The progress of the Heaven and Earth Furnace becomes increasingly difficult to advance the further it goes.
Previously, a jade pendant worth one hundred high-grade spirit stones, along with some items scavenged from the market, pushed it past forty percent.
This time, the value of the materials was significantly higher than last time, but the progress bar of the furnace slowed down instead.
Materials worth a full two thousand high-grade spirit stones!
They were devoured one by one by the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
Li Shuang felt no heartache; even if it required more materials, she had to open the furnace.
Fifty percent.
Sixty percent.
Seventy percent.
The furnace's progress slowly increased.
Under Li Shuang's expectant gaze, the progress reached ninety percent.
And in her hand, there was one last item: a white jade hairpin imbued with spiritual energy.
Li Shuang took a deep breath and placed the last hairpin inside.
The hairpin went in.
The Heaven and Earth Furnace spun slightly faster.
Then, it finally stopped at ninety-five percent!
Still five percent short!
In these final ten percent, the growth of the progress bar was clearly much more difficult.
But Li Shuang's mood was still calm.
She was about to enter the Langya Secret Realm, and completing this five percent progress there would not be difficult.
Li Shuang recalled that she had entered the Langya Secret Realm twice in total. Once was shortly after she arrived at the Sword Sect, when she had just established her foundation. The second time was ten years ago, before Ye Zhaozhao had even joined the sect.
Some things were common to both entries into the Langya Secret Realm.
Before entering this secret realm, each disciple would be assigned a token.
The secret realm had three areas: the outer region, the inner region, and the core region.
The outer region was the most developed and safest. When operating in the outer region, all disciples must carry their tokens at all times. The tokens would record the disciples' actions, and all gains in this area had to be shared equally with the sect.
If one went to the deeper inner region, or even the core region, the token would lose its recording effect.
For gains in these two areas, disciples could choose to exchange them for sect contribution points or keep them for themselves; it was not mandatory.
The gains from the Langya Secret Realm were related to the sect's prestige, and in terms of contribution points, the sect was actually quite generous.
Last time, Li Shuang basically kept nothing. Most of her gains were given to Chang Le'an through various means, and the rest were exchanged for sect contribution points.
From her first entry into the Langya Secret Realm, Li Shuang began venturing into the inner region and even the core region.
This time, she would be no exception.
She was on the verge of establishing her foundation, so she definitely needed to find a good foundation-building item.
A swaying lotus flower appeared before Li Shuang's eyes.
She was determined to see that lotus on the ice again.
The first time she entered the Langya Secret Realm, she had already established her foundation. However, after bringing out the seed of the ice lotus, she dispersed her foundation-building cultivation and re-established her foundation using the ice lotus seed.
Fortunately, she hadn't been in the Foundation Establishment stage for long at that time. After re-establishing her foundation, she quickly recovered her cultivation, and with the aid of the lotus seed, her cultivation speed was much faster than before.
Without this foundation-building item, Li Shuang might not have been able to form a Golden Core or even a Nascent Soul so quickly back then.
This showed.
How much of a boost a suitable foundation-building marvel could give to a cultivator.
For this foundation establishment, Li Shuang currently had no better choice, so she planned to continue searching for that ice lotus seed.
The Langya Secret Realm was about to open, and the disciples of the Sword Sect who had secured spots were busy preparing for entry. Lin Qingling also called Li Shuang and Liu Juncheng to give them a concentrated crash course.
Seven days passed in a flash.
Finally, the day for the Langya Secret Realm to open arrived.
In front of the Sect Master's Hall, fifty disciples gathered.
This time, from Lingxu Peak, in addition to the two true disciples Ye Zhaozhao and Chang Le'an, two official disciples were also on the list.
Now, these four stood together, looking at Li Shuang with a hint of hostility in their eyes.
Li Shuang looked straight ahead, pretending not to notice.
Meng Yifei glanced at the fifty disciples.
Among these disciples, future deacons, peak masters, or even sect masters would emerge.
They were the future of the Sword Sect.
Meng Yifei slowly said, "Many of you are not entering the secret realm for the first time. Remember, while the treasures of the secret realm are good, your lives are also very important. If you choose to stay in the outer region, I approve. If you wish to venture into the inner region, or even the core region, you need to know that no matter how good the items are, you must preserve your life to bring them out!"
"Since the Langya Secret Realm opened, every time, elite disciples have been buried forever in this secret realm, most dying without even their bones remaining. Fifty of you are going to the secret realm now, and I hope that when you return, you will still be fifty."
As Meng Yifei spoke, everyone's hearts tightened, and they nodded in agreement.
The outer region had been almost completely explored. Unless they got incredibly lucky like Chang Le'an last time and continuously discovered undiscovered treasures, they would at most only have some conventional gains.
To gain more, or even to achieve instant success, they had to go to the inner and core regions.
Danger and opportunity coexist; it's up to each individual to decide!
"Senior Sister Li, others can choose to stay in the outer region, but with your abilities, you're definitely going to venture into the inner region, aren't you?" Ye Zhaozhao suddenly said.
Ye Zhaozhao's eyes flickered.
In the outer region, disciples' actions were monitored at all times, so even if she had the ability, she couldn't act against Li Shuang.
Once they went to the inner region, it would be different.
If Li Shuang died, she died, and no one would trace it back to her.
Didn't the Sect Master say?
Every time the Langya Secret Realm opened, elite disciples died inside.
Moreover, most of them died without even their bones remaining.
For one Li Shuang to die, that would be perfectly normal!
Li Shuang glanced indifferently at Ye Zhaozhao: "No need for Junior Sister Ye to worry."
She naturally intended to go to the inner region, but there was no need to tell Ye Zhaozhao about it.
Ye Zhaozhao's eyes moved, and she said no more.
Asking too much would seem too obvious.
She didn't believe that, with Li Shuang's personality, she could resist staying in the outer region.
"The teleportation array is about to open. Deacon Lin, distribute the tokens. Besides recording and teleportation, these tokens also contain a map of the already explored outer region. However, the Langya Secret Realm is mysterious and unpredictable, so this map can only be used as a reference. The changes in the Langya Secret Realm are beyond human comprehension, like the shifting of seas into mulberry fields and the movement of stars." As Meng Yifei spoke, a deacon distributed the tokens.
"The outer region is relatively safe, but not entirely safe. Sometimes, accidents do happen. If you encounter danger in the outer region, use the token, and you can immediately return to the sect." Meng Yifei emphasized, "If you leave the outer region, this token will be unusable."
All the disciples carefully put away their tokens.
At critical moments, this token might be their hope for survival.
As soon as everyone had put away their tokens, a white light illuminated a teleportation array in the square.
The time had come!
The Langya Secret Realm had opened!