Chapter 371 – Arriving at the Celestial Secrets Realm, the Mysterious Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master!

Chapter 371 – Arriving at the Celestial Secrets Realm, the Mysterious Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master!

Soon, half a month passed.

When Su Xing opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the astonished White Cloud Sect Master beside him.

“Senior Ye, you really kept me in the dark!” The White Cloud Sect Master wore an expression of utter exasperation.

“As a Mystic Immortal senior, why did you come to my humble White Cloud Sect? Could it be you coveted my position as Sect Master? If you’re willing to say the word… I’d gladly hand over the Sect Master’s seat to you!”

“Or could it be… that mighty cultivators like yourself all enjoy disguising yourselves as weaklings to toy with the world?”

“…”

The White Cloud Sect Master chattered on endlessly.

After listening, Su Xing waved his hand and said:

“Sect Master Bai! Some things happened before, and I went to the White Cloud Sect to take refuge… please don’t overthink it!”

Hearing Su Xing’s words, the White Cloud Sect Master put on a knowing expression, which looked rather comical.

Seeing this, Su Xing said nothing more, chuckling inwardly. This White Cloud Sect Master was quite the character.

After chatting for a while, the White Cloud Sect Master said:

“Senior Ye! Lord White Emperor seems to be looking for you… perhaps you should go see him?”

Su Xing nodded slightly upon hearing this. “Understood. I was just thinking of paying him a visit…”

With that, Su Xing headed toward a room on the topmost level of the immortal ship.

As fellow sword cultivators, with White Emperor standing at the pinnacle of the Sword Dao across the Three Thousand Worlds, Su Xing had long wished to converse with him.

Moreover, White Emperor had bestowed upon him the grace of that one sword strike. Though it had been mutually beneficial, Su Xing could not leave this debt of gratitude unrepaid.

Moments later, Su Xing arrived outside a door. Before he could even knock, White Emperor’s voice came from within:

“Come in, kid!”

Su Xing pushed open the door and saw White Emperor lounging lazily on the bed.

The simple wooden bed and the floor were littered with empty wine bottles.

Su Xing took just one whiff and felt his head spin.

What those bottles had contained must have been extraordinarily rare immortal brews!

White Emperor lay dizzily on the bed, let out a yawn, and casually pointed:

“Have a seat, kid! I happen to have something to ask you…”

Su Xing looked at the bottles and trash covering the floor and quipped:

“Where is there even a place to sit? Forget it… I’ll just stand!”

White Emperor laughed heartily, unbothered by the impertinence in Su Xing’s words, and simply said:

“Fine, then we’ll talk standing. It won’t take long!”

With that, White Emperor took a deep breath. White vapor rose from his body as the effects of the alcohol rapidly dissipated.

He first sized up Su Xing, then said with some surprise:

“Well now! Your breakthrough this time seems to have brought considerable progress!”

“Your Sword Dao is nearly touching the threshold of the fourth realm, isn’t it? Tsk tsk… truly remarkable!”

“At your age, to already possess such insight into the Great Dao!”

Su Xing touched the tip of his nose and replied:

“I’m still just a step away from entering the fourth realm… I’m far behind compared to you, Senior.”

White Emperor nodded slightly and said:

“You look very young — seemingly not even ten thousand years old!”

“At your age, I was nowhere near this level of attainment!”

After exchanging pleasantries, White Emperor got down to business:

“By the way, is that old scoundrel your master?”

“That meteor you used to slay dozens of alien True Gods — was that a supernatural art from a body tempering technique? It looked somewhat familiar!”

Su Xing’s heart stirred upon hearing this. The Great Shaman Body Forging Art?

Could there be other cultivators in the Three Thousand Worlds who practiced the Great Shaman Body Forging Art?

Thinking this, Su Xing quickly asked:

“Senior, who exactly is this old scoundrel you speak of?”

Seeing that Su Xing genuinely didn’t know, White Emperor waved his hand dismissively:

“If you don’t know, then never mind…”

“Some things are better left unknown… it seems that lineage’s inheritance still persists to this day!”

White Emperor seemed to recall something, a hint of reminiscence and guilt flickering in his eyes.

After a pause, White Emperor continued:

“Your aptitude is exceptional. Unfortunately, I haven’t taken disciples in many years… With the alien invasion of the Three Thousand Worlds and the losses suffered by the Heavenly Secrets Domain, I’d like to specially appoint you as a guest elder of the Celestial Secrets Pavilion. You’d be free to act as you please most of the time, only occasionally required to undertake missions. What do you say?”

After another pause, White Emperor added:

“Though I’m lax by nature, if you perform well on your missions, I’d be willing to offer you some guidance in the Sword Dao…”

Su Xing fell into contemplation.

His whole purpose in coming to the Heavenly Secrets Domain was for safety… and to learn more about the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master and the secrets of the Three Thousand Worlds, wasn’t it?

And this White Emperor, who claimed to be the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master’s Dao companion — Su Xing naturally wanted to learn more about him.

