Speaking of Long Ye.
Since he returned a few days ago, dragging his heavily injured body alone, he shut himself in his room, quietly healing.
He refused to see anyone!
He ignored everyone!
He took out all the Celestial Materials and treasures he had been reluctant to use daily, crafting them into various Spiritual Cuisines for healing. As long as it benefited him, Long Ye consumed them without hesitation.
Long Ye didnât ask to recover entirely in a short time; he just wanted to regain seventy to eighty percent of his strength quickly.
During his recovery, Long Ye felt the urge to explore the mysterious fire in his chest multiple times, yet his Perception always ceased when it was a few inches away.
Because at this time, Wen Pingâs words would inevitably echo in his mind.
"Punishment Fire is very sensitive."
Then the scene of Blood Axe being easily melted would surface, forcing Long Ye to hastily retract his Perception.
Knock, knock, knockâ
The sound of knocking on the door echoed in the dead of night again.
It was the fourth time these past days that someone had knocked.
The first time was when the three Half-Step Earth Unrestricted from the Hundred Sects Alliance came to visit.
The second time was from He Mansion.
The third was from Prince Longyangâs men.
The latter were the other two Heaven-Gazing Gorge influences attending the centennial event.
However, Long Ye didnât meet any of them, even cursing Long Yue, who came knocking on the door. Seeing Long Ye berate his sister with harsh words, those people dared not come to disturb him again, giving Long Ye a few days of peace.
Long Yueâs voice rang out again, "Brother, the personal competition will start in two or three hours."
"I know."
Long Ye stood up from the mat.
The broken bones had already self-healed, external injuries were as good as new, only the Spirit Bodyâs recovery was unsatisfactory.
Long Ye muttered to himself, "Having exhausted all Celestial Materials and treasures, the Spirit Body is still only seventy percent healed... really aggravating!"
Upon opening the door, Long Yeâs first words were, "Long Yue, go collect Celestial Materials for restoring the Spirit Body, the more the better."
Long Yue nodded.
Then gave Wen Yan a meaningful glance.
Wen Yan nodded, saying, "Iâll go purchase them."
Upon hearing Wen Yanâs voice, Long Yeâs brow twitched as he glanced at Wen Yan, then unwillingly retracted his gaze.
Long Yue then asked, "Brother, did Wen Ping do anything to you?"
"No... heâs just a brat; what could he do to me?" Long Ye stood by the guardrail, replying arrogantly.
Long Yue puzzledly continued, "Then why did Wen Ping tell me not to let his father continue pretending as a slave? And he claimed you personally agreed to let Wen Yan be your personal guard."
Truthfully, Long Yue didnât believe her brotherâs words.
If nothing happened, why wouldnât Long Ye speak upon seeing Wen Yan?
Long Yeâs brows twitched, half his face involuntarily contorting, as he stammered, "Personal guard... Ah... itâs indeed like that. Since identities have been exposed, hiding them serves no purpose, following me is better than running around foolishly with you."
"When have I been foolish?" Long Yue glared back.
Long Ye remained unmoving, not daring to face Long Yue directly, then asked, "Let me ask you, who from He Mansion and Prince Longyangâs side came to see me?"
Long Yue replied, "He Mansion sent Half-century Drift He Nian. On Prince Longyangâs side, it was Tian Mu Commander."
"Half-century Drift He Nian... Tian Mu Commander..." Long Ye was silent for a moment, slowly revealing a cold smile, "Thereâs no way those two came with good intentions, like a fox paying New Year greetings to a chicken. By the way, after I deliberately scolded you, did they leave directly?"
Long Yue responded, "Yes, they both left directly, I personally saw them off. And escorted them far before returning."
"Youâre not stupid."
With those words, Long Ye began to ponder again.
The undeniable fact was, these two certainly came to gauge his condition.
Wanting to know if he was gravely injured or perfectly fine.
Now Long Ye preferred to think these two came to eliminate him, weaken the Long Familyâs power, rather than consider another outcome.
That would be He Mansion and Prince Longyangâs followers also accessed the âDemon Emperorâs Last Wordsâ.
Thinking about this, Long Ye couldnât help but question himself aloud, "Shouldnât be, right? There shouldnât be any traitors within the Long Family."
When the Demon Emperor of the Lake Demon Race died at Heaven-Gazing Gorge, only the Long Family was nearby.
This matter was only known to the Long Familyâs high-ranking members.
Those people had been family in the Long Family for decades, even a hundred years.
"Brother, what are you talking about?" Long Yue was completely baffled by Long Yeâs sudden mumbling.
Long Ye turned back, smiled, "Nothing."
He turned away, intending to leave, but thought of something, hurriedly turning back to instruct Long Yue, "You accompany Wen Yan, carry out tasks secretly, collect as much as possible, and bring it to me immediately upon gathering."
He now only hoped there were no traitors within the Long Family; otherwise, obtaining the Demon Emperorâs things would be problematic.
After all, whether He Mansion or Prince Longyang, neither sideâs overall power was weaker than the Long Family.
If the Holy Land of the Demon Emperorâs clan indeed had items that could surpass the Spirit Bodyâs Perfection Realm, He Mansion and Prince Longyangâs followers would surely seize them.
