Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 529 The Thousand-Layered Secret Realm
The Thousand-Layer Mountain Range.

The northernmost part of the Heavenly Mystery Domain is shrouded in clouds and mist all year round, and the miasma in the mountains is incredibly toxic, making it difficult for anyone below the Innate Realm to withstand.

At that moment, two figures, one large and one small, disappeared into the clouds and mist of the mountain range, moving swiftly through the clouds.

"Forbidden Zone of a Thousand Layers, halt your entry!"

Half an hour later, a majestic voice resounded, and Lin Chen and Yin Yue stopped in their tracks, looking at the two young men who emerged from the clouds.

The two men only glanced at Lin Chen briefly. Even though Lin Chen was at the same level as them in the third stage of the Innate Realm, their gazes lingered a few more times when they saw Yin Yue, especially her silver hair.

"Are you a member of the Moon Soul Clan's royal family?"

"Yin Yue, the contemporary princess of the Moon Soul Clan."

When Yin Yue introduced herself, the wariness on the two young men's faces disappeared, replaced by smiles.

"So you are the Moon Soul Clan princess. Please come with us."

Two young men led the way, and Lin Chen and Yin Yue exchanged a glance and followed closely behind each other.

Lin Chen continued to release his divine sense, and he could feel obvious spatial fluctuations within the clouds and mist, indicating that there was an array in this mountain range.

However, Lin Chen wasn't too surprised. Yin Yue had explained her purpose to him when she came here with him.

Come to the Thousand Divided Mountains and retrieve a treasure of the Moon Soul Clan.

Only by obtaining this item can Yin Yue have a chance to quell the rebellion within her clan.

However, this item is not so easy to obtain, which is why Yin Yue sought out Lin Chen.

……

……

Half an hour later.

The surrounding clouds and mist suddenly disappeared, and Lin Chen's gaze was immediately drawn to the clouds in front of him.

It's normal for clouds to vary in thickness and height, but here the clouds are layered upon layered, numbering in the thousands...

The name of the Thousand Die Mountains comes from this.

Below the clouds lay a plain, where various buildings could be seen. Looking at these relatively simple buildings, Lin Chen's mind conjured up images of primitive tribes.

This area below resembles the habitat of a primitive tribal group.

However, Lin Chen dared not underestimate this "tribe" in the slightest. According to Yin Yue, the tribe living here was the Entropy Tribe, which was also an ancient race.

The Entropy Clan is famous for its array formations. Most of the array formations that all array formation masters in the entire Yan Dynasty comprehend originated from the Entropy Clan.

In terms of formations alone, no one can compare with the Entropy Clan.

Of course, the Entropy Clan is famous for its array formations, but that doesn't mean they are weak in other aspects. The so-called weakness is only relative to array formation. This ancient clan, which has existed for so many years, has a foundation that is in no way inferior to that of a super sect.

However, Lin Chen learned the reason why the ancient race was not well known in the Yan Dynasty from Yin Yue.

Sparse population!
Compared to a super sect with tens of thousands of disciples and hundreds of thousands of martial artists related to the sect, the number of people in each ancient clan would not exceed three thousand.

It's not that these ancient races are unwilling to increase their population, but rather that they want to maintain their racial bloodline advantage.

Each ancient clan possesses its own bloodline supernatural power, but the more people there are, the thinner this bloodline becomes; three thousand is the limit.

You can't have your cake and eat it too!
This was Lin Chen's assessment of the situation of these survivors, based on what he learned from Yin Yue.

Maintaining one's bloodline and possessing bloodline supernatural powers allows members of ancient clans to start at a level comparable to genius disciples of super sects.

Lin Chen could make this judgment from these two young men.

These two looked to be around thirty years old, yet they had already reached the third stage of the Innate Realm. Meanwhile, his third senior brother, as a direct disciple, could definitely be considered a genius of the sect, but he had not yet reached the third stage of the Innate Realm. This was the difference.

"Please wait a moment, gentlemen."

