Barbarian Di Secret Realm: Orc Tribes
Since his clone Tang Yi had returned, the task of refining two thousand Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Arrays naturally fell entirely to him, while Tang Yuan focused on cultivation.
Cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm had a lifespan of one hundred and eighty years. To create Tang Jia, Tang Yi, and Tang Bing, Tang Yuan had already spent thirty years of his lifespan.
Learning lightning-attribute Cultivation Methods such as Introduction to Lightning Arrays and the Heart Lightning Meridian-Forging Art, as well as cultivating ghost cultivator Cultivation Methods, all cost him lifespan.
Now thirty-four, Tang Yuan reckoned that, at most, he had less than a hundred years left...
He had intended to buy the Soul-Driving Technique manual from the Holy Cardamom Sect's Scripture Repository, but the result left him bitterly disappointed. The Soul-Driving Technique was not expensive, costing only three hundred spirit coins.
But it was a sect Secret Method, available for purchase only to soul cultivator disciples of Ghost-Dwelling Peak.
In the end, left with no other choice, Tang Yuan bought a copy from the unscrupulous merchant Kou Cheng for six hundred spirit coins-on credit, of course.
Tang Yuan could not make sense of Kou Cheng's capabilities. Kou Cheng was clearly only in his forties and at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, yet he could obtain Cultivation Method manuals and pills that were not sold on the market, or were even forbidden from circulation.
At times, Tang Yuan suspected Kou Cheng was a reincarnated mighty cultivator, or the illegitimate son of some high-ranking sect member...
Once he cultivated the Soul-Driving Technique and Ghost-Driving Technique to minor mastery, Tang Yuan would be able to command the ghost spirits Luo Biao and Zhang Yang and the souls Du Qing, Wuma Lin, and Zhao Xiaode with ease. He would also be able to examine the memories in their Divine Sense.
As for Zhao Xiaode, some powerful restriction seemed to have been placed on his Divine Sense, and Tang Yuan could not examine it all.
Only with the soul Zhao Xiaode's willing consent could Tang Yuan fully examine his memories.
Zhao Xiaode still kept his lips sealed about his origins, but he took the initiative to give Tang Yuan some tremendously good news: he knew the whereabouts of the Purple Jade Huang in the Barbarian Di Secret Realm.
As for going to the Demon Realm, Tang Yuan was currently losing money.
In the Holy Cardamom Sect, where the weak were prey to the strong, anyone without a backer could lose their life for no apparent reason at any moment.
To cling to the mighty thigh of High Person Li Bai of Li Xuan Peak, Tang Yuan decided to take part in the Barbarian Di Secret Realm training as well and search for the Purple Jade Huang.
There was another point: Zhao Xiaode's Purple Cloud One Qi Treatise contained only the Early Qi Refinement portion.
And the Solar One Qi Divine Light was merely an introduction to the Divine Ability, with no actual cultivation content whatsoever.
Only by clinging to High Person Li Bai's thigh would he have a chance of obtaining the complete versions of both Cultivation Methods...
...For two years, Tang Yi devoted himself to refining Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Arrays.
After delivering all two thousand Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Arrays, Tang Yuan chose to enter seclusion and quietly await the opening of the Barbarian Di Secret Realm.
Along the way, he also used the Profound Nether Cavern Radiance Myriad Ghost Banner and the Cultivation Method Mnemonics in the Witch Ghost Dao Book to refine the souls Du Qing, Wuma Lin, and Zhao Xiaode into ghost spirits...
Two years passed in the blink of an eye. On the fourth day of the fourth month of the year 4036 of the New Immortal Calendar,
Tang Yuan, who looked to be only in his twenties but was actually already thirty-six and at the Qi Refinement Sixth Layer,
stood in the Holy Cardamom Sect's Seeking the Dao Square, the corner of his mouth twitching as he watched Ding Chunqiu, already at the Qi Refinement Seventh Layer, explain the Barbarian Di Secret Realm while pitching the Outstanding Talent Merchant Association's weapon loans, pill loans, and talisman loans...
For this secret realm trial, Tang Yuan had taken out another loan from the Outstanding Talent Merchant Association: eight hundred spirit coins, with a total of one thousand one hundred spirit coins in principal and interest due in two months.
By making and selling two thousand Lesser Heavenly Gang Soul-Extinguishing Lightning Arrays, Tang Yuan had earned a total of three thousand spirit coins.
But over the past two years, after deducting what he had spent on Cultivation Method manuals and pills from Kou Cheng, on "subsidizing" himself, Hu Mei'er, and Huang You'er in the Demon Realm, and on his own everyday food, drink, and expenses, Tang Yuan had less than five hundred spirit coins left.
The opening date of the Barbarian Di Secret Realm had been confirmed half a year ago.
During those six months, the Holy Cardamom Sect's markets everywhere had been packed with people almost every day. Even the Red Charity Hall, where disciples donated Essence Blood, had been as busy as a marketplace.
At the markets, the prices of pills and talismans used by Qi Refining disciples had soared, changing by the day.
Even some low-level Law Artifacts and arrays had risen with the tide.
There was nothing to be done. Entering the Barbarian Di Secret Realm was called a trial, but it was more like an assessment.
The sect had already posted a notice: anyone who failed to meet the standard would either do hard labor on Refining Peak for twenty years or gather Spiritual Qi in a bitterly cold region for thirty.
The chance of successfully breaking through to Foundation Establishment was highest before the age of sixty.
