one was willing to waste precious cultivation time on a miscellaneous art.
Su Yun steadied his mind, methodically breaking down the principles and working out the spiritual pathways.
Three hours.
A full six hours of dogged study.
With the Thousandfold Amplification of his comprehension, he finally grasped the threshold of entry.
A faint hum rang out.
A wisp of translucent spirit-seeking aura spread from between his brows.
The Myriad Phenomena Spirit-Seeking Technique had reached the entry level.
After learning the basics, Su Yun raised a hand to try it out.
His faint perception spread only a hundred yards around him.
The range was tiny, and the sensation blurry. He could only pick up the strongest traces of spiritual materials nearby.
It was riddled with flaws and hardly practical.
As expected, reaching the entry level was only the beginning.
Su Yun didn't slack off for even a moment.
If he was going to cultivate it, he would take it to the utmost limit.
He didn't want something merely usable. He wanted perfection, a mastery that touched the divine.
For the next three days,
Su Yun stayed inside the stone chamber without stepping out, sleeping, or resting.
Again and again, he worked through the paths of spiritual resonance, again and again, activating the art and refining its fit with his body and divine sense.
The Thousandfold Amplification ran at full force. Every obscure principle, complex pattern, and hidden logic of perception was forcibly absorbed, refined, and brought into harmony.
When the three days were up,
a vast, clear, invisible perception surged outward from Su Yun, spreading in every direction!
The Myriad Phenomena Spirit-Seeking Technique had reached perfection!
Now, activating the art was an entirely different experience.
His invisible perception covered the surroundings, spreading a full twenty li in every direction!
Within those twenty li, every treasure buried beneath earth and stone, hidden among plants, or sealed behind a simple ward was laid bare.
Dotted points of spiritual light, countless and densely packed, appeared in his field of perception.
The smaller the glow, the lower the grade.
The brighter and more dazzling the glow, the higher the treasure's grade and the purer its spiritual energy.
This perception far surpassed a cultivator's divine-sense probing!
Divine sense could detect living people, spiritual power, and hostile intent.
But it couldn't find spirit herbs buried deep underground, ores, or ancient relics sealed away for ages.
The Myriad Phenomena Spirit-Seeking Technique specialized in piercing concealment and finding treasure!
Su Yun spread his awareness and instantly scanned the entire region of Heavenly Pivot Peak.
Densely packed points of spiritual light stretched beyond counting.
Around Heavenly Pivot Peak, the lights gathered in cloudlike clusters, so thick they couldn't be counted.
The closer they were to the main peak and Azure Cloud Hall, the more dazzling they became.
Several deep beneath the earth at the sect's core shone so brightly they were blinding. They were undoubtedly high-tier treasures the sect kept as its trump cards!
Su Yun couldn't help marveling to himself.
As expected, the foundation of a great sect was unfathomably deep.
"With this art, my trip to the Secret Realm is sure to turn a profit."
Su Yun drew back his perception, conviction in his eyes.