Wei Yuan followed a group of Bao family members to a secret hall, then entered the entrance to the secret realm alongside nine others. The contention over the secret realm this time involved not only Qionghua Immortal Island and the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land, but also several members of the Bao family itself, itinerant cultivators from across the State of Wu, and various other powers from the islands of the Eastern Sea.
As for how many people from each faction had entered the secret realm, only the Bao family elder presiding over the matter knew. Bao Manshan's authority extended only to granting Wei Yuan a spot, allowing him to enter alongside the Bao family contingent.
Wei Yuan had initially assumed this contest would be like a trial arranged by a sect, but only right before it began was he informed of the realm's true nature.
The Bao family's Western Netherworld Secret Realm was not a closed environment. Instead, it was connected to a secret realm of the Sea Li, and over the years, the place had turned into a battlefield between the two sides.
The Shadowless Flying Marten was only a foot long, moved like lightning, possessed an innate talent for concealment, and could briefly traverse the void. Adept at locating spiritual treasures and fiercely formidable in combat, it was a rare spirit beast whose ultimate nesting place was invariably a spiritual vein. Finding it was equivalent to locating a spiritual vein for the Bao family; moreover, the contenders would clear out the vicious beasts around the spiritual vein and eliminate any Sea Li in the process.
Judging purely from the recorded images, one could tell this beast was exceptionally troublesome, and capturing it would be anything but easy—not to mention having rivals competing for it and, in all likelihood, facing experts of the Sea Li.
Upon receiving the updated data on the secret realm, Wei Yuan handed it straight over to the mortals within Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains for them to devise plans, while he packed his belongings and entered the realm with the Bao family contingent.
After stepping through the entrance, Wei Yuan felt a faint dizziness in his head, his body seeming to pass through a barrier of some kind. Before him lay a bizarre world.
The Netherworld Secret Realm was subterranean, composed of countless underground caverns and karst grottos. It was said that its location within the Native Realm was deep beneath the seabed.
Clusters of bioluminescent mushrooms grew along the cavern walls and ceilings. Though dim, the caves permitted passable vision. To someone like Wei Yuan, whose innate perception was exceptionally powerful, it was like a fish taking to water.
Wei Yuan looked around; no one was in sight nearby.
Entering from different entrances placed cultivators in different sectors of the realm, and even within the same sector, arrival points were randomized.
Seeing that no one was around, Wei Yuan swiftly observed the surrounding topography. The terrain he saw was automatically generated within Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, where a team of mortals tasked with topographical analysis immediately cross-referenced the layout and pinpointed Wei Yuan's position in no time.
In Wei Yuan's consciousness was a three-dimensional map of the secret realm. According to the markers in the projection, he was currently in a corner of the realm, with seven or eight red dots nearby—points the analysts had identified where other Bao family members might appear. Some red dots indicated choke points that anyone in the surrounding area would inevitably pass through.
The three-dimensional model was rendered in pale gray, but areas Wei Yuan saw with his own eyes transformed into full color, becoming clearer and more lifelike while revising the original data.
Within Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, this three-dimensional projection measured several tens of zhang in length and width, and over ten zhang in height. Dozens of people continuously incorporated newly analyzed data into it; a sweep of Wei Yuan's divine sense was enough to understand the meaning of any marker and the data it encompassed. Everything Wei Yuan's divine sense perceived was automatically integrated into the projection.
This real-time map was an approach devised by the mortals after extensive discussion, providing an intuitive, real-time reflection of his surroundings for Wei Yuan to reference in action, while allowing the mortals to craft corresponding plans of operation.
Wei Yuan reviewed the chosen operational plan once more, then reined in his aura and concealed his presence. In an instant, his presence became so faint and indistinct that even if someone brushed shoulders with him, they might fail to notice him.
Meanwhile, inside a great hall outside, several elders were gazing down at projections from within the secret realm. The Bao family had managed the realm for many years and had long since embedded countless surveillance and monitoring treasures linked to a grand formation. At this moment, the center of the hall displayed not only an overview of the secret realm, but also hundreds of individual projections, each corresponding to the field of view of a monitoring treasure.
A Bao family cultivator was advancing through a passage, warily eyeing his surroundings. Suddenly, he heard faint footsteps to his left. Instantly on guard, he looked leftward. Sure enough, within the shadows of the cave wall were several passages, each only wide enough for a single person.
Staring at the left passage, a spirit beast dharma idol materialized above his head, ready for combat. Right at that moment, a small cylinder was abruptly hurled from a cave to his right.
The Bao family cultivator snapped his head around, only for a burst of white light to violently explode before his eyes, momentarily blinding him. Accompanying the blast was a piercing, soul-jarring demonic sound that caused his dharma idol to tremble.
Dizzy and dazzled, the cultivator hurriedly stepped back, unaware that someone was already standing behind him—and brought a club crashing down onto the back of his head!
The strike carried surging Dao power. The Bao family cultivator swayed, then pitched forward and collapsed.
Wei Yuan revealed himself and let out a long breath. The operational plan formulated by the mortals was truly miraculous; in less than a breath, he had neutralized a Dharma Idol cultivator.
Quickly searching the Bao family cultivator, Wei Yuan pocketed a small storage pouch, stripped him of all his magical treasures and robes, listened to the surrounding movement, selected one of the contingency plans, slipped into the shadows, and vanished.
A female Bao family cultivator hurried over. Seeing the unconscious cultivator on the ground, she was startled and rushed forward to aid him.
Yet just as she lifted the male cultivator's upper body, a soft click sounded, and a small cylinder rolled out from behind him. Blinding white light filled her vision, rendering her sightless.
