The mortal world was segregated from the cultivation world. Like-minded people tend to move together, so usually, very few high-level cultivators were found residing in mortal villages.
The towns usually had more cultivators' presence, as merchants and mercenaries usually conducted trades and undertook missions on behalf of sects and cultivation clans. Like-minded people tend to move together, so usually, very few high-level cultivators were found residing in mortal villages.
The Cyclic Core was a threshold. Once one reached that cultivation realm, one would find the spirit qi in mortal towns too thin and insufficient to cultivate with. Unless one possessed great wealth and could afford to create Spirit Gathering Formations around one's residence like Ding Peng, then you had to join cultivation sects if you wanted to progress in cultivation.
......
Another secret realm had opened.
This news quickly reached the cultivation community. To cultivators interested in increasing their strength at a faster speed, secret realms were like gift boxes that contained fortuitous opportunities for those fated.
Apparently, a commoner had been making some mounds in a recently acquired farmland. As he farmed, he was cursing the miserly previous owner of the farmland who sold the property at a price way more expensive than it was supposed to. Amidst his swearing, his hoe hit a peculiar looking stone, making a CLANG sound. Noticing with shock that the collision actually chipped off a piece of the metal hoe, he excitedly bent to grab the rock, thinking it was a treasure. When his hand made contact with the rock though, it exploded into a cacophony of foggy lights.
When he could see again, his farmland was gone, replaced by a majestic looking gate that obscured further view.
Of course, this did not escape the notice of the sects around, particularly when these sects had special departments dedicated to capturing the details of the slightest auspicious or inauspicious events. The heads of these departments alerted their sect masters who collectively took action to inspect the secret realm.
The owner of the farmland was paid off. The money he received from the sect leaders was enough to buy twenty farmlands that were twenty times larger than the one he just bought. He happily accepted the deal. These lucky transactions made its way among commoners,to the chagrin of the previous farm owner. Rumours had it he went to challenge the lucky man for a share, only to be beaten up and thrown out by the guards the commoner hired
....
The five sect leaders decided to open the realm for their sect members below the Cyclic Core, as it possessed a restriction that didn't allow high level cultivators to enter.
In the core region of the sect Ding Xialong was a member of, the core disciples were informed by the sect about this secret realm. According to their calculations, the passage would only last for a day, after which it would close for a month, and open again. The reopening would be followed by the collapse of the realm itself.
Secret realms were subspaces that formed within gaps of space, and naturally, they had a lifespan. Most of them were volatile and couldn't contain life. These kinds of subspaces usually collapsed and reformed unpredictable. Once in a while though, stable subspaces formed with quite a long durability span. Once these subspaces were discovered, they would quickly be snatched up by experts, who would locate the central hub of the space and refine it to make it a private territory that could only be opened and closed with their permission. The highest level clans and sects in this world were located in such subspaces.
The one that just opened was a low quality version of such subspace. This one was already on the verge of collapse and was most likely the abode of a half step Soul Embryo expert. This kind of subspace was not worth the attention of high-level experts and was left to lower level sects.
......
Over the past few days, Ding Xiaolong broke through the Cyclic Core Realm, but her last reported cultivation realm in the sect was Half Step Cyclic Core so she was issued a badge of entry to the secret realm. Rather than waste the badge, she decided to use her connections to obtain a second one and gift it to Kong Xiang and Li Luo. Knowing they would probably refuse, she simply dropped by her shed and gave them the badges, asking them to keep an eye out for a non-existent herb in the secret realm and obtain it if they found it. While some inner disciples were trying their best to clinch one of the quotas issued, two people who hadn't even joined a sect obtained theirs with no hassle and knowledge of its worth.