"That’s true. Where do you think that Chen Xuan would rank if he entered the Grotto Heaven world?"
"Hard to say. There are so many Grotto Heavens, at least several hundred factions, and geniuses are as common as clouds. Every Grotto Heaven’s Saint Son has a trump card up his sleeve..."
As the few of them were discussing, a servant suddenly came running from a distance.
"Young Master, news from the outside world’s Human List!"
The servant placed a list on the table.
"News from the Human List? I’m not interested in anyone except Chen Xuan!"
A man in blue robes smiled, casually grabbing the list to take a look. His expression instantly froze.
His mind went blank, his face motionless.
"What’s wrong?"
The others looked on with suspicion.
They subconsciously snatched the list from his hand and scanned it.
Instantly, all of their minds went blank, and they too froze in a daze.
The grand, spirited demeanor they had just a moment ago, when they were critiquing the world’s heroes, completely vanished...
Disbelief and bewilderment were written all over their faces.
After a long moment, they gasped, a profound sense of shock washing over them.
"Chen Xuan? He’s in the Inner Realm?"
"How the fuck is that possible?"
"An Inner Realm expert at twenty? And he’s been cultivating for less than a year?"
"Did he drink Dragon Blood? Did Chu Shanhe give all the remaining Dragon Blood to Chen Xuan?"
The men were shocked beyond words.
This news was just too fucking shocking.
...
This level of shock was far from an isolated incident.
As the Human List circulated, every small group and every Grotto Heaven was left flabbergasted.
Following that, all the geniuses, prodigies, Saint Sons, and Dao Children... were deeply shaken.
Soon, people began to emerge from their secluded cultivation.
"Someone from the outside world, only twenty years old, broke through to the Inner Realm?"
"Yes, Young Master!"
"Iron-faced Yama, Chen Xuan. What a strange name..."
"Inner Realm at twenty? On what grounds? How could he possibly break through? The Celestial Dao is truly unfair!"
"Cultivation alone is useless. Combat power is what matters most. I’m forty-one this year, I’ve consumed countless Spirit Medicines, and I’m hailed as the second Chu Shanhe. My combat power is comparable to the Inner Realm Third Layer. Can he do the same?"
All sorts of comments began to surface, creating a tense atmosphere like the calm before a storm.
It wasn’t that they refused to accept it; they just felt an unbearable sense of indignation and couldn’t process it right away.
Just think, they trained through the harshest winter cold and blistering summer heat, day and night, losing all track of time. They consumed countless Spirit Medicines and used innumerable Secret Techniques. All of them saw surpassing Chu Shanhe as their life’s dream.
With every step forward, they would compare themselves to Chu Shanhe, checking to see what level he was at when he was their age.
Because of this, many of them were called the "second Chu Shanhe."
But after all their bitter struggles, they finally managed to enter the Inner Realm around the age of forty, only for someone to tell them some guy from the outside world did it at twenty.
Who the fuck could accept that?
They felt like their decades of hard work and suffering were nothing but a joke.
...
「Deep within the Grotto Heaven world.」
Inside a peculiar secret realm.
The Grotto Heaven world is interconnected by a web of spatial rifts, and within some of the larger ones, peculiar secret realms are bound to exist.
This Small Secret Realm was one such place.
The recent retreat of the encroaching darkness had exposed this Small Secret Realm, which had previously been fraught with danger.
Experts from the various Grotto Heavens had immediately gone to explore it and quickly came to an agreement.
There was no real danger inside this secret realm.
However, there weren’t many significant resources either.
There was only a single Dragon Vein spring, which was on the verge of erupting.
They decided it wasn’t worth the older generation of experts fighting to the death over this one Dragon Vein spring, so they quickly established a rule: the younger generation would enter and compete, with each person relying on their own abilities.
Chai Yuan was representing Celestial Treasure Mountain.
He brought a younger female and male clan member with him into the secret realm.
But once they were inside, they discovered that this secret realm was very strange.
The Dragon Vein spring was located in the deepest part, surrounded by restrictive barriers. The slightest misstep would bring down countless bolts of lightning. Amidst this dense web of barriers floated numerous platforms. To advance, one had to occupy these platforms.
The problem was, most of the platforms were already taken.
Only a few remained unoccupied.
Without hesitation, Chai Yuan led his two clan members and leaped toward one of the unoccupied platforms.
But just as they landed, two people quickly leaped over from another direction and told them this platform was taken.
Chai Yuan was stunned for a moment but didn’t say anything. He immediately led his clan members to leap toward another platform.
But no matter which platform they jumped to, someone would quickly appear and tell them it was already taken.
At this point, Chai Yuan was furious.
’Aren’t they just bullying an honest person?’
"What the fuck do you all want?"
Chai Yuan roared.
"You dare to curse? Didn’t Celestial Treasure Mountain teach you any manners?"
Someone’s expression turned cold on the spot.
"Fuck your mother!"
Chai Yuan cursed.
"You’re courting death!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The two sides immediately came to blows.
Then, more and more people joined the fray, ganging up on Chai Yuan and his group.
It was no surprise that everyone was ganging up on Chai Yuan.
Celestial Treasure Mountain was simply too wealthy among the Grotto Heavens—the obscenely rich kind.
If you had the strength to back it up, that would be one thing; no one would dare to say a word.
But you lack strength, yet you’re sitting on such a wealthy mountain.
There was no way the other factions would let that be.
Though they hadn’t openly turned on you, they were definitely targeting you behind the scenes.
A fortuitous opportunity appears, and you think you can just show up?
Sorry, but no.
The plan was to give you a sound beating and tell you to get lost!
And so, under the assault of several experts, Chai Yuan and his clan members were beaten black and blue, forced to flee for their lives and escape the secret realm.