"Indeed, Yan Ming King and the Baylong Religion are fighting a deadly battle in this Secret Realm. No wonder Xuan Spirit Heaven has been quiet recently." A shadowy figure sneered, disdain on his face.

Previously in Xuan Spirit Heaven, the primary instigator of chaos was the Baylong Religion.

According to rumors, the supermassive Secret Realm, Dragon Island, behind the Baylong Religion is located in the Jing Room Domain, which is why they have managed to spread throughout the Jing Room Domain.

The massive Secret Realm, the Shadow Realm, behind the Shadow Covenant is not in the Jing Room Domain. However, thanks to their stealth capabilities, they expanded swiftly.

The expansion of the Baylong Religion isn't as conspicuous, and their range of activity is also limited.

The Baylong Religion has clear levels of power: White Porcelain Level for low-ranking Cult Followers, Black Iron Level for mid-ranking Cult Followers, Mountain Copper Level for high-ranking Cult Followers, Secret Silver Level for Temple Leaders, Elite Gold Level for Messengers, Morning Star Level for Bishops, and Bright Moon Level for Archbishops.

There is nothing higher; the Archbishop is the highest rank, indicating that it is difficult for the Baylong Religion to cross domains.

The reason the Shadow Covenant can infiltrate and expand so recklessly is that their supreme leader is a Daylight Level Awakener.

This signifies that the Baylong Religion and the Shadow Covenant are not on the same tier.

"However, it seems the Archbishop of the Baylong Religion is attempting a breakthrough to the Daylight Level. I wonder what this has to do with their plans for this Secret Realm?"

This shadowy figure possessed a great deal of information about this Secret Realm, including extensive knowledge about the Tree of Immortality.

"If they plan to use the Tree of Immortality for a breakthrough, then that's just wishful thinking. It's merely a large Secret Realm; only a Gigantic Secret Realm would qualify."

"Instead, it's more likely that the Black Dragon Bishop is acting on his own."

Bishops are leaders of each Dragon Vein, and the Black Dragon Vein is the strongest within the Baylong Religion. Otherwise, would he dare to stir up trouble in Xuan Spirit Heaven?

The one thing that made the shadow figure uneasy was why the Domain Master hadn't intervened, given the extent of the Baylong Religion's conflict in Xuan Spirit Heaven. Could they be waiting for the Baylong Religion's Archbishop?

"Heh-heh, let's see how long you can hold back."

"The main body of the Tree of Immortality has likely already reached the Daylight Level. If it descends upon Xuan Spirit Heaven, HAHAHA!"

"And thanks to the Heavenly Demon—good riddance to him—he left us with a Powerful Soul Technique that can break open Secret Realms. Otherwise, how could the Shadow Covenant have muddled the waters of the Jing Room Domain?"

His initial goal was actually to deal with Yan Ming King, but this timing was too perfect.

If he could successfully release the Tree of Immortality from the Secret Realm here, it would prove that the Soul Skill left by the Heavenly Demon could also be used on the Shadow Realm.

When the Shadow Realm reigns over the Dajing Court, he, as a loyal Shadow Servant, will certainly receive even more substantial rewards.

If the Baylong Religion employs control, then the Shadow Covenant assimilates and enslaves. All members of the Shadow Covenant have been assimilated into Shadow Servants. Not only their actions but even their thoughts have been assimilated. Outwardly, they are all extremely rebellious, but they will grovel before shadow creatures, regardless of their own strength or the weakness of the shadow creature they face.

Otherwise, how could they be called Shadow Servants? They are, by nature, one of the lowest forms of beings in the Shadow Realm.

Most cults controlled by Secret Realm forces are in this situation. Otherwise, how could the Secret Realm Natives ensure the loyalty of these people?

「On the other side, Wang Linchi, who was studying, suddenly shuddered.」

What the hell?

Did the Saint Master's Blessing Protection take effect?

The ability known as Blessing Protection was said to be an ability of the Saint Master, but in truth, it was triggered by Wang Linchi. This was unlike the other eight abilities that only the Saint Master could use.

The other one that could be triggered was the rather unusual Protection Seal. As long as the Saint Master moved more than one meter away from Wang Linchi, a seal would automatically deploy to isolate the inside from the outside, serving as protection.

Initially, it was a Shield, but then he thought, no matter how strong a Shield is, could it be stronger than a Seal?

For a protective ability, the primary requirement is its toughness.

One often heard of heroes sealing the Demon King, but never of a hero providing the Demon King with a Shield. This itself confirmed the superiority of the former.

In fact, this was indeed the case: one point of Seal intensity was roughly equivalent to one hundred points of Shield Intensity.

There won't be another incident, will there? Surely not? Wang Linchi felt uneasy. The Blessing Protection of the Saint Master status was completely different from the protection afforded by the Ghost Pattern Guardian Spirit in its egg state. He hadn't possessed this status for long.

There shouldn't be any problems; it's only been stable for two months. Wang Linchi had just finished analyzing the Mythology level Soul Kind, and he hadn't even started working on the subsequent data analysis.

