Chapter 52

Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, in front of the Tianyuan Hall, which symbolized the supreme power of the Imperial Dynasty in the center of the Tianyuan Imperial Capital, the huge square was already packed with people. The flags of the major forces of the Imperial Dynasty fluttered in the wind, and Golden Core cultivators from all directions stood alone or in groups of three or five, their auras either sharp, profound, or ethereal; none were weaklings.

A tangible tension and anticipation permeated the air. Everyone's gaze was focused on the giant stone gate in the center of the square—the Gate of the Mystical Realm—which was a hundred zhang high, engraved with countless profound runes, and radiated an ancient and vast aura!

Lin Xuan stood in the ranks of the Four Seas Trading Firm, dressed in an ordinary green shirt, his aura restrained at the late-stage Golden Core, not particularly eye-catching. The Trading Firm had five quotas this time; besides him, there were two men and one woman, all of whom were late-stage Golden Core experts cultivated or recruited within the Trading Firm, with steady auras and shrewd eyes. Their gazes toward Lin Xuan carried a trace of curiosity and hidden awe, clearly having heard of this "Elder Mu's" deeds.

Qian Duoduo was synchronizing the final information in a low voice on the side: "Elder Mu, do you see that? The one at the very front of the Imperial Family's team wearing the bright yellow python robe is the Third Imperial Prince, Li Daoyi. The black-robed old man beside him is an Imperial Family guest Elder, said to be proficient in formations, so be careful. On the Ye Clan's side, Ye Chen has indeed come, and his aura seems to have become even stronger... Saintess Yun Yao of the Piao Xue Palace is still as cold as frost... That old guy Zhao Song of the Zhao Clan has a very sinister look, constantly glancing toward our side..."

Lin Xuan nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping across the field calmly, matching the people Qian Duoduo mentioned with the information in the system database. He saw Ye Chen, whose aura was becoming more condensed and lightning was contained within; he saw the Third Imperial Prince, who was surrounded by people and looked arrogant; he also saw Yun Yao, who was covered by a light veil and had a cold temperament; and he even noticed Zhao Song's undisguised sinister gaze, as well as several followers beside him whose auras were obscure and did not seem to follow the Zhao Clan's path.

"Are they nails from the Youming Sect and the Shadow Pavilion..." Lin Xuan sneered in his heart and noted the appearance and aura of those few people.

Just then, a vast and boundless pressure suddenly descended, enveloping the entire square! The noisy crowd instantly quieted down, and one could hear a pin drop.

Only to see several figures appear out of thin air above the Tianyuan Hall. The leader was a middle-aged man wearing a nine-dragon imperial robe and a flat-topped crown, with a majestic face—it was the current Tianyuan Emperor! His aura was like an abyss or the sea, and although he did not deliberately release it, the imperial majesty of one who had long held the supreme position and his unfathomable cultivation made all Golden Core cultivators feel a palpitation. Behind him followed several figures with equally terrifying auras, all of whom were Nascent Soul veterans of the Imperial Dynasty, and one of them was surprisingly the old man who had appeared at the Tongtian Pavilion.

"The time has come!" The Tianyuan Emperor's voice was calm but clearly reached everyone's ears, carrying an unquestionable power, "The Tianyuan Mystical Realm was left by my ancestors, containing opportunities but also hiding dangers. I hope that after you enter, you can abide by the rules, help each other, find your own fortune, and also spread the prestige of our Imperial Dynasty!"

Without much nonsense, the Emperor and several veterans attacked simultaneously, casting brilliant magic formulas that sank into the giant stone gate.

Hum—!!!

The runes on the stone gate lit up one by one, erupting with blinding light! The entire stone gate began to shake violently, and the space inside the gate rippled like water, eventually forming a slowly rotating, deep and dark vortex entrance! A pure and ancient spiritual energy, mixed with a hint of barbaric and chaotic aura, permeated from it!

