I became the Open Source Saint Ancestor in the Cultivation World

"Senior Brother Xue, this might not be a good idea. It could easily get leaked, and if it does, I'm doomed."

Faced with Xue Wenzhou's instructions, Lü Xiu spoke cautiously.

Xue Wenzhou chuckled lightly, "These days, it's all about who you can rely on. Ma Ke's backer is just an inner disciple at the ninth level of Qi Refining, while your backer is me, a Qi Refining Perfection cultivator. Besides, I have Senior Brother Cui, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, behind me. What are you afraid of?"

"Besides, it's not like I'm asking you to do anything earth-shattering. He's just an outer disciple; who would really offend me or Senior Brother Cui for his sake?"

"But..." Lü Xiu still hesitated.

Xue Wenzhou's expression turned cold: "You're making excuses for such a small matter. I think you don't need to be a steward anymore. Just come with us into the secret realm this time."

Upon hearing this, Lü Xiu almost collapsed to the ground. He could barely accept not being a steward, but sending a mere outer sect steward at the third level of Qi Refining to the secret realm was a life-or-death situation.

Therefore, he dared not hesitate for a moment and quickly said, "Okay, okay, I'll do whatever Senior Brother Xue says."

Xue Wenzhou nodded in satisfaction, but still reminded him, "Don't leak this to anyone, otherwise you'll still have to come into the secret realm with me."

"Yes, yes, yes, yes." Lü Xiu was inwardly groaning, but could only agree repeatedly.

With only one month left until the opening of the Chanyuan Secret Realm, each peak has finalized its list and submitted it to the sect, totaling one hundred people.

Among them, the lowest level of cultivation required the ninth level of Qi Refining, and more than half of them were at the Qi Refining Perfection stage, like Xue Wenzhou.

This is also the highest percentage of Qi Refining Perfection cultivators from any sect since the opening of the Chanyuan Secret Realm. This is naturally thanks to the fragments of the "Open Source Limitless Skill" that Ma Ke distributed, and nearly twenty people broke through during this period.

Otherwise, it would be quite good if thirty out of a hundred people reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage.

In addition to these elite disciples in the Qi Refining stage, each sect will also select no more than one thousand people from its outer disciples to enter together.

Because the Chanyuan Secret Realm covers a vast area and opens only once every sixty years, it is fraught with danger. Although all sects covet the rare treasures inside, they also do not want their future casualties to be too great.

Thus, a consensus was reached that outer disciples could be brought in. This was not to improve combat strength, since encountering Qi Refining Stage 9 or even Perfect Qi Refining experts would almost always result in a one-sided massacre.

Therefore, the greatest role of these outer disciples is to scout ahead, preventing the elite disciples from being ambushed by various natural traps, cunning monsters, or even disciples from other sects.

The task was quickly assigned to the outer sect, and then distributed to the stewards. Some well-informed Qi Refining Level 1 and 2 disciples naturally tried their best to avoid being selected, while those at the Qi Refining Level 3 were much safer.

After all, he was going to be cannon fodder. The first and second levels were enough. The third level, on the other hand, offered a chance to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining and become an inner disciple. That was why Xue Wenzhou didn't let Lü Xiu reveal that Ma Ke had broken through to the third level of Qi Refining. Besides, Ma Ke had a powerful backer.

Lü Xiu still arranged the list according to the amount of tribute, but when there was one person missing, he casually wrote down the name Ma Ge, which did not exist at all.

"Who is Ma Ge?" Manager Liu asked hurriedly after seeing the list, his heart filled with vigilance.

Lu Xiu immediately explained, "He's an old guy who's been stuck at the second level of Qi Refining for decades. He definitely has no hope of entering the inner sect in this lifetime, but he's old and shrewd. Sending him to the secret realm might be of some use to those senior brothers."

"Are you sure it's not Ma Ke, the senior brother from Emerald Bamboo Peak who wanted to take care of him?" Manager Liu asked again, still not entirely convinced.

Lü Xiu laughed and said, "Don't worry, steward. There are plenty of outer disciples. I don't need to send Ma Ke out to do such a thankless task."

Hearing this, Manager Liu stopped asking questions and quickly submitted the list. When asked about Ma Ge, he gave the same answer.

After confirming that disciples with powerful backgrounds were not included in the list, the outer sect elders quickly sent someone to the inner sect to submit the list.

However, not long after this person entered the inner gate, he saw someone driving a spirit boat towards him.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Xue."

Xue Wenzhou nodded indifferently and casually asked, "Has the list of outer sect members who are going to the secret realm been released yet?"

"It's out, we're just about to deliver it."

"Give them to me. This time, it's Yunmiao Peak that's leading the team, and we'll distribute these people to the various peaks," Xue Wenzhou said, reaching out his hand.

The man hesitated for a moment before handing over the list.

After receiving the list, Xue Wenzhou quickly returned to his cave, spread it out, found the name "Ma Ge," and then added a vertical heart next to it according to the handwriting.

So, Ma Ge became Ma Ke, and he then submitted the list.

"In that case, just distribute them according to the quota for each peak," the steward of Yunmiao Peak said dismissively.

After all, these are just cannon fodder; one disciple entering the secret realm can be paired with ten others.

Xue Wenzhou had been waiting for these words, so he quickly agreed.

After he came out, he immediately tore the list into seven parts, then left the part containing Ma Ke on Yunmiao Peak, and sent the rest to the other six peaks at random.

All of this went unnoticed by anyone, because no one cared about the outer disciples, let alone realized that someone would tamper with the list.

Meanwhile, Sect Leader Lu Zongyan summoned the peak masters of each peak, as well as the selected disciples who were preparing to enter the Chanyuan Secret Realm.

"Junior brothers and sisters, can you see anything amiss?" Lu Zongyan asked, pointing to the hundred Qi Refining stage disciples below.

Jiang Xubai, the peak master of Yuxuan Peak, said, "Half of the disciples have reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage, which is a cause for celebration. However, sending them to the Chanyuan Secret Realm will inevitably attract the attention of the other five sects."

"Brother Jiang is absolutely right. What we need to do at this time is to try our best to reduce the attention we receive, rather than stand out from the crowd."

This statement was echoed by the other peak masters, who all understood that the value of that cultivation technique was far greater than the gains from the Chanyuan Secret Realm.

Lu Zongyan nodded, and then said at the right time, "Therefore, I plan to eliminate twenty people by drawing lots and replace them with disciples at the ninth level of Qi Refining."

Although the peak masters felt sorry for these disciples, they had no objections, after all, the overall situation had to be taken into account.

Lu Zongyan waved his hand, and fifty-two folded slips of paper floated in the air. He then said to the fifty-two disciples who had reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage, "Each of you draw a slip. If you draw one, you withdraw, meaning you want to leave this secret realm trip. However, the sect will compensate you with five thousand contribution points."

These Qi Refining disciples dared not refuse, and obediently each drew a slip of paper.

Xue Wenzhou silently prayed that he wouldn't be chosen, otherwise his entire plan would be ruined.

With a nervous heart, he slowly unfolded the paper slip in his hand, on which was clearly the character "进" (meaning "advance").

While he was overjoyed, he sneered inwardly, "Ma Ke, this is Heaven's will for you to be buried with my brother, so don't blame me."