Zhou Kai offered a sanitized summary of the events regarding the Mysterious Nether Sub-Mirror and Li Youci’s arrival—naturally omitting the part where he had “insulted his superior” by spanking her.

Once he finished, he asked, “Miss Fish, the day is still bright. Why did the Young Miss say we must wait until tomorrow to select a cave dwelling? Is there some special taboo regarding the timing?”

“Well…”

Fish Baibai’s eyes darted around mischievously. She leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.

“Lord Zhou, do you have any idea just how terrifying my Young Miss actually is? I bet you can’t even imagine it!”

Zhou Kai had certainly tasted Li Youci’s power firsthand, but he played along, feigning ignorance. “I am all ears.”

“Hehe, I knew you’d be curious!” Fish Baibai clapped her small hands together triumphantly. “Let me tell you, the cultivation technique the Young Miss practices is extremely unique. Especially when she cultivates at night…”

She paused for dramatic effect. Seeing the expectation on Zhou Kai’s face, she spread her arms wide in an exaggerated gesture.

“It triggers massive Divine Sense fluctuations! That mental pressure… tsk tsk, it’s enough to make your scalp go numb!”

“Without a specialized Isolation Grand Array to contain it, the soul of an ordinary cultivator would be blended like tofu. Best case? A splitting headache. Worst case? Permanent mental damage! You could turn into a drooling idiot on the spot!”

Zhou Kai’s heart skipped a beat. He instantly recalled that faint, terrifying chill of Nether energy he had sensed earlier.

“That’s why,” Fish Baibai made a grimacing face, “every inhabited spot on Taiji Peak is equipped with top-tier defensive arrays. Those cost a literal ocean of Spirit Stones! If you just picked a cave randomly today without setting up the defenses in time… wouldn’t you be courting death?”

She scooted closer, shielding her mouth with her hand. “Between us, there was this clueless guy a while back. He insisted on living near the Young Miss to ‘bask in the aura of a genius’…”

“And the result?” Zhou Kai couldn’t help but ask.

“Mad as a hatter by the next morning!” Fish Baibai drew a finger across her throat. “He’s still wandering the Outer Sect, giggling at trees and drooling all over his shoes!”

“I see. Thank you for the warning, Miss Fish.” Zhou Kai cupped his hands, his estimation of Li Youci’s danger level rising another notch.

He quickly shifted the topic. “There is another matter. My Dao Companion is already at the Foundation Establishment stage. Why did the Young Miss assign her to the Outer Sect? Does Calamity Abyss Valley have Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Outer Sect?”

By normal logic, Lin Zhiwei should have qualified for Inner Sect treatment immediately.

Fish Baibai let out a sharp pfft of laughter.

“You really hit the nail on the head! The division between Inner and Outer Sects in Calamity Abyss Valley… humph, it’s completely different from those other boring sects!”

Seeing Zhou Kai’s confusion, she decided to play a guessing game. “Guess! What is the standard for entering the Inner Sect here?”

“Cultivation realm?”

“Wrong!” Fish Baibai shook her head.

“Talent and aptitude?”

“Wrong again!” She swayed back and forth, looking incredibly pleased with herself. “Listen well! In Calamity Abyss Valley, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Foundation Establishment cultivator or even a Golden Core Grandmaster coming to defect—everyone starts in the Outer Sect!”

“What?” Zhou Kai was genuinely shocked. “Even Golden Core Grandmasters start in the Outer Sect? That’s too…”

“That’s the rule!” Fish Baibai puffed out her small chest with pride. “The sect gives every new disciple a foundational inheritance technique. Only when you cultivate this technique to the stage of Great Achievement can you take the assessment to enter the Inner Sect.”

“What kind of technique is so miraculous?”

“The No Word Scripture!” Fish Baibai declared.

“Lord Zhou, you must have heard that our sect is unconventional. Our inheritances are all-encompassing—Alchemy, Talismans, Arrays, Smithing, Body Cultivation, Spells, Beast Taming, Puppetry… we have masters in everything.”

She tilted her head, blinking her large eyes.

