*Crash!*
Gales, thunder, heavenly fire, blizzard...
Countless celestial phenomena struck in turns. The earth shook, the mountains trembled, and monstrous waves churned.
Before such terrifying celestial phenomena, even the small lake could not maintain its calm, appearing exceedingly fragile.
The shelter beneath the lake had been reinforced and repaired by countless cultivators, having existed for who knew how many years. Qin Sang had taken refuge here many times, and the shelter had always stood firm as Mount Tai. This was the first time he had ever witnessed such a scene.
He and Yunyouzi were no longer in the mood for idle chatter. Pouring all their power into maintaining the shelter's restrictions, Qin Sang said with a solemn expression, "Over the years, the celestial phenomena seem to have grown increasingly fierce. This one is several times more powerful than those before. Fellow Daoists currently deep in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield will probably suffer terribly..."
The deeper one went into the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, the more unstable space became, and the more horrific the destructive power of celestial phenomena grew.
An ordinary shelter would likely find it hard to withstand the onslaught of this phenomenon.
"This is an omen that a spirit tide approaches."
Yunyouzi gazed through the lake water with profound eyes, looking at the dark clouds, lightning, gales, and torrential rain above. In a voice tinged with emotion, he said, "It is said that only those who have witnessed the eruption of a spirit tide truly know what it means to possess power capable of destroying heaven and earth..."
"A spirit tide?"
Qin Sang paused slightly. Over the years, he had indeed heard people mention the existence of spirit tides.
Supposedly, a spirit tide was also a kind of celestial phenomenon within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, but it was by far the most terrifying. When a spirit tide descended, no place in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield was safe. Unless one was supremely confident in their strength and luck, the best course of action was to leave the battlefield and retreat behind the Seven Heroes Passes, waiting until the spirit tide ended before returning to explore.
Fortunately, several centuries often separated each outbreak of a spirit tide; most cultivators would never witness one in their entire lifetimes.
A spirit tide brought absolute destruction, yet it could also bring opportunity. Many secret realm relic abodes were battered by the spirit tide, damaging their restrictions and destabilizing their spatial barriers, which caused them to be exposed amidst the chaos. Those were unlooted secret realm relic abodes, containing ancient immortal legacies and countless priceless treasures.
Qin Sang lifted his head. Following Yunyouzi's gaze, he saw the lightning thinning and fissures opening in the dark clouds, allowing beams of sunlight to pierce through. He knew the celestial phenomenon was beginning to weaken.
He calculated in his mind: if a spirit tide truly appeared, it would be best to retreat into Xuanlu Pass ahead of time. After all, staying inside a secret realm was not necessarily safe, and with his current strength, he dared not move about the Ancient Immortal Battlefield in the face of a spirit tide.
As for secret realm relic abodes, only someone blessed with heaven-defying fortune could ever stumble upon one. Rather than pinning hopes on such illusory prospects, it was better to cultivate honestly.
Still, Qin Sang also understood that an omen was merely an early sign. It might take several decades or even a century before the spirit tide truly arrived. Worrying about it now was somewhat like borrowing trouble.
In an instant, the clouds dispersed and the rain cleared, leaving a boundless clear sky.
The blazing sun shone bright and fair, and the outside world became utterly serene, as if the apocalyptic scene from moments before had never even occurred.
Qin Sang and Yunyouzi repaired the damaged restrictions in the shelter, then boarded the spirit bamboo flying boat and flew toward the Tianjing Secret Realm. With the end of the celestial phenomenon, the cloud beasts had returned to their nests; the few scattered cloud beasts they encountered along the way were easily dealt with.
In less than two days, they arrived at the entrance to the Tianjing Secret Realm.
Qin Sang led Yunyouzi inside the secret realm. Standing by the entrance, he sent a guard to summon Teng Nan. Not long after the guard left, three streaks of light suddenly came speeding out from the depths of the secret realm.
Two of the streaks of light looked somewhat familiar. After pondering a moment, Qin Sang recalled the identities of their masters, and a look of surprise surfaced on his face.
The lights arrived in a flash, and three figures descended before them.
