Mowenjie opened his mouth and said, "Although we have temporarily solved the crisis in the town, I felt a malevolent force gathering in the stele. It is likely to threaten more places soon." The companions listened intently, their expressions becoming solemn. Cao Chunling stepped forward and held Mowenjie's hand, giving him encouragement.
Subsequently, Mowenjie led everyone to the cave where he had previously practiced. Here, the spiritual energy was abundant and could enhance everyone's strength. Inside the cave, Mowenjie shared his insights from the stone tablet and his unique method of cultivation. They practiced tirelessly day and night, continuously advancing in their cultivation.
A few days later, scouts reported that there were strange phenomena in the neighboring city, seemingly caused by evil cultivators. Mowenjie decided to take the companions to investigate. As they arrived in the neighboring city, they saw a dense layer of dark clouds in the sky, with the citizens of the city in a state of panic and unease.
Mowenjie and his companions quickly conducted an investigation and soon identified an abandoned ancient mansion. They cautiously approached, preparing for the impending battle, as a confrontation between urban practitioners of cultivation and evil cultivators was about to unfold.
As they neared the gates of the ancient mansion, Mowenjie felt a powerful restriction. He hurriedly said, "Be careful everyone, I'll go in and take a look!"
Taking a deep breath, Mowenjie channeled spiritual energy to form a shield around his body. He slowly approached the ancient mansion's gate. With each step forward, the restraining force grew stronger. As he reached out to touch the gate, a beam of light flashed, and he was instantly sucked inside. The companions were shocked and wanted to rush in but were repelled instead.
Mowenjie entered the interior of the ancient mansion and discovered a hidden realm within, eerie and terrifying. The air was filled with black mist, through which he could see some skeletons wandering. Suddenly, a shadowy figure leaped out and attacked Mowenjie. He sidestepped quickly, recognizing it as a zombie controlled by evil forces. Drawing the sword at his waist, Mowenjie engaged in fierce combat with it.
The companions outside were restless with worry. Cao Chunling remembered the method taught by Mowenjie for breaking through restrictions, so she and the others joined forces to perform it. After a great effort, they finally broke a corner of the restriction. As they rushed into the ancient mansion, they witnessed Mowenjie piercing a zombie's chest with one stroke, which turned into black smoke and dissipated. At that moment, the true evil cultivator had appeared as well, and both sides were locked in a fierce battle.
Mowenjie made the first move, slicing with his treasured sword that left several arcs in the air, aiming at the evil cultivator. The latter sneered coldly and formed a seal with his hands, summoning a black light barrier in front of him to block the attack. Following that, he flicked his wrist, sending a swarm of small ghosts flying out from his sleeves and charging at the group with sharp teeth and claws. Cao Chunling roared and threw several talisman-like symbols into the air, which burst into flames upon igniting. The small ghosts were caught off guard by this sudden surge of fire and shrieked in agony.
The two sides went back and forth in intense combat. Mowenjie saw an opportunity and unleashed a powerful sword technique, a sword energy directly striking the evil cultivator's forehead. The latter couldn't dodge in time and received a slash across his face, leaving a bloodstain. Enraged by this slight, the evil cultivator pulled out a magical artifact that emitted a shade of green light. Upon reciting a spell, the light transformed into numerous chains that targeted everyone.
Mowenjie roared, unleashing a burst of spiritual energy from his entire body, shattering the chains that had approached him. He then charged at the evil cultivator for close-range combat. They exchanged blows and kicks in a chaotic manner, unable to separate. At this moment, Mowenjie noticed a slight crack on the evil cultivator's magical artifact. He concentrated all his might and struck the crack, causing the artifact to shatter and inflicting injuries on the evil cultivator who spat out blood and turned to flee.
Mowenjie, unwilling to let him go, threw his sword and embedded it into the wall behind the evil cultivator, immobilizing him. The others rushed forward to subdue him. The neighboring city returned to peace, and Mowenjie and his companions became heroes of the city, continuing on their path to guard the heavens.
Jiang Yu and Xiaoyawen looked at Mowenjie and said, "Dear husband, we have been here for some time now. We should continue to explore further instead of staying here too long. Otherwise, it might affect our progress. Although we are currently in the third realm, there are still thirty-six realms to go. The journey ahead is arduous!"
Mowenjie nodded in agreement, "You are right, this is merely the beginning, and we should not linger too much." Therefore, the group packed up and set out towards the deeper parts of the third realm.
Halfway through their journey, they encountered a foggy forest. Strange sounds echoed from within, resembling both animal roars and baby cries. Mowenjie became vigilant and signaled for everyone to stop. He released his spiritual awareness to investigate, but it was as if a mud cow had fallen into the sea, with no response at all.
In the midst of indecision, a sudden gust of wind swept by, carrying numerous tiny insects. These insects didn't fear the spiritual defense of the group and attached themselves, drawing spirit power from them. The companions were alarmed and quickly channeled their energy to resist. Mowenjie placed his hands together and chanted incantations, causing a golden glow to emanate from his body, which dispelled all the insects.
Afterwards, he took out a blue-lit pearl and threw it into the air. The pearl illuminated a small area. With the faint light, they discovered that there were many huge cocoons hanging from the trees, and within them, there were faint human-like silhouettes. Mowenjie realized that this place was unusually eerie and had to be crossed as quickly as possible. He led the group to navigate through it carefully, always on guard against unknown dangers. After much difficulty, they finally emerged from the forest to see a magnificent city in the distance, which was the entrance to the main city of the third realm.
Mowenjie told me that his disciples were with him. We have already explored half of the third realm, and we need to continue exploring the other half. Therefore, I think we should diligently seek opportunities and strive to obtain greater opportunities in the third realm so that we can further breakthrough to the fourth realm!
