Indeed, the legends were true. By taking control of the formation map, Chase gained control over the entire secret realm.With this newfound power, he felt omnipotent within the realm. It felt strikingly similar to his experience in the Dragon Vein Secret Realm. The more Chase thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed.With a single thought, Chase appeared in the Dragon Vein Secret Realm. Sure enough, the place where previously he could only see two spaces, a third one had appeared—this new secret realm.Wait a minute! If the secret realm he had gotten appeared in the Dragon Vein Secret Realm, what about the martial lord's domain?Chase clearly sensed a significant leap in his strength, yet he had no clue about the domain. He appeared beside Lucas."Do you think I've had a breakthrough, sir?" Chase asked uncertainly."Judging by your aura, it’s clear you’ve reached the martial lord realm. And it doesn't feel like you just entered it. Can't you sense it yourself?" Lucas lo
Mitchell quickly spoke up, "Scott, come help us! This martial lord has gone mad and is trying to kill us all. Everyone outside has already died at the hands of this man. If you don't help now, we'll all be dead soon!"The four of them had left earlier and were unaware of what had transpired. At this moment, corpses lay everywhere in front of Shadow Pavilion. Some belonged to the people from Bactria who entered the secret realm, and some were from Shadow Pavilion.Upon seeing Chase, Shadeless was taken aback for a moment but then shouted, "Chase Salvatore, attack them! Help me capture them, and I'll recommend you to the pavilion master for a reward!""My name is Chase Collins! Remember it!" Chase's cold voice made Shadeless pause. Shadeless questioned, "Are you saying you're one of the locals who invaded our world?""To us, you're the invaders," Chase replied calmly."What audacity! You're a mere marquis! How dare you reveal your true identity in front of me? You must have a deat
As a prodigy of the Flaming Sun Clan, one of the Four Sects, Apollo was no stranger to the secret realm.Even though Chase had obtained the formation map, his power should not be this terrifying. As he was unable to sense Chase's aura, Apollo looked at him directly, filled with fear."You... made a breakthrough? That shouldn't be possible. Are you saying... No... It's impossible. You're just a mortal! No one can do this!" Apollo had his suspicions.As he looked at Chase, Skyless was equally shocked. As a stage-three martial lord, he found it unbelievable that he could not see through this young man before him. Could it be?Skyless quickly checked the consciousness he had left on the formation map. To his astonishment, the consciousness had vanished.How could this be? Even though he had crafted the Eight Trigrams Formation Map over many years, he had only managed to leave a little bit of his consciousness on it. These people had been underground for barely an hour, and not only ha
"When... did you take it?" Apollo stammered, still in shock.Chase did not answer. He merely focused on the Chamilia Bead in his hand. This little iron ball held a terrifying amount of energy. Even Lucas could not help but comment, "This thing is equivalent to my full-strength strike in my prime!"Lucas' assessment was quite exaggerated, considering he was a martial monarch expert."Chase, please spare us. I promise not to reveal anything that happened here. I can take an oath!" Now devoid of any leverage, Apollo softened his stance and began to beg for mercy. It was clear he feared that Chase would kill everyone to prevent what happened here from being exposed.If word got back to Bactria, Chase would undoubtedly face relentless persecution from Capital City's influential families, especially from those whose prodigies he had slain.Realizing the gravity of the situation, Slant also pleaded, "Chase, the Flaming Sun Clan has no grudge against you. If you spare us, we can swear
A group of people stood faintly visible in the swirling dust. The night still lingered in the sky, with dawn yet to break.Despite the dust flying everywhere, Chase and his group stood quietly, waiting. This was the very place where they had all entered the secret realm together."Why haven't we seen the exit yet?" Slant asked impatiently.Although Chase could leave and return to Bactria at any moment, he remained standing there. He could see the outskirts of Bactria's Capital City through a thin veil.At the entrance to the secret realm, representatives from the major families had already gathered. There were the Hawkinses, the Coopers, the Salvatores, the Brennans, the Kaydens, and the Welches. They were eagerly waiting.Chase even spotted Gareth, who had brought an entire armed troop to prevent any trouble from these families. Not far from Gareth, Chase also saw a banner of the Flaming Sun Clan.The four elders who had opened the secret realm suddenly appeared, and the entranc
After speaking, Thelonius waved his hand and took his three disciples away, disappearing into the sky. Meanwhile, the remaining family heads of Capital City exchanged looks.What? Even a powerful clan like the Flaming Sun Clan had only three out of over ten people return?The family heads immediately focused on the entrance, each hoping the next person to come out would be their family's prodigy.Inside the secret realm, Mitchell was about to step into the exit when he suddenly found himself stopped by something.He realized instantly that Chase was behind it."Chase, what do you mean by this?" Mitchell asked, his voice laced with frustration.Chase smiled faintly. "Mitchell, swear a blood oath and I'll let you out."Though Chase wore a smile, Mitchell had no doubt that if he refused, Chase would kill him.There was no escaping this, after all. Mitchell's face twisted with indecision. The exit was right in front of him, but if he did not agree, it might as well be miles away.