Furthermore, with White Emperor’s guidance, Su Xing’s Sword Dao cultivation would likely advance by leaps and bounds!

With this in mind, Su Xing agreed.

“Driving out the alien races and restoring stability to the Three Thousand Worlds… this is the duty of all cultivators!”

“I came here precisely to join the Celestial Secrets Pavilion…”

Hearing Su Xing’s words, White Emperor nodded slightly:

“It’s good that you have such resolve! Remember… for us sword cultivators, all we seek is a clear conscience. Only when the heart is at ease can the Sword Dao carry one far.”

After offering Su Xing a few more pointers, White Emperor told him to go back and digest his insights.

…

Soon, the immersive simulation ended, and Su Xing returned to the Real World.

“Phew… the gains from this immersive simulation are truly substantial!”

Su Xing blinked. White Emperor’s sword strike, like a galaxy cascading down, left him yearning with admiration.

Su Xing’s comprehension of the Sword Dao was now just one step away from the fourth realm. He only needed one more immersive simulation to fully break through into the fourth realm!

“Once my Sword Dao enters the fourth realm… my overall strength will rise another tier!”

“But since this simulation has brought me to the Heavenly Secrets Domain, things should be much safer… I hope I can simulate for a long enough time to further advance my Qi Refinement cultivation!”

Su Xing’s Qi Refinement cultivation had only just barely reached the peak of True Immortal realm third layer.

The goal for this simulation was to at least reach the mid-stage of True Immortal.

With this in mind, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【The Celestial Secrets Pavilion’s operation this time was a resounding success — not only severely wounding Blood Two, but also slaying an alien first-class Divine Sovereign!】

【Under White Emperor’s escort, the immortal ship sailed steadily toward the Celestial Secrets Realm.】

【Year 320. The immortal ship passed through the final void node and at last arrived at the Celestial Secrets Realm…】

【The moment the immortal ship reached the Celestial Secrets Realm, you were stunned by the sight before you.】

【The Celestial Secrets Realm was the most extraordinary Greater World you had ever seen!】

【Its territory was boundless, several times larger even than the Azure Cloud Realm you had seen before!】

【Within the Celestial Secrets Realm, countless immortal cities floated in the sky!】

【These immortal cities hovered at heights of tens of thousands of zhang, suspended by immortal power, brimming with a sense of science fiction and beauty.】

【After arriving at the Celestial Secrets Realm, the immortal ship landed at a city called Ying City.】

【This city was specifically designed to receive cultivators arriving from the outside world.】

【The cultivators aboard this immortal ship were no exception. Including you, all cultivators had to undergo special detection by formation arrays to ensure they were not spies planted by the alien races or the Advent Cult.】

【Among the millions of cultivators, over a thousand heretical cultivators were indeed found. All of them belonged to the Advent Cult, having hidden aboard the immortal ship to smuggle themselves into the Celestial Secrets Realm, only to be caught.】

【You successfully passed the formation array’s detection and obtained the status of Celestial Secrets Pavilion guest elder.】

【Guest Elder of the Celestial Secrets Pavilion was the only way for outside cultivators to join the Pavilion.】

【As a rule, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion did not accept cultivators over twenty years of age.】

【Only cultivators under twenty, those with exceptional talent and good temperament, could be recognized by the Pavilion and accepted as inner pavilion disciples.】

【Cultivators like you, admitted to the Celestial Secrets Pavilion on the strength of outstanding personal ability, were called outer pavilion disciples.】

【Outer pavilion disciples handled miscellaneous affairs for the Celestial Secrets Pavilion, including intelligence gathering.】

【Outer pavilion disciples of exceptional strength could be promoted to Elder.】

【Elders were divided into three tiers: Heaven, Earth, and Human.】

【Mystic Immortal realm cultivators could serve as Human-tier Elders, enjoying generous resources while taking on Human-tier missions.】

【Correspondingly, Golden Immortal and Supreme Unity cultivators could become Earth-tier and Heaven-tier Elders, enjoying higher benefits and taking on higher-level missions.】

【You became a Human-tier guest elder and began operating within Ying City.】

【After spending some time in the Celestial Secrets Realm, you gradually learned about the mysterious Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master.】

【Some said the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master was the foremost beauty in all the Three Thousand Worlds…】

【Others said the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master had long since embarked upon the holy path and was the supreme powerhouse of the Three Thousand Worlds.】

【Still others claimed the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master appeared female but was actually male — a remarkable man of the Three Thousand Worlds…】

【In short, there were many rumors about the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master, but no one had ever seen her true appearance.】

【You asked White Emperor, but even he rarely saw the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master in person… most of the time, White Emperor only met with the Pavilion Master’s avatar.】

【Though you held the rank of Celestial Secrets Pavilion Elder, you still could not see the Pavilion Master.】

【Perhaps the only way to meet her was to claim the top spot on the Earth Ranking…】

【And so, you focused on cultivating within the Celestial Secrets Realm, occasionally taking on missions and guiding your two disciples in their training. In the blink of an eye, three years passed…】

【Year 325. This year, you made it onto the Earth Ranking, placed at sixty-eighth!】

【This achievement stemmed from the battle ten years prior, where you single-handedly defended the immortal ship and slew countless alien gods…】

【But even so, you still hadn’t broken into the top fifty of the Earth Ranking…】

In the Real World, Su Xing took a deep breath upon seeing this and murmured:

“The Prodigy List’s Earth Ranking… only sixty-eighth?”

