Over the next few days, Wei Mingyi trained within the sect.
The Heavenly Dao Alliance had abandoned Cangwu City, but it would be some time before everything settled down, making it inconvenient to restart it just yet. If only she could integrate Cangwu City into their mountain protection array. But Wei Mingyi browsed for a while and found no information related to mountain protection arrays.
Wei Mingyi only had just over a thousand Achievement Points on her, so the things she could purchase were very limited. After pondering for a moment, she chose a plot of land in the Wild Domain over cheap training tools. This was roughly what the System was pushing for—Chongyuan Sect expanding toward the Wild Domain. They wouldn’t easily offend anyone, and the Heavenly Dao Alliance would have no reason to make trouble for them.
Before unlocking the plot, Wei Mingyi mentally recited, “System, lottery draw.”
Her Golden Finger gave absolutely no reaction.
Fine then. This cheat item had completely eradicated her path to becoming a gambler.
Wei Mingyi rubbed her cheeks and obediently unlocked a plot of land in the Wild Domain. Her Achievement Points first decreased, then immediately increased by a hundred due to a flash of golden light. Looking closely, she saw it was a reward from an achievement called “A Foothold,” which also gave her an additional Talent Point.
Looking at the map on her interface, besides Chongyuan Sect and Cangwu City, a green field named “Yangchun Terrace” had appeared in a vast area marked as the Wild Domain. Wei Mingyi opened the map details. Purchasing land came with a complimentary mountain protection array and a Yellow-tier spirit vein of random attributes. However, this mountain protection array wasn’t as good as Chongyuan Sect’s—it only worked against beings outside Yangchun Terrace, meaning they’d have to clear out any Wicked Wraiths inside themselves. Perhaps the System thought this wasn’t generous enough, so within Yangchun Terrace’s bounds, Wicked Wraiths would be weakened to a certain degree.
Wei Mingyi zoomed in on the map and found a red monster-head icon. This represented the boss within Yangchun Terrace. Judging by its Dao cultivation… it was a Nascent Soul. Wei Mingyi’s eyes widened. Was the damn System screwing her over? But considering the Sect Leader was at the Golden Core 3rd Layer, she should be able to kill a weakened Nascent Soul monster, right?
After thinking for a moment, Wei Mingyi chose to trust Su Xuanjing. She continued reading Yangchun Terrace’s introduction. It wasn’t an unnamed place, which meant cultivators had set foot there before. Wei Mingyi originally thought it was those people from the aristocratic families, but when she glanced and saw the two characters “Tai Yi,” her eyes grew solemn. In ancient times, Taiyi cultivators had opened up this area, using great magical power to transform the soil for growing the spirit herbs they needed. Hundreds of years later, the Wicked Wraith Tide approached. Taiyi, due to internal splits, could no longer control this area and had to retreat. With this retreat, Yangchun Terrace was once more swallowed by the primal chaos of the Wild Domain, and for thousands of years afterward, no one built a city here again.
Some blaze new trails, while others only drag things down.
The great task of carrying on the work of past sages fell upon her, Wei Mingyi, to shoulder.
Wei Mingyi sighed with feigned sentiment for a moment, then suddenly recalled a crucial issue.
The Wild Domain didn’t even border Chongyuan Sect. How were they supposed to get there? Did they have to borrow a path from the aristocratic families?
“System? Don’t you keep silent!” Wei Mingyi pounded on the interface in front of her a few times. The System, detecting her mood, made a previously dim light on the map much more distinct. A circle of brilliant golden light shimmered, one at Chongyuan Sect and one at Yangchun Terrace. Only then did Wei Mingyi nod with satisfaction.
She reported the matter of going to Yangchun Terrace in the Wild Domain for training—first to her Shizun, then to the Sect Leader.
Her Shizun remained in a state of mental shutdown, but the Sect Leader was first stunned, then contemplative. It was only when Wei Mingyi mentioned there was a Nascent Soul Wicked Wraith that Su Xuanjing said, “It may not be impossible to fight.” She thought for a moment and added, “That place is dense with Wicked Wraiths. I will go first to investigate. Where is the teleportation array?”
“On First Peak,” Wei Mingyi answered, leading the way for Su Xuanjing. If they encountered a Wicked Wraith they couldn’t beat… they could just retreat back to Chongyuan Sect, since the teleportation array was there. Relying on their own strength, they could wear it down to death, couldn’t they? Wei Mingyi pondered silently.
Upon reaching the teleportation array, Su Xuanjing observed it for a moment. Before Wei Mingyi could react, she stepped right into the teleportation array.
Wei Mingyi: “?”
Her expression shifted slightly. She hadn’t even told anyone else? Wasn’t it too rash to just go straight in? Panic seized her heart, and she had half a foot inside the circle of light when her clothes were tugged, neither too lightly nor too roughly, from behind. Wei Mingyi stepped back.
