After a hundred years of closed cultivation, Si Lingle’s aura had completely settled. With one step, the surrounding space silently rippled, and in an instant, she crossed the treacherous lands of ancient ruins that once took months to traverse, appearing on the outskirts of the mountain range where the sect was located. The shattered gobi desert stood in stark contrast to the familiar spiritual and picturesque landscape.

The power of the Heavenly Immortal Realm flowed endlessly within her. It was an entirely new experience, where space seemed like lines on the palm of her hand, and even the strings of time could be faintly sensed and plucked.

With just a fleeting thought, she stood before the majestic mountain gate.

The disciples guarding the mountain gate were familiar faces, but in Si Lingle’s eyes, they seemed like a scene from a different era. Her figure blended into the dust of space, her aura converging into the ordinariness of common stone. She stood quietly for a moment, then slightly revealed a wisp of the unique aura belonging to a Heavenly Immortal—vast, restrained, carrying a hint of the ancientness of time and space.

"Is it...Senior Sister Si?!" One of the disciples on duty whispered in disbelief, rubbing his eyes. A hundred years was not long for a cultivator, but before Si Lingle secluded herself, she had just stepped into the Golden Immortal stage not long before. Now upon her return, the faint aura she exuded made him feel as if he were facing one of the sect’s elder—profound yet peaceful.

Si Lingle nodded slightly, with a faint smile at the corner of her mouth: "It’s me, thank you for your hard work." Her voice was clear and calm, yet carried an intangible infectiousness that instantly calmed the shock in the hearts of the two disciples guarding the mountain caused by her sudden appearance.

Si Lingle walked through the mountain gate at a steady pace, seemingly ordinary, yet with each step, the space beneath her feet slightly folded and contracted, making her progress far beyond others of the same realm, but without a hint of the ostentatious leakage of immortal power.

The century had left barely noticeable traces on the scenery of the sect, yet her divine sense swept through, clearly "hearing" an indistinct and distinctly different restlessness in the atmosphere of the sect.

This restlessness reached its peak when she entered the Internal Affairs Hall to collect the update on her identity jade token.

The hall teemed with disciples, and discussions were rife. The elder usually in charge of internal affairs appeared particularly busy, his brows filled with a mix of solemnity and excitement. When Si Lingle calmly handed over her hundred-year-old identity jade token, the elder in charge initially didn’t pay much attention, casually receiving it.

But in the next moment, the elder’s fingers suddenly paused—a faint yet real echo of the laws of time and space was transmitted from the ancient jade token to his fingertips!

He suddenly looked up, his gaze as piercing as lightning towards Si Lingle. When he saw her serene, deep lake-like silver-gray pupils, and her all-encompassing aura that seemed perfectly integrated with the surrounding space, the elder’s eyes burst with incredulous light:

"You...have you broken through? Heavenly Immortal?!"

Although the exclamation was low, it was like a stone thrown into a pond amid the somewhat noisy Internal Affairs Hall, instantly drawing the attention of all nearby disciples! A myriad of shocked, envious, and reverent glances focused on Si Lingle.

A century of closed cultivation, breaking through the major threshold of the Golden Immortal, directly entering the Heavenly Immortal! Such a feat was unheard of in the sect for nearly a millennium!

Si Lingle remained indifferent, as if breaking through was just a mundane affair: "I was fortunate to have some gains."

The elder took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, his expression turning solemn and urgent: "It’s just in time for your return! Si Lingle, listen carefully! The sect has just received definite news from the Star Alliance of the Immortal Domain—’Nine Nether Sea Realm’—an ancient Golden Immortal relic Secret Realm sealed for three Eras, has been confirmed to open in five years!"

The hall instantly quieted down, one could hear a pin drop, and everyone held their breath, their eyes burning with intense desire. An ancient Golden Immortal relic! What earth-shattering opportunities does this represent?

The elder’s voice continued, hurriedly: "The entrance to the Secret Realm is unstable, and the highest realm it can endure is precisely the Peak of Heavenly Immortal! All sects, families, and loose cultivators in the Immortal Domain meeting the conditions will be sending their elite disciples to compete!"

He fixed his gaze on Si Lingle, enunciating each word: "Our sect has already set the regulations! Three months from now, the sect-wide ’Tianshu Champion’ competition will be held! All Inner Sect and Core Disciples from early-stage to peak Heavenly Immortal may participate! Ultimately..." the elder’s voice carried an undeniable resolution, "only the top one hundred will be chosen!"

"These one hundred will represent our Thunder Extreme Immortal Sect, heading to the ’Starfall Ancient Battlefield,’ to partake in the ’Hanhai Struggle,’ where geniuses from all over the Immortal Domain will gather! There, battling, forming alliances, seizing...putting everything on the line to acquire the ’Hanhai Key’! Ultimately, only those possessing the key will have the privilege to step into the ’Nine Nether Sea Realm’!"