The first thing Xu Wen did after returning to Ten Thousand Swords Peak was personally expelling the disciple Zhao Wuwei.As for the Zhao family, he trusted that the Jiang family wouldn't let them off easily.Only after handling that did he tell his disciple, Shi Jingjing, about the plan to join Star-Moon Sect.
Shi Jingjing possessed an eighth-grade spiritual root.She looked petite and doll-like, but in truth, she had astonishing strength.However, her mind was... a bit too simple.She had always followed her master's words without question, never considering right or wrong.
Meanwhile, Tara York had already returned to Star-Moon Sect, bringing Jiang Wanwan with her.Jiang Wanwan could barely keep up with her own excitement.She had heard about the fearsome reputation of Mount Wanjue since she was a child—desolate, deadly, and unforgiving.Even cultivators who had survived the Lightning Tribulation and ascended to the Immortal Realm could barely last a month inside.Ordinary people couldn't even approach; setting foot near it meant certain death.Thus, Mount Wanjue had firmly claimed the top spot among the Ten Great Forbidden Grounds.
But now, what lay before her was a lush, vibrant paradise filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers—like a scene straight out of a painting.The moment Jiang Wanwan stepped into the sect, she felt her entire body relax.Her mind cleared, her vision sharpened, and a strange flow of energy began moving freely through her meridians.
"Over there are the outer sect disciples' quarters. You can pick any room you like," Tara York said casually.
"Yes, Sect Leader," Jiang Wanwan nodded obediently.
Tara then took out a high-grade, eighth-tier ice cultivation manual."This is the 'Cold Abyss Technique.' It complements your Cold Marrow Sacred Body and will greatly enhance your progress."
"Thank you, Sect Leader," Jiang Wanwan replied respectfully, accepting the manual with both hands.The moment she touched it, a chill seeped into her skin like cool jade, making her shiver involuntarily.
"Sit down cross-legged. I'll personally guide you through the first stage of cultivation," Tara instructed.
"Yes." Jiang Wanwan immediately sat down on a large bluestone.
Tara raised a hand and lightly tapped Jiang Wanwan's forehead with her fingertip.In an instant, frost formed across Jiang Wanwan's body, and even her hair was glazed with ice crystals.Behind her, the silhouette of an Ice Luan bird appeared, flapping its wings and letting out a clear, resonant cry.Snowflakes began to fall from the sky—but not a single flake touched Tara.The snow seemed to instinctively avoid her presence.
After about thirty seconds, the frost around Jiang Wanwan faded, and her aura grew even colder and sharper.With Tara's guidance, she had successfully begun cultivating the Cold Abyss Technique.Not only that, but she immediately broke through to the second layer of the Vein Opening Realm.
As she officially became a cultivator, Jiang Wanwan finally realized just how abundant the spiritual energy was inside the sect.The dense spiritual qi eagerly poured into her meridians without her even needing to circulate her technique manually.Within just a few breaths, she broke through from the second to the third, then the fourth layer—It was easier than eating or drinking!
"There's no official cook hired yet, so you'll have to handle meals yourself for now," Tara said, ripping open space to pull a pig and two chickens from the spirit beast garden.Though they were just meant for eating, they still carried traces of imperial-grade bloodlines—not something Jiang Wanwan could easily manage.So Tara casually killed them with a swift stroke and asked, "Can you handle the rest?"
"I can!" Jiang Wanwan nodded enthusiastically.
"Good. For now, cook for yourself. I'll hire a proper chef in a few days," Tara said, handing her a kitchen knife.
Jiang Wanwan accepted it carefully.Even the kitchen knife Tara casually used was a high-grade eighth-tier artifact!
"If you run into trouble, you can come find me at the back mountain," Tara added."Alright, go pick a courtyard and settle in."
"Yes, Sect Leader!" Jiang Wanwan bowed low.
When she looked up again, Tara was already gone.Tara had simply taken a single step sideways and returned to her own courtyard.
The first thing she did upon arriving was dive onto her soft bed.After lazing around for a moment, she finally remembered, "Little One, I handed out a lot of treasures today—why haven't I seen any returns?"
Had the three systems exhausted themselves from competing so fiercely last night?Surely they hadn't been drained dry already?
"They were returned instantly!" Little One said proudly."You were busy at the time, so I muted the notifications to avoid disturbing you!"
Tara quickly opened her system panel and scrolled up through the group chat history.Sure enough, every time she gave away a treasure, there was a message showing a tenfold return—And the returned items were even higher-grade!
