Cyan Cloud Tower, Yu City.
"Pharmacist Yang, what brings you here in person this time?"
The Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall was a little surprised to see Yang Chan arrive with people from the Cyan Yuan Sect.
Previously, Gu An had made arrangements for a group from the Cyan Yuan Sect to come and seek opportunities in the Secret Realm. It wasn’t mandatory; only those who volunteered would come.
The spots were limited to one hundred people.
He hadn’t expected Yang Chan to come personally. After all, even Gu An hadn’t thought Yang Chan would come to Yu City, as Yang Chan had previously shown no interest in even going to the Secret Realm. Otherwise, he would have come along long ago.
"What? Am I not allowed to come?"
Yang Chan said with a smile.
The current Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall was a different person now, but of course, he was still an acquaintance of Yang Chan’s.
Most of the Cultivation Resources for the Cyan Yuan Sect’s Elders and Hall Masters came from him, so they had naturally dealt with each other and were quite familiar.
"That’s not what I meant. I’m just surprised to see you here in person, Pharmacist Yang."
The Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall quickly waved his hands in dismissal.
"Is Sect Leader Gu not in Yu City?"
Yang Chan couldn’t sense Gu An’s aura and had a guess as to his whereabouts.
"Seven days ago, the Merak Saintess arrived in Yu City with disciples from the Merak Sacred Land. They were all planning to enter the Purple Void Secret Realm. The Sect Leader personally guided them in."
Because this newly discovered Secret Realm is related to the Purple Void Imperial Dynasty, it was named the Purple Void Secret Realm.
The Law Enforcement Hall Master explained Gu An’s situation, adding that before entering the Secret Realm, Gu An had instructed him to stay and guard Yu City.
"A new place of inheritance has appeared in the Purple Void Secret Realm. Right now, Sect Leader Gu and the others should be trying to break the Array on it to get inside and claim the inheritance!"
Inside the Purple Void Secret Realm, most Treasures are protected by Arrays and cannot be obtained directly. This is especially true the deeper one goes. To get the Treasure within an Array, one must first break it to gain entry.
The difficulty of this is considerable, and it takes a great deal of time.
The more precious the item, the more complex the Array protecting it.
Therefore, there are some places known to hold Treasure, but which are simply impossible to enter.
Gu An had come to Yu City beforehand precisely to gather this kind of information about the Secret Realm.
The people from the Merak Sacred Land look down on ordinary Treasures in the Secret Realm. Only true Exotic Treasures, the kind worthy of the Purple Void Imperial Dynasty’s attention, are worth their effort.
Before the Merak Saintess and her people arrived, Gu An had already compiled a map of the opportunities and Treasure distributions that had been discovered so far.
Although it was only a partial map, it was still precious information for many, allowing them to avoid a lot of dead ends.
"I’d like to see the Secret Realm map that Sect Leader Gu compiled. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
After exchanging a few pleasantries with the Law Enforcement Hall Master, Yang Chan got straight to the point and stated his purpose.
If he entered the Secret Realm knowing nothing, he would likely encounter immense danger.
The first people who explored for opportunities had no idea of the Secret Realm’s layout, and many died as a result. The map Gu An had compiled was the result of many lives lost, making it extremely valuable.
Since others had already paved the way, he naturally didn’t need to tread the same dangerous ground. Besides, he needed a direction to find what he was looking for in the Secret Realm, rather than just blindly rushing in.
"Of course it’s no problem for you to see it, Pharmacist Yang."
"But... are you planning to go in right now, Pharmacist Yang?"
"Many experts have gathered in the Secret Realm right now. Even an Inner Master isn’t guaranteed to be able to protect themselves in there. If you want to go in, Pharmacist Yang, it would be better to wait."
"In a while, the Sect Leader and the others will have someone deliver the Treasures they’ve obtained from the Secret Realm and send in a new batch of supplies. You could go with them then, Pharmacist Yang."
"With the people from the Merak Sacred Land around, it will be relatively safer!"
The Law Enforcement Hall Master suggested.
He didn’t directly say that Yang Chan’s Cultivation was too low. After all, the Cultivation Yang Chan was currently displaying was only at the External Refining Steel Realm. While this Cultivation wasn’t weak, it wasn’t high in the context of this massive Secret Realm.
Even an Inner Master like himself felt that the Secret Realm was extremely perilous, to say nothing of Yang Chan.
For instance, among the people the Merak Sacred Land arranged to enter the Purple Void Secret Realm, the weakest were at the External Refining Iron Bone Level. Most were Inner Masters, and there were even a few Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmasters overseeing them. Even with so many experts, their group wasn’t the strongest one inside the Secret Realm.
For example, the Imperial Families of the Great Zhou and Celestial Wind Imperial Dynasties sent in even more people, and their forces were stronger. They held a great advantage because their reinforcements could arrive extremely quickly.
This was all information the Law Enforcement Hall Master had gathered recently.
After Gu An entered the Secret Realm, he had taken over Gu An’s previous task of collecting and organizing all sorts of information about it. When supplies were sent in, he would also send the intelligence he’d gathered from the outside world so that they would be better informed.
This method might cause them to miss some opportunities, but that wasn’t important. The Merak Sacred Land’s targets were those places that were difficult to open, as the Treasures within were of greater interest to them.
The Law Enforcement Hall Master even had a feeling that the people from the Merak Sacred Land were searching for something specific in the Secret Realm. However, since they hadn’t said anything, he wasn’t entirely sure.
After he finished speaking, the Law Enforcement Hall Master retrieved a map from a hidden spot. It was the one the Cyan Yuan Sect had compiled on the Purple Void Secret Realm.
"This is the general layout of the Secret Realm as we know it, but it’s not complete. It only shows the areas that have been explored so far."
"The deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets. It’s hard to even take a single step forward because of all the Arrays, so the progress of exploration has slowed down considerably!"
"However, some speculate that this massive Secret Realm will remain open for a long time, so many people are slowly working on solving the Array problems to venture into its depths!"
The Law Enforcement Hall Master continued speaking.
The more one learned about the situation in the Secret Realm, the more one realized how extraordinary it was.
After all, even Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmasters—and quite a few of them—had taken action, yet the progress of exploration was only getting slower. This outcome was beyond many people’s expectations.
Some speculated that without the intervention of a Blood Exchange Martial Saint Level expert, it would likely be impossible to reach the depths of the Secret Realm.
Even with such rumors circulating, none of the major powers had arranged for a Blood Exchange Martial Saint to come. If an expert of that level were to enter the Secret Realm, the implications would be entirely different.
Therefore, they all exercised restraint when arranging for people to enter the Purple Void Secret Realm. It was a kind of tacit understanding among the major powers.
"On the map, these few areas are relatively safe. There’s a good amount of Spirit Medicine in these parts of the Secret Realm, so even latecomers can find some. These other areas are extremely dangerous—there are Exotic Beasts and even Alien Races. Many people have died in this region..."
The Law Enforcement Hall Master pointed to various areas on the map, explaining the situation in each. This was information not recorded on the map itself, passed down only by word of mouth—a method of keeping it secret!