บท 45: Entering the Secret Realm
Entering the Secret Realm
In the main hall of the estate, Xue Feng, along with Duke Wang, Duke Yan, and Emperor Duan Zhen, sat.
Duke Yan's full name was Yan Zhanyu, and true to his name was an effeminate-looking man.
Born to the Yan Clan, he was also a native of the Great Xuan Empire. And like the Wang Clan, his Yan Clan had been around since its establishment.
Yan Zhanyu was dressed in a set of blue robes that matched well with his blue eyes and black hair.
Like Wang Yichen, Yan Zhenyu also had a cultivation base that was at the peak of the Domain Lord realm. However, at the same time, he was also much older than Wang Yichen.
The God of War was only around 200 years old currently, while Yan Zhenyu was more than double his age, being almost 450 years old.
This also meant the man was slowly reaching the limit of his lifespan, but since there wasn't much he could do about it, Yan Zhenyu never brought it up and instead focused on the younger generation of his clan.
The three were sitting around Xue Feng while a maid cautiously served them tea. After doing so, the girl ran off, fearing she would do anything stupid and threaten her life.
Duan Zhen was calm, and as if it were his own home, he took a sip of the tea. The other two Dukes didn't drink, though, and instead looked at Xue Feng, waiting for his answer.
However, Xue Feng was trying to stall as long as he could for Xue Bai. And rather than satisfying their curiosity, he stayed mum.
"So, have you found the Secret Realm yet, Duke Xue?" Duan Zhen spoke, breaking the silence.
"I have sent out one of my best subordinates to where the phenomenon originated. We will have to wait until they send back news to determine whether it's a secret realm." Xue Feng said, not answering the question directly.
Though Duan Zhen was annoyed at Xue Feng's dismissiveness, he knew it was his territory, and starting a fight over something so trivial would only ruin his reputation. He snorted before closing his eyes, waiting for the message.
"Brother Xue, I see your cultivation has made progress in these past few years." Yan Zhanyu said with a smile.
Though Xue Feng did have cultivation concealing artifacts, none would work against powerhouses at his level, so his rise in cultivation was easily noticeable by the peak stage Domain Lord realm Yan Zhenyu.
"Hahaha, it's still nothing compared to Brother Zhenyu." Xue Feng replied with a smile.
Of course, he was just acting humble. Unlike Wang Yichen, Yan Zhenyu had an extremely great reputation in the Empire. Furthermore, Xue Bai told him to try and connect with the Duke,
So instead of acting arrogant, Xue Feng acted humble in front of the man.
"It's only because of our age gap. When I was your age, I was still in the Law Manifestation realm." Yan Zhenyu said wistfully.
Xue Feng was only 82 years old. Though it might seem he was an old man with a foot in the grave, he looked like a man in his mid-thirties.
With his cultivation in the Domain Lord realm, Xue Feng had a lifespan of 500 years. So in mortal terms, Xue Feng was less than a fifth of the way through his life, equalling less than 20 years old.
However, Xue Feng had a poor upbringing and had a slow cultivation speed during his early years, which made his appearance look like a middle-aged man. Li Rou was the opposite.
She cultivated quicker than her husband during her early years before slowing down in her later years.
In contrast, Yan Zhenyu was almost 450 years old this year. And while he had a set of peak Yellow-grade Martial Veins like the other Dukes, without the elemental affinity that Xue Feng had, his progress was a level slower.
"Hmph! He most likely forced his cultivation higher with some pills he made his wife make." Wang Yichen snorted,
It was well-known within the Great Xuan Empire that Li Rou was the best alchemist. So her making pills for Xue Feng was something very plausible.
Adding to the fact that Xue Feng was at the limit of his potential, using some pills that sacrificed future achievements was believable.
Hearing this, Xue Feng just smiled and didn't respond. If this were a week ago, he would've defended himself. However, why should he bother with a soon-to-be-dead man?
Wang Yichen was fated to die soon. Wasting his breath on a dead man would just lower his image.
After another hour of waiting, the group collectively opened their eyes and looked in the direction of where Xue Bai and his bodyguards were.
"This? This is someone breaking through to the Law Manifestation realm?" Duan Zhen spoke uncertainty.
"Xue Feng, you sent a pair of peak stage Law Engraving realm cultivators to investigate?" Wang Yichen asked.
Xue Feng nodded at this. It would be impossible to hide the existence of the Wang twins later on, so it was better to admit it. Moreover, it was well known that Xue Feng had a pair of twins under him that were near the Law Manifestation realm.
Their breakthrough wouldn't be too shocking of news.
"Yes, this should be them. They had been at the peak of that realm for almost five years now. So I assume finding the secret realm gave them a chance to break through." Xue Feng said happily.
With the Wang twins becoming Law Manifestation realm cultivators, Xue Feng now had two more commanders underneath him. How couldn't he have been happy?
Wang Yichen's eyes brightened, and he stood up after he heard that.
"Now that we know where the Realm is, shouldn't we go over?" Wang Yichen spoke as he started to walk out of the main hall.
"Wait a little more. They brought along some low-cultivation slaves to check the secret realm's limit on cultivation. They'll be sending me the info shortly." Xue Feng lied.
Xue Bai had already told him the details of the secret realm. However, how could he say that? So he gave a reasonable lie to give his son more time.
Wang Yichen didn't find any irregularities in the lie and sat back down, awaiting the message.
Ten minutes quickly passed, and deeming it 'time,' Xue Feng pulled out a jade slip from his spatial ring as if he had received a message.
"The cultivation base limit is the Muscle Nourishing Realm." Xue Feng lied as he pretended to read what was written on the jade slip.
