Chapter 28 - Forbidden Realm of the Sea Tribe

“Have you not achieved enough in your cultivation to break free from Prince Bao’s control?” Leng Yan asked.

“We can escape Prince Bao’s control, but our families are still within the Imperial Palace, and there are many cultivating dao there. Our current cultivation level is not enough to break into the Imperial Palace and rescue them!” Huang Lian said with a worried expression.

“That makes sense! As children, we should bear responsibility and not just think of ourselves!” Leng Yan’s parents had passed away early, leaving him with no ties, free and unencumbered. Just as Leng Yan was reflecting, he suddenly sensed a large group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals appearing about a mile away.

“These are the spies of that monohorn water ape, it seems they are out for revenge!” Leng Yan quickly realized what was happening and urgently turned to Sun Qian, saying, “How many primordial spirit elixirs do you two still have?”

“The two of us have a total of four thousand left!” Huang Lian asked in confusion.

“If you trust me, lend me these four thousand primordial spirit elixirs for now, and then head to Yong’an Town to wait for me. I’ll handle the monohorn water ape for you!” Leng Yan urged.

“You saved our lives; how could we not trust you? Here are the four thousand primordial spirit elixirs!” Huang Lian glanced at Sun Qian, and both nodded in agreement before handing them over to Leng Yan.

Without wasting words, Leng Yan took the elixirs and said, “The water ape’s spies are already headed this way. Leave the Tide Sea immediately, and I’ll come find you after I’m done.”

“Alright! Take care, we’ll go!” Sun Qian bid Leng Yan farewell, then started leading Huang Lian away toward the open sea.

Watching them leave, Leng Yan did not linger. He gripped the Azure Sky Sword and ran toward a distant trench.

Along the way, Leng Yan tried his best to avoid the gaze of the sea’s fish and shrimp. Even if he was accidentally spotted, he quickly killed the shrimp soldiers and crab generals, doing his utmost to keep his movements hidden.

However, as time passed, the number of shrimp soldiers and crab generals sent by the water ape tribe kept increasing, including some demonic beasts with cultivation levels in the magical power realm, forcing Leng Yan to slow down and be extra cautious.

“I guess when there are no ghostly shadows, you end up with seafood everywhere. And now that I’m not even hungry, what’s with all these dried fish!” Leng Yan bent over, slowly making his way through the reef rock clusters.

“Where is he? Come on! Go report to the young master, the rest of you, get him, stop him!” Just as Leng Yan stepped out of the reef rocks, a white shark leader spotted him and roared loudly.

“Oh no! I’ve been spotted!” Leng Yan was startled, and with a swing of his Azure Sky Sword, he unleashed a sword qi that sliced through a tuna attempting to leave to inform others. But with tens of thousands of fish around and no cultivation level, it was impossible to stop them all, especially since over a dozen demonic beasts from the magical power realm were already brandishing their weapons to confront him.

Leng Yan knew he could handle a dozen magical power realm demonic beasts, but getting entangled with them was risky, so fighting continuously was not an option. Retreating was the best choice.

Since he was already exposed, there was no need for stealth anymore. He burst forth like an arrow released from a bow.

“Chase him, don’t let him escape!”

The demonic beasts behind him shouted and followed closely. Hearing the shouts, Leng Yan felt incredibly annoyed.

“You want to follow me? Die!”

In a rage, Leng Yan silently dropped a Fiend Thunder on the ground and continued running forward without stopping.

The seabed was naturally dim, and the black Fiend Thunder was hardly noticeable. The dozen magical power realm demonic beasts chasing after him were oblivious as they raced towards their doom.

“Now! Explode!” Leng Yan had been monitoring the situation behind him with his mental power. Seeing the beasts reach the Fiend Thunder, he detonated it without hesitation.

“Boom!”

A muffled explosion sounded behind him, and the force of the explosion propelled the water, pushing Leng Yan forward. Meanwhile, the dozen demonic beasts were torn apart, with only their inner elixirs floating in the water.

Using his mental power, Leng Yan wrapped the inner elixirs and used a technique to draw them in from afar, storing them in an unnamed immortal land mirror.

“The mission is as good as done. If I can’t get the unicorn horn, I’ll just make a run for it,” Leng Yan muttered with a smirk, looking at the inner elixirs of the magical power realm demonic beasts inside the space of the immortal land mirror.

Continuing forward, Leng Yan sensed a deep trench ahead with no signs of life and a complicated terrain-a perfect hiding place.

The thunderous sound of the Fiend Thunder was the best signal, and Yuan Shao led over twenty water apes from the true essence realm, charging over with great momentum.

At that moment, Leng Yan was utterly frustrated. At the edge of the trench in front of him stood a stele with the inscription “Forbidden Realm of the Sea Tribe.”

