Zanxing knew nothing about what had happened in Jinhua Hall.

It was only when she received the list of those going to the Li’er Kingdom secret realm trials that she felt somewhat puzzled. That Mu Cengxiao, Tian Fangfang, and she were on the list was a foregone conclusion. It was said that the little junior brother called Mendong had some “Spiritual Immortal Aperture” and was exceptionally good at support, so bringing him along wasn’t surprising. The great beauty Meng Ying was going to the secret realm to test her sword skills, and of course, without this, she couldn’t develop a romantic storyline with the male lead. But she stared at the last three characters, “Gu Baiying,” and couldn’t quite understand.

Given Gu Baiying’s seniority and position, there was no need for him to go to such an ordinary secret realm trial like Li’er Kingdom. This wasn’t in the original plot either. Zanxing looked at the red mark on her palm – there were no signs of it deepening.

The plot line didn’t seem to have changed at all.

She thought about it for a long time but couldn’t figure it out, so she simply set the matter aside and devoted herself to cultivation. After all, this was her first time entering a secret realm. Who knew if the original work would secretly dig more pits for her to fall into? It was better to improve her cultivation first. As long as she didn’t steal the protagonist’s spotlight and didn’t change the main storyline, she’d be fine.

In the blink of an eye, another two months passed. Since the Xiaoyuan Pearl had last gone dormant, under the daily nourishment of abundant spiritual energy, it gradually regained some vitality. On the first night after the seventh day of the new year, Zanxing broke through once again, reaching the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

This cultivation speed was already quite fast. Of course, the Xiaoyuan Pearl’s assistance played a role in this. Perhaps thinking she was promising material, Xuan Lingzi had asked Li Danshu for many pills to nourish spiritual meridians. Taking a few every day, she finally made some progress.

Three days before departing for the Li’er Kingdom secret realm, Xuan Lingzi told her to start packing.

As an inner disciple, Zanxing’s equipment was now more respectable than before. Xuan Lingzi gave her a bright red brocade Qiankun Bag that could hold much more than the one she had lost on Gufeng Mountain. The material was also more precious, though the color was somewhat too ostentatious. Xuan Lingzi told her this was sent by Sect Master Shaoyang Zhenren, so Zanxing wasn’t surprised. Although Shaoyang Zhenren appeared to be an otherworldly handsome man untouched by earthly concerns, some of his habits were indeed not much different from a hundred-year-old man’s – he liked health preservation and had solemn, auspicious aesthetic tastes. In the Taiyan Sect, which favored elegant refinement, he was indeed unique.

She sat on the ground, opened the Qiankun Bag, put some pills inside, and also packed away some books. Ever since Zanxing had used the Torch Eye Talisman in the Xumi Jiezi Map, Cui Yufu had been having disciples deliver some obscure talisman texts every few days – all written by himself, of course. For example, “365 Letters a Talisman Formation Master Left for His Disciples” and “From Foundation Establishment to Spirit Transformation: The Greatest Talisman Formation Master Training Plan.” Zanxing thought that if Cui Yufu lived in modern times, he would definitely be a top-tier educational supplementary material compilation expert.

Zanxing also packed several miscellaneous books she had borrowed from the library. After all, this was her first time going to Li’er Kingdom, so she brought along a few related books as travel guides.

Hong Su wanted to help, but she couldn’t distinguish between these pills and such things herself, so she could only sit to the side, petting the cat. Ever since Hong Su came to the Taiyan Sect, Mimi’s already considerable appetite had grown day by day. Zanxing felt that if this continued, it would grow into a Silver Wolf Pig before it could develop into a Silver Wolf Lion.

The little girl quite liked the fluffy white cat. While rubbing Mimi’s head, she asked Zanxing, “Young Miss, can it not speak human language?”

Zanxing: “It can’t.”

“Then can you understand what it’s saying?”

Zanxing sighed: “Do you think I’m a Disney princess?”

Hong Su blinked: “What princess? In Hong Su’s heart, Young Miss is a princess.”

Zanxing stood up from the ground and patted her head: “I’m going to the outer hall to find Master. Play by yourself.”

Hong Su nodded obediently.

Zanxing left Mingxiu Courtyard. In a few days, they would depart for the Li’er Kingdom’s secret realm. Before that, Shaoyang Zhenren had asked Xuan Lingzi to take several new disciples to the armory to select magical artifacts.

Every inner disciple could go to the armory to select magical artifacts. The magical artifacts in the armory were all mid-grade and above. Of course, between magical artifacts and cultivators, there was a matter of fate. It wasn’t necessarily true that higher-grade magical artifacts were better – one still had to choose what suited oneself.

Zanxing went to Miaokong Hall. Mu Cengxiao and Tian Fangfang had already arrived. As soon as Tian Fangfang saw Zanxing, she laughed heartily and came over to put her arm around her shoulder, saying: “Junior Sister, that iron rod of yours is so rusty it’s growing mushrooms. This time at the armory, you must keep your eyes wide open and pick a good one! Don’t be polite either – pick the most expensive one. If you don’t want it later, you can take it to Huajin Tower and sell it for a good price!”

This blatant attitude of taking advantage made Xuan Lingzi couldn’t help but cough lightly and say, “Come with me first.”

The armory was next to the Martial Arts Hall. It was like a huge warehouse, with no excessive decoration on the outside. Only on the pitch-black iron door hung a verdigris-colored giant lock. The lock seemed to have patterns carved on it. When they walked closer, they could see it was carved with a hundred children playing with dragon lanterns, extraordinarily lively and festive.

Zanxing: “……”

This aesthetic taste was undoubtedly Shaoyang Zhenren’s handiwork without needing to ask.

Zanxing waited for Xuan Lingzi to unlock it. Xuan Lingzi walked forward and placed his hand on the giant lock. Then they heard a muffled thunderous sound, and the black door that looked seamlessly fitted slowly opened.

Zanxing was somewhat surprised – this was a fingerprint lock.

“Let’s go.” Xuan Lingzi was the first to walk in.

Zanxing and the others followed. The warehouse was very large, about twice the size of the Martial Arts Hall, with only one floor but a very high ceiling. The walls were covered with all kinds of swords and sabers, and quite a few were piled on the ground as well. As soon as they entered, they could see dust swirling everywhere. At first glance, this place did look like an abandoned warehouse.

Xuan Lingzi stood in the middle, looked at Zanxing and the others with a smile, and said: “The magical artifacts here are at minimum mid-grade magical artifacts. Of course, there are also high-grade magical artifacts, but whether you can draw them out depends on yourselves. If you can’t subdue them, they naturally cannot be used by you. And you must also choose the most suitable one according to your usual cultivation technique habits. Don’t just think about selling them for money.” After saying this, he looked meaningfully at Tian Fangfang.

Tian Fangfang was completely oblivious and asked Xuan Lingzi, “Master, are high-grade magical artifacts the best magical artifacts?”

“Of course not,” Xuan Lingzi said with a smile: “If a magical artifact can develop spiritual intelligence and possess an artifact spirit, then such supreme magical artifacts would be the most powerful magical artifacts in the world.” After a pause, he continued: “However, such supreme magical artifacts are rare – perhaps one is born in a thousand years. Our sect doesn’t have any. I imagine that among the sects in the cultivation world, very few possess such treasures.”

Upon hearing this, the several people in the armory all fell silent. Such supreme magical artifacts sounded inspiring just to hear about, but this kind of opportunity wasn’t something one could obtain just by wanting it.

“Let’s not talk about these things. Who wants to choose first?” Xuan Lingzi asked.