Chapter Six: The Heaven-Sealing Realm Is Vast

The sword’s shadow was razor-sharp, while Shen Wan was… hesitant.

No, he really had no time for hesitation.

Frankly, it was already a small miracle he could even see the sword’s shadow.

Let alone the fact that he was clutching an egg—he wouldn’t have been able to dodge it even if he were unburdened.

A sword to the throat—Shen Wan squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable.

There was a muffled sound—just a bit painful…

Slowly, Shen Wan opened his eyes, only to see a long sword gleaming in the moonlight, pressing against his jugular.

But for some reason, the blade was trembling.

Lin Bufan gripped the sword in one hand. He had just unleashed almost all the spiritual energy in his body for that thrust, yet… it hadn’t pierced through.

“Did I… did I practice a fake sword technique?” Lin Bufan was dumbfounded. Shen Wan, for his part, was equally bewildered.

He watched the other man mutter to himself, and the scene felt oddly familiar.

“Um… do you know an old man with a white beard?” Shen Wan thought this fellow seemed a bit like that old fraud—no, that old immortal.

Lin Bufan had no mind to listen to Shen Wan’s words. Gritting his teeth, he withdrew the sword and gathered his energy once more.

“Falling Blossoms Without Rain!”

Another arc of sword light swept forth.

Shen Wan suddenly understood: this man was nothing like that old immortal—he was a lunatic!

Seeing the sword coming again, Shen Wan hurriedly shouted, “Hey hey hey! It’s me! Me! It’s really me!”

Lin Bufan thought the voice sounded familiar, and hesitated for a split second, but his sword couldn’t be halted in time.

There was another muffled sound.

The same spot. The sword struck again.

Still a bit painful.

Shen Wan finally lost his patience. “I kindly brought you an egg, and you try to kill me? I’m done with this!”

“Egg?” Lin Bufan had still been puzzled as to why even the second strike failed, but hearing Shen Wan’s words snapped him out of it. He took a closer look at the “creature” before him.

“Huh? It’s you?”

At this moment, Shen Wan dearly wished to curse this man’s ancestors.

He glanced again at the egg cradled in his arms.

“Wait… is that a Blue Flame Tortoise egg?”

He finally saw it clearly. Twilight was falling, but even in the faint moonlight, the Blue Flame Tortoise’s egg shimmered with a pale blue glow.

With a look of disdain, Shen Wan threw Lin Bufan a glance and said, “Yes, it’s that Blue… whatever tortoise egg. I thought you wanted it badly, but I must’ve misunderstood.”

With that, he flung the egg backward with all his strength.

After tossing the egg, Shen Wan nonchalantly dusted off his hands.

Lin Bufan paid no mind to Shen Wan’s attitude. His eyes locked onto the large egg tumbling away, and his mind went blank.

“No!” he cried out, launching himself after it.

Lin Bufan dove like a starving tiger, landing right atop the giant egg.

The road to Qianxuan Sect’s gate sloped down the mountain, and so… Shen Wan watched as man and egg rolled all the way down toward the foot of the hill…

“Damn!” Shen Wan hadn’t expected this guy would risk his life for an egg.

He hurriedly gave chase and soon caught up at the bottom of the mountain.

In a hollow at the foot of the slope, Lin Bufan lay beneath the massive egg, gasping for breath.

Clearly, the Blue Flame Tortoise egg was sturdier than he was…

“Hey, are you out of your mind? Is an egg really worth this much?” Shen Wan stood at the edge of the hollow, relieved to see that the lunatic had only dirtied his clothes and suffered no real harm.

Clutching the egg, Lin Bufan stroked it all over. Finding it unharmed, his nose twitched, and tears welled up once more.

This time, Shen Wan actually thought the fellow looked… happy.

Yes, happy.

It was as if Lin Bufan were embracing a bride, not an egg.

At last, with a flick of his fingers, Lin Bufan stored the great egg in his spatial ring.

Shen Wan wasn’t surprised; after all, that white-bearded old immortal had done the same thing.

Night was falling fast. Lin Bufan produced a lantern glowing yellow—a bright light—illuminating both their faces.

“Thank you,” he said. Under the lantern’s glow, Lin Bufan’s gaze was especially gentle.

“Enough! Could you not look at me like that? That egg is your beloved, not me!” Shen Wan shuddered at Lin Bufan’s expression.

Sitting atop a pile of stones by the roadside, the two began to talk. Perhaps fighting had broken the ice, because they found themselves quite congenial.

Shen Wan asked many questions. Through Lin Bufan’s answers, his earliest, wildest speculation was finally confirmed: he was truly no longer on Earth.

