Before the secret realm was opened, a crowd of people had already gathered around it. Most of them were cultivators in the Qi training and foundation building stages. It was impossible for cultivators in the Golden Core stage and above to waste their time on such a small secret realm that didn't even have a name.
After Ye Su arrived at the vicinity of the secret realm on his sword with his three fellow disciples, they sat on the ground with the nearby monks, waiting for the entrance to the secret realm to open.
There is spiritual energy in the secret realm, and it's free. Ming Liusha, Xiyu and Xia Er are only short of that little spiritual energy to build their foundation, so Ye Su decided to take the risk and come here.
She took out a stack of blank talisman papers, dipped a brush in cinnabar, and used the ground as a table to draw one sheet after another.
Vajra Talisman, Sleeping Talisman, Speed Talisman... All the useful talismans were drawn on it and then distributed to the younger brothers and sisters.
The monk who was meditating not far away had been observing them for a long time. Seeing Ye Su drawing from evening to dawn, he couldn't help but move over and asked, "Daoyou, are you drawing the talisman?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Su turned around and saw a skinny monk in a yellow robe. He had shifty eyes and didn't look like a good person.
"I'm just curious, nothing else." The other person scratched his face, "Do you sell talisman paper?"
"What kind of talisman paper do you want to buy?" Ye Su asked him.
The skinny monk in yellow robe immediately said, "Amulet or attack amulet will do."
Ye Su said nothing, just looked at him.
The skinny monk in yellow robe moved closer to them and said excitedly, "We are miserable as independent cultivators. We don't have any powerful magic weapons and our strength is not high enough. If we want to go to the secret realm, we will be very risky. However... if fellow Taoist can sell us a few talismans, we will be very grateful."
"… We have a speed charm and a sleep charm, which last for a quarter of an hour." Ye Su suddenly asked, "Do you want them?"
"Can we try the effect first?" The skinny monk in yellow robe tried hard to make himself look more upright.
Ye Su casually pulled out a sleeping charm and turned to look at his fellow apprentices: "Okay."
Seeing this, Ming Liusha wanted to hide to the side, but he was not as quick as Ye Su, and the sleeping charm was slapped on his back by her: "It's me again..."
He managed to say three words before closing his eyes and falling to the ground.
"For what realm of cultivators is this talisman useful?" The skinny cultivator in yellow robe was excited but asked calmly.
Ye Su's eyes fell on the face of the cultivator opposite him with shifty eyes for a moment before he asked, "What realm are you in now, fellow Daoist?"
"Me? Not very talented. I'm only in the early stages of foundation building. I've been practicing for almost fifty years." The skinny monk in yellow robe waved his hand. "I don't have much talent."
"Hmm." Ye Su responded nonchalantly, and the next moment he quickly picked up the sleeping talisman between his fingers and threw it towards the yellow-robed monk.
The opponent was very agile and was more than twice as fast as Ming Liusha. However, at the moment when Ye Su threw away the sleeping talisman, he also slapped a speed talisman on himself, caught up with the yellow-robed monk, took out the sleeping talisman again, and stuck it on him.
The skinny monk in yellow robe froze and quickly fell down.
Ye Su looked down at the fallen man and waited for a moment before kindly bending down to tear off the talisman paper. He waited for the skinny monk in yellow robe to wake up before saying leisurely, "The sleep talisman is useful for monks in the Qi training stage and the early stage of foundation building. The speed talisman is almost universal in all realms. I have already used it to catch up with you just now."
Yellow-robed skinny monk: "..."
Ye Su pulled out a bunch of sleep charms and speed charms: "Do you want them, fellow Taoist?"
The skinny monk in yellow robe stood up and said, "Yes, I want as many as you have."
Ye Su took a handful of talisman paper and swung it: "Twenty medium-grade spirit stones for one."
"Are you robbing?" The yellow-robed monk was shocked. "The Five Elements Sect's Foundation Establishment Realm Talisman Paper only has ten pieces of medium-quality talisman paper each. Fellow Daoist, what you are doing is not fair."
"Is it worth twenty mid-grade spirit stones? Daoist friend has also seen the effect of the talisman paper I drew." Ye Su pretended to put the talisman paper away. "In the secret realm, which is more important, life or spirit stones?"
