Chapter 10: Pursuit (Part 1)

Xianming and Xianliang exchanged a glance. Xianming forced a wry smile and said, “There is, but… we don’t know what kind of danger it is…” He felt like an idiot.
Not only did he think of himself as an idiot, but Guo Shier and the other two shared the same feeling—this guy was indeed an idiot. If he wanted to enter this secret realm, why didn’t he figure anything out first? Everything he said was vague. They couldn’t understand why he insisted on coming in.
Xianming’s face turned red with embarrassment. Fortunately, he was tough enough and mumbled, “Actually, it’s not really our fault. The various clans keep information hidden. It’s already quite difficult for us to find out this much.”
It wasn’t until then that Guo Shier had time to observe his surroundings.
There were no plants, soil, or rocks in the traditional sense on the ground—only black substance resembling coal. Guo Shier landed and picked up a handful of black mud, wondering, “What the hell is this?”
The black mud emitted a faint black mist in his palm. He suddenly remembered the black mist in the Bloody Secret Realm, but the mist from the black mud didn’t rise. Guo Shier squeezed it hard, and the mud shattered into a dense cloud of black mist. Yet instead of dispersing, it remained in the form of mud and gradually solidified back into mud.
Suddenly, the Handsome Old Man appeared and said, “Nan Zheyin Mud! I… I don’t even know how to describe your luck… This is damn Nan Zheyin Mud!”
Xianming and Xianliang were terrified by the appearance of the Handsome Old Man above Guo Shier’s head. They stepped back quickly. Xianming cried out, “What is that?”
The Handsome Old Man looked up and said, “I’m the Handsome Old Man, not some ‘thing’!”
Guo Shier burst out laughing. Sometimes, this old guy really was ridiculous.
Eagle Demon suppressed his laughter and said, “Xianming, Xianliang, ignore him!”
Xianming and Xianliang didn’t dare say more. They stared at Guo Shier strangely, unable to figure out what it was. With their limited knowledge, they couldn’t possibly know about the existence of spirit sacrifices.
The Handsome Old Man said, “Fly over there along this path, quickly…”
Guo Shier immediately took off and flew in the direction the Handsome Old Man indicated. Eagle Demon shouted, “Follow!”
There was flowing black water on the ground, but it wasn’t water at all—it was melted black mud.
As he flew, Guo Shier pondered what Nan Zheyin Mud was. He searched quickly in his inherited memories but found nothing. There was no record of Nan Zheyin Mud in those memories.
The black water on the ground gradually gathered. The Handsome Old Man pointed to a distance and said, “Stop right there!” Not far away, the black water formed a small pond. Guo Shier asked, “What’s the use of that?”

The handsome old man laughed and said, “I never expected such a thing to exist. Hehe, since we’ve found it, we can’t let it go.”
Xianming and Xianliang stared in astonishment. Guo Shier’s current appearance was extremely strange—seemingly having two heads, with a hand popping up from time to time. It was not only eerie but also terrifying. After all, the image created by the handsome old man was already indistinguishable from a real person.
Guo Shier stepped down and placed his foot on the black water. The water immediately rose past his knees, feeling like stepping in thick mud. He stirred the water with his hand, causing a large amount of black mist to rise. It fell back down less than a foot above the surface of the black water, failing to spread into the air, as if it were very heavy.
The handsome old man said, “Nan Zhe Yin Ni is only found in extreme secret realms. Its function is to enhance the soul. You no longer need it to improve your soul, but it’s also a necessary material for the Soul Altar. It’s very rare. However… hehe, it requires special methods to refine.”
Guo Shier didn’t know how to refine it at all. He only wanted to know the benefits of Nan Zhe Yin Ni and how to collect it, so he could dig it up and store it in his talisman bag. He asked, “Should we dig it out?”
The handsome old man sneered and said, “How much can you collect?” Then he added, “Even if you dig up all the Nan Zhe Yin Ni around here and collect it, hehe, how much will you get? Take this black mud water for example. Even if you collect it all, you can only refine about a thousand drops at most. If you refine it further, you might get only a few dozen drops, which isn’t even enough for your own use.”
Xianming and Xianliang, who were busy collecting in their talisman bags, stopped upon hearing this. They looked at each other. After a while, Xianliang asked, “Master, how should we collect it?”
The handsome old man said, “You guys also want to collect it? Forget it! You’re just junior Great Saints. What’s the use of collecting this? It’s better to focus on cultivation. Practicing while sitting on Nan Zhe Yin Ni is a hundred times better than practicing outside. Well, I estimate you could reach the level of intermediate Great Saints.”
Xianming and Xianliang exchanged a glance and bowed together, saying, “Thank you, sir.” They were very diligent and immediately found an open area to sit down and start cultivating.
The handsome old man said, “Don’t do it on open ground. Find a place where black water gathers and bury your body in it to cultivate—it will be more effective.”
Guo Shier said, “Uncle Luo, you should go too!”

