"Honored Master, is this art proper?"
Hearing the name of this technique, Xu Deyue could not help but ask.
"It should be proper," Murong Yun said. "I obtained this after defeating a demonic cultivator from the Joyous Union Dao in the past. I only took a casual glance at it back then and ignored it afterward.
"After all, my disciple, you know that your master primarily cultivates the Pure Maiden Supreme Yin Scripture, which requires maintaining a body of primordial yin."
"Honored Master, you do not need to explain so much. Time is pressing, please just teach your disciple the secret art directly."
"Alright." Murong Yun immediately imparted it through divine consciousness, and then added, "Although this technique cannot be considered the absolute top-tier secret art within the Joyous Union Dao, it is still of high grade.
"It emphasizes the blending of soul and flesh, the harmony of yin and yang, to attain the true intent of supreme great joy.
"By coordinating with special postures, when passion stirs and bodies unite, supplementing it with the secret art's incantations can rapidly improve one's cultivation and divine sense.
"The improvement is especially vast during the first time.
"Honored Master, how do you know this so clearly?"
"Ahem." Murong Yun coughed twice. "Well, naturally, I accidentally heard fellow disciples mention it in the past."
Xu Deyue received the complete text of the Yin-Yang Harmony Great Joy Secret Art and quickly comprehended it.
However, even though she was already a married woman, she still felt her face flush hot at some of the postures recorded within, two clouds of rosy red unconsciously rising on her cheeks.
"Sigh, speaking of which, the physiques of you two perfectly align with the Dao of Yin and Yang. If you had cultivated this before your primordial yin and primordial yang were broken, it might have allowed your divine sense to directly break through to the Golden Core level, and helped him advance by one or two minor realms.
"It is all my fault for not thinking of this sooner."
Xu Deyue's mouth twitched slightly. She glanced at Ye Fan, then walked over and said, "Husband, I will pass on a secret art to you. Tonight, you and I will practice it together."
"What secret art?" Ye Fan opened his eyes, looking at her with a gentle smile.
"Close your eyes and focus your mind."
Ye Fan did as he was told.
Xu Deyue raised her pale hand and tapped a finger against the center of his brow.
A moment later.
"This..." Ye Fan's face also unconsciously grew a bit hot, his mouth even feeling a little dry. "Is this a dual cultivation secret art?"
Xu Deyue briefly explained the technique's effects and origins to Ye Fan.
"To think it possesses such wondrous effects! Let us try it right away, perfectly timing it to improve our strength before entering the Secret Realm."
"Mhm."
Xu Deyue gave a slight nod. The faint blush on her cheeks had yet to fade as she raised her hands to gently untie her robes. With a subtle movement of her delicate fingers, her pale green dress slipped down, revealing skin as luminous and white as jade.
Ye Fan also shed all his clothing. Faint golden spiritual light flowed over the surface of his bronze skin, further accentuating his tall and imposing physique.
The two continuously experimented.
Executing the secret art, they silently chanted the incantation. The supremely yin and freezing mana along with the supremely yang and unyielding mana—these two forces constantly blended together.
The power of yin-yang harmony circulated through the limbs, bones, and dantians of both individuals.
Xu Deyue's mana actually became even thicker and purer once more, while Ye Fan's mana also steadily increased.
Until the very end, their divine souls began to intertwine. Nourished by a mysterious power, their divine souls continuously grew stronger, and the power of their divine sense rapidly skyrocketed as well.
Two hours later.
Both were drenched in fragrant sweat.
"It really reached the absolute limit of Foundation Establishment divine sense," Xu Deyue said in pleasant surprise.
"My divine sense has also reached Foundation Establishment Perfection, and my cultivation realm has advanced to the late stage of the Seventh-Layer Foundation Establishment. My mana is thick and solid, without the slightest sign of instability."
Back then, Ye Fan had also experienced his divine consciousness prematurely transforming into divine sense, so his mental power was already far superior to those in the same realm, comparable to the Ninth-Layer Foundation Establishment.
Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to perfectly control his formidable physical strength.
Following that, Xu Deyue took out three Spirit-Nourishing Pills that Xu Chuan had gifted her long ago.
As long as they reached Foundation Establishment Perfection, he would give them out. Even if they lacked the opportunity to allow their divine sense to break through to the Golden Core stage, it could still push their divine sense to the absolute limit of Foundation Establishment.
