Mocking Heaven Sect

Then the Sky-Piercing Giant-like Zhao Yishi waved at Chen Qiu and the others as though greeting them, then strode toward the white vortex nearby. Before Zhao Yishi, that white vortex looked like a tiny pebble.

Zhao Yishi stepped into it and, accompanied by an utterly discordant sense of strangeness, vanished from the spot in an instant.

"Zhao Yishi?"

Chen Qiu could not help shaking his head with a chuckle. "Not a bad name. It carries the meaning of being unsurpassed in the world."

It just seemed to lack a touch of dominance and carry a touch more caution. Who knew whether that was an act?

"Pink Traits" were extraordinarily rare. They were an exceptionally special type of trait, and most of them possessed the effect of limitless growth. As long as one lived long enough, the trait would surely grow increasingly powerful.

"..."

The several Heavenward Sect disciples standing nearby twitched wildly at the corners of their mouths without saying a word. Years ago, while traveling abroad, their sect master had discovered Zhao Yishi, who possessed the Pink Trait "Sky-Piercing Giant." He had immediately abducted him back to the sect and accepted him as a true disciple.

They had brimmed with hope that Zhao Yishi would lead the sect back to its former glory!

They had even bestowed upon him the name "Zhao Batian."

Later, after Zhao Yishi gradually grew stronger, he had forcibly changed his own name. He felt that Zhao Batian was too arrogant and could easily affect his fortune, so he changed it to Zhao Yishi, meaning that since a person only had one life, caution should come first.

It could be said that Zhao Yishi had now become the hope of the entire Heavenward Sect. Over the years, Heavenward Sect had truly poured all its resources into cultivating him.

"Good that he went in, good that he went in."

"This child has been diligently cultivating in the back mountain all this time. He must have made some breakthroughs."

High in the sky, a divine sense that roamed a thousand miles looked down below and let out a long sigh of satisfaction. This divine sense looked like a mass of mist, yet anyone approaching it could sense the terrifying aura it emitted.

It was unmistakably a Golden Core powerhouse.

The owner of this divine sense was an elder of Heavenward Sect, responsible for protecting Zhao Yishi along the way. Although Zhao Yishi was somewhat inclined to avoid battle, his strength was there for all to see. No one in this secret realm could possibly take his life.

But Zhao Yishi had already become nearly the sole hope of Heavenward Sect, so naturally a Golden Core cultivator had to protect him, lest he be assassinated by another sect halfway through.

And there were three or four more Golden Core divine senses floating nearby.

All of them were protecting some monstrous prodigy below.

There were unspoken rules among all factions. Unless it was a crisis of sect annihilation or a decisive battle over a lineage, Golden Core cultivators were forbidden from attacking low-level cultivators of other factions. Otherwise, if everyone slaughtered one another, no faction would have any seedlings left to grow—only a bunch of old fogies.

The continuation of a legacy mainly depended on newcomers.

Golden Core protection was meant to prevent unexpected situations. If another faction that likewise possessed Golden Core cultivators attacked and killed one's own monstrous prodigy, then they would intervene to stop them without taking lives.

If the attacker belonged to a faction with no Golden Core cultivator behind it, then they would simply kill them.

But they could not possibly step forward to save someone whenever danger arose. True monstrous prodigies had to grow amid slaughter and on the brink of life and death. Thus, even with Golden Core cultivators protecting them, quite a few monstrous prodigies died unexpectedly every year.

Of course, once a monstrous prodigy died, they were no longer called a monstrous prodigy.

It only meant that their faction's investment had all gone down the drain.

Those truly blessed with great fortune, however, would reap tremendous rewards each time they returned from the brink of death.

Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon did not linger outside for long either. They likewise stepped into the white vortex beside the nearby stream. A flash of white light passed before their eyes, and when their vision returned, the first sight that greeted them was a vast and magnificent stretch of ruined buildings.

Beneath their feet lay barren, desolate ground. Not far away stood a small hill, covered in all manner of enormous and majestic structures. Many of the buildings were over a hundred zhang tall, making them feel incomparably tiny.

Yet these buildings had clearly been abandoned for a long time. Climbing ivy wound across the walls, moss covered every surface, and not a trace of human habitation could be seen. In the dim light, dust drifted through the air, lending the place an intensely desolate air.

This was the small world within the secret realm.

Everyone who had entered the secret realm before them was currently standing motionless in place. These were the secret realm's rules: before the secret realm entrance closed, cultivators who entered would be bound in place by the power of the Heavenly Dao, unable to move.

In this state, they could not attack, and even if attacked, they would not suffer harm.

It was a state of protection.

