The Cyan Cloud Secret Realm.
Although it was an Illusion Realm, everything within this Secret Realm felt exceptionally real.
Even the mountain wind brought a genuine, bone-chilling cold.
This was a grim, ancient city, but it was dilapidated, filled with crumbling walls and ruined ramparts. Skeletons, the remains of rotted corpses, were scattered everywhere, numbering well over a hundred thousand.
A mountain of corpses and a sea of bones.
A small, white-furred rat stood atop a human skull, holding a cockroach-like insect in its front paws and nibbling on it.
"SQUEAK!"
The little rat's whiskers twitched as it straightened up and looked to the side.
"BZZZT!"
The void rippled like the surface of a spring, and a figure suddenly descended from within.
"CRUNCH!"
The figure landed, one foot stomping into the pile of bones and crushing a few that had nearly turned to dust, letting out a crisp crack.
"CHEEP CHEEP!"
The little rat, startled, dropped its half-eaten insect and scurried away, disappearing into the pile of bones in the blink of an eye.
"Sorry about that, my friend. Didn't an to..."
With a wry laugh, Hong Yu shook his head and moved his leg.
He had just snapped an arm bone.
His eyes narrowed as he scanned his surroundings, his gaze deep and shrewd. 'So this is the Cyan Cloud Secret Realm? It's completely indistinguishable from reality. I heard that besides being killed by other Sword Sect disciples, you'll also be eliminated if you're hunted down by the Desolate Beasts in this Secret Realm. Looks like I'll have to be careful!'
The first round in the Cyan Cloud Secret Realm lasted for a full half-month, so Hong Yu wasn't in a hurry to find prey.
The top priority upon arriving in an unfamiliar place was to get acquainted with the environnt.
Not to rush into finding targets for short-term gains.
'This must be an ancient battlefield.'
Hong Yu glanced around. The vast ancient city was comparable in size to Shishui City. Besides the marks of ti, it was mostly defined by the destruction left behind by war.
'Since I'm not in a rush to hunt for prey, I can use this place to cultivate properly. The change in my power after breaking through is too drastic. Many of my Martial Skills are no longer suitable for my current combat style. I need to re-evaluate and adapt.'
There's a saying: "Don't bite off more than you can chew."
The sa applied to Martial Artists.
When he was in the Essence Realm, the difference between using a Low-Level Martial Skill and a Middle-Level Martial Skill wasn't that significant.
Those lower-grade Martial Skills were mostly about the level of power, technique, and stances.
But once one reached the Earth Soul Realm and condensed a Lifebound Primordial Spirit, the nature of combat changed.
It was like an elentary school student could at most handle addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but once they reached middle or high school, they would inevitably have to deal with functions and geotry.
Hong Yu had already broken through to the Earth Soul Realm, and thanks to the potent dicinal power of the Five-Colored Golden Lotus, he had even reached Mid-stage Earth Soul Realm cultivation in one go.
Furthermore, since most of his opponents now were experts at or above the Earth Soul Realm, those Low-Level Martial Skills could naturally be discarded.
However, simply discarding them without adding new trump-card Martial Skills was also not an option.
Ti had been tight back in the Cyan Nether Sword Tower. After his breakthrough, he still hadn't adapted to his new level of power. This was the perfect opportunity to use his free ti to get used to it and improve his strength.
'Low-Level Martial Skills like Little Thunderbolt Palm can be discarded. As for Rising Dragon Fist, this Fist Technique is a fragnt of a Mortal-Level Martial Skill. Its power isn't weak, but it's a pity I haven't found the complete Rising Dragon Fist Technique.'
Hong Yu cleared an open space and sat cross-legged on the ground, propping his chin on one hand as he pondered. 'Right now, my greatest trump cards are the Three Flas Palm, Destruction, a Power of Primordial Spirit that far exceeds other experts at my level, and the Eight Desolates Saint Slaying Technique at the Fourth Transformation Realm... However, the Eight Desolates Saint Slaying Technique has hit a bottleneck. To break through, I'll have to find enough Spirit dicine.'
