Chapter 126

“……”

Xue Yu’s sincere question made it difficult for her to answer. After all, she had only made a few insignificant wishes. It wasn’t her fault that the illusion had poor psychological endurance.

Ye Qiao raised her hand to shield her eyes, staring at the fleeing illusion. She clicked her tongue twice and then nonchalantly looked away. “What are you all doing here?”

The cultivators from Yueqing Sect and Sword Inquiry Sect were all there, waiting.

Chu Xingzhi said, “Waiting for you.”

“My little sister asked me to persuade you,” he said, tightening his grip on the sword at his waist. His voice was calm. “If you cooperate with us, Sword Inquiry Sect and our sect can join forces to dominate the secret realm.”

Ye Qiao said, “Oh.”

Dominate the secret realm?

Seeing that Ye Qiao was actually contemplating it, Song Hansheng narrowed his eyes and spoke without hesitation, “Those poor sword cultivators have no money. Since you’re not participating in the fifth match, why not join us? We have money.”

Indeed.

From Song Hansheng’s background to his sect, he was quite wealthy.

“No, no, no. We won’t be cooperating today,” Ye Qiao said, pointing at his light blue sect robes and smiling slightly. “Having money isn’t enough. For your Yueqing Sect, there’s a different price.”

Song Hansheng looked at her coldly, “How much do you need to cooperate with us?” Actually, it didn’t matter if they didn’t cooperate with Ye Qiao; they had Yun Que, and their ranking was stable.

But the problem was, Ye Qiao was an unpredictable variable.

The memory of her turning the tide in just two days left a deep shadow, making Song Hansheng reluctant to let her go to other sects easily.

“Don’t worry. Our Changming Sect won’t cooperate with anyone this time.” Xue Yu’s voice was calm. “We don’t plan to interfere in the fifth match, so it’s better for you all to compete fairly.”

Hearing this, Song Hansheng frowned slightly but quickly relaxed.

That works too.

If Yueqing Sect couldn’t rope her in, neither should other sects. Without Changming Sect interfering in the fifth match, it would be a fair competition.

Meanwhile, the others were curious about what had happened with the illusion.

“Why did it crack? What did you do to it?”

Ye Qiao found the secret realm quite entertaining. After pondering for a moment, she said, “That thing is quite interesting. It can transform into whatever you’re thinking about. I just kept changing my obsessions, making it transform into other sects’ sword techniques.”

This showed that the illusion was diligent, striving hard to fill its stomach.

Su Zhuo pursed his lips, “So, you disappeared for so long just to torture the illusion?”

Su Zhuo couldn’t help but feel doubtful.

Was she not trapped by her inner demons?

In that ambiguous illusion, he saw the Ye Qiao of the past. At that time, his second senior sister was taciturn but took good care of him, unlike now, where she showed no mercy.

Ye Qiao being free from inner demons and malice meant that she really had no attachment to Yueqing Sect.

Not even basic resentment.

Ye Qiao: “What else?”

Song Hansheng looked at Su Zhuo, who seemed out of it, asking such questions. He frowned and nudged the distracted Su Zhuo awake, “Let’s go. We need to find Yun Que.” For some reason, even though Ye Qiao was out, Yun Que hadn’t emerged yet.

*

“What did you see in the illusion?”

After all, the others had come out quickly, so the focus was on Ye Qiao’s illusion.

Entering an illusion was a way to test one’s Dao heart.

“I saw myself.” Ye Qiao touched her chin. “And light.”

“In the illusion, you see yourself.” Xue Yu, experienced, pursed his lips. “Do you remember what the illusionary you said? Each of its temptations might reflect worries you’ve had.”

“Yes, I remember.” Ye Qiao nodded, realizing something.

In the illusion, one truly meets themselves.

The illusion, though a bit foolish, didn’t make mistakes. It saw the real her in her memories, the concerns and fears in her heart.

When the illusion said, “In the end, you can’t even save yourself,” Ye Qiao realized this.

Her own Dao might not be a carefree path.

“I think I know what my Dao is.”

“We’ll talk more when we get back.” Xue Yu spoke softly, aware of too many eyes watching. Understanding one’s Dao heart quickly was good, but not understanding could halt progress for years, as it did for Mingxuan back then.

With the individual competition approaching, the sooner the better.

“Can you break through to the Golden Core?” Zhou Xingyun asked calmly.

Ye Qiao assessed her current state. “I could force a breakthrough, but there’s no need in the secret realm.”

Indeed.