If He Mansion and Prince Longyang intervened, then his setup using the Hundred Sects Alliance would inadvertently assist He Mansion and Prince Longyangâs followers.
If Blood Axe were still around, in good condition, he wouldnât fear He Mansion and Prince Longyangâs members.
The two Half-Step Earth Unrestricted from both sides attacking together, heâd slay them!
But being tormented by Wen Ping to this extent now demands caution.
...
Daylight gradually emerged.
Wen Ping led everyone toward the entrance of the personal competition.
This time, the entrance to the Secret Realm wasnât at the cityâs center but within a cavern atop the snowy field of Vast City.
Exiting Vast City, stepping onto the snowy ground once again, Wen Ping noticed that someone recognized them.
"Itâs them."
"Wow, theyâre all so young."
"I heard some of them are only fifteen or sixteen years old, yet theyâve already made a name for themselves in the novice battles."
Among the crowd, someone started talking when they saw Huai Ye and the others.
Some even came up personally to greet them.
As the Sect Leader, Wen Ping naturally received friendly greetings from many influences.
Leaders of Four-star Influences each tried to establish a connection, hoping to become friends with Wen Ping.
Wen Ping responded simply with a few words, while his mind turned to the task bar.
Thinking about it, he hadnât checked the tasks for some time.
The second tier known by everyone, letting a hundred million people know about the Immortal Sect, how much has been completed now?
"System, let me check the task bar."
The light screen instantly appeared!
Looking at the second tier on the task bar, Wen Pingâs expression gradually froze.
Only a little over a million people?
"Defeating the top genius teams of several Four-star Giant Influences, and only this many people know about the Immortal Sect?"
No wonder the Hundred Sects Alliance hasnât approached him yet.
Turns out he isnât renowned enough.
"Host, you have already made one-twentieth of the people in Vast City remember the name Immortal Sect, thatâs quite impressive."
"Is there only a little more than two million people in Vast City now?"
"Yes."
"Why didnât you say so earlier?"
Two million, compared to a hundred million, the gap is quite substantial.
Despite the passage of time, if Wen Ping manages to make everyone in Vast City aware of the Immortal Sect, it wonât take long before more than half of Heaven and Earth Lake know about it too.
But the task has a time limit.
Only a month!
"Since I canât extend the task time, Iâll find a way to expedite the dissemination of information." Wen Ping glanced at H Lan beside him and came up with an idea.
Doesnât the Hundred Sects Alliance have an intelligence system?
Using it to spread the news about the Immortal Sect, might be feasible.
Thinking of this, Wen Ping casually asked, "By the way, System, do you have any special buildings that accelerate information dissemination?"
"Yes. They are called Celestial Curtain!"
"Tell me more."
Wen Pingâs interest was immediately piqued.
"The Celestial Curtain has many functions. For information dissemination, the host might like this feature the most: projecting information onto the sky. People on the ground can simply look up and see it. The visible range can expand as the Celestial Curtain upgrades."
"This feature is pretty good."
With the Celestial Curtain, the second tier of this travel task would be much easier.
"However, the appearance of the Celestial Curtain is only available as a task reward and not among freely constructible buildings." The system poured cold water on him.
"Why?"
"Because when the Celestial Curtain reaches the highest level, its greater function is to change the world. The host can use it to transform this slowly-information-transmitting world into a new world of instant information transfer."
"Changing the world, huh..."
A different thought emerged in Wen Pingâs mind.
To be honest, he once had this idea.
But that was when he was young.
Later, he found this world too vast, and even changing Cangwu City seemed possible, so he abandoned the unrealistic idea of changing the world.
Just as he was daydreaming, the entrance came into view.
Various major influences had gathered near the entrance, waiting for the Demon Realm to open.
Wen Ping had just arrived when he heard people enthusiastically calling him.
"Sect Leader Wen!"
"Sect Leader Wen!"
Wen Ping looked closely and realized it was people from the Hidden Dragon Sect.
Bainian Xiang saw that the greetings had been snatched by his elders, so he could only follow along, smiling at Wen Ping and the others.
"Senior Sister Huai Ye."
"Junior Sister Xiang."
Huai Ye and the others immediately greeted.
Bu Ling and Bainian Hanshan were talking with members from other influences about the team competition, deliberately standing not far from the Xia Family to annoy them.
Upon seeing Wen Pingâs arrival, they immediately stopped their conversation and moved over.
Just as they turned around, they saw Zi Ran standing behind Wen Ping.
Right!
Standing just behind Wen Ping.
Beside him was Zi Ranâs disciple, H Lan.
Bainian Hanshanâs eyes focused, finally understanding the situation.
Wen Ping is not just some acquaintanceâs son.
Bainian Hanshan gave a sheepish smile, saying, "Fetching water with a bamboo basket, getting nothing."
Bu Ling followed with a helpless smile, saying, "Sect Leader, itâs fine, Xiang is now part of the Immortal Sect as well, so weâre all family."
"Yes, we can consider ourselves family too!" Bainian Hanshan finally smiled broadly.