In the depths of the Great Void, at the Main Altar of the Azure Fall Divine Sect.

In the majestic and grand hall, light and shadows filled the air, and spiritual energy surged. The massive formation array had been fully activated. Over a thousand carefully selected core disciples stood in neat formation, their eyes cold and their aura intimidating.

The three young men and two young women standing at the front of the formation were obviously highly valued geniuses of the sect, or they had powerful backgrounds. The weapons they held, the armor they wore, and the belts and boots they had on all emitted strange fluctuations of spiritual power, indicating that they were special artifacts that could be taken into the secret realm.

Among the remaining disciples, at least twenty of them carried at least one special artifact. These were also elite talents that the sect had focused on nurturing.

Elder Li Qingtian, dressed in a black cloak and radiating righteousness, stood on a high platform, his deep gaze sweeping over the disciples. His voice was low and powerful: “You are all the elite disciples valued by the sect. The sect has nurtured and cultivated you, and you should give your all to repay the sect.”

“The opening time of the Misty Illusion Secret Realm is not fixed. Sometimes it opens once every few years, and sometimes it takes hundreds or even thousands of years. The longer the interval, the more and better opportunities can be found inside. So you must cherish this opportunity!”

“In the past few days, a total of more than four thousand elders and disciples from the first three batches have entered the secret realm and established a foothold inside. They are currently collecting resources according to the planned strategy. Your task is to cooperate with them after entering and also form groups to hunt down disciples and elders from other Dao Lineages. The more, the better!”

The disciples below responded with a resounding agreement, their eyes filled with killing intent.

This kind of thing was already commonplace. Strengthening oneself while weakening the competition was something all the forces of the Dao Lineages did. After all, no matter how many opportunities there were in the secret realm, they were not enough to be shared by everyone.

Moreover, when cultivators perished in the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, their returning Divine Souls would suffer significant damage, and some of the damage would be reflected back onto their physical bodies. This would cause a comprehensive decline in their life force, luck, and aptitude, and this kind of damage was almost impossible to recover from.

Therefore, when the number of deaths in the secret realm became too frequent, extraordinary geniuses would regress to first-rate geniuses, first-rate geniuses would become second-rate talents, and even become mediocre talents, ultimately becoming insignificant among the masses.

In the long history, there were many examples of monstrous individuals from certain super forces who were calculated against or encountered unexpected calamities, resulting in the complete destruction of their foundations and being completely abandoned by the higher-ups.

Li Qingtian nodded slightly and continued with a gritted teeth: “Your main targets this time are the disciples and elders of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace. This Dao Lineage has long been in decline, with limited numbers of people entering and insufficient cultivation. Therefore, they are the most suitable targets. As long as you kill all of them, we can try to obtain more spots next time and completely squeeze them out!”

“Without the support of special resources from the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, this Dao Lineage is not far from complete decline and being expelled. Remember this!”

“Yes!”

The core disciples answered in unison once again.

Li Qingtian was truly seeking personal revenge this time. Due to the failure of the operation to capture Qi Yalan and the heavy losses suffered, as well as the indefinite postponement of the alliance plan with the Bright Moon Sword Sect, this Elder’s mood had been extremely bad recently.

Now that he encountered such a great opportunity to regain face with the help of the entire sect’s strength, Li Qingtian naturally wouldn’t miss it. After all, it was just a declining force. It wouldn’t matter even if they were bullied.

…

In the Bright Moon Immortal Domain, at the Main Altar of the Bright Moon Sword Sect.

Beside the Listening Sword Pool on the main peak, on the flat square, nearly ten thousand elite disciples sat in neat formations. Among them were protectors, high-level elders, and outstanding geniuses. The largest number, of course, was the elite core disciples.

At this moment, they all closed their eyes and sat silently, their Divine Souls had long left their bodies and entered that mysterious and unpredictable new world full of opportunities and risks.

Lin Xuanyuan, the majestic and deep-eyed Sect Master, stood at the edge of the square, giving careful instructions to a young man:

“…In the first three openings of the secret realm, our Bright Moon Sword Sect performed exceptionally well. So far, we have obtained nearly ten thousand spots. After you enter, you must quickly gather with our disciples and then lead them to sweep through the important caves and secret places, seizing the opportunities inside as soon as possible and not giving any chances to outsiders!”

“The Secret Demon Sect, Nine Spirit Proto Gate, Calamity Fate Palace, Taiyi Divine Dynasty, as well as the Star Luo Island, Azure Fall Divine Sect, and Wanxiang Palace… These Supreme-level forces have long been planning to monopolize the secret realm, expelling disciples and followers from other forces. When you encounter them, don’t be polite, just take action directly.”

The handsome young man with a good appearance nodded in agreement. He was Lin Shengqing, the eldest son designated to be the next Sect Master. He possessed a total of seven special artifacts, and behind him were more than twenty female sword guards with excellent aptitude. Each of them was a beautiful woman, and their cultivation ranged from the True Person Realm to the Fate Realm. They were all his trusted guards and concubines.Lin Xuanyuan fell into deep thought for a moment, then said, “I have already made preparations. After the secret realm opens and closes this time, I will arrange your wedding. Although you now have hundreds of concubines and some children, the position of the main wife has always been vacant. It’s not suitable to delay any longer.”

