That idiot from the Sword Sect turned out to be a lucky charm.

Chapter 39 Underground Palace

Lin Zhifeng accepted the task without hesitation. The system continued to nag, "Do you know who the lover of this secret realm's owner is?"

“I know, it’s my master,” Lin Zhifeng replied.

The system was quite surprised that Lin Zhifeng had guessed the correct answer so quickly.

Lin Zhifeng said, "The owner of this secret realm is said to have ascended to immortality, so he must be no ordinary person. Anyone worthy of him must also be extraordinary. Besides, since we came here, we've only encountered the remnant soul of my master's tomb. Even I, as stupid as I am, can guess that, right?"

The disciples of the Sword Sect continued to advance, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the heart of the desert.

In the distance, there was a huge vortex. It seemed as if some mysterious force was swirling the sand and dust counterclockwise.

Beneath the sandstorm, a downward staircase is faintly visible.

Ding Mo was actually hesitating—should all the disciples go together, or should he take a portion down first to take a look?

Lin Zhifeng leaned closer and whispered, "Uncle-Master, I've read about this secret realm before. It says that the secret realm's master's chamber is located beneath the Eye of the Storm in the heart of the desert. Besides numerous treasures, this chamber also contains the master's legacy. Shall we go down together? After all, the rewards will be substantial. As for safety, let's all look out for each other and be careful."

Upon hearing this, Ding Mo found it to be very reasonable and nodded in agreement.

Ding Mo instructed everyone to be extremely careful after going down the stairs, and he himself went first to check down the stairs.

The crowd followed behind him, enduring the sandstorm blowing from the eye of the storm.

They walked down the stairs to the bottom and found themselves in a spacious hall.

There are now many people gathered in this hall.

Almost all the other members of the Sword Sect who had been separated since entering the secret realm appeared here. They were reunited after a long separation and happily gathered together.

In addition, there were many people from other sects. For example, the women from Happy Valley and Hundred Flowers Palace whom I encountered in the cave that night, although there seemed to be far fewer of them than that night. Presumably, they encountered many dangers afterward and suffered losses.

In addition, Longquan of the Shenlong Dynasty and his subordinates were also present.

There are also disciples from major sects such as Brahma Temple, Broken Mirror Mountain, Demon Sword Sect, and Ruyi Gang.

Lin Zhifeng even saw people from Yufeng Valley...

The number of people from all the sects combined was tens of thousands, almost filling the entire hall.

Ding Mo went out to communicate with the leaders of various sects, while Lin Zhifeng and the others, bored out of their minds, looked around everywhere.

Suddenly, a deep baritone voice rang in everyone's ears: "Welcome to my secret chamber. Next, I will teleport you to different rooms for trials. Those I choose will receive a share of the inheritance. Prepare yourselves; those who do not wish to go may leave now. Teleportation will begin in five minutes."

Ding Mo hurriedly returned to the disciples of the Sword Sect. After receiving confirmation from everyone, Ding Mo urged them to be extra careful.

No one from other sects withdrew at this final moment either.

When the time came, the eager participants were teleported by the master of the secret realm to different trial halls.

Lin Zhifeng had already put the treasure-hunting rat into his ring before he came in, as he wouldn't know how to heal the rat if it got injured.

The first trial was relatively simple; it just tested the attribute of one's spiritual root. Lin Zhifeng quickly finished the test and found it to be water-type.

The second level is a battle mode, and this level features skeleton birds.

This skeletal bird was much smaller than the ones they encountered in the desert, about the size of an average human. But this skeletal bird looked more exquisite.

Lin Zhifeng drew his Crane Cry Sword, first freezing the skeletal bird that swooped down in front of him with ice-based sword techniques, then swiftly piercing the bird's heart with a single strike. The skeletal bird instantly collapsed, its bones scattering across the ground.

Lin Zhifeng carefully picked up the bones. It seemed his guess in the desert was correct: these birds did indeed belong to someone. They were created by the owner of this secret realm to guard this secret chamber.

If you pass the second level, there's a third level.

The third level was a smaller version of the skeleton beast. Lin Zhifeng used the same tactics as before, ending the battle cleanly.

After passing the three trials, the man's voice rang out: "Very good, you have passed the basic test. You are rewarded with one thousand low-grade spirit stones. Would you like to proceed to the next level of trials?"

