Bai Hua Hall.
Other than Qin Xiao Lou who was flying on the kite outside, the other disciples had all gathered.
“Everything that happened recently, as long as it’s worthy of note, you must all tell me without missing a single detail” Gu Qing Shan told everyone with a serious tone.
Wan Er said: “After Shifu faced the Sumeru Lord realm Tribulation, she returned here once, and then the entire world changed”
“What do you mean?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
Qing Rou explained: “She brought another world back from the void and fused it with our Shen Wu world, causing the entire Shen Wu world to drastically change. This world of ours has changed its name, we’re currently called the Xian Wu[1] realm”
“Xian Wu realm…” Gu Qing Shan slowly digested this name.
Qing Rou then added: “That’s right, there was also a Heavenly Tower that appeared in this world”
Heavenly Tower?
Gu Qing Shan didn’t say anything and simply focused his mind, his vast Star River Saint realm inner sight swept across the entire Bai Hua sect, then spread in every direction.
This was a cultivation world, and cultivators were naturally sensitive to being spied on by other people’s inner sight, so Gu Qing Shan didn’t really boast too much and silently avoided the various sects while carefully observing the world.
The human settlements and sects of the world did not change too much.
Gu Qing Shan soon noticed the tower.
A few ten thousand miles away from Bai Hua sect, on top of a vast plateau, a magnificent stone tower stood connecting heaven and earth, reaching far above the clouds so that its peak couldn’t be seen.
Each layer of the stone tower depicted heavenly beings, divine beasts, treasure tools, and weapons; the entire tower exuded a sense of vicissitudes that emphasized its solemnity and dignity.
At the foot of the stone tower, numerous cultivators had gathered, mumbling something under their breaths as if they were trying to connect to the stone tower.
Suddenly, a ray of light appeared from the tower and turned into a hand that lightly touched the head of a cultivator.
That cultivator stood still in shock, then abruptly burst out in laughter: “It’s done! Done! I’ve received the protection of heavenly beings and was granted a Heaven realm cultivation technique!”
He prostrated in front of the stone tower and bowed his head several times to the stone tower.
Very quickly, the people of his sect arrived and surrounded him, swiftly retreating with him in the middle.
The surrounding cultivators all appeared full of admiration.
“That doesn’t look like a mortal structure, but why do I feel like it’s a bit familiar…”
Gu Qing Shan muttered.
Xiu Xiu held onto his hand and whispered: “Third Brother, the outside world is changing really quickly, so many sects had bowed their heads to that tower and obtained the protection of the heavenly beings, thus growing stronger”
Gu Qing Shan’s heart felt heavy.
As sharp as he was, he managed to notice the unease and wariness in Xiu Xiu’s tone.
“Have you come to the heavenly beings of the stone tower asking for their protection?” he asked.
“Shifu said that the disciples of Bai Hua sect have our own status, we don’t need to bow or worship the heavenly beings in the stone tower, so none of us have gone” Wan Er replied.
Gu Qing Shan nodded.
Sure enough, this was Shifu’s mannerism.
He then briefly examined his junior sisters.
——-currently, Xiu Xiu is at Origin Aspect realm, while Wan Er and Qing Rou are both at Void Beholder realm.
With Shifu’s teachings, this is already very fast.
Could it be…
“Hah, you don’t need to worry too much Xiu Xiu, it’s nothing but the protection of some heavenly beings—— since Shifu had let this stone tower enter our world, she naturally has her own considerations”
Gu Qing Shan smiled and gently stroked Xiu Xiu’s face.
His vast inner sight continued to expand and observe everything in this world.
Suddenly, he noticed that a sect had opened its protective formation to let several cultivators out, all of which were standing in formation as they flew into the sky like a cluster of stars.
From their appearances, they were mostly the sect’s leader or elders.
Gu Qing Shan moved his inner sight out of their way and only glanced briefly at them.
Tch—-
The leader of this group is actually at Paragon realm.
How decent, so they’ve grown to this degree after receiving protection from heavenly beings.
All in all, the cultivation realms should consist of: Qi Training, Foundation, Golden Core, Rejuvenation, Ascended, Sainted, Projection, Tribulation, Virtualized, Cryptic, Chaotic Star, Origin Aspect, Radiant Soul, Void Beholder, Void Wanderer, Void Revolution, Three Thousand Worlds, Paragon, Yama King, Mahesvara King, Sumeru Lord, and Star River Saint.