Breaking through to the Golden Core level in such a manner would also make them slightly stronger than cultivators in the same realm.
Of course, it definitely could not compare to a premature transformation. For someone like Xu Chuan or Xu Deling breaking through to the Golden Core, the power of their divine sense could likely rival that of the Mid-stage Golden Core right away.
"According to Sister Ling's breakthrough experience, a person who has reached the limit of their divine sense only needs to consume two pills simultaneously."
Xu Deyue immediately did as stated.
By the early morning of the next day, her divine soul successfully transformed.
Afterward, Xu Deyue devoted her full effort to cultivating the Cold Heaven Seal's technique of condensing nine seals into three.
Ye Fan focused on elevating his cultivation realm. Practicing his fist techniques was not entirely suitable at the moment. Besides, his first form of the Brahma Sacred Fist had already reached the grand completion stage, which was exceptionally fast.
It would be somewhat difficult to cultivate it to perfection in a short period of time.
This could only rely on his own comprehension; external forces were practically useless.
Having gotten their first taste of the Yin-Yang Harmony Great Joy Secret Art, the two were like beasts having tasted blood. Every night, they would cultivate it for one to two hours.
Although the resulting improvement was not as massive as the first time, it was still effective.
At least, over the course of two days.
Ye Fan's cultivation realm broke through to the Eighth-Layer Foundation Establishment.
Xu Chuan was quite surprised by this, and then learned of the secret art's existence from them.
Xu Chuan kept a straight face and said solemnly, "With such a good thing, why didn't you bring it out to share!"
"This art requires dual cultivation to be effective."
Ye Fan rubbed his head, then promptly disclosed the complete secret art.
Upon receiving it, Xu Chuan grinned and chuckled, "Couldn't I just familiarize myself with it in advance and use it later?"
"Honored Master, whatever you say is right." Ye Fan's mouth twitched slightly.
"Alright." Xu Chuan patted his shoulder and said, "It is time to go participate in the Secret Realm Contention Battle. Since you both have made breakthroughs, perform well."
"Yes, Honored Master," Ye Fan replied. "Yes, Grandfather," Xu Deyue added.
The group traveled together with the people of Heavenly Azure Prefecture to the previous arena plaza.
The entrance to the Secret Realm was also located here.
This Secret Realm was originally a naturally occurring one. After all its opportunities and fortunes had been exhausted, it was renovated into a trial Secret Realm for the Profound Moon Sect.
At the hour of chen.
The morning light had just broken, dyeing the clouds in vibrant hues.
The Eight Prefectures gathered once again, with onlookers surrounding the area.
During the last Arena Battle, Xu Chuan had wildly profited twenty-one thousand Spirit Stones.
And this Secret Realm Contention Battle, which determined the seventy-two slots to compete for the Prodigy Roll, naturally featured an even more massive betting pool.
Not only were there bets on who could secure the seventy-two slots, but there were also bets on who would take the top spot.
Xu Chuan took a look and only participated in the former, betting that Ye Fan, Xu Mingxian, and Xu Deyue would make it into the seventy-two slots.
It was still three thousand Spirit Stones per person.
The odds for Xu Deyue making it into the top seventy-two were one to one point five.
Xu Mingxian's odds were one to five.
Ye Fan's odds were one to five.
The reason the odds were so high was that basically no one believed those two could break into the top seventy-two.
A quarter past the hour of chen.
True Lord Qingxuan once again arrived from afar, coming to a halt in the sky above the plaza.
"This round of the competition is the Secret Realm Contention Battle. The rules are as follows: you must snatch the Identity Tokens of others. Each token is worth one point. Forces from the same prefecture are not allowed to gift tokens to each other, but giving them to those from different prefectures is permitted.
"Aside from this, there are no other rules.
"Life and death are not restricted, nor are any methods. You may form alliances, launch sneak attacks, assassinate, and so on.
"The trial will conclude only when exactly seventy-two people remain in the Secret Realm.
"The testing area spans fifty kilometers. Beyond this fifty-kilometer boundary, thick fog will shroud the land. Entering the fog instantly results in elimination.
"Every day, the fog's boundary will gradually shrink.
"After ten days, the safe zone will be reduced to a mere five-hundred-meter radius.
"The final seventy-two survivors will be ranked based on their accumulated points.
"Your ranking determines the rewards you will receive. The top thirty-six can request specific opportunities to maximize the enhancement of their own strength.
