The white crane carrying the letter landed and transformed into an immortal attendant.
With a casual flick of his fingers, he formed a teleportation array.
The teleportation arrays within the sect required boundary stones carved from spirit stones to continuously supply them with spiritual energy. Yet even an array as extraordinarily complex as this one could be formed with a wave of the hand by a mere immortal attendant serving beneath the Sect Master.
Mei Man stared without blinking at the half-moon archway glowing with a gentle radiance, her expression faintly complicated.
“Please.” The immortal attendant stepped aside to let her pass, his courtesy carrying a trace of distant coldness.
Mei Man stepped through the teleportation array, and a faint sandalwood fragrance drifted toward her.
She took one step forward onto the jade-and-glass paving stones. When she raised her eyes, the first thing she saw was the auspicious light and precious radiance filling the air.
Five-colored clouds and mist floated like jade walls, while exotic herbs and rare flowers bloomed in abundance.
Farther away, she could make out the hazy outlines of pearl palaces and treasure halls, golden towers and violet mansions.
Beyond those lay countless divine mountains and immortal waters, as well as phoenixes and mysterious cranes too distant to see clearly.
It truly resembled the immortal palaces and celestial mansions described in storybooks.
Standing among them, she felt so tiny—so tiny that merely looking at the rosy mists and dazzling lights made her eyes swim, leaving her unable to take it all in.
Mei Man had not gone far when she encountered an elder from the Hall of Affairs.
He had also come to see the Sect Master. Seeing Mei Man here, he looked somewhat surprised.
The elder stroked his beard. “You’re that mortal. Your name is Mei—”
Mei Man had always been wary of people she did not know well. “Mei Man,” she said simply.
“Yes, that’s right. Mei Man.” The elder was imposing without raising his voice, and he looked exceedingly stern. Fortunately, his words were not unpleasant; they were merely the usual admonitions. “Now that you’ve come to this immortal estate, settle down and be practical. Don’t reach for what is beyond you. Learn your skills well. When you return to the mortal realm one day, you’ll at least be able to make a living and establish yourself.”
Mei Man did not like hearing this. She gave a vague acknowledgment, her face turning slightly to the side.
The elder continued, “There are several families surnamed Mei in the Middle Spirit Realm. But since you were born in the mortal realm, you must be from the Mei family near Clear Heaven Temple?”
Clear Heaven Temple stood at the border between the Middle Spirit Realm and the mortal realm. It was also one of the main routes leading from the mortal realm into the Middle Spirit Realm.
Mei Man nodded. “Yes.”
“Then you must put even more effort into your cultivation.” The elder adopted the manner of a kindly old teacher. “Apart from you, there is only one other member of the Mei family studying at this immortal estate. Such an honor must be cherished.”
Mei Man’s eyelid twitched, and her scattered thoughts suddenly snapped together.
“Who?” Her voice rose slightly.
Before coming here, she had asked Qiu Yanxue whether there were any other members of the Mei family at the immortal estate. Qiu Yanxue had been very straightforward—even obtaining a roster of the disciples for her and letting her search through it herself.
She had gone through it page by page. There had been a few people surnamed Mei, but none had been members of the Mei family. How had another Mei suddenly appeared now?
Could it be a newly admitted disciple? But the time for accepting new disciples was still far off.
By then, however, they had already reached their destination, and the elder had merely mentioned it in passing. He did not answer her.
In front of her, he had been full of imposing authority. Yet in the blink of an eye, he revealed a trace of subtle reverence. He clasped his hands and bowed.
“Dao Lord, I have an important matter to report.”
When he finished speaking, he shot Mei Man a sidelong glance, as if hinting that she should step aside.
But the grand, empty hall offered her nowhere to go.
The Dao Lord suddenly spoke. “Speak freely. Young Friend Mei is not an outsider.”
His voice was gentle and amiable, unhurried, drifting down from above before slowly settling beside her ear.
“Yes,” the elder replied.
