Chapter 862: Blending In

Yan Buji lifted his gaze to size up the broker who was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, a flash of sarcasm passing through his murky single eye.

He slowly took a medium‑quality Spiritual Stone from his chest and pushed it onto the table.

The broker's eyes brightened, and he lowered his voice: "The Mysterious Sect this time has relaxed recruitment conditions; as long as you have Golden Core cultivation and pass threefold assessments you can be selected. However…" He leaned in mysteriously, "It is said that an ancient ferocious beast was discovered in the secret realm, already wounding many Mysterious Sect disciples…"

"Oh? Then why doesn't the Mysterious Sect let the Elders enter to explore?"

"Hasn't it already sent some in? But the secret realm is huge—I heard it's as big as Little Half Southern Court!"

Yan Buji raised an eyebrow: "That indeed is not small. But I'm more curious why the Mysterious Sect is willing to let outsiders explore."

The broker hesitated and whispered: "Crisis equals opportunity."

Yan Buji gave a light laugh, spouting complete nonsense.

Half a quarter hour later, Yan Buji walked out of the tea house, now holding a forged identity jade plaque: "Qingming Wanderer, Late Golden Core Formation Master." This is enough to pass the initial screening.

At the registration office of the Mysterious Sect's outer courtyard, a long queue stretched. Yan Buji stood at the tail, observing quietly. The courtyard walls were etched with defensive formations; several Nascent Soul‑stage Mysterious Sect stewards patrolled back and forth, and farther up on a high platform the aura fluctuations of Transcendent cultivators could be faintly felt.

"Name? Cultivation? Specialty?" When it was his turn, the steward in charge of registration didn't even lift his head.

"Qingmingzi, Late Golden Core, specialty: ancient formation deciphering." Yan Buji deliberately made his voice sound youthful and vigorous.

The steward tossed a test jade tablet.

Yan Buji infused a strand of Golden Core‑level magical power; the jade tablet glowed with just the right amount of azure light. Then a demon‑revealing mirror swept over; he had already concealed his aura with a secret method, so he passed through calmly.

"Tomorrow at dawn the assessment; no waiting after the time passes." The steward handed over a temporary token.

The first assessment took place in the Mysterious Sect's training arena. Over a hundred free cultivators had to break a confinement formation within the burn of a single incense stick. Yan Buji deliberately slowed his pace, escaping only at the last moment. He noticed several Elders seated on the stands, among them Yang Qing.

After many years apart, Yang Qing seemed rejuvenated, a moon‑white robe giving her an ethereal bearing. Yet Yan Buji's single eye saw an odd flow of mana around her; within the Mysterious Sect's orthodox "Supreme Clarity Profound Skill," a strand of unfamiliar yin‑soft aura was intermingled.

"Dao Strategy Profound Chapter…" Yan Buji sneered inwardly. Such discordant mana fluctuations are exactly the hallmark of someone practicing multiple arts.

The second test of temperament was even simpler. In the illusion realm, Yan Buji behaved wildly, seeking both treasure and daring rescues, masking his identity while giving others the illusion of a freshly fledgling youth—impulsive yet compassionate.

In the third real‑combat trial, he struck cleanly with a single move, defeating his opponent decisively and emerging victorious.

"That youngster's not bad, can fight and can hit."

"Suitable, though a bit reckless, but the strength is not low."

When the steward announced "Qingmingzi selected for the twenty‑seventh exploration team," Yan Buji lowered his head, covering the sarcasm in his eyes.

Three days later at dawn, the selected free cultivators gathered in the Mysterious Sect's plaza.

Yang Qing stood on a high platform with a black‑robed Elder, behind them ten elite Mysterious Sect disciples.

"The Nine‑Nether Secret Realm is an ancient relic," Yang Qing's voice was cold as frost, "Once inside, maintain formation strictly; anyone who disobeys will be expelled from the realm."

Yan Buji stood in the middle of the line, his gaze landing on the fragment at Yang Qing's waist.

Looks a bit like a fragment of the Emperor's Banner?

That subtle force of destiny left Yan Buji puzzled, but since both belong to the Southern Court faction, the Mysterious Sect might also have collected fragments of the Emperor's Banner; after all, Yan Buji had previously seen a phantom of such a banner in the human‑populated tower, perhaps the Sect truly possesses one.

"Let's go." Yang Qing raised the bronze fragment, and a spatial rift slowly unfolded at the center of the plaza.

Everyone entered in turn. Yan Buji deliberately fell to the last; at the instant before stepping into the rift, the Swallow Desire Pot in his sleeve trembled slightly, the Dao seal of "Greed" glowed faintly, and a barely perceptible golden thread silently coiled around the corner of Yang Qing's robe.

The scenery inside the secret realm was suffocating.

Under a grayish sky, ruined ancient buildings stretched to the horizon. The ground was riddled with cracks, sporadically spewing sickly green flames. The air reeked of decay, and even consciousness was suppressed to less than a hundred zhang.

"Groups of three, search according to plan," Yang Qing instructed, "Report any anomalies immediately."

Yan Buji was assigned to a team of two Golden Core free cultivators. The three advanced along a dried riverbed, the surroundings terrifyingly silent.

"Kid, you…" The younger free cultivator was about to speak, when he suddenly widened his eyes toward Yan Buji's back.

"Pfft!"

A segment of a bronze pot spout pierced the young cultivator's chest, instantly sucking out his vital blood. The other hadn't reacted before Yan Buji clamped his throat, and with a crack he twisted it apart.

After the soul‑searching ended, Yan Buji casually crushed the man's soul and sent it into the rift's scepter.

The "Greed" character on the Swallow Desire Pot became clearer.

"Nothing useful came out, but we can confirm that the black‑robed figure beside Yang Qing must be Yang Lan," Yan Buji sneered.

Following the golden thread's guidance, Yan Buji darted through the ruins.

The deeper he went, the more dense the green flames spewed from the ground cracks. These flames could scorch consciousness; the higher one's magical power, the more easily it was tainted, no wonder the Mysterious Sect recruited free cultivators as cannon fodder.

"This place is perilous; it seems Yang Qing and Yang Lan must have received a mission from the Sect, perhaps related to the treasure the Sect seeks in the realm," Yan Buji thought, and immediately chased after them.

Two months later, Yan Buji lay in ambush behind a broken wall, watching from afar as the Yang sisters stood before an altar. At the altar's center floated half a bronze wheel, engraved with Dao patterns identical to those on the Swallow Desire Pot.

"Sister, is this the 'Wheel of Fate' fragment recorded in the scriptures?" Yang Lan, disguised as a black‑robed Elder, could not hide her excitement.

Yang Qing was about to answer when her face suddenly changed: "Who?!"

Yan Buji frowned, deciding to stop hiding.

He stepped out of the shadows, a cold malice flashing in his eye: "Two of you, long time no trouble."

"Who are you?" Yang Qing's eyes showed confusion, but instinctively she also began to circulate mana, invoking her primordial immortal essence!

Yang Lan did not hesitate, directly summoned her primordial immortal essence; a long whip entwined with black mist emitted a faint hum: "Who are you? Sneaking into this place, don't you know the secret realm belongs to the Mysterious Sect?!"

Yan Buji roared with laughter, the Swallow Desire Pot levitated, six Dao seals lit up simultaneously: "You two don't recognize me, huh, fine!"

The great battle ignited at once.

Both sides ceased idle talk; Yang Qing formed hand seals, the Mysterious Sect's orthodox Dao methods and another sinister technique ran concurrently, conjuring before her a blue and a black jade dragon.

Yang Lan's whip transformed into a hundred‑zhang black python, forming a encircling formation with her sister's attack.

Yan Buji remained unhurried; the Swallow Desire Pot inverted, its spout aimed at the incoming assault. The Dao seal of "Anger" flared brightly, and three beastly mana constructs twisted and deformed mid‑air, being devoured bit by bit by the pot's spout.

"How is this possible?!" Yang Qing's face turned ashen. She was already in the later stage of Transcendent, yet this petty thief's primordial immortal essence could directly devour mana!

"Who exactly are you?" Yang Lan manipulated her seal, trying to block Yan Buji!