Chapter 51

Chapter 51

The Celestial Prison.

The Celestial Prison is located at the highest geographical point in the Upper Realm, nearest to the heavens.

It does not belong to either the righteous faction or the demonic sect. The Celestial Prison was established by the laws of heaven and earth, and the conditions for entering it are exceptionally strict.

At least before Wen Jue was imprisoned, no one knew there was such a prison on that mountain.

Wen Jue was imprisoned, but nothing more.

If he wanted to leave, there were naturally ways to do so.

After all, every thousand years, he had to go and handle certain obligations.

As his original form stepped out of the gates of the Celestial Prison, it seemed as though the mountains and rivers beneath his feet trembled in response.

Wen Jue narrowed his eyes—his original form was infinitely preferable.

A manifested spirit, no matter what, always felt incomplete.

He glanced in the direction of the Celestial-Demon City and pondered what Qin Zhou might be up to now.

Given his temperament, he was probably refining pills again, right? Or… perhaps expanding his pill-related business?

The Celestial-Demon City and the Frontier City were almost in opposite directions.

This trip would likely keep him in the secret realm for a few days.

Once it was over, he’d go find Qin Zhou.

With that thought, in a wisp of white smoke, Wen Jue’s figure had already vanished.

Meanwhile, Qin Zhou, whom Wen Jue was thinking of, was preparing to enter the secret realm.

Shortly after Lu Er and Lu Qi's arrival,

the golden pillar of light gradually faded away. In its place, myriad ward stones appeared, spiraling overhead.

The three-faceted stones emitted a spectral blue light.

The people around them broke into smiles—this was a sign that the secret realm was about to open.

Only Qin Zhou knit his brows.

The reason a secret realm was called a secret realm was because it was concealed by ancient spells or seals, making it invisible under normal circumstances. Only through fate's design would it be discovered at some unknown time.

It should have far greater unpredictability. Not like now, appearing once every thousand years at a specific time, even at a predetermined site.

Moreover, even for a secret realm, there shouldn’t be so many ward stones.

Could it be that the master of this secret realm was an arcane practitioner skilled in wardcraft?

"I wonder what this year’s secret realm's divine artifact will be…"

Hearing this, Qin Zhou asked unexpectedly, "Is it different every time?"

"Of course it's different." The Rogue Cultivator immediately raised his voice, noticing that Qin Zhou was only at the Golden Core realm, and kindly explained, "Every time the mystic realm opens, the treasures it brings are different. If the contents were the same each time, and it opened at a specific time and place, it wouldn’t be called a mystic realm anymore."

"It’s precisely because the treasures in the mystic realm vary each time that so many Cultivators come, despite knowing the countless dangers inside. Even if those of us with lower cultivation levels aren’t qualified to compete for the supreme treasures, we can still take part in the excitement and gain some experience."

Qin Zhou didn’t reply.

He had this nagging feeling that something was off about this mystic realm.

He had explored extensively in-game, and he had even taken Lu Yi to many real mystic realms before.

This one, whether it was the golden beam or the floating barrier stones, looked nearly identical to the ones he had encountered before.

Yet, there was a feeling of wrongness.

……

Back in Boundary City, he had heard that most Cultivators would gather here to see the show. Qin Zhou had expected to see more villagers with the surname Lu at the entrance of the mystic realm.

But as the opening approached, only Lu Er, Lu Qi, and Xiao Yibai arrived.

Even those he had met in the lower realm—Fourteen didn’t come, Lu Yi didn’t come, and even Lu Wu and Bai Xing were absent.

It seemed that apart from Lu Er and Lu Qi, the others had deliberately avoided this mystic realm.

A growing suspicion began to form in Qin Zhou’s mind.

……

The demon sect cultivators entered first, with the Sword Sect and the Righteous Path Alliance hot on their heels.

The Rogue Cultivators, eager to join in, pushed forward as well.

Naturally, Qin Zhou followed them in.

Grasslands and mountain forests under overcast skies.

Qin Zhou landed in a clearing, with a waterfall behind him. The massive cascade poured down into a bottomless-looking pool.

The air around was humid - fresh but chilling.

Turning back, the pool was eerily calm and vast. Standing by its edge didn’t bring peace but rather unease creeping in from the stillness.

Too calm—as if a storm was brewing.

Qin Zhou clenched his fist.

Being randomly teleported was bad enough, but there wasn’t another soul around.

And…

Qin Zhou tilted his head slightly. He could sense something enormous approaching from the depths of the pool. The aura was overwhelming even through the water.

It seemed he had gotten the worst possible start.

With a deafening splash, something exploded from the water. The moment Qin Zhou turned, his eyes met the creature’s—

The moment he saw it, he recognized it as...

A hulking, ungainly body emerged, its smooth gray skin covering a roughly five-meter-long frame, with thick, heavy limbs. A long, broad horn protruded from the center of its wide face, while its ears, tiny compared to its massive head, looked comically small and harmless. A rhinoceros.

No, it should be called a Divine Rhino Beast.

The appearance of the Divine Rhino is no different from a regular rhino.

But its body length and weight can be three to four times bigger than a normal rhino. As a massive spirit beast, the Divine Rhino possesses absolute defensive power.

The one before him, however, is only about five meters long—a "baby" by Divine Rhino standards.

But as far as Qin Zhou knows, even a baby Divine Rhino has at least Nascent Soul-level power.

What’s unclear is whether the baby's mother might also be nearby.

The baby Divine Rhino locked its round eyes on Qin Zhou.