Luo Zhan flew off immediately to search for the place where the black water converged. Xian Ming and Xian Liang also flew out. Such an opportunity was truly rare. Although they didn’t know what Kan Zhe Yin Ni was, the chance to enhance their souls was something they couldn’t find elsewhere. To miss this opportunity would be sheer stupidity.

The handsome old man said, “Release the Ancient Ink Lotus.”

Guo Shier said with a smile, “Good, I leave it to you.” With the help of the handsome old man, he wouldn’t have to worry so much.

Eagle Demon said, “I’ll take care of guarding.”

Guo Shier released the Ancient Ink Lotus. The handsome old man smiled and said, “Don’t stay idle either. I’ll pass on this inheritance to you—how to refine and purify Kan Zhe Yin Ni. Once you’ve learned it, you can do the refining yourself.”

……

At the entrance of the Hun Tian Secret Realm, more than a dozen altar masters had already taken complete control of the situation. They had killed over 300 Great Sage Masters and injured countless others who tried to take advantage of the chaos.

Qi Nian Tan was the patriarch of the Tan family, which he himself founded. He possessed three-layer solid form altars, making him a top expert among various smaller families and sects. This time, he had brought several high-level Great Sage Masters from his family, as well as those from other vassal families, along with a large number of intermediate and low-level Great Sage Masters, hoping to gain access to the secret realm.

After prior discussions, hundreds of smaller families and sects had already divided up the entry quotas. They had also reached an agreement with the four ancient families: once those families entered, the remaining quotas would belong to them. Unexpectedly, a group of Great Sage Masters rushed in during the chaos. In the end, he calculated that they had used up 67 of their high-level Great Sage Master quotas.

Qi Nian Tan was furious. He started slaughtering wildly at the entrance of the secret realm, scaring away those who desperately tried to get in. There were no more quotas left to distribute. The dozen or so altar masters controlling the entrance began arguing incessantly. Every family wanted an entry quota, as the originally agreed quotas were far from enough.

One expert with a virtual form altar said, “My lord, our family must not lose its seven quotas!”

Another expert with a one-layer solid form altar said, “We have thirteen entry quotas… Lord Qi, you can’t reduce them!”

Qi Nian Tan’s eyes glowed with fury as he said, “There are only so many quotas. The four ancient families took over 200 more this time, and then a bunch of damn Great Sage Masters rushed in! Now there are so few quotas left—what do you plan to do? You ask me for quotas, but who am I supposed to ask?”

One expert with a virtual form altar said, “I have a way to get more quotas!”

Qi Niantan said, “Emigo, do you have any plan? Hurry up and tell me!”
Emigo replied calmly, “We can’t touch the members of the four ancient families, but can’t we do the same to those Great Saints who rushed in? Send people in to kill them in the secret realm. As long as the entrance to the secret realm isn’t closed, we can regain those spots!”
Qi Niantan’s eyes lit up. “Good idea! Haha, as long as we don’t interfere with the four ancient families, we can just kill anyone else we see. Hmph, excellent! I agree! Send the strongest senior Great Saints; their task is to chase down and try to reclaim those spots.”
Emigo said, “Our family will send four senior Great Saints, all with rich combat experience.”
Another expert from a virtual altar family said, “Our family will send three senior Great Saints!”
Qi Niantan said, “Don’t send the weak ones. I want highly skilled fighters. Oh, and don’t try to sneak in more people. We’re all acquaintances—no tricks! Otherwise… don’t blame me if I’m ruthless!”
Soon, eighty spots were gathered. Qi Niantan said, “Divide them into twenty groups. Your task is to kill those who sneaked in. I have message tokens here—give one for each senior Great Saint killed. Since the secret realm is still open, these tokens can be used to return.”
Emigo said coldly, “This is your chance, and it’s also our chance. Remember… kill as many as possible. If you can’t kill them, die yourself! That way, spots will be freed up!”
The eighty senior Great Saints roared fiercely, “Kill them all! Kill them all!”
Then came the allocation of spots for those who would follow the eighty Great Saints. There was another round of arguing, with each family fighting fiercely, like fighting cocks. Finally, with Qi Niantan’s mediation, 240 spots for mid- and low-level Great Saints were determined.
Qi Niantan said viciously, “Besides the rules already set, whoever kills one more enemy gets one more spot. Go and fight for them. Alright, let’s go!”
Group after group of Great Saints entered the secret realm.
Qi Niantan complained, “The four ancient families are taking up too many spots!”
Emigo asked, “Will you go argue with them?”
Qi Niantan shook his head. “I don’t want to seek death. You know how domineering they are.”

Guo Shier didn’t know that someone had entered the secret realm to hunt him. He was still getting familiar with the teachings given by the old man Shuai, and couldn’t help but marvel at the old man’s vast knowledge.The translation is: a substance used to cover the altar. wasn’t essential for constructing an altar, but it was a great substance that could improve the quality of a virtual altar. Once purified, it could also be used for physical altars, serving a similar purpose to magic liquid by enabling the refinement of altars.