The secret realm only stayed open for five days. If she did a three-day, three-night breakthrough like Ye Qinghan, it would disrupt the other sects’ matches.

Plus, forcing a breakthrough could destabilize her foundation, which was unnecessary.

With the illusion shattered and no obstacles in the inner circle, Xue Yu checked the time. “Let’s find some spiritual herbs for the alchemy competition.”

Some spiritual herbs had unique growing conditions, only available in the secret realm.

Ye Qiao, needing the most training, led the way. As she walked nonchalantly with her sword, within a few steps, she encountered a beast.

Running into beasts in the secret realm was normal.

What wasn’t normal was…

“That’s a Nascent Soul stage beast,” Zhou Xingyun said calmly.

Hunting a Nascent Soul stage beast in the fifth match was pointless for them. It wasted time and posed a risk of being counter-attacked.

The Nascent Soul beast’s pressure was immensely oppressive. Luckily, there was only one, making it troublesome but not impossible to handle.

Ye Qiao faced the beast, activating the third form of Qingfeng Technique, which had the greatest power. Killing the beast was a good choice since its body was heavy, and with two sword cultivators attacking from both sides, it let out intimidating roars.

The mental attack felt like needles piercing their minds.

As it roared, Ye Qiao successfully executed her sword technique after several tries. The exploding sword energy interrupted the beast’s roar, relieving everyone’s ears.

“The third form?” Mu Chongxi turned his wrist, slashing the beast’s leg. “When did you learn that?”

Ye Qiao: “Just now.”

She wasn’t very skilled yet, needing multiple attempts to succeed. New sword techniques required repetitive practice to be effective.

Mu Chongxi chuckled lightly, “We agreed whoever learned it first would be the dog, and you learned it secretly?”

Ye Qiao pressed down with her sword, attempting the Qingfeng Technique again without looking back, “It’s simple. I’ll teach you step by step when we return to the sect.”

This move was indeed effective for single-target attacks. Stepping back to create distance, she used a few talismans for cover. Mingxuan, while fighting, couldn’t help but say, “Didn’t you agree that whoever learned it first would be the dog?”

“No worries,” Mu Chongxi didn’t care, “We’re both dogs.”

The two mischievous sword cultivators finally reached a consensus.

After dealing with the demonic beasts, Ye Qiao frowned, having expended a significant amount of time and nearly all her spiritual energy. Her foundation was solid, and she had broken through two realms before entering the secret realm. Now, with her spiritual roots maturing, her absorption speed had greatly increased.

However, breaking through within the secret realm was not advisable.

Ye Qiao suppressed the agitation in her dantian, controlling the urge to form her core, and continued inward with Xue Yu. Along the way, she took a few Heart-Calming Pills.

“To suppress it.” Ye Qiao covered her warm dantian, honestly saying, “It feels a bit hot.”

Xue Yu, somewhat thoughtful, replied, “Don’t suppress your realm too much; it might harm you. Really.”

Ye Qiao reassured, “I’m fine.” Having recently broken through two realms, breaking through to the Golden Core stage consecutively would make her foundation unstable.

Although her spiritual root’s strength now allowed her to break through, Ye Qiao was hesitant.

There were many spiritual plants in the inner area. Previously, they had been too busy competing to gather them, but now, under Xue Yu’s leadership, they all diligently began harvesting herbs.

Without a shovel, Mu Chongxi simply picked up a rock and slowly started digging, only to notice that Senior Brother was much faster than everyone else.

With precision in every dig, the spiritual plants around him were quickly uprooted.

Curious, Mu Chongxi asked, “What are you using to dig so fast?”

“A sword.”

Seeing Zhou Xingyun using his life-bound sword to dig, Mu Chongxi’s eyelid twitched. “Doesn’t your sword spirit beat you for that?”

As they chatted casually, Ye Qiao felt distracted by the heat in her dantian. Her gaze wandered, and suddenly, her eyes narrowed as she pointed to the ground, pondering, “Wait a moment.”

“Do you think the ground is moving?”

After a pause, Ye Qiao changed her wording, “Or is it shifting?” Her memory was impeccable, able to notice even the smallest details.

Reminded by her, Xue Yu froze for a few seconds, looking at the spiritual plant in his hand, and realized, “It seems the plant’s position has shifted slightly. I thought I remembered wrong.” Not everyone had Ye Qiao’s photographic memory.

So, when something felt off, their first reaction was to think it was their mistake.

But if Ye Qiao said so, then the position must have changed.

Xue Yu put away the spiritual plant, “I’ve only heard other cultivators mention that this ghostly secret realm is strange.”

