She took a step forward and put her arms in his arms and began walking through the corridor towards the exit.
“Try to reach me as soon as you can. And remember to contact me if there is something you can’t handle. I will try to reach your place as fast as I can,” he slowly said while walking with her.
Wan Ling sweetly smiled and nodded her head, “Umu, don’t worry, Brother Yuan, I won’t get in trouble so soon.”
He softly shook his head, “It’s not about you getting into trouble but more so trouble getting to you. Since they can send assassins towards us, they might try to do something in the secret realm as well.”
She smilingly shook her head. “You worry too much, Brother Yuan. Aside from you, I’m the top genius of the sect. I can at least protect myself with all the treasures you and the sect gave me.”
Shen Yuan paused and helplessly shook his head, “Maybe I was worrying too much. Let’s go and meet with the others.”
They picked up their pace and headed out of the courtyard.
…
In a wide crater stood a swirling mass of silver lights. It exuded intense waves of Qi in the surroundings.
A few elderly people stood outside, looking deeply at the silvery vortex.
“It’s about time,” one of them slowly said.
“I wonder how many will die this time,” an old lady said with a compassionate voice.
“Haa…we can’t decide their fates. Let them fight for themselves. After all, they need to grow up as well.” Another old man said with a slight shake of his head.
“Old Bai, how many disciples from your sect will participate this time?” the last old man asked curiously.
The four of them were the guardians of the World Raiser Secret Realm from the four Divine Sects who shared it among themselves.
Old Bai, who was one of the core elders of Immortal Sword Pavilion, cast a cold glance at the old man who asked him. “Old Mo, are you getting dementia already? All Divine Tier sects can only send ten disciples inside.”
Old Mo’s mouth twitched. He was an honorable Core Elder of Thunder Cloud Sect, where was he treated like a mortal old man? But alas, the one he was talking with was Old Bai, one of the strongest elders of Immortal Sword Pavilion.
In terms of offensive power, he was the strongest of the four. And just as Old Mo opened his mouth to reply back, the first old man spoke again, “Calm down now. Stop fighting like the youngsters, you both are already old.”
“Shut it, Old Wang.”
“Shut it, Old Wang.”
Both Old Mo and Old Bai said at the same time. Old Wang was the Core Elder of Mystique Array Sect. The sect’s focus was on learning runes and formations, so his offensive was lacking compared to the two old men.
But he was also the most lethal out of the group if he got the time to prepare his formations.
“Haa, you guys are troublesome. Anyways, the young ones are about to arrive. don’t show such a pathetic display in front of them.” Old Meng, the elder from Radiant Lotus Sacred Sect, shook her head in resignation.
She had to deal with the three of them all on her own, but due to her status as a healer, everyone treated her with much more respect. After all, they had spent more time together here than in their sects.
However, that doesn’t mean they had a close relationship; in fact, the competition has only increased over the years.
Outside the crater, a large number of cultivators had gathered. Most of them were rogue cultivators without any affiliation.
There were also groups of disciples from different sects gathered. There was no place for Noble Tier Powers in such a grand gathering as the Aurora Competition. They wouldn’t even get the tokens to enter the secret realm.
But there was another way by which they could get the tokens to enter the Secret Realm. The Divine Tier Powers held a competition outside the Secret Realm to give out a few tokens to the masses so there wouldn’t be voices raised against the Divine Tier Powers.
Slowly, Royal Grade Sects started appearing, showing off their might in front of the rogue cultivators and the occasional Noble Tier Sect.
The Royal Grade had been allocated 2 spots in the Secret Realm. They could still fight for more spots in the competition if they wanted to, but most of them would rather not participate as they consider it beneath themselves.
Imperial Level Powers, on the other hand, can’t participate in this competition, but instead, they get five spots for the secret realm. They were high and mighty above the mortal world, and they would consider it beneath themselves to even participate in this competition.
But just because the heads of the sects thought so doesn’t mean everyone in the sect thought similarly. A lot of elders take disciples from the outside world and teach them from when they are young to participate in this secret realm.
The Leaders were aware of this but were also helpless to do anything against it, so they let their members do as they wished.
Soon after the cultivators gathered in one place, they began their own small competition for the ticket to the secret realm.
…
“Isn’t it lively over there?” Shen Yuan said while walking together with his group.
They were the first Divine Tier sect to arrive at the competition venue. Looking around, they saw that the entire crowd was gathered in a circle at a particular place.
“That’s where the competition is being held, right?” Wan Ling asked.
“Indeed, and it looks like they are finishing soon.” Bing Rong looked through the crowd and saw the disciples fighting inside.
“Do you want to go and watch it, Yuan’er?” Yuxin softly asked.
He thought for a second before looking at the rest of the disciples, who were clearly disinterested in it.
But before he could reply, Lei Ranyu instead took a step forward. “No point in it. We will see how they are inside the mystique realm anyway. And we have the details of most of the disciples already.”
Grand Elder nodded her head, “We should instead visit Elder Meng stationed here. She might give you some tips.”
The disciples’ eyes lit up, making clear they were far more interested in meeting this elder instead of watching the matches of lesser sects.
Shen Yuan inwardly shook his head. ‘They are underestimating others. They will probably suffer from it if they keep this up.’
[Will you warn them?]
Yue Lan curiously asked.
‘No point in it. They need to learn some things through experience. This will be one good experience since their lives won’t be threatened that much,’ he slowly said while walking with the group toward the Elder’s location.
He still took a few glances and saw the saber-wielding youth fighting against a dual-sword-wielding woman. ‘Her bloodline is quite decent. But that guy’s saber technique is quite good as well.’ He inwardly remarked.
[It looks like you will get good competition here. I can see that those are not the strongest disciples present there.]