A terrifying aura spread between the two of them.
Yue Lian crouched on the ground, the smile on his face gradually stiffening.
It's over...
He clearly did not believe him.
"It's so late, and I'm so sleepy. Senior Brother, rest early. Good night." Yue Lian rose to his feet, yawned, and turned to leave as though nothing had happened. Before he had taken more than a few steps, someone grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him back.
Yue Lian: "..."
He had imagined entering Eldest Senior Brother's room countless times, but never like this.
Clutching that book of bedroom secret arts along with his two boxes, Yue Lian emerged from Chu Zeming's room bruised and battered. Reluctantly glancing at the black-haired young man inside, who had grown tired from beating him and was now sitting down to drink tea, Yue Lian clung to the doorframe and stubbornly said, "It really is good stuff. I even found the other two volumes for Eldest Senior Brother. The upper, middle, and lower volumes can be used as a complete set..."
The anger Chu Zeming had only just suppressed showed signs of flaring up again. Resisting the urge to smash a teacup into Yue Lian's forehead, Chu Zeming said in a low voice, "Scram."
Perhaps reading gay erotica had left him with some aftereffects. Chu Zeming began having indescribable nightmares again, where that white lotus took every possible advantage of him.
As a result, for the next several days, Chu Zeming's hands itched whenever he saw Yue Lian. Every time he saw him, he beat him, and every beating took a different form. The other disciples in the inn watched with trembling hearts, closing their eyes and chanting Amitabha.
Amid the happy days of Eldest Senior Brother beating up Junior Brother whether there was reason or not, five days flew by.
The Divine Wood Realm was about to open.
The Divine Wood Realm had originally been located in the barbaric wilderness of the northwest.
It was later discovered by the founding patriarch of the Guiyuan Sect while traveling the world, who used a secret art to move it into the Ten Thousand Mountains of Devil Forest in Cangzhou.
At noon.
The two hundred and fifty outstanding young cultivators finally passed through Devil Forest's savage mists and poisonous rain, all arriving at the entrance to the Divine Wood Realm.
At the entrance, the Guiyuan Sect's Supreme Elders had already been waiting for a long time.
Some sat upon magical treasures, while others rode spirit beasts. Each possessed the bearing of an immortal, like banished celestials.
The Guiyuan Sect was the foremost sect, and its Supreme Elders were all mighty seniors rarely seen in the world. For this grand tournament, the Guiyuan Sect had invited them out of seclusion to stand guard, which was enough to show how much importance the sect placed on this competition.
He Wuwei swept his gaze over the crowd. Two hundred and fifty people, with no one absent.
He nodded in satisfaction, then flicked his sleeve. Countless pale green lights flew from within it.
The next moment, every cultivator held a jade talisman engraved with their sect and name.
He Wuwei slowly said, "The rules of this competition are simple: there are no rules. Every one of your jade pendants contains a small spatial teleportation array. If necessary, crush the jade talisman and you will be sent back to the first level of the Divine Wood Realm, where elders will escort you out. The Divine Wood Realm is fraught with danger. Remember to proceed step by step and exercise the utmost caution."
After He Wuwei finished speaking, he waved his hand, and the massive stone doors behind him slowly opened.
A whirlpool radiating a soft green glow appeared before them. This was the entrance to the Divine Wood Realm, deep and mysterious, filled with an ancient, unsophisticated aura.
The Divine Wood Realm—officially opened.
The Divine Wood Realm was a secret realm that only cultivators beyond the Nascent Soul Realm could open. Though the disciples of the various sects present possessed extraordinary talent and would surely achieve greatness in the future, they were ultimately still children under a hundred years old. Most were at the Jindan Stage, while those who had broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm were few and far between. For a moment, everyone felt somewhat apprehensive.
"Since all my fellow Daoists are yielding the honor, then Fu shall be the first."
Suddenly, a voice as clear as a breeze beneath a bright moon rang out.
Chu Zeming followed the sound and saw a handsome man in robes white as snow slowly step out from the crowd. He strode toward the entrance to the Divine Wood Realm and vanished into it in the blink of an eye.
—This man was Fu Hongchen, the direct disciple of Elder Tianxuan from the Saint Origin Sect. He was one of the very few Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, having broken through only three months ago. He was also the genius who had faced the original owner on the arena stage during the previous Joint Grand Tournament and defeated him.
Watching him enter without even blinking, Chu Zeming raised an eyebrow.
"Let's go in too."
With that, he flashed away and disappeared from where he stood.
Yue Lian, Xuan Mo, and the others followed close behind.
With someone taking the lead, the other cultivators present no longer hesitated and flew into the Divine Wood Realm entrance one after another.
The moment he entered the Divine Wood Realm, Chu Zeming felt a powerful force sweep over him, leaving his mind muddled and dazed. When he opened his eyes again, the scenery around him had completely changed—this was the first level of the Divine Wood Realm, a place without sun or sky, surrounded by glowing trees and broad-leaved thickets.
Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, Yue Lian... none of them were there. Only Chu Zeming and Xiao Hei in his arms remained.
Without a doubt, the mysterious power at the entrance to the Divine Wood Realm had scattered them apart. Upon entering the Divine Wood Realm, everyone had temporarily become a lone wolf.
