“Miss Hua Jian, come play at our Wanling Sect!”
The day before the secret realm was about to close, Hua Jian received an invitation from Caidié.
The goal was as clear as ever—to lure Hua Jian over to Wanling Sect.
If Linglong at least tried to cover the dagger with a pitiful little map as a pretense, Caidié simply held the dagger in her hand, glaringly flashing it right in front of Hua Jian.
No preamble or soft approach—just straightforwardly stating her intentions upon meeting Hua Jian.
What made it worse was that Linglong was standing right beside her.
The Little Dragon Girl’s eyes narrowed instantly upon hearing Caidié’s words. If she wasn’t mistaken, this little Caidié was trying to snatch the person she liked?
“Ahem, I think we can discuss this slowly. We haven’t even left the secret realm yet…” Hua Jian didn’t know why she felt so uneasy.
Right now, she just wished she could dig a hole and bury herself.
Why did she have to choose? She didn’t want to be the sandwich squeezed between these two girls!
The Little Dragon Girl was handsome and beautiful, and she also had an amazing Dragon Girl form. Hua Jian truly liked her.
On the other hand, Caidié was like a mischievous, adorable little sister and a partner-in-crime she could have fun with. She liked Caidié a lot too.
But now both of them wanted to drag her back to their respective homes, which were separated by tens of thousands of miles. If she went to one, it would mean giving up the other.
How was she supposed to choose?
Hua Jian felt like she couldn’t decide!
“Master should be bringing me back to the sect soon. If Miss Hua Jian doesn’t come with me now, it will be very difficult to visit later,” Caidié muttered softly.
“She can go anytime she wants. Your Lingcaifeng Master would never refuse Hua Jian,” Linglong immediately shot down Caidié’s pitiful act.
This was the only chance! How could it be otherwise?
Did Caidié think the Lingcaifeng Master was a fool? A plant-type cultivator like Hua Jian, with such obvious talent, wanting to join Wanling Sect? The Master would absolutely welcome her with open arms.
The Master’s Saint Path had been stuck for a long time, and Hua Jian’s arrival would undoubtedly provide a new path for the Lingcaifeng Master who had been stagnant for years.
Even just for that possibility, the Master would strive to recruit Hua Jian.
“Hua Jian, your talent is extremely outstanding. No matter which sect you join, you will surely become a direct disciple of one of the Elders,” Linglong finished rebutting Caidié and turned to speak to Hua Jian.
Since she was guaranteed to become a direct disciple, Hua Jian should choose the most powerful Master.
And coincidentally, among this generation’s Wood-element Elders in Yaochi, there was a Demi-Saint who had not yet taken any disciples.
If the Yaochi Sect Leader didn’t already have Linglong as a disciple, and considering her own Ice element didn’t match Hua Jian’s Wood element, Linglong would have already used her own Master to tempt Hua Jian.
“Our Yaochi Sect’s Fenghua Venerable is talented and promising, even more suitable for you than the Lingcaifeng Master.”
Caidié was left speechless by Linglong’s argument. She had no idea about all this—she just simply didn’t want to leave Hua Jian behind.
Now blocked like this, she could only cry softly and curl up in Hua Jian’s arms, playing the little victim.
Since Caidié hadn’t even officially entered the sect yet, she knew less about Wanling than Linglong did.
She had no idea who was more powerful between the Lingcaifeng Master and Fenghua Venerable.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know what to do either!” Hua Jian wiped cold sweat from her brow as she hugged Caidié, facing Linglong’s deadly stare, finally understanding what a love triangle—or rather, a love battlefield—meant.
She used to envy the protagonist in cartoons. Now that she was the protagonist, she realized having too many beautiful girls interested in you wasn’t exactly a blessing.
She couldn’t just split herself in half—half following Linglong and half following Caidié, right?
Please, she was a living, breathing person!
Linglong stared at Hua Jian for a moment, then sighed and stopped pressing her.
She could tell Hua Jian really couldn’t make a choice right now.
Choosing a Sacred Sect to join was a decision that required serious thought. Hua Jian had never considered such a question before.
