Chương 367: Exiting the mystic realm

The entire mystic realm seemed to fall into a weird state of calm silence for the next few hours. There was not a single change that occured during the remaining time. Long Feng himself was focused on trying to heal himself as much as he could before they left, but there was only so much he could achieve. His injuries were extremely significant, and full recovery could take over a month, even considering his faster than normal healing speed. As for his cultivation… it was another story altogether.

He opened his eyes and paused his healing with a frown on his face.

"There's an hour left and I've barely even regained the ability to move. I am completely unable to defend myself in this state. Most importantly… I burned a part of my cultivation to escape." This was actually the most pressing issue. Burning his cultivation was a serious matter, and the consequences were only beginning to take effect.

"I've had several breakthroughs in close succession recently, and my foundation has weakened slightly. Coupled with burning my cultivation…" He slightly released some of his aura, revealing his cultivation. And it was no longer at rank six Imperial realm. Instead, it had fallen down to rank five Imperial realm to stabilize his foundation. Long Feng wasn't particularly fazed by the fall in his cultivation. In all honesty, he hadn't liked the sudden advancements.

He merely went ahead with it because he had no other choice. After all, the energy within the Dao heart ultimately didn't belong to him. After he refined it as part of his cultivation, it had conflicted with his original foundation which was entirely his.

"The Dao heart's energy is ownerless in logical terms, but the truth is that it still posseses some traces of it's former owner. And considering that I'm so much weaker than him, it is impossible for me to fully refine those traces, meaning that I do not have full control over this new cultivation of mine." He deduced while withdrawing his aura.

"There's nothing that can be done about it for now. I should focus on healing as much as possible first. Perhaps there might be a way to undo the effects of the Dao heart's energy on my cultivation." Deciding that, he emptied his mind and hastened his healing with pills. In the final one hour, many of the little injuries on his body were more or less healed. But the severe ones had barely healed up at all. His face was still pale as paper, his body extremely weak and his Dantian still devoid of energy.

With Long Feng's cautious attitude, this state was certainly not one he would ever want to be in, especially right now when he had no idea what would happen once he left the mystic realm. Unfortunately, he was out of time. A low rumble spread throughout the mystic realm as a dense mist flooded the realm out of nowhere. Everyone in the realm stopped whatever they were doing and waited calmly to be sent out of the realm.

Back in the sect, a month had passed silently and the whole peak was anticipating the return of the top fifty disciples. Within the Dao Heaven Hall, the Head warden stood before the crystal wall with his eyes closed. Behind him stood four other men, each of them having deep and immeasurable auras. As the time for the mystic realm to close approached, one of the four wardens couldn't help but remark,"I'm curious to see how much progress the disciples made. Best case scenario will be to have a few new deities."

"Indeed. With the current generation of top ten disciples about to leave, a new group must rise to replace them." Another warden agreed.

"Expecting the new generation to replace them is too far fetched. The current top ten are arguably the strongest our outer peak has raised in centuries. That's even more so for an anomaly like Qiu Yushi. Replacing them will be impossible." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Perhaps. Qiu Yushi is only so strong because he has passed the first refining stage. What I'm actually looking forward to is whether one of them can clear the inheritance and gain the treasure contained within." The others nodded and agreed with that remark. Over many decades, no generation of outer peak disciples had ever succeeded in obtaining the inheritance. Considering that this generation was the best in a long time, it was possible that they could break the record.

"It'll be good if either Qiu Yushi, Situ Hong or Bai Zijun can obtain the inheritance. Apart from them, I don't think anyone else stands much of a chance." The head warden had been silently listening to their discussions with his gaze focused on the crystal wall. When they mentioned the inheritance, a light flashed through his eyes.

'Zijun… I broke the rules and informed you about the Dao heart as well as the correct way to subdue and refine it's energy. With it, you'll be able to undergo the first refinement stage perfectly and become the strongest early stage deity there is'. His eyes narrowed slightly.

'Qiu Yushi and the others will be nothing. Even in the inner peak teeming with geniuses, you will quickly rise through the ranks using the Dao heart." A thin smile lit up his face.

'Brother, I'll make sure that Zijun surpasses my old bones and becomes a real powerhouse in the entire mainland. I only hope you can forgive me for letting little Lixi die.' This thought wiped the smile off his face as Long Feng's figure appeared in his mind. His fists unconsciously clenched tightly for a second before he unclenched them.

'As long as Zijun kills him secretly, then Lord Ao won't be able to do anything about it even if he gets enraged, though I highly doubt that he will even be bothered. But…' the scene of the talent testing stone crumbling to pieces suddenly replayed in his mind, causing his fingers to tremble while a deep sense of unease brewed in his heart.

