Chapter 37: The Seventh Gate

The next morning, bright and early, Liu Tianfeng brought his group to look for Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang.

It was obvious that the secret realm was about to open, and the Liu father and son, who had been planning for a long time, were already itching with impatience.

Niu Yuanshan was also dragged along by Steward Liu.

He intended to bring this good-natured fellow to guard them outside the secret realm.

In case anything went wrong, he could lend a hand, couldn't he?

To such a request, Old Niu agreed without hesitation.

In Liu Tianfeng’s eyes, this obedient ox was still as easy to deal with and warm-hearted as ever.

Little did he know that this was exactly what Niu Yuanshan had hoped for.

There was no helping it—Old Niu harbored immense curiosity about Chu Huaixu.

But he didn’t want to get slapped again.

Still, me taking the initiative to spy and someone else asking me for help—those were two different things.

Besides, for this Dao Gate secret realm, he naturally hoped Chu Huaixu could claim it successfully.

Wouldn’t that mean all the benefits inside would fall into the hands of our 【Organization】?

Therefore, today’s approach wasn’t about intentionally getting close to a fellow cultivator, nor was it to satisfy my personal curiosity—this was a… mission!

My and this newcomer’s first operation within the Dao Gate!

Chu Huaixu, who had prepared everything the night before, stretched lazily under everyone’s gaze.

The so-called preparation was just storing up extra food, water, daily necessities in his storage token, and… bringing along the tool-person Han Shuangjiang.

“Today, let me see how useful you really are, as the world protagonist,” he thought.

“I’ll leave the house to you,” Chu Huaixu turned his head and instructed the little errand boy.

Xu Ziqing nodded and replied respectfully, “Yes.”

He hadn’t expected that just after arriving here, he’d already be the only one left.

The little errand boy was filled with envy at their opportunity to explore the secret realm.

“I wonder if I’ll ever have such a chance someday,” he thought, burning with longing.

The group made their way to the Cold Pool.

Along the way, Chu Huaixu observed the enrolled disciples following beside Liu Chengqi, who were also sneaking glances at him and Han Shuangjiang.

Liu Tianfeng gave a brief introduction and persistently flattered, instructing these peak Qi‑Opening Stage disciples to protect the two of them well.

But what that old fox was truly thinking—only he himself knew.

Once they arrived at the destination, everyone began observing the Cold Pool before them.

Around the area were some cold-type spirit herbs, which usually absorbed the chill radiating from the pool.

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Normally, just getting near the Cold Pool would send a bone-chilling cold through one’s body.

But today, it was like any ordinary body of water.

That eerie cold had long since vanished without a trace.

Liu Tianfeng took out ten azure blue pearls from his storage token and handed them to everyone. “These are Water-Repelling Pearls. Take one each.”

Han Shuangjiang and that Sister Chen couldn’t help but light up a little.

After all, for women, diving down directly might soon turn into a wet-body temptation scene.

Seeing everyone tuck the Water-Repelling Pearls into their robes, Steward Liu began his final instructions.

“No one knows what mysteries lie within each Dao Gate secret realm.”

“But one thing you can rest assured of: though there may be danger inside, the realms are trials left by the elders. They won’t claim your lives.”

“Also, remember the sect rules—every opportunity is gained by those fated. Don’t break the rules or fight your fellow disciples!”

This was actually a veiled warning to Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang—don’t rely on your backgrounds to act recklessly!

After all, that was a major taboo. If discovered, not even the Sixth Elder could save them!

As for the seven enrolled disciples he sent, they were all carefully handpicked loyalists.

Each of them had been trained by him, and he had promised them many benefits for this trip.

Normally, once enrolled disciples fully opened their nine apertures, they would rush to the Scripture Pavilion. Who would stick around like them, not even trying to break through?

They were following Liu Tianfeng's orders, waiting for the secret realm to open!

Once inside, they would give their full support to Liu Chengqi, lending him a helping hand.

“Alright, go on in.” Liu Tianfeng waved his hand.

Niu Yuanshan stood to the side, wearing a constant smile, barely saying a word.

