Chapter 297: Entering the Secret Realm

The Heavenly Qian Sect harbored malicious intentions, but they did not know that Ye Yuan had already seen through them.

Before departure, Luo Qingfeng had already instructed Mei Zhen.

"But... Elder Wu, be careful with this kid. Once inside the secret realm, we must kill him at any opportunity!" Li Changyu transmitted his reminder.

"Hmm? That kid at the seventh layer of Spirit Liquid? Oh, right, the one who made you suffer a great loss? I don't see anything special about him."

Wu Zhao did not take it seriously. Even if he could only use the peak strength of the Crystal Condensation stage, killing someone at the seventh layer of Spirit Liquid was far too easy.

"This kid is very strange. If given a chance, he will surely become a huge threat to our Heavenly Qian Sect in the future. Elder Wu, do not take him lightly!" Li Changyu suppressed his dissatisfaction and reminded him again.

Wu Zhao replied, "Changyu, say no more. I know what I'm doing. You are a disciple of Supreme Elder Chi; how can you be frightened by a mere seventh-layer Spirit Liquid brat?"

Li Changyu gritted his teeth in anger, forcing down his rage and saying nothing more.

Though young, his status was not inferior to Wu Zhao's. In such a situation, many elders of the Heavenly Qian Sect either fawned over him or envied him, and Wu Zhao clearly belonged to the latter group.

It seemed that killing Ye Yuan would have to be done opportunistically.

On the other side, Ye Yuan could not be bothered to argue with Wang Fan any longer. Once inside the secret realm, Wang Fan would be a dead man sooner or later.

Seeing that the Supreme Purity Sect and the Nether Cloud Sect had temporarily ceased hostilities, Wu Zhao was quite satisfied.

"Today, our Heavenly Qian Sect invites everyone to jointly explore the secret realm. I hope we can work together and support each other! The dangers of this secret realm have been made known to you all in advance; do not take them lightly. Once inside, you may each seek heavenly treasures and earthly rarities. Whatever you obtain will be yours to keep; our Heavenly Qian Sect will not take a single thing!" Wu Zhao announced loudly to the crowd.

At these words, the crowd erupted in uproar!

The Heavenly Qian Sect had always taken a cut from everything, especially this time on their own turf. Many sects had already prepared to have their gains taxed.

But they had also decided that if the tax was too heavy, they would withdraw and not participate.

Moreover, since the Heavenly Qian Sect had taken the initiative to invite them this time, they assumed it wouldn't be too excessive, which was why they agreed to jointly explore the secret realm.

No one expected that the Heavenly Qian Sect would take nothing at all!

"Elder Wu, are you joking with us?" someone asked skeptically.

"Yeah, Elder Wu, don't make it sound nice now and then go back on your word when we come out."

"Elder Wu, if you want to take a cut, just say so clearly so we can have some peace of mind. This kind of act only makes us uneasy!"

Wu Zhao suddenly raised his hand and swore, "I, Wu Zhao, now make a Heavenly Dao oath: after this exploration of the secret realm, our Heavenly Qian Sect will not take any cut from the other sects. If I break this oath, may I die a miserable death!"

This sudden move by Wu Zhao shocked everyone.

What was going on? Had the Heavenly Qian Sect really changed its ways?

Regardless, since Wu Zhao had made a Heavenly Dao oath, no one doubted him anymore.

On the other side, the Nether Cloud Sect members were also greatly surprised.

"Junior Brother Ye, what do you think is going on with the Heavenly Qian Sect? Have they really changed?" Mo Yuntian transmitted.

Ye Yuan sneered, "Changed? How is that possible? Elder Wu only said they wouldn't take a cut, but he didn't say they wouldn't take items from other sects! As long as disciples from other sects die, they can naturally collect their storage rings. In the end, won't everything still be theirs?"

"But they have many people, and everyone faces the same dangers inside. How can they guarantee maximum profit?"

"Look at the people the Heavenly Qian Sect brought this time; the weakest are at the third or fourth layer of Crystal Condensation! If even such strength is dangerous, then other sects are even worse off! And no one knows this secret realm better than they do! Under these circumstances, if they still come up empty-handed, they'd truly be a bunch of pigs."

"So that's it! Doesn't that mean many of us from the seven major sects are just stepping stones for them?"

"Yes, roughly that's the idea."

"Then this trip is dangerous for us! In terms of strength, our Nether Cloud Sect is probably the weakest, right?" After hearing Ye Yuan's words, Mo Yuntian began to have second thoughts.

It wasn't that he feared death, but he felt it wasn't worth dying like this.

Knowing someone had dug a pit for you and still jumping in—that wasn't bravery; that was stupidity.

Ye Yuan smiled mysteriously and said, "Maybe after we enter the secret realm, we'll become the second most powerful force after the Heavenly Qian Sect!"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Mo Yuntian asked, puzzled.

"Hehe, don't ask, Senior Brother. You'll know once we're inside," Ye Yuan said with a smile.

It wasn't that Ye Yuan was being deliberately mysterious; he was afraid of scaring Mo Yuntian and giving something away.

Right now, there were over a dozen Sea Transformation stage experts from the eight major sects. After entering the secret realm, it would be good if even half survived.

Telling Mo Yuntian about this would definitely startle him.

With many ears and mouths, Luo Qingfeng had only told Mei Zhen about this matter. None of the Crystal Condensation stage disciples were informed; knowing would be useless for them anyway.

"Alright, since there are no objections, let's begin entering the secret realm!" Wu Zhao announced loudly.

At that moment, a Sea Transformation stage expert from the Heavenly Qian Sect stepped forward, took out some mid-grade primal crystals, and began setting up an array at the entrance of the secret realm.

Most secret realm entrances were not very stable and needed to be reinforced with formations; otherwise, one could easily be swept into spatial turbulence.

This Sea Transformation stage expert was clearly the Heavenly Qian Sect's formation master.

In no time, a light gate appeared at the entrance of the secret realm.

"Everyone, to show our sincerity, our Heavenly Qian Sect will enter the secret realm first!"

With that, Wu Zhao led the Heavenly Qian Sect disciples through the light gate and vanished into the secret realm.

With the Heavenly Qian Sect taking the lead, the other sects could no longer hold back and rushed to enter the secret realm one after another.

Mei Zhen was in no hurry; he waited for the other sects to enter one by one.

As Wang Fan passed by, he said arrogantly to Ye Yuan, "Kid, start praying now! Pray that you don't run into me inside! Hahaha...!"

Ye Yuan shrugged, too lazy to even acknowledge him.

After all the other sects had entered the secret realm, Mei Zhen said to the disciples, "This time, the Heavenly Qian Sect's actions are truly suspicious. Everyone be careful inside and try not to get separated, understand?"

"Understood!" the disciples nodded.

"Good, let's go in!" Mei Zhen entered first, and the others followed one by one.

Ye Yuan deliberately lagged behind. He looked at the primal crystals at the entrance, smiled, walked up, fiddled with them casually, and then entered the light gate.

After Ye Yuan left, two figures appeared before the light gate.

"Miss, this Ye Yuan is indeed very strange! The formation set up by a quasi-fourth-rank formation master, he casually altered it and seized control. We can't enter through this light gate anymore!" Yan'er said in surprise.

Li'er smiled, "When he saved us, didn't he casually set up a trapping formation? This Ye Yuan's background must be extraordinary! Come on, let's follow him in."

With that, Li'er's eyes flickered, and she actually opened another light gate!