Shen Qing and the others arrived the day before the secret realm opened, so Elders Feiyun and Yaoyue gave the disciples a day to rest.
True Person Hongdie was originally supposed to come to the secret realm to lead the team, but True Person Honghua gave her a task just before departure. True Person Hongdie had no choice but to miss this opportunity.
The gathering of all the sects in the City of Sea Corals opened Shen Qing's eyes.
The flying boats of each sect were neatly parked on the open ground. Disciples in the sect uniforms were chatting or meditating in twos and threes.
Some disciples who were familiar with other sects were invited to visit the flying boats of other sects. The scene was a bit like a small sect exchange conference.
Shen Qing originally thought that all the flying boats of the sects looked the same, but it turned out not to be the case.
The flying boat of the Qingyun Sword Sect was quite regular, with only a huge totem of the Qingyun Sword Sect engraved on its side.
The flying boat of the Qingmu Sect parked beside the Qingyun Sword Sect showed the characteristics of the Qingmu Sect, the number one alchemy sect.
Huge green vines were skillfully twined around the flying boat. Flags with the Qingmu Sect's totem fluttered in the wind at the high places. Some disciples of the Qingmu Sect even set up stalls near the flying boat to sell spiritual pills at prices a bit lower than usual.
On the other side was the flying boat of the Five - Element Dao Sect. Its totem was a Bagua diagram combined with a sharp sword. The founder of the Five - Element Dao Sect was not only a sword cultivator but also well - versed in Yin - Yang and the Bagua.
Most of the disciples of the Five - Element Dao Sect were male, and their flying boat was more concise.
The top three major sects in the Bahuang Continent were all gathered here. Shen Qing originally thought that the fifty - one disciples of the Qingyun Sword Sect participating in the secret realm trial were already a large number.
But she didn't expect that there were as many as eighty - eight music cultivators from the Ningyin Valley participating in the trial, the largest number among all the sects.
The least number of participants was from the Five - Element Dao Sect, only twenty - six.
Shen Qing thought of Jiang Zhijun she had met in Yaotai City. She asked some disciples of the Qingmu Sect about her, but unfortunately learned that Jiang Zhijun didn't come to participate in this trial.
After thanking them, Shen Qing was just about to return to her sect's flying boat when she accidentally bumped into someone when she turned around. The person wasn't angry. Instead, he let out a surprised cry when he saw Shen Qing.
"Yo! Isn't this Junior Sister Shen from the Qingyun Sword Sect?!"
"Junior Sister Shen, do you still remember me?"
Xiao Jinglan looked delighted and pointed at his face. "We escaped the thick fog in the dense forest together. Big Brother has been thinking about you since he got back!"
Of course Shen Qing remembered. She replied with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, we meet again. Are you and Fellow Daoist Li here for the trial too?"
Seeing that Shen Qing still remembered him, the smile on Xiao Jinglan's lips became even broader. "Yes, yes. Big Brother was about to break through to the initial stage of Nascent Soul, but he deliberately held back his cultivation in order to participate in this secret realm trial."
Shen Qing was shocked. She deeply felt that Li Xian truly deserved to be the son of fortune. His cultivation speed was really far beyond reach.
"Fellow Daoist Li is really amazing..."
Hearing Shen Qing's praise, Xiao Jinglan nodded proudly.
"That's right!"
"Brother Xiao! So you're here. Brother Li has been looking for you for a long time."
Before the person arrived, Lin Yibai's deliberately gentle voice reached the ears of Xiao Jinglan and Shen Qing.
Shen Qing raised her eyebrows at Xiao Jinglan and repeated, "Brother Xiao?"
Xiao Jinglan immediately showed a pained expression. Although there was still a smile on his face, it faded a bit.
"Fellow Daoist Lin, Big Brother and I have already told you that it's more appropriate to address each other as fellow daoists. Otherwise, it will cause misunderstandings."
