A quarter of an hour — that was no generous amount of time. The condition caught everyone completely off guard, leaving them trapped between advance and retreat.
To press forward, they would have to sever all ties with their original sects. Such a choice was absolutely impossible for anyone who wasn't decisive in action.
Jiang Chen, however, wasn't entirely convinced.
He'd been turning the finer details of this place over in his mind.
If this secret realm had truly been passed down since antiquity, could there really still be living people inside it? Of course, Jiang Chen wouldn't flatly dismiss the possibility.
After all, something similar had occurred in the Glazed Pagoda. Figures from the ancient era, sealed away through special means, could theoretically survive to the present day.
But that form of survival was, in truth, no different from death.
They couldn't move. They couldn't break their seals. They couldn't emerge to move about freely. All they could maintain was a sliver of consciousness, a shred of awareness…
So what exactly was going on with the situation before them?
Jiang Chen couldn't see through the mystery. Since he couldn't fathom it, the best course of action was to sit tight and watch how things developed.
This agonizing choice had stumped a great many people.
It was a question that cut straight to the heart. To obtain this secret realm's inheritance, they had to sever their old ties — and they couldn't do it half-heartedly.
None of these people were independent cultivators. Quite the opposite — each and every one was a prominent figure representing a major sect or a great power.
Asking them to cut away their worldly connections was a colossal irony.
They had come here in the first place to serve their sects' interests. To then sever ties with those very sects and organizations on account of this? The absurdity was beyond words.
Jiang Chen, for his part, remained perfectly composed.
He wanted to see what the titans of these great sects would do under these circumstances!
Long Baxiang of the Heavenly Dragon Sect let out a savage laugh. "Take your time thinking it over. I, Long, shall go on ahead."
As he spoke, his figure transformed into a streak of light and shot directly into one of the Glazed Mirrors.
These Glazed Mirrors weren't solid objects but illusory visions. The moment Long Baxiang's body plunged into the Gate of All Beings, a transparent vortex — like ripples in water — swept him in.
Whoosh!
Long Baxiang's figure vanished without a trace.
Where one person dared to take the plunge, a second would soon follow. The other members of the Heavenly Dragon Sect didn't hesitate in the slightest, charging in one after another.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Each figure that was swallowed up vanished as soundlessly as a stone dropped into the ocean — utterly without trace, their destinations unknown.
One… two…
Before long, a whole crowd of people was rushing in ceaselessly.
Clearly, even faced with such a daunting choice, none of them could abandon hope. Confronted with a temptation of this magnitude, nothing was beyond severing!
The dilemma now fell squarely on Emperor Yunlan's shoulders.
He could see it plainly — after Long Baxiang had been the first to enter, the people around him, whether from the Celestial River Palace, the Celestial Sound Temple, or the Immortal Celestial Capital, were all visibly itching to follow. Everyone's heart was already racing.
This was an ancient sacred site. If they let this opportunity slip by and turned back home, what would their loyalty to their original sects amount to?
If they missed a fortune that came along once in ten thousand years, would they ever have another chance to rise in this lifetime?
"Brother Yunlan, what should we do?" asked a powerhouse from the Celestial River Palace, brow furrowed. They were clearly all waiting for Emperor Yunlan to make the final call.
Emperor Yunlan was deeply torn himself.
The stakes of this matter were impossibly vast. He couldn't make a decisive choice on the spot.
Severing worldly ties meant that he, Emperor Yunlan, would have to cut all connections with Dan Fire City. A top-tier force like Dan Fire City was one of the rarest and most elite existences in the entire human domain.
If he severed his bond with Dan Fire City, unless he obtained a genuine ancient inheritance within this secret realm — one powerful enough to compensate for what he'd given up —
once he took this step, there would be no turning back!
"Brother Yunlan, if you don't harden your heart, you won't find your footing. The human domain is in an era of upheaval. There's no need for us to cling to the old ways."
"Brother Yunlan, if this truly is an ancient inheritance, then even after we sever our old ties, we could use the legacy of this secret realm to establish sects of our own."
"Who knows? Perhaps the sect formed by the likes of us will become the most powerful in the human domain."
Everyone harbored ambitions of their own.
And once those ambitions were unleashed, they became feverish, even maddened.
The great emperors of the various sects could no longer sit still. They all spoke up, urging Emperor Yunlan to act. With Long Baxiang having seized the lead, their anxiety was palpable.
Emperor Yunlan was, in truth, already sorely tempted. All he lacked was the final push to make him commit.
Now, egged on by these voices, he let himself ride the current. "Very well. Since everyone is of the same mind, it seems this is the will of all. Even if we sever our worldly ties, it doesn't mean we'll have no way to repay them. In the martial dao, absolute strength is what allows one to do as one pleases!"
"Let's go!"