The Full Moon Pool shimmered like a mirror, yet reflected none of the faces along its banks.
Many who had come were seeing the Full Moon Pool for the first time and marveled at the sight.
The moon hung in the sky but failed to cast its image upon the water.
Yet within the water, a moon shone — still as a phantom.
The moon in the water sat at the pool's center, and once it appeared, it remained perfectly fixed.
Looking upward from the ring-shaped corridor to the night sky, the celestial moon still sat off to one side.
Time trickled by, and the gathering grew quiet.
Everyone held their breath, waiting in silent preparation.
At last, the moon reached its zenith.
The celestial moon arrived at the exact center of the ring-shaped corridor, directly facing the moon's reflection in the Full Moon Pool.
Sky-moon overlaid water-moon.
The long-still Full Moon Pool stirred. The shimmering light rippled.
The moon in the water quivered.
Jiang Chen knew it was no illusion — the change was coming.
As though an invisible hand had reached into the Full Moon Pool and "scooped" the moon's reflection from the water.
The water-moon peeled free like a paper cutout, rising upright and hovering above the pool's surface.
Though it looked like paper, from the side its thickness was impossible to gauge.
From the front, the moon's reflection expanded until it formed a human-height full moon.
This was the entrance to the Celestial Secret Realm — called the Moon Gate.
Cultivators present bid farewell to friends and family, for departure might be eternal.
The Celestial Secret Realm's dangers were as renowned as its rewards.
"The Celestial Secret Realm scares the brave — among so many, I'll be first through!" Xu Xiangqian shouted out his little "poem," then leaped into the Moon Gate.
His posture, however, resembled less a heroic charge and more a rat fleeing for its hole.
He probably knew that composing such verses on the spot was a good way to get beaten up.
Li Longchuan followed immediately after. His feet bent like a bow, his body shot forward like an arrow. Before anyone could blink, he had vanished into the Moon Gate.
The rest wasted no more time, surging forward into the Moon Gate.
"Let's go," Chong Xuan Sheng said in a low voice.
His left hand gripped Jiang Chen's sleeve, his right seized Fourteen's armored collar, and together they hurled themselves through the Moon Gate.
In the instant of passing through, every hair on Jiang Chen's body stood on end!
He sensed Wang Yiwu closing in behind him.
The man made no attempt to hide it. His target was Chong Xuan Sheng.
Because of the Celestial Secret Realm's unique properties, no one would remember what happened inside after they emerged.
That meant anything could be done within.
Anything would leave no evidence.
Including — the murder of a scion of the Chong Xuan clan.
...
Wang Yiwu had pressed through the Moon Gate right behind them, and he certainly hadn't done so to make friends.
Jiang Chen's hand was already on his sword, every fiber coiled and ready.
Against an opponent like Wang Yiwu, Chong Xuan Sheng and Fourteen would surely have prepared themselves for a fight to the death as well.
The Moon Gate felt like a phantom — passing through it brought no resistance, no strange sensation in body or mind.
But once he landed, he found himself utterly alone.
Not only was Wang Yiwu nowhere in sight, but even Chong Xuan Sheng and Fourteen had vanished.
It turned out that after entering the Celestial Secret Realm, everyone was separated.
Jiang Chen let out a breath of relief. Though a confrontation with Wang Yiwu was probably inevitable, having more preparation time was always welcome.
Against such a formidable enemy, one could never be too cautious.
To his left ran a small stream, its water murmuring softly. Waterweeds swayed, fish drifted at ease. The water was clear — Jiang Chen shaped a stone with his Dao art and tossed it in, rousing no aquatic beasts from the depths.
The stream might be safe, but one could never be entirely sure.
At least his Dao arts still functioned.
The stream was long, winding away beyond sight.
It was narrow enough for Jiang Chen to leap across, but he didn't attempt it. Both banks were carpeted in green grass. The far bank was flat ground with the silhouettes of rolling hills visible in the distance.
Standing on this side of the bank and looking right, he saw a dense forest stretching to the horizon, equally endless.
The air was fresh. Jiang Chen savored it carefully — there was moisture and the fragrance of new grass.
It was probably not an illusion. The Ethereal Realm had already proven that such realism was possible. But when he entered the Ethereal Realm, only his consciousness went in — the Celestial Secret Realm carried the physical body as well.
More importantly, death in the Celestial Secret Realm meant real death.
Countless cultivators over the years had proven that.
Was this a hidden Blessed Land? Or did the Moon Gate possess some kind of teleportation divine skill?
After surveying his surroundings, Jiang Chen unfastened a jade pendant from his belt. It was oval, carved with a pair of lips.
This was one of Chong Xuan Sheng's preparations before they entered — an Echo Pendant. He, Chong Xuan Sheng, and Fourteen each carried one, specifically to guard against separation.
The artifact allowed its bearer to communicate over long distances, up to a hundred li.
But when Jiang Chen tried to channel Dao essence into it, the Echo Pendant responded with nothing.
It hadn't merely exceeded its range — it had ceased functioning entirely.
That meant many of Chong Xuan Sheng's preparations were useless. The Celestial Secret Realm likely restricted the use of all manner of artifacts, leaving only personal strength.
This was not good news.
It wasn't that Wang Yiwu, as the God of War's closed-door disciple, had fewer resources than Chong Xuan Sheng. It was that with Wang Yiwu's level of strength, he probably didn't need many artifacts for the Celestial Secret Realm. And he hadn't had much time to prepare.
Chong Xuan Sheng's preparations should have helped him recoup some of the disadvantage. But the secret realm's unique properties had rendered them all worthless.
Even the sword in Jiang Chen's hand had lost its ability to trigger the Golden Light Arrow. Though it was better than nothing.
Jiang Chen put away the Echo Pendant, held his palm upward, and gathered green wood-element Qi in his palm. A translucent image of a small blade of grass took shape.
The grass waited a moment, then bowed its head — as if in remembrance of the past.
Forward.
That was the right direction.
Given the circumstances, following the riverbank forward was undoubtedly the most prudent course.
The view was open; he could react immediately to any danger.
In the Celestial Secret Realm, the greatest enemy was the unknown.
What trials would he face? How would the opportunity of the seed of a divine skill present itself?
Everything was a blank.
...
Jiang Chen walked along the riverbank, watching both sides — the dense forest, the distant hills — but all remained quiet. Nothing happened.
"Fifty of us entered the Celestial Secret Realm, and we're all scattered? Not a single soul in sight? Is the Realm really that vast?"
Jiang Chen fell into thought.
He considered, then used the Remembrance spell again.
He had been walking for a long time, and Remembrance still pointed forward.
"Either in the Celestial Secret Realm, the Remembrance has stopped working. But that makes no sense — none of my other Dao arts have been affected. And if Remembrance had failed, the grass should be still or spinning aimlessly, not bowing its head."
"If Remembrance hasn't failed..."
"Either Chong Xuan Sheng is extraordinarily far away, beyond my ability to close the distance no matter how fast I go."
"Or while I'm moving forward, Chong Xuan Sheng is also moving forward."
"Or..."
Jiang Chen stopped abruptly.
"I was never moving at all."