Missing Thoughts Literature

Yun Luo and the others had just returned to the sect when they learned that Qin Mushuang, who had left the sect three years ago, had returned.

"So she still remembered that she belongs to the Hehuan Sect."

Su Xanyu's lips curled crookedly. She looked rather haughty, but her feet unconsciously sped up.

Usually, she seemed to be at odds with Qin Mushuang, yet now she ran even faster than Yun Luo.

Yun Luo had to circulate the spiritual energy within her body just to barely keep up with her.

Inside Lingxi Peak's Main Hall, Qin Mushuang withdrew the spiritual power from her hand.

After three years of cultivation, she had now reached the Late Stage of Golden Core.

"Master, this disciple has not failed your expectations."

Mu He was immensely gratified. A faint smile appeared on her usually stern and aloof face.

"These three years have been hard on you. With this, we will have an even greater chance in next year's Sect Competition."

Qin Mushuang did not find it difficult. So long as her realm advanced, everything was worth it.

"Eldest Senior Sister is mighty." Chu Li circled around her once.

She felt as though she had caught the disease of riding her sister's coattails.

Clearly, it was her senior sister who had broken through, yet she herself felt her back straighten.

Qin Mushuang remained unmoved by the praise. She merely glanced at Chu Li's cultivation, then frowned.

"Why are you still at the Early Golden Core Stage? Have you been slacking off these past three years?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the corner of her eye caught Yun Luo and the other rushing over with teeth and claws bared.

Her gaze fell upon Su Xanyu, and her expression turned critical.

"Third Junior Sister, you haven't broken through either?"

The warmth in Su Xanyu's heart instantly turned ice-cold.

This was the Golden Core Stage. Wasn't it perfectly normal not to break through in three years?

"Fine, Qin Lengleng. I was so happy to come see you, and you actually started criticizing me."

Qin Mushuang was used to Su Xanyu refusing to call her Eldest Senior Sister and did not respond. Instead, she turned her gaze toward Yun Luo beside her.

"Ninth Layer of Qi Refining. Little Junior Sister, you're amazing."

She removed a Qiankun Pouch from her waist.

"I saw some little things on the road and thought you might need them, so I bought them on a whim."

"Thank you, Eldest Senior Sister."

Yun Luo accepted it happily. The feeling was like an older sister returning home for the New Year after working away from home and bringing her new clothes.

She pulled open a small gap in the Qiankun Pouch and peered inside. There were Black Iron Swords of all kinds, as well as spiritual plants and pills specifically for feeding spirit pets.

They had clearly been selected with great care to perfectly suit her needs.

"No way, Eldest Senior Sister. When have you ever brought us gifts before?"

Chu Li wailed, just short of throwing a tantrum and rolling around to show how unfair it was.

"Don't worry. You have gifts too," Qin Mushuang said with a smile.

She immediately handed Chu Li a long wooden case. Inside was a brush named Tai Xu Yin Xing, an Upper-Grade Spiritual Artifact. Talismans drawn with it could carry a trace of starlight's power.

What she gave Su Xanyu was a chunk of Dragon Crystal Iron as large as a human head.

Dragon Crystal Iron was an iron ore formed when a Jiaolong fell and sank deep underground.

An adult Jiaolong could produce at most nine thousand jin of iron. It was an important material for forging Heaven Grade Spiritual Artifacts; even a small piece was enough to make the major sects fight tooth and nail.

"Eldest Senior Sister, where did you get this?"

Su Xanyu instantly became fawning, even willing to call her Eldest Senior Sister now.

Such a huge chunk would make even Spirit Transformation cultivators green with envy.

"An Artifact Refiner insisted on stuffing it into my hands."

Qin Mushuang spoke blandly, as though it were not Dragon Crystal Iron, but a block of tofu.

"Whose silly child is this?"

Chu Li let out an envious sigh. She could imagine some rich, foolish, sweet innocent clutching a heap of treasures and chasing her senior sister for thirty thousand miles, begging her to be spoiled mercilessly just once.

Qin Mushuang had already forgotten what that person looked like.

"Perhaps the young master of some cultivation Aristocratic family."

Only children of Aristocratic families could be so foolish and rich.

Finally, Qin Mushuang took out a basket of bright red fruit and gave it to Mu He.

"Master, these are Zhu Lin Fruits. They only grew on an Earth Grade Vermilion Scales Vine, so please do not disdain them."

Consuming spiritual plants of the same attribute could raise a cultivator's cultivation to a certain extent.

