Chapter 57: Sumeru in a Mustard Seed

Just then…

A cold, clear voice rang out.

“Enough.”

The crowd parted, and the white-robed woman, Senior Sister Song, walked out slowly.

She looked at the two sides confronting each other, her brow furrowing slightly.

“This is Tianyue Sacred Land’s territory. Whatever it is, can’t it wait until after the secret realm closes?”

Elder Xu’s expression shifted slightly when he saw her.

“Miss Song, you be the judge! This brat cut off my grandson’s hand. Are we supposed to just let it go?”

Senior Sister Song looked at Chen Ping.

Chen Ping met her gaze and said flatly,

“He insulted my disciple first, then tried to lay hands on her. Losing one arm was mercy.”

Senior Sister Song was silent for a moment.

She glanced at Xu Hao’s severed wrist, then at the clear-eyed girl behind Chen Ping.

Truthfully, she had no interest in meddling in this affair.

She’d come here merely to collect some benefits and resources from these subordinate factions.

The Liuyun Sect had indeed given her plenty of benefits, but so what?

As an inner disciple of the prestigious Tianyue Sacred Land, she had no need to offend an unfathomable stranger for such trivial gain.

Moreover, her gaze lingered on Chen Ping and Lin Xiaoyu for a moment.

These two were only at the Qi Refining Stage, but the feeling they gave her…

was very strange.

An indescribable… closeness.

As if they carried some kind of resonance with the Heavenly Dao, the Great Dao itself.

*

“Elder Xu,” she withdrew her gaze and said evenly,

“There are too many eyes here. If things really get out of hand and blood is shed, it’ll be bad for everyone.”

“Besides, the secret realm is about to open. I’m sure the Liuyun Sect doesn’t want to miss out, right?”

Elder Xu’s face darkened.

He understood what this woman was implying: she didn’t want to get involved.

“Miss Song, my grandson’s hand…”

“It’s already severed. Just reattach it.” Senior Sister Song cut him off, her tone indifferent.

“The Liuyun Sect is rich and powerful. Surely you’re not lacking a limb-rejoining pill?”

Elder Xu choked.

Xu Hao’s face turned even paler, his lips trembling.

He pointed at Chen Ping, wanting to say something, but Elder Xu held him back firmly.

“Fine…”

Elder Xu took a deep breath and fixed a death glare on Chen Ping.

“Junior, for Miss Song’s sake, I’ll spare your life today.”

He paused, the killing intent in his eyes undisguised:

“But this isn’t over.”

“Inside the secret realm, we’ll see!”

With a wave of his hand, he rose into the air, taking Xu Hao and the two Divine Ability Realm experts with him.

Before leaving, Xu Hao turned back and shot Chen Ping and Lin Xiaoyu a venomous glare.

The look in his eyes was as if he wanted to swallow them alive.

*

Chen Ping ignored it.

He just watched those people leave in silence.

Then he turned around and looked at Lin Xiaoyu.

“Are you all right?”

Lin Xiaoyu shook her head.

She looked up at Chen Ping, her eyes full of admiration.

“Master, you’re amazing.”

Chen Ping smiled and ruffled the top of her head.

“Let’s go back.”

*

He was about to leave with Lin Xiaoyu when a voice came from behind:

“Wait.”

Chen Ping stopped and looked back.

Senior Sister Song stood there, watching him.

“What’s your name?”

Chen Ping looked at her, silent for a moment.

“Chen Ping.”

Senior Sister Song nodded.

“I’m Song Yu.”

She paused, then added,

“About today’s matter, you’d better be careful…”

She glanced in the direction where the Liuyun Sect had disappeared.

“That Xu the Butcher holds grudges. Once inside the secret realm, be careful.”

Chen Ping looked at her.

This woman wasn’t completely cold-blooded.

“Thank you for the warning, miss.”

He cupped his hands in salute and left with Lin Xiaoyu.

*

Song Yu stood there, watching the two figures retreat into the distance.

Under the moonlight, the young man and the girl’s silhouettes stretched long and slender.

She suddenly felt that these two were not simple.

Not simple at all.

“Chen Ping…”

she murmured softly.

“Who exactly are you?”

No one answered her.

The night wind carried a faint scent of blood from the distant hillside.

The night passed.

The Tianyue Courtyard was bustling with noise.

The vast square was packed with people.

A sea of heads, at least ten thousand strong.

Chen Ping stood in a corner with Lin Xiaoyu, silently observing it all.