The piercing, soul-shaking screech forced her dharma idol out of her body, and immediately after, a steel club flew in, striking her heavily on the back of the head.
Wei Yuan collected her magical treasures, robe, and storage items as well, selected another follow-up contingency, and disappeared once more.
Soon after, a third Bao family cultivator arrived, drawn by the commotion. At first glance, he saw a man and a woman embracing, their clothes disheveled.
The cultivator hastily turned his head away and said, "Zihua, Chengyu, you two actually hooked up? Fine, hook up if you want, but why be so impatient? Don't you know this area is packed with surveillance treasures? Get up, both of you! Do you want the Grand Elders to watch an erotic show?"
When he finished speaking, there was no reply.
Turning back to look, he finally realized something was amiss with the two and hurried over to check. But he had taken only two steps when his foot stepped on something!
With a roar, a fierce explosion launched him straight into the air!
Fortunately, his physical frame was robust. Suffering only minor injuries, he landed steadily, only to see two small cylinders rolling to a stop right in front of him. Staring at them, he was hit by another wave of blinding white light, his dharma idol shaken violently. Only now did he understand where the sound he had heard earlier came from.
Immediately after, a club struck like a divine dragon from beyond the heavens, knocking him out cold. What looked like a club in Wei Yuan's hand was actually an elongated, rounded pagoda—the Four-Tier Demon Suppressing Pagoda, which excelled at destabilizing the sea of consciousness and shutting down divine sense. Swept in a wide arc against the back of someone's head, it brought them down in a single blow every time.
After dealing with the third Bao family cultivator, Wei Yuan moved him beside the other two and lit a short stick of incense.
This was Sun Yu's Demonic Soul-Eroding Incense. However, when Wei Yuan prepared it the night before, he had intentionally toned down its potency and removed a primary ingredient. While it would still corrode the primordial soul, recovery was possible after resting for a period, unlike Sun Yu's original recipe, which was utterly incurable.
Wei Yuan estimated the effects: if another Bao family cultivator came along, their only choice would be to escort the three out of the secret realm, for the longer they delayed, the deeper the poison would seep. Moreover, the initial symptoms of Demonic Soul-Eroding Incense were terrifying, and no one would dare risk damage to their sea of consciousness. This was effectively eliminating another opponent.
If no one came, then once the incense burned down, it would cause substantial erosion to the trio's dharma idols. They wouldn't die, but they would be unable to fight anyone in the near future and would need a month of quiet convalescence.
Having finished all this, Wei Yuan remembered what the third cultivator had said and searched around.
In one projection, several Grand Elders watched as Wei Yuan's face drew closer and closer. He even pressed one eye up against it to inspect it closely, as if he could see through the image directly into the hall behind it.
The Grand Elders exchanged glances, utterly speechless.
After peering at it for a moment, Wei Yuan finally stepped back, scooped up a lump of mud, and plastered over the surveillance treasure.
Wei Yuan sprinted through the underground caverns, discovering several more surveillance treasures along the way. Without exception, he plastered every single one with mud. As projection after projection went dark, the Grand Elders' expressions grew increasingly grim.
Wei Yuan headed straight for the depths of the secret realm. The Shadowless Flying Marten would only roam near the territory of the Sea Li, or might have scurried over to the Sea Li side entirely. Yet there were no maps for the realm's depths, much less the area controlled by the Sea Li. Dangerous, ferocious beasts also roamed that region, making it perilous in the extreme.
However, only that region suited his operations. The few plans that had caught Wei Yuan's eye all relied on utilizing the indigenous beasts, or even strong practitioners of the Sea Li.
As he ran, Wei Yuan suddenly noticed another passage just a few zhang away. According to the topographical map, this passage belonged to another entrance, though it was unclear which one specifically.
Wei Yuan stopped at once. A stream of water shot from his fingertip, slicing into the cavern wall. In no time, he cut through the rock, opening a connecting passage between the two caves.
Wei Yuan slipped swiftly into the cave on the other side, scanned his surroundings, and manifested a slab of rock to seal the opening he had emerged from.
Wei Yuan examined it carefully, altering the rock's surface until it blended seamlessly with the surrounding wall, before sealing the opening shut. After making a few more preparations, he ventured deeper along this cavern.
A moment later, Wei Yuan's heart stirred as a new image appeared in his consciousness. A cultivator dressed in peculiar attire was hurrying along the passage. Suddenly, he halted, glancing left and right with a puzzled expression.
He instinctively felt as if something was watching him, yet when his divine sense swept the surroundings, it revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Above his head, the faint silhouette of a four-armed warrior with a human torso and a serpent tail surfaced, and he slowed his pace.
Observing his reaction, Wei Yuan grew thoughtful, while several groups of mortals had already begun developing targeted counterstrategies.
Wherever mortals gathered, hidden masterminds and strategic geniuses would inevitably emerge, and Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains was no exception. In the blink of an eye, someone proposed a new plan. Reading it, Wei Yuan was astounded by its sheer brilliance and adopted it immediately.
At the next fork, Wei Yuan used his divine sense to locate a monitoring treasure. Leaping up, he embedded an unremarkable rock in the cavern ceiling beside the treasure, then swiftly departed.
Moments later, a cultivator emerged from a cave. Reaching this fork, his whole body jolted. His dharma idol materialized in an instant as he warily surveyed his surroundings. After searching for quite a while, he finally discovered the monitoring treasure along with a stone that was blatantly suspicious. But after examining them closely for a long time, he concluded that the treasure had been placed in the secret realm by the Bao family. Out of respect for the Bao family, he did nothing to the treasure. By the same token, he did not touch the stone either.
Chapter 395