The Wandering Immortal

Chapter 99 The Secret Realm of the Sea
Shen Wangzhi had previously refined a sect talisman boat, which had a large interior space. Liu Caiwei then led several disciples and Jingxuan onto the talisman boat.

Shen Wangzhi, Jiang Yuan, and Cui Qinghe were outside discussing how to respond.

The tide of beasts in the sea has gradually receded, with only a few slow-reacting monsters and small fish that can't swim fast still fleeing northward.

The sky was already covered with thick clouds, as dark as night.

The vibrations on the seabed were very regular, occurring almost every two incense sticks' worth of time, and each time they became stronger.

Such regular shockwaves could not possibly be a volcanic eruption or the birth of a great demon; it must be the worst possible outcome, indicating the appearance of a hidden underwater realm.

Shen Wangzhi made a decision and quickly evacuated the island.

If a major sect from the Central Plains were to come and investigate, they would inevitably fly over the Spirit Gathering Array, making it highly likely that they would be exposed.

Liu Caiwei launched the talisman boat and flew towards the northeast sea area, with Shen Wangzhi, Jiang Yuan, and Cui Qinghe following behind.

Qinghe couldn't help but ask, "If the secret realm appears, and we are so close by, why don't we go and explore it first?"

Before Jiang Yuan could speak, Shen Wangzhi said, "Sister-in-law, you still lack experience in the martial world. With such a terrifying celestial phenomenon, the secret realm must be at least at the Nascent Soul level. Not to mention whether we can even enter, even if we do get the opportunity, we will probably be surrounded and killed by the major sects of the Central Plains that arrive later."

If a Nascent Soul cultivator were to fly over the island, the island could be detected simply by the gathered spiritual energy.

Therefore, even though Shen Wangzhi shut down the spirit-gathering array when he left, leaving only the illusionary concealment spell, it was still difficult to guarantee that he wouldn't be discovered.

I just hope that those Nascent Soul cultivators will realize that the illusion array is at the Deity Transformation level and won't provoke it easily.

After flying more than a thousand miles northeast, Jiang Yuan landed on a small island and set up an illusion array to hide for the time being.

When the people from the Central Plains arrived, Jiang Yuan and Cui Qinghe wanted to change their appearances and go back to take a look.

The major sects will surely come up with a plan, just like they did with the Junshan Secret Realm, and maybe they can even take advantage of it.

If all the major sects in the Central Plains were to converge on the South China Sea, Li Shouzhong and Lao Lu would surely find out.

Sure enough, after only two hours on the island, Li Shouzhong sent back a talisman. Shen Wangzhi briefly explained the situation and told the two of them not to return to the island with the spirit-gathering array, but to hurry to the island where they were staying to meet up.

After waiting for most of the day, Li Shouzhong and Lao Lu finally arrived at their hiding place.

Li Shouzhong said that the major sects had already sent people to investigate the scene of the incident. The two of them had gone out to sea with a large group of people, but changed direction halfway through the journey. For safety, they deliberately took a detour to the north, so no one should have followed them.

After discussing countermeasures, they concluded that the spirit-gathering array and the cave were probably doomed. If the secret realm allowed independent cultivators to enter, they would form a team to try and break into it.

Old Lu has never been good at fighting and has never been to a secret realm, so he was left to guard the talisman boat and look after a few young disciples.

Jiang Yuan and Cui Qinghe are both in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, while Shen Wangzhi and Liu Caiwei are almost at the peak of the early Golden Core stage. Although Li Shouzhong has just formed his Golden Core, his killing power is no weaker than that of Shen Wangzhi and Liu Caiwei.

These five people didn't even need to practice the formation. They used the Five Elements Transformation Formation from the Junshan Secret Realm, with Jiang Yuan controlling the formation plate. They could even fight against each other in the early stages of the Nascent Soul realm.

Jiang Yuan's only worry was that someone might recognize Cui Qinghe. Although Laoshan had been destroyed, the Taiyi Sect and the Emei Sect would not let her go in secret. Having experienced the Five Golden Flowers Demon-Exorcising Alliance before, he really couldn't be too optimistic.