Only after the secret realm entrance closed would this Heavenly Dao restraint disappear.

And atop that small hill, a gigantic mountain gate could be clearly seen, carved with three sharp and vigorous characters.

"Mocking Heaven Sect."

Though the lettering was already covered in dust, one could still faintly sense the sharp sword intent within.

It looked like the ruins left behind after some sect had perished.

Just then—

While everyone was bound in place, Zhao Yishi, who had entered the secret realm first, seemed entirely unaffected by any restrictions. He rose directly to his feet and strode toward the hill, vanishing behind the mountain gate in the blink of an eye, his destination unknown.

At once, quite a few people looked toward Zhao Yishi with envy. He must have possessed the trait "Seize the Initiative," allowing him to ignore the Heavenly Dao's restraints and move freely before the secret realm entrance closed.

This sect's mountain gate looked as though it had once been exceptionally glorious. There might be countless pills, spells, spirit herbs, spirit treasures, and other things passed down from ancient times inside. Would they not all belong to Zhao Yishi now?

Very soon, the time it took for an incense stick to burn passed.

The secret realm entrance closed completely, and everyone could move freely again. They swiftly divided into several small groups, gathering together as they watched the people around them warily. Quite a few of their gazes were focused mainly on Chen Qiu, afraid that he might suddenly erupt into violence.

Then a majestic and hoarse voice rang out above the entire sect ruin.

"To become an inner disciple of Mocking Heaven Sect, you must pass four trials."

"The first trial."

"Severing Worldly Attachments."

"Upon entering the mountain gate, you will see the first trial. In this trial, you must sever all ties and bonds with the mortal world. To become a supreme sword cultivator who makes the world tremble because of you, the most important thing is to have no weaknesses."

"Family, wives, and children are all your weaknesses."

"If you wish to become an inner disciple, cut them down."

"Family, wives, and children?"

Chen Qiu's expression turned complicated and somewhat strange. "I don't have those things. Fat Dragon, do you?"

"A few sticks of incense ago, I should have still had half of one. Now, I don't even have half left."

Fat Dragon shrugged. "What I'm worried about now is, if we really clear all four trials, we won't actually become inner disciples of this Mocking Heaven Sect, right? This sect hasn't received the Heavenly Dao's recognition, has it? I don't want my panel to say that I'm some Mocking Heaven Sect inner disciple."

"Becoming an inner disciple of a sect that has been dead for who knows how many years would be fucking awful."

"Besides, just looking at the content of this first trial, this Mocking Heaven Sect doesn't seem like any righteous sect."

"That is true."

Chen Qiu nodded solemnly. It really was something they needed to watch out for. What puzzled him, though, was why becoming an inner disciple of Mocking Heaven Sect only required passing four trials.

Did the secret realm panel not say seven trials?

But there was no time to think about that now. He led Fat Dragon with the crowd up the mountain path toward the gate in long strides, to see what exactly this so-called Mocking Heaven Sect was about.

It did sound somewhat similar to Heavenward Sect.

Only one mocked the Heavenly Dao, while the other submitted to it.

Meanwhile, in some corner beyond the mountain gate.

After Zhao Yishi, free from the Heavenly Dao's restraints, rushed through the mountain gate first, he anxiously looked around for quite some time. Only then did he turn a satisfied gaze toward an abandoned building over a hundred zhang tall in the distance.

He strode into a corner and curled up in a squat.

With a solemn expression, he formed a hand seal with his right hand and murmured, "Hide."

The next moment!

Zhao Yishi's originally enormous body gradually disappeared from the spot. Even a divine sense sweeping over the area could not detect that someone was hiding there. Only upon collision would one feel that there seemed to be a wall of air there.

Hidden in the corner, Zhao Yishi could not help letting a trace of smugness flash across his face.

Only now did he feel a little safer as he surveyed the building's interior. It seemed to be a place for cultivation, but the ground was already thick with dust, and it looked as though it had been in ruins for a long time. He had flown into the corner atop a green lotus and had not left behind a single footprint.

His Foundation Establishment mid-grade spell, the "Invisibility Technique," had, after all these days of painstaking cultivation, reached the Great Perfection realm. So long as one's cultivation was not several realms higher than his, they could forget about discovering him!

But why was this sect's name so similar to his own sect's name? What a coincidence.

Still, he was certain they could not be from the same lineage. Mocking Heaven Sect was obviously a sword cultivator sect, while his Heavenward Sect was no sword cultivator sect.

Besides, with how dirt-poor his sect was, it could not afford to raise sword cultivators anyway. Even if it possessed a sword cultivation inheritance, it would be wasted.

It would be better to sell the inheritance and buy him some demon beast meat to eat.