Only these realms.
Those people were only the elders of a small sect, but they were at least three realms higher compared to the disciples of Bai Hua sect.
If Shifu was frequently absent…
There would certainly be some issues.
With that in mind, Gu Qing Shan curtly asked: “Qing Rou, how long has Shifu been gone for?”
Qing Rou looked at him with a gaze full of lament.
He’s still him.
That’s right, he’s still the same sword cultivator who overcame all the danger of the Suspended world by himself.
Other than someone of his caliber, who else would be able to discern Bai Hua sect’s current situation with only one statement from Xiu Xiu?
“After Shifu fused the two worlds, she said that she wanted to teach us some Immortal Crafts, but then she suddenly left again” Qing Rou replied.
Gu Qing Shan pondered: “In other words, ever since she completed her Sumeru Lord realm Tribulation, she had only returned once before disappearing again”
“Yes” Wan Er confirmed.
“That certainly is a bit too long” Gu Qing Shan sighed.
———seems like something truly had happened to Shifu.
Other than that, the disciples of Bai Hua sect did not bow to the Heavenly Tower, but the other sects had, who all ended up growing considerably more powerful because of this.
The balance of strength had shifted.
Shifu was absent.
Ever since the time of her Tribulation, it had been a considerable while.
Meanwhile, the location that Bai Hua sect had taken up continued to be the center of the world’s spiritual power, where Bai Hua Fairy had stored countless precious treasures and natural resources.
While her disciples had matured rapidly, they still lacked the protection of heavenly beings, not to mention their pitiful number of sect members that paled in comparison to any other sect.
In this era where billions of worlds were continuously shifting and fusing, where the Apocalypses descended one after another, this was very eye-catching.
No one could really say for sure whether or not Bai Hua Fairy was still alive.
——and it just happens that Xie Dao Ling had truly run into some sort of issue.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left in such a hurry that she didn’t even leave the white goose behind.
Gu Qing Shan sighed again.
…That can’t be right either.
There should still be some people willing to take care of Bai Hua sect
“Ah, that’s right, where is Ning Yue Chan?” Gu Qing Shan asked again.
Qing Rou replied: “Before Shifu left, Blade Saint Ning, Gong Sun Zhi, as well as General Leng all followed the Great Monk of Sorrow to head off-world, I heard they went to fight against an Apocalypse, so they hadn’t returned since then”
Gu Qing Shan silently nodded.
Suddenly, a series of loud explosions were heard from outside Bai Hua sect.
Doong—– doong—— doong——-
The loud noise activated the entire sect’s protective formation.
At the very next second, a flash of light erupted in the sky to manifest as a faint yellow bubble that completely enveloped Bai Hua sect.
Gu Qing Shan flew outside to take a look.
Only to see that dozens of large-scale formations were tightly protecting the sect.
Outside the formation, various cultivators in different clothing were gathered at a crossroad.
——there was a large green rock there.
In the past, Bai Hua Fairy had established a rule that only those who had gone through a test in front of the green rock would be allowed to enter Bai Hua sect.
Those cultivators were all swinging their weapons in an attempt to break through the formation.
Some of them seemed very strong, unleashing powerful techniques that not even Gu Qing Shan had seen before.
Qin Xiao Lou was still hanging on the kite with a formation plate in his hand, loudly laughing: “That’s decent, the test this time is still to break through the formation. If you can’t even break my formation, you naturally can’t enter our Bai Hua sect”
He was laughing, but his eyes were very serious.
Gu Qing Shan carefully observed and saw that Qin Xiao Lou’s forehead was soaked in sweat as his hands moved rapidly above the formation plate like a blurry shadow.
The array of formations were being continuously reinforced, restructured, then replaced by Qin Xiao Lou.
The cultivators outside the formation were attacking in turn.
But Qin Xiao Lou’s cultivation was only at Chaotic Star realm, even lower compared to Xiu Xiu, so it naturally took a lot of effort for him to maintain this defense.
He suddenly drew a talisman out of thin air and tossed it forward.
“Reinforce!”
The talisman then instantly disappeared, the protection formation array also became 30% stronger out of nowhere.
The people outside were considerably annoyed.
