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

Xu Mofeng's gaze swept over Zhou Bo for a moment before he casually looked away.

This genius, who was ranked at the top of the list of outstanding talents, was not as pleasing to his eye as a spirit stone by the roadside. His attention had already been firmly captured by another person in the arena.

The young man appeared to be around the same age as Xu Mofeng, with a cultivation level of only the eighth level of the Golden Core stage. His golden-red robe accentuated his handsome face, and his aura was radiant, attracting frequent glances from the female disciples around him. He was the very image of a swaggering young nobleman.

But what truly caught Xu Mofeng's eye was the almost tangible purple light of opportunity above the boy's head, even more mellow than Zhou Bo's, making it the most dazzling of the entire event.

Based on the perception of the opportunity conversion system, Xu Mofeng could almost conclude that this kid had at least four or five purple opportunities stacked on him, making him practically a walking treasure chest of opportunities.

"Once we enter the secret realm, we'll stick to this guy."

Xu Mofeng had already marked this red-robed youth as his number one target. In his vision of opportunities, the other party was not a handsome young man at all, but clearly a piece of fragrant, shiny fat meat of opportunity.

After waiting a while longer, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the martial arts arena, and the sound of horses' hooves pounding the ground made it tremble slightly.

Xu Mofeng looked up and saw a grand procession slowly approaching.

Leading the way were hundreds of golden-armored knights, each an elite warrior at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, their armor gleaming and their spears and halberds like a forest.

Their mounts were black-maned beasts that were nearly three meters tall.

Xu Mofeng recognized it at a glance. It was a hybrid of a top-quality steed and a demon beast. Its bloodline contained the ferocity of a beast, and it was strong enough to carry ten thousand catties and travel thousands of miles a day. Even when facing the killing intent of the battlefield, it was not afraid. It was a truly top-level warhorse.

Following the knights was a gilded purple-gold chariot, pulled by eight rhinoceros-horned dragons at the Golden Core stage. The chariot was inlaid with pearls, agates, and precious stones, its dazzling brilliance bringing the royal pomp to its extreme.

Along the side of the carriage, an elderly eunuch, nearly fifty years old, walked with his hands hanging at his sides, his aura unfathomable.

The ceremonial guard stopped in front of the drill ground, and the old eunuch stepped forward and shouted loudly, "The Emperor has arrived!"

The sound was like a resounding bell striking the sky, carrying immense spiritual power and pressure, which directly shattered the auras and clouds of more than a dozen geniuses above the training ground.

Everyone present felt a tightness in their chest, and their bodies trembled slightly involuntarily. They all bowed their heads, not daring to overstep their bounds in the slightest.

"A Nascent Soul Realm expert, actually a top expert within the Nascent Soul Realm."

A hint of surprise flashed across Xu Mofeng's eyes, but he quickly realized that this was no simple matter of escorting the emperor. It was clearly the Jin-Liang royal family using the opening of the secret realm as an opportunity to publicly display their strength.

"Welcome, Emperor!"

Thousands of martial artists and geniuses in the arena bowed and shouted in unison, their voices soaring into the sky.

Once the shouts subsided, a calm yet supremely authoritative voice emanated from inside the carriage: "Now that everyone is here, let us open the secret realm."

"Your servant obeys the decree."

The old eunuch bowed in agreement, then raised his hand, took out a jade tablet with a coiled dragon design, and gently tossed it into the air.

The jade tablet spun in mid-air, bursting forth with dazzling golden light.

At the same time, the ground in the center of the training ground shook violently, and several thick stone pillars with coiled dragons burst out of the ground. The coiled dragons on the pillars seemed to come alive under the light of the jade tablet, and when they opened their mouths, beams of golden light shot out.

Thousands of golden rays intertwined and swirled in the center of the stone pillar, condensing into a huge golden vortex, and the entrance to the secret realm suddenly took shape.

"Please, all you exceptional talents, enter the secret realm!"

The old eunuch squinted his eyes and announced loudly with a smile.

"Hmph, I'll go first!"

A burly young man with a thick aura of smoke above his head snorted coldly, his figure blurred, and he was the first to plunge into the golden vortex, disappearing instantly.

With someone taking the lead, the geniuses present no longer hesitated, their figures flashing as they rushed into the vortex one after another.

Xu Mofeng was still pondering whether to join Zhong Ling and the others when he heard Feng Wubian and Xue Changhe whispering instructions: "Find your own opportunities to enter. The entrance is a random teleportation; once you're inside, try to regroup. Remember, don't rush towards the center of the secret realm..."

Xu Mofeng nodded slightly, feeling relieved. It was good that he didn't need to travel with someone, so as not to miss out on the opportunity.

His gaze was fixed on the red-robed youth, and the moment the youth's figure disappeared into the vortex, he immediately followed him with a light step.

After a familiar dizzying sensation, Xu Mofeng regained his footing, and a completely different world appeared before him.

He landed on a patch of green grass, where the sky, though devoid of sun and moon, was as bright as day.