The one in the lead was Senior Brother Teng Nan. After greeting Qin Sang, he walked over to Yunyouzi to inspect his Shadow Guard token. The other two people were none other than Mu Yifeng and Yunqiong Sanren!
"Junior Brother Qin, you didn't expect it to be us, did you?"
Mu Yifeng laughed heartily, clapping Qin Sang's shoulder warmly. "I heard long ago that you'd been holed up in this wretched place for over twenty years, but I never had time to visit. Your aura has grown much steadier than before, Junior Brother Qin. That fellow Teng hasn't mistreated you, has he? If you have any grievances, just say the word—your senior brother will definitely vent your anger for you!"
Teng Nan turned around with a wry smile. "Senior Brother Mu, you're not being fair. How could I dare mistreat Junior Brother Qin? The cave dwelling I arranged for him is the finest in the entire secret realm."
"My meager progress is hardly worth mentioning. I have yet to congratulate Senior Brother Mu on breaking through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment! And Fellow Daoist Yunqiong is on the verge of breaking through as well. Junior Brother is truly envious to the extreme!"
Qin Sang cupped his hands, offering courteous praise.
Since their parting at Gubei Town, more than twenty years had passed without them seeing each other. He had not expected Mu Yifeng to have already broken through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and Yunqiong Sanren's aura had also grown considerably stronger. As long as she found an opportune moment, she could immediately break through the bottleneck and step into the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.
Qin Sang had not expected that upon returning to the Tianjing Secret Realm, the first people he would see were them. A thought struck him, and he asked in surprise, "Senior Brother Mu, Fellow Daoist Yunqiong, have you been assigned a mission? Could it be that you're traveling together with Senior Yunyouzi?"
Both of them were Shadow Guard members, and their sudden arrival at the Tianjing Secret Realm coincided with Yunyouzi receiving a summons to rendezvous here. Unless they had accepted the same mission, such a coincidence was impossible.
"This must be Fellow Daoist Yunyouzi? A great honor to meet you at last!"
Mu Yifeng cupped his hands in greeting toward Yunyouzi, though his tone was naturally not as warm as it was with Qin Sang. After exchanging pleasantries, he turned back to Qin Sang with an enigmatic look. "Not just us—Junior Brother Qin will be joining us as well."
Qin Sang froze upon hearing this. Five years had already passed, so it was indeed time for him to undertake another mission, but he had received no notification. Puzzled, he asked, "Senior Brother Qi didn't contact me..."
"I told Senior Brother Qi not to disturb you," Mu Yifeng chuckled. "This is a tremendous stroke of good fortune! We wanted to give you a surprise. Junior Brother Qin, do you still remember Fellow Daoist Yin, who died in the mine shaft twenty years ago...?"
Listening to Mu Yifeng explain in detail, Qin Sang finally understood the whole story, and a look of delight spread across his face.
As it turned out, after they reported the anomaly in the mine shaft twenty years ago, experts from Yuankong Town had entered the mine to investigate. In the end, they actually discovered a demonic nest within the fissure where Yin Xingge had perished.
The demonic nest was in fact a hidden cavern connecting to the ore vein, exposed only when Yin Xingge dug down into it from above.
For reasons unknown, countless demonic cultivators' corpses were piled inside. In the deepest reaches lay the corpses of Core Formation stage cultivators, which had transformed into exceptionally powerful humanoid cloud beasts. Fortunately, the experts who entered the mine back then had been cautious enough; otherwise, the casualties would have been catastrophic.
After thoroughly clearing the demonic nest, everyone realized these humanoid cloud beasts were very likely demonic cultivators from ten thousand years ago. Back then, Xuanlu Pass had still been under the demonic sects' control, which explained why demonic cultivators had been active there.
In the end, on the body of one of those Core Formation stage demonic cultivators, they actually discovered a clue pointing to a secret realm.
Having been driven out by the righteous path, the demonic sects naturally would not hand over the secret realms under their control willingly. With the passage of time, the demonic sects failed to recapture Xuanlu Pass, and those in the know gradually passed away. Thus, those secret realms remained buried beneath the earth once more, pearls gathering dust, unknown to the world.
Chapter 224