The group arrived at the entrance of the main city and saw that the gates were tightly closed, adorned with mysterious runes. Mowenjie approached and examined them closely, attempting to touch them with his spiritual power. In an instant, the runes glimmered faintly, and a voice resonated: "To enter the city, one must solve the riddle of sealing." Mowenjie pondered for a moment and called his companions to study together.
Jiang Yu noticed that the arrangement of the runes seemed to follow a pattern, similar to an ancient formation. Mowenjie, following her hint, channeled his spiritual energy to inject into the runes in a specific order. As the last rune lit up, the city gate slowly opened. Inside, it was bustling with activity; all sorts of rare treasures and exotic items were displayed.
However, Mowenjie knew that the greatest opportunity must be hidden deeper. They searched around and found an ancient tower where a jade stone emitted a strange aura. As Mowenjie reached out to take it, suddenly numerous puppet guards appeared around them. Mowenjie shouted, "Be careful!" and the others immediately went on high alert.
Mowenjie charged first at the puppets, using his high-level sword skills to sever several of them. The others also employed various methods, such as incantations or magical artifacts, gradually pushing back the puppets and successfully retrieving the jade stone. This jade stone contained immense energy that could significantly aid them in breaking through to the fourth realm.
After Mowenjie and his companions obtained the jade stone, they found a quiet place to use it to break through their cultivation level. They formed a circle, placing the jade stone in the center, and each of them channeled their cultivation techniques to absorb the energy emanating from the jade stone. However, while they were focused on their breakthrough, a group of mysterious black-clad figures approached stealthily.
It turned out that this jade stone was sealed here by a supreme being to suppress underground demons. Now that Mowenjie and his companions had taken it, the demons were restless, and these black-clad figures were sent to retrieve the jade stone. The black-clad figures launched a surprise attack, sending powerful waves of energy toward Mowenjie and his companions.
Although Mowenjie and his companions were at a critical moment of breakthrough, they had no choice but to distract themselves to respond. Mowenjie forcibly interrupted his breakthrough, drew his sword to block the attack, and his companions also ceased absorbing energy to join the battle. Mowenjie angrily demanded the reason for the black-clad men's visit, and their leader coldly replied, "You have broken a taboo. If you do not return the jade stone, today will be your death sentence."
Mowenjie struggled in his heart. On the one hand, he didn't want to give up this rare opportunity for breakthrough. On the other hand, he knew that if they really caused a huge disaster as the black-clad men said, it wouldn't be worth it. Eventually, he decided to first stabilize the black-clad men and then find another way to breakthrough his cultivation level. He loudly said, "Wait a minute before you start fighting. The jade stone can be returned, but we need some time." The black-clad men looked at each other and temporarily halted their attack.
Mowenjie also spoke of the jade stone, saying that they could indeed return it to you, but they had put in so much effort and struggle. You owe us some explanation at least. It's not fair to just take it from us without reason. Therefore, you should also contribute some items in exchange for this deal. Do you think what I said makes sense?
The leader of the black-clad men sneered coldly, "You have already committed a great sin by taking away the item used to suppress demons. How dare you demand compensation?" Mowenjie stood his ground, "If it wasn't for this jade stone being ownerless, how could we use it? Moreover, we were unaware of its use in suppressing demons. Now that we have expended effort to obtain it, why should we simply return it and incur a loss?" The black-clad men whispered among themselves. After a while, the leader said, "We can offer you ten spirit crystals. This should be enough to compensate for your losses." Mowenjie shook his head, "While spirit crystals are precious, they are not enough to make us give up the breakthrough opportunity brought by the jade stone. At least fifty spirit crystals and a supreme cultivation technique." The leader of the black-clad men's face turned red with anger, but considering that forcing to take back the jade stone might cause demons to emerge and cause even more trouble, he gritted his teeth and said with difficulty: "Thirty spirit crystals plus one medium-level cultivation technique." Mowenjie looked at his companions, who nodded slightly. He said: "Deal." After handing over the items to them quickly left.
Although Mowenjie and his companions regretted missing the opportunity to break through with the help of the jade stone, their gains were still considerable. They found a safe place, cultivated with the spirit crystals and the cultivation technique, and their cultivation levels saw significant growth. Afterward, they set out once more on their journey to explore the remaining areas of the third realm, hoping to find other opportunities to break through to the fourth realm.
They ventured deep into the heart of the third realm and arrived in a valley. The valley was shrouded in multicolored mist, within which countless treasures glimmered. Mowenjie treaded carefully, but accidentally triggered a concealed mechanism. The ground trembled, and many spike traps appeared around them. The group hastily employed their qi arts to dodge, and Jiang Yujuan swung her silken ribbon to entangle a large tree, using it as leverage to soar into the air.
At this moment, a massive beast resembling a qilin roared out from the depths of the valley. The beast emitted fiery flames all over its body and its eyes were bloodshot. Mowenjie knew that this must be the divine creature guarding this opportunity; only by defeating it could they gain anything.
He charged forward first, striking a powerful blow with his hand. The wind blast carried strong spiritual energy and struck the giant beast. The beast showed no fear and spat out a column of fire, which collided with the wind blast in a fierce explosion. Mowenjie's companions saw this and stepped in, Fei Yahwen summoning ice spears to try to reduce its temperature, while Cao Chunling releasing a potion of confusion to disturb the beast's vision. The group worked together, gradually gaining the upper hand. Mowenjie seized the opportunity and jumped onto the back of the beast, plunging a sword into its vital spot. The beast collapsed with a loud crash and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving behind a pillar of seven colors shining with divine energy that Mowenjie picked up. Feeling its immense power, he knew it could help them breakthrough to the fourth realm.
