Chapter 42

The corridor twisted and turned endlessly, seeming to have no end.

As Yu Xizhi chatted with Xiao Zhizhi while walking forward, she felt that although it was excessively quiet, it was also calm and peaceful.

If they were not in a secret realm, surrounded by enemies, it could almost be considered leisurely.

In everyday life, Xie Junzhi was still her junior uncle.

Although the way they met was problematic, especially since they had to drink a bowl of each other’s blood every new moon, creating a strange sense of dependence and nurturing.

As a result, although Yu Xizhi knows Xie Junzhi’s prowess better than others, she found it hard to muster the proper respect for him as an elder.

Therefore, she often couldn’t help but call him by his name directly.

However, Qianya Peak wasn’t just the two of them. Most of the time, she, like everyone else, would earnestly call him “junior uncle.”

But now, the presence of Xiao Zhizhi seemed to blur and obscure that boundary.

“Xiao Zhizhi, what do you think Xie Junzhi is doing now?” Yu Xizhi asked casually, holding her sword.

Xiao Zhizhi thought to himself that he had mentioned earlier that whatever Xie Junzhi was doing had nothing to do with him, but now that she was explicitly separating the two, he felt somewhat annoyed.

However, Yu Xizhi didn’t seem to be waiting for his answer and continued, “What do you think he would do to break this secret realm if he were here?”

“Of course he would cut it open with one slash,” Xiao Zhizhi replied, showing a confident expression.

“Sword cultivators are indeed crude,” Yu Xizhi remarked with a sigh.

“They even want to cut the secret realm, isn’t that unreasonable?”

Xiao Zhizhi was puzzled. “Have you never heard the saying, ‘One day with a sword in my hand, I will chop all the reasoning dogs in the world.’?”

(T/N: (dàolǐ gǒu) can be translated as “reasoning dog” or “logic dog.” It is a slang term used to describe someone who rigidly adheres to logic, reasoning, or principles to the point of being annoying or unreasonable.)

Yu Xizhi’s expression turned complex, thinking that something is wrong with this saying, right?

Before she could respond, Xiao Zhizhi proudly said, “In this world, there is nothing that cannot be cut or chopped, only swords that are not sharp or strong enough.”

Yu Xizhi quietly stopped in her tracks. She looked at the sword in her hand and then at the seemingly endless corridor before her, her eyes brightening.

Xiao Zhizhi was slightly stunned, seemingly understanding what she intended to do.

“Wait, don’t…”

Before the second “wait” could be uttered, the girl had already raised her sword.

After all, it was just a wooden, red-pillared corridor.

Before stepping onto the corridor, she felt she could pass through it in half an incense stick’s time, yet now, the path she had walked seemed to stretch farther away!

She couldn’t identify the reason nor see if there was a formation here, but luckily, she had a sword in her hand.

She was a sword cultivator and could draw her sword.

Thus, her sword’s light was sharp.

Yu Xizhi used the sword technique she had learned in the cave, the one that had once sent her flying from the ground with a single strike.

The sword wind was extremely fine—so fine it didn’t seem like sword wind but more like a whip.

A whip studded with sharp thorns that, when shaken with spiritual energy, could open up inch by inch, like a long whip that was a knife, and spiritual energy was also like a knife.

Of all the strikes Yu Xizhi had endured, this was the most painful and left the longest-lasting red marks. In other words, this strike, with its small and concentrated cutting edge, had the strongest penetration, making it perfect for cutting through the wooden corridor!

A crude sword cultivator with no way out would swing their sword.

The vast spiritual energy, almost impossible for a True Immortal Golden Core cultivator to possess, poured into the sword light, making it seem as if the surrounding spiritual energy was about to be drawn out by this single strike.

And the Nine-Curve Corridor…

It was indeed broken.

This break wasn’t a collapse of the structure but rather, in one step, she was still in the deep corridor, and the next step was one person and one sword, standing in front of the main house of this courtyard!

Her sword light was so domineering that it directly shattered the illusion of the Nine-Curve Corridor!

