Starting My Cultivation With Time Management-Chapter 961 - 101: Hesitant to Take Action for Fear of Affecting Other Interests

Chapter 961 -101: Hesitant to Take Action for Fear of Affecting Other Interests

The Seven Treasures Mysterious Garden Secret Realm is restricted to Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, competing for the twelve positions of the Seven Treasures Garden Lords, and obtaining clues to the next Great Bright Hall Secret Realm.

Of course, these twelve positions themselves hold little value—the truly valuable reward is the clue to the Great Bright Hall Secret Realm, for which the Sect Guardian Immortals will naturally pay the price.

Long Eyebrow Immortal intends to explore the Great Bright Hall, so Shushan attaches great importance to this matter. Moreover, with Kunlun’s invitation, several Peak Masters and elders proactively offered to head to the Extreme North Heaven Pillar to compete against Kunlun.

Following the tradition of the Golden Que Secret Realm, Su Jian planned to select twelve elders and Peak Masters from those who registered to attend.

Unexpectedly, Ling Yunpo suddenly interjected:

“How many people does Kunlun intend to send into the Secret Realm this time?”

“I don’t know,” Su Jian replied. “But they surely plan to send more than us.”

Since Kunlun is providing and sharing the clues, they will undoubtedly demand more slots, just as they did with the Golden Que.

“But Kunlun hasn’t specified how many people they’ll send, have they?” Ling Yunpo said with a smile. “If Kunlun sends in a large number, and we only send twelve, how can that work?”

“Qing Heng, have you forgotten?” an elder commented. “Regardless of how many cultivators enter the Seven Treasures Garden Secret Realm, only twelve can ultimately obtain the clue to the Great Bright Hall Secret Realm.”

“Meaning the more cultivators enter, the harder the trial inside becomes. Who knows how many will end up being eliminated?”

“True,” Ling Yunpo agreed. “But don’t forget, Kunlun has Changgeng on their side.”

As soon as he spoke this, many Shushan elders’ expressions turned solemn, clearly realizing a potential scenario.

Kunlun’s Elder Changgeng, a genius with Daoist Heart Clarity, a First-Grade Immortal Infant, has combat power far beyond his peers. Even Shushan, despite its rivalry with Kunlun, cannot dispute this.

Since Changgeng has a near-guarantee of securing one of the twelve spots, Kunlun is assured to obtain clues to the Great Bright Hall. Trial difficulty won’t matter to them.

Similarly, Shushan has Tai Yin Sword Master. Trial difficulty won’t affect the Sword Master either—could they realistically be eliminated?

Thinking this through, everyone urged Su Jian:

“With Tai Yin Sword Master as a safeguard, why not let everyone willing to go, participate?”

Su Jian, being direct and not one to fuss, boldly decided to leave some Peak Masters to guard Shushan while sending the rest to the Extreme North Heaven Pillar.

The group flew thousands of miles and finally reached the Extreme North Heaven Pillar, finding countless Kunlun cultivators, dense as a swarm, surrounding the pillar—just as Ling Yunpo predicted.

The Shushan elders were enraged.

If not for Tai Yin Sword Master’s warning, we would’ve fallen into their trap! Kunlun has brought so many people—are they planning to use Elder Changgeng as a solid base and endlessly escalate the trial difficulty, aiming to eliminate as many Shushan cultivators as possible?

Outrage rippled through the crowd, and they urged Sect Leader Su Jian to confront Ziwei Master for an explanation.

Su Jian was equally frustrated with Kunlun’s approach. Upon meeting Ziwei Master, he bluntly asked:

“How many cultivators does Kunlun plan to send into the Secret Realm this time?”

Ziwei Master, being astute, immediately recognized Shushan’s misunderstanding and calmly explained:

“Just what I sought to discuss with you. Regardless of how many each side sends, it should be agreed upon beforehand.”

In other words, Kunlun hasn’t finalized the count yet, so hold your impatience.

“Hmph.” Su Jian decided Kunlun was merely being coy and sneered, “The Three Pure Orthodox Sect shares the same lineage. Kunlun has Elder Changgeng; we have Tai Yin Sword Master. When both sides enter the Secret Realm, let us compete openly and rely on our abilities.”

Ziwei Master also felt annoyed. Kunlun had brought so many elders mainly to guard against a possible Demon Cult assault—after all, during the Golden Que Secret Realm, the Demon Cult had swarmed into battle against the Orthodox Sect. This time, precautions were certainly necessary.

But judging by Shushan’s reaction, they clearly believed Kunlun intended to employ overwhelming numbers.

This misunderstanding was hard to dispel—explaining in earnest would appear cowardly to Shushan, ultimately lowering Kunlun’s standing. Shushan’s mindset worked exactly this way.

So Ziwei Master simply nodded and said:

“Let’s wait for Penglai to arrive.”

Following his conversation with Su Jian, Ziwei Master instructed someone to inform Qiu Changtian to avoid going out, lest a conflict with Shushan arise.

After all, Shushan’s intention to let Tai Yin Sword Master overshadow Elder Changgeng was nearly public knowledge.

If the two clashed… regardless of the winner, the conflict would harm the Orthodox Sect as a whole.

Eventually, Penglai’s cultivators arrived.

Unlike the full-force mobilizations of Kunlun and Shushan, Penglai Yuqing View’s lineup remained characteristically minimal. Clearly, they had recruited reinforcements—those who ascended to Nascent Soul Elder status in Penglai were mostly scholarly types focused on learning, as the combat-prone didn’t tend to survive long.

With the Three Pure Ones gathered, the next step was to convene and debate how to allocate Secret Realm slots.

It’s well-known that the more participants enter the realm, the harder the trial becomes, and outcomes become increasingly unpredictable.

The Secret Realm entrants are typically elites, but strength alone doesn’t guarantee success. As Sect leaders, everyone naturally dislikes uncontrollable factors, so consensus was quickly reached to strictly limit the number of participants.

Soon enough, Wei Dongliu arrived on schedule from the original timeline, bringing a host of Neutral Sect cultivators.

Seeing Wei Dongliu break protocol, chaos erupted among the Three Pure Sect.

Shushan Sect Leader Su Jian made his stance clear: fight!

Unite and annihilate the Demon Cult cultivators, and the Neutral Sect ones will naturally withdraw.

Penglai’s Xuandu Sect Leader immediately objected: what if Neutral Sect cultivators are accidentally harmed?

Shushan might dare to wage war worldwide, but Penglai cannot risk alienating global factions—otherwise, who would buy their goods?

Their dispute escalated endlessly, while Kunlun maintained a neutral stance, infuriating Su Jian, who later returned to lambast Penglai, repeatedly calling them “short-sighted fools.”

“Don’t trouble yourself, Master,” Ling Yunpo inquired, “What is Kunlun’s stance?”

“They’re merely hesitant,” Su Jian scoffed coldly.

Wanting to act yet fearing risks, it seems Kunlun wants to have their cake and eat it too. No wonder Su Jian was irritated.

“No problem,” Ling Yunpo smiled. “In my view, Kunlun won’t stall much longer; a resolution will come within three to five days.”

“Indeed.” Su Jian nodded. “Wei Dongliu is no ordinary figure; he must have contingency plans. We’ll simply respond as challenges arise.”