Chapter 109 – Martial Ancestor Yan
During the journey, the Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader, along with the other Spirit Masters, ceaselessly discussed information pertaining to the secret realm.
To the side, Liu Ming and the other ten Core Disciples harmonized their breathing and cultivated in their respective spots on the bone boat. They didn’t have any intentions of talking with each other.
Thinking about it, this was a completely normal occurrence!
Those who were able to kill their way into the top ten disciples would naturally have arrogant attitudes and would find it beneath their dignity to collude with others.
However, Liu Ming only had to turn his head slightly to see, the somewhat far away, Gao Chong coldly staring at him from time to time.
Faced with this situation, Liu Ming didn’t have a trace of surprise on his face. Nonetheless, a vestige of killing intent couldn’t help but surface in his heart.
If there was a chance within the secret realm that allowed him to get rid of this inconvenience, then he definitely wouldn’t be courteous.
This bone boat was clearly a flying type Totem and it was definitely not a low quality one. It seemed to be even faster than the Flying Jade Spirit Boat that Liu Ming previously rode on.
While flying, the surging black gas continuously expedited the boat, causing it to travel over hundreds of feet in a flash.
Seven days later, the bone boat brought the group above the lake that Liu Ming visited before. However, after flying for a little bit longer, the original spot harbored by the Suppressing Dragon Island was now completely empty. The island had vanished without a trace. Instead, in its place was an ash gray volcano that protruded from the bottom of the lake.
This volcano peak was only about three hundred feet tall, towering over the lake. Moreover, an ashen red smog continuously rose into the air from the volcanic crater.
On the surface of the lake, neighboring the volcanic crater, a plethora of various-sized floating reefs — that were composed of previously spouted volcanic ash — seemed to make up a bunch of small islands. The smallest reef was only a few tens of feet in size, while the largest was thousands of feet wide.
Among them, the largest floating reefs contained a few simple stone temples constructed on top of them. Furthermore, there were a few people moving about on the reefs.
With a rumbling sound, the bone boat found a floating reef to descend onto.
The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader brought Liu Ming and the others off the bone boat.
“Fellow Barbarian Ghost Sect members, you guys are late. Heavenly Moon Sect, Blood River Hall and my Nine Enlightenment Mountain disciples have already arrived. Only Firestorm Way’s people have yet to arrive.” From a large adjacent floating reef, a cyan gas flew over. In a flash, it arrived in the air above Liu Ming and the others. From within, a cyan-robed male, with a face like crown jade, spoke to the group below him with a slight smile on his face.
“So it’s Nine Enlightenment Mountain’s Fellow Zhao Hei Hu. We aren’t as close to this place as your Nine Enlightenment Mountain is; we must naturally expend more time to get here. As for Heavenly Moon Sect and Blood River Hall, since this secret realm was first discovered by them, it is only natural for them to be here earlier than us.” The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader examined the green-robed male in midair before nodding his head and speaking.
“That is true. Actually, my sect’s disciples only arrived here a day before yours. As such, my sect leader would like to invite you various Fellows over, to collaboratively discuss the affair regarding the secret realm.” Zhao Hei Hu said with some hidden meanings.
“I understand! Let me make arrangements for my sect’s disciples first and in a little while, I will bring my two Juniors over to pay a visit to your sect leader.” The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader naturally understood the opposing party’s intent and instantly replied in affirmation without batting an eyelid.
Hearing this, Zhao Hei Hu was overjoyed and spoke a few more words of decor before transforming into a cyan gas that flew back to its original floating reef.
At this time, the Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader made Liu Ming and the others begin constructing a stone temple. He then made Spirit Master Zhang and Huang lay down a few simple restrictions in the floating reef’s vicinity.
After the time it takes to have a meal, everything was complete. The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader gave annother instruction to the disciples and then proceeded to bring the two other Spirit Masters to the Nine Enlightenment Mountain’s floating reef.
Most of the disciples entered the newly constructed building and sat down. The remaining few of them walked around the entire floating reef, while occasionally examining the surroundings.
Liu Ming also found a corner in the stone temple to sit down in a cross-legged manner.
The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader and the other two were gone for nearly half the day. When they returned from the Nine Enlightenment Mountain’s area, there was a gray-robed old man with a triangle hair bun accompanying them.
This old man’s facial features seemed ordinary but his two hands were abnormally thick. A light green pouch hung on his waist and his aura was extremely ordinary. When he entered the stone temple with the Barbarian Ghost Sect
Leader, he immediately and impolitely sat down on a stone chair in the center of the temple.
After the Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader issued an order, all the disciples instantly gathered in the stone temple.
“Your fortunes are quite great; since today, you are unexpectedly able to see Master Yan’s true face. Quickly come over and pay your respects! Master has just recently returned from the secret realm’s entrance and has a few things to help guide you.” The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader hastily spoke to everyone.
Once everyone heard this — although Yang Qian and the others had already made this guess in their hearts — they still couldn’t help but be shocked and proceeded to successively formally pay their respects to the gray-robed old man.
“Stand up. You are my Barbarian Ghost Sect’s most outstanding disciples. Originally, you should have had another year of cultivating before participating in the Life and Death Trials. However, I didn’t expect the secret realm to appear, so I didn’t have an alternative. Nonetheless, according to Marital Nephew’s words, the strength of this group of disciples far surpasses previous Large Competition’s top ten disciples. If this is the case, then I can be much more relaxed.” The gray-robed man examined Liu Ming and the other disciples before exposing a satisfied expression while nodding his head.
