Chapter 626: Keeper of the Secret Realm

Endless azure waves!

At a common corner beside the calm lake sat an elderly man with white hair.

He Pingsheng and Hao Cang landed not far from the old man.

Then He Pingsheng's spiritual sense boldly swept over the old man.

He knew his cultivation base must differ greatly from this old man's.

After all, the man hadn't even moved—merely by controlling spatial laws, he had trapped He Pingsheng in this realm.

Such prowess, He Pingsheng did not believe belonged to a Void Refinement cultivator.

At least Body Integration.

Perhaps even Mahayana, the realm of earth-shattering emperors.

If that's the case, there's nothing to fear.

What's wrong with me scanning you with my spiritual sense?

You were the one who acted rudely first.

He Pingsheng's spiritual sense swept over the old man, then he froze in shock—quickly opened his Heavenly Eye to look again: A mortal?

He saw no trace of spiritual energy on the old man.

He was indistinguishable from an ordinary mortal.

This made He Pingsheng's heart pound even harder.

Either this man was a mortal, or his cultivation had reached a height He Pingsheng could never reach or imagine.

Clearly, it couldn't be the former.

How could a mortal trap me, He Pingsheng, in this void?

"Stop looking… come here!"

The old man stared at the water's surface but waved his hand toward He Pingsheng.

His tone was gentle, with no hostility.

He Pingsheng took a deep breath, left Hao Cang behind, and walked to the old man's side.

The old man wore a gray Daoist robe.

The robe had no talisman patterns, floral designs, or cloud motifs—just a simple, plain gray garment.

On his feet were coarse cloth straw sandals.

Only when He Pingsheng reached his side did the old man turn his head to look at him.

Though his hair was white, his face was as soft and pale as a baby's; his eyes were clear as water, yet filled with the weight of ages.

"Hehehe…" the old man chuckled, "Sit down…"

He pointed to the grass beside him.

He Pingsheng dared not delay; he sat down carefully.

He had considered activating a defensive magic treasure with his spiritual sense, but then thought better of it—such a treasure might block a Void Refinement cultivator at the first level, but it would never stop this man.

"May I ask, Elder…" He Pingsheng bowed to the old man.

The old man waved his hand, cutting him off: "The fish is coming… no talking yet!"

At that moment, his right hand moved slightly.

Splash! A red fish, two feet long, was pulled from the lake by the old man's fishing rod.

The fish was unusually docile—once in the old man's hands, it neither struggled nor wriggled.

"Hmph… boring, boring…"

The old man shook his head and flicked his wrist, tossing the red fish back into the water.

He casually tossed the fishing rod aside, turned half his body, and smiled at He Pingsheng: "The higher your cultivation, the harder it is to bridge the gap between realms!"

"In our Spirit Realm, there are many prodigies who can match Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators!"

"In the entire Zhu Que Emperor Domain, you can find three or five who can stand equal to Soul Transformation cultivators!"

"Those who can slay Void Refinement cultivators from the Soul Transformation realm? On the entire Tianhuo Continent, there are perhaps no more than ten—two hands' worth!"

"So your abilities rank among the top ten on the Tianhuo Continent."

"Reaching the Emperor realm is merely a matter of time!"

"But!" The old man's tone shifted, his brow furrowing: "You killed Ice Yi Xianzi thanks to your green spiritual sense technique—if I'm not mistaken, this is a poison-based technique?"

He Pingsheng nodded: "I dare not hide it, Elder—it is indeed a poison rule technique."

"Hehe…" the old man smiled more brightly: "You gained this poison rule technique in the fifth corridor of the Youming Emperor Palace, didn't you?"

He Pingsheng's heart jolted, but he dared not lie—only nodded.

Then, a shocking sight occurred.

The old man said: "Do you know the origin of this object?"

To He Pingsheng's horror, the old man held in his hand a purple-red rod.

It was none other than the 【Hongmeng Zijin】 he had taken from the Hongmeng Palace.

This…

When did he take it from me?

Good heavens!

This man…

"Hehehe…" Seeing He Pingsheng's terrified expression, the old man chuckled: "Don't worry… this object has been in my possession for at least eighty thousand years, if not a hundred thousand!"

Hearing this, He Pingsheng was even more stunned: "You… you are the Youming Emperor?"

"Nonsense!" The old man's face darkened with displeasure: "I'm a man. The Youming Emperor is a female immortal. How could I possibly be the Youming Emperor?"

He Pingsheng asked: "Then… who are you?"

The old man handed the purple-red rod back to He Pingsheng and said: "I'm just an old man guarding this secret realm."

He Pingsheng shifted from confusion to terror, then back to confusion.

After three breaths of thought, he answered the old man's earlier question: "Disciple does not know what this Hongmeng Zijin is. Please enlighten me, Elder."

"Hmm!" the old man said: "It is the Youming Emperor's personal treasure, one she acquired by accident."

"This object is an extremely high-grade alchemical material from the Immortal Realm, refined by primordial purple qi since the dawn of creation."

"Unfortunately, the Youming Emperor's own power was insufficient—she never managed to refine it before her ascension."

"And ascension forbids carrying such rebellious artifacts, so the Emperor left it behind and entrusted me with its custody."

"To pass it on to a human descendant!"

"I saw you enter the sixth zone, so I placed the Hongmeng Zijin inside the stone seat of the Hongmeng Palace."

"Now, do you understand?"

He Pingsheng suddenly understood.

Well then…

I thought only I had entered the sixth zone.

This old man had entered too.

And it seemed he could enter and leave at will.

He Pingsheng asked again: "May I ask, Elder, have others entered the sixth zone before me?"

"Of course!" the old man smiled: "Not just one—many have entered."

"I simply placed an object for them inside the divine palace and sent them on their way."

"Only you—I gave you the Hongmeng Zijin."

"Boy, do you know why?"

He Pingsheng had gathered enough clues from fragments of speech and nodded: "Is it because I am human?"

"Mm!" the old man nodded: "Yes—that's exactly why."

"Because before she ascended, the Youming Emperor instructed that this object be left for human descendants."