Chapter 202: Secret Realm Opens
Yanwu Mountain Range was turbulent with wind and clouds, but the Fire Crow Tribe people were seething with hatred.
Wuli Ke had no method to continue pursuing Su Yan and Nangong Hong Yue.
He was hastily called back by Wu Nan, along with Wu Yun who had gone out hunting feral beasts.
At this time in the gorge, everyone’s faces were ashen.
Wu Yun’s return was sudden, and he had not hunted enough feral beasts.
“The blood sacrifice lacks sufficient blood qi, and it will probably be difficult to open the secret realm’s rift.”
Wu Yun’s voice was heavy; he was one of the only two half-step Dan Qiao in the tribe along with Wuli Ke. In this operation, the treasures obtained would prioritize allowing him and Wuli Ke to break through to the Dan Qiao Realm first.
If a tribe had three Dan Qiao, then the entire Yanwu Mountain Range would be under the Fire Crow Tribe’s control from then on.
But now, the situation was no longer entirely in their grasp.
Wu Nan said, “There are already three second-order late-stage feral beasts, which can barely open the blood sacrifice. Since those people want to come to Goat Horn Mountain and get a share, let them participate with their blood.”
Wuli Ke frowned tightly, still having concerns in his heart: “But the Black Bear Tribe and Red Fox Tribe may not be weaker than us.”
“If they want to participate, make them act together. Why should our Fire Crow Tribe bear it alone?”
In the current situation, secretly opening the secret realm and exploring it first was no longer very possible.
The best method was then to manipulate the remaining two tribes to guard this secret realm.
If those rogue cultivators and sect disciples from outside took it, that would truly be failing to steal the chicken only to lose the rice.
In the depths of the gorge, the three feral beasts under the rock wall emitted bursts of roars.
Wu Nan stepped forward, only about three zhang away from these three feral beasts.
He held the old wooden staff in his hand, and his deep eyes were already completely silent.
The old wooden staff tapped the ground, immediately sparking a circle of water-like ripples from the staff tip.
Behind him, a hundred-meter-long Fire Crow wreathed in flames and exceptionally majestic materialized.
“Formation rise”
Around the feral beasts, six stone pillars, stimulated by the energy just now, immediately glowed with a vivid red light.
He pointed the old wooden staff in his hand, and whoosh—a sharp beam of light shot out.
In just three strikes, three blood holes appeared on the bodies of the three feral beasts.
Blood continuously flowed, but it did not fall to the ground at all, instead instantly vaporizing into blood qi filling the sky, enveloping the space between the six stone pillars.
Under the traction of Fire Crow True Intent, the blood qi faintly transformed into a blood-colored crow, which circled and tore the surrounding space with its wings.
A rift immediately appeared, surging with dense spiritual energy, but in the next instant, it slowly closed again.
……
At the foot of Goat Horn Mountain, martial artists moved like leopards shuttling through the woods, quickly heading toward Rift Valley.
Greed was evident on their faces; such spiritual energy fluctuations definitely indicated something remarkable treasure.
Swoosh
They had just stepped onto the path of Goat Horn Mountain when suddenly a fiery shadow assaulted them.
The leading man was startled in his heart and swung his saber to block.
With a loud bang, his figure staggered back a step. Fixing his eyes, he saw a Fire Crow.
“Kill”
Wuli Ke charged into the mountain path with big strides, his black saber flying straight down in a chop.
The leading martial artist was greatly alarmed and wanted to resist, but his True Intent had already materialized behind him—it was a ferocious ox monster with horns.
Wuli Ke’s gaze was ice-cold, utterly unshaken, as a black flame ignited and directly descended.
One saber cleaved it in two, including the martial artist’s True Intent, both split in half.
“Half-step Dan Qiao!”
Several rogue cultivator martial artists saw this scene and immediately realized the attacker was a half-step Dan Qiao.
They had no intention of resisting and directly turned to flee.
But on this mountain path of Goat Horn Mountain, more Fire Crow Tribe martial artists had already rushed out, blocking their escape route.
After a fierce fight, they were directly annihilated.
Fire Crows carried the corpses, flying one after another toward the mountain, converging into the blood qi formation.
On the other side of Goat Horn Mountain, Wu Yun held a beast bone spear in hand, single-handedly blocking a mountain path. Incoming martial artists were pierced through by his spear before they could react.
Whether tribe martial artists or outsiders, they were all no match for a single spear thrust.
In a short time, countless killings erupted across Goat Horn Mountain.
One by one, Fire Crows carried large corpse chunks and flew to the top of Goat Horn Mountain, with spiritual energy increasingly gathering and massive gray mist being dispersed by the surging spiritual energy.
Wu Nan presided over the formation, but his eyes grew increasingly serious.
“It’s actually a small secret realm! Wu Nan old man, you are truly cunning.”
A heaven-shaking roar sounded, and atop Goat Horn Mountain appeared a massive beast shadow. Na Goru leaped forward, landing above this gorge.