Mu He possessed a Heavenly Grade Fire Spiritual Root, and the Zhu Lin Fruits matched her attribute.

"As a master, I like them very much."

Mu He smiled and stored them in her Dantian Space. She did not lack such things, but her obedient disciple's thoughtfulness was more important than anything.

Earth Grade spiritual plants were often guarded by demon beasts at or above the Nascent Soul Realm. Qin Mushuang must have racked her brains and narrowly escaped death countless times to obtain them.

Seeing her four disciples gathered in such harmonious joy, Mu He took the opportunity to announce something.

"A Shuang has returned at just the right time. The Heavenly Deduction Sect has observed that the entrance to the Gui Xu Secret Realm has begun to loosen. It is estimated to open within the next month or two. The Sect Leader has decided that this time, all Direct Disciples will enter and test themselves in search of opportunities."

Secret realms in the Cultivation World came in two kinds. One formed naturally, while the other was opened by cultivators using their lifetime cultivation when they perished or ascended.

The Gui Xu Secret Realm belonged to the former. Its opening time was random, and the last time it had opened was sixty years ago.

Of the four, only Yun Luo had never entered it before, so Mu He separately gave her a map.

"The Gui Xu Secret Realm was naturally formed by the laws of the Heavenly Dao. No matter what cultivation a cultivator has, once inside, they will be suppressed to the Golden Core Stage.

"This secret realm map was compiled through the joint exploration of elders from every sect over hundreds of years. The green regions are safe so long as there is a Golden Core cultivator present. The gray regions contain natural formations. The red regions do not suppress cultivation, but high-level demon beasts lurk there. None of you are to enter either of those regions without permission."

Yun Luo listened with great interest as she traced over the map.

Back when she was in the Heavenly Star Sect, she had entered several small secret realms. They had been opened by some Heavenly Star Sect elders when their lifespans were nearing their end, intended for the sect's disciples to train in.

Nearly every sect possessed such secret realms. They opened at fixed times and were generally only available to disciples of that sect.

The reason the Upper Three Sects were powerful was that each possessed several secret realms left behind by ascended great powers, while secret realms beneath the Tribulation Crossing Stage were too numerous to count.

Disciples could enter to seek treasures, comprehend the artistic conceptions left behind by their predecessors, and those with good fortune might even obtain inheritances.

Mu He gave them detailed instructions, then finally kept Yun Luo behind alone.

"A Luo, has your cultivation still been blocked recently?"

She had entered seclusion some days ago and had not kept watch over Yun Luo's cultivation, so she did not know her progress.

Yun Luo shook her head. "Whenever the spiritual power in my body reaches a bottleneck, it dissipates. I still cannot break through to Foundation Establishment."

After her spiritual root was repaired, she had reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining in just one year.

At the time, she had thought her master's pills had strengthened her spiritual root and accelerated her cultivation speed, and she had been happy about it for a long time.

Yet over the past two years, she had failed to establish her foundation many times. Every time she reached the bottleneck, her spiritual energy vanished like a stone sinking into the sea.

Mu He had examined her meridians many times but had never found the cause.

Now, she withdrew the spiritual power from Yun Luo's body with a faint cloud of worry on her face.

"As a master, I cannot find the reason either. However, your Martial Grandmaster will soon leave seclusion. At that time, I will ask her to examine you."

"Martial Grandmaster is leaving seclusion?"

Yun Luo's voice rose in excitement. She had never met a Tribulation Crossing Stage powerhouse before.

Mu He nodded. "Your Martial Grandmaster failed to break through to Grand Completion during this period of seclusion, so she is leaving early."

It sounded somewhat regrettable, but after the Golden Core Stage, the difficulty of breaking through each realm increased exponentially. Countless people could not break through even a minor realm after hundreds of years.

Much less a realm like the Tribulation Crossing Stage, only one step away from ascension.

Mu He patted her head.

"Your Martial Grandmaster has seen much and knows much. She may be able to find a method. If that still does not work, then as a master, I can only find several suitable male cultivators for you and see whether dual cultivation can help you break through."

Yun Luo pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing aloud.

Over the past three years, she had nearly looked over every disciple in the sect. Yet her master had said she was too young and had not yet reached Foundation Establishment, refusing to let her so much as touch a man's hand.

Things were getting better. It was finally her turn to enjoy an adult's benefits.

"Then Master must find handsome male cultivators for this disciple."

Mu He sat in the Jade Stone Chair. Hearing that, she leaned back and propped her chin on one hand.

"Don't worry. Could your master possibly shortchange you?"