Chapter 1115: Phantom Sea Ancient Realm
Yun Che immediately stood up: "Where? Which star realm?"
"North of Heiya Realm, there are three star realms arranged in a tripod-like formation. The area opposite the three star realms is a vast sea. In the center of the sea, there is an island called 'Phantom Sea Island'. The resonance of the Imperial Immortal Herb comes from an ancient secret realm on Phantom Sea Island!"
"The Imperial Immortal Herb cannot be nurtured in the current chaotic environment. It only appears extremely rarely in ancient secret realms, and it has always been found in upper or mid star realms. But this time, it appears in a lower star realm, which is truly extraordinary."
"A lower star realm?" Yun Che was startled.
"Indeed. This should have been good news, but the situation at Phantom Sea Island is extremely tricky. It is not an ownerless island, nor does it belong to a single star realm. Instead, it is co-owned by the ruling sects of the three adjacent star realms. The secret realm on the island, the 'Phantom Sea Ancient Realm', can only be opened each time when the ruling sects of all three star realms are present."
Knowing that Yun Che was completely ignorant about the various star realms, she described it in relatively more detail: "The 'Phantom Sea Ancient Realm', which belongs to the Three Star Realms, is a fairly famous secret realm. In most lower star realms, the sustaining power of their secret realms is gradually drying up, approaching collapse. Although the 'Phantom Sea Ancient Realm' is small, the power and laws contained within seem quite strong. Its aura shows no signs of decay; instead, every time it opens, many opportunities can be found. Therefore, the Three Star Realms treasure the 'Phantom Sea Ancient Realm' as a precious gem, but they never over-explore it. It is opened once every fifty years, mostly used for training high-level disciples and seeking opportunities. No one expected that this opening would detect such an extremely high-level aura."
"A divine object like the Imperial Immortal Herb is hard to come by even in upper star realms, let alone appearing in a lower star realm. Once they confirmed it was the aura of the Imperial Immortal Herb, the Realm Kings of the three great star realms would surely rush to Phantom Sea Island in person immediately. They might already be gathered at the 'Phantom Sea Ancient Realm' by now."
Ji Ruyan paused, then said cautiously: "The biggest problem lies here. No matter which Realm King the Imperial Immortal Herb ultimately falls to, I fear it would be difficult for Father to buy it, even with a great amount of Mysterious Stones—after all, a ruler of a realm would not care about Mysterious Stones. But to exchange it for a divine object of the same level as the Imperial Immortal Herb is utterly impossible. So, the outcome may lean toward the pessimistic side. Please, Young Master..."
"Where exactly is Phantom Sea Island?" Yun Che suddenly asked emphatically. "Is there a dimensional profound formation nearby that goes to that area?"
Ji Ruyan immediately understood his intention and said urgently: "Young Master, you must not entertain such thoughts. Phantom Sea Island is co-owned by those three great star realms. Ordinarily, outsiders are never allowed to set foot there. Now that this has happened, they will absolutely forbid anyone from approaching, and the news will surely be completely sealed off."
"Is there one or not?" Yun Che's tone grew heavier.
"There is indeed... Heiya Realm is actually not far from Phantom Sea Island. Otherwise, we wouldn't have received the news so quickly."
"I'm going back to Heiya City right now!"
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Three hours later, Yun Che returned to Heiya City. Ji Ruyan was already waiting for him.
"I just received intelligence. The great Realm Kings of the three star realms that jointly own Phantom Sea Island have all personally arrived at the 'Phantom Sea Ancient Realm'. Following the source of the Imperial Immortal Herb's aura, they found a sealing profound formation deep underground that had never been discovered before. Beneath the sealing profound formation, there seems to be a massive underground palace."
"In other words, that Imperial Immortal Herb should be inside that underground palace?" Yun Che frowned.