"The Mystical Realm is open! Those holding tokens, enter!" A Nascent Soul veteran's voice was like a bell.

In an instant, the cultivators from all sides, who had been prepared for a long time, turned into streams of light of various colors, scrambling to shoot toward the spatial vortex!

"Elder Mu, take care!" Qian Duoduo said solemnly.

"Everyone, inside the Mystical Realm, be careful. If you need anything, you can contact us via the Trading Firm's mark." A middle-aged cultivator (peak Golden Core) who was the leader of the Trading Firm said in a deep voice.

Lin Xuan nodded slightly to Qian Duoduo and the other fellow disciples, no longer hesitating. His figure moved, and he blended into the crowd, flying toward the entrance at a steady pace. He neither rushed to the front to be a target nor fell to the back to arouse suspicion, acting like a cautious, ordinary late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

The moment he approached the vortex, the Mystical Realm token in his arms automatically heated up, radiating a circle of soft halo to wrap him.

Swish!

A powerful suction force came, and the scene before his eyes instantly blurred and twisted! The familiar feeling of time and space changing emerged again, but it was much gentler than when he used the Soul-Suppressing Token to tear space before.

After a few breaths, the feeling of stepping on solid ground came, and the surrounding scene suddenly opened up.

He appeared in a strange world.

The sky was a slightly dark cyan-gray, with no sun or moon, but there was a faint light from an unknown source falling. Under his feet was dark red, hard ground, as if it had been soaked in blood. In the distance, mountains rose and fell in grotesque shapes, and the vegetation was mostly ancient trees and ferns he had never seen before, with deep colors and twisted shapes. The air was filled with rich spiritual energy, but this spiritual energy was mixed with an indelible ancient, chaotic, and faint baleful aura.

"This is the Tianyuan Mystical Realm..." Lin Xuan took a deep breath and could feel that the concentration of spiritual energy here was far beyond the outside world, but it was also more violent, requiring more effort to refine. He probed with his spiritual sense and found that it was indeed suppressed quite a bit, with a detection range less than one-fifth of that in the outside world.

He quickly observed his surroundings and found that he was in a hilly area with strange rocks, and there was no one else nearby. Clearly, entering the Mystical Realm involved random teleportation.

He did not act immediately, but instead fully operated the "Turtle Breathing Technique" and "Shadow Concealment Art" to restrain his aura to the extreme, while simultaneously activating the "Eye of Truth" to scan the surrounding environment vigilantly.

"System, record current coordinates, scan for high-energy reactions and signs of life within a hundred miles."

【Ding! Coordinates recorded. Scanning... Disturbed by Mystical Realm rules, scanning range reduced, precision decreased.】

【Scan complete: Eighty miles to the northwest, there is a strong energy fluctuation, suspected to be a spiritual object emerging or a powerful demonic beast entrenched. Fifty miles to the southeast, multiple life reactions detected, moving rapidly. Deep in the hills directly in front, there is a weak seal fluctuation.】

The information was not much, but enough for reference. Lin Xuan pondered slightly and chose not to join the fun in the northwest, as a fight might have already broken out there. There were many people in the southeast, and thus many troubles. He decided to go deep into the hills directly in front first to investigate the weak seal fluctuation.

Perhaps it was some predecessor's cave, or some naturally formed sealed area; it might hide some opportunities, and it was relatively remote, suitable for him to act alone.

Having made up his mind, his figure flickered, blending into the shadows of the strange rocks like a ghost, using "Shrinking the Earth into an Inch" (controlled at a lower consumption level) and the "Shadow Step" he had just started practicing, sneaking silently toward the depths of the hills.

His strategy was very clear: keep a low profile in the early stage, avoid large-scale conflicts, use his concealment and insight advantages to find relatively safe opportunities, and learn as much as possible about the Mystical Realm environment to figure out the movements of all parties.

However, the tree wants to be quiet, but the wind does not stop.