The two young men led Lin Chen and Yin Yue to a courtyard at a higher elevation. One of the young men went into the courtyard and came out again after a short while: "Gentlemen, the Second Elder invites you."

In the courtyard, an elderly man with white hair stood there.

"Junior Yin Yue greets the Second Elder."

"A princess of such noble status need not do this."

The old man smiled and waved his hand, looking at Yin Yue: "Princess Yin Yue, is this trip for the treasure that the nobles placed in the secret realm?"

"Well, to be honest, my clan has been in rebellion. I came to your noble family to retrieve the treasure in order to quell the rebellion."

Yin Yue didn't hide it, and it couldn't be hidden anyway. Although these ancient clans didn't travel much in the outside world, they still had contact with each other. With such a big thing happening in their clan, the Entropy Clan couldn't possibly be unaware of it.

"The nobles' treasures are stored in a secret realm. Anyone who is a descendant of your clan's royal family, or who possesses a token, can enter the secret realm to retrieve the treasures. This was an agreement between our ancestors and your Moon Soul Clan's ancestors." The elder of the Entropy Clan didn't make things difficult for Yin Yue: "However, a few days ago, someone from your Moon Soul Clan also came here with a token..."

Upon hearing this, Yin Yue's expression changed: "Second Elder, that's a traitor to our clan..."

"Princess Yinyue, please don't worry."

The second elder of the Entropy Clan interrupted Yin Yue and said in a deep voice, "Our Entropy Clan cannot interfere in the internal affairs of your Moon Soul Clan. We can only follow the agreement of our ancestors. Therefore, you are all welcome to enter this secret realm."

Lin Chen listened to the words of the second elder of the Entropy Clan, his eyes filled with contemplation. The Moon Soul Clan and the Entropy Clan had agreed that members of the royal family and those who held the tokens could enter the secret realm. The Entropy Clan was doing as agreed, seemingly not interfering in the internal affairs of other clans and abiding by the ancestral agreement, but in reality, they were probably traitors who favored the Moon Soul Clan.

The agreement between the Luna Clan and the Entropy Clan is rather crude, and does not specify what to do in such situations.
Therefore, the Entropy Clan had a great deal of autonomy. If the Entropy Clan had sided with Yin Yue, they could have refused the other party by claiming that the person holding the token was a traitor from the Moon Soul Clan. However, the Entropy Clan did not do so.

Of course, it cannot be said that the Entropy Clan is biased towards the Moon Soul Clan traitor. It is also possible that the Entropy Clan chose not to offend either side, or that the Moon Soul Clan traitor possessed great strength, which made the Entropy Clan wary of him.

Lin Chen gave Yin Yue a "calm" look, and Yin Yue took a deep breath: "Thank you for your kindness, Elder."

"No need to be polite. Our two clans have been friends for many years. Please stay here for now, and I will have someone notify you when the secret realm opens."

After the second elder of the Entropy Clan finished speaking, the young man who had led the way at the door walked in: "Take Princess Yinyue to stay in the clan, and do not neglect her in any way!"

"Yes!"

Lin Chen and Yin Yue were taken away again before they could even sit down in the elder's courtyard, and were eventually arranged to stay in another courtyard.

The two silently entered the house, and Lin Chen spoke up, saying, "Actually, there's no need to blame the Entropy Clan."

"I didn't blame the Entropy Clan; I was just expressing an attitude to the outside world."

Once inside, the unpleasant look on Yin Yue's face disappeared: "Our arrival couldn't be kept secret from the traitor of my clan; we were just trying to lull him into a false sense of security."

From the very beginning, Yin Yue had guessed the attitude of the Entropy Clan. After all, the traitor in the clan was now powerful, and she was the only one left in the royal family. The Entropy Clan would not choose to stand on her side.

She had already guessed the Entropy Clan's attitude, which is why she made an agreement with Lin Chen in advance.

Lin Chen suddenly realized that Yin Yue, who doesn't have much emotional fluctuation, has such good acting skills.

"I learned all of this from you."

Yin Yue noticed Lin Chen's gaze and said something quietly. Lin Chen was taken aback. "Did you learn that from me?"
Isn't this defamation?

