Lan Yingying and Grandma Lan followed Grandpa Lan’s movements, bowing to the Mystic Pagoda with respect.
Sometime later, Grandpa Lan transformed into his beast form and carried his family back to the Divine Forest.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Mystic Realm, Gao Dongya and Xue Jiye finally began their journey after spending an entire week increasing their cultivation, reaching the Spirit Warrior realm.
"The spiritual energy in this world is abundant and rich. If only the outside world was like this, I would’ve become a Spirit Master by now!" Xue Jiye sighed out loud.
Then she turned to look at Gao Dongya and asked him, "What should we do now? We still have no idea where Disciple Yuan is."
"It would only be a waste of time if we look for him when we don’t even know where we are, much less where he is. The only thing we can do right now is follow the plan and obtain as many points as we can with what little time we have left." Gao Dongya said.
And he continued, "Hopefully, that’s what he’s doing as well."
"What do you want to do then? Hunt for magical beasts for the next three weeks?" Xue Jiye suggested, as that seemed to be the most efficient method of grinding points.
Gao Dongya narrowed his eyes at her and said, "What a simple woman. Do you really believe you are the only one with that thought? We won’t achieve first place if we do something like this!"
"Stop calling me woman! I have a name— Xue Jiye! And do you really think we can take first place with just the three— two of us? Your ambition is too high!"
"I don’t know about you but I always strive for the best results, and the best result for the Mystic Realm would be the Mystic Pagoda!" Gao Dongya said in a calm voice.
"The Mystic Pagoda? Hmph! Nobody has opened that place up since ancient times. What makes you think you’ll be able to open it?"
"If I had your attitude, I would never be able to open it." Gao Dongya said, and he turned around and began walking.
"Enough chit-chatting. We have already spent too much time increasing our cultivation."
"Since you’re so smart, why don’t you tell me where we can find the Mystic Pagoda?" Xue Jiye said.
Gao Dongya then pointed to the skies, where a blue star flickered.
"If you’d done your research before coming here, you would know that by following the blue star, you’ll reach the Mystic Pagoda. This isn’t the first time people have been to this place. Seriously, why did the Sect Master even pick someone like you to come here if you’re not taking this seriously?"
"Che." Xue Jiye sucked her teeth at Gao Dongya’s response that left her speechless.
Thus, they began their journey towards the Mystic Pagoda, as was every other participant in the Mystic Realm.
Normally, they would be hunting magical beasts and doing whatever they can to increase their points, but this year was different, as everybody wanted to ascend to the Spirit Heaven, where their career as a cultivator would surely reach a new level.
Even if their sects were to receive a lower rank because of this, none of the participants cared.
In their mind, since there was someone as monstrous as Yuan participating in the Mystic Realm, the only way they could beat someone like him was to go above and beyond and open up the Mystic Pagoda.
"Looks like all of the participants are heading towards the Mystic Pagoda."
The observers outside the Mystic Realm noticed this.
"This year’s Mystic Realm is truly a mess. Not only are the participants getting killed by a mysterious force, but they’re also not following the routine. This is all because of Senior Nie’s presence." One of the Sect Masters there sighed.
"Can you really blame them, though? If I was in their shoes, I would also be trying to do whatever I can to go to the Spirit Heaven."
"If I weren’t so old and have an entire sect to take care of, I would also love to try to ascend."
While the Sect Masters mumbled to each other, Senior Nie and the people in the Spirit Heavens spoke to each other.
"Do you think the Mystic Pagoda will finally open this year?" One of the crystal balls asked.
"Most likely not," said another voice.
"Yeah, I highly doubt it as well."
"The Mystic Realm has existed for countless years with countless challengers, yet not a single person has managed to open the Mystic Pagoda. This year won’t be any different."
However, Senior Nie smiled and said, "Actually, there is one person who’d managed to open the Mystic Pagoda."
"Hm? There was someone like that? How come I have never heard of it?"
Half of the spectators were hearing this for the first time.
"Are you talking about the owner of the Mystic Realm, Elder Nie?"
"Wait a second... The Mystic Realm has an owner? This is my first time hearing about this!"
