Tainted will

The following day, Inside a private chamber in the Secret land of heaven and earth.

'It's done, I have mastered the Devil hand soul art, its attacking power and range are twice that of the concealed soul dagger technique. This is the qualitative distinction between the skills of lower and higher grades.' Bai Ming thought as he swiftly stored the skill scroll in his storage bag.

Just like Bai Ming had foreseen, Teng Zhe had personally come to his living quarters and 'gifted' him the devil hand soul skill along with a lower-tier extremity-grade treasure sword out of his own free will.

But that was not all that had transpired yesterday, Teng Zhe even went as far as lowering his proud head and humbly thanked Bai Ming for reminding him of the true essence of a cultivator.

Bai Ming did not anticipate Teng Zhe to react like that, but at the time he quickly brushed it off.

But after solely reflecting on Teng Zhe's actions for a short while Bai Ming understood Teng zhe's hidden intentions.

Teng zhe's actions were to give Bai Ming a form of assurance, Teng Zhe wanted to show that his opinion and intentions regarding Bai Ming had changed for the better after this incident.

Toward Teng Zhe's subtle manipulation skills, Bai Ming was clear as a blazing fire.

Bai Ming knew in his heart that after he has fulfilled his use for Teng Zhe, he was certainly going to get killed. On this truth Bai Ming was clear as day, there was no other way.

Why was Bai Ming so convinced that he would be killed by Teng zhe after returning from the mystic realm regardless of failure or success, there are two selective motives for this.

First of all, Bai Ming had continually targeted and exploited Teng Zhe's weakness, he was certain that Teng Zhe loathed him to the core.

But that wasn't even the main issue, the primary issue came after Bai Ming returns from his mission. After serving his purpose as a foot soldier, Bai Ming would hold unnecessary information about the spirit herb, which he could divulge to other inner elders to reap benefits.

As of now, only two sides are secretly competing for the tier-8 violet stellar grass, Zhou Yi and Teng Zhe. But if Bai Ming were to leak the news about the spirit herb to outsiders, both Zhou Yi and Teng Zhe will have to face greater pressure and competition. They absolutely cannot afford to make such a foolish mistake.

As for why Bai Ming hadn't spread the news already, it was because Teng Zhe had yet to pass on the exact details of the spirit herb to him, hence Bai Ming's hands were firmly tied.

'The day after tomorrow is the opening of the mystic realm and that old dog has yet to give me the exact details of the Spirit herb and its harvesting methods, he is probably going to inform me just minutes before the small world opens. But it doesn't make a difference, since I never planned on obtaining the spirit herb anyway. What's the use even if I acquire it, the outcome won't change, I am going to die either way.' Bai Ming thought in his heart with a slight smile.

It was the absolute truth, Bai Ming never once intended to help Teng Zhe in his pursuit. Bai Ming had deeply contemplated his current scenario and concluded that it was best for him to stay far away from the spirit herb.

As for leaving the mystic realm safely, Bai Ming had already devised a fairly decent way but after getting cursed by Zhou Yi the success rate of his plan dropped from 60% to 30%.

But Bai Ming was willing to take this necessary risk, failure or success he was prepared to confront it head-on.

'I aim to enter the core area of the mystic realm, where there is supposedly the true inheritance of the Eccentric ancestor. If I can get my hands on this true inheritance, ah I can only imagine how smooth my path to the pinnacle will be.' Bai Ming's eyes shone with intense greed as he thought of getting his hands on the true inheritance.

At this moment, the otherworldly light within the secret chamber dimmed out.

'I've run out of time, this is likely to be my last visit to this place. It has been a blessing thus far, not only did I form my sword qi in this place but after these three months of taking classes in the fire temple and repeated visits to the secret land, my fire path attainment has also risen to the grandmaster realm. It's a pity that I won't be able to come here again, truly a pity.' Bai Ming sighed in his heart before he strode out of the secret land.

The past three months have been nothing but a blessing for Bai Ming, he would daily visit the fire temple and take classes under a fire path great grandmaster before heading towards the Secret Land of Heaven and Earth to process the newly gained information and expand his awareness towards it. It was only due to these aspects that Bai Ming's fire path attainment had ascended so quickly.

And after achieving grandmaster attainment in the fire path Bai Ming modified his self-sword formation by fusing the flame elements into it further improving its destructive prowess.

That's not all he had done in the past three months, he had also developed the second form of the self-sword technique. If it wasn't for these two elements, Bai Ming couldn't have killed that peak Yang realm cultivator so effortlessly and later use his body as cultivation material to reach the peak of the Yin-Yang void realm in body cultivation. After forming five crescents, Bai Ming's natural physique was as formidable as a semi-high-grade magical treasure.

