The Unveiling in the Starlight Secret Realm

Three days later, after repeatedly confirming that his master was truly unharmed, Xia Yi and Fei Miaoyun set off together for the Starlight Secret Realm.

The Starlight Secret Realm was located within the forbidden grounds of the Star-Moon Sect.

Led by the Core Formation stage Sect Master, a total of nine individuals—four disciples, including Xia Yi, and their respective Protector Elders—arrived before an ancient, towering stone gate.

“Remember, you only have three days.

You must emerge after three days.

Now, do your utmost to secure the Starlight Baptism.”

Uncharacteristically, the Star-Moon Sect Master wasted no further words, opening the secret realm’s entrance.

Everyone eagerly rushed inside.

Among them, one pair caught Xia Yi’s attention.

It was a plump elder Xia Yi had never seen before, who, despite wearing a perpetually smiling expression, gave Xia Yi a distinctly unsettling feeling, as if the rotund elder were a jarring, artificial figure.

‘Could it be…’

This strange sensation reminded Xia Yi of a disguise technique Zhen Aoyu employed in the original story.

“Xia Yi, my dear nephew-disciple, remember to hold your master’s hand tightly.

This is to prevent us from being separated if the spatial currents become turbulent later.”

However, before Xia Yi could observe further, Fei Miaoyun preemptively took his hand and led him into the secret realm’s entrance.

Seeing Fei Miaoyun enter with Xia Yi, the plump elder’s pair hastily pushed past the master-disciple duo ahead of them, closely following Xia Yi and Fei Miaoyun into the secret realm.

****

After a dizzying swirl of scenery, Fei Miaoyun didn’t even have time to ascertain her own safety.

Her first instinct was to search for the now-separated Xia Yi.

“Xia Yi, my dear nephew-disciple, where are you?”

The Sect Master had explicitly stated that holding hands would prevent separation, yet she and Xia Yi had been torn apart.

Though countless questions swirled in her mind, finding Xia Yi was the immediate priority.

After all, this secret realm harbored no small number of dangers, which was precisely why disciples were instructed to enter with a Protector.

At the heart of the secret realm, a mountain peak soared into the clouds.

At its summit lay the site of the Starlight Baptism—the Starlight Pool.

The faster one reached the peak, the longer they could undergo the baptism, and the greater the benefits reaped.

“Xia Yi…”

Time was pressing.

Fei Miaoyun scoured her surroundings, yet she found not a single person, nor even a living creature.

This unusual silence immediately put Fei Miaoyun on high alert.

While it was true that the strongest demonic beasts in the secret realm didn’t exceed the late second-tier, and she, also a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, could practically stride through this Starlight Secret Realm unchallenged, Xia Yi had, before their departure, earnestly cautioned her to proceed with extreme care within the realm.

From Fei Miaoyun’s understanding of Xia Yi, anything he emphasized with such gravity had to be of significant importance.

Thus, Fei Miaoyun searched for her nephew-disciple, all the while maintaining a vigilant watch over her surroundings.

“Xia Yi…”

“Aunt-Master Miaoyun, I’m here!”

After an indeterminate amount of time, Fei Miaoyun finally heard a response.

There, ‘Xia Yi’ emerged from a dense thicket, a look of relief etched across his face.

The moment she saw ‘Xia Yi,’ Fei Miaoyun’s entire body trembled.

Involuntarily, she tightened the hand that had previously held Xia Yi’s.

“Hm? Aunt-Master Miaoyun, is something wrong?”

Noticing Fei Miaoyun’s momentary stiffness, ‘Xia Yi’ inquired, puzzled.

“N-nothing.

I’m just a little excited to have finally found my nephew-disciple.”

“I see.

Well, there’s no time to lose.

Aunt-Master Miaoyun, come quickly, let’s go…”

And ‘Xia Yi,’ harboring no suspicions, urged Fei Miaoyun to depart without delay.

“Alright…”

Under ‘Xia Yi’s’ expectant gaze, Fei Miaoyun lowered her head, stopping just a single step short of entering the range of his anticipation.

“Nephew-disciple, do you remember what you said when we first met?”

“Huh?

How would I remember something from the Year of the Monkey and Horse (TL Note: A Chinese idiom referring to a very distant or improbable time)?”

