The entrance to the Misty Secret Realm lay deep within the "Miasma Forest" southeast of the Qingyun Region. A pale-purple Space Rift floated among ancient trees, dense white miasma curling around it. A single breath of it would throw one's Sword Qi into disorder; only by taking a "Miasma Avoiding Pill" could one approach. Elder Liu held a sect token and poured spiritual power into the rift. Spatial ripples suddenly intensified, and a passage wide enough for two people to walk abreast slowly unfolded. "The miasma inside the secret realm will intensify over time. The Dragon Origin Fruit grows within the 'Volcanic Lava Cavern'; we must reach it within three days! The core disciples will be divided into three groups, each led by an Inner Disciple Steward. Retreat when facing the strong. Safety comes first!"
Ling Yun and Murong Shuang were assigned to the second group, along with three other core disciples. Their leader was Steward Wang, who specialized in Wood Element Sword Intent. The instant they stepped into the secret realm, visibility plummeted to less than five zhang. White miasma coiled around them like living creatures, and even their spiritual senses were restricted to within ten zhang. They could only vaguely sense the auras of demonic beasts lurking nearby.
"Watch your footing. Poison Mist Spiders hide in the miasma. Their silk is poisonous—touch it, and you'll be paralyzed." Steward Wang held a wood-element staff, pale-green Sword Qi swirling around him as he cleared the way ahead. "Ling Yun, Murong Shuang, guard the rear. Keep an eye on any movement behind us."
The moment his words fell, the miasma to their left suddenly stirred. Eight Poison Mist Spiders, each as large as washbasins, leaped down from the canopy. Black spider silk shot toward one of the core disciples at the end of the group like sharp arrows. The disciple could not react in time and was about to be entangled when Ling Yun flashed forward. The Sky-Rending Sword drew a golden-and-cyan arc through the air—Golden Wind Piercing Spikes tore through the air. Pale-gold Sword Qi severed the silk, while cyan wind blades slashed toward the spiders' abdomens, their weak points.
"Pfft!" Three spiders were instantly slain. When their corpses hit the ground, they turned into wisps of black smoke and merged into the miasma. The remaining spiders collectively spat out black poisonous fog, attempting to conceal themselves. Murong Shuang coldly snorted, swinging the Green Peak Sword. Her Wind Element Sword Intent condensed into a Wind Sweeping Clouds, blowing the poisonous fog away. At the same time, wind blades swept horizontally, killing two more spiders. "Don't give them a chance to ambush us!"
Ling Yun nodded and activated his Chaos Sword Body. A faint five-colored glow spread over his body—this glow could not only ward off the miasma, but also absorb trace toxins from the air and convert them into weak spiritual energy. Following the lingering scent on the spider silk, he pursued the final three spiders. The Sky-Rending Sword pierced the ground, and Earth Element Sword Intent spread through the soil, shaking the spiders from their hiding places. Then he unleashed Rain Fall. Fine wind blades struck with precision, wiping out the spiders completely.
"Not bad. You work together quite smoothly." Steward Wang looked back, approval in his eyes. "Keep moving. The Volcanic Lava Cavern is thirty li ahead. The miasma there will be thinner, but it will also be more dangerous—the dragon might of the Crimson Flame Flood Dragon is no match for these petty demonic beasts."
The group continued deeper in. The miasma gradually changed from white to pale red, and the temperature in the air rose higher and higher. Scattered volcanic rocks appeared across the ground, proving that the Volcanic Lava Cavern was not far away. Then, a muffled roar sounded from ahead, shaking leaves and branches from the surrounding ancient trees. A scorching Fire Attribute aura rode the wind toward them, making the five-colored Sword Intent pearl in Ling Yun's dantian tremble faintly.
"It's the Crimson Flame Flood Dragon!" Steward Wang's expression changed sharply. He drove his staff into the ground, and his Wood Element Sword Intent surged, condensing into a Thorn Barrier before the group. "Everyone, be on guard! The flood dragon's fire breath can melt profound iron. Never take it head-on!"
