Good Luck

There wasn’t much of value in the chest, so Bai Lan simply distributed the spirit stones among the group.

In the Illusory Heaven Realm, no one would ever reject spirit stones, regardless of what other treasures appeared.

However, the Profound Yuan Shield looked rather bulky and crude, and Bai Lan had no interest in using it.

“Does anyone want this Rank Nine magic weapon, the Profound Yuan Shield?”

“I don’t really want it,” Bai Lan said.

The shield resembled an ancient bronze plate. Its design was extremely plain and honestly quite ugly.

Ever since Bai Lan had become a woman, her aesthetic standards had risen dramatically.

Anything she used now had to satisfy two conditions.

It had to be practical.

And it had to look good.

“Ugh, that ugly lump of metal?”

“I’m not interested either.”

Ziyun immediately shook her head.

The other two girls also declined.

None of them wanted to carry such a heavy shield around.

In the end, the item went to the two brothers, Xuan Ye and Xuan Huang.

“Since none of our four senior sisters want it, we’ll take it.”

Xuan Ye smiled slightly.

“When we entered the Illusory Heaven Realm, we deliberately avoided bringing powerful defensive treasures.”

“We wanted to sharpen our combat abilities.”

In fact, this was the common mindset among experienced trial participants.

Anyone who truly understood the purpose of the Illusory Heaven Realm would avoid bringing too many external treasures.

Otherwise, if someone entered with several years’ worth of supplies and powerful artifacts, it would no longer be a trial.

It would simply be a vacation.

Moreover, the Illusory Heaven Realm itself had restrictions.

Each layer limited the level of treasures that could be used.

On the first floor, only Rank Nine magic weapons were allowed.

Anything stronger than Rank Nine would become useless here—no better than scrap metal.

Only certain special items were exceptions.

For example, Bai Lan’s unique magical artifacts were still usable because they did not directly increase combat strength.

Since they had agreed to divide the spoils equally, everyone simply took what suited them.

There were still many palaces left to explore.

As brothers, Xuan Ye and Xuan Huang naturally fought together.

A shield would significantly increase their survivability.

“Alright, it’s yours then.”

Bai Lan handed the shield over without hesitation.

Since there were no other treasures in this palace, they had no choice but to continue exploring.

Of course, they still needed to clear the surrounding sand monsters first.

Not long after Bai Lan and her group entered the secret realm, a new wave of trial participants arrived.

These were latecomers.

After sensing that others had already entered the ruins, they didn’t have time to gather allies and form teams.

They could only rush inside immediately.

Time waited for no one.

Slowly, time passed.

The outer palace region of the ruins was quickly cleared by multiple teams.

Next came the inner region.

The palaces in the inner region were noticeably larger and more imposing.

Although the number of sand monsters had decreased, their strength had increased significantly.

Most of them were now at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.

At this level, instantly killing them was no longer easy.

After all, the difference between the seventh and ninth layers of Qi Refinement was not overwhelming.

By the time Bai Lan’s team cleared twelve palaces, they had collected more than one hundred thousand spirit stones.

The outer region was essentially just free rewards.

The real treasures were hidden deeper within the ruins.

Among the items Bai Lan obtained was an Ice Phoenix Bracelet.

It was a low-grade Rank Nine magic weapon worn on the wrist.

Once activated, it could summon two Ice Phoenix spirits to attack enemies.

Each Ice Phoenix possessed combat power comparable to an early Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, the summoned phoenixes could only exist for fifteen seconds.

The cost was also extremely high.

Activating the bracelet would consume roughly one-third of Bai Lan’s spiritual power.

In addition to the bracelet, Bai Lan also obtained another magic weapon.

The Jade Dew Mirror.

This silver mirror was a control-type artifact.

When activated, it emitted a beam of Jade Dew Light.

Any enemies caught within the light would experience distorted vision and increased gravitational pressure on their bodies.

However, the mirror consumed two percent of the user’s spiritual power every second while active.

If used carelessly, it could quickly drain one’s energy reserves.

The treasures found in the outer region were all low-grade Rank Nine artifacts.

Their effects generally worked only against cultivators at or below the early Foundation Establishment stage.

For many trial participants, encountering a random secret realm like this was already considered excellent fortune.

These secret realms were one of the primary opportunities for gaining resources on the first floor.

As long as someone had a bit of common sense, they would at least obtain something valuable.

“Alright.”

“We’re about to enter the inner region.”

Bai Lan spoke calmly.

“From here onward, these sand monsters will be much harder to kill quickly.”

“We need to eliminate the monsters around each palace as fast as possible.”

The other five nodded.

Immediately, they each targeted a sand monster and rushed forward.

The sand monsters here were no longer the slow, rigid creatures of the outer region.

Their reaction speed and combat abilities were far stronger.

The moment Bai Lan’s group attacked, the monsters responded instantly.

Violent sandstorms erupted around them.

The swirling sand formed countless sharp particles.

When these particles struck a person, it felt like being cut by thousands of tiny blades.

For Xuan Ye and the others at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, breaking through the storm was somewhat difficult.

But Bai Lan and Ziyun—both above the seventh layer—charged straight through it.

Bai Lan raised her sword and casually slashed forward.

An invisible sword wind instantly tore open a path through the raging sandstorm.

Seeing its defense broken, the sand monster reacted immediately.

It slammed its hand onto the ground.

Streams of quicksand chains erupted from the earth and shot toward Bai Lan.

To an ordinary cultivator, such an attack would have been troublesome.

But Bai Lan’s strength far surpassed the monster’s.

The moment the chains rushed toward her, she swung the Hanpo Sword.

All the sand chains were severed instantly.

In the next moment, Bai Lan appeared directly in front of the monster.

The sand monster had no time to react.

It raised its arm, attempting to strike Bai Lan.

But Bai Lan’s speed suddenly surged.

Her sword flashed.

The monster’s head was instantly severed.

Its body collapsed back into loose sand.

After killing the sand monster, Bai Lan glanced toward the others.

Ziyun had already finished her own battle.

The remaining four took a little longer, but they still defeated their opponents within half a minute.

Any trial participant who couldn’t defeat monsters at their own level had no business entering the Illusory Heaven Realm.

It would simply be a waste of time.

“Hm?”

As Bai Lan bent down to retrieve the Gold Essence Stone dropped by the monster, something else caught her attention.

A rolled parchment lay buried within the sand.

A treasure map.

Bai Lan immediately recognized it.

In the Illusory Heaven Realm, monsters sometimes dropped treasure maps when defeated.

The stronger the monster, the higher the chance.

These maps usually pointed toward hidden secret realms somewhere within the Yellow Sand Realm.

Many maps were incomplete fragments.

The chance of obtaining a complete map was extremely small.

But the parchment Bai Lan had picked up was whole.

“A complete treasure map?”

“It seems my luck isn’t too bad.”

Bai Lan chuckled softly and immediately stored the map.

She did not mention the discovery to the others.

By unspoken rule, anything dropped by a monster someone killed alone belonged to that person.

Soon, the others regrouped.

None of them mentioned what their monsters had dropped.

And Bai Lan didn’t ask.

“Alright.”

“Let’s prepare to enter this palace.”

Bai Lan gestured toward the building ahead.

“I suspect the golden scorpions inside won’t be easy to deal with.”

Hearing this, the five carefully approached the palace entrance.

They quietly peeked inside.

Three massive golden scorpions lay inside the hall.

Each one was at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement.