Nuwa, the goddess of immortality, said that cultivating immortality does not require spiritual energ

As the five continued to venture deeper into the sect's ruins, they encountered more and more cultivators searching for treasure.

The scene before us could only be described as a locust swarm – leaving nothing but barren land in their wake.

Anything imbued with even a trace of spiritual energy was looted. Even the ordinary stone slabs paving the ground were pried off, despite the fact that those slabs contained absolutely no spiritual energy.

Looking at this ruin that had been looted clean, Chen Yun couldn't help but suggest:

"How about... we go check out Mount Ling or the mines? If we're late, there won't be a single thing left of the battlefield and ruins."

This was their first time entering the Myriad Treasures Secret Realm, and none of them expected it to be like this—it was completely beyond their imagination.

"I agree."

"Let's go, let's go."

"There's really nothing to see here."

"..."

The other four nodded in agreement. Everything of value—even just potentially valuable—had been looted from this sect's ruins.

The five left the ruins, passed through the gate of light, and arrived at Mount Ling.

Before them stretched a continuous, verdant mountain range, but the forests near the entrance had already been cleared out—the spiritual plants and ores that could be taken away had been looted by those who arrived first.

However, emptying the entire Spirit Mountain Range wouldn't be easy. So, the group asked Qin Le to use his spatial magic to lead them to a remote, uninhabited area.

Mount Ling has a special rule: flying is prohibited. All entrants must rely on their own two feet to travel. Under these circumstances, Qin Le's spatial immortal path becomes an excellent means of transportation.

The five figures flashed continuously through the mountains and forests. Although they encountered other treasure hunters along the way, they did not interact with them. They only stopped occasionally because they had discovered some spiritual materials.

Among them, Chen Yun is the most familiar with rare and precious materials—as a weapon refiner, identifying materials is a fundamental skill.

If he doesn't even recognize a treasure, he shouldn't be in this business.

While Qin Le and his group of five were exploring the secret realm, in the conference room of the Alliance headquarters, the high-ranking officials were having a tense discussion about the merger of the three academies and the enrollment of exchange students from the demon race.

"Let's expand the ranking rewards for the Tower of Babel from the top ten to the top fifty."

"Fifty isn't enough. I think we should increase it to the top 100."

"Is one hundred too many? Fifty would be more appropriate."

"..."

Seeing that everyone was arguing, the Jade Emperor gently tapped the table, and the meeting room immediately fell silent.

"Let's set it at the top 100," the Jade Emperor said slowly. "After opening up exchanges between the two races, the pressure on resources in the mortal realm will be greatly alleviated. More incentives will also benefit young people."

After hearing his words, everyone pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"Then, let's discuss the number of 'defenders'," the Jade Emperor continued, guiding the discussion.

"Let's increase it to thirty people, and keep the reward standards the same," someone suggested.

"Wouldn't thirty people be too many?"

"Too much? I think it's not enough."

Thirty is a reasonable number.

"..."

After some discussion, the number of defenders was finally set at thirty.

Subsequently, the meeting proceeded with a lengthy discussion on details such as the merged college structure, curriculum, resource allocation, and competition rules—the merger of the three colleges was by no means a simple matter of moving them together, and involved a great deal of institutional adjustments.

After more than half a day, the detailed rules were finally finalized.

At this moment, the Jade Emperor suddenly remembered something and looked at everyone: "Have the results of the practical college entrance examination been announced?"

"It has already been announced." The one who answered was a woman wearing glasses, with an intellectual air and a clear tone.

"Where does Qin Le rank?" the Jade Emperor asked with a hint of curiosity.

"752nd place." The woman adjusted her glasses. "His percentage of those places was too high."

Everyone present knew that Qin Le's score was low because he had given the majority of his hunting points to Chen Yun and Chu Xiaonan.

For each Chaos Beast killed, Qin Le would only receive 10%, with the remaining 90% split equally between the two.

Even so, he still managed to climb to over 700th place out of more than a thousand candidates. It's easy to imagine how efficient that three-person team was at hunting.

"In that case," the Jade Emperor smiled, "let's proceed with the special recruitment process."

The special admission slots were reserved for Qin Le. Whether or not he makes it into the top 300 will not affect his admission.

"Your Majesty," the woman suddenly spoke again, "there is another student... I need to report to you."

"Who?"

"Ye Hongli," the woman said calmly, "no college is willing to accept her into the undergraduate program."

In terms of academic performance alone, Ye Hongli ranks in the top twenty; in terms of talent and cultivation, she is also in the top tier.

However, her temperament and character caused the senior management of various colleges to shake their heads in disapproval—in their view, such a temperament was destined to prevent her from achieving great success.

Unless she can completely change.

"Then we'll proceed according to the rules," the Jade Emperor said calmly. "The university doesn't need another 'prodigy.' The Heavenly Realm... certainly doesn't need one either."

In the eyes of the Jade Emperor, apart from Qin Le, no one in the mortal world who is considered a prodigy is worthy of his attention.

In the more than 500 years since the era of cultivation of immortality was restarted, only one Golden Immortal has emerged in the mortal realm, and the highest-ranking others have been no more than Celestial Immortals.

Even if Ye Hongli becomes a Golden Immortal in the future, to the Jade Emperor, it will just be one more Golden Immortal—it makes no difference whether she is added or removed.

As for Ye Hongli's mother being deeply favored by the Queen Mother of the West?

What does this have to do with the Jade Emperor?

Everything was proceeding according to the rules. No academy was willing to accept her, so she couldn't enroll. Besides, it was impossible for the Queen Mother of the West to plead with the Jade Emperor for Ye Hongli's sake—perhaps there would be a chance if Ye Hongli's mother spoke up herself.

After all, Ye Hongli's mother was the special student who was naturally close to spiritual plants back then. Now she has ascended to the Heavenly Realm and become a disciple of the Queen Mother, taking care of the Peach Garden full-time.

Ye Hongli's importance is insignificant compared to her mother's.

Moreover, the Jade Emperor had already heard about Ye Hongli's entanglement with Qin Le.

Not to mention that the three major academies would not accept her, even if they did, the Jade Emperor would find a way to transfer her away.

Qin Le is a disciple of a sage, a link between two clans, and a guaranteed future Grand Luo Golden Immortal—these three identities combined make even the Jade Emperor dare not neglect him.

Under these circumstances, how could he possibly allow Ye Hongli to enter the university department and continue to bother Qin Le?

Upon hearing the Jade Emperor's words, everyone smiled knowingly.

The high-ranking officials in charge of the Heavenly Academy secretly breathed a sigh of relief—after all, the Queen Mother's status and power far surpassed theirs. Now that the Jade Emperor had made his stance clear, they no longer needed to worry too much about offending her.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the mortal realm...

Ye Hongli looked at the list of admitted students displayed on the screen—her name was not on it. She didn't show much surprise, only a faint smile playing on her lips.

"Well then... I'll go to the Heavenly Realm and wait for you."

She gazed in the direction of the Myriad Treasures Secret Realm and murmured to herself.

She then turned around and followed a goddess who had been sent down to the mortal realm by the Queen Mother to guide her. They transformed into a stream of light and disappeared into the sky.