Yun Youyue hadn't spoken yet, but Jinling Feng was already displeased. "Sun Chongyang, what do you mean? Where Youyue goes is her freedom. Why do you care so much?"
The blue-clothed man called Sun Chongyang had his hair tied high, appearing imposing, but his face was pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun for a long time.
Sun Chongyang cupped his fist near his lips and coughed twice, his voice light and weak, but he refused to yield. "We are a team now. Since Fairy Youyue is the captain, she should act with us."
"You—" Jinling Feng's finger trembled with anger as he pointed at Sun Chongyang.
Sun Chongyang narrowed his eyes, unable to resist shaking his shoulders and twisting his neck.
Jinling Feng's expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously took two steps back. Realizing he had actually been scared by Sun Chongyang, his face turned extremely ugly.
"Enough!"
Yun Youyue saw Jinling Feng's cowardly demeanor at a glance, further looking down on this timid man. If it weren't for his special identity and the fact that keeping him was still somewhat useful, such a person would never be worthy of standing with her!
Yun Youyue cast a cold glance at Sun Chongyang and Jinling Feng, saying, "There was an anomaly in the snowy mountains just now. I went to investigate the situation to avoid encountering landslides again."
This explanation sounded somewhat perfunctory, but Jinling Feng immediately believed it.
Not only did he believe it himself, but he also chimed in, "Exactly. Youyue has always been very responsible towards everyone. Sun Chongyang, you're just overthinking."
Sun Chongyang tugged at the corner of his mouth and chuckled lightly, "Oh."
It was clear he didn't believe it.
A wave of annoyance surged within Yun Youyue.
She knew that after her attempt to forcibly seize the Starfall Imperial Ring from Sheng Yi was exposed, not only did Ying Shengchong and her father have many complaints about her, but her prestige among the academy disciples had also greatly diminished.
Therefore, even Sun Chongyang was starting to bully her now.
Thinking of this, Yun Youyue's gaze fell on the woman beside them who hadn't spoken much.
She curled her lips and said, "I just saw Bai Shengyi. The spiritual mansion here must have already been obtained by her. Searching further will be a waste of time. Why don't we change direction and search? Lingling, what do you think?"
The woman with a placid expression suddenly came alive and asked, "Which direction was Bai Shengyi in?"
"Are you still trying to snatch Fairy Shengyi's opportunities?" Sun Chongyang found it somewhat amusing.
He had entered the academy three years ago. After forming his core, he had been gaining experience outside. Although he hadn't met Bai Shengyi, he had heard many rumors about her during his two days back at the academy.
To be honest, if Bai Shengyi was truly as rumored, Yun Youyue truly paled in comparison. This woman had entered the academy so many years before her, and with Yun Kai as her father to protect her, yet her cultivation and methods were inferior.
If he wasn't unfamiliar with Bai Shengyi and worried that Bai Shengyi wouldn't be as easy to handle as Yun Youyue, he would have sought to team up with Bai Shengyi this time.
Upon hearing the words "Fairy Shengyi," Yun Youyue felt an unbearable sting.
The smile on her face faded.
Seeing this, Jinling Feng knew his goddess had been hurt by Sun Chongyang's words. He quickly said, "Sun Chongyang, do you know how to speak? What do you mean by Bai Shengyi's opportunity? This Sanghai Secret Realm was prepared by the academy for all of us. Opportunities naturally go to the capable! Besides, don't you want to find the Sanghai Spiritual Mansion?"
Sun Chongyang seemed to have been hit where it hurt by Jinling Feng's words, and the two of them suddenly started arguing.
Meanwhile, Bai Shengyi temporarily gave up searching for Bai Murong after failing to find her.
After all, she couldn't put the cart before the horse. She came to the secret realm to improve herself, which was much more important than Bai Murong.
On the way to finding the spiritual mansion, Sun Ling suddenly said, "Shengyi, how many spiritual mansion keys do you have now?"
