The Five Elements Forest was originally the lair of a mighty Sea Dragon Nascent Monarch. This great beast ruled over the vast waters and surrounding lands for thousands of years.
Unlike common spiritual beasts, the Sea Dragon possessed high intelligence from birth due to it having a trace of Dragon Bloodline. It was cunning and wise, with abilities far beyond ordinary wild beasts.
The main reason for its rapid growth and power was the Secret Realm hidden within its domain.
Whenever the realm opened, the Sea Dragon used its authority to send peak Foundation Establishment spiritual beasts to enter.
Because of the Sea Dragon’s command, these beasts did not fight amongst themselves inside the realm. Instead, they worked together to gather precious resources and treasures.
When those spiritual beasts emerged, they brought out all manner of cultivation resources – Spirit Herbs, Magical Ores, Spirit Fruits, and more.
This cycle continued for many years.
Until one day, the Ancestor of the Royal Family accidentally stumbled upon this hidden realm.
He was also a mighty cultivator at the peak of Nascent Soul realm, seeking breakthroughs on his path to immortality.
In the end, the two of them fought over the ownership of the realm, and the Ancestor emerged victorious, but at a great cost. He was severely wounded, his cultivation base damaged.
With his remaining strength, the Ancestor placed a powerful Protective Array Formation around the Secret Realm.
…
At this moment, the Royal Family’s flying vessel came to a stop, hovering majestically above the small island.
From it, a robust middle-aged man wearing a luxurious golden robe emerged. His presence commanded respect, and all eyes followed his movements as he silently glided towards the center of the island.
Upon reaching the jade platform, he took out a Jade Token. The token glowed with spiritual light, and from it, a pale blue beam shot forth, hitting the semi-transparent Spiritual Energy Array Shield that had protected the Secret Realm.
While the middle-aged man worked on removing the restriction, at the helm of the great ship four young figures appeared, three men and one woman, all dressed in luxurious robes.
All eyes turned to the four young figures on the Royal Family’s ship.
They stood tall proudly, their posture exuding confidence and superiority.
At this time, the middle-aged man returned to the ship and whispered something which caused the young man and woman to turn and go back inside.
From the moment they had emerged till now, they didn’t even look down at the gathered cultivators, as if all those beneath them were unworthy of their attention.
The middle-aged man then loudly announced, “Fellow daoists, within an hour or so the Spiritual Energy fluctuations should stabilize. Then the entrance to the Secret Realm will fully open!”
A wave of excitement immediately rippled through the crowd. Cultivators from all sects and families began making final preparations, checking their spiritual artifact and talismans.
Everyone waited quietly for the complete stabilization of the spatial waves.
After about half an hour,
The entrance to realm suddenly fully opened, revealing a portal that was nearly ten meters high.
It unfolded above the jade platform!
Seeing this scene, the crowd rubbed their hands together in anticipation.
Because this meant that in a short while, the entrance would be completely stabilized, and they could formally enter it.
While waiting for the portal to fully stabilize, Alisa said to Lucian through her Divine Sense. Her expression was serious.
“Lucian, I must tell you something important,” she said in a low voice.
Lucian nodded, listening attentively.
She then went on to explain about the possible alliance between the Golden Sun Sect and Crimson Sky Sect, and Royal Family with the Demonic Sects.
“Also the Secret Realm has a powerful restriction in place. Any items above Foundation Establishment level are prohibited from entering. This means you can not take the protective jade pendant I gave you.”
“I understand,” he said solemnly, “I’ll be extra cautious.”
After another hour,
The middle-aged man suddenly loudly announced, “Everyone, proceed to enter the Secret Realm in order!”
He then flew towards the island along with the members from the Royal Family. Their robes fluttered gracefully as they glided through the air, exuding an aura of superiority and nobility.
Alisa turned to Lucian one last time, her grey eyes full of concern, and said telepathically, “Lucian, be careful and act cautiously. Remember what I told you.”