Mei Man raised her head and looked toward the hazy white mist suspended in midair.
The voice had come from behind the mist. She could not see the Dao Lord’s true appearance, but his voice sounded very familiar.
That day, she had disguised herself as Xie Xu and gone to the Immortal-Seeking Tower at the foot of the mountain to meet Qiu Yingling. The person who had recognized that she was someone else in disguise and ordered Qiu Yingling to seize her had possessed exactly the same voice.
Her mind tensed instantly. She was uncertain whether he would recognize her again.
The elder said beside her, “Dao Lord, word has come from Little Precipice Mountain in the southern region. A secret sword-tomb realm said to contain the Demon Sword has appeared. Several sects want to enter the realm and destroy the Demon Sword together. Several Venerables have even sent letters to the Hall of Affairs asking for your decision.”
Hearing “Little Precipice Mountain,” Mei Man suddenly remembered something from long ago.
When she had been recovering in the Valley of Physicians after her fall from the building, she had heard from Qiu Yingling’s puppet immortal servant that he had gone to Little Precipice Mountain.
The Dao Lord gave a soft laugh. “They’re certainly in a hurry.”
He said nothing more.
The elder snorted. “That is exactly what I think as well. No one knows what lies within that secret realm, or whether it is safe. It is the resting place of the Demon Venerable’s life-bound sword, yet they are already rushing to make us decide. They must think the disciples of Heaven’s Evolution Sect are highly capable and want to drag them in as guinea pigs.”
“Then I’ll trouble Elder to send them a reply.”
The elder clasped his hands and bowed before departing.
“Young Friend Mei,” the Dao Lord said warmly.
Mei Man often dealt with Qiu Yanxue, that sickly young woman, and after listening closely to him for only a few moments, she could hear the fatigue in the Dao Lord’s voice. It sounded as though he, too, was afflicted by some illness.
She was slightly surprised. Someone with cultivation as powerful as his could still suffer from illness?
The Dao Lord continued, “Did you hear what the elder said just now?”
“Yes.”
“I have been at Heaven’s Evolution Immortal Estate for many years. Yingling is the disciple I am most proud of.” The Dao Lord’s tone was gentle and unhurried. “Some time ago, I sent him to look for a sword-tomb secret realm.”
Mei Man’s heart tightened.
Could he be referring to the very secret realm the elder had just mentioned?
But hadn’t the news only arrived now? And from what he had said earlier, wasn’t the Sect Master unwilling to send the sect’s disciples into the secret realm?
The Dao Lord said, “He spent a great deal of effort and eventually found it. He even slew the great demon guarding the secret realm. Unfortunately, he had exhausted too much of his strength and no longer had the energy to enter.”
Mei Man thought of Qiu Yingling’s heavily injured body. So the great demon had been responsible for those wounds?
The Dao Lord changed the subject. “Yingling has never given me cause for concern. He laid a barrier at the entrance to the secret realm. I trust him. Since he was the one who set up the barrier, even someone with extremely high cultivation would find it difficult to break through. He said that he had given the key to open the barrier to someone.”
Mei Man had yet to recover from the shock of one revelation after another when he asked, “Your name is Mei Man, and you are a member of the Mei family. How did you come to be at the Qiu residence?”
“I…” Her voice was dry, but she did not reveal her unease. She answered truthfully, “I saved Senior Brother Qiu Heyang’s life when I was young, so I went with him.”
“Good. You possess a heart willing to save others. That is something many cultivators cannot comprehend even after spending their entire lives pursuing it.” The Dao Lord’s voice was soft. “Power can easily ensnare people. Once they gain the ability to move mountains and fill seas, they forget the tiny ants upon those mountains and the little fish swimming in those seas. A kind heart is far more important than anything else.”
“You have a golden bell in your possession?”
Mei Man said that she did.
“Then that is the key.”
The Dao Lord spoke those quiet words, yet they struck like a thunderclap, making Mei Man’s mind ring.
That golden bell was the key to opening the barrier?
