Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

"Taste doesn't matter; the main thing is the level. The higher the level of the beast, the faster it can advance," Lord Xuanchen said quietly.

Lin Ran nodded: "An S-level secret realm must contain seventh-order mutated creatures, but we don't know how many there are."

He continued his advance, clearing out the scattered Gold-Eating Beast hordes along the way.

After traveling several miles, a buzzing sound of wings suddenly came from mid-air, dense and rapid.

A swarm of golden bees hovered in the air, their bodies translucent and gilded, their stingers gleaming coldly.

"It's actually a sixth-order golden-patterned bee!" Lin Ran's pupils shrank sharply.

"The fact that they can coexist peacefully with the Gold-Eating Beasts suggests that this Golden-Striped Bee clan is not to be underestimated."

Lord Xuan Chen echoed, "As social creatures, the Golden-Striped Bee, with its ability to fly, clearly has an advantage."

As they spoke, the golden-striped bees noticed Lin Ran and immediately regrouped, swooping down from above and unleashing a barrage of poisonous stings.

shhhhhh!

A continuous, dense sound of air being torn apart filled the air as golden stingers, carrying toxins, covered the entire area.

Lin Ran spread out a protective spiritual energy barrier around his body, with layers of light curtains enveloping him.

Ding Ding Ding!

Countless poisonous stingers struck the spiritual energy barrier, shattering it completely, unable to penetrate even a fraction of its defense.

Lin Ran, who is at the Golden Core stage, is basically immune to this kind of ranged attack that has little follow-up.

He raised his hand and formed a hand seal, quickly condensing a wind field that suddenly swept through the air.

Under the raging wind, the golden-striped bee's body shattered into pieces, and countless golden specks of light fell from the sky.

The remaining bees were startled and tried to flee, but Lin Ran swept his sword light across the sky, completely wiping them out.

Lord Xuan Chen couldn't help but complain, "What a waste! What a waste! How are we supposed to eat it if it's all smashed up?"

"It doesn't matter, you don't care about the taste anyway. If it's really unbearable, I'll just make you some water to drink."

Lin Ran waved his hand, storing the corpse and crystal core of the Golden-Patterned Bee into the Nine Heavens Pendant.

As they continued forward, the mountains and rocks in the heart of the secret realm became increasingly majestic, and the metal-elemental spiritual energy became increasingly abundant.

On both sides of the mountain path, the burly golden horned lions appear from time to time.

These strange beasts have a single, gilded horn on their heads, thick golden armor all over their bodies, a violent temperament, and an unparalleled domineering force when they charge.

Several golden-horned komainu simultaneously lowered their heads, their single horns radiating intense light, and charged at Lin Ran in turn.

Boom!

The beast's body shattered the airflow with tremendous force, slamming into the spiritual energy barrier.

The barrier trembled slightly, yet remained as stable as ever.

Lin Ran stepped closer, abandoning his sword and using his palm, condensing spiritual energy in his palm.

The palm strike was heavy and steady, landing precisely on the head of the golden horned lion.

Bang bang bang!

Several palm strikes landed in succession, the heavy force directly shattering the beast's spirit core. The Golden Horned Lion collapsed to the ground, no longer moving.

They fought and amassed resources along the way.

Fifth and sixth-order crystal cores kept flowing into the storage ring, and the bodies of various metal-type demonic beasts piled up, quickly ensuring that the Xuan Jiao's food supply was plentiful.

Even when they occasionally encountered a seventh-tier mutated creature, it couldn't escape Lin Ran's methods and eventually became a cultivation resource.

Upon reaching the deepest part of the secret realm, a vast expanse of golden stone forest comes into view.

This place is imbued with golden energy, the rocks are entirely gilded, and the ground shimmers with spiritual light; it is the core of the spiritual energy of the entire secret realm.

In the center of the stone forest, a massive beastly shadow lay dormant, its size far exceeding that of all the surrounding monsters.

The beast resembled a giant lion, its entire body covered in gleaming crimson-gold fur, its vertical pupils opening and closing, radiating a profound spiritual light.

"I feel like I've heard of this somewhere before." Lin Ran frowned slightly.

The Lord of Xuan Chen said solemnly, "It is a Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Fortunately, there are cultivation restrictions in this realm, so it is currently only an eighth-order demon beast."

"Three-eyed Golden Lion? What's its relationship with the Suanni?" Lin Ran asked curiously.

No wonder he felt this guy looked familiar, because this three-eyed golden lion looks very similar to the legendary Suanni.

The dragon gave birth to nine sons, each of which is different.

The Suanni is a mythical beast born from the union of a dragon and a lion. It is the fifth of the five, consumes fireworks, and has the ability to bring good fortune and ward off evil.

The Lord of Xuan Chen replied, "It is a kind of Suanni, and a rather powerful one at that. Its third eye can see through the fortune of others."