His bronze bell-like eyes tightly fixed on the rift that was gradually opening.
“Na Goru, you are faster than that old woman Yu Luo.”
Wu Nan turned around, his Fire Crow True Intent transforming to cover half of Goat Horn Mountain, resisting the powerful aura of the Bone Mountain Bear True Intent behind Na Goru.
The two clashed auras, causing Goat Horn Mountain’s body to tremble.
A Red Fox climbed over the mountain peak, its red pupils like the moon in the sky, and its massive phantom suddenly charged into the confrontation of the two True Intents.
Yu Luo came with graceful steps, standing on a distant mountain peak, her voice resounding: “Wu Nan old ghost, to monopolize such a secret realm, you need the ability to do so. Who would have thought the Shield Armor Tribe from a thousand years ago left behind such a treasure—remarkable… truly remarkable.”
Wu Nan and Na Goru’s pupils slightly contracted; of course they knew about the Shield Armor Tribe from a thousand years ago, as the Yanwu Mountain Range was precisely their sphere of influence.
However, Yu Luo seemed to know even more clearly than the two of them.
Wu Nan said in a deep voice: “The secret realm is not yet open. If you two want to reap without sowing, don’t blame our Fire Crow Tribe for not showing mercy.”
Na Goru did not get angry, his gaze lowering as he swept over the formation and said: “Blood sacrifice, huh? My tribe’s bear guards can slaughter the rogue cultivators entering the mountain for you—how about that?”
Wu Nan looked toward Yu Luo on the side; the old woman-like Yu Luo said: “Red Fox martial artists are already waiting at the foot of the mountain.”
“Open the blood sacrifice together, and once inside the secret realm, it’s every one for themselves.”
Na Goru proposed his conditions.
His gaze burned intensely at Wu Nan, who didn’t even lift his head: “Fine.”
Yu Luo said: “How to handle the secret realm?”
The secret realm was the root of it all; at these words, both Na Goru and Wu Nan’s eyes flickered slightly.
“The Fire Crow Tribe is nearest, so it should be ours to control.”
Wu Nan’s voice turned a few degrees colder, while Na Goru sneered repeatedly: “Just because of proximity? Wu Nan, have you gone senile?”
“If you don’t agree, I’ll destroy this small secret realm.”
The small secret realm was formed by the formation and integrated into the earth veins of the Yanwu Mountain Range to sustain its existence.
If proficient in formations, expending effort could indeed destroy it.
For a moment, Na Goru and Yu Luo’s faces both looked rather unpleasant.
Completely yielding was no better than destroying the thing.
But if they didn’t yield, this old fellow Wu Nan would surely go down in mutual destruction.
Yu Luo said: “Shared by the three tribes, with the tribe controlling the formation determined by who obtains the secret order of the secret realm.”
The secret order was not a fixed object, but it was the core of such small secret realms—or in the words of Central Plains martial artists, the main formation object among victory-suppressing items.
Controlling the secret order meant controlling the small secret realm.
Wu Nan suspected this old woman knew about the Shield Armor Tribe matters, but after a millennium, no one knew what changes the secret realm had undergone, and mere information might not confer an advantage.
On the contrary, his Fire Crow tribe had the most tribesmen in these mountains, giving them some advantage, plus the assistance of their reared Fire Crows.
“Fine, but we three shall not make a move.”
Wu Nan needed to divide his attention to maintain the formation, and he was the oldest among the three.
If they engaged in combat, he would likely fall at a disadvantage.
Na Goru grinned: “Good, it’s settled.”
The three cooperated in one place, immediately passing orders to their tribesmen. In a moment, martial artists from the three tribes mobilized, forcing back many approaching rogue cultivators.
Time gradually passed, and Su Yan and Nangong Hong Yue were now hiding in a corner of Goat Horn Mountain, concealed by boulders, their figures almost undetectable.
Su Yan secretly released a large swarm of blood bees again.
This time, unlike before when they were unrestrained, they continuously scouted around Goat Horn Mountain.
After searching around, he couldn’t help but frown slightly.
Nangong Hong Yue saw his expression and vaguely guessed: “The rock steel ant swarm is gone?”
“Mm.” Su Yan nodded: “At least not around here.”
Normally speaking, even if the rock steel ant swarm was attacked, they wouldn’t all disappear completely.
But who knew when the Fire Crow Tribe had been lurking around Goat Horn Mountain.
They had already made considerable preparations to open the small secret realm, killing many feral beasts on Goat Horn Mountain.
Moreover, Fire Crows as feral beasts somewhat countered insect beasts like rock steel ants and blood bees, so forcing the rock steel ants to scatter was entirely possible.
“Fire Crow Tribe, Black Bear Tribe, Red Fox Tribe people have all come. The three tribes are dividing a secret realm, and many rogue cultivators have been killed.”
