The aftermath of the evaluation was a storm of whispers, but Han Feng didn't stay to bask in the shock. He knew the politics of the Cloud-Mist Sect better than anyone—to show talent without a powerful backer was to put a target on one's own heart.
By the time Elder Li's fury had cooled enough for him to order a "formal investigation" into Han Feng's sudden rise, the youth was already gone. He had claimed his reward for the first-place ranking: a Seven-Day Pass to the Green-Azure Secret Realm.
The Secret Realm was a pocket dimension, a fragment of an ancient world that had collided with the Mortal Plane eons ago. For most disciples, it was a place to hunt Low-Grade Spirit Herbs. For Han Feng, it was the only place he could test the limits of the Purification Mirror without a thousand prying eyes.
Into the Emerald Gloom
The entrance to the realm was a swirling vortex of jade energy nestled deep within a mountain cavern. As Han Feng stepped through, the world blurred. The air turned thick, heavy with the scent of damp earth and something... metallic.
When his vision cleared, he was standing in a forest of towering, obsidian-barked trees. The sky was a pale, sickly violet.
"The Qi here is denser," Han Feng whispered, inhaling deeply. "But it's jagged. It feels like breathing in broken glass."
He pulled the mirror from his robes. The moment it felt the ambient energy of the Secret Realm, it began to vibrate so violently that Han Feng's arm went numb.
Hummm—
The mirror didn't just glow; it turned into a miniature whirlpool. The surrounding air, thick with "Tainted Qi" and the miasma of the ancient forest, began to spiral into the center of the iron disk.
"Wait—stop!" Han Feng hissed, looking around frantically. If a passing disciple saw this atmospheric disturbance, his secret would be out.
But the mirror wasn't listening. It was hungry.
As it swallowed the raw, chaotic energy of the realm, the rust on its surface began to flake away in tiny, glowing embers. A single, ancient character began to materialize on the back of the disk: [ 浄 ] — Purify.
Suddenly, the mirror pulsed. A wave of pure, crystalline white light washed over Han Feng.
[System Notification: Mirror Evolution Phase 1 Complete.]
[New Ability Unlocked: All-Encompassing Filter.]
Han Feng gasped. It wasn't a voice in his head, but a direct transmission of knowledge into his soul. He now understood: the mirror didn't just refine objects. It could now refine the very environment around him.
Within a ten-meter radius of Han Feng, the violet, poisonous mist of the Secret Realm vanished. The "glass-shard" Qi turned into a gentle, nourishing mist.
"I don't need pills anymore," Han Feng realized, his eyes widening. "I am a walking Spirit Vein."
The Shadow in the Trees
Han Feng began to move deeper into the forest, his cultivation naturally rising with every breath. He was no longer at the mercy of the world; he was its master.
But the Green-Azure Secret Realm was not empty.
"Stop right there, Junior."
A figure dropped from the obsidian trees. It was a young woman in the sapphire robes of an Inner Disciple. Her eyes were sharp, her aura vibrating with the unmistakable power of Qi Condensation (Stage 1).
"I am Su Yue," she said, her hand resting on the hilt of a slender jade rapier. "I've been tracking a 'Spirit Fog' that was moving through the forest. And here I find a mere outer disciple standing in the middle of a clear zone."
She looked at the ground, then back at Han Feng. Her eyes narrowed. "The miasma here should have rotted your lungs by now. How are you standing? And what is that... thing in your hand?"
Han Feng tucked the mirror into his sleeve, his face returning to its mask of cold indifference. "I found a pocket of clean air, Senior Sister. As for my hand, I was just checking my reflection to see if I'd died yet."
Su Yue didn't flinch. She stepped into his "Refinement Zone." The moment she did, her eyes widened. She felt the jagged Qi in her own meridians smooth out instantly. Her face, which had been pale from the realm's toxicity, regained its color.
"This... this isn't a pocket of air," she whispered, her sword hand trembling. "The laws of the world are different around you. Who are you really, Han Feng?"
Before he could answer, a roar shattered the silence.
From the shadows emerged a Blood-Thorn Panther, its fur matted with dried gore, its eyes glowing with the madness of the Tainted Qi. It was a Rank 2 Spirit Beast—the equivalent of a Core Formation cultivator's pet.
Su Yue turned pale. "Run! We can't fight a Blood-Thorn in its own territory!"
Han Feng didn't run. He felt the mirror against his chest grow cold—a warning. But he also felt his own blood boiling. For the first time, his Stage 5 Body Tempering felt... insufficient.
"Senior Sister," Han Feng said, his voice eerily calm as he unsheathed his basic iron sword. "The panther isn't the problem. The poison inside it is."
He stepped forward, leaving the protection of his own zone.
"Watch closely," Han Feng whispered. "This is how you kill a god."