Su Xing thought it over. The strength he had displayed in that battle should have been somewhere between late-stage and peak Mystic Immortal.

He had held almost nothing back, yet even so, he hadn’t cracked the top fifty.

“Looking at it this way… the top fifty of the Earth Ranking requires at least peak of Mystic Immortal strength!”

“Perhaps once my Sword Dao comprehension enters the fourth realm and I successfully develop more Protective Sword Aura, I could break into the top fifty?”

“As for the top thirty… perhaps that requires Golden Immortal cultivation to achieve?”

Su Xing smacked his lips, increasingly impressed by the Earth Ranking’s prestige.

If even the top thirty was this difficult, what kind of combat power would it take to claim first place on the Earth Ranking?

“However… my current strength still has plenty of room for growth… and my Qi Refinement cultivation needs further advancement! My resources should be barely sufficient, right?”

Su Xing mulled it over. The goal of this simulation was still to break through his Qi Refinement cultivation as quickly as possible.

With this in mind, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【You remained in Ying City, cultivating in peace. The missions you occasionally took on were not difficult, but the rewards were quite generous.】

【Whether it was large quantities of spirit liquid and spirit stones — essential resources — or magical treasure materials, pills, and immortal herbs…】

【In the blink of an eye, twenty-five years passed…】

【Year 350. This year, your cultivation successfully advanced to the late stage of True Immortal realm fourth layer.】

【With the aid of the Zhengyi Breath Absorption Art, your cultivation speed was remarkably fast.】

【And with the Late Bloomer talent having been enhanced, your cultivation speed was now a full two times faster than before.】

【One year of your cultivation was equivalent to two hundred years of bitter training for a cultivator of the same realm!】

【But correspondingly, the resources you consumed for cultivation were terrifying…】

【Each year, the amount of high-grade spirit liquid you consumed exceeded twenty million drops!】

【Even with your considerable wealth, sustaining such cultivation expenses was difficult.】

【But fortunately, you possessed the Luotian Mirror, within which 129,600 Spirit-Gathering Flowers were planted.】

【You had further entrusted Shennong Youtian to cultivate even more Spirit-Gathering Flowers for you and to collect spirit liquid on your behalf.】

【The Luotian Mirror alone yielded no less than 40,000 drops of high-grade spirit liquid per day…】

【Extracting spirit liquid from within the Luotian Mirror required a certain expenditure of magical power.】

【Combined with the spirit liquid output from your own spirit field grotto-heaven, the annual production of nearly 30 million drops of spirit liquid… made your wealth exceed even that of an ordinary Golden Immortal by a comfortable margin.】

In the Real World, Su Xing nodded slightly upon seeing this.

“Wealth, companions, techniques, and land… when it comes to cultivation resources, I’m certainly not lacking.”

Spirit-Gathering Flowers, such a precious resource — Su Xing could essentially have as many as he wanted.

And as long as he had enough Spirit-Gathering Flowers, high-grade spirit liquid and even supreme-grade spirit liquid were not out of reach!

“Thirty million drops of high-grade spirit liquid per year… that’s indeed enough for my True Immortal stage cultivation, and it can even provide some security for cultivation after reaching the Mystic Immortal realm.”

After a pause, Su Xing continued:

“This simulation has progressed past year 350, and things look extremely safe so far.”

“I wonder how long this simulation can last?”

Su Xing felt a tinge of anticipation.

He had gone through considerable effort to reach the Celestial Secrets Realm. If the simulation didn’t last at least seven or eight hundred years, he’d feel shortchanged.

With this in mind, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【You remained in Ying City, occasionally guiding your disciples in their cultivation, while your own strength grew steadily.】

【In the blink of an eye, another fifty years passed…】

【Year 400. This year, your cultivation successfully advanced to True Immortal realm fifth layer!】

【After reaching True Immortal realm fifth layer, you clearly felt that cultivation required more time and deeper accumulation of magical power. Your cultivation speed slowed somewhat.】

【That same year, your disciple Bai Xiaoxiao successfully advanced to the Body Integration stage!】

【In just over a hundred years, Bai Xiaoxiao had gone from a Qi Refinement cultivator to a Body Integration cultivator. Such cultivation speed was naturally impossible given her innate talent alone…】

【But you had drawn upon the power of causality and destiny to condense a True Spirit Root for Bai Xiaoxiao!】

【Additionally, you bestowed the Mystic Yin Divine Body upon Bai Xiaoxiao… greatly accelerating her cultivation speed!】