“Master, these ten are definitely our sect’s most outstanding group of disciples in sixty years. By lucky coincidence, we were able to come across the secret realm, so perhaps this is an opportunity for our sect to rise.” The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader stood beside the old man and replied with a laugh.
“I hope this is the case. Along with the other old geezers, I have already used a Secret Technique to have an approximate probe of the secret realm. We have tentatively determined it to be an extremely rare Natural Secret Realm. The interior shouldn’t have any traps, so the probability of danger is sharply lower than usual; otherwise, I wouldn’t have endorsed using this secret realm as the area for the Life and Death Trial. Of course, all Secret Realms have certain risks with them. All you have to do is search for as many precious resources as you can. Moreover, there are no limits to methods and manners of accomplishing this task! Since the rewards involved are so prodigious this time, Heavenly Moon Sect and Blood River Hall have already secretly entered an alliance. In order to oppose this, our sect and Nine Enlightenment Mountain have just discussed entering an alliance. However, an alliance is only an alliance and no more. Iff you genuinely do encounter something good, then you should operate as you would, no matter what sect the opposing disciple is from. If such a case truly arises, I will take responsibility.” Martial Ancestor Yan said in an extremely imposing manner
“Natural Secret Realm!”
“This truly is too good!”
“An alliance with Nine Enlightenment Mountain?”
……
Amazement, shock, and excitement appeared on each of the disciples’ faces; most displayed an expression of unexpectedness.
Martial Ancestor Yan seemed to turn a blind eye to this and proceeded to say, “However, you must not lower your guard. In the Natural Secret Realms, there is still a possibility of encountering dangers that far surpass your imagination. For example, there could be monsters that exist in the secret realm or the interior’s environment could be so vile that normal people would have no way of surviving.”
The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader also gave a few reminders.
After the group of disciples heard this, a cold shiver once again arose in their hearts.
“All of this is secondary. The most pressing issue is still the Spirit Scarlet Dragon that fled into the secret realm!” Martial Ancestor Yan once again said something that caused everyone to jump in fright.
“What? That demonic dragon also fled into this secret realm? Master, are you joking? If each sect’s disciples enters the secret realm, wouldn’t that be the equivalent of sending a lamb into a tiger’s den?” This time, Martial Uncle Zhang’s face underwent a drastic change as he hastily asked a question.
“Hmph, do you think that I am treating this situation like a joke?! You don’t need to worry, that Scarlet Dragon has already been heavily wounded, so much so that even though it fled into the secret realm, it’s already dying. It shouldn’t have any strength left to retaliate. It’s a pity that when the Demonic Dragon escaped into the secret realm, it used the last of its strength to destroy the entrance so that those with the strength of a Spirit Master and above are unable to enter. Otherwise, there would be no need for us to dispatch these youngsters. Us few old geezers would then be able to sweep away all the resources in one go, while also eliminating that Demonic Dragon. Truthfully, this Scarlet Dragon should be the most precious treasure in the secret realm.” Martial Ancestor Yan let out a harrumph as he spoke.
“Martial Nephew made a mistake in thinking like this, please forgive me Martial Uncle.” Master Zhang remembered that Martial Uncle Yan paid a lot of attention to his face and instantly, his heart skipped a beat as he hastily smiled obsequiously.
“However, it’s also lucky this way. Otherwise, at the time, I’m afraid that the two seniors from the Heavenly Moon Sect and Blood River Hall would have hogged the secret realm for themselves and would not have informed our sect. Martial Uncle, we can thus look at it as a good thing.” Spirit Master Huang had a face full of smiles as he spoke.
“This also makes sense but nevertheless, it seems to me that even though the Suppressing Dragon Island’s treasures left by the Suppressing Dragon Master were first discovered by our sect and the Nine Enlightenment Mountain, was truly a useless discovery. We clearly discovered this area first, but let people from Heavenly Moon Sect and Blood River Hall find the entrance to the secret realm first.”
“Junior Zhu didn’t expect that the earthly fire would still harbor the entrance to the secret realm. Moreover, when that Suppressing Dragon came into being, they spent everything trying to hide. How would they have had time to thoroughly search the vicinity?” The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader explained.
“No matter what you say, Zhu Chi and Spirit Master Zhong still let the other sects take advantage of this. When this matter finishes, I will be sure to scold them.” Martial Ancestor Yan’s eyes were slightly popping out as he forcefully spoke.
These overbearing words shocked Liu Ming and the rest of the disciples. However, the Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader exchanged bitter smiles with his two Spirit Master Juniors.
Thankfully, they knew that their Martial Uncle was always like this, tough words but a soft heart. Otherwise, they would really have to worry for Zhu Chi and Spirit Master Zhong.
“That’s right, Martial Uncle Yuan, how is the entrance now? How long can it last?” The Barbarian Ghost Sect Leader asked with some worry.
“The entrance’s situation isn’t too good. That Demonic Dragon clearly knew where the entrance’s weak spot lay and most likely had entered it more than once. Therefore, that attack caused the entrance to be in an eternally crumbling state. The only reason why it hasn’t collapsed yet is because of us old geezers using special treasures to maintain the entrance. However, we can only hold it for at most a month and if we factor in the damage from the disciples from the various sects entering, there might only be half a month.” Martial Ancestor Yan’s expression finally turned serious as he replied.