Chapter 110: Dual Realms – It Turns Out the Clear Thought Sect Disciples Eat This Every Day…

One day later, the disciples arrived at White Tiger West and settled in Sand City, where the Clear Thought Sect is located.

Compared to the cold of Xuanwu North and the humidity of Vermilion Bird South, White Tiger West is even more extreme. The region is mostly covered by desert and wasteland, with no greenery in sight. It’s hot and lacks water; the wind blows and you can feel the heat wave brush past you.

The disciples of Clear Thought Sect have gotten used to it, as have the disciples from White Tiger West in other sects. But for others, it isn’t so easy.

Once they entered the territory of White Tiger West, the Talisman Cultivators and Alchemy Cultivators became the treasures everyone relied on. The journey had been sustained by the protective barriers from the Talisman Cultivators and the Ice-Cold Pills from the Alchemy Cultivators.

Once inside the sect’s protective boundary, things became somewhat more comfortable.

“Xu Xianxing, you’re amazing. Even in this heat, you’re still wearing a fox fur coat.”

Wen Yun had just gotten off the Silver Kite and saw Xu Xianxing still dressed the same way as always, and couldn’t help but exclaim.

The others looked over too and saw Xu Xianxing remaining calm, not even breaking a sweat.

From Xuanwu North to Vermilion Bird South, and now to White Tiger West, Xu Xianxing had barely changed his outfit—always wrapped in a large fox fur coat, as if it were a part of his body.

Lian Mu also put away her broom and glanced at him, “Aren’t you hot?”

Xu Xianxing shook his head. “A little cold.”

Lian Mu: “Impressive, how do you manage it?”

She herself was feeling a bit hot.

“It’s a health condition, I have cold constitution. It’s been like this for a long time.” Xu Xianxing replied. “I’m afraid of the cold but not the heat.”

Lian Mu touched his hand, and sure enough, despite the weather, it was still ice-cold.

“Afraid of the cold, yet you still chose to come to Returning Immortal Sect…” Ji Mingyue remarked.

Xu Xianxing shrugged nonchalantly and smiled. “Returning Immortal Sect is the place I’m most familiar with, so I came here.”

All the disciples had gathered at the city platform in Sand City. This time, many Elders from Clear Thought Sect had come to greet them, even the Sect Leader was present.

On Huangyan Platform, the Sect Leader of Clear Thought Sect stood tall in yellow robes with crane patterns, facing the wind, his clothes fluttering, looking down at the group of young disciples with a calm expression.

The Senior disciples standing beside him appeared much the same, each with a detached demeanor, as though they were only there to make an appearance.

The third man from the left, an Alchemy Cultivator, looked directly at the Returning Immortal Sect group. He was closest to them, his gaze fixed on Wen Yun, studying him carefully.

Wen Yun saw him too but averted his eyes, stepping back with a neutral expression, letting Xu Xianxing stand in front of him.

Ji Mingyue shouted to the man, “Uncle.”

Ji Xiu Yuan nodded, saying, “It’s been a long time. Mingyue has grown so much. You’ve joined Returning Immortal Sect, so you should focus on your cultivation and bring honor to the Ji family.”

Ji Mingyue: “Yes.”

After exchanging a few words, Ji Mingyue stepped back, and Ji Xiu Yuan turned his gaze toward Wen Yun.

Within Returning Immortal Sect’s Chief Team, Xu Xianxing nudged Wen Yun and whispered, “Is that your dad? He looks like he wants to talk to you.”

Wen Yun remained calm, saying, “I have nothing to say to him… You two, move a bit closer and block me.”

Lian Mu and Xu Xianxing stood in front of him, facing Ji Xiu Yuan’s gaze. Thankfully, both had thick skins and felt no embarrassment.

Before long, Ji Xiu Yuan withdrew his gaze and stopped looking their way.

Once everyone had arrived, the Sect Leader of Clear Thought Sect briefly exchanged pleasantries and then directed his disciples to lead the others to their resting quarters.

“They came with the Sect Leader and so many Elders, I thought something big was happening, but that was it?” Lian Mu remarked as they walked.

Back at Azure Profound Sect, it was only the Second Elder who made an appearance, the Sect Leader didn’t even show up.

Bai Li Que explained, “It’s just for show. None of them really wanted to come.”

“Why?”

Bai Li Que: “Clear Thought Sect’s guiding principle is ‘The Way is without thought,’ cultivating a mind free of distractions, focusing solely on their own cultivation. They’re indifferent to things outside their sect. Their most powerful Elders almost never get involved in sect affairs, including the Sect Leader. They only showed up today to demonstrate the strength of Clear Thought Sect. Even though the Sect Leader and Elders don’t manage sect affairs, it doesn’t mean their sect is leaderless.”

“No wonder the Clear Thought Sect disciples like to cause trouble. Turns out their Sect Leader doesn’t care.” Ji Mingyue said.

“That’s right. The Elders at the top of Clear Thought Sect are all formidable, but the disciples beneath them… they’re a different story.” Bai Li Que said with distaste. “They claim to be the number one Talisman Cultivator sect, but this ‘number one’ only refers to their Sect Leader, not the disciples.”