Lin Zhifeng thought: It seems that the disciples of the Sword Sect can easily pass the first three levels and obtain the initial reward.

Lin Zhifeng put away the reward and naturally chose to proceed to the next level of trial.

Soon, the intermediate trial began.

When the battle objective for this level refreshed, Lin Zhifeng was delighted. It seemed this level was a sure thing, since the quest monster for this level was a sand worm.

Sandworms fear fire, so the wind in the forest silences the crane's cry and summons the phoenix's wail.

Lin Zhifeng preemptively used his spiritual power to protect his entire body, seizing the opportunity to stuff a string of fireballs into the sand worm's mouth. The miniature sand worm quickly burst into flames and then collapsed to the ground.

Lin Zhifeng put away the sandworm's corpse and wondered: Could it be that the sandworm was also created by the master of this secret realm?

But thinking about it, it makes sense, since the entire secret realm was created by its master. He just hopes these things are real objects; if they're like data in his original world's game, that would be terrible—then all their efforts would have been in vain.

He was still worrying that all his gains along the way might go to waste when the man's voice appeared again: "Very good, young man, you are actually skilled in both water and fire cultivation, quite talented. Congratulations on passing the intermediate trial. Reward: one thousand mid-grade spirit stones."

Lin Zhifeng: "!"

Is this trial for real? Lin Zhifeng was completely bewildered: I'm just a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stages, the kind who uses pay-to-win items! And I've already passed the intermediate trial? Isn't this trial a bit too easy? Although I know I'm pretty lucky.

The voice said, "Are you ready? The final trial is about to begin!"

Lin Zhifeng quickly perked up, thinking that this ultimate trial definitely couldn't be that simple.

This time he guessed right.

This level suddenly spawned a bunch of skeleton warriors: there were swordsmen, archers, axemen, and even a skeleton general wielding a giant scythe.

The trial hall was suddenly packed to the brim, leaving Lin Zhifeng nowhere to hide. He had no choice but to draw his twin swords and fight them head-on.

Lin Zhifeng unleashed his full potential in the face of adversity, wielding both swords simultaneously and exerting double his fighting power, yet he could only barely manage to cope. Several times in critical moments, he had to use the sword talisman given to him by Ding Mo to narrowly avoid injury.

He didn't know if using sword talismans was allowed in this secret realm trial. If he was judged to be cheating, there was nothing he could do; survival was the priority, and they could simply forgo the reward.

Fortunately, no sound of failure was heard, so it seems that it is allowed to be used.

So Lin Zhifeng stopped being stingy and used his skills whenever the opportunity arose, and he actually managed to kill quite a few skeleton soldiers.

Once he had a firm advantage, he calmed down and took advantage of this rare opportunity to begin practicing the skills he had inherited from his master.

The voice appeared again when the last skeleton warrior fell.

"Congratulations on passing the final trial. You are hereby rewarded with one thousand high-grade spirit stones."

Lin Zhifeng was already panting heavily. After catching his breath, he said, "Thank you, senior!"

The voice spoke again: "Who are you to Feng Hua?"

Lin Zhifeng said, "This disciple has never heard of such a person."

The voice hesitated, then said, "It's clearly his swordsmanship inheritance..."

"So, who is your teacher?"

Lin Zhifeng said, "Reporting to senior, I am the son of Lin Yuan of the Sword Sect. Due to some special reasons, I did not formally become an apprentice in the Sword Sect. However, I do have a master who teaches me swordsmanship, but unfortunately he has passed away. Moreover, I do not know my master's name."

As soon as Lin Zhifeng finished speaking, a tall man suddenly appeared in his trial hall. The man was handsome, and although he looked like a young man, Lin Zhifeng felt that he was definitely not young anymore. Of course, his cultivation level was also unfathomable.

"Could he be the master of this secret realm?" Lin Zhifeng couldn't help but ask the system in his mind.

But the system remained completely silent, ignoring his words entirely.

Lin Zhifeng didn't think the system was neglecting him; it was definitely because the person opposite him was extremely powerful. If the system spoke to him, this person would notice. To avoid being exposed, the system was ignoring him. It seemed he would have to be careful from now on.