Chapter 15: Politeness Your Barrier

Seeing Lin Xi staring off into space, Gui Ying helplessly waved a hand in front of Lin Xi’s eyes: “What are you thinking about?”

Lin Xi snapped back to his senses and gave an awkward smile, “I was just thinking that this senior female cultivator is really impressive. I kind of want to meet her.”

Gui Ying’s unfocused gaze darkened slightly, “How do you know she’s a female cultivator?”

Only then did Lin Xi realize that the other party had never actually specified Shi Danyao’s gender, “Well… the name just sounds like a female cultivator’s name.”

Gui Ying didn’t pursue the matter further, and the two of them walked on for a while.

They encountered a Nascent Soul–stage demon beast, which Gui Ying blew up with a single top-grade talisman.

Qiongyao was Gui Ying’s contracted spirit sword. Compared to the swords of other sword cultivators, it was subject to fewer restrictions. Still, unless something special happened, he generally didn’t use his sword.

This demon beast had a demon core which looked quite valuable, yet Gui Ying carelessly tossed it around like a toy.

Seeing his junior brother’s dumbfounded expression, Gui Ying said, “Want it? Just a worthless little trinket. If you want it, I’ll give it to you.”

Lin Xi: …You sure have the face to say that?

What, a Nascent Soul–stage demon core is just a “worthless little trinket” in your eyes?

As they went on, the number of cultivators gradually increased. However, the moment they saw Gui Ying, all of them detoured around him.

Lan Xing of the Qingxing Sect also spotted them and even took the opportunity to greet Gui Ying.

Around noon the next day, the temperature in the area suddenly plummeted. Ice shared were scattered throughout, and there were even massive chunks of ice in some places.

Centered around a huge pool of demon beast blood, everything within a hundred-meter radius was like this.

These were clearly traces left behind by a battle involving an Ice spiritual root. As for who it was, the answer was obvious.

Gui Ying surveyed the devastated scene.

He hadn’t expected that Xue Mufeng, even with his cultivation suppressed to early Golden Core, could make it this far. Slaying a Nascent Soul–stage demon beast… A top-grade Ice spiritual root truly wasn’t something to underestimate.

Wandering along like this, they finally arrived near the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole.

More and more cultivators gathered here, including quite a few young people whose cultivation had already reached late-stage or even peak Golden Core.

Clearly, they were the more talented members of the Bi’An Sect, hoping to try their luck at the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole.

Although many came, probably fewer than one in ten would ultimately make it near the pit and successfully enter it.

The two were moving quickly when they suddenly saw several cultivators ahead fleeing in panic.

A colossal figure was crouched there, charging in their direction.

It was an enormous demon beast.

“What cultivation level is that thing?” Lin Xi almost had his legs give out from fright.

“Deity Transformation stage,” Gui Ying replied. Against this kind of demon beast, while he couldn’t guarantee success, victory was still almost certain.

Suddenly, a streak of sword light flashed by. The demon beast collapsed instantly, unable to withstand even a single move.

Behind the fallen beast, a woman in white Daoist robes slowly descended. Dressed like a Daoist nun, she carried a longsword on her back. Her long black hair was coiled into a bun at the back of her head. Her looks weren’t breathtakingly beautiful, but she carried herself with remarkable presence and grace.

Seeing Gui Ying and Lin Xi, she waved and said, “So it’s the Sect Master. May I ask who this is?”

“Senior Shi,” Gui Ying said with a smile, giving the woman a respectful salute. “This is my junior brother.”

Someone dressed as a Daoist nun who could instantly kill a Deity Transformation–stage demon beast—who else could it be besides Shi Danyao, whom they had just been talking about?

Lin Xi quietly sighed for those ordinary disciples with lower cultivation levels.

The two strongest people had already teamed up… what demon beasts were left for the rest to hunt?

All they could do now was wait and try their luck at the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole.

“Ah, so this is the Spirit Emperor’s newly accepted disciple. A pleasure to meet you.”

Shi Danyao smiled brightly.

Seeing that smile, Lin Xi couldn’t help but jump in fright. Only then did he realize he’d been traumatized by his sect master senior brother’s smiles before.

