Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

After a tender night with Jiang Fengwu,

the next day,

Li Zhirui, refreshed and in high spirits, left home early to meet with Li Shiqing. After all, the matter of the Secret Realm was related to the familial inheritance and was of great significance; he couldn't possibly proceed without consulting this elder.

As of now, the only family members aware that Li Zhirui intended to travel to the central region, enter The Secret Realm of Wanxian, and seek the legacy of the Wanling Sutra, apart from his bedfellow, Jiang Fengwu, were the two elders, Li Shiqing and Li Shilian.

This Secret Realm of Wanxian was the one Li Zhirui had been thinking about incessantly. Legend had it that the realm contained no other Spiritual Objects, just one simple and heavy stone tower that stood ninety-nine zhang tall.

The tower had nine levels, each corresponding to one of the nine great realms of cultivation. Inside were countless trials, and it was said that from ancient times to the present, no one had ever faced the same challenge twice. Each time one surpassed a level, they could acquire a Spiritual Object associated with that floor as long as they could name it.

For instance, if Li Zhirui wished to obtain the Nascent Soul chapter of the Wanling Sutra or even more advanced Cultivation Techniques, he would have to at least pass the trials of the fourth level.

In addition to the Immortal Tao's Secret Realm of Wanxian, the Demonic Tao also possessed a corresponding realm, and even the Devil Race had a similar secret realm. The conditions for entering these realms were identical: forming a Golden Core before the age of one hundred.

Rumors stated that these three secret realms were transmitted from the Upper Realm with the intent to benefit all beings on every path of cultivation. Whether it was true or not, Li Zhirui had no way of confirming.

But since the appearance of the secret realms, no major power had dared to seize control of them. Evidently, if the realms were not actually gifts from the Upper Realm, there were other reasons that made the major powers exercise restraint and dare not act rashly.

Otherwise, why would they leave such an important secret realm open for all beings who met the criteria to enter?

Keep in mind, many a major power rose to prominence because they acquired a high-level legacy. And with the birth of a new major power, an older one would inevitably decline—the resources in the Profound Origin Realm were finite, unable to emerge spontaneously, so they had to be taken by force.

Of course, the major powers were known as such because they had their advantages. After all, the conditions for entering The Secret Realm of Wanxian were harsh and the vast majority of cultivators who managed to form a Golden Core before the age of one hundred came from these powers!

Someone like Li Zhirui, who 'slipped through the net', was exceedingly rare.

As for why the major powers didn't join forces and lock down all the information regarding The Secret Realm of Wanxian—thereby not violating any rules and ensuring that only their cultivators could enter the realm—

It was because every hundred-year-old Golden Core cultivator would have a legacy appear in their mind upon breakthrough, much like the bloodline legacy of the Devil Race.

While rare, those who slipped through the net did exist, so it was impossible to impose a total lockdown of the information. Thus, it was preferable to make it public knowledge.

And why did Li Zhirui pursue power? Because the legacy stone tower was located at the very center of the secret realm. Cultivators couldn't directly teleport inside; they needed to go through a series of trials, as well as battles amongst each other.

Having said all that—

though the Li family had long been preparing for Li Zhirui's journey to the secret realm, none of the clan members knew why; they simply thought the family was expanding their business scale to earn more Spirit Stones.

"Zhirui, having secluded yourself for so many years, you must have broken through to the Golden Core Late Stage, right?" Li Shiqing asked, full of expectation.

He knew he couldn't stop Li Zhirui's desire to go to The Secret Realm of Wanxian, but couldn't help worrying. If Li Zhirui could break through to the Golden Core Late Stage and increase his strength, Li Shiqing would feel a bit more at ease.

"Uncle, I have already reached Golden Core Perfection," Li Zhirui said somewhat sheepishly.

After his breakthrough in previous years, to avoid drawing the attention of Shen Leishan, aside from Jiang Fengwu, there wasn't a third person who knew. In fact, he had wanted to tell Li Shiqing and Li Shilian, but as things piled up and he got busy, he forgot.

After listening to Li Zhirui's explanation, a bit of the disappointment in Li Shiqing's heart diminished, and he didn't inquire how Zhirui had managed to cultivate to Golden Core Perfection so quickly.

"I'm here this time to discuss with you the matter of The Secret Realm of Wanxian a few years from now." After pausing, Li Zhirui continued, "Although there are no Spiritual Objects to vie for in the Secret Realm, according to the information I've gathered, conflicts among cultivators are still frequent."

"So I wanted to ask if you have any third-tier Talismans at hand?"

While Li Zhirui was quite confident in his own abilities, facing the Immortal Tao geniuses from almost across the entire Profound Origin Realm, he still needed to be cautious. After all, the difference in their backgrounds was immense; there might be no difference in realm, but in terms of combat power, he definitely couldn't match those cultivators from major forces.

For example, they could learn Divine Powers with terrifying lethality or some sort of curse that works across distances, things that the Li family had no access to.

"Don't worry, I've been preparing for this for several years, and I've now drawn quite a few third-tier Spirit Talismans," Li Shiqing nodded, waving his hand to produce a stack of brightly-lit Talismans.

"Thank you, Uncle!" Li Zhirui said, deeply moved, bowing respectfully, "I will not let you down and will definitely bring back the Wanling Sutra!"

And what he wanted was not just the Nascent Soul chapter of the cultivation technique, but also Divine Transformation, and even Void Refinement and Integration, higher realm techniques!

"There are still several years before the Secret Realm opens, but after subtracting the travel time, there isn't much left. I will try my best to draw some more Talismans during this time. Just do your utmost, and don't push yourself too hard," Li Shiqing cautioned.

Although there had been no reports of danger in the lineage stelae of The Secret Realm of Wanxian, seeing is not always believing, let alone such rumors that come from who knows where?

And there are so many cultivators too!

"Thank you, Uncle!" Li Zhirui bowed to him, saying, "Rest assured, I will take good care of myself. You, too, should watch your health and not spend too long drawing Talismans."

After chatting with Li Shiqing for a bit, Li Zhirui returned to his cave dwelling with dozens of third-tier Talismans.

"How did it go with Uncle?"

Li Zhirui grinned, then took out all the Talismans, arranging and suspending them in mid-air.

"Uncle is indeed too generous! Giving you so many Talismans," Jiang Fengwu was amazed, and after coming to her senses, she still couldn't help but caution, "But you should also be careful."

Although the use of Spiritual Objects above the third tier is forbidden in the Secret Realm, the major forces have thousands of years of heritage – who knows what kind of accumulation they have?

"Rest assured, I have a plan, and when have I ever been careless or imprudent?"

Jiang Fengwu did not dwell on the matter any further and turned to say, "While you're still with the family, I'll try to see if I can further strengthen the Starlight River Array."

"Then I'll trouble my dear wife!"