Damn it.
What the hell did they mean I got uglier!
Just as Qi Yu was about to explode, the previously quiet entrance to the secret realm nearby suddenly changed.
The sealed entrance slowly opened, revealing a bright purple vortex.
The cultivators waiting nearby saw this and immediately got up, flew on their swords, and entered the vortex.
Seeing the crowd enter the secret realm one after another, Qi Yu stopped joking and, riding the clouds, entered the secret realm with the others.
Along the way, Si Qing kept his arms crossed, occasionally glancing up at Qi Yu, unusually silent.
But Qi Yu's attention was entirely on this secret realm.
Before entering, Qi Yu had always thought this secret realm would be a place of ethereal beauty, with misty mountains and immortal peaks.
Only after entering did he realize that this secret realm was actually a bustling marketplace.
It looked no different from a place where humans hold markets, the only difference being the abundance of bounty boards, hunter guilds, and treasure-hunting merchant associations.
Moreover, upon entering, their attire had automatically blended in, making them indistinguishable from the native inhabitants.
"Look at this." Qi Yu, who had intended to look at the posted notices, felt his hand and found a bamboo tablet in it.
The tablet had a faint spiritual energy and was inscribed with the following:
"Surname: Qi Yu, Remaining Time: Twenty days, Gains: Zero."
Qi Yu showed his tablet to the others.
Feng Mingxi lowered his head and glanced at his own: "I have one of these too. The time is the same as yours, twenty days remaining. See, the gains are also 0."
Feng Yunzui, Feng Sixian, and others took out their tablets.
Indeed, the time and gains written on them were the same numbers.
"So, we can stay in this secret realm for twenty days. Within these twenty days, we can search for rare treasures and the like," Qi Yu said as he walked to the wooden board with notices and looked up, pointing at the content posted there:
"This must be the public board for notices. The notices I see here are all about which path to take for treasure hunting, how many people are needed for a team, and which treasure map is looking for a team. Once a team is formed, they can go treasure hunting together, and the found treasures can be split fifty-fifty."
"If we want to find treasures and obtain things, we should look for teams here and cooperate. However, there are too many of us. I think it's better for us to form our own team rather than join others."
"But we have no experience," Chen Xi said, looking at Qi Yu and the others, spreading his hands helplessly. "None of us have experience. If we form our own team, we probably won't even know how to get around. I think we should act separately and contact each other if anything unexpected happens."
Qi Yu had no objections. "This plan sounds much more reliable. And in terms of numbers, if a few of us form a group and each join a different treasure-hunting team, we'll get more things by the time we leave than if we were just one treasure-hunting team."
Hearing Qi Yu's agreement, everyone immediately started forming groups.
Feng Mingxi took the initiative to suggest: "Feng Yunzui, Feng Sixian, and Qi Yan will be in a group with me."
Yue Zhiyin nodded and looked around. "Then Ming Nian, Chi Ming, and Ming Lou will be in a group with me."
Sui You bent down and picked up Little Changge. "This little one, Wang Lanqing, and Chi Shangming will be in a group with me."
Chen Xi smiled. "Then I, Yan Hua, Qi Yu, and Si Qing will be in a group of four."
Yue Zhiyin nodded.
Seeing that everyone had formed their groups, Qi Yu took out a stack of talismans and folded them into triangles, handing one to each person before they left.
"Since you'll be acting separately and won't be able to look out for each other, this talisman is for emergencies. If you encounter any danger you can't handle, crush it, and you'll be able to leave this secret realm."
Everyone responded with a "good" and placed the talismans near their sleeves, hiding them with their hands.
After hiding them, they walked to the announcement board in groups of two or three, each selecting a task that didn't seem particularly interesting to them, tore off the notice, and prepared to go to the designated location to join a treasure-hunting team.
Qi Yu only started choosing notices from the announcement board after everyone else had finished and gone their separate ways to their treasure-hunting teams.
These notices were all about various treasure maps.
"Eye of the Sea, Misty Butterfly, Love Dust..." Chen Xi read out the names of the treasures to be found on the notices, frowning as he read. "We're not natives, and we haven't seen these so-called treasures. Just knowing their names, we don't know what they're useful for."
When Yue Zhiyin and the others were choosing notices, they had randomly picked one with a treasure name that sounded pleasing and offered a high reward.
However, Chen Xi was more particular and wanted to know the true purpose and appearance of these treasures, so he hesitated to tear off any notices.
"If that doesn't work, how about this," Qi Yu beckoned to Yan Hua, Chen Xi, and Si Qing. "I saw a place called a tavern, and another place called an auction house. Do you think we can find detailed records and introductions of those treasures at the auction house?"
Qi Yu remembered that during his past trials, auction houses in the cultivation world would provide attendees with introductions to recently auctioned rare treasures before the event.
He didn't know if this place was the same as their cultivation world. If it was, then they should be able to figure out which of the treasures mentioned on the notices was better.
Si Qing looked at Qi Yu, wanting to speak but hesitating.
Chen Xi nodded at Qi Yu, agreeing to go to the auction house here, and then thought of taking out a sun hat from his storage bag, only to find that the storage bag couldn't be opened.
Chen Xi exclaimed, his face showing disbelief. "What's going on? Why can't I open my storage bag?"
Yan Hua heard him and tried to open his own storage bag, and indeed, it couldn't be opened either.
Not only that, but even using large spells was restricted, and the circulation of spiritual energy was only half of its usual strength.
"It must be this secret realm. This secret realm restricts the spiritual energy and spells of every cultivator," Yan Hua said, his voice uncharacteristically tinged with anxiety. "I wonder if Sui You and the others know about this."
Qi Yu was confused. "How is that possible? I just made safety talismans for everyone. I used spells, opened my storage bag, and acted freely without any restrictions."
"...Sister, I've wanted to say this for a while now. Have you considered one thing?" Si Qing looked at Qi Yu with an indescribable expression. "You are the Heavenly Dao. This place should be restricted by you, not the other way around."
"Ah..." Qi Yu looked enlightened.
"Ah, so," Chen Xi said, crossing his arms with a troubled expression. "Do we really need to go through so much trouble to find treasures? The Heavenly Dao is right beside us. If we want these treasures, we can just go to the locations, right?"
Yan Hua was unusually silent.
Indeed, logically speaking, with the Heavenly Dao by their side, they shouldn't have to search so hard.
But...
Perhaps it was because Qi Yu, the Heavenly Dao, was too down-to-earth that he hadn't realized it earlier. Qi Yu was now the Heavenly Dao.
Tsk.
Qi Yu blinked. "Can we do that?"
Si Qing looked depressed. "Why not? Of course, we can. Sister, this secret realm is controlled by you. Do you understand what it means to be controlled by you?"
Qi Yu narrowed his eyes. "Si Qing, then why didn't you tell me before we entered the secret realm?"
"...I just wanted to see," Si Qing finally managed to say after a long pause. "See when you would remember."