“The secret realm might be alive,” Ye Qiao sighed softly. “Since illusions can perform countless transformations, I don’t think the secret realm’s level is any lower.”

She thought of this possibility after seeing the illusion—could the secret realm possess consciousness?

After storing the spiritual plants in a mustard seed bag, they planned to leave the inner area due to its high danger level. Now that Ye Qiao was on the brink of the Golden Core stage, there was no need to venture further.

It seemed the secret realm sensed their intent to leave. As they retraced their steps, the ground silently shifted again.

A shadow loomed overhead, and in an instant, Ming Xuan quickly erected a defense talisman. Three consecutive Vajra Talismans shattered to barely withstand the demonic beast’s sudden stomp.

The beast then roared, and a powerful gust, laden with its foul breath, blew towards them.

“Damn.”

Ming Xuan’s expression changed.

Zhou Xingyun squinted, “Another Nascent Soul stage beast.”

Upon hearing this, Xue Yu’s mouth twitched, “Did you seal your Bamboo Stealer properly?”

Why were there suddenly so many Nascent Soul stage beasts?

Ye Qiao responded, “It’s sealed.” She had arranged that with Duan Hengdao long ago.

Since it wasn’t the Bamboo Stealer, it must be the secret realm itself. One beast might be bad luck, but two Nascent Soul stage beasts meant they were targeted.

“The secret realm might be targeting us,” Ye Qiao sneered. Why, was entering the secret realm a crime?

“Why would it target us?” Ming Xuan couldn’t understand. They had done nothing significant since entering, unlike the other four sects who were actively fighting.

A good question.

Ye Qiao replied, “I wish I knew.”

Qin Fanfan frowned, listening to their deductions, and asked, “Is the secret realm alive?”

“This is a ghostly secret realm; it often opens and appears randomly. I’ve heard it has some consciousness.” Seeing the concern on Changming Sect’s members, the elder from Wenjian Sect stroked his stubbly chin. “But such secret realms usually don’t interfere with cultivators.”

“Indeed, it’s odd. Despite numerous openings, there’s never been a case of it targeting someone intentionally.”

Since a conscious secret realm is a natural spirit, it typically wouldn’t interfere unless…

The elders exchanged glances, simultaneously considering the same possibility.

Could it be the will of heaven?

But why would the heavenly way target Changming Sect?

—

Ye Qiao couldn’t handle a Nascent Soul stage beast alone, but she had many items in her mustard seed bag. Dodging and observing its weaknesses, she avoided several attacks. As the ground was churned up and the beast charged at her, she blocked one strike with her sword and instantly activated the third form of the Qingfeng Technique.

Mu Chongxi, about to help with his sword, was stopped by Zhou Xingyun, who said, “Let her handle it.”

Ye Qiao needed the experience for her breakthrough, not them. They could only cover her and step in at critical moments. Slaying the beast was primarily her task.

Facing the beast’s pressure, Ye Qiao also had to maintain her speed, as any slowdown could be fatal.

After a brief exchange, she continued taking pills, and after several probing attacks, she finally found the beast’s weak spot. The moment the beast vanished, Ye Qiao prepared in advance, swiftly striking its abdomen with the Bamboo Stealer as it attempted a sneak attack.

At the same time, the Binding Talisman ignited, taking effect a moment before the beast went berserk. The demonic beast’s gaping maw froze mid-bite.

Ye Qiao, her expression impassive, executed a sword move from the Wenjian Sect, slicing a sharp arc of sword light down toward the beast’s dantian.

As the beast crashed to the ground, she deftly turned her sword and calmly extracted the inner core from its body, finally exhaling deeply and collapsing on the ground, spread out like a pancake, looking utterly exhausted.

The secret realm was rich in spiritual energy, and her spiritual roots automatically began absorbing the surrounding energy once her dantian was emptied.

Defeating a Nascent Soul stage demonic beast on her own was a fantasy, but she had several late-stage Golden Core senior brothers assisting her.

Though the process was troublesome, the outcome was satisfactory.

“Are you alright?” Ming Xuan asked sympathetically.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator killing a Nascent Soul stage demonic beast.

Ye Qiao, dazed, replied, “I’m okay.”

“Is this secret realm targeting me?” she asked.

Xue Yu nodded seriously.

“If it keeps pushing me,” Ye Qiao muttered, feeling the constant turmoil in her dantian and growing more frustrated, “I’ll force a breakthrough and blow up this damned secret realm.”

—

Has everyone started school already??? Ahhh, don’t leave, sob sob sob.