The next day, early in the morning, Liu Tianfeng brought his retinue to find Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang.
It was obvious that with the secret realm opening, the Liu father and son, who had been plotting for a long time, could no longer wait. Niu Yuanshan was also dragged along by Deacon Liu. He planned to have this good old boy come with them to act as a guardian for them outside the secret realm. If something really happened, he could lend a hand, right?
To this kind of request, Old Niu readily agreed.
In Liu Tianfeng's eyes, this willing ox was as easy to talk to and as warm-hearted as ever. Little did he know that all of this was playing right into Niu Yuanshan's hands.
There was no helping it. Old Niu had an immense curiosity about Chu Huaixu. But he didn't want to get slapped again. However, for him to proactively go and pry, and for someone else to ask him for help, were two different matters.
What's more, for this Dao Gate secret realm, he naturally hoped that Chu Huaixu could successfully conquer it. Wouldn't that mean that all the benefits inside would be pocketed by our [Organization]?
Therefore, today was not about intentionally getting close to this comrade, nor was it to satisfy his personal desire to pry. This was... an operation! His first operation with this newcomer inside the Dao Gate!
Chu Huaixu, who had already made all his preparations last night, stretched lazily under everyone's gaze. The so-called preparations were actually just stocking up on more food, water, and daily necessities in his storage token, and... bringing along the tool person, Han Shuangjiang.
"Today, let me see just how useful you, a World Protagonist, really are," he thought.
"The house is in your hands," Chu Huaixu turned his head and instructed the little handyman.
Xu Ziqing nodded and said respectfully, "Yes."
He hadn't expected to be left all alone so soon after arriving here. The little handyman was extremely envious that they were able to go explore a secret realm.
"I wonder if I'll ever have such an opportunity one day," he thought, his eyes burning with desire.
The group thus walked to the cold pool. Along the way, Chu Huaixu observed the in-name disciples following beside Liu Chengqi, and they were also secretly sizing him and Han Shuangjiang up. Liu Tianfeng even made a simple introduction, his bootlicking as persistent as ever, instructing these in-name disciples at the peak of the aperture-opening stage to also protect the safety of the two of them.
But as for what this old fellow was really thinking, only he himself knew.
After arriving at their destination, everyone observed the cold pool before them. Some cold-natured spiritual herbs were planted near this place. In the past, they would absorb the cold energy emitted by the pool. Normally, just getting a little close to the cold pool would make one feel a chilling cold. But today, it was just like an ordinary pool of water. That bone-chilling cold energy had long since vanished without a trace.
Liu Tianfeng took out ten azure-blue pearls from his storage token and handed them to the group. "These are Water-Repelling Pearls. Take them with you."
Han Shuangjiang's and that Junior Sister Chen's eyes couldn't help but light up slightly. After all, for women, if they were to dive in directly like this, they might have to stage a wet-body temptation scene later on.
Seeing that everyone had put the Water-Repelling Pearls away, Deacon Liu began to give his final instructions.
"No one knows what mysteries lie within each Dao Gate secret realm."
"But there is one thing you can rest assured of. Although there may be dangers in the sect's secret realms, those are also tests from our predecessors. They will not take your lives."
"Also, everyone must remember the sect rules. All opportunities belong to the fated. Do not break the rules and engage in internecine conflict!"
His words were actually a hint to Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang: don't rely on your background to do whatever you want! After all, this was a major taboo. If they were discovered, not even the Sixth Elder could protect them!
As for the seven in-name disciples he had sent, they were all trusted aides he had carefully selected. Each one had been personally cultivated by him, and this time he had promised them many benefits. Under normal circumstances, after an in-name disciple had opened all nine apertures, they would definitely be eager to go to the Scripture Pavilion. Who would be like them, not even attempting to break through?
They had been waiting for the secret realm to open under Liu Tianfeng's orders! Once inside, they would do their utmost to assist Liu Chengqi and lend him a hand.
"Alright, all of you, go," Liu Tianfeng said with a wave of his large hand.
