The world spun, surrounded by boundless darkness.

Bai Zichen felt only a void above, below, and all around. He couldn’t perceive the passage of time or space, nor could he muster a single trace of Magical Power.

When his Divine Sense left his body, he lost all connection to it instantly.

This wasn’t the black of the night sky, but a profound, bottomless darkness that seemed to stretch on forever. It was terrifying, evoking the deepest fears from the bottom of one’s heart.

Overwhelmed by the desolate silence, his only recourse was to conjure the Heaven and Earth Furnace in his Sea of Consciousness.

Unexpectedly, in this peculiar environment, his Sea of Consciousness was exceptionally clear. The world within it felt more real, and the furnace’s forging fire made every scene increasingly solid and refined.

In the westernmost corner of this inner sky hung a speck of Five Crystal Divine Iron. Though only the size of a grain of rice, it was impossible to ignore.

As long as one took in the entire world, it was unmissable, like a dazzling star in the darkness.

’I wonder if I can visualize the Glazed Fire Jade at the same time...’

The moment the thought occurred to Bai Zichen, he acted on it.

He had had this idea before, but when he tried to visualize the Glazed Fire Jade while cultivating the Divine Casting Technique, the image had quickly collapsed. The attempt had left his Divine Sense weakened for days.

He could only conclude that his Divine Sense wasn’t strong enough to handle it.

Now, upon entering the Ancient Secret Realm and being trapped in this strange space, the thought came to him subconsciously.

In the eastern corner, a red light flickered. A piece of Glazed Fire Jade the size of a fingernail materialized, immediately kicking up a terrifying storm.

It was as if an apocalyptic disaster had descended upon his entire Heaven and Earth Furnace. Mountains crumbled, rivers flowed backward, great holes tore open in the sky, and even the furnace itself tipped over.

But for the first time, the visualization constructed in his Sea of Consciousness didn’t collapse immediately. It teetered on the brink, yet held on.

Bai Zichen seized this rare opportunity, using every means possible to maintain the simultaneous existence of the three visualized objects.

He had a feeling that for every extra moment he could maintain it, he would receive immense benefits.

In this bizarre environment where time and space were indiscernible, the strength of Bai Zichen’s Divine Sense was rapidly increasing.

An unknown amount of time passed before a brilliant light suddenly flared before his eyes. Before Bai Zichen could even feel joy, he fainted.

...

When he awoke, Bai Zichen’s entire body ached and his mind was a muddled mess. It took him a good while to realize what had happened.

’So this is the Secret Realm...’

It looked almost identical to the illusion Lu Songx had shown him through the Ink Jade Ring: a space about a hundred feet in diameter, with dozens of broken weapons stuck haphazardly in the ground, and a solitary, desolate tomb at its center.

Beside him, Lu Songx was floating in mid-air, enveloped in a halo of black light, still unconscious.

’The Cultivation Realm’s understanding of Secret Realms is limited. The monumental feat of creating a pocket dimension with its own self-sustaining Spiritual Qi is something no one has achieved for countless years... Some Secret Realms can be entered and exited freely without any requirements. Others, like the Lotus Secret Realm, demand a Super Long Distance Transmission Array and a cultivator at the level of a Core Formation True Man just to get in.’

Bai Zichen watched Lu Songx with a hint of envy. Wisps of black, glowing flames were seeping into his body, clearly granting him some extra benefits.

The Ink Jade Ring had been refined with Lu Songx’s Essence Blood, making him the heir to this Secret Realm. It was only natural that he would receive special treatment.

’Of all the Secret Realms I’ve ever heard of, this one is the smallest... There are two possibilities. One, the creator was of limited strength and could only sustain such a small pocket dimension. The other is that this place was created too long ago, and without its master, it has been eroded by time, causing the space to shrink.’

According to Lu Songx’s descriptions, the Secret Realm he saw in his childhood dreams was over a thousand feet in both length and width, with more than a thousand weapons on the ground.