There were no treasures on the first level of the Divine Wood Realm.
Chu Zeming did not waste any time. He immediately turned into a streak of light and sped forward.
He had read the book and knew that beyond this dim, glowing forest lay a boundless swamp filled with poisonous creatures. Within it stood a lone abandoned graveyard. Opening the graveyard would reveal one of the entrances to the second level of the Divine Wood Realm underground.
But this glowing forest was vast and riddled with danger.
Although Chu Zeming did his utmost to conceal his aura as he traveled, he was still frequently attacked by monsters in the forest. With one sword strike, he cleaved apart the gigantic demonic beast pursuing him from behind. Chu Zeming slowly let out a breath. By now, he was covered in blood, and his clothes hung in tatters.
Because the Divine Wood Realm had remained under eternal night for countless years, Chu Zeming had no idea how long he had spent in the forest. Gripping his bloodstained sword, he continued forward. After walking an unknown distance, a gap suddenly opened in the dense forest. Then, a barren land stretching beyond sight appeared before him.
This was a swamp devoid of life. A few strange-looking dead trees stood silently in scattered patches across the marsh, while black fog lingered above it.
Chu Zeming let out a breath of relief.
He had finally found it.
This black fog, which had drifted for who knew how many tens of thousands of years, was highly poisonous. Chu Zeming formed a hand seal to close off his mouth and nose, then flew toward the center of the swamp.
After flying for roughly the time it took two incense sticks to burn, a lone grave appeared within Chu Zeming's divine sense.
But what surprised Chu Zeming was that the graveyard had already been opened—someone had found this entrance before him.
Chu Zeming felt a measure of admiration.
As expected of the favored sons of heaven in the cultivation world. Even without a script to guide them, they had found a way to break the impasse so quickly.
Beneath the desolate graveyard was dark and deep, with bones scattered everywhere.
Yellow lamps burned along both sides of the long, shadowy passage. Chu Zeming gripped his sword and moved forward when a strange sound suddenly came from ahead, like something gnawing on flesh and blood.
A thick stench of blood filled the air.
Chu Zeming's heart tightened, and his grip on the Luminous Glaze Sword became firmer.
Rounding a bend in the passage, he saw a gigantic coffin. It stood open. On the ground, a monster wearing human clothing and dragging a long tail was crouched over a corpse, its fanged maw gnawing on the corpse's internal organs.
Not far from the corpse lay a jade talisman glowing faintly.
The disciple who had entered the graveyard had not even had the chance to crush his jade talisman before dying.
The sudden unfamiliar aura made the monster pause. Before it could drag away its spoils and flee, a sword strike, profound and ancient and radiating terrifying killing intent, shot straight toward it. The monster let out a howl. The next second, its body was split in two, dark red and foul-smelling blood spilling across the ground.
Chu Zeming put away his sword, bent down, removed his outer robe, and covered the dead disciple with it.
Then he sheathed the Luminous Glaze Sword and walked straight toward the coffin.
Chu Zeming lay down inside it. Immediately afterward, the silent, motionless coffin began to shake violently. Its half-open lid slowly closed. When the space became completely dark, Chu Zeming felt as if he were floating in the air.
This state did not last long before the coffin became still again.
A cool sensation spread through his body.
Chu Zeming slowly opened his eyes. He was no longer inside the coffin. Before him lay a cold pool, and he was soaking in its waters. Moonlight poured down from above, making the pool's surface shimmer.
Chu Zeming stood up, and the sound of splashing water echoed through the silent space.
Not far away stood a hidden cave, its entrance covered with emerald-green vines. The vines were laden with scarlet fruits ripe enough to drip, and an intense fragrance wafted from them.
Chu Zeming froze.
Scarlet Scale Fruit?
Chu Zeming stepped forward and was just about to pluck one when he suddenly sensed danger behind him.
Chu Zeming abruptly withdrew his hand. With a thought, he vanished from the spot.
The next second, an incomparably sharp Soul-Piercing Cone suddenly appeared where Chu Zeming had been standing.
"What a pity. You noticed it."
A clear voice rang out.
Chu Zeming looked up toward the sound and saw six or seven figures standing on the shore of the cold pool not far away.
The speaker wore robes white as snow. It was Fu Hongchen, who had been the first to enter the Divine Wood Realm.
He slowly withdrew his hand, and the Soul-Piercing Cone that had hovered in the air returned to his palm.
Standing beside Fu Hongchen was none other than Lu Benxiong. When he saw Chu Zeming, he gave a vicious grin. "Well, well, I finally caught you, didn't I? You still wanted to pick the fruit? Today, this young master will make sure you leave your life here too."
Chu Zeming's expression darkened somewhat.
There was no doubt that Lu Benxiong had latched onto Fu Hongchen's thigh after entering. He had run into a troublesome opponent.
Fu Hongchen smiled as he toyed with the Soul-Piercing Cone in his hand, looking refined and courteous. "What a coincidence. We meet again. My apologies for the offense, but it seems I will have to defeat you once more."
Chu Zeming sneered. "Ugly, yet dreaming pretty?"
The smile on Fu Hongchen's face stiffened for a brief moment, then his gaze turned cold and hard. "Oh? Then I shall send you out of the Divine Wood Realm. You are not worthy of competing with me."
Before you continue