Chapter 72

Vehicles passed back and forth, the noise somewhat noisy.

Zhang Yunlu was on her way to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

She had taken an afternoon leave.

Because she ranked first in that combat test, and because most of the school's teachers now knew she had begun practicing the Gathering Method, the leave was granted easily.

Even Fang Chi, who had never gotten along with her before, now dared not make things difficult for her, and even wanted to mend their teacher-student relationship.

But she paid no attention.

As for Zhang Xiu, since he was on night shift, he had already arrived at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall ahead of time.

Today she intended to complete the final stage of the Gathering Method, then prepare for the upcoming trial.

Unlike the first two stages, the final step—Gathering Solar Essence—must be completed at noon.

According to the description in the Nine Qi Gathering Method, this final step is best performed when the Celestial Luminary stands at zenith, its light streaming down across the Eight Extremes.

After this, she could also consider joining the Xiang Jianzong…

She was just thinking.

"Hey! Isn't this little Yunlu?"

As the voice reached her ears, she saw Chi Jiuyu pedaling a tricycle, slowly approaching her side.

"Where are you headed? Let me give you a ride!"

She had just delivered the items to Silutang as her uncle had instructed.

On the way, she encountered a group of Qitaxian Sect disciples and deliberately slowed down, yet not a single one among them recognized her.

Had her uncle not warned her beforehand, she might have thought her fame had truly faded.

"... No thanks," Zhang Yunlu shook her head slightly in refusal.

"Tsk tsk!"

How short a time it's been, and already she's turned so cold.

Clearly, I'm still the real deal—I've died so many times and still haven't changed a bit!

"Judging by your look, you're heading to practice the Gathering Method?"

"Mm."

"Which stage?"

"The third stage."

"That's the final stage already? Not bad!"

This little Yunlu really is impressive.

Given today's peaceful world, she'd have had a hard time discovering her talent.

But her luck was just that good—she happened to meet her uncle upon his emergence from seclusion.

And from then on, she soared—now she's nearly completed the Tiancheng Dao Base, and joining the Xiang Jianzong is certain!

She'd also heard that Zhang Yunlu lost both parents in childhood and was raised by her brother.

Wait.

Why does this plot feel so familiar?

Parents dead, then a great master discovers her talent, and she soars from there.

Hmm…

It sounds a bit like the protagonist of a storybook novel…

No no!

According to those comeback-novel protagonists, you'd at least need a few enemies, right?

And a family heirloom!

That too must be there.

Therefore, I'm the real protagonist!

"I'm here."

Huh? She looked up—sure enough, a short walk around the corner was the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall building.

She'd been too absorbed to notice.

Too bad—she'd wanted to chat a while longer with her little fan, the only person in Xuanjian City she'd ever guided.

"Alright, alright! Good luck with your practice!"

Saying this, Chi Jiuyu kicked hard—the tricycle shot off instantly.

Wuhu!

Zhang Yunlu watched the departing tricycle for a moment, then turned and walked into the corner.

I used to truly admire her…

City Hall, Mayor's Office.

Knock knock!

The mayor's secretary knocked, then entered.

"Mayor, Silutang sent an application—someone wants to host a large event and seeks your opinion."

Huh? Does this small matter really need to come to me?

"My opinion? My opinion is to deny it!" the mayor waved his hand irritably.

What large event? Don't we have enough trouble already?

Years of stagnation in Xuanjian City have worn out most of his passion.

All he wants now is to retire peacefully and find a place to advance to the Void Return stage and join the Star Battlefield.

Roaming the starry sky — that's a man's romance!

"Actually, I think you should take a look."

"What's there to see? The current situation is so chaotic, and we still have to hold some large-scale event — isn't this purely adding…"

While he was complaining, the secretary had already placed the application on his desk, and pointed at a name — Chi Jiuyu.

The name of the large-scale event applied for was — The Third Trial.

My Xiang Jianzong little Xiao Shu Zu, you really give me face — turns out this matter is actually related to you! "What do you think?"

"…"

The way you put it makes it sound as if I really could refuse to approve it.

The mayor picked up that very simple application and began reading it seriously.

To avoid missing any key parts, he read it over and over again, several times.

How should I put it…

The format is quite standard, but isn't it a bit too bare-bones? And the most important part — the location — is actually 'None'? Yes! It's not left blank, but specifically written as 'None'.

"What do you make of this?" the mayor asked the secretary.

"I think…" The secretary, about to share his guess, glanced at the floor-to-ceiling window behind the mayor.

Just that one glance, and he froze.

"I think… we don't need to guess anymore."

Hmm? The mayor turned his head back in some confusion, and then he too froze.

Outside the window, the entire sky had already been covered by a faint reddish shadow.

What is that? Could it be those damned demonic cultivators again?! "Quick! Pull up the satellite map!" the mayor said immediately upon reacting.

The secretary also quickly came back to his senses, rapidly forming a hand seal and projecting a screen of light.

It's called a satellite, but in essence it's still a type of dharma artifact.

Things like the Peering Heaven Mirror and the Observing World Terrace from the ancient era can now all be classified under the category of 'satellite' dharma artifacts named by the Holy Sovereign Abyss.

An image quickly appeared in the screen of light — an overhead view of the entire Xuanjian City.

On the map, a huge faint-red illusory sphere had abruptly appeared in the sky above Xuanjian City; just looking at the projection, it was nearly half the size of Xuanjian City.

Moreover, it was constantly growing more solid, as if approaching reality from another space.

After staring for quite a while, the mayor slowly uttered two words.

"Secret Realm!"

This was a Secret Realm gradually entering reality — the big shot behind the scenes actually intended to use a Secret Realm as the venue for the Third Trial!

Xuanjian City, total area 487,000 square kilometers.

In other words, even without considering the issue of spatial folding within the Secret Realm, its interior alone covers over two hundred thousand square kilometers.

The mayor strode to the window, opened it, and walked straight out.

Standing upon the void, he looked up.

That Secret Realm hid behind the curtain of sky, like a red moon enlarged dozens of times — silent and soundless, yet emanating a heart-palpitating pressure.

Compared with this Secret Realm now, the banner ghosts released when that demonic cultivator refined the Ten Thousand Souls Banner earlier were like fireflies beside a brilliant moon.

The massive Secret Realm nearly blocked the limits of his field of vision.

This sight made the mayor involuntarily recall his experiences on the Star Battlefield back in the day.

During one mission, he had personally witnessed an asteroid tear through the atmosphere with an overwhelming momentum, burning with fiery light as it came crashing down.

He was only at Nascent Soul back then, and it was thanks to a Soul Transformation cultivator being present that they stepped in and destroyed it.

But that was the Star Battlefield!

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