Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Shouldn’t Talk Back to Senior Brother

The next day, the envoy delegation embarked on a treasure boat, heading back to Kunlun, westward.

Song He sat near the stern, silently looking out at the sea of clouds outside the window.

This time, the Ziwei Master’s visit to Penglai Jade Pure was primarily to finalize the joint venture of Foundation Establishment Rank disciples to the Pavilion.

Although it was a remnant secret realm from ancient times, the Three Cults had already established themselves independently, and their relations were not as solid as iron.

Moreover, since the Pavilion Secret Realm was located deep in the East Sea and its access mechanism was controlled by the Yuqing View, Kunlun disciples needed to gain approval from Yuqing View to participate in the Pavilion trials.

In short, without dwelling on the minutiae of interest exchanges, the two sects eventually came to an agreement, and the list of disciples destined for joint cultivation in the Pavilion was settled.

His junior brothers, Zhao Wencheng and Qiu Yuan, who had recently entered the Refining Mansion Rank, sought to swiftly transform their Purple Mansion with the help of the Pavilion’s power, thus leaving time to perfect it and were successfully included on the list.

Qiu Changtian and Xu Yinglian were also on the list, as it was intended for them to skip the prolonged phase of Qi intake for Qi Refinement.

Since the Pavilion Secret Realm was situated in the distant ocean of the East Sea and within the sphere of influence of Yuqing View, it was impossible for the Sect Leader to let him take the sect’s treasure, the Tai Yi Dividing Light Sword, there.

Additionally, non-Foundation Establishment Rank disciples were unable to enter the realm, creating a rare window of opportunity.

A window where Qiu Changtian would be isolated outside, without any Magical Treasures or elders for protection, was also the most suitable time to act against him.

Song He stretched out a finger and gently massaged his brow.

Last night, he visited an old acquaintance from Yuqing View and managed to learn the details of the Pavilion Secret Realm’s trial from him.

Inside the secret realm, the world was vast and boundless.

Theoretically, it was possible to find fellow daoists and tackle challenges together.

However, upon entering the Secret Realm, the Pavilion’s Prohibitions would identify each entrant’s Divine Soul and intentionally scatter everyone to different locations.

Due to different starting points and varying sequences of completing the trials, it was very difficult for the trialists to meet.

But there was one place where all trialists would inevitably reach, differing only in the order of arrival.

That was the end point after passing all trials—the Pavilion Main Hall!

As long as he cleared the trials before Qiu Changtian, he could ambush him at the entrance to the Pavilion.

Given Qiu Changtian’s qualities, he was likely to clear the trials faster than most others. As long as he arrived earlier and ambushed him, employing a powerful Magical Treasure for a rapid kill, the chances of success were very high!

As for the aftermath, it was even easier. Once the Pavilion Secret Realm closed, who knew when it would open again, and the cause of his death would be entirely unverifiable.

It was known that to prevent cheating by concealing the divined fate, the Restrictions of the Pavilion Secret Realm brutally blocked off all Divination methods of investigation.

While Song He was carefully plotting, on the other side, Luo Yan and Shi Liuli were also called over by Elder Shi Ding.

“You have already learned about the Pavilion from your Chief Disciple, haven’t you?” Elder Shi Ding spoke solemnly, “Our Heavenly Craft Workshop lineage’s Three Flowers Gathering Spirit Technique is not very efficient in Qi Refinement.”

“Thus, using this opportunity in the Pavilion Secret Realm to skip the originally prolonged process of filling the Qi Sea is a rare opportunity for you all.”

Seeing his serious and solemn demeanor, Luo Yan and Shi Liuli sat upright and listened patiently to Elder Shi Ding’s guidance:

“The Pavilion trial secret realm is divided into six paths: the One Line Fire Prison Gate, Double Lives Mortal World Gate, Three Kinds Animal Gate, Four Kings Asura Gate, Sixth Heaven Heavenly Demon Gate, and the Ten Halls of Fengdu Gate.”

“Of these, the Fire Prison, Asura, and Fengdu Gates will test combat capabilities; the Mortal World, Animal, and Heavenly Demon Gates will test heart and Comprehension.”

“After entering, the Pavilion’s Restrictions will teleport you randomly to one of the gates. As long as you succeed in clearing it, you will be randomly teleported to the next gate, making it very unlikely for you to meet with each other.”

“Thus, you must clear the gates on your own, and don’t trust anyone you encounter—regardless of whether you know the person, you should treat them as strangers.”

