Chapter 237 (1) - Carving Names on the Stele of Slaughter, The First Man!
Chapter 237 (1) Carving Names on the Stele of Slaughter, The First Man!
For cultivators, the period of a few days were as quick as snapping their fingers.
There were 91 Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts with 74 of them coming from the Internal Endless Sea while the rest of them hailed from the External Endless Sea who gathered at the Blissful Summit.
When Ning Fan arrived alone, Xu Rushan nodded his head and led the group of cultivators into the sea, together with Yan Zhongze.
It’s rare to see Ning Fan moving alone.
The female corpse was kept into the Cauldron Ring by him and entrusted to Bing Ling and Yue Ling.
The Secret Realm of the Broken World forbade any Spirit Severing Realm experts from entering. Since the female corpse could not enter, that was the only way to settle her down.
If it was in the past, the female corpse would never be willing to leave Ning Fan for half a step.
Today, however, due to the growing closeness in the relationship between her and Ning Fan, she became more obedient than ever towards Ning Fan’s orders.
Even if she was reluctant to leave him, she would quietly sit on the small bridge above a flowing river within the Cauldron Ring and do her embroidery.
The image of her embroidery would always be Ning Fan, regardless of anything.
“Light…Lonely…” The female corpse sadly muttered to herself.
However, there was not any other choices. Ning Fan only had five months to stay in the Secret Realm. The only option was to let her suffer a little during the coming five months.
The entrance of the Secret Realm of the Broken World was at the bottom of the Pleasure Devil Sect, directly under the Joint Joyous Island.
This area was rich in minerals. A tremendous Primordial Magnetic Force formed a waterless area which was ten thousand li* large in the deepest part of the ocean.
In here, the atmosphere was a bit unstable but not to the point of being on the verge of collapsing. Furthermore, it was faintly connected to another realm.
It was the entrance of the Secret Realm.
The corals on the ocean floor sparkled like crystals. All the sea beasts like human sharks retreated.
Stepping on the sea’s seabed, Ning Fan and the rest of the cultivators landed on the deepest part of the Pleasure Devil Sea. In front of them, there was a three zhang* tall gate, glittering in the colors of the rainbow. It was being guarded by fourteen Nascent Soul Realm experts of the Joint Joyous Sect. On the surface, it remained sealed as there were still three days before it would open.
Outside the door stood a giant amethyst stele which was approximately one hundred zhang* tall. Countless names were carved on it. Some of them were black while some of them were grey.
Xu Rushan exchanged looks with Ning Fan. When he found a trace of confidence within Ning Fan’s eyes, only then was he able to feel relieved.
Before entering the Secret Realm of the Broken World, he needed to brief all the Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts about the rules and regulations to be followed.
“As you all know, those who are able to enter the Secret Realm must be cultivators below the Spirit Severing Realm. There are obviously risks inside that realm. Therefore, this old man does not recommend anyone who has yet to attain the Peak Nascent Soul Realm to enter the Secret Realm. There are 92 experts who responded to my invitations and are willing to enter the Secret Realm. However, this time, only 40 of you would be able to enter the realm. Your strength and power will decide whether you can enter or not. Regarding the benefits of entering the Secret Realm, I don’t think I need to explain much about it. Everyone who enters the Secret Realm will be entitled to a drop of Profound Liquid of Mother Earth. In addition, every Demon Pill that you obtain from killing the Fake Wild Beast can be exchanged for a single drop of Profound Liquid. Just for your information, the effect of consuming two drops of Profound Liquid would be equivalent to that of a Nascent Soul Realm Dao Fruit. As long as you can gather Demon Pills for me, I will never be stingy on giving you all the Profound Liquids!”
As Xu Rushan’s words fell, all the experts at the scene were in high spirits.
For them, it would be extremely difficult to increase their magic power after reaching the Peak Nascent Soul Realm. A drop of Profound Liquid of Mother Earth would grant them 10 units of magic power each. Therefore, two drops of Profound Liquid would be equal to a Nascent Soul Realm Dao Fruit. That fact alone was able to motivate them to strive to enter the Secret Realm.
Even if we choose to find a spot and meditate for half a year within the Secret Realm and come out empty-handed, we would also be entitled to a drop of Profound Liquid, right?
Try to imagine if we kill one or two of those beasts by chance. The reward is going to be huge.
In the past, there wasn’t a year where 40 Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts actually came for the Secret Realm. As such, there was still a chance for the Late Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.
This time, however, there were too many Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts. Among the 92 experts, 52 of them would have to be disqualified. In other words, more than half of the group would not have the luck to enter the gate.
Furthermore, among the group of Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts, the experts from the Internal Endless Sea clearly were stronger than the experts from the External Endless Sea. Besides, there were still elites from the seven venerated forces.
It was not going to be easy for them to get the chance to enter.
“I wonder how the forty candidates would be selected…” An elderly expert politely asked.