The voice of the patriarch of the Coopers, Lennox, rang out from behind them."What's the matter? Are you blocking my way?" Gareth immediately questioned."You represent Bactria, so naturally, I wouldn't dare obstruct you. However, I need to ask Scott and Basalt's Collins about the Coopers' prodigy,'' Lennox began, apologizing to Gareth before turning to Chase.Seeing Chase and the others emerge with no one else following from the secret realm, the family heads felt a growing sense of unease.Hence, Lennox directly voiced his concerns."I don't know," Scott replied nonchalantly, his expression unchanging.Chase remained silent."We're leaving," Gareth declared once more."Gareth, you're free to go, but Scott and Basalt's Collins, you can't leave until you explain what happened in the secret realm," Carson, the patriarch of the Hawkins family, said. He also stepped forward to block Chase and Scott."How dare you?!" Though without any cultivation himself, Gareth felt a surge of
"Even the entire cultivation world has never heard of such a heaven-defying existence," everyone exclaimed in awe.The two mysterious martial lords in the sky turned their gazes toward Chase as well."As you're a stage-three martial lord, was it you who claimed ownership of this secret realm?" one of them coldly asked, staring at Chase."So what if it's me?" Chase replied calmly.The two previously enigmatic elders now seemed less intimidating to Chase, perhaps because they were near the secret realm's exit. He could vaguely sense their auras, revealing them to be at most mid-stage martial lords, no higher than level six."It really is you! Such audacity, young man. You've just broken through and already you're so arrogant, showing no respect for your elders. Do you think becoming a martial lord allows you to challenge us?" the elder retorted angrily."It's your condescending attitude that's provoking me. I had no intention of being disrespectful. What now? After knowing that I c
As Clive had gained quite a lot, he decided to let it be. He allowed himself to let go of things. However, that being's consciousness began to open up to Clive, and that was when Clive realized how powerful the being was.It was one against the 12 Primal Treasures, and the universe was its target. It had existed for millions of years. The result of allowing it to take over was Clive losing complete control of his body. It was a projected image that vanished after Chase defeated it.However, Clive's body had been modified by it, and Clive's mind and soul were unable to control his own body. This was what had caused Clive to look like he was in a daze right after the match.Rania then used a mystical technique to transmit her cultivation and combine the powers of both parties. It triggered a lost talent within Clive that merged all of the swordsmanship he cultivated to form an unknown sword form that had never been seen before.Clive felt like he had been revived.He looked at the Ni
Inside the halved corpse, faint outlines of Rania and the coachman's bodies could be seen. They were twisted and contorted.Foul-smelling digestive fluid bubbled and hissed, corroding their bodies.Rania appeared to retain a shred of consciousness. "Cli... Clive... Clive... Help me... Save..."Her voice was faint, tremulous, and laced with sorrow. It stirred pity in the heart.In truth, even before she had spoken, Clive had already detected her presence through his spiritual consciousness. He raised his sword. His face was tormented as if he wanted to put a swift end to things. Yet in the end, he let out a long sigh and released a surge of true essence, pulling both the coachman and Rania from River's corpse.The coachman's cultivation was far too low, and his clothes were made of ordinary fabric. They offered no resistance to the corrosive and toxic digestive acid inside River's body.Half of his body was already unrecognizable, with the bones and internal organs exposed. His b
"Pathetic."The Nine-Sea Giant Squid that River had transformed into spoke with a human voice, then opened its gaping maw and swallowed her whole.The coachman, who had leaped off the horse the moment River transformed, scrambled and sprinted away. He was already dozens of feet out.Just then, a dark blur flashed past, and one of River's tentacles shot forward at incredible speed, snatching him back and devouring him in a single gulp as well."Disgusting. That woman tasted better," he muttered while slithering toward the carriage on his tentacles.Suddenly, an explosion echoed from within his belly, and faint glimmers of light shone through the surface of his body."That woman's protective artifact is so weak. Looks like she wasn't treated well in the Norths, after all."River examined himself carefully and found that it was indeed Rania's protective talisman that had just detonated. Yet his body remained largely unharmed. With some minor healing over ten days to half a month, he
Outside Light Divine City, Rania sat inside a carriage with Clive."Clive, say something, will you? You staying silent like this is really worrying me," she said while wiping the sweat from Clive's forehead and letting out a sigh.As a collateral descendant of the Norths, Rania's life had never been particularly easy. She had thought she had finally snagged a golden opportunity with Clive, only for him to fall into a daze after just one match.What was she supposed to do now?Everyone had witnessed their behavior during the tournament. Though some might look down on them, they would undoubtedly see the two of them as a pair by now.If she abandoned Clive at this point, she would surely be labeled a heartless woman.Just then, the carriage came to a halt. They had only left the city less than an hour ago and were still far from Universal Holy Land. Was someone blocking the road? Rania frowned and lifted the curtain.Sure enough, there was someone standing in the way.She looked c
