Yaomu Shou shot to her feet, “It’s open!”

Long Di and Jia Yan, who had been cultivating this entire month with the help of the Crimson Horizon Flame, opened their eyes to see a stunning sight.

****

In the sky above was an arch. The arch was colossal, and it was made up of giant blocks of crystallised spiritual qi.

Each block was hundreds of li wide and thousands of li long. Each one housed an indiscernible character constantly flashing with a saintly radiance.

Spiritual energy could be seen gushing from the gateway like a roaring river.

Long Di could feel the spiritual energy in the atmosphere enriching itself in an instant and immediately wondered what it would be like to cultivate in such an environment.

“Incredible…” Long Di said subconsciously.

Yaomu Shou nodded, “It looks like something incredible has been birthed inside the Spiritual Bingqi Realm this time.”

Shu!

Wan Li appeared in a flash beside Yaomu Shou with a slight bow.

“Young miss.”

Yaomu Shou nodded before turning her attention to everyone else. “Let’s go, guys!”

Whoosh!

A gentle wind enveloped everyone, and Long Di nearly lost his bearings when his feet left the ground.

His arms flailed around wildly as his body spun and rotated in the air causing everyone to roar with laughter before moving them to tears.

It took him half a day before he was able to stabilise himself. He then looked to Yaomu Shou, asking, “What realm allows flight?”

This was the first time he experienced body-based aviation and it immediately reminded him of a skill that all high-level cultivators possessed. Flying.

“Hahaha…” Yaomu Shou struggled to stifle her laugh as she wiped a tear from her eye, wanting to answer. “Uhm…”

“Flight becomes possible at the Cauldron Core Flame Fusion realm and above.”

It was Wan Li who surprisingly answered the question.

Long Di looked forward to this, “I’m only five minor realms and a major realm away from being able to fly then. Can’t wait,” Long Di clenched his fist in anticipation.

Everyone just assumed he was in anticipation, since his face didn’t give anything away.

“There’s a lot of people,” Shen Ling, who was wearing her veil, saw tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of cultivators rushing towards the archway.

Long Di looked farther with his heavenly gaze and commented, “There are so many humans. I didn’t think there were much humans in the demon region.”

Yaomu Shou shook her head, “They’re not from the demon region. The Spiritual Bingqi Realm, like most other Unique Realms, distorts space. Those human cultivators that you’re seeing are from other regions entirely. They may look close, but they’re actually hundreds of thousands of li away. If you look closely, you’ll realise that you’re not getting any closer to them.”

Long Di focused on the closing distance and realised that it wasn’t being shortened despite Wan Li’s speed increasing.

“What are those?” Jia Yan looked in other directions and saw beings in complete white, with a split on their foreheads. Their hair was white as well, and they were all abnormally beautiful.

The men were all dashing and handsome, while the women were elegant and graceful. There was a soft white glow around them that drew the eyes of others as if they were the favoured sons and daughters of the heavens.

They exuded a kind of dao charm that could be felt even from this distance.

Yaomu Shou’s expression became grave in an instant, “Sacred Celestics.”

“That’s them?” Long Di eyed this race that was rumoured to be the most talented at spiritual cultivation.

“Hm?”

Suddenly, a girl from this group noticed Long Di and smiled in his direction before facing forward and flying towards the gate with her group. A young man in the group noticed this but couldn’t pinpoint where she was looking and could only give up.

Not just Long Di, everyone else was shocked to see this. It wasn’t rare to find someone ‘looking’ at you. The space displacement caused you to be able to see hundreds of thousands or more people heading towards the archway to the realm.

This meant that even looking in one general direction, many people will see this as if you were looking at them directly. Because this was the case, no one took others staring at them too seriously, as you could be one of tens of thousands that the person could be looking at.

However, this wasn’t the case for Long Di. He visibly reacted to the girl staring at him and she smiled in response to this. She was able to notice Long Di staring at her through the space displacement with little trouble. Even Wan Li found this astonishing.

“Favored ones of the heavens indeed,” he commented.

Eventually, they arrived before the massive arch and Long Di was finally able to see just how big it was.

The size of a single block was the size of an entire city. Going against the arch was like a firefly competing against the moon.

Without warning, Wan Li stopped, which caused everyone to do the same.

He explained, “There is a restriction in place that will not allow those above the Core Formation Realm to enter. So I must send the rest of you forward.”

Hearing this, Long Di raised a hand, “Uhm, I’m at the Core Flame Evocation realm. Sooo… doesn’t that mean I can’t go in?”

Wan Li forgot about this. He didn’t remember that Long Di was a freak of the highest calibre. However, was this his problem?

“I’m sorry,” was all he offered as compensation.

When Shen Ling saw this, she immediately expressed her reluctance to go. This instantly started a chain reaction that ended up with the entire group unwilling to enter because of Long Di’s prodigious exclusion.

“Second uncle, fix this!” Yaomu Shou ordered.

Wan Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this. He was only a protector, okay!?

Why did he have to fix this? He didn’t cause it!

Plus, what was he to fix? Long Di doing everyone’s job at being a cultivator better than them? Sure, that was a problem that highlighted everyone else’s incompetence, but that was hardly in his job description? He wasn’t being paid enough for that!