“How to select? Please look at the giant amethyst stele over here… This stele is called the Stele of Slaughter. Customarily, experts who wish to enter the Secret Realm have to carve their names on the stele. It will then rank your strength and power accordingly. It can hold thousands of names in total. The higher your ranking, the stronger you are…”
Everyone’s gaze was anchored at the giant purple stele while Ning Fan scanned it from top to bottom.
There were already thousands of names carved on the stele. Some of them were black while some of them were grey. Some of them were carved thousands of years ago, while some of them were carved hundreds of years ago. Besides, some of them were famous in the External Endless Sea.
The person who managed to kill 11 Fake Wild Beasts himself was ranked 47th.
As for Xu Rushan, his name was ranked at the 13th… Before attaining the Spirit Severing Realm, he once entered the Secret Realm to kill the beasts. After thousands of years, his name was still at the 13th place.
The 12 experts before his name were of course the people from the Internal Endless Sea. These people who were once Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts, were now the well-known Spirit Severing Realm experts in the Internal Endless Sea.
After glancing through the names, many of the experts were dumbstruck.
“*suck in cold breaths* Senior Xu Rushan was also one of the candidates who entered the Secret Realm. However, his power was only ranked 13th among all the experts…”
“Look! The one who was ranked 7th is the sect master of the Floating Wave Sect from the Internal Endless Sea, Duan Congyun. He is a Mid Spirit Severing Realm expert now!”
“The number four expert is the vice master of the Zhou Clan from the Internal Endless Sea, Zhou Wei! His name should have been carved on the stele three thousand years ago. Now, he is a Late Spirit Severing Realm expert!”
“The first expert is Ju Yan. He is rumored to be the first person who entered the Secret Realm…Impressive! However, his name is rather unfamiliar to me…Speaking of which, only his name is red in color in the entire list…”
“Idiot! Ju Yan is the father of Venerated Giant. He was the former patriarch of the Giant Devil Sect. In the past, he was just a hair’s breadth away from attaining the Void Refinement Realm!”
After reading the names on the stele, many of the experts had the itch to try. They wanted to see how strong they were and whether they would be able to outshine the rest of the experts.
I wonder what my rank will be on the stele…
“Senior Xu, why are there black, grey and red names on the stele? What do the colors imply?!”
“Even if you don’t ask, I will also explain it. As you all can see, the black names are the experts who were able to survive and leave the Secret Realm. As for the grey names, they were the ones who died within…”
As Xu Rushan spoke, almost everyone at the scene sucked in cold breaths.
It was because there was nearly forty percent of the names on the stele were grey. In other words, the death rate of the experts who entered the Secret Realm would be 40%!
However, the candidates who died in the Secret Realm were mostly Mid or Late Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. This time, those who would enter the Secret Realm would only constitute those experts at the Peak Nascent Soul Realm. The death rate might not even be as high as 40% but still, it meant that the Secret Realm was a dangerous place…
“What about the red color?” Ning Fan’s voice pierced through the silence of the atmosphere.
The former patriarch of the Giant Devil Sect, Ju Yan…
His name was dyed in red color. If Ning Fan wasn’t wrong, it was completely stained by the redness of the Violent Qi.
“Red color… It means that the candidate killed over a hundred Fake Wild Beasts in the Secret Realm! I sincerely hope that Fellow Daoist Zhou’s name would be in red color as well!”
*Tsk*
Each of the experts were suddenly filled with great respect.
The former patriarch of the Giant Devil Sect entered the Secret Realm all by himself and managed to kill more than a hundred Fake Wild Beasts within a year, even though he was still an expert below the Spirit Severing Realm.
His combat power must be heaven-defying. It’s no wonder he could become the patriarch of the Giant Devil Sect in the past.
What a powerful expert! Unfortunately, we can’t meet him face to face now as he lived in the past when most of us weren’t even born yet.
“Red color…”
Ning Fan’s eyes brightened. Now, he wanted to see how the giant stele would rank his power.
“Right. Next, I would like to invite all the experts to place your hands on the giant amethyst stele and release a trace of your magic power. The stele will then do the work itself.”
“Let me first!”
“This old man will be the second!”
The test went on for three consecutive days.
Each of the old monsters took turns in placing their palms on the stele. Their cultivation level and names would then be carved on it. It was easy for most of them to be ranked within one thousand. Besides, most of them were ranked within five hundred.
After a long while, the expert who obtained the best ranking was the Feudal Ranking Elder of one of the seventy-two islands. He was ranked 247th.
Those who could enter the top 200 in the list would certainly be an outstanding being in the Endless Sea within ten thousand years. That is to say, having their names ranked higher than 200 was an honor!
“Let me try!”
A young boy in red robes spoke in a hoarse voice. He made a step forward and immediately, the crowd opened up a passage for him.
This person was the Sixth Elder of the Demon Sealing Sect, Chu He!