All those participating in this campaign against the Tu Clan tribes were carefully nurtured disciples from the various Immortal Palaces of the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Alliance. These cultivators, having recently formed their cores, were in their prime—arrogant, high-spirited, and certainly not ones to take minor difficulties to heart.

“The Langya Mystic Realm?!”

“One of the three legendary Mystic Realms of the Tu Clan?!”

The assembled Golden Core cultivators quickly grasped the immense value hidden behind this staggering piece of news, their minds racing.

Although the Golden Core cultivators held the Tu Clan in contempt, the Tu Clan had once been the largest ethnic group in the East Sea, their influence spreading across nearly all the vast East Sea islands. Although they had declined under the suppression of the Central Land cultivators, the immense power of the ten major Tu Clan tribes could not be underestimated.

And this Langya Mystic Realm was the sacred land of the Tu Clan, said to house numerous sacred artifacts of the Tu people—all manner of miraculous spiritual objects. For cultivators, these were naturally top-tier spiritual treasures, immensely tempting.

If news of the Langya Mystic Realm opening were to leak out, even the Nascent Soul cultivators of the East Sea would rush here to vie for it. That they, the Golden Core cultivators, had stumbled upon the opening of the passage to the Langya Mystic Realm by sheer coincidence and entered in time was an unparalleled, unrepeatable stroke of great fortune.

Ye Chun stood near the narrow exit beneath the seabed, peering out into the deep sea beyond. He probed with his divine sense, but the range was extremely limited, detecting only a few low-level sea beasts within three to five li of the area.

A cultivator’s divine sense was severely restricted in the deep sea; on land, the same scan could reach a hundred li. He frowned slightly, deep in thought. Ye Qin turned and looked towards the scattered groups of Golden Core cultivators surrounding him.

These cultivators, clad in various attires, mostly stood with acquaintances, many murmuring in low voices, their barely concealed excitement palpable. Some were openly assessing others with joyful gazes, while remaining outwardly calm. Many others remained impassive and silent, their expressions cold, seeming unfathomably deep.

Ye Qin was merely a first-layer Golden Core cultivator, unremarkable among this gathering, attracting almost no attention from the others. He possessed the Water Shell Spirit Pearl, a water-elemental magic treasure perfectly suited for naval combat, and the Yellow Heaven Thick Dust Sword, a formidable Primordial Spirit Artifact offering supreme defense. His offensive and defensive prowess was decent, yet his actual strength placed him only in the middle tier among these Golden Core masters. Cultivators possessing both magic treasures and Primordial Spirit Artifacts were not rare.

This was precisely the result Ye Qin desired. Displaying too much strength invited unnecessary caution and enmity; too little made one an easy target. A cultivator of moderate strength attracted the least notice and was most easily overlooked.

“Brother Jiang, what exactly is the situation inside the Langya Mystic Realm?” a cultivator inquired doubtfully.

“I am not entirely clear. I once read a fragment of an ancient book concerning the Langya Mystic Realm. It recorded that one must first pass through a perilous and lengthy undersea passage to reach it. This route is fraught with numerous undersea demonic beasts, and those within the Langya Mystic Realm are even stronger. As for the specifics within the realm, this volume is incomplete and offers no further records. It’s a pity; if this scroll were whole, I might know something more and feel more confident,” Jiang Ling sighed, shaking his head.

“I suggest everyone stop overthinking. Since we are all already at the bottom of this sea, and finding a way out seems impossible, our only option is to bravely venture into the Langya Mystic Realm. As Brother Jiang suggested, we should form small teams of four or five cultivators and enter the Mystic Realm in batches.” Some impatient Golden Core cultivators began to stir. “Who’s with me? I am Zheng Chenghui, a third-layer Golden Core cultivator from the Qian Yuan Palace. Which Daoist friends are willing to brave this undersea passage with me?” “Brother Zheng, count me in.”

The other Golden Core cultivators ceased their discussions and swiftly paired off into small groups, proceeding to exit the narrow passage in succession toward the undersea tunnel.

Experienced cultivators knew the terror of the East Sea’s beast hordes. To avoid encountering the vast marine crowds, this large assembly of Golden Core cultivators certainly could not remain together. Smaller numbers offered greater agility, making them less likely to be discovered by the hordes and easier to evade them.

“Fellow Daoist, you seem to be alone. We are short one person, which would make us a perfect group of five. Would you be willing to venture through this undersea passage with us?” A long-bearded old Daoist holding a whisk drifted over to Ye Qin with a smile. Three other Golden Core cultivators accompanied the white-whisked Daoist.

One was a captivating woman, a cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Alliance. Her beautiful phoenix eyes assessed Ye Qin brazenly; she pursed her lips slightly, offering a half-smile, seemingly quite interested in him. Next was a lean, wiry man with a short beard, radiating cold competence.

The last was a cultivator resembling a young boy, despite being in the Golden Core stage; he appeared no older than a dozen years, wearing a bizarrely pink dudou (child’s bodice). However, his gaze was fiercely intimidating. These four were all first to third-layer Golden Core cultivators, and all belonged to the Heavenly Demon Alliance.

