Outside.
While Jiang Ye was breaking through to Foundation Establishment inside the secret realm, at the True Disciple mountain of Sword Peak—
Dark clouds blanketed the sky, and five-colored divine thunder churned wildly within the cloud layer, resembling colorful little snakes slithering through the storm.
On the flat ground in front of her secluded cave abode, Qin Zhiwei, who had been in secluded cultivation for a long time, was looking up at the sky.
She stared gravely at the rolling lightning tribulation in the sky and immediately swallowed several pills.
The Five Elements Divine Lightning comprised thirty-six strikes in total, and only the final one remained.
“BOOM!”
A surge of five-colored lightning as thick as an arm struck down.
The protective arrays surrounding Qin Zhiwei shattered instantly, though they still managed to absorb nearly half of the damage for her.
Relying on the magic tools on her body and her formidable physical strength, she managed to bare-handedly withstand the final strike of heavenly thunder.
At this moment, blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, and her Daoist robe was torn and tattered, revealing parts of her slender, shapely body. Fortunately, she was wearing a fitted soft armor underneath, or else she would have exposed herself completely today.
Although the phenomenon of 【Chaos Planting Green Lotus】 triggered by Jiang Ye inside the secret realm was isolated by the small pocket dimension and the arrays, it still stirred the cosmic qi of heaven and earth.
Qin Zhiwei's sea of consciousness, which had only just completed its breakthrough, underwent a earth-shattering transformation in an instant.
Her sea of consciousness, originally a hazy gray, expanded rapidly into a deep blue lake.
A single green lotus slowly sprouted, its stalk rooting itself into the lake.
Immediately following that, green lotus petals unfurled one by one.
One petal, two petals... in a flash, all six petals bloomed fully!
【Six-Petal Green Lotus】
But it did not stop there. As if drawn by an unseen thread of cosmic qi—
“Buzz!”
Another six petals bloomed in succession!
The 【Twelve-Petal Green Lotus】 was formed!
Immediately afterward, this vision surged out of her sea of consciousness. A hundred-zhang phantom green lotus instantly enveloped all of Sword Peak, its momentum staggering.
Qin Zhiwei abruptly snapped her eyes open, her face filled with wild ecstasy! She felt as if she had received divine assistance; her green lotus had actually shattered its limits, forcibly rising by an entire grade.
But she knew now was not the time to celebrate.
With a flick of her wrist, she tossed out a formation plate and formed hand seals rapidly.
“【Tier Three Spirit-Gathering Formation】, open!”
Spiritual energy began to surge wildly from the surroundings, but this concentration was still far from enough.
Qin Zhiwei waved her right hand.
Clatter!
Thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones poured out—this was her entire net worth.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The spirit stones burst one after another. In an instant, the concentration of spiritual energy skyrocketed, turning the surrounding air thick and viscous.
Qin Zhiwei hesitated no longer, driving her cultivation technique to its limit, greedily absorbing spiritual energy like a giant whale swallowing water.
“BOOM!”
A muffled boom reverberated within her body.
The 【High-Grade Dao Base】 was formed!
“Hahaha! I, Qin Zhiwei, have achieved Foundation Establishment!!”
A burst of loud laughter echoed across Sword Peak.
Valiant and heroic, Qin Zhiwei changed into a fresh Daoist robe, stepped onto her flying sword, and soared into the sky.
She had expected to be greeted with flowers and applause from her senior brothers and sisters, or at least a flurry of envious and jealous gazes.
In the end... Sword Peak was dead quiet, as if everyone had fled overnight.
Qin Zhiwei rode her flying sword, circling around the foot of Sword Peak in a wide loop.
She didn't see a single living breathing soul!
She closed her eyes and unsteadily swept out her divine sense in a scan.
Finally, beneath the massive sword at the back mountain of Sword Peak, she spotted a large crowd of people gathered.
Qin Zhiwei furrowed her brows in deep thought.
Suddenly, she slapped her thigh and muttered:
“I almost forgot! Today is the opening day of the sect's secret realm. Everyone must have gone inside!”
“I flexed for absolute nothing!”
...
Azure Mystic Main Peak, inside one of the courtyards where alchemists resided.
Sandalwood incense curled gracefully in the room, which was arranged in an exceedingly elegant style.
A burly man with a full beard was adjusting his disheveled clothes while looking toward the massive green lotus atop Sword Peak in the distance.
He muttered under his breath, “Looks like Sword Peak has produced another genius.”
Behind him came the rustling sound of clothes being put on.