Under the possession and perception of the insect consciousness seed, the blood bees were Su Yan’s eyes, and most of the outside situation was within his detection range.
Nangong Hong Yue heard this situation and wasn’t anxious, merely glancing at the gradually darkening sky.
She said: “It’s only temporary. Besides, the secret realm isn’t under their control; to block everyone, they’ll need the ability to do so.”
Dan Qiao martial artists were certainly powerful, but not omnipotent—otherwise, her mother wouldn’t have died to an ambush.
Time ticked by, and under the joint efforts of the three tribes, those reckless rogue cultivator martial artists were one after another surrounded and killed.
Blood transformed into strands of power for the formation, continuously gathering blood qi power. The surging true essence rolled like waves surging up on Goat Horn Mountain.
Martial artists with some strength or inheritance had now realized certain things and had all hidden their figures.
The killing gradually subsided until late at night, when moonlight grew thick and the sky was full of dark blue.
Wu Nan sensed that the blood qi in the formation had become extremely dense.
He directly took control of the formation, his True Intent materializing into a Fire Crow form, enveloping the massive formation power to transform into a blood crow.
“Na Goru, Yu Luo—attack together.”
The two moved in unison, summoning their own True Intents right after Wu Nan’s voice fell.
Three True Intents like small mountains bombarded a faintly visible spatial rift.
Boom
A massive bang, like thunder exploding in a clear sky.
Vast power fluctuations propagated outward, the entire Goat Horn Mountain shaking as large boulders rolled down.
Wu Nan, Na Goru, and Yu Luo’s eyes tightly fixed on the rift above the rock wall.
One chi, two chi, one zhang…
The rift grew larger and larger, with dense spiritual energy continuously surging out from the secret realm, like a hot spring washing over them, feeling extremely comfortable.
Success!
With the secret realm entrance open and gradually stabilizing, from this surging spiritual energy, this secret realm was definitely not a dead domain.
“Wuli Ke, Wu Yun—take people inside!”
Wu Nan directly issued the order. The prepared Wuli Ke and Wu Yun led their teams straight into the rift.
The Fire Crow Tribe was not polite at all, with fully one to two hundred people entering.
A secret realm was no child’s play; reliant on the mountain range, even the smallest was probably not much smaller than the mountain range itself.
“Bear Guards!”
Na Goru specifically selected the bear guards—all tall and burly Black Bear Tribe martial artists clad in beast armor, about a hundred strong, filing in one after another.
Yu Luo nodded, and Ling Yuer led the Red Fox martial artists, closely following the first two tribes into it, their figures quickly vanishing before the crowd.
“There are probably more than one rift.”
Yu Luo’s eyes flickered; she naturally knew that when no one controlled a small secret realm opened, especially with such commotion, there were likely other entrances.
“Guarding this place is the safest.”
Even if there were other entrances, across the vast Goat Horn Mountain, how many could find them?
Wu Nan felt a faint worry in his heart; if that person secretly controlling the blood bees used them to scout…
“Who goes there!”
Suddenly Na Goru roared furiously, his figure transforming into a Bone Mountain Bear and pouncing toward a mountain peak hundreds of meters away.
The enormous bear palm turned into a giant hand smashing over, when a sword light fiercely assaulted, clashing violently in mid-air.
The two attacks were terrifying in momentum.
By the time the surging energy fully dissipated, several more people had remarkably appeared standing there.
“Central Plains martial artists? This is our territory—do you seek death?”
Ye Chengqiu looked at Na Goru’s threat and sneered: “Hmph, the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains are your territory? What arrogance.”
Though he responded coldly, his heart sank slightly.
Three tribes’ Dan Qiao True Persons, while his own strength was strong, was not a match for three joined together.
“Wu Nan, Yu Luo—attack together.”
Na Goru, sharp-eyed, vaguely sensed Ye Chengqiu’s predicament and immediately leaped forward, his fist like thunder.
Wu Nan and Yu Luo flew over directly; the former blocked the path between the formation and Ye Chengqiu, preventing him from breaking the formation.
The latter evolved her Red Fox True Intent, opening its mouth with a tornado-like suction force straight at Ye Chengqiu.
Mother-child heavy sword!
Ye Chengqiu knew the situation was critical; his heavy sword clanged and actually split into seven small swords and one main sword.
He pointed his sword from afar, and whoosh—all the swords shot straight toward Na Goru.
The three tangled in combat, and Ye Chengqiu already felt it hard to cope.
Yet once they started, he suddenly laughed.
Whether Wu Nan, Na Goru, or Yu Luo, in their attacks, there was still some mutual checking.
He immediately unleashed sword momentum, seizing opportunities step by step. The four fought as one, and for a time, no superiority emerged.
Su Yan also felt the mountain’s shaking, with vital energy completely swept away.
He urgently sent more blood bees to sense, and after about half a shichen, Su Yan’s eyes brightened. He said to Nangong Hong Yue: “Follow me. The blood bees found an entrance rift.”
