Shortly after, the surrounding illusions vanished, and everything inside the temple remained unchanged, save for the mysterious aura which seemed to have dissipated.
Su Shanshan was still by Lin Tianchen's side, gently holding his arm. Though a long time had seemed to pass within the illusion, in reality, it had only been the blink of an eye. If not for his increased cultivation and the sealing technique in his mind, he himself might never have believed he had met Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, inside the Dongyue Temple.
It turned out that cataclysmic battle had shattered the spiritual veins of the Blue Planet, leaving barely one in ten thousand intact. This had caused the global spiritual energy to near exhaustion, severing the path of immortal cultivation, and shattering the Blue Planet into numerous pieces. The current Blue Planet was merely the largest of these fragments, while the others had either drifted into the endless starry sky or evolved into Secret Realms.
As Dongyue was the connection point to the Southern Heavenly Gate of the ancient Heavenly Court, the fighting there had been exceptionally fierce. The Great Emperor Jinwu and a powerful Demon clan expert had fought to the death in this very place. Somewhere at the Jade Emperor Peak of Dongyue Mountain lay a connection to the Dongyue Secret Realm, where the Nine-Sun Grass grew.
The Nine-Sun Grass survived there precisely because the Great Emperor Jinwu had spilled his blood upon the land, imbuing it with abundant Yang energy. He only wondered if this trip to Dongyue would allow him to find the entrance to the Secret Realm.
They say traveling ten thousand miles beats reading ten thousand books, and the ancients did not deceive us; this trip to Dongyue had indeed yielded massive gains. Not only had his cultivation advanced to the Kaiyang Perfection realm—truly a pillow dropped when one is sleepy—but he had also obtained the inheritance of the Sealing Secret Technique. Having learned the whereabouts of the Exquisite Pagoda, he would definitely seize it given the chance.
A wave of joy surged in Lin Tianchen's heart. In truth, this was all thanks to the Taiyi Bead. The "Yi" stood for variables, excelling at finding possibilities within the impossible—what people called destiny. Lin Tianchen was a man full of variables.
Afterward, Lin Tianchen took Su Shanshan by the hand and led her on a tour of the Dongyue Temple.
***
An hour later, all the students had thoroughly enjoyed themselves. After taking a short rest, they set off once more.
Lin Tianchen walked in front with Su Shanshan behind, hand in hand. As a guy, Lin Tianchen's physical stamina naturally surpassed a girl's, not to mention he was also an immortal cultivator.
Lin Tianchen pulled Su Shanshan along with a gentle force, allowing her to save some energy. Although mountain climbing was tiring, the affection between the two of them heated up rapidly, and Su Shanshan's gaze toward Lin Tianchen grew increasingly tender.
For an immortal cultivator like Lin Tianchen, climbing the mountain was effortless; not a trace of sweat was visible on his body, and he could simultaneously deduce the sealing technique in his mind.
As an ancient secret technique, the Sealing Secret Technique was incomparably powerful. Known for its ability to seal all things, it possessed the functions of sealing and suppression. It had three tiers: the Initial Mastery realm, which could forcibly suppress an enemy's cultivation level by one minor realm; the Great Accomplishment realm, which could forcibly suppress an enemy's cultivation level by two minor realms; and the most heaven-defying final tier, the Perfection realm, which could forcibly suppress an enemy's cultivation level by an entire major realm. It could truly be called the ultimate auxiliary method for defeating enemies across realms.
The seal could be applied to both inanimate objects and living beings. When applied to inanimate objects, it functioned like a refrigerator's preservation feature, preventing items from spoiling or decaying. When applied to living beings, it could plunge them into a dormant state without affecting their vital signs, much like pressing a pause button.
