The Ten Thousand Swords Tomb Secret Realm Opens

After the court session ended, the officials gradually left the palace.

Two courtiers walked side by side on the palace road.

"Brother Wei, what do you think the Empress meant by that? Isn't she clearly trying to get us all to side with Lu Xingshuang? But she's only a Mid-Stage Grandmaster... Sigh, what do you think we should do?"

"What should we do? Do you dare disobey the Empress?" Lord Wei glanced at him and lowered his voice.

"Do you know who stands behind the Empress? It's the Imperial Ancestor! It's the very sky above our Great Qian Dynasty!"

"Well... we can't really put all our eggs in one basket by a Mid-Stage Grandmaster, can we?"

"Look at you, what's the rush?" Lord Wei stroked his beard and smiled.

"The Crown Prince is now a fully-fledged Great Grandmaster Perfection. Besides, isn't the Empress intending to marry the Princess to the Crown Prince?"

"Think about it, once they enter the Ten Thousand Swords Tomb Secret Realm, can the Crown Prince and Princess not travel together? What's the difference between us pledging allegiance to the Crown Prince and pledging allegiance to the Princess?"

"Ah! Brother Wei's words have awakened me from my dream! I understand now, thank you very much, farewell!"

The two bowed to each other in farewell and went their separate ways.

In the days that followed, carriages and horses gathered in front of the Prince Jingnan's Residence's Mansion, as court officials came in an endless stream to pay their respects to Lu Shuang.

Lu Shuang was extremely annoyed and ordered Uncle Fu to block all the visitors from entering the room.

These ministers, who had been turned away, turned around and flocked to the Eastern Palace.

Lu Xinghan has been living like a god these past few days.

Thanks to Liu Yue's words, officials flocked to the Eastern Palace seeking to serve, practically wearing down the threshold.

Seven days later.

The day the Ten Thousand Swords Tomb Secret Realm opens.

As dawn broke, Lu Feng had already left his room and was waiting in the courtyard.

Not long after, Lu Shuang also pushed open the door and came out.

Today, she wore a pale yellow dress with a phoenix embroidered in gold thread on the hem, making her look even more radiant.

What surprised Lu Feng even more was that her cultivation level had quietly risen to the Late Grandmaster!

What are you looking at?

Seeing Lu Feng staring intently at her, Lu Shuang smiled and teased him.

"Nothing!"

Lu Feng snapped out of his daze and quickly cupped his hands in greeting.

Congratulations! You've broken through to the Late Grandmaster!

"I owe this all to the Fifth-Tier Barrier-Breaking Pill you gave me; it allowed me to break through two tiers in a row." Lu Shuang smiled sweetly, then said seriously,

"The Ten Thousand Swords Tomb Secret Realm is located within the Imperial Mausoleum. Let's go."

Afterwards, Lu Shuang led Lu Feng, and the two flew towards the imperial mausoleum.

The imperial mausoleum is located in the Dragon Spine Mountain Range, 300 li directly north of the Central Province Imperial City.

The two flew for about an hour before finally arriving.

Lu Feng gazed into the distance and saw a majestic, undulating mountain range before him.

Lu Shuang explained from the side:

"Legend has it that the entire Dragon Spine Mountain Range was shaped by the Great Qian Emperor, who used his unparalleled power to sever the earth's veins, creating a natural, coiled dragon. And the imperial mausoleum was built at the deepest part of the dragon's head."

At the entrance to the imperial mausoleum, two elderly men at the Celestial Person Realm First Layer stood with their hands behind their backs, guarding the entrance.

Dozens of Great Grandmaster cultivators were scattered around.

Lu Shuang took out the royal token from her bosom and handed it to one of the elders.

The old man checked and found nothing amiss, nodded slightly, and then let them pass.

The two entered the imperial mausoleum.

Looking around, the first thing that catches the eye is one cenotaph after another.

"This is the outer layer. It contains the remains of officials and kings of different surnames who died for their country throughout history," Lu Shuang explained in a low voice as they walked.

