The man on the topmost floor of the Star Observation Tower, who had just closed his eyes, trembled all over. He suddenly opened his eyes, got up, and hurried downstairs.
"Grand Tutor."
Chen Min and Shi Lan hastily bowed when they saw Xuan Qing suddenly appear at the doorway. However, Xuan Qing ignored them and leaped directly through the barrier of the beast-fighting arena.
He moved so swiftly that he broke through a large portion of the barrier, allowing the true situation inside the arena to fall directly into the eyes of Chen Min and Shi Lan.
"Chen Min, look quickly, what is that!" Shi Lan exclaimed, pointing at the massive star盤 in the center of the arena.
"The Heavenly Star Chessboard?" Chen Min straightened up abruptly, his eyes shining astonishingly. "Let's go, we'll follow him!"
Shi Lan did not object. The appearance of the Heavenly Star Chessboard was too surprising. They had previously only been able to see the Xuanjing Tiger locked by chains.
"The barrier Xuan Qing created could deceive our eyes, which means his strength is even higher than we imagined."
Chen Min analyzed, "But we confirmed when we arrived at Dasheng Kingdom that this was just an ordinary mortal country with no cultivators. Therefore, this can only mean..."
"There are heavenly materials and earthly treasures that can change mortal bone structure here, or... divine artifacts," Shi Lan gasped, finishing his sentence.
Various thoughts swirled in their minds, completely oblivious to a thin vine that followed closely behind them into the barrier.
...
For the first time in ten years, Xuan Qing stepped into his divine realm.
In just a short period of time, it had undergone earth-shattering changes.
The valley, previously made of hard stones, was now covered with flowers and wild grass. Gloomy clouds had been dispersed by the sun and wind, trees swayed in the breeze, and sunlight streamed through the green leaves, bright and comfortable, utterly unlike its former desolation.
This familiar warmth...
Xuan Qing, too impatient to admire the scenery he had longed for for decades, quickly walked up to Bai Shengyi, grabbed her shoulders, and asked, "Who exactly are you?"
His arrival was sudden, and Bai Shengyi, who was constantly on guard, instinctively thrust her Chunhong Sword into his palm. However, he seemed unfazed.
The facade of indifference was shattered. His cold, sinister eyes stared intently at Bai Shengyi, "Speak!"
"Let me go first," Bai Shengyi said coldly.
Xuan Qing was taken aback and subconsciously loosened his grip, but he still didn't let go. Bai Shengyi frowned, broke free from his grasp, and took a few steps forward.
Only when she had maintained a safe distance from him did she brush back a stray strand of hair from her face and say indifferently, "I am Bai Shengyi, you already knew that, didn't you?"
"No! How can you be Bai Shengyi? It's impossible!"
Xuan Qing shook his head repeatedly, refusing to believe this answer.
"You must be lying to me! Junior Sister, don't you remember me? I am Tian... Xuan Qing! Your favorite Senior Brother, how could you forget me?"
He spoke as if he were crying and laughing, his face contorted terrifyingly. Especially his eyes, which stared deeply at Bai Shengyi, burning and stubborn, as if he would go mad if Bai Shengyi didn't give him a satisfactory answer.
Xuan Qing's state was very abnormal. He was like a person who had trudged for a long time in the desert and finally saw an oasis. This was the hope he had finally touched. Even though he knew this hope was only one in ten thousand likely to be true, he forced himself to ignore the nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine possibilities of falsehood.
"I am not your..."
"You are Junior Sister!"
Xuan Qing grabbed Bai Shengyi's hand and said forcefully and ferociously, "You are! Only Junior Sister cultivates the Way of Life, only Junior Sister possesses such a warm Dao Heart!"
He appeared frantic and pathetic, yet also terrifying, but Bai Shengyi merely felt displeased.
No one wants to be mistaken for someone else.
"I cultivate the Way of Reincarnation," Bai Shengyi coldly withdrew her hand. A mixture of emerald green and dark blue spiritual power surged from her palm. "If you don't believe me, look for yourself."