Lin Shengqing said, “As my father commands, I will obey. I just don’t know which family’s daughter you have chosen as my wife?”

As the young sect master and the future helmsman of a super Dao Lineage, the position of the main wife is not a child’s play. It must be a woman who is well-matched in social and economic status and has excellent conditions in all aspects. Even women from quasi-super Dao Lineages may not be qualified.

Lin Xuanyuan smiled, “There are too many forces begging me. Especially that Supreme Elder Li Qingtian from the Azure Fall Divine Sect. He and I have a good private relationship, and the conditions he offered are quite generous. Unfortunately, his descendant’s aptitude is a bit lacking, so I ignored him.”

“I have initially selected more than ten good candidates for you. We can discuss this matter slowly after you come back.”

Lin Shengqing nodded slightly, and said with a hint of regret, “Qi Yalan from the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace is actually quite good. She is the personal disciple of the Sect Master, and her talent in swordsmanship is extremely outstanding. She is quite suitable for our sect’s sword scripture inheritance. Unfortunately, the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace has already declined and is no longer qualified to marry our Bright Moon Sword Sect.”

Lin Xuanyuan laughed, “This is not a problem. I will go to Sect Master Mu Yinghua for you and ask her to come over as a concubine. The Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace is in need of external support, and they will not refuse a powerful ally like the Bright Moon Sword Sect.”

Just then, a series of screams suddenly rang out from a corner of the square. A young man dressed as a core disciple jumped up and then fell to the ground, rolling around in pain. Blood was gushing out of his seven orifices, and he was obviously dead in the secret realm.

The elders in charge of guarding the area waved their hands, and several disciples rushed up to hold down the unlucky ghost. A large amount of elixir was immediately poured down.

Lin Xuanyuan glanced at the scene from a distance, shook his head, and ignored it. This kind of thing happened every day, and it was nothing to worry about.

……

High above the sky, several giant sky boats of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace sped past.

“…I knew it, I knew it!”

Inside the sky boat, Luo Wanqing was banging on the table, her anger flaring, “Junior Brother returned to the Main Altar of the sect, which is like a sheep entering a tiger’s den. A bunch of shameless women will flock to him! Third Senior Sister really… can’t even keep a man, her brain must have gone bad from practicing the sword!”

“Who says it’s not? Luo Huan was the first, but she definitely won’t be the last. Those fox-like women won’t give up until they get their hands on Junior Brother!”

A crisp, tender, and slightly annoyed voice sounded. It was a tall woman in a white palace dress, standing alone like a snow lotus on a snowy cliff, standing proudly.

Her jet-black hair was straight and sharp, contrasting sharply with her white palace dress. Her beautiful face, with perfectly matched features, arched eyebrows, phoenix eyes, a delicate nose, and red lips, along with her fair and rosy face, her eyes were as dreamy as a fairy, beautiful beyond words.

Luo Wanqing gave her a sideways glance, “Sister Yulan, you’re always busy with your closed-door cultivation. If you had accompanied Junior Brother back to the Main Altar of the sect in the first place, things wouldn’t have come to this.”

This woman in the white dress was the second personal disciple of Sect Master Mu Yinghua: Cheng Yulan. Her cultivation level was comparable to Qi Yalan, especially proficient in the way of formations. She had been in closed-door cultivation for more than a year to refine her life’s formation weapon and had only come out a few days ago.

The eldest sister, Xuebing Xuan, sighed, “Actually, this can’t be blamed on Yalan. It was the master who let it slip, allowing Luo Huan to get close to Junior Brother. Even if all four of us were by his side, we couldn’t go against the will of a Supreme Elder.”

In the end, it was because their cultivation levels were not high enough, so they didn’t have enough say. Otherwise, how could those fox-like women have the chance to make trouble?

“So what do we do now?” Luo Wanqing was still angry.

“We’ll take it one step at a time!”

Xuebing Xuan said with a headache, “When we get back to the sect and enter the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, we’ll find Junior Brother as quickly as possible. As for other matters, we’ll deal with them after this trip to the secret realm is over.”

……

Inside the secret realm.

When Qing Muling’s vision returned to normal, he found himself standing on a large sand dune, surrounded by an endless golden desert, with an extremely hot temperature.

Qing Muling looked down and found that he was not wearing any clothes. He was only wearing a half-body soft armor, holding a wooden sword in his hand, and was completely naked otherwise.

“I’ve never seen a secret realm like this…”

Qing Muling muttered to himself. He could at least bring two magical instruments in. Wouldn’t most cultivators be completely naked after they entered?

Fortunately, he was the only one around now. If he accidentally encountered a group of female cultivators, the consequences…

Well, never mind, he needed to find some clothes to wear first. Qing Muling didn’t think running around naked was a fun thing to do.