Let's go! Time to divide the spoils of the sect war. Ye Qin led his small team of ten Golden Core cultivators, following behind the reinforcement contingent through the vast undersea desert. They proceeded with extreme caution, hurrying toward the Langya Secret Realm to rendezvous with the other Heavenly Dao Alliance teams.

As for the matter of killing the four Golden Core cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Alliance, they maintained a silent, unspoken agreement, never bringing it up again, as if they had never encountered those four.

The East Sea was fraught with danger almost everywhere; high-level demonic beasts roamed the depths, and skirmishes between cultivators were not uncommon. Thus, the inexplicable disappearance of cultivators was a frequent occurrence. Over time, it became a general practice that if a Celestial Palace cultivator went missing while on a mission, there was usually no great effort made to investigate.

As long as they remained silent, no one would ever know how Elder Bi, Miao Tong, and the other few Golden Core cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Alliance vanished. The Celestial Palace of the Heavenly Demon Alliance had no clues or evidence, making investigation difficult, let alone thoughts of retaliation.

As for Ye Qin, who had always kept a low profile, his strength—so far surpassing that of an early-stage Golden Core cultivator—was known to Zhou Yao, Jin Zhongshan, Liao Xiaozhang, and Pan Shuang. This was unavoidable. If he hadn't displayed sufficient power, the five members of the squad would likely not have survived traversing this undersea passage toward the Langya Secret Realm.

Ye Qin was slightly worried that revealing his true strength too early, allowing it to leak out, might affect the upcoming actions involving the snatching of rare treasures. But upon reflection, these worries seemed superfluous.

He was already a Golden Core cultivator of the Purple Sword Palace. Even if Zhou Yao’s feelings were complicated, mixed with envy and jealousy, she was a core disciple of the Zhou Clan and would never do anything to harm the strength of the Purple Sword Palace. Having an exceptionally powerful early-stage Golden Core cultivator within the Purple Sword Palace brought far more benefit than harm; Zhou Yao might be proud on the surface, but she understood the proper boundaries.

Liao Xiaozhang was sharp-witted and harbored intentions to recruit him. He hadn't given up on that goal, so naturally, he would not offend Ye Qin.

Jin Zhongshan lacked strong opinions and usually followed the lead of Zhou Yao and Liao Xiaozhang. Occasionally, he might complain a bit more, but given his outwardly flamboyant nature masking an inherently timid heart, he would never dare contradict the other two.

Pan Shuang was relatively gentle in temperament and occupied an almost peripheral role within the team, always adopting the mindset of doing more and speaking less. She was unlikely to offend any cultivator on the team, much less the leader.

Ye Qin had spent some time with the four of them and had a decent grasp of their mentalities. Therefore, even though he had revealed a portion of his strength, as long as those four remained silent, the impact on future operations would not be significant.

Half a day later, Ye Qin’s team of five cultivators managed to evade several massive sea beast groups encountered along the way, finally crossing the great undersea desert. To the astonishment of Ye Qin and the others, the edge of this desert opened up to a massive, bottomless trench stretching for thousands of feet.

“A team of cultivators passed through here before; they must have gone via this trench. There are no traces left,” Pan Shuang reported after carefully scanning the surrounding ground with her divine sense.

“A trench?! The waters deep beneath the sea are usually extremely calm, with slow currents. But a trench is an exception. Extremely turbulent undersea currents often lurk inside and outside trenches, and if one isn't careful, they can be swept away into the unknown. We shouldn't get too close,” Ye Qin frowned.

He had never been to these deep undersea regions before, but he had read numerous texts written by East Sea cultivators, so he knew some basic knowledge. This trench looked silent and harmless, but it was deadly.

With this thought, Ye Qin channeled a burst of mana, drawing the surrounding yellow sand into a sphere the size of a small room in mid-air. He forcefully threw the massive sand-ball toward the trench. Though it was merely yellow sand, infused with Ye Qin’s mana, its tenacity was greater than that of a spiritual artifact.

“Splash!”

The mana-infused sand-ball swept across the trench and was immediately caught by an undertow. In the blink of an eye, it was carried several miles away, quickly torn to shreds, and vanished without a trace.

All the cultivators were startled.

It seemed that even a Golden Core cultivator falling into such an undertow would be instantly swept away, their fate uncertain. The group exchanged glances, a flicker of fear crossing their faces at the immeasurable, surging power of the deep-sea current.

“Forget it, don't go near the trench. Everyone spread out nearby and look for another path across. Since the Earth Clan and other cultivators managed to get across, we should be able to find a way too,” Ye Qin said helplessly.

The cultivators dispersed, searching along the upper and lower edges of the trench.

“There’s a path here, hurry up!” Jin Zhongshan’s loud call echoed from a distance.

The others rushed over upon hearing the shout. They saw a towering, rugged remnant cliff, shaped like a bridge, stretching for thousands of feet, jutting out horizontally above the massive trench, conveniently forming a pathway. Since the undertow hadn't swept this remnant cliff away, it was clearly a safe passage.

Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but feel a surge of surprise and joy.

“Huh? Why is there a tombstone and a skeleton here?” Jin Zhongshan, who first discovered this "Remnant Cliff Bridge," made a new discovery, his voice filled with astonishment.

At the head of this Remnant Cliff Bridge lay a complete, intact human skeleton, clad in a faded yellow robe. Though skeletal, it still exuded an aura of majesty. Next to it stood a stele over five feet tall, covered in moss and marked with the patina of age, suggesting it was extremely ancient.

