Chapter 343: Chapter 341: Battle for the Secret Realm (Part 1) Corpse-Driving Sect, Ten Thousand Dao Peak. "Junior Brother, what kind of magical artifact do you want?" The questioner was a young man with dark skin. He wore a dark blue Daoist robe, was burly and broad-waisted, looking entirely different from an ordinary Qi Cultivator. "Not a magical artifact, but a mundane weapon, like an axe. It doesn’t matter if there’s an array carved on it or not, but it must be capable of withstanding ordinary magical artifacts without breaking." The responder was a young man dressed in a gray Daoist robe, with thick eyebrows and a heroic appearance, looking about twenty years old. Beside him stood two stunning young women, one with a cold demeanor, the other smiling charmingly, contrasting starkly. "In that case, it shouldn’t be difficult," the dark-skinned man nodded, "Come back in about a month to pick it up." "Thank you, Senior Brother." Finally, the matter of the weapon had a resolution, Lou Yi was very pleased. Thanks to Bi Yaoyao’s connections, he managed to cut in line and make an appointment with Zhang Qiao, a highly sought-after artifact refining expert in the Corpse-Driving Sect. The person even had the ability to create top-tier magical artifacts, making a mundane weapon for him was simply an underutilization of talents. However, the contribution needed for the weapon was not insignificant; it was Bi Yaoyao and You Qingyi who insisted on pooling it together for him. "Alas, these days, only those with soft teeth can lead a good life." Lou Yi couldn’t help but sigh. Lou Yi was unaware that, after he left, Bi Yaoyao handed Zhang Qiao a piece of moon-white metallic object, causing him to exclaim in surprise, "Taiyi Geng Gold?" ... Since the axe required a month’s wait, Lou Yi settled down to continue his cultivation. The Breathing Technique and Skin Refining Technique, though the path ahead was not yet visible, were steadily progressing. Awaiting the discovery of a new cultivation technique, all current accumulation would become resources for advancement. The Profound Yin Technique was also a central focus of his cultivation; Lou Yi was always searching for the key item, Moonlight Dew, needed for its promotion, and hadn’t forgotten to look into missions related to Yin Element creatures. If he could enhance his Spirit Root to a high grade, his cultivation speed would increase significantly, not falling short of the sect’s geniuses. Besides Martial Arts and Immortal Dao, his third major strength component, his innate talent, was continually searching for related Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Some were waiting for higher cultivation levels to be exchanged within the sect, others couldn’t be found internally, already entrusted to the Four Seas Association to seek. Time passed by little by little. At this moment, somewhere unknown miles away from the Corpse-Driving Sect, within an enclosed large space. The sky was entirely fiery red, without clouds, without a sun. The space was extremely dry, the ground was an endless expanse of dark red sand and stone, with towering mountain ridges, bottomless ravines, and a bizarre stone forest filled with giant rocks. Several palm-sized orange talisman papers were now floating slowly in the air, just less than three feet off the ground, seemingly searching for something. Behind the talisman papers, each followed a young man clad in a blue Daoist robe, their steps heavy, sweat streaming down their faces. "Damn it, what’s with this crappy secret realm, the gravity’s strong enough, yet it’s so hot, like a furnace!" "Too bad we have to conserve spiritual power, otherwise, I’d constantly create some ice to cool myself down." "We’ve been searching for over ten days now, and haven’t found a damn thing, might as well go back to cultivating!" "Holy crap, look guys!" With an exclamation, everyone turned to look in the direction pointed by the person, and each of their expressions changed. It turned out an orange talisman paper had stopped moving above a certain place, its light shining brightly like a bulb. "A new spirit vein discovered, judging by the Spirit Seeking Talisman’s reaction, the level should not be low! Quickly notify Senior Sister Li and the others!" All eyes gleamed with excitement and joy. Then, one person pulled out a folded paper crane from his bosom. He flashed with spiritual power, muttering incantations, while making complex hand gestures with his hands. The paper crane rapidly inflated like a balloon, then shakily flew into the air, then ’whoosh’ sped off in a certain direction! Soon, a team of disciples wearing deep blue Daoist robes arrived at the surrounding area of the hill. Among them, some had skin as pale as could be, and were accompanied by a peculiar tall man with no hair, no beard, and no eyebrows, closely guarding them like a protector. The leading disciples exuded strong auras, all at the peak of Qi Refining, just a step away from breaking through to Foundation Establishment. "Is this the place? Let me dig and see!" A female disciple shouted. She had a delicate appearance, rarely had short hair in the center area of her head, but numerous intricate braids from her sideburns and the back of her head, looking uniquely stylish. As spiritual power surged through her, she raised her hand, and a number of gray Qi Arrows as thick as thighs, each engraved with dense complex patterns, shot towards the ground. With several loud booms, several deep pits appeared on the hill. However, the female disciple was not satisfied with this, furrowing her brows, "The suppression in the Ancient Cultivator’s Secret Realm is indeed powerful, my magic only has about sixty percent of its power compared to outside." "Fairy Li, everyone is the same, the higher the cultivation level, the deeper the suppression. It’s the Inner Sect Disciples that come in who can exert seventy to eighty percent of their capabilities," a male disciple beside her laughed. He and the female disciple surnamed Li shared a similarly high cultivation level, only a step away from Foundation Establishment. "What Brother Zhou says is true." The female disciple surnamed Li then began to command the others, "Everyone start digging." Everyone started following the female disciple’s lead, summoning Yin Qi Arrows to bombard the hill from below. Once the bombing was sufficient, she commanded the Lifebound Corpses nearby to begin deep excavation with specialized shovels. Most present were True Disciples of the Corpse-Driving Sect, their Lifebound Corpses at least at the Iron Corpse level, possessing tens of thousands of pounds of strength, their excavation speed was extraordinary, deep holes quickly formed. At a certain moment, a pit suddenly ’ssst’ exploded, releasing a burst of white airflow, forcefully propelling a Copper Corpse into mid-air. As the white airflow dispersed, everyone felt invigorated, an exhilarating sensation. Some even felt their long-stuck bottleneck loosening. "There truly is a spirit vein, and it seems of high grade!" Someone shouted joyfully. The female disciple surnamed Li was evidently the authority on site, she promptly issued orders methodically, "Li Zuiyuan, Lin Shuyou... you put down the Elder’s given array plates and start setting up the array!" "Xue Liang, Zhao Yi... you go patrol the perimeter, try not to alarm abnormal individuals, just return to report." "Zhou Shaoyang, Zhu Hai, we will rest here, ready to fight at any time. This is a critical moment, we must guard for three days!" "Alright!" Everyone shouted in unison. Six copper array plates dotted with black lines were positioned around the edges of the hill. As the placers continually infused spiritual power, the plates emitted radiant light, and then released six straight silver beams connecting together, forming a giant hexagram. At the edge of the hexagram, a faint translucent light film began to form, its area growing at a visibly accelerated rate. It can be imagined that, as time progresses, the light film could wrap around the entire spirit vein area. The Ancient Cultivator’s Secret Realm here, due to its special laws, cannot withstand overly strong auras, only Qi Refining cultivators can enter. However, if laying down a Qi Cultivation level array, it cannot withstand the onslaught of myriad Qi cultivators from other sects. Therefore, for such secret realms, major sects have developed special array plates for crack and fusion, yet deciphering the laws of the secret realm requires time. Often it takes at least three days to form a complete Foundation Establishment level array that integrates into the secret realm. In a secret realm where only Qi Refining disciples can enter, being the first to construct a Foundation Establishment level array equates to occupying the spirit vein. Without paying ten times the cost, other sects can hardly wrest it away. Hence, these Corpse-Driving Sect disciples, what they need to do now is hold on for these three days! As long as the array is planted and the spirit vein occupied. All the disciples present can earn a substantial amount of contribution rewards! ...