Chapter 4: The Luli Secret Realm (Part 2)

Li Ran smiled and said, “If you had made up your mind earlier, I could have taken you directly to the continent where the Gu Miluo family resides while I was at the Fire Sect. By the way, the Gu Miluo family owns many continents. Which one do you want to go to?”
Gu Shier smiled bitterly. “How would I know which continent to go to? We’ve only visited a few of the continents belonging to the Gu Miluo family. Many of the coordinates… were given to us by others; we’ve never actually been there ourselves.” Before, they had wandered around the territories of the four ancient families, but they hadn’t really been to many places, mostly just passing by in a hurry.
Of the four ancient families, Gu Shier had only visited the core continent of one of them—the core continent of the Gu Xilong family, the Gu Xilong Continent. As for the Gu Miluo family, they didn’t know much about it. Initially, the ancestor of the Gu Miluo family, Yan Miluo, had planned to send them back to the Gu Miluo Continent, but they had snuck away secretly.
Li Ran said, “Then let’s go to the Gu Miluo Continent. It’s their core continent.”
Gu Shier nodded. “Okay!” After all, Li Ran was a super expert who could easily destroy an ancient family. Following such a master, there was no need to fear anything.
Li Ran tore open space and led Gu Shier and the other two inside. Like Qi Wu Zhen, he didn’t need anything like large cross-continent talismans or talisman gates. As long as he determined the location, he could force his way through space even to places he had never been before, including those with extremely strong defenses.
After tearing open three or four layers of space, Li Ran brought Gu Shier and the others to the core continent of the Gu Miluo family. Gu Shier couldn’t help but exclaim, “Can professionals at the eighth or ninth level of the Altar class travel like this?”
Li Ran nodded. “Professionals at the eighth or ninth level of the Altar class can indeed travel this way, but it would be extremely exhausting. Most people still use teleportation arrays or large cross-continent talismans. As for someone at my level, I can move freely within small worlds.”
Every core continent had large defensive talisman arrays to prevent outsiders from entering. Without using a dedicated teleportation array, even having the coordinates of the continent was useless. But these could only stop ordinary professionals. Against professionals at the eighth level of the Altar class who could tear open space, no matter how powerful the defensive talisman arrays were, they were of little use.
Perhaps the defensive talisman arrays of core continents were very strong, but against experts like Li Ran, who surpassed the ninth level of the Altar class, their defenses were no more solid than paper. Thus, everyone entered the Gu Miluo Continent smoothly.

The location they entered was in the core city of the Core Continent, beside the ancient Miluo City. Clearly, Li Ran had already known this coordinate and entered this place precisely. However, such forced entry still alarmed the experts of the ancient Miluo family, as it damaged the talisman arrays that reinforced the space of the continent. Less than ten minutes after Guo Shier and the others entered, countless experts riding on altars appeared.

Guo Shier said, “We’re here to find someone, not to kill anyone… Big brother Li Ran, it’s up to you.”

Li Ran smiled and said, “Letting you act as the ‘big brother’ to scare people again, okay, it’s also the most effective trick.” With that, he unleashed his altar. The magnificent ten-story altar, no matter what shape it took, resembled a giant tower, with Li Ran standing at its top. But he didn’t bring out his own sacred treasure; he just stood there quietly.

Even Guo Shier couldn’t withstand that immense spiritual pressure. This was already Li Ran holding back strenuously. If he had released it fully, it is likely that all professionals below the altar level would have been crushed.

Under such pressure, Guo Shier was forced to unleash his own altar. Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan also couldn’t resist and brought out their own altars.

When Li Ran unveiled his altar, those altar-professionals who had rushed over retreated desperately, filled with terror: Who is this? There are so many altars—it’s absolutely terrifying.

Guo Shier noticed that Li Ran’s altar appeared and disappeared intermittently, its form indistinct, making it impossible to see what was on it. Clearly, Li Ran had done something to obscure it from others.

Eagle Demon also observed carefully and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Impressive, truly fucking impressive.”

Guo Shier had a six-story altar. If Li Ran weren’t around, his altar would have been extremely dazzling. But with Li Ran’s huge altar standing beside it, his own altar immediately became unremarkable. If Li Ran’s altar was compared to a luxurious high-rise tower, then Guo Shier’s altar was like a low earthen mound, while Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan’s altars were merely small mounds—there was no comparison at all, the gap was enormous.

Shocked by Li Ran’s terrifying strength, Hai Miluo, the most powerful ancestor of the ancient Miluo family, also appeared. As soon as he saw Li Ran, he stepped forward to greet him, saying, “Elder, do you still remember Xiao Hai?”

Guo Shier’s hair stood on end. Seeing an old man with white hair referring to himself as Xiao Hai, with a hint of familiarity in his tone, he found it extremely strange.

Li Ran was surprised and said, “Huh, you’re still alive…” This was impolite, but Hai Miluo wasn’t displeased at all. He smiled and said, “Elder, if you’re still alive, how could I die?”

