The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 275 - 169 Mortal Ascends the Heavenly Ladder
The entrance to the "Heavenly Ladder" secret realm is located behind Qingjing Mountain. Early this morning, the Four Great Immortal Sects, led by Yunxiao Palace, arrived with the mortals they had selected, waiting for the entrance to open.
These three immortal sects originally had a good relationship with Yunxiao Palace, and starting from four hundred years ago, they each sent mortals into the secret realm to search for treasures. After all, Yunxiao Palace is not a colossal immortal sect like Chaoyun Sect, and it would be difficult for them to monopolize the "Heavenly Ladder". Therefore, they brought along a few good friends to join in.
Where there are people, there is competition. Sometimes the mortals brought by these friends found treasures that exceeded Yunxiao Palace in both quantity and quality, which naturally displeased the aging boss. It’s like everyone is happily playing Mahjong, but the one shouting "Hu!" time and again is never the dealer. However, the companions were found by themselves, and the rules were also set by them. It would be unkind to change the rules midway.
Moreover, the items produced in the "Heavenly Ladder" secret realm in the past hundred years might be considered curios and strange treasures by mortals, but not necessarily by the Immortal Sects. Therefore, Yunxiao Palace was somewhat indifferent to this secret realm search, and the person they sent to take charge this time was just a Golden Core Stage elder. It is easy to understand—opening a secret realm exclusively for mortals is already generous. Filling it with treasures that would make cultivators green with envy would not be helping mortals, it would be outright murder!
Take the Moonlight Cup that Ning Xiaoxian is determined to obtain, for example. This cup is obviously for demon use, as human cultivators do not engage in the business of absorbing the essence of the moon. And the spiritual dew condensed in the cup must be consumed within two hours, otherwise it would turn back into essence and dissipate. This is very awkward because lower to mid-level demons cannot refine the essence they personally harvest from the moonlight within two hours. Placing the cup filled with spiritual dew next to them would only lead to frustrated stares; high-level demons, on the other hand, disdain using the cup because their methods to gain vast amounts of Spiritual Power often involve devouring each other, practicing powerful cultivation techniques, or consuming Heavenly Talent and Earthly Treasures. The essence gained from the moon every night contributes little to their cultivation progress.
Only someone like Changtian who is unable to be exposed to moonlight personally would have an immense longing for this cup. He doesn’t use the cup for cultivation but to replenish his depleted Divine Power. Qiongqi calculated that, considering the consumption of Dream Millet, other Heavenly Talent and Earthly Treasures, drinking Spiritual Tea, and swallowing the power from the turtle pearl, if you add the help of the Moonlight Cup, it would just offset the Divine Power drawn away by the God Demon Prison and the Dragon Binding Rope, balancing each other out. In the future, given the opportunity, it might even grow slowly.
After getting this information, she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her chest, and her whole person became much lighter. That’s why she is resolute, determined to obtain the Moonlight Cup no matter the difficulties, even if it means being hung upside down and harshly beaten by Changtian afterwards!
Now she is also standing in the queue of mortals waiting to enter the secret realm. If you ask how she managed to blend in? It’s quite simple. These past few days, she selected several people and finally took an interest in a woman in her thirties with an average appearance, named Hao Jing. Ning Xiaoxian observed her for a whole day, carefully memorizing her voice, expressions, behavior, and steps, as well as her reactions to others, before suddenly knocking her unconscious when she walked to her (Ning Xiaoxian’s) room, and then locked her in the God Demon Prison. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Unlike Maid Baozhu from the Wen Residence whose reactions were slow, this woman was very alert. Ning Xiaoxian managed to swiftly bring her down with the help of Soul Calming Incense without alarming others. However, Ning Xiaoxian was not angry but pleased; the higher the quality of the woman, the higher the overall level of the squad she belonged to.
There was a reason she picked this woman. First, the woman was about the same height as her. Disguise Pills can change one’s face, but not their height. Usually, after the age of twenty-five, a woman’s figure tends to become plumper, but Hao Jing was relatively lean, making it easy for Ning Xiaoxian to disguise herself. Moreover, her personality was more reserved and she did not like to talk to others, making her an ideal candidate to imitate.
This woman was a member of a five-person team. The overall strength of the other team members seemed not low, and there were no overly vulgar men in the team, with the lead having a lot of experience. Most importantly, while this woman was also skilled, she was better at making poison and using poison, holding a corresponding position in the team. For the current Ning Xiaoxian, using and resisting poison was just a piece of cake, so playing the role of Hao Jing would be even more effortless.