“Think about it. In other sects, if you want to switch paths, it’s a nightmare. What if a disciple has god-tier talent for Spells, but because they started as a Body Cultivator, they get pigeonholed into the wrong path? Isn’t that a waste?”

“Or what if you find a superior technique later on but can’t switch without crippling yourself or dispersing your cultivation? That risk is huge.”

Zhou Kai nodded. The system sounded eccentric, but pragmatic. “So this No Word Scripture solves that?”

“Exactly! It’s amazing!” Fish Baibai got more excited as she spoke. “The No Word Scripture is compatible with everything. It doesn’t conflict with what you practiced before, nor what you’ll practice later.”

“It can slowly convert a Body Cultivator’s Vitality into pure Mana. And if you want to switch major cultivation methods, it acts as a perfect bridge, lowering the risk of deviation to almost zero. You never have to cripple your cultivation to start over!”

“The No Word Scripture…” Zhou Kai muttered, engraving the name in his mind. “Thank you for the guidance, Miss Fish. I feel truly enlightened.”

“Hehe, no big deal!” Fish Baibai grinned. “But here’s a secret: everyone gets the scripture, but mastering it is hard! They say only three out of ten people ever reach Great Achievement!”

Zhou Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly as he processed the intel. He decided to press for more political context.

“I am new and blind to the local powers. The Young Miss mentioned that Taiji Peak is a stronghold of the Li Family. May I ask about the relationship between the Song, Yang, and Li families? I hope Miss Fish can educate me.”

Fish Baibai tapped her chin. “Well, since the Young Miss brought you back, I guess it’s fine to tell you.”

“In Calamity Abyss Valley, the three titans are the Li, Song, and Yang families. Since the founding of the sect, these three have been the pillars that hold up the sky.”

“Three great families…” Zhou Kai noted.

“Mhm! Our current Sect Master holds the title ‘Jie Sanxing’ (Calamity Scattered Star).”

“He was originally from the Song Family. But when he took the throne, he severed ties with his clan, changed his surname to ‘Jie’ (Calamity) and named himself ‘Sanxing’ (Scattered Stars).”

Fish Baibai held up a finger. “He even swore a Heavenly Dao Oath in public! He promised that during his two-hundred-year term, he would serve the sect with absolute impartiality and never favor the Song Family.”

“As for the sect’s geography,” she continued, “The three core peaks with the most disciples and best inheritances are Longhua Peak, Haiyue Peak, and Yantian Peak.”

“The Peak Lords of these three mountains are always from the Song, Yang, and Li families respectively. You could say these peaks are their personal kingdoms.”

When she said “Li Family,” Fish Baibai lifted her chin, radiating arrogance by proxy.

Zhou Kai filed this away. Three rival families sharing power, and a Sect Master who claimed neutrality via a dramatic name change. It smelled like a powder keg of schemes.

And Li Youci, as the Eldest Miss of the Li Family, was royalty here.

“Thank you, Miss Fish. I am in your debt.” Zhou Kai bowed.

“Hehe, go on then!” Fish Baibai waved her hand. “If there’s nothing else, I’m heading back. The Young Miss might need me.”

“Please.” Zhou Kai nodded. “One last thing—which direction is the Outer Sect? I need to visit my Dao Companion.”

Fish Baibai pointed southeast. “Go down Taiji Peak and travel about a hundred miles. You’ll see a cluster of mountains. That’s the spot.”

“Oh, and be careful! The Outer Sect is a mixed bag—Foundation Establishment, Qi Condensation, loose cultivators, clan scions… it’s chaotic. There are plenty of idiots with bad intentions.”

She winked. “But don’t worry. Just drop my Young Miss’s name. Usually, that scares them off.”

“Understood.”

Fish Baibai bounced away, her steps light and energetic.

Zhou Kai watched her leave, then turned his gaze southeast. He immediately set off down the mountain.

Lin Zhiwei and the others were newcomers to this dangerous place. They were likely anxious. He needed to check on them immediately.

As for safety? With the backing of the Grand Miss Li Youci, who would dare touch them?