Jiang Yuan was confident that his soul concealment technique could fool Nascent Soul cultivators, but Cui Qinghe's was less certain. Liu Caiwei's concealment technique was quite good, while Shen Wangzhi and Li Shouzhong were a little lacking.

Let's not gather together yet. If we can enter the secret realm, we can form an array later. So, Jiang Yuan and Cui Qinghe went ahead to check the scene of the incident. Naturally, they both changed their appearances and used a temporary, narrow flying boat.

The two deliberately returned to the vicinity of the Spirit Gathering Array to take a look. Some people flew over it, but did not pay attention to the area below because the dark clouds were very low, and those people chose to fly above the dark clouds.

Jiang Yuan and his companion naturally mingled with the group, but these were mostly members of small sects and some independent cultivators. There were even some early Foundation Establishment cultivators who had traveled thousands of miles on their swords, which was truly reckless.

The location of that secret realm is several thousand miles away from the Spirit Gathering Island. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator flies there, it's unknown whether they will still have the magic power to fly back to the Central Plains.

Even Jiang Yuan and his companion flew for two hours before arriving nearby. The secret realm was naturally located at the bottom of the sea, and it had already begun to emit colorful light. A beam of light, ten miles thick, shot straight into the sky, breaking through the black mist. It looked quite eerie, and its pressure was indeed greater than that of a Nascent Soul level cultivator.

Jiang Yuan had a bad feeling that this secret realm was not a Taoist or Buddhist sect's inheritance, but rather had a demonic aura.

Five enormous flying boats were hovering high in the sky ahead, clearly indicating that the five major Daoist sects had arrived first.

The Taiyi Sect's talisman boat is a giant yin-yang fish surrounded by a light shield, obscuring the view inside.

Mount Kongtong is a multi-story ship, about four or five stories high, capable of carrying at least a thousand people, but judging from the appearance, there are only a dozen or so people at the bow.

The talisman boat on Qingcheng Mountain was actually a giant crane, clearly not a real demonic beast, but something like a talisman boat, with more than a dozen people on it.

Mount Luofu, however, is a true dragon-shaped talisman boat, winding for a mile. Jiang Yuan had seen it in Luofu Immortal City, so it was not surprising.

Mount Emei is quite straightforward; it is a giant flying sword, about half a mile long, with a dozen or so people standing on it.

The Taoist sect of Mount Lu remains secluded and does not appear in the world, which is quite strange.

In the previous annihilation of Laoshan, all five major Daoist sects sent Nascent Soul cultivators to take action. Lushan was forced to make a statement, and also sent Nascent Soul cultivators. However, in the great battles of the past few years, they did not send a single soldier, and seemed unwilling to participate in the division of Laoshan's interests.

The other minor sects and independent cultivators also came, totaling more than three hundred people, most of whom were Golden Core cultivators.

These people had little say and could only wait for the five major sects to finish their discussion to see if they were willing to go easy on the rogue cultivators and allow them to enter.

After seeing several talisman boats, Jiang Yuan did not approach them again. The distance was no more than twenty miles. Two incense sticks later, the secret realm once again emitted a beam of light.

Jiang Yuan was shocked to discover that there was a black dragon phantom in the pillar of light, with red eyes, soaring into the sky and looking back down, seemingly watching the human cultivators watching.

The aura was quite astonishing. Jiang Yuan hurriedly told Qinghe to retreat. That demonic dragon was a Nascent Soul cultivator at the Transformation level. If its true form broke free, all of these people would probably die.

The talisman boats of the five major Daoist sects were also retreating, clearly knowing they couldn't afford to offend them.

Disciples from minor sects and independent cultivators all rushed back in droves.

Jiang Yuan had a keen sense of danger and was running at full speed, cursing in his mind as he ran. He thought, "This little broken ball is a complete cage. Anything that runs out could cause a cataclysmic disaster."

Jiang Yuan even had Qinghe release the lotus flying boat. The two of them stood on it and propelled it at full speed, but they didn't fly very far in the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn.

The oppressive aura emanating from behind was several times stronger than the Nanming Li Huo Sword he had felt on the grasslands.

Oh no, the dragon has really appeared!

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(End of this chapter)