Secret Realm—also commonly called Little Cave Heaven.
These Secret Realms are generally used to house rare treasures gifted by their masters.
Of course, some Secret Realm masters just use them as warehouses.
Most Secret Realms are extremely costly to build, requiring vast amounts of time and effort.
Unless absolutely necessary, it’s best not to waste resources constructing one.
But the most entertaining thing about a Secret Realm is the freedom to design the trials!
Imagine players slogging through the fiendishly disgusting traps you’ve crafted, or readers flipping through a book as terrible as shit—that kind of satisfaction is simply explosive!
Though designing a Secret Realm trial is as complicated as programming code, full of tedious processes, you just can’t resist the temptation to test (or torment) the younger generation of cultivators.
Because of this, plenty of cultivators scramble to study this field, eager to become experts.
Lin Shu believed this was a classic case of “Too-much-time-because-of-cultivation-induced-longevity syndrome.”
Well, everyone has their choices.
All Lin Shu could do was support them.
So, whenever Wu Qinglong came up with a new Secret Realm, Lin Shu would always offer a critique and share his suggestions.
Since he was a Transmigrator, he’d played his fair share of video games and was quite familiar with Secret Realm mechanics.
But Lin Shu only critiqued—he never participated directly.
Wu Qinglong could only sigh in anguish at his senior brother’s stance.
The cultivation world had lost a master programmer of Secret Realms!
“So, what’s been updated in this new Qi Influx Secret Realm?”
Lin Shu asked curiously.
This particular Qi Influx Secret Realm had been designed at Lin Shu’s suggestion—the first version was almost entirely overseen by him.
As for the inspiration… it came from an accident!
Back when Lin Shu first joined the sect, he was endlessly curious and loved wandering about.
At that time, he was naïve and liked to stroll around Shuiyun Peak.
Lin Yingxue had already started researching Sage Chef skills and often cooked while teaching him about qi influx.
Lin Yingxue’s perspective was that drawing qi into the body was as simple as breathing—one is Passive Breathing, the other Active Breathing.
Breathing is passive, while drawing qi in is active.
If Lin Shu couldn’t do it, he could try experiencing Active Breathing—the method was nearly the same.
So, Lin Shu practiced deep breathing in his little uncle’s kitchen.
Exhale—inhale—exhale—inhale—
Then he passed out from gas poisoning….
On the brink of life and death, he realized that gas was also a kind of “qi”—perhaps just another manifestation of spiritual energy.
In that moment, he drew in qi, using it to purge the gas from his body, and at last succeeded in Qi Influx.
Afterwards, Lin Shu recounted these events to Wu Qinglong, and they agreed that people are more likely to perceive spiritual energy directly when there is a strong Crisis Sense.
And so, the first version of the Qi Influx Secret Realm was born!
The content of the Secret Realm was simple: as Lin Shu envisioned, after Lu Zhiyun entered the Secret Realm, she’d find herself in a vast Shu Zhai.
Inside the Shu Zhai was a Hui-Shaped Corridor.
According to Lin Shu’s design, a sinister gaze would constantly linger behind Lu Zhiyun, forcing her to keep running forward.
The gaze was always there, but never jumped out—no jumpscares, no sudden shocks.
Once she’d run far enough, and overcome her inner fear, she would succeed in drawing in qi and advance to the Qi Refinement stage!
Other top immortal sects would take at least a month for their Qi Influx trials.
But if anyone took more than a week in Qingluan Peak’s Secret Realm, Wu Qinglong would immediately reflect on where his design went wrong.
“Senior Brother, don’t you trust my skills?”
Wu Qinglong raised an eyebrow.
“You said last time the Qi Influx Secret Realm was too linear—just running one way back and forth, too monotonous. That gave me a new idea.”
Wu Qinglong stretched out his hand, conjured a Little Black Board out of thin air, and began explaining to his senior brother.
“Look! The bigger the Secret Realm, the greater the cost. So, how to create unlimited Crisis Sense within a limited corridor—that’s our real challenge.”
“I think the flaw with Qi Influx Secret Realm 1.0 was relying solely on a gaze—the Crisis Sense it created was limited.”
“For example, with our slow-witted senior sister, it took her three days to notice someone was watching her—no challenge at all!”
Lin Shu nodded, thoroughly agreeing.
Back then, after senior sister entered and saw it was just a corridor, she found it boring and simply napped for three days.
For those three days, she never once felt the pressure from the sinister gaze.