"Hey, fellow Daoist, can we discuss this further?" the yellow-robed monk said unwillingly.
Ye Su paused slightly, then continued to put things away and turned around to walk back.
The yellow-robed monk didn't expect that this young Taoist friend, who looked so young and had just left the sect, could be so capable. He quickly chased after him and shouted, "Daoist friend, Daoist friend! Twenty is twenty!"
Ye Su then stopped and took out the talisman paper again, counting them out to him one by one: "Half of each of the sleep talisman and the speed talisman, a total of forty pieces, eight hundred middle-grade spirit stones."
When the skinny monk in yellow robe took out the eight hundred middle-grade spirit stones, his heart was bleeding. He kept saying, "Really, Daoist friend, you sold this talisman paper too expensively. It's just a coincidence that I got it."
Ye Su didn't buy his tricks: "You can also buy talisman paper somewhere else."
The skinny monk in yellow robe took the talisman paper and left angrily.
Ming Liusha, who had fallen into a coma, had woken up and was staring at Ye Su who had returned to continue drawing talismans.
"I'll give you a few more talismans later." Ye Su said without raising her head.
"Thank you, Senior Sister." Ming Liusha immediately put aside his past grudges and said quickly, raising his eyebrows proudly towards Xiyu and Xia Er.
Xiyu sighed and lowered his head to flip through the jade slip written by the senior sister. As for Xia Er, he kept staring at the senior sister drawing the talisman and never raised his head.
…
Another day passed, Xiyu walked around and came back and said, "Big Sister, they all said that the secret realm might be open the day after tomorrow."
The opening hours of the secret realm entrance are always uncertain, and only some high-level monks can vaguely feel the fluctuations.
"Then we have to stay outside for at least two days." Xia Er held up his chin and said, "I heard that the secret realm has an uncertain closing time. What if we miss the Poyuan Sect competition after we come out?"
"The small secret realm will not exist for more than a month." Ye Su had already inquired about it in advance.
She raised her hand and pressed her forehead, having drawn talismans for a day and a night. Now her spiritual palace was empty.
The depletion of spiritual energy is a very uncomfortable thing for a cultivator.
Ye Su was already used to it. She focused on the pen, but the pen was too ordinary and she had been drawing the talisman for a long time, so it broke just now.
Fortunately, she had a spare pen.
"That's enough talismans." Ming Liusha squatted beside him, looking at the piles of talisman papers and said slowly.
"The secret realm is dangerous, the more pictures you draw, the better." Ye Su had just finished speaking when there was a sudden commotion in the distance.
The monks who were waiting to meditate stood up one after another. Ye Su and the others stood on the periphery, not knowing the situation, and watched them desperately squeeze forward. At this time, someone finally shouted to the outside: "The entrance to the secret realm is open ahead of schedule!"
"Senior Sister?" Xiyu turned around and looked at Ye Su.
Ye Su picked up the talisman and distributed it to the three of them: "Let's go in too."
The entrance to the secret realm had not been open for long, and the monks rushed in, with a small group of people even fighting outside.
"Little Brother, what's wrong?"
At the entrance to the secret realm, the handsome young man withdrew his peripheral vision. He might have seen it wrongly, as there were too many monks in black robes: "… Nothing."
The two of them took a step forward and disappeared from the spot in an instant.
In the distance, Ye Su reached out and grabbed his fellow junior brothers and sisters, put a speed talisman on their backs, quickly bypassed the crowd, and rushed towards the entrance to the secret realm.
Ming Liusha, who was lagging behind, was grabbed by Xiyu and Xia Er and dragged forward. He faced the direction of advance, felt the wind blowing across his face, and said faintly, "Master Sister is getting more and more adept at using the Speed Talisman."
The eldest sister, together with three others, finally managed to enter the secret realm before the entrance closed.
They only felt the surroundings twist and turn, and in the blink of an eye they were in another place.
Not far away there was lush greenery and dense vegetation. When the wind blew, the leaves and branches rustled, as if there was a human voice.
