Chapter 98: The Relic Opens

Before the Gulan Relics appeared, this great canyon at the border of the Jin Kingdom was unknown in the cultivation world; nearby only five Qi Refining families existed: Zhang, Wang, Li, Xiao, Ye.

The relic was first discovered by them, and the people of these five families had already obtained many good things even before the first batch of cultivators entered.

By the time the relic fully appeared, a Foundation Establishment senior cultivator had already emerged among the Xiao clan.

The remaining four great families immediately took the Xiao family as leader and established the Xiao Clan Fortress.

To Wang Ping's right were precisely the people of the Xiao Clan Fortress.

Originally Wang Ping paid little attention to them, but when he vaguely sensed cultivators scrutinizing him, his overbearing divine sense spread out.

Since cultivating the Soul Refining Heart Method, no cultivator of the same level has been able to detect his mental probing; now even switching to divine sense is the same.

"Xiao Ge, that person seems to be the Lan Ming the Soul Refining Palace is looking for!"

The Xiao Clan Fortress party numbered six in total, but one of them was tall and outstanding in demeanor, surrounded by the other five in the center.

The words Wang Ping heard were spoken by a cultivator resembling a young master in a pale blue luxurious robe among them.

"Ye Chen! You don't want to live, at such a close distance you dare to speak softly—are you afraid Foundation Establishment cultivators won't hear?"

Beside him, a senior cultivator about the same age as Ye Chen nervously glanced at Lan Ming, then whispered a reprimand.

After the Xiao clan produced its first Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Zhang clan also produced one, so even though this young man's tone carried a slight reprimand, Ye Chen, besides secretly feeling resentful, dared not say more.

"All right, Zhang He, don't worry! Lan Ming can't hear it—you didn't see that after Elder Ye finished speaking, he didn't make the slightest move!"

The cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining in the middle is obviously from the Xiao family, though he is somewhat arrogant.

Zhang He, upon hearing that, asked in surprise: "Xiao Ge, why is that?"

Xiao Ge said somewhat proudly: "I have a secret treasure given by the Soul Refining Palace here; as long as it is activated, it can block the divine sense probing of Foundation Establishment cultivators—if a Foundation Establishment cultivator forcibly probes, it will cause the jade pendant to shatter! Now, even if you curse him a son of a bitch, he… uh…"

Xiao Ge was enjoying himself, but suddenly his vision went dark, as if an invisible weight pressed down from above, rendering him unable to speak.

This situation made Xiao Ge somewhat frightened; he seemed to recall the feeling when he first saw that young master of the Soul Refining Palace, being overwhelmed by his divine sense.

Fortunately, this feeling came on suddenly and left just as quickly.

Whoosh!

Xiao Ge let out a long breath, suppressing the earlier surprise; for some reason, he furtively glanced toward where Lan Ming was.

Yet he saw the other side suddenly look over, frightening him so he immediately turned his head; though he usually prided himself on being unflappable and broad-minded, his heart rate actually quickened a bit.

"What's wrong with you, Xiao Ge? You look awful!"

The others also noticed Xiao Ge's condition and hastily showed concern.

"It's fine! After we go in, I'll first tell Young Master Hunyue the news that Lan Ming… senior has appeared here!"

A flash of strange light appeared in Wang Ping's eyes; an extremely tiny black insect flew out from his body, silently landing on Xiao Ge, then gradually turned transparent, and after two breaths the insect completely vanished.

That black insect was precisely the larva of the Soul-devouring Butterfly that had emerged.

Over the past three years, Wang Ping took a drop of Soul Essence, diluted it tenfold, then administered it in batches for them to absorb; thus, these eight Soul-devouring Insects were of exceptional quality upon birth.

They are somewhat ferocious; if he had not beforehand dripped his own blood onto each Soul-devouring Butterfly egg and possessed a secret method to control spirit insects, these Soul-devouring Butterflies might even gnaw at his soul.

Regarding these three people, Wang Ping paid little attention, only placing a single Soul-devouring Butterfly on the one called Xiao Ge.

But he was somewhat wary of the cultivator called Hunyue.

Could it be that they came for the Qingdi Changsheng Gong?

Wang Ping had no clue about this; next he would just watch the Soul-devouring Butterfly.

After waiting another two double-hours, the sky had darkened and the silver moon hung high.

The previously utterly tranquil canyon suddenly speckled with white light.

Wang Ping watched this scene with interest; it was still his first time seeing how a secret realm opens.

The white light increased more and more, and at this time the moonlight from above was also drawn down.

The entire canyon, over twenty li in length, was illuminated as if it were daytime.

This phenomenon lasted half an hour before completely ceasing; at that moment, Wang Ping's keen perception sensed a strange fluctuation arising within the canyon below.

Is this what is called a spatial fluctuation?

Wang Ping was quite curious about this; few cultivators comprehend the Great Dao of time and space.

So-called relics or secret realms are mostly located within small worlds.

They are either spaces opened up by great supernatural cultivators themselves, or refined from a spatial fragment found by someone.

Most secret realms belong to the latter case.

Because cultivators capable of opening spaces with great supernatural powers are rarely seen in the lower realms.

Another case is setting up a spatial isolation grand formation to completely seal off a region.

Such a grand formation cannot be laid except by Nascent Soul-level major powers.

This ancient relic has been proven to be a region of five hundred li radius isolated from the present world by a spatial isolation grand formation.

The outer periphery of the relic refers to the area one walks inward from the edge for one hundred fifty li.

The inner region refers to the area extending inward from the one hundred fifty li mark.

As for the core region, no cultivator has yet explored it.

For Foundation Establishment cultivators, the outer region already holds nothing worth noting, so now most Foundation Establishment cultivators have entered the inner region; yet in this discovery of the relic, up to now not a single Golden Core cultivator has appeared, which is truly strange.

At first some cultivators worried, but the Gulan Relics have been open for three months with no Golden Core cultivator arriving, indicating that none will come.

Although this situation leaves many cultivators puzzled, it is undoubtedly a good thing.

"The relic has opened! Let's go! Enter!"

"It is said that the Gulan Relics contain many rare spiritual medicines and herbs from the outside world, which can be used to refine many lost pills. Many cultivators have obtained spiritual medicines inside, and after successfully refining them they have produced cultivation-enhancing pills, taking another step forward on the path of Qi Refining Great Perfection."

"Hehe! I've also heard that; besides that, the spiritual energy inside is astonishing—even if you gain nothing else, meditative cultivation there is equivalent to cultivating on a second-grade spirit vein."

"With such benefits! Isn't it already overcrowded in there? The more people, the less spiritual energy to go around!"

"Hahaha! Don't worry, there won't be that many cultivators coming; it's said that several other Gulan Relics have also appeared elsewhere, with so many relics opening, all cultivators will be diverted, so there won't be too many people inside!"

How many of the remaining places have multiple ancient Lan relics been opened?

Thinking again of the matter concerning the Azure Cloud Mountain Range, Wang Ping suddenly felt that the western lowlands were likely to witness a major event.

With doubts, Wang Ping entered the relic, and after passing through that light gate, it seemed as if he had crossed into another world.

The pure spiritual energy that came toward him was incongruous with the outside world; Wang Ping sensed it a little, then slightly shook his head—the spiritual energy was indeed thick, yet somewhat lifeless!