Ye Chen acted decisively, extending a finger and shattering all four mirror images.
Then Ye Yan entered the next stage, and Ye Chen acted again.
Just like that, every stage was cleared.
The artifact spirit watched from the side, its mouth twitching nonstop.
That worked too?
What happened to taking the trials alone?
Still, it dared not say anything. After all, a Quasi-Emperor stood right before it, someone who could wipe it out with a slap and replace it with another artifact spirit.
It obediently handed Wuyazi's inheritance over to Ye Yan.
"Are you going to stay here?"
Ye Chen looked at the artifact spirit and asked calmly.
The artifact spirit fell silent for a moment, then looked at Ye Chen with a fawning smile. "My master once said that whoever cleared all the stages would also own this sacred artifact temple!"
"Don't look at me. I don't need you!"
Ye Chen spoke calmly.
The artifact spirit: "..."
"Follow him. He's a descendant of my Ye Lineage!"
Ye Chen glanced at Ye Yan, then looked back at the artifact spirit.
Hearing this, the artifact spirit's eyes darted about. Wouldn't following Ye Yan mean forming a connection with Ye Chen?
That was a connection to a Quasi-Emperor!
It agreed without a second thought. "Yes, yes! I can see that this lad and I are also fated to meet. I'll follow him from now on!"
With that, it immediately vanished. Then the entire palace turned into a speck of light and darted straight into Ye Yan's storage pouch without waiting for a word.
Ye Yan was still bewildered, standing there in a daze.
Ye Chen smiled at him. "Keep it safe. That palace is also a sacred artifact, capable of both offense and defense. It'll be of great use to you!"
Only then did Ye Yan come to his senses, hurriedly kowtowing in thanks. "Thank you, Ancestor!"
Today's gains were simply enormous.
He did not know exactly how valuable a sacred artifact was.
But anything associated with the word "sacred" was bound to be exceptionally precious.
And in a single day, with his ancestor's help, he had obtained four sacred-grade resources. In the past, he would never even have dared to imagine such a thing.
"Get up! Go gather the resources outside. Leaving them here would be a waste!"
Ye Chen nodded as he spoke.
"Yes!"
Then Ye Yan began scouring the secret realm.
Anything usable could not escape his grasp.
After a lifetime of poverty, he would haul anything worth a little money into his own home.
That was precisely his mindset now.
Before long, the secret realm had practically been plundered clean.
Even all the demonic beasts' territories had been stripped bare.
Not only that, every demonic beast had a bruised face. They dared to be angry at Ye Yan but dared not speak, and even had to smile cautiously at him.
Now, only a few areas around the core region remained unexplored.
Ye Chen and Ye Yan arrived there and discovered an enormous tree.
Its branches were laden with bright red fruit.
Spiritual Qi spilled from every fruit, and a single sniff left one feeling relaxed and refreshed.
Ye Yan was just about to pick them when the tree seemed to come alive, sending vines lashing toward him.
Yet just as they were about to strike Ye Yan, the vines suddenly stopped moving.
It was not that the tree did not want to move, but that it could not.
Ye Chen had suppressed the tree with his pressure alone.
Soon, Ye Yan had stripped the entire tree of its fruit, leaving only some green ones that were clearly unripe.
"Let's go!"
Ye Chen said with a smile.
Ye Yan glanced back at the green fruit, a lingering reluctance still flickering in his eyes.
Soon, the two vanished from the secret realm.
The entire secret realm grew quiet once more.
At the secret realm's entrance, members of the various factions were meditating and resting, preparing to face the coming expedition in their best condition.
Some of the talented disciples, in particular, had faces brimming with confidence.
They were certain they would be the ultimate victors of this expedition.
"The secret realm's restrictions have weakened!"
Suddenly, Qingxuan opened his eyes, a trace of solemnity appearing in his otherwise still-well gaze.
"They have indeed weakened. Everyone, attack the restrictions with all your strength!"
The black-robed elder also abruptly opened his eyes and shouted.
In an instant, countless blasts of terrifying power bombarded the secret realm's restrictions.
A massive black hole immediately formed at the entrance.
"Disciples of Azure Province Academy, heed my command! Follow me into the Wuya Secret Realm!"
"Disciples of the Shangguan Lineage, heed my command! Follow me into the Wuya Secret Realm!"
"Disciples of the Rain Sect, heed my command! Follow me into the Wuya Secret Realm!"
"..."
For a time, everyone rushed into the black hole.
Before long, only the leaders of the various factions remained at the entrance.
"Qingxuan, do you think anyone will obtain Wuyazi's inheritance this time?"
The black-robed elder asked with a chuckle.
"You should know how difficult Wuyazi's inheritance trials are!"
