Within the Ancient Gate of Myriad Dharmas, there was no wind, nor the weightlessness one would expect during a fall. After Qin Yu was completely sucked into the black hole by the guiding light, the gate's shadow behind him only lingered in his perception for a very brief moment before disappearing along with the black mist, the cliff, the morning light, and countless defeated individuals outside.
His body was enveloped in a dark, directionless passage, rushing forward. Occasionally, dark gold ancient patterns flashed by. These ancient patterns shared the same origin as the marks on the stone walls of the Ancient Gate of Myriad Dharmas. Each one was so ancient that its age was hard to trace. When they intersected, they did not form any intelligible characters, but only left traces of the time when the Venerable of the Great Dao's Root and Fruit had personally sealed this place.
Qin Yu did not touch it rashly, but instead gathered his senses around himself and let the guiding force continue forward until a sliver of pale light finally appeared ahead.
The light expanded rapidly in his vision, and then the entire dark passage suddenly opened up. He felt his feet sink, and his body was separated from the flowing light, falling towards a world that could not be measured by ordinary standards.
Whoosh! His gray robes were suddenly whipped up by the oncoming wind, and Qin Yu quickly steadied himself in mid-air, his feet finally landing on a vast, boundless, dark brown ancient plain. The moment he raised his head, his gaze froze.
The vastness of this Being As It Is Secret Realm before them defied description by conventional standards of cave heavens, secret realms, or ruins. The ancient plain where Qin Yu stood stretched out in all directions, the horizon still far in the distance, with mountain ranges rising abruptly from the ground, each so immense it cleaved the field of vision. Vast seas of clouds hung between the mountain peaks, and even after piercing through the clouds, the towering peaks continued to rise ever higher.
The mountain peaks disappear into the depths of the sky, which are stained with different colors. Further away, several continental outlines stretch out, their beginnings and ends lost in the distance. One of these continents hangs high in the sky, with no support below. Thousands of silvery waterfalls cascade down its edges. These waterfalls do not fall to the earth after falling from the sky, but instead converge halfway to form an Inverted Ocean. Above this ocean, islands, mountains, and ancient ruins stretch out in a continuous line.
Looking further up, the sky wasn't just a single layer of heaven; beyond a layer of azure sky, one could see even higher, a crimson-gold cloud continent, and at the end of that crimson-gold cloud continent stretched a deep purple sea of stars.
In the sea of stars, enormous stars slowly rotate. Some stars are so large that they block out large swathes of the sky, while others are entwined by ancient vines that are unimaginably thick. These vines descend from the sea of stars to the heavens and earth below, their ends piercing into the boundless mountains and rivers.
Qin Yu's gaze continued to extend into the distance, and the more he looked, the deeper the solemnity between his brows grew. The scale contained within this secret realm was so vast that it was difficult to form a complete understanding of it.
At the easternmost edge lies a continent ablaze with dark red celestial fire. Above the sea of flames lie countless gigantic skeletons, the largest of which, with only its spine exposed on the ground, forms an endless white mountain range.
To the west lay an endless expanse of verdant ancient forest, its canopies layered upon each other, each ancient tree towering into the clouds, and from time to time, enormous shadows swept through the mist from the depths of the forest;
To the north lies a wide, golden river, so vast that its opposite bank is completely invisible. The river's waters are devoid of ordinary waves; instead, they flow with fragmented scenes of nature, where the birth of mountains and rivers, the Annihilation of stars, and the rise and fall of ancient cities all flash across its surface.
Further south, towering black mountains float, connected by tens of thousands of ancient chains, each as thick as a pillar, its surface covered with the heavy marks of time.
Even more chilling is that these scenes are still only a small part of what Qin Yu can see from where he is standing. Beyond his gaze lies another world, and beyond that, an even more vast territory. Behind the sea of clouds lies a continent, and beyond that continent stretches a starry river. Further beyond the starry river lie unknown regions, so indistinct that only their enormous outlines can be discerned.
Layer upon layer of territory interlocks, with mountains, ancient seas, suspended lands, star fields, abysses, wastelands, and unnamed terrestrial structures constantly unfolding into places beyond the reach of sight.
If all the vast continents, boundless divine realms, the nine heavens and ten earths, the myriad star seas, and the ancient primordial worlds of other worlds were moved here, they would all find a place to reside within this secret realm.
It wouldn't even make the entire secret realm feel crowded. This place itself is like a boundless world sealed off by the Venerable of the Great Dao's Root and Fruit, so the word "secret realm" seems too small when applied to it.
