The dark valley was different than either the blue valley which housed Order employees in the core formation realm or the gold valley which housed the palace realm employees.
One of the key differences was, for one to get in there if they were not a resident of the valley they required a domain-level expert to escort them within the valley. It was the reason both Yang Qing and Mao Yunru needed Lei Weiyuan to guide them in.
If the two of them had tried to go by themselves at best they would get lost in there forever and at worst they would die. Unlike the other two valleys where as long as you had someone's token you could get in their abode while the main road was free for anyone to use, things at the dark valley were vastly different. There was no main path to use and the environment changed in the short time it took to blink. Everything from the weather to the time of day, down to the landscapes changed every second.
It was because of this unique feature that the dark valley was also known by another name, the infinity domain valley. The rapidly changing environment and layout were because what was being reflected in the dark valley was someone's domain.
Rumor had it that there was a top-tier saint-grade treasure that was being used as the anchor treasure of the dark valley. Other than improving the qi density of the place it had another function which was to mirror the domains of the domain experts within the valley.
Even though it was just a reflection and thus the domain being produced had less lethality than the real thing, its lethal presence was still there, especially to those who were below the domain realm. They risked getting trapped in the reflected domains and suffering its effects. The reason the treasure still remains in the dark valley despite its threat factor is that to anyone but a domain-level expert it may be lethal but to them, it's a boon as the treasure helps every domain expert present experience different types of domains which may provide them with insights for strengthening their own domains.
The treasure became a central hub for comparing notes and storing every new domain that comes its way going back to the first day it was placed in the dark valley.
….
The moment Yang Qing and Mao Yunru were covered by Lei Weiyuan's domain they felt like they had been thrown into a silver plateau that was in the shape of a sword. The temperature was mild with no wind just stillness while the sky within the domain seemed to be the domain's window to the real world.
Yang Qing and Mao Yunru got to see the dark valley's different domains interchanging without being sucked into it thanks to the protection from Lei Weiyuan's own domain.
They saw different things as they went along from mountains to rivers to tall trees that reached the sky to different animals from birds, mammals, reptiles, and fishes down to amphibians. However, unlike normal animals, each of the animals here was about the size of a whole town with weird runes and features surrounding them such as a peacock bathed in lightning and blue flames or a swan that was as radiant as the sun that seemed to burn even the very air.
However, there were a few domain reflections that really stood out that even made Yang Qing and Mao Yunru almost fall under their powers despite being under the protection of Lei Weiyuan's domain.
One of them was a massive eye that covered the whole valley. Inside the eye was a cluster of stars revolving around a purple pupil like it was a vortex. The moment the eye appeared both Yang Qing and Mao Yunru felt like their bodies and souls were being sucked into the vortex. It was only when they felt a cool sensation flood their minds did they come back to their senses with pools of sweat on their backs.
After the eye experience, the duo tried to be cautious in their view of domains however after nothing happened to them for almost twenty minutes they soon forgot themselves as they admired the different domains that was until a book domain appeared. At first, the book didn't seem anything special but it soon enlarged so that it even seemed to house the whole world as its cover while its pages seemed like they housed all sorts of knowledge from antiquity. When the pages started turning a sage voice uttered a single syllable that made Yang Qing and Mao Yunru's mind buzz as an ocean's worth of knowledge threatened to flood their mind in an instant.
It was only due to Lei Weiyuan's timely intervention that their minds didn't break from that exposure.
"I don't know if your luck should be considered good or bad for running into two paragon domains on the same day," Lei Weiyuan's voice trailed over as Yang Qing and Mao Yunru were shaking off the buzzing sound from their head. They felt extremely dizzy and nauseated just from that brief contact.
"Paragon domain?" Yang Qing couldn't help but groggily ask as he heard something he was unfamiliar with.
"You're still a fledgling palace realm cultivator, learn to walk first before you ask certain matters. Wait until you have firmly placed your feet in the core palace stage then you won't have to ask because the institute's chancellor and a few members of the spirit council will seek you out and you will then find out what you want to know and then some.
But until then focus on your cultivation and cases. Sometimes knowing certain things earlier may not be a good thing. Cultivation is a journey of never-ending steps just pace yourself little by little," said Lei Weiyuan.
Lei Weiyuan's statement did little to assuage the curiosity in both Yang Qing's and Mao Yunru's minds moreso the former compared to the latter since Mao Yunru was just in the seventh stage of the core formation realm so such matters were too far away from her but in Yang Qing's case it was close. He was already in the palace stage albeit in the first stages still well within the outer palace stage.
Fundamentally the palace realm was divided into three stages i.e. the outer palace, the inner palace, and the core palace. Each of these three stages was further divided into four stages making the total of the stages, twelve. Yang Qing was in the first stage of the outer palace realm.
"The chancellor and the spirit council," Yang Qing silently muttered as a look of awe appeared on his face.
The two names could be considered the very topmost figures in the whole of the Order. The chancellor was the head of the Institute. She was hardly ever seen, with the vice chancellor being the nominal head in charge of everything institute related. Even during the institute's important ceremonies such as graduations, she has never made an appearance. The only thing Yang Qing knew of her was her name, Su Liqiu.
But despite never being seen everyone had a lot of respect for her. One of the reasons being some of the deans were once her students when the Order was starting up and another was her cultivation realm. With the vice chancellor already being a confirmed soul formation expert though Yang Qing didn't know which stage it was safe to assume the chancellor could only have a cultivation base that was at the very least in the soul formation realm and it could only be higher than the vice-chancellor not lower.
As for the spirit council. This was the defacto ruling authority of the whole Order with the identity of its members unknown. The only thing that was known about its members was that every member was at least a soul formation expert.
Their authority superseded the two vice presidents of the Order and was equal to the president of the Order whose identity was shrouded in even more mystery than the chancellor.
Yang Qing couldn't help but wonder what information required the two big wigs to personally deliver and what it had to do with the paragon domain.
After a few minutes of ruminating through all sorts of speculation, he decided to throw the matter to the back of his mind and leave it to time. When the time came he would know then for now he was too far from the core palace realm.
It took them almost two hours before they finally arrived at their destination and in that while another paragon domain got featured. It was a mountain filled with swords and at the top laid a single long sword that seemed to use the mountain as its sheath that only the grip could be seen. The grip was covered by a white ribbon with the words all equal imprinted on it.
The moment it appeared Lei Weiyuan's reaction had been more drastic than before as he closed off their view in his domain before they could see even further. But that brief glance knocked out Mao Yunru who woke up a few seconds later pale-faced like she had seen the scariest thing in her life while Yang Qing was panting as he looked like a cornered animal with his green hair transformed into hair that was half white half orange as one eye resembled a moon and the other the sun.
Even when Lei Weiyuan had told them they had arrived as he dispelled his domain, the two kept warily looking around afraid the mountain of swords would appear.