Qingxuan said calmly.
"Of course. But this time, I have a feeling that Wuyazi's inheritance will emerge!"
The black-robed elder looked at Qingxuan with an inscrutable smile in his eyes.
"Oh? Has some peerless genius appeared in your Shangguan Lineage?"
Qingxuan looked at the black-robed elder and asked.
The black-robed elder looked toward the secret realm's entrance without answering, the smile in his eyes only deepening.
An uneasy premonition immediately arose in Qingxuan's heart.
Wuyazi's trials were extremely difficult. Ordinary geniuses could not possibly pass them; only peerless geniuses with the potential to become Saints had any confidence of succeeding.
In recent years, neither the Shangguan Lineage nor even the whole of Azure Province had produced anyone with such aptitude apart from the academy's Luo Chen.
He had originally planned to have Luo Chen participate in this trial, but for some unknown reason, Luo Chen had never returned after leaving to temper himself.
Yet now, this old fox from the Shangguan Lineage was suddenly brimming with confidence. Something fishy was undoubtedly going on.
At that thought, his heart sank.
Meanwhile, a barely perceptible sinister smile appeared on the black-robed elder's face.
Because every Azure Province Academy disciple who entered the secret realm would die.
Most importantly, after today, Azure Province Academy would become history.
Yet just then, a disciple from one of the factions suddenly shot out of the entrance.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Normally, they're only teleported back after failing a trial stage."
"Are the disciples this time all so strong? They've already reached the inheritance hall!"
The black-robed elder was also somewhat stunned.
"That shouldn't be! Even with their help, they shouldn't have reached the inheritance hall so quickly!"
Qingxuan's heart tightened. Could something really have gone wrong?
Before anyone could work it out, disciples were teleported out one after another.
Every one of them had a bruised face and wounds all over their bodies, and they kept wailing.
Realizing something was wrong, the black-robed elder immediately grabbed a nearby disciple and asked in an icy voice, "Speak. What happened inside?"
The disciple looked terrified and was just about to answer.
Then quite a few Shangguan Lineage disciples shot out of the secret realm's entrance, while many Azure Province Academy disciples were also teleported out.
However, the Shangguan Lineage disciples were clearly worse off, covered in wounds, their skin split and flesh torn.
Several had even passed out.
Seeing this, the black-robed elder flew into a rage.
A cold, sinister presence spread from his body. The terrifying chill nearly froze the surrounding air in place, and the temperature plummeted.
He struck directly, sending a palm toward the Azure Province Academy disciples.
Qingxuan had been guarding against the black-robed elder all along. The moment the elder attacked, he immediately threw a punch at him.
The two were evenly matched, each retreating several steps.
"You old bastard! What are you doing?"
Qingxuan demanded furiously.
"Heh! What am I doing? Killing you all, of course!"
The black-robed elder said coldly.
"Do you want war?"
Qingxuan narrowed his eyes slightly, releasing the pressure of the Shattering Realm.
"Hmph! Your Azure Province Academy disciples have some nerve, actually attacking our Shangguan Lineage disciples..."
Before he could finish, a Shangguan Lineage disciple approached his ear and explained what had happened.
As it turned out, the moment they entered the Wuya Secret Realm, they discovered that not so much as a hair remained in the entire realm.
It was as though someone had plundered it, leaving it impossibly clean.
Even more damned infuriating, the demonic beasts inside the secret realm had gone mad for some unknown reason and bombarded them with attacks.
The Shangguan Lineage disciples had discovered an ancient tree with a few lonely green fruits still hanging from it.
Though unripe, they were spiritual fruits, at least. Picking them would keep the disciples from returning empty-handed.
But who could have known that the tree would act as though it were having a seizure, its vines flailing wildly and whipping them until they were covered in wounds?
Hearing this, the black-robed elder pondered for a moment before asking, "The inheritance is gone too?"
"Yes! Everything is gone!"
"Send people to investigate. See if there's anyone suspicious!"
Both he and that faction were determined to obtain Wuyazi's inheritance.
By now, the disciples of the other factions had also recounted everything that had happened inside the secret realm.
Everyone looked rather grim.
After all, they had spent so long working on this, only for someone else to get there first while they did not even get a sip of the soup. Anyone would feel bitter.
"Shangguan Hai, the matter has been explained. It wasn't the work of my academy's disciples!"
Qingxuan withdrew his pressure and spoke calmly.
"Yes, it indeed wasn't the work of your academy's disciples,"
Shangguan Hai said after a moment of silence.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, if the two dominant powers went to war, Azure Province would once again descend into endless chaos.
But just then, a sinister voice rang out again.
"But you still have to die!"