Chapter Thirty-Four: Just Call Me Brother
The top ten disciples of both the inner and outer sects received their respective, truly lavish rewards. In the outer sect, due to Leng Zikang’s promotion and Zeng Hu’s betrayal, Li Shiyu and Zhao Hanqing—originally ranked eleventh and twelfth—were moved up to fill the vacancies, leaving the two of them feeling incredibly fortunate.
Meanwhile, the hundred disciples who had learned that the secret realm would soon open were all buzzing with excitement. Every journey into the secret realm saw more than half of the participants advance in cultivation, either by breaking through a stage or making significant progress.
...
At the same time, Gu Xiaopang could be said to have found fortune in misfortune. Though his injuries had yet to fully heal, he broke through another level, successfully reaching the ninth stage of Qi Refinement, and was now only a step away from perfection.
On the joint recommendation of Elder Gu and Elder Mu, the sect master changed Gu Xiaopang’s original first-place reward. Instead of simply granting him access to the armory to choose a treasure, the head of the Forging Pavilion personally crafted a new two-piece set for him, using second-grade Firehorn Rhino horn. The resulting treasures were many times stronger and more potent than anything before, nearly rivaling true magical artifacts.
Overjoyed, Gu Xiaopang became completely engrossed with his new treasures, playing with them for quite some time.
...
Now fully recovered and as lively as ever, Gu Xiaopang flirted and bantered with Mu Wan’er for two days before Elder Mu lost patience and shouted at him to hurry up and get out. With little else to do, Gu Xiaopang bid Elder Mu farewell and cheerfully made his way down the mountain.
...
“Well, fancy meeting you here, little junior sister! Fate really brings us together!”
“Y-yes, what a coincidence, Senior Brother Gu.”
“No need to call me senior brother, it sounds so distant. Just call me brother.”
“How… how could I do that?”
“Why not?”
“Oh, alright, I’ll do as you say, Senior Brother—no, I mean, Brother Gu.”
“That’s more like it! Good girl!”
“I don’t need this, so I’ll give it to you...”
Pulling a pill bottle from his robe, Gu Xiaopang casually pressed it into his junior sister’s hand and, beaming, walked away toward the Fifth Peak.
What he didn’t know was that the pretty little junior sister, who was so excited she stumbled over her words and whose cheeks were flushed red, hadn’t just happened to be there. Ever since the competition ended, she’d been waiting at this spot for days, hoping for news of his safe return.
“Brother Gu, my name is Xia Xue’er,” she called out bravely, her face burning as she ran off. For now, she had no idea that the item Gu Xiaopang had just given her was the top-grade Foundation Building Pill awarded to the first-place winner.
“Snowfall? What an odd name,” Gu Xiaopang murmured. “But I’ll remember it.”
He glanced back with a gentle smile at the distant figure of Xia Xue’er.
...
“You rascal, you finally remembered to come back?”
As soon as Gu Xiaopang set foot in the backyard atop the Fifth Peak, he was greeted by Elder Gu’s half-laughing, half-scolding voice.
After consulting his grandfather about the secret realm, Gu Xiaopang quickly left Elder Gu standing alone in the courtyard and, in high spirits, returned to his room.
Elder Gu, momentarily stunned, could only roll his eyes, clearly annoyed at how his grandson only came to him when he needed something.
...
Behind the main peak of the Ethereal Sect lay a forbidden area, where an entrance connected to the Ethereal Secret Realm. It opened once every three years, admitting no more than two hundred people each time, for a duration of one month.
This independent subspace was the very foundation of the Ethereal Sect’s existence. According to legend, it was transplanted here by the sect’s founder, who used tremendous power to move it from elsewhere before his disappearance, hiding it within the forbidden ground as a blessing for future generations.
Danger and opportunity coexisted within. Sand, seas, peaks, valleys, spiritual plants, and fierce beasts—all could be found within; the realm also contained the complete legacies of the sect’s most eminent predecessors throughout the ages.
Every three years, a new group of outstanding disciples would enter, returning a month later greatly empowered. Though disciples occasionally perished in the secret realm, nothing could dampen the longing in every disciple’s heart for the chance to enter.