Sage of Humanity-Chapter 801 - 799: Opening the Door

"It's finally over!"

Zhou Yulong let out a long sigh of relief in the cabin atop the spirit ship, his expression revealing a sense of liberation.

The people struggling to survive at the outpost only saw these cultivators from the secret realm as powerful and noble, but how could they understand their hardships?

If it weren't absolutely necessary, if it weren't for the unbreakable family creed, who would willingly leave the safe secret realm to take on the role of a Guiding Envoy?

In this day and age, there's no safe place outside the secret realm.

Even though they had the spirit ship as their support, along the way, they often encountered provocations from the Corpse Race, numerous battles, and several near-total annihilations.

Historically, there have been instances where spirit arks from the secret realm were destroyed by the Corpse Race, resulting in the entire crew being wiped out.

For cultivators like them, born and raised in the luxury of the secret realm, coming out is akin to gambling with their lives!

To cultivators outside the secret realm, the role of a Guiding Envoy seems like a glamorous job. Wherever they go, the people at outposts welcome them warmly, but those truly born in the secret realm hesitate to take on such a role.

However, to climb to higher positions within the secret realm, one must undertake the task of being a Guiding Envoy at least once. The first master of the secret realm set the rule that only by experiencing the hardships of human survival outside could one truly cherish all that they had in the secret realm.

His Zhou family, highly influential within the secret realm, governing alongside a few other families, and he himself was exceptionally talented, with a powerful cultivation at a young age, making him the most promising star of the Zhou family.

With this guiding experience, upon returning, he would surely secure a good position, and in the next ten years, he might even have a chance to compete for the position of Zhou Family Patriarch. What a glorious future that would be!

The continent shattered, humanity struggling to survive outside the secret realm, while inside, it was all music and dancing. Even cultivators, upon reaching their own limits, had no desire to continue cultivating, and their nature of power struggles and greed became apparent.

People do not know that the so-called Sacred Land of the secret realm is actually a place filled with filth and corruption. If they knew, perhaps many would not long for the secret realm as much.

But truth be told, although he was forced out due to family creed, after this journey, Zhou Yulong was quite moved.

The people outside lived such hard lives. Several times he was tempted to just take the people from the outposts along with him.

The secret realm is so big, it's not like it can't accommodate those people.

But that thought was just a fleeting fancy; actually doing it would be taboo.

True, the secret realm is vast and can accommodate many humans, but it can't house all the remnants of humanity. Even if all three Great Secret Realms opened up, it wouldn't be enough.

So he could only guide as many youths and children as he could within his authority.

As for what fate awaits them in the secret realm, that's no longer Zhou Yulong's concern. At the very least, the environment in the secret realm is much better than the precarious outside. As long as they didn't make any major mistakes, survival shouldn't be an issue.

In these times, staying alive is paramount.

As if recalling something, Zhou Yulong suddenly called out, "Someone, come!"

Immediately, the door was pushed open, and a pretty female cultivator, a servant of the Zhou family, entered with her head bowed and fists cupped. "My lord."

"We're heading back soon. Instruct someone to heat some water and let the children take a bath. We can't bring them back smelling this bad."

"Yes!" the female cultivator responded and turned to leave.

Shortly after, in the bottom cabin, the door was pushed open, and a group of youths and children watched the busy cultivators. In a short time, ten wooden barrels filled with clean water were lined up in the spacious area.

A man stepped forward, hands behind his back, and announced, "Lord Yulong is showing mercy to you all by ordering us to prepare these baths. Clean yourselves up before entering the secret realm. You have one hour, so make it quick!"

With that, he turned away impatiently.

For people like him, the smelly environment of the bottom cabin was unbearable unless necessary.

The other cultivators also turned and left, leaving the group of youths and children staring at each other.

In these doomsday times, survival resources were scarce, including clean water. They had to be frugal with drinking water from birth, let alone take baths.

Many hadn't bathed for two or three years.

Gazing at the ten barrels of clean water now, they were somewhat unaccustomed.

After a while, someone stepped forward, cupped a handful of water, and drank a big gulp. Soon, many more gathered around to drink.

Zhou Yulong could not have imagined that most of the water he ordered for bathing would end up in the bellies of these youths and children.

Only after drinking their fill did they begin to bathe.