But wasn’t it meant to capture souls?
She gradually felt cold sweat seep down her back. She did not know whether this was really true or merely another lie fabricated by Qiu Yingling. But from that instant onward, her hand began to tremble uncontrollably, and her heart pounded as though it were about to burst from her chest.
“I…” No matter what, she had to distance herself from this matter first, so as not to arouse his suspicion. “I don’t know anything about it.”
Dao Lord did not find anything suspicious. “Yingling has always acted with great caution. It was understandable that he kept this from you. So, what do you think? That secret realm is extraordinarily dangerous. With a mortal body like yours, you may well go in and never come back out. If you’re afraid, give me the bell. I’ll choose someone else to go.”
Mei Man clenched her teeth in secret. Her pupils widened uncontrollably, and the cold sweat breaking out across her back nearly soaked through her clothes.
She was afraid.
Of course she was afraid.
Qiu Yingling’s arm had been twisted and distorted almost beyond recognition. Blood still clung to the exposed white bones. There was not only the smell of blood but also a faint stench of decay—clearly the result of contamination by demonic energy.
If one arm alone had ended up like that, there was no need to imagine how severe the injuries on the rest of his body must be.
Even someone with cultivation as powerful as his had been reduced to such a state, let alone an ordinary mortal like her.
Mei Man swallowed. Fear and panic ground relentlessly against her heart, leaving it afraid to beat, afraid to make a sound.
It was the instinctive resistance all living things felt in the face of danger.
Yet surging even more fiercely than her panic was an indescribable excitement.
She lowered her head, forcing her breathing to remain as restrained as possible. Over and over, Qiu Yingling’s words echoed in her mind.
If an opportunity that could send her tumbling from the heights hung precariously before her, how could she willingly bow her head and give it up?
She thought that it was not the rosy mists and radiant treasures surrounding her that dazzled the eyes, but desire—a desire that burned like a raging fire and left her with no other choice. So she drew a deep breath and lied through her choked voice. “I am afraid, but… but Senior Brother Qiu said that only I can use it.”
Her voice trembled uncontrollably, but to Dao Lord, it sounded like nothing more than the tremor of fear.
So he comforted her. “Don’t be afraid. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. It isn’t as though you must go.”
Mei Man shook her head. “Senior Brother Qiu was willing to risk his life to kill the great demon guarding the secret realm. What am I compared to him?”
Dao Lord fell silent for a moment before saying, “No wonder Dao Shushi accepted you as his disciple. Don’t worry. I’ll give you some talismans to protect your life. All you need to do is use that treasure to open the barrier. As for retrieving the sword, someone else will do it.”
Mei Man’s brows twitched. “May I ask who?”
“You’ll know when we depart,” Dao Lord replied. “Go back and rest for now. Tomorrow, you’ll head to the secret realm.”
With that, he had an immortal attendant escort Mei Man away.
After returning to her cave dwelling, she was still somewhat dazed. She had no idea what awaited her inside that secret realm.
She considered going to see Qiu Yingling, but the doors to his cave dwelling were tightly shut, and there was no way to get inside.
During that time, a physician from the Medical Valley came to ask whether she had time to make a visit there. Yu Guiya’s condition was unstable, and they wanted to ask her to go take a look.
Unlike before, she did not agree readily. Instead, she found an excuse and refused.
The next morning, an immortal attendant came to summon her to the teleportation array.
It was only when she reached the array that she learned who the sect master had chosen to retrieve the sword.
“Dao Lord has a few more instructions,” the immortal attendant said. “This journey to Little Qiao Mountain will be extremely dangerous. You must not act rashly. Immortal Master Qiu will escort you all the way while Young Friend Mei opens the barrier. As for the demon sword, if you manage to find it, only the person chosen to retrieve it may touch it, from beginning to end.”
He lifted his head and looked straight ahead, his tone calm.
“That person is Immortal Xie.”
Mei Man followed his gaze and saw Xie Xu, whose expression remained as composed as ever.
