The Secret Realm
West of Wood Crane, two streaks of rainbow light did not reach the wilderness until three shichen after the entrance to the secret realm opened.
Su Fuxi had been inside once before. Armed with firsthand information and a map, she had deliberately timed their arrival to avoid the gathering of cultivators. Sure enough, the area was quiet and deserted.
"Lin Sui, follow me." With that, she moved, transforming into a streak of rainbow light and plunging straight into the entrance to the secret realm, a mysterious, unfathomable opening in midair that resembled a rift in space and time.
After passing through the rift, people who entered at the same time would not be flung far apart. Lin Sui was only seven or eight zhang from her.
The entrance to this secret realm would remain open until its time was up, then close on its own. It would stay open for as little as six years or as long as six and a half; they only needed to reach the exit ahead of time.
Those skilled in formations would even set up simple teleportation formations in concealed spots near the exit.
"No one knows exactly how vast this place is. Take this map and don't go to any unknown locations, or to the center. If this trip goes smoothly for me, I'll come find you in about three years."
She looked at Lin Sui. She had told him everything he needed to know.
Su Fuxi wore a neat purple robe with a crossed collar and fitted sleeves, and loose, lantern-shaped trousers of fine gauze and light silk in the same color.
A dark red belt hung with jeweled ornaments and bells was wrapped around the pale yellow sash at her waist.
She also had a medicine bottle disguised as a thumb-sized jade gourd-inside were a few emergency pills, in case her storage bag was restricted and could not be opened.
After a pause, she added, "Lin Sui, you'll be on your own, so take care." Before the words had even faded, she stepped forward, turned into light, and departed for the central ruins.
Lin Sui watched her soar away, but in the end swallowed the words "Take care too, Master."
He spread out his spiritual sense and headed for the densely wooded valley marked on the map. While the Golden Core experts were all rushing to the ruins, he could search in peace for treasures to temper his sword.
At that moment, in a cave abode in an abyss somewhere in the secret realm, a pockmarked man covered in dust opened his eyes.
"Heh heh, it's opened again. These old bones have been sitting here for fifty years. Time to go out and have a look around, see if there's anything good this time."
As the pockmarked cultivator moved, his bones cracked and popped. He stood, and in moments the dust fell from him, restoring the luster of his red robe. His sunken eyes shone with a piercing light.
The muscles in his face rippled. In the blink of an eye, the lumps and pockmarks rapidly shifted and gathered into a single lump of flesh beside the pulse in his neck. It throbbed like a heart, and his face became visibly smoother.
The red-robed cultivator stepped onto a small sword, which turned into a streak of light and carried him away.
Elsewhere, in an unknown region, a crystal chip embedded fast in the rock of a cavern beneath a dark, damp ravine pool seemed to sense something. It suddenly trembled, giving off a five-colored halo that lit up the entire cavern for an instant.
In that brief moment, the light revealed glittering crystals all over the cavern. Any discerning cultivator who saw them would be stunned and thrilled-this was an entire cavern of supreme-grade spirit stone ore!
A faint rustling suddenly sounded in the cavern. An enormous dark shadow slowly shifted, and in the darkness, only a pair of fist-sized, dim purple lights could be glimpsed flickering. Its aura was terrifying, and it stared greedily at the crystal chip.
At the same time, far away at the other end of the secret realm, Lin Sui felt the No Falsehood Sword in his storage bag suddenly tremble.
"What is it?"
He pressed the unremarkable gray bag at his waist. A faint thought reached his mind, and the No Falsehood Sword in the space was somewhat restless. "You want to come out? No, it isn't safe to come out now."
Lin Sui was still on his way, and it was not yet time to use the sword. But suddenly, the No Falsehood Sword broke free of his suppression and shot out on its own with a whoosh, turning into light and streaking like a meteor toward an unknown destination!
"Wait! No Falsehood!" Lin Sui hurried after his sword. He chased it for three days until he could go no farther. He collapsed on the ground, panting as he ate spirit-replenishing pills.
"I can't go on. If you want to go, go by yourself. I'll just pretend I never had a sword like you! What on earth has you so excited?"
With a swish, the No Falsehood Sword turned around and flew to his side in an instant, circling him ingratiatingly.
The sword spirit had not yet fully awakened, but it had just sensed a familiar aura that did not belong to the present era. It awoke for an instant and passed a powerful thought to the sword.
Go!
Seek!
Claim!
