After thoroughly examining his rather weak disciple and finding nothing wrong, Yu Tianze proceeded to contact the Thunder Eagle King through their contract. That fellow’s intelligence was below average, making it impossible for him to clearly describe his specific location. However, judging by his reaction, he wasn’t in any immediate danger. So, Yu Tianze instructed the Thunder Eagle King to stay alert, fly slowly toward him following their contract, and hide immediately if he encountered something he couldn’t defeat.
The Thunder Eagle King let out a proud, drawn-out cry from the other end, agreeing without hesitation. After all, Lei Huang’s abilities had been forged through a thousand trials! On his end, Yu Tianze decisively cut off the connection with the Thunder Eagle King and looked at his disciple. “Follow me.”
Mu Zirun’s attitude was equally serious. “Yes, Master.”
At this point, Yu Tianze began observing their surroundings. Although he had some general information about this secret realm from his memories of his previous life, not having experienced it firsthand meant there were bound to be differences. Moreover, even the information from his past life might have been distorted through hearsay. Therefore, caution was very important. Yu Tianze cautiously extended his divine sense.
Since only cultivators below the Void Refining stage could enter the secret realm, the dangers within weren’t excessively great. The most powerful demon beasts were only around the early seventh rank—roughly equivalent to the peak of the Nascent Soul transformation stage. Such demon beasts were exceedingly rare and wouldn’t casually emerge to slaughter unless deliberately provoked. And as long as they didn’t exceed the seventh rank, Nascent Soul stage cultivators could at least escape, even if they couldn’t kill the beasts.
Thus, Yu Tianze wasn’t particularly fearful. If he hadn’t been confident in protecting those around him, he wouldn’t have brought his vulnerable disciple along. His current vigilance was to avoid attracting the attention of large groups of demon beasts. Mu Zirun also understood he was a burden. Although he had been beaten three hundred times a day earlier—all to help him conserve true essence for easier escape—his ability to fight others… was highly unlikely. As someone who knew his place and understood gratitude, he had already decided to ask few questions, speak little, and follow all instructions within the secret realm.
Finding that his disciple asked nothing, Yu Tianze was quite satisfied. Still holding his disciple’s hand, he located a landmark mountain peak and led his disciple swiftly toward it using movement techniques. The information from his previous life hadn’t specified exactly when that unlucky cultivator discovered the Lingxi Root. So, after entering the secret realm, he couldn’t hesitate. He had to find that place as quickly as possible.
From what he knew, that place was a very ordinary, shallow valley. The surrounding trees were relatively dense, but because they were so tall, they completely obscured the entire valley, making it look like a narrow patch of forest without any overflowing spiritual energy. Compared to the rich aura of many other places in the secret realm, this patch of forest was practically insignificant. Naturally, those proud geniuses wouldn’t bother exploring such a place first.
As for that unlucky cultivator, he had been separated from the woman he admired upon entering the secret realm. Initially, he found nothing of value, and later encountered this small forest. He merely intended to rest under a tree for a while, but ended up falling down into it, making his situation even more unfortunate. Yet, who could have guessed that the Lingxi Root would grow in such an inconspicuous place?
After much discussion among relevant parties, during the second opening ten years later, more young cultivators protected by layers of magical treasures flooded into the secret realm. They thoroughly investigated the landmarks around the Lingxi Root and, after failing to find even a sliver more of the rhizome, exposed the information to the entire cultivation world. Now, Yu Tianze first saw the most prominent landmark—a straight, hairpin-like mountain peak.
The master and disciple pressed on without pause, combining movement and lightness techniques to travel swiftly in a manner that was neither conspicuous nor disturbing to the various creatures within the secret realm, quickly reaching their destination. Standing atop the mountain peak, Yu Tianze surveyed the surroundings and, unsurprisingly, identified the smallest patch of forest with the weakest spiritual energy among them.
Then, his heart beat a little faster. Alright, stay calm, stay calm. Yu Tianze kept a straight face and tightened his grip on Mu Zirun’s hand. Mu Zirun felt a bit of pain, but seeing his master’s expression, he decided to endure it. To be honest, his master’s behavior was somewhat strange. Weren’t they both visiting this secret realm for the first time? Why did it feel like his master was confident and even familiar with the place? It seemed a bit illogical.
Had his master obtained some inside information from elsewhere? But that didn’t seem likely either. Apart from secluded cultivation, he and his master had hardly been separated. Could his master have known about the secret realm’s opening several years ago? At that time, the entire cultivation world hadn’t known about it yet… His mind filled with thoughts, Mu Zirun kept pace with his master while pondering.
He suddenly felt that his master seemed much more mysterious than he had imagined. Having lived two lives, Yu Tianze was usually arrogant, but today he was particularly tense. He had arrived so quickly; surely no one could have gotten there before him, right? A minute later, he landed before the small forest and extended his divine sense inside. Indeed, the trees all grew straight downward, much more peculiar and taller than the trees outside. Yu Tianze sighed in relief and expanded his divine sense to check if anyone else was nearby.
