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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
The Spirit Creek Battlefield, the Cloud River Battlefield and even Jiu Zhou were full of opportunities. It was up to the cultivator to stumble upon them.
The Spirit Creek Battlefield offered mostly inheritances, while the Cloud River Battlefield offered boons or artifacts that boosted one’s power.
The Token of Providence event was one such opportunity. Iridescent clouds would rain Amulets at various corners of the Cloud River Battlefield almost everyday, and it was easily the most popular type of opportunity of them all. It was because the opportunity provided a solid reward while carrying a moderate amount of risk at worst.
Of course, the Token of Providence event wasn’t the only form of opportunity that was available in the Cloud River Battlefield. There were all kinds of Hidden Realms as well.
Lu Ye had visited a Hidden Realm once at the Spirit Creek Battlefield, the Lost City of Xianyuan. He had walked away with a massive amount of Soul Cleansing Water back then.
The Cloud River Battlefield offered far more Hidden Realms, however. For starters, some Hidden Realms always appeared at fixed times and at fixed locations. One could always find massive clumps of cultivators at these locations.
There were also Hidden Realms that could only be opened by fulfilling certain requirements, and Hidden Realms that appeared randomly at various corners of the Cloud River Battlefield. Those who happened to be at the right place at the right time would be able to enter these Hidden Realms.
Right now, Lu Ye and Kitty Shen were standing side by side in the sky and looking at the horizon. Specifically, they were looking at a pillar of light that stretched from the ground all the way to the clouds. It was so massive that they could clearly see even from several hundred kilometers away. They knew that the unusual tremors they felt earlier were probably caused by the pillar of light.
“What is that thing?”
Although Lu Ye had purchased a basic information packet from the Divine Trade Association, it had only been less than twenty days since he entered the Cloud River Battlefield. Naturally, he wasn’t nearly as knowledgeable and experienced as Kitty Shen.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a Hidden Realm, though it’s impossible to say what it is until we get closer. It’s always a treasure trove of opportunities and rewards though.”
“Let’s go then.”
“But the Arcane Glade…”
“We can afford to leave it behind. The concealment ward will hide it from most prying eyes, and on the off chance we were unlucky, we can just take it back from our enemies.”
Lu Ye looked down and beckoned Yi Yi and Amber to follow him. After they were ready, he summoned his Spirit Boat and flew straight toward the pillar of light.
Seeing as Ye Six had made up his mind, Kitty Shen had no choice but to follow him. It wasn’t a difficult choice to make anyway. She herself was highly interested in the pillar of light. The reason she even hesitated was because she was reluctant to give up the Arcane Glade. As most cultivators cultivated by inhaling World Spiritual Qi, a stable Arcane Glade was considered more valuable than even a stack of Amulets. Even if the Arcane Glade was only an above average Tertius-level Arcane Glade, it did not change the fact that it was a major time-saver.
On the other hand, Lu Ye did not really care for Arcane Glades. They were great but not essential to him as inhaling World Spiritual Qi was not his main cultivation method. In fact, he might’ve abandoned it altogether if Ruan Qingzhu hadn’t robbed him via deception and betrayal.
They already knew that the pillar of light was pretty far from their location when they saw it for the first time, but it was at least one to two hundred kilometers away. By the time they arrived, the pillar of light had already transformed into a screen of light that was only thirty or so meters tall.
The screen of light was as colorful as it was unstable. One could even catch glimpses of scenery if they looked closely. There were treacherous mountain ranges, unknown cultivators, and all kinds of birds and animals.
Lu Ye and Kitty Shen were not the first cultivators to arrive at the scene. A big group of cultivators was already standing around the screen of light and examining the scenes intently.
Lu Ye checked out his surroundings for a bit. Roughly two to three hundred cultivators were already present at the scene, and more were flooding in from every direction as time passed. Their power level was also wildly different. There were newbie First or Second Order cultivators just like him, and there were veteran Eighth to Ninth Order cultivators.
Suddenly, Lu Ye’s gaze became affixed to a certain person. She was an indifferent woman wearing a purple dress.
As if sensing his gaze, the woman turned around and met his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before she gave him a nod and looked away. Lu Ye also looked away as if nothing was amiss.
He hadn’t expected to meet her again so soon, but such was life.
“Be on guard, Ye Six. This is a large-sized Hidden Realm!” Kitty Shen said suddenly while Lu Ye was still checking his surroundings. Her scent smelled like flowers as she moved closer.
“How can you tell?”
“This is not the first time I’ve entered this type of Hidden Realm. I can tell you right now that the world is almost complex enough to be real. Moreover, each and every one of us will be granted an identity when we’re inside.”
“An identity? By who?”
“The Heavens, of course!”
Lu Ye raised his eyebrows. Anything that the Heavens had a hand in had never been simple, and this revelation spurred his curiosity even more than it already was. Assuming he wasn’t mistaken, he, someone who had been chosen to receive the Gift of Providence, would enjoy some special treatment when he entered this Hidden Realm.
“What should we do after we’re inside?”
“Something that fits our identity most likely. The last time I entered a Hidden Realm, I was a spy tasked to infiltrate an enemy sect. My objective was to steal their greatest relic.”
“That must be an exciting adventure.”
“Don’t remind me. I was this close from dying in the Hidden Realm. I succeeded in the end though!” She declared proudly.