Just as he had traveled about ten miles and passed through a dead black forest, intense fighting sounds and the roar of a demonic beast suddenly came from ahead!

Lin Xuan's brows furrowed slightly, and he immediately stopped, hiding behind a giant rock, looking through the gaps in the trees with the "Eye of Truth."

Only to see three cultivators in an open space in the forest besieging a huge, lizard-like demonic beast with a single eye on its head and its whole body covered in bone armor. The demonic beast was fierce, comparable to a mid-stage Golden Core, thick-skinned and fleshy, spraying corrosive dark green venom from its mouth, forcing the three cultivators to be quite embarrassed.

These three cultivators were two men and one woman; judging by their clothing, they were not from top forces in the Imperial Capital, but more like disciples of some mid-sized sect, with cultivation bases ranging from early to mid-stage Golden Core.

Lin Xuan originally did not want to meddle in other people's business and prepared to detour. But just as his gaze swept across the edge of the battlefield, his pupils shrank slightly.

At the entrance of the single-horned lizard demonic beast's nest, there grew several strange plants that were pitch black all over, with leaves like ghost claws; at the top of the plants, there were three fruits the size of longans, radiating faint soul light!

【Yin Soul Fruit】: Fourth Rank spiritual plant, born from absorbing Yin baleful energy and residual souls, is the main material for refining elixirs that nourish the soul and practice certain soul divine abilities, and can also be taken directly to strengthen spiritual sense (need to resist the Yin baleful resentment contained within).

A spiritual fruit that strengthens spiritual sense! This had a huge attraction to any cultivator! Especially for Lin Xuan, his "Eye of Truth" and Soul Armor Technique both needed strong spiritual sense support.

Those three cultivators were clearly also here for this Yin Soul Fruit.

At this moment, the battle was nearing its end. Although the single-horned lizard was fierce, it did not have high intelligence, and under the coordinated siege of the three cultivators, it was already covered in wounds and its movements were slow.

Seeing that they were about to succeed, the female cultivator with a pretty face showed joy on her face. However, a sudden change occurred!

The mid-stage Golden Core male cultivator with the highest cultivation base flashed a trace of greed and ruthlessness in his eyes. Just as his companions were attacking the demonic beast with all their might and their old strength was exhausted while new strength had not yet been born, the long sword in his hand suddenly changed direction, not stabbing at the demonic beast, but slashing fiercely at his early-stage Golden Core companion beside him!

"Senior Brother Liu, you!" The early-stage Golden Core male cultivator never expected to be sneak-attacked by his fellow sect member; his protective spiritual light shattered instantly, and he was pierced through the heart by a sword, falling down with a face full of disbelief.

"Junior Sister Wang, sorry!" The male cultivator known as Senior Brother Liu did not stop after succeeding, and with a backhand, he slashed a sharp sword energy at the female cultivator!

The female cultivator was horrified, blocking in a hurry, but was shaken to the point of vomiting blood, flying backward and breaking several dead trees.

"Liu Mang! You actually dare to harm your fellow sect members!" The female cultivator was both shocked and angry, scolding sharply.

"Fellow sect members? Hahaha!" Liu Mang sneered, "Inside the Mystical Realm, in front of opportunities, there are no fellow sect members! Kill you two, and this Yin Soul Fruit and your storage bags will all be mine!"

He no longer paid attention to the seriously injured female cultivator and turned to pick the Yin Soul Fruits.

However, just as he turned around, he saw a young man wearing an ordinary green shirt, who had appeared out of nowhere, standing at the entrance of the nest, looking at the Yin Soul Fruits with great interest.

It was Lin Xuan.

Liu Mang was shocked; he didn't even notice when this person approached! But sensing that the other party was only at the late-stage Golden Core (Lin Xuan did not fully restrain his aura), and his face was unfamiliar, not a genius from a top force, his fear decreased slightly, replaced by thick wariness and killing intent.

