Chapter 71: Shock
Chang Tianhua's malice was completely undisguised, and Song Changsheng's acute spiritual sense naturally detected it. He wasn't surprised in the least.
The two of them were already mortal enemies; it would be strange if he didn't come looking for trouble.
He wasn't worried about Chang Tianhua. Although he had a reputation, it was a notorious one, not a fearsome one. He was merely relying on his status as the Young Sect Master to bully others.
Song Changsheng had no concerns about him; he was just a good-for-nothing…
...
Time unknowingly flowed by. The several Foundation Establishment cultivators present suddenly opened their eyes simultaneously. Song Xianyun spoke in a deep voice, “Fellow Daoists, the time has come. Please work together to open the Wutong Secret Realm!”
“It is only right.”
The others nodded in agreement, all standing up and walking to the Wutong tree's thick trunk.
They each took out a waist token, placed it into a corresponding groove on the tree trunk, and then each activated their spiritual energy, injecting it within.
Song Changsheng clearly felt the fluctuation of an array formation flash by. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, his heart stirred, and he quietly activated his Delusion-Breaking Eye.
The world instantly turned grayish-white again. Spiritual light flowed in his eyes as he looked at the incredibly thick Wutong tree.
Lines of array patterns gradually appeared. They were densely packed, like a spiderweb, extending down from the tree canopy, covering the entire Wutong tree, and then spreading outwards from the tree's center.
The places where the several Foundation Establishment elders stood, as well as where they sat cross-legged, were all covered with intricate and profound array patterns. Once this array began to operate, everyone would be enveloped within it.
The array patterns of this formation were extremely profound, reaching at least third-rank. This was Song Changsheng's first time encountering a third-rank grand array so closely, and for a moment, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.
With the aid of his pupil technique, he began to attempt reverse-engineering the array. But no matter how he exerted himself, he couldn't discern even a sliver of it. Instead, his eyes began to sting.
In less than a quarter of an hour, his eyes were incredibly sore, and his eyeballs began to tremble. Frightened, he quickly deactivated his pupil technique.
“Eh, what's wrong with you? Why is your face so pale, and your eyes red like a rabbit's?” Song Lutong who was closest to him, noticed his abnormality and asked in a muffled voice.
Song Changsheng gently shook his head and said, “Nothing.”
Song Lutong frowned but didn't press for answers.
“This array formation is incredibly intricate, and the array master's skill is probably even above Grandpa's. I almost suffered a backlash,” Song Changsheng felt a lingering fear in his heart. If he had continued to persist just now, he might have lost both his eyes.
Fortunately, he came to his senses in time. This also served as a reminder to him: everything must be approached with reverence. Pupil techniques were not omnipotent after all.
He slightly circulated his cultivation method to regulate his breathing, then stood honestly in place, not daring to look around anymore.
“Buzz!”
Suddenly, a hazy light burst forth from the center of the Wutong tree's trunk, and a one-zhang high crack appeared, gradually expanding left and right, eventually forming an oval-shaped portal.
Looking through it, multicolored light flowed within, like an aurora. Everyone was stunned for a moment.
“What are you waiting for? Quickly enter the secret realm!” The Wang clan's elder shouted loudly.
Everyone present awoke as if from a dream and quickly entered the portal in an orderly fashion, following the sequence instructed by their elders.
At the very front were naturally the five members of the Song clan. The moment Song Changsheng entered the portal, something swept over him, giving him a feeling of being seen through.
This should be the detection array that the Grand Elder mentioned. It was indeed powerful, giving one the illusion of having nowhere to hide.
After all of the Song clan members entered, they were followed by the Earthfire Sect, the Qiu clan, the Wang clan, the Yu clan, and the Li clan.
When the last person entered, the six Foundation Establishment cultivators simultaneously withdrew their spiritual energy, and the portal gradually shrank, eventually disappearing.
“Fellow Daoists, they will be in there for seven days. We can't just sit idly, can we? How about a few games of chess?” Li Tiancheng stretched leisurely and suggested with a chuckle.
“Since Fellow Daoist Li has such refined taste, we naturally will accompany you.” Song Xianyun suddenly smiled radiantly. With a flick of his sleeve, a chess board carved from green jade appeared before everyone.
A glint flashed in Li Tiancheng's eyes. He made a "please" gesture, and then began playing chess against Song Xianyun…
...
Song Changsheng and the others only felt a dizzying sensation, accompanied by a wave-like feeling of weightlessness. That sensation of traversing space was heart-pounding.
After an unknown period, Song Changsheng's vision blurred, and a dense jungle appeared before him. He himself was above the dense forest, rapidly descending.
He quickly circulated his spiritual energy. Light flickered in his palm, and a water column appeared out of nowhere beneath his feet, supporting him as he slowly descended and landed steadily on the ground.
The moment he landed, he felt like he was stepping on cotton, light and airy, almost stumbling and falling to the ground. He quickly steadied himself to avoid making a fool of himself.