This system was simply too good!
Aside from Little One's return notifications, she noticed some check-in messages from Little Two.Although, the locations Little Two signed in from... were all places she'd never heard of.Tiny villages and small towns, nothing grand.
Just then, a new message popped up in the group chat:
[Little Three: Congratulations to the Host on recruiting your first outer sect disciple! As a reward, you've received a Secret Realm. Please choose where to place it.]
"A secret realm?" Tara's interest was immediately piqued."What kind of secret realm?"
"A Time-Space Secret Realm," Little Three explained."Inside, time flows ten times faster than outside. It also comes with a fivefold spirit-gathering array."
"Only fivefold?" Little Two teased with a soft, sweet voice."That's pretty weak."
Little Three almost spat out blood.Did they think the entire Wildlands had access to tenfold or hundredfold spirit-gathering arrays like they did?!
Little One chimed in, "Little Two, why don't you sign in a few hundredfold spirit arrays and install them inside Little Three's secret realm?"
"No problem!" Little Two giggled sweetly.
A moment later, another message popped up:
[Little Two: Successfully checked in at Zhao Family Village. Congratulations to the Host for acquiring 100 Hundredfold Spirit-Gathering Arrays!]
"Little Three, once the Time-Space Secret Realm is placed, can it still be moved?" Tara asked.
"Yes, it can," Little Three answered.
"Alright then, place it on the Ninth Peak for now," Tara decided."How big is the secret realm? How many arrays would it take to fully cover it?"
"It's not very big. Twenty or thirty arrays would be enough," Little Three replied.
"Then install fifty. Let's not be stingy," Tara said lavishly.After all, what she had in abundance now were spiritual treasures.
"Got it!" Little Three answered cheerfully.
At the same time, at Tianxuan Sect, an elder crushed his communication token in shock."Bad news! Our secret realm grew legs and ran away!"
The Sect Leader and the other elders immediately rushed to the scene.At the original entrance to the secret realm, only a heap of shattered top-grade spirit stones remained—These stones were originally used to anchor the entrance and consumed rapidly day by day.
Now, all the spirit stones were completely shattered, some even ground to fine powder.As for the entrance itself, it had completely disappeared without a trace.
The Tianxuan Sect Leader's face turned ashen.He frantically mobilized his spiritual sense to search, but the secret realm seemed to have simply vanished from existence.Even when he used their sect's ultimate treasure to investigate, he couldn't find the slightest trace.
After all the chaos, the Sect Master of Tianxuan Sect was completely dumbfounded.Where was their secret realm?Such a massive secret realm—how could it just vanish?The elders looked at each other in confusion, unable to understand.Weren't secret realms supposed to be fixed in place? How could it just... run away?This secret realm was the foundation of their sect's survival.Without it, Tianxuan Sect might very well be expelled from the ranks of the Four Great Sects.After all, their resources were far inferior compared to the other three.
"What exactly happened?" the Sect Master turned to Elder Hao, who had first sent the alarm.Elder Hao quickly explained, "I received word that the disciples inside the secret realm were forcibly ejected before their trial period ended, so I came to investigate.""When I arrived, I saw piles of shattered top-grade spirit stones everywhere.""And then... the secret realm entrance just—whoosh—disappeared!""It was as if... as if...""As if what? Speak clearly!" the Sect Master urged impatiently."It was as if someone forcibly dragged the entire secret realm away," Elder Hao said, lips trembling.Even he found the idea ridiculous. But that was what he had seen with his own eyes.
"Impossible!" the Sect Master frowned deeply. "Secret realms are nurtured by the heavens and earth themselves. Their positions are fixed. No one can just pick one up and move it!""But I swear it's true!" Elder Hao raised his hand solemnly. "If I utter a single falsehood, may the heavens strike me down!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, dark clouds gathered in the clear sky.A golden bolt of lightning struck down fiercely.Though weaker than the tribulation lightning used to ascend to the Immortal Realm, Elder Hao had been caught completely off guard.In an instant, he was charred black and collapsed to the ground, twitching.
After a long while, Elder Hao struggled to sit up, his face full of grievance."I wasn't lying! I can swear again if you want!"No sooner had he said it, the dark clouds rolled in again, and another bolt of lightning struck him.This time Elder Hao truly burst into tears, smoke rising from his mouth."Why are you still striking me? I'm telling the truth! I swear if I'm lying, then—"
The Sect Master rushed over and clamped a hand over Elder Hao's mouth."We believe you, we believe you!" he said hurriedly.He couldn't risk letting Elder Hao provoke the heavens again—who knew if the next strike might destroy the whole sect!