"Is there an age limit?" Wang Yichen asked.
"No, there isn't. However, we should leave opportunities like this to the young generation, shouldn't we?" Xue Feng answered.
Yan Zhenyu and Duan Zhen also nodded, agreeing with Xue Feng's statement.
Not wanting to be against the other three powerhouses, Wang Yichen put away his idea of deploying mind-controlled slaves to loot the secret realm for what it was worth.
"I assume you three brought along talented juniors with you?" Xue Feng asked.
The three of them nodded at this. Secret realms were usually left to younger, talented juniors. This way, not only would they potentially gain opportunities to speed up their cultivation speeds, but also they could temper them.
The main weakness of geniuses was their lack of combat experience. And a secret realm was the perfect place to get rid of the weakness.
"Bring them to the estate's entrance, and I'll take you to the secret realm." Xue Feng said as he stood up, bringing smiles to the faces of the people in the hall.
–
Xue Bai was the first of the three to finish his breakthrough. Going from the 5th stage of the Vein Transformation realm to the 6th was much simpler than going from the peak of the Law Engraving realm to the Law Manifestation realm.
Even though the opening phenomenon gave them enough Spiritual Qi to facilitate a breakthrough, reaching the Law Manifestation realm took more than just ample Spiritual Qi.
They needed to thoroughly understand their law runes and be able to manifest them into reality without using Spiritual Qi, but instead just by their comprehension of it.
That was a much harder requirement than the Spiritual Qi. Thankfully the comprehension of their respective laws was deep. It was only a matter of time before they finished.
'The effect of connecting the kidney vein isn't useful in the earlier stages, but the more pills one consumes, and hidden toxins in their body, the more helpful it becomes.' Xue Bai thought.
The effect of the liver, kidney, and lung veins didn't give much of a combat power boost. But they were more supporting abilities to help cultivators later throughout their journey.
So Xue Bai assumed that breaking through to the sixth stage wouldn't give him much of a power boost. But nonetheless, it was still vital to his future cultivation.
After studying his gains, Xue Bai sat down and continued to cultivate. Though the wave of Spiritual Qi had subsided, the Wang Twins hadn't finished their breakthrough, and he didn't want to enter the secret realm until they finished.
Thankfully Xue Bai didn't have to wait long, as, after another half hour, they finished.
Opening their eyes at almost the same time, the twin's felt a hundred different positive emotions once they realized they had just broken through.
But instead of looking at their gains, they looked at the person who allowed this to happen.
"Young Master, my idiot of a brother, and I can't thank you enough for letting us break through alongside you." Big Wang said sincerely while he knelt down.
Though Little Wang was annoyed at being called an idiot, he still knelt down, too, showing his deep gratitude.
If it weren't for the Spiritual Qi wave, the twins wouldn't have broken through even with another year to prepare.
But thankfully, not only did the phenomenon give him ample Spiritual QI, but it also gave them a small enlightenment allowing them to comprehend their laws a level deeper and advance.
"It's fine. The stronger you two are, the better protected I am." Xue Bai said while motioning them to stand.
Standing, Big Wang asked, "Young Master, I sent the message to the Duke. Now, what do we do?"
"You two stand here and wait for my father. And I will enter the Secret Realm." Xue Bai said while going to walk in.
"Wait, Young Master, it's dangerous." Little Wang shouted while pulling Xue Bai back.
Annoyed, Xue Bai looked back at Little Wang like an idiot.
"What do you think I am here for, to sightsee? I am going to enter the secret realm before my Father and the other Dukes come here." Xue Bai snapped.
"But, Young Master, you said the limit was the Muscle Nourishing realm. You're only in the Vein Transformation realm. How could you defend yourself against a beast at the peak of that realm?" Little Wang said worriedly.
Not knowing how to answer that question without leaking critical information, Xue Bai just pulled Little Wang's hand off his shoulder.
"My Father let me do this, so let go of me, Wang Ye." Xue Bai ordered coldly.
Hearing Xue Bai call him by his actual name scared Little Wang, and he jumped back in fright. With how nice Xue Bai treated the two of them, he had forgotten that Xue Bai could have them die with one order.
"Sorry, Young Master, you can do as you'd like." Little Wang spoke softly while moving back.
Nodding, Xue Bai stepped through the paw print, which served as an entrance. Walking through, Xue Bai felt his vision blur, and his body moved rapidly. The feeling continued for about half a minute until he saw his surroundings change.
Now standing in a forest, Xue Bai saw the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in both of his lives.
Xue Bai currently stood under a tree that sat at the edge of a forest.
However, what was behind him wasn't the landscape that made Xue Bai feel emotional. Instead, it was what was in front of him that mesmerized him.
Though he hadn't created his brain vein, which would allow him to better his vision with Spiritual Qi, the purple gas he had received from the eye had strengthened his body manifold. And through that blessing, Xue Bai had an eyesight that could go uncontested for kilometers.
And because of his ability, Xue Bai was allowed to see this picturesque scene.
Mountains so tall they seemed to pierce the sky, trees that were thicker than ten men, grass so green it looked fake. Everything in front of Xue Bai screamed beauty.
If a photographer from Earth took a picture of this scene in front of him, they could win a Pulitzer Prize with no competition.
Sadly this view was all to Xue Bai himself.
A few seconds passed, and Xue Bai deeply relished the view during that time, but eventually, he stopped gazing, and his eyes finally turned solemn.
Xue Bai needed to complete his mission before his father arrived with the Dukes and the Emperor.
"Time to complete Step 2!"
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