"Let me see your scrolls."
As soon as Ye Xuan arrived, a guard called out. They needed to verify identities first.
After Ye Xuan took out the scroll, the guard nodded. "Are there only two of you?"
Originally, there were three quotas to enter the Secret Realm. However, the Ye Family was simply too weak. Aside from Ye Xuan, Hua, with her Super Spirit Realm cultivation, was their strongest.
"Yes, just two," Ye Xuan replied.
"Go stand over there."
Ye Xuan and Hua joined the crowd. Before long, Elder Sun appeared at the main gates. Ye Xuan had seen this Elder before.
"Silence!" Elder Sun bellowed, and everyone immediately quieted down. "The time has come. Follow me inside. Moreover, remember this—from now on, the Sun Family is your master. Memorize the totem on my chest well."
"My lord, it is already etched into our hearts!"
"From now on, the Black Bear is king!"
The crowd chorused in low shouts. Their bootlicking skills were quite impressive. Elder Sun said no more. In his eyes, the people before him were nothing but a swarm of ants. With that, he turned and entered the City Lord’s Mansion.
The two-star Secret Realm was located in the southern part of the Sun Mansion. To get there, they had to pass the resource vault. Ye Xuan glanced at the lake in front of the vault. He seemed to envision an old man wearing a bamboo hat, quietly fishing there.
The scenery remained, but the people were gone.
In some places, Ye Xuan even spotted bloodstains that hadn’t been washed away. Without a torrential downpour, it would be difficult for these stains to completely vanish.
They continued forward until Elder Sun finally came to a halt. In their line of sight, Soul Crystals of various grades were piled high.
Then, the Array was activated, and a Teleportation Gate materialized before everyone’s eyes.
"You only have half a month," a Sun Family member announced, his words making everyone shudder. "During this time, any resources you obtain belong to you. After half a month, everyone must exit. Those who fail to come out on time will stay inside forever."
They all knew that "staying inside forever" simply meant they would be killed.
"Now, enter."
Following the command, the crowd lined up to enter. Ten minutes later, Ye Xuan and Hua entered the Secret Realm.
"I didn’t expect us to have as long as half a month. Hua, stay close to me," Ye Xuan said calmly, preparing to step forward.
Hua suddenly asked, "Young Master, may I go explore on my own?"
"Oh? You want to go alone?"
"Yes, Young Master."
Ye Xuan frowned. "There are quite a few Demon Spirit Realm experts from the Three-Star Main Towns here. I’m not at ease letting you go by yourself."
"Young Master, I can’t stay under your protection forever, right? Don’t worry, I’ll be fine."
"Are you sure you want to venture out on your own?"
"Mhm. If we split up, we’ll have better chances for serendipitous encounters. What if I manage to find Ghost-tier Spirit Medicine to boost cultivation? Right?"
"Since you’ve made your decision, take this talisman." A talisman appeared in Ye Xuan’s hand. It was exactly that high-grade level-five Thunder Talisman.
"Young Master, this is a level-five Thunder Talisman. It’s too precious, I can’t accept it."
"Take it. It can save your life at a crucial moment, and it’ll allow me to rush to your side quickly."
"But if you give it to me, what about you...?"
"If I’m really in danger, I have Blood Princess for critical moments."
Hearing this, Hua said no more and accepted the Thunder Talisman. "Then please be careful, Young Master."
"I will. You too." With those words, Ye Xuan turned and departed.
Only after Ye Xuan’s figure disappeared did Hua finally make her move. Her speed was incredibly fast. Hua’s cultivation had always been a mystery. It seemed to be constantly growing. Or rather, her body was in a constant state of recovery.
Ye Xuan pressed forward, heading straight into the depths of the Secret Realm. Level-five Beasts could only be found deep inside. Since his cultivation had already reached the second level of the Demon Spirit Realm, only high-grade Beast Pills would be of any help to him.
"Hmm? Sun Family members," Ye Xuan muttered, suddenly halting. He had spotted a Sun Family member with a black bear embroidered on their chest.
This was not a good sign. The presence of the Sun Family in the Secret Realm would definitely affect his Beast-hunting plans. What if some blind fool from the Sun Family came looking for trouble? The world had never lacked self-righteous idiots.
He decided to just take it one step at a time.
Advancing at full speed, it took Ye Xuan two days to finally arrive at the region where level-five Beasts lived. At that moment, he finally understood why the two-star Secret Realm allowed them to stay for as long as half a month. It was simply too vast. Just traveling back and forth would take several days.
In two days, Ye Xuan had only reached the outermost edge of the level-five Beast habitat, where merely tier-one level-five Beasts roamed. He didn’t linger and continued deeper.
Along the way, people were already hunting Beasts. These individuals were Town Mayors and Elders from the Three-Star Main Towns. Their objective for coming to the two-star Secret Realm was also the level-five Beasts. Although level-five Beast Pills wouldn’t provide much help for them personally, they were still immensely beneficial to their weaker juniors.
Ye Xuan forged ahead without stopping. The deeper he went, the fewer people there were. Eventually, a tier-five level-five Beast—a Sword-Tailed Monkey—entered his line of sight. It was several times larger than an ordinary monkey, and its tail was like a sharp sword.
Ye Xuan did not use his Beast Soul Transformation. The Secret Realm was teeming with Cultivators; if he unleashed his Beast Soul Power, most people and Beasts would be terrified. It was better to keep a low profile here. Even his physical Divine-Demonic Overlord Body was kept at a mere two meters in height, rather than its full twenty meters. Of course, that was more than enough to deal with a tier-five level-five Beast.
To ensure a swift kill, Ye Xuan drew an Earth-tier weapon. With an Earth-tier weapon in hand, no Beast could withstand a single strike from him. From that moment on, Ye Xuan transformed into a ruthless Beast slayer.
Although the probability of a level-five Beast forming a Beast Pill was slightly higher than that of a level-four Beast, it wasn’t by much. Perhaps his luck was simply too poor, but Ye Xuan had to slaughter fifteen tier-five level-five Beasts before obtaining a single tier-five level-five Beast Pill. Fortunately, there was still plenty of time, and the Secret Realm was vast. He continued to hunt as he ventured deeper.
Two days later, he had killed a total of sixty tier-five level-five Beasts, yielding six Beast Pills. Exactly a one-in-ten success rate. He didn’t know if that was considered good luck or bad luck.
"There aren’t many tier-five Beasts left. It’s time to head into the tier-six Beast territory," Ye Xuan muttered, pressing on.
A moment later, he furrowed his brows. "Someone has been here..."
Traces of battle scarred most of the tier-six Beast territory. Obviously, someone had arrived long before him. It was either the Town Mayors of the Three-Star Main Towns, or the Sun Family. Though the Sun Family appeared generous on the surface, it was highly likely that their own members had entered the Secret Realm before allowing anyone from the Three-Star Main Towns inside.
And indeed, this was the truth. The Sun Family had entered the very night before the people from the Three-Star Main Towns arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion.
The deeper they went, the fewer Beasts there were. Along the way, Ye Xuan spotted quite a few members of the Sun Family. Moving in packs and wielding Celestial Secret Divine Crossbows, they frenziedly hunted Beasts above tier five.
"It really is the lords of the Sun Family!"
By now, the Town Mayors of the Three-Star Main Towns had also arrived one after another. Seeing the Sun Family ahead of them, their expressions turned grim. They knew that with the Sun Family here, hunting Beasts would be incredibly difficult for them. Even if they had the strength, they wouldn’t dare make a move.