Qiu Ling was still happily imagining his next reunion with his beloved after he sneaked out when the person in front of him suddenly stopped.

"We’ve arrived." Grandmaster Zhangsun motioned at the array that was half-hidden at the back of his peak. In fact, if one didn’t know that it was there, then one wouldn’t see it from up in the air. The branches of the trees covered the bigger part of it and only let a faint line shine through here or there when the breeze rustled in the leaves and the branches swayed to the side.

"This is …?" Qiu Ling tilted his head and raised his brows. This wasn’t too far away. When he sneaked out, he wouldn’t even need a minute to get back to his beloved. It seemed his Master wasn’t as heartless as he had thought. He still let him see his Jing He!

Grandmaster Zhangsun turned toward him again, still frowning as usual, but his expression seemed even grimmer. With how his disciple had behaved up until now, he really was worried that he might offend that man. "Remember what I said: You will enter this dimension and meditate. Do not annoy that man and if there is something he asks you to do, then you should gladly accept his advice. It is your good fortune if he offers it."

Qiu Ling’s brows raised even higher. "You won’t come with me?" In other words … he only had to shake off that so-called 'hidden expert'?! Fantastic! Then it shouldn’t take long to return to his beloved’s side.

Zhangsun Xun Yi nodded. "Yes, I’ll return to the palace. That man doesn’t like too many people around him. Since I’ve already told him that you would come, there is no need for me to enter too. When you go in, greet him and introduce yourself. I only mentioned that I had taken in a disciple that I would send over. So you should tell him your name and if he asks anything else, then you should also tell him. Don’t forget to be courteous."

Qiu Ling nodded very honestly, wondering if he could leave sooner if he managed to piss off that hidden expert. In that case, his Master wouldn’t be able to put him in another dimension, would he? Then his future together with his beloved was definitely secured for the time being.

Seeing his disciple nod in such a straightforward manner, Zhangsun Xun Yi was satisfied. Even though this boy’s mind wasn’t too stable and he got easily distracted, that could still be mended. The fact that he listened well as long as somebody was there to supervise him, was already worth a lot. The rest would come with time. He motioned at the array once again and Qiu Ling turned around and stepped into it.

The lines of the array flashed and Qiu Ling was transported to the dimension on the other side. He curiously looked around and couldn’t help but raise his brows. The spiritual energy here was indeed much better than outside. Not that this place could compare to the dragon realm.

Honestly, in terms of energy, this whole mortal realm was nothing like the immortal realms. He wasn’t sure why the mortals bothered trying to cultivate at all. With this type of minuscule amount of spiritual energy, the result couldn’t be worth the effort. How long would it take to get proficient with this energy in this kind of environment? Well, it wasn’t his problem.

Qiu Ling shook his head and stepped out of the array, casually taking a look around. This realm wasn’t very big. In fact, it might have been about the size of the Yun Zou Sect’s outer sect. If this was a place the Yun Zou Sect gave to their hidden experts … He really wondered why somebody would want to rest here. Other than the slightly higher amount of spiritual energy, there really wasn’t anything special about this.

Just when he thought so Qiu Ling stepped past a row of trees and found himself in front of a lake. A few boulders were lying to the side and lush grass covered the rest of the ground. Mn, this wasn’t too bad. At the very least, this place looked quite nice. He couldn’t help but wonder where that so-called hidden expert was thought. How come he hadn’t seen him yet?

Qiu Ling furrowed his brows but finally just went to sit down on the biggest boulder. Who knew if his Master was still standing outside, checking whether he would stay in this dimension or not? No, it was better if he waited for a while and then fled the stupid realm. He still had to turn return to his beloved, after all!

Qiu Ling made himself comfortable on the boulder but after waiting for a while, he couldn’t help but grow bored. He picked up some pebbles from the ground and started to throw them into the water.

The person that was once again sitting on the ground of the lake opened his eyes, his brows twitching in exasperation. He got up from his sitting position, evaded the stones and pushed off from the ground, breaking through the surface of the lake. "Brat, if you dare to —"

A pair of black eyes and a pair of golden eyes stared at each other. The hand that had just been raised to throw another pebble, twitched and the stone flew to the side. Qiu Ling’s gaze darted around and he threw the other pebbles behind him. "I didn’t do anything! Whatever you saw, it must’ve been your imagination. Why would I ever want to throw stones at you, old geezer? Our enmity isn’t that deep!"

That pair of golden brows twitched in return. So that brat still admitted that there was some enmity. Well, he’d really like to see just how long the Grandmaster intended to leave him here. He certainly would have something to say when he came to pick that brat up.