Please, Young Master, Slay the Demon!
Chapter 862 - 72: Heavenly Palace City [Vote for monthly pass!]

Chapter 862: Chapter 72: Heavenly Palace City [Vote for monthly pass!]

Immortal Qi Jing sent the Yin Family Four Brothers out of Shenxu and returned with the Absolute Yang Banner without spending much time.

He asked Uncle Yin, who was waiting at the entrance, "How does the path behind the door go? Is there a record of it in your map collection?"

"Our ancestor’s map collection only has the lower half, which records the latter half of the challenges within the Sword Domain Heavenly Palace. As for the first half, it’s detailed in the other half of the collection, which I am unaware of," Uncle Yin honestly answered.

"We’ll talk about that later then," Immortal Qi Jing nodded and said, "Follow closely."

With that, he mustered his cultivation with one arm and pushed open the Main Gate of the Heavenly Palace with a palm, boom——

The rumbling sounded like thunder; the door was as heavy as a mountain, yet in the palm of Immortal Qi Jing, it seemed effortless, easily pushed open a crack.

As soon as the crack appeared, a strong suction force immediately emerged from the door, like a colossal spiritual power vortex that sucked everyone in!

Whoosh——

After a dizzying upheaval, everyone landed on a piece of land. Looking up, they saw a dense jungle ahead, and their Divine Sense detected the corner of a city in the distance.

Turning back, the path they had come from had completely disappeared. In other words, apart from moving forward, there was no other way to go.

This encounter was somewhat similar to what had happened previously in the Jiuli Secret Realm; the difference was that everything in the Jiuli Secret Realm had been an illusion created by the spirit of Bronze City, whereas everything here seemed more real.

Immortal Qi Jing swept over this realm with his Divine Sense and frowned slightly, "Such a vast Secret Realm, my Divine Sense can’t even reach its boundaries."

One should know that the range covered by a Divine Sense of an Eighth Realm powerhouse is extremely terrifying, and most Secret Realms can be scanned with a mere sweep. If even he couldn’t reach the edge, it meant that this Secret Realm was unimaginably huge.

"Our ancestor once stated that this place is most likely a Secret Realm left by a Ninth Realm God, which is why it could be so expansive," Uncle Yin added.

Upon hearing this, Immortal Qi Jing was not shocked but delighted instead.

By the Seventh Realm, one could establish their own Secret Realm, although it would be small and integrate only a few major Dao. It’s usually by the Eighth Realm that a Secret Realm would start to truly have the feel of a small world.

The treasure Secret Realms explored in the Immortal Cultivation World were mostly left behind by Eighth Realm powerhouses of the past.

The Secret Realms left by Ninth Realm Gods are often indistinguishable from the real world. For instance, the Secret Realm left by Jiuli God, before it was destroyed, was enough for the Tan Clan to thrive for tens of thousands of years.

The larger the Secret Realm created by a person, the higher the cultivation of the creator, and thus the greater the chance of containing a Divine Artifact.

However, the Ninth Realms recorded in human history should all be unrelated to the Sword Domain Heavenly Palace.

In past history and legends, Ninth Realm entities that had existed and fallen had nothing to do with swords. The only related one was probably the earliest Saint Li, but Saint Li had long since opened the sky with one sword and left, so it was impossible for the Secret Realm to be here.

"Perhaps it is a Sword Immortal from Beyond the Realm," the Western Sea Sword Emperor murmured.

Listening to their discussion about the Godly Secret Realm, Chu Liang suddenly thought that since the higher the cultivation, the larger the Secret Realm, could it be possible that the entire Mortal Realm outside is actually a Secret Realm left by an extremely high-level cultivator?

But if that were the case, how powerful would they need to be? Could it be that beyond the sky, in the Upper Realm, there are Tenth or even Eleventh Realms higher than the Ninth Realm?

The thought alone was terrifying.

"Look," Jiang Yuebai suddenly pointed ahead.

In front of the group appeared a pure white city, seemingly made of material not much different from the walls of the Heavenly Palace outside. However, it had not been forged, so it did not emit the intense light of power.

A weathered signboard hung on the city wall, with three large characters written on it, "Heavenly Palace City."

