As Li Yan looked around, Li Wuyi's voice transmission sounded in his head. "Don't be alarmed, Little Junior Brother. Someone is attacking the formation from the outside, and they've blocked our vision and divine sense. The Martial Uncles are currently holding them off. It should be nothing serious." He turned his head and saw Li Wuyi also looking around with curiosity. His gaze happened to land in Li Yan's direction. At the same time, other Qi Condensation cultivators were gradually waking from their meditation, many looking hesitant and uncertain, but no one spoke.
Li Yan secretly released his divine sense and was shocked to find it couldn't leave his body at all. He could only passively receive transmitted information. Inside this formation, his eyes could see farther than his divine sense.
"Do not panic. This is merely the power of the world in this Secret Realm," a voice, that of Elder Peng, echoed within the formation.
"The power of this world is so unstable? It can even generate attacks? How is it attacking?" someone asked a companion in a low voice.
"I don't know. I can't see what's above us; it's all a gray haze. My divine sense can't penetrate my body at all," a Qi Condensation disciple replied.
"Me too. I just tried to release my divine sense with all my might, but it was no use."
...
Such discussions rose and fell. As the rumbling outside the formation grew louder, Li Yan felt the ground beneath him shaking continuously, as if trying to throw him off balance. He focused his vision on the edge of the formation, where he could see two elders. One of them was the beautiful Peak Master Li, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. The other, Li Yan seemed to have heard of before, was likely a mid-stage Golden Core from Lord Lao Peak. By straining his eyes, Li Yan could barely make out their profiles. Both wore grave expressions, looking highly vigilant. But Li Yan felt a sense of relief, because although their faces were grim, the hand seals they formed showed no sign of strain or hesitation. Clearly, everything was still under control.
Li Yan remained silent, observing the two elders' expressions and listening intently. After a moment, he felt that the deafening sounds were not all coming from nearby. The constantly changing volume suggested that the other three sects and the demonic beasts were also under attack. But Li Yan would never have guessed that there was no attack on the demonic beasts' side at all. They knew that as long as they didn't try to charge over, they wouldn't be attacked. Nothing would happen. After the Nascent Soul ancestors' council, they had tried a few more times when this situation occurred, only to find it was true, and they had suffered for it. Eventually, they simply ignored it whenever it happened. Besides, the demonic cultivators were happy to watch the humans' predicament. As long as their attacks didn't trigger a war between the two realms, it was fine by them.
The demonic cultivators had wanted to help in the past, not out of any deep friendship with the cultivation world, but because they feared that if the humans suffered too many losses, they would stop coming to the Secret Realm for harvesting. How would the demonic beasts obtain medicinal pills and treasures then? They didn't understand formations and found it difficult to break through the protections, let alone refine pills. Only Tier-3 demonic beasts and above had a chance of learning refining, and very few of them specialized in it. They relied more on their innate talents for cultivation.
But later, they discovered that the humans were indeed powerful, able to resist this bizarre attack with formations, suffering minimal or even no losses. So the demonic beasts were happy to watch the show. Even the heavens and earth of the Secret Realm looked down on these outsiders, holding such a persistent hostility. They didn't know why the ancient cultivators had set up such a restriction.
Inside the formation, amidst the low discussions and anxious uncertainty, the sound of the attack outside suddenly ceased after half a quarter of an hour. The swirling dust and sand above the formation's transparent light barrier also vanished without a trace. The moonlight and starlight reappeared in the sky, and the Heaven's Heart Compass hung firmly at the valley entrance, looking completely normal.
Li Yan saw the beautiful Peak Master and the Lord Lao Peak elder let out a long breath and withdraw their magical power, smiles appearing on their faces. It seemed the attack had ended without success.
After the elders withdrew their power, they also dismantled the formation. However, Elder Peng did not allow anyone to leave the area. Maintaining such a formation required a large amount of high-grade Spirit Stones. It had been running for fourteen days already, and the consumption of high-grade Spirit Stones was rapid. Even Elder Peng felt the pinch; these were high-grade Spirit Stones, and even for a great sect like theirs, such an expense was painful.
Elder Peng and the others knew that each attack only happened once, so they took down the formation afterward. But the formation-laying apparatus was not removed. This was their consistent vigilance. Although there had only been one attack during each previous entry into the Secret Realm, it didn't mean it would always be this way. If another attack occurred, given their current state of constant readiness, they could quickly reactivate the formation. Therefore, they did not permit the sect disciples to leave the formation's original protected range.
Li Yan looked from afar and saw the Qi Condensation disciples of the other sects also looking around curiously, none of them leaving their own areas. Clearly, their elders had given the same orders. He also felt his divine sense could now extend without any hindrance, which was a relief. A cultivator without divine sense always lacked a sense of security.
When his divine sense swept over the three demonic beast teams, he was startled. He quickly shifted his gaze in their direction. What he saw was the same as what his divine sense had perceived: the three teams of demonic beasts were roaring towards them, but Li Yan could sense schadenfreude in the eyes of the three leading beasts and in their howls.
Li Yan didn't understand why, but seeing that the situation wasn't escalating, he turned his attention back to the Heaven's Heart Compass. After a while, he couldn't help but sigh. Only fourteen days had passed, and one-third of the black dots had already disappeared. Looking at the Foundation Establishment cultivators around him, only three had returned. The brutality within was evident. What gave him some comfort was that many dots of the other six colors had also vanished. Some colors had even lost more than half of their dots. That was one of the demonic beast teams. Li Wuyi had told him before that due to quota limits, a team of demonic beasts might be composed of several races, and they were likely to fight among themselves. Additionally, many demonic beasts, influenced by their innate nature, preferred to fight to the death directly. Even if their intelligence was awakened, some didn't bother to use their brains, making them easy prey for clever demonic beasts and humans. The so-called "one force to break ten skills" only applied when one possessed absolute power.
