Outside the simulation, Zhou Qing's spirits soared.
Before his second simulation, Zhou Qing had drawn up a complete plan based on the information he had obtained during his first.
This secret realm was a crucial part of that plan.
Not only could this secret realm bring Zhou Qing gains during the current simulation.
If his plan went smoothly.
He could return to harvest it once in every future simulation.
It was as good as a hen that laid golden eggs.
"The Cloudsea Secret Realm..."
Detailed information about this secret realm surfaced in Zhou Qing's mind.
Naturally, all this information had circulated during his first simulation, decades after the secret realm emerged.
In the first few years after the Cloudsea Secret Realm emerged, detailed information about it had been top secret and immensely valuable. No cultivator had been willing to divulge it.
After all, anyone who possessed such detailed information stood a chance of reaping a great harvest inside the secret realm.
Only as time passed, as the Cloudsea Secret Realm was gradually picked clean and fewer and fewer cultivators entered to explore it, did its closely guarded secrets begin to circulate.
Such was the magic of time.
Perhaps, after decades or centuries, some precious information would become common knowledge?
A secret realm was a space independent of the world outside. These spaces were isolated from the outside world, and once cultivators or factions discovered them, they developed and transformed them into their own bases.
The Cloudsea Secret Realm was one such realm, managed by a faction called the Cloudsea Sect.
According to the information Zhou Qing had uncovered in his first simulation, the Cloudsea Sect had been a Core Formation faction with deep reserves.
However, two or three centuries ago, it had suddenly perished for some unknown reason. Most of its disciples had disappeared, and after two or three centuries, practically all the survivors had died as well.
Even a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator could live no longer than two hundred years.
Most Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators never reached two hundred. They generally approached the end of their lives in their late one hundred and nineties.
A lifespan of two hundred years was the ideal outcome, requiring the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator's body to be entirely free of hidden injuries or lingering problems.
Yet the cultivation world was full of shifting winds and clouds. What Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator could guarantee that they would never be injured? Even without fighting cultivators of the same realm, cultivation and breakthroughs could easily leave lingering problems.
Come to think of it, in my first simulation, the cultivators who entered this secret realm probably weren't all at the Qi Refining Stage...
After all, it was a secret realm left behind by a Core Formation faction. Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were bound to take an interest.
Zhou Qing thought to himself.
During his first simulation, his cultivation had been too low. When the secret realm emerged, he had only reached the second layer of Qi Refining.
Even after decades had passed and much of the information about the secret realm was no longer secret, it had still been difficult for him to obtain information far beyond his own level.
Forget all that. I never intended to seize every resource in the Cloudsea Secret Realm during this simulation anyway. I only need to keep my eye on Ye Feng.
Zhou Qing thought to himself.
He might not be able to handle those Late Qi Refining Period Senior Cultivators or Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.
But surely he could handle Ye Feng, who was only at the Early Qi Refining Period?
Zhou Qing also intended to gather more information about the Cloudsea Secret Realm during this simulation.
In his previous simulation, his greatest accomplishments had been reaching the fifth layer of Qi Refining and becoming a Mid-Grade Alchemist.
In this simulation, however, he would reach at least the late Qi Refining period and become a High-Grade Pill Master, placing him far above his level in the first simulation.
If he made a deliberate effort to inquire, he would surely obtain more detailed information.
[News of the secret realm's emergence soon reached Black Mountain Market, sending the many cultivators in the Market District into an uproar.]
[In particular, many cultivators trapped at bottlenecks saw the secret realm as their hope of breaking through.]
[For a time, large numbers of cultivators rushed toward the Cloudsea Secret Realm.]
[You quietly watched the situation unfold. Everything was exactly as it had been during your first simulation.]
[At the Yun Clan Pill Workshop, Ye Feng knelt on the floor and pleaded softly, "Pill Master Yun, with my spiritual root aptitude, I might never reach the late Qi Refining period in my entire life. Now that a secret realm has emerged, I hope you'll allow me to go..."]
[Cultivators with a Middle-Grade Spiritual Root had a chance of reaching the late Qi Refining period and attempting Foundation Establishment.]
[But that assumed they devoted themselves fully to cultivation.]
[As Pill Master Yun's apprentice, Ye Feng had to spend most of his time working for him, leaving very little time for his own cultivation.]
["You're only at the third layer of Qi Refining, yet you want to explore a secret realm? Do you know how many cultivators stronger than you have died doing just that?"]
[Pill Master Yun sat in the main seat, looking at Ye Feng with a frown.]
[Pill Master Yun genuinely had Ye Feng's interests at heart. He had seen far too many people like him, their ambitions soaring ten thousand feet high, only to die without a sound.]
["If I really die exploring the secret realm, then that's my fate."]
[Ye Feng continued pleading.]
[Pill Master Yun fell silent, clearly weighing the matter.]
[You sat to one side, quietly watching Ye Feng kneeling prostrate on the floor.]
["Brother Yun, everyone has their own aspirations."]
[You spoke up.]
["Very well."]
[Pill Master Yun nodded.]
[He, too, was inclined to grant Ye Feng's wish.]
[After all, if he refused Ye Feng and the young man harbored resentment, that would give Pill Master Yun another headache.]
["Thank you, Pill Master Yun. Thank you, Pill Master Wang."]
[Ye Feng kowtowed gratefully.]
["Don't rush to thank me."]
[With an expressionless face, Pill Master Yun said, "If you want me to dissolve the spirit contract, you'll need to compensate me with one hundred spirit stones."]
["All right."]
[Ye Feng agreed at once.]
[At Pill Master Yun's dismissive wave, Ye Feng hurried off to gather the spirit stones.]
[You took the opportunity to bid farewell as well.]
[On your way out of the pill workshop, you deliberately passed by Ye Feng.]
["Greetings, Pill King."]
[Ye Feng immediately bowed to you. After all, you had just spoken on his behalf.]
["Mm."]
["Come back from the secret realm alive," you said, patting Ye Feng's shoulder.]
[Flattered by your attention, Ye Feng immediately said, "Thank you, Pill King."]
[Little did he know that, as you patted his shoulder, you had already planted three tracking spells on him.]
[Over the past twenty years, you had cultivated three tracking spells, bringing all three to major mastery several years ago.]
[Over the next few days, you continued watching Ye Feng.]
[You worried that, without your help, Ye Feng might not be able to scrape together those one hundred spirit stones.]
[To your surprise, through Ye Feng's relentless pestering, he actually persuaded several apprentices to lend him some spirit stones.]
[Seeing this, you began your preparations as well.]
[First, you announced that you would be entering seclusion.]
[Then you concealed your aura, left your cave abode, and disguised yourself as a sturdy man wearing a bamboo hat.]
[You hid in a corner near an exit from the Market District.]
[Half a day later, you spotted Ye Feng leaving the Market District.]
[Ye Feng had also disguised himself, but naturally, he could not fool you.]
[After leaving the Market Ward, Ye Feng headed toward the Cloudsea Secret Realm.]
[You followed behind Ye Feng, planning to wait by the stump for a rabbit.] ```