"Naturally, the magnitude of these opportunities will depend on your rank.
"The one who takes first place can be granted an opportunity up to the Tier 3 High-Grade level. This includes Pills, Magic Treasures, Talismans, Array Tools, Secret Arts, Divine Abilities, Materials, Spirit Medicines, Spirit Stones, and more.
"Among these, the Magic Treasure can be at most low-grade, the Talisman a Tier 3 Low-Grade Talisman, the Array Tool a top-tier rank-two Array Tool, the Materials and Spirit Medicines can reach Tier 3 High-Grade, and the Spirit Stones can be high-grade stones of a specific elemental affinity.
"Second to tenth place can obtain opportunities up to the Tier 3 Mid-Grade level. The Magic Treasures, Talismans, and Array Tools will drop by one tier, while Materials and Spirit Medicines can reach Tier 3 Mid-Grade.
"Eleventh to thirty-sixth place can receive opportunities up to the Tier 3 Low-Grade level. The Magic Treasures, Talismans, and Array Tools remain the same as the previous tier, but the Materials and Spirit Medicines will be reduced by one grade.
"Before entering, each person will receive a life-saving Jade Tablet.
"If you voluntarily crush the Jade Tablet, you will be teleported back to the plaza after three breaths. How you survive those three breaths will rely entirely on your own abilities.
"In past iterations, there have been quite a few corpses teleported out."
With that said, True Lord Qingxuan flicked his moon-white sleeve. Streaks of spiritual light shot out, landing flawlessly into the hands of every cultivator entering the second round.
"Inside the Secret Realm, life and death are disregarded! Remember, only the Prodigy who survives until the end is a true Prodigy!"
Adding one final warning, True Lord Qingxuan drew a token from his sleeve. Channeling his majestic mana, he activated it, tearing open a ten-meter-wide portal to the Secret Realm above the plaza.
"Everyone, enter."
As his voice fell, Foundation Establishment cultivators soared into the air one after another, transforming into streaks of multicolored light as they plunged into the Secret Realm.
The last to enter was True Lord Qingxuan himself.
As the host of this trial, he needed to stop the slaughter among these Foundation Establishment geniuses once exactly seventy-two people were left.
Otherwise, once their eyes turned red with bloodlust, they would likely butcher each other to the very last man.
The onlookers surrounding the plaza burst into widespread discussion, their voices boiling over in a cacophony of excitement.
"It is a pity that there is no Profound Light Mirror projecting images for this Secret Realm trial. Otherwise, it would definitely be much more entertaining," someone sighed.
"Do you think this is a game? If intelligence regarding the many trump cards of these Prodigies spread, they would inevitably be targeted during the competition for the Prodigy Roll.
"Moreover, no one wants to expose their frenzied, murderous side in front of a crowd.
"If they truly encountered spectators on the outside, I am afraid very few of them would let the onlookers live."
"That makes sense."
Many people nodded in agreement.
True Lord Canglang looked toward the Heavenly Azure Prefecture's camp and provoked them once again. "Daoist Friend Green Wood, the number of people our two sects have entering the Secret Realm this time is roughly the same.
"Would you like to make a wager with me? Let us see which of our two prefectures has more people remaining among the final seventy-two."
"This old man lacks such leisurely elegance," True Lord Green Wood replied indifferently.
"You simply do not dare, do you, Daoist Friend Green Wood? After all, in the past few iterations, when has your Heavenly Azure Prefecture ever not been dead last?"
True Lord Green Wood frowned slightly upon hearing this, but he remained silent.
"How about this: as long as you participate, my sect will return the corpses of your sect's members who perished in the Secret Realm last time. What do you say?
"Do not worry, this is not part of the wager.
"Win or lose, my sect will honor this agreement. After all, there are so many factions here serving as witnesses."
Waves stirred within True Lord Green Wood's heart. Although retrieving the corpses served no practical purpose, quite a few had fallen last time. Bringing them back could soothe the hearts of their people and strengthen the sect's cohesion.
"What do you want to wager?"
"My sect will wager two Tier 3 Spirit Veins in exchange for a piece of territory spanning fifty kilometers within Heavenly Azure Prefecture."
The Golden Core cultivators from the other prefectures felt a chill in their hearts.
The Greedy Wolf Sect was scheming to swallow the entire Heavenly Azure Prefecture!
Greedy Wolf Prefecture bordered Heavenly Azure Prefecture.