“…”

Upon hearing ‘Xia Yi’s’ reply, Fei Miaoyun silently retreated.

“Hm?

Miaoyun, why are you backing away?

Are you not going to accept the Starlight Baptism?”

“Disciple… no, Zhen Aoyu, has anyone ever told you your acting is terrible?”

Only after retreating to a safe distance did Fei Miaoyun finally raise her head to confront her former ‘beloved disciple.’

“Uh… Aunt-Master Miaoyun, what are you talking about?

I’m clearly your nephew-disciple Xia Yi.”

“Stop right there!

Zhen Aoyu, for the sake of once being your master, cripple your own cultivation and leave this place.

I can pretend I never saw you.”

“Hehehe hahahahaha, Fei Miaoyun, oh Fei Miaoyun.

While I don’t know how you saw through my disguise, isn’t it a bit too cruel to be so heartless to a disciple who just got out of prison, my ‘good master’?”

The three words ‘good master’ were uttered by the undisguised Zhen Aoyu almost through gritted teeth.

“From the day you drugged me, I ceased to be your master.”

Although forcibly kissing Xia Yi that day had made Fei Miaoyun wish she could dig a hole and crawl into it, after she had calmed down, she had indeed found some clues in Zhen Aoyu’s room.

However, before she could investigate further, Zhen Aoyu was imprisoned after she personally thwarted his assassination attempt on Xia Yi.

This incident undoubtedly further confirmed Fei Miaoyun’s suspicions.

But with Zhen Aoyu taken away by the Disciplinary Hall, Fei Miaoyun had ceased to pay him any further attention.

Only now had Zhen Aoyu reappeared before her, in a guise so utterly unfamiliar and unsettling.

“What a heartless master you are.

I originally wanted to let you see your cherished nephew-disciple one last time.

What a pity…”

“What have you done to Xia Yi?!”

Hearing Zhen Aoyu mention Xia Yi, Fei Miaoyun’s heart clenched.

A terrible premonition spread through her.

“What’s wrong?

You’ll know once you go down and join him!”

“This is!?”

The instant Fei Miaoyun’s attention wavered, an array of formation patterns lit up around her, and a thick mist enveloped her.

“This mist can actually suppress cultivation!?”

Feeling her cultivation suppressed to the early Foundation Establishment stage by the mist, Fei Miaoyun’s brows furrowed deeply.

“While having you die so easily won’t help me achieve perfect Foundation Establishment, it’s enough.

Once I form my Foundation, it will be Xia Yi’s death day!”

Zhen Aoyu would never forget the humiliation of Xia Yi effortlessly flicking him away like an insect with just three sword strikes on the martial arts stage.

He, Zhen Aoyu, was a man of great destiny; he could never be weaker than anyone!

“Hm?”

Zhen Aoyu, who was reveling in fantasies of absorbing the deathly resentment of Fei Miaoyun—a woman of destiny—to achieve Foundation Establishment and then thoroughly beat Xia Yi, suddenly noticed something.

Trapped within the Myriad Mist-Insect Formation, Fei Miaoyun was somehow managing to fend off the numerous sneak attacks from insects and snakes!

“How could she, merely at early Foundation Establishment, possibly last this long?!”

He initially believed Fei Miaoyun was merely lucky to endure, yet another moment passed.

Fei Miaoyun was still holding on, a sight that made Zhen Aoyu’s composure fray.

Under his triple-kill formation, even a Core Formation cultivator shouldn’t have been able to last this long.

By what right or ability could Fei Miaoyun persist for such an extended period?

“That is…”

It wasn’t until Zhen Aoyu clearly saw the bracelet dangling from Fei Miaoyun’s wrist, emanating an aura he knew intimately, that he finally understood.

“Xia Yi!!

It’s you again!”

To date, the only one capable of seeing through his Illusion Mist had been that man who defeated him with three swords!

“Hmph, even without the illusion’s hindrance, how long can you, merely at early Foundation Establishment, truly last?

My good master…”

To prevent any further complications, Zhen Aoyu transformed into a swirling pattern of black mist and entered the formation.

Seizing the opportune moment, he flung a dart towards Fei Miaoyun.