Ye Chen didn't know Yan Ji's current thoughts.
Over the last period of time, his cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds, and that brought him unprecedented confidence he never had before.
Gu Changge had given him a deep setback a while ago, and that damaged his Dao Heart and made him suspicious of everything in life.
Right now, he was walking towards the depths of the mountains after listening to the news from the townsfolk and other cultivators in the surroundings. With the Secret Realm's map in his hands, he wasn't worried about not getting the goods.
Of course, he knew that a rift had formed between him and Yan Ji over the last few days — he could feel the change in the way she treated him.
After carefully thinking about the events, he realized that he had indeed gone overboard with his words and hurt his Master's heart. Even though his Master said she didn't care about the past, he had still apologized to her again and again, and did his best to make amends.
Alas! The rift between them couldn't be closed.
Ye Chen also understood that he could no longer put all of his trust in anyone around him, especially after he experienced Su Qingge's betrayal. Although his Master treated him with great care, she was also a woman. Who could guarantee she wouldn't be tempted by a man like Gu Changge?
It was possible that his Master didn't want to tell him the truth, and was staying with him out of pity.
Gloominess filled Ye Chen's eyes as those thoughts crossed his mind, and he tightly clenched his fists. His Master belonged to him and him alone — he would never let Gu Changge take her away!
"Master, why do you think that Gu Changge descended to the Lower Realm? Since he came down with a servant who can easily destroy a power like the Buddhist Holy Land, I think he came for the Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm, too!"
Out of nowhere, Ye Chen asked Yan Ji with a strange smile on his face. He wanted to see Yan Ji's reaction at his words.
Hearing his words, Yan Ji was momentarily stunned, but then immediately said with a nod, "I think your guess isn't too far off. Except for the Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm, there's nothing else worthy of his attention in this Lower Realm,"
Yan Ji responded to him without thinking too much about his question. She treated it as nothing more than a random question from Ye Chen, as Ye Chen had a habit of asking her about anything and everything.
"That's right! Gu Changge must covet something in the Secret Realm. When he receives the news about the Secret Realm, he will most likely come here for whatever he wants to obtain. Unfortunately for him, only I have the map of this Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm, and anyone else who enters will encounter many dangers. There's even a chance for them to lose their life…"
"Considering the Secret Realm's restriction, there's no way his old servant will be able to step inside. This means that Gu Changge will have to enter the Secret Realm all by himself, without anyone to protect or guide him…I will rush to the Secret Realm's core region ahead of him, and when he arrives there, I will use the Secret Realm's key to control the formations in there…"
"Master, do you think I can have my revenge like this?"
Ye Chen formulated his every step, and asked in a faint voice.
All of it made sense.
Naturally, he said it out loud to see his Master's reaction. After all, his plan sounded flawless, and he should be able to slaughter Gu Changge and bury him in the Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm.
"Your plan is reasonable, but what makes you think Gu Changge doesn't have a map or some other means to travel through the Secret Realm?"
Yan Ji didn't know Ye Chen's true intentions. After hearing his plan, she thought about it for a long time, and felt that it wasn't all that feasible.
After all, Gu Changge was someone from the Upper Realm, so there was no way he would come down unprepared. How could he not understand the dangers of the Secret Realm?
And, from what she glimpsed of Gu Changge's mind, he wasn't a reckless person.
"Is that so? Master, your words indeed make sense…"
Although he said that, a flash of gloom passed through Ye Chen's eyes.
What other means could Gu Changge have? What did his Master mean by those words? Why was his Master so confident in Gu Changge, but felt that his means weren't enough?
Was there something she didn't want him to know?
He no longer spoke.
Yan Ji didn't think too much about their exchange, and mentioned another matter, "Little Chen, there's one thing you must pay attention to: 'the force behind your cousin is extremely terrifying, so I suggest that you don't meet her before your strength reaches the False God Realm!'"
Naturally, Yan Ji said this for Ye Chen's own good. Over the past few days, she had heard a lot of rumors about Ye Chen's cousin. The girl in purple was most-likely from an Ancient Immortal Family from the Upper Realm.
