The sect master Dongfang was never a stubborn person. After understanding the situation, he assured Zhang Yiyi that he would not mention the secret of the bronze shard to anyone and told her to proceed as she wished, assuring that the sect would not interfere in the personal affairs of its disciples.

With such a clear statement from the sect master, Zhang Yiyi no longer worried.

Afterward, the sect master formally followed protocol, conducting separate interviews with Mo Yan and Zhang Tongtong. With this, the matter of the mystic realm came to a close.

Mo Yan did not get any information he wanted from the sect master. Worse still, he sensed from the subtle hints that the sect master was biased in favor of Zhang Yiyi, which left him with an even darker and more displeased expression as he left.

But no one paid attention to Mo Yan's feelings, and the flying boat smoothly returned to the Yunxian Sect without any trouble.

After disembarking, Zhang Yiyi happily returned to the First Peak of the Inner Sect, where she was immediately greeted by her master and senior brother, who had been waiting for her.

Seeing Zhang Yiyi return safely, Jiang Heng and his disciples were overjoyed.

After all, this was the first time their little disciple (or little junior sister) had officially left the sect for more than half a month, and it had been to such a dangerous place.

Upon her return, having successfully built her foundation and even advanced to the mid-stage of foundation establishment, Jiang Heng immediately checked and assessed her.

Seeing that her cultivation was solid and her foundation stable without any problems, Jiang Heng repeatedly nodded in approval. As for the immortal artifacts, he didn't even bother to ask.

After all, in their eyes, no immortal artifact could be more important than Zhang Yiyi herself.

Her master and senior brother didn't ask, but Zhang Yiyi was eager to share, recounting her experiences and encounters in the mystic realm from start to finish.

She didn't hide her emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, or excitement—unlike the careful, guarded account she had given to the sect master.

"Little junior sister, you're amazing! That's exactly how you should've handled it!"

"Yiyi did everything right. Just continue following your heart, no need to worry about anyone else!"

Jiang Heng and his disciples didn't speak much, but their sentiments were consistent: their Yiyi was always right, and their Yiyi was the best...

Zhang Yiyi was already accustomed to the unconditional trust and support from her master and senior brother. She smiled and nodded in agreement, "Master is absolutely right! Senior brother's words are spot on!"

After all, birds of a feather flock together. From their ancestor down, their lineage had always been confident and fiercely protective of their own, and it didn't matter if others didn't like it.

"As for the Yingtai trial ground, the teammates you picked were quite good. From now on, you should work even harder on your cultivation and aim to be in peak condition before the trial opens."

Jiang Heng emphasized a few key points to his little disciple, "I remember your martial uncle once mentioning the name of the Yingtai Platform. He might have even been there, but I'm not sure. When he comes out of seclusion, you can ask him if there's anything he knows about it. It might help you when the time comes."

Zhang Yiyi hadn't expected to get an additional clue about the Yingtai Platform from her master, and she was pleasantly surprised.

"Is martial uncle coming out of seclusion soon?" she asked instinctively.

"Not so soon, probably in about ten years, but don't worry, he won't miss it."

Jiang Heng guaranteed this with confidence.

Since Yiyi's cousin had confirmed that the trial ground would open at a random time within twenty to a hundred years of the bronze key's appearance, his junior brother would definitely be out of seclusion before Yiyi entered the Yingtai Platform.

As for why Yiyi's cousin knew secrets that even the True Saints of the Great Ascension stage might not know, or what secrets she held, Jiang Heng wasn't concerned.

As long as his little disciple's mind remained clear, following her heart and moving forward, both the good and bad would only serve as stepping stones for her growth.

"Furthermore, I have noticed a significant improvement in your spiritual sense. It seems like it has been nurtured and purified by the Divine Soulstone Essence, resulting in substantial benefits. When you mentioned feeling overwhelmed by something entering your spiritual energy, it was probably due to the influence of the Divine Soulstone Essence. As a result, your spiritual sense has a much higher starting point in terms of both breadth and strength compared to others, and you have even begun to develop the early stages of advanced offensive abilities as a cultivator."

Jiang Heng hadn't expected his little disciple to be so fortunate. She had visited the dangerous and stingy Luoxian River Mystic Realm, where nothing but immortal artifacts usually came out, yet she managed to gain such a great opportunity.

It was clear that the full cave of Divine Soulstones had contained the most precious Divibe Soulstone Essence. For some unknown reason, it had all ended up benefiting her, absorbed directly into her body.

After hearing this, Zhang Yiyi finally understood the root of the strange occurrences in the Divine Soulstone Cave that day. She had almost blamed her cousin, thinking the sudden dimming of the Divine Soulstones was her cousin's doing.

Feeling a bit guilty, she touched her nose, thankful that her cousin would never guess the truth.

"But Master, Divine Soulstone Essence is incredibly rare and usually only found in very specific types of Soulstones. How could it just come out on its own and enter my body?"

Her curiosity quickly overshadowed the tiny bit of guilt she had felt.

Extracting the Divine Soulstone Essence wasn't easy, and with her level of cultivation, there was no way she could have drawn it out from the Soulstones by mere absorption alone.

"That's not the only question. There's another critical point. With your current cultivation, the amount of the Divine Soulstone Essence you could absorb would be limited. But based on your description of the cave, the amount of Divine Soulstone Essence in there was likely hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times more than what your body could handle."

Jiang Heng hit the nail on the head: "You also mentioned that the Divine Soulstones in the cave dimmed as you left. This means that over ninety percent of the Divine Soulstone Essence in there is gone. So the real question is, where did all that Essence go?"

As the question hung in the air, Zhang Yiyi became even more confused. She exchanged puzzled glances with her senior brother Wuji, but neither could come up with an answer. In the end, they both turned expectantly to their master.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Heng confidently concluded, "There must be something special on you that actively absorbed the vast majority of the Divine Soulstone Essence in that cave. Because of this, you were merely along for the ride, receiving only a small portion of the benefits."

"Something special? Something that could absorb so much Soulstone Essence on its own? But I don't have anything like that!"

Zhang Yiyi thought hard but couldn't come up with anything. She turned once more to her master, hopeful. "Master, why don't you take a look? If there's something special on me, surely it wouldn't escape your discerning eyes!"