Xiu Hao frowned, grabbed his neck, and exerted a little force, "Enough, don't force me to throw you out."
"Brother! Let go! Hurry and let go!"
Xiu Yun, like a kitten whose scruff was being held, thrashed about but could never break free from Xiu Hao's five fingers. "Father said, as long as it's a woman you can defeat, you can bring her home! You even like this wo..."
*Bang!*
With a chop of his hand, Xiu Hao knocked Xiu Yun unconscious.
He cupped his hands to the surrounding crowd and smiled, "Everyone, my brother has been spoiled since he was young and can be a bit absurd. Please forgive him. You may continue."
With that, he descended into the crowd with the other young men and women behind him, casting a glance at Yun Ze.
Mu Si Yue also descended from the sky, bringing the woman with her, and landed beside Yun Ze.
She turned to the woman and asked, "Why are you here?"
"I heard you were coming, so naturally, I had to come too," the woman replied with a smile, then looked at Yun Ze. "Is this... your disciple? He's not very good-looking either!"
Yun Ze's mouth twitched.
What do you mean, not good-looking! Shouldn't disciples be judged by their aptitude! How can they be judged by their looks!
The woman casually took out a Sumeru ring and held it up to Yun Ze, smiling, "Come on! Call me Aunt Master, and this is yours!"
Aunt... Master?!
What kind of situation is this!
"Dan Chenxiao."
Mu Si Yue uttered three cold words, and the woman had no choice but to put away the Sumeru ring and shrink to the side with a wronged expression.
"Alright, I won't tease anymore."
Dan Chenxiao said so, but she still looked at Yun Ze strangely. "But speaking of which, is he really your disciple? He seems to have a familiar sword intent about him. Why do I feel like he's more like a disciple of that Xiao kid?"
"That's none of your business," Mu Si Yue replied indifferently, then looked at a woman in pink behind Dan Chenxiao.
The woman in pink stepped forward and bowed to her, two dimples appearing on her face as she smiled. "Junior Dan Chenyu, greetings, Martial Aunt Mu."
"Mm," Mu Si Yue responded, then asked, "How is your master doing lately?"
"Master is busy searching for the legendary seventh qi. Perhaps she can develop another way of alchemy," Dan Chenyu replied respectfully.
"She can never sit still."
"Master often thinks of you and hopes you'll visit her."
"I'll go when I have the chance," Mu Si Yue replied, then looked at Yun Ze. "She is a disciple of Yun Xiao. If you encounter her in the secret realm, you can trust her."
Yun Ze nodded and cupped his hands at Dan Chenyu.
Dan Chenyu returned the禮, then looked at Yun Ze and asked, "This Senior Brother is..."
"You should call him Martial Uncle."
"Martial Uncle?" Dan Chenyu was stunned.
"Martial Uncle!" Dan Chenxiao exclaimed almost instantly.
The secret realm, which had just regained its clamor, fell into silence!
Almost everyone turned to look at Mu Si Yue and the Yun Ze beside her, their eyes no longer filled with apprehension but with something akin to fear!
"Let me reintroduce myself."
Mu Si Yue casually pulled Yun Ze to her side, her gaze sweeping across the crowd as she slowly spoke, "Yun Ze, my master's fourth direct disciple. I ask everyone... to take good care of him!"
Yun Ze was stunned.
Senior Sister told me not to talk nonsense, and it was all for this! What was she trying to achieve!
The surrounding crowd also looked at Yun Ze with strange expressions. Mu Si Yue's master was the Gui Wu Emperor, who once dominated the Northwest Xuan Tian. He was a Mahayana stage cultivator, just one step away from the Immortal Realm, a legend!
But that wasn't the main point. The main point was... hadn't this person disappeared for hundreds of years! Although a hundred years was but a blink of an eye for cultivators like them, this person had been on the run, being hunted, and thus disappeared. Everyone had assumed he was dead. And now, after only a few hundred years, a fourth direct disciple had appeared!?
