Fellow Daoist, I gladly accept this heaven-defying opportunity.

Inside the Guest House.

The food and wine were served quickly. Xu Mofeng took a sip from his cup, listening to the chatter of the martial arts practitioners in the hall, all talking about the latest hot news in the capital.

"Did you all watch the battle between Lu Qi from Xuanwumen, ranked 52nd on yesterday's Talent Ranking, and Wu Yaoming, ranked 48th on the Challenge Ranking?"

"Needless to say? Lu Qi defeated Wu Yaoming in ten moves and immediately broke into the top fifty. This has been talked about to death, it's hardly news."

"This is the ninth time the rankings on the talent list have changed this month, isn't it?"

"Sigh, the geniuses on the list of outstanding talents are all pretty much the same. It's perfectly normal for their strength to shift after a period of cultivation. Only the top twenty are as stable as Mount Tai, and it's not surprising for the rankings of the rest to fluctuate."

"Those who can make it into the top twenty are all formidable individuals at the Void Origin Realm or above. They are not even in the same league as ordinary Golden Core Tenth Level cultivators. Their rankings are not something that can be changed at will."

Xu Mofeng paused, hearing the term "virtual element" for the first time.

He listened patiently for a while before he finally understood the intricacies of the matter.

It turns out that this is a realm that martial artists privately divide for cultivators above the tenth level of the Golden Core stage and below the Nascent Soul stage.

The key to advancing from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage is to solidify all the spiritual energy in the body into a primordial core.

Ordinary cultivators break through naturally, but top geniuses will deliberately suppress their cultivation and repeatedly refine their spiritual power in order to condense a higher-grade nascent soul, thus creating two stages: illusory essence and pseudo-core.

The Void Origin Realm is considered to have one foot in the Nascent Soul stage, while the False Core Realm is even more so, as the spiritual power within the body is almost semi-solid, far exceeding the strength of ordinary Golden Core Stage 10, and the combat power it unleashes is incomparable to that of ordinary Golden Core Peak.

The top twenty on the list of talents are almost all martial artists at the Void Origin or Pseudo-Core Realm. The most ruthless among them can even face off against real Nascent Soul cultivators head-on, of course, only those at the lower third grade of Nascent Soul.

There are nine ranks of Nascent Soul cultivators. The first, second, and third ranks are the upper three ranks, while the seventh, eighth, and ninth ranks are the lower three ranks. Of course, the difference between them is not small, but can be described as the difference between heaven and earth!

"With the opening of this secret realm, the list of talents will definitely be overhauled. I heard that several people in the top twenty are planning to take advantage of the secret realm to break through to the Nascent Soul realm. There will inevitably be a fierce battle."

"As for the top spot on the list of talents, there's definitely no doubt about it. Zhou Bo, the scion of the Tianyuan Sect, has already condensed a fifth-grade Nascent Soul. With such an achievement, who among the younger generation dares to compare with him?"

"Fifth rank? I thought he could at least make it to the third rank, but he's only fifth rank?"

"Upper Grade Three? You're dreaming! How many years has Jinliang not produced a genius at the Upper Grade Three of the Nascent Soul stage? The fifth grade is just one step away from the fourth grade, and those are people who have the potential to break through to the Void Realm and enter the Mahayana Realm. Do you think they're as common as cabbages on the roadside?"

"That's right. Tianyuan Sect is the only sixth-grade strongest sect in Jinliang. If Zhou Bo weren't the sect leader, he probably wouldn't even be able to condense a fifth-grade nascent soul. But he's quite powerful. I heard that his fifth-grade nascent soul is only a hair's breadth away from the fourth grade."

"A hair's breadth apart? That's an insurmountable chasm!"

Xu Mofeng leisurely ate his food and drank his wine, taking all this information to heart and making his own plans.

After finishing the wine, he got up to pay the bill and went straight to a guest room upstairs.

