Chapter 149: The Void-Stepping Bridge and the Selection for the Secret Realm

Xia Baiqian, on the verge of a breakthrough, felt the resonance between heaven and man.

She had no time to linger with her master. Returning to her insect nest would take at least a month—far too long. She had no choice but to use this precious talisman.

Xia Baiqian first brought Chu Huaizhou out of her Hundred Insect Refining Immortal Gourd. Back in her little nest on Heaven’s Sword Peak, she infused her spiritual power into the talisman.

The moment the talisman ignited at her fingertip, the small room warped violently. The jade-green talisman paper transformed into countless light butterflies, their wings trembling. They tore a crack in the space ahead, just wide enough for one person to pass.

From the void fissure surged chaotic astral winds, whipping her robes and scattering her light pink, fluffy bobbed hair.

“Break!”

She bit her tongue and spat blood essence toward the crack. Instantly, nine purple thunderbolts formed within the void rift. Lightning interwove into a bridge, connecting to some place. The empty void suddenly manifested a separate realm.

From the other end of the bridge came the hissing of billions of insects. It was her insect nest, thousands of miles away—her place of enlightenment, the sect’s location. The sky there had turned deep blue under the influence, filled with countless bizarre insects of every kind. They surged and cheered, seemingly welcoming their queen’s arrival.

Xia Baiqian brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and cast one last look at her master’s white-robed figure.

“Master… who knows when we’ll meet again!”

She stepped onto the bridge. As her figure completely vanished into the crack, the passage slowly contracted, and the myriad light butterflies faded away.

That meant the priceless Void-Stepping Bridge Talisman, never circulated in the market, had fulfilled its mission and turned to ashes.

Chu Huaizhou stared at the now-quiet room, a sense of loss washing over him. He felt both relieved and worried—what if Xia Baiqian’s breakthrough went wrong?

Leng Qingqiu hadn’t returned yet, which meant Heaven’s Sword Peak now only held him, Bai Li, and Meng Yinlu. Oh, and that little girl Ye Feng. But she had just joined the sect; she’d likely be out doing sect missions frequently. So practically not here.

Chu Huaizhou suddenly felt he was becoming an empty-nester.

*Care for the empty-nester Chu.*

In this melancholy, several months passed in a blink.

Soon, it was one month until the Shenghua Secret Realm!

That day, the entire Heaven’s Yuan Sword Sect buzzed with excitement. At dawn, clouds churned over the sea of mist. The sect was bustling with activity—sword aura pierced the sky, and multicolored light stretched for miles. All because a competition was being held in the martial arena.

All cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage were gathered. They were selecting disciples to enter the Shenghua Secret Realm.

After all, the Shenghua Secret Realm was a great opportunity that came once every hundred years. First, each sect would hold its own selection to pick the top Nascent Soul, Golden Core, and Foundation Establishment cultivators. Then, at the designated opening site, another selection would take place. Among the Seven Great Immortal Sects, forty Nascent Soul, thirty Golden Core, and thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators were to be chosen.

“Junior Brother Ye, I hope you won’t blame me for not going easy,” said a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard on the stage. He raised his sword and cupped his hands. “Enforcer of the Law Enforcement Hall, Luolunsi.”

“Let me see how strong the Sect Leader’s disciple is. Haha, back in the day, I joined the sect in the same year as the Sect Leader.”

Ye Feng, dressed in a black tight outfit and holding a rusty, worn sword, returned the salute. “Fourth disciple under Peak Lord Chu of Heaven’s Sword Peak, Ye Feng! Please go easy on me, Senior Brother.”

At that moment, Bai Li, nestled in Chu Huaizhou’s arms from the best viewing seat, lifted her head and asked with big, adorable eyes, “Human, is that man telling the truth? I don’t remember him at all, meow?”

Chu Huaizhou stroked her fox head and smiled. “Of course he is. He really did enter the sect in the same year as me. That year, I ranked first, and he ranked second. Later, no matter what he did, I was always one step ahead. Over time, we developed a rivalry.”

Bai Li raised a snow-white leg and rested her pink paw on her chin in thought. “I see, meow. What happened later?”

“Later? Ever since I formed my Golden Core and took in Leng Qingqiu and the others, the gap just kept growing.”

“Lulu, I remember you also participated in this before, right?”

Meng Yinlu, sitting beside Chu Huaizhou, nodded quietly with a smile. Perhaps recalling the past, or perhaps being able to watch her master reminisce, she swayed slightly—a sign of happiness.

Chu Huaizhou couldn’t help but recall old times. Of course, he had participated in the Shenghua Secret Realm selection. It went without saying that he became the number one at the Golden Core level within the sect. At the joint selection of the Seven Great Immortal Sects, he also effortlessly took first at the Golden Core level.

Among his disciples, Leng Qingqiu and Meng Yinlu were both at mid Foundation Establishment back then and successfully earned entry. Only Xia Baiqian and Bai Li didn’t get in, left waiting outside. Xia Baiqian had just reached early Foundation Establishment and had taken the insect path, which bloomed later. She barely qualified within the sect but was eliminated at the Seven Great Immortal Sects’ competition. Bai Li, as a fox spirit, wasn’t considered a sect cultivator at all and had no qualification.

But… Chu Huaizhou looked at the scruffy man below. He had a deep impression of this guy. His name was Luolunsi, and he appeared in the game’s storyline. In the game, he was a Nascent Soul elder, and his family wasn’t in decline. Under his hands, it thrived anew. He was an interesting NPC, suspected by the production team to be a counter-trope and a personal insert. Too bad he met Chu Huaizhou. He remembered that three hundred years ago, Luolunsi used to wield a fan as a sword. His family was at its prime, and he was as elegant as a noble young master. Now, over three hundred years later, he had let his appearance go and even used a real sword. Truly, times change and people drift.

Given how long it had been, he was probably at the peak of Golden Core now. That Nascent Soul aristocratic family must have declined.

The result of the subsequent match was somewhat surprising yet understandable. Ye Feng, who had been at mid Foundation Establishment a few months ago, had progressed rapidly to early Golden Core. She fought fiercely against this veteran peak late Golden Core cultivator, but her youth ultimately cost her the victory by a single move.

As for that one move… Chu Huaizhou could only say he was stunned when he saw it.

Because Luolunsi’s sword suddenly burst open in the middle in a flash. A slit appeared; the hilt tilted into an angled grip. Then he punched into it, shouting something about family and friendship, creating a bullet and loading it into a groove on the top of the hilt. In an instant, it formed a fierce sword intent. The intent condensed into sword energy, rushing straight at Ye Feng. Caught off guard, Ye Feng was sent flying out of the arena.

When Chu Huaizhou saw this, he gripped his armrests and nearly stood up. “Dude, how is there a weapon from an anime I watched before? This is really messed up!” Chu Huaizhou was furious. He finally understood why those old conservatives always opposed change. “Motherf*er, what kind of sword sect produces someone using a gun! How can Heaven’s Yuan Sword Sect save face!”

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