Tearfully, Elder Hao grabbed the Sect Master's hand, choking out,"Sect Master, I swear it really looked like someone yanked the secret realm away! I didn't see wrong!""Alright, alright, I believe you," the Sect Master said quickly. "Go heal yourself.""I'm fine," Elder Hao shook his head. "The two strikes weren't too strong."
Compared to the heavenly tribulation he faced during his ascension, these were nothing.But... what was that smell?Roasted and fragrant?Elder Hao's stomach growled uncontrollably.
"Sect Master, do you smell it too?" Elder Hao sniffed. "Smells so good. I think I could eat two bowls of spirit rice right now."The Sect Master's eye twitched."There's nothing more you can do here. If you're hungry, go eat," he said, waving Elder Hao away.
Once Elder Hao left, the Sect Master immediately ordered,"Seal off all news of this incident!""Sect Master, what about the disciples who were forcibly ejected from the realm? Some of them belong to other sects. It won't be easy to keep this quiet," an elder said worriedly."Just say the secret realm is experiencing turbulence and needs time for stabilization," the Sect Master decided on the spot."As for the training fees paid by the other three major sects...""Return them all. As for fees from the minor sects—no need to refund, just tell them their training is postponed.""And how long it's postponed—that's up to us."
—
The next morning, Gu Chenyuan used his Immortal Emperor cultivation base to quickly build a teleportation array.It would take them to Yong'an City.
As for why not teleport directly to the foot of Wanjue Mountain...If the teleportation went wrong and landed them deep inside the mountain—which might not yet be fully transformed—Those who had overcome the Immortal Tribulation could still survive with some loss of cultivation.But disciples like Xiao Huohuo and Shi Jingjing would probably die.Wanjue Mountain was still ranked first among the Ten Deadliest Locations, after all.Caution was warranted.
Before activating the teleportation array, Gu Chenyuan activated the sect's Grand Protective Array,in case enemies attacked while their top combat forces were away.This protective array was personally arranged by their sect's ancestor.Anyone below Immortal Venerable level couldn't break it.Though it consumed a huge amount of resources, their sect could afford a few days' activation.
Once everything was set, Gu Chenyuan led ten elders and two genius disciples onto the teleportation platform.With a flash of white light, the thirteen of them arrived in the northern outskirts of Yong'an City.
Immediately, Gu Chenyuan summoned a sixth-grade spirit boat and headed for Wanjue Mountain.The spirit boat moved quickly, and soon, Wanjue Mountain came into view.
"So this is Wanjue Mountain?" Gu Chenyuan stood atop the boat, gazing in silence for a long time."According to the map, this is the place," Li Changtian confirmed solemnly."It's definitely here," Yu Ruyi said, lips pressed together. "I once chased a demonic cultivator here, and back then, Wanjue Mountain looked nothing like this."
It used to be a barren, lifeless wasteland—Not a blade of grass in sight.
But now...The mountain was lush and vibrant, filled with abundant spiritual energy.
"I told you, didn't I? My Lady transformed Wanjue Mountain," Xu Wen said with a smug expression."Seeing is believing. Now you trust me, right?""We do, we absolutely do," Lin Danhua slung an arm around Xu Wen's shoulder."From now on, I'll believe anything you say."
Xu Wen slapped his arm away."Don't wrinkle my robe. I still need to apply to join as an outer sect disciple today."
"Let's go up," Gu Chenyuan said, retracting the spirit boat.The thirteen of them began climbing the mountain on foot.
As they climbed, Shi Jingjing asked,"Master, why are we walking instead of flying?""Climbing shows our sincerity," Xu Wen replied. "Less talking, more climbing."
And so, they climbed from morning till afternoon, and from afternoon into night.Even though the grand gates of the mountain seemed close at hand, they could never reach them.
"Sect Master, something's wrong," Yu Ruyi said, wiping sweat from her forehead."No matter how high a mountain is, we should have reached the top within a day."
They had deliberately refrained from using any spiritual energy to show respect.Gu Chenyuan tried walking backward, retracing his steps.
Sure enough, Xu Wen and the others soon saw Gu Chenyuan walking back down the mountain.They realized—they had been trapped in a loop, unknowingly repeating the same stretch of path.Yet the scenery kept subtly changing, masking the illusion.