Niu Yuanshan stood to the side, a smile on his face the entire time, having barely said a word. But his gaze was almost always on Chu Huaixu.
"The fifth aperture?"
"He's actually already opened the fifth aperture?"
Niu Yuanshan couldn't understand how this was possible. And he remembered very clearly that on that night, the Sixth Elder had later come to find him again, asking where the jade slip for the 'Sword Tempering Art' came from, and had called it a Demonic Art. He had even been worried for a while at that time.
"Now that I think about it, could it be that because it's a Demonic Art, his progress is so fast?"
The gentle, thick-browed middle-aged man even began to feel a faint sense of worry. Unconsciously, he had truly begun to see Chu Huaixu as a junior in his own family.
At this moment, under Liu Tianfeng's gaze, a slightly plump in-name disciple was the first to leap into the cold pool. The Water-Repelling Pearl was quite magical; when he jumped in, he barely made a splash.
Everyone entered the cold pool one by one. Chu Huaixu was the last.
The cold pool was very deep. They swam for a long time. After gathering at the bottom of the pool, as instructed by Liu Tianfeng, they all took out the fragments of the Pill King's Token.
The fragments, emitting a faint glow, actually began to float in the water on their own, then gathered together. The faint light began to grow brighter and brighter, and a huge vortex suddenly appeared at the bottom of the pool!
The ten of them didn't have time to react before they were all sucked into the vortex. A dizzying, world-spinning sensation washed over them, making them want to vomit. Their vision was blurry, and they couldn't see anything around them clearly. Some of the in-name disciples with weaker mental fortitude already had their hearts in their throats.
Only Chu Huaixu endured it, his mentality stable. The reason was simple: the moment the vortex appeared, a system prompt had sounded in his ear.
"[Ding! Entering the dungeon—Pill King's Token!]"
"[Dungeon is now opening...]"
So it's a loading screen.
After nearly a minute, everyone fell heavily to the ground from a height of about one meter. The vast majority of the in-name disciples cried out in pain. Han Shuangjiang let out a grunt. Only Chu Huaixu was silent, just feeling a little like throwing up.
What are you screaming for over such a tiny bit of pain!
He was the first to climb up from the ground and then looked ahead. He wasn't sure if this was an underground space beneath the cold pool or somewhere else.
At this moment, there were a total of ten entrances in front of Chu Huaixu. They looked like ten caves.
"Does this mean the ten of us have to split up? Each choose an entrance?" Liu Chengqi frowned. For some reason, after he spoke, he subconsciously looked at Chu Huaixu. He wanted to hear his opinion.
Unexpectedly, Chu Huaixu directly called Han Shuangjiang to the side, and the two began to whisper, ignoring him completely.
"Which one do you want to choose? Go with your gut," he said softly to the ice mountain.
The cold-faced girl didn't know what he was up to. She raised her eyes and scanned the ten entrances.
"The seventh one, starting from the left," she said.
There was no other reason than that out of one to ten, she liked seven the most.
"Alright," Chu Huaixu nodded.
Then, he turned his head to look at Liu Chengqi and the others and said in a clear voice, "Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, haven't you chosen yet?"
"Then how about this junior brother goes first?"
"We'll choose these two entrances," he said, pointing at seven and eight.
Hearing this, Liu Chengqi's eyes darkened, displeased. However, it was a good thing that he himself was leaning towards nine.
—Nine is the extreme of numbers!
Therefore, his expression changed, but in the end, he just smiled and said, "Alright, then number seven and number eight will be given to Junior Brother Chu and Junior Sister Han."
Before long, everyone had chosen their own entrance.
"Then... shall we go in?" Liu Chengqi very consciously began to take charge again.
This time, Chu Huaixu finally paid attention to him. "Alright."
Everyone walked forward, a little impatient.
Just as Han Shuangjiang was about to enter the entrance, her arm was suddenly grabbed by a large hand.
"What is it?" she asked, looking at Chu Huaixu who was holding her, confused.
Even through her clothes, she felt that this large hand was quite hot.
Chu Huaixu just held her arm like that, looking into her eyes.
"We're not splitting up. I'm going in with you."