Chapter 234: Cloudwater Secret Realm

Fact proved that Qin Luan’s drawing skills were really something else. He said he was drawing a circle, but to Jiang Li, it looked more like an egg.

Qin Luan was at least self-aware. Their group hadn’t come to the Cloudwater Secret Realm on purpose—they’d accidentally stepped into a random teleportation array in the last secret realm and ended up here.

Since they were already here and it didn’t cost anything, Qin Luan figured they might as well give it a shot.

Jiang Li thought that once they entered the secret realm, Yuan Wuxing would be left alone, which felt kind of pitiful. So he asked, “Want me to bring you along?”

Yuan Wuxing appreciated Jiang Li’s kindness but still declined. “Unlike some people, I know my own limits. With my garbage-tier drawing skills, I’d rather not embarrass myself.”

Qin Luan thought his master was talking about him.

Li Er thought Yuan Wuxing was talking about him.

Jiang Li thought Yuan Wuxing was talking about him.

Jiang Li gave an awkward laugh and didn’t bring up dragging anyone in again. Just then, there was a commotion in the crowd—someone important seemed to be arriving.

“Look! That’s Lin Ruling, young master of the secluded forest aristocratic clan!”

“What, the prodigy Lin Ruling who could read at three, recite poetry at five, and compose poems at seven?!”

“Who else could have such presence? Look at that confident air—he must have profound poetry stored in his heart!”

“And that face—refined and elegant, handsome and free-spirited. Who knows how many girls dream about him!”

“His cultivation speed is insane too. He’s only twenty-five and already at the late Golden Core Stage. Few peers can compare.”

“His combat power is off the charts. With all his techniques, he can last fifty moves against someone at the early Nascent Soul Stage!”

Lin Ruling waved his hand, signaling to stay low-key, not to make a fuss.

The more he acted like that, the more impressed people were. They said that someone so outstanding yet so humble made them feel ashamed of themselves.

Qin Luan and the group looked completely lost.

Lin Ruling? Who’s that? Why do so many people know him?

Is late-stage Golden Core at twenty-five really that rare? Qin Luan was twenty-three and already at peak Golden Core, on the verge of breaking through to Nascent Soul.

As for that so-called monstrous combat ability, none of the early Nascent Soul cultivators Qin Luan had fought had lasted more than fifty moves against him.

“Do you know him?” Li Er didn’t know Lin Ruling, but he had heard of the forest aristocratic clan—they were indeed a well-known secluded family.

They secluded themselves often. Every three to five years, they’d go into seclusion again.

The forest clan had a Fusion Stage cultivator holding down the fort—it was a thousand-year-old family.

But that Fusion cultivator was fame-hungry. He knew he was mediocre among Fusion cultivators, with nothing remarkable to his name.

So he thought, why not use “seclusion” to gain fame? The Gu Clan was a good example—after a few hundred years of seclusion, people still remembered their name.

That Fusion cultivator took the title “Forest Hermit,” meaning he loved solitude and long-term seclusion in the woods. But after going into seclusion, he worried that if he did it too seriously, people might forget him. So he’d find excuses to “break seclusion”—like his grandson’s one-month birthday—and then go back into hiding right after.

He kept doing this so much that the forest clan was constantly making their presence felt.

“They’re all plants.” When Jiang Li saw people hyping Lin Ruling up with exaggerated praise, he immediately guessed it—he knew this playbook way too well.

To prove his point, he walked into the crowd and also shouted in an overly dramatic tone:

“This is the reincarnated True Immortal, a banished immortal descended to the mortal realm, born with divine decrees in his mouth—Lin Ruling?!”

“Rumor has it he’s a master of all four arts—zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He can compose poems in seven steps, solve Heaven-Earth Go puzzles, recite classics backward, and paint like a celestial. Any one of these skills could lead to ascension—let alone mastering all four! Truly a once-in-a-millennium genius!”

“His cultivation talent is second to none. He advances like flowing water and kills without blinking. Many say he’s destined to be the next Human Sovereign—surpassing the current one is just a matter of time!”

The plants turned to Jiang Li in surprise. Never seen this guy before, but wow—he’s got a real gift for hype.

“Not bad. When this is over, you can claim two extra spirit stones,” said the plant leader, clearly pleased with Jiang Li.

But Lin Ruling was breaking out in cold sweat. This was going to get him killed with praise.

His family had pushed him forward to spread the clan’s name. Lin Ruling was also someone who liked to show off, so he agreed to help out by promoting the family in front of the Cloudwater Secret Realm entrance.

Who knew the hired hype crew would go so far, even saying stuff like “surpassing the Human Sovereign is only a matter of time”? Are you kidding me? If he could really do that, he wouldn’t be playing prince of a secluded clan—he’d have already begged Jiang the Human Sovereign to take him as a disciple.

Lin Ruling quickly lowered his head—this time he genuinely wanted to stay low-profile.

“See? Told you they were plants.” Jiang Li returned holding two spirit stones.

“Look! The Cloudwater Secret Realm is about to open!” someone in the crowd shouted, pointing ahead.

Unlike other secret realms, the Cloudwater Secret Realm was painted by the Painter Immortal—an entire world within a painting.

A scroll hanging in the air slowly unrolled, revealing a magnificent ink wash landscape painting. Grand and awe-inspiring, filled with profound artistry, it displayed the unmatched depth of the Painter Immortal’s skill. No one in the Nine Provinces could match this level in the art of painting.

Talents from all over stepped into the painting. Jiang Li, once a prodigy himself, also slipped in among them.

The scroll had always hung there, immovable by anyone. It represented an immortal’s will. If Jiang Li wanted to, he could even take down the eternally suspended scroll, let alone enter the secret realm.

Li Er could enter too.

He had already undergone an Immortal Ascension Tribulation once. While not equal to an immortal, breaking through the scroll’s rules was still within his ability.

“This is the Cloudwater Secret Realm?” Everyone except Jiang Li was entering for the first time. Even Li Er hadn’t been here before.

The Cloudwater Secret Realm had mountains, water, cities, streets, houses, people… all made of only black and white. Even crude folks like Jiang Li and Li Er could feel the subtle elegance of it.

Towering mountains, dense forests, trickling streams, oxen tilling fields, children playing, young women washing clothes—it all looked surreal, yet more beautiful than reality itself.

“You turned black and white,” Song Ying said, looking at Qin Luan. He now looked like a refined gentleman stepping out of a painting, every movement leaving a faint ink trail that slowly faded with time—very poetic.

“We all turned black and white,” Qin Luan rolled his eyes. Everyone had changed—why was she staring only at him? As a cultivator, shouldn’t she be alert in all directions? That kind of tunnel vision could get her killed in battle.

“Aguna didn’t change much,” Qin Luan added.

Aguna had the distinctive brown skin common in the Southern Borders. Now turned black, the change wasn’t too noticeable.

Logically, that made sense, but Aguna still felt an urge to smack Qin Luan.

Some things in the secret realm were painted, some real. If someone could spot something real, it would shed its disguise and reveal its true form.

The Boundary-Breaking Grass was hidden in such a way.

According to Jiang Li’s observation, though, the Boundary-Breaking Grass wasn’t here. It was likely in a small world at another checkpoint—one that would require passing a test to reach.