Chapter 337: Chapter Eight: The Dark Sacred Realm

This ancient, simple warship flew for another half day before finally coming into view of Yulan City.

“What a formidable cultivation city,” the elder said, gazing at Yulan City; in his observation, nearly all its myriad colorful arrays had been laid bare, yet the most unassuming Chaos Color Array exerted a crushing pressure upon him—“No wonder Brother Luo Feng could turn the tide. Merely from this array, one can sense his extraordinary nature.”

The winged woman and the red-robed youth also noticed the Chaos Color Array and both felt its threat.

“Let’s go inside and take a look.”

The elder said.

The three of them retracted their warship and entered through the city gate; the guards never noticed them, nor did the Yulan City arrays detect their presence.

“After just enduring a war, Yulan City has already returned to normal so quickly.”

“It also shows the city’s losses were minor.” The three flew through the city, observing with keen interest.

Suddenly—

Two figures stepped out from a blurred rift in the heavens and appeared ahead: one was the Master of Yuanxiang Hall, the other, naturally, was Luo Feng.

“Brother Boxiu, you’ve arrived without warning—how could we not have come to greet you?” the Master of Yuanxiang Hall smiled.

“Yuanxiang.”

The elder smiled warmly, delighted to see an old friend. His gaze fell upon the black-clothed, black-haired man beside Yuanxiang—the now-deepened, unfathomable aura of Luo Feng, each thread of which carried the essence of the Dao of Birth and Death.

Cultivation is like this: the more profound one becomes, the more every aspect of oneself resonates with the flavor of the Dao one cultivates.

Even one’s own image contains the mysteries of the Dao.

“Brother Luo Feng,” the Master of Yuanxiang Hall said, “let me introduce you—this is Elder Boxiu, a practitioner of the True Witch Lineage. In strength, he surpasses even my peak. He’s practically my half-teacher.”

“Yuanxiang, we learn from each other,” the elder smiled. When they trained together, they naturally exchanged insights, refining their respective cultivation systems.

“This is Bai Yin, the Divine Emperor,” Yuanxiang Hall’s Master added.

The winged woman smiled and nodded to Luo Feng; in the Dark Sacred Realm, this scene alone would astonish many cultivators. Bai Yin, the Divine Emperor, was famed for her cold aloofness—few cultivators in the entire Dark Sacred Realm could elicit even a smile from her.

Aside from a handful of closest friends, she rarely acknowledged beings of her own level.

“This is Chi Zheng, the Divine Emperor,” Yuanxiang Hall’s Master chuckled. “In close combat, Chi Zheng can kill a Superlimit-class Low-grade Hunyuan Life with bare hands.”

The red-robed youth smiled. “I can’t manage that—I can’t defeat four Superlimit-class beings alone.”

All three held deep respect for Luo Feng.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you three,” Luo Feng replied courteously. “You’ve traveled far—shall we proceed to the Elder Hall?”

“By all means,” the three elders replied with great pleasure.

Soon, under Luo Feng and Yuanxiang Hall’s Master’s guidance, the three cultivators arrived at the Elder Hall.

As the core of Yulan City, receiving guests in the Elder Hall was the highest form of respect.

“I heard Brother Luo Feng has slain the Heart-Deluding Worm?” the elder said as he sat. “We accepted this mission—we’d like to confirm the corpse first.”

Luo Feng nodded, flipping his hand—the corpse of the Heart-Deluding Worm floated beside him.

The elder, the winged woman, and the red-robed youth studied it closely, swiftly perceiving every internal and external detail, spotting the cracked Life Core, and confirming the mission’s completion.

“Brother Luo Feng, please take back the corpse,” the elder smiled. “We’ve earned half the battle merits with ease.”

“Given the Heart-Deluding Worm’s cunning, by the time we arrived, its mother and offspring would’ve scattered to countless dangerous regions of the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm. Tracking them down wouldn’t be easy,” the red-robed youth added.

Luo Feng had killed it swiftly—delaying would’ve only brought complications.

“Brother Luo Feng has amassed a large quantity of Low-grade Hunyuan Life corpses,” the elder said. “In the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, no one can afford to buy so many.”

“In Yulan City, even a single Superlimit-class corpse is rarely purchasable,” Yuanxiang Hall’s Master agreed.

A Superlimit-class corpse has too many uses—even a drop of its blood is priceless. The entire corpse is worth roughly ten billion Hunyuan Crystals. Only exceedingly rare factions can afford it.

“But in the Dark Sacred Realm, even if Brother Luo Feng’s spoils multiplied tenfold, many factions could still afford them,” the red-robed youth laughed. “And only in the Dark Sacred Realm can one acquire resources truly suited to oneself.”

Luo Feng conceded.

His spoils this time were immense—a vast fortune indeed. In the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, the resources he could purchase had become exceedingly scarce.

The precious treasures suited to him remained only the Indestructible Heart and the Palm Realm—he could not acquire any others.

“I’ve heard the Dark Sacred Realm has a large Hunyuan Hall?” Luo Feng asked.

“Yes,” said the winged woman, Bai Yin. “The large Hunyuan Hall in the Dark Sacred Realm is even larger than Yulan City. Inside, you’ll find everything imaginable—countless corpses of High-grade Hunyuan Lives, even seven complete World-grade Hunyuan Life corpses. Many living High-grade Hunyuan Lives are imprisoned within the Hall.”

