Cultivation Is Money-Grabbing C07

Chapter 7: The Bai Li Family’s Shamelessness

Lian Mu arrived at the registration site, and as expected, the place was packed with people. It was impossible to pick Ji Mingyue out from the crowd.

A long line stretched before the registration desk where a senior disciple in blue robes was noting down names. Lian Mu found an empty spot to rest, deciding to wait until the crowd thinned before lining up. Green Bean was snoozing on her shoulder.

The ground beneath them was the Qianling Peak.

The Gui Xian Sect was situated within a continuous mountain range and had six peaks: the Main Peak, Qianling Peak, Hanlai Peak, Suiqiu Peak, Yinxiang Peak, and Yasui Peak.

Each peak had its own distinct purpose. The Main Peak was where the sect elders resided and held discussions on major matters. Qianling Peak was a gathering place for artifact refiners, with senior figures often giving lectures there. Hanlai Peak housed sword cultivators, Suiqiu Peak had many talisman cultivators, and Yinxiang Peak was dedicated to alchemy and spirit plant cultivation.

Lian Mu only knew that Yasui Peak was used as a residential area for disciples. After being guided around, she found it difficult to distinguish who was who.

At that moment, she could see sword cultivators soaring through the air from Hanlai Peak, stirring a sense of longing in her heart.

“What is your name?” The blue-robed senior disciple at the registration desk asked while glancing up absentmindedly. The next second, his expression changed dramatically.

Why was it her?!

Recalling past events, his expression turned unpleasant. He quickly wrote down her name and said, “Do I need to repeat the rules for the entrance trial?”

Lian Mu replied, “No need, thank you, Senior Brother.”

She then stood in line to receive a jade token, engraving her name on it.

As the leader of the Four Great Sects, the Gui Xian Sect attracted countless applicants every year. Due to the sheer number of people, the sect typically sent them into the Pangu Illusion Realm for the trial.

“What’s the Pangu Illusion Realm?” Lian Mu grabbed someone nearby and asked.

She had noticed four small characters inscribed on the back of the jade token.

“…Are you here for the first time?”

How could she not know this?!

Just as Lian Mu was about to respond, a commotion erupted beside her. The next moment, a massive shadow swept over her head.

“It’s the Bai Li family!”

The crowd instantly buzzed with excitement.

“The Bai Li family is joining the Gui Xian Sect? What are we supposed to do? We definitely can’t compete with disciples from noble immortal clans!”

“The Bai Li twins are applying this year. The next Immortal Sect Tournament is going to be exciting.”

“Hiss… The Bai Li family is truly extravagant. Using such a high-grade spiritual artifact so casually!”

Lian Mu looked up just in time to see an enormous wooden kite, far superior to any she had seen before. Its edges were inlaid with a gold-like material, keeping it exceptionally stable in the air.

On top of the kite stood a black-clothed youth with his eyes closed. His robes billowed in the wind, his refined and striking features carrying a trace of cold indifference. Upon hearing the murmurs below, he lifted his gaze briefly before shutting his eyes again, seemingly unconcerned.

The wooden kite stopped at the front of the crowd. The young man and his entourage jumped down and landed before the giant armillary sphere.

“Now that’s a true immortal sect disciple!” The man beside Lian Mu sighed in admiration. “So dignified!”

Lian Mu: “?”

Wait, was no one going to say anything about them cutting in line?

“He Yun Bai Li clan, Bai Li Que.”

The blue-robed senior disciple handed the black-clothed youth a jade token and let him go directly to the front.

“A pleasure to meet you.”

They nodded at each other before the black-clothed youth proceeded to the very front of the line.

The man beside Lian Mu was about to faint from excitement. “Did you hear that? That’s the Bai Li family’s eldest son!”

Lian Mu rubbed her chin. “I heard. Nice name. Quite lacking, though.”

Blatantly cutting in line—how shameless.

“This year is somewhat interesting,” said the sword-bearing man beside the blue-robed senior brother.

The blue-robed senior brother asked, “Why?”

“In previous years, the elders often complained that the recruited disciples had varying aptitudes. At least in recent years, some promising talents have started to emerge,” the sword-bearing man replied.

The blue-robed senior brother rubbed his forehead. “Even you think our Gui Xian Sect has fallen into decline?”

The sword-bearing man shrugged. “I never said that.”

Before the Pangu Illusion Realm, a group of disciples had already entered. Lian Mu stood in the third-to-last batch, watching as one after another was swallowed by beams of white light.

When it was her turn, Lian Mu suddenly felt her body become much lighter. A warm sensation rose from her feet, and she vaguely touched something—it was a sword.

When she looked up again, the scene before her had changed drastically.