'I wonder how my senior brothers and sisters, and she, are doing?' Li Yan watched the Heaven's Heart Compass for a while longer. The different colored dots were now interwoven, and it was possible for anyone to encounter anyone else.
Exhaling a breath of turbid air into the night, Li Yan slowly closed his eyes again.
In the following days, Li Yan was sometimes awakened by fluctuations around him. After more than ten days of cultivation, people from the four sects began to break through their realms. Every so often, a dazzling light would erupt in the area as someone's spiritual energy surged, signaling a breakthrough. There were breakthroughs to major realms and minor realms. However, some people, like Du Sanjiang and other Qi Condensation Perfected cultivators, dared not cultivate. They already had a chance to attempt Foundation Establishment outside, and although success wasn't guaranteed, they had some confidence. The opportunity in the Secret Realm was rare, but they had entered for treasures. Though they might lead a team in the Wheel of Life and Death in the future, they didn't want to miss any chance. If a Qi Condensation Perfected cultivator cultivated here and, without a Foundation Establishment Pill, miraculously advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm, it would mean they had lost the purpose of their trip. If cultivators who had no confidence in reaching Foundation Establishment heard this, they would probably spit up three liters of blood in anger. After all, most cultivators sought longevity, and realm was king. It was not like the people here, who were the few geniuses among the vast army of cultivators. They were confident in their future advancement, which was why they gave up on reaching Foundation Establishment here.
Li Wuyi squinted his eyes. He noticed a situation: most of the people who had improved their cultivation were from the Malevolent Spirit Sect. Although some from the other three sects had broken through, the total number was not large. He had observed carefully. Many of these people were at the tenth-level Perfected Qi Condensation realm, but in terms of proportion, late-stage tenth-level cultivators accounted for nearly fifty percent, with less than thirty percent at the mid-stage tenth-level. Logically, these eighty percent should have had a chance to break through, but after his observation, the number of minor realm promotions in the three sects combined was only twelve or thirteen. The probability was too low, and there were no major realm breakthroughs at all. These four sects were not like the demonic beasts opposite them, who were born and raised here, their bodies already accustomed to the density of spiritual energy. Those who were supposed to advance had already done so.
'These people have quite a few secrets. Their auras seem somewhat impure, yet deep. What's going on?' Li Wuyi thought, squinting. He looked at his Martial Uncles sitting at the eight corners in the four directions. The eight of them seemed to have forgotten about this matter and were all meditating with their eyes closed.
In fact, the eight Golden Core cultivators of the Malevolent Spirit Sect were currently engaged in a secret voice transmission discussion. If Li Wuyi could notice it, how could it escape their eyes?
"The three sects have undoubtedly joined forces. The deathly aura on these young ones is thick. And they aren't even taking advantage of the opportunity here to cultivate properly. It seems they have forcibly raised their realms with medicine. Another breakthrough, even a minor one, will be extremely difficult for them," this was Elder Peng's voice.
"Their foresight is profound. They knew we would refuse if they proposed that Foundation Establishment cultivators participate in the Wheel of Life and Death. They even predicted our final proposal of using Qi Condensation cultivators," Peak Master Yi's aged voice sounded in the minds of the other seven.
"Forcibly raising their realms with medicine... these people are finished for the future. Even an inch of progress will be a thousand times harder. The thirteen who have advanced so far were all mid-stage tenth-level Qi Condensation," Elder Feng of Lord Lao Peak said.
"The cultivation levels of these juniors are too uniform. They are almost all late-stage tenth-level or above. The lowest, mid-stage Qi Condensation, only number about thirty. Here, we still have seventh, ninth, and early tenth-level Qi Condensation disciples, and the proportion is quite large," the beautiful Peak Master's lazy voice echoed in the elders' minds. Even without looking, an image of her full-figured, enchanting form appeared in their minds. Fortunately, everyone here had known her for a hundred years or more and was used to it.
"This battle is perilous. But how can they join forces in the Wheel of Life and Death? In a one-on-one team battle, even if their overall realm is higher than ours, they won't necessarily gain an advantage against our sect. Unless they possess some extraordinary treasure, in addition to their realm advantage," the scholarly Peak Master Feng transmitted.
"We fight. Even knowing it's a trap, we must enter. Are we to skip the Wheel of Life and Death every fifteen years from now on?" another elder from Never-Parting Peak, Elder Yan, transmitted. The others fell silent. No one spoke again. Even if it meant sacrificing this batch of Qi Condensation disciples and three Foundation Establishment disciples, they had to enter. Through this, they should be able to get a sense of the three sects' trump cards. But it could also be a pointless sacrifice. The Wheel of Life and Death was completely sealed; not even light dots could be seen from the outside. In the end, everyone would be teleported out at once. Those who didn't come out would never come out again. If their entire force was annihilated, it meant no information would get out, and the same situation would occur in the next Wheel of Life and Death.
The elders did not hate the three sects for joining forces. When one power began to suppress the others, the weaker ones would unite to push back. The Malevolent Spirit Sect had allied with each of the other three sects countless times since ancient times. It was just that the Malevolent Spirit Sect's power had grown stronger and stronger in recent centuries.