Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

The two crossed the boundless Sea of Fire, cutting down the golden armored warriors that attacked them as if they were slicing through melons and vegetables, eliminating all of them.

Deep within the Sea of Fire stood a gigantic black stone mountain.

At the summit were two stone pillars, the left engraved with "Primordial Divine Fire, First Light Layer," and the right with "Three Thousand Fire Mansions, One Hundred Thousand Soldiers."

Behind the two pillars stood two archways.

The left archway bore the word "Retreat," and the right one "Enter," which was quite self-explanatory.

"Senior Brother, shall we proceed to the next challenge?" Xu Yinglian asked.

Qiu Changtian pondered.

Three Thousand Fire Mansions, thirteen light layers, each challenge becoming harder than the last, ranging from the Soul Storing Rank to the Obscure Weave Rank.

Clearly, given his and Junior Sister's strength, the golden armored warriors at the first checkpoint were obviously no match for them.

Why not charge forward until they could no longer fight, withdraw with the rewards from the Zhao Palace, and then help Junior Sister search for the Feng Tong relics.

As for the phoenix egg, they would have to temporarily leave it in the Red Lotus Sea of Fire until they found a way to retrieve it.

"Is your True Yuan still abundant, Junior Sister?" Qiu Changtian asked with a smile.

Xu Yinglian paused briefly before responding,

"I haven't even finished warming up."

What a good Junior Sister, her knack for acting cool is already thirty percent as good as mine!

Qiu Changtian burst into laughter and said,

"Shall we continue then?"

They entered through the right archway and saw yet again a red sky and dark earth, rivers of magma, a boundless Sea of Fire, and countless golden armored warriors coming at them in groups.

However, these warriors' armor was much more intact than those of the first checkpoint, with elaborate patterns on their breastplates—naturally, making them more troublesome in combat.

Xu Yinglian pierced several warriors with her Feather Jia Sword, only to find that they weren't instantly killed but persisted in the flames for two to three breaths before reluctantly turning to smoke and vanishing.

"Interesting," commented Qiu Changtian.

The power of his Tianyuan Yiqi Sword remained formidable, carving a bloody path straight through the ranks of the golden armored warriors, causing Xu Yinglian, who was watching from the side, to feel somewhat stifled.

My Second Grade Golden Core, when compared with Senior Brother's First Grade Golden Core, could the gap really be that great?

Hmph, although I'm behind Senior Brother in Golden Core, as long as I can catch up in the Nascent Soul Grade Rank, the difference won't be too much!

Junior Sister Xu reignited her fighting spirit and once again transformed into a golden-red phoenix, ferociously attacking the enemies ahead.

This secret realm actually didn't have much content; each trial was only slightly harder than the last, with the enemies' cultivation levels being the only increase.

The two fought their way to the sixth checkpoint where every golden armored warrior possessed the strength of the Root Seeking Rank in the Golden Core Realm, with two or three teaming up posing a threat to Xu Yinglian.

Although Qiu Changtian still managed with ease, he had emotional intelligence and had intentionally held back his strength since he noticed Junior Sister was getting tired at the fifth checkpoint.

Seeing that Xu Yinglian was clearly struggling but still persevering, he feigned a shortage in True Yuan and sighed,

"Junior Sister, why don't we stop here for today? If we continue to fight, I'm going to show weakness."

Xu Yinglian certainly didn't believe it, how could a First Grade Golden Core be so weak?

But she, after all, had the Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart and was very clever.

Seeing how far Senior Brother had gone for her, she was moved, yet she couldn't help but say,

"Hmph, Senior Brother. Even if you are a First Grade Golden Core with abundant True Yuan, you should also mind controlling consumption. Otherwise, if you squander recklessly, there will be times when you fall short."

"I stand corrected, Junior Sister," Qiu Changtian said, feigning sincere conviction, which coaxed a smile from Xu Yinglian.

The two retreated to the archway of the Sixth Light Layer and then left the Red Lotus Sea of Fire to return to the main hall of Zhao Palace.

Now, the main hall of Zhao Palace seemed familiar yet was filled with countless shelves, upon which lay Flying Swords, Magical Treasures, Elixirs, Jade Slips... a dazzling array of treasures and oddities shining brilliantly.

However, Qiu Changtian and Xu Yinglian noticed upon closer inspection that the quality of these items was not high.

Quite mediocre.