As soon as Ye Su came in, she felt the rich spiritual energy. Her originally dry spiritual palace unconsciously began to absorb the spiritual energy and transform it into her own spiritual power. However, she did not care about herself, but turned to her junior brothers and sisters and said, "Let's find a place to practice first. This is the opportunity for the three of you to build your foundation."
The three of them only needed the support of spiritual energy to successfully build their foundation in one go. Now that the secret realm is full of spiritual energy, it would be a waste not to use it. As for other things in the secret realm, they would be things to consider later.
Four weapon refiners, without any magic treasures or sword cultivators to protect them, just rushed into the secret realm just to break through. If Yu Shoumen knew what they were doing, he would probably frown and call it absurd.
But the ridiculous senior sister had already found a high ground with her junior brothers and sisters: "You guys absorb the spiritual energy here, I'll be on guard nearby."
Ming Liusha, Xia Er and Xiyu sat in meditation back to back, with their hands on their knees and their palms facing upwards. The spiritual energy nearby continued to flow towards them.
Breaking through the realm is extremely important for cultivators. If they are not careful, their spiritual power will flow backwards, and there are many cases of people exploding and dying. Therefore, Ye Su did not dare to relax at all.
In order to prevent any disturbance from monks or other things in the secret realm, she took out a pile of Vajra Talismans, walked around the three people, and pasted talisman papers all over their front and back, almost sticking them on their faces.
After a few hours, a vortex of spiritual energy appeared above the heads of the three people almost at the same time, and continued to flow into their spiritual palaces, even affecting Ye Su who was standing next to them.
She had been building her foundation for more than half a year. Now her spiritual palace was filled with spiritual energy, which was rapidly transformed into her own spiritual power. Her realm was actually beginning to loosen slightly.
Ye Su tried his best to suppress the spiritual energy in his spiritual palace to stabilize his state, and stood opposite waiting for the three people to successfully build their foundation.
About half an hour later, the three finally made a move.
—Spiritual power travels through the six directions and four seas, the foundation is initially built, and the spiritual palace appears.
Xiyu opened her eyes and looked down at her abdomen, feeling a little awkward, and raised her head and said, "Senior Sister, I seem to have a spiritual palace."
"Having a spiritual palace means that the foundation has been successfully built." Ye Su laughed and turned to look at Ming Liusha and Xia Er, "How are you?"
"Then I have also successfully established my foundation." Xia Er said excitedly.
Although Ming Liusha was happy, he still said slowly: "It should be done."
It turned out that they had come to the right secret realm. After the three of them successfully established their foundation, they could also begin to refine higher-level magical instruments.
"Big sister, we will be guarding here while you practice. You may be able to make a breakthrough." Xiyu said.
"Yes, there is so much spiritual energy in the secret realm, it cannot be wasted." Xia Er nodded repeatedly.
Ming Liusha got up early and prepared to give his seat to the senior sister.
"Shh—" Ye Su bent down and raised her hand to signal Ming Liusha to squat down, and looked sideways towards Gaopo. She had just heard some noise.
Xiyu and Xia Er, who were originally sitting, also stood up instantly, bent over and followed the senior sister, climbed up the slope silently, and looked down.
In the distance, two swordsmen were fighting a red mantis. The mantis was about one meter tall and two meters long, with prominent yellow-green compound eyes, red forelimbs with a row of hard serrations, and a suction cup at the end of the hook, which allowed it to climb quickly. Both the front and rear wings were purple-red, covering the back of the body, and the abdomen was enlarged.
One of the sword cultivators failed to dodge the red mantis' attack and tried to block its forelimbs with his sword. The forelimbs, like "big knives", slashed at the sword cultivator, breaking his raised sword, and then slashed at the sword cultivator's body, directly splitting it in half.
Seeing this, another green-robed swordsman took the opportunity to slide in from the back and tried to attack the red mantis's abdomen, but was discovered by it. The red mantis quickly retreated, raised its other forelimb, and stabbed the swordsman quickly and fiercely.
Just as he was about to be pierced by the red mantis, a faint layer of golden color suddenly appeared on the sword cultivator's body. In just that instant, the sword cultivator was able to escape.
However, the red mantis was obviously unwilling to let the sword cultivator go, and continued to attack the green-robed sword cultivator.
