Cool snow settled on their bodies and also fell on Seraphine’s nose tips. Seraphine stared at Echo’s smiling eyes, almost drowning in the light within her eyes.

Her hand, which had been resting on the grass, uncontrollably began to rise up, and just as she was about to touch Echo’s face, a sound came from nearby—”

“Ahem.”

Seraphine’s hand froze. She looked up.

Siyi smiled gracefully, her robes swaying as she stepped aside with practiced elegance.

The grass around them was suddenly very crowded. Disciples from Luanyang Palace, Autumn Water Pavilion, and dozens of other sects lay scattered across the meadow—some standing, others sprawled where they’d landed.

All three thousand cultivators who’d entered the secret realm had materialized in the exact same spot!

Seraphine’s expression darkened. “……”

Tsk.

Boring.

Her lips pressed into a thin line of displeasure.

I noticed Seraphine raised hand and immediately understood—she needed help getting up! I sprang into action, grabbing her hand to pull her to her feet.

Being the helpful system I was, I bent down to dust off her robes and pick grass fragments from her sleeves.

Seraphine self-consciously touched her hair ornament.

Someone in the crowd shouted, “Look at the sky!”

I clutched the grass blade I’d been removing and snapped my head up.

Two golden dragons soared overhead—the same ones that had flown in ahead of us.

They moved in opposite directions, and upon noticing the upturned faces below, both released earth-shaking roars.

Their massive forms exploded into countless golden fragments that rained down across the landscape like glittering snow.

In perfect synchronization, all three thousand cultivators launched into the air, tracking each fragment’s trajectory with laser focus.

“There’s so many!” Qiu Shuangshuang cried out. “That’s got to be tens of thousands of pieces!”

Siyi called to her companion, “Little Tao, I’ll memorize north and south—you take east and west!”

Xue Mengtao nodded, pulling out paper and brush.

Those without writing materials bit their fingers and used their own robes as canvases, sketching landing coordinates in blood.

Everyone displayed their unique talents for information gathering.

While most cultivators frantically mapped fragment locations, the impatient ones immediately shot toward the nearest pieces, hoping to claim them first.

Seeing everyone else in such a rush, Seraphine decided not to be. She spun in a lazy circle, her crimson robes blooming like a flower against the grass.

With leisurely interest, she surveyed their surroundings—endless green meadows dotted with fallen petals, like some hidden paradise.

Above them, the mapping cultivators’ expressions suddenly changed. Someone yelled, “Oh no! What are those?”

I raised both hands to shade my eyes. “Hmm?”

Let me get a better look.

The brilliant shower of fragments had attracted the attention of this realm’s original inhabitants.

Countless spirit beasts erupted from the forests, swarming like koi fish fighting for food scraps. They opened their massive jaws and devoured the golden pieces mid-air.

“The Golden Dragon fragments are treasures.” someone realized with dawning horror. “If we want them, we’ll have to fight these beasts and cut the pieces from their stomachs!”

Someone came to a realization and smiled helplessly: ‘I knew it wouldn’t be this simple. These demonic beasts have cultivation levels both high and low. I can feel the pressure from Soul Transformation Stage beasts even from here, let alone the fact that they have legs and can naturally run wherever they want to go.”

“Exactly. If it’s big fish eating little fish, mapping locations is useless.”

One man cupped his fists and laughed heartily. “Fellow daoists, I believe these beast-swallowed fragments are the real key! I’ll take my leave first—better safe than sorry. I’m going after the pieces the beasts missed!”

His words sparked a mass exodus. Hundreds of cultivators scattered, leaving only the most patient ones hovering in the air until the last spirit beast disappeared into the forest with its prize.

Siyi landed gracefully and addressed the remaining Luanyang Palace disciples. “The Five Continents Competition selected no fools—everyone here is not just clever, but ruthless. Stay alert.”

Nearby, Seraphine waved her hand. Two pill bottles appeared at each disciple’s feet. They immediately bowed deeply. “Thank you, Palace Lord!”

“We’ll give our all and uphold Luanyang’s honor!”

Seraphine smiled. “I look forward to seeing you all at the academy. Go well.”

After another round of bows, the disciples retrieved their flying artifacts and scattered in different directions.

“I won’t see you off.” Seraphine told Siyi.

Siyi’s lips curved upward. She suddenly produced a stack of romance novels from her storage ring and placed them on the grass.

With a mischievous grin, Siyi said, “I also wish the Palace Lord gets what she desires.” She and Xue Mengtao chose a direction and flew away.