'No. I'm overthinking it. The stone was already broken… besides, there's no way he can survive. Nothing will go wrong.' he suppressed the unusual thoughts in his mind and waited patiently for the disciples to be sent out. About ten minutes later, the crystal wall began to glow brightly, appearing like it contained the stars within it. Several spots of light appeared on it's surface, each one having different intensity.

These spots of lights were extremely unique, and each one actually represented a mystic realm in the outer peak. The brightest one was in the center of the wall, and it's glow was unmatched. The other spots of light vanished, leaving it alone on the wall. A minute later, dense mist spilled out of the spot, surrounding the crystal wall. At the same time, a subtle spacial wave appeared as youths began to appear one after the other with confused expressions on their faces.

Long Feng was among the very first people to be sent out. The sudden teleportation was too much for his body to bear and he was overcome by a bout of dizziness, nearly falling to his knees. When he finally supported himself, he glanced around and noticed that other youths were appearing silently. They would each look around in confusion for a second or so before they would realize where they were. Long Feng noticed something subtle.

"We're being sent out based on our cultivation, from the weakest to the strongest. That's why I was among the first, considering that I have the lowest cultivation. In that case, the deities will be the last to appear." He clenched his fist lightly, feeling unnerved by the awareness that he had no control over whatever would happen next. This feeling was something he absolutely dreaded, the feeling of having zero control in a situation where his life could be at risk.

He wouldn't even be able to defend himself in his current state. Luckily, only the deities were aware of Bai Zijun's death and the fact that he died by Long Feng's hands. Of course, that would soon change. The next few seconds were torturous to him as he pressured his mind to think of a way out, but nothing was forthcoming. He subconsciously glanced around and spotted the five figures standing across them and watching them appear silently.

His breathing instantly slowed down as he focused on the head warden while lowering his head.

"No matter what happened, it's a fact that I killed both his nephews…" The head warden's expression remained passive as he watched the disciples appearing. He was already aware that the deities would be the last to appear, so he wasn't worried at all. He even took his time to scan through the disciples and noted that some of them were already half a step away from the deity realm. All they needed was a tiny push to finally cross over. He subtly nodded his head and swept his gaze across them.

As he did so, his eyes suddenly narrowed and a deep frown coloured his face.

"This brat…" he stared directly at Long Feng, feeling confused.

"He's still alive? Didn't Zijun kill him?" He held his gaze for a few seconds before looking away.

"Perhaps he was focused on the Dao heart so he couldn't kill him. Doesn't matter. There'll be other opportunities to end him silently." Long Feng sensed the brief gaze that rested upon him and for that brief moment, the weight behind the gaze caused him to feel as though he was drowning. Just then, the spot of light representing the mystic realm glowed even more brightly and a powerful aura spread with the appearance of a youth. Just from his aura, it was clear that he was a deity.

He wasn't among the top ten deities. Instead, he was one of the Peak imperials who became a deity within the mystic realm. Another new youth appeared mere moments after him. He was the second youth who stumbled upon an opportunity and became a deity. In total, only two peak Imperials had achieved the deity realm. The five wardens present assessed the two youths and nodded in satisfaction.

Two new deities wasn't a bad result, considering that more of the peak Imperials would reach the deity realm soon once they fully acclimated to the lucky chances they had.

"Not bad. I already sensed the auras of about five more peak Imperials who will be able to reach the deity realm in a couple of months at most." One of the wardens stroke his beard and smiled.

"Hm. But the mortality rate appears to have been slightly higher this time. About forty peak Imperials went in and I'm only counting less than twenty of them. The others have most likely met bad endings." Another warden shook his head sadly. The head warden calmly replied,"It is only natural for the deaths to be high if we want to raise the best among them. In my perspective, if a genius dies, then their luck just isn't enough in lighter terms. In other words… they're weak. Here, we don't raise weaklings.

We birth real geniuses who can withstand the flames and become powerful warriors in the future. Even if only ten of them survived but they all became deities, their worth would surpass all the other weaklings who died combined." The first warden nodded in agreement while the second one frowned slightly but reserved his words.

"It's time for the top ten geniuses to emerge. Let's see how much progress they've made." The head warden added calmly with a light of expectation glimmering in his eyes. Instantly, The a youth appeared, sending a shocking amount of energy into the air and completely suppressing the auras of the two new deities. Everyone's expressions instantly turned solemn. This was only the tenth ranked disciple, yet the difference between him and the two new deities was clear as day.

The youth retracted his aura and glanced around with a solemn expression. His gaze first landed on the head warden and his pupils trembled as he recalled that… Instantly, his eyes darted around and finally found the face in his memory. It was slightly different, appearing extremely fragile and weak, but he definitely wouldn't mistake this face even in a hundred years. Long Feng's heart sank as he sensed the gaze of the youth resting on him. His fists loosened as he sighed inwardly.

"There's no avoiding this, I guess."