/
Chapter 12: Secret Realm
“Since you have signed a contract and become a disciple under me
” After making an oath with Qin Kaiyi, Zi Yangpei continued to transmit speech in secret with him: “I’ll give you the courtesy of meeting up with those you know one last time.”
“Many thanks brother Zi Yang,” Qin Kaiyi said lightly.
“You’re welcome.” Zi Yangpei looked at Qin Kaiyi with a smile, and then opened his mouth: “Shixiong, I bought a ring a few days ago in the secular world, and I really can’t judge its quality. Can shixiong help me to appraise it?”
Thinking that Zi Yangpei probably said this because Shen Feixiao was in the vicinity, Qin Kaiyi felt a bit amused. So he played along and took the ring that Zi Yangpei handed over, muttering: “Then I will help shidi take a look. “
Shen Feixiao, who stood behind Qin Kaiyi and saw this scene, kept quiet but showed obvious contempt in his gaze. He clearly regarded Qin Kaiyi as the kind of shixiong who received bribes. Seeing this look, Qin Kaiyi didn’t care too much. He would eventually have to be Shen Feixiao’s enemy anyway, even having the best relationship with him would still not help matters.
Zi Yangpei watched Qin Kaiyi accept his item with satisfaction. Naturally, he did not want to convey that he hoped for Qin Kaiyi to properly demonically cultivate with him. To put it plainly, now Qin Kaiyi had become penned-in livestock in his eyes. The higher Qin Kaiyi’s demonic cultivation level, the better he would serve as a supplement.1
Qin Kaiyi certainly knew his position in Zi Yangpei’s heart. He knew that Zi Yangpei didn’t have good intentions from the beginning, but even if he knew that, what could he do? He couldn’t beat him, there was a poisonous insect inside of him under Zi Yangpei’s control, and even if he tried hard to escape, was there not Shen Feixiao to slow him down? “Mountain Cloud Notes” was powerful, but Shen Feixiao hadn’t practiced it for long. If he really annoyed Zi Yangpei, who knew if the protagonist halo would have any effect.
Moreover, Qin Kaiyi was still under pressure to reach the fasting2 period in his cultivation within a year. He and Zi Yangpei would both get something out of their recent transaction.
Having thought this through, Qin Kaiyi’s resentment at being threatened by Zi Yangpei finally alleviated. He turned his head to say something to Zi Yangpei, who was still gazing at the forbidden grounds, and was surprised to see that Zi Yangpei’s expression had suddenly changed.
In the midst of wondering why Zi Yangpei’s face suddenly changed, Qin Kaiyi heard a loud noise.
An immense sound that he likened to an abrupt thunderclap or violent shuddering of the earth rung out, as if something had come to cover the sky, such that Qin Kaiyi was momentarily stunned and his first reaction was to think, “
 an earthquake?”
Zi Yangpei was obviously not as shocked as Qin Kaiyi. He seemed to know what had happened before he heard the loud noise, and after hearing it, Zi Yangpei secretly transmitted one sentence to Qin Kaiyi, telling him to practice and to come to see him later. After making an excuse to leave, he departed with great speed as if chased by something

At the start of this sudden development, Qin Kaiyi hadn’t responded to what happened. He didn’t react until he started to sort out the contents of the novel. This loud noise should be the harbinger of Shen Feixiao’s second golden finger.
In the novel, Shen Feixiao did not practice “Mountain Cloud Notes” long before the Lingshan Sect had a major event. A sky secret realm3 suddenly appeared in the forbidden area of the Lingshan Sect. Sky secret realms were usually set up by ancient Daoist immortals as a particular kind of storage space. These kinds of spaces would have countless precious spiritual plants and high-level magic weapons. Of course, with great return comes great risk. The ferocious spiritual beasts in the secret realms were enough for ordinary cultivators to cower away.
The entrances of these kinds of sky secret realms were very hidden, but every time one appeared, carnage would result. The magic weapons born from these sky secret realms also made the cultivators salivate with desire. Three hundred years ago, the Royal Bell appeared in a sky secret realm and caused the cultivation world to rouse itself to stalk around this one ancient immortal tool.
The Lingshan sect now had a sky secret realm in the forbidden area. Naturally, it would consider sending disciples to dive in to search as soon as possible. The sooner they entered, the more opportunities to snatch the best items.
Although the Lingshan Sect was not weak in the realm of cultivation, there were still several martial arts sects above it at the top. One was Kunlun’s Shui Hua Lian Qiong. This sect rarely appeared in the outside world, but once it did, it would certainly cause a stir. Shui Hua Lian Qiong had only ever let out thirteen disciples. Among those thirteen disciples, the weakest was already a Nascent Soul stage elder.
Qin Kaiyi naturally understood the role of this sky secret realm for Shen Feixiao. If Shen Feixiao only stayed within the bounds of the Lingshan Sect as a disciple who had just entered the sect without even a dongfu (T/N: cultivation cave) or rare grasses to aid him, he wouldn’t even have the spiritual energy needed for cultivation. This would greatly impact Shen Feixiao’s cultivation speed.
Qin Kaiyi thought of this, and began to shout bitterly in his heart. He remembered clearly why Shen Feixiao could enter the sky secret realm
 his entrance was not some rare honor. A disciple who only practiced up to the seventh layer of Qi Refining entered this secret realm–if not for “Mountain Cloud Notes” and the sable, he was afraid that even a few of Shen Feixiao’s lives would not be enough to pay the price.