Walking out of the Secret land Bai Ming didn't head to his residence. Instead, he headed in the direction of the Red lotus sects library. He had decided to gather information regarding the various demon beasts and spirit herbs. He also wanted to learn the history of the Azure cultivation planet.

••••

Time quietly slipped by, Today was the day of the opening of the mystery realm.

Morning, a bell rang throughout the sect. It rang eighteen times, signifying the mystic realm's descent into the real world.

Inside a secluded cultivation abode, Bai Ming held a piece of jade in his hand.

"You can go through it later, the bell has already rung which means the mystery realm has already appeared in our realm space. Let's depart immediately, the situation in the sect is going to turn chaotic quickly." Teng Zhe said in a slightly urgent tone.

Bai Ming raised his brow and silently stored the jade in his storage bag. Teng zhe had made him wait till the very end before handing him the contents of the spirit herb and even now he didn't let Bai Ming take a glimpse at it.

Without a word, Teng Zhe stretched out his hand and grabbed Bai Ming and stepped into the void, and faded away.

At top speed, they arrived in front of the mystic realm.

'So this is a mystic realm, but..it's a bit too dark.' Bai Ming intently watched the hundred-meter-wide crescent gap in the void. However, Bai Ming couldn't see what existed beyond the passage.

Then his cold gaze swept toward the dozen supreme realm masters positioned at the entrance of the mystic realm to guard the formations supporting the opening.

The entrances to mystic realms were mostly not very stable. They had to be reinforced through array formations, or else it would be very easy to be swept away into turbulent spatial currents.

Bai Ming noticed that majority of the spirit realm disciples had already entered the mystic realm, they were only around a hundred or so people remaining.

Dozens of dreadful gazes suddenly gathered on Bai Ming, making breathing difficult for him.

An ordinary middle-aged person about 40 years old, wearing a blood-red gown, his unfathomable eyes which held boundless might scrutinized Bai Ming as he questioned, "Elder Teng, is this your disciple?"

Teng Zhe quickly put up a smiling face and said in a respectful tone, "Sect head, this is my disciple, Yi Yun. He entered the sect late, so he doesn't know the meaning behind the bell ringing 18 times."

This middle-aged man was none other than the red lotus sect's renowned sect head, Yan Tian Zhao. He was a divine astral realm cultivator, a supreme powerhouse within the Tiannan province. The only cultivators that could rival his fame and strength within the Tiannan province were the three sect leaders of the other three first-tier sects.

Yan Tian Zhao's gaze made Bai Ming feel a chill in his heart. He quickly lowered his head and respectfully greeted the sect head before doing the same for the other experts present here. He quickly etched their faces in his heart.

"Congratulations Elder Teng for finding such a good disciple. Child remember to follow your master's teachings carefully and success will soon follow in your footsteps." Yan Tian Zhao talked with a kind and encouraging gaze as he gently patted Bai Ming's shoulder a few times.

Bai Ming wanted to instinctively take a step back but forcefully stopped himself from doing just that, he couldn't and didn't want to act rude towards a grand divine astral realm expert.

"Hmph, This disciple is really like his master. He's kinda dumb, just like you were back then." A middle-aged man sneered, he was none other than Elder Zhou Yi.

"Noisy!" Teng Zhe's face changed slightly for a while. But then he ignored Zhou Yi and faced Bai Ming with a stern look, who was silent as a statue.

Teng Zhe transmitted his voice to Bai Ming using his divine sense; "Yi Yun, I hope you will give your all for the task. Don't worry once you return from the mystic realm I will be sure to remove the divine sense marker and thank you properly. Now, leave quickly."

"Go, go, your teammates are waiting for you." Teng Zhe patted Bai Ming as spoke with an encouraging smile on his face.

Bai Ming quietly nodded and took one glance at the experts before taking flight toward the mystic realm.

"Senior brother Yun, you have finally come." A Group of spirit realm cultivators suddenly approached Bai Ming. These spirit realm cultivators were the subordinates given to Bai Ming by Teng Zhe.

"Senior brother, we have already fallen behind. Let's not waste time anymore and get going already." A youth spoke in a slightly hurried tone. The other spirit realm cultivators with him also agreed with this thought and stared at Bai Ming, awaiting his response.

"About that, I have a better idea.." Bai Ming said calmly as an illusionary light flickered past his crimson eyes.