The Secret Realm Reveals Itself

“Hum……”

The dull rumble of gears and machinery echoed from the magnificent city that hung in midair, exuding an Eastern steampunk aesthetic.

Many of the people living here were ordinary folk, yet they could soar through the skies or possesses boundless strength.

Upon closer inspection, whenever they displayed such supernatural abilities, they would use a golden brush to write strange glyph-like symbols in the air.

It was these runes that granted them the power to transform their way of life.

Surrounding the city were vast mountains, rivers, and lakes, rich in resources and abundant in produce.

This pocket world was many times larger than the Star Force Realm or the Cauldron Realm that Chen Yi had visited before.

Even a War God’s divine sense could not cover its entirety; as far as the eye could see, there was a distinct horizon.

The people here—old and young alike—were content and carefree, each appearing untroubled and living a comfortable life.

Their clothes were resplendent, at first glance resembling the royal attire of the outside world.

The 120,000 martial artists from the Human Realm stood beneath this floating city, looking like a group of shabby country bumpkins.

“Heavens… how can this city float in the sky? It’s incredible!”

“Not even the Shen family could craft a spiritual artifact on this scale!”

“Some of those people up there clearly have no cultivation, and I don’t see them using any spiritual artifacts—how can they fly around?”

“What are those giant wheels spinning in the city for?”

The breach opened by the Great Demon happened to be near this floating city.

The 120,000 martial artists surged in, shocked by what they saw.

Chen Yi ordered the army to disperse, and the warriors spread out across the surrounding mountains and rivers.

Meanwhile, several thousand soldiers flew out from the floating city.

They wore golden armor and carried standardized longspear weapons.

With a sweep of his divine sense, Chen Yi noticed that among these troops, the highest cultivation level was merely a few War Kings.

Yet each of them had runes swirling around their feet, allowing them all to fly through the air!

“Looks like I’ll need to use the art of hiding my strength, or we’ll be at a disadvantage.”

The group of golden-armored soldiers Chen Yi saw now was not the full force of the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm.

They were merely an emergency response unit.

Chen Yi had already spotted some of them turning back partway—clearly sent to summon reinforcements.

With this in mind, Chen Yi directly used the “Playing the Fool” technique to alter his aura and cultivation level, blending inconspicuously among the 120,000 ordinary martial artists so as not to draw the enemy’s attention.

He gathered a pile of materials from Shen Yang and began setting up a formation.

At the same time, he used the Wandering Phoenix Token to send a message to Hua Wuyan, asking her to negotiate with the enemy on behalf of the Human Realm and buy some time.

“Ancient Wilderness Upper Realm! Outsiders are forbidden to enter! Leave immediately, or face the consequences!”

A War King among the thousands of golden-armored soldiers spoke, his voice carrying across the land.

On the floating city, many people lay on the ground, peering down through gaps in the pavement or over the edges.

These Ancient Wilderness remnants looked the same as outside humans, yet they pointed at and laughed at Chen Yi and his group, chatting cheerfully as if watching a bunch of monkeys from a zoo.

Hua Wuyan did not take to the air. She stood on the grass, leaning on her walking stick, and said calmly,

“Ancient Wilderness Upper Realm? A minor world with incomplete laws of heaven and earth—now it calls itself an ‘upper realm’? Your arrogance runs bone-deep.”

In midair, the scholar-like Great Demon, his hair wild and chaotic, radiated a towering aura of malevolence.

“Hua Wuyan! Why bother wasting words with them! Tell me, where is the Path to Immortality? If you don’t, we’ll slaughter the city!”

Hua Wuyan tapped her walking stick, releasing a powerful oppressive force that bent the grass and trees around her and scattered the white clouds in the sky.

“Great Demon! Do not speak nonsense! We came not for slaughter!”

The Great Demon paused, then repeated,

“Tell me! Where is the Path to Immortality? If you don’t, I’ll slaughter the city!”

Beside him, Li Wentian rolled his eyes at the Great Demon, clearly holding him in low regard.

Although vast, the secret realm was still small compared to the outside world.

After entering, several War Gods had each flown in four directions, scanning the entire realm with their divine senses, but found nothing unusual.

Clearly, the Path to Immortality had also been hidden and couldn’t be easily discovered—only the locals knew where it lay.

Though they hadn’t found the Path to Immortality, the War Gods did notice during their scans that this tiny place had an unusually large number of high-level martial artists.

There were five War Gods!

Hundreds of War Saints!

Thousands of War Kings!

Such abnormal combat strength suggested something was definitely going on, and the Path to Immortality might truly be here.

The Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm contained five massive floating cities of this kind, distributed across the east, west, south, north, and center.

Each of the secret realm’s five War Gods governed one city.

Chen Yi and his group were now at the central city.

At this moment, high-level martial artists from all over the secret realm were rushing to support from every direction.

Hearing the Great Demon’s words, the War King, though clearly facing a War God, showed no fear.

“So, you’ve come for the Path to Immortality…

Hmph, outsiders, don’t think that having a few War Gods makes you anything special!

Even I can tell—you, demon cultivator, and you in the Imperial robes, you’re both steeped in death energy, barely clinging to life by force. Whatever peak power you had is long gone!

And you, old woman—your lifespan is almost up, isn’t it?

Four War Gods—only one practical one among you—and you dare challenge our Ancient Wilderness Upper Realm? How utterly foolish!”

From their perspective, the Great Demon, Li Wentian, and Hua Wuyan posed little threat, with only Shen Qingshan appearing to be in his prime.

But they were unaware that Chen Yi, who had hidden his cultivation, was the real nightmare waiting for them.

Hua Wuyan was not angered.

In truth, the provocations from this man did not stir the slightest emotion among the War Gods.

Li Wentian himself was a master of trash-talking and simply filtered out such verbal attacks.

The Great Demon seemed irritable, but that was only due to his malevolent aura; he lacked neither the mindset of a true powerhouse.

Hua Wuyan said,

“I speak as the Protector of the Human race, hoping that both sides can sit down for proper negotiations rather than resorting to force.

This object originally belonged to the Human Realm and is not owned by any single party.

Any gifted genius worthy of reaching the True Realm should have the chance to walk that path.

Ancient Wilderness remnants, you have seized the Path to Immortality for yourselves and sealed off this secret realm, committing the greatest of transgressions.

Now that the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm has revealed itself, if you refuse to yield in the slightest, the heroes of the Human Realm will inevitably attack you in full force. The only outcome for this secret realm will be to crumble into empty space, and all of you will turn to nothing but ash!”

As Hua Wuyan finished speaking, laughter boomed from within the city.

“Hahahaha! Protector? What an impressive title! The Dao of my Ancient Wilderness Upper Realm needs no protection from you. Take your people and leave at once!!”

A figure broke through the air from inside the city, radiating a terrifying pressure that dimmed the surrounding light.

Gusts of wind howled, making the newcomer’s multicolored battle armor clatter loudly.

The group of golden-armored soldiers all bowed.

“Greetings to the City Lord!”

This newcomer was none other than one of the five City Lords of the Ancient Wilderness Secret Realm, a War God-level cultivator—Yi Chengsheng.

His appearance was that of a young man in his twenties, but the shrewdness in his eyes made it clear that his actual age was likely several hundred years old.