Once everyone from the seven sects had arrived, each sect's patriarch took to the air with his juniors and flew toward the legendary Forbidden Grounds.
Several hours later, the party landed before a vast, boundless Yellow Earth Slope. Apart from piles of stones, not a single blade of grass grew there. Wherever they looked, all they saw was an expanse of yellow.
No one looking at such a desolate landscape would have imagined that a Secret Realm existed here.
Suddenly, Fuyunzi of the Qingxu Sect stepped out from the crowd, walked several yards ahead, and stopped.
He extended both hands, yellow light welling up over them, and made a grabbing motion toward the ground. More than a dozen streams of mud rose like yellow dragons, then condensed into spikes of yellow mud before him.
Then he changed his spell seal and flicked his fingers in succession, sending streaks of white light into them. In an instant, all the mud spikes turned grayish-white, becoming enormous, sharp spikes of stone.
This spell that transformed mud into stone drew murmurs of wonder from the low-level disciples present, opening their eyes to a whole new world.
Having finished, Fuyunzi drew a deep breath, stepped forward, lowered his body, and thrust both hands fiercely ahead, shouting, "Go!"
The dozen-odd stone spikes shot out as swiftly as meteors. Initially scattered, they rapidly converged as they flew, then hurtled straight toward the empty air ahead.
An astonishing sight unfolded. The spikes had traveled only a few dozen paces when they seemed to trigger something. With a bang, they shuddered and crumbled into powder.
An enormous expanse of blue-green light then surged from the empty space where they had struck, spreading in every direction and tinting everyone's faces blue-green.
Just as the disciples began trembling with fear, the light suddenly churned violently. With a howl, it transformed into countless wind blades that swept wildly about, forming a wall so dense that neither wind nor rain could pass through.
The wind wall seemed immense. Looking along it in either direction, they could see no end and had no idea how far it extended. The howling of wind filled the area around it.
Anyone who entered that wall would surely be cut to pieces by the wind blades in an instant.
So this was the restrictive formation protecting the Secret Realm. It truly was astonishing. The divine abilities of ancient cultivators far surpassed those of the present day. Almost no one in the cultivation world could set up a formation on this scale anymore, Xiao Yu marveled inwardly.
Fuyunzi, however, shook his head and walked back. The disciples then received instructions from their respective grandmasters to rest here for a while. The Forbidden Grounds could not be opened just yet.
And so, at short intervals, Fuyunzi repeated the same procedure to test the strength of the formation.
When they sensed that the formation had weakened to its lowest point, the Golden Core cultivators from all seven sects took action.
Grandmaster Wang reached out, and the enormous black sword on his back flew into his hand. He formed a spell seal, and the sword swelled in the wind to a length of a hundred feet, radiating pitch-black light.
Li Huayuan unleashed a ruler-shaped magical treasure, which shot forward in a blaze of silver light.
Fuyunzi spat out a streak of blue-green light about an inch long. It grew as it met the wind, becoming a flying sword several feet long in the blink of an eye.
An exceedingly dazzling object flew from each of the other four cultivators as well: a pink ribbon, a dragon-shaped staff, a long saber glowing red, and a great seal shimmering with yellow light.
Seven Golden Core cultivators and seven powerful magical treasures shone together. The treasures formed a ring and charged straight at the Wind Blade Array.
With a thunderous rumble, the seven treasures unleashed their powers and collided with the formation protecting the Forbidden Grounds...
After several hours of fierce struggle, sweat poured from all seven cultivators like rain. At last, their magical treasures forced open a circular passage roughly ten feet high in the wind wall. The passage was pitch-black inside, leaving nothing visible.
"Get inside! What are you dawdling for?" Fuyunzi shouted anxiously. His magical power was the weakest of the seven, and he was already struggling to hold on.
Hearing this, the disciples of the seven sects
dared not delay. Interspersed with one another, they flew into the passage in batches. By now, everyone was silent, their expressions grim. They all knew that once they entered the Forbidden Grounds, they would immediately become mortal enemies. Even fellow disciples of the same sect could no longer be trusted.
Xiao Yu was near the front of the line, with disciples of the Covering Moon Sect ahead of him and those of the Yellow Maple Valley behind.
