Chapter 85: Joining Forces as a Team

Standing in the corner, Xu Weizhou cast a cool, indifferent glance at Liu Ruyan before shifting his gaze away as if lost in thought.

“Ruyan, why aren’t you sitting down and trying the spirit fruit?” Wan Gu asked curiously, munching as he spoke.

Hearing this, Liu Ruyan picked up a fruit, sat down, and began to eat in silence.

Before long, Gu Weiyu entered, carrying a steaming pot of spirit tea. “Try this, everyone. I got this spirit tea from our master,” she said.

She turned over the teacups placed upside down on the small table and filled them. Wan Gu took a sip and exclaimed, “This spirit tea is excellent!”

Gu Weiyu found a seat and sat down as well. “Senior Brother Wan, about this time—”

“Junior Sister Lian, have you heard? The Voidless Secret Realm will soon open!” Wan Gu interrupted her before she could finish.

“Yes, Master has already informed me,” Gu Weiyu nodded.

“I heard that this time, not only disciples from the four great sects will enter, but many rogue cultivators as well. There may even be demonic cultivators sneaking in among them...” Wan Gu spoke at length, sharing all he knew.

“So, Senior Brother Wan, you mean—” Gu Weiyu already understood, but she wanted to hear everyone’s thoughts.

“We are all disciples of the Myriad Sword Sect and should look out for one another. Only cultivators from the sixth layer of Qi Refining up to, but not including, Foundation Establishment are allowed into the Voidless Secret Realm this time. Our sect will send over a hundred people. Junior Sister Lian, what do you think of this?” As he spoke, Wan Gu produced a small goose-yellow flower shaped like a trumpet, utterly unremarkable at first glance.

“Is that... a Heartbell Lily?” In Gu Weiyu’s mind surfaced an introduction she’d read on a jade slip: Heartbell Lily, a first-tier spirit herb of the vine family. When picked from the same vine, it allows communication over a distance, though only within five hundred meters.

Wan Gu nodded proudly. “I happen to have five of them here. Let’s each take one.”

“The five of us?” Gu Weiyu raised a brow; was he excluding everyone else?

“Yes, the five of us should stay close and regroup when possible. As for the others, we’ll team up if fate wills it,” Wan Gu said, nodding.

He then took out four more lilies and handed them to the others.

After putting away the lily, Gu Weiyu heard Wan Gu say, “There are still five months to go. Just thinking about it gets me excited...”

This guy!

Gu Weiyu glanced at her companions. Liu Ruyan looked rather glum, Lin Haoran’s mouth hadn’t stopped moving, and as for Xu Weizhou—he was like a block of wood, his expression impossible to read.

Were the five of them really suited to form a team? Somehow, she found it a bit unreliable.

Wan Gu and the others didn’t stay long in Gu Weiyu’s courtyard before taking their leave.

Thinking over Wan Gu’s words, Gu Weiyu felt deeply that the Voidless Secret Realm was indeed full of opportunities, but it was also truly dangerous. Cultivators needed to beware not only the dangers within the realm itself, but also the threat of others seeking to kill and seize treasures!

She felt the pressure mounting. There would even be participants who had reached the peak of Qi Refining, while she herself was only at the ninth layer.

With five months left, she had to make the most of her time to strengthen herself!

With this in mind, the sense of urgency grew. She needed a solid plan.

From then on, Master Jade Ling noticed that since mentioning the Voidless Secret Realm, her disciple had become more diligent in her cultivation, spending her days sequestered in the Emerald Bamboo Grove, rarely to be seen.

“This girl...” Jade Ling shook her head, both gratified and helpless, privately wondering if she should prepare more trump cards for her disciple.

—

Amidst the verdant bamboo, a woman in green flickered in and out among the stalks, her movements ghostly and swift, stirring up a chorus of rustling leaves.

After a quarter hour, the figure finally slowed and took a seat at the stone table.

“Thunderflash has finally broken through to the second tier!” Gu Weiyu’s chest rose and fell as she caught her breath.

“Master, with your current speed, unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator flies by sword, even someone at the peak of Qi Refining would be hard pressed to catch you!” In her sea of consciousness, Little Green Book obsequiously sang her praises.

“It’s not bad—a good means of escape. But Thunderflash consumes too much spiritual power!” She’d run for only a quarter hour, yet nearly half her energy was spent. She had to save this technique for critical moments.

“Master, isn’t it time to start cultivating your spiritual sense...” Little Green Book began fluttering its pages of its own accord.

Gu Weiyu massaged her brow. “Understood. I’ll work on it soon.”

Little Green Book immediately quieted down, her dutiful little overseer lying obediently at rest.

Gu Weiyu returned to her room, sat cross-legged on her meditation cushion, and began cultivating her spiritual sense.

Over an hour later, she finally opened her eyes. As her spiritual sense grew stronger, she found she could now employ more spiritual sense attacks.

If someone were to meet Gu Weiyu’s gaze at that moment, they would find her eyes not only especially bright, but her look as sharp as a blade piercing straight into their mind.

This was the mark of spiritual sense reaching the second tier—it could now take shape as a “blade.”

She rose and stepped outside. Seeing the water clock, she realized it was nearly noon.

Leaving the bamboo house, she saw Aunt Hua waiting quietly on the rattan chair.

She gently stroked Aunt Hua’s crest, retrieved the food box from her claws, and sat down to eat her midday meal.

“Hongyi, come here for a moment.”

After lunch, a transmission talisman floated to Gu Weiyu, carrying her master Jade Ling’s voice.

Gu Weiyu tidied up the food box, handed it to Aunt Hua, gave her a beast spirit pill, and headed toward Carefree Residence.

“Master—” Gu Weiyu bowed respectfully to Jade Ling.

“Come, have a seat,” Jade Ling gestured to the spot beside her.

Gu Weiyu sat down. Jade Ling looked at her and asked, “Hongyi, there’s only ten days left until the Voidless Secret Realm opens. How are your preparations?”

“I think I’ve done all I can,” Gu Weiyu replied honestly. Twin Thunderstrike, Thunderflash, Dragonfire Dance—she had learned everything she could.

Jade Ling produced a storage pouch and handed it to her. “Here are a few things I’ve prepared for you. Take some time to familiarize yourself with them.”

Gu Weiyu accepted the pouch with a bright smile. “Thank you, Master!”

“Any difficulties in your cultivation?” Jade Ling asked with concern. Her disciple was so worry-free that sometimes she doubted she’d really taken on a student.

Gu Weiyu mentioned a few minor issues, discussed them with her master, and then took her leave.

Back in the Emerald Bamboo Grove, she eagerly opened the storage pouch:

A second-tier formation disk for attack and defense, offensive and defensive talismans, even teleportation charms, various Qi Refining pills, a small mountain of low-grade spirit stones, and more than ten mid-grade spirit stones...

The storage pouch was packed full.

Gu Weiyu was left speechless—had her master swept through the sect’s market stalls?