Buzz!
A colossal sword of light, more than 30 meters long, tore through the air and slashed down with terrifying force.
Li Qing raised his hand and struck out with a palm.
Boom!
A gigantic palm imprint materialized in the air and slammed into the sword light, shattering the enormous blade of light in a single strike.
“How is that possible?”
“Hiss!”
“Gu Beichen is a late-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator!”
The surrounding cultivators were utterly stunned. None of them had expected Li Qing to casually block Gu Beichen’s attack.
“Such power from a single strike. Fellow Daoist Li is certainly no ordinary cultivator.” Nearby, Saintess Yinyue watched the scene with faint ripples of interest shimmering in her beautiful eyes.
“This is impossible. Li Qing is nothing more than an ordinary disciple of the Supreme Origin Immortal Sect. How could he possibly withstand my sword?” Gu Beichen was equally dumbfounded.
Then, as if suddenly realizing something, Gu Beichen stared at Li Qing in shock and exclaimed, “You’re a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator!”
“You guessed right, but there’s no prize.” Li Qing waved at Gu Beichen with a carefree grin. “Bye, everyone. This young master is finally free!”
With that, Li Qing shot into the sky and flew toward the nearby palace complex.
The restriction surrounding the secret realm had already grown extremely dim. It looked as though it could disappear at any moment.
However, Li Qing had barely flown any distance when something felt wrong. “Wait. I’m clearly flying forward, so why does it feel like I’m moving backward?”
He lowered his head and looked at his waist. At some unknown point, a white ribbon had wrapped itself around him.
“When did this happen?”
Li Qing’s heart jolted. Just as he was about to sever the ribbon, a fragrant breeze suddenly swept over him. A delicate jade-like hand gently clasped his palm.
Mu Qiuxue’s breathtakingly beautiful face appeared before him. She gazed at him with a bright, smiling expression.
“Mu… Qiu… Xue.” Li Qing gritted out her name, his entire body trembling.
He was trembling from anger.
“Senior Brother, your junior sister is right here.” Mu Qiuxue blinked her tranquil, lake-like eyes at him.
[Mu Qiuxue, are you a demon or something?]
[Even a sticky plaster isn’t as clingy as you.]
“Let go of me!” Li Qing immediately began struggling.
“I won’t.” Mu Qiuxue pursed her lips, looking exceptionally adorable.
‘You dare call this Saintess a sticky plaster? Fine. This Saintess will cling to you all day today.’
“Let go!”
“I won’t.”
“Are you letting go or not?”
“Nope!”
However, to everyone watching from the side, the scene took on an entirely different meaning.
“I never imagined Saintess Mu’s feelings for him were this deep.”
“Neither did I expect Fellow Daoist Li to actually be a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.”
“Fellow Daoist Li hid himself incredibly well. He clearly possesses the strength of a Holy Son, yet he deliberately pretended to be an ordinary disciple. Is this sort of thing fashionable nowadays?” Find the original chapter at NovelPing.
The surrounding cultivators began discussing the pair among themselves.
Unlike everyone else, Gu Beichen looked as though flames were about to erupt from his eyes.
Qiuxue had never clung to him like this before.
“Li… Qing.” Killing intent surged through Gu Beichen’s eyes like a raging tide.
Bang!
At that moment, a crisp sound echoed between heaven and earth. The restriction surrounding the secret realm vanished completely.
“The secret realm’s restriction is gone!”
“Quick!”
“Go seize the opportunities!”
The nearby crowd instantly erupted into chaos. Countless cultivators transformed into streaks of light and rushed toward the palace complex.
“Consider yourself lucky. Once this secret realm expedition is over, I’ll definitely take your worthless life.” Gu Beichen cast Li Qing a cold glance before approaching Saintess Yinyue. “Saintess Yinyue, how about we join forces and explore the secret realm together?”
This was an excellent opportunity to get closer to Saintess Yinyue, and Gu Beichen naturally had no intention of letting it slip away.
“No need. Fellow Daoist Gu should go find your dear Qiuxue instead,” Saintess Yinyue replied indifferently.
She had once thought Gu Beichen was quite decent. However, everything that had happened today had filled her with disgust toward him. Judging from his flirtatious nature, the accusations that he had abandoned a woman after playing with her feelings were probably true.
‘Knowing full well that it is a pit of fire, I certainly won’t jump into it.’
As soon as she finished speaking, spiritual light swept around Saintess Yinyue’s body, and she disappeared from where she stood.
