A portable old grandpa?

[Knowing that Ye Feng would reap a great harvest after entering the secret realm]

[Your choice was simple. Everyone else had their sights set on the resources and opportunities within the secret realm]

[Your target, however, was Ye Feng]

[All you needed to do was wait at the secret realm's exit until Ye Feng came out]

[Soon, Ye Feng arrived at the entrance to the Cloudsea Secret Realm]

[A large number of cultivators had already gathered at the Secret Realm entrance, though almost all of them were at the Qi Refining Stage]

[The secret realm had only just appeared, and information about it had yet to spread very far. Besides, this secret realm had been managed several hundred years ago by the Cloudsea Sect, a Core Formation-level power]

[You watched Ye Feng enter the secret realm]

[The Secret Realm entrance stood between two enormous stone pillars]

[It took the form of a gigantic gray vortex]

[Cultivators only needed to step into the gray vortex to be transported into the secret realm]

[You gazed at the gray vortex, faintly sensing the aura of heaven and earth from an ancient age]

[Secret realms were precious because they preserved certain special environments from ancient times. Their spiritual energy was abundant, and many spiritual herbs and spirit plants that had long since vanished into the river of time still grew within them]

[With the Cloudsea Sect's management and modifications, it had become the stronghold of a major power]

[You could surmise that, several hundred years ago, the Cloudsea Sect's Core Formation True Person had used his tremendous magical power to seal off this secret realm from the outside world]

[But as the years passed, the sealing spell gradually failed, causing the Secret Realm entrance to appear and eventually be discovered by nearby cultivators]

[You began waiting at the secret realm's entrance]

[Based on your conversation with Ye Feng during the previous simulation, when he visited the Yun Clan Pill Workshop as a cultivator in the late Qi Refining period]

[Ye Feng should have been gravely injured when he left the secret realm]

[A cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refining, severely wounded and unaware of your existence]

[While you were at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, hidden in the shadows]

[You could not imagine any way you could fail]

[At the very least, you could preserve your life]

[At worst, you would abandon your identity in the Black Mountain Market and find somewhere else to hide]

[Nearly half a month passed in the blink of an eye. More and more cultivators gathered at the secret realm's entrance. Clearly, it would be no surprise if Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were drawn here before long]

["Fellow Daoist, interested in information about this secret realm?"]

[While you waited, a lean man approached and spoke in a low voice]

["Information about what's inside the secret realm?"]

[You looked at the lean man. "How many spirit stones?"]

["Five hundred spirit stones."]

[The lean man lowered his voice. "My information is absolutely worth that price. If you know what I know, you'll definitely reap great benefits inside the secret realm."]

["Five hundred spirit stones? That's too expensive."]

[You immediately lost interest]

[You could actually afford that sum of spirit stones]

[But there was no need]

[The information the lean man offered was time-sensitive]

[The earlier you bought it, the more expensive it was]

[If you did not buy it now and waited ten or twenty years, it might cost only a few spirit stones]

[In any case, you were only interested in Ye Feng during this simulation. Buying that information sooner or later made no difference]

[You continued waiting patiently]

[You did not know exactly when Ye Feng would emerge]

[But at worst, you would wait here for several years]

[After several years, hordes of cultivators would strip the secret realm of its resources, leaving it worthless]

[You could afford to wait a few years]

[Time passed, and several more days went by]

[Many cultivators entered, and many others emerged]

[Most of those who emerged had suffered injuries of varying severity]

[Inside the secret realm, they not only had to contend with its dangers, but also guard against their fellow cultivators]

[Just as you were considering whether to start selling some healing pills]

[Your expression suddenly changed]

[You clearly sensed the tracking spell mark you had placed on Ye Feng suddenly appear several li away]

[A secret realm was, in essence, a special space independent of heaven and earth, capable of isolating its interior from the outside world]

[Thus, once Ye Feng entered the secret realm, you lost your ability to track him]

["This secret realm has another exit?"]