Furthermore, Heavenly Azure Prefecture was the weakest faction among the Eight Prefectures, while the Greedy Wolf Sect was a Demonic Dao sect with extreme aggressive tendencies.
The Golden Core Perfected Being from the Profound Moon Sect furrowed his brows, but ultimately said nothing.
True Lord Green Wood remained silent for a long time.
True Lord Canglang smiled and continued, "True Lord Green Wood, there is no agreement forbidding warfare between the prefectures. It is simply that the strength of the various Nascent Soul powers is roughly equal.
"If both sides suffer utter defeat, it is easy for others to play the fisherman and reap the spoils. That is why everyone has lived in peace for so long.
"A thousand years ago, it wasn't as if such things never happened, right?"
The various factions remained completely silent.
Whether he agreed to the bet or not, Greedy Wolf Prefecture seemed absolutely determined to conquer Heavenly Azure Prefecture.
They were just curious about what underlying confidence the Greedy Wolf Sect possessed to dare spout such bold claims.
'Whether I bet or not, a conflict between the Greedy Wolf Sect and my Heavenly Azure Sect is unavoidable,' True Lord Green Wood thought. 'Once this Secret Realm Contention Battle ends, I must send someone back with the news to heighten our defenses.
'As for the Prodigy slots, if luck is on our side, perhaps we can surpass them this time.'
"Fine, this True Lord will take your wager. But the conditions must be slightly altered. If our two prefectures secure an equal number of Prodigy slots, it will be counted as my Heavenly Azure Prefecture's victory."
"Acceptable." True Lord Canglang broke into a wide grin, a trace of contempt flashing in his eyes. "You think your Heavenly Azure Sect can even stand shoulder-to-shoulder with my Greedy Wolf Sect?
"This time, my Greedy Wolf Sect has fielded the strongest lineup in our history. We could even fight for the number one spot."
The various factions of Heavenly Azure Prefecture all felt an immense pressure bearing down on them.
A war between two prefectures would have vast implications. Even Golden Core Aristocratic Families would find their lives hanging by a thread.
Seeing the gloomy expressions on everyone's faces, True Lord Green Wood declared, "Any sect or family that makes a massive contribution during this Prodigy Grand Assembly—even if we fail to defeat Greedy Wolf Prefecture—will be rewarded by my sect with a Tier 3 Spirit Vein."
Xu Chuan's eyes lit up upon hearing this, though he was also worried about the impending upheaval in Heavenly Azure Prefecture.
'It has only been a little over a decade since we arrived,' Xu Chuan thought. 'We haven't even faced the great calamity waiting to erupt in the Land of Imprisonment, yet now we must first experience a clash between Nascent Soul powers on the outside.
'Our luck is a bit too rotten.
'Still, having a Tier 3 Spirit Vein as compensation can be considered a form of comfort.'
As for the three of them, Xu Chuan was fairly at ease.
After all, he had made sure Xu Mingxian was fully prepared!
————————————
Inside the Secret Realm.
The crowd was randomly teleported into a certain forest. A thick fog enveloped everything beyond a fifty-kilometer radius.
True Lord Qingxuan sat cross-legged high in the sky, his divine sense blanketing the entire fifty-kilometer expanse.
An ordinary Golden Core divine sense naturally could not cover such a massive area. True Lord Qingxuan was only able to achieve this because he had reached Golden Core Perfection.
Xu Mingxian, Xu Deyue, and Ye Fan were not in the same location.
Fortunately, Xu Deyue had broken through to a Golden Core level divine sense. The very instant she and Xu Mingxian entered the forest, they radiated their divine senses outward.
A moment later, the two detected each other's divine sense.
They happened to be at the eastern and western edges of the forest, while Ye Fan's luck was quite good; he was roughly in the center.
If the fog shrank evenly, Ye Fan was practically the chosen one.
Xu Mingxian and Xu Deyue immediately withdrew their divine senses and converged toward Ye Fan's position.
But they hadn't flown for long before encountering opponents from other prefectures.
Naturally, neither of them held back. The moment Xu Deyue struck, she unleashed one of the variations of the Cold Heaven Seal's nine-seals-into-three technique, shattering the defenses of a Profound Moon Prefecture cultivator in a single blow.
The man's face drastically changed. Without a second word, he slapped his Storage Pouch, whipped out an Escape Talisman, and fled over five kilometers away.