"That should be the case. However, although that sealing profound formation has existed for an extremely long time, the residual power is still very strong. Even with the combined strength of the three Realm Kings and all the experts present, it cannot be broken in a short time. If the delay drags on too long and news spreads gradually, if people from mid or upper star realms learn of the existence of the Imperial Immortal Herb, then even though it's their territory, they will no longer be able to obtain the Imperial Immortal Herb. Therefore, under duress, the three ruling sects have been forced to quickly spread the news, widely inviting the major sects and experts of the Three Star Realms to help break the formation. The condition is that they will be exceptionally allowed to have a certain number of their disciples explore the 'Phantom Sea Ancient Realm' together with the three ruling sects—of course, excluding the discovered underground palace."
After finishing the important intelligence in one breath, Ji Ruyan sighed quietly, her expression complex: "Young Master has a strong will, and once you decide something, Ruyan knows I am powerless to dissuade you. This time, their invitation of experts to break the underground palace's seal is an excellent opportunity for you to sneak into the secret realm. However... the strength of those three ruling sects far surpasses that of the Soul Sect. After the underground palace seal is broken, the Imperial Immortal Herb will surely be personally taken by the three Realm Kings. If the task proves impossible, I only beg Young Master not to act rashly and take risks. Perhaps when you return safely, Father will already have good news."
Ji Ruyan's concern and worry were sincere, and there was a hint of self-blame for her own powerlessness. A smile appeared on Yun Che's face: "Although the hope is slim and the danger is great, I won't be able to rest easy if I don't go personally. But don't worry. Although I really want to obtain the Imperial Immortal Herb, I'm not stupid enough to throw my life away for nothing. If I can't find even a single opportunity, I'll naturally come back obediently."
Ji Ruyan's expression relaxed slightly: "The dimensional profound formation is ready. It can teleport you to Wanghai Realm, one of those three star realms. From Wanghai Realm, go north across a sea of twenty thousand miles to reach Phantom Sea Island. At your speed, Young Master, it should take about a day."
"I will pass you the location of Phantom Sea Island and the intelligence regarding the three star realms in the form of a spiritual imprint. Once you reach Phantom Sea Island, you will have to rely on yourself alone."
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One day later, Phantom Sea Island.
Phantom Sea Island was much smaller than expected, only about a hundred miles across. It was located in the middle of a vast sea. The air was thick with moisture and a salty, astringent taste. The thunderous roar of crashing waves could be heard at all times.
Upon entering Phantom Sea Island, Yun Che quickly concealed his presence.
There were not many people on the island, and their profound cultivation was not high, mostly at the Divine Origin Realm. Yun Che walked slowly forward, observing his surroundings. When he reached the center of the island, he stopped—ahead of him, a massive space vortex churned continuously, like the roaring maw of a demon. Anyone who drew near would be sucked into an endless abyss.
That was... the entrance to the "Phantom Sea Ancient Realm"!
Without much thought, Yun Che moved closer. Around the entrance of the Phantom Sea Ancient Realm, about a dozen people stood guard. From their rather lax movements and expressions, their guarding seemed almost superfluous... After all, those who had entered the Phantom Sea Ancient Realm today were countless top-tier experts from the three seaside star realms. What need was there for them to stand guard? The only significance of them being left here was probably to prevent random idlers from approaching.
Before leaving Heiya Realm, Ji Ruyan had repeatedly told him that the great Realm Kings of the three seaside star realms had all entered the Phantom Sea Ancient Realm. In order to break the underground palace seal as soon as possible, they had semi-invited, semi-coerced a large number of Divine Spirit Realm experts from their respective star realms.
At this moment, the Phantom Sea Ancient Realm was like a frenzy of sharks.
With three Divine Kings and a large number of Divine Spirit experts in the Phantom Sea Ancient Realm, his intrusion was like a small fish trying to snatch food from a pack of sharks.
"Since I'm already here, there's no reason to back down." Maintaining his Shadow Concealment state, Yun Che quickly approached the space vortex, his gaze fixed on his left hand... Directly competing with the three star realms was absolutely impossible. He had forced his way here not out of reckless passion, but because he had the Heavenly Poison Pearl as his reliance.
The Heavenly Poison Pearl!
The guidance of the Heavenly Poison Pearl would allow him to quickly locate the Imperial Immortal Herb. However, facing countless experts from the three star realms, this reliance of his was extremely weak.
