A Family of Hopeless Romantics, Except for the Evil Little Junior Brother-Chapter 157: Ziyun Secret Realm

Li Xuanxiao had long known about the Five Great Immortal Sects Competition.

Every ten years, the five great immortal sects hold a competition among their young disciples.

In fact, this Immortal Sect Competition has another name—it’s really just Mount Shushan taking first place, with the other four sects scrambling for second.

Every time, the competition is held on Mount Shushan, drawing in crowds from all five sects.

That makes this one of the busiest times for Li Xuanxiao.

And right during this hectic period, Lu Ziyin suddenly brought up sending Li Xuanxiao to some Ziyun Secret Realm.

Lu Ziyin said, “Don’t thank me. It was actually Senior Sister Su Wan who brought it up. She said she’s willing to escort you this time, and whatever gains you get from the secret realm, she’ll give them all to you.

You’ve failed to form a Golden Core twice already. You probably don’t have many resources left. This is a great opportunity.”

Li Xuanxiao cast a helpless glance at Su Wan.

Su Wan gave a faint smile, as if to say there's no need to thank me.

Li Xuanxiao tactfully declined, “Thank you for your kindness, Senior Sister Su, but the Ziyun Secret Realm is still pretty dangerous. I think I’ll pass. Let someone else have this chance.”

The Peak Master of Little Bamboo Peak, Daoist Liu Yi, frowned slightly.

“Cultivation is about striving. If you don’t fight, how will you improve? Don’t worry. Su Wan will protect you this time. Nothing will happen. Remember, this might be one of your few remaining chances.

Forming a Golden Core before fifty on Mount Shushan gives you a huge edge.”

Normal sects allow up to two hundred years to form a Golden Core, but Mount Shushan divides it into tiers.

Forming a Golden Core before fifty,

means getting a different monthly stipend than if you form it by one hundred.

Forming by fifty is barely considered having decent talent in Mount Shushan.

Daoist Liu Yi glanced at Li Xuanxiao.

She remembered him quite well.

Not because he was especially outstanding, but because back when the old Sect Leader was alive,

he took Li Xuanxiao everywhere with him.

People even suspected this kid was the old Sect Leader’s illegitimate son.

Even the old Sect Leader’s son, Xue Yun, looked after this little junior brother.

But later on, Li Xuanxiao’s mediocre talent made him fade from everyone’s attention.

Seeing everyone say so much,

Li Xuanxiao figured that for any regular disciple, this should be a good thing.

Not only could he retrieve treasures from the secret realm, but he’d have a beautiful senior sister accompanying him.

If he refused, it might raise suspicions.

People would start wondering—

Why would someone turn down such a good deal? Was there some hidden reason...?

So after briefly weighing the pros and cons,

Li Xuanxiao cupped his hands and said, “In that case, thank you Uncle Liu, Senior Sister Su.”

“Junior Brother Xuanxiao, no need to be so polite...”

Su Wan said softly, but secretly grumbled to herself.

The first refusal was because he was worried about me.

The second agreement—it must be because he just couldn’t hold back his feelings for me.

The Ziyun Secret Realm was one of the lower-tier secret realms.

More suited for Foundation Establishment cultivators.

For Golden Core cultivators, it was kind of meh.

Low danger level, Li Xuanxiao mused silently.

Thinking this, Li Xuanxiao honestly headed toward the Sect Leader Hall on Tongtian Peak.

“..........”

A few days later.

Li Xuanxiao and Su Wan set out, heading to Ziyun Canyon.

What made the Ziyun Secret Realm special was that its entrance only appeared within Ziyun Canyon.

So Ziyun Canyon was filled with cultivators from all over, all waiting for the secret realm to open.

This time, Mount Shushan sent not only Li Xuanxiao and Su Wan, but also disciples from other peaks. From Silver Sword Peak came the senior brother-sister duo, Li Xuanxiao and Zhao Lu.

With the Five Great Immortal Sects Competition right around the corner, all the Mount Shushan disciples were doing their final prep.

As soon as the Shushan group arrived, other forces came swarming over.

Leading the group was Junior Elder Feng Yun.

Last time, when Li Xuanxiao went to the Wuwang Mountains in the Southern Border, she was the one who led the team.

Feng Yun returned the greetings with a smile.

The other Mount Shushan disciples also greeted familiar disciples from other sects.

Even if you didn’t know anyone, it didn’t matter—being a Mount Shushan disciple meant others would come say hi.

Especially Zhao Lu and Su Wan—many people kept sneaking glances at them.

“Mount Shushan’s Su Wan—I know her! Saw her before!”

“Then why don’t you go say hello?”

“Kinda nervous.....”

“You think a toad can eat swan meat?”

Li Xuanxiao stayed far away from Zhao Lu and Su Wan.

Zhao Lu had specifically reminded him to keep his distance from senior brothers while out and about.

But when it came to Su Wan, he had no idea what to do—he could only silently pray for Heaven’s blessing.

He kept scanning the surroundings. This time, the team leaders from other factions were at least all Nascent Soul cultivators.

Only Mount Shushan sent someone at peak Golden Core stage.

Not because Mount Shushan lacked power, but for three reasons:

First, Mount Shushan had to oversee a massive territory.

Basically, with Mount Shushan as the center and Central State as the radius, the whole circle fell under their jurisdiction.

Second, Mount Shushan had the confidence—no blind cultivator would dare lay a hand on a Shushan disciple.

Third, the Ziyun Secret Realm simply wasn’t that enticing for Mount Shushan disciples.

Li Xuanxiao didn’t like this overconfidence.

Because overconfidence leads to carelessness.

If someone strong really showed up and decided to mess with Mount Shushan, what then?

Wouldn’t that be a pointless loss of Shushan disciples?

Right then, a massive shadow cast over everyone in the canyon.

People looked up, curious.

They saw an enormous flying boat, blotting out the sun.

Someone frowned slightly. “That’s..... Xuan Yin Sect!!”

“The Sect Leader of Xuan Yin Sect!?”

Someone even recognized the figure on the flying boat.

It was Xue Tushou, the Deputy Sect Leader of Xuan Yin Sect!

After Asura Hall got kicked out of the Four Great Demon Sects of Central State, the Xuan Yin Sect—once ranked fifth—quickly took their place.

They finally became one of the long-coveted Four Great Demon Sects.

And now they were flaunting their presence in the Ziyun Secret Realm.

Xue Tushou, Deputy Sect Leader of Xuan Yin Sect, had a fearsome reputation.

Known for brutal, ruthless tactics—if someone captured by him could die quickly, that was the best outcome.

He’d once been hunted by Mount Shushan for being too cruel.

He’d gone into hiding for a while, and now here he was, boldly showing up.

No one knew what he was planning.

Xue Tushou hovered mid-air, gazing at the many factions below.

“Bet none of you expected to run into this Honored One here.”

He laughed arrogantly.

The righteous cultivators and many rogue cultivators in the canyon all looked uneasy, a bit fearful.

What could the Ziyun Secret Realm possibly have that even the infamous Xue Tushou came for!?