Immortality Cultivation

Fang Hao cleaned the battlefield thoroughly, not leaving even a hair behind, before patting his bulging storage ring with satisfaction. Crouching low, he continued to sneak deeper into the Star Corridor. Though he had gained the advantage in the previous fight, his consumption of Qi had been significant, and he needed to find a place to recover quickly.

As he walked, he kept his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes wide open, scanning his surroundings like a searchlight. This damn place was too eerie; even a stone platform could explode. Heaven knows what kind of treacherous traps were waiting ahead. He certainly didn’t want to capsize in the gutter now.

The corridor wound its way forward. The deeper he went, the dimmer the starlight became, and the atmosphere grew more oppressive. On the walls on both sides, those starry runes had become incomplete, and in some places, cracks had even appeared, emitting an aura of decay. The ancient, desolate scent in the air grew stronger, mixed with a faint trace of... Death Qi?

"This place, why does it feel like a graveyard?" Fang Hao muttered to himself, becoming even more cautious.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, a fork in the road appeared ahead. This time, it wasn’t three paths, but... nine! Nine identical corridors spread out in a fan shape, leading in different directions. The entrance to each corridor was pitch black and bottomless.

"Damn it! Nine choices? Are you messing with me?" Fang Hao was dumbfounded. How was he supposed to choose? Just guess? If he guessed wrong and fell into some lethal Formation, wouldn’t he be dead meat?

He stopped at the intersection, his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes scanning each of the nine corridor entrances, trying to find some difference. But after looking for a long time, there was absolutely no difference! The energy fluctuations, the rune patterns, even the thickness of the dust were exactly the same! It was impossible to tell them apart!

"Damn, the owner of this Secret Realm is a real snake!" Fang Hao cursed, feeling a bit lost. He tried to probe inside with his Divine Sense, but as soon as his Divine Sense entered the corridor, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, instantly swallowed up completely, sensing nothing at all!

"No, I can’t just guess blindly." Fang Hao forced himself to calm down. He sat cross-legged, activated the Ethereal Art to boost his Comprehension Ability, and carefully recalled every detail since entering the Secret Realm. From the fluctuations of the spatial rift to the direction of the Star Corridor, and then to the exploding stone platform trap just now...

"Trap... trap..." A flash of inspiration hit Fang Hao! Right! That stone platform was fake, it was bait! Could these nine paths also be a decoy? Maybe the real path wasn’t among these nine at all? Or perhaps it required a special method to find?

He stood up, no longer staring at the nine paths, but instead activated his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes to their full potential, carefully observing every corner of this intersection area! The ground, the walls, the dome above... scanning inch by inch!

Sure enough! He discovered a clue!

On the wall directly opposite the nine corridor entrances, there was an area where the arrangement of the starry runes had an extremely subtle difference from the surrounding ones! You wouldn’t notice it unless you looked carefully! Furthermore, the energy fluctuations in that area seemed... more restrained, more stable?

"This is it!" Fang Hao felt a surge of joy. He walked to the wall and reached out to touch it. It was cold to the touch, no different from anywhere else. He tried pushing it hard, but it didn’t budge.

"Is there a mechanism? Or does it need a key?" Fang Hao frowned. He thought for a moment, then took out the black token he had found in the ruins of the stone platform from his storage ring. This thing had remained intact during the explosion, so it couldn’t be simple; perhaps it was the key!

He held the token and carefully placed it against that special wall.

Hum—!

As soon as the token touched the wall, it immediately emitted a faint black light! The runes on the wall seemed to come alive and began to flow slowly! Immediately after, the wall slid open silently, revealing a... narrower, darker passage behind it!

"Haha! I bet right!" Fang Hao was overjoyed! There really was a secret passage! Those nine paths were indeed meant to fool people!

He put away the token and stepped into the secret passage without hesitation. The passage was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through, and it was pitch black inside, unable to see one’s fingers in front of one’s face. Fang Hao’s Clear Spring Spirit Eyes were also greatly suppressed here, only able to see a few meters in front of him.

He braced himself, activated his Shadowless Evasion Technique to the limit, and crept forward silently. The secret passage twisted and turned. After walking for about an hour, a faint light finally appeared ahead.

Fang Hao quickened his pace and reached the end. The exit of the secret passage connected to a... huge, circular tomb chamber?

In the center of the tomb chamber floated a crystal coffin entirely condensed from starlight! The coffin was crystal clear, and one could see a figure lying inside, wearing an ancient star robe, their face blurry. Surrounding the coffin were nine fist-sized, slowly rotating starlight orbs, emitting a majestic Power of the Stars and a heart-stopping pressure!

Around the tomb chamber were three stone platforms. On the left stone platform lay a silver scroll that was neither metal nor jade; on the middle stone platform was a rusty broken sword that nonetheless emitted a heaven-shaking Sword Intent; on the right stone platform was a palm-sized, ancient, and unadorned bronze compass.

