Bamboo Mound

At that moment, a voice came from within the crowd.

"Elder, how are we supposed to return in seven days? Are we just supposed to wait to be picked up?"

Following the sound, they saw a disciple of the Qingyun Sect, who was raising his hand halfway to ask a question.

The great elder nodded.

"The talisman we will give you will emit a light six hours in advance to indicate the direction. Follow the direction to reach the place you just entered. We will be waiting for you there."

"And if they don't arrive by then, we'll decide whether to go and meet them, depending on the distance."

"Alright, does anyone else have any questions?"

After answering, the elder asked the question again to the crowd.

This time, however, no one made a sound.

So he turned around and nodded to the elders of Huayu Sect and Xuanshan Sect.

Then each of them offered up a jade fragment and shouted in unison:

"The three sects gather, and the clouds and smoke reveal their form!"

As the three fragments came together, they instantly formed a complete jade pendant, which floated above the mountaintop.

Then the jade pendant suddenly flashed with a white light and shot downwards into the mountaintop!

As the white light shone down, a thin layer of mist appeared on the once barren mountaintop.

The clouds and mist appeared ethereal and thin, yet they easily obscured the view of the rocks behind them.

At this moment, the Grand Elder turned around and said to the crowd:

"The Cloud and Mist Secret Realm has opened. Disciples, enter quickly. What opportunities you encounter depends entirely on yourselves."

As they spoke, the elders walked to the side and sat down under a stone pavilion that a Xuanshan Sect elder had casually built to start brewing tea.

The disciples were left looking at each other in bewilderment.

"? It's starting already?"

"Where do we go in? Could that plume of smoke be the door?"

Just as they were discussing this, a figure suddenly rushed from the direction of the Xuanshan Sect's direct disciples toward the misty clouds, instantly disappearing into them without a trace!

Meanwhile, several disciples of the Xuanshan Sect walked leisurely into the clouds and disappeared from the spot.

Seeing this, the disciples also started walking towards the entrance of the secret realm, disappearing into the clouds and mist.

"Since that is the entrance to the Cloud and Mist Secret Realm, let's set off," Wang Yan suggested at the opportune moment.

Ning Chang nodded and was about to start walking when he saw the three of them stop in their tracks and turn to look at him.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Ning Chang asked, puzzled.

The three exchanged a glance. "Well, we think it would be more suitable for Ning Chang to be the leader."

Ning Chang's doubts only increased, "Your cultivation levels are all five ranks higher than mine, what danger could you possibly be afraid of?"

Seeing that Ning Chang had misunderstood, Wang Yan quickly explained:

"No, Brother Ning Chang, you misunderstand. We originally thought that among the four of us, only you, Brother Ning Chang, were qualified to enter first, but we forgot about the dangers involved and your cultivation level."

“But even if there’s nothing inside the entrance, isn’t it the same whether you go in early or late?” Ning Chang added.

"Moreover, according to the elder, the location after entering will not vary from person to person; it will all be the same place."

Wang Yan nodded. "That's true. In that case, let's not worry about who leads. Let's go in quickly."

After they finished speaking, the group glanced to the side. During the time they were talking, the direct disciples of the Huayu Sect had already entered, and most of the inner disciples had also entered.

Ning Chang followed the three to the tip of the sword, then leaped forward and landed on the mountaintop.

A few steps further, and wisps of clouds were already within reach.

He waved his hand at the clouds and found that he could not feel anything, nor could he affect the shape of the clouds and mist, as if it were just an illusion.

As he entered the fog, everything became completely dark, so dark that he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. However, he could still hear the voices of the inner disciples talking, which prevented him from thinking that he had taken the wrong path.

But the ground suddenly felt softer, turning from rocks into soil!

After walking a few more steps, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a flat and open expanse, where one was situated on a vast plain.

The disciples who had already entered gathered in twos and threes, either discussing plans or heading out to the surrounding areas.

After he paused briefly, the three people behind him also came to the side.

As they began to move forward, the three of them unconsciously slowed down, resulting in Ning Chang still walking in front. Ning Chang was attracted by the clouds and mist and did not notice the three of them until they entered.

"Brother Ning Chang, which direction should we go next?" Wang Yan asked.

To be honest, Ning Chang didn't want to explore with anyone, as he also needed to pay attention to the other person's situation, and the distribution of the spoils was also a problem.

"It would be better if we split up and went our separate ways to seek our own opportunities. If we go together, the scope of our exploration will be greatly reduced, and the average yield will be significantly affected."

"That's...that's true. Brother Ning Chang is so wise; I hadn't even considered these things." Wang Yan scratched his head.

"In that case, I'll take my leave now. See you in seven days!" With that, he turned and walked away in one direction.

Seeing Wang Yan leave, Fang Nanyi and Yue Mingyu also greeted Ning Chang and walked together to the other side.

After seeing the three off, Ning Chang finally relaxed and began to observe his surroundings.

In his view, entering the Cloud and Mist Secret Realm was not much different from the outside world. It was just that the view was somewhat hazy in the distance, but it was not as his master had said that he could not see anything beyond two hundred steps.

"It's probably because of my eyes, I've discovered another function."

Thinking about his heterochromia, Ning Chang suddenly had another idea.

He had wanted to experiment with this idea when he first guessed that he had heterochromia, but he forgot about it after teaching the formation.

But now that I've remembered it again, and since I happen to have some free time, I might as well give it a try.

He condensed a thin film of spiritual energy, slowly placed it on his eyeballs, blinked a few times, and looked into the distance, but the result left him slightly disappointed.

The spiritual energy had no effect whatsoever; on the contrary, its pale white color made the vision even more blurred.

This made him hesitate, because the results of covering with spiritual energy and filling with spiritual energy are different, and now covering with spiritual energy is useless, leaving only filling with spiritual energy as the only option.

But the eyeball itself is very fragile, and he didn't know what the consequences would be if he rashly filled it with spiritual power.

But once an idea comes to mind, not putting it into practice leaves him feeling frustrated and unable to express it.

After pondering for a long time, and waiting until most of the disciples around the entrance to the secret realm had left, a hint of realization flashed in his eyes.

"Spiritual energy can circulate freely throughout the body without causing any discomfort to the heart or brain, so how could an eyeball possibly be uncomfortable?!"

Thinking this, he then controlled his spiritual energy to slowly seep into his eyeballs through the meridians near them.

Although they took direct action, they were initially very cautious and only placed a thin layer on the outermost edge.

After pausing for a few breaths and seeing that he felt nothing, he continued.

As spiritual energy seeped in, a faint sense of comfort emanated from his eyes, gradually amplifying with the total amount of spiritual energy absorbed.