It wanted to devour the other party and completely unseal itself.
"Junior Sister! You're finally here."
Meanwhile, Su Fuxi had been traveling for half a month when she encountered Zha Wuren waiting for her along the way.
Three other Golden Core elders were with him, all from the same sect.
Su Fuxi cursed her bad luck inwardly. Of the other three, the older one addressed her as "Elder Su," while the two younger ones called her "Senior Sister Su."
"Greetings, Elder Sun." She nodded to the older man, then dipped her chin to the other two Golden Core cultivators, a man and a woman, by way of greeting.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting so long. Let's hurry on, then. I expect the others have arrived as well." As she spoke, she willed herself over to Elder Sun's side, putting some distance between herself and Zha Wuren.
"Indeed." Elder Sun flew out ahead of them. His cultivation was at the mid-stage; though he looked old, he was not yet a hundred.
Su Fuxi was the oldest of the group. Her appearance had only been preserved because she had once inadvertently eaten a Vermilion Radiance Fruit that was several hundred years old. Her face had not aged, but her state of mind had already taken on the hues of dusk.
She only called the eldest senior brother "Senior Brother" because he had the advantage of being a core inner disciple.
Su Fuxi traveled close behind Elder Sun.
The group turned into streaks of rainbow light and flew over the secret realm.
The central ruins were a place high-level cultivators longed to visit. Legend had it that the place was connected to immortals. Though restrictions lay upon restrictions and danger lurked everywhere, countless cultivators still came with hopes of finding an immortal technique, an immortal pill, or something of the sort, which would make it all worthwhile.
This secret realm had rules of its own. Rumor had it that when it first appeared, supreme mighty figures had come to investigate, all of them Nascent Soul experts or above. No one knew what happened, but that time, the secret realm had nearly collapsed.
To preserve the secret realm for longer and provide a realm of resources for the continent's younger cultivators, the mighty figures of that time placed a restriction at the entrance, allowing only cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm to enter.
By a rough count, tens of thousands of years had passed, and the place was still brimming with life.
As for the experts cultivating in seclusion within, they too would lie low while the secret realm was open. If they slaughtered disciples of immortal sects indiscriminately and happened to offend some patriarch's treasured favorite, they would be called to account.
But after the secret realm closed, if any juniors "accidentally" left behind perished, it could only be an accident.
Among the younger generation, Lin Sui's cultivation was not low. As long as he did not encounter a formidable Golden Core expert, Su Fuxi was not worried that he would be in danger. After all, he also had the sect master's sword intent, and that was his trump card.
Another two months passed before the Azure Cloud Sect group reached the valley outside the ruins.
Five streaks of rainbow light landed one after another, revealing the members of the Azure Cloud Sect, all dressed in purple.
"It seems they've all gone in already. They broke the new restrictions that evolved over the past hundred years."
As Zha Wuren spoke, Su Fuxi also noticed traces of shattered restrictions all over the valley. On closer inspection, she found that there had probably been several different groups of people, as the traces left by the destroyed restrictions differed somewhat.
The restrictions on these ruins were vast and complex. Even the restrictions at the valley entrance would repair themselves and evolve into new ones each time the secret realm closed, so they had to be broken anew on every visit.
Su Fuxi could not help feeling admiration for the central restrictions of the ruins. Just how formidable did one's cultivation have to be to lay down such powerful restrictions?
She had taught herself everything she knew about restrictions. Though her eyes could not see, her spiritual sense was sensitive and tenacious, and she seemed especially adept at deduction.
Seeing this, Su Fuxi could not help feeling shaken.
The group flew inward, keeping watch on their surroundings. Su Fuxi recalled that the greatest gains from her last visit, aside from a hand-seal cultivation technique, had come when she was trapped in a forest of restrictions. She had spent several years inside and learned dozens of restriction techniques.
Looking at them now, these restrictions were extremely ancient and rarely seen on the continent these days. Su Fuxi's goals this time were to find the second half of the "Lesser Great Luo Seal" and study restrictions.
The valley was long and narrow. On either side stood buildings made of unknown materials and the remains of statues of unrecognizable giant beasts, with distinct fluctuations of restrictions upon them. Su Fuxi flew past one stretch of ruins after another, withdrew her spiritual sense, and thought:
It looks as though the restrictions were triggered the instant the buildings collapsed, keeping them in their ruined state all these years.
Ahead, the lights of Elder Sun and the others grew distant, and she immediately sped up to catch them.