Although the disciples were problematic, Clear Thought Sect had managed to stay among the Four Great Sects all these years because the Sect Leader and Elders kept everything in check.

Bai Li Que didn’t go to Clear Thought Sect back then for this reason. He simply couldn’t stand the behavior of their disciples.

While they were talking, they had already arrived at the place designated for Returning Immortal Sect to rest.

Before them was a grand hall, the table already laid with food and wine cups, and the accommodations were arranged around it.

The palace was cool, with special walkways that allowed the breeze to circulate. The walls were decorated with strange foreign patterns, and the floor was covered with soft wool carpets.

In the center of the main hall, a white tiger head sculpture hung on the wall, baring its teeth as if ready to leap out at any moment.

Lian Mu felt a slight movement in her sleeve. Green Bean climbed out and peeked at the white tiger head sculpture on the wall.

In the Chief Team, Guan Hualin and the other leaders were called away, leaving only the four Chiefs to gather in the main hall.

Xu Xianxing, feeling a bit hungry, pulled Lian Mu over to grab some food, and the others followed closely behind.

“I’ve never tried White Tiger West’s food before.” Xu Xianxing said eagerly, just about to lift the silver cover off the dish.

Wen Yun twitched his mouth, as if he already knew what was coming, but he didn’t have the heart to say it.

Xu Xianxing lifted the silver cover, grabbed his chopsticks, and took a bite, his face immediately changing, his features contorted. “…?”

Wen Yun couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

Lian Mu took a look and saw that it was peeled cactus. She lifted another silver cover and found all sorts of strange foods: cold-tossed thornball flowers, roasted scorpions, lizard soup…

Bai Li Que was also stunned. “So this is what the disciples of Clear Thought Sect eat normally? No wonder they all look a bit… off.”

Outside the door, Murong Yi had just returned from the other sects’ Seniors. When he entered, he saw Xu Xianxing’s face contorted in pain, clutching his chest as if about to pass out.

Murong Yi was startled, thinking that the chief Artifact Refiner from Returning Immortal Sect had just arrived in White Tiger West and had already been ambushed. He rushed over in a few steps.

“What’s wrong?”

Wen Yun: “Nothing, he just choked on his food.”

He said this, then gave Xu Xianxing a hard slap on the back. Xu Xianxing’s eyes widened, then he retaliated by pinching him.

Murong Yi paused for a moment and said, “… Be more careful next time.”

Xu Xianxing: “…”

His image had been ruined again.

Murong Yi cleared his throat lightly, waved his hand to signal them to sit, and said, “Lian Mu, you’re here too, just in time. The map for the next Illusory Realm trial is out.”

Lian Mu: “There’s a map to look at for this round too?”

“A special Illusory Realm always has a map, because the location of the Fire Core Flower is different from the previous two rounds.”

The group sat around the table. Murong Yi took out a memory stone and activated it with his spiritual energy. Gradually, a map of mountains and rivers appeared in the air. After several changes, it formed a desert wasteland.

But beneath the desert wasteland, there was another area that appeared, showing a dual-layered continent.

At the edge of the desert, there were four transparent mirror-like barriers, resembling waterfalls, isolating the competition area from the outside.

“In this round of Illusory Realm, you might be teleported to two different places.” Murong Yi pointed to the upper layer. “This is the first realm, the original Illusory Realm competition area, similar to the desert of White Tiger West.”

He flipped the map over and said, “This is the second realm. From the first realm, you can reach here through the Four Symbols Mirrors at the edge of the desert.”

“In this round, there are two Fire Core Flowers, each planted in a corner of the second realm, but only one of them will bloom. Which one exactly, no one knows.”

“You might be sent to the first realm or the second. Except for the Chief Team, which will always stay together, the other teams may be scattered across two different locations.”

Lian Mu focused on the image displayed on the memory stone. The second realm shown was a sea of lava. The map had a few land patches where people could stand, but the rest was all molten magma.

“The second realm is a boundary illusion personally set up by the Sect Leader of Clear Thought Sect. This realm is time-limited. Every so often, a wave of flames will erupt. When no disciples are left in the second realm, it will collapse and destroy everything, including the Fire Core Flower.”

“When that happens, except for the sect teams that have already been teleported out, anyone still in the Illusory Realm, whether they’ve picked the Fire Core Flower or not, will be considered a failure. All disciples will be sent back into the second cycle, and the process repeats.”

Lian Mu: “Will it be harder after the second cycle?”

Murong Yi nodded. “The further you go, the harder it gets. So, you must keep track of time, or you’ll be the ones suffering.”

“Clear Thought Sect has an advantage in this round of Illusory Realm. They have more Talisman Cultivators and are more accustomed to this environment. You need to be careful; in past years, they’ve liked to use their advantage in the terrain to deal with us.”

After speaking, Murong Yi left the memory stone with them, patted Wen Yun, and said, “Come with me.”

Wen Yun frowned slightly but didn’t say anything. He obediently followed him.

Lian Mu enlarged the image on the memory stone and examined the environment of the second realm carefully, realizing that it seemed somewhat familiar.

“…”

Wasn’t this very similar to the Illusory Realm she participated in during her initial entry test?