Chapter 15: The Secret of the Immortal Realm

Wind One Heartlord looked at the corpse of the black-robed Dao Lord and said, "This black-robed Dao Lord is no ordinary one; he should be the last Dao Lord on this Immortal Realm continent. With him dead, we should be able to leave the Immortal Realm soon! Delay may lead to trouble—perhaps his master, the Three Silkworm Emperor, has some special means to sense his disciple's death and rush to this Immortal Realm continent. If that Three Silkworm Emperor arrives... we'll be truly finished."

Ji Ning and the others nodded.

The life-saving talisman from the Heartforce Palace was indeed powerful, but it couldn't kill an Eternal Emperor; at most, it would cause some trouble, for even the Heartforce Palace Master himself would find it extremely difficult to slay an Eternal Emperor.

"I'll keep this Dao Lord's corpse for now. Once we leave the Immortal Realm and get far away, we'll refine his storage treasure and divide the spoils," Wind One Heartlord said.

"No," Prince Qingheng quickly said. "Wind One, you used a life-saving talisman to kill this Dao Lord. All his treasures should go to you. A talisman like that, comparable to thirty percent of the Heartforce Palace Master's full power, is something you couldn't buy even if you sold that Dao Lord entirely. You've already taken a big loss."

Wind One was speechless.

"Right, Wind One," Tianhuo Mangya also said. "We can't take advantage of you. As for the weak one-step Dao Lord we killed earlier, we'll divide his treasures slowly after we get out. As for this black-robed Dao Lord and that puppet, they belong to you and Brother Beiming. You lost a very powerful talisman, and Brother Beiming's helper only helped once."

"It's different. Brother Beiming captured a three-step Dao Lord puppet, which we can't refine or control now. But the black-robed Dao Lord's treasures are of great use," Wind One said.

"No need."

"You really are..."

"We absolutely can't accept it."

Ji Ning and the others all smiled and said. Having spent several thousand years together in the other universe, they had developed good feelings for each other. Wind One was the most sensible among them and the most trusted.

Wind One shook his head helplessly and said, "Alright, I'll shamelessly keep them. By the way, this Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower is almost ripe. Let's pick it. I've taken all the black-robed Dao Lord's treasures, but we'll divide this flower later."

"Good."

"Let's pick it first."

Firejin Waterlord made his move. Water currents surged, forming a large water hand that gently grasped the beautiful Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower in the distance and plucked it.

"Let's go. Continue forward," Prince Qingheng shouted. "We haven't found the formation core yet."

"We must break the formation to leave the Immortal Realm."

Ji Ning and the other five quickly continued forward. They would divide the treasures slowly after getting out. Staying in the Immortal Realm any longer meant more danger. Who knew when that Three Silkworm Emperor would arrive? Although, in theory, the Immortal Realm had a powerful formation isolating it, and the black-robed Dao Lord's death should be unknown to the Three Silkworm Emperor.

But since the Three Silkworm Emperor had personally set up this place, he might have means to know of changes in the Immortal Realm.

Even if he was far away, as an Eternal Emperor, it wouldn't take him too long to reach the Immortal Realm. If they were trapped inside, Ji Ning and the others would be finished.

"Hurry."

"Charge."

There were no more restrictions ahead, as the place where the Thousand-Leaf Rainbow Flower grew was already one of the most important areas of the Dao Lord's estate. Pushing open a huge stone door, they saw a circular hall filled with complex divine rune formations, surging with terrifying power. Thousands of rare stones were embedded in it.

These rare stones, some crystal clear, some white and warm, some pitch black, some emitting chilling cold, were scattered everywhere.

"Jackpot," Prince Qingheng muttered, wide-eyed.

"So many treasures?" Wind One swept his gaze across.

"These ten thousand rare stones alone are worth ten million cubes," Ji Ning calculated and was shocked.

Heavens.

Ten million cubes? Even for a Dao Lord on the verge of dao integration, it was an enormous fortune that would cause heartache. And it was only used to set up a formation.

