Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 523 Altar Restrictions
The sky was clear and sunny, with not a cloud in the sky.

In the desolate and deserted mountains, two streaks of light shot from afar and landed in front of a simple bamboo hut, revealing two figures: Song Xian and Apu.

As soon as the two figures vanished, the bamboo door opened, and three people walked out.

Leading the way was a tall, handsome middle-aged man, Aibu, who had previously explored Dong Xuanchen's secret realm with him and was now at the third level of the Golden Core realm.

Behind him were two people, one on the left and one on the right. The one on the left was a short old man with slightly graying temples, who looked to be around sixty years old. He was short, with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks, and a pair of triangular eyes. He was clearly not a good person and was also at the third level of the Golden Core realm.

The one on the right has thick eyebrows and big eyes, is around fifty years old, has a burly build, and his muscles are bulging like a tower. He is at the second level of the Golden Core realm.

The three men had different expressions. Abbu's eyes were as cold as when they first met, showing no enthusiasm whatsoever despite it being their second collaboration.

The short, weasel-faced old man to his left was sizing him up with a cunning glint in his eyes.

The burly man on the right, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, was clearly on guard.

"This is Fellow Daoist Song Xian, the head of the Hunyuan Sect in Xijiang County," Apu began to introduce the group.

“Fellow Daoist Aibu, I won’t go into details since you’ve met him before.”

"This fellow Daoist Afar is the leader of the Guiyun Sect in the East Sea Region."

The burly man named Afar nodded to him: "So you are Sect Leader Song. I have long admired your name."

Song Xian of the Guiyun Sect also knew of him and was familiar with his name, but he had never met him.

“I have long admired Fellow Daoist Afar, and I am honored to meet you today.”

"This is Fellow Daoist Nisi, a rogue cultivator."

The little old man named Nice smiled and continued, "Now that all five of us are here, when shall we set off?"

Abu said coldly, "Now that everyone is here, what are we waiting for? Let's set off now."

.........

The wind howled and the rain poured down.

Dark, heavy clouds covered the sky, as if they were about to fall.

The boundless sea was turbulent, with layers of angry waves crashing against the steep cliffs.

High in the sky, several streaks of light flashed past and landed on the towering cliff, revealing several figures. This was Song Xian and his group.

This place is a small island in the southern part of the Mukh Grassland and the South China Sea. This island has no name, because there are countless such nameless islands in the South China Sea.

The island is only a few miles in circumference, and as far as the eye can see, it is a lush and verdant forest.

After the group landed in their escape light, they headed straight ahead under Abu's guidance.

The dense forest of towering trees was very dark, and the ground was covered with withered branches and decaying leaves, making a rustling sound when you walked on it.

After walking for a short while, Abu suddenly stopped and stomped his foot.

With a loud rumble, the ground sank downwards, creating a huge crater hundreds of feet in circumference, where five stone pillars of different colors stood tall.

Each stone pillar is about four or five zhang tall, and is covered with densely packed, unidentified black runes.

At the center of the stone pillar is a small black altar, which is also covered with densely packed black runes.

"This is the place to open the secret realm. We need to activate the runes on the stone pillar to open the space, so I asked the three of you to help. In a moment, listen to my instructions. We will simultaneously channel our spiritual power into the stone pillar until the altar's restrictions are lifted."

After saying that, Abu took out a black stone pillar several feet long in an inverted triangular shape, walked to the top of the black altar, and inserted it into the gap.

With a soft click, as if a key had been inserted into a lock, the black inverted triangular stone pillar fit perfectly into the inner room.

Just then, the little old man named Nice spoke up with a smile: "Fellow Daoist Abu, shouldn't we talk about the distribution first? After the secret realm space opens, how should the treasures inside be divided? It's better to clarify this first, so as not to cause disputes and ruin the harmony."

"We don't know yet whether the secret realm can be opened, let alone what's inside. We'll talk about it once we actually open it."

Aibu walked to one of the pillars, and Song Xian and the others also went to a pillar. Aibu pulled out a black flag, and as the flag shone slightly, a black light shot out from it and disappeared into the spot where he had just inserted the black inverted triangular stone.

In an instant, it seemed as if a giant dragon had entered the altar, and a thumping sound came from within, as if a giant beast was about to rush out.

"Now is the time! Pour your spiritual energy into these stone pillars without stopping for a moment." At Abu's command, the group simultaneously channeled their spiritual energy into the stone pillars beside them.

