The five stepped into the Secret Realm’s gate, leaving behind the twilight glow and distant clamor completely. What t their eyes was the nightti of Corpse Bone Forest, starless skies and dry branches blocking out the light, forming a cage that draped over the earth.
Yan Qing wondered if it was just his illusion; it seed the leaves on the ground had multiplied, the trees appeared even more barren, and even the two white-skinned mourning lanterns at the manor’s gate were dimr. Yet, after crossing the threshold, the fire pits inside blazed as if trying to burn a great hole in the night, with the entire manor luminous as if set to ignite.
Crossing the empty front hall, the backyard remained untouched for nearly a hundred years. The ground was immaculate, and the courtyard’s flora still alive, as if ti had halted since Si Wuxie arranged it, unchanged in the slightest.
"If I had no children, I’d arrange my own legacy like Si Wuxie," Pharmacist’s Wish suddenly mused. "Picking a Secret Realm to set a legacy, imagining countless heroes and elites striving for my inheritance over centuries—it doesn’t feel in vain to have co to this world."
"At least you’d need to be a Foundation Establishnt ssenger for that," Beiyou laughed. "A Third-Turn ssenger can’t seal a Secret Realm for nearly a century."
"How do other Demonic ssengers handle their inheritance upon death?" Rabbit Heroine asked curiously.
"Generally, Demonic ssengers have no chance to manage their inheritance; most die directly in battle." Prajna said. "Only a few have the chance to leave the Demon Dao, hide their na, settle and build a family elsewhere, passing their legacy to their children or disciples. It’s only those like Si Wuxie who have no kin and can live to natural life’s end who consider setting up a legacy."
"Speaking of which, I rember Zhong Ji ntioning you have a son? He also competed with for the Sword and Saber Secret Manual." Rabbit Heroine looked at Blood Phase. "Is your inheritance for your son too?"
Veins bulged on Blood Phase’s forehead, as he cast a cold glance at Rabbit Heroine. "None of your business."
"It might not be a son," Beiyou suddenly revealed a scoop. "Zhong Ji is always talking about a nephew, seemingly of age to practice martial arts, but no one in the village has seen him. It’s likely misinformation; maybe it’s a daughter, hidden in a wealthy family, and her age is—"
Suddenly, a sound exploded, Blood Phase had returned to his spot, Beiyou’s raised blocking right hand torn with three fierce claw marks. Beiyou, seemingly unfazed, ate a Blood Replenishing Pill, the claw marks on his arm quickly healing, shrugged and said, "Blood Phase, you really can’t take a joke."
"Is it funny?" Blood Phase said coldly.
"Your strong reaction is actually pretty funny, as if you care about your child, but have you even visited in all these years? You probably don’t even dare to see them." Beiyou’s tone suddenly flattened. "After all, if you can accidentally choke your second brother to death, you can naturally accidentally strangle your child too."
"We’ve coexisted peacefully all these years not because our relationship is great, but simply because we can’t kill each other. People like us, deeply wrapped in demonic nature, can only look out for ourselves."
Rabbit Heroine glanced between Beiyou and Blood Phase, pulling out a candied hawthorn from the warehouse to munch, adopting a ’continue talking, I won’t interrupt’ deanor, like a child who’s stumbled into an adult quarrel, filled with curiosity and incomprehension.
"We’ve arrived," Prajna interrupted this amusing spectacle.
Inside the Central Courtyard were five demon fiends, fewer in number than the front hall, but this is no good news: fewer ans stronger demons.
Among the five demon fiends, four wore white vestnts of a corpse; the last was clad in red, a distinguished corpse, each masked, nad "Unjustly Deceased Maid" and "Unjustly Deceased Noble Lady," indicating they were casually slain here by Fuxiang.
"Like Skull Tower, the Red-clothed Demon Fiend bears a golden scar, attacking it with Buddhist Sect’s holy object will enrage all five demons, significantly increasing their attack and movent speed." Prajna stated. "If that’s all, humble monks and others could manage, but... you see this circle, right?"
"Of course we see it, we aren’t blind."
In the demon-fiend-stalked Central Courtyard appeared an incongruous massive circle array, flickering cyan light enveloped almost half the courtyard, the demons along with it, colored in cyan which none could escape.
