269: It must be an illusion!

Inside the Immortal Cave, blood-colored light flickered.

Lu Ming sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, sitting opposite Mu Han's corpse.

A sea of blood vision manifested around him, yet he, sitting at the center of this blood sea, seemed to have transformed into an invisible vortex, slowly drawing strands of pale golden Origin metallic essence—resembling smoke and mist—from the corpse, silently merging them into his own body.

Suddenly, the sea of blood surrounding him boiled, and countless blood-colored runes emerged from the waves, beginning to greedily absorb the Origin metallic essence.

At the same time, Lu Ming's aura began to fluctuate violently and climb during this process, like a dormant volcano gathering strength.

The entire Immortal Cave seemed to be gripped by an invisible hand, suffocatingly oppressive.

I do not know how much time passed, but the moment the last trace of the Origin metallic essence was completely devoured...

The sea of blood vision around him retracted with a boom, all of it sinking into his body.

All agitation ceased abruptly.

Absolute silence lasted for a fleeting instant.

Immediately after.

Boom—

A tyrannical aura erupted violently with him as the center, sweeping outwards with a Spiritual Pressure far more domineering than that of the Early Golden Core Stage, shaking the entire Immortal Cave until it rustled.

A moment later, Lu Ming slowly opened his eyes. His pupils first resembled two deep pools of blood springs, then became deeply veiled, disappearing from sight.

Mid-stage Golden Core, achieved!

"Hoo~"

Lu Ming slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, a stream of dark red energy curling past.

Before him, Mu Han's corpse, having had its Origin completely extracted and now reduced to a withered husk of skin and bone, instantly turned into fly ash and dissipated into nothingness.

Lu Ming did not pay any attention to this; he simply felt the more powerful strength within his body compared to before and nodded with satisfaction.

This Breakthrough could be considered a result of accumulated efforts, and it was actually faster than his Foundation Establishment Stage Breakthrough.

This was all thanks to the "all-out assistance" of several Immortal Masters.

Three Mid-stage Golden Core, plus one Late Golden Core Stage that had fallen in Realm, along with various resources, allowed him to cross this Bottleneck in one go.

"With this level of cultivation, I will have more confidence venturing out of the Southern Wilderness Region."

"However... I still need to see what it looks like out there first."

Lu Ming raised his hand in a beckoning gesture, and the pitch-black door frame spanning the entrance of the Immortal Cave immediately transformed into the human emperor banner and landed in his hand.

The foundation of the Tian Xing Sect had surged after receiving the assets of the Qingxuan Sect and the Ji Clan Immortal Dynasty.

Furthermore, it was now on the right track, and even though Lu Ming was certain that True Person Tianxing harbored no malice towards him, he did not want to place himself in danger.

Therefore, the abandoned site of the Heavenly Star Immortal City, now ownerless, was perfectly suited for him to go into seclusion and digest his recent gains.

However, to be safe, he still left the human emperor banner at the outer gate to guard the Dao.

"Eh?"

Just as the human emperor banner came into his hand, Lu Ming let out a soft sound of surprise.

"Is it my imagination? Why does it feel like the human emperor banner has become a bit stronger?"

Immediately, Lu Ming shook his head.

The human emperor banner was already Medium Grade Tier 3; it wouldn't be so easy to improve. It must be an illusion!

Consequently, he did not think about it any further. He unfurled the banner, and amidst swirling black mist, a figure appeared from within.

Lu Ming scrutinized this Banner Spirit, Mu Han, feeling very satisfied.

Unlike the Realm he had fallen to at the end, Mu Han's raw soul had been forcibly extracted using a grand Formation, preserving its original essence and perfectly inheriting the Soul Power of a Late Golden Core Stage.

This was also the strongest Banner Spirit currently in his possession.

However, Lu Ming still let Ji Ruge serve as the main soul to govern all spirits.

The Qi of the Imperial Dao combined with the Evil Qi of the Ghostly Dao had performed admirably in this battle; continuing to explore this path might yield more gains in the future.

"Let me see what kind of thing lies beyond the Southern Wilderness Region!"

With a thought from Lu Ming, the human emperor banner fluttered without wind, and a ray of ghostly light instantly enveloped the Banner Spirit, Mu Han.