Or perhaps, with her cultivation, no matter how intense the sword light, it should be difficult to achieve such an effect in the secret realm of the Complete stage of the Soul Accumulation Realm. However, the master of this secret realm evidently didn’t understand sword cultivators. They had set up numerous traps and twists but didn’t expect someone to violently break through, leaving out such a barrier!

The remaining six people who were still wandering in the Nine-Curve Corridor were awakened by the sword light, thinking some mechanism had been triggered. But when they looked up again, they saw a familiar figure standing at the front steps.

“Second Senior Sister!” Voices filled with surprise echoed around.

Yu Xizhi turned sharply, a look of joy on her face, but suddenly remembered something: “Stop! Don’t come over!”

Yi Zui’s expression changed slightly, obviously recalling his previous experience because of this sentence, and he immediately halted his steps, looking nervously at Yu Xizhi with his hand instinctively reaching for his sword hilt.

The girl scanned every face vigilantly, “This secret realm is full of puppets and phantoms. Each of you, say something to prove yourself. Only then can you be considered real.”

The group exchanged glances, finding it reasonable, but were momentarily silent.

Yi Zui cleared his throat and spoke first, “Well, I’ll go first.The master’s wife wanted a child but couldn’t have one, so she liked the junior sister. She didn’t like the second senior sister because she thought you were competing for resources with the junior sister.”

Yu Xizhi knew this well but didn’t expect Yi Zui to see it too.

The other five people all showed expressions of hearing unexpected gossip.

Shocked, truly shocked.

Sun Tian’er thought to herself that they were cultivating immortality, yet someone was still fixated on carrying on the family line. Did the sect master’s wife think there was a throne to inherit?

The position of sect master was always held by the capable, but did the sect master’s wife want a hereditary system? Wouldn’t she have to see if the junior uncle on Qianya Peak agreed with his sword?

Shen Ye always thought that Yu Xizhi was disliked by the sect master and his wife because she genuinely didn’t enjoy cultivating and seemed like an oddball among the new generation of disciples in the Kunwu Mountain Sect.

However, he hadn’t expected the real reason to be so… well, frankly stupid and absurd.

He remembered a time when Yu Si had a rare occasion to drink on a dark, windy night. He lamented to Shen Ye, saying that life always seemed to be a matter of difficult choices.

He wanted to respect his master and cherish his younger sister, but the two didn’t get along, putting him in a tough spot.

Huang Li secretly gripped his hoe, thinking that even his mortal aunt knew that having children was a matter of fate and couldn’t be forced.

Yet, these cultivators were concerned with such mundane issues?

The sect master’s wife of Kunwu Sect, really? Is that it?

Lu Zhiheng and Cheng Luocen exchanged a glance, both reading shock and disdain in each other’s eyes before quickly concealing their emotions.

Yu Xizhi also felt a moment of discomfort, but since Yi Zui was telling the truth, she merely acknowledged it with a “hmm” and looked at the others.

Shen Ye thought for a moment.

“It might not be a secret, but Master Han… that is, my master, his Four Sacred Swords have a different sword intent from yours. Maybe it’s because my cultivation level isn’t high enough, but I can’t tell which is superior.”

“Having seen my previous sword strike, you are indeed genuine,” Yu Xizhi nodded.

“By the way, to save you, I exchanged a sword strike with Master Han at Taiqing Peak. There was no clear winner, but I did block his sword.”

Shen Ye’s mouth opened slightly in surprise.

Lu Zhiheng pondered for a moment.

“At Muyong Peak, the meals Second Senior Sister made were always delicious, especially the morning chicken soup dumplings, which made me cry with greed.”

Yu Xizhi: “…”

Alright then.

Sun Tian’er had already prepared her answer: “Among the fifty-two inner and direct disciples at Liuguang Peak, forty-eight of them like Senior Brother Yu!”

There was a moment of eerie silence in the air, then three voices spoke simultaneously.

“Why!”

“What’s wrong with me?!”

“And what about the other four?”

Sun Tian’er confidently looked at Yi Zui: “Because Senior Brother Yu is good-looking and diligent, never sarcastic to others, and the first to reach the Golden Core stage!”