Lucian nodded firmly, “I understand. Don’t worry, I’ll be vigilant.”
With that, Lucian joined the other disciples and flew towards the portal.
During the past six months, among the various spells he had learned, this flying spell had become second nature to him. He soared through the air with ease, his robes billowing in the wind.
The righteous sect disciples were the first to gather around the platform. Lucian stood among them, his crimson eyes fixed on the swirling portal.
Behind them, disciples from the small cultivation families waited silently.
Further back, the demonic cultivators gathered.
Members of the Royal Family were first to enter and then sects disciples began to enter orderly.
Soon, it was Lucian’s turn to enter the portal.
As soon as he touched the golden portal, he only felt a blur before his eyes, and his entire body seemed to be spinning, making him feel dizzy.
But in an instant, he recovered. When he opened his eyes, his surroundings had already changed!
He turned his head to survey the surroundings and found himself at the edge of a forest. The numerous trees around him were thick enough for two people to encircle them.
The Spiritual Energy in the air was much concentrated compared to outside.
Lucian didn’t move to enter the forest immediately. Instead, he used his Qi Sense to scan the area.
After confirming there was no-one within his scanning range, he found an inconspicuous place near the edge of the forest. He then pulled out his halberd and began to dig into the hard soil.
As his treasure needed Foundation Establishment Spiritual Energy to use, he had no choice but to use it like a mortal weapon. However, because of its sharpness, he was obviously slicing the soil like a hot knife through butter.
After half an incense stick of time, he felt the hole was deep and wide enough.
Lucian carefully entered it, using his Qi Sense to monitor his surroundings. Once inside, he used his spiritual energy to cover the mouth of the hole with soil, leaving only the tiniest opening for air.
The Secret Realm just opened, the number of cultivators inside was steadily increasing. Lucian estimated there were already several hundred people who had already entered.
And he wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that if 30-40 cultivators were to attack him at once, he could survive. So he chose to hide and bide his time.
But the most important reason was that he needed to enter Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.
This Secret Realm was rich in spiritual energy, perfect for his breakthrough.
So he closed his eyes, feeling his Dantian. It was now fully filled with liquified Spiritual Energy, like a lake of molten lava.
Lucian took a deep breath and began to circulate his energy according to the [Celestial Flame Lotus] technique’s Foundation Establishment part, guiding the Spiritual Energy in his meridians toward his Dantian.
The liquified energy in his Dantian started to swirl, forming a vortex with the Dao Lotus as the centre.
As it spun faster and faster, slowly, a red outline of a platform began to take shape within Lucian’s Dantian, shifting from illusory to solid!
All the swirling energy flowed into it, like countless streams merging into a great river.
As the platform took shape, a mysterious change occurred — Lucian’s Dantian began to crack!
Tiny fissures appeared across its surface, spreading like a spider’s web. A strong spiritual pressure began to emit from Lucian’s body.
As the last bit of energy was absorbed into the platform, there seemed to be a loud boom and shattering sound. His Dantian had burst open!
The platform, now fully formed, floated in the space where his Dantian once was.
Foundation Established was successful!
At this moment, he discovered that surrounding Spiritual Energy began to rush into his body uncontrollably. He wasn’t even running his Cultivation Technique, but the Spiritual Energy rapidly filled his meridians.
In the blink of an eye, they were full, and his Dao Foundation also solidified completely.
Lucian’s Qi Sense sunk into his body, and he was surprised to find out that compared to normal cultivators, his platform size was nearly double. Most Foundation Establishment cultivators had platforms around 40-50 centimeters wide.
His was a staggering 89 centimeters!
A Dao Foundation that was eighty nine (89) centimetres wide rooted itself instead of his Dantian. The whole platform was red in appearance, and the Dao Lotus finally seemed to find a place to settle.
The platform was slowly rotating, trying to draw the Spiritual Energy automatically.
The Dao Lotus, which had been floating aimlessly before, now found its rightful place at the center of this vast platform. Its “roots” spread out, anchoring it firmly.