After carefully listening to the reports from the dozen or so Golden Core cultivators about the bizarre events in the Secret Realm, the Nascent Soul ancestors discussed it for a while and then, for a period, there was no further news.
Later, it was heard that eight Nascent Soul ancestors had joined forces to enter the Secret Realm once. After they came out, they announced that the matter was unrelated to the demonic beasts of the realm and might be connected to ancient cultivators. After the Golden Core cultivators returned, they thought it over carefully. Although they didn't know how the Nascent Soul ancestors had negotiated with the peak-stage, Tier-4 demonic beasts, in hindsight, it seemed unlikely that the beasts were responsible. If that were the case, none of them would have probably made it out. Once this news leaked, it would trigger a full-scale war between the realms inside and outside the Secret Realm. It would have been better for the beasts to kill one batch of humans after another. If one group met with disaster, another would likely be sent to investigate, allowing them to kill yet another group of Golden Core cultivators. With the existence of Tier-4 demonic beasts and a terrifying number of Tier-2 and Tier-3 beasts, it could be said that any cultivator below the Nascent Soul realm would be walking to their death. There was no need for the demonic cultivators to act so secretively. Besides, the Nascent Soul ancestors of the human race were all thousand-year-old monsters; deceiving them was basically impossible and would only lead to a great war.
But to say it was related to ancient cultivators of the Secret Realm—what did that mean? The Nascent Soul ancestors didn't explain, only saying that in the future, each sect must dispatch at least seven Golden Core cultivators, with a minimum of three at the late stage and four at the mid-stage. Furthermore, it was best to have Golden Core cultivators skilled in formations and group-attack arts.
After the Nascent Soul ancestors gave their instructions, the matter was dropped, leaving the Golden Core cultivators bewildered but not daring to ask questions. They could only follow the orders of their ancestors. From then on, whenever the Secret Realm opened, each sect would send no fewer than seven mid-stage Golden Core cultivators. Since the harvesting area was changed every fifteen years to protect the growth of the spiritual herbs and medicines, subsequent attacks would still occur every fifteen years, regardless of whether the new location was a valley entrance, a waterfront, a mountaintop, or a grassland. The accompanying phenomena were not always a thick fog; they could be heavy rain, flash floods, heavy snow, or other strange natural events. The commonality was that once these phenomena appeared, the vision of all cultivators within, regardless of their realm, would be obscured. Their divine sense could only extend about a zhang, or in some cases, not at all. Even for Golden Core cultivators specializing in divine sense, theirs could only extend two or three zhang. On one or two occasions, Nascent Soul ancestors secretly infiltrated, but whenever they were present, no matter how skilled their concealment, these strange phenomena would never occur. It was truly bizarre.
Even with these preparations, during the initial period after entering, one or two Golden Core cultivators would still perish or be severely injured. But strangely, no matter which race the three Tier-3 demonic beasts came from, they would at most suffer superficial wounds and never be seriously injured, let alone killed.
If these few Tier-3 demonic beasts tried to gather with the humans, it was futile; they would inevitably be separated. According to the beasts themselves, when these strange phenomena descended, they would be moved into a separate space. If they stayed still, they would be fine. But if they tried to break out of the space to help the humans or join them, they would be attacked. The attacks would only prevent them from escaping and cause superficial, bleeding wounds.
This left the human Golden Core cultivators utterly frustrated, but they couldn't accuse the beasts of lying, because the message from their own Nascent Soul ancestors was clear: it was not the work of the demonic cultivators of the Secret Realm, and they just had to protect themselves.
Of course, Li Yan didn't know any of this. Even Li Wuyi was unaware. The few times he had participated in the harvesting, everything outside had been normal. On those occasions, none of the four sects had lost any Golden Core elders. There were some minor injuries, but they wouldn't discuss such matters with a group of juniors.
Li Yan was currently staring at the light dots on the Heaven's Heart Compass when he heard Li Wuyi call his name. He retracted his gaze and noticed that the elders of the four sects were gathering their disciples in one area. Although the sects were not merging, they left a distance of about a hundred meters between them, which was just a single leap for a cultivator. At this time, the three Tier-3 demonic beasts opposite them, leading several hundred Tier-1 beasts, were watching them coldly, a hint of mockery in their eyes.
Li Wuyi didn't know what was happening either. This was his first time being outside the harvesting area in the Secret Realm.
After the four sects had more or less gathered in a large area in front of the valley, the Golden Core elders of each sect began to cast spells at the edge of their respective zones. On the Malevolent Spirit Sect's side, the white-haired elder from Four Symbols Peak personally set up a formation, while the other seven elders sat cross-legged in seven different positions around the disciples. Li Yan felt the white-haired elder's movements were extremely fast. In just a few breaths, their surroundings were shrouded in a vast white mist. Only a transparent light barrier appeared high above, allowing light to shine down freely, and the Heaven's Heart Compass in the sky above the valley entrance was in plain view. He looked questioningly at Li Wuyi, who shook his head, indicating he didn't know what was going on either.
"Martial Uncle Yi is setting up the Eight Trigrams Lesser Yin Formation. It's primarily for defense. It seems we are preparing for some kind of attack," Li Wuyi's voice transmission sounded in Li Yan's mind. He also learned at that moment that the Four Symbols Peak Master's surname was Yi. 'Primarily for defense? Is there going to be a battle here? One that requires eight Golden Core masters to defend the formation?' If Li Yan remembered correctly, five of those eight were late-stage Golden Core cultivators. That was a significant portion of the sect's top power.