A dozen meters behind them, a huge ring of light descended from the sky, like the rim of an inverted giant bowl, and was slowly shrinking inward at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Xu Mofeng was curious about what this light screen was and was about to reach out to test it when he suddenly heard a sneer.

"Idiot, that's the light of the secret realm's restriction. Touch it and you'll be kicked out instantly, without even getting a glimpse of the treasure."

Xu Mofeng turned his head and saw a young man at the tenth level of the Golden Core stage standing not far away. He was probably one of the trial participants who had been randomly teleported here with him.

Judging from the other party's knowledgeable demeanor, they clearly knew quite a bit about this royal secret realm.

Xu Mofeng wasn't annoyed and asked, "Brother, I'm new here and not very familiar with the rules of the secret realm. Could you please explain them to me?"

Upon hearing this, the young man's mockery deepened. He glanced at Xu Mofeng from head to toe, and seeing that he only had the cultivation of the sixth level of the Golden Core stage, he immediately adopted a condescending attitude: "With your level of the sixth level of the Golden Core stage, what use is it to know more? You probably won't even be able to walk three miles before you get beaten up and forced to leave."

Xu Mofeng raised an eyebrow and asked bluntly, "So, are you going to tell me or not?"

The young man glanced at him disdainfully and snorted coldly, "What do you think? Kid, I advise you to get lost. I'm in a good mood right now and haven't planned to throw you into the restriction."

"Alright."

Xu Mofeng nodded calmly. The next second, his storage ring flashed with light, and the Ice Soul Blade was already in his hand...

Beside the martial arts training ground, next to the imperial carriage.

"Your Majesty, the Wave Mirror has been set up and is ready to be activated at any time."

The old eunuch bowed and reported.

A soft reply came from inside the carriage: "Yes, start it."

"As you command."

The old eunuch turned around and announced loudly, "Mirror of Waves, activate!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several shimmering water curtains suddenly appeared in the sky above the martial arts field.

The tens of thousands of martial artists watching below immediately erupted in excitement, their faces filled with fervor.

"Here it comes!"

"Even though we can't enter the secret realm, just being able to witness the prowess of the Jinliang prodigies in their trials makes this long journey worthwhile!"

"Haha, I've been traveling for a month, staying up countless nights, all for this moment to see the light at the end of the tunnel!"

Above the water curtain, figures clearly appeared, all of whom were the trial participants who had just entered the secret realm.

Using a water screen to project the secret realm's events for outside martial artists to observe has been a long-standing tradition of the Jin-Liang royal family.

After all, countless martial artists have traveled through mountains and rivers to reach the capital, so it's impossible to let 99% of them just stand around waiting outside the training ground.

This mirror effect has another interesting feature: the more people pay attention to a particular figure, the larger and clearer the corresponding water screen image will become.

At this moment, the eyes of most people in the martial arts arena are fixed on the top few geniuses on the list of talents.

Especially Zhou Bo, even though he was just traveling through the forest, the corresponding water curtain was several meters wide, making him the undisputed focus of attention.

Little did anyone know that a truly astonishing spectacle was just beginning.

Meanwhile, inside the secret realm...

The arrogant young man at the tenth level of the Golden Core realm, who had just been telling people to get lost, was now kneeling on the ground, bruised and battered, facing the Ice Soul Blade held to his neck, trembling as he poured out the information he knew:

"This secret realm is an old secret realm that has been passed down for generations by the Jin and Liang royal families. It has been explored countless times by predecessors. There are still some original treasures left, but there are not many good things left."

"The truly valuable items are the treasures that the royal family actively poured into it—all sorts of cultivation techniques, elixirs, and magical artifacts. The further you go into the center of the secret realm, the higher the grade of the treasures. I've heard that in the very core area, there's even a mid-grade Earth-rank cultivation technique inheritance!"

"The secret realm is full of restrictions. The light barrier we just saw is a common shrinking restriction. It keeps shrinking towards the center, and if you touch even a little bit, you'll be teleported out instantly, without even a chance to explain..."

The blade of the Ice Soul Blade hovered just an inch from his neck, and the chilling aura of the blade made goosebumps rise on his neck, making him afraid to even breathe too forcefully.

"That's all I know! This is my first time here too, and all of this is just hearsay I gathered beforehand!"

The young man looked up at Xu Mofeng with a mournful face and a pitiful expression, pleading for mercy.

His mind was in turmoil, he was utterly horrified. Where did this monster come from?

Despite only having the cultivation level of the sixth level of the Golden Core stage, his attack was ridiculously ruthless. With just one strike, he rendered me, a tenth level Golden Core cultivator, powerless to fight back, and I lost before I could even draw my sword.

After listening, Xu Mofeng nodded thoughtfully.

It must be said that the six sects of Nanling are indeed too isolated in terms of information. They have not mentioned the basic rules of these secret realms at all.

If I hadn't encountered this guy today, and had rashly touched that light screen, I probably would have been teleported out without even realizing it, losing this opportunity for nothing.

"Most of the treasures were provided by the royal family, so this is basically a man-made testing ground..."

Xu Mofeng muttered to himself, then looked up at the barrier light screen that had shrunk slightly inward, and said calmly, "Alright, you can leave now."