“Sect Leader Xiao, what are you thinking about?” Baili Xuanqing’s cold voice interrupted Xiao Hongyu’s thoughts.
Xiao Hongyu let out a sigh. “Baili, we were wrong after all. These disciples we looked down upon have been trained so well by Ye Wentian.”
Baili Xuanqing’s eyes were deep and dark. “We weren’t wrong. It’s this era that is wrong. If we also had such abundant cultivation techniques, perhaps we could train even better disciples!”
“What do you mean by that, Baili?”
Baili Xuanqing raised his voice transmission token. “Don’t you know, Sect Leader Xiao? Someone has revealed that ten thousand years ago, the Nine Provinces continent was rich with spiritual energy, and high-level techniques were widespread…”
“Back then, everyone could reach the Nascent Soul realm before the age of a hundred. Even spiritual beasts and demonic beasts were everywhere. Cultivators didn’t need to put in any effort to get a contracted beast.”
“It’s just that now, Qingyun Province will never see such prosperity again.”
As soon as Baili Xuanqing finished speaking, an elder’s angry voice reached Xiao Hongyu’s ears.
“These people are going too far! Why would they arbitrarily change the pattern of the Nine Provinces!”
Xiao Hongyu glanced sideways at the elder and Baili Xuanqing, then took out his own voice transmission token.
The Nine Provinces continent is composed of Diling Province, Haoling Province, Youming Province, Huoling Province, Tianxuan Province, Qingyun Province, Chuanyun Province, Muyun Province, and the Blood Oath Alliance.
Among these, Chuanyun Province and Muyun Province have thin spiritual energy, and the two provinces share a single sect.
This also results in a very, very small number of cultivators in those two provinces.
And finally, the Blood Oath Alliance is a coalition formed by people who cannot cultivate. Because they cannot adapt to places with spiritual energy, they choose to stay on a small island isolated from the other eight provinces.
Xiao Hongyu looked closely and was surprised to see a map of the Nine Provinces continent.
The map showed the distribution of the nine provinces.
But you could tell at a glance that Diling Province and Haoling Province together split two-thirds of the continent’s land.
The remaining land is almost equally divided among the other six provinces.
Still, you could clearly sense that the provinces listed first got a larger share of the area.
Xiao Hongyu took a deep breath, put down the token, and looked at the few people happily forming their mahjong groups. He suddenly felt that sometimes, not knowing anything is a kind of happiness!
Maybe the more you know, the more painful it becomes.
What exactly do those people who revealed the truth want to do?
“Sect Leader Xiao, why have you gone quiet?” Baili Xuanqing interrupted Xiao Hongyu’s thoughts once again.
Baili Xuanqing was clearly doing it on purpose.
Xiao Hongyu glanced at Baili Xuanqing a few times. “Sect Leader Baili seems quite irritable?”
“I’m perfectly fine. I just regret letting those Baili family members go so easily back at Xiong Hu Ling. It was too merciful of me!” Baili Xuanqing’s voice was icy cold.
“But the situation is already set. There’s nothing we can do about it.” Xiao Hongyu’s eyes were filled with helplessness.
Even if they mobilized the full power of the nine provinces, they couldn’t take on a single Baili family!
Xiao Hongyu was actually a bit curious about what Baili Yuanmo and Mo Jinghong had discussed back then…
But no one knows about that.
“Sect Leader Xiao, don’t you have any regrets? Back then, we almost pushed all of Ye Wentian’s disciples to the opposite side?” Baili Xuanqing asked curiously.
A complex look flickered in Xiao Hongyu’s eyes, but he didn’t answer Baili Xuanqing’s question.
He turned his gaze to the Heaven-Climbing Ladder.
Feng Qingran had covered in one hour what took others three days of climbing.
Dugu Jian, Qin Hanyan, and Baili Wenyue followed closely behind her, stepping onto the three hundredth step.
After reaching the three hundredth step, Baili Wenyue’s pace slowed down noticeably, and beads of sweat covered his forehead.
Dugu Jian and Qin Hanyan, however, looked calm as usual. But when they both stepped onto the three hundred and fiftieth step, they stopped at the same time.
The illusion on the three hundred and fiftieth level reveals what a person fears most in their heart.
The vast majority of cultivators fail at this level.
Feng Qingran paused briefly at the three hundred and fiftieth step, then broke free from the illusion and continued climbing.
Xiao Hongyu was utterly astonished. Facing the things they fear, people need immense courage to overcome them, not to mention the time it takes to do so.
So how could Feng Qingran overcome it so quickly?
On the Heaven-Climbing Ladder.
A flicker of mockery passed through Feng Qingran’s crystal-clear, jade-like eyes. A few years ago, she might have truly feared Su Yanran becoming powerful.
But now, she had already overcome her inner demon, her mind focused solely on moving forward!
No one could stop her from becoming stronger!
Feng Qingran stepped forward unwaveringly, continuing to climb.
When she reached the four hundredth step, looking back, she could only see a scattered few people.
When Feng Qingran stepped onto the five hundredth step, a pressure as heavy as a mountain bore down on her. Looking back again, there was no one behind her.
A look of seriousness couldn’t help but appear on Feng Qingran’s face. Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister shouldn’t be this slow, right?
Could they be stuck in that illusion?
Oh well, everyone has their own path to walk, and she couldn’t interfere.
The only thing to do now was to focus on walking her own path. That was the key.
The moment Feng Qingran stepped onto the five hundred and twentieth step, a flash of white light appeared before her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a bitterly cold place, completely alone.
A wary look appeared in Feng Qingran’s apricot eyes. This place wasn’t in her memories from either of her two lives. It was a strange place.
Just then—
A vicious voice reached Feng Qingran’s ears. “Hahaha… Feng Qingran, did you think you could run away?”
Immediately after, a group of people appeared in Feng Qingran’s sight.
…
