Chapter 129: Preparations Before the Heavenly Secret Realm (Part 3)

Preparations Before the Heavenly Secret Realm (Part 3)

Victor’s spiritual sense quietly slipped through the countless overlapping formations.

One layer at a time.

Then another.

And another.

The moment his perception touched the formation network, its structure unfolded before him like an intricate web.

An Aura Concealment Array.

An Illusion Array.

An Earth Escape Formation.

An Annihilation Light Formation.

A Spiritual Sense Interference Array.

An Emergency Teleportation Formation.

A Puppet Substitution Formation.

A False Death Formation.

And beneath all of them...

Dozens of hidden trigger formations lay buried in complete silence.

Each formation was only low grade.

On its own, none of them was particularly impressive.

Most cultivators would probably glance at them once and move on.

But that was precisely where the danger lay.

The person who created this place had never relied on a single formation.

He had stacked them.

Dozens of times.

Sometimes hundreds.

Layer upon layer.

Formation upon formation.

Each one covering the weaknesses of the others.

By the time they were combined, their overall complexity had become terrifying.

Even a Stellar Sovereign Realm cultivator would have difficulty seeing through the maze and discovering what was truly hidden beneath it.

Victor’s lips slowly curved into a faint smile.

"Leandro really does live up to his reputation."

His voice carried a trace of amusement.

Inside the formation network stood a small wooden cabin.

Nothing about it looked remarkable.

Smoke drifted lazily from the chimney.

A thin trail of warmth escaped through the windows.

From a distance, it looked like the perfect little home hidden away from the chaos of the outside world.

Quiet.

Warm.

Peaceful.

Almost boring.

Yet Victor’s spiritual sense entered the cabin without disturbing anything.

The interior was surprisingly lively.

Near one window, a man sat quietly with an ancient book resting in his hands.

He occasionally turned a page.

In the kitchen, another man patiently stirred a pot over the fire.

The faint aroma of herbs and meat filled the room.

Farther inside, someone sat in an alchemy chamber, carefully refining pills while wisps of medicinal smoke curled around him.

In the guest room, another figure rested peacefully beneath a blanket.

Everything appeared normal.

Almost too normal.

Victor’s gaze remained calm.

Because there was one small problem.

Every single person inside the cabin had the exact same face.

The same black hair.

The same features.

The same expression.

The same presence.

They were all...

Leandro Salvatore.

Victor’s smile deepened slightly.

"That’s excessive."

Even he had to admit it.

Leandro’s caution had long since passed the point of ordinary prudence.

But Victor wasn’t finished.

His spiritual sense continued downward.

Through the floor.

Past the foundation.

Through another layer of concealment.

Then another.

Deep beneath the peaceful little cabin was a completely different world.

A hidden underground chamber stretched beneath the earth.

Inside sat a young man with black hair and green eyes.

He was quietly folding paper figurines.

His movements were slow.

Precise.

Almost obsessive.

Every crease was carefully aligned.

Every fold was made with deliberate patience.

Beside him were rows upon rows of unfinished wooden puppets.

Some were missing arms.

Others had no faces.

A few were nothing more than roughly carved human shapes.

The rest of the underground workshop was equally unsettling.

Puppets filled the shelves.

Paper figures covered several tables.

Carving tools lay arranged in perfect order.

Spirit ink was stored in sealed containers.

Strange materials, many of which Victor couldn’t immediately identify, were scattered throughout the chamber.

Everything had clearly been collected over many years.

Victor’s expression twitched.

He had already known what kind of person Leandro was.

Someone who treated survival as his greatest priority.

Someone who would prepare ten escape routes before walking into a room.

Someone who would rather look ridiculous than leave even the smallest possibility of death to chance.

But seeing it with his own eyes was another matter entirely.

Calling Leandro cautious would be far too generous.

Paranoid was much closer to the truth.

Victor silently watched the young man folding another paper figure.

Then his eyes narrowed slightly.

He had found the real Leandro.

Naturally, Victor had no intention of sending his spiritual message directly into Leandro’s consciousness.

That would be far too straightforward.

And with someone like Leandro...

Straightforward was exactly what he wanted to avoid.

Victor’s spiritual sense shifted.

It quietly swept through the room.

Then it slipped into an unfinished wooden puppet leaning against the wall.

The puppet had no face.

No arms.

Its body was only half-carved, with rough edges still covering the wood.

At first glance, it looked completely useless.

And that was exactly why Victor had chosen it.

His voice quietly appeared within the puppet’s consciousness.

"Leandro."

The puppet remained motionless.

"A Heavenly Secret Realm will open in three days at Red Cliff Mountain."

"The Salvatore Family has four places."

"I want you to take the fourth."

The moment Victor finished speaking, the puppet trembled.

The carving knife held loosely in its wooden hand slipped from its fingers.

Clink.

It struck the stone floor.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then the unfinished puppet slowly pushed itself away from the wall.

Its stiff wooden body began to shimmer.

The rough wooden surface gradually changed.

Its limbs became flesh.

Its blank face took shape.

Within moments, the puppet had transformed into an ordinary-looking young man.

Black hair.

Green eyes.

An unremarkable face.

The kind of appearance that could vanish into a crowd without attracting a second glance.

Even Victor found it slightly amusing.

He knew very well that this was not Leandro’s real body.

It was only another puppet.

Leandro lowered his head.

He remained silent for several moments.

His mind quietly weighed Victor’s order.

There was no hesitation in his eyes.

Eventually, he gave a small nod.

"I understand, Patriarch."

His voice was calm.

"I will participate."

Victor withdrew his spiritual sense without another word.

As cautious as Leandro was...

Once he agreed to something...

It meant he had already begun calculating every possible outcome.

Compared to Damien, Austin, and Nux...

Leandro’s cultivation was unquestionably the highest.

Victor held great expectations for him.

If anyone among the younger generation of the Salvatore Family was most likely to uncover the greatest opportunities within the Heavenly Secret Realm...

It would undoubtedly be Leandro Salvatore.