Lian Mu stood on a partially shattered rock. In front of her was a sea of magma, glowing red and fiery. Not far away, a column of fire shot into the air. Above her, the dark red rock ceiling dripped with seeping lava.

Scorching flames licked past her face, bringing a wave of oppressive heat. Sparks burned small holes into her clothes.

Lian Mu immediately felt the moisture in her body evaporating. Within moments, she was drenched in sweat.

The crumbling rock beneath her feet trembled slightly, as if it was about to break apart. Sensing danger, Lian Mu quickly spotted a safe landing point and leaped.

Magma surrounded her on all sides. Fortunately, she had trained her body well over the past five years, allowing her to land precisely on a secure stone slab.

The place where she had just stood erupted with a fiery column, shattering the rock completely.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Lian Mu quickly surveyed her surroundings. It seemed she was in a massive underground cavern. There was no sign of the sun above, and the cavern appeared to have multiple layers. The red rock ceiling above her seemed to be covered by a thin layer of magma.

If the ceiling collapsed, she would be trapped immediately.

Lian Mu pinched herself, forcing her mind to clear. The Pangu Illusion Realm was too realistic, making her instinctively think of the worst possible outcomes, which was affecting her mentality.

Since the illusion realm had transported her here, there must be an exit or a place to hide.

The ground began to tremble. The magma roiled, pulsating like a giant heart. Heat surged toward the walls, threatening to burst through.

“Hiss—”

Something was moving beneath the magma, growling.

Lian Mu gripped her sword tightly and scanned the area. In the distance, she spotted a flat rock shore connected to a sloping path—possibly an exit.

She plotted her route using the scattered floating rocks in the magma and leaped forward, hopping from one rock to another.

No one had told her that the opening challenge would be this hellish, but now that she was here, she had no choice but to push through.

As Lian Mu neared the flat rock shore, the churning magma suddenly erupted into a towering wave of fire. A massive fish, covered in flames, emerged, revealing its dorsal fin. The exposed part of its back was armored with a shell matching the surrounding rocks in color. It swam in circles before slapping the magma with its fins.

Scalding liquid splashed in all directions, almost hitting Lian Mu. She twisted her body to evade the burning magma, then used her sword to vault onto the shore.

The next second, the entire cavern began to shake.

“Help!”

A desperate scream reached Lian Mu’s ears. She turned around to see that the rock wall above had started crumbling, right as another participant was transported there.

She saw a white figure fall through the collapsing wall, plummeting straight into the magma. A wisp of black smoke rose, and then—nothing.

Lian Mu’s waist vibrated slightly. She looked down to find a jade token that had appeared at some point. The token had a hollow center with sealed edges, containing a glowing blue liquid. The numbers displayed on it had significantly decreased since she entered.

And the trial had only just begun. Someone had already been eliminated.

Lian Mu put away the jade token and followed the sloping path upward, finally reaching an exit connected to the outside. Sunlight streamed through a narrow crack.

At first, the passage was spacious, but as she moved forward, it became increasingly narrow. By the time she was halfway through, the walls were already pressing against her body.

She wasn’t sure if this place was completely safe, but based on common sense, simply hiding until the end was unlikely to work. Last time, the original owner of this body had been lucky, stumbling upon a gentler illusion realm where she could hide until the trial ended.

Five years had passed. The entrance trial for Gui Xian Sect was bound to be stricter than before. They would surely try to eliminate freeloaders like the original owner who relied solely on luck.

Lian Mu stared at the narrow opening where light filtered in and pressed her ear against the rock, trying to listen to what was happening outside.

With thousands of participants, it was impossible for everyone to be nearby. She didn’t expect anyone to cooperate with her, but she had to make sure the area outside was safe to enter.

She listened for nearly half a quarter-hour before finally hearing footsteps approaching. They grew closer until they stopped diagonally above her—on the other side of the stone wall.

“Where is it? We’ve searched the entire illusion realm. Where’s the underground entrance?”

“There has to be one. Even though this is just an entrance trial, there’s no way the Pangu Illusion Realm doesn’t contain illusion realm beasts. If we can kill them and collect their cores, we’ll have a better chance at being chosen by a master.”

“We should stop wasting our time. Only the Bai Li family members could possibly kill those beasts. They’re from an immortal sect family, way more talented than us. They’re probably hunting beasts too, so it’s unlikely we’ll get a chance.”

“Pathetic! If you don’t want to search, get lost and stop whining.”

Lian Mu’s eyes gleamed. She had roughly pieced together the situation.

This illusion realm seemed to be divided into two parts—one above ground and one underground. And there were no beasts to be found on the surface.

She didn’t care about hunting beasts or gaining a master’s favor. With her current strength, taking unnecessary risks was not an option.

If there were fewer beasts above ground, it might be safer.

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