I Only Stomp on Weaklings

The old Taoist made a bow to Chen Ming and said, "I am grateful to the little friend for helping me escape this great disaster. Who would have thought that the personal artifact of the ancient Emperor Fuxi would fall into your hands."

The artifact of the ancient Emperor Fuxi?

Chen Ming instinctively reached for the turtle shell hanging on his chest. It was only when he touched it that he realized this turtle shell had accompanied him to this strange space.

Could this be a physical traversal?

However, none of the other items on him were present.

He suppressed his doubts and said, "This is also the fate of the senior, and I dare not take credit."

The old Taoist laughed and said, "Regardless, I must owe this favor to the little friend. Since that turtle shell is with you, you must be someone with great fortune. Let me share the secret of this turtle shell with you."

Without waiting for Chen Ming to respond, the old Taoist continued, "This turtle shell is not only a divination artifact, but also a key. As long as you are within the Capital City, you can use it to open a Secret Realm. This Secret Realm is related to the ancient Emperor Fuxi, and it’s said that passing the test grants you Fuxi’s inheritance."

He then taught him the way to open the Secret Realm.

"Alright. I can see that you are quite uneasy here, so let me send you back. In the future, if you have free time, you can find me for a chat. Just call my name three times in your mind."

The old Taoist finished speaking and waved his large sleeves. Chen Ming felt a whirl of the sky and earth, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back in his original room.

"What kind of method is this?"

Chen Ming patted himself down and sensed the "Taiyue Sword," confirming he was back in reality. He then sighed in relief, having a little fear of the mysterious methods of the old Taoist.

He was practicing his martial arts peacefully when he was forcibly pulled into a strange place. It was too unsettling.

What if he were in the middle of sparring with someone and got pulled in, how dangerous would that be?

Chen Ming took out the black jade-like turtle shell and pondered, "Who would have thought you have such a significant background."

A key to the Secret Realm, Fuxi’s inheritance.

After his face changed several times, he finally made up his mind.

Even if there is danger, I can only try.

There are only twenty days left, and at his current pace, it’s hard to amass fifty million Experience Points no matter how you calculate it.

Although the old Taoist is mysterious, he doesn’t seem to have any malice at the moment.

After making a decision, Chen Ming bit his finger and followed the old Taoist’s method, drawing a pattern on the turtle shell with his blood, then fused his Divine Sense with the turtle shell.

Instantly, a magical scene appeared.

His blood seemed to seep into the turtle shell, and his Divine Sense formed a mysterious connection with it.

In the depths of his consciousness, he felt as if something in the sky was calling him.

With a sudden inspiration, he muttered in his heart, "Open!"

With a thunderous boom, his consciousness seemed to soar to a higher place, where he saw a majestic gate.

The gate slowly opened.

A strong sense of weightlessness, accompanied by a tearing sensation, came over him. When Chen Ming opened his eyes once again, he found himself in a ruined palace. Everywhere he looked, there were broken bricks and collapsed giant pillars.

The sky was gloomy, and the wind howled. The entire world was a murky gray, with glimpses of shadows flashing in the distance.

Chen Ming felt a bit eerie.

"Is this the Secret Realm opened by the turtle shell? It looks like it’s on the verge of destruction, just like the Secret Realm where Golden Tai was hiding in the Golden Jade Hall."

It doesn’t seem like there’s any inheritance here.

He was very disappointed.

Indeed, after all, the ancient Emperor Fuxi was a character from tens of thousands of years ago. It’s not surprising that the Secret Realm would become like this.

Chen Ming lost the desire to explore and was about to leave when he suddenly felt a chill on his back. His body flickered as he dodged a gust of cold wind.

He turned around and saw a guard wearing armor, with only half of its body, floating in the air. The body was black and semi-transparent, like a ghost.

"Daring intruder, how dare you trespass into Emperor Fuxi’s palace!"

It let out a sharp shriek and pounced towards Chen Ming.

He didn’t dare to neglect it, drawing the "Taiyue Sword," and with the Body Technique from "Phoenix Dance of Nine Heavens," he battled the eerie creature.

After all, it was his first encounter with such a thing, so caution was necessary.

After fighting for a while, he figured out the attack pattern of this ghost creature. It only knew one kind of yin energy attack, seemingly without intelligence, relying purely on instinct, making it not too difficult to deal with.

Then, he began to counterattack.

With one sword, he cut its body into two.

However, since the ghost creature had no physical form, this still didn’t kill it.

Chen Ming continued until it was sliced into more than ten pieces before it started to dissipate.

[You have defeated a mutated ghost creature of LV90, gaining one hundred thousand Experience Points.]

"?"

He saw this notification, paused for a moment, then burst into excited laughter, "Hahaha... truly heaven’s help for me!"

The ghost creatures in this Secret Realm can grant Experience Points upon being defeated!

This place is simply a blessing for leveling up, and it’s a dungeon he has all to himself.

"Come out!"

Chen Ming leaped into the air, wanting to summon more ghost creatures to have a good fight.

Then, the smile on his face froze, and without hesitation, he turned and ran.