Being dragged into the space vortex would certainly break his Shadow Concealment state. To be safe, as he drew close, Yun Che silently released a small-scale Red Butterfly Domain, plunging the disciples guarding the secret realm entrance into a blank state of consciousness. In the instant of their dazed confusion, Yun Che's suddenly appearing figure vanished into the space vortex.
As the space shifted, Yun Che entered the Phantom Sea Ancient Realm. The taste of the air and the law aura had changed noticeably, but before Yun Che could even observe his surroundings, his hearing was drowned out by the continuous sound of a storm and thunder.
Less than a hundred miles ahead, an extremely intense profound light flickered continuously, accompanied by booming noises. The air currents rushing from that direction were also incredibly violent.
Yun Che's brows twitched. Without a second thought, he quickly moved toward that direction. Soon, the source of the profound light and more and more figures came into view.
The ground was covered with countless cracks. At the center of the cracks lay a sealing profound formation about ten zhang in size, emitting a faint but ancient and heavy profound light, as solid as a rock. Above the formation, over a hundred figures floated in the air. Their profound power was released, merging into a terrifying torrent that crashed down upon the sealing formation below.
If any profound practitioner from a lower realm came here, no matter their background, they would be stunned into silence... because these hundred-plus profound practitioners, who were concentrating their power to attack the formation, were all at least at the Divine Spirit Realm!
In lower star realms, a Divine King was a god-like existence. More than half of lower star realms had only one Divine King, and a large portion had none at all, with the strongest being at the Divine Spirit Realm. Lower star realms with two or more Divine Kings were only a small minority.
Thus, in lower star realms, the Divine Spirit Realm was essentially the invincible supreme existence below the Divine King.
And here, over a hundred of them had appeared!!
Yun Che's gaze passed through the curtain of profound light and focused on the center... At the center of the hundred-plus Divine Spirit experts stood three figures in a row. The profound power emanating from the three of them was almost comparable to the combined power of the hundred surrounding Divine Spirit experts. The terrifying momentum radiating from them overwhelmed all the other Divine Spirit experts, like three towering mountains pressing down from the sky, making it hard to breathe.
Undoubtedly, these three were the Realm Kings of the three star realms that co-owned the Phantom Sea Ancient Realm.
Based on the intelligence Ji Ruyan had given him, Yun Che quickly matched their identities.
The one on the left, a middle-aged man as robust as a mountain and with an aura like thunder, should be the great Realm King of Wanghai Realm, also the sect master of the ruling sect of Wanghai Realm, the Overturning Sea Divine Sect—Han Kuan!
The one on the right wore a luxurious golden robe, with a noble yet dangerously demonic appearance—the great Realm King of Nanhuai Wuji Realm, also the sovereign of that realm's ruling empire, known as the "Nanlie Great Emperor".
The man in the middle was elegantly refined. Even while pouring all his profound power, his aura remained as calm as water, without any oppressive pressure. This was the great Realm King of Canglong Realm, the island master of the ruling sect of Canglong Realm, Wood Sun Island—Mu Baimei!
He was also the strongest in profound power among the three.
Three Divine Kings, over a hundred Divine Spirits simultaneously exerting their power. The profound light blotted out the sky, and the might shook heaven and earth.
Around them, thousands of people from different sects across the three star realms watched from dozens of miles away, their faces full of shock. Even so, some younger disciples with weaker cultivation could barely stand steady against the storm of profound energy.
Sand and stones flew everywhere. The churning air was like rolling waves. With the three Realm Kings personally commanding, these Divine Spirit experts naturally dared not refuse, especially with the added temptation of bringing their own disciples into the Phantom Sea Ancient Realm. This grand, terrifying joint effort of the three star realms' power had been going on for who knew how long. Many Divine Spirit experts were already sweating profusely, but the formation, bearing the immense power, remained utterly unmoved.
Yun Che did not approach too closely. He concealed himself behind a large rock, silently observing the changes in the formation and every individual, his brows tightly furrowed, lost in thought.