Yu Youlan closely followed Xin Ding, her interest in the little monk growing ever more intense.

"We’re here."

Standing in front of a stone gate tens of meters high, Xin Ding was surrounded by the incredibly precious Foundation Establishment Grass from ancient times. This was precisely Xin Ding’s secret for coming to the Ancient Realm. He bent down and picked ten plants, enough to refine ten Foundation Establishment Pills.

With them, even those with the poorest aptitude could reach the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Outside the dense, primordial forests of the Ancient Times, Chi Xiao Ancient Realm’s inner layer held a majestic hall carved from a single small planet—a feat only possible during the Ancient Times. The modern Cultivation World no longer had the means to create such wonders.

"So this is the Ancient Stone Hall inside," Yu Youlan exclaimed. It was her first visit to the Chi Xiao Ancient Realm, and she hadn’t expected the Ancient Stone Hall to be so grand. Even the palace of the elder patriarch at her Holy Land was not as imposing.

"However, such a vast Ancient Stone Hall is just for testing those at the Qi Cultivation Stage?" A question surfaced in Yu Youlan’s mind. Were cultivators at the Qi Cultivation Stage worthy of such a Secret Realm?

Xin Ding shared her doubts and decided to consult the Tofu Heavenly Venerable. He knew how to enter the inner circle and how to harness the hidden powers of the Ancient Realm, all thanks to the Tofu Heavenly Venerable’s guidance.

"Heavenly Venerable, do you know why this Ancient Realm was built in the first place?"

In the world, what secrets were unknown to the Tofu Heavenly Venerable? "Heh, the origin of this Secret Realm is hardly worth mentioning; it was simply constructed by a few juniors at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage in order to pass the tests set by Immortals."

Juniors at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, tests by Immortals!

Xin Ding was astonished; the Heavenly Venerable could always reveal his glorious past with just a few words.

Lu Yang wasn’t lying. As the Immortal Lineage Second Boss, his stature was immensely respected. By the hierarchy, the two at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage from the Heavenly Vault Holy Land were juniors in front of him.

The sealed stone gate opened, and the two entered the Ancient Stone Hall.

Each time the Ancient Realm was accessed, only ten percent of those at the Qi Cultivation Stage could enter the Ancient Stone Hall. On average, entry happened on the third day, so the progress of the two was already far beyond everyone else’s.

Yu Youlan blinked at Xin Ding, "Inside this Ancient Stone Hall, there are eight Sub-Halls, each with its own challenges. Only by passing all the challenges can one enter the Inner Hall and obtain the inheritance!"

"It’s difficult for you to overcome all the challenges alone. Why don’t we cooperate?" she suggested.

Xin Ding calmly shook his head, "Benefactor Yu is mistaken."

"Mistaken?" Yu Youlan found that hard to believe. This was the pattern that generations of Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators from her Holy Land had summarized through trials; how could it be wrong?

"The eight Sub-Halls of this Ancient Stone Hall are arranged according to the scene of the Innate Eight Diagrams. One only needs to pass through the Kan, Li, and Gen directional Sub-Halls in order to enter the Inner Hall."

"Is that really so?" Yu Youlan instinctively doubted this, but considering Xin Ding’s confident assertion together with his previous actions, she thought what he said must be true.

Xin Ding didn’t insist on Yu Youlan believing him; it was enough for him to believe in himself.

Without paying further attention to Yu Youlan, Xin Ding resolutely headed towards the Kanfen Hall.

"Hey, little monk, wait for me. Let’s go together," Yu Youlan decided to trust the little monk.

The two arrived at Kanfen Hall, where various magic artifacts were wrapped in bubbles, floating in the air. Each one was precious to those at the Golden Core Stage and extremely tempting for those at the Qi Cultivation Stage.

Seeing Xin Ding approaching a bubble, Yu Youlan hastily warned, "Don’t touch it. Only by resisting the temptation and not touching any magic artifact can you safely pass this challenge!"

As if not hearing Yu Youlan’s words, Xin Ding popped a bubble and took out a gourd-shaped magic artifact.

Yet nothing happened.

"What’s going on?" Yu Youlan was bewildered; this was not consistent with the experience accumulated by her Holy Land.

Xin Ding stowed the gourd and explained lightly, "Indeed, this challenge tests one’s resolution, and touching any bubble will trigger a penalty. However, among the many traps, one artifact is not trapped, and that is this very gourd."

After passing through the Kanfen Hall, they came to the Separation Hall.

Upon entering the Separation Hall, countless ghosts emerged from the walls, emitting eerie wails and filling the space with overwhelming Yin Energy.

"Be careful, innumerable stronger ghosts than those outside will appear in this hall. They can only be restrained by Pure Yang Techniques!"

"I have a Pure Yang Treasure. Little monk, you come from the Western Paradise Temple and must know some transcendent scriptures. If you know the Lion Roar, it would be ideal since it has a remarkable effect on souls. But the Lion Roar is very difficult to learn, so I doubt you know it.

I’ll use the treasure and you can chant the scripture, and together we’ll break through..." Yu Youlan quickly assessed the situation and assigned tasks to them.