So he put on a proper front and said: “Greetings, Senior Shi.”

Shi Danyao suddenly seemed to realize something and sharply smacked her forehead, “Oh no, oh no! I came in such a rush and forgot to bring a meeting gift!”

“Uh… you’re a highly-accomplished senior. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to ask you for a meeting gift, would it?” Lin Xi was genuinely shocked by her cheerfulness.

Inside, he thought: Aren’t experts above the Deity Transformation stage supposed to be masters of showing off?
At the very least, shouldn’t they be aloof and transcendent, looking down on everyone else?

How could they have such a worldly, down-to-earth energy?

Oh right. He’d forgotten she cultivated the Mundane World Path.

“Hai, what’s inappropriate about it? Here, why not just take this Divine Transformation-stage demon beast as your meeting gift?”

Lin Xi internally screamed what the hell a hundred times.

Very good, you two! One treats a Nascent Soul–stage demon core like worthless junk, and the other treats a Deity Transformation–stage demon beast as a meeting gift.

So what does that make me?

A poor bastard?

With a mix of excitement and unease, Lin Xi accepted the demon core and suddenly remembered what Gui Ying had said earlier: Where’s the Deity Transformation–stage demon core? …

Great. You called it again.

At the same time, his impression of Senior Shi skyrocketed.

This Mundane World Path was really good! Way better than those so-called ‘heartless’ sword immortals or even those ‘passionate’ sword immortals who spent all day posturing.

She was also a sword cultivator, but her cultivation was so high that any restrictions placed on her could basically be ignored.

The Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole was a massive sinkhole—both wide and unfathomably deep.

Although the entrance looked like nothing more than a pit a few dozen meters across, the deeper one went, the wider it became. At the very bottom, it could probably fit tens of thousands of people running amok inside.

This time, Lin Xi did a rough count: fewer than two hundred cultivators had made it here.

Probably no more than fifty would actually be allowed inside later.

Now he was even more uncertain.

Along the way, aside from killing a few peak Foundation Establishment–stage demon beasts early on and barely managing against early-stage Golden Core ones, he was basically carried by Gui Ying the whole time.

And now, the cultivators gathered around the sinkhole were all hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Even the one with the lowest apparent cultivation, Xue Mufeng, was at early-stage Golden Core.

Not to mention that his cultivation was only temporarily sealed. His true strength was actually late-stage Golden Core.

So… could he really get in?

Had his sect master senior brother overestimated him a bit too much?

Shi Danyao flicked her horsetail whisk, “I’ll take my leave first. Take care, everyone.”

She instantly transformed into a shadow and dropped into the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole. The barrier over the pit opened wide the moment she descended, as if warmly welcoming her arrival.

After that, several others jumped in as well, but most were forcefully rebounded by the barrier and left hanging their heads in disappointment.

Xue Mufeng stared at the barrier in silence, then leapt down. Almost instantly, the barrier’s color shifted from dazzling gold to a cold, dark cyan, before returning to gold again.

It had actually been affected by Xue Mufeng, even if only for a brief moment.

When it came to Gui Ying and Lin Xi, however, the barrier suddenly intensified.

It took on a fully defensive posture, clearly refusing to let them in.

Gui Ying frowned and released Lin Xi’s hand. The barrier immediately relaxed.

Clearly, it was Lin Xi who wasn’t being allowed inside.

Gui Ying gave a soft chuckle and asked calmly, “Is it because his cultivation is too low?”

As if to confirm his words, the barrier flared brightly, practically radiating an attitude of: A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator thinks he’s worthy of entering my Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole?

Gui Ying’s tone turned cold, “And what if I insist on bringing him in?”

The barrier over the Heavenly Sinkhole condensed into a phantom figure and actually responded, its voice neither male nor female, with a rather smug edge: “He’s just a tiny Foundation Establishment cultivator. Of course he’s not qualified to enter my sinkhole. And you’re only at Nascent Soul. Do you think you can break a barrier that even Deity Transformation cultivators can’t pass?”

Lin Xi felt a bit awkward.