As they conversed, Shen Wan gradually pieced together the nature of this world.

The Valley Continent was one of three great landmasses in the Heaven-Sealing Realm.

Based on Lin Bufan’s descriptions, combined with Earth’s measurements, Shen Wan concluded this world was vast—so vast that if you tried to write the number, there’d be endless zeroes trailing behind, impossible to count.

Here, people pursued the path of cultivation, and strength was all that mattered.

Earth, where Shen Wan came from, was merely one of countless mortal planets beneath the Heaven-Sealing Realm—utterly insignificant.

And as Lin Bufan knew, even the Heaven-Sealing Realm was just one among many cultivation worlds.

Beyond that lay the Outer Realms, but only those strong enough to ascend ever learned what was out there.

Such ascended cultivators, though, were as rare as phoenix feathers among the many cultivation worlds, even after millions of years.

Gazing up at the brilliant stars above, Lin Bufan’s eyes brimmed with longing.

Shen Wan, on the other hand, was utterly at a loss.

If Lin Bufan spoke the truth, then Shen Wan, in this world—unless something unexpected happened—was likely the weakest of all.

“Damn, damn, damn!” he cursed inwardly.

He’d read countless cultivation novels. Whether reincarnated or transmigrated, didn’t every protagonist carry a cheat? Didn’t all of them radiate with the golden glow of destiny?

But him?

He’d read some lousy divine technique, then spent months inside the belly of a dumb, adorable crocodile.

Patting his stomach, Shen Wan felt his fate was truly bitter.

“Hey, system, you there? When are you going to awaken? Can you level me up a bit?”

Lin Bufan looked at Shen Wan as if he were an idiot. He had no idea what Shen Wan was doing, nor did he dare ask. After all, anyone who could easily obtain a Blue Flame Tortoise egg was certainly no ordinary person. So, whatever Shen Wan was up to must have had its own logic.

Lin Bufan nodded to himself, not interrupting.

Shen Wan, after smacking his belly repeatedly with no response, could only give up in resignation.

Night had fully fallen.

Feeling that their conversation had run its course, Shen Wan finally stood and asked, “May I ask if there’s anywhere to stay nearby?”

“A guesthouse?” Lin Bufan replied, stroking his chin before continuing, “The nearest inn is in Jiangli Town to the east, about three hundred li or so.”

“What? Over three hundred li?” Shen Wan was startled. If he really tried to walk there, he wouldn’t make it by dawn—so much for sleep.

“There’s nothing closer? Somewhere just a few minutes away, perhaps?”

Lin Bufan shrugged. “No. Qianxuan Sect occupies this area. How could we allow outsiders to build inns nearby? And how long is a few minutes anyway? A stick of incense?”

Shen Wan slapped his forehead, unwilling to explain further.

He glanced around at the desolate wilderness—truly unnerving.

He looked again at Lin Bufan.

“How about… I crash at your place for the night?”

“Uh?” Lin Bufan was taken aback, then broke into a laugh. “It’s not that I won’t have you, but I live in the sect, and unless you’re an invited guest, no one outside the sect is allowed in.”

“I’m not a bad guy,” Shen Wan protested.

“I know you’re not, but outside the Qianxuan Sect’s main gate is a restriction. Anyone who isn’t part of the sect will be stopped unless they have a guest waist token. Otherwise, you simply can’t enter.”

“You can’t just take me in?”

“No.”

“Heartless!” Shen Wan grumbled. Qianxuan Sect sounded like a reputable place, but there was nothing warm about it.

Lin Bufan looked up at the sky, then stood and said, “I’m truly sorry; there’s nothing I can do. Besides, I should be heading back. I sent a message to my master earlier today, and I was supposed to be back before nightfall.”

Shen Wan’s annoyance deepened. Looking at the somewhat handsome fellow before him, he couldn’t help but think: “burn the bridge after crossing it”—that was Lin Bufan’s face to a tee.

Just as Lin Bufan was about to leave, he seemed to recall something. He patted his spatial ring, and a small cloth pouch appeared in his hand.

“Here are twenty low-grade spirit stones. Thank you for bringing me the Blue Flame Tortoise egg.”

With that, he stuffed the pouch into Shen Wan’s hand.

Leaving behind a warm smile, Lin Bufan’s robes fluttered as he disappeared into the night like a breeze.

Shen Wan stood there in silence.

He looked at the pouch in his hand, then in the direction Lin Bufan had vanished…

“I don’t want spirit stones. Would a tent be too much to ask for?”