Li Xiaocui's Plan

The scene before his eyes shifted once again.

Gu Qingfeng suddenly found himself in a massive cave, so vast that it seemed as if the entire mountain had been hollowed out. The ground was unnaturally smooth, as if it had been meticulously chiseled by human hands.

Aside from him, the other hundred individuals were also present in the cave.

However, unlike him, they were all enclosed within glowing barriers, each containing a pill furnace. They appeared to be imprisoned laborers, frantically refining pills as if driven to madness.

“What’s going on? Why are they all locked up?” Gu Qingfeng was utterly confused. Since no guardian spirit appeared to explain the situation, he casually walked past the glowing barriers and approached Li Xiaocui.

Through the barrier, he asked, “Xiaocui, why are you all locked in cages? Did I miss something exciting?”

Li Xiaocui, who had just raised her small hand to smash the pill furnace, froze at the familiar voice. She turned her head with lightning speed and stared at Gu Qingfeng outside the barrier, utterly stunned.

“Gu Qingfeng!?” she exclaimed, her voice almost cracking.

“You... you... how did you get in without a spirit guide?”

Her shout successfully interrupted everyone’s focus on pill refining. All eyes turned toward them, and the entire group was left dumbfounded.

Their eyes widened in disbelief, as if they had witnessed something utterly impossible.

“How is this possible!? Why aren’t you locked up like the rest of us? No, wait—why can you enter without a spirit guide?” someone suddenly shouted in shock.

However, distracted by his outburst, the flames in his pill furnace spiraled out of control.

Boom!

The furnace exploded.

Flames instantly filled the glowing barrier. When the fire subsided, the man’s clothes, hair, and eyebrows were all gone, leaving him a smoking, blackened figure. Before he could react, a white light engulfed him and teleported him out of the secret realm.

Though the man was gone, out of courtesy, Gu Qingfeng replied, “Isn’t it as simple as walking in?”

The others, seeing Gu Qingfeng moving freely, felt their entire worldview being challenged.

Why didn’t he need a spirit guide to enter? And why wasn’t he forced to refine pills like the rest of them?

Did that mean he could simply walk through the light gate and enter the inheritance grounds?

At that moment, the way they looked at Gu Qingfeng was akin to high school students gazing at someone who had been directly admitted to Tsinghua or Peking University—no exams, just a free pass.

“You... just who are you?” someone in the crowd asked, voicing the question on everyone’s mind.

After all, Gu Qingfeng’s actions up to this point had been utterly... incomprehensible.

In the first trial, he drained the lava and controlled a fire dragon, then blocked the entrance to demand tolls.

In the second trial, he obtained all the spirit guides and held an auction.

And now, in the third trial, he was strolling around as if he were at home, completely ignoring the pill-refining process.

“I’m just like you all—someone here to challenge the secret realm,” Gu Qingfeng said with a smile.

The crowd internally screamed in frustration. Like hell you are! We’re the ones challenging the secret realm—you’re just treating it like a vacation home!

“Alright, I won’t chat with you all any longer. This must be the final trial, right? Does walking through that light gate lead to the inheritance? Judging by your expressions, it seems you’ll have to finish refining your pills before you can come out. Well, I’ll take the lead and scout ahead for you, just in case there’s any danger.”

Gu Qingfeng pointed at the light gate embedded in the stone wall not far away.

Li Xiaocui gave him a complicated look, as if she had just found something she thought she’d lost.

“This is indeed the final trial, but it could also be considered the penultimate one. Beyond the light gate lies the inheritance grounds, where there’s a stone tablet inscribed with the introductory chapter of the Divine Refining Technique. Only by comprehending this chapter can one qualify to receive the true inheritance.

You could think of it as the final trial, one that tests your comprehension.”

Gu Qingfeng nodded. “Got it. I’ll head in first, then.”

At that moment, Li Xiaocui suddenly sent him a secret message through spiritual transmission: “Gu Qingfeng, the Divine Refining Technique is incredibly profound and mysterious. Even the introductory chapter is beyond human comprehension—it belongs to the realm of the divine. Every time the Jade Dragon Secret Realm opens, ten individuals are able to enter the inheritance grounds and view the stone tablet. Those who make it this far are all exceptionally talented and brilliant, yet in the past hundred years, not a single person has managed to comprehend the introductory chapter. That should give you an idea of how difficult it is.

Wait for me here for a moment. I’m almost done refining my pill, and once I’m out, we can go in together. I have a way to help you obtain the inheritance.”

Gu Qingfeng gave her a surprised look and replied via the same method: “This is the first time since I’ve known you that you’ve said so much in one go.”

Li Xiaocui’s breath hitched. Why does this guy always focus on the strangest things!?

She took a deep breath and continued her spiritual transmission: “The reason Lord Li sent me here with you was precisely for this final trial. If you listen to me and we work together, we’re sure to secure the inheritance!”

“Xiaocui, you’re being naughty~” Gu Qingfeng teased with a strange laugh.

“By your logic, wouldn’t it be the same if I waited for you in the inheritance grounds?”

“That’s because you’re so unpredictable! I’m afraid you’ll damage the stone tablet if you go in alone and ruin the plan!” Li Xiaocui said urgently.

She was genuinely worried. Throughout the three trials of the secret realm, Gu Qingfeng had become increasingly unpredictable with each challenge. She was terrified that he might cause some unforeseen disaster in the inheritance grounds.

In truth, what she feared even more was Gu Qingfeng himself. He was too enigmatic, too mysterious, and shrouded in too many mysteries. What if... he actually managed to comprehend the introductory chapter of the Divine Refining Technique on his own?

Wouldn’t that mean the inheritance would go to him?

“Oh? Then tell me about this plan of yours.”

“Fine,” Li Xiaocui said bluntly.

“To be honest, I’m like you—exceptionally gifted, with a soul force comparable to that of a grandmaster.”

Gu Qingfeng nodded, showing no surprise.

He had already noticed this when searching for the spirit guides. At the time, he had sensed that Li Xiaocui’s soul force was incredibly powerful, on par with a grandmaster’s.

“And then?”

“The introductory chapter of the Divine Refining Technique is incredibly bizarre. It’s impossible for humans to comprehend—not only that, but it’s also impossible to memorize. That’s why, even though many people have reached the final trial over the past century and seen the introductory chapter, no knowledge of it has ever spread outside.

So, to obtain the inheritance, we have to resort to another method: brute force!”

“Brute force?”

“Exactly—brute force!”