Secret Realm and Mission

The three chatted as they walked, soon arriving at Niu Yuanshan's courtyard.

After weathering two consecutive storms, Chu Huai Xu finally remembered that he and Han Shuangjiang had originally set out to buy groceries and cook—they still hadn't had a hot meal.

--At this point, let's eat first.

When Old Niu learned they were famished, he ordered the courtyard's servants to bring some food.

Through his account, Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang roughly grasped the situation.

Liu Tianfeng had obtained that Pill King Token by sheer chance. For certain reasons, only three stewards in the Outer Sect knew of this matter, Old Niu being one of them.

Back then, Liu Tianfeng had gone to great lengths to acquire this token, even asking Old Niu for help.

As the Outer Sect's universally acknowledged good-natured guy, he'd been asked for help countless times.

Overall, the vast majority of secret realms were in the Inner Sect; the Outer Sect had few.

Thus, this Pill King Token was all the more precious.

From a broad perspective, the Dao Sect's attitude toward secret realms was simple—let fate decide who claims them.

That was the Dao Ancestor's original intent.

Even the later predecessors who emulated the Dao Ancestor held the same purpose.

Perhaps in their eyes, this embodied the true spirit of cultivators.

As for fellow disciples turning on each other, killing for treasure—that didn't exist, strictly forbidden openly!

Secret realms were the last wishes of the departed.

They deserved the most basic respect.

Of course, the Dao Sect's official body was also willing to buy them back. If you gained something in a secret realm, you could choose to sell it for Contribution Points.

Contribution Points could be exchanged for money, techniques, or spirit pills.

Nearly all cultivation resources were redeemable!

Back when Chu Huai Xu played "Borrowed Sword," he knew that among the Four Great Sects of the East Continent Mirror Kingdom, the Dao Sect valued fate the most.

Thus, in players' minds, this sect was the most luck-dependent—perfect for the lucky, and the unlucky could get lost.

After the meal, Niu Yuanshan continued, "Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier—this Jade Token Fragment has ten pieces total, meaning at most ten people can enter together."

"The secret realm lies deep in a Cold Pool. Even with my cultivation, under normal circumstances, I can't withstand that special chill."

"If you at the Aperture Opening Stage go down, you'll die for sure."

"But in the past two months, the chill seems to have faded a lot."

"So you've hit good timing—the door to this Inheritance Secret Realm might be about to open."

Chu Huai Xu nodded. "I see."

Niu Yuanshan gazed into the distance and said with a smile, "Liu Steward places great importance on this secret realm, because his son Liu Chengqi possesses a High-Grade Spiritual Embryo—the Blazing Fire Spiritual Embryo."

"But due to an accident, his spiritual embryo was damaged, and his cultivation has stagnated ever since, leaving him dejected."

"This secret realm is connected to the Pill King; perhaps he hopes to find a way to fix the damaged spiritual embryo."

Hearing this, Chu Huai Xu recalled a High-Grade Spirit Pill—the Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill.

But wanting to fish for more useful info, he played dumb. "Steward Niu, can a damaged spiritual embryo really be restored?"

Niu Yuanshan gave a warm, patient smile. "Of course, but it's very difficult. Different cases require different methods—you have to treat the root cause."

"Liu Steward hasn't found a suitable solution yet."

"However, there is a High-Grade Spirit Pill called the Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill, created by the Pill King. Legend has it that as long as the spiritual embryo isn't completely ruined, taking this pill will heal it fully."

"If one's innate spiritual embryo is low-grade, just a Low Grade Spiritual Embryo, then taking this pill even has a high chance of advancing it."

"It's said that after the Pill King created this pill's formula, he refined one for each of his formal disciples."

"If this departed predecessor never took the pill in life, nor sold it, then it might be waiting for a fated person in the secret realm."

Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang exchanged a glance—now they fully understood why Liu Tianfeng had been so pained earlier, and Liu Chengqi so frantic.

Niu Yuanshan seemed to want to offer them some advice, speaking in a guiding tone:

"Since we've talked about the Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill, a pill that can improve one's talent, I'll indulge my age and add a few words."

"Let me ask you two—in your view, which is more important, talent or hard work?"

Chu Huai Xu didn't answer from his heart directly, but said, "I've heard a saying: hard work determines a person's floor, talent determines their ceiling, but most people never reach their ceiling."

Niu Yuanshan looked at the young man and smiled. "Your words have some truth. But the cultivation world is different."

"Because in the cultivation world, so-called talent can be changed."

"It can rely on spirit pills, on opportunities, on the blessings of heaven and earth!"

"I haven't tested your blood to check your spiritual embryos, but seeing you two open two apertures in such a short time, I'd guess you're also gifted."

"In some sects, you'd probably be nurtured with the sect's full resources, becoming True Disciples among the high ranks."