Looking across Canglan Island, everyone knows that Lin Chen is the kindest and most honest person, never beating around the bush.

"Let me tell you about the situation in the Thousand Layers Secret Realm."

"it is good."

Seeing Yin Yue bring up serious matters, Lin Chen also regained his serious expression.

"The Thousand Layers Secret Realm was not created by the Entropy Clan. It's just that the location here is extremely special, and a secret realm established here can exist forever. For this reason, many ancient clans and the Entropy Clan created this secret realm together. Afterwards, each clan hid some treasures in the Thousand Layers Secret Realm, and the Entropy Clan was responsible for maintaining the Thousand Layers Secret Realm."

Why would different races hide their treasures in the Thousand Layers Mystery Realm?

Lin Chen asked in confusion, "Isn't it a good thing that the Entropy Clan might have some improper thoughts and try to take these treasures for themselves by placing their own clan's treasures in the hands of other clans?"
"Because of the oath!"

"oath?"

"Yes, the ancestors of the Entropy Clan swore an oath that the Entropy Clan would never covet the treasures of other clans, otherwise they would be punished by heaven and their entire clan would be wiped out."

Upon hearing Yin Yue mention oaths, Lin Chen's expression became somewhat strange. Such oaths might have some effect on a single martial artist, influencing their mindset for subsequent martial arts breakthroughs, but looking at an entire clan... it's likely to have little binding force.

“Oaths alone are not enough. The Entropy Clan has also made agreements with other clans that if any clan covets the treasures of another clan, the other ancient clans can unite to destroy them.”

Yin Yue knew what Lin Chen was thinking and gave the real reason why the various races believed in the Entropy Clan.

Each race has treasures stored in the Thousand Layers Secret Realm. If the Entropy Clan covets any race's treasures, other ancient races will also worry about their own treasures and will certainly not stand idly by. If they unite to hold the Entropy Clan accountable, the Entropy Clan will not be able to bear the consequences.

"As for why it exists in the Thousand Layers Secret Realm, it is to prevent encountering extreme situations like our race. In addition, it is because this secret realm is extremely stable and no one below the god level can destroy it."

Lin Chen now understood. The Thousand Layers Secret Realm of the Entropy Clan was like an extremely secure safe, with no need to worry about it being pried open. The Entropy Clan was more like a bank, and what banks value most is their reputation. Once the reputation is gone, the bank ceases to exist.

It's likely that the various ancient races repaid the Entropy Clan with benefits; otherwise, the Entropy Clan wouldn't have helped guard the Thousand Layers Secret Realm for the various races.

For each race, this practice serves as a safeguard against the extinction of their lineage in the event of annihilation. As long as there are still members of their race alive, they have the opportunity to retrieve their clan's treasures from the Thousand Layers Secret Realm and rebuild their clan's fortunes.

"Returning to the Thousand Layers Secret Realm itself, aside from requests from various races to open the secret realm, it normally opens once every hundred years. Each opening attracts geniuses from all races. This time, I requested the Entropy Clan to open the secret realm, and geniuses from other races will also come. Otherwise, we will have to wait another hundred years..."

"Does this Thousand Layers Mystic Realm have any other special features?"

Lin Chen grasped the key point in Yin Yue's words: the prodigies of other races...

Although each clan left treasures in the Thousand Layers Secret Realm, it should be a contingency plan to prevent extreme situations from happening within the clan. Normally, the cultivation of clan members still relies on the clan's resources and heritage. There is no reason for the geniuses of each clan to come here, unless the Thousand Layers Secret Realm has other special features.

"Time flows very slowly in the Thousand Layers Secret Realm. One year inside is equivalent to half a year outside. Moreover, a martial artist's soul, speed, and strength are suppressed inside. For many geniuses, this is the best training ground." Yin Yue looked at Lin Chen, her beautiful eyes shining with a strange light: "The Thousand Layers Secret Realm is a superposition of multiple spaces. The greater the pressure that can be withstood, the slower the spatial flow becomes."

(End of this chapter)