Chapter 55: Sudden Challenge

In a completely different location within the Grand Region controlled by the Nine Lotus Sect, Qing’s clone could be seen moving through the forest at an extremely fast and stealthy pace, his body streaking between the trees so quickly that he appeared to be nothing more than a blur to the naked eye.

He carefully controlled his movements while maintaining enough Spiritual Energy to keep his presence concealed, avoiding any unnecessary disturbances as he continued deeper into the wilderness.

’I can’t infiltrate the Sect Master’s personal chamber, nor can I enter the underground chamber I sensed beneath the Sect itself.’ He had already considered both possibilities, but attempting either one directly would expose him to unnecessary danger.

Even if he could escape afterward, there was no reason to take such a risk without first understanding what the Sect Master was planning.

His thoughts shifted toward another problem as his speed increased slightly. ’The main body can send me some Spiritual Energy if I am not too far away, but it seems that plan will have to come to an end. I need to get out of this Grand Region.’

A massive beast suddenly appeared ahead of him, its teeth extending far beyond its mouth while the Spiritual Qi radiating from its body clearly placed it at the Golden Core Realm. The beast’s enormous head turned slightly as the clone passed through the forest nearby, yet it didn’t react to his presence at all.

The clone simply continued moving without even glancing at the creature, as though a Golden Core Realm beast standing only a short distance away was completely irrelevant to him.

The reason was simple because the clone had already used one of the Sealing Arts to seal his entire presence itself, preventing anything up to three Cultivation Realms above him from sensing him.

However, maintaining such a powerful concealment still required Spiritual Energy, which was another reason why he needed to complete his investigation as quickly as possible.

For now, however, the clone’s thoughts were focused on something else entirely, ’There must be a reason the pretending Sect Master hasn’t taken any action yet, even though some of the Grand Elders and Elders are already dancing on her palms. There is only one conclusion I can reach.’ℴ

The clone remembered the information he had read about the three Grand Regions in this Upper Realm and the information he had gathered from the Pavilion.

A few minutes earlier, after discovering the underground facility, he had directly gone to the Pavilion as Qing to learn more about the surrounding region and the power structure of the Upper Realm.

From the information recorded there, he had learned that the three Grand Regions were known as Azurefall, Evernight, and Celestial Dawn, with each Grand Region being controlled by a different ruler, while the Azurefall Grand Region was currently under the control of the Nine Lotus Sect.

’The Sect Master must be preparing something that involves even the other Grand Regions in her plans, meaning her plans haven’t been set into motion because of the other two rulers. She must be aware of their strength, and that is why... she is still preparing even after hundreds of years.’

The clone narrowed his eyes as he continued running before suddenly jumping onto the branch of a nearby tree. His body landed silently on the branch, but he didn’t stop for even a moment before pushing himself forward again.

The more he thought about the situation, the more certain he became that the Sect Master’s preparations could not have been limited to the territory directly controlled by the Nine Lotus Sect.

’Alright, now I am at the border between the Azurefall and Evernight Grand Regions.’ The clone looked ahead while continuing through the forest, carefully observing the surroundings as he approached the invisible boundary separating the two territories.

’From what I can tell, she would never only be prepared inside her own Grand Region. There must be some workers or even Demons carrying out the preparations in the other Grand Regions as well, and I need to capture the weaker ones so I can get information from them.’ With that thought, the clone jumped again while simultaneously forming another hand sign in the middle of his movement.

’Absolute Sealing Arts—Boundary Seal!’

The words echoed through his mind as he completed the required hand sign. There was a simple reason he needed to use another Sealing Art because, according to what he had read in the Pavilion, each Grand Region was separated by an invisible and nearly unbreakable barrier.

Unless someone reached a sufficiently high Cultivation Realm, crossing between the Grand Regions was impossible, and even powerful spatial movement Techniques could not simply ignore the barrier. Even Void Steps would fail because the barrier itself would reject the spatial movement the moment the user attempted to cross it.

That was why the clone needed to use another Sealing Art known as Boundary Seal, which could temporarily seal the barrier’s rejection ability within a small area.

At his current level, the Seal could only suppress that rejection for a single second, meaning the timing had to be perfect.

The moment the Seal took effect, the clone immediately felt an enormous strain spread through his body as the Spiritual Energy required to maintain the technique surged.

"Khug! Gah!" Qing’s clone coughed up blood, but he didn’t stop because he knew that wasting even a fraction of that single second would make the entire attempt meaningless.

As the Seal acted upon the invisible barrier, a small hole suddenly began forming in front of him. Through that opening, the clone could see that the scenery on the other side was completely different from the distorted reflection that the barrier normally displayed while remaining active.

’Void Steps!’

In that single instant, he immediately activated his teleportation Technique and disappeared from his original position before reappearing on the opposite side of the barrier. Behind him, the small opening vanished almost immediately as the invisible barrier restored itself and returned to its original state.

’Phew, I got away for good. If I had missed that chance, I would have been sliced to death.’ The clone looked back at the restored barrier for a moment before finally relaxing slightly. ’Even if I am a clone, death still scares me.’

He didn’t waste any more time thinking about the danger and immediately turned toward the unfamiliar territory ahead. His escape from the Azurefall Grand Region was only the beginning, because his actual mission had finally started.

...

On the other hand, Qing’s main body could be seen walking toward the Trial Pagoda along the path that had been laid out for disciples heading there. His appearance immediately attracted attention as several Core Disciples began whispering about what he had done during the test and how talented he was.

Qing simply ignored the surrounding discussions and continued walking forward without changing his expression, having already expected that his performance would attract attention after defeating the Formation replica.

A short while later, he finally reached the front of the Pagoda and stopped to observe the disciples gathered around the entrance.

There, Qing noticed that the Core Disciples were using what appeared to be small talismans before entering the Pagoda. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he observed the process, quickly realizing that the talismans were most likely connected to the Pagoda itself.

’Hmm, that must be some kind of entry ticket for this Trial.’ Qing turned around and immediately noticed a member of the Sect sitting comfortably on a wooden chair while distributing the talismans to the disciples.

The man looked completely relaxed despite the number of disciples surrounding the Pagoda, as though there was nothing in the entire Sect capable of causing him any concern.

Qing narrowed his eyes and tried to gauge the man’s Cultivation Realm, but the moment he attempted to sense him, he immediately felt the man’s gaze return to him. The man looked at him with a small, amused smile, causing Qing’s expression to become slightly strange.

’Damn, seems he is some hidden expert just like in those novels.’ Qing sighed internally before a quiet chuckle escaped his lips, quickly deciding that the man’s Cultivation had nothing to do with him unless the man deliberately interfered with his plans. ’Well, even if he is, it isn’t anything concerning me, so I’ll just ask some questions and take one of those talismans.’

Qing stepped forward, intending to approach the man and ask about the Trial Pagoda. However, the moment he took a single step, he suddenly heard a voice from behind him as a powerful pressure descended upon his body. "Qing Lan, newly selected Core Disciple, I challenge you to a duel."

Qing immediately stopped and turned around, his expression remaining calm as he felt the Killing Intent mixed within the pressure. The moment he looked toward the person who had spoken, he immediately recognized him as the same young man who had directed his Killing Intent toward him during the test.

The surrounding disciples also fell silent as their attention shifted toward the two of them, clearly interested in seeing how the newly selected Core Disciple would respond to the challenge.