The treasures that could open the spiritual mansion were called spiritual mansion keys by the seeds. The lotus lampstand in Bai Shengyi's hand was one of them.
"One."
"Just one?" Sun Ling rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment before gritting his teeth. "I've found two so far. Before I came, I got news that there are a total of one hundred and eight spiritual mansion keys. If one can obtain more than half, one can enter the Sanghai Spiritual Mansion."
"Sanghai Spiritual Mansion?" Bai Shengyi frowned slightly. "I know about that. It is said to be the core of the Sanghai Secret Realm. Inside, the flow of time can reach one to one hundred. However, although the Sanghai Secret Realm has only opened three times over the years, no one has ever found this spiritual mansion."
Before entering the secret realm, Qin Si had also specifically told Bai Shengyi about this matter. Qin Si's original words were: "The Xun family has calculated that the Sanghai Spiritual Mansion may appear and select its master this year."
Because the Sanghai Secret Realm was relatively special, the time of its opening was not controlled by the academy but was random. Therefore, even Qin Si had very limited information, but he told Bai Shengyi everything he knew to prevent her from missing opportunities.
It was just that Bai Shengyi had been tricked by Bai Yiyi as soon as she entered the secret realm, and she almost forgot about it.
As a member of the Sun family, Sun Ling's saying so meant he was confident in the accuracy of this information.
Bai Shengyi then said, "So you want to find the Sanghai Spiritual Mansion?"
"Naturally!" Sun Ling said crisply. "I want to cooperate with you. I have already contacted two partners. It would be even better if you were willing to join."
"Who are those two?"
"You must have heard of them, Jing Fei and Qin Sanxiang."
Bai Shengyi couldn't help but twitch her lips. She hadn't just heard of them; their names were thunderous.
As for Qin Sanxiang, she was the renowned Fairy Sanxiang. Her most famous deed was challenging three Golden Core cultivators alone at the late Foundation Establishment stage and winning. After that, she went out to gain experience and successfully formed her core within half a year. Many people admired her strength, hence her title "Fairy Sanxiang."
As for Jing Fei, he was even more famous.
If Yun Youyue was the treasure of the Artifact Refining Peak, and everyone believed that with her artifact refining talent, she might break through to become a ninth-rank artifact refiner, then Jing Fei was the pearl of the Pill Condensation Peak, and everyone was certain he would become the first eighth-rank alchemist on the continent.
Before Bai Shengyi, Jing Fei was considered the youngest and most talented alchemist on the Divine启 Continent, as he successfully embarked on the path of alchemy at the age of twenty and smoothly became a fifth-rank alchemist, winning first place in the Pill Battle Tournament that year.
What was even more special was that Jing Fei could refine pills across realms. The most talked-about incident was that after he won the Pill Battle Tournament, Mei Shuying, feeling unconvinced, challenged him. As a fifth-rank alchemist, he refined a seventh-rank pill, completely defeating Mei Shuying.
It was also that year that Jing Fei suppressed the Mei family's ambition, allowing the Feng family to continue to smoothly hold the Pill Battle Tournament in the following years.
These two had entered the Divine启 Academy very early. Although they had been gaining experience outside over the years, their legends still existed in the academy.
Bai Shengyi didn't know how Sun Ling had connected with these two, but the thought of cooperating with them made her feel immense pressure, yet also incredibly excited.
"Alright! I'll join!"
Bai Shengyi gave her answer directly.
She thought for a moment and then said, "Finding spiritual mansions and finding the Sanghai Spiritual Mansion are not mutually exclusive. We need to speed up."
With that, she and Sun Ling disappeared from the snowy mountaintop like shooting stars.
Unbeknownst to Bai Shengyi, as soon as she left, Yun Youyue's group followed closely behind.
Xia Lingling surveyed the surroundings and said solemnly, "They just left, heading west."
Yun Youyue frowned. "Let's go! Chase them! My treasure-hunting rat was also pointing west just now."