Xu Deyue dissipated the spell seal in her hand and continued flying forward.
Of course, if the opponent had still wanted to fight, she wouldn't have minded seizing an Identity Token.
After fleeing, the Profound Moon Sect disciple spoke with lingering fear, "Xu Deyue's strength is indeed formidable, but I am still ranked fifteenth among the competing disciples from Profound Moon Prefecture.
"Was she hiding her true strength?!
"The pressure she gave me felt no less than that of the top five Prodigies in the Profound Moon Sect."
He sighed softly and then muttered, "Sure enough, once we reached this final Secret Realm Contention Battle, all sorts of hidden monsters and demons have jumped out of the woodwork."
High in the sky, True Lord Qingxuan stroked his beard and smiled faintly. "This girl from the Xu Family actually managed to fool even me."
He did not believe that Xu Deyue could have improved this drastically in a mere three days.
"Xu Deyue, Xu Mingxian... both of their divine senses are actually at the Golden Core level. This Xu Family is truly somewhat interesting."
As the host of the grand assembly, even if a Prodigy from the Profound Moon Sect were to die, he would not intervene.
Only those who survived were true Prodigies!
In just a fleeting moment, battles erupted all across this fifty-kilometer expanse.
The moment anyone suffered a disadvantage, they instantly fled.
In the beginning, everyone's trump cards were fully stocked, and they all possessed at least peak-grade defensive Dharma Tools. Even when facing Prodigies who grasped Divine Ability Power, blocking one or two strikes before making a getaway was not a problem.
Just like that Profound Moon Prefecture cultivator earlier.
Therefore, an incense stick's time passed without a single person being eliminated.
Fighting their way through, Xu Deyue and Xu Mingxian took nearly four hours to cross a distance of a few dozen kilometers.
It was not just the three of them trying to converge; the majority of the others were doing the same.
However, the others basically only possessed Foundation Establishment Perfection divine sense, meaning they could only scan a radius of about four or five kilometers. Furthermore, since they all had divine senses of the same realm, they could not hide from each other and easily attracted enemies.
Thus, unless the others had good luck, meeting up was no easy feat.
Among those from Heavenly Azure Prefecture who qualified for the Secret Realm battle, they were split into three groups: five from Heavenly Azure Sect, three from the Xu Family, and four consisting of Yan Kuangtu, Yan Fengwu, Shangguan Hong, and Wenren Jie.
Lastly, Chen Tianlei of the Chen Family had ties to all three sides. If he encountered the Xu Family, he could join them thanks to the relationship between Xu Chuan and Chen Changge. If he met the aristocratic family group, as a newly advanced Golden Core Aristocratic Family, they could band together for warmth.
And if he encountered the Heavenly Azure Sect, he could also integrate with them.
Xu Mingxian was the first to arrive near Ye Fan, and the commotion he caused was not small.
The Green Leaf Prefecture cultivator currently fighting Ye Fan sensed Xu Mingxian's approach, immediately forced Ye Fan back, and flew off toward the south.
Ye Fan did not want to expose his strength too early and couldn't be bothered to pursue, so he let the man leave.
Xu Mingxian landed.
Ye Fan smiled, stepping forward to greet him. "Father-in-law."
Xu Mingxian gave a slight nod. Then, he spread his divine sense out again and quickly detected Xu Deyue's location.
"Deyue is about three or four kilometers to the east, fighting against someone from the Greedy Wolf Sect. It seems to be the one ranked fourth in the Greedy Wolf Sect, a man named Ding Ming.
"Let's go. We're heading over."
The two immediately rushed over. However, seeing that many people possessed escape methods during previous battles, Xu Mingxian planned to quietly lay down an array formation.
Ye Fan agreed with this plan.
Roughly five minutes later.
The two stealthily arrived in the vicinity. By this time, the battle between Xu Deyue and Ding Ming had grown incredibly fierce.
Xu Deyue was locked in a bitter struggle.
Even executing the Cold Heaven Three Seals had failed to defeat her opponent.
Ding Ming was equally astonished. As he dealt with Xu Deyue's attacks, he called out, "I never expected Fairy Xu to hide her strength so deeply! You are more than qualified to compete for the number one spot in Heavenly Azure Prefecture now, aren't you?"
"Are you not the same? Despite being ranked only fourth, you have already grasped Divine Ability Power. Logically speaking, the Greedy Wolf Sect should have listed you as a seeded contender."