They had barely assumed their defensive positions when a crimson figure burst from the mist ahead—it was a flood dragon thirty zhang long, its scales gleaming like red copper. Pale-gold reverse scales covered its abdomen, and a pair of golden vertical pupils swept over the group. The scorching breath from its mouth distorted the air itself. With a sweep of its tail, it cleaved an ancient tree requiring three men to encircle it cleanly in half.
"Roar!" The Crimson Flame Flood Dragon bellowed. A fiery-red Dragon Pill the size of a basketball condensed within its mouth. The air around the Dragon Pill ignited, forming a blazing pillar of fire that blasted straight toward the Thorn Barrier.
"Hold it!" Steward Wang pushed his Wood Element Sword Intent to its limits, and the Thorn Barrier instantly thickened threefold. Yet the moment the fire pillar touched it, the Wood Element Sword Intent melted like ice and snow meeting flames. With a "crack," the barrier collapsed with a boom. Steward Wang was hurled away by the shockwave, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
"Elder!" one core disciple cried out. Just as he moved to support him, the flood dragon's tail swept into him, directly teleporting him out of the secret realm. (Secret realm rule: severe injuries result in automatic teleportation out, preserving one's life.)
Seeing this, Murong Shuang pushed her Wind Spirit Physique to its limit. Wind Element Sword Intent gathered around her into a Wind Domain, attempting to divert the fire pillar to the side. But the flood dragon's Fire Attribute pressure was far too strong. The instant the Wind Domain touched the fire pillar, it was scorched into a warped shape and could not restrain it at all. "Ling Yun, its reverse scales are its weakness, but they're protected by the Dragon Pill. We need to interrupt its fire breath first!"
Ling Yun gripped the Sky-Rending Sword and activated Clear Sword Heart. Before his eyes, the Crimson Flame Flood Dragon's movements slowed. He clearly saw that whenever it prepared to spew a pillar of fire, the scales on its neck opened slightly. That was the unavoidable path through which its fire breath flowed—and also the weakest point in its defenses.
"Sword Elder, can you absorb its Fire-Attribute Sword Intent?" Ling Yun asked inwardly.
"Yes! But its dragon might is too powerful. You must first break its defenses with a composite sword technique!" Sword Elder's voice carried excitement. "Use Gold Element Sword Intent to break its scales, Earth Element Sword Intent to disperse the force, and Wind Element Sword Intent to increase your speed. Attack the scales on its neck first!"
Ling Yun nodded. Gold, earth, and wind Sword Intent circulated madly within him, and the Sky-Rending Sword carved out a spiraling Sword Qi interwoven with three colors—this was the composite sword technique he had newly created: Three Forms Armor Piercing Slash. Golden Sword Qi cut through scales, earthen-yellow Sword Qi neutralized the dragon might, and cyan Sword Qi adjusted the trajectory as it precisely slashed toward the flood dragon's neck.
"Clang!"
The Sword Qi struck the scales on the flood dragon's neck. The golden Sword Qi indeed cut open a crack, the earthen-yellow Sword Qi dispersed most of the dragon might, and the cyan Sword Qi carried the remaining momentum into the gap between the scales. The flood dragon roared in pain, its fire-breathing attack interrupted, and its tail lashed fiercely toward Ling Yun.
Ling Yun had been prepared. He drifted backward ten zhang, then made a pulling gesture. The trace toxins he had absorbed while killing the Poison Mist Spiders condensed through Chaos Sword Qi into a faint-black Poison Blade, shooting once more toward the wound before the scales on the flood dragon's neck could close.
"Roar!" Poison seeped into the flood dragon's wound, and its movements visibly slowed. Murong Shuang seized the opportunity. Her Wind Element Sword Intent surged as she unleashed Wind Sweeping Clouds. A massive cyan wind blade slashed directly at the reverse scales on the flood dragon's abdomen. Though it did no damage, it successfully diverted the creature's attention.
