Chapter 622: Secret Realm (II)
Lin Zheyu narrowed his eyes as the golden Heavenly Eye locked onto the flow of energy around Tu Mingzhen, trying to imprint every detail into his mind. Tu Mingzhen continued forming hand seals, striking the void one after another. Earthen-yellow energy sigils flew into the air, combining into a unique six-pointed star formation before sinking into the void. As the sigil disappeared, void fluctuations rippled outward, and an invisible space-time rift slowly opened.
"What I just used was the secret technique for opening this entrance. Once we're inside, there's a stone monument near the entrance. If you want to learn it, you can do so after we enter," Tu Mingzhen said calmly.
With that, she stepped forward and entered the invisible rift first. Just before disappearing inside, she paused and looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, one more thing. Every cultivator only gets three chances to enter this Shamanic Clan's secret realm."
Lin Zheyu's eyes flickered with surprise.
Only three entries? Interesting...
Lin Zheyu followed Tu Mingzhen into the invisible rift, while Tu Yangming entered last. The moment he stepped through, he felt faint space-time fluctuations wash over him. His spirit briefly blurred as streams of light raced before his eyes.
Narrowing his eyes, Lin Zheyu activated the golden Heavenly Eye within his sea of consciousness, which shone with dazzling golden radiance as he attempted to glean some of the mysteries of the Shamanic Clan's cultivation arts from the teleportation formation.
"A system completely different from the formations of the Immortal Dao, totems, and the demonic patterns of the yao... These markings, imbued with such powerful rule-based forces, are what they call shamanic patterns..." Lin Zheyu murmured softly after making an intriguing discovery.
A moment later, the radiance before his eyes vanished, replaced by the deafening roar of crashing water. Lin Zheyu looked up to see a snow-white waterfall plunging from several hundred meters above into a vast emerald pool below.
Beside the pool stood a stone monument that had long since been broken, leaving only the lower half, roughly waist-high. The missing upper half was nowhere to be found. The inscription was written in an ancient script that Lin Zheyu had never seen before. Yet after staring at it for only a few seconds, the meaning of the characters mysteriously surfaced in his mind.
"Hm? What kind of ability is this?" Lin Zheyu muttered in surprise.
Although he had no idea how it worked, understanding the text was all that mattered. Lin Zheyu examined the monument more carefully and, sure enough, found the very secret technique Tu Mingzhen had just used. In addition to that, the monument contained a fragmented introduction to this secret realm. Unfortunately, because the monument had been broken in half, much of the information was missing.
A trace of delight flashed across Lin Zheyu's eyes as he finished reading the inscription. "So this really is a Shamanic Clan inheritance secret realm..."
Unfortunately, with half the monument missing, much of the information had been lost. All Lin Zheyu could learn was that this was an inheritance ground and that each person was allowed only three attempts.
"Where's the entrance to the inheritance trial?" Lin Zheyu murmured.
The golden Heavenly Eye within his sea of consciousness opened once more, scanning the surrounding void in search of any hidden clues.
"This is the Shamanic Clan inheritance secret realm. Aside from the heavenly treasures that have naturally formed here, this place holds little value for cultivators," Tu Mingzhen said calmly, noticing Lin Zheyu's keen interest in his surroundings.
She had sent many cultivators into this place to explore, yet very few valuable discoveries had been made. Although this was indeed a Shamanic Clan inheritance secret realm, neither Tu Mingzhen nor the entire Tu Family held much hope for obtaining the Shamanic Clan inheritance.
To be more precise, they had no interest in it whatsoever. What truly interested them were the countless treasures that had naturally formed within this ancient secret realm over the passage of countless years.
"Oh? Why is that? Even if the Shamanic Clan cultivation system can't be practiced, obtaining it should still provide tremendous insight for one's own cultivation path, shouldn't it?" Lin Zheyu asked curiously.
"That's true. Unfortunately, obtaining the Shamanic Clan inheritance is simply too difficult." Tu Mingzhen shook her head.
As Tu Mingzhen continued explaining, Lin Zheyu finally understood why she had said so. Like martial artists, the Shamanic Clan specialized in cultivating the physical body. However, their requirements for the body far exceeded those of martial cultivation.
To obtain a Shamanic Clan inheritance, one needed an exceptionally powerful physique, tremendous natural talent and latent potential, and compatibility with the Shamanic Clan's cultivation system.