In an instant, countless memory images flooded into Lu Ming's Sea of Consciousness like a torrent.

In these chaotic memories, a vast world named "Profound Spirit Domain" unfolded before his eyes.

Within it, countless Immortal Sects and Demonic Sects stood, and the power structure was clear.

Above were the seven great Sects, revered as the "Seven Grotto-Heavens," all of which had Nascent Soul Old Ancestors presiding over them; they were also the strongest individuals in the Profound Spirit Domain.

Below them were the "Thirty-Six Blessed Lands," all of which were Golden Core powers, guarding all directions.

Among the Seven Grotto-Heavens, the Righteous Path occupied four, with Taixuan Grotto-Heaven as the leader, possessing a Late Nascent Soul Great Immortal Master within the Sect to suppress the region.

The Demonic Path held three, among which the "Soul Devouring Demonic Sect" was revered; they acted ruthlessly and deviously, and their signature item was that "soul devouring banner."

And this Mu Han originated from there!

"So that's how it is!"

After viewing all of Mu Han's memories, Lu Ming finally understood why Mu Han had traveled such a long way to this resource-poor Southern Wilderness Region.

He flipped his right hand, and a token that was neither metal nor wood, feeling cool to the touch, appeared in his palm. Ancient runes were on it, with faint spiritual light flowing within.

"Xuanling Secret Realm, Nascent Soul Opportunity..."

This token was what he had previously obtained from Shen Yuan's Storage Pouch. At the time, he only felt its material was unique but did not know its purpose, so he had set it aside.

Now, comparing it with Mu Han's memories, this item was actually the secret key leading to a Nascent Soul Opportunity!

According to Mu Han's memory, he and Shen Yuan had gone out "hunting" to collect souls to refine the soul devouring banner, but they accidentally stumbled into a secret location concealed by a Formation.

And that place turned out to be the burial site of a Golden Core Perfection Cultivator.

The two of them divided the relics and found these two Xuanling Secret Tokens therein.

This token was an admission pass for the "Xuanling Secret Realm," which only opened once every thousand years.

No one knew exactly how many such tokens existed; it was only known that when the Secret Realm manifested, a sufficient number of tokens had to be gathered to enter.

Inside the Secret Realm, there were many treasures that would drive Golden Core Cultivators crazy.

Such as the Dao Tea of Spirit Enlightenment that boosted Comprehension Ability, and the Five Elements Spirit Fruits that cleansed Aptitude and transformed one's bones.

Not to mention, there were also heaven and earth spirit objects that could assist people in forming the Nascent Soul, the "xuan yin jade marrow"!

It could be said that it was a rare treasure vault prepared specifically for Golden Core Cultivators!

However, although the Opportunity was great, it required a long wait.

The Lifespan of a Golden Core Cultivator was only eight hundred years, and with this thousand-year cycle, let alone Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment, often many Golden Core Cultivators could only sadly miss it.

However, according to what Mu Han knew, over nine hundred years had passed since the last time the Secret Realm opened!

This meant that within a hundred years, the Secret Realm was highly likely to manifest again!

A Nascent Soul Opportunity was right before them; how could Mu Han and Shen Yuan not be excited!

It was just a pity that, for unknown reasons, the news that they possessed the secret tokens had leaked.

In an instant, the two of them became the targets of public criticism and were hunted down by the four Righteous Path Sects on the surface of the Profound Spirit Domain, with the excuse that they were "slaughtering living beings, guilty of heinous crimes."

As for how many other forces were coveting them in the shadows, it was impossible to count.

However, they estimated that their fellow disciples from the Soul Devouring Demonic Sect were likely the ones shouting the loudest.

Therefore, the two, not daring to return to their Sect, were chased like stray dogs with no way up to heaven and no door into the earth, eventually having to flee in panic into that vast mountain range, which was considered a dangerous place even for the Profound Spirit Domain.

Oh, over in the Profound Spirit Domain, it was called the "Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range"!

Afterwards, the two experienced several near-death encounters, and finally, through a twist of fate, they entered the Southern Wilderness Region.

And from this, the subsequent series of events was triggered.