Chapter 656 - 334: Discovery of the Passage

Chapter 656: Chapter 334: Discovery of the Passage

Cheng Zongyang looked at the stall owner, trying to suppress the excitement in his voice. "Can you tell me where in the Profound Origin Secret Realm this came from?" he asked.

The stall owner glanced at Cheng Zongyang, confused. "Why do you ask?"

Cheng Zongyang shook his head. "Just curious. What’s the price for this?"

Hearing him ask for the price, the stall owner smiled. "It’s just an ordinary Bronze Tripod. One Spirit Stone will do."

Cheng Zongyang was rather surprised that the stall owner didn’t try to raise the price. After taking out a Spirit Stone and giving it to the man, he asked again, "Did this come from some kind of temple?"

The stall owner was astonished. "How did you know?"

He had seen Cheng Zongyang produce the Spirit Stone from thin air and also noticed the Storage Pouch at his waist, so he knew the other party was a Cultivator. Cultivators couldn’t enter the Secret Realm, which made him curious about how Cheng Zongyang knew so much.

Cheng Zongyang chuckled. "I heard it mentioned by someone else. I’m just rather interested in these kinds of artifacts."

Seeing no other customers approaching, the stall owner elaborated, "Immortal Master, you’re exactly right. I found this in a ruined temple. I’m just a Lower Three Grades Martial Artist, so I can’t go to the dangerous places. I can only try my luck in certain areas, picking up things that others don’t want. But when I brought it back, the acquisition shops weren’t interested, so I decided to try my luck with a stall here."

Cheng Zongyang wasn’t concerned with these details and pressed on, "Did you see any Divine Statues inside?"

"Yes, but they were all in ruins," the stall owner nodded.

"Was there anything in the center of the Divine Statue Head’s forehead?"

As he spoke, Cheng Zongyang took out the Secret Realm map Baili Xi had given him. He unrolled it, took out another Spirit Stone for the stall owner, and pressed, "I won’t ask for your help for free. This is your payment. Show me the location."

The stall owner hadn’t expected the extra cash. He happily pocketed the Spirit Stone and turned his gaze to the map Cheng Zongyang had spread out.

When he saw the map, he was quite surprised. The maps people like him could buy weren’t nearly this complete. But on second thought, it made sense. The other party was a Cultivator, so of course he could buy a better, more comprehensive map. Thus, he didn’t ask any more questions. After quickly studying the map for a moment, he pointed to a corner and said:

"It’s in this mountainous region here. As for what you mentioned about the Divine Statue’s forehead, I’m not sure about that. The statue’s head was gone."

Cheng Zongyang immediately memorized the location. He then continued to ask about other major locations and the various shops that purchased items from the Secret Realm.

After getting a general idea, Cheng Zongyang proceeded to visit every shop in Ice City that acquired items from the Secret Realm.

He asked only one question: about the Divine Statue’s Head!

He knew very well that if a Soul Crystal still existed in the center of a Divine Statue’s forehead, it would be impossible for an ordinary person to pry it loose.

Back then, he himself had relied on the Ring Spirit’s suppression to overcome the overwhelming might of the Divine Dao Power. Besides, these people lacked appraisal abilities. They would probably just see a Soul Crystal as some kind of precious or peculiar object.

However, the results of his search made Cheng Zongyang’s brow furrow.

All the Divine Statue Heads taken from the Secret Realm that contained Soul Crystals had been bought up by the major family clans or Immortal Sects. He learned from over a dozen shops that thirteen such Divine Statue Heads had appeared.

With his search for the Divine Statue Heads proving fruitless, Cheng Zongyang immediately changed his plan.

He began posting high-priced bounties at the offices of the Five Great Immortal Sects in Ice City. The bounties were for the locations of any temples that had once contained Divine Statues. To make things more convenient, he synchronized the posting time so that everyone who might know would see the bounty mission.

The Divine Statue’s Soul Crystal was precious, but what he wanted even more was the Five Elements Spirit Pearl that might exist underground!

The Soul Crystal was what the Ring Spirit needed, but the Spirit Pearl was what *he* needed!

He never would have imagined that entering the Profound Origin Secret Realm would lead to the Wilderness World. Or rather, that this was a lost passageway from long ago!

This also meant that his and the Ring Spirit’s previous guess was correct—there really was a passageway!

