Many minutes have passed since the conversation between Senior Nie and Xiao Hua ended, but the atmosphere there remained heavy, almost suffocating, especially for those people standing closest to the Dragon Essence Temple.
"Xiao Hua, here are my treasures. Please hold onto them while I enter the Mystic Realm." Yuan handed Xiao Hua his spatial ring and storage pouch.
"Xiao Hua will protect the treasures without fail!" Xiao Hua said to him with a serious look on her face, acting like she was handed a big responsibility.
"Who would dare to steal from a Spirit King in the Lower Heavens?" Feng Yuxiang raised her eyebrows.
Xiao Hua could leave Yuan’s treasure on the ground, go take a nap, and come back with the treasure still on the ground, completely untouched.
"By the way, what are you going to do with your Soul Weapons, Young Master?" Feng Yuxiang suddenly asked him.
"S-Soul Weapon?!" Long Yijun and the others turned to look at them with wide eyes filled with shock after hearing their conversation, even ignoring how Feng Yuxiang addressed Yuan as ’Young Master’.
"Huh? What do you mean? I can’t take treasures inside so I’ll have to leave it out here obviously." Yuan said.
"But Soul Weapons are unique... They must be within a certain distance from its Master— there’s no way around it."
"Eh? What happens if I am too far away from them?" Yuan then asked.
"I think it would be better if I showed it to you..." Feng Yuxiang said, and she continued, "Can you hand me one of your Soul Weapons for a moment?"
Yuan nodded, and he retrieved the Starry Abyss from the spatial ring before handing it to Feng Yuxiang.
Once she had the Starry Abyss in her grasp, Feng Yuxiang suddenly took off into the sky and flew away, acting like a thief during a grab-and-run situation.
Feng Yuxiang’s sudden movements attracted the attention of everybody there, including Senior Nie.
’Where’s she going?’ They all wondered.
However, Senior Nie was more interested in the Starry Abyss that was within her grasp.
"Is that... a Soul Weapon?" Senior Nie mumbled in a dumbfounded voice, as he didn’t expect to find a Soul Weapon in the Lower Heavens.
In just a few minutes, Feng Yuxiang managed to fly almost a hundred miles away from the Mystic Realm, and right as she reached the 100th-mile mark, the Starry Abyss in her hand suddenly disappeared.
Meanwhile, at the Mystic Realm, Yuan was surprised when the Starry Abyss suddenly appeared before him like a ghost.
"How did..." Yuan was completely baffled by this phenomenon.
"Soul Weapons are bound to their owners. If they get too far away from their masters, they will immediately teleport back to them, almost as if they have a mind of their own." Xiao Hua explained to him.
Feng Yuxiang returned sometime later.
"Do you understand now, Young Master? You won’t be able to escape your Soul Weapons. However, I don’t know how it’ll work with the Mystic Realm." Feng Yuxiang said to him.
A moment after Feng Yuxiang’s words, Senior Nie’s voice suddenly resounded, "Soul Weapons are an exception and allowed inside the Mystic Realm since they are considered as ’part of the individual’. I didn’t mention it at first because I didn’t think there would be someone with a Soul Weapon here. Congratulations, young man— you’re now a few hundred steps ahead of everyone else before you’re even inside the Mystic Realm."
"What?! He can bring a powerful treasure inside while the rest of us have to go inside empty-handed?! That’s so unfair!"
The other participants immediately started complaining, feeling extremely envious of Yuan’s Soul Weapon.
"I see... Then I will bring my Soul Weapons with me." Yuan said.
"Huh? Soul Weapons...?" Long Yijun and the others raised their eyebrows.
"Y-You have more than one?" Elder Xuan asked him in a dazed voice.
Yuan nodded, and he proceeded to take out his other Soul Weapon, Empyrean Overlord.
Forget about the others, even Senior Nie’s jaw dropped when he saw Yuan holding two Soul Weapons— one in each hand.
Ignoring the difficulty of obtaining two Soul Weapons, what kind of talent is required to wield two Soul Weapons at the same time? Senior Nie has never seen such talents before even within the Spirit Heavens, and they have plenty of heavenly geniuses that would put most of the people here to shame.
’Just who is that young man?! I cannot see the full extent of his talents!’ Senior Nie cried inwardly.
"By the way, Young Master, you can store your Soul Weapons within your body." Feng Yuxiang said to him.
"Really? How do I do that?" Yuan asked.
"Just imagine your body as a spatial ring and the Soul Weapons being stored inside your body."
Yuan nodded his head and followed Feng Yuxiang’s instructions.
A moment later, the Empyrean Overlord and Starry Abyss disappeared from his hands, yet he could still feel their presence inside his body, almost like how Feng Yuxiang dwells within his body!
"I think I am ready to enter the Mystic Realm! I will see you all later!" Yuan said to Long Yijun and the others who were too dazed to respond properly.
"Y-Yeah... G-Good luck..." Long Yijun mumbled in a low voice.
"See you later, Disciple Yuan..." Elder Shan and Elder Xuan said.
"Don’t go easy on them, Disciple Yuan." Elder Dai said to him with a smile on her face.
"That’s right! Go beat them senseless, Young Master! Make them regret being born!" Feng Yuxiang cheered for him.
"Have fun, Brother Yuan." Xiao Hua said to him with a relaxed expression, almost like she had no concern at all— that she was absolutely confident in Yuan’s ability.
"See you later, Yuan," Meixiu said to him.
After saying his goodbyes, Yuan, Xue Jiye, and Gao Dongya approached the other participants with the token in their grasp.
It was at this moment the Sect Masters and all of the experts there realized something, as they were too shocked by many other things to realize this before.
"W-Wait a damn moment! That Spirit Master was a participant this entire time?! But he’s clearly wearing the sect elders’ uniform for the Dragon Essence Temple! And if I didn’t mention it already— he’s a damn Spirit Master!"
"That’s right! How could a Spirit Master possibly qualify for the Mystic Realm?! What’s going on here, Sect Master Long?!"
The experts there didn’t want to believe that someone under 30 years old could possibly become a Spirit Master. If someone like that truly exists and enters the Mystic Realm... The other participants won’t be able to compete with someone like that! It’d be a one-sided slaughter!
Long Yijun burst out laughing after seeing the other Sect Masters’ reactions, and he spoke in a loud and clear voice so that everybody could hear him—
"I know many of you are in disbelief and doubting everything at this moment, and I do not blame you for that! In fact, I would probably be doing the same thing if I were in your shoes! However, this is reality! Not only is my disciple a Spirit Master, but he’s also only eighteen years old! Hahaha! Good luck to everyone participating in the Mystic Realm! If I were to give you one piece of advice— give up while you can!"
The complexion of the Sect Masters and the participants alike turned as white as sheets after hearing Long Yijun’s words, their faces filled with disbelief and immense shock.
Reaching Spirit Master as an eighteen-year-old? Where on earth did this cultivation monster come from? And why does the Dragon Essence Temple have someone like him helping them out?
"Spirit Master... Eighteen years old?" Senior Nie mumbled in a low voice, subconsciously comparing Yuan’s talents to the top geniuses within the Spirit Heavens.
Meanwhile, the other participants stared at Yuan with gawking looks on their faces as they watched him slowly approach them with an unfathomable aura surrounding his figure at this moment.
In their eyes, Yuan looked much bigger than he did a moment ago, almost like he’d suddenly grown a couple of meters, and they felt like ants in comparison to his awe-inspiring presence.
And when they realized that they were going to compete against this cultivation monster in the Mystic Realm, their confidence shattered like glass under the force of a hammer.