But his gaze was focused almost entirely on Chu Huaixu.

“The fifth aperture?”

“He’s already opened the fifth aperture?”

Niu Yuanshan just couldn’t understand how this had happened.

And he remembered clearly that later that night, the Sixth Elder came to him again, asking where the jade slip of the 《Sword Refining Art》 had come from, calling it an evil technique.

He had even worried about that for a while.

“Thinking about it now, could it be that because it’s an evil technique, his progress is so fast?”

This gentle-looking middle-aged man with thick brows and big eyes began to worry deep inside.

Unconsciously, he had truly come to see Chu Huaixu as a younger family member.

At that moment, under Liu Tianfeng’s watchful eyes, a slightly plump enrolled disciple was the first to leap into the Cold Pool.

The Water-Repelling Pearl was indeed miraculous—when he jumped in, there was barely a splash.

Everyone entered the Cold Pool one after another, with Chu Huaixu being the last.

The Cold Pool was very deep, and they swam for a long time.

After gathering at the bottom of the pool, they all took out the fragments of the Pill King Token, as per Liu Tianfeng’s instructions.

The glowing fragments began to float in the water by themselves, then converged together.

The faint glow grew brighter and brighter, and a massive whirlpool suddenly formed at the bottom of the pool!

The ten of them didn’t even have time to react before being sucked in.

A spinning sensation overwhelmed them, making them nauseous.

Their vision blurred, and they couldn’t see anything around them.

Some of the enrolled disciples with weaker mental states already had their hearts in their throats.

Only Chu Huaixu held on with effort, keeping calm.

The reason was simple: the moment the whirlpool appeared, he heard a system notification in his ear.

“【Ding! Entering instance—Pill King Token!】”

“【Instance is loading...】”

So it was just a loading screen.

After nearly a full minute, they all fell from about a meter high and hit the ground hard.

Most of the enrolled disciples cried out in pain.

Han Shuangjiang let out a muffled groan.

Only Chu Huaixu remained silent, just feeling a bit nauseous.

This little bit of pain, what are they screaming about?

He was the first to get up, then looked ahead.

He wasn’t sure whether this was a subterranean space beneath the Cold Pool, or somewhere else entirely.

At this moment, there were a total of ten entrances before Chu Huaixu.

They looked like ten mountain cave openings.

“Does this mean the ten of us are to split up? Each choose one entrance?” Liu Chengqi frowned.

For some reason, after speaking, he instinctively looked toward Chu Huaixu.

He wanted to hear his thoughts.

But to his surprise, Chu Huaixu immediately called Han Shuangjiang over, and the two began whispering to each other, completely ignoring him.

“Which one do you want to pick? Just go with your instinct,” he whispered to the icy girl.

The cold-faced young woman didn’t know what he was planning, but she lifted her eyes and glanced at the ten entrances.

“The seventh from the left,” she said.

No particular reason—just because she liked the number seven best out of one to ten.

“Alright.” Chu Huaixu nodded.

Then, he turned to Liu Chengqi and the others and said loudly, “Senior brothers and sisters, haven’t chosen yet?”

“Then how about this junior goes first?”

“We’ll take these two entrances.” He pointed at seven and eight.

Upon hearing this, Liu Chengqi’s eyes darkened slightly in displeasure.

But fortunately, he had already favored number nine in his heart.

—Nine, the ultimate number!

So, after a brief shift in expression, he simply smiled and said, “Alright, then we’ll leave entrances seven and eight to Junior Brother Chu and Junior Sister Han.”

Soon after, everyone chose their respective entrances.

“Well then... shall we go in?” Liu Chengqi naturally resumed his role of coordinator.

This time, Chu Huaixu finally responded to him, “Alright.”

Everyone started walking forward, a little eager.

As Han Shuangjiang was about to step into the entrance, her arm was suddenly grabbed by a large hand.

“What is it?” she looked at Chu Huaixu with confusion.

Even through her clothes, she could feel how warm that big hand was.

Chu Huaixu held her arm like that, looking into her eyes.

“We’re not splitting up. I’m going in with you.”

...