If Zhang Deming’s guess was correct, then the Dragon Turtle before them might be the spirit of the Blessed Land.

Only an Artifact Spirit of a Blessed Land would lack the ability to act on its own. After everyone in the Blessed Land had vanished, it could only fall silent and defend passively, being slowly devoured in the process.

It was like the AI systems from his past life. No matter how powerful it was, it wouldn’t initiate an attack or counterattack without a command unless a specific protocol was triggered.

This was very similar to the Earth Spirit before them. The only difference was that this Earth Spirit appeared to possess wisdom. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

And the Core Command Tokens that Zhang Deming and Li Shifan brought had given it an opportunity and a reason to awaken.

After all, he and Li Shifan still had the third stage of their assessment to complete.

As the idea flashed through his mind, Zhang Deming decisively channeled a bit of Spiritual Power into the Command Token.

Zhang Deming had actually tried this before, but there had been no reaction back then.

But now, the Command Token flared with brilliant light and shot a faint streamer of light toward the deformed Dragon Turtle.

This change took everyone by surprise, and they all turned in unison to look at Zhang Deming.

Zhang Deming glanced at the others and said, "I figured it might want this to help, so..."

Upon hearing this, the others said nothing more. Some of them turned to look at Li Shifan.

Seeing this, Li Shifan also channeled some Spiritual Power into his Command Token, and another faint streamer of light sank into the dragon’s head.

"Uh, nothing’s happening?" someone suddenly asked after a few breaths.

"Be quiet!" Fanx Dexian retorted.

The few in the lead were all staring intently at the Dragon Turtle above the ooze.

The giant Dragon Bead in the Dragon Turtle’s mouth suddenly began to flicker.

Of the two auras battling in the air, the frenzied one had been on the verge of victory. But just as the bead flashed, the refreshing aura suddenly lunged at its frenzied counterpart.

The two auras became entangled. At almost the same moment, the dragon’s eyes opened.

One eye was blood-red and flickered with madness. The other was clear and distinct, its gaze calm and limpid.

Within the massive Dragon Bead held in the dragon’s mouth, the vines swayed gently. Countless motes of light converged before it, slowly coalescing into the form of a hunched old man.

The old man’s figure was quite ethereal. Once formed, he drifted before the group—or to be more precise, before Zhang Deming and Li Shifan.

His eyes fell on the Command Tokens in their hands, and he spoke in a distant voice, "So, someone has finally come. A pity it seems to be a little too late."

Everyone was staring at the old man. Hearing his words of lament, Dang Ruyu spoke up, "Senior, what do you mean, ’a little too late’?"

The hunched old man paid Dang Ruyu no mind, looking instead at Zhang Deming and Li Shifan. "Ordinarily," he said, "I should follow protocol and grant you a Blessing.

Then, I’d conduct a perfunctory background check and complete the final stage of your initiation as Core Disciples.

But...

If I were to grant you the status of Core Disciples, you would gain the lowest level of inheritance rights.

The Secret Realm currently has no Steward, so according to the rules of succession, that’s tantamount to handing control of the Cyan Wood Secret Realm over to you."

As the surrounding crowd heard the old man’s words, their gazes grew fervent with greed.

If not for the old man’s presence, some of them would have likely risked making a move by now.

The old man ignored the crowd and continued, "Normally, that would be fine. It’s not my place to care who becomes the Steward of the Secret Realm.

But as things stand, the Secret Realm’s power is all I have left to resist, and I can’t let you squander it frivolously.

Ordinarily, I would have no authority to block your progress. However, the Cyan Wood Scripture Pavilion was destroyed, and its data archives were corrupted along with it.

Since that perfunctory background check can’t be completed, I have a legitimate reason to stall the process."

As the old man slowly laid out his reasoning, Zhang Deming decisively cut in, "Senior, the two of us only passed the trial by chance. We have no intention of laying claim to the Secret Realm.

Since you are unwilling to hand it over, why not just let us leave?"

The old man paused for a moment. "Do you have any idea," he asked, "what a single Cyan Wood Heaven represents?"

Zhang Deming replied respectfully, "I do not know, nor do I wish to. All I know is that one must be alive for there to be any possibilities."

The old man was taken aback once more. After a long pause, he said, "Interesting. Your Heart is decent enough. A pity I cannot grant your request."

Zhang Deming’s expression darkened. "Why not?" he demanded.

The old man shot Zhang Deming a look. "Quite some nerve you have there."

He looked back at the Dragon Turtle’s body. "It’s not as if it’s some unspeakable secret," he said.

"When everyone in control of the Secret Realm vanished, I was forced into dormancy, waiting for the opportune moment for the Secret Realm Grotto Heaven to rise once more.

During this period, the Geng Metal Heaven was tainted by Karma and became entangled with a being from the Outer Realm. It fell completely, and its Grotto Heaven Spirit was no exception.

When the Blessed Land was first formed, it used the Turtle Water Grotto Heaven as its skeleton, linking the five great Grotto Heavens through water and ascending into a single Blessed Land.

Now, although the five Grotto Heavens of the Five Elements Blessed Land have been separated by its fall, they remain deeply interconnected.

Thus, after the Geng Metal Heaven was completely corrupted, the taint followed that connection right into my Cyan Wood Heaven."

The old man glanced at the spatial rifts dripping with fluid and continued, "I was forced into slumber by the fall of the Blessed Land and the disappearance of all its Disciples.

Even though I knew I was being corrupted, being eaten away bit by bit, the attack wasn’t coming from the outside. It was coming from the Geng Metal Heaven.

Therefore, I could only defend, with no way to launch a counterattack.

As a result, after all these years, I am now in a perilous state.

You’ve finally arrived after all this time, giving me a reason to awaken. If I were to let you leave, wouldn’t I be forsaking even the chance to make one last struggle?"