In this world, there exist many Secret Realms, both large and small.
The existence of Secret Realms is due to the Great Tribulations of Heaven and Earth. When the Primordial Essence is reborn, it gives birth to irregular spaces. With each Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth, numerous spatial rifts appear. As the Primordial Essence of Heaven and Earth is reborn, these spatial rifts gradually evolve into irregular spaces.
Being irregular spaces, the environmental factors within them are also very unstable, and the Laws are extremely chaotic. Most Secret Realms are desolate, and many are filled with various deadly poisonous auras.
Even if some Secret Realms appear to have beautiful scenery, due to the instability of their Laws, they may transform into thundercloud storms at any moment. It's even common for an entire Secret Realm to collapse and vanish.
Take the Peach Blossom Secret Realm, for example. It is filled with peach blossoms everywhere, shrouded in mist and clouds, like a paradise on earth.
However, few dare to reside within it for extended periods, as no one knows when the Peach Blossom Secret Realm might suddenly experience Law chaos.
Of course, nothing in this world is absolute.
Few people reside in Secret Realms for long periods, but that doesn't mean no one dares.
On the contrary, some great powers specifically prefer to seclude themselves within Secret Realms. Relying on their profound cultivation, they naturally do not fear the chaos of the Secret Realm. This is especially true for those of the Heretical Evil Path who can't survive in the outside world and have no choice but to hide within Secret Realms.
This was particularly true in the Ancient Era.
In that era, anyone belonging to the Heretical Evil Path would be besieged by the masses. Forget those who seized bodies for rebirth; even those tainted by evil spiritual auras would be branded as Evil Cultivators.
Resources were scarce in the Ancient Era, with all spiritual veins monopolized by the Immortal Dynasty. Many relied on killing and plundering treasures to sustain their cultivation. Killing was a sin, but if one killed those of the Heretical Evil Path, it was not a sin but an honor.
That era was madness. Due to resource scarcity, many were forced onto the path of the Heretical Evil Path. Such people died or were injured; those who survived mostly chose to seclude themselves in Secret Realms.
Back when Gu Qingfeng was branded as belonging to the Heretical Evil Path, especially since he possessed eighty-one Golden Cores, he became the envy of all, hunted wherever he went. Almost every battle left him covered in wounds, and he could only recuperate by hiding within Secret Realms most of the time.
Like the Peach Blossom Secret Realm—back then, he hid within it seven or eight times. In his memory, the Peach Blossom Secret Realm was relatively stable, and he had never heard of it experiencing chaos.
This time, however, was an exception. He heard that a few days ago, the Peach Blossom Secret Realm experienced its first chaos in several hundred years, and it had already persisted for half a month.
Chaos in a Secret Realm is absolutely dangerous. In mild cases, natural storms occur—either mountains crumble and earth splits, volcanoes erupt, or thunder and lightning rage. And that's just the mild scenario. In severe chaos, the entire Secret Realm may fracture or even explode.
Even so, dense crowds of people were pouring into the Secret Realm.
The reason was obvious: when Secret Realm Laws turn chaotic, they are likely to give birth to some Rare Treasures.
This is very normal. When Secret Realm Laws become chaotic, it's comparable to the spiritual transformation of Natural Laws, with Yin and Yang intertwining and the Five Elements evolving. Under such circumstances, the probability of Rare Treasures being born is very high.
Indeed, this was the case. Many had heard that the current chaos in the Peach Blossom Secret Realm had given birth to many Rare Treasures. Hence, people from all directions were desperately pouring into the Secret Realm.
As the saying goes, humans die for wealth, birds die for food.
In these times, the bold get fat, the timid starve. The era of secluded, arduous cultivation is long gone. The Modern Era is a mad age. Often, what changes one's destiny is not some predestined opportunity, but a single Rare Treasure.
However, the reason the masses were pouring into the Peach Blossom Secret Realm wasn't simply for Rare Treasures; there were also those ancient Cave Dwellings.
It was said that in the half-month since the Peach Blossom Secret Realm descended into chaos, several dozen ancient Cave Dwellings had already appeared. As for which era these Cave Dwellings were from or whose they were, no one knew, and no one cared. That simply wasn't important.
Everyone knew that those capable of opening a Cave Dwelling must have cultivation at least at the Daozun level. To have cultivated to Daozun in the Ancient Era, one was certainly no ordinary figure. Even if such a person's Cave Dwelling contained no Rare Treasures, it would surely hold many elixirs. Even without elixirs, it would at least have various resources.
If one's luck was good enough to find the Cave Dwelling of a senior, then undoubtedly, one wouldn't have to worry about cultivation resources in the future. If luck exploded, one might even stumble upon a legacy or something similar. If that were truly the case, achieving immortality in the future wouldn't be a problem.
What is a predestined opportunity?
This is a predestined opportunity.
What is a great fortune?
This is a great fortune.
Whether it's a predestined opportunity or a great fortune, these things never fall from the sky. They have always been seized!
Many believed in this principle.
Even Gu Qingfeng was no exception.
He didn't linger long in Peach Valley before following a wave of people into the Peach Blossom Secret Realm.
In the sky, thunderclouds rolled. Dark brown clouds churned like river waves, interspersed with flash after flash of lightning and thunderclaps!
Boom!
Crack!
Dozens of terrifying violet-gold lightning bolts, like flood dragons, struck down, shaking the peach blossoms covering the mountains and plains into a flurry of falling petals and making the entire Secret Realm seem to tremble slightly.
Looking around, the sky was filled with thunderclouds, the mid-air was crisscrossed with lightning, and the sea of peach blossom trees covering the mountains and plains was teeming with people.
They traveled in groups of three or five, companions sticking together. Each wore precious robes or battle armor, wielded spiritual treasures or flying swords, their bodies shimmering with radiance as they gathered and cautiously advanced.
Gu Qingfeng stood beneath a peach tree, bent down to pick up a few pink peach blossom petals, and couldn't help but shake his head in regret.
Such a beautiful, fairyland-like sea of peach blossoms, utterly destroyed. It was truly lamentable. Recalling the days when he recuperated in the Peach Blossom Secret Realm, how exquisite the scenery here had been. Who could have imagined that the sea of peach blossoms from back then would now become a cluster of withered trees?
He released his divine sense to probe. He found that within the Secret Realm, Yin and Yang had already reversed, the Five Elements were in disarray, and the Laws of the Secret Realm were evolving and transforming, appearing particularly chaotic.
It was unclear whether this Law chaos in the Secret Realm occurred naturally or had another cause.
If it was the former, it was nothing strange. Irregular spaces with irregular Laws naturally experience chaos.
If it wasn't a natural occurrence, there was only one possibility: some powerful existence was about to emerge. Moreover, this existence was formed along with the birth of the Secret Realm, having long since fused with the irregular Laws within it. Once such an existence emerged, the irregular Laws of the Secret Realm would inevitably fall into chaos. Once that existence emerged, the Secret Realm would also collapse and disperse.
It was like the Black Crow Secret Realm in the Four Directions Great Domain. Manjuvajra was suppressed by several pagodas, and those pagodas had fused with the Laws of the Black Crow Secret Realm. Not long after the pagodas emerged, the Black Crow Secret Realm vanished without a trace.