Xia Er was lying on the ground, and finally remembered why the green-robed swordsman who was escaping looked familiar. He turned his head and whispered, "Senior Sister, is that the first Taoist friend who bought our talisman?"
"Yes." Ye Su suddenly stood up, "Get ready."
Ming Liusha pushed Xia Er away and secretly put himself in a position where he could be grabbed by the senior sister.
Sure enough, the next moment Ye Su reached out and grabbed the two junior brothers and sisters closest to him.
Xia Er hadn't fully reacted yet, his attention was all on the green-robed female swordsman.
"Run!!!" Xiyu grabbed his fourth junior brother and shouted.
Ye Su put a speed talisman on his body and once again carried three people alone, trying to stay away from the fight.
However, the red mantis can fly!
"Fellow Daoist? Fellow Daoist! It's really you!" The green-robed female swordsman originally thought it was an illusion, but she ran over desperately and found that it was really the fellow Daoist who sold talismans in Dinghai City. "Your Vajra Talisman is very useful!"
The Vajra Talisman sold on the market can withstand a full-strength attack from the middle stage of foundation building, but just now she used the talisman to withstand the attack of the red mantis.
This red mantis is at least at the late foundation building stage.
"Don't come to us!" Xiyu didn't even care about her appearance, "We are not sword cultivators!"
The green-robed female swordsman heard it from afar and said embarrassedly, "Sorry, I didn't know you were here at first."
"It's too late. It has discovered us." Ye Su looked back at the red mantis that was getting closer and closer. He suddenly stopped and said to Xia Er, "Fourth Junior Brother, the sword."
Xia Er immediately took out the sword from his Qiankun bag and handed it to Ye Su.
Ye Su urged the sword, stood up, and said to the green-robed female swordsman: "I'd like to trouble you to cover me."
Although the green-robed female swordsman had some doubts in her heart, she could not hesitate at this moment. She swung her sword and deliberately attacked the red mantis's compound eyes to attract its attention.
Ye Su flew on his sword to the red mantis' blind spot and began to throw sleeping talismans frantically.
This sleeping talisman is useful for cultivators, but I don’t know if it will work on monsters. However, Ye Su can only go ahead and do it, otherwise he will probably become a meal for the monster.
Once a mantis turns red, its lowest level can match that of a cultivator in the early stage of foundation building. This red mantis's front limbs are all red, so it can at least deal with a cultivator in the late stage of foundation building.
One, two...
Ye Su threw out three sleeping talismans, and the red mantis's wings finally fell down and it fell to the ground. At this time, it finally realized that there was someone behind it, turned around, raised its hind legs, and stabbed her.
Ye Su, who was well prepared, picked up two Vajra Talismans between her fingers and stuck them on herself to resist the attack of the red mantis.
At this time, the green-robed female swordsman suddenly jumped up, holding the sword with both hands, and stabbed it straight into the red mantis's head.
The three people who had been watching nervously nearby finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Senior Sister, are you okay?" Xia Er hurried over and asked.
Ye Su waved her hand: "It's okay."
Xiyu also handed Ye Su a small mirror so that the senior sister could tidy up her appearance.
Ming Liusha quietly reminded: "Materials."
Ye Su looked at the green-robed female swordsman who was half-kneeling in front of the red mantis: "Daoyou, would you like to sell the red mantis's forelimbs?"
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to kill it, and I almost dragged you down." The green-robed female swordsman drew her sword and stood up, "This red mantis belongs to you."
Ye Su was not in a hurry to get the red mantis, and asked instead: "What are you doing in the secret realm, fellow Taoist?"
The green-robed female swordsman wiped the red blood off her face: "Practice swordsmanship and earn some spirit stones at the same time."
Every time when coming out of the secret realm, there are major material stores outside purchasing monster materials and various spiritual plants from heaven and earth. Many independent cultivators rely on this for a living.
"Fellow Daoist, are you willing to cooperate with us?" Ye Su asked, "I will provide the talisman and you will provide the sword. We will split the materials in half when the time comes."
The secret realm is too dangerous, and she only knows a few types of talismans, so they need a swordsman.
The green-robed female swordsman agreed without hesitation: "Okay."