At least three more months were needed.

However, it wasn't as if there were no gains. Yan Ming King had sent him five Longevity Fruits, along with a large supply of Black Iron Level Cultivation resources, auxiliary Soul Devices for Cultivation, and items to help surpass his Mental Limit.

In the hands of Yan Ming King, who was already at the Secret Silver Level, these items were practically useless to him, so he didn't value them in the slightest and simply gave them to Wang Linchi.

Wang Linchi estimated that this should be enough for him to undergo another round of re-cultivation.

Ten thousand points of spiritual power was definitely a huge consumption; there was no way he could break through like a typical Black Iron Level Awakener who only needed one thousand points.

Initially, there might not have been any problems, but with Yan Ming King in the fray, it would be difficult to avoid them. Wang Linchi's eyelid twitched. It wasn't that there hadn't been issues before; rather, they had been constant, with battles occurring at every moment.

This time, however, the matter was significant enough to affect Wang Linchi directly, which was why he had noticed it.

I need to devise a way to quantify the amount of Blessing, otherwise I won't even know how much there is. Wang Linchi looked again at the abilities of his Stand-in, the Saint Master, feeling somewhat helpless.

No, this isn't the time to think about these things. Figuring out how to escape is the priority.

Wang Linchi suppressed the various thoughts in his mind.

Should I tell Yan Ming King?

That's unrealistic. Given Yan Ming King's confidence, even if he listened, he'd just confidently state he could handle it.

I believe he could solve this issue, but I have no confidence I'd survive.

The Physique of the Saint Master Stand-in is indeed at the Secret Silver Level. It's not afraid of death, but it's not immortal either. Against a group of Elite Gold Level opponents, it just wouldn't be enough.

I even compared him to Yan Ming King and made a horrifying discovery: even though both are at the Secret Silver Level, the Saint Master's Physique is inferior to Yan Ming King's.

At first, I was shocked. But then I realized, Yan Ming King is supposedly equipped entirely with Mythology level Soul Kinds and has had all sorts of protagonist-like fortuitous encounters. It's only natural he'd be stronger than my Stand-in.

Other Secret Silver Level individuals are far inferior to my Saint Master. Even Awakeners who have just entered the Elite Gold Level could probably be killed by the Saint Master.

If I weren't holding it back, a Saint Master with no weaknesses could probably kill an Awakener at the peak of the Elite Gold Level, just like Yan Ming King.

"What are you thinking about?" Yan Ming King pushed the door open and walked in. He had received a message from his subordinate that something seemed off about Wang Linchi.

He came to see what was going on. Although he didn't care about these Soul Kinds, the Soul Seed Boiling of the final generation Soul Kind was what he truly cared about.

Yan Ming King looked travel-worn and dusty, presumably having just finished a battle.

"Nothing much. I just hit a small bottleneck, but it's resolved now."

"What about you? How is your fight with the Baylong Religion going?" Wang Linchi didn't expect Yan Ming King to show up but changed the subject anyway.

"The Tree of Immortality has fully descended, and now it's the most critical time."

"The Black Dragon Bishop of the Baylong Religion wants to refine the Tree of Immortality into The Great White Bone Demon God. We need to find a way to stop him," Yan Ming King said calmly.

But hearing the word "refine," I instantly understood this was related to The Heritage of the Sky Devil. If it were a Soul Device created using Soul Resemblance, the term "forge" or "craft" would typically be used. Only Magical Artifacts from The Heritage of the Sky Devil are "refined."

From this, I could confirm that not only did the Black Dragon Bishop possess The Heritage of the Sky Devil, but Yan Ming King also carried this lineage. That's why they were clashing.

What's likely to happen next is that the Black Dragon Bishop will successfully refine The Great White Bone Demon God, only for all his efforts to benefit Yan Ming King in the end.

"The Great White Bone Demon God? What's that? The Tree of Immortality is a tree. Although it looks like bones, in essence, it's still a tree. Can it still be refined?" Wang Linchi asked curiously.

"Yes. The Tree of Immortality is a tree, but it is also bone, and even the source of the ghosts in the Secret Realm," Yan Ming King revealed the secret straightforwardly.

"The source of ghosts? The Tree of Immortality has such a grand origin!" Wang Linchi was surprised. He hadn't investigated this, so he naturally didn't know. Even if he had, he might not have been able to find out.

"The other party has a good plan: to refine the Tree of Immortality into The Great White Bone Demon God, which is equivalent to indirectly killing the Tree of Immortality. Not only can he obtain a powerful Soul Device, but after the Tree of Immortality dies, it will definitely condense into a Legendary Level Soul Kind!"

"However, no matter how meticulous his plan is, he ultimately has to face me." Yan Ming King spoke with great confidence. Even if the Black Dragon Bishop was at the Morning Star Level, as long as he, Yan Ming King, could break through to the Elite Gold Level, defeating a Morning Star would not be a problem.

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