“The disciple understands (The daughter understands),” Luo Yan and Shi Liuli replied respectively.

“Hmm,” Elder Shi Ding pondered for a moment before sighing and saying, “The Qi Refining Rank is not only the process of drawing Qi into the body but also the process of cultivating Qi to Purify the Mind.”

“The Qi Refining Rank, as the first hurdle for cultivators, often requires thirty to forty years and is actually a test of Daoist Heart.”

“Whether you can withstand loneliness and remain true to your core is key to your subsequent cultivation.”

“By taking advantage of the Pavilion Secret Realm, skipping this stage, it’s uncertain whether it will be beneficial or detrimental.”

Elder Shi Ding heaved a long, deep sigh and then, with his hands clasped behind his back, slowly walked away.

“Hmph!” No sooner had he left than Shi Liuli jumped up and said, “Father looks down on me again!”

“What master said is not without reason…” As soon as Luo Yan tried to smooth things over, he was stared down by Miss Shi, and sensing the mood, he cleverly shut his mouth.

“Daoist Heart, Daoist Heart, do I not possess a Daoist Heart?” Shi Liuli said angrily, “Am I not a cultivation genius? Who decreed that others must spend thirty to forty years in the Qi Refinement rank, and that I must follow suit and also spend thirty to forty years?”

“Senior sister is absolutely right!” Luo Yan could only falsely flatter her, “Master, being a father, always subconsciously treats his children as if they are still little kids.”

“And?” Shi Liuli asked, tilting her head.

“But in fact, with senior sister’s talent, there’s really no need to worry,” Luo Yan said with a smile.

[False persona, Synchronization Value +1.]

“Exactly!” Shi Liuli said as if it were only natural, and then smiled contentedly, “Junior brother understands me best.”

“Alas, even though my talent may not be as clear-sighted as Chief Qiu’s Daoist Heart Clarity, it can’t be considered poor compared to other senior brothers and sisters, right? They all took one or two months to pass the three trials, but I managed to cultivate my Qi Sea in just half a month!”

“To be fair, it’s indeed so,” Luo Yan continued with a flurry of flattery, “Cultivating a Qi Sea in half a month, what kind of cultivation talent is that? I bet it took master more than half a month to pass the three trials when he did them.”

“Junior brother, I’ll tell you a secret, but you can’t tell anyone else, okay? Father actually wasn’t that talented,” Shi Liuli said with a smile in her eyes, whispering in his ear, “It took him a month and thirteen days.”

Luo Yan was left speechless at her words.

Miss Shi, there’s a saying that family shames should not be spread abroad, and your actions are truly very ‘filial’.

Of course, to some extent, this also reflected the deep trust Shi Liuli had in him.

In any case, since Miss Shi had no awareness of the relationship between Qiu Changtian and Luo Yan, he could safely reload Qiu Changtian’s save and start preparing for the trip to the Pavilion Secret Realm.

He reloaded the save to last night, donned Qiu Changtian’s persona, and spent the night in his room.

The next morning, Qiu Changtian joined the others and boarded the treasure ship headed back to Kunlun.

Upon arriving at Golden Ridge, Qiu Changtian said to Xu Yinglian:

“Junior sister, you should go back first. I still have things to take care of.”

“Oh.” Xu Yinglian didn’t ask further, only descended at the entrance of her cave dwelling with the light of her sword.

Qiu Changtian controlled the sword light and quickly arrived at the entrance of Jian Qingnan’s cave, bursting in with great momentum.

Not long after, the caught-in-the-act Jian Qingnan, under the chief disciple’s interrogation, confessed everything:

“… Actually, all these concentric knots are fakes, just human hair I casually collected from Red Platform Market.”

Heh, still daring to deceive with fakes?

Qiu Changtian then sternly warned her:

“Hair and nails, if they fall off within a month, can be used by someone as a vehicle for curse mystique, did you know that?”

“Of course I know,” said Jian Qingnan in a wronged tone, “But most of these curse mystiques have been long lost.”

“In ancient times, there was the Seven-Arrow Nail Head Scripture. Just by knowing a person’s name, you didn’t need hair or nails to connect with the other person’s divine soul! By that logic, shouldn’t even names not be revealed…”

Qiu Changtian burst into anger, interrupting her:

“You still dare to talk back?”

“I dare not,” Jian Qingnan quickly shrank back.

“Say ‘junior sister should not talk back to senior brother’ ten times! Louder!”

“Junior sister should not talk back to senior brother…” Tears were almost falling from Jian Qingnan’s eyes.