Qin Yu slowly turned around and carefully examined the surrounding terrain, quickly discovering something else—traces.
The ancient plain beneath their feet was uneven; every so often, a deep, ancient ravine could be seen on the dark brown ground. Some ravines ran straight through the mountains, while others formed huge arcs across the plain. There was also a mountain wall, far from Qin Yu, that split cleanly in the middle.
The cross-section is covered with dense, golden patterns, which have faded considerably over the long years, but have not completely disappeared. Several nearby mountain peaks appear as if their upper halves were casually cleaved away by some force, the fractures so smooth that no signs of breakage are visible.
In the deeper reaches of the heavens, an ancient ring-shaped mark, large enough to cover several seas of clouds, appears and disappears. The center of the mark Emptiness, but the edges retain the ancient charm left by the Venerable of the Great Dao's Root and Fruit. It is calm and profound, and does not actively release any pressure. Just by existing there, it keeps the surrounding celestial phenomena of tens of thousands of miles in an unchanging order since ancient times.
Standing in this world, Qin Yu truly felt for the first time just how vast the ages had passed behind what the Venerable of the Great Dao's Root and Fruit had left behind. He didn't reach out to touch those ancient marks, nor did he rashly use his divine sense to explore them; he simply memorized everything around him.
He then looked up at the spot where he had just appeared. There was no longer the Ancient Gate of Myriad Dharmas, nor the black hole, only a faint, slowly dissipating dark golden light.
Meanwhile, the same thing was happening in countless areas throughout the vast secret realm—
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Above a floating archipelago, hundreds of streaks of light fell simultaneously; deep within a crimson wasteland, thousands upon thousands of figures were thrown out of distorted space; guiding lights continuously shone between ancient forests, snow-capped mountains, black mountains, river valleys, dilapidated temples, boundless swamps, and canyons formed by giant skeletons.
The cultivators who entered the Ancient Gate of Myriad Dharmas were not sent to the same location. At the last moment, the black hole completely scattered everyone. The sect disciples who had originally entered together were separated, and the small groups that had formed alliances were sent to distant territories.
The disciples of the Lineage also lost their original formation. The cultivators from the Hua Lineage, Ju Lineage, Chi Lineage, and Shangguan Lineage were thrown in different directions, and even the Five Great Heavenly Prodigies did not appear near Qin Yu.
Qin Yu's gaze swept across the surroundings. Although cultivators continued to land within sight, there wasn't a single familiar face. Chi Xiyue was gone, as Ju Lingyuan, Hua Yanyang, Shangguan Shumu, and Shangguan Hongyin. The once massive groups from the Lineage had completely dispersed.
He still retains the appearance of an ordinary young man after the changes he made before entering the ancient gate. His dark gray robes flutter slightly in the highland wind, and in the eyes of the unfamiliar cultivators around him, he is no different from the other people who were teleported here alone.
The cultivators who had just landed were too preoccupied to notice anyone else. "Is this... really a secret realm?" One cultivator looked up at the suspended continent that stretched across the sky, his lips slightly parted, remaining silent for a long time.
Another person stood on the edge of the cliff, gazing at the ancient land stretching to the horizon below. The joy that had initially graced their face after successfully passing the three trials had vanished, replaced only by awe. "I've entered three ancient ruins before, and even combined, they probably don't compare to a glimpse of what I see before me..."
Further away, a group of sect cultivators who had just landed quickly gathered. The elder at the front looked up at the enormous ancient mark encircling the starry sea in the sky, his eyes twitching. His voice was extremely low, "Don't touch anything. The marks left here are too ancient. No one knows which one is still alive."
Similar exclamations and wariness echoed throughout the secret realm. Faced with this world that far exceeded their expectations, thousands of cultivators who had successfully entered the place did not immediately scramble for opportunities. Everyone was observing, judging, and trying to figure out where they had been sent.
Just as the last batch of guiding beams fell from the sky—Boom! A distant, muffled sound suddenly echoed from the ends of the earth. Qin Yu's brows twitched sharply. The cultivators talking around him also stopped talking at the same time. Boom! The second sound was even clearer. This time, the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly. Rocks on the distant mountain ranges began to tumble down, and the sea of clouds hanging high in the sky rippled with a wide arc. Several cultivators subconsciously turned their heads, exchanging glances, their eyes filled with doubt.
"What's that sound?" "It sounds like something is running..." "No, what could be running that could make such a big place shake?" Rumble rumble rumble rumble ----!!! The third time it wasn't just one sound. It became a continuous rumble.