The crystalline spiritual light sparkled in the sunlight, like a rainbow stretching across. The moment the light touched the ground, new shoots emerged from the grass, flower buds opened, withered, and new tender sprouts pushed out of the soil... the cycle of life repeated itself, death and rebirth perfectly integrated.
With Xuan Qing's discernment, he could naturally see that this was not the Tao of Life and Death, but a cycle.
Yet, he still insisted, "I won't admit my mistake!"
Bai Shengyi frowned. Just as she was about to say something, Xuan Qing waved his hand, and she was transported from the divine realm back to the beast-fighting arena.
Xuan Qing said, "Junior Sister, a few pests have appeared at home. I'll deal with them, and then I'll take you out to play. You'll remember Senior Brother then."
As if afraid Bai Shengyi would refuse, he left in a hurry after speaking.
"Shengyi, what happened?"
Chui Yu woke from her slumber and heard Xuan Qing's words, so surprised she almost thought she was dreaming.
Didn't that broken divine artifact just mention a few days ago that there was only one "Junior Sister"? Was he contradicting himself so quickly?
Bai Shengyi said, "I don't know either. Little Yuer, can you tell me about Sheng Yi, his Junior Sister? Do I really look like her?"
"Mmm..." Chui Yu sighed softly. "We do look a bit alike. However, Sheng Yi actually died ten years ago. Also, strictly speaking, Sheng Yi isn't the broken divine artifact's Junior Sister..."
...
"Huh? The training time isn't up yet, why are we out?"
"Yeah, we haven't found Fairy Shengyi yet!"
"Stop talking, look at Daoist Chu and Daoist Feng..."
Outside the Sanghai Secret Realm, the sky was suddenly filled with colorful clouds and permeated with spiritual energy. Then, everyone inside the secret realm appeared outside the secret realm, startling Hua Ye, who had been closely monitoring the situation.
"You..."
Before Hua Ye could finish speaking, he was interrupted.
"Quickly capture them! They are accomplices of Yun Youyue and those outsiders!"
As fellow participants in the trial, the seeds of Shenqi Academy were somewhat familiar with each other. Amidst this familiarity, the unfamiliar faces stood out conspicuously. Even though these few people had intended to slip away quietly, they couldn't escape everyone's attention.
Hua Ye also saw it. Before this, he had received a message from the Vice Dean, which was older than what these students knew. He immediately led the academy elders to act swiftly, and soon apprehended this group.
"You..."
His words were interrupted again.
This time, the interruption was a rumbling thunder.
"Elder Hua, they are about to undergo tribulation."
Hua Ye nodded. Even though his words were interrupted twice, he did not get angry. Instead, his usually silent face bore a smile of relief.
"Out of the fifty seeds this time, forty-three returned alive, thirty-nine advanced to Golden Core, and eleven reached late Golden Core, just one step away from Nascent Soul. This is a great thing!"
As his thoughts settled, he heard a confused voice from the elder beside him.
"Huh? Why didn't Bai Shengyi come out?"
"What!"
With the lightning tribulation imminent, Hua Ye could not care about being affected. He hastily summoned his sword and searched through the seeds again and again.
"Xue Ji, why didn't Bai Shengyi come out with you?" Hua Ye urgently asked his adopted son.
Hua Xue Ji's lips moved slightly, and he uttered a few words: "She, is missing."
"Missing?" Hua Ye exclaimed, and quickly asked what had happened.
Hua Xue Ji was not good at communication. Fortunately, Chu Tianle was standing beside him and told Hua Ye what happened with a solemn face.
"Elder Hua, can we enter the secret realm again? Shengyi is still waiting for us to find her."
"Wait until you finish your tribulation."
After understanding the situation, Hua Ye did not bother to comfort the students' emotions. He left them with a sentence, stood outside the coverage of the lightning tribulation, and then hastily formed a hand seal to transmit a message to Qin Si.
"Vice Dean, the Sanghai Secret Realm has closed and expelled the students. However, young friend Bai did not come out and is suspected of falling into a spatial rift."