In a Secret Realm filled with corpses scattered across the land, each with a distinct feature — their bodies pierced through as if brutally impaled by a weapon or technique. A man, barely holding onto life, a disciple of the Blood Demon Sacred Land, stared at the scene before him in disbelief. "This... this is too cruel!" he muttered weakly, his voice trembling.
Chang Qian, who was calmly roasting a large dragon with spices she had obtained from Gaoyuan, spoke with an indifferent expression, "Cruel? This is nothing compared to the cruelty I've seen. I watched your people—your people who killed my family, looted their property, and slaughtered everyone in my clan with joy. What I have done doesn't even amount to a fraction of what your people did."
As she finished speaking, a man rushed towards her with the intent to strike, but as he neared, his body was suddenly pierced with numerous holes. He let out a cry, "Why... why is there such a difference in power? We're both at Nirvana stage 9..."
In the ruins of the Secret Realm, a dark power was devouring everything in its path. The cries of those trapped in the darkness could be heard:
"Please, let me go."
"I will give you anything, please."
"I am the son of a Half-Emperor! If you release me, I'll give you everything — resources or..."
"I come from the Sacred Green Wood Land. Do you want to be hunted down? Let me go right now..."
But their voices disappeared, never to return, swallowed up by the devouring darkness that consumed their flesh. They could not even scream, cursing only in their hearts. Wang He ignored them, letting them be absorbed in agony.
In what was once a lush forest within the secret kingdom, flames now roared, consuming everything. The threatening voice of a man rang out.
"I am the Holy Son of the Sacred Land of..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a spear of fire pierced through his body. The shouts of other disciples followed.
"Holy Son!"
Their cries grew louder as a massive flame surged in, burning them all.
"Ahhhhh!"
"No, I don't want to die!"
In a cave, a disciple shouted, "It's bad, the formation is collapsing, we will..." In an instant, his head fell from his body. The remaining people were stunned momentarily before facing their own deaths. However, one of them said, "You blood demon disciples, you won't die a good death." Chang Ming smiled, glanced at a rock, and slashed at it, encountering Ye Chen. Ye Chen whispered through spiritual communication, "We come from the same sect." But Chang Ming, uninterested, prepared to kill Ye Chen. Long Xieqiao quickly took Ye Chen away. Chang Ming smiled and did not pursue them. He turned and saw four women but pretended to let them escape.
In a field, Yan Ru was covered in blood, her injuries severe. The ground was stained with the blood of the disciples from the Blood Demon Sacred Land, turning the grass red. Mo Jun approached, using the blood of the Blood Demon Sacred Land disciples to create ten thousand blood swords, ready to kill Yan Ru. Suddenly, a mysterious rift appeared, and seeing this, Yan Ru used a teleportation formation to escape, ending up in the heart of the Secret Realm. Mo Jun smiled.
Long Ping, with his body and that of his followers covered in blood, spoke furiously, "Blood Demon Sacred Land, mark my words. When I get out, I will slaughter all of you." Long Teng followed, unleashing a fierce attack with his Blood Demon Fist technique. Long Ping tried to defend, but he was overwhelmed. Suddenly, Fang Qin appeared with his followers, bodies covered in wounds. He was shocked to see Long Ping being pursued by the Blood Demon Sacred Land. They exchanged glances and nodded, launching a counterattack, creating an opening to escape toward the center of the Secret Realm.
On a mountain peak, Wang Lin was creating a wooden formation to cover the entire mountain, but his efforts could not stop the beam of light that shot toward him. He tried his best to defend, but the sharp beam severed his arm instantly. Enduring the pain, Wang Lin quickly fled, leaving others behind. A member of the Wang clan, seeing Wang Lin escape, shouted for help, but before he could finish, a light beam ended his life. The remaining Wang clan members tried to defend, but it was too late; they were all struck and killed by the beams of light.
In a hall, Gong Xuan and Guo Han looked at their followers, who had turned to stone. They tried to attack a young woman, but their attacks were obliterated by her Blood Sword technique, and their assaults vanished instantly. Although they managed to dodge, they were injured. Seeing their followers turn to stone filled them with sorrow. They saw an opening and used talismans to escape, taking some followers with them toward the center of the Secret Realm.
At an exit with many strangely shaped jades around a dimensional door, these jades resembled humans in shape and posture — attacking, fearing, being shocked, and despairing. A young woman was painting when a man in black approached and said:
"Now everyone who survived has been herded to the center of the Secret Realm. The master ordered you to use the teleportation formation to go to him."
Mu Shuyuan nodded and left immediately. A while later, Chen Wei appeared, and the man in black told him:
"The master has ordered you to hide here and ensure no one with a face in this picture escapes. As for those not in the picture, kill them all."
The man in black handed the picture to Mu Shuyuan. She looked at it and smiled before waving him away.