Wu Chongyun lazily said, “It’s fine.”
Wei Mingyi looked down at Wu Chongyun.
So her Shizun was listening.
Not only did Wu Chongyun think it was fine, but after hearing the news, Hua Xiaozhu and the others also felt there was no issue.
Watching their accustomed demeanor, Wei Mingyi’s anxious heart gradually settled. She used the Meridian Opening Pool to cultivate and, within half a month, broke through her fourth Qi meridian. During this time, she could barely restrain herself from using Talent Points to force it open directly, but recalling what her Shizun and Senior Sisters had said, she forcefully endured. The further she progressed, the harder it became, so Talent Points had to be used at critical moments.
Just as Wei Mingyi was celebrating her small step forward, she noticed that the Nascent Soul monster mark on Yangchun Terrace’s map had vanished. The Sect Leader had likely succeeded. In half a month’s time, had the Sect Leader completely cleared Yangchun Terrace of Wicked Wraiths? While her thoughts ran wild, Su Xuanjing returned from the teleportation array, bearing wounds but with exceptionally bright eyes.
“Did the Sect Leader kill all the Wicked Wraiths?” Wei Mingyi couldn’t help but ask.
“No,” Su Xuanjing answered crisply. She added, “Some Foundation Establishment and Meridian Opening ones remain for you to train with.”
Hua Xiaozhu asked, “Shall we go now?”
Su Xuanjing nodded, paused, and then said, “There are cultivators roaming the outskirts of Yangchun Terrace. I don’t know which faction they belong to. Those people intended to enter Yangchun Terrace’s territory but were blocked by the grand array.” A small local Golden Core was different from those born into major clans or sects and lacked the corresponding breadth of experience. Su Xuanjing had only a partial understanding of Wild Domain affairs. She instinctively turned to the uncommunicative Wu Chongyun in her wheelchair, holding her breath and awaiting her reply.
“The Wild Domain is not like the Pure Domain. Boundaries between aristocratic families are clearly defined here,” Wu Chongyun said, raising her eyes and speaking nonchalantly. “The outposts there are jointly built by the top powers of the Nine Provinces. People of different origins may be mixed together in one place. As for who exactly, I don’t know either.”
“Is that so?” Su Xuanjing looked thoughtful. After a moment, she smiled boldly and said, “It doesn’t matter if we don’t know. For now, we just need to clear the Wicked Wraiths inside. As for the rest, we can slowly investigate.”
Those who were to set out for the Wild Domain, besides the few cultivators of Chongyuan Sect, also included Daoists from Hidden Moon Sect. Su Xuanjing, with cultivation at the Golden Core 3rd Layer, could cross that threshold freely. But the others in the sect were different. For one, their cultivation was insufficient, and for another, they didn’t understand Wicked Wraiths well enough. They needed to make some preparations, such as refining some “Miasma-Breaking Elixirs” to avoid being corrupted by the wraiths.
Wei Mingyi had no objections to Su Xuanjing’s arrangements. She didn’t want to use her brain much either. While pushing Wu Chongyun back, a thought suddenly flashed in her mind, and she remembered something. “Didn’t they say there’s some ‘Heavenly Merit Ledger’ in the Wild Domain? The Sect Leader killed several Wicked Wraiths without registering. Isn’t that a huge loss?”
Wu Chongyun remained silent.
Wei Mingyi stopped and walked around to stand before Wu Chongyun, looking at her seriously. Sincerely, she said, “Shizun, when you speak with the Sect Leader and others, you can manage long sentences. Why is it different with me? Treating me like this is truly unfair.”
“Other people’s Shizuns make them feel like bathing in a spring breeze. Why can’t you?”
Wu Chongyun lifted her gaze and met Wei Mingyi’s eyes. Her look was weary and languid, growing vacant if held too long.
Wu Chongyun’s expression was lazily exhausted. “Then throw me away.” As she spoke, she maneuvered her wheelchair backward, even turning it around, leaving Wei Mingyi with a lonely and pitiful desolate silhouette.
Wei Mingyi: “…” Pressing her lips tightly together, Wei Mingyi thought she deserved death ten thousand times over. How could she pressure her beautiful, sickly Shizun like this?
“It’s okay if Shizun doesn’t want to talk. I can talk enough for the two of us.” Wei Mingyi hurriedly caught up to Wu Chongyun, her hands gripping the wheelchair.
“The Heavenly Merit Ledger was left behind thousands of years ago by a cultivator of the Dao Fruit Realm. She has already ascended and departed, and the Heavenly Merit Ledger left in the Nine Provinces has become a kind of law entwining the Nine Provinces. Anyone who enters the Wild Domain can automatically use it; it’s not distributed by the Heavenly Dao Alliance,” Wu Chongyun spoke, her speech rate several times faster than usual.
Wei Mingyi: “.”
Her Shizun’s robotic feeling was getting heavier.
She wasn’t angry, was she?