Someone shouted: “What a powerful protective barrier, not even our Immortal Crafts managed to stop it, how difficult to deal with”
Qin Xiao Lou nodded boastfully: “Naturally, whenever you can break through my formation, you’d be qualified to enter our Bai Hua sect. But I’ll be honest, our Bai Hua sect isn’t accepting any new disciples right now”
Someone scoffed: “The Saint had disappeared for a long time, and you people of Bai Hua sect had been turtling up…”
Someone else pulled him back, so he begrudgingly shut his mouth.
Qin Xiao Lou’s eyes turned sharp when he heard that, but was also a bit helpless.
His hands did not stop moving, continuously arranging new formations and drawing new talismans, occasionally tossing a coin into the air and rearranging his tactics after checking it, as well as eating some pills.
Gu Qing Shan’s figure shifted and lightly appeared next to the kite.
“Ahaha, junior brother, you’ve arrived——- just look at how impressive your senior brother is!” Qin Xiao Lou called out to him.
Gu Qing Shan praised: “Senior brother, I can see your expertise on the six arts, going up against the entire world on your own. You’re truly worthy of being the world’s foremost six arts expert, and that isn’t an exaggeration by your junior brother”
Qin Xiao Lou laughed heartily: “Those guys must be dreaming if they want to come into our Bai Hua sect to cause trouble, don’t you say?”
“Senior brother’s words naturally make sense” Gu Qing Shan nodded.
Qin Xiao Lou continued to happily arrange his formations.
Gu Qing Shan stayed silent while he continued to observe him.
Time slowly passed.
The group outside did not scatter.
On the contrary, increasingly more cultivators were gathering outside the green rock.
Even the Paragon realm cultivator that he had noticed earlier through his inner sight had also made his way here with his entourage.
A few moments later, so many people had gathered that he could discern at least 50 different sects among them.
An old man suddenly called out: “Qin Xiao Lou, your mannerism doesn’t fit the rules of Bai Hua saint”
“And how am I not fitting her rules?” Qin Xiao Lou asked.
The cultivators were attacking the formation even harsher, so Qin Xiao Lou had to breathe heavily through his mouth while defending against them.
The old man continued to speak:
“According to Bai Hua Fairy’s rules, each time that your Bai Hua sect selects people, you would always stand on top of the green rock, but you’re staying at the center of the formation, so it’s against your master’s rules”
“That’s right, this is against the rules”
“You won’t be able to convince anyone this way”
“That’s wrong of you”
“Stand on the rock if you’re so impressive”
The cultivators outside all jeered at him.
Qin Xiao Lou scoffed: “Bullshit! My Shifu delegated the full right of choosing who to enter the sect to me, so I’ll stand wherever I want to stand”
But his voice was swiftly drowned out by the jeering.
Gu Qing Shan shook his head.
For as long as he could remember, even the most common tree or flower in the sect was a natural spirit treasure of the world.
Never mind how Bai Hua Fairy had travelled to many different worlds and collected an even greater trove of treasures for her disciples.
No matter how much Bai Hua Fairy had done for this world, as long as she wasn’t here, some people would still attempt to probe Bai Hua sect.
This was human nature, it can’t be helped.
With so many explosions resounding throughout the formation, Xiu Xiu, Wan Er, and Qing Rou also flew up, standing behind Qin Xiao Lou and Gu Qing Shan.
“Senior brother…”
Xiu Xiu bit her lips with eyes full of worry.
Qing Rou quickly shook her head at her.
Xiu Xiu then kept quiet.
—–at this crucial point in time, we definitely cannot distract senior brother Qin Xiao Lou.
But the three girls’ hearts tightened even more.
No one would know for sure just how much longer Qin Xiao Lou would be able to hold on.
Gu Qing Shan suddenly took a step back and crouched down in front of Xiu Xiu.
He smiled and gently told her: “Xiu Xiu, your senior brother has been travelling outside for the past while, but he had always forgotten to return to the sect for everyone”
“Can you forgive your older brother if he goes out to kill all of these people right now?”
Xiu Xiu wasn’t dumb, so her eyes instantly lit up and quickly asked:
“Do you really have to kill them all? Senior brother can simply force them all to leave”
Gu Qing Shan smiled and shook his head, answering her with an even gentler voice: “That’ll be difficult. If senior brother doesn’t kill them, they’d keep on thinking that Bai Hua sect was easy to bully”
At this point, he was already grasping a sword in his hand.
[1] A reminder, the “shen” in Shen Wu meant “godly”, and “wu” meant martial arts. The new name changes “shen” to “xian”, which means “heavenly” or “immortal”, it’s the same “xian” in xianxia the genre
