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Chapter 1184: Chapter 1061: Successful Acquisition
Moreover, Li Chengsheng was not truly alone. If he encountered danger, he still had Yang, Li, and the three Spirit Beasts. Their strength was no less than that of the three cultivators, and they were far more trustworthy.
"Alright then, good luck."
The three cultivators were somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, but they did not dwell on it further and turned to leave directly.
After watching them leave, Li Chengsheng took out the Array Plate he had brought from his clan. A Seventh Rank Great Array swiftly formed around him. Before the Secret Realm portal could completely stabilize, he intended to stay within the formation. One reason was to avoid conflicts with other cultivators, and the other was to conserve his strength.
"I just hope the grade of this Secret Realm isn’t below Sixth Rank; otherwise, there’s no point even trying to enter." Li Chengsheng shook his head and stopped overthinking it.
Day by day, time passed. Initially, there were only around a hundred cultivators near the Secret Realm, but now the number had multiplied dozens of times!
Many of them had been invited by friends, but as the news spread farther and wider, it eventually reached nearly everyone.
During the first few days, Li Chengsheng focused on recovering his mana and conserving his energy, but in the days that followed, his attention was fixed entirely on the changes to the Secret Realm.
So, the moment the portal to the Secret Realm fully stabilized, Li Chengsheng immediately retracted his formation.
The cultivators nearby noticed the commotion and immediately turned to look. When they realized it was merely a Void Refinement cultivator, many of them sighed in relief.
To be clear, upon seeing the Seventh Rank Great Array earlier, they hadn’t dared to approach, fearing that the one inside might be an Integration cultivator. Accidentally offending such a person would have disastrous consequences.
More importantly, the strength of Integration cultivators was far too overwhelming; those in Divine Transformation or Void Refinement rank were absolutely no match and wouldn’t even be able to resist.
Buzz—
But the crowd didn’t focus long on Li Chengsheng, as the portal to the Secret Realm soon stabilized enough to allow passage.
Though none could ascertain the rank of this Secret Realm, at the moment it took shape, everyone charged toward it as fast as they could.
After all, if the realm was of too low a grade, entry would be blocked, sparing everyone from harm.
However, if the realm proved high-ranking, those who entered first would certainly have a significant advantage.
Li Chengsheng moved swiftly and had the advantage of proximity, making him among the first batch of cultivators to reach the portal. He passed through effortlessly.
The intense dizziness from the realm’s spatial shift left Li Chengsheng dazed for quite a while before he managed to recover. Still, the moment he landed, he summoned Yang, Li, and the three Spirit Beasts to protect him from potential harm.
Bang!
A bloody attack suddenly came at him. If Li Chengsheng hadn’t been prepared, he would have been injured from the lack of time to defend.
Yang and the others reacted swiftly. One intercepted the incoming strike, while the other two aimed for a nearby Devil Beast.
It was an enormous serpent over ten feet long, its black scales gleaming with an odd luster that suggested impenetrable durability.
Though the black serpent was also a Sixth Rank Devil Beast, it stood no chance against the coordinated efforts of Li and Yang Li, the two Sixth Rank Spirit Beasts. Before long, its scaled body, supposedly impervious, was riddled with wounds that cut to the bone.
Once Li Chengsheng recovered his senses and joined the fray, the black serpent was quickly subdued. Had it not been of some use, it would have been dealt with already.
"Tell me everything you know, and I promise to grant you a swift death."
Li Chengsheng sought information about the Secret Realm from the black serpent; it was the quickest source of intelligence.
Of course, he did not fully trust the black serpent’s words.
If the serpent hadn’t been of the Sixth Rank and possessed a strong Spiritual Soul, Li Chengsheng would have resorted to Soul Search directly—an approach that made deceit impossible.
"Let me go free, and then I’ll tell you!" the black serpent rasped in a hoarse voice, making its demands.
Li Chengsheng cast a cold glance at it, gathering the surrounding Spiritual Energy to form a massive palm that ruthlessly squeezed the serpent’s wounds.
Aah!
The serpent let out a horrifying scream of agony.
"You are in no position to negotiate. You’re not the only Devil Beast in this Secret Realm," Li Chengsheng said coldly and mercilessly.
"I’ll talk! I’ll talk!"
The black serpent, overwhelmed by excruciating pain, finally yielded.
"This place is known among us as the Thousand Secret Realm, governed jointly by five mighty factions: the Valley of Thousand Butterflies ruled by six Seventh Rank Butterfly Demons; Xiang Yuan with eight Seventh Rank Yellow-Toothed Giant Elephants; Hu Xiaolin led by eleven Seventh Rank Tiger Devils; Dragon Lake commanded by eleven Seventh Rank Flood Dragons; and lastly, the strongest faction—Cold Ice Mountain, dominated by fourteen Seventh Rank Snow Demons."
"Each of these five clans controls its respective territory. You are now in the region overseen by Dragon Lake."
...
The black serpent described the layout of the realm’s map in detail to Li Chengsheng, marking out the territories controlled by the various clans. If the information proved accurate, their subsequent journey within the Secret Realm would be far smoother and safer.
As Li Chengsheng listened with great seriousness, the serpent’s eyes glimmered with a sneaky satisfaction—it wouldn’t be long before they stumbled into its trap.
Unfortunately for the serpent, Li Chengsheng and his companions held minimal trust in it from the beginning; naturally, the map it dictated was also met with skepticism.
"Anything else to say?"
The black serpent already anticipated this moment, but as death loomed near, fear and terror nonetheless overwhelmed it.
It opened its mouth, but no words came out before Li Chengsheng ended its life.
"Let’s see if we can find a few more Devil Beasts in the vicinity to verify the map’s accuracy."
"Understood."
The two split into two groups and began their search, planning to regroup here in an hour.