Xin Ding placed his palms together and uttered an obscure phrase, seemingly an ancient language. Suddenly, the countless ghosts automatically retreated to either side, forming a queue and revealing a clear path!

"This..."

Yu Youlan watched incredulously. How had Xin Ding achieved this?

"Benefactor Yu, let us proceed."

They smoothly made it to the Gen Sub-Hall.

"Be careful, no one has ever breached this Sub-Hall!" Yu Youlan warned, wielding her treasure, ready for any imminent attacks.

Yu Youlan’s face turned pale as soon as they entered the Gen Sub-Hall, which was encircled by a puppet serpent exuding the aura of a Foundation Establishment Middle stage!

With their current strength, their chances of survival were slim, perhaps one in ten!

"Since it’s a puppet, there must be some kind of switch on this snake’s body. If we both engage it, with a bit of luck, we should be able to find the switch," Lu Yang calculated.

The puppet serpent, sensing intruders, opened its jaws wide and lunged at them!

"This is a poisonous snake!"

Yu Youlan noticed the puppet serpent’s exposed fangs; it was indeed a venomous snake. However, this snake belonged to an ancient and exotic species, and its degree of toxicity was unknown!

In the face of the charging poisonous snake, Xin Ding calmly extended a finger and touched a particular scale on the snake, causing it to clang to the ground, paralyzed.

"How come you know everything... Fine, I know ’the Buddha says some things must not be told,’ so don’t bother explaining," Yu Youlan interrupted Xin Ding prematurely and excitedly ran toward the puppet serpent.

This was a rare artifact of ancient puppetry techniques. If she could take it back for study, she might be able to decipher a corner of the ancient puppetry techniques.

"Benefactor Yu, you’d better stay away from this snake. In the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the snake’s poison sack will self-detonate. The poison sack has aphrodisiac properties, and I believe you wouldn’t want to be afflicted by this kind of poison."

"What?" Yu Youlan, scared, quickly stayed as far away as possible.

"Let’s go."

Xin Ding led Yu Youlan to the Inner Hall. The Inner Hall was splendidly decorated, also reflecting the rough and bold style of Ancient Times, with extreme artistic value.

"Is this the Inner Hall?" Yu Youlan was very excited. She had thought they would have to go through numerous perilous battles and face schemes from fellow travelers, after all the cutthroat fighting for survival, just to reach the Inner Hall.

She didn’t expect it would be so easy to get to this previously unexplored Inner Hall.

Yu Youlan glanced at Xin Ding secretly. She owed a lot to this little monk.

From their interactions along the way, she grew more and more curious about the secrets Xin Ding was hiding.

After entering the Inner Hall, the rules of the Inner Hall automatically entered their minds.

Inside, there were about eight clumps of items enveloped in Chaos Qi, looking mysterious and inscrutable, each containing a Taoist lineage inheritance.

"So, you’re saying we each can choose one clump of Chaos Qi, but have no idea what kind of lineage inheritance is inside?" Yu Youlan faced a dilemma, the inheritance of the Holy Land was within reach, yet it all came down to luck.

Pointing at one of the clumps, Xin Ding said, "Benefactor Yu, this wooden box is the inheritance your Heavenly Vault Holy Land seeks."

"Really?"

Knowing the character of Xin Ding, Yu Youlan didn’t hesitate to pick that clump of Chaos Qi. Within the Chaos Qi was a wooden box, and inside was indeed the inheritance of the Heavenly Vault Holy Land!

"Little monk, you’re so kind!"

Yu Youlan, elated, hugged Xin Ding and then quickly let go, moving so fast that Xin Ding couldn’t react in time.

Xin Ding looked at Yu Youlan with a puzzled expression.

Yu Youlan’s Little Face flushed red, and she turned her back, not wanting Xin Ding to see her expression.

She remembered the vow she had made: whoever could help her find the Holy Land inheritance, she would become that person’s wife!

Since Xin Ding helped her find the inheritance, according to her promise, she was supposed to become Xin Ding’s wife!

But this wooden block didn’t seem to have any interest in her; was it her lack of charm?

"By the way, little monk, do you know what’s inside the other clumps of Chaos Qi?"

"I know. This one contains the Green Bamboo Holy Land inheritance, this one has the Dragon Han Holy Land inheritance..."

Xin Ding methodically described the contents enshrined within each clump of Chaos Qi, repeating whatever Tofu Heavenly Venerable had said until the last one.

"The clump of Chaos Qi here is a coffin, and inside the coffin lies the lord of the Heavenly Vault Holy Land."

"What?"

After speaking, Xin Ding was struck with disbelief and quickly sought assistance from Tofu Heavenly Venerable.

"Heavenly Venerable, is the lord of the Heavenly Vault Holy Land really inside here?"

"Fairy, is the lord of the Heavenly Vault Holy Land really inside here?"

"Right."

As they spoke, the Chaos Qi containing the lord of the Heavenly Vault began to tremble, with Transcendence Tribulation energy spilling out, affecting the entire Ancient Stone Hall!