The fateful day arrived.

Early in the morning, Mu Chen and Zhou Mei followed Su Rong and Su He along with the juniors of the Su Family. On the way, they were joined by Liu Fengying, Li Kun, and Xia Ping and their group. Together, they headed towards the public square.

The public square was a large and open area. The Ming Dynasty used it to hold public trials, announcements, and other events. Usually, it was accessible to the public and anyone could freely enter or exit. But since the announcement of the secret realm, the area had been cordoned off. Today, it was open, but unlike before, the security was tight, and only those with a certain status or having the tokens given by the envoys were allowed to enter.

The square was teeming with people. Men and women, all under the age of thirty had gathered. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the entire future generation of the Southern Continent had gathered here. Everyone was excited, the square was buzzing with chatter denser than even the busiest markets in the city.

Several elders from the noble families and other local powers sat in the tiered seats alongside the walls, watching over them all.

Mu Chen glanced at the seats but didn't see Ming Ren or anyone from the royal family. The seats above the east wall in the direction of the golden palace were empty. But he did notice a familiar figure. It was Chen Ning who had brought them to the city.

Chen Ning was standing with his hands folded back and his back straight, displaying the dignity of an official. However, his brow was creased and his eyes kept shifting as if he was looking for someone.

Mu Chen was curious who Chen Ning was looking for, but the crowd was dense, blocking his line of sight.

"His Majesty is arriving," a booming voice echoed through the square.

Everyone fell silent. The nobles and other people looked surprised but quickly reacted. They stood up, their vision focused on the space above the east gate.

A figure of a middle-aged man in golden robes materialized on the stage of the high seat.

Seeing the middle-aged man, the nobles and patriarchs bowed.

"Long live the Emperor!" Everyone said in unison and bowed.

"Ah, Brother Chen, that should be—" Xia Ping was excited to see the emperor and about to jump.

"Sssh!" Li Kun had to pull Xia Ping down.

Mu Chen sneaked a glance at the emperor. Besides his glittering golden robe embroidered with a dragon, there were no other embellishments that flaunted his status. He looked like an average mortal but had an aloof temperament which made him stand out even in the sea of crowds. It was this man that oversaw the fate of thousands of cultivators in the Southern Continent.

The emperor greeted the nobles with a nod, then turned his gaze to the youngsters gathered on the ground below. He raised his hand and smiled genially.

"Youngsters of the Southern Continent," The emperor said. His voice was soft, but everyone was able to hear it. "Seeing you all standing here, so enthusiastic and bold, and full of hope, reminds me of my youth. All of you came here looking for something. Maybe it was to seek a fortune, or perhaps a chance to change your future. Perhaps you came because you didn't have any other choice. But no matter the reason, I hope you keep this in mind… Cultivation is important, but your lives are even more important. You are the future of our Southern Continent. Always remember that."

After his speech, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty beckoned with his hand and then disappeared, leaving everyone confused.

Mu Chen, who knew some of the inside details, frowned. He felt that the emperor was trying to convey something. But before he could dwell on it, an elder from the Ming Dynasty stepped forward on the stage.

"Before you enter the realm, there are a few things you have to agree to… " the elder said. "First, the Ming Dynasty assumes no responsibility for anything that happens to the participants in this exploration. Under no circumstances, can the Ming Dynasty be held responsible for losses incurred including death or disability..."

Nobody raised any complaint. Most of them had come preparing for the worst. The Ming Dynasty was just making it formal to make sure they were not held for any liability later on.

"The second condition is," the elder said. "Any cultivation techniques, magic arts or tools, sacred medicines found in the realm will belong to you. However, everyone has to contribute a certain amount… "

Mu Chen listened along with others and shrugged. There was no free lunch, everyone had to contribute a minimum number of points. But the amount of minimum contribution was different for different people, depending on the cultivation base upon exiting the realm. The lowest contribution was five hundred points for people like Mu Chen, five thousand points for those in Spirit Gathering, fifty thousand for those in Spirit Condensation, and so forth. It increased by ten times for each level. It seemed the Ming Dynasty was pretty optimistic because they had mentioned higher levels.

A list was displayed on the square for everyone to see how much everything was worth. Without any surprise, sacred medicines, cultivation techniques, and magic arts were among the top that earned the most contribution points exceeding the minimum requirement. So the minimum number of contribution points was by no means the limit. Excess points could be redeemed for awards from the Ming Dynasty. It could be cultivation techniques, tools, or treasures among other things.

If you wanted to keep the gains private or couldn't fulfill your quota, you could also contribute in other ways aka by working for the Ming Dynasty. But there was no list provided for this.

Everyone was very excited on hearing this―they didn't expect the Ming Dynasty could be so generous.

"The third condition is…" The elder listed a few more conditions. "If you agree to these conditions, take out your token and drip your blood on it. If not, you may leave the square," the elder said. "You have the time of an incense stick to make a decision."