Leng Yan hesitated, unsure whether to descend. Forbidden realms were generally extremely dangerous places. His situation was akin to being caught between a tiger in front and wolves at the back.

“Damn it! How did I not notice this stele before? Fuck! I need to leave this place now and come back when I’m stronger,” Leng Yan finally made up his mind, but as he turned around, he discovered that over twenty water apes had already surrounded him.

“If you surrender now, I can spare your life,” Yuan Shao said, seeing Leng Yan trapped by the stele, a slight smile on his lips, yet he did not advance further. Perhaps he dared not.

“Cut the crap, I can leave whenever I want! I’m just curious about what’s so peculiar about your forbidden realm,” Leng Yan could indeed escape, but that would require burning five thousand primordial spirit elixirs to activate the immortal land.

Five thousand primordial spirit elixirs were a fortune for Leng Yan at the moment, not something to be used unless absolutely necessary.

“Want to know? Then you can jump down and see for yourself! But let me remind you, many seniors from our sea tribe who are at the golden core realm have entered and never returned alive,” Yuan Shao appeared to be giving a reminder, but his true intent was to intimidate Leng Yan and deter him from jumping.

If Leng Yan were to jump and die below, the cultivation techniques he possessed would also be buried with him.

Thus, Yuan Shao elaborated on the dreadful aspects of the trench to Leng Yan, to dissuade him from jumping.

From the beginning, Leng Yan had no intention of jumping; he was merely buying time to think of a way to escape without burning any primordial spirit elixirs.

Just as Leng Yan was contemplating his escape, suddenly the entire seabed began to tremble. Standing on the edge of the trench, Leng Yan slipped and fell in.

“Ah!”

That was the last sound Leng Yan made as he fell into the trench.

“Young Master, that person fell into the Forbidden Realm! What should we do?” As the tremors ceased, a water ape turned to Yuan Shao and asked.

“Even those in the golden core realm meet their end upon entering; he likely has no chance of survival. Let’s all head back!” Yuan Shao’s face was etched with disappointment, lamenting that a supreme cultivation technique had just been buried within the trench, cursing the ill-timed earthquake.

…

Leng Yan tumbled down the edge of the trench, then fell deeper, fortunate to be in the ocean where the buoyancy of the water saved him from being smashed to pieces.

Using the Blackwater Emperor Technique to control the surrounding water currents, he stabilized his descent, avoiding collisions with any large rocks.

After drifting for an entire hour, he still hadn’t reached the seabed, which puzzled Leng Yan. According to his senses, the trench wasn’t that deep, yet it was taking unusually long to reach the bottom.

Two hours passed, and Leng Yan could now feel the pressure of the seawater. Not wanting to waste any time, he promptly activated the protective measures of the Moon Essence Wheel.

Three hours later, the Water Repelling Technique was nearly overwhelmed by the immense pressure, with seawater approaching within two feet of him.

Yet, the surroundings remained pitch black, and what was more terrifying was that Leng Yan’s mental power could only extend a few yards around him, unable to reach any further.

“I can’t go on like this! If this continues, the Water Repelling Technique will shatter. The only thing to do is to cultivate the Blackwater Emperor Technique! As the cultivation technique improves, so will the resilience of the Water Repelling Technique!” In this moment of crisis, Leng Yan gradually steadied his mind, ignoring how long it might take to reach the seabed, instead focusing on accelerating his cultivation of the Blackwater Emperor Technique.

Leng Yan closed his eyes in deep meditation. Inside his sea of consciousness, a black water droplet the size of a soybean spun rapidly. The seawater outside his body seemed to respond to a call, transforming into streams of Water Qi that surged into Leng Yan’s body. As a great amount of Water Qi was absorbed, the black droplet grew larger by a circle, and the water repelling technique light shield around Leng Yan expanded outward by another foot.

At this moment, Leng Yan was no longer concerned with anything else, dedicating himself entirely to the cultivation of Divine Power. This was also the first time Leng Yan had devoted himself completely to cultivation since his breakthrough in realm. However, the improvement in the realm of the magical technique did not equate to an enhancement in Leng Yan’s personal realm!

To advance to the magical power realm, one simply needed to cultivate a certain cultivation technique to minor completion, generating magical power. But as one progressed further, personal realm enhancement became increasingly difficult and troublesome!

To ascend to the true essence realm, it was necessary to strengthen one’s essence, energy, and spirit, merging spirit with magical power to condense true essence power.

Achieving this required a specific mental cultivation technique to smoothly break through the realm, but such techniques were only accessible to inner disciples.

Leng Yan also knew that his personal realm was the most important aspect; if his own strength was weak, even the most formidable Divine Powers would not be able to unleash their true potential.

Just like now, even though the realm of his Blackwater Emperor Technique had improved again, originally Leng Yan’s magical power could support two Water Dragon Techniques. But now, one Water Dragon Technique could deplete all of Leng Yan’s magical power.