Golden Core Realm items were already so-so, but there were even a number of treasures suitable only for those at the Refining Mansion rank, such as Pure Yuan Qi Pills, Mercurial Elixir Liquid... Would a cultivator who reached the Sixth Light Layer need these Purple Mansion secret medicines?

Wait, the two disciples of Wei Dongliu seemed to need them.

Qiu Changtian took some Mercurial Elixir Liquid and then saw Xu Yinglian grab a Pure Yuan Qi Pill.

"A few juniors from the Xu family need it," she explained succinctly.

"Mhm," Qiu Changtian also said with a smile, "A fellow cultivator entrusted me to collect this item."

"But which fellow cultivator?" Xu Yinglian asked with caution.

"A male cultivator friend," Qiu Changtian immediately clarified.

"Hmph, it's not that I care about that..." Xu Yinglian said dismissively, her tone cool, "Who Senior Brother associates with is naturally not something for Junior Sister to meddle in. Let's go."

She turned crisply and strode away, her black hair swinging like a waterfall, her white robe fluttering as she departed.

Qiu Changtian couldn't help but chuckle and hurriedly followed her.

The two left the secret realm of the Western Queen Mother and returned to the Kunlun Heavenly Pillar, inside Jade Void Palace, to report the matter to the Ziwei Master.

"The phoenix ancestor of the Xu Family?" The Ziwei Master mused for a while before asking, "But where is it located?"

"Disciple has traced some clues and believes it might be around Dongting Lake," Xu Yinglian responded.

Dongting Lake was situated on the border of the power territories of Shushan Shangqing Temple and the Mortal Life Path, not particularly dangerous but not entirely safe either.

If the Demon Cult came to know of it, they would certainly send four or five Nascent Soul Elders to assassinate—Changgeng Qiongying, First and Second Grade, their simultaneous fall would be a tremendous blow to the potential of Kunlun Taiqing Sect, a most profitable scenario by any measure.

The safest course of action would certainly be to enlist an Immortal to escort throughout the journey, making it absolutely failproof.

After all, there are too few means to restrain an Immortal, and even Immortal-rank battles rarely conclude with life or death.

However, Immortals also have their pride; how could they be willing to play nanny to two Golden Core juniors?

That would require additional payment, and certainly not a small sum. Frankly, it's unnecessary.

It would be more fitting to owe a favor to the Ziwei Master, who could call upon a formidable Kunlun Elder to come. As long as they could save the two in case of an attack and then send a message for support from the Kunlun Taiqing Sect, it would be much more appropriate than having an Immortal ensuring full protection.

Yet, there was another problem: There were many Nascent Soul Elders in Kunlun, but not many were of high rank and most were the focus of the Demon Cult's spies.

If Qiu Changtian and Xu Yinglian were absent for an extended period, the Demon Cult might assume they were in seclusion, which wouldn't provoke much reaction.

But if a high-ranking Kunlun Elder was missing for a long time, the Demon Cult would immediately investigate their whereabouts to prevent the possibility that this Elder might have quietly left Kunlun to plan some sinister surprise attack detrimental to the Six Paths of the Demon Cult.

Therefore, assigning a high-ranking Nascent Soul Elder to protect the two might seem like a guarantee of safety, but in reality, it could draw the attention of the Demon Cult.

Conversely, if no high-ranking Nascent Soul Elder was assigned, as long as their presence went undetected by the Demonic Path, it would actually be safer for Qiu Changtian and the others... What could be safer than hiding in the shadows?

The Ziwei Master decided on a compromise: to send a cultivator with the strength of the Nascent Soul Realm but who was unlikely to attract the attention of the Demon Cult.

"Master, you called for me?"

A moment later, someone pushed the door open and entered; it was Luo Baiyuan, the Chief Disciple of the Golden Core Realm.

At first glance, she seemed to share some similarities with An Zhisu, appearing not so skilled at socializing, but those familiar with Chief Disciple Luo knew that she was rather straightforward, unlike An Zhisu's inherited "I don't care" hidden arrogance from Su Jian, which was nearly fundamentally different.

"Changgeng and Qiongying are going out," the Ziwei Master said curtly, "You will be responsible for their escort this time to prevent assaults from the Demonic Path. Remember to keep it as confidential as possible and do not disclose any information."

"Yes," Luo Baiyuan agreed without hesitation.