Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 163 - 169: Picking Up a Bargain

”But he was still not satisfied, and then Old Man Bai shifted his gaze towards a group of Loose Cultivators, saying, ʼIf you want to enter the Secret Realm, itʼs not impossible!ʼ”

”But when you come out, you must hand over seventy percent of your harvest!”

The Loose Cultivators had varying expressions, some frowning, some harboring ulterior thoughts, only to hear Old Man Bai continue, ”Donʼt think you can hide Spiritual Objects and we wonʼt be able to find them.”

They had ways to check.

Li Zhirui didnʼt immediately step forward, but waited a while, after several cultivators agreed, he also spoke up, ”Iʼll go!”

Even though the Secret Realm was of a high grade and likely contained greater dangers, as well as stronger Golden Core cultivators and third-order Devil Beasts, and they had to turn over seventy percent of the harvest to the Profound Ice Sect, a large number of Loose Cultivators were willing to take the risk.

If they could come out alive with some gains, it would undoubtedly be of considerable help to their paths.

In the end, out of several thousand Loose Cultivators, nearly half were willing to enter the Secret Realm!

”Donʼt be too excessive!” Zi Jing said with an unsightly expression.

On the side of the Devil Race, only third-order Devil Beasts could be sent in. Though powerful, their numbers were very few.

On the side of the cultivators, the high-end combat strength was not much different from that of the Devil Race, plus there was a large supplement of lower-level cultivators, which was very disadvantageous for them.

Therefore, no matter what, Zi Jing would not agree to Great Void Tao letting so many cultivators in, even though he had just lost a battle.

”Late and mid Foundation Establishment stay behind, the rest can leave,” Old Man Bai also knew not to cross the other partyʼs line, so he eliminated the cultivators step by step, eventually only leaving more than sixty late-stage Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators, including Li Zhirui.

”Just you lot, go on in.”

From the battle between the two Nascent Souls to now, only a short quarter of an hour had passed.

As for the opening of the Secret Realmʼs gateway, it had only been half a quarter of an hour.

Li Zhirui followed the main force into the Secret Realm, without any strange phenomena occurring, only feeling a moment of darkness before his eyes, but it soon brightened up.

When Li Zhirui opened his eyes, he saw that he was now in a dark and dense forest, surrounded by towering ancient trees, and could hear the calls of various animals, indicating that it was full of life.

The moment his consciousness regathered, Li Zhirui immediately brought out the Water Cloud Pearl, cautiously on guard, extending his Divine Sense bit by bit outward.

”The Spiritual Energy in the Secret Realm is not inferior to that of a third-order Spirit Vein. Itʼs amazing how the ancient cultivators managed to do this,” Li Zhirui exclaimed.

You should know, the place he was now in wasnʼt on a Spirit Vein, it was just a very ordinary place in the Secret Realm.

Moreover...

Li Zhirui concentrated to sense the Spirit Light in his Sea of Consciousness; the moment his Divine Sense touched it, he understood what this Spirit Light was and its purpose.

It was a Compass guiding them to leave, and it also indicated the time the Secret Realm would close.

If they couldnʼt leave the Secret Realm by the deadline, they would have to stay inside, waiting for the next emergence of the Secret Realm.

Itʼs just that by that time, thereʼs no telling whether youʼd still be alive.

Speaking of which, both the Profound Ice Sect and the Devil Race should have ways to fixate the Secret Realm for future slow development of methods and strength, but neither side would allow the other to set up formations, or wouldnʼt that mean losing the initiative?

Unless both parties could sit down amicably to discuss this matter and consider joining forces to set up the formations and develop the Secret Realm together.

As for the hatred between the human and devil races? In the face of immense benefits, whatʼs that hatred worth.

However, such matters obviously couldnʼt be resolved in a short period of time, and in order not to miss out on this Secret Realm, they had no choice but to jointly explore it, which also provided loose cultivators like Li Zhirui with opportunities.

Moreover, through this exploration, they could gain a deeper understanding of the Secret Realm, and then decide whether to invest and develop it further.

After all, it wasnʼt the first time they had encountered a Secret Realm with a high rank that, in fact, contained no Spiritual Objects but merely an empty third-tier Spirit Field, which was of no significant value to a major power like the Profound Ice Sect.

More importantly, the precious Boundary Fixing Stone used to stabilize the Secret Realm was not something to be wasted on a mere third-tier Spirit Field.

But then again!

Li Zhirui didnʼt detect any danger nearby and his tense heart relaxed a little, but he didnʼt retract the Water Cloud Pearl and continued to carefully explore the vicinity with his Divine Sense.

Whether it was good or bad luck, he couldnʼt tell—but half an hour after entering the Secret Realm, he encountered neither danger nor any Spiritual Objects.

Such an eerie situation only increased Li Zhiruiʼs anxiety, as it was very likely indicative that he was in the territory of a powerful creature!

Li Zhirui knew that wandering aimlessly could very likely lead to encountering that creature, but staying put was equally dangerous, so he chose a direction and hoped to quickly leave the forest.

Boom!

Suddenly, an explosion sounded off to the left front of Li Zhirui, and the air filled with a faint oppressive force. He realized this was a good opportunity to leave the forest and immediately quickened his pace towards it.

About half an hour later, he finally left the woods and arrived at a desolate plain.

”Damn it! Why are they running towards me?”

Before Li Zhirui could enjoy his relief for long, he heard a very close roar of anger, looked up, and saw a rainbow light flying towards him.

Even Gold Core cultivators had to flee for their lives, so how could Li Zhirui delay? He used his fastest speed to fly forward, hoping to shake them off.

But Li Zhirui was bound to be disappointed. At first, the Gold Core cultivator had simply stumbled upon him by chance, but when he saw Li Zhirui, his eyes lit up and he sped up his pace.

In the face of danger, sometimes itʼs not necessary to run fast—as long as someone is behind you, thatʼs enough. And that was exactly what he was counting on!

As long as Li Zhirui could delay for a moment, he would be able to escape successfully and lose the Devil Beast chasing him.

”If you manage to leave the Secret Realm alive, I shall reward you handsomely!” The Gold Core cultivator shouted this as he flew overhead, then accelerated away.

Li Zhiruiʼs expression turned extremely ugly as he felt the danger drawing closer behind him. He activated a Smoke Talisman, used the thick smoke to obscure vision, and dashed into space.

Roar!

The third-tier Devil Beast found it odd but didnʼt pay it much mind, continuing to chase the Gold Core cultivator.

”Could it be that the Foundation Establishment got squashed to death just like that?” The Gold Core cultivator pondered, confused by the relentless pursuit of the Devil Beast behind him.

But now was not the time to think about it, ignoring the rapid depletion of mana, he flew quickly away into the distance.

After hiding in the space, Li Zhirui came out again shortly after. This time, instead of fleeing outwards, he ran towards the forest.

Following his memory, he arrived at the place where the battle first broke out. Not long after, Li Zhirui laid eyes on the Spiritual Objects guarded by the Devil Beast.

”This is…”

Li Zhirui stared at the bunch of golden glistening Lingzhi in front of him, his expression froze, and then was filled with shock and ecstasy.