Since the Spirit Transformation Ancestor had spoken, Liu Chenyu could only swallow his bellyful of questions and obediently stand aside.
Xu Changxing secretly breathed a sigh of relief and went to stand beside Liu Chenyu.
The next instant, a streak of flight light enveloped them both and carried them straight into the sky.
Although Xu Changxing could already use Sword Flight, the Spirit Transformation Ancestor's speed still left him awestruck.
In less than an hour, they had flown over a thousand li.
And that was with Shi Haoyan deliberately slowing down to accommodate what the two of them could withstand.
When the three landed again, they were already in a dense forest.
Apart from its thick vegetation, this place seemed no different from any other mountain forest.
Yet with a mere wave of Shi Haoyan's sleeve, the surrounding scenery changed.
All the spiritual energy that had been hidden underground stirred, faintly tracing the outlines of an enormous formation diagram.
Xu Changxing swept his gaze across it, and his brows furrowed slightly.
Judging by the flow of spiritual energy, this should be an enormous maze formation.
Without the corresponding formation diagram, even a Core Formation cultivator would likely be trapped here with ease.
Beside him, Liu Chenyu was also rather shaken.
He could not help asking, "Could this be the secret realm you mentioned earlier, Grand-uncle Master?"
Shi Haoyan shook his head and said:
"This is merely the entrance to the secret realm, meant to keep out cultivators who aren't qualified to enter.
The true secret realm lies farther ahead."
He lightly waved his hand, swiftly disrupting the spiritual energy within the formation and robbing it of its ability to trap people.
"Let's go!"
With that calm remark, Shi Haoyan led the two deeper inside.
A short while later, the three reached the entrance to the secret realm.
Looking at the intricate patterns before him, Liu Chenyu paused in surprise. "Why does this formation diagram look a little like the entrance to a cave abode?"
Shi Haoyan nodded. "This was originally that friend of mine's cave abode.
Only after his death did it become a secret realm."
As he spoke, he spread his hands in the air and opened the entrance to the secret realm.
Xu Changxing felt his vision go black and lost all awareness of his surroundings.
When his sight returned, he found himself in a primeval forest.
Ancient trees dozens of meters tall stood everywhere.
But rather than growing straight, these ancient trees were twisted and crooked.
They looked as though someone had broken them apart again and again, then pieced them back together each time. It was deeply unsettling.
There's something sinister about this secret realm.
Xu Changxing frowned slightly and extended his senses.
A moment later, he indeed discovered the source of the anomaly.
This secret realm was filled with a strange killing intent, as though it sought to slaughter every living thing within it.
Ordinarily, neither plants nor animals should survive long when exposed to such intense killing intent.
Yet the vitality here was also extraordinarily rich, forcibly counteracting the killing intent's effects on living things.
Clearly, it was this warped vitality that had caused the ancient trees to take on such forms.
The sight gave Xu Changxing pause.
He suddenly thought of his previous two simulations.
In both simulations, the Golden Core he condensed had been filled with killing intent. After his core shattered, what formed was not an ordinary Nascent Soul, but a Slaughter Nascent Soul.
At the time, he had thought he formed a Slaughter Nascent Soul because he had killed too many demonic cultivators.
Only after seeing this secret realm with his own eyes did he suddenly realize that his guess had probably been wrong.
The Slaughter Nascent Soul he formed in the simulations most likely had something to do with this cave abode.
With his Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation, it would be difficult to avoid being affected by the killing intent if he became this cave abode's master.
The killing intent in this secret realm is so obvious. There's no reason Shi Haoyan wouldn't notice it.
In the previous simulations, why didn't he help purge the killing intent from my body? Why did he send me to train in the Slaughter Secret Realm instead?
Could he have thought this killing intent would benefit me?
Xu Changxing had a vague sense that he might have guessed the reason.
Judging by the text in the simulations, his combat power had been ferocious after he formed his Slaughter Nascent Soul. He could even severely wound a Spirit Transformation Ancestor by burning himself up.
An ordinary Nascent Soul sword cultivator probably could not accomplish that.
Yet as Xu Changxing looked at the twisted forest before him, an inexplicable trace of aversion arose in his heart.
He vaguely felt that this was not the proper path.
Thank goodness I didn't choose that Golden Core condensed from killing intent earlier...
While Xu Changxing was thinking, Shi Haoyan had already waved his hand and unleashed a streak of golden light.
Wherever the golden light passed, the ancient trees towering dozens of meters high were ground into powder without the slightest resistance.
A moment later, the golden light dispersed, revealing a passage several zhang wide before the three of them.
Farther away, Xu Changxing could vaguely make out vines stealthily retreating from the area.
The vines actually know how to flee?
This secret realm really is bizarre.
No wonder I died here outright in that earlier simulation...
Xu Changxing studied the scenery within the secret realm as he slowly followed Shi Haoyan.
When they reached the end of the passage, Shi Haoyan unleashed another streak of golden light.
And once again, a path appeared ahead.
The three simply walked on like this for the time it took an incense stick to burn, then arrived at a plaza.
The ground here was actually formed from interlocking plant roots that had already turned to jade.
The moment Xu Changxing stepped onto the plaza, he sensed rich wood-aspected spiritual energy.
Before he could examine it closely, Shi Haoyan said, "Try pouring your true essence into it."
"Yes!"
Xu Changxing answered, then did as instructed, pouring his spring renewal true essence into the platform ahead.
As soon as he sent his true essence into it, faint lines suddenly appeared across the otherwise unremarkable roots.
As his true essence continued to flow in, more and more lines appeared, gradually outlining a formation diagram.
Xu Changxing sustained it for a full two hours before the formation diagram finally appeared in its entirety.
Just then, violent tremors suddenly came from below.
"Found it!"
Shi Haoyan's eyes shone as he spoke.
Immediately afterward, the Spirit Transformation Ancestor made a slashing motion through the air ahead, cleaving the platform in two.
Beneath the platform lay not soil, but a ravine a hundred zhang deep.
The spiritual energy at the bottom of the ravine was extraordinarily dense. There was yet another maze formation there.
Looking at Xiong Fang's maze formation, Shi Haoyan murmured, "No wonder I couldn't find the way forward before.
So the Spring Renewal Art is needed to activate the spatial spirit plants.
That is quite an ingenious design.
Dead and gone, yet you still left behind a secret realm like this.
Let's see just what you hid inside."
After speaking, Shi Haoyan casually tossed a piece of spirit wood to Xu Changxing and said:
"This piece of spirit wood was the core just now. It's no use to me, so you can have it."
The moment Xu Changxing took the piece of rootless wood in hand, he felt the rich wood spiritual energy within it.
It was actually a piece of mid-grade rootless wood. If sold, it would fetch at least several thousand low-grade spirit stones.
If I get a few more natural treasures like this, won't I have all the spirit stones I need for simulations after forming my Golden Core?
Xu Changxing thanked Shi Haoyan, then followed behind the Spirit Transformation Ancestor with renewed enthusiasm.
Before you continue