'What I'm actually lacking is a Body Technique Martial Skill. The Seven-Star Step clearly can't keep up with my current pace. As for my offense, the power of Destruction is also starting to seem a bit weak.'
After so thought, Hong Yu decided to temporarily focus his cultivation on his Body Technique and the Three Flas Palm.
No sooner said than done!
"Void Fire Dragon!"
Hong Yu leaped into the air, his hands forming a series of abstruse Seal Techniques in front of his chest.
His Power of Primordial Spirit surged, gathering in his palms. A Flaming Long Dragon shot into the sky, following the direction his arm was pointing.
"ROAR!"
The Flaming Long Dragon radiated scorching heat. Faintly, specks of starlight could be seen mixed within the fiery red, emitting abstruse energy fluctuations.
"BOOM!"
The Fire Dragon soared through the heavens before diving down, exploding a hundred ters ahead.
"Vast Sea of Fire!"
Hong Yu roared again.
Flas erupted from his body as three Fire Dragons shot forward. The dragons intertwined, and as they crashed to the ground, they instantly spread out into an expansive sea of fire.
The power of his Three Flas Palm had skyrocketed along with his strength.
The flas surged to the sky, creating a vast, boundless sea of fire.
The skeletons scattered throughout the ruined city were incinerated in the blaze, turning into wisps of green smoke that drifted upward.
Hong Yu shifted his stance again, his gaze like a torch, and let out a sharp cry, "Furious Fla Burning Heaven!"
With a series of "BOOM! BOOM!" sounds, waves of fire erupted from Hong Yu's body, converging above his head to form a twenty-ter-tall Fla Giant. The Fla Giant wore armor coalesced from Star Fire and wielded a blazing wild saber. The blade was fifty ters long, with nine Fire Dragons coiled around it.
"Slash!"
Hong Yu roared, his eyes shining like the sun and moon.
The Fla Giant's Heavy Saber ca slashing down.
"WHOOSH!"
The Fla Heavy Blade tore through the air, brutally striking the ground.
"BOOM!"
The entire ancient city trembled.
Its imnse power swept up a firestorm. A huge fissure, a full hundred ters long, ripped through the Ancient City Ruins starting from Hong Yu's position. Flas shot to the sky—Furious Fla Burning Heaven!
The power of this move was utterly terrifying.
'Using a Mortal-Level Martial Skill with my Mid-Stage Earth Soul Realm Cultivation really makes an earth-shattering difference in power!' Hong Yu's eyes filled with ecstasy as he nodded to himself.
He was quite satisfied with the power of this strike.
'Again!'
His blood pumping, Hong Yu continued his arduous training.
「anwhile...」
The other Sword Sect disciples had also arrived in the Cyan Cloud Secret Realm.
Most of these disciples were not first-tirs in the promotion tournant. They were more familiar with the Cyan Cloud Secret Realm and had their own thods of contacting their companions.
Hong Renjie sat cross-legged atop a high peak, his eyes cold and glinting with a dark light that seed to co from the Nine Netherworld. 'Feng Xue Xin is unfathomably strong, a formidable rival. I should avoid clashing with him until the very last mont. As for everyone else, only Hong Yu is a thorn in my side. If I don't pull him out, this anger in my heart will never fade.'
Hong Renjie looked at Hong Long and the other experts of the Heaven and Earth Alliance who had already gathered there and said coolly, "Listen up. In this Cyan Cloud Secret Realm trial, Hong Yu is our primary target! Use the full power of the Heaven and Earth Alliance to stop this brat from reaching the second round!"
"We understand!"
"Don't worry, Alliance Leader. That kid won't be able to make any waves!"
The crowd of Heaven and Earth Alliance experts pounded their chests in assurance.
Hong Renjie's gaze swept over a rather silent young man in the crowd. "Hong Gang," he said faintly, "you are the fourth-strongest True Disciple. I have just broken through and need to cultivate that profound Martial Skill in seclusion to prepare for my future battle with Feng Xue Xin. I'm putting you in charge of hunting down Hong Yu!"
Hong Gang, ranked third among the Four Kings.
He was a man of few words, as cold and hard as steel, but his thods were known to be the most cruel in the entire inner sect!
