Cultivating with Top Enlightenment

Chapter 999 - 430: New and Old Followers (2)

”Yeah, if I had known it would be this fun, I should have let the Realm Lord reincarnate me later. I also want to try lying down and winning as an infant.”

”What enemy realm? There’s no such thing as an enemy realm anymore, it’s all our True Martial Spirit Realm now!”

An unsatisfied infant suspended in the air babbled, pointing at the crowd.

All around him, more babies either floated or stood, rolled on the ground, or gnawed on bottles, each with eyes spinning around, looking particularly amusing.

”Yes, yes, this baby has such insight, it’s truly making us adults blush!”

The crowd burst into laughter.

The entire True Martial Immortal Sect is now roughly divided into three factions.

One faction consists of the disciples who stayed behind at the True Martial Immortal Sect. Each of them curiously stands on the sidelines, chatting with cultivators they once knew, inquiring about the situation in the Mountain and Sea Realm, or watching with envy.

Previously, the Realm Lord had promised that those who went with him to the enemy realm would receive immense rewards.

Now, regardless of whether rewards are given, those who returned each walk with a stride like dragons and tigers, with auras as profound as the abyss, as if they have skyrocketed to a terrifying level.

Before Ning Qi left the True Martial Realm, there weren’t even cultivators at the Primordial Spirit Realm within the True Martial Realm.

But now, in the True Martial Spirit Realm, as the Realm Lord rapidly elevates the world, the cultivation of all beings rose rapidly like a rocket.

Yet, no matter how quickly, the entire True Martial Spirit Realm barely has a few people who reached the Void Path Realm Perfection level, with none breaking through to Harmonization.

Of course, this refers to the cultivators who stayed behind in the True Martial Realm, excluding those who reincarnated in the Mountain and Sea Realm with Ning Qi.

Those reincarnated cultivators comprise the second faction of the current True Martial Immortal Sect.

Among them, many have reached Harmonization.

Such as Taoist Longshan, Qin Yun, and others...

Their return also provides the True Martial Realm with top-tier combat power, no less formidable than the cultivators of the two realms.

The third faction is the cultivators of the Profound Truth Realm, led by Ning Qi, who built everything from scratch after entering the Mountain and Sea Realm.

It comprises cultivators from Ning Qi’s otherworldly Infinite Sword Sect, the Niu Mo Upper Sect, Celestial Star Upper Sect, and all Profound Truth Realm sects, as well as those led by Qi Keqing from the neighboring Fuyao Realm.

Since they all belong to Ning Qi, he simply integrated them into the True Martial Immortal Sect.

Now, led by the Sword Ancestor, they all sit silently on the vast square, occasionally chiming in with a word or two.

For them, the shock they felt in their hearts was no less than that of cultivators from the other two realms, even if they have always followed Ning Qi.

Because they never imagined that Ning Qi wasn’t from the Mountain and Sea Realm!

Moreover, Ning Qi already had his own sect, and he was even the lord of a realm!

Such explosive pieces of news shook them to their core, giving them goosebumps.

Lu Ziyue, tall and proud, stood among the Infinite Sword Sect’s group, clasping her hands tightly together.

”Am I really not dreaming?”

She looked around at everything, so real yet so surreal.

Lu Ziyue found it hard to believe that the infant she once picked up on an outing had long been a major player in a realm!

Her silver teeth seemed to chatter, and as the key figure who brought Ning Qi back to the Infinite Sword Sect, memories flooded her mind, making her cheeks flush and leaving the blush lingering.

”The cunning guy, he... he actually pretended to be a baby to deceive me. Was I back then, in his eyes, no different from a fool?”

Lu Ziyue’s mind was unsettled, trapped in self-doubt.

On one hand, she felt proud of Ning Qi now, but when she thought of Ning Qi’s true identity, she felt like an ignorant girl.

Lu Ziyue tidied her hair, murmuring to herself:

”But this also explains it, no wonder his talent was so terrifying, to achieve the Primordial Spirit so quickly and become the leader of our Infinite Sword Sect.”

”In truth, I shouldn’t dwell on this. If I hadn’t met him back then and brought him back to the Infinite Sword Sect, the Infinite Sword Sect would have long been destroyed!”

She tried to convince herself to drop those unnecessary feminine whims.

But having waited so long with no sign of Ning Qi, offering even a brief explanation, she couldn’t find peace in her heart.

Almost everyone from the Infinite Sword Sect, the Profound Truth Realm, and even Qi Keqing from the Fuyao Realm shared the same sentiment.

They followed Ning Qi, they received numerous favors from him, allowing them to survive safely and reach the True Martial Spirit Realm.

