After explaining to Su Ling what happened during her awakening, Yun Chen decided to leave her alone.
«Brother Chen are you going to the secret realm that will open in a month? » asked Su Ling when Yun Chen was about to leave.
«A secret realm? » asked Yun Chen in confusion.
«Didn't you know? There is a secret realm in the demon beast mountain that open once every twenty years. It contains various kind of treasures, spirit herbs and artefacts. The legend said that it was an ancient battlefield between the demon god and the immortals but never someone had obtained some legacies from an immortal or the demon god. Apart from them, a lot of cultivators from innate realm to the transformation realm perished in that battlefield and left their treasures there. That is the raison why several sects and city representatives will send people to enter each time. In addition, the beast there are also ancient beasts and they most of them inherited their bloodline from divine beasts. However, the secret realm has a ban that allow only the people under the realm to enter. People at the innate realm and over can't even enter the gate. » Su Ling explained to Yun Chen.
«Interesting! Don't worry! I will surely participate. » said Yun Chen before leaving for his room.
Yun Chen returned to his room with an exited smile. For him, this was a rare opportunity to find rare materiel and treasures for cultivation especially the things to fill his element spaces. In normal circumstances, when a high-level cultivator dies, the things they used to fill their element space disappear with them but in some cases, if that thing is of the high grade, it can escape before its host die. And since nothing belonging to the immortal was found, its surely guarded by some kinds of array. If Yun Chen could find those arrays, He would obtain the best materials. Moreover, it is also a great place to complete his three divine bloodlines and find the fourth.
After entering his room, Yun Chen took out the black and white stone containing the Yin-Yang fire.
«To be safe, I will not unseal it. I will purify it directly through the seal since it has some wisdom. Drain! » Sid Yun Chen before swallowing the stone in his palm with the "Drain" ability.
Yun Chen then used the "Cleansing" ability but after observing the fire attentively, all its wisdom didn't disappear.
«I will have to continuously purify it. Otherwise, I will suffer some terrible consequences. » Yun Chen said after checking the state of the fire.
After half an hour of purification, the Yin-Yang fire was like a puppet tat could be ordered around. Yun Chen then swallowed a revolving ice pill in order to counter the heat from the fire while refining it. Almost all part of Yun Chen's body began to freeze. He quickly destroyed the seal on the stone and then crushed it. The Yin-Yang fire appeared floating in front of him. Yun Chen slowly guided the two fires inside his body. Now, Yun Chen's body temperature was alternating between heat and cold. He endured it and refined the Yin-Yang fire with a wisp of his soul for two days without rest. When the refining was successful, the Yin-Yang fire dived inside the element space on its own.
«Right now, the Yin-Yang fire doesn't have anything special. It had lost all the abilities of the fires it swallowed before, but it is better for me. I can carefully select its abilities by feeding it specific fires. » said Yun Chen after some reflection.
After familiarising himself with the Yin-Yang fire, Yun Chen continued meditating until he broke through to the second layer of the spirit gathering realm after five days. At the same time, the Yin-Yang fire grew stronger.
«I should go find elder Kong if I want to go to that secret realm. He must know something. » Yun Chen said before heading out.
After coming out, elder Kong was already waiting for him outside. Yun Chen was very surprised, elder Kong would only come to see him in person if it is something urgent and secret.
«Elder Kong, were you waiting for me? » Yun Chen asked to alert him because he was looking elsewhere and didn't know that Yun Chen came out.
«Ah! Young master Yun, you came out. There is something urgent that I must tell you. The patriarch's son came back this morning they are planning to kill you. You must not enter the secret realm that will open soon. »
«They are planning to kill me? It seems that they can't contain themselves any longer! » said Yun Chen without showing any discomfort.
«Yes! So, you must not enter the secret realm that will open soon. They want to suppress and kill you with an array formation in the secret realm using the high-level disciples from Tiangong sect who are accompanying him. Most of them are at the peak of the foundation-building and Yun Guanyin has recently broken through to the foundation-building stage. He is the favorite disciple of the second elder in the sect. Moreover, in order to help him breakthrough, the elder gave him a high-quality earth fire. That fire is seventh on the earth fire list its name is Soul-extinguishing fire. It has the special ability to burn the soul. They want to use it as the core of the formation. » elder Kong explained to warn Yun Chen.
«Hahahah! Very good! I didn't go to them, and they came looking for me. This is a great opportunity. » laughed Yun Chen.
«Young master Yun? » elder Kong said with a perplex and confused face.
«Don't worry about me. They can't kill me. You just need to focus on protecting Su Ling in the shadow when I am not here since you are the strongest in the family now. » declared Yun Chen to elder Kong.
«Yes, young master Yun! » replied elder Kong after showing a surprised look.
«Oh! Also, try to go to the auction house when you have time and ask elder Lao Gu to find me all kinds of fire, the higher the quality, the better. And there is no limit to the quantity! I will pay him when I come back. » Yun Chen instructed to elder Kong.
«But, young master Yun, what if…. » elder Kong began to ask.
«Don't worry! And take this jade soul token. It will help you know if I am alive or dead. If I die, it will shatter by itself. » Yun Chen said after giving him the token.
«Yes, young master! I will be taking my leave. » replied elder Kong after receiving the jade token.
Elder Kong finally left, and Yun Chen decided to return inside his room. But this time he didn't go cultivate but instead, he decided to make some preparations by refining a lot of pills, poisons and body refining elixirs. He used two whole weeks to refine them. And the last week, he used the body refining elixirs to temper his body. Right now, his physical body is as strong as a sixth- or seventh-layer innate realm expert. But, after the body refining, his strength soared and almost equaled the core-formation realm.
Meanwhile, various factions around the demon beast mountain were actively preparing for the secret realm opening. There are many forces that bord the demon beast mountain and among them there are the three major sects and two cities and the imperial capital. The three major sects are the Tiangong sect, the Jianchi sect and the Cangxuan sect. The Taiyi sect is only one of the sects under the Jianchi sect. For each opening of the secret realm, these sects would send their disciples to train inside and strengthen their foundation. As for the cities, their representatives are decided through competition and the slots are limited compared to the sects.
Finally, the day for the opening of the secret realm came and everyone was ready to try and find some opportunities.