"Tut, it had been years since I last saw a junior cultivating this technique." The old man's gaze was sharp as torches. "You are correct. This secret realm was indeed created by this old man, for the sake of finding a gifted junior to inherit my legacy after my death and fulfill my final wish."
"Please rest assured, Senior~ As long as you entrust your legacy to this junior, this junior will certainly fulfill your final wish for you!"
The old man was speechless. He tapped the ground with his cane. "This old man has not even said what my final wish is yet!"
"Ahem, please speak, Senior."
Since Bai Ling's storyline had never explained what final wish Bai Ling ultimately fulfilled for the old man, Bai Lan had not taken it seriously at all.
This final wish was probably just some trivial matter like looking after his descendants...
"Tell me, does a sect called the Azure Origin Sect still exist in the cultivation world today?" the old man asked gravely.
Bai Lan's expression shifted slightly.
Oh no. The direction this final wish was taking seemed a little off.
Bai Lan suddenly paused. After a long silence, she slowly said, "Senior, could it be... that you have a grudge against the Azure Origin Sect?"
"No, this old man merely has a grudge against one person within the Azure Origin Sect. His Daoist name is Wu Yin, and his cultivation was only at the early Tribulation Crossing stage... Hiss, no, so many years have passed. His cultivation must have risen considerably." The old man muttered to himself.
Bai Lan turned completely petrified.
Wu Yin?
Could it be the Wu Yin she remembered?
It had risen by far more than a little. He had already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, and his status was even more exalted.
"This old man was soft-hearted for a moment and saved his life when he was still a slave, taking him by my side as an attendant. Yet I never expected him to be a scum in saintly robes. On the surface, he acted endlessly grateful, but behind my back, he hated this old man to the bone. After this old man died, he actually slaughtered my entire family, then pretended to be a victim to win my senior brother's sympathy! Disgusting! Disgusting to the extreme!"
The old man rarely became so emotional, and even his eyes turned razor-sharp.
"My Dao companion, my daughter, my grandchildren, the hundreds of lives in the Gongsun Family, from top to bottom, all died by his hand! He had planned it long ago... Heh, hahahaha! This old man committed countless evils in his life. I was no good man, nor had I done many good deeds, yet I never imagined that the first time I softened my heart, I would encounter such an ungrateful wretch!"
Bai Lan fell silent.
Naturally, she had no way of knowing whether the old man's words were true, but a Nascent Soul stage soul seemed to have no need to lie to her.
The Wu Yin the old man spoke of was now the Grand Elder of the Azure Origin Sect, the master of Sect Master True Person Qing He and True Person Qing Xuan.
He wanted her to kill the sect's Grand Elder? Wasn't that difficulty level a little too outrageous?
The difficulty was comparable to fetching scriptures from the Western Heaven.
"Senior... the Tribulation Crossing stage cultivator Wu Yin you speak of diligently cultivated for many years after your fall. His cultivation has now reached the Nascent Soul stage, and he holds the position of Grand Elder in the Azure Origin Sect. Setting aside whether this junior has the ability to deal with him, if I attacked the Grand Elder of the Azure Origin Sect, do you think such a major sect of the cultivation world would simply stand by and do nothing?" Bai Lan's tone was ghostly.
The old man paused, his brows furrowing. "Huh? Him? He managed to cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage? Pah!"
Bai Lan: "..."
"That heartless, ungrateful dog bastard could cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage?" The old man nearly ground his teeth to dust.
"Let us put that aside for now. I would like to ask you something, Senior. Since you have a grudge against the Grand Elder of the Azure Origin Sect, why did the place of your legacy end up in the Azure Origin Sect's hands and become a trial ground for Qi Refining stage disciples?" Bai Lan had spotted the key point and could not help asking.
"While this old man was still alive, he was merely a dog at this old man's side. How could he possibly have been qualified to join the Azure Origin Sect?"
"To put it simply, this old man only has a grudge against him alone. It has nothing to do with the Azure Origin Sect. Besides, this old man is already dead. Where this secret realm ultimately ended up no longer matters." The old man stroked his beard and said coldly, "Whether Wu Yin's cultivation is now Nascent Soul or Tribulation Crossing, there is only one condition for obtaining this old man's legacy: go slaughter Wu Yin."
Fine. It seemed he truly wanted Wu Yin dead.
Understandable. After all, Wu Yin was the murderer who had wiped out his entire family.
Bai Lan remained silent for a while, lowering her head in thought.
Speaking of which, Wu Yin was a Grand Elder. By seniority, he could even be considered Bai Ling's grandmaster. Yet she had never seen the Bai Ling in the story attack Wu Yin after receiving this place's legacy.
Tch. It really was unfair.
Why did the female lead obtain legacies so effortlessly, while she had to accept a hell-level mission just to receive one?