"Hmph, what do you know? If it weren't for those two guys popping out of nowhere, I would be ranked second among this generation's Greedy Wolf Sect disciples!"
Ding Ming sneered, "I won't waste any more words on you. Fairy Xu, although your strength is not bad, you killed Mo Sheng of our Greedy Wolf Sect during the Arena Battle, angering True Lord Canglang.
"He issued an order! If we encountered anyone from the Xu Family in the Secret Realm, we must make you die in the most agonizing way possible!"
Ding Ming formed hand seals, executing a Demonic Dao secret art. His aura instantly surged by a massive margin. Xu Deyue's expression turned grave, and she even considered drawing the Supreme Yin Flying Sword.
Right at this moment, an array light screen rose around them.
Immediately after, an icy voice echoed throughout the surroundings.
"You want to kill a member of my Xu Family? You are not qualified!"
The Six Harmonies Absolute Sealing Grand Array descended, completely isolating all shockwaves from the battle.
Xu Mingxian and Ye Fan shot over from hundreds of meters away, landing by Xu Deyue's side.
"Father. Husband." A flash of joy crossed Xu Deyue's eyes, her heart instantly settling.
"Since everyone is here, I might as well send your entire family of three on your way to the afterlife!"
Ding Ming's demonic might surged toward the heavens; his strength was truly terrifying!
Seeing Ding Ming's blood-red Battle Saber slashing straight for Xu Deyue, Ye Fan's expression instantly warped in fury. The aura around him exploded upward, without a single shred of restraint remaining.
Golden radiance flowed around his body as a crimson-gold armor flew out of his Storage Pouch, instantly covering his form.
He donned gauntlets gleaming with a cold crimson-gold light. His frame swelled by over fifteen centimeters, his muscles bulging as he exuded a terrifying pressure like a humanoid Demonic Beast.
Boom! Ye Fan violently stomped the ground, leaving behind a deep crater.
Using the momentum, he launched himself forward like a cannonball, appearing right in front of Ding Ming in the blink of an eye.
The blood-red Battle Saber in Ding Ming's hand swirled with vicious energy, just about to cleave into Xu Deyue. Seeing Ye Fan's sudden assault, he hastily pulled his blade back to block.
Ye Fan's eyes burned crimson as he unleashed the first form of the Brahma Sacred Fist, the Tyrannical Heaven Fist. The grand completion fist wind, wreathed in pale golden light, crashed directly into the blood-red Battle Saber.
Clang!
The deafening sound of metal colliding rang out. Ding Ming felt his entire arm go numb, his heart filling with a mix of shock and rage.
This Ye Fan had actually hidden his strength! His aura was so powerful that it rivaled a Tier 2 Peak Demonic Beast!
Before he could regain his senses, Ye Fan closed in and entangled him in melee combat. His fists smashed out like a violent storm, every strike of the Brahma Sacred Fist possessing astonishing power, crashing down like small mountains.
Ding Ming was firmly pinned down, stripped of any chance to escape.
Originally, his demonic blade arts combined with this Two-Pattern Dharma Tool demonic saber were nearly invincible. Yet now, he was being completely stonewalled by an Eighth-Layer Foundation Establishment cultivator relying on nothing but his bare fists!
Even if those gauntlets and armor were Two-Pattern Dharma Tools, the sheer shockwaves from their clash should have been enough to shatter his opponent's bones.
But Ding Ming saw that Ye Fan was completely unharmed and only growing fiercer with every exchange.
'What a terrifying fist art! What a monstrous physique!'
'And wasn't he just at the Seventh-Layer Foundation Establishment a few days ago?!'
Even Ding Ming had to admit that the current Ye Fan was fully qualified to fight him. Adding in Xu Deyue and Xu Mingxian...
A faint sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
Seizing the opening, Xu Deyue retreated into the distance. Her fingertips blurred through rapid hand seals, sending clear, water-colored Magical Arts shooting toward Ding Ming like arrows. Simultaneously, she formed another seal, manifesting the Cold Heaven Seal to crash down upon him.
From afar, Xu Mingxian also unleashed the Taibai Sword Art. Several golden sword gleams transformed into streaks of light, perfectly coordinating with Xu Deyue's spells for a pincer attack.
Under the siege of all three, the pressure on Ding Ming skyrocketed. He wielded his blood-red Battle Saber clumsily, frantically trying to block attacks from all sides.
