Dawnsource Secret Realm

The entire Everlasting Mountains stretched more than five hundred li from east to west, and roughly two hundred li from north to south.

The land spanning over a hundred thousand square li all fell under Heaven Sect's jurisdiction.

The Dawnsource Secret Realm lay within the inner circle of Heaven Sect's territory, still very far from its borders.

Disciples entered and exited this secret realm in a steady stream.

A large portion of them were outer disciples, here to gamble for a sliver of opportunity.

As for inner disciples, aside from Dong Lin and the others with exceptional talent, who had been discovered early by the sect,

most of the rest only joined the inner sect after successfully reaching Foundation Establishment.

Thus, they generally went to higher-ranked secret realms for training. Only the small number of inner disciples who lacked confidence in their own strength, or who had accepted tasks related to the Dawnsource Secret Realm, came here.

The five found an open patch of ground beside the secret realm's entrance.

"Let's introduce ourselves first. I mainly cultivate sword arts and can handle close-quarters combat.

"Battles change in a thousand ways, so we'll only make a simple division of roles based on our cultivation attributes for now."

As the core of the team, Gu Chen was the first to introduce himself.

"Tao Yan. I mainly cultivate water arts. I can handle control and explosive damage."

Tao Yan spoke first.

"Zhao Shuheng. I mainly cultivate wind and earth elements, also focusing on control. I can provide support and defense."

Holding a folding fan and dressed like a scholar, Zhao Shuheng spoke with a smile.

"Baili Tianming. Body cultivator, peak Body Tempering Realm.

"Leave close combat to me. Even against some Second Rank great demons, I can still trade blows."

Baili Tianming smiled honestly and spread his arms, revealing a body full of bulging muscles that brimmed with power.

"Dong Lin. Skilled in Lightning Arts. I can provide long-range damage."

"Old Gu's team is pretty well-balanced. Feels like we can pick some half-step Second Rank demon beasts to warm up on."

"Brother Dong's Lightning Arts are no ordinary thing. I imagine all of you saw them last time.

"I specifically brought him in to fill the team's gap in damage output.

"Let's start with some late First Rank ones. Tianming and Old Zhao, you two have plenty of experience.

"Brother Dong and Junior Sister Tao haven't fought much with magic."

"Fine, time waits for no one. Let's go." Baili Tianming knocked his fists together twice and looked toward the secret realm expectantly.

The entrance to the secret realm was unlike the smooth spatial transition of a teleportation array.

There was a slight jolt as it transported them into midair, several meters above the ground within the secret realm.

This height was still acceptable for cultivators.

As long as one possessed some movement technique, one would basically not fall to the ground.

Relying on the newly learned Pine-Wind Treading Snow, Dong Lin adjusted his position in midair, then lightly stepped through the air with Moon-Embracing Step,

and landed steadily on the ground.

The others each had their own ways of dealing with it.

The most violent method belonged to Baili Tianming, the body cultivator. He directly slammed heavily into the ground,

smashing that patch of earth several centimeters inward.

They had arrived at the secret realm's entrance and exit. A little over a hundred meters away stood the exit, along with a small market for trading goods.

It had been jointly built by the disciples who frequently entered and exited the secret realm, making it convenient to replenish supplies before exploration and sell resources they did not need afterward.

A little farther away, the sect had established a station to monitor the secret realm and guard against any abnormalities.

"This is a rough map of this secret realm. Take a look first."

Gu Chen handed the two newcomers, Dong Lin and Tao Yan, maps made of leather that he had prepared in advance.

"Brother Dong, Junior Sister Tao, first get a general understanding.

"The Dawnsource Secret Realm is a medium-sized secret realm. The sect's predecessors once carried out detailed measurements along every border of the realm.

"Overall, it is an irregular square, three thousand li from north to south and two thousand li from east to west."

"It's so much bigger than the territory under the mountain gate's jurisdiction! Does a secret realm have directions as well?" Dong Lin asked in confusion.

"Indeed. Secret realms are attached to the main world, and their magnetic fields correspond with that of the main world. There are records of this within the sect.

"However, this secret realm is separated from the main world by a thick spatial barrier. Even the patriarchs would find it difficult to open a new teleportation entrance that could be maintained for a long time.

"Therefore, one can generally only enter and leave through this secret realm's original entrance and exit.

"The entrance and exit are located in the center of the secret realm, which is rather convenient.

"The Dawnsource Secret Realm can roughly be divided into three regions. To the east is a vast forest, filled with countless spirit beasts.

"Our future competition will very likely designate an area within this forest.

"Heaven Sect named it the Woodland Wilderness. The west can roughly be divided into two regions.

"To the north lies Medicine King Valley, a vast mountain range. Within it sits a rather large valley, where spirit herbs carpet the ground.

"It is said that a half-immortal-grade spirit herb once appeared there, though it was later plucked by the sect's patriarchs.

"The Fourth Rank great demon that guarded it was also slain.

"Now, Medicine King Valley contains only some First Rank and Second Rank spirit beasts.

"To the southwest is Pearl Pool, a massive lake. It was named for the precious spirit pearls within it,

"which are nurtured by Darkwater Spirit Clams at the bottom of the lake.

"They are the main ingredients of many medicinal pills.

"Ground into powder and steeped as tea, they have quite an excellent effect on spiritual awareness.

"Second Rank Spirit Clams have a chance of nurturing Mystic Spirit Pearls.

"Mystic Spirit Pearls are several times larger than ordinary spirit pearls and can assist in cultivating spiritual awareness.

"The effects were simply too exceptional, so once the sect discovered them, it organized a large-scale capture and harvesting operation.

"After several years of gathering,

"the number of spirit pearls at the lake bottom is now far less than before.

"That is the secret realm's general layout. The only thing to watch out for is to avoid going near the borders whenever possible.

"The space at the borders is rather unstable.

"Our cultivation is still shallow, and we would have no way to deal with a spatial storm.

"The depth of this secret realm is unknown, but powerful cultivators specializing in earth-attribute techniques once investigated it.

"They had not reached the boundary even a hundred li below. The sky, on the other hand, is much easier to investigate; the boundary lies roughly a hundred li upward.

"The boundary in the sky forms a semicircle. The entire secret realm has a round heaven and square earth structure.

"As for whether the true underground is round or square, no one knows. Above the nine heavens, there are gale winds mixed with spatial fissures.

"Of course, we currently lack the ability to reach that place."

"The secret realm's borders are the finest place to cultivate one's comprehension of spatial power.

"Once I reach Foundation Establishment Perfection, I will certainly find a place here to settle down."

Zhao Shuheng opened his paper fan, waved it twice, and spoke softly.

"The space here is still too chaotic. It would be better to study spatial runes instead."

Gu Chen advised him.

"That is a matter for the future. We'll talk about it then."

Zhao Shuheng closed his fan and gave Gu Chen a faint smile, seemingly unwilling to discuss the matter any further.

"Enough. Let's head deeper into the forest. The spirit beasts on the outskirts are too weak; there's no need to waste too much time."

As Baili Tianming spoke, he casually scooped up a low-grade First Rank Swift Spirit Rabbit from the ground,

cleaned it up in the blink of an eye, then took out a sheet of oil paper, wrapped it up, and stored it in his ring.

"Brother Tianming looks like quite the seasoned foodie. You handle ingredients with real efficiency."

Gu Chen said with a laugh.

"Just a little hobby. Let's go, let's go."

The group got up and swiftly headed toward the southeastern part of the secret realm.