"Baihu", Wu Long gently called out and a cloud of ethereal mist appeared a bit ahead of him, slightly up in the air.
The beauty that floated down from that cloud landed in his arms, wrapping hers around him.
"You called?", her smile was bewitching, the look in her pink eyes was full of affection and a hint of playfulness.
"Mm, I want to discuss sothing important", he nodded with a smile.
"Is it about the Soul Bead?", she asked with a playful smile, causing him to slightly raise his eyebrows.
"You guessed"
"It wasn't hard", Fen Baihu chuckled, "Besides, if you didn't suggest it I would have offered it from my side"
"Haha, it seems you quite like your new Dao Family", there was genuine relief and joy in his voice as he said it, since it wasn't easy for soone very individualistic like Fen Baihu to develop a sense of belonging.
"If I didn't I wouldn't be enjoying myself as much, at least enough to tolerate a bit of ti away from you", her eyes spoke volus of how big of an achievent it was for the ladies of the Wu Family to take her mind off of not being around him at all tis.
He chuckled, nodding to her.
The thing they talked about was about transferring her Soul Bead from his Soul Sea to the only other safe place it could be, Ye Ling's Soul Sea.
There was a reason that Hua Ziyan's surprise with the techniques succeeded.
It was because the amount of constant attention he kept on his ladies at all tis decreased, allowing them slightly more privacy, which was ultimately also good for their ntal state. After all, while it may be fine for him to know basically everything that happened to them at all tis short-term, to ensure their safety, it would take a toll if it was prolonged.
The reason for that was also why Wu Long was able to sleep deeply, allowing his mind short periods of almost complete rest.
It was Fen Baihu.
While Ye Ling was incredibly strong, and thus protected his Dao Family, there were still foes she would be powerless against. And she fundantally could not shield everyone if there were more than one of such powerful enemies.
It was especially true now that they have entered a wider world.
Fen Baihu, on the other hand, could spirit away the entire Dao Family, and if she could not deal with the enemy, flee to Wu Long's location in an instant.
With her around, even if Wu Long did not keep a slightly paranoid attention with his ladies, they were safe.
After all, she was one of the most elusive beings in the entirety of the Seven Boundless Worlds, and if she really wanted to run after grabbing all of the ladies, there was little one could do about it. And with his help, she was gradually restoring more and more of her powers.
Arguably, Fen Baihu's existence made the Dao Family safer even with Wu Long around, since even if he was powerful and resourceful, there was still only one of him.
There could potentially arise a situation where he would be too far stretched between different enemies.
Thus Fen Baihu's existence ant not only great possibilities for the Sect, but more importantly, greater safety of the Dao Family and allowed him to focus more attention he was increasingly spending inward on his family to the outside.
Of course, this did not an he completely relaxed his vigilance, he wasn't soone who would be reassured with just one factor, even if it was a strong one.
But there was one limitation, it was the fact that Fen Baihu's Soul Bead, the core of her being, was within Wu Long's Soul Sea, and thus she was able to exist only within a certain distance from him, even if she was not with him.
It created a situation where he could not venture too far even if he had to. Going after that pirate leader was already approaching the limits of how far away he could be from his family without stripping them of Fen Baihu's protection.
Thus the solution of placing the Soul Bead within Ye Ling's Soul Sea was the optimal one to resolve this issue.
"Thank you, Baihu", he smiled gratefully to her, since she was thinking of the safety of the family even without him prompting her to.
"Of course, they're my family too now", she showed a cheeky grin as he could not help but lean in for a kiss which she eagerly answered.
---
So ti later, Wu Long and Ye Ling touched their foreheads together within a very powerful formation, as Fen Baihu's Soul Bead surfaced from within his Soul Sea, and transferring into hers, sank to the depths of it.
Fen Baihu suddenly felt a far more tranquil environnt, as beneath the quiet and calm surface, Wu Long's Soul Sea was deep, with powerful undercurrents and very dark places, while Ye Ling's was as calm and serene deep inside as it was mirror-like on the surface.
"Hehe, I should've offered this sooner", the Celestial Fox chuckled, causing Wu Long to make a wry smile, since now it didn't seem like sothing she did for others, but more of a comnt on what she preferred.
The reason Wu Long raised this question now, though, was because his Crystal Core quite predictably reached a Saturated Dantian state as soon as he breached the 3rd level of Mortal Transcendence Realm, the sa as it happened in his past life, and as he swiftly dealt with it, without even as much danger because it was now not his only core, he was readying to advance into the Seven Profound Realms in one go in the near future.
At the sa ti, Cai Yin, Gong Liwei and Hong Yue were also nearing the peak of Mortal Transcendence Realm, rather, they were intentionally holding back their advancents per his advice.
While it was fine to pass their Heavenly Tribulations when they returned to the Oak Fortress or to pick an unpopulated place sowhere along the road, Wu Long set his sights on a Secret Realm that was going to open up pretty soon, which many of the Wei Dynasty's youth were preparing to go into for the sa purpose.
It was a small Secret Realm which opened up roughly each 1000 years, and the benefits it provided for Heavenly Tribulation were basically marginal, slightly increasing the success rate, not sothing Wu Long needed.
However, a Secret Realm was not only a place to pass Heavenly Tribulations, and could offer many possibilities, even a well-explored one like this. It was also an opportunity for the three beauties to perhaps stumble upon sothing.
"So you've transferred the Soul Bead so that Sister Baihu could stay with us while you go inside", Cao i nodded.