“We can observe those imprisoned High-grade Hunyuan Lives up close.”

“And if you have enough battle merits, you can exchange them for a Hunyuan prisoner—a High-grade Hunyuan Life whose power has been utterly sealed,” the winged woman said.

“They must be completely sealed, or they’ll easily kill cultivators,” the elder said. “I’ve long wished to exchange for a Hunyuan prisoner to study, but it’s far too expensive.”

The winged woman added: “The Hunyuan Hall holds countless complete bloodlines. Superlimit-class bloodlines are worthless there! Anyone with ambition usually exchanges for ‘High-grade Hunyuan Life Bloodlines,’ and some even exchange for ‘World-grade Hunyuan Bloodlines.’ In the Dark Sacred Realm, we know of two who successfully obtained World-grade Hunyuan Bloodlines.”

“Countless bloodlines, countless treasures, countless lineages, countless cultivation opportunities—all can be exchanged.”

“In the Hunyuan Hall, battle merits can exchange for anything. Hunyuan Crystals can buy only a fraction of items.”

Luo Feng listened, his heart filled with longing.

His cultivation path involved studying countless bloodlines.

Only in the Dark Sacred Realm could he gather enough Superlimit-class bloodlines—and even higher-tier ones.

“Brother Luo Feng, with your strength, you’re ready to enter the Dark Sacred Realm,” the elder said. “The Nine Rivers Sacred Realm holds no threat to you anymore. But in the Dark Sacred Realm, danger is far greater—and so are the resources. You’ve reached such strength without ever going there; once you enter, you may advance further, reaching the Invincible level.”

“Invincible?” Luo Feng asked. “I’ve heard the Invincible level is almost never seen in the Dark Sacred Realm.”

“They are summoned away.”

The red-robed youth sighed with envy. “Once one reaches the Invincible level, Elder Yuan and the others appear to guide them away.”

“Those who are summoned almost always escape the cage,” the winged woman said, her eyes filled with longing.

“Escape the cage,” Luo Feng breathed, stunned.

He longed for it deeply.

Without breaking the shackles, without escaping the cage, one remains confined within the Source World, the myriad worlds, and all other realms. Only by escaping the cage can one’s essence transform, allowing true freedom in the boundless, infinite Hunyuan space.

“What exactly is the Invincible level?” Luo Feng asked.

The three elders and Yuanxiang Hall’s Master, having heard this question before, hesitated slightly.

“Mastering two and a half Hunyuan Dao paths qualifies as the peak level of the Dark Sacred Realm,” the elder said. “If one’s strength surpasses even that peak by a full tier, one may be called Invincible.”

“Becoming Invincible is extremely difficult,” the winged woman said. “Even those with extraordinary talent who master three and a half Hunyuan Dao paths rarely achieve a qualitative transformation—they’re not truly Invincible. Some exchange for World-grade Hunyuan Bloodlines to unlock deeper bloodline power, yet still dare not claim they’ve reached the Invincible level.”

Nearby, Yuanxiang Hall’s Master added: “Luo Feng, among the two cultivators in the Dark Sacred Realm who obtained World-grade Hunyuan Bloodlines, one is Divine Emperor Ji Ke—his strength is only slightly superior to ours. The other, Elder Mo Jia, delved deeper into his bloodline’s power and was taken away by Elder Yuan and the others—he’s said to have escaped the cage.”

“There are three universally recognized paths to Invincibility.”

The elder said: “First, the mind and will escape the cage! With sheer terrifying willpower, one becomes unstoppable. Before him, we have no resistance.”

“Second, advance further through bloodline power.”

“Third, fuse the two half-Hunyuan Dao paths you’ve cultivated into one—this too brings qualitative transformation.”

“The later the path, the harder it becomes.”

The red-robed youth added: “In the history of the Dark Sacred Realm, those who reached Invincibility were almost always those whose minds and wills escaped the cage. We know of only one who achieved it through bloodline power. As for the third path? We’ve never heard of it in the Dark Sacred Realm.”

“It likely exists in other world clusters,” the winged woman said. “The Hunyuan Hall clearly records this method. For cultivators, the third path is the hardest—but also the highest in potential.”

The elder nodded: “The deeper one’s Dao foundation, the higher one’s ceiling. The third path is the path of solid foundation.”

“Thank you all for your guidance,” Luo Feng said—he had gained much insight.

These four before him were all peak-level beings of the Dark Sacred Realm, with vast knowledge, deepening Luo Feng’s understanding of his future path.

His Dao of Birth and Death had already reached Divine Emperor Late Stage; his displayed strength surpassed that of cultivators who mastered two and a half Hunyuan Dao paths—but overall, he still belonged to the same broad tier.

If his Dao of Birth and Death reached half-Hunyuan, it would constitute a qualitative transformation—true Invincibility.

“Brother Luo Feng, our mission is complete. We’ll stay in Yulan City for a while before returning,” the elder asked. “Will you join us? We can introduce you to some fellow cultivators.”

“No need.”

Luo Feng shook his head. “I’ve just broken through—I need to close off and cultivate for a while before entering the Dark Sacred Realm.”

The Hundred Trials Heart Core was only consumed one day ago. I’ll wait until its effects fully stabilize before exploring the Dark Sacred Realm.

(End of Chapter)