Asking her to decide immediately was simply asking too much.
If she chose wrong, the consequences would be unthinkable—potentially preventing Hua Jian from reaching the heights she was destined for as a Saintess or Ascendant.
Both personally and officially, Linglong felt she had to clearly explain Yaochi’s advantages to Hua Jian.
“Hua Jian, do you know the history and origins of the Five Great Sacred Sects?” Linglong asked as she gently removed Caidié from Hua Jian’s arms and placed her on an empty chair.
Then she gestured toward another chair, inviting Hua Jian to sit and listen carefully to her story.
Seeing Linglong so serious, Hua Jian immediately obediently sat down like a good student.
She had learned a little about this from books but wasn’t very familiar.
“I know a little. Yaochi, Penglai, Jian Sect, and Tiandao Sect existed long before the Great War thousands of years ago. Wanling Sect was originally one of the Sacred Sects that reorganized.”
Linglong nodded. This was the origin story that most people knew about the Five Great Sacred Sects.
What she was about to tell next was a story her Master had told her—one involving secrets before that Great War.
It was also what made Yaochi uniquely competitive compared to the other sects.
“We have people in the Heavens,” Linglong said solemnly, pointing to the sky.
Hua Jian instinctively looked up, but for a moment couldn’t grasp what Linglong meant by “souls.”
After a few moments, she remembered that ascending to Immortal was a concept in this world, so Linglong must mean that Yaochi had Ascendants in the Celestial Realm.
“For thousands of years, the number of Yaochi’s Ascendants ranks second only to Jian Sect among the Five Great Sacred Sects. Since that Great War ended, three Ancestors have successfully undergone tribulation and ascended.”
Linglong didn’t omit Jian Sect’s name. Those Sword cultivators indeed had a huge advantage when it came to ascending.
After all, their hearts were focused only on the sword, so they faced much less pressure during tribulation.
Even so, Jian Sect had only one more Ascendant than Yaochi.
The other three sects each had only one Ancestor who had ascended to this day.
From every aspect, Yaochi was undeniably the second strongest in terms of Ascendant numbers.
“Moreover, two of our ancestors hold extremely high positions in the Celestial Realm, incomparable to other Sacred Sects.”
“If you want to ascend first, joining Yaochi is the best choice!”
Ascend? Hua Jian scratched her head, not feeling she had such potential.
After all, during this secret realm exploration, she had clearly realized the gap in strength between herself and disciples from other sects.
Those destined to ascend were geniuses no one could defeat.
After all that was said and done, Hua Jian still couldn’t make a decision before the secret realm ended.
This was a major life decision, and it was better to be cautious.
Joining a sect wasn’t like applying for a job at a company—once you joined, you were tied to it for life.
If she joined a sect that didn’t suit her style and regretted it, there would be no turning back.
She certainly wouldn’t join Yaochi just because of the Little Dragon Girl’s beauty. Was she really that shallow? No!
If beauty was the criterion, Hua Jian was no worse than Linglong. Just looking in the mirror satisfied her preference for good looks.
“Really don’t want to come?” Linglong asked one last time, standing amidst the now-cleaned ruins.
Hua Jian counted the spoils in her storage pouch, hesitated, and scratched her head. “Let’s wait for next year’s Ascension Gathering. I’m actually quite young.”
Age-wise, Hua Jian was indeed younger than many of the geniuses in the secret realm. Participating in the next year’s Sacred Sect recruitment would be just right.
During the Ascension Gathering in Ascension City, the Five Great Sacred Sects would come together to hold a grand event, like a recruitment fair for cultivators. Hua Jian felt deciding then would be better.
In the coming year, she could also learn more about each sect’s characteristics and pick the one most suited to her.
“Alright then, get ready. The space passage is about to open.”
“Hmm, I hope this trip back is a little smoother…”
Just as Hua Jian muttered, the Space Talisman in her hand rippled slightly.
The distant formation connected to her talisman, and a spatial black hole appeared behind her, swallowing her whole.
Linglong, still standing there, was momentarily stunned. Why did it feel like Hua Jian was leaving the secret realm before her?