Based on that, the second possibility seemed more likely.

This Ancient Secret Realm was likely created much, much earlier than they had imagined.

Bai Zichen took a step forward and swept his fingertips through the air. There was no wind, no moisture. Although there was light above, there was no sun, moon, or stars.

At the edge of the space, the boundary was dim and indistinct, showing faint signs of contracting inward.

The Spiritual Qi within the Secret Realm was, at best, equivalent to that of a Tier One Top-Grade Spiritual Land. It was clear how much it had degraded over the passage of time.

Bai Zichen walked up to a broken sword and reached out to pull it from the ground. But the moment he touched it, the sword disintegrated like sand, turning into a pile of fragments that slipped through his fingers.

’Too much time has passed. Coupled with the lack of Spiritual Qi here, tens of thousands of years of erosion have led to this...’

These weapons all shared a simple, ancient style, unadorned with patterns or decorations, completely different from the current trends.

But whether they were long halberds and battle-axes, Flying Swords and broadswords, or even the Hooked Weapons now rarely seen in the Cultivation Realm, they all crumbled to dust at the slightest touch. Not a single complete weapon remained.

Bai Zichen quickly circled the entire Secret Realm, returning to his starting point.

Now, the only place in the Secret Realm he hadn’t explored was the desolate tomb. If there was anything to be gained, this was his only chance.

’Don’t tell me this was a wasted trip, that this is just a ruined Secret Realm...’

Bai Zichen glanced at the still-unconscious Lu Songx and couldn’t help but sigh at his good fortune.

Given Lu Songx’s age—nearly forty and only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer—his path to the Great Dao could have been considered completely cut off.

But these black, glowing flames were clearly repairing his constitution and replenishing his Essence. In just a short time, one could already see a jade-like luster showing through Lu Songx’s skin—a sign that his Essence was so abundant it couldn’t be refined all at once and was manifesting externally.

After this experience, he might even have a chance to reach new heights and attempt Foundation Establishment.

It was true that finding a ruined Secret Realm with nothing to offer was the most common outcome.

But after looking forward to this Secret Realm for so many years, only to have it benefit Lu Songx while he gained nothing, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment.

’To each their own Karma Technique. At the very least, I accidentally entered the Three Objects Simultaneous Visualization Realm when coming into the Secret Realm. That counts as a considerable gain...’

Bai Zichen had already checked; the range of his Divine Sense should now exceed eighty zhang.

Because this Secret Realm was too small, he couldn’t fully extend his Divine Sense. He could only estimate based on feeling, but he was confident his guess wasn’t far off.

An ordinary Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s Divine Sense only reached about a hundred zhang. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Just over a year after his Foundation Establishment, Bai Zichen’s Divine Sense was already approaching that of a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Even in the Naihe Sect, where disciples cultivated the Divine Casting Technique, this rate of progress was astonishing.

Back then, thanks to the Divine Casting Technique, the disciples of the Naihe Sect were generally able to ensure their Divine Sense was superior to that of cultivators at the same realm.

But a situation where one’s Divine Sense strength leaped across two minor realms was something never mentioned in the teachings of the Divine Casting Technique.

The desolate tomb at the center of the Secret Realm was less than a zhang tall and made of an unknown gray material.

There were no visible seams; it was a single, seamless structure that exuded an extremely ancient, almost primitive, aura.

Although the passage of time had clearly stripped the tomb of any mystical properties, standing before it, he could still feel a profound shock that struck deep into his soul.

Bai Zichen took a deep breath, bent down, and leaned into the low entrance.

The style was consistent, as expected. The interior of the tomb was completely bare, with only a few large, chaotic characters scrawled on the gray walls.

He couldn’t understand the meaning of the characters at all. Based on their forms, he could only guess they were from a script even older than the Flower Bird Talisman script.

The Flower Bird Talisman script, popular around thirty thousand years ago, held immense power in every character. Each one could be considered a natural Talisman, the very origin of the Talisman Dao.