The meadow fell silent. Seraphine busied herself with something while glancing at the few people still floating overhead.

With Echo around, she had zero concerns about mapping.

The combined charts of everyone here couldn’t match the precision of Echo’s casual scan. She just wondered why Echo was still hanging in the air when everyone else had left.

I stayed airborne for another minute before finally descending.

“Seraphine!” I called happily, waving as I jogged over. Halfway there, I spotted the pile of novels on the ground.

“Oh?”

Wild romance novel stack appeared!

I quickly stored the books in my ring, my bubble bouncing with each step. Inside the bubble, my system avatar was also running, its little stick arms spinning like pinwheels.

“Put away your bubble first.” Seraphine said. “The others just left—what if someone comes back and sees it?”

“Sorry, Seraphine. I was careless.” I raised my hand and compressed the bubble.

Seraphine had been waiting for exactly that moment. She placed a flower crown on Echo’s head. This content belongs to NoveI-Fire.ɴet

I stared in amazement. “For me?”

Seraphine gave Echo a look that clearly said: Obviously. Do you see it on my head right now?

“Haha!” I was delighted, holding up Nine Heavens to admire my reflection on the blade. “It’s beautiful!”

Seraphine thought Echo was praising how good she looked, but the next second she heard Echo start going “Masterful craftsmanship! Ingenious handiwork! Divine artistry! Absolutely transcendent!” and Seraphin…… contentedly curved up the corners of her mouth.

After letting Echo gush for a while, she lazily said, “Stop. What were you looking at earlier?”

“One moment.” I said.

I did a quick reconnaissance flight around the perimeter, even drawing Nine Heavens to send out two sword strikes as a security sweep. Confirming we were truly alone, I returned with snowflakes in my hair, ignoring Seraphine’s exasperated expression as I pulled up my map interface.

“Seraphine, this secret realm is enormous—even bigger than Chongshan Secret Realm. I can only precisely locate nearby fragments. For distant ones, I can only calculate approximate positions, and that’s not accounting for the spirit beasts’ movements. Anything outside visual range can’t be marked.”

I continued, “But I’ve tagged every spirit beast within scanning distance on the map. I collected extensive data during our time at Chongshan Immortal Palace, including many beast encyclopedias. I can predict their territorial patterns and movement habits to help you—”

“Help me?” Seraphine interrupted sharply. “What about you?”

Given their cultivation levels, logically speaking they should split up to search for fragments as that would be the most advantageous choice, but many things in this world don’t follow logic, such as Seraphine not wanting to separate from Echo, and Echo……

“I don’t need fragments!” I cheerfully continued updating the map, filling in landscape details. “Once you get into Insight Academy Palace, I’ll switch to orb mode and attend classes with you.”

“Seraphine, do you want to be valedictorian?”

Seraphine stared at Echo’s face intently. Word by word, she said, “I want both you and the orb to accompany me to Insight Academy Palace.”

In that case…… “Then we’ll work hard to collect fragments together.”

“One piece each?” Seraphine asked.

I nodded eagerly. “One piece each!”

“We’ll both be valedictorians!”

Only then did Seraphine look satisfied. She reached up to tidy Echo’s hair. Nearby, a peach grove stretched out, and she tucked numerous peach blossoms into Echo’s flower crown. Tiny petals drifted down, landing softly on Echo’s sleeves.

I picked one up and pressed it against Seraphine’s cheek.

Seraphine looked at Echo, clearly thinking she was being deliberately playful.

I put on my most innocent expression and turned the tables: “All the other candidates have started their exam. Shouldn’t we hurry?”

“Very well.” Seraphine asked, “Where do you want to begin?”

I’d been waiting for exactly that question!

Little flowers popped up around my flower crown with excitement. The floating map expanded, and I drew a long line from our current position to our destination—

“Seraphine, besides fragments and beasts, I also recorded the locations of Jade Cauldron Sect disciples. They sent six people into the second round, including Nie Xiu and one of his disciples.” His other disciple was probably still bedridden after Seraphine’s whip strike.

I raised Nine Heavens, keeping the sword sheathed but pointing its pommel toward the circled forest area on my map.

With enthusiasm, I extended my invitation: “The Twin Dragon Secret Realm prohibits bodily harm, Seraphine. I’ve thought of an interesting way to deal with people who once tried to bully you. Want to try it?”

Seraphine had already guessed what Echo wanted to do. She casually plucked a peach blossom, smiled as she tossed it toward Echo, and said in a coquettish voice: “Sounds delightful. Let’s go play.”