Chapter 686: Nine Dragons City Secret Realm

Lu Yang believed it was a good outcome for Xie An and Qiao'er to join the Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace. With two more Tribulation Stage cultivators, the Palace would be stronger, and other sects wouldn't suffer from their presence. It was a win-win situation.

Meng Jingzhou quietly moved closer to Lu Yang. The chilling aura radiating from Qiao'er—now Venerable Qianjiao—was so intense it made his bones feel cold.

"Are Tribulation Stage cultivators really that common now?" Lu Yang whispered. "We just step outside and meet two."

Meng Jingzhou seriously considered his past outings with Lu Yang. "It seems we encounter Tribulation Stage cultivators every time we step out," he mused.

Lu Yang paused, realizing it was true.

"Wuji, you old geezer, what are you doing pretending to be a child, looking so young?" Qiao'er snapped at Xie An. If she had known he was Venerable Wuji, she wouldn't have spent half a year here, wasting her emotions!

Xie An, not to be outdone, spat. "You have the nerve to lecture me? Back then, when you were chased by bandits, you cried and begged me, 'Please, brother, save me! My parents and servants have all been killed!' You put on quite an act yourself!"

"Not as good as your act! Wandering around that old beggar all day, playing chess with him, taking such a convoluted route just to get into a Nascent Soul sect!"

"You're shameless!"

"You're disgraceful!"

The two Tribulation Stage cultivators hurled insults at each other, their eyes locking in a silent battle. The air seemed to solidify around them, making Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou tremble with fear, dreading that a fight would erupt.

If a fight broke out, they would be the first casualties.

While serving as the acting sect master's proxy, Lu Yang had read intelligence reports about these two Tribulation Stage cultivators.

These two Tribulation Stage cultivators were contemporaries who had known each other since childhood, even being childhood sweethearts. Rumors also suggested they had been engaged as children, but Venerable Wuji's family fortunes declined, leading Venerable Qianjiao's family to break off the engagement, so they never married.

Regardless of whether the rumor was true, once they joined their respective sects, they began competing against each other. This rivalry spanned from the Qi Condensation stage all the way to the Tribulation stage, and in the process, they elevated their respective sects to super-grade status.

In their era, they were the most brilliant talents. Their peers, witnessing their extraordinary abilities, felt ashamed and couldn't even dream of competing with them.

Regardless of the era, reaching the Tribulation Stage is a feat accomplished only by geniuses among geniuses.

After reaching the Tribulation Stage, they adopted a more dignified demeanor, no longer engaging in casual fights as they once did. As Tribulation Stage cultivators, their battles would cause catastrophic destruction, and the aftermath would be incredibly difficult to restore.

They continued their rivalry in secret numerous times, for instance, by training disciples to fight each other, or even by impersonating disciples to engage in battles.

Seeing this, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou quietly slipped away, afraid that if they lingered, they might not be able to leave at all.

"Wait, don't go yet," Immortal Fairy called out to Lu Yang. "There seems to be a secret realm within this temple."

"A secret realm? Where?"

"It's right inside that temple, behind the lotus pedestal," Immortal Fairy guided Lu Yang. Driven by curiosity, Lu Yang discreetly approached the back of the dilapidated temple's lotus pedestal.

The area behind the lotus pedestal was covered in dust. Lu Yang brushed it away, revealing a small indentation that served as the secret realm's entrance.

"Old Meng, come here quickly! There's a secret realm!" Lu Yang called out to Meng Jingzhou, who was standing guard at the temple entrance. Hearing this, Meng Jingzhou swiftly approached.

Upon hearing about the secret realm, the two Tribulation Stage cultivators temporarily ceased their bickering. They were surprised to see the indentation, as their meticulous disguise as mortals had prevented them from noticing the nearby entrance.

"Legend has it there's a secret realm outside Jiulong City; this must be it," Lu Yang mused.

"I can't believe there's actually a secret realm here!" Xie An exclaimed in surprise. He had already prepared his own secret opportunity in the nearby mountains, waiting for the day he would join the Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace, become the senior disciple, and then "accidentally" stumble upon it. The opportunity he had arranged was sufficient for him to cultivate all the way to the Integration Stage.

"Should we try dripping some blood on it?" Meng Jingzhou suggested.

"Okay," Lu Yang agreed. He dripped blood into the indentation, filling it, but nothing happened.

Xie An analyzed thoughtfully, "This likely requires a specific token to fill it. What kind of token, I don't know."

"Why does this indentation look so familiar?" Lu Yang wondered. "Oh, senior, could you try the token the old beggar gave you?"

Hearing this, Xie An placed the purple cloud-shaped token into the indentation, which fit perfectly, filling exactly one-third of it. "Does this mean we need tokens from all three major sects? Do we have to go find the other two sects to get them?"

"No need for all that trouble."

Qiao'er placed her hand on the indentation, then, with a gentle pull, tore open a spatial rift. She pointed to the secret realm entrance. "You can go in now," she said.

Lu Yang was speechless.

Curious about the contents of the secret realm, all four immediately jumped inside. The realm itself wasn't large, primarily consisting of a luxurious palace.

The four entered the palace, where a dilapidated statue, evidently unmaintained for years, stood enshrined.

As if sensing the secret realm's activation and their entry, the statue trembled. A white-bearded old man floated out, gazing at the four of them with a look of relief.

"Presumably, you four are the ones who gathered the three tokens as foretold by the prophecy and opened this secret realm."

"This is a remnant of my divine consciousness. I know you have many questions, but please be patient and listen as I explain."

"I wonder if you've heard my name. I am Zhang Dao, once the most powerful individual in Jiulong City, a cultivator at the peak of the God Transformation stage. Even the City Lord would defer to me as a junior."

"Alas, though I lived a carefree life, I ultimately succumbed to the limitations of lifespan."

"Even the strong do not possess infinite lifespans. At that time, with no hope of reaching the Void Refinement stage, my end was approaching. I had no fear of death, but I had three excellent disciples. Despite their excellence, a rift formed between them, leading each to establish their own faction, which became the three great sects. While I was alive, I could keep them in check, but I knew that upon my death, they would inevitably descend into internal conflict."

"Therefore, before my passing, I left behind a prophecy: 'When three sects unite, three tokens complete, beneath the Buddhist gate, a Tribulation Stage exists.' I also left a cultivation method that leads to the Tribulation Stage. To acquire it, one must gather these three tokens, which were personal tokens of my three disciples."

"Your ability to gather the three tokens suggests that my three disciples have reconciled, which brings me great comfort. And your understanding that the final line of the prophecy points to this very location demonstrates your exceptional intelligence."

The old man opened a small wooden box, revealing a stitched-bound cultivation manual.

"This is a cultivation method I acquired from the Wuji Sect in my youth. Though incomplete, containing only the first half, it guarantees cultivation up to the God Transformation stage. It was this very method that allowed me to reach the peak of the God Transformation stage."

"To obtain the complete method, you must find a way to join the Wuji Sect." Xie An looked at the old man, his hands clasped behind his back, and calmly asked, "Do you know who I am?"

"Who are you?"

Xie An altered his appearance, his facial features and physique shifting back to his original form. He gazed coldly at the old man. "My name is Xie Jiu. You may also call me Venerable Wuji."

The old man fell silent for two seconds, then quietly knelt. "I'm sorry," he murmured, "I shouldn't have stolen the cultivation method."