She then looked at Shen Ye with a complicated expression: “Senior Brother Shen, it’s not that you’re bad, it’s just… the contrast is too stark when you stand next to Senior Brother Yu.”

She paused and then answered Yu Xizhi’s question: “There were three people present when Second Senior Sister was dueling. They met Junior Uncle Xie, and then…”

Yi Zui, who always admired Junior Uncle, didn’t find this surprising and even found it more acceptable than everyone liking Yu Si.

He curiously asked, “Who was the remaining person? And why do you know so much?”

“Of course, because the remaining person is me.” Sun Tianer raised an eyebrow.

Yi Zui suddenly understood and then asked, “So, who do you like?”

Sun Tian’er was slightly annoyed: “What’s it to you? Why should I tell you?”

The two of them stared at each other wide-eyed. The others, being young, were secretly envious of Yu Si, the dream of 90 million young girls. Naturally, no one noticed Yu Xizhi’s excessive surprise and prolonged daze.

At some point, Xiao Zhizhi had picked up a strand of hair that Yu Xizhi had dropped. He straightened it and used it to poke her face from a distance. The strand was so fine that it took several pokes for Yu Xizhi to feel a slight itch. She scratched her face and came back to her senses, realizing her reaction had been too dramatic.

Was liking Junior Uncle really that strange?

Perhaps not.

Putting aside the matter of cultivating immortality, they were essentially teenagers, and it was perfectly normal for them to develop feelings. Cultivation wasn’t about practicing the Path of Emotionlessness, which required severing all emotions and desires. Besides, was the Path of Emotionlessness even feasible?

Just look at the number of monks who returned to secular life each year at the Duyuan path.

But didn’t they realize that liking someone of that seniority was akin to a grandparent-grandchild romance?

Yu Xizhi suppressed her odd feelings, which couldn’t be captured by simple phrases, and turned to look at Huang Li and Cheng Luocen.

Huang Li scratched his head. “The first time I saw Second Senior Sister, the first thing I said was, ‘Is this the little immortal from the sect?'”

Cheng Luocen thought he had nothing to prove.

Should he mention that Huang Li’s noodles were delicious or that his sword, priced at three low-grade spirit stones, was fair trade?

The young man pondered for a long time, then hesitantly looked at Sun Tian’er.

“Those three senior sisters don’t stand a chance.”

Sun Tian’er looked puzzled.

Cheng Luocen spoke each word with precision, “Based on my observation, Junior Uncle only sees Second Senior Sister as a human being. They should give up.”

Yu Xizhi: ?

Xiao Zhizhi: ?

Yi Zui jumped up, “Cheng Luocen, are you fake? Junior Uncle looks at me like I’m a person too! What are you talking about?”

“Looking like a person and being a person are different,” Cheng Luocen said coldly and unemotionally, then added a comforting remark, “It’s nothing; you still have Huang Li and me with you.”

Yi Zui: …

That’s not the issue here!

Sun Tian’er gave Cheng Luocen a strange look, then glanced at Yu Xizhi, thinking that everyone in the Kunwu Mountain Sect knew this already.

What was the point of saying it out loud?

Or perhaps, because this statement came from Qianya Peak, it held more weight?

She wanted to look at Yu Xizhi again.

Yu Xizhi had already turned her head.

For some reason, her voice sounded a bit uneasy and muffled, “No issues. Now, we need to push open the door of this house, face unknown traps, but we might also find the secret treasures of this realm or the way out.”

“Since we’re here,” Shen Ye, back to his usual lazy demeanor, drawled, making it sound like something a group of elderly people on a sightseeing trip might say when faced with a less-than-appealing view or activity, “it would be embarrassing to say we entered a secret realm without taking some treasures.”

The seven of them stepped onto the stairs, exchanging glances and subtly shifting their positions.

Kunwu had swords and also sword formations.

And the sword formation was formed by the seven of them.

Whatever they encountered upon opening the door, if one person couldn’t handle it, what about seven?

If one sword light couldn’t prevail, what about a sword formation?