Ye Qin glanced at the four of them with an indifferent expression and flatly refused. These Heavenly Demon Alliance members had been the ones peeking at his Water Shell Spirit Pearl earlier. Their current invitation was clearly malicious. It was only courtesy that he hadn't turned hostile, so why offer them pleasantries?

“Fellow Daoist, do you perhaps look down upon the four of us?”

The white-whisked Daoist clearly hadn't expected such a direct and curt refusal; his face immediately chilled. The expressions of the other three Golden Core cultivators also soured, showing clear displeasure and embarrassment.

Ye Qin shot them a cold look, having no intention of acknowledging them, nor did he care about offending these few Heavenly Demon Alliance Golden Core cultivators.

Seeing that Ye Qin completely ignored their invitation, the white-whisked Daoist huffed in annoyance, flicked his sleeve, and departed with the other three. They did not seek company elsewhere but directly exited the narrow opening, leaving the underground sea cavern. The other Golden Core cultivators continued to form teams and leave sequentially.

Not far away, Zhou Yao, Liao Xiaozhi, and the stout Fatty Jin were chatting and laughing. She occasionally spared a glance for Ye Qin. Seeing the Yellow Heaven Thick Dust Sword hovering beside him, she bit her lip lightly before casually returning her gaze. Yet, her heart felt strangely unsettled.

As a Golden Core cultivator from the Purple Sword Palace, she immediately recognized the origins of that flying sword. Between the earlier Southern Bright Fire Sword and this Yellow Heaven Thick Dust Sword, this was the second Primordial Spirit Artifact Ye Qin had revealed.

Only by gathering five corresponding five-elemental flying swords of the same tier to form a complete set could the Great Five Elements Sword Formation be established. Five ordinary five-elemental flying swords, five top-tier five-elemental flying swords, or five Primordial Spirit Artifact five-elemental flying swords could all form such a formation.

The higher the quality tier of the flying swords, the greater the power of the Great Five Elements Sword Formation; this was beyond dispute. However, gathering high-tier flying swords increased the difficulty tenfold or even a hundredfold.

The formation composed of Primordial Spirit Artifacts possessed the greatest might. Cultivators of the Purple Sword Palace desired such a set, but not everyone could complete it. If one or two swords were missing, the formation could not be activated, and its power might even be inferior to that of a set of top-tier Great Five Elements flying swords.

She had paid an immense price just to assemble five top-tier flying artifacts to form her Great Five Elements Sword Formation. For the next three to five hundred years, she had no confidence in acquiring a set of Primordial Spirit Artifact level swords.

Yet, he didn't seem to consider this issue; he had already refined two Primordial Spirit Artifacts. Was he that confident he could gather five such artifacts?

“Hmph, I’d like to see if he can actually complete a set of Primordial Spirit Artifact swords,” Zhou Yao muttered softly to herself.

“Yao Da, what are you muttering about completing?”

Liao Xiaozhi, who had been discussing with Zhou Yao and Jin Zhongshan how to safely traverse the undersea tunnel to the Langya Mystic Realm, noticed Zhou Yao’s distraction and asked curiously.

“Nothing, I just meant there are too few of us—we need two more to complete a small…” Zhou Yao’s face flushed deeply, though she quickly regained her composure and said, “We need two more to complete a team.”

“That’s true. This undersea area is very dangerous; having two more Golden Core cultivators would make us safer,” Fatty Jin quickly nodded in earnest agreement.

“Sister Yao, perhaps I should go find two acquaintances to join us?”

“I think Brother Ye is happy to travel alone, so we only need to find one more person,” Liao Xiaozhi suggested. “He seems to prefer solitude; he might not be willing to join us.” Fatty Jin grumbled slightly, clearly not thrilled. Zhou Yao did not object.

Liao Xiaozhi then drifted over to Ye Qin’s side and invited him to join their group to traverse the undersea passage.

Ye Qin considered the offer and nodded in agreement.

This undersea environment was unpredictably perilous, harboring not only sea beasts but also high-level Tu Clan warriors and numerous Golden Core cultivators whose intentions were dubious.

Though the Golden Core cultivators were here to conquer the Tu Clan, they would show no hesitation in turning on one another for valuable treasures.

Ultimately, they were all here for the spiritual items in this region. Fights breaking out among East Sea cultivators over such gains were commonplace. He did not intend to venture into this deep sea alone, lest he find himself isolated and without aid.

The last to join their contingent was Pan Lin, a Golden Core cultivator from the Ning Hua Palace of the Heavenly Dao Alliance. Pan Lin had a somewhat straightforward personality and knew few people among the assembled Golden Core cultivators. He had a slight acquaintance with Ye Qin, Zhou Yao, and the others, so the four decided to invite him along.

Ye Qin, Zhou Yao, Liao Xiaozhi, Jin Zhongshan, and Pan Lin—five cultivators from the Heavenly Dao Alliance—activated their defensive artifacts and swam in single file out of the exit of the underground sea cavern, heading toward the depths of the sea.

In this deep aquatic environment, sword flight was impossible. The fastest mode of movement underwater was the Water Evasion Art. Cultivators with Water Spiritual Roots, proficient in water-elemental techniques, held a considerable advantage here.