Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

The next moment, however, the Song Family discovered no danger. Instead, a startling wave of Spiritual Qi washed over them.

Clearly, this was indeed the entrance to a Secret Realm, and one that possessed a rather impressive Spiritual Vein.

The members of the Song Family were overjoyed. They immediately set up an Array in the cave to conceal the entrance even further.

Only then did they pilot their Flying Boat and continue onward.

They soon reached the end of the cave, arriving in a hidden, beautiful, and serene underground grotto.

The place was massive, spanning dozens of li. The Spiritual Qi was even richer here, and many Spirit Medicines grew about. There were also some elegant pavilions and gazebos, but not a single Cultivator or Demon Beast was to be found.

"Wonderful! Our twenty years of searching weren’t wasted after all."

"Exactly! To think there’s a large Tier Three Middle Grade Spiritual Vein here. This is more than enough for our Song Family to grow."

"Yes, and look at all the Tier Three Spirit Medicines and the vast, uncultivated Spirit Fields!"

The members of the Song Family were ecstatic.

"Look! There’s a stele here with an introduction to this Secret Realm. It says this was a branch of a sect called the Ten Thousand Laws Sect."

Soon after, Song Youdao made a new discovery and cried out in excitement, causing everyone to gather around him.

They immediately saw a colossal black stele, about ten zhang high, inscribed with vermilion characters.

The three large characters for "Ten Thousand Laws Sect" were especially striking, written with flourish and power.

As Cultivators, they all possessed powerful eyesight. Combined with the Luminous Pearls studding the ceiling of the massive grotto, they could see everything with perfect clarity.

"I’ve never heard of this sect. It must be an Ancient Sect, no doubt. But it belongs to our Song Family now. Let’s split up and search immediately to see what else we can find!"

The group studied the stele and quickly determined that it was a special Magical Treasure, likely used to control the core of an Array.

Although the Array here had long since become non-functional, they could find an Array Master to repair it, so the stele was still of great use.

Next, the group split up to search. They soon discovered that there were indeed traces of Cultivators having lived and practiced Cultivation here, but because so much time had passed, the signs were very faint.

Beyond the Spirit Medicines, they found no other supplies. Even the medicines had likely grown on their own over the long years.

The pavilions and gazebos, however, were in excellent condition. They served various purposes, including being Cultivator cave abodes. Despite the passage of countless years, they remained solid and sturdy. With a little cleaning, they would be ready for habitation and use.

Thus, the Song Family was very pleased and immediately moved from their Flying Boat into the Secret Realm.

The Song Family’s old ancestor even refined the Array Control Stele on the spot.

What they didn’t know, however, was that as the stele was being refined, an invisible ripple spread rapidly outward from it.

Soon, in an unknown space within the void near the Great Abyss, an identical stele received this invisible ripple and erupted with a dazzling beam of light that shot toward the heavens.

"What’s going on? Did someone activate the Array Control Stele our Ten Thousand Laws Sect left outside?"

"What year is it now? Could the Demon Tide outside have already receded?"

In an instant, two dazzling streaks of Escape Light flew over from the distance. Within them were two powerful, middle-aged-looking Golden Core Cultivators.

They both had the air of transcendent immortals and wore simple, wide-sleeved robes from an ancient style.

But at this moment, they were both staring at the stele with such excitement that it completely shattered their dignified image.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH...

After that, more streaks of Escape Light arrived, and more Cultivators appeared. Shockingly, they were all Golden Core Powerhouses as well.

And every one of these Golden Core Cultivators stared at the stele with immense excitement.

At that moment, a vast and powerful voice suddenly rang out.

"Zhang Zibin, Zhou Dengfeng, Chen Xiaoci... We will work together to open a sliver of an opening to the Ten Thousand Laws Grotto Heaven. The seven of you will go out to scout. Remember, you must act with extreme caution."

"No matter what the situation is outside, do not act rashly. Your first priority is to return and report."

"As for the rest of you, return at once and resume your slumber."

"Yes, Sect Leader!"

The first two Golden Core Cultivators to arrive, along with five others, immediately bowed respectfully to accept the order. They were somewhat fearful, but more than that, they were thrilled.

"Yes, Sect Leader."

The other Cultivators also nodded hastily. They looked at the seven who had been chosen with complex expressions, a mixture of envy, jealousy, and schadenfreude.

—

In his Nine Peaks Lake Cave Mansion in the Cangwu Sect, Zhang Chi used the direction provided by his Phantom Beetle, a map of the Great Abyss, and his Turtle Shell Divination Skill to quickly determine the Song Family’s current approximate location.

’The Song Family was getting close to the Demon Abyss as I thought. Good, they’ve finally stopped moving. Have they finally found a place to settle down?’

At the same time, he sensed that they had finally stopped moving and had not crossed the Demon Abyss.

’This is to be expected, though. The defenses around the Demon Abyss are extremely tight right now, and the abyss itself is even more dangerous. It would be strange if they actually managed to pass. And even if they did, going to Yuan Bei would be a death wish.’

Over the years, he had been keeping a close eye on the Song Family, so he knew they had been wandering all over the place, though he wasn’t sure what they were doing.

This was one of the reasons he had yet to make a move against them.

SWOOSH!

Immediately after, Zhang Chi told Qin Susu he was going into seclusion. He then took his Spirit Beasts, Puppets, Corpse Puppet, and even the Eye of the Spirit Spring, and once again slipped away from the Cangwu Sect.

Before departing, he used a Tier Three Turtle Shell to perform a divination for his trip.

The result was somewhat surprising. The divination revealed that he would turn peril into fortune on this journey, and his gains might be greater than ever before.

However, when he tried to divine more details, he found the Divination Technique could not reveal any specifics.

’It seems that even if the Song Family has a trump card from Lu Daoyi, it shouldn’t be a threat to me. The only reason for the vague result must be that this matter might involve Nascent Soul Level powerhouses.’

’Could it be that Lu Daoyi is still in contact with the Song Family and will get involved in this?’

Zhang Chi immediately began to speculate.

He had considered asking Jian Jinfeng and the others for help, but he ultimately dismissed the thought.

After all, if his actions were exposed, they would surely be implicated.

Even though the Song Family had already defected, their connection to Lu Daoyi remained unclear. His plan to deal with them was not something that should be done out in the open.

Now a Golden Core Middle Stage Cultivator, Zhang Chi could clearly feel that his Flying Escape was much faster, far exceeding the average speed of a Floating Airship.

Furthermore, with Corpse Puppet No. 1 to relieve him and the Magical Treasure, the Hidden Demon Flying Boat, he had no worries about running low on Magical Power.

Two months passed in this manner, and he finally drew near the Song Family’s precise location.

Only then did he slow his pace.

’Hm? What’s going on?’

As he flew high above a small city, however, he discovered that it was deathly silent. There wasn’t a single living person—not even a dog or a chicken—to be found.

’Could this be the work of Demon Cultivators?’

Zhang Chi immediately speculated.

Even though there was an agreement between Yuan South and Yuan Bei not to wantonly slaughter mortals, there were still occasional crazed Demon Cultivators who, for various reasons, would commit such inhumane atrocities.

Zhang Chi utterly detested such Demon Cultivators, but he had more important matters to attend to and no time to meddle. Besides, the local Immortal Cultivation Influence responsible for this region would naturally investigate and hunt down the true culprit.