“That’s a possibility,” she said with a soothing voice before raising her head, “Alright everyone, get ready, the portal is about to be opened.”
She softly said to all the disciples. Shen Yuan, Wan Ling, and eight other disciples took a step forward and walked in front of the cultivators.
Other Divine Grade powers also stepped forward. All of them stood in a line in front of the portal, while their respective subordinate power disciples stood behind them. Shen Yuan glanced back and memorized all the clan emblems of the subordinate powers of Radiant Lotus Sacred Sect.
Elder Meng, Elder Mo, Elder Bai, and Elder Wang stepped forward while each having a different token.
Old Bai reached the front and turned around. “Everyone, we four will pour Qi into the tokens to open the portal. Everyone will be randomly teleported inside the mystique realm, so do not panic and do what you must to improve yourself. And do not fight amongst yourselves if there is a demonic sect disciple present.”
His eyes turned sharp as his body exuded a chilling, murderous aura. “Kill all the lowlifes of the Demonic Sects. No mercy shall be given to them.”
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow at the sudden bloodlust against the Demonic Sect. He thought about asking his mother why this Elder Bai hated the Demonic Sect so much, but before he could, the Elder began infusing their powers into the tokens.
He quickly turned to look at Wan Ling. “Find me as soon as you can. Or send me a message if you are in a sticky situation.”
Wan Ling sweetly smiled, “I will do just as you said, Brother Yuan. Don’t worry about me, and explore the Mystique Realm to your heart’s content. I can’t hold you back from this.”
Shen Yuan paused and heaved a sigh, “Just take ca—”
Before his words could finish, a light flashed from the stone door before everything turned white in his vision.
Shen Yuxin, standing at her place, smiled to herself upon hearing their words. “He will never stop worrying about them, huh?”
Bing Rong smiled. “He wouldn’t be Yuan’er if he stopped worrying about us.”
Yuxin sweetly smiled and nodded. Bing Rong’s expression turned serious. “How many people who entered the Secret Realm can defeat him, according to you, Master?”
Shen Yuxin placed a finger on her chin and thought for a second. “There were quite a few disciples with power levels at the Mortal Tribulation Realm despite being only at the Dao Core Forming Realm. And Yuan’er is only at the Extreme Origin Core Realm.”
Bing Rong nodded her head solemnly. “Yes, and there is a huge difference between the Extreme Origin Core Realm and the Dao Core Forming Realm, much less the Mortal Tribulation Realm. Dao Core Forming Realm cultivators can also harness the powers of their bloodline or special physique more smoothly.”
Yuxin heaved a sigh. “His battle powers last time I checked were at the Peak of the Dao Core Forming Realm. I don’t know how he will fare.”
Bing Rong also worriedly looked at the stone gate.
…
BOOM!!
A beam of light hit a clearing amidst dense trees. “Cough cough…” Shen Yuan stepped out of the dust while looking around. “Haa…that spatial warp was something else, alright. This Mystique Realm is not even at the World Raiser Sect mountain but in an entirely separate world of its own. There was no entrance to this Mystique Realm there. The Stone Gate forcefully opened a portal and sent us here.”
[That’s quite good that you managed to gain so many details from a single spatial warp.]
“My spatial awareness has increased by a lot after I learned the Spatial Intent. I would be ashamed if I can’t even figure this out after learning the Spatial Intent.” He said before looking around the clearing.
Looking at the blue sky above, he jumped up to fly, but his eyes slightly widened in surprise as he plummeted back to the ground. “Huh? I can’t fly?”
[Different Mystique Realms have different rules. There are those which don’t allow the use of Qi, so cultivators have to fight using their physical body.]
He took a deep breath before looking around as his gaze landed on a tall tree inside the forest some distance away from him. “Well, no point talking about different Mystique Realms. I should first look around the area. Where even am I?”
[I’m pretty sure you already know the location.]
“Yes, but I need a direction to move towards.” He said while moving towards the trees. As soon as he touched one of the trees, he felt the immense vitality and life power of it.
“Huh? Why are the trees here so filled with life power? These would be considered Spirit Grade Treasures at least.” He questioned while uprooting a tree together with its roots.
But as soon as the roots were disconnected from the ground, the tree lost its life power and became a normal tree.
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow before tossing the tree away and uprooting another one, and the same thing happened. He then moved towards a different tree and tried it as well.
And, without surprise, the same thing happened again. “Looks like the special thing here is the ground, not the trees themselves.”
He thought for a bit before moving towards the tall tree again. “By the way, why are you so quiet?”
[Because I won’t help you during this Mystique Realm quest. Otherwise, you will lose.]
Shen Yuan shook his head with a smile, “Have it your way then. Bring out Xueyan, though. She should also get some fresh air.”
[Oh, you remembered her?]
He chuckled wryly, hearing her sarcastic voice.
A shimmering portal manifested at the back of Shen Yuan, and a cute cat-like creature with small wings jumped at him from inside the portal.
Shen Yuan didn’t turn around to look at the portal while Xueyan happily jumped onto his shoulder to sit down.
“Meow~” She called out to him.
“The fuck? You really became a cat?” He asked in amusement. But his expression quickly turned serious as he felt her cultivation base.
“Fourth level of Dao Core Forming Realm?! Fuck, is she the daughter of heaven or something?”
[Haha, she might not be the daughter of heavens, but her race is indeed loved by heaven.]
He shook his head and grabbed Xueyan in his arms, “Come on, little guy, you ate quite well inside my pet space. Time to do some work.”
Xueyan cutely tilted her head, looking at Shen Yuan in confusion, wondering what he meant.
He shook his head before placing her back on his shoulder and exuding Qi from his foot. ‘Hmm, this should be enough to keep me on the tree. If that yellow-haired ninja can do it, then I should be able to use Qi like this as well.’
He manipulated his Qi to create fine threads from his foot before stabbing them into the trunk of the tree. He took two steps above and paused— “Good, this is working.” His face formed an excited smile as if he just got a new toy.
He didn’t waste any more time and began running towards the top of the tree. And within seconds, he jumped from the trunk of the tree towards the crown of the tree.