Chapter 5: The Secret Realm Unlocked (Part 1)

It was a Beast Warrior from the Mu Fu Sect who discovered the entrance to the secret realm. He cast a special talisman that could be launched into the air by crushing it; it had no offensive power and could only be used as a signal. As soon as this Meteor Fire Talisman was sent into the air, it immediately alerted everyone in the area.

The people from the Mu Fu Sect quickly gathered and headed toward the entrance of the secret realm.

A tall, muscular man arrived with dozens of Beast Warriors. This man was very famous in the Mu Fu Sect—he was the Great Beast Sorcerer Lu Ning. He had short, thick white hair, deep wrinkles on his face that resembled cuts from knives and axes, and a steel-like, rugged face with a hint of ancient solemnity. His voice was deep, like thunder rolling across the land. Everyone who saw him couldn’t help but show reverence.

“Send out teams immediately to provide support. Also, keep sending signals!”

A Meteor Fire Talisman was released every ten minutes. After being launched, it resembled the fireworks Guo Shier saw in his past life—a silver-white sphere shooting straight into the sky before exploding high above and turning into countless meteors that fell downward. This made it convenient for guiding direction, and continuous releases ensured it wouldn’t go unnoticed.

Horses’ hooves could be heard everywhere, and gradually, more and more people arrived.

Lu Ning stared at the entrance to the secret realm.

The entrance was located in a shallow marshland, like a giant mirror that allowed a clear view of the landscape inside. It was a brown expanse with sparse moss, no other plants in sight. In the distance lay continuous mountains, blocking the view—unknown what lay beyond them.

In the sky above the secret realm, several small black dots moved rapidly. Lu Ning narrowed his eyes and suddenly cast a talisman, which quickly transformed into a small water mirror in front of him. He gently tapped the mirror, and the black dots in the sky above the secret realm were magnified. He exclaimed in surprise, “Sky Owls? It’s actually Sky Owls! Good!” A hint of joy appeared on his face, and with a wave of his hand, the water mirror disappeared.

Over 600 people had arrived by then. Lu Ning frowned slightly and said, “Why is it so slow? Tell them to send signals and speed up!” He didn’t know when the secret realm would close, so he added, “Let six teams go in first to scout. Remember, don’t hunt any wild beasts yet! I don’t want to be attacked as soon as we enter.”

Immediately, six squads mounted their horses and charged toward the mysterious realm. The hooves splashed against the shallow waters in the swamp, sending up countless white sprays, but due to their extreme speed, there was no risk of sinking. Nearly seventy people from the six squads rushed into the mysterious realm. Once inside, they quickly dispersed, spreading out like a fan as they raced in different directions.

After a moment, Luning said, “Good, send in six more squads!” Just then, the rapid sound of hooves, like drums beating, came from afar. Luning turned to look and asked, “Which faction’s troops are approaching?” The beast martial artist beside him replied, “I don’t know which faction they belong to, but there seems to be quite a number of them.”

Suddenly, Luning looked up and was shocked. He shouted, “Scatter!” His voice rang out like thunder, stunning everyone present. At that moment, countless flames descended from the sky and landed directly among the crowd, causing chaos.

Luning didn’t even have time to summon his core talisman book. Instead, he threw seven or eight talismans—backup talismans stored on talisman straps that could be used to buy some time.

Dozens of flying eagle spirits appeared and attacked the falling flames. The eagle spirits created whirlwinds that scattered the flames.

A dozen silver lights descended one after another. With popping sounds, those eagle spirits were shattered by the silver light.

Taking advantage of this brief moment, Luning summoned his core talisman book.

With a long howl, a black shadow charged straight forward. Anyone in its path, whether a beast warrior or a beast martial artist, was killed or knocked aside by the shadow.

Luning was terrified. He shouted, “Stop it!” He knew the attacker was a grand talisman martial artist—only such a powerful warrior could ignore all the obstacles posed by the beast martial artists. What was even more frightening was that this grand talisman martial artist was clearly targeting him. He knew well that if allowed to get close, he would be severely injured, as he wasn’t a melee fighter.

Nearly two hundred warhorses rushed out of the forest and charged straight at the crowd, crushing them with terrifying force as they cried out in pain. Qinan Shan headed straight for Luning, his momentum extremely fierce, as if he wouldn’t stop until Luning was dead.

Luning felt as if he were being hunted by a wild beast. The intense sense of danger forced him to retreat. Many beast martial artists rushed forward to slow Qinan Shan down.

Luo Jie’s core talisman book remained unhidden, floating above his chest. Riding on his horse, he kept tapping the talisman book. With each tap, several silver lights flew out, killing those in front so they wouldn’t block his path.

