Zhuang Mu felt utterly helpless.
But something puzzled him.
"How do you know so much about it?"
Third Martial Uncle lay back down in his reclining chair and sighed.
"Whose Secret Realm haven't I visited? Besides, your Master used to take me grave robbing every day. I even know what their ancestors looked like. Why do you think I know their Secret Realms so well?"
"So stop making trouble for little Ying. Stay out of it if you can."
"Besides, it's not as though you have nothing to do. No matter how quickly little Ying cultivates, he'll only be at Tribulation Transcendence when he enters the Secret Realm. If I were his enemy, I'd find a way to raise the Heart-Questioning Valley's Secret Realm far beyond Tribulation Transcendence."
"What you should be doing now is finding a way to keep cultivators above Tribulation Transcendence from touching the Secret Realm."
Zhuang Mu nodded.
That made sense.
"Hmm? Wait. Since you've been to the Heart-Questioning Valley's Secret Realm, do you know what's actually in it?"
Third Martial Uncle shook his head.
"What I knew back then was different from what I know now. These Secret Realms are like mystery boxes now. Who knows what's inside?"
"But you can gauge the difficulty from how many people little Ying takes into the instance. If he brings a lot of people, you can infer how difficult it is."
"And it's best not to let the Secret Realm exceed little Ying's cultivation realm. If it does, you won't be able to beat it. With little Ying there, you'll have at least a seventy percent chance of clearing it."
Zhuang Mu nodded. "I'll make the arrangements."
Third Martial Uncle went back to enjoying his retirement.
At some point, he fell asleep.
In his dream, Third Martial