———
“Ouch, why is this space passage still so rough…”
The experience was the same as before, but halfway through the rough ride, Hua Jian bumped into someone.
Looking up, she saw a woman dressed in a bright red long gown, who was now staring directly at her.
Though this lady was very beautiful, Hua Jian dared not show even a trace of disrespect.
Come on, this big shot was standing straight inside the space passage. Could she be an ordinary person? Definitely a super powerful figure!
“Um, excuse me, are you…” Hua Jian asked cautiously.
“Fenghua.”
Hua Jian’s heart skipped a beat. That name sounded familiar. Just yesterday Linglong used this venerable to tempt her.
And now she was meeting her in person—was Linglong secretly conspiring with Fenghua Venerable?
“So this is Fenghua Venerable. May I ask…”
Before Hua Jian could finish, a flash of colorful light appeared inside the space passage.
Slowly, a dazzling flower bloomed from the space, materializing into a woman equally adorned with blossoms.
“Fenghua, you’re being rather unruly.”
This woman immediately started criticizing Fenghua Venerable. Judging from her tone, she was likely not much weaker than Fenghua.
Hua Jian boldly guessed she must be the Lingcaifeng Master of Wanling Sect.
Her guess was confirmed the next moment by Fenghua herself.
“I don’t have disciples yet, Lingcai, but you already have three direct disciples. What, do you want to compete for this child?”
“So what if I have many disciples? It shows my charm! Unlike you, a tomboy with no proper behavior, no matter how many times your Senior Sister advises you to take disciples, you never listen. Now you’re trying to steal mine—shameless!”
“Those others weren’t talented, but this child is different.” Fenghua Venerable didn’t hide her feelings—she clearly favored Hua Jian’s talent. “Besides, don’t you do the same?”
During this secret realm exploration, the venerables and elders of each Sacred Sect were watching closely.
On the surface, it was a benefit for new disciples, but in reality, it was a way for elders to select promising disciples for focused training.
Besides the already outstanding Linglong, who else impressed all the elders?
Naturally, it was Hua Jian, who had set a new secret realm defeat record and emerged as this expedition’s champion.
Although defeated opponents had to pay fifty spirit stones to buy their lives before being defeated again — raising suspicion of grinding — these victory records were genuine and flawless.
The venerables who could become elders in Sacred Sects were hardly narrow-minded. Hua Jian’s victories without demonic methods were fully recognized.
Learning of Hua Jian’s background, they realized what a precious gem she was.
Without systematic training, born in a barren land with sparse spiritual energy, all her skills were self-developed.
Despite numerous disadvantages, she could outsmart and overpower so many geniuses.
With some proper training, she would undoubtedly be a supernova rivaling even Linglong.
Among the admirers, Fenghua Venerable and Lingcaifeng Master were the most infatuated.
Both were Wood-element venerables, practicing cultivation methods aligned with Hua Jian’s fighting style — using softness to overcome hardness.
Most importantly, they found themselves closer to Hua Jian than the other sects, since Hua Jian’s two closest friends in the secret realm were from Yaochi and Wanling respectively.
Because of this, Fenghua and Lingcaifeng had come together to intercept Hua Jian, trying to snatch this treasure for themselves.
Now both had come and collided, creating an awkward situation. Neither side could easily back down. Were they really going to fight each other over Hua Jian?
And Hua Jian was even more embarrassed than the two venerables.
She knew she was coveted, but she hadn’t expected the competition to escalate from Linglong and Caidié yesterday to two venerables today.
This was terrifying!
Immortals, if you really exist, please send someone to rescue me!
As if hearing her prayer, another spiritual light flashed in the space passage.
This time, a pale blue silhouette appeared, immediately suppressing the tense standoff between the two venerables.
“Fenghua, Lingcai, why don’t you find a good time to talk? Let’s spare this little one for today.”
A gentle voice came from the blue figure, reminding Hua Jian of the blue light that had repaired the space passage earlier.
Wait—could this be the Yaochi Sect Leader, Linglong’s Master?
“Hmm, we’ll listen to Senior Sister then.”
“The Saint has spoken. Lingcai dares not disobey.”