Even in ancient times, when the world's spiritual qi was incomparably abundant, such individuals were exceedingly rare. As spiritual qi gradually thinned over the ages, each successive generation of humanity was born with a weaker physique. Then came the invasion of the demon realm, whose demonic qi polluted the world's spiritual qi, further degrading the physical constitution of humankind. Compared with those of ancient times, the natural talent and latent potential of the human race's physical bodies had declined beyond comparison.
That was why Shamanic cultivators had gradually declined into obscurity. By the present age, they had all but vanished. Nowadays, only martial artists who cultivated the martial path and had reached the Blood Qi realm, pushing the latent potential of their physiques to its peak, had any reason to enter a Shamanic Clan inheritance secret realm and try their luck. As with everyone else, entering would leave them with no chance of success.
The purpose of Great Wei's Hidden Dragon List was precisely to select the martial artists with the greatest latent potential and send them into Shamanic Clan inheritance secret realms to test their luck. Even the greatest martial geniuses of Great Wei had virtually no hope of obtaining a complete inheritance. Still, fortune occasionally favored a handful of them with fragments of one.
"I see." Lin Zheyu nodded in understanding and asked, "So this time, you've come here for the treasures within this place?"
"That's right." Tu Mingzhen nodded.
She swept her gaze across the surroundings before rising into the air and flying toward the top of the waterfall. Lin Zheyu lightly pushed off with the tip of his foot and followed after her.
"This inheritance secret realm had already been discovered before we entered it. Most of the truly valuable treasures have already been taken away. The few that remain are only here because no one has been able to retrieve them," Tu Mingzhen said calmly.
Had Tu Yuan not possessed a fragment of the Shamanic Clan inheritance, he likely would have left this place empty-handed as well. Of course, there was another possibility. Perhaps it had been Tu Yuan himself who had taken everything worth taking.
"May I borrow those two dharma artifacts for a moment?" Tu Mingzhen asked, looking at Lin Zheyu earnestly.
"Of course." Lin Zheyu smiled as he took out the two dharma artifacts imbued with the aura of the Shamanic Clan. He was also curious to see what treasure Tu Mingzhen intended to obtain with their help.
Tu Mingzhen nodded in gratitude. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Lin Zheyu smiled, unconcerned.
Their original agreement had been simple. Lin Zheyu would lend the dharma artifacts to Tu Mingzhen, and whatever she obtained here would be split seventy-thirty, with Tu Mingzhen taking seven parts and Lin Zheyu taking three. Throughout the entire process, Lin Zheyu would not even have to lift a finger. For such effortless profit, he had no reason to refuse.
Tu Mingzhen respectfully handed the two dharma artifacts to Tu Yangming. "Uncle Ming, I'll leave it to you."
"Mm." Tu Yangming accepted the dharma artifacts, then blurred into motion and shot toward the foot of the mountain.
This pocket space was not particularly large. Aside from the mountain crowned by the waterfall and the deep pool below, the only other feature was a stretch of forest extending less than ten kilometers around the mountain's base. The golden Heavenly Eye within Lin Zheyu's sea of consciousness opened once more. Through its vision, he could see countless rule-based runes spread throughout the void. Together, they formed powerful restrictions and formations. A careless step into the wrong place could easily prove fatal.
Keeping her eyes on Tu Yangming as he moved, Tu Mingzhen said softly, "If you want to try your luck with the Shamanic Clan trial and see whether you can obtain its inheritance, pass through the waterfall and enter the cave behind it. That's where the trial is held."
This information meant little to her. However, sharing it with Lin Zheyu would strengthen their relationship and leave him owing her a small favor.
"Thank you for telling me. Aside from the area within roughly one kilometer of the waterfall, which seems free of restrictions, the rest of this secret realm appears to be covered in restrictions unique to the Shamanic Clan. Could this secret realm have once been the dwelling of a Shamanic Clan expert?" Lin Zheyu asked curiously.
His gaze followed Tu Yangming as well. The more he observed, the more convinced he became that his speculation was likely correct.
"That's right. After exploring this place, we reached the same conclusion," Tu Mingzhen replied with a nod.
"This secret realm is different from a blessed grotto-heaven. It seems to be a pocket space forcibly carved out with a supreme divine ability. I wonder just how powerful that Shamanic Clan senior was to possess such astonishing means," Lin Zheyu remarked with genuine admiration.