"Mm, though there's a bit of a caveat on that. This Secret Realm is, like many of them, with a Cultivation Realm Restriction", Wu Long nodded.
"aning, there is a cap on how high the cultivation is for those going in...", Nie Xiwang guessed, prompting a nod from Wu Long.
"It would not really matter to Fen Baihu, as she could sneak all of you in if we wanted, but then you will all have to be inside her Dream Realm for the entire week we're there, because if you were to appear within the Secret Realm it would trigger Heavenly Punishnt. Its sothing I can deal with, of course, but it doesn't really sound like the conditions for exploration", Wu Long confird, as the beauties around nodded with wry smiles.
"Is there another Secret Realm you are aiming at? Because you warned all of us to not raise our cultivation above Essence Awakening Realm even if we could...", Luo Mingyu asked, making an instant connection.
"Yes indeed", Wu Long nodded with a wide grin, "A far more important one. Have you all noticed how we have only saw second, third or younger Young Masters and Young Ladies of any given noble family around? It is because the 1st Young Masters and Young Ladies, or any true geniuses of any faction, family and so on are being kept safe from being targeted by the rivals, preparing for the Generational Wave to co"
"But isn't it quite so ti away still?", Shen Min asked, rembering that Wu Long said that a Generational Wave went through Boundless Worlds one by one, and depending on how powerful that wave was, it lingered longer in each one, lasting up to decades.
"Yes, but we have ti. I told you we were going to spend so ti after arriving, focusing on raising skills and adjusting growth rather than raising our cultivation. It is far more important to fully obtain control of what abilities you have in each Great Realm you reach than it is to rush toward the next one. For that reason, I also instructed everyone in the Valley to only raise cultivation up to the point of reaching Essence Awakening Realm", Wu Long nodded.
Madam Liang puffed a cloud of herbal smoke, adding, "The first year or so that we are going through right now was bound to be eventful to begin with, as we had to establish a foothold before the local powers adjusted to the reopening of the Battle God's Cradle World Stone. After these big movents it is likely there will be a whole decade, maybe more, of quiet ti to readjust and consolidate our strength in secret"
"Is that Secret Realm that will open with the Generational Wave, also the reason you are aiming to build a relationship with the Wei Dynasty, to the point of considering turning the entire succession process on its head?", Nie Xiwang asked as she could see that there were only marginal benefits for Wu Long in ddling with the battle of succession.
"Indeed", Wu Long nodded, "not all of those 'geniuses' of the families and factions will get to actually participate. There are quotas on how many people can go into the Secret Realm, so they will be competing in preliminary activities. I don't have much interest in long-drawn competitions so I thought I would just bypass it altogether by using up so of the Imperial Family's quota"
"Imperial Family's quota... does that imply this is not a Secret Realm that the Wei Dynasty controlls?", Nie Xiwang continued to follow the clues.
"Yes, it is a realm into which a large number of Dynasties will all send their talented youth who had yet to reach Essence Gathering Realm. It is usually around 10,000 to 12,000 Dynasties just like the Wei Dynasty"
"T-Ten to t-twelve thou-...?", Cao i's breath was stolen by the scale, as were many beauties.
"Whoa! T-that's like... like a lot!!!", Gong Cui exclaid with excitent.
"Mm" Wu Long nodded with a smile at the reaction of the beauties, "Dynasties like Wei Dynasty are almost always a part of what is called 'A land of 10,000 Dynasties', ruled by a Great Dynasty on top, though the number of lower Dynasties is almost never exactly 10,000. Now Great Dynasties, those are the real powerhouses of the Boundless Profound World, with experts at the peak of the Seven Profound Realms sitting at their top"
"And each of them controls a powerful Secret Realm that they let a certain limited number of talent from their subordinate Dynasties enter?", Hua Ziyan asked.
"Yes, these massive, still largely unexplored and incredibly powerful Secret Realms they control are one of the cornerstones of their power over their subordinate Dynasties, because being cut off from accessing it is a major blow. To add more, the most exceptional champions of each Dynasty that manage to co out of that Secret Realm with great benefits often choose to go to the Great Dynasty rather than return to their holand, or rather, they are recruited by the Great Sects and the Great Dynasty"
"I see... so it perpetually keeps the lower Dynasties in check, while still giving them enough to prosper...", Nie Xiwang nodded.
"These Secret Realms typically open only once every 100,000 years or so, so even adult generations of cultivators never see them open twice in their lifetis. This ti though, the opening will coincide with the Generational Wave, so it will be a far more important occasion, even more than it usually is", Wu Long added.
"But couldn't you just sneak in with Sister Baihu's powers?", Hong Ye asked, not sure if it was worth the trouble of ddling with the Wei Dynasty if it was possible to achieve more easily.
"Haha, technically, yes. But that would run the risk of turning a whole Great Dynasty and the several Great Sects that operate the Secret Realm against upon exiting. While I can live with that, it's not sothing I'd choose on purpose", he shrugged with a wry smile, understanding the sentint.
"This Secret Realm is important to us for another reason, by the way" he then added looking at Fen Baihu.
"You an...?", she gasped, realizing what he was talking about.
"Mm, I figured that would be the case, but the vague area you pointed out on a Star Map is around where one of the many entrances into the Secret Realm of 10,000 Dynasties is... so though we haven't confird yet, it is highly likely the Three-Eyed Three-Tailed Silver Fox is in the Secret Realm"
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