"How dare you! It seems you two old men truly have a death wish," Duke An snarled, his veins popping with rage.

"Hehe, who would have thought that Daxia, known as the land of courtesy, only knows how to oppress others with power. Boss He and Third Brother He neither rob nor steal, conducting legitimate business as law-abiding citizens. They pay every copper coin of taxes due to the Imperial Department of Revenue. Even if Duke An were to complain to the Heavenly Emperor himself, it would be useless." Ye Lingyue saw Duke An and his daughter, both of which were clearly cut from the same cloth, and she couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"And who might you be, to speak to my father in such a manner?" An Minxia's cultivation had recently broken through, and she now stood at the Postnatal Peak, nearing the Elixir Realm.

She had only obtained her father's permission to join him on this trip to the Taiyi Secret Realm after much pleading, hoping to find a suitable Spiritual Artifact to aid her breakthrough into the Elixir Realm.

Looking at Ye Lingyue, whose cultivation was only at the Innate level and seemed to be in shady collaboration with that demoness Bo Qing, Minxia concluded that she was no good.

"I am Hong Shisan, merely a helper invited by the He brothers. Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but the Taiyi Secret Realm is about to open. Without any piece of the map, nobody can enter," Ye Lingyue glanced around, not seeing any other forces around. It seemed that Crown Prince Hong and others were among the first to arrive.

"Marquis, there is no need to waste words with these crooked paths. We are here for the Taiyi Secret Realm. Let's rest in the Tea House for a moment and wait for the other forces to arrive," Crown Prince Hong remained relatively clear-headed.

He and a few others entered the Tea House. By noon, another group of people had arrived at the base of Cang Mountain.

Unlike Ye Lingyue and the others, who were covered in dust and travel-weary, this new group was calm and composed.

Among them, a young man and woman were particularly striking. The woman was beautiful and haughty, while the man was handsome and dignified, exuding nobility. The guards following them had cultivation levels around the Great Primordial Dan Realm, and were considered skilled among the younger generation.

Yet another look at their guards—some old, some young—revealed an elder who was exceedingly profound, a practitioner of the Reincarnation Fourth Path, just like Boss He.

In such a remote mountain wilderness, the sudden gathering of so many Reincarnation Realm masters made one wonder which power they represented.

Crown Prince Hong and the others looked slightly uneasy.

Crown Prince Hong and Duke An promptly rose to their feet, greeting the newcomers with a cupped-fist salute.

"So it is people from Beiqing Kaijiang Royal Mansion, what a pleasure to meet you."

People from Beiqing were from Feng Xun's Mother Country.

Ye Lingyue, who was drinking tea, looked up upon hearing that they were from the Beiqing Royal Family, taking a few more glances.

Speaking of Beiqing's Kaijiang Royal Mansion, they, too, have quite a history.

In the past, when Prince Feng of Beiqing was alive, he was a renowned War God. After the former Prince Feng's demise, a young and frail Feng Xun abandoned the military to engage in business. It was then that Chen Tuo of the Chen Family from the Kaijiang Royal Mansion rose to prominence, becoming the new War God of Beiqing.

As for the young man and woman, they were the Princely Heir and the young Miss of the Kaijiang Royal Mansion.

The man, Chen Tuo, was the third son of King Kaijiang, while the woman, Chen Xuan, was his sixth daughter, both born from concubines.

The elder who had reached the Reincarnation Fourth Path behind them was an esteemed mutant among King Kaijiang's men, known as Elder Yue.

It seemed that a fragment of the map to the Taiyi Secret Realm had fortuitously landed in King Kaijiang's hands, which was why he dispatched his men to escort his children to the Taiyi Secret Realm.

Of course, these matters were all told to Ye Lingyue in a quiet voice by Boss He.

He also knew that the relationship between Ye Lingyue and Feng Xun was no ordinary one.

But as the bastard sons and daughters of the Beiqing Kajiang Royal Mansion, their cultivation had already reached the Reincarnation Realm. Even Crown Prince Hong and others had to treat them with great respect. It seems that King Kaijiang's influence in Beiqing is not to be underestimated.

Ye Lingyue pondered this to herself.

"Why then did King Kaijiang not send his Princely Heir or his eldest daughter, and only sent the bastard sons and daughters?" Ye Lingyue wondered.

In Daxia, apart from extraordinary bastards like Hong Fang, the fates of bastards in the households of nobles were usually quite miserable; they would hardly ever get their turn for an adventure like the Taiyi Secret Realm.

"You don't know about this, Thirteenth Young Master. The Princely Heir of King Kaijiang is no ordinary person; he has already been initiated into the Wanxiang Sword Sect. The Wanxiang Sword Sect is a first-tier Great Sect that can be ranked on the mainland, not much less renowned than the Taiyi Sect of old. Naturally, they wouldn't take much interest in a minor Taiyi Secret Realm." Boss He explained, sighing with emotion.

Since Ancient Times, those sects and factions, either fell into decline or became even stronger. Among them, some have become towering presences, not even empires like Beiqing dare to offend a Great Sect.

King Kaijiang of Beiqing's status today is definitely related to the Wanxiang Sword Sect.

"Between the Heavenly Armor Sect and the Wanxiang Sword Sect, which one is superior?" Only after setting out did Ye Lingyue realize that she had too little information in hand.

She thought she had mastered the data of everyone in the Hong Residence, but she lacked information about those sects and factions. It looks like when she gets back, she needs to have Yan Che and others collect more data.

Zhuge Rou comes from the Heavenly Armor Sect.

It was also because of her sect, that the Hong Residence heartlessly cast out Ye Family's Mother and Daughter from the Marquis Mansion.

"The Wanxiang Sword Sect is still somewhat better, it's a first-tier great faction. Only a few sects from the realms outside of this world can surpass it. The Heavenly Armor Sect is a Second-tier Sect. In fact, at its most prosperous, our Miao Shou Kong Kong Thief Sect was also a Second-tier Sect." Boss He rambled on and on.

"It's just the Wanxiang Sword Sect, our Jueqing Sect is not afraid of them at all," Bo Qing sat off to one side, her jade-like hands peeling melon seeds with delight.

Yet no sooner had she peeled them, Little Zhiyo swooped in with a whoosh and snatched away the peeled kernels, infuriating Bo Qing to the point where her nose almost went crooked.

Bo Qing's words were spoken in a volume that was neither loud nor low, just so happened to be overheard by the siblings of the Beiqing Kaijiang Royal Mansion.

"Is that woman the witch of the Jueqing Sect?" Chen Xuan and An Minxia were of similar ages and both had willful and capricious temperaments. It didn't take long for them to hit it off and start calling each other sisters.

They naturally also noticed Jueqing, the most striking looking demoness.

"Isn't that her? If it wasn't for the map in her hand, a demoness like her wouldn't be worthy to enter the Taiyi Secret Realm with us," An Minxia sneered.

Chen Tuo was staring at Bo Qing's alluring face, unable to hide the flash of amazement in his eyes.

Judging by the demeanor of Crown Prince Hong and the people from the Kaijiang Royal Mansion, they had clearly formed a faction.

After all, inside the Taiyi Secret Realm there are many unpredictable dangers, and with the He Family three brothers joining forces with the Demon Sect, Crown Prince and the others had to be cautious.

"The remaining ones are the Fire Control Sect and the Sun Worship Sect. These two sects have such a grand air about them, actually making us wait here." Duke An and the mutant from Beiqing Kaijiang Royal Mansion were both somewhat discontented.