"Unfortunately, I just separated a wisp of my divine soul, so I won't be able to control a second target for a short time. Otherwise, this three-eyed golden lion would be more suitable for me than the black dragon."

Lin Ran raised an eyebrow: "Simple. Since it's inconvenient to control it now, let's keep it under control for now, and control it later when it's more convenient!"

"You want to store it in the Nine Heavens Grotto?"

Lord Xuanchen hurriedly dissuaded him: "The ability of the cave heaven in the pot to withstand attacks is directly related to your cultivation level. A cave heaven at the Golden Core stage probably cannot withstand the attack of an eighth-order beast."

"It's alright. Just set up a trapping formation inside the cave. As long as it can't break through the formation, it won't affect the stability of the cave."

Lin Ran took out several crystal cores and swirled them in his palm: "Setting up a trapping array that can hold an eighth-tier beast shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

Theoretically speaking, if he can use formations to resist the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, he can naturally use formations to trap an eighth-order alien beast.

As long as there are enough crystal cores, even more powerful alien beasts can be suppressed.

"It's worth a try, but the risks are huge. One wrong move and the Nine Heavens Grotto-Heaven could be destroyed." Lord Xuanchen said quite solemnly.

"What's there to be afraid of? Let's take a gamble, and we might just turn a bicycle into a motorcycle!" Lin Ran said nonchalantly.

"By the time you've controlled this guy and the Xuanjiao has advanced to the eighth rank, even if I haven't broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, I'll be able to roam freely on Blue Star!"

The Lord of Xuan Chen also became agitated: "Since Master has made his decision, let's take a gamble!"

"Let's get started!" Lin Ran made a decisive move, opened the Nine Heavens Cave Heaven, chose a location, and began to set up the trapping formation.

The Lord of Xuan Chen also joined Lin Ran in mobilizing the crystal cores and busied himself in the cave.

The Nine Palaces Profound Origin Trapping Pivot Array requires nine array eyes. Each array eye uses one seventh-order crystal core as the main element and eight sixth-order crystal cores as auxiliary elements, for a total of eighty-one crystal cores.

Fortunately, Lin Ran had collected more than a dozen seventh-order crystal cores. He hadn't used them before because his cultivation level was low, but now they came in handy.

The center is the core of the Yuan Shu formation, and the surrounding area is the Bagua auxiliary formation.

The nine array points circulate and rotate with each other, forming a self-contained system that is as solid as a rock.

Lin Ran and Lord Xuan Chen are both experts in formations, and with enough materials, it only took them a few minutes.

Once the formation was complete, Lin Ran first activated his spiritual power to manipulate the formation and confirm that it was functioning normally. Then he shut down the formation and walked out of the Nine Heavens Cave.

Everything is ready now, only the final step remains: to lure you into the trap.

Lin Ran raised his hand and unleashed his spiritual power, fully expanding the entrance to the Nine Heavens Cave.

A shimmering white curtain of light spread out in mid-air, forming a wide entrance and exit, hovering steadily above the stone forest.

Three hundred sixth-tier merman warriors emerged from the ranks and stood in neat formation.

Lin Ran loudly instructed, "Later, you will divide into three formations and surround the three-eyed golden lion from different angles, driving it towards the entrance of the cave. Understand?"

"Understood!" the three hundred merfolk responded in unison.

Lin Ran nodded: "Now, everyone line up, go around to the other side, and lie in ambush. I'll make my move!"

"Yes, sir!"

The merfolk quickly split into three groups and circled around behind the three-eyed golden lion.

Once he was sure the merfolk were ready, Lin Ran had a thought and charged out with the Xuan Jiao.

The dark dragon scales gleamed with a cold luster under the golden spiritual light, and the slender dragon body coiled forward.

Lin Ran stepped into the air, the two of them, one human and one dragon, directly confronting the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

The three-eyed golden lion, which had been lying in wait, instantly sensed the invasion of the enemy, and its scarlet vertical pupils suddenly contracted.

Roar!

The deafening roar of the beast echoed across the wilderness, and the violent sound waves reverberated throughout the mountains and forests.

The surrounding rocks crumbled and fell away, making a dense, crisp sound.

The oppressive aura of the eighth-tier demonic beast swept out, crushing the entire surrounding area.

In its perception, the Xuanjiao's aura was fierce and posed a significant threat.

Lin Ran, standing beside the Xuan Jiao, had a restrained aura and was unremarkable, posing no threat whatsoever.

The three-eyed golden lion pushed off the ground with its four limbs, its thick, sharp claws digging deep into the stone, and its massive body suddenly soared into the air.

The third eye on his forehead shone with a dazzling golden light, its spiritual energy condensed to its fullest extent.

shhhhhh!

Three golden beams shot out in succession from the vertical pupil, pointing directly at the Xuan Jiao.