Li Ran laughed heartily and said, “Haha, not bad, still the same old temper.”
Hai Miluo waved his hand and said, “Alright, you all can go back. It’s fine; it’s just my old friend, an elder, who has arrived!”
Li Ran retorted, “Am I that old? I’m much younger than you look!”
The altar-level professionals left one after another, with only a few staying behind. Guo Shier immediately spotted an acquaintance, who was also looking at him with a puzzled expression.
Juehu Miluo found the young man sitting on the sixth-tier altar extremely familiar. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “Guo Shier? Is that you?”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but smile and said, “Juehu elder, how are you?” If it weren’t for Juehu Miluo, he wouldn’t have obtained the Ancient Ink Lotus, so he could never forget his kindness.
Juehu Miluo was dizzy. He said, “It really is Guo Shier… Are you the Eagle Demon?”
The Eagle Demon laughed and said, “Old man, it’s me!”
Meeting two acquaintances at once, the professionals of the Gu Miluo family felt relieved. It wasn’t an enemy invading; it was an old friend arriving. Hai Miluo shook his head and said, “Elder, you’re really scary!”
Li Ran smiled as he retracted his altar and said, “If I didn’t do this, would you have come out? What if someone in your family acted recklessly and provoked you? Tell me… should I kill them or let them go?”
Hai Miluo was a professional on the seventh-tier altar, so he certainly understood what Li Ran meant. If Li Ran hadn’t retracted his altar, those altar-level professionals in his family, unable to gauge his strength, might have mistaken him for an intruder. Once they attacked, the Gu Miluo family would surely suffer heavy losses.
By using the altar to intimidate from the start, the professionals of the Gu Miluo family, as long as they weren’t idiots, would definitely not take action. Hai Miluo said with a wry smile, “Alright, alright. It’s always you who’s right. Elder, please… Juehu, come with us too!”
Juehu Miluo replied, “Yes, Ancestor.” By then, Guo Shier had already retracted his altar. He flew over and said with a smile, “Elder…” Before he could finish speaking, Juehu Miluo said, “Stop, don’t call me elder. I can’t stand it anymore. You’re already on the sixth-tier altar—how is that possible? How did you advance? Oh right, I remember you received the inheritance from our Gu Miluo family.”
Since Guo Shier hadn’t followed the Gu Miluo family’s inheritance path when advancing to the altar, he had given up that inheritance and taken a different path, no longer having any connection to the Gu Miluo family.

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan still followed the path of the ancient Miluo family’s heritage; they had no better choice. Of course, the two also embraced many other heritages and combined them with their own learning and practice to forge their own path as professionals.
Guo Shier smiled indifferently and said, “Let’s follow them.”
Li Ran and Hai Miluo had already flown far ahead. Guo Shier called out and followed them. Juehu Miluo was overjoyed. After all, by accepting the ancient Miluo family’s heritage, one became part of the family—regardless of blood ties. With Guo Shier’s strength at the sixth level of the altar, he was bound to hold a position as a core ancestor of the family. He never expected that Guo Shier had no intention of joining the ancient Miluo family at all.
The city of ancient Miluo was enormous, just like many core cities—a massive metropolis. Guo Shier understood this well. Over millions of years, the population would continue to grow, especially for ancient families, with both direct and collateral descendants increasing each year. Fortunately, ancient families never lacked land; by expanding the city’s boundaries, they could accommodate more people.
Thus, after millions of years of development, a core city could cover tens of thousands of square kilometers—unless the family controlled its growth. Clearly, the ancient Miluo family did not control the city’s expansion.
It took over ten minutes of flying before they reached the headquarters of the ancient Miluo family, showing just how large the city was.
Without taking a closer look, Guo Shier followed Li Ran into the headquarters and entered a huge building, quickly arriving in a luxurious room.
Hai Miluo invited Li Ran to sit first and politely asked Guo Shier and the others to sit as well. He said, “Elder, why do you have time to visit us this time? Hehe, it’s been so long since you last came… almost a hundred years. If you don’t come again, I might not see you anymore.” His tone was somewhat sad.
Li Ran remained silent for a moment before saying, “Yes, old friend… some have left, some have died, and few are left.”
Hai Miluo said, “You still look so young, Elder… Sigh, I’m really jealous. You looked the same back then, and you still do now…”
Li Ran replied irritably, “There’s no need to be jealous. I’m naturally immortal, haha.”
Hai Miluo shook his head with a smile, then turned his gaze to Guo Shier and asked, “Juehu, do you know him?” He pointed at Guo Shier. Li Ran laughed and said, “He’s my younger brother. Don’t bully him… Well, you might not even be able to defeat him, so bullying is out of the question.”
Juehu Miluo quickly said, “Ancestor, he is… our family’s heritage.”

Guo Shier shook his head and said, “It was at first, but not now. I’m sorry.”
Juehu Miluo was shocked and said, “How… how is that possible?”
Hai Miluo asked, “What’s going on?”
Juehu Miluo explained the whole situation, and Hai Miluo’s expression immediately changed. He said sternly, “Why didn’t you bring them back back then? Why let the heirs suffer outside?”
Li Ran interjected, “Don’t blame him. This young guy hangs out with me!”
Hai Miluo was speechless for a moment before saying, “Elder, um… I…”
Li Ran said, “We’re here looking for someone… also part of the ancient Miluo family’s legacy. I wonder if they’ve been here.”
Hai Miluo straightened up and asked, “Who is it?”