A place unvisited for nearly a century held not only immortal demons but thods left by Foundation Establishnt ssenger.
"The great array prevents attacks," Prajna straightforwardly disclosed all they knew. "Once inside the array, anyone’s attacks will be distorted—mind, senses, muscles, direction—nearly guaranteed to miss if attempting to attack anything else."
"Even if we’re ssengers challenging the Secret Realm?" Pharmacist’s Wish inquired.
"Forget being a ssenger, you’d miss even if you were throwing a pile of crap." Blood Phase spoke with malice.
"It’s not all bad news though; the array affects demons too, just less noticeable. They can hit us two out of five tis at most." Prajna stated.
"And you guys?"
Prajna chuckled wryly. "Beiyou and I can hit zero of five, only Blood Phase can manage one in five."
Pharmacist’s Wish’s pupils quaked; after last night’s joint battle, she was quite aware of Prajna and Beiyou’s power, which was top-tier even in a Military Town. While the righteous and demon ways can’t be directly compared—killing humans vs. demon fiends differ greatly—with full holy object allocation in Secret Realm offensives, they should match up to Helan Que.
Yet even for them, Foundation Establishnt ssenger’s authority renders them as powerless as ants, without the right to even land a punch!
"Swaying all of creation, manipulating cause and effect among beings." Pharmacist’s Wish sighed. "Even a long-deceased Foundation Establishnt Zhenren is an insurmountable mountain for a Third-Turn ssenger."
The three Great Guardians softly nodded; though their ambition lay in Foundation Establishnt, experiencing its power firsthand was novel. It’s not that Foundation Establishnt ssengers don’t wander the outside; Ying Le of Qi Kingdom sits on the throne daily, but who dares ask her, ’Can you demonstrate Foundation Establishnt techniques’?
All who’ve experienced Foundation Establishnt techniques firsthand typically end up reincarnating in the Underworld, so most view Foundation Establishnt ssenger like a hazy reflection, even soone of royal descent like Pharmacist’s Wish isn’t exempt. They know Foundation Establishnt is strong, but not where precisely its strength lies.
Now, they finally glimpse a fraction of Foundation Establishnt ssenger’s power.
But hearing pales against experiencing firsthand, Pharmacist’s Wish insists on entering the array for a try. The three Great Guardians don’t object, but none choose to enter.
"You’ll quickly understand us." Prajna smiles wryly.
Sure enough, after attacking near the white-clothed demon fiend four or five tis, Pharmacist’s Wish decisively left the array. Upon exiting that space, the fiends didn’t pursue, seemingly restricted to operate solely within that domain, sparing them the hassle of resetting enmity by escaping out of the realm.
Resting with her Soul-Breaking Spear for quite a while, despite her masked face, her eyes betrayed continuing dismay, finally able to give an accurate assessnt: "Out of control."
"Entering the array to attack, I lost control completely—my mind told to raise my arm, but my arm’s muscles suddenly weakened, my eyes misled about direction, even if stabbed blindly forward, upon opening my eyes, my body had subconsciously shifted."
"I lost control over myself, turned into an involuntary puppet." She gripped the Soul-Breaking Spear tighter, eyes showing both fear and yearning. "Foundation Establishnt... can achieve this level!"
The three Great Guardians well understand Pharmacist’s Wish’s current shock and breakdown, for they’ve experienced it too: shock, fear, despair, yearning, helplessness, emotions played repeatedly, ultimately solidifying into resolute steel: gaining Si Wuxie’s legacy is imperative, even cooperation wouldn’t deter them!
Witnessing such awe-inspiring Foundation Establishnt ans none could settle for being a lifelong Third-Turn; even the strongest Third-Turns are akin to mortals before Foundation Establishnt!
"Scared, kid?" Blood Phase found Rabbit Heroine silent since coming, didn’t resist mocking. "Lacking even courage to enter, clearly a still utterly childish brat."
Rabbit Heroine glanced at him. "None of your business."
Ignoring the jumping mad Blood Phase, Yan Qing gazed at the screen’s Cyan Light Array, scratching his head unsure what to say.
"Primordial Confusion Array"
"Source: Mixed Yuan Qi Magic Sword"
"Duration: Permanent, until reshaped"
"Effect: Reduce all targets’ hit rate within the array by 15-50%, lesser targets bear stronger effect."
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