"You held a slight edge in your duel against the most legendary disciple of this immortal dao arena, setting foot upon the legendary path. Yet you must guard against arrogance and rashness—that was merely a wisp of Chu Pianran's conscious spiritual light, far from comparable to her true self."
Such a voice actually sounded by Qin Ming's ear.
He realized that he had indeed fully entered the role. It felt as though he had genuinely returned to ancient times to face a legendary figure of that era; the clash had contained not a shred of falsehood.
At this moment, he seemed bathed in ancient glory, rising like a newly ascended star.
At the very least, the arena's ancient disciples were all looking at him that way.
The disciples of the immortal path from the present world were also lost in dazed contemplation. The shock that battle had delivered was simply too profound. If the strongest young drudge of the celestial epoch existed in this age, he too would surely shine with dazzling brilliance, would he not?
*I hope she's already dead and hasn't lived on into this era. Otherwise, there'll be huge trouble!* Qin Ming mused.
If the purple-clad maiden's true self were to emerge, she could undoubtedly beat him to a pulp. Her attainment was unfathomable, at minimum rooted in the third realm.
*Huh?* Qin Ming sensed something amiss. An inexplicable panic seized him, followed by his hairs standing on end. He felt danger brewing.
He spun around and took off. Several extraordinary arts resonated at once, drawing forth Yimu essence, earth qi, and more until they nearly boiled, hoisting him inches off the ground as though he were soaring through the void.
The instant his feet touched down, he unleashed the Dragon Snake Scripture. Dragon-snake force erupted, black and white radiance winding about his body. Like a dragon ascending the heavens, he took brief flight, streaking across the sky.
The moment he landed again, Qin Ming circulated the Indestructible Butterfly Scripture. Wings of light seemed to unfold at his back, fluttering like a divine butterfly formed of heavenly light, carrying him in another long glide across a vast distance.
Throughout the sprint, he pushed his speed to its utmost limits time and again.
Qin Ming was trying to deduce the source of danger. Could that woman truly be alive, and so aggrieved that she was coming out to crush him?
In the distance, a ball of blazing fire appeared, burning furiously, radiating crimson glow intertwined with azure light. It rose from the depths of this celestial dao arena and hurtled forward at breakneck speed.
"I hear a newcomer sought to rise by trampling the sanctuary of Senior Sister Chu's spiritual focus, offending her celestial countenance. If left unpunished, what hierarchy remains in our sect?" A man's voice called out from within the flames.
Without a doubt, that was a wisp of pure yang conscious spiritual light, carrying an exceedingly terrifying surge of power.
In an instant, it took form. A young man emerged, enveloped in a blood-colored, blazing sun and wrapped in azure light, treading forward as though riding azure clouds.
Such an extraordinary sight drew cries of shock from many ancient disciples: "Senior Brother Zhao!"
"Zhao Shuyu, as a core disciple, you may not strike to kill an inner disciple!" a voice warned.
The young man in the sky shook his head. "A mere newcomer dares stir up trouble the moment he arrives. He must be disciplined. Even if it skirts the rules, I can bear the consequences."
Qin Ming understood immediately. This was likely an admirer of Chu Pianran, willing to break ancient sect rules just to strike him down.
He dared not linger and take risks. He had entered in his true body; he had no idea whether suffering severe trauma would allow him to depart safely like Zheng Maoze and Zeng Yuan.
"Hm? He's actually a drudge?" Zhao Shuyu approached, the red sun casting rays of dawn as he steered the azure clouds in rapid pursuit.
Qin Ming's expression shifted slightly. Was this yet another ancient figure who was still alive?
Otherwise, all the ancient disciples were merely participants in the illusion and would not perceive his true situation.
*A master of the third realm!* After hitting the ground, Qin Ming circulated the Golden Cicada Scripture. Within his body, what sounded like the chirping of a cicada rang out alongside deafening claps of thunder.
With a booming crash, he did not take flight, but his speed surged once more.
Behind him, Zhao Shuyu pointed a finger. Pure yang light coalesced into a saber, slashing toward the figure ahead as swiftly as lightning.
At the final instant, like a specter crossing the sea of night mist, Qin Ming shifted his body laterally and ratcheted his speed higher, on the verge of breaking through the mountain gate shrouded in thick fog.
