Chang Tianhua's hostility was undisguised, and with Song Changsheng's sharp spiritual senses, he naturally picked up on it he wasn't surprised in the slightest.
The two of them were sworn enemies, to begin with; it would be more surprising if he didn't come looking for trouble.
Song Changsheng wasn't worried about him at all. Though Chang Tianhua was well-known, it wasn't for any great achievements it was a notorious reputation. He relied on his status as the Young Sect Master to throw his weight around. Nothing more than a paper tiger…
Time passed unknowingly. Suddenly, all the Foundation Establishment cultivators present opened their eyes at once. Song Xianyun spoke in a solemn tone, "Fellow Daoists, the time has come. Let us work together to open the Wutong Secret Realm."
"It should be so."
The others nodded one after another, rising to their feet and walking to the thick trunk of the phoenix tree.
Each of them took out a waist token and placed it into a corresponding slot on the tree trunk, then channeled their spiritual energy into it.
Song Changsheng sensed a wave of formation energy flash and vanish. Seeing no one paying attention to him, a thought stirred in his mind, and he quietly activated the Eye of True Sight.
In an instant, the world around him turned gray and white again. Spiritual light flickered in his eyes as he turned his gaze to the massive phoenix tree.
Intricate formation patterns began to reveal themselves dense and interwoven like a spider's web, extending from the tree's canopy down across the entire trunk, then branching outwards from its core.
The spots where the Foundation Establishment elders stood or had been sitting were all covered in these complex, mysterious lines. Once the formation was activated, everyone within the area would be enveloped.
The formation's intricacy was astounding at least of the third tier. It was Song Changsheng's first time observing such a high-level array up close, and he felt a thrill of excitement.
With the help of his eye technique, he began trying to reverse-engineer the array. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't grasp even the slightest clue. Instead, his eyes began to throb with pain.
In less than half a quarter-hour, his eyes were sore and trembling. Alarmed, he immediately deactivated the technique.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? You're pale as a ghost, and your eyes are red like a rabbit's," Song Lutong, who was closest to him, noticed the change and asked in a low voice.
Song Changsheng shook his head gently. "It's nothing."
Song Lutong frowned but didn't press the issue.
"This formation is unbelievably complex. The one who laid it is probably even more skilled than Grandpa. I almost got hit by a backlash," Song Changsheng thought to himself, feeling a bit shaken. If he had kept pushing his luck, he might've lost his eyesight.
Luckily, he had snapped out of it in time. It was a harsh reminder that one must approach everything with reverence. Eye techniques weren't omnipotent.
He quietly circulated his cultivation technique to steady himself, then stood obediently in place, not daring to glance around again.
Buzz
Suddenly, a hazy light burst from the center of the phoenix tree's trunk. A crack about three meters tall opened up, slowly widening into an oval-shaped portal.
Looking inside, swirling colors shimmered like the aurora. Everyone was briefly entranced.
"What are you waiting for? Enter the secret realm now!" a Wang clan elder barked.
Everyone snapped out of it as if waking from a dream, quickly forming lines as instructed by their elders and stepping through the portal in an orderly fashion.
Naturally, the Song clan's five disciples went first. As Song Changsheng passed through the portal, he felt something sweep over him like being completely seen through.
This must be the detection formation the Grand Elder had mentioned. It was powerful, giving him the distinct feeling that there was nowhere to hide.
After the Song Clan finished entering, the other groups followed: the Earthfire Sect, the Qiu Clan, the Wang Clan, the Yu Clan, and finally, the Li Clan.
Once the last person entered, the six Foundation Establishment cultivators withdrew their spiritual power, and the portal slowly shrank and vanished.
"Fellow Daoists, they'll be inside for seven days. We can't just sit here the whole time, can we? How about a few rounds of Go?" Li Tiancheng stretched lazily and suggested with a smile.
"Since Brother Li is in such high spirits, we'd be glad to join you," Song Xianyun suddenly smiled and with a sweep of his sleeve, a jade-carved chessboard appeared in front of them.
A glint flashed in Li Tiancheng's eyes as he made a polite gesture. Then he and Song Xianyun began their match…
Song Changsheng and the others felt a sudden sense of vertigo, accompanied by a tidal wave of weightlessness the sensation of traversing space was enough to make one's heart tremble.
It was unclear how long had passed before Song Changsheng's vision blurred, and a dense forest appeared before his eyes. Yet he was suspended in the air in the forest, plummeting rapidly toward the ground.
Quickly gathering his spiritual power, a glow flashed in his palm, and a column of water materialized beneath his feet, cushioning his descent until he gently landed.
The moment he touched the ground, it felt like stepping on cotton light and unsteady. He nearly stumbled but managed to steady himself in time to avoid an embarrassing fall.
