The Secret Realm was large and colorful—a world where the religious environment was so thick that it seemed to breathe. Ancient mountains rose shrouded in mists of silver, rivers of light coursed through crystal forests, and over it all, the distant din of wars raged ceaselessly.
Jun Tian had since avoided fights that were not necessary after being sent here.
He had his self-imposed limit at hand well enough: he was in the apex of the 3rd Realm—Upper Spirit Realm (3.10), a step from crossing over the threshold to the 4th Realm: Spiritual Foundation.
But that step would be like jumping across an abyss.
A premature advance would be the undoing of his own journey.
Therefore, he proceeded with circumspection.
"There's a dense concentration of spiritual energy to the east, but there's also a lair of rank 4 beasts there."
The soft voice echoed in his head—the Lotus, his silent friend.
Even injured and her strength sealed, her spiritual sense was better than any underworld cultivator.
"Let's not fight. It's not time yet to draw attention," Jun Tian replied indifferently.
Slipping through the trees, he was a shadow.
While other young cultivators were intoxicated by the glow of herbs and the stench of blood, Jun Tian cultivated patience.
The true opportunity wasn't at the edge of the Secret Realm, but its center, where an old something slumbered.
As the sun went down and the moon climbed high in the air, he came before a lake of shining flowers.
The moonlit silver glow made the pool seem like a second sky—and the perfect place to cultivate.
Jun Tian rested by the lake, letting the quiet be his master.
A few minutes of stretching quiet elapsed before he opened his eyes and spoke softly:
"Lotus… may I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"I've always referred to you as such… but that's not your real name, is it? Do you have one?"
The query traveled between both their minds. Lotus's soul stayed silent for a second, as though digging through forgotten recollections.
"A name? …no. I had nothing but a duty. A name is a thing of the living."
Jun Tian stared at the moon's reflection on the water and replied with a soothing voice:
"Then let me present you with one. One that is appropriate for you."
"Oh? And what would you call me, stubborn gardener?" the voice jeered, a touch of irony and sweetness mingling.
"Yue Lian. The Lotus of the Moon."
Time stopped for an instant.
The wind that moved the flowers died down. The lake sparkled, and a faint spiritual ripple coursed from Jun Tian's body.
"Yue Lian." she whispered softly, savoring each syllable. "A name that contains serenity and eternity. I like it."
Jun Tian smiled, her eyes closed.
"Then it is decided. You shall be Yue Lian from this day forward."
"Yue Lian." she whispered again, her voice filled with a warm vibration. "A name born of the moon. such as my new assignment."
Jun Tian sensed something shift at that moment.
The spiritual connection between them intensified. His energy merged with hers—gentle, steady, but powerful. Jun Tian's breathing slowed to rhythmic, until the spiritual energy of the lake began to spontaneously flow to him.
Somewhere else in the Secret Realm, purple-skilled young Yun Xiang encountered a rank 3.9 beast.
His fists glowed with bright blue mana, and the ground trembled at every hit.
When the monster fell, he sucked in some air and suddenly felt a vibration in the air—a sudden, heavy quake in the spiritual energy of the world.
"What is this? …is someone… going to break through?" he grumbled, raising his eyebrow.
Even from a distance, he felt the powerful, refined current of religious might.
"This power…his?"
There was a brief flash of uncertainty and awe across his eyes.
Jun Tian. That youth whom everyone had judged wrongly—the very one to make the realm itself react to his presence.
Back at the lake, the wind quivered.
The spiritual aura of the place gathered around Jun Tian, forming visible whirlpools.
He sensed the barrier before him—a invisible wall, thin as silk, but as strong as heavenly steel.
"Jun Tian… are you ready?" Yue Lian whispered, his voice speaking softly but gravely.
"Yes. The next step… is truly the beginning of my path."
He clasped his hands into an ancient seal. Spiritual energy within him growled like a raging river, hammering at the cordon.
Creaks began spreading—not on the earth, but on the very spiritual air itself.
Pressure mounted, the air trembled, and the lake burst in waves of silver energy.
Yue Lian dumped what little talent he still possessed, calibrating the current around him.
"Master your essence! Don't conflict with the barrier—break through it!"
Jun Tian obeyed, controlling his breathing.
His entire body glowed violet light, and then—with a muffled boom, like faraway thunder—the barrier shuddered and collapsed.
A huge aura unfolded, rippling outward across the valley.
Pebbles fluttered, flowers wilted and bloomed anew under spiritual stress.
Jun Tian blinked his eyes open.
In his irises, moon and lightning reflections gleamed.
"4th Realm—Spiritual Foundation," he breathed, with a hint of a smile.
"You did it…"
Yue Lian said, his voice now one of pride and relief.
"It was only the beginning."
He rose to his feet slowly. Night wind blew, and moonlight swirled around him like a quiet benediction.
"Walk with me, Yue Lian. The true secret of this realm is yet to be discovered."
"Then let us walk in the moonlight, my stubborn cultivator."
Jun Tian smiled.
And with a slow stride, he disappeared into the forest, but the glow of spiritual development remained suspended over the lake—a reminder that a new force had been awakened in the Secret Realm.