The passage was not long, only some two hundred feet, and he passed through it in a flash. As soon as Xiao Yu flew out of the exit, before he could make out his surroundings, he felt the world spin around him. His vision blurred, and he vanished from the exit without a trace.
At the very moment Xiao Yu entered the Forbidden Grounds, in Divine Hand Valley of the Seven Mysteries Sect on Rosy Clouds Mountain,
two figures sat cross-legged opposite each other in a stone chamber several dozen feet across. Oil lamps of every description filled the room, along with candles of varying thicknesses, illuminating the entire chamber as brightly as day.
One of the two figures was an old man with a head of white hair, a gaunt, haggard body, and an exceedingly aged face. His eyes were wide open as he stared in terror at the dark-skinned, ordinary-looking boy of fifteen or sixteen sitting opposite him.
These two were Doctor Mo and Han Li. This was the moment just after Doctor Mo's attempt to possess Han Li had failed.
After a long while, Han Li slowly awoke. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Doctor Mo, already stone dead, staring with his eyes wide open...
Leaving aside the most important lesson Han Li had just learned in his life, the instant Xiao Yu regained his senses after being teleported, he waved a hand and took out a talisman. With his other hand, he brought out the Spirit Turtle Shield to protect himself.
Xiao Yu swept a wary glance around to see whether anyone else was nearby. After all, the greatest danger here came from the disciples of other sects who had entered the Forbidden Grounds with him.
After looking around and finding no one within several hundred feet except himself, he let out a soft breath. So far, his luck seemed fairly good.
The disciples entering the Forbidden Grounds already knew that the moment they stepped inside, some still-functioning teleportation formation would instantly send them to different corners of the grounds. Exactly where they ended up depended on their luck.
Those whose luck soared through the roof might be teleported straight into the innermost region, where heaps of spirit herbs would be ready for gathering the moment they appeared.
The unlucky ones might materialize right before several Demon Beasts and have to fight a bloody battle before they could escape safely.
If someone's luck was rotten to the core, they might be teleported directly into a deathtrap and breathe their last the instant they appeared. Of course, that rarely happened.
Most commonly, they ended up like Xiao Yu, teleported to some corner of the Forbidden Grounds and left to feel their own way forward.
Studying his surroundings carefully, Xiao Yu found himself standing on a patch of grass. Ahead lay a lush forest, its interior dark and extraordinarily still. Not even the faintest cry of a bird or beast could be heard.
Xiao Yu's expression immediately darkened. He did not dare enter such an eerie forest!
Turning to look behind him, he saw barren ground stretching beyond the limits of his sight!
After standing there and considering briefly, he pushed lightly off his toes and dashed in one direction!
He did not dare use a flying magical tool to travel through the air. That would only make him more vulnerable to attacks from Demon Beasts! Countless predecessors had proved that point with their lives.
Xiao Yu had run only a few miles when he abruptly stopped. Before him lay a swamp several hundred feet across, with faint black vapor drifting about a foot above its surface!
Xiao Yu frowned, then murmured as a thought occurred to him, "This should be the Black Mud Swamp. It lies on the southern outskirts of the Forbidden Grounds, and a spirit herb called seven-leaf grass grows here!"
He then narrowed his eyes slightly and surveyed the edges of the swamp.
A moment later, a gleam flashed through Xiao Yu's eyes. At the edge of the swamp, several hundred feet away, a small plant a few inches tall with seven leaves was swaying in the breeze!
Xiao Yu took a jade slip from his Storage Bag and pressed it to his forehead to examine it. The sect had issued this slip to the disciples entering the Forbidden Grounds. It contained a rough layout and routes through the grounds, along with the locations of certain spirit herbs and illustrated descriptions of some of them.
"It really is seven-leaf grass. This is a spirit herb that even Foundation Establishment cultivators can use! It looks quite old, too. I'll gather it first."
Excitement stirred in Xiao Yu's heart, and he was about to step forward to gather the herb. But after reconsidering, he tapped his Storage Bag and took out a turtle shell about an inch across—the top-grade defensive magical tool, the Spirit Turtle Shield.
He formed a seal with one hand, and the Spirit Turtle Shield instantly expanded to roughly three feet across, floating around him. Only then did Xiao Yu nod with some satisfaction and walk toward the seven-leaf grass.
