“You’re a Sword Cultivator!” The Traveling Immortal was surprised. The fact that a cultivator who had just risen to the Soul Formation stage was able to withstand his formidable power could only mean that this cultivator was a Sword Cultivator.

　　“I am!” Lonemoon replied, growing increasingly wary.

　　“Senior Brother Qing Lan…” Qing Yin took a step forward, looking as if he was about to speak.

　　“Forget it!” The Traveling Immortal cut him short. “The news has already spread. We can no longer stop people from entering. I have already warned all of you of the risks present here. From here on out, you’re on your own!”

　　Qing Yin broke out into a devilish grin as a thought sprung into his mind. “In any case, only Nascent Soul stage cultivators would be able to enter the mystic realm. Cultivators from other sects may enter if they please. Formidable beasts are lurking everywhere within the ancient mystic realm. We’ll just see how many cultivators you’re willing to lose.”

　　“Only Nascent Soul stage cultivators can enter,” Xi Qiu repeated, his eyes widening in surprise. To think that one had to at least be at the Nascent Soul stage to enter the mystic realm. The Blackheaven Sect didn’t lack Nascent Soul stage cultivators, but the Upper Azure World had many more. Even if those at the Nascent Soul stage could enter, they probably wouldn’t even be able to make it into the mystic realm.

　　“The entrance to an ancient mystic realm only reveals itself once every 500 to 1000 years and it will only remain for approximately three months. Those of you from the lower realm had better seize this opportunity,” Qing Yin scoffed. With that, the three got onto their swords and disappeared into the horizon.

　　Needless to say, they were headed for the mystic realm.

　　“What should we do?” No matter how hard he racked his mind, Xi Qiu couldn’t figure a way out. Of course they had to enter the mystic realm, and they had to do it soon. However, they didn’t know whether the Upper Azure World would send reinforcements. This was an ancient mystic realm after all! The truth was that the Blackheaven Sect didn’t have that many Nascent Soul stage cultivators, so surely they couldn’t send every one of them into the ancient mystic realm. Moreover, three of their Soul Formation stage cultivators were still held up in seclusion and could not come out.

　　“Let me go in and take a look first!” Lonemoon was thinking hard about their situation too. In a low voice, he continued, “There’s no point discussing what lies inside the mystic realm. The fact that the three of them are making this trip into the mystic realm shows that they’re deliberately going against Blackheaven Sect. It’s simply not appropriate to let any of the other Nascent Soul stage cultivators to go after them. I, at least, will be able to protect myself.”

　　“Uncle-Master…” Lonemoon was right to say that he was in the best position to go.

　　“But I’ll still need two people to go with me.”

　　“Who?”

　　“Yi Qing…”

　　“Oh yes, Perfected Yi Qing.” He was a Sword Cultivator himself, comparable to Soul Formation stage Supremacies. He was indeed a good choice.

　　“And his master.”

　　“What?” Xi Qiu exclaimed. “He… has a master?”

　　“…”

　　———————

　　Lonemoon had it all figured out. The Traveling Immortal looked strong and they didn’t know what lay before them in the mystic realm. Given their situation, they had no choice but to play dirty. Shen Ying was disgustingly powerful; she would be far more useful than a Soul Formation stage cultivator. She might be lazy, lousy at navigation, a little perverted, troublesome, and annoying, but she was still a safe choice.

　　He had never fought against a Traveling Immortal before, but Shen Ying seemed on par with the Traveling Immortal. If he and Yi Qing fought alongside her, even if they did not win, they surely would not lose. They had a strong relationship, so surely she would help…

　　“I’m not going!” Shen Ying immediately retorted, tilting her head slightly sideways as she continued to rest against the table.

　　Lonemoon’s heart seemed to pause beating and his face began to hurt all of a sudden…

　　“Why?” Never had it crossed his mind that she would refuse him.

　　“It’s going to be so troublesome.” Shen Ying detested leaving the house. All she wanted was to rest at home.

　　“Troublesome my foot!” He reached out and pulled the slob to her feet. “You had better have a better reason than that! What kind of lousy reason is ‘it’s troublesome’?!”

　　“I’m not going!” She slumped back onto the table. We’re about to go through a famine and he’s thinking of going out? We should be saving whatever energy we have left.