"But after coming to the Dao Sect, you started as Registered Disciples without any special treatment—do you feel a letdown?"

Han Shuangjiang shook her head at this. She had never considered such things.

Chu Huai Xu also shook his head, because if she was shaking her head, then he damn well wasn't entitled to nod.

Niu Yuanshan smiled with the comfort of an old man and said, "It's good that you two don't feel any drop."

"In the Eastern Continent, over these thousand years, the rise and fall of sects is a common sight."

"Only the Dao Sect has stood for a thousand years, remaining one of the top sects under heaven to this day."

"You two can think about it—in these thousand years, prodigies have been as numerous as carp crossing a river. To the Dao Sect, that's nothing special."

It was like saying you were the top scorer in your city's college entrance exam? A Tsinghua or Peking University student? Sorry, our company doesn't lack those.

"Moreover, from past experience, flowers raised in a greenhouse tend to wither more easily."

"Many disciples nurtured with full effort by small sects lack mental fortitude and fail to grow. Some never return from their trials down the mountain, and those going berserk are everywhere."

"Some people have exceptional mental fortitude. Even if their talent is ordinary, they only need to encounter an opportunity to ride the wind and transform into a dragon, even leaving their name in history." Old Niu sighed with emotion.

In Chu Huai Xu's view, this was a bit like how some people graduate from prestigious schools with outstanding abilities and achieve great success. But there are also those who rise from the grassroots, catch the right wave, and accomplish monumental feats.

How can life's fortunes be judged at a single glance?

The Xuanhuang Realm had its own underdog stories too!

Niu Yuanshan continued, "The Dao Sect has a thousand years of heritage and abundant resources, enough for the Sect Leader and elders to nurture many people and even reverse their fates."

"But the prerequisite is that you must have the ability to pass one round of selection after another and stand before them."

Having laid the groundwork, he began to test them.

"I know that the Sixth Elder brought you up the mountain. That's a privilege no other Outer Sect disciple has."

"I don't know the reason behind it, but since the Sixth Elder chose to have you start as Registered Disciples, that's already a statement in itself. It likely means he wants you to undergo more trials. I hope you understand this."

"At the same time, I hope you won't disappoint the Elder's expectations of you."

Having said this, Steward Niu first looked at Han Shuangjiang.

The World Protagonist, who had taken the "Great Female Lead" script in the "Borrowed Sword," now had a gaze that gradually grew resolute.

Then, Niu Yuanshan turned to Chu Huai Xu.

Chu Huai Xu had initially taken today's conversation as the earnest guidance of an elder.

But he suddenly realized: "Old Niu is a damn mole!"

As a member of the Moon Kingdom organization, would he sincerely hope for the Dao Sect to produce talent?

You, with your honest face, are a double agent, aren't you!

Chu Huai Xu thought it over and began to understand. This was actually Niu Yuanshan, a leader in the organization, giving a task to a newcomer like him.

He was hinting that I should climb up from a Registered Disciple and infiltrate the Dao Sect's core circle!

"Old Niu, you really think highly of me," he muttered inwardly.

But after thinking it over, Chu Huai Xu still said, "Let me pledge my loyalty first. For this disciple, it was the Sixth Elder and the Dao Sect who gave me the chance to cultivate. I will do my utmost to repay the sect!"

When these words reached Niu Yuanshan's ears, this "sensitive skin" immediately caught the two special words.

So, in his ears, Chu Huai Xu's speech automatically translated into other meanings.

Old Niu smiled at Chu Huai Xu with relief, understanding that this clever young man had grasped his hint.

They exchanged a glance, conveying a message, and said nothing.

Though silent, it was as if two words were thundering in the air!

—"Loy—al—ty!"

Only Han Shuangjiang sat to the side, listening to Chu Huai Xu's glib tongue. Beneath her veil, her tender lips couldn't help but pout slightly.

You sure talk a good game!

Yet neither Niu Yuanshan nor Han Shuangjiang noticed Chu Huai Xu lowering his head slightly, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.

Based on his understanding of the Mission System, he and Old Niu had talked to this extent. It was equivalent to him accepting a mission from Old Niu, an NPC—infiltrate the Dao Sect's core circle.

Logically, it should have triggered a side mission related to the organization one hundred percent.

But strangely, the Mission System showed no reaction at all!

(PS: Woke up and where did this land me? The monthly vote leaderboard actually shot us all the way to 24th place.

We're only at over seven thousand words, you know. I can't help but think some of you might mistake it for seventy thousand words, click in, and finish it in one go—you're all devils, hehehe!

Also, we have a chance to be the single-day monthly vote champion today, just a few hundred votes short. Request monthly votes! Voting within seven days enters you into a lottery, splitting 100 prizes of 5,000 Qidian Coins each.

If we hang onto the single-day champion with just seven thousand words... Hehehe, you devils, request monthly votes!)