Chapter 728: Chapter 728

"The entrance to the Hidden Sect World... Brother Fang, are you certain?"

When Long Jingtian uttered the words "Hidden Sect World," his voice couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

For the martial artists of the Secular Ancient Martial World, the "Hidden Sect World" holds many mysteries. There, numerous powerful sects and individual cultivation martial artists reside, along with superior martial arts techniques and inheritances. It is a place where mighty warriors abound, and masters are as common as clouds.

In the Secular Ancient Martial World, a Heaven Level Martial Artist, who emerges only once in a hundred years, is a fairly common occurrence in the Hidden Sect World.

Long Jingtian had previously guessed that the Shattered Stone Array might be a formation, and now, hearing it from Fang Bai, he finally had confirmation. However, the words "entrance to the Hidden Sect World" had shocked him, filling him with the urge to turn around and leave.

Since a great battle decades ago, the Hidden Sect World and the Secular Ancient Martial World had agreed to leave each other in peace, but this did not mean that the Secular Ancient Martial World truly possessed the strength to contend with the Hidden Sect World.

It is no exaggeration to say that if one or two of the strong sects from the Hidden Sect World were to strike in force, they could easily annihilate the entire Secular Ancient Martial World. This is not an overstatement.

Although Long Jingtian was a Heaven Level Martial Artist and the Dragon Guards were ranked among the top seven meta-human organizations in the world, provoking a powerful sect of the Hidden Sect would be akin to courting death.

Therefore, upon learning that the Shattered Stone Array might be an entrance to the Hidden Sect World, Long Jingtian was greatly startled and wished to leave immediately.

Long Jingtian’s worry was that their presence, as martial artists from the Secular World, might be seen as a provocation by members of the Hidden Sect. This could lead to a conflict between the Hidden Sect and the Secular Ancient Martial World, which would be a significant trouble.

"Whether it’s an entrance to the Hidden Sect World is just my speculation. To be certain, we’ll have to get through this Shattered Stone Array first..."

Saying this, Fang Bai’s eyes shone as he stepped toward the pile of stones.

"Brother Fang, what are you doing?"

Long Jingtian hastily grabbed Fang Bai, anxiously saying, "This formation is very strange. If we get trapped inside and can’t get out, the consequences will be unthinkable!"

Fang Bai laughed, "Brother Long, have you forgotten that I understand formations? I can break this Shattered Stone Array!"

As he spoke, he stepped into the Shattered Stone Array.

Long Jingtian hesitated for a moment before following him. From behind Fang Bai, he said, "Brother Fang, if this truly is an entrance to the Hidden Sect World, what do you plan to do?"

"What to do? Of course, we go in to have a look!"

Fang Bai replied without turning his head, "If the killer of the eight Dragon Guards is a disciple of the Hidden Sect, we must seek justice, right?"

Long Jingtian paused for a moment, then murmured, "That’s right, I tracked two suspicious martial artists here before. They vanished after entering the Shattered Stone Array, so they must be disciples of the Hidden Sect..."

He took a deep breath, with a serious expression saying, "If the murderer is a disciple of the Hidden Sect, that justice may be hard to obtain. Brother Fang, you must’ve heard that there are many strong individuals in the Hidden Sect. Although our strength has reached the Heaven Level Realm, making us among the elite in the Secular World, in the Hidden Sect World, we might not be so impressive..."

Fang Bai said, "The eight members of the Dragon Guards must not die in vain! No matter what, we have to give it a try!"

Long Jingtian clenched his teeth and declared loudly, "Alright, I will stake my old life to accompany you on this journey!"

Fang Bai said with a smile, "Brother Long, you’re too serious! Who knows, maybe our trip will go smoothly?"

He paused, then continued, "I’ve found out that the culprit behind the killing of the eight ’Dragon Guard’ members is a Sect in the Hidden Sect World called ’Ghost Doctor Valley’. When I think about it, the ’Ghost Doctor Sect’ murdering the ’Dragon Guard’ members and many innocent civilians may have started because of me..."

Long Jingtian asked with a puzzled look.

"It’s a long story..."

Fang Bai briefly recounted the grievances between Baili Zhan, his brother Yang Xudong, and the "Ghost Doctor Sect," concluding, "I’ve killed several disciples of ’Ghost Doctor Valley’, even including their Deputy Valley Master, yet they still haven’t figured out that I am the murderer. Presumably unable to find the object of their vengeance, they killed innocent civilians in a fit of anger!"

"Even in anger, they shouldn’t kill innocents! How petty of a reputed Hidden Sect to behave in such a way! It’s truly laughable!" Long Jingtian said furiously, clenching his fists so they cracked.

Fang Bai said, "On our trip to the Hidden Sect, if there’s a chance, we’ll annihilate ’Ghost Doctor Valley’! If not, we’ll at least gauge their strength and weaknesses, and plan for the future! In any case, they must not evade justice! What does being part of the Hidden Sect matter? If they do wrong, they must be punished accordingly!"

Long Jingtian, charged up by Fang Bai’s words, slapped his thigh vigorously and said, "Well said! When the Secular Ancient Martial World speaks of the Hidden Sect, there’s always this undue reverence, as if their disciples are untouchable beings above us all! This time, we’ll show them that we secular folks are not to be trifled with! Eh...?"

As he spoke, he followed Fang Bai, twisting and turning, continually moving, and by the end, they had unexpectedly emerged from the Shattered Stone Array; furthermore, the spot they stood on was no longer their starting point.

Looking ahead, there was a winding mountain path under their feet, leading into the depths of a distant mountain range.

"Is this... the Hidden Sect World already? Hmm, it feels more like the inaccessible belly of the Kunlun Mountains to me..."

Whether it was an illusion or reality, once Long Jingtian stepped out of the Shattered Stone Array, he felt as if the sky above this world was bluer, the air fresher, with the flowers and grasses on both sides of the mountain path seeming to hold more vitality and spirit, and even the Essence Energy between heaven and earth seemed much denser.

"That should be it... Let’s go!"

Fang Bai said, proceeding shoulder to shoulder with Long Jingtian, they dashed forward along the mountain path under their feet.

After crossing the mountain range ahead, they encountered a large lake which was unexpected for both Fang Bai and Long Jingtian because there were actually a few wooden boats on the vast lake.

At that moment, one of the wooden boats was sailing on the lake, coming from afar towards them, with a boatman and two young people dressed in green long robes on board.

As the boat drew closer, they could see that the two young people on the boat – a man and a woman – were both Martial Artists, the man quite handsome and the woman also fairly attractive, both exuding similar fluctuations of Essence Energy, suggesting they belonged to the same Sect.

Being isolated from the rest of the world, the people of the Hidden Sect World still maintained their traditional attire, even though they occasionally ventured into the Secular World and incorporated some of its ideas. This traditional style wasn’t the ancient style from a thousand years ago, but the long robes were still out of step with the Secular World.

The young man and woman on the boat, although only in their early twenties, had Cultivation Levels that were already at the early stage of the Earth Level, which in the Secular World would have marked them as extraordinary talents.