And the old man beside her looked at her without the slightest doubt.
"Senior, are you not afraid that this junior, with these useless Five Spirit Roots, may never cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage in this lifetime?" Bai Lan shook her head helplessly.
"What a joke. This old man is an excellent judge of people. Little girl, you have plenty of secrets on you!" The old man snorted. "If you were an ordinary junior, this old man would have needed to set up an Illusion Array and painstakingly arrange several tests and puppet mechanisms to examine you, to see your aptitude and temperament, and whether you had the ability to inherit my legacy and kill Wu Yin. But you... a little ghost without even a fate pattern. Your identity is anything but ordinary."
Bai Lan raised a brow.
That truly was rather extraordinary. To people of the cultivation world, she was probably, to some extent... an alien?
There were three kinds of fate patterns: the heavenly pattern, the earthly pattern, and the human pattern.
But she was not native to this cultivation world, so from the very beginning, her fate pattern had not fallen within this world's rules.
Beyond the Three Realms, not within the Five Elements—no, wrong channel.
In other words, as someone who had transmigrated here, she was the sole variable in this place.
Still, according to the usual cultivation-world formula, anyone who wanted to obtain a legacy within a secret realm had to accept the legacy owner's trials, endure a thousand hardships and ten thousand bitter trials, and only receive the so-called fortuitous opportunity after passing them.
So her current situation was... uh, a guaranteed pass?
Before entering, she had even sent the system away, afraid there might be an illusion inside that would confuse him into stupidity.
"Thank you for your praise, Senior. This junior is indeed gifted and exceptionally capable. Senior truly has discerning eyes that recognize a pearl; you are indeed an eminent expert." Bai Lan looked perfectly composed.
The old man's eye twitched.
Why did he feel that while this little ghost was praising him, she was also praising herself in a roundabout way?
"Thank you for your favor, Senior. This junior accepts your final wish. If one day this junior's strength is sufficient, I will certainly find a way to settle matters with that man for you."
After saying that, Bai Lan very sensibly swore a Heart Demon Vow.
After all...
She had only said that she would kill Wu Yin once her strength was sufficient, but she had never said what realm she needed to reach before her strength counted as sufficient.
So... she could wait until she broke through to the Divine Transformation stage before going to kill him, right?
The old man was no fool. He had clearly seen through Bai Lan's wordplay. Yet rather than becoming angry, he merely shook his head. "You are a crafty junior, but it matters not. Wu Yin is not actually difficult to deal with. Even if he is now a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, it cannot change the fact that he was once a dog at this old man's side."
Every word dripped with mockery. He hated that man to the extreme.
"Host!" the system's voice sounded in her mind.
Bai Lan perked up. "What is it? Did you find Long Aotian?"
"I found him, I found him." The system swallowed. "And while I was at it, I watched quite a show."
"Hm?"
"Long Aotian encountered one of his harem members, and the two of them actually... actually, inside the secret realm, um..." The system began hemming and hawing.
Bai Lan was speechless. "Say it."
"They actually began... tossing like phoenixes and tumbling like dragons in the secret realm." The system carefully arranged its words.
Bai Lan: "..."
They really knew how to play.
"So where is the fortuitous opportunity? Who cares about that? The important thing is the fortuitous opportunity." Bai Lan's thoughts were entirely on Long Aotian's opportunity. "Where did they go after they finished tossing like phoenixes and tumbling like dragons?"
The system chuckled. "Host, do not worry. Long Aotian is still being lovey-dovey with his harem member right now. Current observations show that he has not come into contact with that opportunity yet, so you can rest easy for now. The system will continue monitoring!"
"That is good. Protect yourself." Bai Lan reminded it.
"Mhm, mhm."
While communicating with the system, Bai Lan also dealt with the old man's lengthy tirade against Wu Yin.
"What Senior says is quite right, quite right."
"In short, after you kill Wu Yin, you must tell him that this is the consequence of his evil deeds against the Gongsun Family!"
Just as the two were speaking, rustling sounds came from outside the hall.
"Junior Sister, this tower looks utterly ordinary. What is there to see? Let us look elsewhere." It was Le Qing's voice.
Immediately afterward, Bai Ling's voice came from outside as well. "Senior Brother~ I want to go in and take a look."
"This secret realm is extremely dangerous. We should not create trouble out of thin air. Senior Brother will take you to pick some spirit herbs. The Seven-Star Grass used for Foundation Establishment Pills is nearby..."
"Senior Brother, I want to go in and take a look~ Besides, if we run into danger, isn't there still you, Senior Brother?"
Le Qing was silent for a second before sighing. "Fine, fine, fine. Senior Brother will accompany you inside."
Listening to the conversation outside, Bai Lan raised a brow.
The Daughter of Destiny had arrived.