Further in, the two entered a deep, dark cave.

"From here onwards, we enter the inner layer. Those buried here are members of the imperial family throughout history, as well as cultivators at the Celestial Person Realm."

"And beneath the deepest part of the imperial mausoleum lies the Ten Thousand Swords Tomb Secret Realm."

When the two arrived at the entrance to the secret realm, thousands of people were already standing there in a dense crowd.

The group led by Crown Prince Lu Xinghan was the most powerful!

He was followed by over a thousand people! Most of them were Grandmaster, but there were also dozens of Great Grandmaster.

Behind the other eleven princes, there were two or three hundred people in some cases and only a few dozen in others. Their cultivation levels varied, but they were all at the Grandmaster Realm.

Interestingly, these eleven princes have seemingly formed a group, clearly intending to join forces and challenge Crown Prince Lu Xinghan.

Besides these younger people, four elderly men with profound and unfathomable auras stood at the entrance.

"The four of them are all from the Dragon Protection Pavilion," Lu Shuang said in a low voice.

Lu Feng nodded. He knew about the Dragon Protection Pavilion; it was founded by the first emperor of the Great Qian and was dedicated to recruiting Celestial Person Realm experts from the royal family.

There were two people at the entrance of the imperial mausoleum just now, and now there are four more here.

It seems that there are quite a few Celestial Person Realm cultivators in the Dragon Protection Pavilion.

"I have a question?" Lu Feng asked, frowning.

"Isn't the Ten Thousand Swords Tomb Secret Realm only accessible to members of the royal family? Why are so many people here all of a sudden?"

Logically speaking, even if members of the royal family could hire help, each person would only have a few slots available.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a massive influx of thousands of people.

"The Ten Thousand Swords Tomb Secret Realm is different from other secret realms," Lu Shuang explained patiently.

"Within the Ten Thousand Swords Tomb, three kinds of spiritual entities roam— Sword Spirit, Sword Soul, and Sword Shadow."

"These three spirits have no physical form, look exactly alike, and are indistinguishable to the naked eye. Moreover, we cannot attack them proactively."

"The only way is to actively contact them, let them into your consciousness, and then you can distinguish which one it is."

"Of the three spiritual entities— the Sword Shadow is harmless; the Sword Soul attacks the sea of consciousness; only the Sword Spirit contains the true inheritance of the sword path."

"Every so often, a new batch of spirits will emerge from the Ten Thousand Swords Tomb Secret Realm."

"The Sword Heart Grass requires a large number of spiritual entities to gather and nourish it before it can be born, and it almost always appears in the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Swords Tomb."

Therefore, the Tomb of Ten Thousand Swords Tomb only opens once every ten years.

"Last time, Liu Yue obtained a Sword Heart Grass by chance. Although she ultimately failed to awaken her Sword Physique, she still gained the inheritance of swordsmanship, which allowed her to break through to the Celestial Person Realm Third Layer in just ten years!"

Upon hearing this, a hint of doubt flashed in Lu Feng's eyes:

"If that's the case, and this secret realm relies on a contest of consciousness, then why are Grandmaster and Great Grandmaster required to enter? Wouldn't it be better to just let martial artists with Ming Jin and Nei Jin go in directly?"

"The higher one's cultivation level, the more stable one's sea of consciousness becomes. For martial artists with Ming Jin or Nei Jin cultivation levels, their sea of consciousness is as fragile as paper; they can't even withstand a single impact from Sword Soul, and going in would be suicide."

"What about the Celestial Person Realm?" Lu Feng asked again. "Logically speaking, wouldn't it be easier for the Celestial Person Realm cultivator to obtain the sword dao inheritance if they entered?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Shuang shook her head.

"I don't know the specific reasons either. I only know one ironclad rule: even if a cultivator at the Celestial Person Realm obtains Sword Spirit, they cannot inherit the sword path if they enter."

Lu Feng nodded thoughtfully.

Just as the two were talking, several figures walked towards them.

Leading the group were Emperor Lu Yunqi and Empress Liu Yue.