When he was about ten feet from the seven-leaf grass, Xiao Yu suddenly frowned and positioned the Spirit Turtle Shield in front of him.
At the same instant, several ink-black earthen spikes shot out of the swamp and hurtled straight toward Xiao Yu!
A series of thuds rang out! The Spirit Turtle Shield easily blocked every black earthen spike.
Immediately afterward, with a splash, an enormous crocodile nearly ten feet long sprang from the swamp.
Black mud covered the giant crocodile, and countless bumps of every size studded its body. It swayed its millstone-sized head and bared its teeth at Xiao Yu, a sight that sent a chill down the spine.
A Venomous Crocodile! Xiao Yu was startled by the sight of it. He could not help feeling grateful for his earlier caution; otherwise, he would have suffered badly.
Xiao Yu had read about this Demon Beast in the records. It was not particularly powerful, but its poisonous vapor and venom were truly terrifying.
Since its ambush had failed, however, Xiao Yu was no longer afraid. The giant crocodile before him was at most a high-tier level-one Demon Beast, only somewhat stronger than an ordinary late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator. He reckoned that even if he could not defeat it, he could still escape.
With that thought, Xiao Yu tapped his Storage Bag and took out a knife-shaped magical tool. He formed a seal with one hand, and the flying knife shot fiercely toward the crocodile!
This flying knife was the magical tool from the wooden box he had selected outside the Council Hall before setting out. He had already refined it on the journey here.
Seeing Xiao Yu attack, the crocodile instantly flew into a rage! It swung its enormous tail and smashed it toward the flying knife.
With a bang, the tremendous force of the crocodile's tail knocked the flying knife several dozen feet away, while leaving only a white mark on its bony hide.
Xiao Yu was shocked. The crocodile's body was actually this tough!
While Xiao Yu was momentarily stunned, the crocodile let out a roar and spat a stream of pitch-black venom from its enormous mouth straight at him!
Xiao Yu hurriedly darted aside to evade it. He did not dare block the venom with the Spirit Turtle Shield. It was extraordinarily poisonous, and if even a little splashed onto the shield and damaged it, it would be too late for tears.
Xiao Yu decisively recalled the flying knife and released the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords, sending them slashing toward the Venomous Crocodile!
The crocodile seemed to know that the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords were more powerful than the flying knife. It rolled its body to evade their attack, then opened its mouth and spat another stream of venom at Xiao Yu.
Still, the Venomous Crocodile was no speed-oriented Demon Beast, and its body was enormous. The Mother-and-Child Swords soon carved several wounds into it.
The injuries drove the Venomous Crocodile into a frenzy, and it tried to close in on Xiao Yu. But he would never give it that chance. He immediately widened the distance and continued attacking with the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords.
Man and beast fought like this for roughly a quarter of an hour. By then, dense sword marks covered the crocodile's bony hide, and it had exhausted all the venom in its body.
At that moment, the Venomous Crocodile abruptly turned and ran toward the swamp.
"Trying to run? It won't be that easy!" Xiao Yu sneered and formed a spell seal with one hand. The Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords blazed with spiritual light, and all seven flying swords erupted with sword radiance a foot long as they slashed straight toward the crocodile!
Seeing the flying swords coming, the Venomous Crocodile hastily dodged to one side, but two streaks of spiritual light still pierced its eyes!
"Aooo..." The Venomous Crocodile howled in agony, collapsing to the ground and rolling endlessly. Any nearby boulder caught in its thrashing shattered on impact!
Xiao Yu pointed one hand at the Venomous Crocodile from a distance and barked, "Slash!" At once, the remaining five Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords wheeled around and cut down together!
With a crack, the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords severed the Venomous Crocodile's millstone-sized head!
Seeing that the Venomous Crocodile was dead, Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over to the seven-leaf grass.
He tapped his storage pouch and took out a jade box and a small spade. After carefully digging up the herb, he placed it in the jade box and put it away in his storage pouch. Only then did delight show on his face!
He turned to look at the Venomous Crocodile's corpse again. After a moment's thought, he took out another Storage Bag and stowed the corpse inside as well.
Xiao Yu then checked his surroundings to make sure he had missed nothing, looked up at the sky, and leaped away toward the north!
Before you continue