At that moment, Lin Tianchen was holding Su Shanshan's hand with his right hand, while his left hand happened to be holding a bottle. With his spiritual power circulating internally, following the training method of the Sealing Secret Technique, he guided his spiritual power to flow slowly through the corresponding meridians. After completing a full cycle, he had basically mastered the Sealing Secret Technique. From then on, he only needed to practice diligently to reach the Initial Mastery realm for it to show initial results.
As the Sealing Secret Technique continued to circulate, Lin Tianchen grew increasingly proficient in mastering it. Coupled with his own extraordinary comprehension, half an hour later, the sealing technique finally reached the Initial Mastery realm.
At that moment, Lin Tianchen was particularly eager to test the power of the Sealing Secret Technique. Sealing a living creature was out of the question for the time being, but he could immediately experiment with its effects on an inanimate object. He looked at the mineral water bottle in his left hand.
Instantly, he activated the Sealing Secret Technique, channeling his spiritual power into his left hand and letting it flow into the mineral water bottle. Then, he focused his mind to carefully sense the state of the mineral water and found that it indeed worked—the active molecules in the water were no longer active, just as if they had been frozen in a refrigerator.
***
Thus, the main group continued moving forward. The students' physical strength was constantly depleting; the male students were holding up somewhat, but the female students were experiencing a severe drop in stamina, causing the group's pace to slow down. Fortunately, not far ahead was the Heavenly Ladder. Legend has it that in ancient times, the Heavenly Court's Southern Heavenly Gate connected to the Human Realm via the Heavenly Ladder, and mortals who climbed the Southern Heavenly Gate could attain immortality.
Before long, everyone arrived at the Heavenly Ladder. Their guide, Qin Yang, told everyone to rest for half a minute and then make a final push to climb the ladder.
The students found various places to sit and rest, taking out mineral water and beverages to drink.
At this moment, Lin Tianchen and Su Shanshan also sat down to rest. Beside them was Teacher Chen Yixian, whose clothes were partially soaked with sweat, adding a unique allure to her already peerless appearance.
Lin Tianchen handed the mineral water from his left hand to Su Shanshan, whispering in her ear, "Wife Shanshan, drink this one; it's much more refreshing."
"Who... who is your wife? Stop talking nonsense, others might hear!" Su Shanshan's pretty face instantly turned flushed as she took the mineral water and took small sips to cool her burning cheeks. "Why is this water so refreshing? It tastes like it was just taken out of the fridge."
Gently wiping the sweat from Su Shanshan's pretty face, Lin Tianchen said, "This is my secret weapon as your husband. I'll tell you when nobody else is around."
"If you talk nonsense again, I won't talk to you anymore, humph!" With that, she purposely turned away in feigned anger.
Just then, she saw Teacher Chen Yixian fanning her face with her hand. Su Shanshan said, "Teacher Chen, you should drink my water; it's extra refreshing, quenches thirst, and cools you down."
"Tianchen, do you have any more of this ice water?" Su Shanshan turned back to ask.
Lin Tianchen took another bottle of water from his backpack and repeated his trick, making the mineral water ice-cold once again.
Su Shanshan handed the ice-cold mineral water to Chen Yixian.
Chen Yixian took it, felt the icy chill in her hand, and took a few sips. "It really is ice-cold! Thank you, Shanshan!"
"You're welcome. If Teacher Chen wants to thank someone, thank Lin Tianchen; he made it."
After thanking Lin Tianchen as well, Chen Yixian found herself even more interested in this handsome boy, completely forgetting her own advice to her best friend never to be interested in a man, as doing so was the beginning of falling into the abyss.
Half an hour passed in a flash, and at Sun Yang's call, the students stood up one after another to continue climbing the mountain.
Lin Tianchen pulled Su Shanshan up, holding her fair, delicate hand as they walked all the way toward the Heavenly Ladder.
Most of the other students were also boys holding hands with girls, with a single exception: Little Fatty's group, where the girl was pulling Little Fatty along. Seeing this, the other students burst into laughter, teasing him for not acting like a real man amid a chorus of giggles.