Volume 1, Chapter 176 – The Disciples’ Gains

Inside the main hall, Gu Han remained immersed in the painstaking refinement process, completely unaware of everything happening outside.

Her mind was engaged in a difficult yet profound fusion with the vast, boundless Dao Resonance contained within the Donghuang Bell.

Across the bell’s surface, images of the sun, moon, and stars slowly revolved. Each flicker seemed to reveal the deepest truths of heaven and earth.

Fine beads of sweat glistened on Gu Han’s brow.

Refining a quasi-immortal artifact was no easy feat.

Even with her cultivation at late-stage Immortal Ascension and the peerless profundity of the Chaos Scripture, she still felt immense pressure.

The Dao laws within the Donghuang Bell were simply too vast. She had to comprehend, assimilate, and master every last strand.

It was an enormous undertaking, one that could not be rushed, yet could not be interrupted.

And so, amid the silent refinement, time slipped quietly by.

Within Yaochi Immortal Palace, Qingxuan and Lingshuang maintained a delicate balance.

After Gu Han entered seclusion, Qingxuan stopped deliberately provoking Lingshuang. She spent her days admiring flowers and drinking tea, as though she truly were nothing more than a temporary guest.

Lingshuang grew even more taciturn, spending most of her time wrestling with her thoughts and making pastries.

Still, the chill enveloping her courtyard seemed gentler than before, no longer quite so bitterly cold.

Naturally, her first attempts ended in failure after failure. Yet the Empress of the Northern Region seemed to possess astonishing perseverance and determination.

It was only after more than a hundred attempts that she finally produced her first batch of barely edible “Snow Lotus Pastries.”

Even Lanxing, who was attending her nearby, could not keep the astonishment from her face.

“Your Majesty… you really made them!”

Lanxing’s voice trembled with incredulous excitement.

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Empress Lingshuang gazed at the pastries on the jade plate. Their shapes were far from perfect, but they gave off a delicate, refreshing fragrance.

The faintest curve appeared at the corner of her lips.

“Still not good enough.”

She picked one up and took a small bite.

The crisp pastry perfectly complemented the snow lotus’s delicate fragrance and subtle sweetness.

It was far better than her first attempt.

She did not know whether Gu Han would like them.

But she had made them with her own hands. Gu Han would have to like them, whether she wanted to or not.

Time passed quietly amid the peace and everyone’s individual preoccupations.

Deputy Palace Master Yun Yun handled the Immortal Palace’s daily affairs, coordinated resources, and arranged duty rotations. Everything proceeded in perfect order.

She showed the two visiting Empresses exactly the right degree of attention and courteous hospitality, neither appearing overly solicitous nor neglecting proper etiquette.

After several discreet observations, Yun Yun was quite satisfied with how the two Empresses were faring.

Empress Qingxuan seemed genuinely absorbed in “inspecting” every detail of Yaochi Immortal Palace.

She wandered through different areas each day and occasionally spoke with elders or disciples, but had not clashed with Empress Lingshuang again.

Empress Lingshuang, meanwhile, rarely ventured outside. The Eastern Courtyard guest quarters remained shrouded in a barrier, seemingly to prevent outsiders from peering in.

The two female generals, Lanling and Lanxing, also conducted themselves with impeccable discretion. Aside from necessary purchases, they had almost no contact with outsiders.

Yun Yun could sense that the Empress of the Northern Region seemed to be doing something very important.

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“As long as they don’t start fighting inside the Immortal Palace, they may do as they please.”

Standing atop Cloudmist Peak, Yun Yun looked toward the Eastern and Western Courtyards, a relieved smile appearing on her gentle face.

With the Palace Master in seclusion, the burden on her shoulders was considerable. What she feared most was another disagreement sparking a fresh conflict between the two Empresses.

But now, they both seemed to have tacitly reined themselves in, at least on the surface.

As for the subtle feelings each of them harbored for the Palace Master…

Yun Yun shook her head gently. That was not something she needed to worry about.

She trusted the Palace Master to make her own decision.

Meanwhile, within Lingxu Blessed Paradise, the month-long expedition was nearing its end.

Over the past month, the first group of more than thirty disciples had endured trials of blood and fire and reaped bountiful rewards in return.

Working together in the core region, Liu Ruyan and Gu Luoli relied on their exceptional strength and seamless coordination to gather several varieties of rare spiritual herbs almost never seen in the outside world. Their value was incalculable.