Zhao Shuyu let out a low bark, seemingly chanting an incantation. Dense celestial glyphs surfaced across the pure yang saber before it detonated, sweeping across the entire area ahead.
Qin Ming dodged swiftly, but was still clipped by the flowing radiance. Blood instantly sprayed from his mouth as he was sent flying.
A chill ran through his heart. A core disciple of an ancient celestial dao arena who had attained the third realm was absurdly terrifying. Merely the aftershock had injured him.
If they met head-on, he would not have the slightest hope of survival.
Who said entering the role carried no risk? Joining such a sect meant one might run into ambushes from living core disciples. If Qin Ming's reaction had been a thread slower just now, he would have been slain.
Once he reached the outside world, he had nothing to fear.
In the distance, two elderly men moved like spirits or gods, arriving in an instant.
"What happened?" Yu Gensheng asked.
"I suspect there are living people in that dao arena," Qin Ming reported quickly.
Zhao Shuyu clearly had no intention of giving up. He condensed another pure yang saber and fired it like a streak of lightning. The blade's radiance flew past the mountain gate, indirectly proving he was no mere actor in the illusion.
Zhao Ziyuan reached out and casually flicked a finger. The multi-meter-long saber shattered, igniting into pure yang spiritual light before dissipating completely.
Zhao Shuyu's pupils contracted, and he quietly withdrew.
"A small punishment for a newcomer, as a warning to others," he declared as he drew away, as though trying to make himself better fit the ancient identity of a figure in the play.
"He's concealing it. That wisp of conscious spiritual light is real," Yu Gensheng remarked, watching his retreating figure.
Zhao Ziyuan said, "During the great upheaval of Kunling back then, ancients actually managed to survive from that era to the present day. Now this is interesting."
Qin Ming looked solemn. Just one step slower earlier, and he would have faced certain death.
"Head back in after a moment. We'll stand guard nearby!" Yu Gensheng said.
Qin Ming had already brought out several formulas from the immortal path, leaving both elders thrilled. Furthermore, since Qin Ming wished to go inside to test through trial and error and resolve certain questions regarding the path ahead, the two naturally supported him with all their might.
"Don't become too immersed in the role. It's merely an experience that feels close to reality; your attainment and cultivation cannot be brought out. Also, remain vigilant against the sudden appearance of living beings."
"Yes, I understand," Qin Ming nodded.
He knew very well that the place did contain genuinely existing great medicines and rare treasures—it was not just an experience. But he likely could not obtain them; they were probably all in the domain of the living.
Qin Ming tended to his injuries. The harm inflicted by a living person was no mere illusion; it had carried over into reality.
A brief while later, he entered the mountain gate once more.
Soon, a voice sounded by his ear, notifying him that he had become a quasi-core disciple.
To become a true core disciple, he would have to defeat someone like Zhao Shuyu and take his place.
*In ancient times, there probably was no concept of a near-immortal seed. A core disciple was likely the highest tier, and they've already set foot in the third realm. Forget it, that's beyond me for now.*
Qin Ming was not overly obsessed with this; a quasi-core disciple was plenty.
Afterward, once he immersed himself in the role, he went to collect resources and found that the quality of medicines, clothing, and daily provisions had leaped by a wide margin.
Drudges now attended him, and other disciples served as his followers. A single word from him could dispatch them to handle tasks.
Moreover, during such an experience, if he focused on a specific matter, it felt as though he could "turn the page" to accelerate the process, swiftly passing days, months, or even years.
Qin Ming was shaken. Validating arts and testing through trial and error in this manner yielded exceptionally precious experience. No wonder the disciples of the immortal path and esoteric sects were rushing here like madmen.
"I need various types of evil qi, spirit reserves, heterogeneous substances, nine heavens clear qi, and otherworldly items," he instructed the attendants at his side.
A quasi-core disciple already held the authority to requisition precious resources for personal use.
For his first trial, Qin Ming chose rather casually, blending and refining mother earth qi, nether fire evil, and extraterrestrial clear spirit qi.
The process was agonizing and took an exceedingly long time!