As spiritual energy flowed in continuously, the stone pillars beside each person emitted a faint black light. The black runes on them began to move like ants, detaching from the pillars and surging through the ground into the black altar, disappearing without a trace. As more and more black runes poured from the pillars into the altar, the altar's light grew stronger, and a series of loud thumping sounds emanated from within, as if a giant beast was relentlessly pounding on the iron gate that imprisoned it.

It's unclear exactly how much time passed, but it was probably several hours. By then, all the black runes on the stone pillars next to each person had disappeared into the altar.

Suddenly, a deafening roar came from within, the entire earth trembled violently, and the five black stone pillars collapsed with a crash.

Even the few people who were caught off guard almost stumbled.

The next moment, a dazzling beam of light shot out from inside the altar, like a tiger unleashed from its cage or a dragon swimming in the sea.

A beam of light surged from the inverted triangular black stone pillar, followed by a series of cracking sounds, like the howls of wild beasts. The beam of light tore a hole in the top of the black altar, and then the top was completely ripped off.

A dazzling beam of light shot into the sky, but stopped at a certain point in mid-air, as if there was an invisible barrier blocking it.

At this moment, Song Xian's face was somewhat pale, and most of his spiritual power had been depleted. No wonder Apu needed five Golden Core cultivators; if it were Foundation Establishment cultivators, their spiritual power simply wouldn't be enough to withstand it.

His gaze swept over the group. The burly man named Afar was studying the collapsed stone pillar beside him, looking thoughtful, as if he was pondering something.

Abu remained expressionless, but his eyes were fixed on the pillar of light.

Ap's gaze was also fixed on that beam of light.

Clearly, both of them are very concerned about this.

The old man named Nice was also scanning the group. When his eyes met Song Xian's, the two of them immediately looked away.

A full quarter of an hour passed before the stable space was torn apart by the impact of the dazzling, enormous pillar of light, creating a gap about a foot in size.

Just then, Song Xian sensed a fluctuation of spiritual energy coming from a distance behind him. He immediately turned his head and looked toward the source of the fluctuation.

In the distance, a small black dot could be seen rushing toward them.

He immediately extended his divine sense and, upon probing, discovered that the visitor was a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator. He guessed that the visitor had seen the strange phenomenon of the pillar of light shooting into the sky from afar and had come to investigate.

“It’s just a young upstart, I’ll handle it.” Nice had obviously also noticed the fluctuation of spiritual energy. He glanced at Song Xian with a meaningful look, and before anyone else could respond, he rose into the air and headed towards the newcomer.

Since advancing to the Golden Core stage, his spiritual power has also surged. With the added boost from the Desolate Heaven Expansion Technique, his spiritual power has now reached a staggering 19900 points.

If he were to unleash his full power, no sound or movement within a radius of twenty miles would escape his notice.

He wasn't going all out just now; he was merely on guard. Even so, he was the first among them to spot the newcomers.

Although Niss's cultivation level was higher than his, his spiritual power was obviously inferior, which is why his gaze towards him changed.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator who was rushing towards him saw Nice heading towards him and realized that Nice was actually a Golden Core cultivator. He immediately ran away, but Nice did not let him go. From a distance, Song Xian saw several flashes of lightning and the small black shadow fell from mid-air.

Soon, Nice returned here.

None of them said anything about what had just happened.

No one cared how that innocent Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivator ended up here.

He can only blame his bad luck. This little-known island is remote enough, and far from the mainland, so most people would never come here.

As the group was about to enter the secret realm, they naturally did not want any accidents to happen. Even if the Foundation Establishment cultivator discovered this secret, it would be impossible for him to inform the sects in the Southern Region about what he had discovered in a short time.

But better safe than sorry. To avoid any unforeseen complications, killing to silence witnesses is the best option.

This minor incident did not affect the group, nor did it affect the progress of the secret realm.

Under the continuous impact of the dazzling beam of light, the gap torn in mid-air grew larger and larger, eventually forming a massive, constantly rotating black hole.

“This should be the entrance and exit of the secret realm.” As the power of the pillar of light gradually disappeared, Abu turned to the others and said.

Afar frowned slightly: "Shouldn't be wrong!"

“We haven’t been inside this secret realm either, so we can only speculate based on our experience that the black hole should be the location of the spatial secret realm. Now let’s talk about the distribution of the spoils. If there are treasures inside, Fellow Daoist Ap and I will have priority in choosing them, and the three of you can decide the order among yourselves. If there are only one or two treasures inside, we will subsidize them according to their market value. Any questions?”

“It’s fair, I have no problem with it,” Nice was the first to speak.

Song Xian and Alpha both nodded in agreement.

"This spatial entrance, I don't know how long it will last, I must seize this opportunity." Without any hesitation, Abu flashed into the rotating black hole.

(End of this chapter)