Tianjing Secret Realm

"Just for a cave dwelling?" Yuyangzi looked at him with an expression of bewilderment. "Does Junior Brother Qin truly intend to remain in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield to cultivate indefinitely?" Qin Sang nodded. "Junior Brother Qin, you must think this through. South of Xuanlu Pass lie endless snow-capped ranges, where our sect has cordoned off several spirit veins specifically for disciples to cultivate. The Ancient Immortal Battlefield does hold boundless opportunities, but it is no place for a prolonged stay. Those secret realm relic abodes are all exceedingly remote, far from any town or cultivation market. Whenever you urgently need something during your routine cultivation, purchasing it is not only troublesome, but outrageously expensive. If something goes wrong, you can cry out to heaven and earth, but no one will answer. With no clear benefit, why bother cultivating in such a place?" Out of fellow-disciple sentiment and a fear that Qin Sang might lead himself astray, Yuyangzi offered these few words of counsel. Qin Sang was naturally well aware of all these drawbacks. That was precisely why he dared not spend his spirit stones recklessly, intending to stock up on essential supplies such as healing pills and cloud tools before departing. "Thank you for your candid advice, Senior Brother. I understand everything you have said," Qin Sang replied with a wry smile. "Unfortunately, the demands of my cultivation leave me no choice." "I see." Yuyangzi nodded, no longer finding it strange. Shaohua Mountain possessed a collection of nearly a hundred cultivation methods, encompassing all manner of peculiar arts. Many were incomplete fragments unearthed from the ruins of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, which even the Golden Core Masters of the sect could not fully comprehend. The choice of cultivation method bore directly upon whether one could achieve Core Formation and how far one could travel down the path of cultivation. Making the wrong choice was truly a misstep that would cause eternal regret—no mere figure of speech. Within the sect, several methods pointed straight toward the grand dao of the Divine Severing stage, their viability well proven. For the sake of prudence, the vast majority of disciples followed the paths already trodden by their predecessors. Only a tiny minority dared to strike out on an unconventional path and select those fragmented methods. Consequently, more than half of the methods preserved by Shaohua Mountain had never been cultivated by anyone. Yuyangzi furrowed his brows in contemplation. Martial Uncle Che had entrusted this matter to him, and Qin Sang was a fellow sect brother; he could hardly dismiss him offhand. Yet arranging such a placement was indeed no simple feat. The sect placed immense importance on these secret realms. Some were tied to the very lifeblood of the sect, their significance rivaling that of Shaohua Mountain's main gate. Even as a garrison commander of Xuanlu Pass who had stayed here for decades, Yuyangzi knew the location of only one secret realm. After pondering for a while, Yuyangzi's eyes suddenly lit up. "Junior Brother Qin, an opportunity to garrison a secret realm is something that can only be stumbled upon by chance, but there is a roundabout solution: using merit points to rent a cave dwelling within the Tianjing Secret Realm..." So-called merit points were a quantification of the contributions made by members of the Xuanlu Guard, Shadow Guard, and similar forces during their missions, measured according to the scale of their achievements. Disciples could exchange merit points for cultivation resources, among which were many rare treasures harvested from secret realms. These items offered immense aid to one's cultivation and were deliberately provided by the major sects as incentives, unobtainable outside even if one possessed spirit stones. This was also why so many chose to surrender their carefree liberty and accept such constraints to join the two guards. The Tianjing Secret Realm was situated in the inner zone, far removed from other cultivation markets and towns. It had been jointly discovered by the major sects, its resources were divided among them, and each sent personnel to garrison it. Because the spirit materials and spirit herbs produced within the Tianjing Secret Realm were not exceptionally rare, strict secrecy was unnecessary. Later, the Tianjing Secret Realm was opened to the Xuanlu Guard and the Shadow Guard; when carrying out missions in that region, they could use it as a forward base, retreating into the realm to seek help or take refuge whenever they ran into danger. There were vacant cave dwellings inside the Tianjing Secret Realm. If Qin Sang joined either guard, his status would grant him legitimate grounds to borrow one. The