This was a side effect of traveling through the spatial passage. After standing still for a moment, the discomfort began to fade.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sounds of rushing wind came from above. Looking up, Song Changsheng saw silhouettes dropping from the sky like dumplings into a pot.
It was the other four from the Song family Song Lutong and the others. Oddly enough, though they had entered before him, they now landed after him.
Each person used their methods to stabilize their descent, and soon the five of them regrouped.
"Everyone okay?" asked Song Luping, the eldest, with concern.
"Of course! With that kind of height, I could land face-first and not even scrape my skin," Song Lutong said confidently.
Song Luoyue rolled her eyes. "You think everyone's skin is as thick as yours, impervious to knives and spears?"
"Hey, you"
Seeing the two about to bicker again, Song Luping quickly cut in, "Alright, alright, let's focus on the mission."
Even the usually quiet Song Changan nodded in agreement. "Uncle is right. We only have seven days. We need to complete the task given by our twenty-first grandfather as quickly as possible."
"Yeah, the landing spots for all six families were pre-arranged. Our clan's spiritual herb garden should be nearby. Let me check with the compass."
Song Luping produced a brass compass with a flourish, formed a hand seal, and chanted an incantation. The needle on the compass spun rapidly before settling in the southwest direction.
"It's in the southwest. Let's move out."
…
The six great factions had been developing this secret realm for many years, but they never exploited it recklessly. Each clan had cultivated a spiritual vein within the realm and built herb gardens around it, mainly growing first-tier and some second-tier spiritual herbs.
Thanks to the realm's unique environment, the herbs could be planted densely without affecting their growth. Over the years, a sustainable cycle has formed. For disciples, the first task upon entering the realm was to tend the gardens: harvest mature herbs and replant seeds.
Just as Song Luping said, they were very close to their family's herb garden. In less than fifteen minutes, they reached its outer perimeter.
After opening the protective formation, everyone was stunned by the sheer number of herbs inside.
One plot of spiritual farmland after another was filled to the brim with dense herbs. A single glance revealed over a dozen varieties, all thriving beautifully.
"Whoa! Even all the herb gardens outside the clan combined don't have this many herbs!" Song Lutong exclaimed, eyes wide with awe.
The others weren't much better. It was their first time here. They'd heard elders talk about the astonishing scale of the secret realm's herb gardens, but hearing about it was nothing compared to seeing it in person.
"What a treasure trove. No wonder even the Lieyang Sect is eyeing it," Song Changan said with a sigh.
"No time to sigh. Just the five of us means we'll be at it for two or three days at least. Let's get to work."
They divided the work and each took charge of a section of the garden, starting to harvest and replant.
As he moved between furrows, Song Changsheng grew more and more curious. The spiritual energy in this secret realm wasn't particularly abundant, and the soil was merely ordinary spiritual soil. So how could herbs grow so densely here without any issues?
He had visited the clan's spiritual herb mountain before, where the spiritual energy was far richer than here, yet even then, only half as many herbs could be planted in an acre. The difference was staggering.
"Maybe it has to do with the unique laws of this world," he mused. "No wonder major sects are obsessed with developing minor realms so this is why."
The Song clan only controlled a very small alternate space not even large enough to be called a true "minor world" yet the herbs produced here were enough to supply thousands of cultivators across the six factions.
As for major sects that controlled multiple small worlds, their yearly resource production must be astronomical.
No wonder the strong grow ever stronger, while the weak fall further behind...
The five of them worked for three days in the herb garden, collecting enough spiritual herbs to fill three storage pouches.
"Damn, we finally finished! I thought once I became a cultivator, I'd never have to farm again. Turns out it's the same old thing," Song Lutong grumbled.
Born in the mortal world to farming parents, he had worked in the fields since childhood. One of the main reasons he pursued the path of cultivation after being tested for a spiritual root was to escape a farmer's life.
But the reality was obvious cultivators were still people, and they still needed labor. His dream of an immortal's carefree life had shattered.
"We've been messing around here for days will there still be any Stalactite Spirit Liquid left for us?" he asked, full of resentment.
Song Changsheng smiled slightly. "The cave that produces the Stalactite Spirit Liquid is also protected by a formation. It won't open until the last day, so no need to worry, uncle."
"Oh, that's how it is? Then what are we waiting for? Let's go already don't let the Yu clan bastards beat us to it!" Song Lutong suddenly perked up, shouting excitedly.
"Yes, we should set off. But this time, we'll need to split up. Besides the herb garden, there are many wild herbs scattered throughout the realm. We need to gather as much as we can."
Although the herb gardens were rich, most of the plants were low-value, first-tier herbs.
The wild, untamed parts of the realm, on the other hand, often yielded rarer and more valuable herbs and that was their second objective.
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