One thing Yan Ji didn't doubt was: 'for a Family like that, Ye Chen's current background, talent, and cultivation base weren't worth mentioning. To them, bloodline mattered more than individuals.'
'Once they found out that Ye Chen was getting too close with this cousin of his, they would most-likely send someone to kill Ye Chen in the cradle.'
"Master, I understand your considerations, but Master, you don't need to worry about my and Liuli's matter."
Ye Chen shook his head, and responded with a cold tone after listening to her words. Obviously, he had also received the news from the Moon-facing Ancient City, and that brought him a pleasant surprise. To him, the news was nothing short of receiving heavy rain after a long drought.
His cousin was his biggest backer!
Yet, his Master actually wanted him to not contact his cousin — why was that?
His cousin came from a terrifying background, so why couldn't he have contact with her? Was his Master afraid that he would gain an even mightier backer than Gu Changge?
Ye Chen's heart turned cold as those thoughts crossed his mind.
As for his cousin's family sending someone to murder him? He disregarded that as nothing but nonsense. He didn't believe anyone had the guts to do something like that to him, with his cousin by his side.
Ye Chen felt at ease after he considered his cousin's feelings and attitude towards him. As for his Master? Ye Chen was so disappointed in her that he no longer wanted to continue their conversation.
...
The news regarding the opening of the Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm soon spread throughout the Middle State.
Dazzling, heavenly brilliance illuminated the area where the eight regions of the Middle State intersected, attracting the attention of innumerable forces and cultivators.
Any news about the birth of a magical treasure, or the opening of a secret realm, could easily cause a massive sensation all over the world. Such events always attracted mighty forces and big shots, and everyone would come rushing like sharks that had smelled blood.
The opening of this Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm was no different.
Many Holy Lands, Ancient Dynasties, and other large and small forces of the Middle State immediately sent their people. The same was true for factions of the rest of the world, and all of them were afraid of missing this massive opportunity.
Secret Realms didn't form out of nowhere, and the process that created them was extremely rare and unfathomable. Some formed over massive spans of time, while others were left behind by mythical existences and worked as the inheritances of said existences.
No matter how small a Secret Realm, once it opened, it would give birth to innumerable Heavenly Treasures, thick Spiritual Qi, Ancient Medicinal Herbs and Plants, Spiritual Ores, and so on…
Before long, this remote town turned into the most prosperous part of the region. Every day, more and more cultivators and creatures arrived, attracted by the legendary Secret Realm.
Unfortunately, people discovered that not everyone had the fortune to enter the Secret Realm. The entrance of the Secret Realm had a layer of extremely terrifying barriers that gave a horrible backlash to anyone beyond the Great-Transcendent Realm.
Any intruder who broke through the restriction would be obliterated on the spot, causing a great tempest of Heavenly Energies in the Secret Realm.
The Emperors and Holy Lords of the various forces were left helpless. If they wanted to enter, they would need to suppress their cultivation and make sure they didn't release their true auras. For this reason, they decided to only send their disciples and elders of the Great-Transcendent Realm to the Secret Realm for experience.
...
'It seems that everything is going according to my expectations. This Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm is a special playground prepared to give Ye Chen a boost.'
'The inheritance of a Quasi-Supreme is just about right to boost a Favored Son of Heaven!'
'Tsk, since cultivators above the Great-Transcendent Realm can't enter without suppressing their cultivation, then I presume this Secret Realm should push Ye Chen's cultivation to the Great-Transcendent Realm in one fell swoop…'
"What a wonderful coincidence! I never thought the Secret Realm would open at such an opportune time."
Gu Changge stood atop a mountain with his hands behind his back, and overlooked everything that happened on the scene around the Secret Realm. An expression of interest covered his face as he uttered words that the Ancient Lin Family's powerhouses behind him couldn't comprehend.
They couldn't comprehend his words, nor did they have the guts to ask Young Lord Gu what he meant by his words. With their lips tightly sealed, they stood behind him with respectful expression.