[You looked in a certain direction several li away, then immediately rose and left without hesitation]

[Your departure did not attract the attention of the surrounding cultivators]

[Perhaps some people were secretly watching those who emerged from the secret realm]

[But you had never entered it at all, so naturally, no one was interested in you]

[Following the tracking spell's signal, you quickly covered several li and spotted Ye Feng]

[Ye Feng's bearing had changed drastically. He now looked like an old man. Without the tracking spell's signal, even you might have been fooled]

[Upon closer inspection, you found that Ye Feng's aura was somewhat feeble. He had fallen to the level of a mortal and could barely even walk]

[Had you not already known, you would never have believed he was a cultivator]

[You concealed your aura and approached, stopping only when you were within fifty meters]

[Ye Feng still had not noticed you]

["**Buzz-**"]

[With a thought, you activated a high-grade Golden Needle Talisman]

[A high-grade Golden Needle Talisman could unleash an attack at the late Qi Refining period]

[And as a spiritual talisman, it could activate instantly, giving the enemy no time to react]

[Following the principle that even a lion used its full strength to hunt a rabbit, you held nothing back]

[The Golden Needle Talisman's power activated in an instant, condensing into a golden needle that shot silently toward Ye Feng]

[With a **bang**]

[The golden needle pierced Ye Feng's head]

[He collapsed to the ground]

[No unexpected developments or mishaps occurred]

[Ye Feng, who would have become a great cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining decades later, died just like that in an unknown corner]

[You swiftly stepped forward, searched him several times, then used a fireball spell to destroy his body and erase all traces]

[Half an hour later]

[You sat cross-legged in a secluded spot in the woods]

[With a turn of your right hand, Ye Feng's storage pouch appeared before you]

[You swiftly removed the mark Ye Feng had left on it and extended your consciousness into the storage pouch]

["Dark yin grass, profound yang fruit..."]

[You could not help holding your breath. Ye Feng's Storage Bag contained dozens of spiritual herbs. As an alchemist, you recognized almost all of them. These herbs were at least First-Tier Upper Grade, and a large portion were second-tier spiritual herbs]

[The second tier corresponded to the Foundation Establishment Realm]

[You would not have been so shocked by ordinary second-tier spiritual herbs. The crucial point was that the second-tier herbs in this Storage Bag were all exceptionally rare]

[Dark yin grass and profound yang fruit, for example, were both second-tier high-grade spiritual herbs and primary ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills]

[Foundation Establishment Pills required three primary ingredients, which were almost entirely monopolized by the major powers. Dark yin grass and profound yang fruit were two of them]

[These dozens of spiritual herbs already covered most of the primary and supplementary ingredients needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills]

["Six Mid-Grade Magic Tools, three High-Grade Magic Tools, and a Flying Magic Tool..."]

[Qi Refining Stage cultivators used low-grade and Mid-Grade Magic Tools. Only Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators had the ability to use High-Grade Magic Tools and Peak-Grade Magic Tools]

["I've struck it rich..."]

[That was the only thought in your mind]

[Any single High-Grade Magic Tool was worth over a thousand spirit stones, and this Storage Bag held three of them]

["What's this?"]

[While taking inventory of the Storage Bag, you discovered a ring inside]

[The ring was sky-blue, with faint wisps of crimson flowing through it. You vaguely remembered that, during the first simulation, Ye Feng had worn this same ring when he visited Pill Master Yun]

["Could this be a legendary storage ring?"]

[Your spirits lifted once more. The space contained within a storage ring far exceeded that of a storage pouch]

[You took out the sky-blue ring, poured magical power into it, and attempted to refine it]

[In that instant, the sky-blue ring trembled faintly, and an aged voice reached your ears from within]

["A great dream spanning thousands of autumns-what year is it tonight?"]

["Boy, were you the one who awakened me?"]

[You froze for a moment]

[A portable old grandpa?]