Reaching the seventh or ninth level of Qi cultivation was considered a legendary realm; at that point, a cultivator in the foundational building stage could be seen as a divine being descending.
For a foundational building stage cultivator in the Nine Provinces, this secret realm seemed as wonderful as a dream.
With numerous beautiful women throwing themselves at him, being able to easily defeat those in the realm of grandmasters, and obtaining a vast amount of heavenly treasures to help ascend to the Nascent Soul stage and establish a kingdom to enjoy the authority of an emperor.
To be precise, it was almost unimaginable.
These had little appeal to Jiang Li, but he roughly guessed what the secret realm was trying to test. Out of respect for his senior, he acted in accordance with the secret realm's wishes.
Surrounded by beautiful women, Jiang Li decided to dominate the world.
Controlling his power at the later stage of foundational building, he defeated the eighteen vassals in three days and established a country with a stipulated system for selecting officials in five days, an event known as "53 Nation-Building."
Upon hearing about Jiang Li being an immortal, other countries paid homage to him, showing their submission.
The admiration of countless nations, dominion over the world!
No one in history could surpass Jiang Li at that moment!
Seven days after Jiang Li entered the secret realm, a burgeoning new kingdom exuding vitality was on the rise. He sat expressionless in the huge palace.
During Jiang Li's military campaigns, Chun'er never left his side. Now she was the queen, accompanying Jiang Li by his side.
Many ministers gathered numerous beauties for Jiang Li to fill the harem. These beauties adored Jiang Li and served willingly without any coercion.
There were also sorcerers who identified Jiang Li as a being from the immortal realm and collected various celestial materials, precious stones, and fine wines for him, filling the national treasury to the brim. Its wealth made even Nascent Divinity cultivators envious.
"This is not a place to stay for long. I'm leaving," Jiang Li said calmly, whether to himself or for Chun'er to hear was unclear.
Chun'er, upon hearing this, burst into tears, quickly soaking her expensive clothes.
"I know that Master Jiang is not from this world, but is there really no place here that holds any sentiment for Master?" she asked.
Jiang Li spoke frankly, "None."
"Are not the three thousand beauties in the harem tempting to Master?" she persisted.
"I've seen more beautiful ones," he replied.
"I don't believe it!" Chun'er shook her head firmly. She was confident in her own beauty, as she became the queen not only because she had accompanied Jiang Li for the longest time, a full seven days, but also because she surpassed all others in looks.
"I've seen the Red Dust Fairy."
"…."
Chun'er fell silent, not knowing where she had heard of this title before.
Refusing to give up, she continued, "Aren't the celestial materials and treasures in the national treasury tempting to Master? I've read about the treasures stocked there - the Light-Enveloping Divine Fruit that, when consumed, equals thirty years of cultivation for an immortal, the Sea-Parting Sword Technique that, when mastered, can split rivers with a single stroke, and many more…"
Jiang Li did not reply, silently producing a Nine Revolution Immortal Pill.
If the path to godhood had not been severed, just this pill alone could have led to immediate ascension! Its value was immeasurable!
Chun'er clearly had an eye for valuables, falling silent.
What she had wanted to say was, "Give me the immortal pill, and let's return to Jiuzhou together, shall we?"
Chun'er did not give up. She continued, "Master, soon you will unify the world and become its true ruler. This is an ambitious goal that throughout history has driven emperors mad with jealousy. Won't you hold any sentiment for it?"
Sighing, Jiang Li said, "As the contemporary emperor, the revered sovereign of Jiuzhou, wouldn't you think it's better than being the ruler of a secret realm?"
Chun'er was stunned, momentarily unable to react.
Jiang Li continued, "Actually, all the reasons I stated were just to appease you. The real reason is why I should stay in the illusion."
"Right, Senior Dream Pure?"
At this, Chun'er stopped pretending and changed back into the clothes she wore in her former life, dignified and classy, with a hint of historical charm different from her current attire.
The Tower of Heavenly Accord's information had previously revealed that the Senior Dream Pure, whose real name was Dream Pure, was a female cultivator who was renowned eight hundred years ago.
As for the illusion, from the moment Jiang Li entered the secret realm, he had already discerned that it was an illusion, everything was nothing but illusion.
Dream Pure was an expert in the path of illusions, and it was said that when she had mastered the path of illusions to its extreme, she could make reality and falsehood switch at will, extremely terrifying.
Crack!
The illusion shattered like a mirror, fragmented, and countless pieces fell down, blending into the earth like water droplets, disappearing without a trace.
The illusion was completely gone, revealing the true appearance of the secret realm, a primitive jungle. Jiang Li probed with his divine sense and found that the space was quite large, roughly about a quarter of the area of Tianqing Prefecture.
Jiang Li was in an open space, and at the same time there were eight hundred disciples of various sects lying on the ground, with different expressions – some were entangled, some were happy, some were filled with killing intent, their choices in the illusion unknown.
Dream Pure stood in front of Jiang Li, and with a tinge of apology, said, "I was impolite for not recognizing the arrival of the contemporary emperor."
The Tower of Heavenly Accord's information had been accurate; the Dream Pure had indeed perished under heavenly tribulation. What appeared before Jiang Li now was just a remnant left behind by her before crossing the tribulation, a rather disappointing outcome.
"Not at all, it's my fault for recklessly entering the secret realm and causing trouble for Dream Pure," Jiang Li replied with a smile.
Seeing Dream Pure hesitant, Jiang Li said, "If there is something Dream Pure wishes to say, feel free to speak."
Dream Pure said, "I had also met the emperor of my time, who could be called a hero of his generation, but not like a wandering immortal. Could it be that the Jiuzhou of today has found the path to ascension?"
"Not exactly, I just luckily broke through the Great Vehicle phase."
Dream Pure's pupils contracted slightly, as if the news of Jiang Li's breakthrough was even more astonishing than the discovery of the path to ascension.
"I thought the Great Vehicle phase was just a legend. I never expected someone to actually break through it."
"Purely by chance, purely by chance," Jiang Li didn't expound much on this topic. "Is the reason Dream Pure constructed this illusion to test the resistance of these youngsters to beauty, treasures, and power?"
"Indeed. As long as they resist one of these, they pass and can enter the second layer."
Guessing this was not difficult: first, an abundance of beautiful women, followed by an equal number of treasures, and finally, one could dominate the world at Foundation Establishment stage.
In reality, on closer inspection, one would discover that there were many unreasonable aspects to the illusion – such as where did the rest of the people who entered the secret realm go, or how there were too many beautiful women and too quick surrender by other countries, among others.
The magical aspect of the illusion was its ability to make cultivators automatically overlook these unreasonable factors, progressively falling deeper into the illusion until they couldn't extricate themselves.
"Ugh…"
Qin Luan, lying on the ground, emitted an unclear sound, a sign of breaking through the illusion.
The time in the illusion was different from reality; converted, Qin Luan had already been in the illusion for a month.
To break through the illusion in a month was considered to be quite an impressive feat in Dream Pure's eyes.
Upon seeing that someone was about to wake up, Meng Chun smiled faintly and said, "Fellow Daoist, let's discuss this after the conclusion of this experience in the mystical realm."
She revealed a mysterious smile and disappeared after leaving behind a sentence, "The next trial might be very suitable for Fellow Daoist."
Although Jiang Li's intentions were unknown, with his cultivation at the Great Vehicle stage, he could easily manipulate his own mystical realm at will but he chose not to do so.
Since the other party was giving him face, she also would not delve deep into the other party's intentions.