Ye Qin was equally astonished and looked at the inscriptions on the stele. They were in ancient script, somewhat obscure.

Zhou Yao scanned the ancient monument and recited clearly in a ringing voice: “True Man Huang Feng, with his **power and divine abilities, annihilated a rank-twelve demonic beast, a Deep Sea Venomous Flood Dragon, that occupied this area, thereby helping the Earth Clan tribe open the path to the Langya Secret Realm. He later passed away here. Later generations of cultivators hold him in reverence and erected this monument.”

“Who is True Man Huang Feng? I’ve never heard this name. I wonder which esteemed predecessor's remains these are?” After looking at the stone tablet, everyone shook their heads; none of them had heard of such a figure in the East Sea. In the cultivation world, anyone addressed with the honorable title of 'True Man' was undoubtedly a Nascent Soul cultivator. However, since cultivators from the Central Lands began venturing into the East Sea, countless Nascent Soul cultivators had come and gone; who could remember the names of every True Man?

“The skeleton is still wearing a set of robes. This yellow robe doesn't look particularly conspicuous, but it’s certainly no ordinary item. Judging by the color alone, it’s at least a top-tier spiritual artifact, perhaps even more potent. Why hasn't it been taken?” Jin Zhongshan couldn't fathom it, as he wasn't in the habit of ignoring treasure. He reached out, intending to take the magical robe from the skeleton.

The ancient stele instantly erupted with a beam of light, completely enveloping the skeleton. It forcibly repelled Jin Zhongshan several feet away, preventing him from getting close to the remains.

Everyone present was shocked. Jin Zhongshan was a dignified Golden Core cultivator, yet he was flung back several feet by this light curtain—this was clearly no ordinary defensive barrier.

“Is this a prohibition formation!?” Jin Zhongshan was startled, his expression changing dramatically.

“I suspect a Nascent Soul cultivator visited this place, erected this stele for this senior, and laid down a prohibition formation. Forget it, don’t touch these remains. If we trigger a stronger reaction, we might not get away so easily,” Ye Qin advised immediately.

Jin Zhongshan didn't know how powerful this prohibition formation truly was and naturally dared not touch it again.

Liao Xiaozhang seemed to recall something. He took out a jade slip titled A Registry of Immortal Figures of the East Sea from his storage pouch and quickly browsed it with his divine sense. A look of shock soon appeared on his face. “Ah, I found him. True Man Huang Feng was one of the ten great Sect Masters of the Heavenly Dao Alliance. Later, he left the Heavenly Dao Alliance with several other Sect Masters to establish the Heavenly Demon Alliance, becoming one of its pillars.”

“One of the founders of the Heavenly Demon Alliance? He must have been a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator from a very long time ago, at least a hundred thousand years. Why are this old man’s remains here?” Jin Zhongshan felt uneasy.

“What’s most strange is that the cultivation world was frequently embroiled in chaos back then, and the conflict between cultivators and the East Sea Earth Clan should still have been fierce. How could True Man Huang Feng assist an Earth Clan tribe in opening this path to the Langya Secret Realm?” Liao Xiaozhang, however, expressed confusion.

This was, of course, an unanswerable question. Such ancient history was murky; no one knew exactly what transpired at that time. Besides, they were here to seek rare treasures, so there was no need to delve too deeply.

Ye Qin, Zhou Yao, Jin Zhongshan, and the other Golden Core cultivators, amidst their shock, held deep reverence for the ancient cultivator, True Man Huang Feng. Ancient cultivators had always been figures of legend to them—people whose traces could not be seen and whose ruins could not be found. As the pioneers of the East Sea, ancient cultivators held an exceptionally high status in the minds of current cultivators. To see the remains of an ancient cultivator at this very passage leading to the Langya Secret Realm was profoundly impactful, even if it was just a skeleton.

“Since joining the Azure Pill Sect in Spirit Mist City in the Central Lands, I’ve cultivated in the immortal world for decades, listening to countless legends of ancient cultivators, yet I have never been this close to one. Just seeing the remains of this ancient cultivator makes the journey worthwhile,” Ye Qin mused, gazing at the Remnant Cliff Bridge ahead, suddenly enlightened.

The divine abilities of this ancient cultivator were extraordinary. This towering remnant cliff bridge spanning the trench was likely the masterpiece of this ancient cultivator. Otherwise, how could such a long stretch of safe passage have appeared across this trench?

Their slight delay caused another team of Golden Core cultivators to appear near the bridge. Both parties were from the Heavenly Dao Alliance Golden Core cultivators and harbored no ill will. The other team offered a greeting before crossing the Remnant Cliff Bridge.

Ye Qin no longer delayed. The five figures of the cultivators swiftly traversed the bridge. After traveling for about one or two hours, they discovered a colossal undersea mountain peak ahead. At the foot of the mountain, there were already several teams of cultivators who had arrived earlier—no fewer than sixty or seventy Golden Core cultivators. Apart from the few Golden Core cultivators lost during the initial assault on the Earth City, and others who perished for various reasons in the undersea passage, all the Golden Core cultivators—save for a very small number yet to arrive—were gathered here.

Ye Qin had already put away all his Nascent Soul spiritual artifacts and was unremarkable. He scanned the crowd and noted that the two main captains, Yan Hao and Yu Weifeng, along with cultivators like Shi Hanyang, were all gathered in this area. (To be continued), for future developments, please log onto J**, more chapters available. Support the author.

For more novels, visit storyread.net.