What finally gave her Crisis Sense was the lack of food in the Secret Realm—any longer, and she’d have starved…
“So! I think just being watched isn’t enough. The real key is interactive scenarios!”
Wu Qinglong’s eyes shone with excitement.
“Interactive scenarios?”
Lin Shu perked up, realizing they’d finally reached the main point!
“Think about it, Senior Brother! Qi Influx Secret Realm 1.0 was simple, but still lacked spirit!”
“Mm!” Lin Shu agreed.
“There was only the gaze, but no physical entity. The stimulation for the cultivator’s senses was limited!”
“Exactly!”
Lin Shu affirmed.
“So in version 2.0, I introduced a physical form to the gaze and even designed a model. Now it’ll look much more real!”
“Hmm… Wait, hold on?”
Lin Shu’s eyes widened as he realized something.
So, you designed a ‘ghost’?!
“And I even set a threshold— the more cautious the cultivator, the stronger their Crisis Sense!”
“No, that’s not what I’m worried about!”
Lin Shu never imagined Wu Qinglong would be so forward-thinking, merging the essence of two different games!
If this really worked, wouldn’t Lu Zhiyun be in for a world of pain?
“Senior Brother! Relax! I know what you’re worried about!”
Wu Qinglong gave him a look that said, ‘I understand you completely.’
“Senior Brother’s worried our junior sister will only see a ghost, but there’s no plot, right? Relax! The Secret Realm’s plot will be generated based on whatever she fears most these days! Guaranteed immersive experience!”
Who said I was worried about that?!
Lin Shu could only clutch his forehead and silently pray for their junior sister.
***
In the midst of chaos, Lu Zhiyun slowly opened her eyes.
Before her stood a shabby old Shu Zhai.
The main doors had clearly seen many years and creaked eerily in the wind.
“So… I’m in the Secret Realm?”
Lu Zhiyun looked around.
Aside from the Shu Zhai, every other building made her dizzy just to glance at.
“Looks like I’m supposed to enter the Shu Zhai.”
Lu Zhiyun followed Lin Shu’s method, trying to sense the spiritual energy, but felt nothing at all.
“Oh well, might as well go in and see!”
She pushed open the heavy, timeworn wooden door, finding herself in a dim corridor lit by a few red lanterns.
Hiss—why is this atmosphere so weird?
Most people would have collapsed in terror by now, but Lu Zhiyun had been a junior constable—she could handle a scene like this.
Just as she was about to move forward, a Panel flashed before her eyes.
[ Cultivator Lu Zhiyun, your infiltration plan has long since been exposed! ]
[ The demonic cultivator Lin Shu has finally seen through your schemes, overthrown the Da Qian Dynasty, and established a new nation. ]
[ As the defeated, you’ve been cast into this place by him, suffering the eternal punishment of never dying! ]
[ From now on, you’ll experience the consequences of failure in endless fear! ]
After reading the last line, the Panel vanished.
Cold sweat soaked Lu Zhiyun’s back.
She had failed?
Could it be, just as she’d feared, Lin Shu had always known she was a spy?
Had everything today been staged just to give her a brutal lesson?
No!
Lu Zhiyun shook her head, forcing herself to snap out of it!
Think it through—if her cover had really been blown, Lin Shu couldn’t have toppled the Da Qian Dynasty so quickly!
She remembered a storyteller saying that some Secret Realms conjure up your worst fears, trying to get you to give up on your own!
If that was the case, there was nothing to worry about.
She just had to keep moving forward with courage!
With this in mind, Lu Zhiyun swept aside her earlier confusion and faced the corridor head-on.
The corridor was eerie and strange.
Though indoors, the red lanterns swayed as if in wind, knocking against the walls with unnerving thuds.
“Heh! Just some cheap tricks from a demonic cultivator!”
Lu Zhiyun was confident—no matter what the Secret Realm created, she would never waver!
Once you realized it was all an Illusion, then Lu Zhiyun was unbeatable!
Soon enough, the Secret Realm’s Illusions began to appear.
A slender, white-clad figure slowly materialized at the end of the corridor, muttering to herself.
Lu Zhiyun tried to make out her face in the dim lantern light, but she could never quite see it clearly.
No fear, no fear! It’s all fake!
Even if it’s a ghost, it’s just an Illusion conjured by the Secret Realm!
The figure moved slowly, and as Lu Zhiyun watched, her own breathing unconsciously slowed.
At last, she began to make out what the figure was murmuring.
“Food… eat my food… just cooked… don’t run…”