Chapter 375: Chapter 8: Essential Member: Junior Female Disciple
The Bright Palace secret realm had no set schedule for opening.
But Qiu Changtian had heard, there must be a gap of over a millennium between each opening.
In other words, after this opening, one would have to wait another thousand years for the next opportunity.
From the perspective of Kunlun Sect’s upper echelons, given such a lengthy cooldown period, the secret realm of Bright Palace should be opened with even greater caution.
The reason was simple, if we open it now and then in a hundred or two hundred years, a prodigious disciple with exceptional talent enters the sect with hopes of reaching a Second Grade Golden Core, what should be done?
Before his Core Formation, he would have at most two hundred years of yang life and could not possibly wait for the next opening of Bright Palace’s secret realm, thus missing the chance for fortune within and ending up with only a Third Grade Golden Core… If something like this were to happen, wouldn’t the Kunlun higher-ups be spitting blood?
Therefore, the last time Bright Palace’s secret realm was said to have been opened was three thousand years ago.
That is to say, at least two opening opportunities had been wasted—truly outrageous.
Compared to the aggressive Shushan Shangqing Faction, the conservatism of Kunlun Taiqing Sect was baffling.
If not for my emergence as a prodigious Kunlun disciple, who knows when they would have decided to unveil this secret realm!
Everyone finally arrived at the secret realm’s entrance, which was located at the peak of a mountain, with an ethereal gateway floating in the air, half-open and commanding respect and grandeur.
The Bright Palace secret realm had already opened.
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Many Foundation Establishment disciples and Direct Disciples from the Inner Sect had gathered in front of the gate, yet not one was eager to step into the secret realm.
Qiu Changtian came with his junior brothers and sisters, descending in a sword light, and a group quickly surrounded them with various greetings and flattery, expressing admiration and support for the Chief Disciple of the Foundation Establishment realm.
Apart from the majority of followers, there were also some clever elite disciples who understood that if not for the emergence of Qiu Changtian, a person with Daoist Heart Clarity, even the grand competition at White Jade Capital would not have convinced the elders to open the Bright Palace secret realm; hence, their conversations were indirectly filled with gratitude.
Chief Qiu, we are truly basking in your light~
Qiu Changtian responded modestly and gracefully, greatly endearing himself to the crowd.
Before long, countless Golden Core True Persons also arrived on their swords.
The Bright Palace secret realm was not solely for those in the Foundation Establishment realm, as it contained many Spiritual Treasures useful to those in the Golden Core and even the Nascent Soul realms.
Hence, a quarter-hour later, the Nascent Soul Elders also arrived en masse, led by the Ziwei Sect Leader.
He stood on his Tai Yi Dividing Light Sword, and with a sweep of his Seven Treasures Duster, he began his opening address.
The first part elaborated on the venerable history of Kunlun Taiqing Sect.
The middle part mentioned a few details regarding the origin of Bright Palace’s secret realm.
In the latter part, the importance of the competition at White Jade Capital was reiterated, calling on the disciples to bring honor to the sect.
In the beginning, everyone listened with utter boredom, perking up only when it came to the secret realm of Bright Palace, but as the talk shifted to winning honor for the sect, they each started to nod off again.
Only Qiu Changtian, out of reverence for his master’s favor, stood upright the whole time, refined and imposing, patiently listening to his master finish his speech.
At last, the Ziwei Sect Leader swung his horsetail whisk and said, “Go,” and everyone soared up with their Sword Light, rushing towards the ethereal gateway in front.
Qiu Changtian, however, was in no rush to enter the secret realm, for he knew that whether one entered early or late, they would be randomly transported to some location within the Bright Palace.
So after waiting for his junior brothers and sisters to enter, he calmly turned around and asked Xu Yinglian, who was beside him:
“Junior Sister Xu, why aren’t you entering?”
“Senior Brother, why aren’t you entering?” replied Xu Yinglian, unwilling to show weakness.