Now acknowledged as Ning Qi’s people, integrated into the True Martial Immortal Sect, yet to this day, they haven’t seen even a glimpse of Ning Qi.

The Sword Ancestor, Qi Keqing, and others sat facing each other, accompanied by old acquaintances from the True Martial Immortal Sect.

Taoist Longshan smiled and said to the Sword Ancestor: ”You and I are both seniors to Ning Qi, yet having fought side by side in the war realm, we are not strangers.”

As a sword cultivator, the Sword Ancestor was always frank, but now he found himself in a tricky situation.

After a brief pause, he immediately recognized the young man before him.

He remembered the young man was a Path Guardian from the Profound Lady Sect under Qi Keqing’s leadership in the Fuyao Realm.

It was said the young man was the child of a former Saintess who secretly bore a child outside, then was discovered and brought back to the Profound Lady Sect.

His background was quite intricate, leaving a deep impression on the Sword Ancestor.

Now, to his surprise, this young man had become Ning Qi’s mentor in the True Martial Realm.

Faced with such a situation, despite his long life, the Sword Ancestor found it hard to contain his expressions.

He wasn’t worried about Ning Qi neglecting them.

If Ning Qi didn’t intend to care for them, he wouldn’t have integrated them into his old sect.

The Sword Ancestor understood Ning Qi’s concerns—facing great enemies, he didn’t have the luxury of meeting everyone.

However, now that all cultivators from the Three Realms have submitted to the True Martial Realm, Ning Qi faces the Mountain Ancestor alone. The Sword Ancestor remained worried about Ning Qi.

Out of such concern, he hoped to meet Ning Qi once more.

The Sword Ancestor said to Taoist Longshan: ”Since you are Ning’s senior, shall we address each other as Daoist friends?”

Taoist Longshan laughed: ”That suits me just fine. Thanks to Daoist Jian’s assistance, Ning Qi had such a smooth journey in the Mountain and Sea Realm.”

As they talked about Ning Qi, the conversation grew more animated.

”Not at all, Ning helped us far more,” the Sword Ancestor shook his head with a wry smile.

Taoist Longshan seemed to instantly understand the Sword Ancestor’s feelings, he also smiled wryly:

”I won’t deny it, I feel the same way. That guy was born extraordinary, and as his fortunate mentor, I gained more from him.”

In an instant, the two reached an understanding and the conversation became even more lively.

In addition to them, other cultivators engaged in conversations too.

For example, another cultivator from the Profound Lady Sect, Saintess Ye Qinghe, said to Qi Keqing: ”Senior Sister Qi, I’m so glad you came to the True Martial Realm and became cultivators of the same sect as us!”

Qi Keqing naturally remembered her, being a great power from the Jade Light Immortal Sect in the Fuyao Realm, knowing all key figures from the Fuyao Realm sects like the back of her hand.

Yet now, much like the Sword Ancestor, when faced with this seemingly familiar female cultivator, she said:

”I remember you as the Saintess of the Profound Lady Sect, but as for your current identity, I’m not quite sure.”

Ye Qinghe, with her straightforward nature, laughed like silver bells at these words.

”Senior Sister Qi, just call me Qinghe. I’m actually Senior Sister to Ning Qi!”

Qi Keqing stared at her, stupefied, oh my, she had Ning Qi’s inside agent right beside her!

Not just next to her; Qi Keqing and the Sword Ancestor realized Ning Qi had deployed people almost in every sect within the Mountain and Sea Realm!

This...was simply terrifying!

Fortunately, she had been impressed by Ning Qi and willingly chose to follow him.

She had already thought following Ning Qi was the most correct decision she made in her life. Part of it was due to Ning Qi’s benevolence towards them, but mostly out of admiration for him.

But now, witnessing this scene, Qi Keqing felt she witnessed Ning Qi’s terrifying side.

To be enemies with Ning Qi, one wouldn’t know how they died, just like that old man from the Cyan Profound Immortal Sect.

Others conversed as well, like the Top Ten True Inheritors from the Infinite Sword Sect, whose eyes were fixed on Qin Minghao with burning curiosity.

”Senior Brother Qin, you kept us in the dark for so long!”

Qin Minghao smiled helplessly, responding:

”Do you know how many years I had to keep this secret? Do you realize the torment of keeping such a huge secret for so long?”

At these words, everyone couldn’t help but smile.

Yes, knowing such a crucial secret without being able to reveal it for so long must have been no easy feat!

Now, Qin Minghao no longer needed to keep this secret.

As everyone felt a bit restless, a figure slowly descended from high in the sky.

Everyone’s eyes immediately turned to that familiar silhouette.

In an instant, everyone stood up, their gazes filled with various emotions.