507: Chapter 152: Refining Secret Realm, Establishing Holy Land 507: Chapter 152: Refining Secret Realm, Establishing Holy Land If one were to cultivate earnestly here for a day, it would be equivalent to more than a year of arduous cultivation in the outside world.

However, hardship is more crucial for a cultivator’s tempering, a fact Zhou Yan understood well.

Thus, after some consideration, he activated the “Chaotic Air Flow,” making this beautiful environment fill with perilous lands.

Moreover, he incrementally enhanced the risks of these perilous lands, as if setting explicit levels.

This way, cultivators of corresponding strength could choose to enter perilous lands of matching levels for their self-refinement, ensuring they do not become lost in overly comfortable conditions.

Without experiencing storms, how could one see rainbows?

A too-idyllic environment is sometimes a trap, while a challenging one often breeds geniuses.

This was the basis for Zhou Yan’s modifications to the environment within the Secret Realm.

After carefully arranging everything, Zhou Yan felt the immense power of the Yuan Ci Secret Realm, unavoidably filling his heart with sighs and murmurs of admiration.

The capabilities akin to those of the Netherworld Heavenly Road could be established here; the benefits of this Secret Realm were simply unimaginable.

It could refine the physical body, soul, and even willpower.

Such a Secret Realm, if practiced daily by a Sect disciple, could transform even the dimmest disciple into a war-power-breaking-four genius!

After a careful sensing, a shock unfailingly arose in Zhou Yan’s heart.

Subsequently, he pondered carefully and established an exclusive high-authority space in the Void of the Yuan Ci Secret Realm, similar to where the Purple Flame Lotus of the Purple Flame Void stood.

At the same time, he controlled the energy within the Secret Realm to construct it into the Holy Mountain of the Thunder Expansion Sacred Land.

This Holy Mountain, standing inverted upon the Void, resembled an ancient land of an Immortal Palace, where up to ninety percent of the energy was Origin Energy, immensely rich and concentrated.

Even more so, not only was there Origin Energy, nearly ten percent of it was extremely dense Netherworld Power!

This place was suitable for the survival and cultivation of any race.

Next, Zhou Yan used the Netherworld Rune combined with the Ancient Array Rune, engraving four old characters with his own understanding—Thunder Expansion Sacred Land.

These four characters, bold and forceful, piercing through paper, carried an unmatched Secret Technique, and encapsulated the aura of the Killing Spirit Divine Dao, Original Dao Momentum, and the Natural Dao atmosphere—indicating a near-total conglomeration of all Zhou Yan’s abilities, highly impactful.

After completing all this, Zhou Yan finally took a breath of relief, aware that he had at last refined the Yuan Ci Secret Realm.

Now, his comprehension of the Killing Spirit Divine Dao had also reached its limit, the comprehendible had been comprehended, while the incomprehensible remained complex and was not something that could be grasped in a short time.

He exhaled a breath of turbid air, and with a thought, appeared within the Yuan Ci Secret Realm.

Here, he opened the Purple Flame Void, releasing Ni Chang Fairy and Zhou Lingyao into the Yuan Ci Secret Realm.

Upon their appearance, they were immediately astonished by everything here.

Afterward, they both exclaimed in unison, “Congratulations, Saint Master, for finally establishing the Thunder Expansion Sacred Land.”

“Both of you, there’s no need to be formal with me.

This time, I am repaying you the power of soul guardian you lent me, and then I hope you can help me preside over the Thunder Expansion Sacred Land in the future,”

Zhou Yan said earnestly.

“Saint Master, since we decided to follow you, these matters are naturally our duty,”

Zhou Lingyao smiled.

Ni Chang Fairy also showed a comfortable smile.

Originally, they thought they might fall at the Frost Tears in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb, but unexpectedly, they now had a way out, even having such a Secret Realm for cultivation.

“Alright, then let’s settle on that.

For now, only those in the Sword Tribulation Realm or higher can enter the Thunder Expansion Sacred Land.

Others will remain outside for now.

Later, let them construct their palaces and residences within the Secret Realm as they see fit.

However, entry into this place will be strictly controlled.

Plus, once they enter, they cannot leave for a short period.

To leave, they must seek permission from a Saint,”

Zhou Yan mused.

“Saint Master, with you saying so, Ni Chang knows what to do.

It’s fine to enter, but leaving might accidentally reveal secrets, potentially unsettling the Secret Realm or even permanently disrupting it, so strict scrutiny is indeed required.

However, before that, having left the Frost Tears, I need to first bring my daughter Lingling here, and I trust you won’t oppose this?” Ni Chang Fairy smiled.

“Of course not, to find a place for a friend to settle is also an honor.

Although I am the Saint Master now, there’s a significant gap between us, so you needn’t be so formal,”

Zhou Yan said.

“Saint Master jokes, but since the Thunder Expansion Sacred Land is established, even without explicit rules, there are still implicit rules to follow.

Some things must adhere!

Being able to enter here also counts as being part of the innermost circle, and without some restraint, it wouldn’t be good for the development of subsequent talented generations.

Of course, I know you don’t wish to impose strict rules, but because of this, the respect for Saint Master among people becomes extremely essential,”

Zhou Lingyao deliberated.

After pondering for a moment, Zhou Yan realized that Zhou Lingyao’s words were perfectly rational, thus he no longer opposed.