"Alright, you brats, hurry up and cultivate. The spiritual energy here is a great opportunity. You just can't leave the formation for this month," Peak Master Yi said faintly, having taken a seat in one of the positions of the Eight Trigrams.
Although Li Yan knew the other three sects and the demonic beasts were not far away, he couldn't sense them at all now.
In the days that followed, some cultivated day and night without rest, while others would cultivate for a while and then rest for a few hours. During their rest, they would usually look up at the Heaven's Heart Compass in the sky, mainly to see how many black dots were left and how many dots of other colors remained.
For the first two days, Li Yan didn't cultivate at all. He felt uneasy, constantly worrying about Wei Chituo and the others, and of course, Zhao Min. Like the others, he sat cross-legged within the formation. The space inside was large, allowing for a good distance between individuals. Li Yan chose a spot with a direct view of the Heaven's Heart Compass. He noticed Li Wuyi was not far away, and judging by his aura, he was deep in cultivation with his eyes closed, seemingly unconcerned about the outside world.
Li Yan stared at the black dots. After just two days, three had disappeared. But only one Foundation Establishment cultivator from Never-Parting Peak had returned to the formation, and he was heavily injured. He said he had encountered four monks from the Pure Land Sect. At the last moment, he had shattered the black dot in his body with his divine sense and was teleported out. In two days, this cultivator had only managed to gather three rare spiritual herbs. On the third day, just as he and another cultivator from the same sect entered a cave residence, they found four Chan Monks already standing inside. Those monks had likely just obtained some spirit treasures. Seeing that only two Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators had entered, the four Chan Monks were moved to kill. After a split-second assessment of their strength, the two from the Malevolent Spirit Sect decisively retreated but were still cornered by the four monks. After a fierce battle, the other cultivator from Lord Lao Peak died on the spot. Before his death, he had used his ultimate trump card, poisoning two of his opponents. The other two Chan Monks reacted quickly and dodged, which gave the Never-Parting Peak cultivator time to activate the black dot in his body. In the instant he was teleported out, he also left behind four of his "Feather Transformation Gu" to launch a suicidal attack on the other two monks. He said he likely killed at least one of them, but the four "Feather Transformation Gu," which he had spent decades painstakingly cultivating with his own blood essence, did not return with him. They must have chosen to self-destruct in the end, which caused great damage to his spirit, aggravating his injuries. Rare Gu-insects often required a cultivator to nurture them bit by bit with their own blood essence, unlike the swarming kind that relied on numbers. Rare Gu-insects were known for their powerful individual attacks. Not only were their eggs extremely hard to find, but their cultivation was also incredibly draining. It could take decades to successfully nurture just one, and he had lost all four this time.
No one knew who the other disappeared black dot from the Malevolent Spirit Sect was, or who had killed them. This left Li Yan feeling unsettled. He would occasionally steal glances at Li Wuyi. After a few hours, Li Wuyi opened his eyes, glanced at Li Yan, then at the Heaven's Heart Compass and the heavily injured cultivator lying on the ground. What Li Yan saw then was Li Wuyi's smiling expression. He was actually smiling. Then, Li Wuyi closed his eyes again.
After watching for another day, another black dot disappeared. Again, no one was teleported out; they had likely fallen inside. At this rate, Li Yan wondered how many would survive the month. He stared at the Heaven's Heart Compass, his mind in turmoil.
"It's useless for you to be like this. In cultivation, life and death are paths of one's own choosing. When it's over, ask if anyone knows what happened inside, then find the culprit and kill them in the future. Even if you don't know who did it, just kill any of them you encounter. It's a simple matter."
Li Wuyi's gentle voice, like a persuasive guide, echoed in Li Yan's mind. Li Yan's heart tightened. 'This Eldest Senior Brother's killing intent is truly heavy.' After a moment of thought, he realized his worrying was indeed useless. It seemed the tempering of one's mind-nature was not something achieved overnight. Though he felt his mind was resilient enough, it was still far from mature.
After thinking for a while, Li Yan began to relax. 'I need to seize the time, or I'll be putting the cart before the horse.' He closed his eyes and regulated his breathing for a while, and his state of mind gradually calmed down. He then immersed himself in cultivation.
In the distance, after speaking his piece, Li Wuyi saw Li Yan slowly adjust his breathing and return to normal. The corners of his mouth curled up. 'After these few days, he finally understands that besides worrying, he can't help at all. I remember when Second, Third, Sixth, and Changting entered for the first time, I was so worried that I missed several places I should have gone to during my own harvesting mission. Heh.'
In the Secret Realm, the sun rose and set just like in the outside world. Li Yan entered a state of deep meditation. The rich spiritual energy here flowed along the paths of his cultivation art, filling every part of his body. Every time the True Scripture of Gui Water circulated, the feeling of expansion in his body intensified. This feeling was not unpleasant; on the contrary, it carried a sense of exhilaration, as if he were about to break through some barrier. It made him feel the loosening of his realm's bottleneck. Moreover, he had a feeling that in this world, the True Scripture of Gui Water was somehow more lively and natural.
One day, Li Yan, deep in meditation, suddenly felt a disturbance in his divine sense. This uncomfortable sensation pulled him back to the real world. He was extremely annoyed; being interrupted during cultivation was a major taboo for a cultivator, something worth fighting to the death over.
Li Yan's temper flared. He opened his eyes. The sky was dark, without a trace of moonlight. Even the compass in the sky, whose twinkling dots were visible whenever he opened his eyes, had vanished. Outside the transparent light barrier, it seemed like a sky full of sand and dust was churning the heavens and the earth in a frenzy. What had startled Li Yan awake were the rumbling sounds around him. Li Yan was shocked, not understanding what was happening.