...

Outside the city, there were a few small nurseries, planted with some vegetables and fruits, the land was open, and the houses were orderly.

A few elders were gathered under the trees next to these nurseries, chatting leisurely. They looked quite comfortable. Seeing a group of people approaching, the elders all smiled, "Have new people came in again?"

"It’s been a while since new people arrived, good, there are also young lads and lasses."

"That young lass is pretty indeed."

"..."

Chu Liang, finding the elders’ conversation rather dull, stepped forward and inquired, "Excuse me, elders, what place is this?"

"This is Heavenly Palace City, of course, within the Sword Domain Heavenly Palace," an old man dressed in a brownish-yellow robe answered. "It seems you’re also here to explore for treasures, right? Those with high cultivation can try to pass the challenges to enter the next tier of the Secret Realm while those with low cultivation might as well stay here for a while. It’s best to have a couple of kids before leaving, to increase the population of our Heavenly Palace City."

"Heh," Chu Liang chuckled awkwardly.

Great.

I haven’t even figured out where I am, and they’re already urging me to procreate.

After thinking it over, he asked again, "From what you’re saying, there are several layers to this Secret Realm?"

"Certainly," another elder responded. "This Sword Domain Heavenly Palace only allows progression, not retreat. The first tier of the Secret Realm is about the size of a province from outside, and over the years, we have reproduced and built this Heavenly Palace City, making it a paradise of sorts."

"If you wish to go to the next tier, you need to pass the challenge. Failure means death, and success means you can never return. Hence, the people of Heavenly Palace City have never seen what’s on the next tier of the Secret Realm. In fact, we don’t even know if it exists, as nobody has ever returned. These are just stories passed down from our ancestors."

So it turned out that this city was built by those who entered the Sword Domain Heavenly Palace over the years but were too scared to take the challenges or by those who left their children behind before taking them. Over time, they gave rise to the city’s entire population.

After briefly gathering information, the group walked into the city.

As soon as they stepped into the city, they heard someone shout, "Newcomers have arrived!"

At this shout, a large crowd immediately gathered around, greeting everyone with much clamor.

"We haven’t had newcomers for many years, what dynasty is it outside now?"

"Do you need a house? We can help build one, houses in the city are free of charge."

"There are lots of guys in your group, do you all need wives?"

"..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Chu Liang hurriedly gestured with his hands, "Folks, we are here to take on the challenge and enter the next layer."

"Everyone new says that, but none who went to take the challenge has ever returned, all lost without a trace. Think it over carefully before you go," someone immediately advised.

"Exactly," added an older woman. "You youngsters still have many good days ahead of you, it’s good to stay here for a while. Like that old one whom no one wants, he could go take the challenge directly, doesn’t matter if he dies or not."

Uncle Yin: "?"

After much noise, they finally found out that to take on the challenge, they had to go to the other side of the city.

Although the people of Heavenly Palace City might be overenthusiastic, they appeared to be quite simple and willing to help the newcomers.

Together, they walked to the other city gate, and after leaving the city, they indeed saw around a dozen people waiting to take the challenge on a vacant lot.

The ages of those who came to take the challenge were divested at two extremes, either young people in their twenties or thirties or old people at the end of their lifespan. It seemed that either the young people had vigor and yearned for a new world, or the old people had lived enough and wanted to try their luck, to leave no regrets.

The group waited there until dusk when the line between day and night blurred, and then a crack opened. That was the passageway to the next tier, a paradise for the brave and a nightmare for the cowardly.

One by one, the crowd entered the crack and instantly found themselves in a different layer of space.

This space resembled a long corridor, over a hundred yards wide and endlessly long, and as soon as they entered, a voice immediately sounded around them.

"Sword Control Gate."

"Testers must fully control their sword flight forward when the sword light goes out, and must stop immediately when the sword light comes on. Any slight movement will lead to instant penetration. Those who haven’t reached the end within the time of a stick of incense will all be penetrated."

In front of everyone stood an incense stick not very long, which, following the voice’s conclusion, immediately began to burn, obviously leaving them not much time.

It appeared that what this challenge required was precisely the skill Chu Liang was extremely familiar with.

Sword control!