Licking the corner of his mouth with a Bloodthirsty glint in his eyes, Hong Gang nodded. "Don't worry, Brother Jie. Even in this Secret Realm, I will leave him with an indelible, nightmarish mory!"
"I'm relieved to have you on the job."
Hong Renjie nodded.
He then closed his eyes and entered a state of ditative cultivation.
Seeing this, everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound, and quietly followed Hong Gang away.
Under Hong Gang's arrangents, the six thousand experts of the Heaven and Earth Alliance who had gathered there dispersed, searching the vast Cyan Cloud Secret Realm for Hong Yu's whereabouts, preparing to encircle and expel him.
A similar scene was also taking place in another part of the Secret Realm...
A cold light flashed in Guo Fei's eyes as he said flatly, "In this inner sect promotion tournant, my greatest opponents are Feng Xue Xin and Hong Renjie. As for the one I most urgently need to eliminate, it's Hong Yu. I imagine the experts from the Heaven and Earth Alliance are also itching to get rid of him. Guo Tao, you and the others gather our people and search for Hong Yu. As soon as you find him, notify imdiately. I will go and personally kill him to drive him out of the Cyan Cloud Secret Realm."
"Yes, sir!"
Guo Tao and the other experts turned and left.
Guo Fei sneered to himself, "Hong Yu, oh, Hong Yu. If you get kicked out in the first round, it'll save a lot of trouble. Otherwise..." His gaze suddenly focused, and a heaven-shattering aura burst from his body, making him seem like a dark Demon God. "When we actually fight later, it won't be as simple as just being eliminated, heh heh heh..."
In a secluded valley, the mbers of the Wind and Snow Association were assembling.
A portly figure stood beside Tie Shou, his eyes narrowed into slits as he said with a grin, "Boss Tie Shou, about that thing we talked about last ti..."
Tie Shou glanced at him. "Oh, you an the new disciple who beat you up?"
The portly figure nodded hastily. "Yeah! That bastard didn't just hit . I even told him you were my boss, and he just hit harder! Boss, you have to stand up for !"
"Don't worry."
Tie Shou nodded. "A brother of my Wind and Snow Association has been wronged, so of course we'll stick up for you. When we run into that kid, I'll help you take care of him!" As he spoke, Tie Shou looked to the others. "Everyone, the Heaven and Earth Alliance is getting more and more arrogant. They've already boasted that they will replace our Wind and Snow Association as the number one power in the inner sect. What should we do?"
"Take down the Heaven and Earth Alliance!"
"What else can we do? Let's kill 'em!"
The experts of the Wind and Snow Association roared, eager for a fight.
Tie Shou laughed heartily, his heroic spirit soaring. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's move out and take down those Heaven and Earth Alliance bastards!"
Four to five thousand experts from the Wind and Snow Association set out in a mighty host, beginning their slaughter in the Cyan Cloud Secret Realm.
「About half a day later.」
A group of experts from the Wind and Snow Association and a group from the Heaven and Earth Alliance ran into each other in the Secret Realm.
The two sides were already like fire and water. When enemies et, their eyes blaze with hatred.
They clashed imdiately, fighting a bloody battle to the end.
With over a hundred people in total, the battle was incredibly fierce. Both sides lost more than half of their mbers.
But the Cyan Cloud Secret Realm trial had just begun, and it wasn't ti for the final showdown yet. Seeing their casualties surpass the halfway mark, both sides tacitly sounded the retreat.
Both sides were biding their ti, waiting for the final decisive battle that would soon co.
Ti passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, five days had gone by.
During this period, battles in the Cyan Cloud Secret Realm grew more and more frequent, and the animosity between the two factions simred.
Hong Long was leading a fifty-man team of Heaven and Earth Alliance experts in search of Hong Yu. Having found no trace of him, he was furious. "Damn it, where the hell is that Hong Yu hiding?"
As he was cursing, the ruins of an ancient city gradually appeared several kiloters ahead.
Hong Long curled his lip in frustration. "There's an old city over there. Let's go rest for a bit. We'll recuperate and then continue searching for that bastard Hong Yu!"
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