All three items emitted alluring treasure light!

"I’m rich! These are the real treasures!" Fang Hao’s eyes went straight! Just by looking at their appearance, he knew they absolutely weren’t ordinary items! They were far better than the junk outside!

But he didn’t let it go to his head. This place was clearly the core of the Secret Realm, and it must have the most powerful defenses! He scanned the entire tomb chamber carefully with his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes.

Sure enough! The floor, walls, and dome of the tomb chamber were covered with dense, extremely complex Formation runes! The energy circulation was seamless, far more Advanced than the "Nine Luminaries Spirit Locking Formation" outside! Especially around the crystal coffin and the nine starlight orbs, space itself was slightly distorted, emitting a deadly aura!

"Breaking in by force is definitely a dead end!" Fang Hao knew this. This Formation, he estimated, would make even a Nascent Soul Old Monster kneel!

His gaze fell on the three treasures. How to take them? There must be a special method.

He tried to touch the silver scroll on the left with his Divine Sense. As soon as his Divine Sense approached, the scroll suddenly erupted with blinding silver light! A torrent of information forcibly rushed into his Sea of Consciousness!

"Ugh!" Fang Hao let out a muffled groan, his head aching as if it had been pricked by needles! But he gritted his teeth and held on, digesting the information.

The information was chaotic, but the core content was about a top-tier Cultivation Technique Legacy called "Zhou Tian Star Technique", which seemed to be the main Cultivation Technique of the owner of this Secret Realm, pointing directly to the Dao of the Stars! But the information was incomplete, and there was a powerful spiritual imprint that wanted to force him to accept the Legacy, or even... Possession?!

"Damn it! There really is a trap!" Fang Hao cursed internally, quickly operating the Chaos Derivation Art and the Ethereal Art to guard his spiritual platform, slowly grinding away and expelling that domineering spiritual imprint! It took a tremendous amount of effort to finally wake up, breaking out in a cold sweat!

"This Legacy cannot be taken! It’s too domineering; if I’m not careful, I’ll be subjected to Possession by this dead ghost!" Fang Hao was still shaken. He looked at the broken sword in the middle again. The Sword Intent was heaven-piercing, but his main cultivation wasn’t pure swordsmanship, and this Sword Intent carried a sense of death and madness, which didn’t suit him. Finally, there was the bronze compass; it looked the most ordinary, but it gave him the most mysterious feeling.

"This is the one!" Fang Hao decided to take a gamble. He released his Divine Sense again, carefully probing towards the bronze compass.

This time, there was no attack, no torrent of information. The moment his Divine Sense touched the compass, he felt as if he had encountered a bottomless starry sky—vast, ancient, and mysterious. The compass vibrated slightly, and points of starlight appeared on its surface, forming a blurry star map.

At the same time, a realization dawned on him: this compass was called the "star evolution plate", and it was a rare treasure for auxiliary deduction, positioning, and even peeking into heavenly secrets! Moreover, it seemed... to be the key to leaving this Secret Realm?

"That’s it!" Fang Hao was ecstatic! This thing was so practical! It just happened to make up for his shortcomings in deduction!

He tried to wrap his Divine Sense around the compass, wanting to put it away. This time it went very smoothly, and the compass turned into a stream of light and flew into his hand.

Just as the compass was taken! A sudden change occurred!

In the center of the tomb chamber, the crystal coffin shook violently! The figure in the star robe lying inside seemed... to move?! The tightly closed eyes slowly opened a crack! Two cold, dead, ancient icy gazes penetrated the coffin and locked onto Fang Hao!

"Intruder... die..."

A hoarse, ancient voice, devoid of any emotion, echoed in the tomb chamber!

Boom—!

The nine starlight orbs exploded with terrifying light simultaneously! The Formation of the entire tomb chamber was completely activated! Countless destructive starlight arrows, like a rainstorm, shot towards Fang Hao from all directions!

"Holy crap! The coffin lid can’t hold it down!" Fang Hao was scared to the point of his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering! Without thinking, he activated his Divine Spirit Steps and Shrinking the Ground to an Inch to the limit, turned around, and rushed into the secret passage! At the same time, he stuffed the newly acquired "star evolution plate" into his chest!

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!

The starlight arrows grazed his back, blasting the entrance of the secret passage with flying gravel! Fang Hao ran for his life, feeling his back burning, his protective Qi shattered instantly, and he was almost shot into a sieve!

He didn’t look back, running for his life along the path he had come! Behind him, the terrifying aura and destructive rain of light were in hot pursuit!

"Damn! Greed almost killed me!" Fang Hao cursed internally, using every ounce of strength he had, wishing his parents had given him two fewer legs! This core of the Secret Realm was simply not something he could touch right now.