Wanhua Ridge

The Central Continent.

The Ten Thousand Blossoms Mountain Range—Ten Thousand Blossoms City Ridge.

A faint, distant floral fragrance wafted through the air.

Standing atop the city walls, Li Yingling casually surveyed her surroundings, where vibrant flowers bloomed in abundance.

The scene was the same within the city ridge—and even more so beyond it.

Flowers of every hue blanketed the nearby peaks, leaving little room for grass. Trees fared slightly better, but even the older ones appeared stunted and frail.

No towering ancient trees could be found across the entire mountain range.

Regardless of the season, blossoms carpeted the land.

Yet these flowers were peculiar—their fragrance seemed to meld into a singular, harmonious scent.

Normally, an overwhelming floral aroma would turn foul, but here, the mountains carried just the right balance of sweetness, lending an air of mystery to the place.

"Truly, this is the Central Continent—full of surprises," Li Yingling remarked, turning to Zhang Miaoyu beside her. "Confident about this mission?"

Zhang Miaoyu instinctively nodded before hesitating.

"Your second junior brother is manageable… but can we really compete with your master?"

Li Yingling smirked confidently. "That depends on who he brought along."

"Your third junior sister? That little girl?" Zhang Miaoyu’s expression cleared as she nodded. "Then it’s settled—"

Li Yingling cut her off. "I meant the fifth junior brother—Cui Hao! The third junior sister is plenty reliable."

Zhang Miaoyu looked puzzled but had long since developed a method for processing Li Yingling’s words.

When Li Yingling said something incomprehensible, there was no need to overthink it. The key was to grasp the essentials—what she needed to understand and what she needed to do.

Anything beyond that was irrelevant.

In short—just follow orders.

"Understood!" Zhang Miaoyu nodded. "Since your master brought along the deadweight fifth junior brother, we’ll definitely finish this mission faster than them."

Li Yingling smiled approvingly. Though Zhang Miaoyu wasn’t the sharpest, her ability to quickly grasp the point was commendable.

Little Baiqing was fine, but the other junior brothers and sisters? Not so much—always digging too deep into things.

This was the location the Tianyan Sect’s sect master had recommended as a place of hidden treasures.

In terms of scenery alone, it was undeniably beautiful—though the spiritual energy here was thin, even weaker than that of their own sect back in Yuzhou City.

"Far inferior" wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

The area the Tianyan Sect’s master had marked was absurdly vast, making Li Yingling suspect he was just toying with her master for amusement.

He had practically drawn the largest possible boundary—as if sheer size alone would guarantee stumbling upon something.

Li Yingling mused that the Tianyan Sect master was too modest—he could’ve gone even bigger.

With such a massive area, searching as a group was out of the question.

They had to spread out, each team covering a section, gathering intel on anything unusual before investigating further.

Her master had taken Little Baiqing, Cui Hao, and Zhou Ping along.

In Li Yingling’s eyes, her master had brought along every possible liability—though Little Baiqing didn’t count.

If anything, she was an asset—especially since she had a knack for keeping Cui Hao in line.

Li Yingling’s own team consisted of Zhang Miaoyu and Xie Lingyu.

Li Xingtian was paired with Lin Luoyu.

Qinghe had initially wanted to join, claiming she’d protect Li Xingtian’s group, but Elder Bai had stopped her.

The reason was simple—aside from lazing around and slowing them down, what use could this dragon possibly be?

No matter how reluctant Qinghe was, Elder Bai’s gentle yet firm hand prevailed.

A bright smile graced Li Yingling’s face. Whether or not this was the place they sought, the scenery alone was breathtaking.

The world was vast and beautiful.

Zhang Miaoyu glanced sideways at her team leader, noting the smile—one she’d never seen back when they were still in the squad.

Ever since reuniting with her master, Li Yingling had become a different person.

"Yingling, any updates on your end?"

Xie Lingyu ascended the city walls, her voice soft as she addressed Li Yingling, who was still admiring the view.

Li Yingling turned to her with a light chuckle.

"I think there’s something off about these flower-covered ridges."

Xie Lingyu’s gaze shifted toward the floral expanse.

A breeze stirred, sending petals of vivid colors dancing through the air.

Though she had spent much of her time in the Central Continent, she had never heard of such a place.

It was beautiful and fragrant, and while the cultivators here weren’t particularly strong, they were friendly and eager to answer her questions.

The reason this place remained obscure—perhaps even ignored—was likely due to its pitifully sparse spiritual energy.

To thrive in the Central Continent, one had to claw their way upward with relentless effort.

Even Xie Lingyu, a direct disciple of Bai Xuanling in the Tianyan Sect, was no exception.

This place offered no path forward—to those chasing immortality, it was a dead end.

Naturally, no tales of it would spread.

Xie Lingyu exhaled softly, as if trying to expel the weight pressing down on her.

Even after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, she still couldn’t sense Chu Xingchen’s cultivation level.

According to her master, Chu Xingchen had already reached the Nascent Soul stage.

Back when she was in seclusion, he had even fought Daoist Yuyang and seemed to have gained the upper hand.

That wild cultivator who once begged her for help when he was still at the Foundation Establishment stage had, in such a short time, grown to a level she could no longer comprehend.

Yanyun was the same...

Xie Lingyu still remembered her original dream—to surpass Yanyun.

Back then, she was just a lowly Qi Refining cultivator, while Yanyun was already a peak Nascent Soul expert.

Yanyun’s days cultivating at Zhuji Peak were grueling—at the very least, she returned with injuries every day, and every couple of days, she would reliably cough up blood.

Elder Bai’s words carried the most mockery and pressure.

Yet Yanyun still completed her training at an astonishing speed.

Even Bai Xuanling acknowledged it—Yanyun was indeed a rare genius, and the Tianyan Sect had found its rightful successor.

Back then, the young Xie Lingyu had also believed that her future would surely surpass Yanyun’s.

She wanted her master to praise her too—"Little Lingyu, you’re amazing. The future of the Tianyan Sect rests on you."

But looking back now, it was somewhat laughable.

Xie Lingyu eased her slightly tense mind. Though she didn’t know what kind of cultivation path Chu Xingchen followed, judging by her master and the Tianyan Sect’s leader, at the very least, he still walked the righteous path.

That was enough for her.

Not everyone in the world had to live worse than her, nor did they all have to possess inferior talent.

Not all the blessings of the world belonged to her alone.

What she had now was already beyond the reach of countless others.

Just as Xie Lingyu surveyed the mountainous expanse of Hualing before her—

Li Yingling’s curious voice reached her:

"Senior Xie, why didn’t you go with my master?"

Xie Lingyu glanced at Li Yingling, thought for a moment, and replied:

"He’s too annoying. He’d definitely drag me around everywhere, never focusing on the real task."

Li Yingling’s expression turned knowing, and she stifled a laugh—so Senior Xie was just shy.

She nodded sagely and said with a straight face:

"Indeed, my master does love to fool around a bit."

Xie Lingyu studied Li Yingling’s expression and found it surprisingly earnest.

At least she wasn’t like Qinghe, who would spout nonsense while giving her that teasing look.

Li Yingling took a deep breath before speaking again:

"I’ve heard some news—there’s a flower spirit in Hualing. It should be useful for gathering information."