The one to kick off this evil event of Shen Feixiao entering the sky secret realm was his disgruntled shixiong Qin Shi. In the novel, because Shen Feixiao and Liu Ling’er were getting closer, Qin Shi tried every means to get rid of Shen Feixiao. This sky secret realm gave Qin Shi a great opportunity–in for a penny, in for a pound. He simply forced Shen Feixiao into the sky secret realm. Originally intending to let Shen Feixiao die in the secret realm, Qin Shi did not expect that Shen Feixiao using his protagonist halo to not only survive, but to increase his cultivation

You can’t deny that every villain with a sliver of intent to do evil was always unsuccessful!
Shen Feixiao stared at Qin Kaiyi’s continually changing facial expressions with no idea what he was thinking about. After a long time, he said lightly: “Shixiong.”
“Ah?” His meandering thoughts interrupted by Shen Feixiao, Qin Kaiyi turned to look at the shidi who he was about to set up: “What’s wrong?”
“It seems there is the sound of a bell,” Shen Feixiao said softly. “Did something happen?”
The sound of bells? Upon hearing this remark, Qin Kaiyi finally reacted. At this time, Qing Xuzi sent people to ring the bell. The sound of this bell held great meaning in the Lingshan Sect. Every time it sounded, there must be a major event concerning the survival of the Lingshan Sect.
“Shidi, come with me.” Qin Kaiyi thought for a moment and then said, “I’m afraid something important has happened.”
“Yes.” Shen Feixiao’s tone was very plain. He came across as neither humble nor overbearing. Even though his position was beneath that of Qin Kaiyi’s, he never showed a flattering or self-abasing expression. That is to say, a person’s inborn character was really too important.
“Let’s go.” Qin Kaiyi walked towards the mountain gate with Shen Feixiao. Of course, during this time, he quietly checked the ring that Zi Yangpei gave him.
The seemingly ordinary jade thumb ring (T/N: worn in ancient times by archers to protect the thumb when drawing a bowstring) was actually a storage ring. Its space was not too large, at only three or four cubic meters. It was filled with some bottles and jars and some books on demonic cultivation. In an inconspicuous corner, Qin Kai Yi also found a clear-colored, transparent spider. It looked like Zi Yangpei really spent quite a generous amount on this deal with him. The corners of Qin Kaiyi’s mouth lifted into a sneer. He didn’t forget that Zi Yangpei’s poisonous insect was still in his stomach. He did want to demonically cultivate in the future, but that was in order to have the plot run its course. He wasn’t stupid enough to trust Zi Yangpei.
They quickly arrived at the mountain gate. Qin Kaiyi wore the storage ring on his finger and said to Shen Feixiao: “Shidi, I’ll first go and see what happened.”
“Okay.” Shen Feixiao still had an expression conveying that he did not want to pay attention to anyone.
At this time, a lot of people had gathered at the mountain gate. One rule of the Lingshan Sect is that as long as you heard the bell, no matter what you were doing, you must immediately rush to the mountain gate. If one arrived late, he would be immediately expelled from the sect.
Qin Kaiyi’s shifu Qing Xuzi, who was the head of the Lingshan Sect, was a not-very-strict little old man. However, when it came to these important matters, he still did not dare to be careless.
When Qin Kaiyi arrived, Liu Ling’er and the group of shidi and shimei serving as disciples of the sect head had already almost all gathered. When they saw Qin Kaiyi, they all gathered around and curiously asked him what happened.
Although Qin Kaiyi secretly already basically understood what was going on, he didn’t reveal any flaws on the surface. He thought about it for a moment and said, “How can I know what happened? But since shifu has struck the bell, it must be a big deal.” With such an obvious statement, he might as well have said nothing at all. The disappointed shidi and shimei who failed to receive any worthy news dispersed, leaving only Liu Ling’er behind.
“Shixiong, what about the new shidi you just received?” Liu Ling’er asked curiously.
“Oh him, I got separated from him just now. He should be here by now.” Qin Kaiyi lied casually: “I’ll help you catch a sable in a few days.”
“Okay, no hurry.” Despite saying so, Liu Ling’er’s narrowed eyes still exposed her good mood.
“En.” Because he still had pressing matters to worry about, Qin Kaiyi did not want to say more.
“Brother, do you actually know what’s going on?” Liu Ling’er rolled her eyes and looked at Qin Kaiyi.
“En?” Qin Kaiyi felt a bit surprised: “Why do you say that?”
“Haha, of course because shixiong’s expression makes it seem as if the sky is about to collapse.” Liu Ling’er laughingly said, “I haven’t seen this kind of expression on shixiong for a long time.”
“Really?” Qin Kaiyi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, he really didn’t expect that Liu Ling’er would be able to discover his unusual state.
Qin Kaiyi saw that Liu Ling’er wanted to say more, so he waved at her and whispered: “Don’t talk, shifu is here.”
Liu Ling’er turned her head and saw Qing Xuzi appearing at the mountain gate.
____________________________________________________
Notes
Or tonic. Basically he’s like vitamin D except instead of clearing Zi Yangpei’s acne or something he’s gonna bolster his evil powers.What it says on the tin–fasting. I guess the author means the stage in his cultivation when he no longer has to eat.Original: ć…ˆć€©ç§˜ćąƒ. ć…ˆć€© means innate or natural. Neither made sense to me so I kept 怩 only, which means sky. Suggestions welcome.