Seeing the sympathetic looks from Zanxing and Tian Fangfang, Rong Yu consoled them further: “But it’s fine. It’s not just Senior Brother—among those cultivators who went with Chihua Gate yesterday to catch the Bixi spirit, quite a few were severely injured and can’t enter the secret realm either.” He thought for a moment. “The number of people entering the secret realm this time might be much fewer than our sect originally anticipated.”
Upon hearing this, Tian Fangfang and Mendong exchanged glances. They didn’t get along with the people from Chihua Gate, and seeing those people looking so jubilant yesterday, they thought they had achieved a great victory. Now it seemed quite a few were injured.
Mu Cengxiao turned his head and asked, “Were there many injured people?”
“Many with light injuries, but about ten or so with severe injuries who can’t enter the secret realm,” Rong Yu said. “Liuli Sect only sent two people total. With Senior Brother’s accident, I can still enter, which is already quite good.”
Mu Cengxiao said coldly, “Tan Tianxin played his cards well.”
“What do you mean by that?” Mendong stuffed a piece of rose cheese candy into her mouth and asked unclearly, “Did Tan Tianxin deliberately let those cultivators get injured?”
Zanxing shook her head inwardly. With Chihua Gate’s domineering nature, it wasn’t impossible. When the Bixi spirit was on its killing spree, they deliberately didn’t act. After the competitors were mostly injured, they leisurely stepped in. This way, firstly, the fighting wasn’t strenuous, and secondly, they weakened future opponents—killing two birds with one stone.
Those cultivators weren’t necessarily unaware of this reasoning, but with things having come to this point, they were unwilling to state it plainly and offend Chihua Gate.
“It’s fine,” Tian Fangfang pulled Rong Yu to sit down together. “If you enter the secret realm alone, those bastards from Chihua Gate will inevitably make things difficult for you. After we enter the secret realm, you can stay with us. Don’t worry, we guarantee we won’t steal your good stuff.”
Rong Yu smiled. “Then thank you, Brother Tian.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Tian Fangfang put his arm around his shoulder and handed him a cup of wine. “I’m also looking at how poor you are and remembering my days before entering the Taiyan Sect, when I was just like you. Good brother, from now on we’re brothers. Here’s to us all getting rich.”
Mimi still wanted to jump on Rong Yu, but Zanxing grabbed her back. She picked up some fish cake with her chopsticks, but the taste in her mouth was unpleasant.
It seemed the Bixi spirit matter would just pass like this.
But would things pass so easily?
…
That night at the victory banquet, Zanxing was preoccupied throughout.
When they returned to their room, even Meng Ying, who usually paid no attention to external matters, noticed her low spirits and asked what had happened. Zanxing casually brushed her off.
This night was also very peaceful. Without the demon creature suddenly infiltrating the room, Zanxing slept until dawn. After daybreak, the palace maids brought the preparations needed for entering the secret realm tonight.
Li’er Kingdom’s secret realm opened once every ten years. When opening the secret realm, Li’er Kingdom’s royal ministers all had to be present. The secret realm entrance was at the royal mausoleum, and the ritual protocols were extremely complicated. Just the matters requiring attention filled a thick scroll, written even more extensively than Emperor Shengning’s records.
Gu Baiying didn’t even look at it. Tian Fangfang couldn’t read a single character. Meng Ying, being a heaven’s heaven-favored daughter, wouldn’t take these mortal protocols to heart either. Mendong and Mu Cengxiao also only skimmed a few pages before stopping. Only Zanxing, with the mindset of better understanding Li’er Kingdom’s customs and folk conditions, earnestly read through these precautions.
But this thing was too long. Zanxing hadn’t finished reading when the time to enter the secret realm arrived.
Because the time inside Li’er Kingdom’s secret realm was opposite to the time outside the secret realm, entering the secret realm at midnight would be approximately noon inside the secret realm.
The imperial mausoleum was located north of the royal palace. From the observation tower of Yunhai Garden, one could see a corner of the imperial mausoleum. Because Li’er Kingdom was surrounded by sea on all sides, it particularly took the meaning of “immortal stairs at the end of the cloud sea.”
All sect cultivators followed the guiding maids to the imperial mausoleum. The imperial mausoleum was built against the mountain. Looking up, everyone could see that outside the mausoleum grounds, there was a long jade stone staircase on the ground. At the end of the staircase stood a white jade palace, extraordinarily magnificent and exquisite.
Perhaps due to Li’er Kingdom’s humid climate, the palaces here mostly used jade and stone materials. They indeed looked remarkably beautiful, but had a somewhat cold and eerie feel.
To the side of the staircase stood an extremely tall jade stone tablet—this was the merit tablet, inscribed with the great achievements of emperors throughout the ages. The current one was Emperor Shengning’s merit tablet. Zanxing looked up and indeed saw praise for the “merman case” from back then. Previously, she had only found it exaggerated, but now, reading it again, she felt somewhat disgusted.
Just as she was thinking, deep bell sounds came from outside. The sovereign of Li’er Kingdom had arrived.
This emperor, who looked gentle and refined, was wearing snow-white ceremonial robes today, with a crown on his head. The ceremonial robe was embroidered with twelve chapter patterns, and the crown had twelve tassels. This way, he appeared to have gained several degrees of imperial bearing.
Zanxing also saw Princess Lizhu. She wore a bright red ceremonial dress with zhài patterns woven on her garments. Li’er Kingdom revered white, so she didn’t know if this was her being unconventional or if women’s ceremonial dress was naturally like this. In any case, standing before the white jade palace, she was like a burning flame—brilliant and intense.
The time was almost up.
On the high platform in front of the white jade palace, twenty-eight pillars were each carved with the twenty-eight lunar mansions. The sovereign walked onto the high platform and carefully took out a round seal from a box in the hands of a eunuch beside him. He placed the seal in the groove on the high platform. In an instant, the stars on the twenty-eight long pillars lit up one by one. In just a moment, they illuminated the entire night sky above the imperial mausoleum.
“Esteemed immortals, the secret realm entrance is open,” the sovereign smiled. “Please enter.”
The sect disciples had been waiting for a long time. Upon hearing this, they walked up the stairs in order, heading toward the entrance illuminated by the twenty-eight constellation pillars on the high platform. The first to walk up the stairs were people from Chihua Gate, followed by people from Yinfeng Sect, then Xiangling Sect… Zanxing and her group also went up.
Even sects had their hierarchies of stepping on the low and flattering the high. Those less famous sects came last.
Rong Yu was one of those left at the back.
Tian Fangfang enthusiastically waved at him, saying, “Brother Rong, hurry up! You can stand with us later!”
Rong Yu smiled and walked up the stairs.
One step, two steps, three steps… Just as he was about to take the last step onto the constellation platform, Rong Yu suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Tian Fangfang asked. “Why aren’t you walking? Did you sprain your ankle?”
The other cultivators beside him had already walked onto the high platform. Only he remained behind. Gradually, everyone noticed this. After everyone ascended the high platform, the secret realm could begin teleportation. Someone urged, “What’s this kid dawdling about? Hurry up!”
Rong Yu didn’t move.
After a moment, Rong Yu raised his head. His gaze wandered through the crowd, and finally, he looked toward Gu Baiying.
The young man stood on the stairs with crossed arms and smiled at him. “What are you standing there for? Come on.”
“What did you do?” he slowly asked.
Gu Baiying stared at him with interest. “Nothing much. Just set up a demon-revealing formation.”