Over the next two days, Shi Haoyan rampaged through the Secret Realm, just as the simulation text had described.
Only when he encountered mechanisms that could not be broken through brute force did he need Xu Changxing.
When Xu Changxing had read those words in the simulation, he had always thought this turn of events perfectly natural.
But seeing Shi Haoyan rampage through everything in person was an entirely different shock from reading the simulation text.
Xu Changxing watched countless powerful Demon Plants being ground to dust before his eyes. The shock was beyond words.
By the time he reached the depths of the Cave Abode, he had grown somewhat numb to it.
Even when Shi Haoyan tossed him the translucent Emerald Crystal, the sight of Shi Haoyan crushing a thousand-foot Demon Plant kept replaying in his mind.
Shi Haoyan glanced at the dazed Xu Changxing and said with a smile,
"I've already found what I came for.
Would you two like to return to the sect with me?"
Before Xu Changxing could speak, Liu Chenyu said from beside him, "This Secret Realm is quite unusual. We'd like to explore it a little longer."
Shi Haoyan nodded. "Very well. There are indeed some heavenly materials and earthly treasures here that you could use.
And the murderous intent here is quite dense.
Your disciple is a sword cultivator, so he could try gaining some insights from it.
However, this murderous intent is still somewhat different from true sword intent. Don't become too immersed in it."
After offering that advice, Shi Haoyan turned and left the Secret Realm.
His parting words confirmed Xu Changxing's suspicions.
This Spirit Transformation Ancestor indeed felt that incorporating some murderous intent was no bad thing for a sword cultivator.
Yet Xu Changxing still felt that forming a slaughter nascent soul was not the proper path.
If he had no other way forward, he might have held his nose and accepted it.
The problem was that he could improve his combat strength through repeated simulations. There was no need to condense a slaughter nascent soul.
Compared with forming a core through murderous intent, Xu Changxing would much rather form a sword core.
While Xu Changxing frowned in thought, Liu Chenyu had already surveyed their surroundings.
His eyes shone as he said, "This Secret Realm is a rare opportunity for us, master and disciple.
The vitality here is extraordinarily dense. All sorts of spirit fruits rarely seen outside are quite common here.
We can spend some time searching before we leave."
Xu Changxing nodded. "As you say, Master!"
After a brief discussion, the two decided to search separately.
Shi Haoyan had already killed all the powerful Mutated Demon Plants here, and almost all the illusion formations and Trapping Formations had been broken through brute force.
The remaining ordinary Demon Plants and scattered Trapping Formations no longer posed much danger to Core Formation cultivators.
Although Xu Changxing had yet to reach Core Formation, his sword light was sharp enough to rival some weaker Core Formation cultivators. He would be fine even on his own.
Over the next few days, Xu Changxing and Liu Chenyu combed through the Secret Realm several times, gathering a great many heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Xu Changxing alone harvested hundreds of spirit fruits of varying quality.
Besides spirit fruits, he also collected several lengths of rootless wood and some special root-type heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Among them were even three Spirit-Nourishing Fruits worth thousands of low-grade spirit stones.
If these spirit fruits could be refined into pills and sold, they would fetch at least a hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.
The only problem was that many of the spirit fruits he had picked had been tainted by the killing intent here, which might affect their price.
Even so, selling them for seventy or eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones should be no problem.
Once he had those spirit stones in hand, Xu Changxing could form his golden core without any worries.
However, what occupied Xu Changxing's thoughts now was not spirit stones, but whether he should continue exploring.
During his searches over the past few days, he had vaguely sensed a few things in the Secret Realm that seemed out of place.
If he kept searching, he was quite confident he could find the Secret Realm's true core.
Then he could follow the route laid out in the simulation, offer this Secret Realm to the sect, and cultivate at Shi Haoyan's side.
To be honest, that route was rather tempting.
But after agonizing over it for a while, Xu Changxing ultimately gave up on it.
Staying beside a Spirit Transformation Ancestor like Shi Haoyan would be rather troublesome.
If his cultivation advanced too quickly, it would be difficult to explain to Shi Haoyan.
Staying beside Liu Chenyu was much more convenient.
Liu Chenyu knew perfectly well that his own cultivation level was not enough to teach a genius like Xu Changxing, so he simply let him grow on his own.
He had not even pressed Xu Changxing about how he had condensed the nine cloud patterns.
Compared with Shi Haoyan, staying beside Liu Chenyu clearly offered much more freedom.
As for the opportunities he would gain by staying beside a Spirit Transformation Ancestor, Xu Changxing could make up for them entirely through repeated simulations.
Before coming to this Secret Realm, he had been somewhat worried that his spirit stones would not be enough to support his simulations after reaching Core Formation.
But with this harvest, he no longer needed to worry about that.
The only thing he now needed to consider was what kind of golden core to condense.
After repeatedly turning the matter over during these past few days, Xu Changxing finally decided to leave the secret of this Secret Realm's core alone.
He could always return when he was truly short of spirit stones.
Once Xu Changxing made his decision, he returned to the spot he and Liu Chenyu had agreed upon.
Liu Chenyu was already waiting for him there.
Stroking his beard, Liu Chenyu asked with a cheerful smile, "Well? Quite a haul this time, wasn't it?"
Xu Changxing nodded. "Thanks to your guidance, Master, I found quite a few heavenly materials and earthly treasures here."
But Liu Chenyu shook his head. "This time, it wasn't my guidance that helped you.
Without you, Grand-uncle Master could never have broken through this Secret Realm's Restriction.
I only got to explore this Secret Realm by basking in your reflected glory.
My harvest was quite substantial this time, too."
Xu Changxing thought for a moment, then said, "Oh, Master, some of the spirit fruits I picked over the past few days have been tainted by the murderous intent here.
I don't currently have the means to deal with it. Could you help me refine them into pills?"
Liu Chenyu smiled. "What's difficult about that? Take out all the treasured materials you need processed, and I'll handle them together."
Delighted, Xu Changxing hurriedly presented Liu Chenyu with the Storage Bag holding his harvest.
Liu Chenyu opened the Storage Bag and glanced inside, then froze.
He released his spiritual sense and carefully examined its contents once more, his expression growing increasingly strange.
Though his own harvest had been considerable, he had gathered fewer than half as many spirit fruits as Xu Changxing.
Somewhat incredulous, Liu Chenyu asked, "All those heavenly materials and earthly treasures in there are what you gathered over these past few days?"
Only then did Xu Changxing realize that his harvest seemed a little excessive.
He scratched his head. "Perhaps the cultivation method I practice makes me more sensitive to wood-attribute heavenly materials and earthly treasures, so I gathered a little more."
The corner of Liu Chenyu's mouth twitched. "This trip to the Secret Realm really was worthwhile for you.
Leave these treasured materials with me for now.
I'll return them to you once I've refined them into pills."
An idea struck Xu Changxing. "Your disciple isn't short of pills. Could you exchange them for spirit stones instead, Master?
It doesn't matter if the price is a little lower."
Liu Chenyu nodded thoughtfully. "Of course.
Once I'm done, I'll exchange them for spirit stones and give those to you."
Before you continue