“Li… Qing. This is all because of you. I will kill you!” Gu Beichen glared coldly at Li Qing before transforming into a streak of light and charging into the palace complex.
Poor Li Qing had done absolutely nothing, yet an enormous black pot of blame had somehow landed squarely on his head.
“Senior Brother, let’s go.” Without another word, Mu Qiuxue grabbed Li Qing and flew toward the palace complex.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At this moment, Spiritual Qi churned violently throughout the secret realm. Battles were breaking out everywhere, and the struggle for fortuitous opportunities had already begun.
“Senior Brother, let’s go grab some treasures too.” Mu Qiuxue’s gaze settled on one of the palace halls.
“Not interested.”
Li Qing had a system. Why the hell would he bother fighting other people for treasures?
Besides, he merely possessed a high-grade spiritual root. What kind of heavenly treasure could possibly increase his cultivation faster than the system?
There was no way he would fight with a pack of dogs over scraps.
Then again, speaking of the system, why hadn’t he heard anything about his reward yet?
“System, where’s my reward?”
[Ding! The reward has already been given to the host.]
“System, don’t try to cheat me out of my reward. When exactly did I receive anything?”
[Ding! Removing all restrictions placed upon the host while the system enjoyed the gossip was itself the reward.]
Li Qing was speechless.
‘So after letting you enjoy all that gossip for half a day, I got absolutely nothing out of it?’
[Ding! That gossip was so sweet.]
“System, now I really have to criticize you. You spent half the day enjoying my gossip and didn’t give me anything in return. Don’t you think that’s going too far?”
“If you keep doing this, next time I’ll run away immediately and make sure you don’t even get a single melon seed. I mean what I say.”
‘You want to enjoy gossip for free? Not a chance.’
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for becoming part of the juicy gossip.]
[Ding! The system thoroughly enjoyed this gossip.]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the reward: Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Never look down on a poor young man.]
[Ding! As long as the host recites this line, his combat power will double.]
Li Qing fell silent.
It felt as though a flock of crows had just flown over his head.
“System, are you suffering from eighth-grader syndrome? You actually expect me to say something so cringeworthy that my toes would curl?”
“Hurry up and give me something else.”
Li Qing’s face was covered in black lines.
‘What kind of nonsense is this?’
[Ding! The reward has already been issued. No returns or exchanges will be accepted.]
[Ding! System maintenance in progress…]
Li Qing was speechless.
‘Fine. You win.’
“Senior Brother, are we really not going to compete for anything?” Mu Qiuxue withdrew her gaze from the palace hall and looked at Li Qing.
“Not interested. However, there are quite a few valuable things here. Junior Sister, you could go compete for some of them if you want,” Li Qing replied indifferently.
[Go on, go on. You go fight for treasures, and I’ll finally be free.]
[I know that the deepest part of this secret realm connects to the Ruins of Oblivion. Entering that place means almost certain death.]
[Speaking of the Ruins of Oblivion, this isn’t its only entrance. Disciples from other immortal sects have entered through several other entrances as well.]
[Most importantly, there’s gossip to enjoy.]
[I know the plot well enough. As long as I avoid the dangerous areas, won’t I be able to roam freely throughout the Ruins of Oblivion?]
[Still, I need to wait before entering the Ruins of Oblivion.]
[If I remember correctly, the first group of cultivators to enter the Ruins of Oblivion will trigger an incredibly terrifying restriction. Fewer than 1 in 10 will survive.]
‘What? Entering the Ruins of Oblivion will trigger a restriction?’
Mu Qiuxue’s heart jolted.
‘Thank goodness Senior Brother is here. Otherwise, if I recklessly entered without knowing anything, I wouldn’t even know how I died.’
‘Senior Brother, just what kind of person are you? How do you know so much?’
Without even realizing it, Mu Qiuxue tightened her grip on Li Qing’s hand.
[Someone has already entered the depths.]
A sharp gleam flashed through Li Qing’s eyes.
“Junior Sister, let’s go take a look deeper inside.” Li Qing took Mu Qiuxue’s hand and flew toward the depths of the secret realm.
As they ventured deeper, the surrounding palace complex gradually gave way to collapsed ruins. Before long, a vast expanse of void resembling primordial chaos appeared before them.
Numerous corpses of immortal sect disciples floated silently within it.
[We’ve reached the Ruins of Oblivion.]
“Junior Sister, stay close to me from now on. Whatever happens, don’t let go of my hand.”
Holding Mu Qiuxue firmly by the hand, Li Qing flew directly into the endless void.