　　“Holy shit! Would you take it as you doing me a favour? We’re from the same hometown after all. Are you just going to leave me to fend for myself? We’re only going to make one trip into the mystic realm. We’ll be back in three months at most—they’ll pass by in a flash. I got you to Sword Comprehension Peak the last time too. It’s time you repaid the favor.”

　　“We shouldn’t be leaving the house right now.”

　　“Why?”

　　“I’m going into hibernation!”

　　The corner of Lonemoon’s mouth twitched. “It’s autumn!”

　　“Oh… well, I’m still going into hibernation!”

　　“Hibernation my ass!” Lonemoon was fuming. He couldn’t believe that faced with such a shameless slob, he was helpless but to keep trying to persuade her. “This concerns the entire sect. If you help out this time, your name will go down in history.”

　　“I’m not going. I’m not even getting paid for it!”

　　Lonemoon felt his blood pressure continue to rise, and his head began to fill with images of him strangling her. He began to take deep breaths to calm himself down. Pausing to think, he then reached into the storage bag at his side, pulled out a bag of spirit stones and tossed them onto the table. They landed with a solid thud.

　　“Here, salary!”

　　Shen Ying narrowed her eyes. Still looking like a slob, she slowly reached forward and poked at the bag. She pulled it toward her, opened it slightly and peered inside. All she saw were a couple of superior-grade spirit stones.

　　“Er…” The lazy bum shuffled in her seat and continued, “Three months is way too long…” Never had she ever been away from home for so long.

　　Dong!

　　Another bag landed on the table with a thud.

　　The slob sat up immediately. She reached for Lonemoon’s arm, exclaiming over-enthusiastically, “Father Niu! When do we set off?”

　　“Get lost! I’m not your Father Niu!”

　　“Alright, Father Niu!” She picked up the two bags, stood up and scurried into the kitchen. As she approached the kitchen, she sang, “Chef, we have money now! Shall we go to the market?”

　　“Yes Master, no problem Master! You’re amazing, Master!”

　　“…”

　　(╯‵□′)╯(┻━┻

　　So much for good relationship!

　　———————

　　As Lonemoon hurried to the entrance of the mystic realm, he quickly realised that the representatives from every other sect were already there. Cultivators of every cultivation stage had gathered around the peak. Clearly, they hadn’t heard of the entry requirements.

　　The three people from the Upper Azure World also stood outside the entrance to the mystic realm. They were right in front. From the looks of it, they had just informed the crowd that only cultivators who were at least at the Nascent Soul stage could enter the mystic realm. Many of the cultivators who stood around them had disappointment written all over their faces.

　　Qing Yin spotted Lonemoon. He intentionally shot a look in Lonemoon’s direction and broke into a strange grin. “Look, if it isn’t Blackheaven Sect’s Sword Cultivator… Ha, we’ll meet again in the mystic realm!”

　　Just as the words were out of his mouth, he stepped into the crystallic-looking entrance with his other two companions.

　　Lonemoon frowned. From the looks of it, Qing Yin was a vengeful man. He still seemed to be hung up over his inability to force Lonemoon to step down back at the Blackheaven Sect. He also seemed to have made up his mind about making things difficult for Lonemoon in the mystic realm. But lucky for Lonemoon, he had the cheat with him.

　　He quickly exchanged greetings with his acquaintances and wasted no time in flying into the mystic realm with Yi Qing and Shen Ying in tow. As they crossed through the crystallic-looking entrance, he suddenly noticed that everything around him had gone quiet. Then, all he saw was a blinding light.

　　In less than ten seconds, they found themselves in a completely foreign forest. The air in the mystic realm was filled with Spirit Qi, tens of times denser than the air outside. It was shocking, to say the least. Surveying his surroundings, Lonemoon couldn’t find any sign of Qing Yin or the other cultivators who had entered just minutes before them.

　　“It looks like entrance into the mystic realm is completely random.” Lonemoon turned to face Yi Qing and continued, “We’re lucky that we set up the shadow imitation on our own bodies. Surely we won’t get… Ah. Where’s Shen Ying?!”

　　He turned in circles, scanning the area around him. However, the foodie was nowhere to be found.

　　“Holy shit, we’ve lost the cheat!” He clearly remembered setting up the shadow imitation on her as well!

　　Σ(°△°|||)

　　Meanwhile, on Shen Ying’s end…

　　Suddenly, a beast as tall as a mountain appeared in front of her very eyes. She tilted her neck upwards to get a clearer view of the beast.

　　Can this… be eaten?