Just as on the day Bai Ling discovered this secret realm, guided by luck, Bai Ling had ultimately still come here.
But unfortunately, Bai Lan had beaten her to the punch.
A fluctuation rippled through the formation within the hall. A moment later, two figures suddenly appeared at the entrance.
It really was the two of them.
"Senior Brother! Look! There really is a whole new world inside." Bai Ling exclaimed excitedly.
Le Qing subconsciously swept his gaze around the hall, but the instant he saw Bai Lan, his entire body froze in place.
Bai Lan stared at Bai Ling's figure, considered for a moment, and a faint glimmer flashed through her eyes as a hint of amusement appeared in them.
She suddenly pointed at Bai Ling and looked toward the old man beside her. "Senior, do you know who she is?"
The old man looked puzzled. "Who is she?"
"She is True Person Qing Xuan's disciple, and Qing Xuan is Wu Yin's most valued disciple. By that reckoning, she is Wu Yin's granddisciple." Bai Lan spoke with a smile.
Her main goal was to sow discord.
The old man's gaze instantly sharpened. "Hmph. So she is that old dog's granddisciple."
Good insult.
One moment, Bai Ling had still been marveling at this wondrous hidden world. The next, she had been attacked by an insult that came from nowhere.
She frowned and looked up, only to see Bai Lan standing together with an old man in the distance. The one who had just insulted her was precisely that old man.
Upon hearing mention of someone connected to Wu Yin, the old man's aura instantly turned cold.
Seeing this, Bai Lan silently stepped back a few paces and began watching the show.
Bai Ling had worked so hard to find her way here. She could not possibly leave empty-handed, could she?
Bai Lan was the number one great philanthropist in the cultivation world. She loved giving people gifts the most, such as...
Exposing Bai Ling's relationship as Wu Yin's granddisciple before the old man and drawing his fury toward her.
And, while she was at it, testing whether a Nascent Soul stage powerhouse could kill the Daughter of Destiny.
Although the old man was already a wandering ghost, Bai Lan could sense that unlike the skeletal old man at the bottom of the cliff, who had only a thread of remnant soul left, this old man's soul was very solid. He still possessed strength.
The reason Bai Ling in the story had been able to receive this place's legacy was most likely because she had concealed her identity.
She had probably heard the hostile relationship between the old man and Wu Yin from his indignant words, which was why she had not revealed that she was Wu Yin's granddisciple.
Otherwise, with the old man's far-from-kind temperament, he would certainly have decisively killed Bai Ling—killed everyone connected to Wu Yin.
Unfortunately, Bai Lan was standing here today. Naturally, she would not watch Bai Ling fabricate lies and deceive heaven and sea.
Naturally, Bai Ling was angry after being insulted. Just as she was about to retort, however, the jade bracelet on her wrist trembled slightly.
The Divine Beast Phoenix within transmitted its voice softly to Bai Ling. "Master, I sense that there seems to be a treasure here!"
"What?" Bai Ling's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Of course. I can sense a Spirit Fire Inheritance here. This must be the inheritance ground of some great alchemist cultivator. If Master can obtain this place's legacy, your future will surely be boundless!" Phoenix said urgently.
A divine beast's senses could never be wrong.
Bai Ling abruptly raised her head. The anger in her gaze toward the old man faded somewhat, and she instantly put on a different face. "Ahem... may I ask who Senior is? Why did you insult this junior just now?"
As she spoke, she looked toward Bai Lan. "Could it be that she said something? Senior, do not heed this person's words..."
Bai Lan merely smiled faintly and did not respond.
"Hmph. You two came here for the sake of obtaining this old man's legacy, did you not?" The old man slowly stepped forward, his voice deep.
"So... so Senior is the master of this place..." Bai Ling's voice was weak, and her gaze drifted uncertainly about as she scanned the hall, as though searching for something.
"Looking left and right while speaking of something else?" The old man's voice became increasingly grim.
A flicker passed through Bai Ling's eyes. "No, no. This junior was merely passing by..."
"Hmph, passing by? You truly are that old dog's granddisciple. Just like that old dog, you have a nature that delights in lying and deceiving others," the old man said heavily.
Bai Ling's brows knitted slightly. "What does Senior mean by that? This junior does not understand what you are saying."
"After slaughtering this old man's entire family, he himself went on to take in quite a number of disciples and granddisciples." The old man sneered. Two invisible hands seemed to appear out of thin air, seizing Bai Ling by the throat and lifting her high into the air.
Bai Ling's appearance of gentleness and kindness, while her eyes darted around behind the scenes, instantly stirred the painful memories buried deep within him.
"Urgh... you, you..." Bai Ling could not breathe under the grip. Her entire body was lifted into the air, and she could not force out even a single word.
Before you continue