Everyone fumbled with their tokens. Mu Chen also took out his token. Using a bit of his sword intent, he cut a needle size hole into his finger and dripped a drop of blood onto it. The token lit up as it absorbed the blood, then returned to normal.

"Alright, the time is over." Seeing none of them leave and had completed the procedure, the elder nodded and took out his own token. "Next, you will be transported to the location of the realm. Everyone, take a deep breath and guard yourselves. Try not to struggle too much. Good luck," the elder said. The token in his hand flashed with intense light.

Everyone was puzzled by the elder's remark, but before they could question, the ground began to shake and stir.

"Aaah!"

"W-what's happening?"

"E-earthquake?"

Screams and shouts rang out. Several people staggered and fell as a strong attractive force assaulted them―the ground itself was pulling them. The hard surface of the earth turned mushy and soft like quicksand, the more you struggled the quicker you sank. The earth began to flow like water and dragged everyone into it.

"Everyone, stay calm!"

Mu Chen and his friends were startled, but they recalled the elders' instructions and calmed down.

Mu Chen took a deep breath before the earth swallowed him. Layers and layers of earth covered him trying to squeeze him from every direction and for a moment, everything turned dark. Mu Chen had a feeling he was moving at an extreme speed. A few breaths later, then the ground churned and spat everyone out.

"Pfttt!" Mu Chen spat the mud and gasped as he stood. "Damn, at this rate I might develop claustrophobia." He looked into his robes and found that Xiao Xue was still asleep like a log. Relieved, he looked around him. "Is everyone okay?"

"Un." Zhou Mei and Liu Fengying nodded.

"Yes," Li Kun and others were also fine.

The trip had left everyone dizzy, but otherwise unharmed. Their situation was even better than Mu Chen's. Unlike Mu Chen, their clothes weren't even dirtied by mud as they had protected their bodies with spiritual qi.

"T-that scared me?" Xia Ping gasped. "What was that?"

"I think it was an earth escape technique," Su Rong said as she tidied her clothes. "But the scale was unprecedented. I don't think there is a way to tell just how far we are from the capital."

Everyone gasped. Earth escape technique could be used to travel underground. But the distance one could travel was limited depending on the cultivator's skill. And if one wanted to take someone along, the difficulty multiplied. However, through clever use of a formation, the Ming Dynasty used the technique to transfer over ten thousand people across an unknown distance. It could be said, to ensure that everyone could participate, the Ming Dynasty had taken a lot of pains from deploying ships to establishing such a giant super formation.

"It's no wonder they took so long to complete the formation," Liu Fengying sighed.

"Such a big formation, just how many resources did it cost?" Li Kun groaned. As someone who had had an impoverished childhood, he was very distressed.

"Haha, Brother Kun," Su He chuckled. "This is the Ming Dynasty we are talking about. If they want to waste that many resources, let them waste. Or would you rather pay it out of your own pocket?"

Li Kun almost choked and stopped complaining.

"Everyone's moving," Yi Hanying said.

They looked at the crowd around them and people had started to move. Most of the crowd had already recovered from the shock and were now walking in a certain direction.

Liu Fengying, Li Kun, Xia Ping, Su Rong, and Su He checked on their fellow clan and sect members. The number of members they had brought was around two hundred, half of which belonged to the Su Family alone. Once they had gathered everyone together and confirmed their safety, Mu Chen and his friends followed the rest of the crowd.

Soon they came in front of a valley. Once inside, the speed of the crowd slowed down to a crawl.

Mu Chen and his friends looked at the scene in front of them.

At the bottom of the valley was a giant lake. But the water in the lake was swirling like a whirlpool. The whirlpool was spinning so fast, it had churned all the water and turned it muddy.

Surrounding the lake were a dozen experts from the Ming Dynasty. They sat meditating on the bank of the lake, with their backs to it. They seemed to exude an invisible pressure, which made the noisy crowd turn silent as they approached the lake.

Several feet from the lake, the crowd stopped moving—a middle-aged couple was standing in front of them.

"That's about as far as you may step," the woman said. "There is still time. When the elders have opened a channel, you can enter the realm."

"Everyone, you heard it," Su Rong said to her Su Family members. "Meditate and make sure you are at your best before you enter the realm."

Liu Fengying, Li Kun, and Xia Ping also issued similar instructions to their sect members.

Knowing there wouldn't be any more surprises, everyone found a clean spot to sit down and meditate.

Mu Chen, Zhou Mei, Liu Fengying, Li Kun, Xia Ping, Su Rong, and Su He also sat down and began to meditate, waiting for the channel to open.

But someone else couldn't sit still and had other plans.

"Tsk tsk… my dear Rong'er, why are you dirtying yourself by sitting on the ground with these plebs?"