He glanced at the surrounding array light screen. Taking whatever brief openings he could find, he slashed at the grand array's barrier, but his blade only managed to stir up a few faint ripples.
'What grade is this array?!'
Following that, he executed an evasion art, his body transforming into a streak of black light, only to crash heavily into the array light screen. It was utterly impossible to escape.
"How can this be?!"
Xu Mingxian sneered, "This array isolates space. It was set up specifically to counter evasion arts and Escape Talismans. You have nowhere left to run!"
"You're the one who set up this grand array, right? Then I'll kill you first!"
Ding Ming shot violently toward Xu Mingxian, but he was intercepted halfway by Ye Fan. Xu Deyue also unleashed the Cold Heaven Three Seals, smashing ruthlessly into him.
"You want to kill me?! Then I'll drag at least one of you down with me!"
Ding Ming threw his life on the line and fought to the bitter end.
But Ye Fan's physique and physical strength were truly terrifying. Accompanied by his Two-Pattern Dharma Tool defensive armor, even someone who had grasped forty to fifty percent of Divine Ability Power would find it hard to claim his life.
Furthermore, Xu Deyue was not to be underestimated either. The might of her Cold Heaven Three Seals rivaled twenty percent of Divine Ability Power.
Seeing Ding Ming go berserk, Xu Mingxian immediately deployed his Battle Arrays.
After so much time training, he could already compress the deployment time of a Battle Array down to a mere three breaths. He could even manifest three Battle Arrays simultaneously.
One array formation after another materialized.
Within the Five Elements Battle Array, the power of the Five Elements transformed into several chains that extended from the void, heavily binding Ding Ming.
Faced with the binding power of five second-rank array formations, Ding Ming could not break free in an instant.
Xu Deyue's Cold Heaven Seal crashed onto his body, rapidly freezing him in solid ice. Finally, Ye Fan closed the distance and shattered his body with a single, earth-shattering punch.
Boom!
A sky full of ice shards danced in the air!
Ye Fan reached out and snatched up the fallen Storage Pouch. Sweeping it with his divine sense, he smiled faintly. "Quite a lot of good stuff. He even had two Identity Tokens inside. That perfectly makes one for each of us."
Ye Fan extracted the tokens, tossing two of them to Xu Deyue and Xu Mingxian.
He then added, "Father-in-law, let's transfer the remaining items into your Storage Pouch."
Xu Mingxian nodded. After transferring the items, they also kept the Mid-Tier Storage Pouch.
"By the way, Father, there is something I find a bit strange," Xu Deyue said.
She recounted how Ding Ming had mentioned earlier that he was originally ranked second in the Greedy Wolf Sect, only to be pushed out of the top three by two people who had popped out of nowhere.
The light in Xu Mingxian's eyes rippled as he fell deep into thought.
"Given Ding Ming's strength, logically speaking, he was absolutely guaranteed to secure a Prodigy slot for the Greedy Wolf Sect. Yet, the sect placed even more importance on those two sudden arrivals.
"This can only mean that those two are of massive use to the Greedy Wolf Sect, and their strength is definitively above Ding Ming's."
Ye Fan said in shock, "Doesn't that mean the Greedy Wolf Sect has four Prodigies who have grasped Divine Ability Power this time?!"
"It is three now," Xu Deyue said indifferently, glancing at the shattered ice littering the ground.
"But this standard is likely second only to the Profound Moon Sect, right?"
"I have a faint, ominous premonition. Combined with Grandfather's warnings to me before we set out this morning, I fear the real danger comes from those two from the Greedy Wolf Sect.
"Perhaps we might run into 'old friends'."
Xu Mingxian did not voice the rest of his thoughts aloud; instead, he communicated via divine sense transmission.
Ye Fan instantly put the pieces together. 'Could it be related to the heavy casualties from the Heavenly Azure Sect's last Secret Realm expedition? Popping out of nowhere... combined with the timeline and what Ding Ming said, it is highly possible.'
Xu Mingxian transmitted back, 'No matter what, the three of us absolutely cannot separate. We have witnessed their methods firsthand.'
Last time, when the Xu Family threw all their strength into hunting down the ancient demon Yeluomo, their odds of winning had been solid. However, at the very last moment, Xu Chuan was almost subjected to Possession.
Ye Fan and Xu Deyue exchanged a glance, both giving a slight nod.
Soon after, the three began roaming the area to hunt for other competitors and amass points.