"Now!" A sharp gleam flashed through Ling Yun's eyes. The five-colored Sword Intent pearl in his dantian spun at high speed, and his Chaos Sword Body operated at full force, ready to absorb the flood dragon's Fire-Attribute Sword Intent. He leaped into the air, the Sky-Rending Sword pointing straight at the flood dragon's open maw—where the Dragon Pill rested, and where Fire Attribute energy was most concentrated.
The flood dragon sensed the danger and tried to close its jaws, but Murong Shuang's wind blades tangled around its dragon horns, preventing it from reacting in time. Ling Yun's Sky-Rending Sword pierced into its mouth. The instant its tip touched the Dragon Pill, an incomparably pure Fire Attribute energy surged through the blade and into his body. This energy was more violent than any Sword Intent in the Sword Tower, yet the moment it touched Chaos Sword Qi, it was forcibly assimilated, becoming a scorching current that poured into his dantian.
"Ah!" Ling Yun felt as if blazing fire were burning within him. Wave after wave of agonizing pain shot through his meridians, yet it was accompanied by unprecedented exhilaration—the Chaos Sword Body was absorbing the Dragon Pill's energy. Within the five-colored Sword Intent pearl, a pale-red Fire-Attribute Sword Intent rapidly condensed. The barrier to his realm was being forcibly shattered by this energy!
"Quick, seize the Dragon Origin Fruit! The flood dragon's Dragon Pill energy is nearly depleted!" Sword Elder's urgent voice rang out.
Ling Yun looked up and saw a fist-sized crimson fruit flashing at the flood dragon's single horn. It was the Dragon Origin Fruit! Enduring the agony inside his body, he reached out and plucked it. The moment it entered his hand, the Dragon Origin Fruit transformed into crimson energy and merged into his dantian. This energy was gentler than the Dragon Pill's, yet purer. It instantly eased the burning pain in his meridians and completely shattered the barrier from the late Swordsman Realm to the early Great Swordsman Realm!
"Boom!"
A powerful Sword Intent erupted from Ling Yun's body. The five-colored Sword Intent pearl in his dantian evolved into six colors, pale-red Fire-Attribute Sword Intent circulating with the other attributes to form a complete cycle of six elements. The Sky-Rending Sword changed as well. Amid the dark-cyan ancient patterns on its blade, faint crimson fire patterns appeared. Beside the three crystals in the groove of its hilt, another tiny fiery-red point of light emerged—the embryonic form of a Fire-Attribute Sword Soul had been born!
Having lost the Dragon Origin Fruit and part of its Dragon Pill energy, the Crimson Flame Flood Dragon's aura instantly weakened. After one furious roar, it turned and burrowed into the depths of the Volcanic Lava Cavern, vanishing into the mist. Murong Shuang stepped forward, staring at the six-colored radiance around Ling Yun with eyes full of astonishment. "You... broke through to the Great Swordsman Realm? And awakened Fire-Attribute Sword Intent?"
Ling Yun withdrew his Sword Intent, feeling the surging energy within his body, and nodded. "Thank you for holding the flood dragon back."
Steward Wang also walked over. Though his face was pale, he wore a gratified expression. "I never expected you to tame the flood dragon's Fire Attribute energy and even break through your realm... This trip into the secret realm was worth it."
At that moment, an even more powerful aura rose from the depths of the secret realm. It surpassed the dragon might of the Crimson Flame Flood Dragon and carried a faint Ancient Sword Intent. Sword Elder's voice suddenly became grave. "That is... the aura of the Ancient Sword Cultivator Ruins? Ling Yun, the depths of this secret realm may conceal something even more important than the Dragon Origin Fruit."
Ling Yun raised his head toward the depths of the mist. There, pale-red miasma seemed to flow and swirl, and the vague outline of an ancient stone gate could be seen. He tightened his grip on the Sky-Rending Sword, its fire patterns flickering faintly—the trials of the Misty Secret Realm seemed to have only just begun.
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