During this period, he "consumed" large quantities of medicines supplied by the celestial dao arena, elevating his spirituality and building up his attainment, while also mastering the Wind Driving Scripture, the Nether Scripture, and the Withered Scripture.
He continually "turned the pages," speeding up the progression of this experience, finally determining that it would require a year or two.
Qin Ming was stunned. He was currently a quasi-core disciple of a celestial dao arena, stacked with every conceivable resource, yet advancing from the early to middle stage of Outer Sage still took this long?
If he were a rogue cultivator searching for miraculous substances on his own, coupled with painstaking cultivation and meticulous refinement, how much time would it consume?
No wonder Meng Xinghai had sighed bitterly that advancing a single small step took a decade!
*This definitely won't do!* Qin Ming shook his head.
Next, he examined his heavenly light.
The evil qi and spirit reserves refined this time had indeed altered the heavenly light and enhanced its might, but it fell far short of what he had envisioned; it could hardly be called a qualitative transformation.
The reason his heavenly light was so overbearing and formidable right now was that the foundation he had laid in the first realm was exceedingly profound, rivaling or exceeding the Four Imperials force.
The current change in his heavenly light left him thoroughly disappointed!
Reflecting on it, he had not seen any heterogeneous substances packed with lethal power, nor had he practiced many health-preserving scriptures; on the whole, he had not done well enough.
Qin Ming said, "Bring all the rarest items, the most bizarre heterogeneous substances, and the otherworldly objects. I want to choose for myself."
He felt that the choice was paramount. The evil qi and spirit reserves he had used in his first attempt were chosen too casually. To forge the strongest heavenly light, he had to select extremely perilous substances.
Someone informed him, "Apologies, Senior Brother. Your clearance is insufficient to requisition those priceless heterogeneous substances and extraterrestrial objects."
Qin Ming was taken aback. His rank was not high enough!
He could not help asking, "What priceless miraculous substances are stored in our treasury, and where do they come from?"
"Quite a few. Some fell from the void, some hail from the deepest reaches of the night mist world, some are the sole remains of deities, some were extracted from fallen stars... Oh, and there is also the local undying gum of Kunling..."
By instinct, Qin Ming sensed that some of these things were virtually unmatched under heaven. If they could be refined, they could "nourish" a terrifying heavenly light force, bringing about a genuine qualitative leap.
Unfortunately, he could not obtain them. These were reserves accumulated by the celestial dao arena across vast ages; he lacked the qualifications to requisition them.
"Wait, undying gum?" Qin Ming found the name familiar, as if he had heard of it before.
"It is the sap of the undying tree, capable of raising the dead and regrowing flesh from bone. Should a great catastrophe arrive, our lineage can rely on it to preserve a portion of our 'kindling,' freezing the passage of years—a form of immortality in its own right."
Qin Ming immediately understood what it was. In the temple of the Fourth Peril, that woman had once treated him to incense mist tea.
The ingredients contained within that incense were all priceless treasures, including powder ground from the horn tip of a purple-gold divine whale, tears of the firmament from deep within the night mist world...
Among them was the sap of the undying tree from the Kunling Ruins.
In truth, what Qin Ming had consumed that day was not genuine incense mist tea, but merely incense ash, yet it had brought him sudden enlightenment; its efficacy was less than one percent of the genuine article.
Now, hearing that the treasury of the celestial dao arena held the sap of the undying tree, his mouth practically watered.
"Are there any particularly bizarre items that I *can* requisition?" Qin Ming asked.
Someone answered, "There are discarded extraterrestrial remnants. They are slated to be thrown out and buried because they are excessively hazardous; touching them can be fatal."
"Bring them here. I want to study them!" Qin Ming's spirits instantly lifted.
He knew well that different ratios and combinations nourished vastly different forms of heavenly light. Some dangerous substances were precisely what he needed.
The miraculous substances that past patriarchs had used to nourish their heavenly light had surely been bizarre and terrifying.
In truth, he felt that once the heavenly light force underwent its ultimate metamorphosis, all "external substances" should be shed, washing away every trace of artificial adornment.
Yet during the process, one had to hunt for curiosities in the night mist world, searching for singular forbidden items and spirit sources of longevity.
Chapter 232