So the Holy Cardamom Sect's nearly four thousand Early Qi Refinement and Middle Stage Qi Refinement disciples were trying every possible means to improve their strength and combat power in order to pass this secret realm assessment. Everyone knew full well that once inside, killing people and seizing their treasures would surely happen anytime, anywhere.
The Holy Cardamom Sect also knew the character of its disciples, so for this secret realm trial, Early Qi Refinement disciples had to form teams of at least five, and they were issued self-defense Jade Slips.
The self-defense Jade Slips could improve their defense, and if a disciple at the Middle Stage of Qi Refinement attacked them, the Jade Slips would automatically raise an alarm and record events in real time. This would keep disciples at the Middle Stage of Qi Refinement from coveting what belonged to Early Qi Refinement disciples.
A murderous atmosphere filled Seeking the Dao Square.
Some disciples rubbed their fists and palms, looking forward to reaping a rich harvest in the secret realm;
others sighed and lamented, believing they had no chance of walking out of the secret realm alive.
Tang Yuan, meanwhile, was calculating how to plan his route, so that he could both meet the assessment requirements and do his best to find the Purple Jade Huang.
He wondered whether, in an emergency, he could use the Mystic Spoon inside the secret realm to cross over to the Demon Realm temporarily and avoid danger...
"Brother Tang!" A somewhat familiar voice, full of pleasant surprise, came from nearby.
Tang Yuan turned and saw a young man in red waving at him, squeezing his way over with a smile all over his face. Two men and a woman followed behind him.
Tang Yuan nodded in acknowledgment, recognizing him.
Qian Xiaobao-the wealthy man who, five years ago, had been the first to pay the full price for a Cultivation Method manual. He was also a longtime customer of Kou Cheng's.
Over the past four years, Tang Yuan had run into Qian Xiaobao more than a dozen times at Kou Cheng's stall. After seeing each other so often, they had become somewhat acquainted.
Qian Xiaobao was quick to act familiar. As soon as he reached Tang Yuan, he cupped his fists in greeting. "Brother Tang, we're acquainted enough.
"These are Gao Rui, Huang Jie, and Qi Yao.
"There are enemies in the Barbarian Di Secret Realm whose cultivation is equivalent to our Late-stage Qi Refinement, or even Foundation Establishment. Why don't the five of us travel together? We can look after one another."
Tang Yuan was now at the Qi Refinement Sixth Layer, but he was wearing the Seven-Colored Invisibility Robe, so his displayed cultivation was the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer. He had also registered as being at the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer on the roster for the secret realm trial.
"Xiaobao, all four of you are at the Qi Refinement Sixth Layer, while I'm only at the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer. You shouldn't need me.
"Besides, to be safe, I think you should find another Qi Refinement Sixth Layer disciple to accompany you." Tang Yuan was somewhat puzzled and spoke honestly.
"Exactly.
"Xiaobao, we should find a fellow disciple at the Qi Refinement Sixth Layer." A burly young man curled his lip.
"What do you know?!" Qian Xiaobao snapped at the burly young man. "Inside the secret realm, we can't travel through the air, and long-range attack Law Techniques are suppressed. It's suited to close combat.
"And when it comes to close combat, which of the five of us could match a fellow disciple at the same cultivation level who cultivates the Purple Cloud Nine Mysteries Scripture?
"There are already few fellow disciples who cultivate the Purple Cloud Nine Mysteries Scripture, and their cultivation rises slowly.
"Among the fellow disciples going to the secret realm this time, no more than fifty disciples at the Middle Stage of Qi Refinement cultivate the Purple Cloud Nine Mysteries Scripture.
"Senior Brother Tang Yuan is already at the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer, making him one of the best among those fifty."
Hearing this, Tang Yuan both admired Qian Xiaobao's careful thinking and felt that he himself had been careless. Cultivation rose slowest when cultivating the Purple Cloud Nine Mysteries Scripture; he should have displayed cultivation at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.
Tang Yuan frowned slightly but did not answer immediately.
Forming a team was indeed somewhat safer, but it would also restrict his movements.
Besides, he did not yet want others to know about the treasures he carried or the Cultivation Methods he had learned.
Just as Tang Yuan was about to refuse, he suddenly felt a powerful pressure appear, making him feel incomparably insignificant.
Everyone looked up and saw six streaks of light flash past, landing on the raised platform in the square in an instant:
[High Person Ming Kun of Nether Darkness Peak]
[High Person Kui Xuan of Kui Wood Peak]
[High Person Su Ying of Soul-Dwelling Peak]
[High Person Yaoxi of Jade Light Peak]
[High Person Wen Dou of Literary Authority Peak]
[High Person Li Bai of Li Xuan Peak].
Tang Yuan's pupils trembled slightly, and his knees went weak. "Foundation Establishment cultivators really are powerful."
Seeing the six Foundation Establishment cultivators, the disciples below the platform briefly lost their composure:
some murmured to themselves, some wept for joy,
some dropped to their knees with a thud, and some fainted outright.
High Person Ming Kun, at the head of the group, swept his gaze over the disciples and said softly, "Silence."
The square, noisy a moment before, instantly fell so quiet that a dropped pin could be heard.
High Person Ming Kun flicked a finger, and a huge phantom image appeared beside the platform: a humanoid creature with green skin and animal hides for clothing, its two lower canines protruding from its mouth like a wild boar's tusks.
"These are the natives of the Barbarian Di Secret Realm. They can also be called orcs.
"They have no concept of nations or sects, gathering together in separate tribes." High Person Ming Kun yawned.
"Your task upon entering the secret realm is to pull out the orcs' teeth."...