It seemed to be wondering whether this human cultivator before it was a trespasser in its domain.

But it didn’t feel threatened by Qin Zhou—was this human cultivator just too weak?

Downright baffled, the baby Divine Rhino clearly didn’t know what to make of this sudden appearance that disturbed its leisurely time.

Qin Zhou casually grabbed a handful of elixirs from his Qiankun Bag.

Grade-2 premium elixirs were nothing special to a Nascent Soul-level Divine Rhino, but they were perfect for a quick treat.

"Hungry?"

Just like he expected, the Divine Rhino Beast’s eyes immediately lit up.

Qin Zhou thought to himself that he had quite some expertise in animal handling skills.

...

Thanks to knowing exactly how greedy spirit beasts are, Qin Zhou got through the first hurdle.

The Divine Rhino showed no intention of attacking him.

In fact, returning the favor for the snacks he provided, it even fetched a treasure from the pond—a fourth-grade Aqua Condensation Flower.

The Aqua Condensation Flower, which grows in deep pools, is basically the water’s version of a spirit mushroom. It greatly nourishes the dantian and qi sea, and consuming it before forming a Nascent Soul from the Golden Core would give a huge boost.

Qin Zhou studied it closely. He noticed that the Aqua Condensation Flower was very fresh, having grown in this pool for at least several hundred years—not some random throw-in.

Originally, he had suspected that this hidden realm was artificially created, luring people in with the promise of "supreme treasures."

But now, it seemed the rumors about treasures in this hidden realm were true.

This hidden realm felt unnervingly real—so real that it didn’t seem deliberately fabricated.

Here, there were Divine Rhinos and serene, deep pools.

In the distance lay dark, tangled woods and towering mountains.

Qin Zhou closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He could sense that the spiritual energy here was even denser than in the Upper Realm, teeming with rare spirit treasures and spirit beasts.

Of course, with the realm opening only once every thousand years and no cultivators to deplete its resources, the spiritual energy could easily keep the spirit beasts and plants thriving.

Just as Qin Zhou was taking in the fresh air and deciding where to go next,

a flash of light suddenly streaked through his mind.

Qin Zhou snapped his eyes open.

This was…

A calling.

Qin Zhou closed his eyes again. Sure enough, the flash of light reappeared in his mind, as if pointing his way forward.

Qin Zhou knew what this was.

It was his forging hammer.

Divine weapons choose their wielders, and his forging hammer was a supreme divine weapon.

While he'd only used it virtually before, the moment the flash of light appeared, Qin Zhou immediately realized—it was the Artifact Spirit of the forging hammer calling out to him.

His forging hammer was actually in this Secret Realm!

And it had reacted because of his arrival.

Qin Zhou's eyes focused.

East it was, then.

…

At the same time, the moment all the cultivators entered the Secret Realm, they were instantly scattered to random locations.

Some appeared in dense forests, immediately chased by spirit beasts upon arrival.

Some ended up in rivers, instantly soaked to the bone.

And some even plummeted straight off cliffs—if not for their quick reflexes in activating their flight artifacts, they might have broken arms or legs.

In short, their fortunes differed wildly.

If the Secret Realm could be shown on a map, everyone would appear as tiny red markers, scattered across the terrain in all directions.

Of course, if the map marked the locations of treasures, one would notice that the marker representing Qin Zhou was swiftly moving toward the direction of a treasure.

Moving at a similar but noticeably slower pace was Xuan Yiling, who had accepted handsome payment in spirit stones from the Righteous Path Alliance.

She left behind some spiritual markers along her path—if members of the Righteous Path Alliance discovered them, they would naturally follow her trail.

And indeed, the people of the Righteous Path Alliance gradually gathered through the markers she left behind.

…

The Sword Sect wasn’t slow either. With the assistance of the Thousand Mystic Sect, they could catch glimpses of the future, allowing them to avoid nearly all foreseeable dangers.

However, their members were too scattered to regroup yet.

The demonic factions were well-represented too. But for them, regrouping held little appeal. Unlike the righteous cultivators who preferred sticking together, demonic cultivators valued freedom and strength—they’d rather seek their own opportunities than trail behind their Sovereign or Grand Sect Leader. If they happened to find the Supreme Treasure first… well, perhaps the throne in the demonic sect’s grand hall would have a new occupant. Now wouldn't that be something.

What would happen when demonic and righteous cultivators crossed paths?

A fight was inevitable.

Might makes right. Winning means loot for the taking—what's not to like?

In this Secret Realm, it's not just the ultimate treasures that are up for grabs.

The spirit beasts, spiritual materials, and even the Qiankun Bags of all the cultivators are fair game too.

Of course, all their actions are completely visible to one observer.

Wen Jue hovered in the sky, high above the clouds, silently watching the people below. The demonic cultivators, as always, were greedy and reckless.

After stopping watching for only a short while, he turned away.

Before entering the Prison of Immortals, he had thrown Qin Zhou's hammer into the Secret Realm.

Qin Zhou needed the forging hammer to create a furnace for Lu Wu and his master. Before the Secret Realm closed, Wen Jue had to retrieve the hammer so he could return it to Qin Zhou when they reached the Immortal-Demon City.

With that thought, Wen Jue turned and headed toward the place where he had left the hammer.

Unaware that while he watched these people from above, someone on the ground was silently tracking his movements.

The moment he vanished, someone swiftly formed a seal with their fingertips.

Spiritual energy instantly transformed into thousands of paper cranes that flew from their fingers, swiftly dispersing in all directions across the Secret Realm.

The demon lord was here.

The plan could now begin.