But he didn’t feel too embarrassed.

The feeling was kind of like being unable to answer a question and being made to stand as punishment.

Still, this barrier was pretty interesting. Sooner or later, he’d definitely want to come in and take a look.

But clearly, his sect master senior brother didn’t feel the same way.

The smile on Gui Ying’s face suddenly widened. That distinctly ill-intentioned grin made the barrier feel an overwhelming sense of unease.

“What are you trying to do?”

“That would naturally be—” Gui Ying gave his sleeve a shake, “forcing my way in!”

A blazing streak of golden light tore through the air. In an instant, the golden barrier was rendered utterly colorless by comparison.

The light moved at a terrifying speed, striking the barrier almost immediately.

The barrier was completely dumbfounded by this turn of events.

It had seen a talisman cultivator a long time ago. Someone who had simply held a stack of talismans and charged straight in. Before it even had time to react, that person had already rushed inside, and even snatched a fan on the way out.

Back then, it had felt like its heart was bleeding!

That fan was one of the most precious treasures of the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole, yet it had been stolen just like that by a talisman cultivator it already didn’t like the look of.

It even heard that the fan later became that cultivator’s family heirloom.

So from that day on, it strengthened its defenses. After that, no one was ever able to sneak in again!

But now this cultivator was even more outrageous—he just hacked straight at the barrier. Seriously…

The barrier hurriedly raised its hands to block.

Ridiculous. Completely useless.

The Qiongyao Sword went berserk, slashing at it again and again. More importantly, it hacked with a clear rhythm and methodology.

After only a few strikes, the phantom form that made up the barrier dimmed, and a huge gash tore open in the barrier.

Just as it was about to close up, Gui Ying grabbed Lin Xi and leapt down, the Qiongyao Sword pointed below.

That poor barrier hadn’t even recovered before it took another vicious slash.

Are sword cultivators really this terrifying these days?

It could clearly block attacks from Deity Transformation–stage cultivators. It genuinely couldn’t understand why it couldn’t stop an attack from someone at late-stage Nascent Soul.

What it didn’t know was that the Qiongyao Sword was one of the greatest treasures of the Bi’An Sect, a famous sword ranked among the top blades under heaven. This sword was sentient—so long as it was willing to go all out, Gui Ying was practically no different from a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator.

And the title of “genius” he carried was naturally not unearned.

The barrier cursed while sealing up the breach. Suddenly, something sky-blue leapt down—no—a person wearing sky-blue robes!

At the very instant the gap was about to close, that person slipped inside. Clearly afraid the barrier might shut too soon, they even helpfully “patched” it with another strike on the way in.

The barrier froze for a moment before reacting.

No—this is the third time already! Is this ever going to end?!

Wait, what did I even do wrong? The guy I just let in… seems like he’s probably, maybe… not from Bi’An Sect?

I’m doomed.

The exact same thing that happened with that talisman cultivator all those years ago had happened again.

By now, the group of cultivators outside had completely descended into chaos.

One person asked quietly, “What just happened?”

Another disciple scratched his head, “It looks like… for that junior brother, the sect master used the Qiongyao Sword to split the barrier?”

“No, no,” someone else added. “I think there was another person who jumped in with the two of them.”

“Huh?” one of the cultivators who had failed earlier sneered. “Isn’t this barrier kind of pathetic? Didn’t they say it could even block attacks from Deity Transformation-stage cultivators?”

Barrier: Enough. This kind of absurd situation only happens once every few hundred years…

More importantly, these people are way too outrageous. Charging straight through the barrier like that?!

Aren’t they afraid they’ll be targeted once they’re inside?

The barrier trembled, forcibly maintaining what little sanity it had left, and silently reinforced itself with an extra layer.

At the same time, it etched the images of three people deep into its memory.

One was a black-clad youth with a golden longsword hanging at his waist.
One was a white-robed youth with his hair tied in a high ponytail.
And the last was a sword cultivator in sky-blue robes—exceptionally violent.

Fine. Just you wait.

The barrier thought to itself in silence: it was a part of the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole, and naturally, it shared the Heavenly Sinkhole’s emotions.