Behind him, there were dozens of ghost creatures screeching as they chased him.

...

Half an hour later.

Chen Ming finally shook off the group of unscrupulous ghost creatures and started a self-reflection, "I was too loud just now. I shouldn’t have attracted hatred like that."

Who would’ve thought, a single shout summoned dozens of little monsters, he truly didn’t expect it.

However, he soon got excited again—dozens of little monsters, each worth a hundred thousand points, that’s millions of points!

Next, Chen Ming began researching how to lure monsters, how to attract the hatred of a ghost creature, pull it to a deserted spot, kill it. Then lure another one and kill it again.

After dealing with seven ghost creatures, he left the place and returned to reality.

The same intense feeling of weightlessness and tearing sensation.

Chen Ming opened his eyes and realized he was back in the room.

The room was as usual, and no one noticed he had entered a Secret Realm.

He thought with some regret, "What limits my speed in gaining Experience Points now is the recovery ability of Gang Yuan."

Gu Haocuan was quite generous with him, giving him a lot of precious elixirs to speed up the recovery, but such things cannot be consumed excessively.

Eating too much would lower the purity of Gang Yuan, which is counterproductive.

Chen Ming thought it over and decided to go see the old Taoist.

"Wang Chenzi, Wang Chenzi, Wang Chenzi."

After thinking three times about this name in his mind, he felt his consciousness enter a mysterious space, once again returning to that cave.

The old Taoist still sat on the mat, looking like an immortal.

He smiled and said, "Little friend, have you entered Qingwei Heaven?"

"Qingwei Heaven? Is the senior referring to the Secret Realm accessible through the Turtle Shell? Yes, I have indeed been there."

"It seems, little friend has gained not a small harvest."

"Actually, I encountered some trouble."

Chen Ming roughly described the situation of that Secret Realm.

After listening, the old Taoist couldn’t help but sigh, "Unexpectedly, the Qingwei Heaven of former Emperor Xi has also been destroyed. It’s mostly the sin caused by the Emperor of Eternal Life."

Chen Ming now focused on gaining Experience Points, saying, "I can’t bear seeing that Secret Realm occupied by ghost creatures, I am determined to kill them all. But those ghost creatures are quite difficult to eliminate, so I have come for your guidance, senior."

The old Taoist said, "Those ghost creatures should be what the guardians of Xi Palace turned into after death. If one is a top-grade Martial Artist, it’s not difficult to eliminate them. Little friend’s Cultivation is slightly weaker. I do have a Secret Technique that specializes in slaying these ghost souls, however, little friend would need several years of hard work to master it."

Chen Ming was delighted to hear that, "Please teach me, senior."

The old Taoist looked at him sharply, "Are you truly willing to spend several years of hard work to master this Secret Technique, just to eliminate those ghost souls?"

"I am willing!"

"Good, listen carefully, little friend..."

...

After dawn, Chen Ming was still pondering over the Secret Technique named "Godslaying Needle" passed down by the old Taoist, a Secret Technique specifically for sharpening the spirit.

The old Taoist said he originally had a visualization map, specially for training this Secret Technique, but unfortunately, after he was captured, his belongings naturally became someone else’s trophies.

Without the visualization map, training becomes twice the effort with half the results.

Lastly, the old Taoist advised him to act according to his capability, not to delay his martial arts for this training.

For Chen Ming, only the entrance requires some time. Once he gets started, what he needs is Experience Points.

Training this Secret Technique is like sharpening an axe without delay in chopping firewood.

Chen Ming still took the carriage to the dungeon as usual and met Tang Shouzheng again, greeting, "Lord Tang."

In front of outsiders, naturally, he still had to use titles of office.

Tang Shouzheng said excitedly, "Brother Gu, did you witness last night’s great play?"

"Ah?"

Chen Ming was a bit puzzled, "What happened last night?"

Tang Shouzheng said with excitement, "Did you miss it? That’s too bad. It was an earth-shattering event; after two thousand years, the Ninefold Heaven is opening again. Who would have thought I could witness the manifestation of the Ninefold Heaven in my lifetime."

Ninefold Heaven?

For some reason, Chen Ming felt a bad premonition in his heart and asked, "When did this happen?"

"Around the hour of the Ox, it lasted for more than two hours."

Chen Ming’s heart skipped a beat, the timeframe matched exactly when he was grinding monsters in the Secret Realm.

Could it be this coincidental?

He asked, "What exactly is the Ninefold Heaven? Little brother is ignorant and uninformed, never heard of it."

Tang Shouzheng said, "In this world, Secret Realms are as numerous as the sands in the Ganges, hard to count. Among them, the most famous is the Ninefold Heaven. The ancient human powers successively moved the nine top immortal mansions all to the Capital City, which people then called the Ninefold Heaven.

"Once the Ninefold Heaven opens, within the Capital City, a wonder appears in the sky where shadows of the celestial palaces appear. However, since the fall of the Jin dynasty two thousand years ago, such wonder has never appeared above the Capital City again."

Chen Ming was sweating coldly as he listened.