A fair-skinned, slender figure was smoothing out their heavily rumpled clothes.
The burly man stood by the window.
Suddenly, a delicate palm rested onto his sturdy shoulder.
A soft, gentle voice came from behind:
“Gao-lang, what are you thinking about?”
Gao Chengji's entire body went stiff.
He turned his head stiffly, the expression on his bearded face turning extremely complicated, looking almost as if he were severely constipated.
His voice was even trembling: “I... I'm sorry. I was too impulsive just now.”
The slender figure tightly hugged Gao Chengji's thick waist, sobbing softly:
“Gao-lang, are you despising me now?”
Gao Chengji's face froze. He looked down at the hands around his waist and whispered, “I... I'm sorry, Huang Tianbei.”
“We're already like this, and you're still calling me by my full name?”
Gao Chengji: “...”
He couldn't help falling into silence.
He had always considered himself a straight-as-iron man.
Until half a year ago, when he took on a mission to escort Huang Tianbei to search for rare spiritual herbs.
To provide close protection, the two ate and lived together, and naturally slept in the same tent while out in the wilderness.
However, for reasons unknown, “protecting a brother” somehow turned into “brother, you smell so good.”
After that night, he began to question his entire life. Thus, he fled the sect under the guise of searching for an opportunity to break through to the Golden Core realm, when in truth he was just running away from reality...
Over the past six months, he had gradually calmed down and chalked up that night's incident to a mere accident.
Returning to the sect today, he had intended to explain everything clearly to Huang Tianbei.
Yet, he hadn't expected that as soon as they met... the plot played out into “brother, you smell so good” all over again.
Just as Gao Chengji was lost in thought, he felt the arms around his waist loosen.
Huang Tianbei sighed with a resentful expression:
“Just a moment ago you were calling me your little darling, and now I'm back to Huang Tianbei?”
Gao Chengji: “...”
The atmosphere fell into a dead silence.
After a long while, Gao Chengji stiffly changed the subject:
“I heard... about your younger brother, Huang Tiannan...”
Upon hearing this, Huang Tianbei, who was still looking resentful, immediately began to sob softly:
“My brother died so miserably... he was... by that horrible female demonhead...”
Gao Chengji turned his head and said in a low voice:
“I've looked into it. Although your brother was in the wrong first, that Bai Zhirou relied on her status and went far too wild.”
“Don't worry, I will get justice for you. Our Gao family is not afraid of her.”
“Gao-lang, you're so good to me...”
Immediately after, a pair of hands wrapped around Gao Chengji's waist from behind once more...
...
A ke later.
At the entrance of the Sword Peak secret realm.
Qin Zhiwei was getting caught up on recent events from Chu Qianfeng.
Before going into secluded cultivation, she thought what Junior Sister Bai had done was already impressive enough, but she never expected...
“What?! Junior Sister Bai killed a peak Tier Two demon beast with a Tier Four bloodline?!”
“Did she break through to Foundation Establishment? No, that can't be right. If she broke through to Foundation Establishment, she wouldn't be able to participate in the outer sect tournament...”
Chu Qianfeng was already used to it. After she finished being shocked, he explained the whole story to her in detail.
Right at that moment.
Two figures flew over on swords.
It was none other than the full-bearded Gao Chengji and Huang Tianbei following close behind him.
Gao Chengji released his Golden Core realm pressure without holding anything back.
The surrounding disciples all turned pale and voluntarily parted to make a large open space.
At a time when the higher-ups and True Disciples had all entered the secret realm, a Golden Core cultivator wandering around outside stood out like a sore thumb.
The two landed on the ground.
When the disciples of Azure Mystic Peak recognized who had arrived, their eyes lit up and they bowed one after another:
“Greetings, Third Senior Brother.”
Gao Chengji merely gave a cold “Mm.”
Meanwhile, Huang Tianbei followed behind Gao Chengji with extreme natural ease, looking like a favored concubine.
The surrounding disciples began to whisper among themselves:
“Is that Senior Brother Gao? I heard he was also one of the Holy Son candidates back in the day.”
“Haven't seen him for over half a year, and he actually broke through to the Golden Core realm! As expected of a True Disciple of Azure Mystic Peak.”
Hearing the compliments around him, Huang Tianbei, who was already arrogant as an alchemist, raised his chin even higher, looking like a proud little hen.
He glared viciously at the secret realm entrance, his mind already wildly imagining the scene of Gao Chengji pinning that “crazy woman” to the ground and beating her to a pulp.
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