Although neither had achieved a breakthrough in cultivation, their auras had grown more refined, and their understanding of their cultivation techniques had deepened.

The six teams in the outer region had performed just as admirably.

The team led by Ye Ling’er had encountered several waves of demonic beast attacks in the south and had even accidentally wandered into a naturally formed maze formation.

Inside the formation, Ye Ling’er located its core and combined her efforts with A-Yao’s unusual gift.

In the end, she led her team out without mishap. They also discovered a small pool of “Cold Marrow Spirit Liquid,” which could temper the meridians.

After that ordeal, Ye Ling’er’s aura had grown even steadier and colder. Only the thinnest of barriers now seemed to separate her from the Golden Core stage.

Through repeated battles and exploration, A-Yao had also fully consolidated her cultivation at the peak of Foundation Establishment and become increasingly proficient with the Flowing-Light Lotus Platform.

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The team led by Murong Xue successfully slew the early-stage Golden Core Shadow Leopard.

Near the Shadow Leopard’s lair, they also found a small patch of Golden-Pattern Grass, a primary ingredient for refining Core Formation Pills, making their harvest exceptionally rich.

Murong Xue herself had also begun to sense an opportunity to form her core.

With her keen intuition for formations and the Thousand Mechanisms Disk’s calculations, Xiao Ya led her team around several concealed danger zones.

They gathered numerous rare materials, while her understanding and practical command of the Dao of formations improved by leaps and bounds.

Zhao Ling’er and Wang Zhaojun grew increasingly adept at working together. With one attacking and the other defending, they harvested Watercloud Lingzhi from the eastern swamps.

They also joined forces to kill a Poison-Swamp Crocodile at the peak of Foundation Establishment.

In the western mineral vein, Wang Teng not only mined a large quantity of Scarlet Copper Essence Ore but also unexpectedly unearthed a small chunk of Gengjin Ore containing sharp metallic qi.

It was immensely beneficial to the metal-attributed cultivation technique he practiced. His once-obvious edge had become more contained, and his bearing had grown considerably steadier.

It was fair to say that every disciple who entered Lingxu Blessed Paradise received training and rewards far beyond anything they had expected.

That day, ripples once again spread across the curtain of light at the entrance to Lingxu Blessed Paradise.

Only half a day remained before the month-long deadline.

In the square, disciples who had finished exploring ahead of schedule or felt they had gathered enough were already being teleported out one after another.

Most looked exhausted, but their eyes shone brightly, their auras were solid, and their faces glowed with joy.

“They’re coming out! They’re coming out!”

“Look, it’s Senior Sister Zhao and the others!”

“Senior Brother Wang Teng is out too! Whoa, look at all those glittering golden stones in his hands. Did he strike it rich?”

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“Senior Sister Xiao Ya looks a little thinner, but somehow she seems even more otherworldly!”

“Senior Sister Murong… her sword qi is so fierce!”

The disciples who had remained behind in the Immortal Palace crowded around, excitedly sizing up their returning fellow disciples and bombarding them with questions about what they had seen and experienced in the secret realm.

Zhao Ling’er cheerfully showed off several pristine Watercloud Lingzhi.

Wang Teng proudly slapped his bulging Storage Pouch, drawing envious exclamations from the crowd.

Xiao Ya smiled and nodded in greeting to the junior sisters she knew, while Murong Xue merely stood quietly to one side with her eyes closed, reflecting on everything she had gained in the secret realm.

As time passed, more and more disciples emerged.

Li Zhiwei walked out alone. Her cultivation had clearly risen by a significant margin, drawing repeated glances from the crowd.

Finally, with only two hours remaining until the deadline, the curtain of light to the south began to fluctuate violently.

Holding A-Yao’s small hand, Ye Ling’er stepped out alongside two other fellow disciples.

Ye Ling’er’s hair was slightly disheveled, but her eyes remained clear. The aura faintly emanating from her was far stronger than it had been before she entered.

A-Yao, meanwhile, immediately drew everyone’s attention.

The little girl’s fitted blue outfit was stained with dust and bits of grass, but her small face was rosy, and her large eyes looked even brighter and livelier than before.

She gazed curiously around the bustling square. The moment she spotted the familiar junior brothers and sisters, she happily waved to them.