Xuanlu Guard was generally forbidden to leave Xuanlu Pass, leaving Qin Sang with only one choice: joining the Shadow Guard. "The garrison commander of the Tianjing Secret Realm is Senior Brother Teng Nan of Shangyuan Qingjing Palace. I am fairly well acquainted with him, so I can write a letter on your behalf. As long as Junior Brother Qin is willing to share a portion of your merit points with Senior Brother Teng Nan, he gains an income of merit points while the secret realm gains an additional Foundation Establishment combatant—why would he refuse? The merit points earned from each Shadow Guard mission are exceptionally generous, more than enough to sustain your continuous cultivation." Feeling that he had resolved a thorny dilemma, Yuyangzi spoke with a hint of self-satisfaction. The jade slip had contained an introduction to merit points, and Qin Sang had already set his sights on them. While merit points were indeed exceedingly precious, cultivation came first for him at present. According to Senior Brother Yuyangzi, because the danger within the Tianjing Secret Realm was low, it had not suffered damage during exploration, leaving its restrictions almost completely intact. Although the restrictions of the secret realms where cultivation markets were located remained usable, they were all riddled with holes, far inferior to those of the Tianjing Secret Realm, and their cave dwellings were correspondingly a grade lower. With his Foundation Establishment cultivation, Qin Sang had no small requirements for the spiritual energy of his dwelling. Now that he knew of the Tianjing Secret Realm, there was no need to bypass what lay near at hand in search of something distant. The only drawback was that the Tianjing Secret Realm lay in a remote location, making buying and selling goods inconvenient in the future. However, Qin Sang had intended to undergo closed-door cultivation anyway, so the impact would be minimal. After questioning Yuyangzi in detail about the circumstances of the Tianjing Secret Realm, Qin Sang made his decision on the spot. Cupping his hands, he said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. I am willing to join the Shadow Guard." Yuyangzi clapped his hands and laughed. "It is wonderful that Junior Brother Qin can be so decisive! Come with me at once; let us go see Senior Brother Qi together." Qin Sang followed behind Yuyangzi toward the long passageway at the back of the hall. Along the way, he listened as Yuyangzi introduced Senior Brother Qi's background. Senior Brother Qi's true name was Qi Yuanshou. His master had been a now-deceased Golden Core Master of Shaohua Mountain. Just like Qin Sang, he had come to Xuanlu Pass right after stepping into Foundation Establishment, carving out a formidable reputation for himself across the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. To Qin Sang's astonishment, this man was actually an expert of the False Core stage! The so-called False Core stage referred to cultivators who had reached the peak of late Foundation Establishment, where their cultivation could progress no further. They had begun preparing for Core Formation, yet for various reasons were temporarily unable to forge a Golden Core. An expert of the False Core stage was a cut above other late Foundation Establishment cultivators. One more step forward, and their Golden Core would be fully achieved, elevating them into an expert of the Core Formation stage. According to Yuyangzi, Qi Yuanshou was the disciple with the greatest prospect of Core Formation among all the Foundation Establishment disciples currently in Shaohua Mountain. He now held the position of an elder of Xuanlu Pass, overseeing the affairs of the Shadow Guard. Although Xuanlu Pass had Golden Core Masters, they did not concern themselves with mundane affairs. Business was decided collectively by the Council of Elders, whose seats were largely filled by late Foundation Establishment experts from the major sects. Among them were not only Shaohua Mountain, Shangyuan Qingjing Palace, and the Taiyi Dan Sect, but also many sects with ancient heritages that lacked a Nascent Soul Patriarch to preside over them and thus fell outside the ranks of the Eight Righteous Sects. Banded together, their strength was not to be underestimated, and they carried a certain degree of influence. As one of the two guards of Xuanlu Pass, the Shadow Guard could not be left under Qi Yuanshou's sole authority; several other elders stood on equal footing with him. Qi Yuanshou was Qin Sang's fellow sect senior brother. By joining the Shadow Guard, Qin Sang had no alternative but to place himself under Qi Yuanshou's wing. This was by no means a bad thing for Qin Sang. With Qi Yuanshou watching over him from above, he would not have to worry about being inexplicably undermined or assigned to suicidal missions.