Outside the secret land, everyone began to feel anxious as the soul jades of their disciples shattered one by one. Even the Sacred Land had lost all of its soul jades, and the secret kingdom was sealed, preventing anyone from entering. They dared not use force to break the dimensional door for fear of destroying it.
"What on earth is happening in there?"
"Everyone from my clan is dead! How did this happen?"
"My son… my son!"
In the central of the Secret Realm, the sounds of attacks and pursuits continued relentlessly. Suddenly, a formation unexpectedly covered the central area. Everyone who had been pursued and survived gathered here. When those within the formation saw that their pursuers could not enter, they felt relieved and began to tend to their injuries.
Fang Qin asked, "Does anyone know who those bastards are?" Guo Han replied, "I'm not sure, but they wear the robes of the Blood Demon Sacred Land. Why don't we ask someone from the Blood Demon Sacred Land over there?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's attention turned to a young woman who was injured. "What are you looking at?" Yan Ru said and continued, "Although I am from the Blood Demon Sacred Land, the Blood Demon Sacred Land is complicated with many factions." The others were not very interested in her words and wanted to kill her, but Fang Qin said,
"Well, judging by the wounds on your body, you must be someone they wanted to kill the most."
Everyone looked at her injuries and thought about it but said nothing. Among the nearly 300 survivors were Ye Chen, Zhang Xinye, Gu Qingxue, Li Dongyu, and Guan Mengyao, who were all treating their wounds. Zhang Xinye felt great sorrow for the deaths of other disciples and thought about her younger brother and sister. Ye Chen comforted her with gentle words. Li Xinyuan, who was seriously injured, was treating her wounds, wondering why everyone seemed to be herded into the heart of the secret kingdom like this. She was puzzled but felt less afraid due to her Emperor weapon.
Long Ping felt great sadness due to the many deaths of his followers. He vowed to avenge them all and was about to attack Yan Ru. But suddenly, a massive power surged, and a spirit appeared. Everyone looked at the spirit with interest; it was Ba Zhi, and he said,
"I was just looking for a successor. I didn't expect it to turn into such a massacre. Alright, gather here."
As they were shocked, two more people entered, severely injured as well — Jiang Yun and Mu Shuyuan. Zhang Xinye hurried to them to inquire about their injuries, but Jiang Yun did not respond, making Zhang Xinye very angry and think, "Junior disciple Ye Chen is better than you. Arrogant fool." The other two who entered were Shui Meng, accompanied by Xiao Chen, who were uninjured. Ba Zhi smiled and said,
"Well, it seems there's no one left outside."
A formation was immediately set up. Everyone was being treated, and their injuries were healing. Ba Zhi said,
"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Ye Yun. I used to be very strong, but that's not important."
Shui Meng was shocked and looked at the spirit claiming to be Ye Yun, thinking, "Could this be the Immortal Emperor of Clouds?"
Ba Zhi continued, "You all have the right to inherit my legacy. But I must tell you something. In the next 11 months, the world will change drastically. Everything will evolve — resources, weapons, medicine, and spiritual power will all increase significantly. The more you control resources or territory now, the stronger you will become in the new world that is coming."
Everyone there was greatly shocked and contemplated Ye Yun's words. They thought of reporting it to their factions to gain immense resources. But as they were thinking, a voice said,
"Well, I've said too much. It's time to find the successor." A formation covered them all. Everyone seemed to fall into an illusionary world, where opponents appeared before them but were easily defeated. Everyone in the illusion had their hands or body parts severed and woke up immediately from the illusion. A voice said,
"You did not pass the test."
Fang Qin, Long Ping, and the others opened their eyes to find only three people remaining: Jiang Yun, Xiao Chen, and Shui Meng. Ba Zhi's voice said, "Those who have opened their eyes may leave now." Fang Qin wanted to say something but was immediately sent out of the secret kingdom, along with the others.
Everyone and the elders waiting outside were shocked to see people warping out of the secret kingdom and quickly searched for their own officials. No one dared to ask since everyone who emerged was from high-level forces in the Tian Yuan Realm. Then Shui Meng opened her eyes and looked around, "Am I weaker than those two?" and was immediately sent out.
When some saw her emerge and not recognize her, one person wanted to ask her in an angry voice,
"Girl, what happened inside? Tell me before I capture you to extract your spirit."
But suddenly, that person turned into a blood mist, along with a group of men, who said, "Greetings, Miss."
An old woman asked, "Are you injured? Should I check you?"
Shui Meng replied, "I'm fine."
Then, two more people were sent out: Xiao Chen, who looked more powerful, and Jiang Yun, who was covered in blood and near death. Mu Shuyuan hurried to help him. Someone immediately asked Xiao Chen, "Boy, can you tell us what happened inside?"
Xiao Chen nodded and recounted the entire event: the massacre by the mysterious forces, the inheritance test, and what would happen to the world in the future.