46. What a Master!
Five days later.
A sudden spring rain fell.
Just like the spring rain in the novel, the new year arrived, and the first layer of the secret realm’s barrier would be opened on this day.
Sitting in the carriage heading towards the secret realm, Miss Gong couldn’t help but sneeze loudly. “Achoo!”
“Master, are you sure you don’t have a cold?” Qiu Shui patted her back worriedly. “You’ve been sneezing these past few days. Should Qiu Shui get you some medicine after we return?”
“It’s fine, it’s nothing.”
Gong Yiling sniffed and chuckled.
She also found it strange. Ever since she blew up that hill, she had been sneezing occasionally.
But she didn’t have a cold. She was perfectly healthy, except for having to worry about her period again.
That was the truly tiring part for a manly man.
“Then Master, Qiu Shui will continue cultivating.”
“Get some sleep before we arrive. Don’t overwork yourself.”
“Okay.”
Seeing Qiu Shui’s obedience, Miss Gong felt like she had found a treasure.
—Although this treasure was originally meant for the protagonist.
Soon, Qiu Shui entered a meditative state, the true essence around her rippling like water.
This was the manifestation of qi, a sign of approaching the Return to Origin realm.
Yes.
Since her breakthrough to Core Transformation and the Heavenly Rainbow Blessing, Qiu Shui’s cultivation speed had become absurdly fast.
In just five days, she had reached the peak of Core Transformation. Her golden core was returning to its origin, showing signs of dispersing into her meridians.
Forming the core, then transforming it, reverting the core to essence. When her true essence could be stored in any meridian, it would mean she had completed the first stage of cultivation and entered the initial stage of Soul Origin refinement, the Return to Origin realm.
Compared to Qiu Shui, Miss Gong felt her Heavenly Saint Technique was…
Utterly useless!
Her meridians were indeed different from ordinary people’s, and her strength couldn’t be judged solely by her cultivation level. But this also caused a problem.
Her cultivation progress was incredibly slow.
Previously, a night of cultivation would fill her meridians with true essence, resulting in noticeable progress.
But now, it took two days and nights of non-stop cultivation to achieve the same result.
And the progress had to be divided between her two cultivation techniques, making it a drop in the bucket.
—This wasn’t because her method was wrong, but because the surrounding spiritual energy was too thin.
Her body was like a bottomless pit. The spiritual energy stored in her blood-veined golden core had only brought her to the peak of Core Formation in her demonic art and Foundation Establishment in her Daoist technique.
To progress further, she would need hundreds of low-grade spirit stones, but she didn’t have that much money.
Now, she could only hope to find a sufficient amount of spirit stones in the secret realm.
Finally, they arrived at the Southern Forest, where the carriage could no longer proceed. Gong Yiling and Qiu Shui disembarked.
—This trip was dangerous, and Gong Yiling couldn’t guarantee Chun Lian’s safety, so she entrusted her to the Yan family’s care.
Shortly after, members of other sects and families also arrived, following Gong Yiling.
Gong Yiling: “…”
What did they want? For her to lead the way?
“Immortal Master seems to have improved again.”
Elder Yan stroked his beard admiringly. “Your aura has become more restrained. Could it be that you’re… about to break through to Earthly Nether realm?”
Uh…
Miss Gong didn’t know what to say, neither nodding nor shaking her head. She simply turned away.
“It seems so.”
Elder Yan felt even more confident now.
The Hehuan Sect’s leader was only at Soul Origin realm. If they could leave him to the Immortal Master, they could handle the rest.
The thought of crippling the Hehuan Sect filled him with joy, and he volunteered to lead the way.
The group arrived at the outer area of the secret realm. At the only entrance, not only were there members of the Hehuan Sect, but also representatives from various other sects, including the Heartflame Empire.
The atmosphere was tense, a single wrong word could spark a fight.
The arrival of Elder Yan’s group added fuel to the fire.
“Sect Master Yan.”
“Sect Master Mei.”
“Sect Master Zhu.”
“Sect Master xxxx.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
“Long time no see!”
“How’s your wife?”
“Does your son look like me?”
After exchanging superficial greetings, they turned their attention to the Hehuan Sect.
“Demons, you dare stand here?” Elder Yan sneered. “A bunch of rats, instead of sneaking around at night, you dare show yourselves here openly. Do you think we’re nobody?”
Uh…
Miss Gong, caught in the crossfire, thought, Whatever makes you happy.
“And who might this be?”
Someone from the Hehuan Sect sneered. “The trash of the Dongyang Sect, daring to bark at us.”
Was the next line “I’ve never seen such a shameless person”?
“Trash? Laughable. How is your Left Protector doing these days?”
His words caused an uproar.
The Left Protector had his own agenda and a solitary nature. No one knew what he was doing in private.
But even so, his death was a blow to the Hehuan Sect.
Elder Yan deliberately brought this up to provoke them.
“You!”
Several Hehuan Sect members were enraged, about to attack, but a heavily made-up, androgynous figure stopped them.
Their aura was far stronger than anyone else present. This must be the Soul Origin realm leader of the Hehuan Sect.
“Sect Master… we…”
The androgynous figure quelled their agitation and stepped forward. “Which bitch killed my sect member? State your name.”
Uh…
After these words, everyone’s gaze fell upon Gong Yiling.
Like a duck being herded onto a stage, Miss Gong could only step forward.
Compared to the Hehuan Sect Master, Wu Shijie, Miss Gong’s presence was negligible.
But this lack of presence made Wu Shijie narrow his eyes.
Someone who could conceal their aura so well… must be a master.
Leave a Reply