“What did you get for succeeding?”
“Well, the sect rewarded me with a lot of cultivation resources including a handful of Amulets.”
Lu Ye’s motivation immediately skyrocketed. Right now, there was nothing more desirable to him than the Amulets.
“By the way, I’m not sure if we’ll remain together after we go inside, and you’re only a Second Order cultivator right now. No matter what identity you’re granted after we head inside, you must plan and act with caution, alright? Also, communication through the Battlefield Imprint is still possible in the Hidden Realm, so just message me if we were separated, and you need to ask me about anything.”
“Gotcha.”
Time continued to pass as more and more cultivators converged on this location. Less than half a day later, the number of cultivators standing within five kilometers of the Hidden Realm had exceeded six hundred.
At first glance, it did not look like a particularly large group. However, this was the Cloud River Battlefield, not the Spirit Creek Battlefield. Not only was the battlefield multiple times larger than the Spirit Creek Battlefield, the cultivators were more scattered as well. That over six hundred cultivators had gathered around the Hidden Realm in such a short time showed just how attractive it was.
There was no fighting even though some of them had to be enemies. They were here for the Hidden Realm, and it made no sense to cause trouble before they even went inside.
It was at this moment the screen of light abruptly transformed into an oval-shaped door of light. The disturbances gradually subsided into nothing as well. On the other side of the door lay a beautiful scenery. It was almost as if they were peeking into another world.
“We can go in now!” Someone yelled suddenly. The next moment, countless cultivators began rushing through the door in groups or two or three. The number of cultivators waiting outside the door steadily decreased as time passed.
Lu Ye, Yi Yi and Kitty Shen waited patiently for their turn. When it was time, they went through the door of light together.
A wave of dizziness assaulted Lu Ye’s mind the second he passed through the door. At the same time, an enormous amount of information began flooding into his mind. It felt very similar to when he was receiving a Glyph from the Tree of Glyphs.
His mind became muddled instantly. He had to fight to keep himself conscious as he sorted out the information that was pumped into his brain.
The Myriad Beast Domain was a world where cultivators and Spirit Beasts lived together in harmony. As the number of Spirit Beasts residing in this world far exceeded that of Jiu Zhou’s, there were far more Beast Tamers as well. The large majority of cultivators were well-versed in the Way of Beast Taming. They were often raised together with a Spirit Beast so that the latter would become their Chosen Beast when they were older.
Due to the limitations of the world itself, the highest cultivation level one could reach in the Myriad Beast Domain was the Cloud River Realm. No one had ever broken through the limits and reached the Real Lake Realm.
The Myriad Beast Domain was a peaceful and harmonious world. Although there were occasional conflicts, they were never severe enough to affect the stability of the world itself.
Things began to change a year ago, however. An inexplicable rabies had started to spread in the Myriad Beast Domain like crazy. Although the rabies only affected cultivators, any Spirit Beast that were infected by it would become extremely bloodthirsty and uncontrollable.
The disease was a world-ending threat for the Myriad Beast Domain as Beast Taming was their most popular cultivation faction. Not only did it massively weaken the Beast Tamers, some Spirit Beasts were so far gone that they attacked and killed the master they had grown up with.
It didn’t take long for things to fall into chaos. In just a year, the Myriad Beast Domain was turned upside down, and nearly all Beast Tamer sects had been destroyed by the disease. What was once a peaceful and harmonious world fell into complete disarray, and the remaining Beast Taming sects—less than two dozen of them were left at this point of time—formed an alliance to fight against the endless horde of infected Spirit Beasts.
If even they were unable to hold back the maddened Spirit Beasts, then it was only a matter of time before the Cultivation World itself was destroyed. When that happened, the Myriad Beasts Domain would truly become a world of Spirit Beasts only. The Humans would not have a place in this world any longer.
Currently, the cultivators of these sects were concentrated in the city known as Bilandia. Plenty of mortals were living in the city as well. They represented the remaining Humans in all of Myriad Beasts Domain.
Naturally, the crazed Spirit Beasts had set their eyes on this final bastion of humanity.
Lu Ye opened his eyes when he finally sorted out all of the information inside his brain. When he heard the sound of passing air and saw the scenery around him moving past him at high speed, he realized he was sitting on a Middle Grade flying Spirit Artifact that could fit between three to five people.
Multiple fragrant scents entered his nose. He could tell that they belonged to multiple women.
Before he could figure out what was going on, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him, “Ye Six!”
He turned his head. Kitty Shen’s beautiful face entered his view. It would seem that she hadn’t been separated from him.
There were two other women on the flying Spirit Artifact. One of them was a stranger, and the other was none other than the woman in purple dress he spotted earlier, Lan Ziyi.
Lu Ye rubbed his temple as three pairs of eyes looked down on him. He was starting to feel a headache already.
This was the first time he entered a Hidden Realm like this, and it would seem that Kitty Shen was right. According to the information that was pumped into his brain, he was the Young Master of the Myriad Beasts Sect in this world!
The Heavens really did give him special treatment. He highly doubted that such a useful identity would be handed out willy-nilly to a Second Order cultivator like him if he hadn’t received the Gift of Providence. Kitty Shen, Lan Ziyi and the stranger were all his attendants in this Hidden Realm.
