“Junior Sister Bai! Junior Sister Bai!”
Before the secret realm opened, within the Tianqing Sect’s territory, a woman riding a flying sword shouted toward a mountain peak ahead.
“The Taiqing Sect secret realm is about to open. Are you ready?”
The moment her words fell, a graceful figure in a cyan robe flew out from the cave mansion inside the mountain peak and spoke somewhat hurriedly.
“I just finished preparing. Sorry, Senior Sister Fang. I spent a little extra time stabilizing my realm.”
“You’ve already fully stepped into mid-stage Qi Refining? That’s incredible. You’ve only been cultivating for less than a month. If the other junior brothers saw your cultivation speed, they’d probably die of envy.”
Hearing the teasing, Bai Qiushui smiled slightly and replied respectfully.
“It’s also thanks to Master’s and all the senior brothers and sisters’ care that Qiushui was able to advance so quickly.”
“Hey, don’t underestimate your talent. It’s precisely because of your outstanding talent that our master, Tianqing True Person, directly accepted you as a personal disciple. Back when I was at Qi Refining, I wasn’t that fortunate.”
“Senior Sister flatters me. Should we set off now?”
“Mm. Let’s gather at the mountain gate first. Once we count heads, we can depart.”
Fang Yuling summoned a deep-blue flood dragon from her spirit beast pouch and gestured for Bai Qiushui to ride with her.
After Bai Qiushui and Fang Yuling stood together on the flood dragon’s back, she urged it toward the mountain gate.
“Wow, Senior Sister Fang, what kind of spirit beast is this?”
“This is a Cold Water Flood Dragon. It possesses flight and water-attribute divine abilities. In water, it can amplify the power of its water-attribute abilities even further. I obtained its egg from a Cold Water Flood Dragon’s lair during my own secret realm training years ago and raised it.”
“I see. It looks so majestic.”
“After all, it’s now at the level of an upper first-rank demonic beast. But despite the thick layer of scales covering its body, there’s actually a very soft spot on its abdomen—that’s its weakness.”
“Why are you suddenly telling me this, Senior Sister?”
Bai Qiushui curiously stroked the Cold Water Flood Dragon’s heavy scales and asked Fang Yuling in confusion.
“Because the Cold Water Flood Dragon inside the secret realm is one of your targets on this trip. Its abilities perfectly match your spiritual root attribute, so Master hopes you can hunt it. She’ll use the materials to refine an artifact suited for you.”
“I’m grateful for Master’s kindness. But with my current cultivation, can I really defeat that Cold Water Flood Dragon?”
“Eh, that’s a small matter.”
Fang Yuling waved her hand and said somewhat proudly.
“I’ll just have my disciples help you deal with it. One mid-stage Qi Refining, two late-stage Qi Refining, and one peak Qi Refining going together to subjugate the beast—even if that demonic beast has grown close to advancing to second rank over the years, our combat power is completely overkill. Don’t worry.”
A while later, the two arrived at the Tianqing Sect’s mountain gate, where many groups of people were already gathered.
“It’s Senior Aunt Fang!”
Seeing Fang Yuling appear in the sky above the mountain gate on her Cold Water Flood Dragon, the assembled disciples exclaimed in awe.
“Is that Senior Aunt Fang, the chief eldest disciple under Tianqing True Person? I heard she’s already advanced to late-stage Foundation Establishment! I didn’t expect her to lead the team this time. Our Tianqing Sect is really putting on a big show!”
“That’s her spirit beast, the Cold Water Flood Dragon, right? I’ve heard about it so many times, but this is my first time seeing it. It’s truly extraordinary.”
Suddenly, someone noticed Bai Qiushui standing beside Fang Yuling.
“There’s someone else next to Senior Aunt Fang. Who is she? She looks like a Qi Refining junior sister.”
“You don’t know? That’s the new personal disciple Tianqing True Person recently accepted—the legendary Heavenly Spiritual Root, Junior Sister Bai Qiushui!”
“Accepted as a disciple by a Golden Core True Person while still at Qi Refining?! Doesn’t that make her our senior aunt by sect hierarchy?”
“By sect seniority, yes. But when someone called her Senior Aunt before, it made her feel uncomfortable all over, so we just call her Junior Sister instead.”
Seeing the Cold Water Flood Dragon descend, the disciples on the ground quickly cleared an open space.
“Master!”