Lin Yibai trotted over. Her face carried the unique charm of a young girl. Her pink silk dress made her look like a hibiscus flower, charming and delicate.
However, her dressing was quite an outlier among the plain - dressed sect disciples.
When Lin Yibai heard Xiao Jinglan's reminder about the address, she suddenly saw Shen Qing standing beside Xiao Jinglan, looking at her half - smiling. Her face suddenly froze.
Lin Yibai quickly controlled her expression and showed a timid look. "Brother Xiao, so it's Junior Sister here. No wonder you're acting like this..."
Xiao Jinglan frowned and asked in confusion, "What do you mean? Whether Fellow Daoist Shen is here or not, what does it matter to you and me?"
Lin Yibai hesitated. "It doesn't matter. Junior Sister is really busy. She goes to one sect and then another. Her connections are really extensive."
"By the way, Senior Brother Shen was seriously injured because of you. After all, he is your younger brother. Junior Sister, you should go and visit him. I feel so heart - ache seeing Senior Brother Shen so miserable."
Shen Qing silently watched Lin Yibai's performance and didn't intend to say a word.
Xiao Jinglan glanced at Shen Qing and then at Lin Yibai, full of questions.
This Fellow Daoist Lin suddenly fell in front of him and Big Brother just an hour ago. He kindly helped her up, but unexpectedly, it seemed like she had latched onto him.
She said that the grace of saving her life was greater than heaven and followed them all the way. She even changed her address to "brother".
Xiao Jinglan was helpless. But Big Brother had a cold face and didn't drive her away. Since Xiao Jinglan always obeyed Big Brother, of course he wouldn't take the initiative to drive her away either.
But he was really annoyed by Lin Yibai's repeated calls of "brother", so he secretly slipped away from Big Brother.
Sure enough, after getting away from that "pigeon spirit" who kept calling "brother", he had good luck and met Shen Qing.
Xiao Jinglan compared Lin Yibai and Shen Qing. Although they were both from the Qingyun Sword Sect, to be honest, the normal Shen Qing was much more likable than the clingy Lin Yibai.
"Fellow Daoist Lin, the Senior Brother Shen you mentioned, is it Fellow Daoist Shen Chuyun?"
Lin Yibai was stunned for a moment. The first thing that came to her mind was that Shen Qing had said bad things about Shen Chuyun in front of Xiao Jinglan.
She felt a little happy inside. Xiao Jinglan seemed like the kind of person who didn't like those with too much scheming. If she used the fact that Shen Qing said bad things about Shen Chuyun, she could make Xiao Jinglan hate Shen Qing.
Xiao Jinglan was Li Xian's good brother. If Xiao Jinglan hated Shen Qing, it would be equivalent to Li Xian hating Shen Qing.
In that case, she, Lin Yibai, would have successfully sown discord between the two most important people in the book.
In the book, Li Xian and Shen Qing were a match made in heaven.
"Brother Xiao knows Senior Brother Shen. Naturally, you also know that Senior Brother Shen was seriously injured a few days ago. Junior Sister is really too much. There were obviously other ways to solve the problem, but why did she have to make Senior Brother Shen lose face in front of everyone? He was even demoted to an outer - sect disciple because of you."
"Junior Sister, please. Sister is begging you. The past is the past, but after all, he is your younger brother. Please go and visit him."
After saying that, Lin Yibai felt proud of her flawless words.
These words not only pointed out that Shen Qing had done something excessive to Shen Chuyun, showing Shen Qing's viciousness, but also highlighted her kind and beautiful side.
With this comparison, she believed that Xiao Jinglan would definitely hate Shen Qing and get closer to her. Coupled with her beauty and amiability, was she still afraid that she couldn't win over Xiao Jinglan?
Lin Yibai was waiting proudly for Xiao Jinglan to scold Shen Qing, but she only heard:
"Shen Qing, is there no normal person in your Qingyun Sword Sect except you?"
Lin Yibai: ?