It was better to keep quiet sometimes.
Gu Changge had decided to bring along some people from the Ancient Lin Family since he couldn't just do everything all by himself. If something trivial and cumbersome came up, he could make them take care of it.
As for the limit imposed by the Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm? The reason wasn't all that hard for Gu Changge to guess — he didn't even need to put in any effort thinking about it.
After all, the Secret Realm was an experience ground prepared specifically for the Favored Son of Heaven, so how could it allow others to come in and steal his boost?
What's more? The Secret Realm was left behind by a Quasi-Supreme, so even Old Ming, a mighty God King, would have to suppress his cultivation to the Great-Transcendent Realm before he entered.
Gu Changge tut-tutted[1] in his heart. This treatment wasn't something any random Lu, Bu, or Du could enjoy. The Heavenly Daddy deliberately rigged opportunities and benefits in favor of the Favored Children of Heaven.
[1: tut-tut is an exclamation used to express disapproval or annoyance.]
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
It was no different from presenting well-cooked meat on a golden plate, and then feeding it to them, too!
[VILFIC: normally, Favored Kids can fight far above their levels. Since Ye Chen is at the peak of the Transcendent Realm now, he can easily obliterate any Great-Transcendent (normal or Saints who suppressed themselves) from the Lower Realm. This is how the game is rigged in his favor.]
But, so what?
Since he wanted to rob the Favored Son of Heaven's opportunity, even the Heavenly Daddy should forget about stopping him.
"Let's go."
Commanding with a faint voice, Gu Changge took the lead and headed towards the entrance of the Secret Realm not too far away, leaving behind a rainbow in his wake.
Even if he could only use the might of the Great-Transcendent Realm in the Secret Realm, it wouldn't be hard for him to kill Ye Chen.
This leek had fattened enough, and it was about time to harvest him.
[Boom!]
The entrance of the Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm was a thirty feet wide crack in space that exuded a hazy glow. Space around the crack fluctuated, and it connected the world to the dimension of the Secret Realm.
Many cultivators stood around the entrance, and watched it with eyes full of desire.
Many loose cultivators[2] from all around the world had gathered. There were those of the Great-Transcendent Realm, and even behemoths of the Saint Realm hidden among the crowd.
[2: loose cultivators are any cultivators who aren't associated with a Clan, Sect, Family, Organization, Holy Land, Dynasty, or whatever.]
Their idea was simple: 'if they entered by themselves, they wouldn't be able to guarantee a haul and would also need to contend with people from various forces for the opportunities. Instead, they would wait outside the Secret Realm, and directly steal from those who had already gone inside, once they came out.'
"Who are they?"
"They look like people from the Ancient Lin Family."
Soon, they saw a black-clothed man coming towards the entrance of the Secret Heavenly Realm with powerful cultivators of the Ancient Lin Family following behind him.
"He's that Young Lord!"
"Don't provoke them!"
The cultivators gathered together were stunned by their sudden appearance, and their expressions couldn't help but change drastically. Scared, they retreated in a hurry.
Of all the powers in the world, the only one they feared was the Ancient Lin Family. Of course, the one they truly feared was the Young Lord who was staying in the Ancient Lin Family.
As long as one was from the Middle State, there's no way they wouldn't know about the Young Lord from the Upper Realm; they could easily recognize him by his black robe, tall figure, and godly temperament!
He was a character they could absolutely not provoke!
At this time, all of them involuntarily retreated from the entrance of the Secret Realm in a hurry, leaving the place clear.
[Hum!]
A powerful ripple spread around, and brilliant runes flashed.
Gu Changge naturally couldn't care less about this bunch of loose cultivators. With his group of followers, he directly entered the Ancient Heavenly Secret Realm!
The world around them (Gu Changge's group) spun, and they felt as if they were floating through a spatial tunnel!
Soon, the aura of the Secret Realm descended upon them, and Gu Changge recovered his balance mid-air. With his cultivation suppressed to the peak of the Great-Transcendent Realm, he safely landed!