After Fang Yuling landed, a disciple stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
“This is Zhang Huaiyu, my eldest disciple. She’s one of the ones who will help you hunt the Cold Water Flood Dragon this time.”
“Huaiyu, this is Junior Sister Bai.”
After Fang Yuling introduced the two, Bai Qiushui stepped forward and saluted Zhang Huaiyu.
“Hello, Senior Sister Zhang.”
“Hello, Junior Sister Bai. This is my first time meeting you. You’re so pretty and talented—you’ve been making quite a name for yourself in the sect lately. Hehe, come let Senior Sister take a good look.”
Smack!!!
“Ow!”
Seeing Zhang Huaiyu enthusiastically approach Bai Qiushui, Fang Yuling delivered a direct chop to her head, signaling her to behave.
“Don’t scare your junior sister.”
“Yes, Master.”
Zhang Huaiyu took a step back, straightened her posture, and waited for her master’s orders.
“Have all the disciples going to the secret realm this time gathered?”
“Yes, they’re all here.”
“Good. Where are your junior sisters and brothers? Bring them out so Qiushui can meet them.”
Hearing this, Zhang Huaiyu immediately turned toward the group of cultivators and shouted.
“Second, Third, Fourth! Come assemble! Master is looking for you!”
The moment the words fell, three figures leaped out from the crowd, landed behind Zhang Huaiyu, and said in unison.
“Greetings, Master!”
“Mm. These three are your other three helpers, and my other three disciples.”
After Bai Qiushui greeted the three together, they introduced themselves and then returned to the group.
“Alright, everyone quiet down!”
Once her disciples and Bai Qiushui had returned to the formation, Fang Yuling addressed the crowd.
“The Taiqing Secret Realm training is a long-standing tradition among our three sects. Remember, inside the secret realm, your own safety comes first. Every participant will be given a teleportation jade slip. If you encounter danger, crush it and you’ll be teleported out of the secret realm.”
She then patted her storage pouch. Dozens of streams of light flew out and landed in each disciple’s hand.
“Also, half of the resources every disciple finds inside the secret realm must be handed over to the sect. The sect will rank you based on how much you collect and award you accordingly. Furthermore, disciples from different sects or loose cultivators inside the secret realm are allowed to seize each other’s resources.”
“So be extra careful. Loose cultivators are one thing, but if you run into multiple disciples from another sect, remember to use your teleportation jade slip immediately to avoid getting injured and losing what you’ve gathered.”
“Understood, Senior Aunt!”
Hearing the disciples’ replies, Fang Yuling nodded in satisfaction and said.
“Good. Everyone board up. It’s time to depart!”
Once the disciples had all mounted her Cold Water Flood Dragon, Fang Yuling urged it into the sky and flew swiftly toward the secret realm entrance.
After flying for several hours, the Tianqing Sect group arrived at a mountaintop in the northern Qingling Mountains.
A vast plaza had been built there, with an intricate array carved in its center.
Two other groups were already waiting in the open area around it.
“Fairy Fang, it’s been a while!”
Seeing Fang Yuling’s Cold Water Flood Dragon approach, the leader of one group of yellow-robed cultivators—a burly man—cupped his fists and called out loudly.
“It’s rare to see Fairy Fang leading the Tianqing Sect team this time. Hahaha!”
Hearing the greeting, Fang Yuling returned the salute and said.
“Fellow Daoist Chen, long time no see.”
She then called toward the other group in white daoist robes.
“Fellow Daoist Huang, it’s been a while too. How have you been since we last met a year ago?”
The leader of that group—a young man dressed like a scholar—stepped forward and replied.
“Fairy Fang, I’ve been doing very well. I didn’t expect that in just one year you’d already advance to late-stage Foundation Establishment. Truly, the younger generation is to be feared.”
“Not at all. In terms of realm, Fellow Daoist Huang reached late-stage years ago. You’re the senior here.”
“We’re at the same realm now, so no need for such formality. Quickly bring the Tianqing Sect juniors down.”
“Alright.”
With that, Fang Yuling urged the Cold Water Flood Dragon to land on the plaza and let the Tianqing Sect’s Qi Refining disciples disembark.
“Why is Senior Sister Fang being so respectful to that Huang cultivator?”
Hearing their conversation, Bai Qiushui asked the nearby Zhang Huaiyu curiously.
“You joined later, so you wouldn’t know. A year ago, Master was still at mid-stage Foundation Establishment. She was surrounded by two mid-stage Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators and nearly fell.”