After closing the door, Xu Mofeng took out a top-grade spirit stone and several high-grade spirit stones, made hand seals in his palms, and began to cultivate.

"There are still half a month before the secret realm opens, so I'll take this opportunity to further improve my cultivation."

For the next two weeks, Xu Mofeng stayed in seclusion, spending most of his time in his room in seclusion. He would only occasionally go downstairs to sit for a while when he was tired, listening to gossip about the martial arts world as a way to relax.

During that time, he even overheard people talking about him.

"Have you heard? Ning Jin of the Ziyun Sect, who ranked 85th on the list of outstanding talents, was defeated by a young man at the fifth level of the Golden Core stage in Nanheng City with a single strike."

"Golden Core Level 5? What nonsense! Ning Jin is at least Golden Core Level 10, and he's a top genius. How could someone with only Golden Core Level 5 beat him? It's definitely a fabricated rumor."

"I also think it's outrageous; how could such a thing happen?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Mofeng simply smiled faintly.

When something is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, most people's first reaction is disbelief, which is only human nature, and he is too lazy to argue.

On this day, Xu Mofeng, who was meditating in his room, suddenly trembled all over, and a powerful aura spread out from his body, which was then completely suppressed in an instant.

He has reached the sixth level of the Golden Core stage.

"call……"

Xu Mofeng slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, stood up from the couch, and stretched his limbs.

"Judging by the days, the secret realm will open soon. It's time to go and meet up with the people from the six sects."

His spot in the secret realm was given by the Six Sects of Nanling. To enter the secret realm, he naturally had to travel with the teams of the Six Sects.

"The meeting point Elder Zou mentioned before our departure... seems to be the Silver Capital Inn."

Meanwhile, in the lobby of the Yindu Inn.

The three sat around the table, but the atmosphere was far from harmonious.

"Only Xu Mofeng from the Biyou Sect hasn't arrived yet. Should we inform our senior brothers, the sect leader and the others?"

The tall and slender Zhong Ling frowned as she looked at the two people beside her.

On the left is Tu Gang, a tall, burly, bald man with a reddish complexion and taut muscles, who comes from Red Maple Valley; on the right sits Shangguan Dongxue with a cold face and a faint aura of sharpness, a disciple of Snow Moon Sect.

All three were among the top four in the Six Sects Martial Arts Competition, and according to the rules, they were all qualified to participate in this secret realm trial.

"Who cares if he comes or not. Senior Brother Xue Changhe told us to wait, and we waited. Whether he comes or not is his business. If he doesn't come, that's fine too; we'll have one less competitor to compete for this opportunity."

Tu Gang touched his shiny bald head, his tone tinged with resentment.

During the Six Sects Martial Arts Competition, he was beaten the worst by Xu Mofeng in public. He was so badly beaten that even his own mother couldn't recognize him, and even his Xuan-rank armor was shattered by a single blow.

Even though so much time has passed, he's still holding a grudge.

Zhong Ling frowned even more deeply: "Now that geniuses from all sides are gathering in the capital, we are all disciples of the six sects of Nanling. We should help each other and not act impulsively. Xu Mofeng is very strong. With him around, we will have more protection during the trial. We need to find a way to contact him."

"You can contact him yourself if you want; I don't want to see him anyway."

Tu Gang snorted coldly and turned his face away.

Zhong Ling looked helpless and turned to look at Shangguan Dongxue, but the latter kept her eyes down and didn't say a word, looking like an outsider.

Just then, a mocking voice suddenly came from the side:

"I wondered who was making a fuss here, but it turns out to be a bunch of useless trash from the Six Sects of Nanling."

"What did you say?!"

Tu Gang immediately lost his temper, slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and glared angrily at the source of the sound.

Then they saw a group of people slowly walking in from the second floor. The leader was a young man wearing a dark blue brocade robe, holding a folding fan, with an undisguised sneer on his face, looking down at them.