Senior Nie nodded his head and said, "It’s not surprising some of you don’t know about this since it’s only mentioned in ancient scrolls regarding the Mystic Realm."
"Countless years ago, when the Mystic Realm still had no Master, people could enter and leave the place at will. However, all of that changed when a certain individual— a certain young man entered the Mystic Realm and became its Master."
"W-Wait a moment..." One of the voices interrupted and spoke, "You’re telling me some youngster became the Master of the Mystic Realm? How did that happen? Who is this young man?"
"Nobody knows his identity." Senior Nie said.
"What? Nobody? How is that possible?" A voice of disbelief quickly resounded.
"Because he was always wearing a mask. The only thing we know about this individual is that he’s a young man— at least that’s what people got from his voice. He entered the Mystic Realm, became its Master, left the place, and he was never heard from again."
"Of course, this person also made new rules for the Mystic Realm and closed its doors. Now, only those with tokens are allowed to go inside."
Then someone asked, "What about the tokens? Where did we get them?"
"It was given to the founders of our sect, and we have been hosting the Mystic Realm ever since then. Nobody besides the founders knows why we’re doing this, but it’s become a tradition of sorts, and nobody really questions it anymore." Senior Nie said to them.
"Heavens... And here I thought we were doing this because we’re recruiting potential talents for our sect..." One of the voices mumbled in a dazed voice.
"Honestly, that’s how most of us see this nowadays, so regardless of what our founders were thinking, this is the outcome," said another voice.
Meanwhile, inside the Mystic Realm, Wang Xiuying suddenly pointed to the tall building at the end of the horizon and said, "Look at that pagoda! I think that’s the Mystic Pagoda!"
Yuan nodded and sped up a little, quickly approaching the pagoda in the distance.
Sometime later, they arrived at the pagoda, and Yuan descended from the sky.
"We got here much quicker than expected since we flew here. Look at the door, this is definitely the Mystic Pagoda." Wang Xiuying pointed at the top of the door, where the words ’Mystic Pagoda’ were engraved.
"This place looks more ’ordinary’ than I’d anticipated," Yuan said as he looked at the Mystic Pagoda.
"You think so too?" Wang Xiuying agreed with him, and she continued, "I thought it would be more special, but I have seen similar buildings in the Northern Continent plenty of times by now. However, this place does give me a unique feeling that other places don’t, but I cannot pinpoint what this feeling is exactly."
"Let’s take a look around the place!" Wang Xiuying suggested.
The two of them proceeded to walk around the Mystic Pagoda to see if there was anything around the place.
Literally, a minute later, they returned to the front of the place.
"I didn’t see anything special. What about you?"
Yuan shook his head. Even with Divine Sense, he wasn’t able to see anything unique.
Of course, his Divine Sense wasn’t able to penetrate the Mystic Pagoda for some reason, almost like there was something protecting it.
A few moments later, Wang Xiuying suddenly approached the doors to the Mystic Pagoda and tried to open it.
However, she quickly realized that was impossible, as there was no door handle at the door.
Thus, she could only try knocking on the door.
"Hello? Anybody inside?"
"..."
Nobody responded to her, something Wang Xiuying had expected even before knocking on the door.
"Any idea how to open this place?" Wang Xiuying turned to look at Yuan, who had been standing there in silence, staring at the Mystic Pagoda with a dazed expression on his face.
"Yuan? Are you okay?" she asked him again.
"Y-Yes..." Yuan nodded, and he continued, "This place seems so nostalgic for some reason, almost like I have been here before."
"You’re thinking too much. There’s obviously no way you could’ve been here before." Wang Xiuying chuckled.
"I guess..." Yuan nodded and approached Wang Xiuying before standing at the door to the Mystic Pagoda.
It was at this moment the doors that had been sealed shut for countless years suddenly began to tremble.
"T-This is..." Wang Xiuying’s eyes widened with shock when the doors suddenly opened. Why did the doors suddenly open? They didn’t even do anything special!
"M-Maybe it opened because I knocked on the doors?" she mumbled, as this was the only explanation she could think of.