Recalling the previous three direct disciples, each one was more terrifying than the last! The number one Golden Core under the Nine Heavens, the one closest to Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, need I say more. Killing Nascent Souls with a Golden Core realm was commonplace. Even Xiu Hao, the top of the Nascent Soul rankings, likely wouldn't dare to claim a sure victory against her. The third was even called Martial Master Yun by the world. Despite his poor spiritual roots, he comprehended countless paths. He governed the Tongtian Academy at the Core Formation stage, yet no one dared to disobey him.
As for the second disciple, he was relatively normal. His only remarkable achievement was throwing out all ninety-nine people who entered the Zhutian Secret Realm with him. At other times, he remained inconspicuous. After his name vanished from the Nascent Soul rankings, his exact cultivation realm was unknown to anyone. Now, this fourth direct disciple, who knew what kind of monstrous talent he possessed.
Dan Chenyu paused for a few breaths, then took a step back and cupped her hands at Yun Ze. "Greetings, Junior Martial Uncle. I apologize for my earlier disrespect. Please forgive me, Junior Martial Uncle."
"It's nothing, nothing," Yun Ze waved his hands repeatedly. He had wanted to hear "Junior Martial Uncle" for fun, but he never expected to hear the second-ranked prodigy on the Heavenly Rankings call him Junior Martial Uncle in front of so many people!
"You're quite strange," Dan Chenxiao stood beside Dan Chenyu and scrutinized Yun Ze. "These juniors are already calling you Junior Martial Uncle, aren't you going to give them some见面礼?"
"Oh, right!" Yun Ze finally remembered. When Dan Chenxiao had asked him to call her Aunt Master earlier, she had indeed produced a gift.
But as he scanned Dan Chenyu's attire, he felt a sense of helplessness. Dan Chenyu was the daughter of the Immortal Mansion Lord, a standard young lady from a cultivation family. Her pink dress, though seemingly simple, perfectly complemented her cute face. However, any discerning eye could see that everything she wore, from her hairpin to her boots, from her outer robe to the sword in her hand, was a top-grade spiritual artifact! In contrast, he only had three second-tier spiritual artifacts on him. The only thing he could be proud of was perhaps the Immortal Shadow Jade Pendant given to him by his Senior Sister. But that item was absolutely not to be given away!
"Sister!" Dan Chenyu pouted, looking displeased at Dan Chenxiao. "What junior and junior! Junior Martial Uncle is clearly not much older than me. Seniority is just a title, why bother with gifts!"
"Silly sister, I'm just..."
"You're the silly one! You, an elder, shouldn't interfere in our affairs!" Dan Chenyu retorted to Dan Chenxiao, then grabbed Yun Ze's arm and ran off to the side. "Let's go, Junior Martial Uncle, we'll ignore them!"
Yun Ze was bewildered as he felt a softness on his arm, and then he was pulled aside by Dan Chenyu. After they had moved a considerable distance from the Immortal Mansion's group, Dan Chenyu stopped and extended a hand to Yun Ze. "Junior Martial Uncle, let's reintroduce ourselves. My name is Dan Chenyu, and you are..."
"...Yun Ze." Yun Ze didn't know what Dan Chenyu was planning, but he still extended his hand. Dan Chenyu then clasped his palm and shook it. "Hello, Comrade Yun Ze, it's finally good to meet you!"
"Comrade?"
"Yes!" Dan Chenyu replied, then leaned close to Yun Ze's ear. "Brother Yu asked me to find you."
"Brother Yu? Yu Xian!?" Yun Ze was surprised. He never expected Yu Xian to know Dan Chenyu.
"Mm-hmm, it's him." Dan Chenyu released Yun Ze's hand and secretly slipped a Qiankun bag from her sleeve. "This contains the things Brother Yu promised you, as well as a communication jade token. You can contact me within the secret realm. When we get in, we can meet up immediately."
Yun Ze accepted it and nodded slowly, then asked curiously, "What did you mean by comrade just now?"
"Those with the same virtue have the same heart, and those with the same heart are comrades. Brother Yu told me this!" Dan Chenyu's eyes showed a hint of longing. "Brother Yu said that we in the Pure World Society are all people who will contribute to changing the world! We deserve to be called comrades!"
Pure World Society? Changing the world? That lazy bum actually had such grand ambitions? But what was he trying to do? How did he even rope in the second-ranked person on the Heavenly Rankings? Regardless, having such a reliable ally was an added layer of security for this Zhutian Secret Realm.
