My Martial Dao Has No Bottlenecks

And yet, here it was—a tombstone.

’Why would Elder Huang know the situation in such detail?’

’What in the world does this tombstone represent?’

Beset by one question after another, he didn’t approach rashly. Instead, he held his breath and focused, pushing his perception to its absolute limit. At the same time, he activated his Mixed Element Gang Body, a faint, golden Glazed Light Membrane shimmering just beneath his skin, ready to handle any sudden developments.

His sharp gaze swept over every inch of the circular space.

The dome, the jade walls, the ground, the low grave mound, the tombstone...

He even scrutinized the flow of the air and the subtle fluctuations in the Spiritual Qi.

A Quarter Hour, then another...

Time slipped by, but the chamber remained terrifyingly silent. Aside from the sound of his own heartbeat and breath, there was nothing.

No traps were triggered, no Arrays fluctuated, no enemies lay in ambush, and there was no sign of any inheritance manifesting.

’It can’t be for nothing,’ Liang Cheng thought.

But despite his repeated scans, he still came up with nothing.

Finally, his gaze fell back upon the dusty tombstone and its bizarre Runes.

After a moment’s hesitation, Liang Cheng took a deep breath, circulated his Gang Qi through a full Circulation, and cautiously stepped forward.

He stopped in front of the tombstone. After confirming once more that there were no disturbances around him, he slowly extended his right hand, his index finger reaching out to gently touch the distorted Runes on its surface.

The very instant his fingertip touched the ice-cold surface of the monument—

BOOM!!!

A massive torrent of information, like a river in the heavens bursting its dams, crashed violently and without warning into Liang Cheng’s Sea of Consciousness!

The information was too vast, too profound, a chaotic mix of countless shattered images, whispers, Dao Rhymes, and fragments of universal laws...

It surged and crashed with such madness that even Liang Cheng’s Sea of Consciousness, recently nourished by the Divine Soul Liquid, seemed utterly insignificant in comparison!

Liang Cheng didn’t even have time to feel astonished before his consciousness was instantly submerged. His vision went black. Fortunately, in the next moment, the torrent of information suddenly stagnated, then condensed into a single brand that sank into the deepest part of Liang Cheng’s Sea of Consciousness and fell completely silent.

It was as if it had never been there at all.

But all of this happened too quickly. From the moment Liang Cheng touched the tombstone to the information being sealed away, everything was completed in a single instant.

And at the very same moment Liang Cheng’s fingertip touched the Rune, on the First Layer and Second Layer of the Secret Realm’s inheritance trial, the other prodigies were still locked in bitter combat with their own "perfect mirror images."

But at this moment, the avatars before them—perfect incarnations condensed from golden light—all trembled in unison. Then, without any warning, they burst with a soft POP, scattering into a sky full of golden motes of light completely devoid of spirit, which then rapidly dissipated into the air.

"Huh?"

"What’s going on?"

"Is the inheritance over?"

All the prodigies were stunned. Before they could react, an irresistible repulsive force emanated from the space around them, and the scene before their eyes rapidly blurred.

The next moment—

In the clearing in the valley outside the Secret Realm’s entrance, flashes of golden light appeared one after another.

One by one, figures tumbled out, looking somewhat disheveled. They were precisely the prodigies who had persevered in the Secret Realm.

Most of them wore dazed expressions, tinged with a hint of confusion.

’What just happened?’

Liang Cheng was among them. He shook his heavy head, his eyes filled with a dazed confusion.

His Sea of Consciousness was empty. Aside from a faint, sharp pain from overexerting his spirit, there were no other abnormalities.

He retained no memory of the terrifying impact of the information torrent, nor of the process by which it had been sealed within his Sea of Consciousness.

Only the shape of the distorted Runes on the tombstone remained, seared into his mind with exceptional clarity, as if carved by a knife, impossible to forget even if he tried.

"Liang Cheng, Zhiqiu, are you injured?"

Chen Xuanfeng’s voice was the first to reach them.

Liu Jingtiao also walked up to the Penglai Sect Disciples.

His expression was serene as he asked in a deep voice, "What happened? Why did the Secret Realm close prematurely? Did any of you reach the core?"

The prodigies exchanged glances, none of them knowing what had happened. Ren Jingyu then spoke up and explained the course of events in detail.

Meanwhile, Ye Zhiqiu stabilized his disordered aura and said directly, "Master, I..."

Ye Zhiqiu recounted his experience in detail, concluding, "I was on the Second Layer, fighting my own mirror image. I kept losing and was trying to think of a way to break through when the image suddenly disintegrated on its own. Then I was teleported out."

He was telling the truth, holding nothing back.

Hearing this, a thought struck Liang Cheng, and he made his decision in an instant.

He suppressed the strange feeling caused by the unnervingly clear image of the Runes in his mind. Putting on an expression of confusion that matched those around him, he followed Ye Zhiqiu’s account, saying, "My situation was similar to my senior brother’s. I was also in the middle of a fierce battle when I was suddenly teleported out. I have no idea why."

The other Penglai Sect prodigies also spoke up, and their accounts were all largely the same. They were fighting their mirror images when the images suddenly collapsed, and they were subsequently kicked out of the Secret Realm.

No one admitted to having reached any core area.

Liu Jingtiao’s brow furrowed slightly. His gaze was like lightning as it slowly swept over everyone’s faces. He then spoke, "Shi Podang’s Life Token has shattered. Do any of you know what happened to him?"

Hmm?

Ren Jingyu and the others hadn’t known about Shi Podang’s death and were stunned to hear the news.

Ren Jingyu instinctively glanced at Liang Cheng, then leaned in and quietly whispered a few words in Liu Jingtiao’s ear. Liu Jingtiao’s expression changed, after which he shot Liang Cheng a curious look.

Liang Cheng felt the Elder’s gaze but remained perfectly composed, his face not flushing and his heart not skipping a beat. He maintained his dazed and confused expression, revealing nothing unusual.

On the other side, the grim-faced Elder from the Situ Family, Huang Tiancheng, let his gaze drift almost imperceptibly over Liang Cheng.

Deep within his eyes, a bone-chilling killing intent was perfectly concealed, but the fingers hidden inside his sleeve were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

He had long ago inscribed a unique Divine Thought message onto Situ Ming’s Life Token, and right now, that message was pointing directly at Liang Cheng.

’So, Situ Ming died at this brat’s hands!’

’But with everyone watching, and several Elders from the Main Courtyard nearby, this is absolutely not the time to act. Otherwise, not only might I fail to get revenge, but I’d also bring trouble upon myself.’

’Revenge requires long-term planning. But now that I know who the killer is, all I have to do is wait for the right opportunity to strike.’

Liang Cheng kept his head down, searching for Elder Huang from the corner of his eye. He happened to see Elder Huang still standing a short distance away, his eyes narrowed.

However, as his gaze swept past Liang Cheng, a glint flashed in his eyes before they returned to their usual dullness. He then went back to sipping his tea alone, appearing completely unperturbed.

For a time, after the major powers had finished questioning their respective prodigies, the atmosphere in the valley grew tense.

The Secret Realm had closed prematurely for no apparent reason, and it seemed no one had obtained the core inheritance. This outcome was beyond everyone’s expectations.

Liang Cheng stood quietly in the crowd, his eyelids lowered, not daring to reveal anything about the tombstone’s Runes.

’Revealing a secret like that would bring nothing but disaster!’