"We'll divide these treasures into five shares, one each," Wind One said.

"Haha, alright, we'll shamelessly take these treasures."

"Mm."

Prince Qingheng, Ji Ning, and the others didn't refuse.

In fact, doubt arose in their hearts. According to what the black-robed Dao Lord had said, this great formation was personally set up by the Eternal Emperor, who had ordered the black-robed Dao Lord to guard it. What secret was here that required a powerful Dao Lord to guard it long-term and such a costly formation?

"The formation has no one controlling it. This is the formation core, the weakest point. It's easy to break. Don't move recklessly; I'll break it," Wind One said.

Although it was an unattended formation and at its core, it still required Dao Lord-level strength to break.

Wind One Heartlord carefully removed one rare stone after another. After removing twelve, the formation's power began to dim. He smiled and said, "Now, everyone can take their share. The formation has little resistance left."

"Mm."

"Collect."

Ji Ning and the other five each took treasures worth about one-fifth of the total, very conscientiously.

Once all the rare stones were removed, the formation naturally collapsed.

"The formation has collapsed. We can leave," Prince Qingheng said with joy. "But we still don't know what secret this Immortal Realm continent hides, that an Eternal Emperor would set up such a formation and order his subordinate to guard it."

"There are no other paths in the Dao Lord's estate," Wind One said. "Whatever the secret, let's leave first."

"Mm."

Indeed, there were no other paths. They had been advancing deeper into the estate, and the place with the formation core was the deepest part of the entire Dao Lord's estate.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—

Ji Ning and the other five flew extremely fast, leaving the Dao Lord's estate in just a breath's time, as there were no more restrictions along the way.

"Huh?" Ji Ning and the others looked up at the sky, their expressions changing.

"Not good." They were all alarmed.

In the high sky, the formation that had enveloped the entire Immortal Realm had dissipated, revealing the scene beyond. Outside the Immortal Realm were rolling, surging streams of scorching air and huge flaming rocks flying at high speed. The sky was a crimson inferno.

Previously, the formation had isolated all this and protected the Immortal Realm continent.

Now that the formation was removed, the crimson inferno in the sky descended, pressing down continuously, and the edges of the Immortal Realm continent began to collapse.

"This Immortal Realm continent is going to disintegrate."

"Let's help those mortals."

Ji Ning and the others immediately understood they couldn't save the Immortal Realm continent. They instantly teleported to where the cultivators were.

Those cultivators, who had just been freed from their nightmare, were thinking of building their homes again. But soon, they saw the terrifying scene of destruction in the sky. The rolling, surging scorching air was so powerful that even a sweep would kill them all.

Watching the inferno in the sky continuously descend, they had no power to resist.

"Collect." Ji Ning appeared out of nowhere and waved his hand, taking all the millions of cultivators below into his cave treasure.

"Collect." Wind One Heartlord, at another location, also took away the terrified and despairing cultivators.

In just two breaths, all the cultivators on the entire Immortal Realm continent were taken away by Ji Ning and the other five.

Rumble—

Scorching air surged, flaming rocks rampaged wildly. Each collision with the Immortal Realm continent caused it to tremble and split. The continent was visibly breaking into several pieces, continuously disintegrating.

Ji Ning and the other five were extraordinary. The power that could destroy an Immortal Realm continent could not harm them.

They stood in midair, the Yin-Yang Sword Intent domain surrounding them for ten thousand miles. Any scorching air or flaming rock that approached was destroyed.

"The Immortal Realm continent is finished," Ji Ning said, sighing as they watched, having saved the mortal cultivators.

"Look!" Prince Qingheng's expression changed as he pointed to where the Dao Lord's estate had been. The entire continent had completely disintegrated, revealing what was hidden deep beneath the continent, directly below the Dao Lord's estate. It was a huge mountain formed of floating fiery red rocks, about a million miles in size, with strange spatial fluctuations.

"A mine of Space Fire Darkstone?" Ji Ning and the other five were stunned.

...