“Young miss, if I can only interfere so much on your behalf, then surely you don’t expect me to be able to do so for someone else?” Wan Li tried his best to placate Yaomu Shou.

However, she wasn’t about to let it end here. “Actually, if we’re being technical here, you are obligated to listen to me when it comes to the opening of a unique realm. That also requires the procurement of weapons, servants and bodyguards.”

Wan Li shook his head, “These aren’t servants, young miss. I already made a huge concession bringing your friends here. Going any further would step within the bounds of the house helping and that would end up with you coming back home after this realm closes.”

“Oh, I know they’re friends. But Long Di is something else entirely,” advised Yaomu Shou.

Wan Li furrowed his brows in confusion, “What are you talking ab-”

Long Di politely stepped forward, “Hello, my name is Long Di and I am Yaomu Shou’s bodyguard.”

Like hell you are!

Wan Li looked to Yaomu Shou, flabbergasted, “Young miss!”

Yaomu Shou feigned shock with a hand to her chest, “I say, second uncle, are you truly intending to neglect your duties?”

“You…! I…!” Wan Li was speechless, and this was further exacerbated by Long Di’s inclusion.

The latter shook his head with a tsk. “I have to admit, having such a coworker is disheartening.”

Your face is disheartening!

“Ban Yan!?” Wan Li called out to the void, only to receive no response. Ban Yan wasn’t going to get involved in these muddy waters.

Wan Li was going to get punished if he continued to indulge the young miss and her unreasonable requests.

The thing is… if her requests held water, then he would still be punished. Why did he have to suffer!?

Couldn’t this freaky little thing fix his own problems!?

‘Hold on!’ A thought suddenly came to Wan Li.

He then stared at Long Di for a moment as he worked to formulate his next words.

“You’re able to cultivate somatic essence, aren’t you?”

When Wan Li asked this, everyone went silent. This was still an extremely difficult concept for them to come to terms with.

“Yes.” Long Di confirmed it.

The minute he said this, many butt holes were clenched tight. This was the appropriate response.

Long Di being able to dual cultivate two of the most counter-opposing energies under the heavens just didn’t make sense, no matter how they spun it. Yet, this impossibility was made possible through him.

Wan Li was still shaken up by this confirmation, “I-Is your cultivation of s-somatic essence the same level as your cultivation of spiritual qi?”

Long Di felt a hand crawling up his chest toward his mouth before he wordlessly slapped it away.

He didn’t need to look to know it was Yaomu Shou. He needed to get her a hobby. Her hand-to-mouth fetishes were getting out of hand. Maybe stamp collecting?

“My cultivation for somatic essence is only at the Cauldron Forging Realm. Though I think I can fight above that,” he said after thinking for a bit.

Wan Li couldn’t even be bothered to begin to comprehend this. So not only was Long Di able to fight above his cultivation as a spiritual cultivator, but he was also able to do the same as a somatic essence cultivator!? Was there any room for anyone else!? Was he trying to low-key tell everyone that they were trash!? Because if so… message received!

“Uhm, show me,” Wan Li requested, stepping back. He didn’t know what he was stepping back for, but it couldn’t hurt, right?

Seeing this, everyone did the same. The whole thing was too freaky.

D-D-Dum!

His cauldrons burst into being with a stately and heavy aura. None of the cores was lit, they were all dull, as if dead.

Wan Li stepped close to get a better look, and so did everyone else.

“I-Incredible!” commented Wan Li.

Long Di felt like an animal at a zoo but remained silent in front of everyone’s gazes. The occasional slapping away of Yaomu Shou’s hands was heard, but apart from that, it was quiet.

“R-Right…” Wan Li finally had an eyeful of this impossible phenomenon. He finally stepped back.

“Once you only use your somatic essence to fight, you should be fine. Though I don’t know how much help you can render as a cauldron forging expert, it can allow you to enter at the very least.”

“Does that mean I can’t cultivate?” asked Long Di.

Wan Li spread his hands helplessly, “If you cultivate your spiritual qi within, your spiritual cultivation base will be exposed. Once that happens, the laws there will wipe you out.”

“Right…” Long Di sighed in disappointment when he felt the rich spiritual energy coming from within.

He retracted his cauldrons and nodded to Yaomu Shou.

She nodded back and reached for his mouth, which he slapped away. She then nodded to him once more, but he shook his head this time.

Looking down in sadness, Yaomu Shou waved to her second uncle for them to get started.

Wan Li couldn’t get this command any sooner and thrust out with his palm, causing Long Di and the others to fly towards the glowing archway.

The scale of the arch truly became known to them at this distance. They were like specks of dust before the whole thing.

Once they arrived at the entry point, they passed through something akin to a film of water.

Ripples spread across the surface. This was the only thing that signified their entry.

Though they took a while to enter due to their… issues. They were hardly the only ones entering now, so they didn’t draw too much attention.

However, some demons far into the distance eyed this group menacingly.

“You all saw his cultivation base, right?”

“I saw it!”

“Good! Make sure his corpse is left in the Spiritual Bingqi Realm!”

“Leave it to me!”