"Ah, I forgot!" Dan Chenyu suddenly exclaimed, covering her mouth with both hands and looking at Yun Ze with wide eyes. "Brother Yu said not to tell you about the Pure World Society yet! How could I forget!"
"Junior Martial Uncle, you... can you just pretend you never heard this name?" Yun Ze's mouth twitched as he nodded silently, but he couldn't help but question himself. She could forget something like that? Is this ally really reliable?
*Boom!*
A tremor suddenly came, and everyone looked at the stone palace in front of them!
"The secret realm is about to open! Everyone on the Heavenly Rankings, gather at the palace entrance!" Xiu Hao's voice rang out. Almost everyone moved at once, all one hundred people gathering at the palace entrance.
Yun Ze was in the group. As he joined, he saw Wei Lanshu looking at him from not far away, her eyes filled with confusion and curiosity, but it wasn't convenient to go up and greet her. Before entering the secret realm, Wei Huang had specifically instructed her not to interact too much with him after entering the secret realm, no matter what happened. Wei Lanshu could only obediently follow the instructions.
Yun Ze and Xiao Shu exchanged a glance, nodded in acknowledgment, and then focused their attention on the stone palace entrance. A misty glow appeared above the stone gate. With a series of tremors, the stone gate gradually cracked, revealing a sliver of an opening.
"Ten breaths until the gate opens! Only one person can enter at a time! Who goes first!" Yun Ze felt his heart pounding wildly in his chest. Looking at the stone gate, his heart was filled with excitement, but he dared not be the first to step forward. The early bird gets the worm, and he had already attracted enough attention today. He didn't want to compete for the first spot. No one around spoke, all waiting to see who would be the first bird.
"No one dares to compete? Then it's for my brother!" Ten breaths passed, and the stone gate swung open! Xiu Hao casually tossed the still-unconscious Xiu Yun into the gate!
"Since Xiu Yun has gone in, I should go in too." Dan Chenyu muttered, then turned and waved at Yun Ze. "Junior Martial Uncle, I'll go ahead then." As soon as her voice fell, she flashed into the stone gate.
Then another person flashed into the stone gate, a small beast perched on his shoulder. He was likely the prodigy of the Imperial Beast Palace, ranked third on the Heavenly Rankings. With the top three gone, almost everyone turned to look at Yun Ze, as if questioning why he hadn't moved yet. Although he was only ranked twenty-first on the Heavenly Rankings, in terms of status... he was almost on par with the top three.
Yun Ze gave a wry smile and finally took a step closer to the stone gate! The next moment, a suction force pulled him in, and he disappeared through the stone gate. Seeing this, Wei Lanshu also hurried forward, rushing to claim the fifth spot into the secret realm. With the top five gone, the remaining rankings were no longer important. Everyone rushed forward, only a few people ranked at the bottom of the Heavenly Rankings hesitated, not daring to move. They didn't want to enter the secret realm; they just wanted to live!
Xiu Hao and Dan Chenxiao watched from the side and then threw the cultivators of the demonic and immortal paths into the secret realm respectively. The secret realm must have one hundred people on the Heavenly Rankings each time it opened, and it must be full. Otherwise, the secret realm would mutate, endangering everyone who had entered. They had no choice but to enter.
But just as Xiu Hao was about to send the hundredth person into the secret realm, that person landed on the stone gate and did not enter! This... verification failed!? Xiu Hao frowned, and then someone ran from the secret realm portal.
"I'm late, I'm late!" The person wore a pair of demonic waist drums, dressed as a demonic cultivator. "I just advanced to the top hundred on the Heavenly Rankings. I haven't missed it, have I?"
Xiu Hao frowned but only said, "Alright, hurry up and go in, don't waste time!" Such things had happened before and were not uncommon.
"Yes!" As the hundredth person entered, the stone gate immediately closed, and the misty glow on it dissipated. But just as everyone was about to leave and return here in three years, a sudden anomaly occurred! Almost all the cultivators who had participated in the Zhutian Secret Realm showed surprise and rushed to the stone gate! They looked at the number displayed on the stone gate and were all stunned.
One hundred and two! What... what is going on!