“Luckily, Senior Huang from the Lingxu Sect happened to pass by. He’d already been at late-stage Foundation Establishment for years. He quickly slew those demonic cultivators and saved Master. So Senior Huang is Master’s lifesaver—that’s why she’s so respectful toward him.”
“I see.”
Bai Qiushui nodded after learning the truth, then thought of the demonic cultivators and asked again.
“By the way, Senior Sister Zhang, do you know which force those two demonic cultivators belonged to?”
“I don’t know their force. After Master returned, Grandmaster was furious and immediately ordered a purge of nearby demonic cultivators. But afterward, we never got any news about those two.”
“Mm.”
Bai Qiushui pondered for a moment and decided to ask Fang Yuling later whether the Blood Fiend Sect might be connected to those two and if the sect had investigated any information about them.
After Fang Yuling landed, she walked straight to the array in the center of the plaza and spoke together with the other two sect leaders.
“Although this training also involves competition between you, remember to stop at the right moment and not damage the harmony among the three sects. Three days after the secret realm opens, you will all be automatically teleported out.”
After the three gave a few more reminders, they turned around and each took out an exquisitely crafted artifact from their storage pouches.
“Activate!”
The three shouted together. The three artifacts glowed brilliantly as spiritual power poured into them. They then guided the artifacts to merge into one.
Once the three artifacts fused, they slotted perfectly into the hole at the center of the array. The entire formation immediately radiated streams of spiritual light.
“Everyone step into the array. In a moment, it will teleport you to random locations inside the secret realm. After that, whether you explore alone or gather together is up to you.”
The disciples of the three sects stepped onto the array one after another.
Once they were ready, the three leaders activated the teleportation array completely.
Deep blue spiritual light surged forth, enveloping everyone on the array layer by layer. In the blink of an eye, they vanished.
To Bai Qiushui, it felt like she had only blinked. The scenery before her suddenly changed from the mountaintop plaza to a dense jungle.
“So this is inside the secret realm. The spiritual energy is so rich! I feel like my techniques and divine abilities could gain three whole layers of power here! And just breathing in and out brings such pure spiritual energy into my body—my cultivation speed could be several times faster! What a wonderful place!”
Although she was extremely surprised, Bai Qiushui did not forget her mission on this trip.
After taking a few breaths to adjust, she immediately mounted her flying sword and hurried toward the location she had been told about earlier.
After traveling for a while, she saw a cyan signal shoot into the sky from the distant snowy mountains.
She quickly realized it was her sect’s signal—someone had already reached her destination.
Bai Qiushui sped up.
A short time later, she arrived in the snowy mountains and spotted a familiar person.
“Senior Sister Zhang!”
Bai Qiushui called out. Zhang Huaiyu heard her and immediately waved for her to fly over.
“Are you the only one here, Senior Sister?”
After landing beside Zhang Huaiyu, Bai Qiushui looked around and saw no one else, so she asked.
“Mm. So far only you have arrived. That’s strange—Second and Third should have been faster than you. Were they teleported somewhere farther away?”
“I see. Is the Cold Water Flood Dragon’s lair here?”
“Yes.”
Zhang Huaiyu pointed at the cave in the mountain wall and said.
“That’s the Cold Water Flood Dragon’s lair. It’s still inside right now, but I can’t guarantee it won’t leave soon. The sooner we act, the better.”
The two waited a while longer and only managed to meet the one mid-stage Qi Refining junior brother.
The other two were nowhere to be seen.
Zhang Huaiyu thought for a moment and said gravely.
“Perhaps the two of them were intercepted.”
Hearing Zhang Huaiyu, Bai Qiushui asked.
“Intercepted? By other cultivators?”
“Mm. Some people ambush others on the way to the signal location to slow them down and keep them from reaching the treasures quickly. It’s a common tactic.”
After hearing this, Bai Qiushui said solemnly.
“Then what should we do now, Senior Sister?”
“Hmm.”
After a brief moment of thought, Zhang Huaiyu decided to attack the Cold Water Flood Dragon directly.
“If we wait any longer, the Cold Water Flood Dragon might leave. You two stay behind me and use techniques and talismans to restrain it. I’ll take the lead and wear it down. That should be fine.”
The two nodded in agreement with Zhang Huaiyu’s plan.
Together, they flew into the cave, heading straight for the Cold Water Flood Dragon’s lair.