A flash of white light later, within the Great Sui, on Hongtong Lake,
a group of people suddenly appeared on the island in the center of the lake.
"What happened? Why are only so few people coming out?"
Besides the Golden Core cultivators who returned early, there should have been over 50,000 Foundation Establishment cultivators and more than 200,000 Qi Condensation cultivators who entered.
However, now there were 2164 Foundation Establishment cultivators, 16 Qi Condensation cultivators, and 1 mortal.
As the number of returning cultivators was tallied, a stern, low voice echoed across the entire island.
Immediately, a figure in dark blue robes flew into the air.
It was Bai Daohui, a late Nascent Soul cultivator and the leader of this expedition from the number one immortal sect in the Taiyuan immortal world, the Jadeite Sect.
"Reporting to Senior Martial Uncle, the situation is as follows: there were multiple beast rampages in the Hongtong Secret Realm this time.
The first occurred on the second day after the secret realm opened, when all third-tier demonic beasts in the entire realm rampaged, all moving in the same direction.
This rampage lasted for 18 days.
The second occurred on the 47th day after the secret realm opened, when all demonic beasts in the entire realm rampaged until the secret realm closed."
Zhuang Jun, the senior outer disciple of the Jadeite Sect, quickly came forward to report.
However, this fellow was a bit lazy and didn't investigate thoroughly, reporting only what he knew.
"Beast rampages? On the second day?"
Upon hearing the time point of "second day" and recalling the previous hundred Nascent Soul cultivators being sucked to death by the teleportation array, Bai Daohui immediately made a connection.
"All sect cultivators return to your respective camps and hand over all your spoils.
Rogue cultivators, register yourselves at the Jadeite Sect.
Remember, everything obtained from the Hongtong Secret Realm must be handed over."
"What! How can this be?"
"Is this robbery?"
"Are the Ten Great Sects acting like bandits now?"
"No! No! I obtained so many treasures!"
"Can we resist? Those are Nascent Soul cultivators!"
The faces of all the cultivators who emerged from the secret realm, whether from sects or rogue cultivators, changed drastically, and they began to discuss animatedly.
"Silence!"
Bai Daohui roared, and the entire island trembled.
"Ugh..."
The Foundation Establishment cultivators immediately shut up, covering their heads;
the Qi Condensation cultivators even bled from their seven orifices, their appearances miserable.
Yang Hong was in a bit of a predicament.
Although the roar was powerful and he, as a mortal, should have been injured, he felt nothing.
However, seeing the miserable state of others, he could only use his true qi to make his own seven orifices bleed a little.
To be safe, he even fainted himself.
Of course, he was only pretending to faint. He still wanted to listen to the conversation of these cultivators.
"All of you, shut up.
This anomaly in the Hongtong Secret Realm has caused heavy casualties not only among you who entered but also killed 100 Nascent Soul cultivators outside the secret realm.
We need to examine all the items you brought out to ensure you are not bringing out dangerous items."
Bai Daohui explained loudly. When the others heard that 100 Nascent Soul cultivators had died, their faces all changed, and they dared not raise any objections.
They were only at the Foundation Establishment stage, and their lives were like ants before Nascent Soul cultivators,
just as they themselves viewed mortals.
The cultivators who explored the secret realm quickly dispersed and formed queues. Yang Hong, who had fallen unconscious, stood out.
"Hmm? Yang Hong? This kid is really not dead."
Yang Hong's martial uncle, Mou Jingzhi, also noticed Yang Hong at this moment.
With a flash of movement, Mou Jingzhi arrived beside Yang Hong, scanned him with his spiritual sense, and then sent out a stream of true qi to support Yang Hong, walking back to the逍遥阁 (Xiaoyao Pavilion) encampment.
As he passed by Tian Rujin and the other two, there was a hint of killing intent in Mou Jingzhi's eyes.
When Yang Hong entered the Hongtong Secret Realm, he and his senior brother Song Yu had specifically instructed the ten Foundation Establishment cultivators to take good care of Yang Hong.