"Who are you? I discovered this Yin Soul Fruit first, please leave!" Liu Mang gripped his long sword and shouted, his tone fierce but his heart cowardly.

Lin Xuan seemed not to hear his words, reached out and gently picked a Yin Soul Fruit, sniffed it at the tip of his nose, and nodded: "Good quality."

"You!" Liu Mang was furious, but wary of the other party's cultivation, he did not dare to act easily, "Fellow Daoist, do you want to rob it by force?"

Lin Xuan then raised his head and looked at him, his gaze calm and waveless: "Rob by force? Didn't you just demonstrate it once?"

Liu Mang's face instantly became extremely ugly.

And the seriously injured female cultivator, as if seeing a life-saving straw, hurriedly shouted: "This Fellow Daoist! This person harmed his fellow sect members, his heart is like a snake and scorpion! Please, Fellow Daoist, uphold justice! We are willing to hand over the Yin Soul Fruit!"

Liu Mang's eyes flickered, and he suddenly said to Lin Xuan: "Fellow Daoist, why don't we join forces to kill this woman, and we split the Yin Soul Fruit? She has quite a few good things on her!"

He tried to divert the disaster and win over Lin Xuan.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xuan's mouth curled into a smile that was not a smile, and his gaze landed on Liu Mang.

"Your proposal... is not very good."

Before the words fell, Lin Xuan's figure disappeared from the spot like a ghost!

Liu Mang's pupils shrank, and without thinking, he retreated violently with all his might, while waving his sword to set up layers of sword curtains in front of him!

However, a gray ruler shadow, as if ignoring spatial distance, arrived first despite starting later, easily piercing through the sword curtain and imprinting on his chest!

"Puff—!"

Liu Mang only felt an irresistible, terrifying power carrying an aura of annihilation enter his body; his protective spiritual light shattered like paper, and his internal organs were instantly shaken into meat paste! The horror and unwillingness in his eyes froze, and his body fell down softly.

Instant kill!

The seriously injured female cultivator watched, dumbfounded, her whole body cold. She didn't even see how Lin Xuan made his move! A mid-stage Golden Core cultivator was instantly killed by a casual strike? Who exactly is this green-shirted cultivator?!

Lin Xuan didn't even look at Liu Mang's corpse, waved his hand to collect his storage bag, then walked to the Yin Soul Fruits, picked the remaining two, and packed them into a jade box and sealed them.

After doing all this, he turned around and looked at the shivering female cultivator.

The female cultivator's face was pale, and she struggled to get up to bow: "Many... many thanks to the Senior for saving my life! Junior... Junior is willing to offer all the wealth on my body, only begging the Senior to spare my life!"

Lin Xuan looked at her faintly, ignored her wealth, and just asked: "Which sect are you from? How much do you know about this area?"

The female cultivator did not dare to hide anything and hurriedly replied: "Back to the Senior, Junior is a disciple of the Qingmu Sect. We also just teleported in not long ago, only knowing that this area is called the 'Bone-Corroding Hills', said to have abandoned caves left by ancient sects in the depths, but the specific location is unknown, and it is entrenched by powerful demonic beasts..."

Qingmu Sect? A mid-sized sect Lin Xuan had not heard much of. He nodded, did not ask any more, and with a flash of his figure, he disappeared from the spot, as if he had never appeared.

The female cultivator stood stunned on the spot, and it took a long time for her to react that she had actually saved her life! She looked at the corpses of Liu Mang and another fellow sect member, her heart filled with mixed feelings, not daring to stay long, took an elixir, and struggled to leave this place of right and wrong quickly.

And Lin Xuan was already miles away. He played with the jade box containing the Yin Soul Fruit, his expression calm.

The first lesson of the Mystical Realm is often not from demonic beasts, but from the human heart.

His Mystical Realm journey, in this inconspicuous corner, officially kicked off in a low-key yet ruthless way.

(End of Chapter 52)