After posting the bounties, Cheng Zongyang didn’t linger. Once his preparations were complete, he left Ice City and headed west, toward the entrance to the Secret Realm.

It wasn’t far, only a few miles away. When he saw the entrance to the Secret Realm, he was quite surprised.

He hadn’t asked what the entrance was like, but seeing it with his own eyes, he discovered it was actually inside a massive Ice Cave within a great ice mountain!

There were many people lining up to enter, their faces filled with anticipation, nervousness, or excitement.

Cheng Zongyang stood in the crowd, his gaze fixed firmly ahead. Everyone entering had to pay one Spirit Stone, a fee collected jointly by the Five Great Immortal Sects that no one could refuse. Cheng Zongyang followed the crowd, paid his Spirit Stone, and walked into the spacious Ice Cave.

The Ice Cave, roughly a hundred feet wide, was divided into two lanes for coming and going.

Some people chatted in low voices, the complex medley of sounds echoing ethereally through the Ice Cave. Some hurried along, their footsteps making crisp sounds on the ice. Some watched the hauls of those returning on the opposite path, their eyes filled with envy or jealousy. Others stopped to organize their supplies with practiced and orderly movements.

A sense of urgency grew in Cheng Zongyang’s heart.

’Everything in this Wilderness World was supposed to be mine. Who would have thought there’d be an open passage connecting it to the outside world?’

Soon, after walking for some time with the crowd, they emerged from the mouth of the cave.

Cheng Zongyang realized that this exit was also the mouth of a cave on a large mountain. The environment here was no different from a marketplace. It had clearly been developed, with sheds, shops, inns, as well as supply points and trading posts.

The Five Great Immortal Sects didn’t restrict when people who entered the Secret Realm had to leave, so many people lived here. Of course, they could only rent their accommodations. By staying here, they were under the protection of the Five Great Immortal Sects, and no one dared to cause trouble. The only alternative was to build your own hut outside.

But just a moment after Cheng Zongyang stepped into this Secret Realm, the Ring Spirit’s voice sounded in his mind—

[Inter-realm connection channel detected. Location of the Realm of Ten Thousand Races’ residual link channel locked... Beginning takeover of channel authority... Insufficient coverage area detected. Host, your current territory’s coverage range is insufficient to take over this area. Do you wish to perform a partial territory swap?]

Hearing this prompt, Cheng Zongyang suppressed his elation. He quickly found an inn to stay in, sent his consciousness into the Hall of Ten Thousand Races, and then transferred to the Dominator Space on the eighth level.

"Ring Spirit, what does ’partial territory swap’ mean?" Cheng Zongyang asked quickly. "I expanded my territory by 30,000 kilometers before. How is that still not enough to cover this?"

The Ring Spirit’s voice immediately responded within the space:

[The Realm of Ten Thousand Races is vast. At my current level, I cannot access all of it. If you swap a portion of your currently expanded and covered territory for the area near the channel, you will lose access to the former area, but you will gain access to the channel’s region.]

Cheng Zongyang understood now. "What’s the coverage area over there?" he asked.

[Detection complete. Approximately 15,000 kilometers.]

Cheng Zongyang was shocked. "That’s a direct swap for half my territory! Is that the extent of the explored area over there?"

[Correct.]

"After swapping the territory and taking over the channel, what will I be able to do?"

[After the swap, you will have control authority. You can exercise this control in conjunction with the channel space and the Realm of Dominator.]

At this, Cheng Zongyang suddenly calmed down.

Faced with this sudden, wonderful surprise of new authority, he had to force himself to calm down quickly. Otherwise, he would have started shouting and screaming to vent his excitement.

It was simple. With control over the channel space and the authority of the Realm of Dominator, he could essentially take over everything here, establish entirely new rules, and control everyone’s entry and exit.

The problem was, he didn’t have enough Points!

Never mind the vast amount of Points needed for things like establishing rules, altering terrain, and wielding absolute power within the Realm of Dominator; just setting rules for the channel space alone would require a huge number of Points.

After his transaction with the Cyan Dragon Commerce Association, he currently had just over 200,000 Points. That was still enough to establish some basic rules for the channel.

He wasn’t in a rush. Instead, he summoned Luo Dingran. He needed to understand the current situation in his territory to avoid causing any unnecessary losses.