Next, Zhou Yan dispersed his split soul, returning the parts not belonging to him to Ni Chang Fairy and Zhou LingYao through the Nirvana Rebirth Technique, and without hesitation, his soul merged again with his original soul.

He didn’t keep the split part of the soul, although doing so might provide a backup for facing dangers.

However, refining the Emperor Qi Sword Body would cause the two souls to be out of sync, thus the singleness of the soul before refining the Emperor Qi Sword Body was extremely important.

This was also the reason why Zhou Yan returned the parts of the souls belonging to Zhou Lingyao and Ni Chang.

Zhou Lingyao and Ni Chang Fairy never expected that things they had abandoned could come back, and even enhance their abilities further, which brought them considerable benefits.

Not only that, the Killing Spirit Divine Dao realized by Zhou Yan had left a trace of aura on both their soul auras.

Although they knew nothing about the Killing Spirit Divine Dao, they now suddenly gained some understanding of it, akin to acquiring a thread of its cultivation technique.

This Dao was naturally extremely beneficial to their cultivation.

After Zhou Yan had repaid their souls and merged with his own Soul Split, he only then felt the completeness of his body.

However, because of this feeling, Zhou Yan suddenly realized that although he was unaware of the two Saints’ soul threads in his body, losing those threads made him feel noticeably weaker.

That is to say, when powerful, he did not realize it and merely felt in good condition, but upon loss, he understood that the effects of those two soul threads were actually incredibly profound.

Zhou Yan suddenly thought that if he could survive and not be affected by battles involving the Evil King, Netherworld Palace Master, and even manage to intervene and rescue Jiu Que, it might be due to the effect of the Saints’ soul threads.

Otherwise, how could he have interfered in the Saints’ battle?

Even, his ability to intimidate a group including the Emptiness Saint by emulating the dominance of Lei Yan King and emanating the aura of the Sky Vaulting Giant Finger was likely due to the soul threads of the Saints; otherwise, his presence might have been immediately seen through.

Zhou Yan suddenly understood all this because his deduction ability was extremely powerful, and his intelligence was also outstanding.

Hence, these previously unclear matters, after some deduction, immediately became clear.

Because of this, Zhou Yan also felt immense gratitude towards Ni Chang Fairy and the others.

By then, Zhou Yan had merged with his own soul, and his physical body neared Perfection.

Although he felt somewhat weaker, he quickly adapted to this new sensation.

He talked with Zhou Lingyao and Ni Chang Fairy for a while longer, then made arrangements for the Frost Snow Saint Sword to continue its arduous recovery in the Yuan Ci Secret Realm within Thunder Expansion Sacred Land, and looked after Jiu Que, Ni Chang Fairy, and Zhou Lingyao.

He then prepared to leave Frost Tears and Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb, using the methods taught by Netherworld Queen Xiao Shuang and Jiu Que.

…

The genius war had become extremely intense.

After emerging from the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb, many geniuses suffered devastating injuries, with avatars, Void Bodies, and even their actual bodies perishing, leaving behind only Void Bodies, actual bodies, or merely an avatar, greatly affecting their strength.

As a result, of the hundred thousand geniuses, now only less than thirty thousand survived, and even less than half of the top twenty ranked geniuses were still alive, truly a lamentable situation.

For this reason, cultivators with strong backgrounds were able to recover quickly after emerging from the Secret Realm, thus gaining a significant advantage.

The rankings of the genius war were both unexpected and reasonable.

Today would be the last day of the genius war.

Before this, Ji Wu continuously battled and won, becoming almost invincible under the Sword Tribulation Realm.

On the battle platform, Ji Wu fought once again.

His popularity had skyrocketed.

“Ji Wu Xuanzhe!

Ji Wu Xuanzhe!

Ji Wu Xuanzhe!”

Below the battlefield, many cultivators shouted from the depths of their hearts, their voices shaking heaven and earth.

This time in the Secret Realm, Ji Wu died once, equivalent to a failure, and the first place qualification for Enlightenment fell into the hands of Zhuge Chunqiu from Tianji Mountain, an unexpected turn of events.

Although Ji Wu didn’t secure the top spot for Enlightenment, many cultivators knew it was only because his avatar unexpectedly perished in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb.

The notorious reputation of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb was now clear to all cultivators, recognized as no trivial place, where even a Saint might perish, let alone Ji Wu Xuanzhe?

On the Netherworld Heavenly Road, a misstep meant no chance of a whole corpse.

It was all too normal for tens of thousands of geniuses to die in an instant.

Even after emerging, many cultivators changed their expression at the mention of ‘Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb’, with some even making statements like, “If you’re tired of living, go experience the feeling of death in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb.”

It was evident how terrifying the ‘Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb’ was.

Thus, many cultivators felt it was understandable for Ji Wu to have lost and died in his first battle at the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb.

Because of this failure, Ji Wu, with his rich foundation, rose again, comprehended deeper layers of Tao, achieved combat power close to nine, accomplished great success in Xuan Restriction, and stepped upon the foundation of the Original Dao, his strength now almost completely unmatched under the Sword Tribulation.

All of these led to the surge in popularity of Ji Wu Xuanzhe.

With Zhou Yan’s life and death currently unknown, Ji Wu Xuanzhe and Holy Daughter Jiang Yuning became the hottest and most compatible Daoist couple standard.

…