“You should eat slower.”

Second Senior Brother Qingxiao glanced helplessly at Zhao Linglong, then turned to Xu Taiping and said:

“Representing the Immortal Law Enforcement to compete for the cauldron in the Immortal Gourd Cave is a great opportunity for training. Taiping, you must seize it well.”

His tone was full of expectation.

“Senior Sister, Senior Brother, I still don’t quite understand what the Immortal Gourd Cave is, what it means to compete for the cauldron, and why the Immortal Law Enforcement would invite me to represent them in entering the Immortal Gourd Cave?”

Although Xu Taiping had figured out how he got the spot to enter the Immortal Gourd Cave, he was still clueless about the place itself.

“Blame me, blame me. Taiping, you’ve only been an official disciple for a year, so you probably haven’t heard of the Immortal Gourd Cave.”

Zhao Linglong slapped her forehead and then enthusiastically began to explain to Xu Taiping.

“The Immortal Gourd Cave is a very famous mystical realm in the Nine Mansions.”

“It’s said that this mystical realm was once a place where an ancient Immortal Sect raised spiritual beasts and cultivated spiritual herbs. There are many spiritual herbs that are over a thousand or even ten thousand years old, as well as many spiritual beasts and demonic beasts that have long been extinct in the Nine Mansions. You can also find the abodes of ancient cultivators in there.”

“But unlike other mystical realms, this one has a master. Without his permission, no one can enter the Immortal Gourd Cave.”

“And the master of the Immortal Gourd Cave is the first Mansion Lord of the Nine Mansions, Jade Green Scholar.”

“This Jade Green Scholar’s cultivation is said to be unparalleled, even our Grandmaster is no match for him.”

“If it weren’t for him, the Nine Mansions’ Immortal Alliance wouldn’t have been established.”

“But let’s get back to the Immortal Gourd Cave.”

“When Jade Green Scholar stepped down as Mansion Lord, he promised to open the Immortal Gourd Mystical Realm to the disciples of the Nine Mansions once every twelve years. However, the spots are limited, and only young talents under the age of eighteen can enter.”

“In the Immortal Gourd Cave, there’s a great snowy mountain called Jade Gourd Peak, towering thousands of feet high.”

“Jade Green Scholar and the Nine Mansions set a rule: whoever can reach the summit first can take a flask of spiritual spring water from the Jade Gourd Peak. Additionally, the sect represented by that cultivator will receive generous rewards from the Nine Mansions.”

“Over the past seven or eight hundred years, the competition for the Immortal Gourd has become a grand event in the Nine Mansions. Many of today’s prominent figures in the Nine Mansions made their names in this competition.”

“So, for young disciples and the various sects of the Nine Mansions, it’s a great opportunity to make a name for themselves and gain fortuity.”

After saying so much in one breath, Zhao Linglong felt her mouth getting dry and grabbed a nearby teacup to take a big gulp.

After listening to Zhao Linglong’s explanation, Xu Taiping finally understood most of it.

“Senior Brother Qingxiao, can the Nine Mansions’ Immortal Alliance also select disciples from other sects to represent them in the competition for the Immortal Gourd?”

While pouring tea for Zhao Linglong, Xu Taiping asked Senior Brother Qingxiao.

“That’s right.” Qingxiao nodded, “The Nine Mansions itself gathers disciples from various sects, so it’s normal to do this, and no one would object.”

Xu Taiping suddenly understood.

“But why did they choose me?”

He immediately asked Qingxiao and Zhao Linglong the biggest question in his mind.

“I’m not sure about that either. Senior Brother, do you know?” Zhao Linglong looked at Second Senior Brother Qingxiao.

“It was Oriole who recommended Taiping to the current Mansion Lord of the Nine Mansions’ Immortal Alliance.”

Qingxiao smiled, took out a jade scroll, placed it on the table, and lightly tapped it with his finger.

Immediately, a familiar voice came from the jade scroll—

“Qingxiao, you must thank me properly this time. After my strong recommendation, the Mansion Lord finally agreed to let your Junior Brother Xu Taiping represent the Immortal Law Enforcement in the competition for the Immortal Gourd. Remember to treat me to a drink!”

With this, Xu Taiping’s doubts were finally completely resolved.

“But you can only believe half of what that guy says. According to another friend of mine in the Immortal Law Enforcement, before Oriole recommended you, you were already being considered by the Mansion Lord because of your performance in the Ruins of the Cloud Dream Marsh.”

Second Senior Brother Qingxiao continued.

Xu Taiping felt a bit flattered.

“Senior Brother, is the Immortal Gourd Cave as dangerous as the Ruins of the Cloud Dream Marsh?”

He asked Qingxiao again.

“Well… I know!”

Before Qingxiao could speak, Zhao Linglong, with her mouth full of food, swallowed it down and then explained to Xu Taiping:

“Although there are powerful demonic beasts and fierce beasts in the Immortal Gourd Cave, they generally have their own territories. As long as you don’t invade their territories, they won’t attack you.”

“This alone makes it much safer than the Ruins of the Cloud Dream Marsh.”

“Additionally, when entering the Immortal Gourd Cave, the Nine Mansions will give each disciple three teleportation scrolls.”

“These scrolls can help you teleport to a nearby safe location when you encounter danger.”

“But after using the scrolls three times, you’ll be asked to leave the mystical realm and lose the qualification to explore it.”

“So, although the disciples entering the mystical realm aren’t very high in cultivation, very few have died in there over the past few hundred years.”

Hearing this, Qingxiao nodded in agreement.

“The Immortal Gourd Cave is vast. It’s said that even the first Mansion Lord only explored a small part of it, so almost every competition for the Immortal Gourd results in young cultivators gaining great fortuity.”

Qingxiao added.

“Isn’t Jade Green Scholar the master of the Immortal Gourd Cave? Why did he only explore a small part of it?”

Xu Taiping found it strange.

“The term ‘master’ just means he controls the method of entering and exiting the Immortal Gourd Cave, not that he fully controls the entire place.”

Qingxiao explained.

“So, in a sense, Jade Green Scholar is just the gatekeeper of the Immortal Gourd Cave?”

Xu Taiping rephrased it in simpler terms.