With Ye Fan handling the close-quarters slaughter, Xu Deyue providing long-range ice crowd control, and Xu Mingxian deploying arrays to isolate space, their teamwork was flawless.
Any cultivator who encountered the three of them and did not immediately flee into the distance had their tokens mercilessly snatched away.
However, they were not bloodthirsty maniacs. After heavily injuring some competitors and confiscating their Storage Pouches and tokens, they allowed those people to crush their Jade Tablets and leave.
But for anyone who radiated killing intent, not a single one was spared.
"I truly did not expect that the most troublesome participants in this Prodigy Grand Assembly's preliminaries would be descendants of a Foundation Establishment Clan from Heavenly Azure Prefecture."
True Lord Qingxuan stroked his beard and sighed softly. "If the three of them work together, even if Xuanzhi ran into them, the victor would be hard to predict."
"It seems Martial Ancestor's words—'The wind rises in Heavenly Azure'—were not false after all."
Afterward, his gaze shifted to the two demonic cultivators from the Greedy Wolf Sect.
"Foundation Establishment Perfection. Both possess divine senses that have hit the absolute limit of the Foundation Establishment realm. They utilize Divine Ability Power with exceptional proficiency; a casual strike from either of them can unleash fifty to sixty percent of a Divine Ability's true might.
"Furthermore, they have comprehended more than one Divine Ability.
"Without even drawing a Dharma Tool, they can suppress over ninety percent of all cultivators.
"Their movement techniques, combat instincts... nearly flawless in every aspect!
"Both are fully qualified to fight for the number one spot.
"How could the Greedy Wolf Sect possibly have produced two disciples of such caliber?!"
He sensed something highly unusual. However, he could not intervene. Even if there was a problem, he could only thoroughly investigate their backgrounds after the Secret Realm Contention Battle concluded.
In the blink of an eye, a day passed.
The circle of thick fog began to shrink.
The battles across the board grew even more intense, with desperate chases playing out everywhere.
Many who wished to form alliances ended up bumping into each other due to the shrinking zone. Some turned the tables and went on the hunt, while others simply butchered their prey on the spot to harvest tokens.
There were also those who, despite forming teams of two or three, were completely routed. Fleeing in panic like frightened rats, scrambling aimlessly, they were ultimately either eliminated or slaughtered.
The people from Heavenly Azure Prefecture seemed to have fairly decent luck.
Yan Fengwu, Yan Kuangtu, and Wenren Jie crossed paths and formed an alliance.
Liu Yue, Cang Daoling, and Lei Zhaojian traveled together.
Shen Feiyu bumped into the Profound Moon Sect's number one Prodigy, Zhang Xuanzhi. Realizing he couldn't escape, he decisively abandoned his tokens, crushed his Jade Tablet, and forcefully endured for three breaths until he was teleported to safety.
Shangguan Hong, unfortunately, ran into the Greedy Wolf Sect and was mercilessly slain; his corpse was all that was teleported out.
Chen Tianlei was also eliminated. However, relying on his Taotie Shield, he managed to hold on for three breaths in front of a Prodigy from Cangshan Prefecture and was safely teleported away.
As for the Greedy Wolf Sect, four of them were killed by Xu Mingxian's trio, and another five were eliminated by Prodigies from other prefectures. Only nine remained in the Secret Realm—even fewer than Heavenly Azure Prefecture.
Not long after, Xi Tianqing encountered one of those unusual demonic cultivators from the Greedy Wolf Sect. Despite fighting with all his might, he was no match and was cruelly toyed with. Even his attempt to use an Escape Talisman was violently interrupted.
At the critical moment of life and death, Cang Daoling, Liu Yue, and Lei Zhaojian arrived on the scene.
Joining forces as a team of four, they finally managed to escape with their lives.
Still shuddering with lingering terror, the four decided to move as a unit.
Soon after, they ran into a six-man squad from Cangshan Prefecture. They eliminated three of their opponents while the rest fled, but Lei Zhaojian suffered severe injuries during the clash.
Knowing that encounters with enemies from all sides would only become more frequent going forward, Lei Zhaojian had no choice but to crush his Jade Tablet and leave voluntarily.
It was better than being treated as an abandoned pawn later on, a situation where even his life would be forfeit.
In a mere two days.
Over fifty eliminated participants had been teleported out.
As for those who died within the Secret Realm, the number had already exceeded thirty.