But it seemed Yang Hong had not been taken care of.
Tian Rujin's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down. It seemed he had misunderstood.
The instruction from the two senior martial uncles to take care of Yang Hong seemed to have been serious.
But how was that possible?
That Yang Hong was just a mortal with no cultivation at all. Was he worth the care of these Foundation Establishment cultivators?
Tian Rujin did not notice that a few Golden Core senior brothers not far in front of them also had their expressions change.
However, they quickly composed themselves and began to carefully inspect and collect the storage equipment of Tian Rujin.
Mou Jingzhi scanned Yang Hong all over with his spiritual sense, then retrieved two storage bags from Yang Hong's shoes.
Mou Jingzhi was not surprised at all that Yang Hong had storage bags on him.
He knew about Yang Hong's immense merit.
Other areas also began to tense up, collecting the storage bags of the secret realm cultivators and all other gains from the secret realm.
All cultivators, regardless of their origin, had all their gains from the secret realm collected,
and were meticulously studied by all Nascent Soul cultivators.
All demonic beast materials were directly burned with the Nascent Soul true fire.
During this process, black smoke was produced, and the human cultivators, along with Buddhist cultivators, performed purification techniques.
Upon seeing the black smoke, all the Nascent Soul cultivators' faces changed.
Finally, almost all the items brought out of the Hongtong Secret Realm were burned.
Except for various spirit herbs, everything else was burned.
Even the demonic beast eggs and young demonic beasts were directly incinerated.
Yang Hong, upon waking, felt a bit worried seeing this.
He still had a storage ring and three storage bags, each ten zhang wide.
These storage items were placed by him into the storage embroidered patch he had obtained earliest.
That storage embroidered patch, though only one zhang wide, was special; it could store storage equipment.
Seeing the black smoke, Yang Hong became a little worried that the treasures from the secret realm in his storage equipment might also pose unknown dangers.
However, Yang Hong was not foolish enough to take out those storage items now.
Not taking them out meant potential future danger;
taking them out would mean his death now!
Except for spirit herbs, which produced no black smoke, even the spiritual artifacts of cultivators that had come into contact with demonic beast blood also produced that black smoke.
These were also all to be burned.
This trip to the Hongtong Secret Realm had resulted in a significant loss for almost all cultivators.
Except for Yang Hong, who had made a massive profit.
While burning these items containing black smoke, Mou Jingzhi also asked Yang Hong in detail about his experiences in the secret realm.
Yang Hong, having prepared for this, replied.
"Reporting to Martial Uncle, after entering the secret realm, I was teleported to a valley. There were no demonic beasts in the valley at the time, so I explored it... and found several storage bags.
Then I went to...
My luck was always good, and I never encountered any demonic beasts, but I did come across many demonic beast corpses."
He combined the information he had heard in Huangyuan City to refine his experience, which he had carefully considered.
"You truly are a person of great fortune, but alas..."
After listening to Yang Hong's account and asking dozens of detailed questions, Mou Jingzhi said with admiration.
He did not doubt Yang Hong's experience at all.
"Martial Uncle, alas what?"
Yang Hong asked curiously.
"Alas, you still cannot cultivate. Sigh... what a pity, what a pity!"
"Why?"
Yang Hong was also startled and pressed further.
"Because you have great karma, and cannot cultivate.
Alright, you don't need to ask any more. You definitely cannot cultivate."
Mou Jingzhi interrupted Yang Hong's questioning, dismissing him with the phrase "great karma."
Yang Hong frowned deeply. He was now extremely curious about what great karma he possessed.
It was so significant that even the eighth-rank sect,逍遥阁 (Xiaoyao Pavilion), which had accepted him as a disciple, did not allow him to cultivate.
Thinking of the jade slips in the storage embroidered patch that he had not finished reading, Yang Hong felt a hint of anticipation,
hoping there might be some relevant record within.