Even though the match had ended, Lisa still could not fully escape the lingering terror.The slimy, wriggling tentacles covered in suction cups and jagged teeth, stretching out toward her… Such images were seared into her mind. The impact had been too great.Though she was a direct descendant of the dragon clan—an authentic ancient lineage and one of the top races in the entire world—she had been completely overpowered then.Normally, her bloodline would exert natural suppression over most others. However, at the time, she was almost crushed by another.She could not even begin to imagine what kind of race could do that."It tried to eat you?" Walter exclaimed in shock.As a great beast himself, he understood just how powerful the dragon clan's pure bloodline was.Even though the incident with the Lightning Dragon kneeling to Chase had dulled some of the mystique around dragons, it remained undeniable that they were a superior bloodline."For a creature to make a dragon feel lik
"Pfft, what Saints or Saintesses? They're just titles. They don't have any real skills to speak of!""Exactly. These so-called Saints who suddenly emerged probably got their status through shady means. The moment they enter a duel, their real strength shows."Amid the chorus of cheers and congratulations, a few jarring voices remained, and one of them was Rania's. Although she was a social climber herself, hearing the crowd ridicule Clive after his defeat made her deeply uncomfortable."That's not true. Clive is not like that," she repeated again and again. Those were the only words she could manage.Several in the crowd recognized her as the one who accepted a gift from Clive earlier and began to mock her."She's the perfect example of a shallow woman. The moment she accepts a gift, she loses her sense of judgment. It's pathetic.""Right? The truth is right in front of her—Clive is just a big show-off with no real skills. And yet she keeps lying to herself.""Hmph. They really a
Later, a certain senior of the sect discovered a secret technique of the Nefarious Spirits.It was to meditate on the image of a divine beast or an overwhelmingly powerful immortal being the embodiment of one's soul. As the level of visualization deepened, one's spiritual soul strength would grow accordingly.This method of cultivating Nefarious Spirits was a hybrid of corpse refining and body cultivation.However, while corpse and body cultivation focused on physical bodies, Nefarious Spirits cultivation trained the intangible—the spiritual consciousness and the mind and soul.After this discovery, they even improved the methods of refining corpses and bodies using it.When refining the body, practitioners would visualize fierce beasts like bears or wolves or celestial warriors, generals, and even gods. The subjects of their visualizations would match with their nature and temperament, making them their own Nefarious Spirits.Fallon's Nefarious Spirit was an ancient giant ape. It
As for Fallon and Carla on the high platform, they clearly sensed that the ominous gaze from above had lessened significantly.Clive, who was facing Chase directly, also felt that his seemingly unstoppable sword strike had suddenly stalled in front of Chase. It could not push forward any further. This shocked him greatly.After all, even when sparring with his own master, he had never encountered this sensation. His master had even praised him for his good fortune after obtaining a peerless sword and for mastering a sword technique unparalleled in this generation. If not for the looming limit of his life span and the need to break through to gain more years, his master would have wanted to cultivate that technique himself.This sword strike, which Clive considered to be the culmination of all his understanding of the sword path, was the most perfect attack he had ever executed since beginning his cultivation journey.Even so, this nameless opponent had forced it back with a single
Tania once attended celebratory events held by other sects, only to encounter top-tier demonic beasts on the road. A brutal battle left her covered in wounds, and she missed the celebration entirely, offending the host.At that time, her master's resentment had already reached its peak.That thousand-year-old wolf demon became the last straw that broke the camel's back.Her master unleashed Emerald Lake Holy Land's most powerful technique—Radiance of Emerald, Eternal Slumber.Heaven and earth changed color the moment it was unleashed. The thousand-year wolf demon gathered all of its cultivation but still could not withstand the strike. It was reduced to ashes in an instant.Tania once thought that the gap between her and her master was not too wide and that she would rightfully inherit the mantle of leadership over Emerald Lake Holy Land within a century.Yet after witnessing that attack, she realized how wrong she had been. From then on, she started training harder and more dilig