She had been ready to compete with her senior brother and see who would rush into the secret realm first.
But seeing her senior brother standing still, Xu Yinglian had even maneuvered her Feather Jia Sword, but stopped it forcefully in its tracks.
“Oh.” Qiu Changtian said calmly, “In that case, how about we join hands and enter together?”
“Join hands?” Xu Yinglian hesitated slightly.
The Bright Palace secret realm would randomly teleport those who entered, but if two people held hands, they would be transported together.
However, almost no one chose to do this.
Because if they entered hand in hand, it meant that the treasures they found would have to be shared equally between them. Plus, since there were no fatal challenges in the secret realm that required cooperation to overcome, everyone naturally preferred to undertake the trial alone and keep all the treasures for themselves.
But Xu Yinglian had so much confidence in Qiu Changtian that she subconsciously felt that her senior brother must have thought of some key point that she hadn’t considered, which was why he had chosen to go as a pair.
Yet, what was this key point?
Unable to figure it out, she finally compromised and said,
“All right.”
Linking her arm with Qiu Changtian’s, Xu Yinglian pondered hard as they walked toward the gate, even forgetting about sword control.
As Qiu Changtian moved forward calmly, he heard the Kunlun Mirror in his mind curiously ask:
“Why do you insist on entering with Junior Sister Xu?”
“Same question,” the Green Duckweed Sword also couldn’t understand.
“I was just wondering if the Bright Palace and Bright Flame have any connection,” Qiu Changtian replied honestly.
“Should there be any connection?” the Kunlun Mirror hesitated, “Junior Sister Xu’s Bright Flame technique is derived from the Daoist lineage of Supreme Clarity and Primordial Purity. As for the Bright Palace being the dwelling place of the Zhu Rong Clan, the latter joined the Daoist way through the Witch Clan and has a much more ancient history than the former. It’s hard to make a connection between the two…”
“Alright, I got it, no need to say more,” Qiu Changtian interrupted, “Or to put it another way: I just want to take advantage of Junior Sister Xu’s good fortune.”
“Good fortune?” the Kunlun Mirror laughed, “Since when do you believe in that…”
As it spoke, suddenly it couldn’t continue.
As if it had thought of a certain example.
“I understand,” the Green Duckweed Sword spoke slowly, “Is Sword Master planning to take Junior Sister under his wing, right?”
Qiu Changtian was slightly astonished, to think that my own thoughts would be seen through by you, truly worthy of being my life-bound sword artifact.
“If you’re referring to guiding Junior Sister, I don’t deny there’s that intention,” he replied calmly, “but the main thing is to see if traveling with Junior Sister will bring any additional benefits in the secret realm of the Bright Palace.”
The Kunlun Mirror fell silent.
Ah, every time I overestimate this person’s moral boundaries, and then one day I suddenly find that there’s still a trace of human warmth in him, that feeling is truly hard to articulate.
“Why isn’t Senior Brother speaking?” Xu Yinglian suddenly asked, seeing that he had been silent for a long time.
“What would Junior Sister like me to say?” Qiu Changtian asked curiously.
“Nothing,” Xu Yinglian turned her head away.
She wanted to say that although going to the secret realm together might cause a loss of financial interest, the thought of facing the trials with her senior brother gave her a subtle sense of security.
Of course, such a straightforward confession, reflective of Xu Yinglian’s reserved nature, was definitely not something she was willing to say out loud.
Otherwise, if Qiu Changtian whimsically replied, “This little bird relying on others, Junior Sister, is really cute,” she would immediately feel so embarrassed and angry that she’d want to commit husbandicide.
Forget it, it’s better just to think it to myself.
“Why is Junior Sister silent?” Qiu Changtian mimicked her.
“What does Senior Brother want me to say?” Xu Yinglian looked toward the gate, now close at hand, and urged him, “Stop with the nonsense, let’s go.”