However, his scan revealed a young cultivator stumbling along less than half a kilometer away. Judging by his state, he would arrive in a few minutes and would certainly rest upon reaching the area. Could this be that unlucky cultivator? Yu Tianze frowned. With a sweep of his eyes, he exerted a powerful pressure in that direction. The young cultivator immediately sensed it and froze. Clearly, this was a warning.
Yu Tianze suppressed him for three seconds before releasing the pressure. The young cultivator immediately turned and fled in another direction at an impressive speed. Damn it! As a Golden Core stage rogue cultivator, who in their right mind would swagger before a Soul Transformation stage expert? If I can’t afford to provoke you, I can at least hide! Thus, in a short moment, the only remaining figure vanished as well.
Now, Yu Tianze was completely at ease. When it came to treasures, it had always been about whose fist was bigger. Besides, that guy couldn’t protect the treasure anyway, so it was better for him not to get involved. Of course, he could have simply killed the guy from afar to keep things secret. But Yu Tianze felt that this fellow’s foolishness resembled his own in his previous life, evoking a sense of shared misery. So, why not let him go? After all, the guy hadn’t seen his face and was quite sensible. No longer wasting thoughts on that unlucky soul, Yu Tianze tugged his disciple and jumped into the forest together.
Mu Zirun: “…”
His master was truly decisive and straightforward. Based on Mu Zirun’s understanding, whether from the various immortal and martial arts stories he had read in his past life or the strange tales he had heard in this life, searching for treasures generally involved climbing mountains, diving into seas, and, if encountering a valley, preferably jumping off a cliff. Since they had already dived into the sea upon entering, his master now taking him to jump off a cliff seemed only natural.
Yu Tianze summoned wind under his feet, carefully protecting his disciple as they landed together at the bottom of the valley. Then, he began searching. Southeastern direction, thirty-second row, fifty-eighth tree from the left. This was a set of coordinates familiar to many in his previous life. With his divine sense assisting, Yu Tianze quickly counted and arrived at the tree in minutes. After some thought, he extended his divine sense again, delving into the tree’s roots and extending it downward inch by inch.
Strangely, he found it just over five inches down. Back then, the unlucky cultivator had fallen right under this tree, his butt sore from the protruding roots. In a fit of irritation, he used a spell to uproot the tree and ended up pulling out the Lingxi Root. Now, with a clear target, Yu Tianze only needed an extremely short time to dig out a clump of black soil. Finally, Yu Tianze felt relieved.
He brushed away some soil, revealing a brownish object underneath. Mu Zirun leaned in to look. Its shape somewhat resembled a potato, and its color was similar too. However, Mu Zirun sensed this was likely something valuable; otherwise, his master wouldn’t have rushed over so urgently and dug it up so eagerly. After some thought, Mu Zirun asked curiously, “Master, what is this?”
After confirming that this item was identical to the legendary Lingxi Root and that even the exposed part exuded exceptionally rich spiritual energy, Yu Tianze promptly covered the rhizome with soil again. This soil seemed naturally capable of concealing the Lingxi Root, preventing any spiritual energy from leaking. Otherwise, the rhizome would have been dug up long ago, and it certainly wouldn’t have grown to such a size.
Feeling quite satisfied, he said, “This will be very useful for you. You’ll know once we return. Don’t tell anyone about it, understand?”
Hearing this, Mu Zirun immediately nodded solemnly. “Don’t worry, Master. I’ll definitely keep it secret.”
Useful for him… What use could it be? Could it be that his master’s urgency was entirely for his sake? Thinking this, though he wasn’t entirely sure, he was about eighty percent certain. His heart felt both warmed and complex in an instant. Yu Tianze nodded, stowed the Lingxi Root into his storage bracelet, and restored the soil pit to its original state. Then, pulling Mu Zirun along, he left the valley from another direction. After emerging aboveground, the master and disciple prepared to continue searching for other treasures.
Having obtained what he most desired, Yu Tianze relaxed his mindset. He began dividing his divine sense into multiple strands to search for areas with vigorous spiritual energy nearby. Typically, the more spiritual energy and unusual phenomena, the greater the likelihood of treasures. At the same time, although the secret realm was vast, Yu Tianze gradually detected other cultivators in relatively nearby areas.
Even though the first appearance of any secret realm always held the greatest dangers, it also offered the greatest opportunities, and the bloodshed was often the most brutal. Therefore, upon smelling the scent of blood emanating from the path ahead, Yu Tianze almost immediately grabbed Mu Zirun’s arm, lifted him, and leaped onto a giant tree with the densest foliage nearby.
Then, activating a concealment talisman, the figures and auras of the master and disciple vanished without a trace.
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