Four Symbol Warriors rode their horses, closely flanking Luo Jie, ready to block anyone who might harm him. Guo Shier followed closely behind Luo Jie, his body fully bent over the horse’s back; he knew he just needed to keep up—this wasn’t the time for him to take action. Huo Bao and the others followed Guo Shier closely; they also didn’t need to fight—just staying with the group meant victory.

Nearly two hundred warhorses charged together, their momentum terrifying. Coupled with Luo Jie, the great spellcaster, continuously firing spells, everyone from the Mu Fu Sect collapsed. They scattered in panic, unable to organize a resistance, and could only watch helplessly as the invaders rushed into the secret realm.

Qi Nan Shan laughed loudly, “Ha! That’s all? I’ll be waiting for you in the secret realm!” With a swipe of his hand, he killed an Animal Warrior and turned to run at incredible speed, like a wisp of black smoke, chasing after Luo Jie and the others.

Lu Ning flew into a rage and roared, “Chase them! Get inside… kill them!” Although he had unleashed his life spell in surprise, he failed to cast a single spell before watching the invaders enter the secret realm first.

In just over a minute, Luo Jie and the others had all rushed into the secret realm.

“Who are they? What the hell are they?”

Lu Ning, usually cold and calm, went berserk. The attack had killed at least seventy or eighty of his men, and nearly a hundred more were injured or burned. He was furious.

One Animal Spellcaster said, “They seem to be from the North Fu Sect.” The crowd discussed wildly. Some said, “That’s a great spellcaster! And great Symbol Warriors! Terrifying!”

“How is that possible? If there are two masters, they could wipe out all of us. Why would they rush into the secret realm so quickly?”

“Idiots! If they don’t rush in, what if the secret realm disappears? It would be a huge loss for them!”

Lu Ning suddenly realized what was happening. He shouted, “Leave two people to wait outside. Everyone else, go into the secret realm—fast!” If the realm closed, he wouldn’t even have a place to cry.

The entrance to the secret realm was shrinking. What had originally been over 200 meters long was now less than 150 meters, and it continued to shrink slowly.

Lu Ning grew anxious. He quickly led a group of his men into the realm, shouting, “Hurry! Get in quickly! Damn it… forget about formation—just get in already!” He rarely used profanity, but this time he couldn’t hold back, cursing, “Are you idiots? Bring supplies, and bring the warhorses too…”

Immediately, beast warriors spurred their horses and rushed toward the secret realm. Without supplies, survival might be possible, but hardships were inevitable. There were many wild beasts in the secret realm, so meat would not be a problem, but other supplies—like flour and salt—would be scarce.

Luning asked, “Which direction did they go?”

A beast talismanist replied, “Toward the mountains… right ahead!”

At that moment, Luojie’s horse group could still be seen from afar, looking like a cluster of small black dots. Luning’s face darkened; he knew his scouting team sent in that direction was also doomed. After a while, he suddenly sneered, “Hmph, those two fools! If they were blocked at the entrance of the secret realm, at least half of us would be killed. Now… let’s see what happens!”

“Hurry! The secret realm is about to close. How many people have entered?”

“573 people have entered, including 116 injured. There are still two outside!”

Luning looked around anxiously and said decisively, “Never mind. Send a signal to recall the scouting team. Let’s go—we can’t stay here any longer!”

……

Guo Shier still found it hard to believe. When he rushed into the secret realm, he had taken a close look. The secret realm was completely different from the outside world—vibrant outside, lifeless inside; two separate worlds. He saw this clearly, and that’s why he was so puzzled.

The warhorses struggled along the mountain path, with countless pebbles on the ground. As their hooves stepped on them, the sound of stones rolling echoed, and dust rose with each step, standing out sharply against the open landscape.

A martial talismanist reported, “Elder, look… they’ve gone up to the mountains above.”

With nothing blocking the view, it was possible to clearly see the people from the Mu Fu Sect moving across the land.

Luojie laughed, “We don’t care about them. Let’s first cross these mountains to figure out what kind of secret realm this is, and then decide what to do.”

The mountains didn’t seem very high, but it took the group two full days to climb over them. When they stood on the summit, they looked in amazement at the distance. It was an endless grassland, with large areas of low shrubs. On the grassland, there were countless small black dots—probably herbivores wandering in groups across the plains.

Luojie said, “It’s truly amazing. One side of the mountain is lifeless, but once you cross it, this side is full of vitality.”

Qi Nan Shan said solemnly, “There are so many herbivorous animals here… which means there are a large number of carnivorous beasts. I don’t know how fierce they are. I hope we can see some talisman beasts. Hehe, if we do, we’ll be lucky.”