However, because it was too difficult to learn and spread, it was gradually replaced by ordinary script, surviving only among Top-Tier Cultivators.

By now, sects with a complete inheritance of the Flower Bird Talisman script were exceedingly rare.

The Cyan Words on the Inheritance Stele in the Five Mountains Temple were written in the Flower Bird Talisman script.

But the forms of the Flower Bird Talisman script still bore some resemblance to modern script. Even if one didn’t know the meaning, it was possible to make an educated guess.

Unlike the seven large characters on the gray wall, which only conveyed a powerful emotional impact. It was a stretch to even call them characters.

They looked more like a jumble of illegible Ghost Talismans!

Bai Zichen didn’t dare do anything rash. He took out a Jade Scroll and recorded the seven character forms, hoping for a chance to decipher their meaning in the future.

Inside the tomb, there was only a single stone platform that looked as if it had been crudely carved with a sword or knife; it was not neatly made.

Three items rested on the stone platform.

A fist-sized ball of electric light and Thunder Radiance rested there, calmly gathering its power, contained to the absolute limit.

If not for seeing it with his own eyes, his Divine Sense would have detected no fluctuations at all; it was like an inanimate object.

’All the weapons outside failed to withstand the passage of time. For this to still take the form of lightning after tens of thousands of years, its Tier must be far superior... The Spiritual Qi in this Secret Realm can no longer sustain these Treasures. Every wisp of Spiritual Power that leaks out is damaging the Treasure’s own source.’

After all, without anyone to maintain them, even the Magical Treasures of a Core Formation True Man would degenerate into ordinary items after a few thousand years.

It was unimaginable what Tier a Treasure must have originally been to survive for tens of thousands of years, or perhaps even longer.

The second item was a Jade Pendant, already covered in a web of fine cracks. Its jade was a grayish-white, permeated with impurities.

Bai Zichen reached out his hand, then hesitated and pulled it back.

The last item was a long box. It was not made of gold, jade, or wood, and it repelled his Divine Sense on contact.

’Regardless, I’ll have to get my hands on them to know what they’re for... Just looking won’t tell me anything.’

Bai Zichen first picked up the Jade Pendant in the middle. To his alarm, specks of jade immediately flaked off, and he hurriedly cupped the pendant in his palms.

Just as he was about to study the Jade Pendant’s secrets, a brilliant white light flared, and a massive amount of information flooded directly into his mind.

’The Nine Heavens Bone Forging Techniques... to temper Immortal Bones! It’s a Body Refining Technique!’

Bai Zichen closed his eyes and briefly scanned the contents of the Cultivation Technique that had poured into his mind.

It was a technique to temper the bones of the body, causing them to undergo a qualitative transformation into the legendary Immortal Bones.

It was not divided into high or low levels but consisted of seven volumes, which could be used to temper a total of seven bones into different types of Immortal Bones.

The contents were as vast as a sea of smoke. Worried that something unexpected might happen in the Secret Realm, Bai Zichen only gave one of the volumes a cursory glance.

The Sun Element Copper Bone: refine the frontal bone of the skull into an Immortal Bone, making the physical body tyrannical and fearless of Celestial Fire...

The minimum cultivation requirement: entrust one’s Divine Sense to form a Golden Core.

’It’s good, but the Tier is too high for me... What’s the use of giving me a Body Refining technique that requires at least a Core Formation True Man to practice?’

The Jade Pendant in Bai Zichen’s hands had completely crumbled to dust, having exhausted its last bit of Spiritual Power to complete the transmission of the Cultivation Technique.

He loosened his fingers, and the jade dust trickled away like sand.

’Besides, I already have the Five Crystal Glaze Body, which is extremely suitable for me. Even after I reach Core Formation, I probably won’t have the energy to cultivate two Body Refining Techniques at the same time...’

Having obtained a top-tier Body Refining Technique of little immediate use, Bai Zichen turned his attention to the two remaining items.