This was a side effect of traversing the spatial channel. After standing in place for a while, it eased significantly.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”
Bursts of air-splitting sounds came from above. Song Changsheng looked up and saw one figure after another falling from the sky like dumplings.
It was Song Lutong and the other four. They had clearly been ahead when they left, but somehow ended up behind Song Changsheng.
The few displayed their respective abilities in the air and landed smoothly, joining Song Changsheng and the others.
“Is everyone alright?” The eldest, Song Luping, looked at them with concern.
“What could happen? It's such a small height. My face wouldn't even break the skin if I landed on it,” Song Lutong said confidently.
Song Luyue rolled her eyes at him. “You think everyone is as thick-skinned and invulnerable as you?”
“Hey, you…”
Seeing the two about to start bickering again, Song Luping quickly interrupted, “Alright, alright, getting to business is important.”
The usually silent Song Chang'an also nodded and said, “Clan Uncle is absolutely right. We only have seven days. We must seize the time to complete the task Grandpa Twenty-First assigned.”
“Indeed. Our landing points for the six families are all pre-arranged. The family's medicinal garden in the secret realm should be nearby. I'll check with the compass.”
Song Luping magically produced a brass compass. He formed hand seals, and after silently chanting a few incantations, the compass needle immediately began to spin rapidly, finally pointing southwest.
“It's to the southwest. Let's go.”
...
The six major powers had been developing the secret realm for so many years, so they naturally wouldn't exhaust its resources. They each cultivated a spiritual vein within it and established spiritual plant gardens, mainly growing various first rank spiritual herbs and some second-rank spiritual herbs.
Due to the special nature of this space, spiritual herbs could be planted quite densely without affecting their growth. Over the years, a virtuous cycle had formed. The primary task for disciples entering here was to manage the medicinal garden, harvest mature spiritual plants, and replant.
As Song Luping said, their landing point was very close to the medicinal garden. In just a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the family's medicinal garden perimeter.
After opening the guardian array, everyone was immediately stunned by the sheer number of spiritual herbs within.
Spiritual fields stretched one after another, densely planted with spiritual herbs. A single glance revealed over a dozen varieties of spiritual plants, all growing exceptionally well.
“Good heavens, even all the family's medicinal gardens outside combined don't have this many spiritual herbs, do they?” Song Lutong's eyes widened, exclaiming loudly.
Song Changsheng and the others were no better than him. This was their first time entering. They had always heard their elders talk about how amazing the spiritual herb garden in the Wutong Secret Realm was, but they hadn't felt it until now. Seeing it with their own eyes, they truly understood how shocking it was.
“What a treasure land. No wonder even the Lieyang Sect coveted it,” Song Chang'an lamented.
“Stop lamenting. With just the few of us, it'll take at least two or three days of work. Let's get to it.”
The few had a clear division of labor, each assigned a spiritual field, and began harvesting and replanting.
Between the furrows, Song Changsheng became increasingly surprised. The spiritual energy in the secret realm wasn't particularly abundant, and the soil was just ordinary spiritual soil. So why could spiritual herbs be planted so densely here without affecting their growth?
He had once visited the family's spiritual plant mountain, where the spiritual energy was far more abundant than here, yet the number of spiritual plants grown per mu of spiritual field was only half of what was here. The difference was too great.
“Perhaps it's because the laws of this world are rather peculiar. No wonder those great sects are so fond of developing minor worlds; so this is why.”
The Song clan only controlled a very small otherworldly space, not even a true minor world, yet the quantity of spiritual herbs produced here each time was enough to supply thousands of cultivators from the six major powers.
Those great sects that controlled many minor worlds must produce an astronomical amount of resources annually.
No wonder the strong become stronger, and the weak become weaker…
Five people toiled in the medicinal garden for three days. The spiritual herbs they collected were enough to fill three Qiankun Bags.
“Damn it, we finally finished. I thought becoming a cultivator meant no more farming, but it's still the same,” Song Lutong grumbled.
He was born in the mundane world, his parents were farmers and he had worked the fields since childhood. After his spiritual root was detected, the main reason he chose to embark on the path of cultivation was that he no longer wanted to farm.
The result, needless to say, was that cultivators were still human and still needed to labor. His dream of being an immortal was thus shattered.
“We've been dawdling here for days. Do we still have a share of that Stalactite Spiritual Liquid?” Song Lutong said, full of resentment.
Song Changsheng smiled slightly and said, “The cave that produces the Stalactite Spiritual Liquid is also protected by an array formation. It won't open until the last day, so Clan Uncle doesn't need to worry.”
“So that's how it is! Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and get going, so those good-for-nothings from the Yu clan don't get there first,” Song Lutong immediately became excited again and said impatiently.
“It is time to depart. However, this time we'll split up. Aside from the medicinal garden, there are also many wild spiritual plants in other areas, and we need to collect as many as possible.”
While the spiritual herb garden contained many spiritual herbs, most were first rank, and their value was relatively low.
But it was different in the wilderness. They could often encounter spiritual herbs of higher value, which was their second task.
(Chapter End)