Chapter 470 444: Subduing the Enemy Without a Fight, Ye Sheng's Challenge

The entrance to the Spirit Realm Secret Realm.

Song Ciwan arrived, disguised as the black-clad youth Lu Bell, via Cloud Sea Stepping Waves.

She hadn't followed her original plan to first go to Thunder Strike Ridge to collect the Thousand-Year Thunderstruck Li Wood. Instead, she had come straight to the entrance of this Secret Realm. The reason? Thunder Strike Ridge and the new Secret Realm entrance were in the exact same place!

Across the three-thousand-li Thunder Strike Ridge, amidst the cascading thunder, a dazzling Light Gate flickered into existence within the endless lightning.

Ghostly blue, deep purple, turquoise, and crimson—lightning of every color crisscrossed the immense, undulating mountain range that resembled a dragon's spine. Amidst the peals of thunder, a person's ears would be filled with a constant, deafening RUMBLE.

Without the ability to withstand the lightning, one couldn't even pass through the area.

But even so, people who were unafraid of the harsh environment still flocked here, wave after wave, rushing toward this Spirit Realm Secret Realm steeped in all manner of legends.

And the most tempting legend of all came from Ye Sheng!

He entered the Spirit Realm Secret Realm and emerged as number seventy-five on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List. Who could hear of such a feat and not be utterly captivated?

Even another Celestial Pride, Lu Bell, had caused a major stir in Luying City in western Yu State—

It was said that to warn the Martial Artists of Luying City against entering the Spirit Realm Secret Realm, this Lu Celestial Pride had single-handedly confronted the entire city. The city guard, the County Magistrate, the City God, the City Defense Array... none had been able to subdue this Celestial Pride in the slightest.

Storytellers had even woven the tale into exciting scripts, which spread through the streets and alleys, drawing gasps of amazement from the common folk.

But none of this could stop the fervent desire of some Cultivators to become stronger.

Interestingly enough, with more and more Cultivators traveling to and from the entrance of the Spirit Realm Secret Realm, numerous stalls selling Spiritual Materials had sprung up on the outskirts of the thunder-filled Thunder Strike Ridge.

There were so many stalls, in fact, that they had formed a small Spirit Materials Street on the outskirts of Thunder Strike Ridge.

One Cultivator shouted over the rumbling thunder, "Talismans for sale! Talismans for sale! Thunder Protection Talismans, Armor Talismans, Stealth Talismans... I've got every kind of Talisman you could need!"

Another Cultivator yelled, "The Ruyi Trading Company is buying Spiritual Materials! Any and all Spiritual Materials! Whether they're from the Spirit Realm Secret Realm or Thunder Strike Ridge. We're mainly after Frost Thunder Crystals—one Frost Thunder Crystal for ten Primordial Pearls! Best price in the market..."

This was the bustling scene that greeted Song Ciwan upon her arrival. The first sight of it truly startled her.

A makeshift Spirit Materials Street like this, out in the wilderness, was something she had never seen in all her time Traveling through Great Zhou.

A stall on the street corner was particularly eye-catching. A banner with black characters on a yellow background flew high above it. The flag fluttered in the wind, radiating Spiritual Light, and on it were written two large words: Curios Pavilion!

Next to the fluttering banner, an open oil-paper umbrella floated in midair.

Of course, it was no ordinary oil-paper umbrella, but a Top Grade Magical Artifact.

The Cultivator beneath the umbrella was also shouting, "From the Curios Pavilion, the Top Grade Magical Artifact, the Profound Celestial Five-Thunder Umbrella! It can absorb lightning and release it! It's a one-of-a-kind item for sale today, just this one, and it'll be gone when it's sold!

Bidding starts at eight hundred Primordial Pearls, auction lasts for a quarter of an hour, highest bidder takes it! Right now, this friend from the Divine Thunder Sect has the highest bid at one thousand one hundred Primordial Pearls! Is there a higher bid? Anyone?"

Behind the bustling Spirit Materials Street lay the ceaselessly rumbling Thunder Strike Ridge.

On one of the towering peaks, the Light Gate of the Spirit Realm Secret Realm hung like a bottomless mirror suspended in the void. Its surface swirled like water, and directly above it was inscribed a single, massive character in seal script: Human!

That's right. The character written above the Light Gate of the Spirit Realm Secret Realm was "Human".

When the Spirit Realm Secret Realm first appeared outside Pinglan City, three Light Gates had manifested at once. The central gate, inscribed with the character "Human," was the entrance to the Spirit Realm Secret Realm.

The gate on the left was inscribed with the character for "Fiend," while the gate on the right bore the character for "Demon."

The gate marked "Demon" actually led to the Demon Realm. As for what lay behind the "Fiend" gate, Song Ciwan had never been there, so she didn't know.

Now, however, only a single "Human" Gate had appeared here at Thunder Strike Ridge. The other two gates were absent, a slight departure from when all three had manifested simultaneously outside Pinglan City.

Song Ciwan had also heard that, aside from that single incident at Pinglan City, every subsequent appearance of a Spirit Realm Secret Realm across the Nine Provinces had involved only the "Human" Gate. The other two gates had seemingly never appeared again.

The three Secret Realm Light Gates at Pinglan City, however, had only lasted for five days in total.

After five days, all three Light Gates vanished.

This was unlike the later "Human" Gates, the shortest-lived of which would last for ten or so days, and the longer ones for over a month.

For instance, this "Human" Gate at Thunder Strike Ridge had already been here for about ten days, and it showed no signs of disappearing. From the looks of it, this gate would likely last for no less than a month.

'Is there a pattern to the appearance of these Light Gates?' Song Ciwan wondered. 'Why did three appear together before, but only one at a time since then?'

'With the "Human" Gates appearing more and more frequently, an increasing number of beings across the Nine Provinces have entered a Spirit Realm Secret Realm. It's hard to say how many of them have cultivated a Golden Core and had an Egg of the Ancient Divine Insect Race planted in their Dantian!'

'Whether for prevention or cleanup, this is bound to be a massive undertaking.'

'And the worst part is, besides me, no one else seems to have any idea about this crisis.'