Zhong Ling caught a glimpse of the sect's insignia on the other person's robes, his expression suddenly darkened, and he whispered, "They're from the Beidou Sect."

Tu Gang's face instantly darkened, and even Shangguan Dongxue, who had been expressionless, slightly raised her eyelids, a hint of coldness flashing in her eyes.

Seeing this, the inn's guests, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire, quickly moved far away.

Someone, unaware of the situation, asked in a low voice, and another person whispered, "Didn't you see those three are from the Six Sects of the Southern Ridge? The one who started this trouble is the Northern Dipper Sect, which is one of the Seven Sects of the Northern Ridge..."

The six sects of the Southern Ridge and the seven sects of the Northern Ridge are separated by the Luoxiao Mountains. They have harbored grudges for a hundred years, and their disciples will inevitably clash when they meet. Even passing cultivators have to take a detour when they encounter them, for fear of being caught in the aftermath.

Those around him nodded in agreement.

On the second floor of the inn, a handsome young man in a brocade robe glanced at Tu Gang and his two companions, a sneer curling at the corner of his mouth: "Trash is trash. They have little skill, but they're quite good at infighting. It's laughable."

"You bastard!"

Tu Gang was originally a Crimson Spirit Body, with a fiery temper. As soon as he finished speaking, his skin instantly turned crimson, and with a low roar, he shot out like a cannonball.

"Who are you calling trash!"

He stomped heavily on the floorboards, causing the solid wood flooring on the second floor of the inn to collapse with a roar, creating a crater several meters wide, with wood chips and dust falling down in a shower.

Using the recoil force, Tu Gang pounced forward, his massive body almost blocking half of the building, looking like a mad, savage beast, exuding ferocity.

The onlookers all turned pale.

"The Crimson Flame Spirit Body! This man from one of the Six Sects of the Southern Ridge actually possesses the Crimson Flame Spirit Body!"

"Rumor has it that once this spirit reaches adulthood, even without practicing any body-cultivation techniques, its arms will naturally grow to the strength of 200,000 jin (approximately 100,000 kg), making it ridiculously powerful!"

"Even a cultivator at the tenth level of the Golden Core stage wouldn't dare to take that pounce head-on!"

"This is going to be interesting!"

This fierce aura forced all the disciples of the Beidou Sect to take a half step back, but the young man who had spoken out in provocation simply sneered and stood still.

Tu Gang's large, fan-like hand was about to grab the other person's head and lift them up like a chick.

Just then, the young man suddenly stepped forward, casually flicking his folding fan forward. It seemed slow but was actually incredibly fast, precisely stabbing the soft flesh under Tu Gang's ribs, and then casually deflecting it.

Tu Gang's face suddenly turned to horror. His huge body spun like a top and flew backward, crashing through the second-floor wall with a loud bang and crashing straight onto the street outside, overturning half a street of stalls and causing chaos.

"That move..."

A knowledgeable person in the crowd exclaimed in a low voice, "Parting the clouds and playing with the moon! This is Kuang Xingchi, the 88th ranked talent on the Jin-Liang Elite List, the genius 'Star-Picking Hand' of the Beidou Sect!"

The disciples of the Beidou Sect behind the young man immediately showed arrogance: "You guys have some eyesight, you even recognize our Senior Brother Kuang."

With a faint smile, Stephen Kwong unfolded his folding fan with a "whoosh," displaying the demeanor of a refined gentleman, his presence unparalleled.

Zhong Ling's face darkened instantly. He had long heard of Kuang Xingchi, the Star-Picking Hand. Those who could be on the Jinliang Elite List were all ruthless characters on par with the leading figures of the six sects, such as Ruan Zhenxing of Xuanming Palace, Duan Lengchan of Xueyue Sect, and Xue Changhe of Hongfeng Valley.

Tu Gang, the strongest of the three, was thrown out in one move. How can this situation be broken?