9.18 – But the task has only been completed halfway!  

translator: xiin

editors: BlueBug & Misogi cRtlIP

This mysterious secret realm did not have a name. It once belonged to an unknown swordsman. After the swordsman found his dao, he turned his estate into a secret realm and then scattered five stones engraved with parts of the map all over the world, hoping that in the future, some predestined person would be able to break the seal to the secret realm and obtain his inheritance.

A swordsman's inheritance was naturally related to his swordsmans.h.i.+p. But the person who would be able to enter his secret realm had to be a person of great strength, and anyone who would be strong enough to enter would already have developed their own swordsmans.h.i.+p, which naturally differed from his. He wanted to find a successor, but ultimately was unable to achieve his goal.

According to the outline that the author supplied, Yu Shaofeng and Chi Jian ultimately managed to enter this secret realm, despite not being strong enough, through a series of mistakes and accidents. They had only obtained minor achievements along the path of the sword and had their own sword intent, but had not yet touched the realm of creating their own sword dao. They were precisely the successors that matched with that Venerable Swordsman's inheritance, so this secret realm became the stepping-board for their rapid development. The people who had driven them into the secret realm were immediately slaughtered when they came out, and then these two began to kill in all directions. Although they were still hunted at the end because their strength was not strong enough, things like the path of the sword was something that one only had to step on, and understanding would naturally follow. In the later stages—after the two of them accepted the inheritance—they escaped from many pursuers and killed many opponents.

Xue Ling knew what was going to happen in the secret realm, but he still had to make a trip. Intuition told him that there was something odd about the secret realm, and when they arrived in front of the secret realm, this feeling became increasingly evident. UALeyu

The five stones contained a map that guided people to find the secret realm, and they also served as the key to enter. But even with the key, one still needed enough strength to open the seal that surrounded the secret realm, and it was for this reason that they needed Chi Lan to join them on this journey.

According to the directions they were given, Xue Ling and the group was already standing in front of the secret realm. The secret realm seemed peaceful on the surface, but for some reason, it gave Xue Ling a strange feeling. According to the timeline that was outlined in the plot summary, this place contained nothing other than the inheritance, but the aura that the secret realm was emanating gave off a sense of extreme danger.

Chi Lan seemed to have noticed this too. He narrowed his eyes and reached out to hold Xue Ling's hand, but Xue Ling brushed him off.

Xue Ling's movements were ruthless, but there was no expression on his face. He only spoke in an odd tone, "Something is wrong.” qgls2f

Chi Lan was already very satisfied that he could keep this person by his side. He did not have any other requirements regarding Xue Ling's moods right now; they still had a long time ahead, and he would naturally be able to properly coax his disciple. He soothingly placed Xue Ling behind him for protection, and glanced at Yu Shaofeng and Chi Jian. "You two step back. I will open up the secret realm now."

Their present location was not concealed. If they didn't quickly open up the secret realm and enter it, they might catch other people's attention, and the probability that they would be able to clear out the secret realm alone would become much smaller.

Yu Shaofeng split the five stones so that everyone had one. Only those who were holding the stones would be able to enter the secret realm.

Electric light flashed on Chi Lan's fingertips. A tiny spark of fire was nestled within the light - it was not obvious, but as the lightning became stronger and covered a larger and larger area, the small flame also spread out and turned into a burning dragon composed entirely of fire. KAam1I

The lightning wrapped around the dragon's body and ran along its scales. Each and every scale flashed with lightning. At some point, the entire sky had become covered by the gathering clouds, and this piece of the sky was threatening to fall down as the fire dragon threaded its way amongst the clouds. Every time it rose up, it brought along with it the roaring sound of thunder.