The water was cold. Despite Zhou Yulong's order to heat some water, who would go through the trouble for a group of lowly lives from the outpost? Zhou Yulong wouldn't check in person anyway.

No one got into the barrels. They just stood beside them, using small amounts of water to wipe the dirt off their bodies.

Saving every possible resource had become an instinct engraved in their bones.

"Big brother, why don't you go wash up?" The little girl saved by Lu Ye returned with wet hair and urged him and Ying Wuji. "You should wash too. They said that if you wash up nicely, you might make a good impression on the important people in the secret realm and be taken as disciples."

"We don't need to." Ying Wuji smiled at the innocent little girl, "And we're too old for those big shots to see us. You should give it your best shot."

The little girl immediately showed a hopeful expression.

Half an hour later, the previous cultivators appeared again to collect the barrels. The middle-aged man who spoke earlier came in, shouting, "Get moving, you little brats, we're home!"

His shout made the cabin bottom erupt.

He roared, "No noise, no pushing! Line up and behave, or I'll make you pay!"

Everyone fell silent immediately.

Under his intimidation, the youths and children formed a somewhat disordered line and began to head out.

The little girl was about to call for Lu Ye and Ying Wuji, but when she turned around, she couldn't find them. She was startled, almost believing she had seen ghosts.

The spirit ship had docked on a barren mountain peak. Zhou Yulong stood with the woman who had been with him before, holding a golden disc, watching below.

Before leaving the secret realm, the Zhou Family Patriarch had instructed him to arrive here at a specific time and wait.

At this specific time, the secret realm would drift to this location. Coupled with the special Spiritual Artifact in Zhou Yulong's hand, the portal to the secret realm could be opened.

If he missed this time and place, even someone like Zhou Yulong from the Zhou family would find it extremely difficult to return to the secret realm.

The golden disc in his hand was the Spiritual Artifact for opening the secret realm portal. The disc had two sides, Yin and Yang. Zhou Yulong would activate the disc's power, and the person holding the corresponding disc in the secret realm would sense it, check the external situation, and only then open the portal.

This caution was to prevent the disc from falling into the Corpse Race's hands.

If they opened the portal without checking, it would be disastrous if the Corpse Race attacked.

On the mountain peak, Zhou Yulong waited impatiently, glancing at the disc and the sky.

When the sun was at its zenith, his expression became vibrant, and he let out a long breath. "The time has come!"

As he spoke, he infused spirit force into the disc. Suddenly, the mountain peak was filled with dazzling golden light, causing all the cultivators to squint their eyes.

The golden light flowed like a tangible substance. In the Void, a gap seemed to form, allowing the golden light to pour in, continuously dimming.

Zhou Yulong watched the flowing golden light anxiously.

After a moment, the dim light suddenly brightened. Zhou Yulong relaxed, knowing someone in the secret realm was responding.

The golden light continued to surge, transforming into a portal that stood upright on the mountain peak. The portal wasn't large, big enough for three or four people to enter side by side. Golden light flowed around the frame, looking magnificent.

"Everyone, you've worked hard. I'll go in first!" Zhou Yulong said, leading the woman beside him into the portal.

The portal vanished like a beast's mouth the moment they stepped in.

Inside the Silver Snake Valley Secret Realm, the natural Spiritual Energy was abundant. Before the golden portal, stationed cultivators from various families stood guard. Besides them, many were hidden. The area was also covered by a big array.

The portal's defense on the secret realm side was the strictest. For years, countless cultivators watched overtly or covertly. Although nothing had ever happened, it's better to be prepared.

Centuries ago, the number of guards here was more than five times what it is now. But as time passed, the vigilance inevitably loosened.

"Yulong!"

Seeing Zhou Yulong's figure, a tall middle-aged man approached. His endearing tone indicated he was also from the Zhou family.

"Third Uncle." Zhou Yulong saluted the middle-aged man.

Third Uncle Zhou immediately helped him up, looked him over, and patted his shoulder approvingly. "You've worked hard on this journey."

Zhou Yulong replied, "It's my duty; you're too kind, Third Uncle."

As they exchanged greetings, the woman who returned with Zhou Yulong was also welcomed. Her name was Ning Tongtong, from the distinguished Ning family within the secret realm.

The Zhou family and Ning family had long-standing ties, with many intermarriages. Elders from both families were trying to match them, so they were tasked with this guiding mission together.