Chapter 604 - 585: Reality and Illusion, the Supreme Saintess

After walking out of the Solitary Void Trial Array, Yang Chan realized that the time inside was different from the outside world. He felt as if he had stayed in the Solitary Void Trial Array for several days, but in reality, not even a single day had gone by.

There was a discrepancy between what was real and what was illusory.

It was like a dream. Years could pass in a dream, while only a few hours went by in reality.

If the many Spirit Medicines he had collected in his Profound Yin Hanging Bead were not still there, he might have believed they were mere illusions. If that were the case, all his hard work in the Solitary Void Trial Array would have been for naught.

This was also why Gu An wasn’t suspicious of his account. If several days had actually passed, it would have raised questions.

Yang Chan then noticed that the Potential Points on his panel hadn’t refreshed. ’The next time I run into a situation like this, I can just watch the panel to know what’s really going on,’ he thought.

’My senses can be fooled, but the panel can’t. It’s a constant.’

Yang Chan glanced over at the Merak Saintess and her companions. They were just now emerging from the Solitary Void Trial Array, slightly after him.

’Just as I thought. Each of them must have some kind of protective treasure, otherwise they couldn’t have lasted this long inside the Solitary Void Trial Array. Still, I doubt any of them got what they came for.’

The Array Spirit had told him that this Secret Realm had no Secret Order, meaning it couldn’t be refined. It would remain in this world for a while longer before disappearing back into the void.

Yang Chan, however, had a way back in—a method given to him by the Array Spirit. He just had to find a Cross-Realm Teleportation Array to return to the Purple Void Secret Realm, and when he did, the Array Spirit would give him a gift as thanks.

This was a benefit promised by the Array Spirit. Self-interest is a powerful motivator; the promise of a reward would ensure Yang Chan returned to the Purple Void Secret Realm. It was a perfectly normal transaction.

The Cross-Realm Teleportation Arrays had already vanished, and there were very few Great Shift Orders in this Secret Realm to begin with. The Array Spirit had made it clear that no one would be allowed to obtain one unless they passed the trials in the deepest parts of the Solitary Void Trial Array.

That would basically require a Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster to defeat a Blood Exchange Martial Saint Level opponent—a feat so rare that not even the Saint Sons and Saintesses of the great Holy Lands could manage it.

Ouyang Qingtian had only managed it because the Martial Saint from the Jin Meng Empire he fought was injured, and because Ouyang Qingtian himself was blessed with the immense fortune of being the "Dragon Slayer."

Without those conditions, Ouyang Qingtian would have likely been courting death.

After exiting the Secret Realm, the Merak Saintess and her group didn’t leave right away. They all lingered, apparently waiting to see who would be the last one out. They also seemed to be looking for some kind of token.

’That would be the Secret Order,’ Yang Chan knew. ’The Treasure that grants control over this Secret Realm once it’s refined.’

The last person to emerge from the entrance to the Solitary Void Trial Array was Meng Qianshang, the Saintess of the Supreme Sect. A white long sword hung at her waist. With a frosty, expressionless face, she walked out of the array, completely ignoring the onlookers as she returned to the Supreme Sect’s temporary station.

’Supreme Forgetting Emotions... as powerful as they say.’

The Black Dragon sensed that she, too, had completed the first Bone Marrow Cleansing, but she had many hidden methods up her sleeve. Otherwise, there was no way she could have been the last one out.

As soon as the Supreme Sect Saintess emerged, the entrance to the Solitary Void Trial Array snapped shut, much to the disappointment of many onlookers.

Anyone who entered the Solitary Void Trial Array could receive rewards just by passing a few trials, so it was a guaranteed opportunity for gains. As long as you weren’t too greedy and were aware of your own limits, there was no danger.

To gain something simply by acting within your means was a tremendous boon. But now, that opportunity was gone.

In truth, some older-generation masters who had completed the Third Bone Marrow Cleansing had entered the Grand Array, but they hadn’t lasted long within the Solitary Void Trial Array. The array was designed to select for elites, not just for high Cultivation.

Its original purpose had been to select elites for the Purple Void Imperial Dynasty, so it naturally favored factors like youth, high Cultivation, and powerful Combat Power. As such, it had very strict age restrictions.

The older generation’s Cultivation was by no means weak, but the trials they faced were proportionally more difficult. Consequently, they couldn’t last long inside the Solitary Void Trial Array, and the rewards they received were mediocre at best.

The rewards might be some Spirit Medicine, or perhaps elixirs to help someone in the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Realm advance their Cultivation—and not necessarily ones they could use. With bad luck, the reward might even be something suited for the Inner Master level, which was obviously not a great prize.

Yang Chan gave the Supreme Sect Saintess a few more glances. She had been one of the first to enter the Elite Trial Array, and her unique aura made her instantly recognizable.

The Supreme Forgetting Emotions of the Supreme Sect made its practitioners very easy to identify.

None of the members from the other Holy Sects or Imperial Dynasties made a move when the Supreme Saintess emerged, as they couldn’t sense any trace of the Secret Order on her.

The major Holy Lands and Imperial Dynasties all possessed methods for detecting the Secret Order, which was how they hunted for it. But right now, they couldn’t detect its aura on the Supreme Sect Saintess, so of course, they held back.

The Supreme Sect was already a powerful force, and the fact that this Supreme Saintess was the last one to emerge left no doubt as to her own strength.

Even the Merak Saintess, He Zixuan, regarded the Supreme Saintess with a hint of wariness.

Though they weren’t from the same Sect and thus had no direct internal competition, rivalry among peers of the same generation was inescapable.

The leaders of the major Holy Lands—the Saint Masters and Sect Leaders—had all risen to the top by distinguishing themselves from their entire generation, not just from rivals within their own Sects.

Dominating the competition of one’s generation was a prerequisite for becoming a Saint Master or Sect Leader.

If the Merak Saintess wished to become the Saint Master of the Merak Sacred Land, she too would have to walk this path.

Thus, her rivals weren’t limited to just the Merak Saint Son, Quasi-Saint Sons, and Quasi-Saintesses within the Merak Sacred Land.

The Supreme Sect Saintess’s emergence from the Purple Void Secret Realm, as the very last person to clear the Solitary Void Trial Array, was a testament to her being the most outstanding of her generation. By comparison, the rest of them were mere foils.

Of course, that was just one benchmark. The Merak Saintess was confident that in a true battle, she would prove no weaker than the Supreme Saintess.

Not far away, Princess Qianyue of the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty tore her gaze away from the Supreme Saintess. Her eyes swept over the Saint Sons and Saintesses from the other major Holy Lands, as if she were searching for someone in the crowd.

’If I hadn’t run into that person in the Secret Realm and been forced to use the Secret Weapon the Emperor of Great Zhou gave me, I could have gone much further in the Solitary Void Trial Array! I might have even surpassed the Supreme Saintess. But that little thief ruined everything.’

She had wanted to get revenge, but that person had "kindly" sent her away instead. The memory of his infuriating smile was seared into her mind, and that was precisely who she was searching for now in the crowd.

But a full scan of the crowd yielded nothing, leaving her fuming with indignation!