Lin Xiaoyu stayed close behind him, her small hand clutching his sleeve as she curiously sized up the people around them.

All sorts of robes, all manner of auras.

There were Qi Refining cultivators like her, as well as Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul.

And even experts at the Divine Ability Realm and Grotto-Heaven Realm.

Their auras intertwined, forming an invisible pressure that made it hard for her to breathe.

But a warmth spread through her palm.

It was her master’s hand.

Master held her hand gently, but firmly.

*

Suddenly, a stir ran through the crowd.

“Look! The Tianyue Sacred Land people are here!”

“They’re really here!”

Everyone looked up at the sky.

From the horizon, a streak of moon-white light shot over and landed in the center of the square in an instant.

The light faded, revealing several hundred figures.

The leader was a woman in palace robes, her expression imposing, her aura vast as the ocean, making it hard to meet her gaze.

Behind her stood hundreds of white-robed disciples, all with solid auras and sharp gazes.

Among them, one figure was especially eye-catching.

It was a young woman in a moon-white dress, her jet-black hair cascading like a waterfall, her face stunningly beautiful yet cold as frost.

She stood among the crowd, yet seemed isolated from everything around her, enveloped in a faint halo of light.

“Master, look!”

Lin Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up and she tugged at Chen Ping’s sleeve.

“It’s Sister Yue!”

Chen Ping looked closely.

It was indeed Yue Qingshuang.

But now she was completely different from when they last met at Luoxia Peak.

Back then, though she was cold, there was warmth in her eyes. She would smile, eat, and say, ‘Delicious.’

But now, the woman before him…

Cold.

Distant.

Untouchable.

Like a moon goddess walking the mortal world, high above and utterly unapproachable.

*

Chen Ping watched that figure, saying nothing.

At that moment, Yue Qingshuang seemed to sense something. Her gaze passed through the crowd and found him in the corner.

Their eyes met.

In that instant, the ice in her eyes seemed to thaw… just for a moment.

She gave the faintest nod, a bare acknowledgment.

Then she withdrew her gaze, and the frost returned just as quickly as it had lifted.

*

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Chen Ping’s mouth.

This girl, pretty good at pretending.

*

The palace-robed woman stepped forward, her gaze sweeping across the tens of thousands of cultivators gathered in the square.

Wherever her eyes passed, people instinctively lowered their heads, none daring to meet them.

“I am the Ninth Elder of the Tianyue Sacred Land, Yue Ling.”

Her voice was soft, yet it reached every person’s ears with perfect clarity.

“I will be leading all of you into the Hanling Mystic Realm this time.”

“I trust everyone understands the rules—within the mystic realm, life and death are fated, fortune is in heaven’s hands. If you seize an opportunity, that is your skill. If you lose your life, you have no one to blame.”

She paused, her gaze cutting across the crowd as her voice dropped to an icy edge.

“But there is one thing I will make clear in advance: anyone who dares collude with the forces of the other two great powers within the mystic realm—the punishment is death without mercy.”

At those words, more than a few faces shifted uneasily.

But no one dared speak up.

This was the rule.

Though the three Sacred Lands jointly controlled the mystic realm, fierce competition existed between them. Every force here could be considered a subordinate power of the Tianyue Sacred Land. Colluding with the other two was tantamount to betrayal.

“Enough,” Yue Ling said with a wave of her hand.

“Compose yourselves and prepare to enter.”

She raised her hand and flicked her sleeve. A streak of light shot from within.

It was a gourd.

Palm-sized and entirely emerald-green, it expanded as soon as it caught the wind, instantly transforming into an enormous gourd a hundred zhang in length.

The gourd hung suspended in midair, radiating a soft glow.

“Enter,” Yue Ling said coolly.

*

The crowd began to move.

One silhouette after another rose into the air and vanished into the gourd^[1]. Chen Ping, pulling Lin Xiaoyu along, flew in with the others.

*

A blur before the eyes.

When Lin Xiaoyu opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in a world of birdsong and fragrant blossoms.

The sky was a deep, clear blue, with white clouds drifting lazily. Distant green mountains rose like dark strokes of ink. Nearby, clear streams babbled gently. Beneath her feet was soft grassland, dotted with nameless wildflowers. The air was saturated with faint spiritual energy, more than twice as dense as the outside world.

“Master… this is…”

“Inside the gourd,” Chen Ping said. “It must be some kind of spatial treasure, a world unto itself.”

Lin Xiaoyu nodded.

Sumeru in a mustard seed^[2]. Truly wondrous.

*