Chapter 244

**”Xiao Qiao, ahhh!”**

At the moment when the leader of the Wenjian Sect made his move, Xie Chuxue and Qin Fanfan simultaneously intervened to intercept. The cold light of the sword, accompanied by a forceful sword wind, collided with the attackers. Qin Fanfan’s sword disrupted the opponent’s attack, while Xie Chuxue used a defensive talisman to shield them, ensuring the group landed safely.

When the KFC landed, the demon kings, forced to act as mounts, were lying flat on the ground. The sect members sitting on these demon kings, who rarely ventured outside, were overwhelmed by the experience and immediately started vomiting.

**Qi Yu:** “Back home, we used to watch the footage repeatedly. Now that we’re actually involved, it’s so thrilling.”

**Qi Lu:** “Except it’s a bit of a disaster.”

The two siblings then vomited again.

The phoenix’s speed was astonishing, and most of the sect members were utterly exhausted, lying on the ground, spiritually drained.

**”Xiao Qiao!!”** The leader of the Qin Sect lamented, “What is this you’re riding?!”

A large, fiery red bird was dragging three demon kings, each bird carrying a full load of people. Qin Fanfan estimated that there were at least four hundred people.

Would a normal person do something like this?

Both sides found each other terrifying.

Chu Xingzhi, who had nearly been struck by his master’s sword, dismounted the bird and raised his hand urgently, “Master.”

The cultivators below were stunned for a few seconds and whispered to each other, “Wait, is that… Wenjian Sect’s direct disciple?”

**”The white sect robes clearly belong to Wenjian Sect.”**

**”And the red sect robes…?”**

Another one, gritting his teeth, said, “It’s even more obvious. Those are the troublemakers from Changming Sect.”

So it was the Changming Sect causing trouble!

The culprits were obvious—Changming Sect was behind it all!

The other sect’s direct disciples would not rebel to this extent.

**”Everyone disperse,”** a loose cultivator waved his hand, gritting his teeth, “Those are the reinforcements sent by the Five Sects, not some demon emperor!” This was absurd.

Someone explained, “Those people are all direct disciples, and the leader is Ye Qiao, who ranked first in this year’s team competition.”

The cultivators felt a mix of emotions. They were excited to see direct disciples come to their aid but were baffled by the bizarre situation. Eventually, they were left speechless.

**”Wait,”** the leader of the Wenjian Sect sheathed his sword, his brow furrowing deeply. He was somewhat startled by the scene before him, “Ye Qiao? Why are you children back here?”

After a pause, he seemed to realize something, and his expression turned grim, “Wasn’t the trial site supposed to be a three-month stay? You barely stayed half the time.” They had only been out for half a month.

Could it be that their talents were deemed insufficient and they were kicked out by their seniors?

No, it couldn’t be.

This batch of direct disciples couldn’t be lacking in talent.

**Xue Yu** shrugged and explained, “When the training ended, we found that the jade slips from the Five Sects were unresponsive. When we came out, we also didn’t see any elders, so we came here to find you.”

They didn’t even have time to focus on the trials; their priority was to rush back to their respective sects. After going through so much effort to get the inheritance, to return and find their homes robbed, everyone was quite upset.

The leader of the Wenjian Sect pointed at the half-dead direct disciples behind them, trying to steady his trembling lips, “And who are these people?” With so many direct disciples from the Eight Great Families, and most rarely seen, he felt they looked familiar but couldn’t place them.

If Ye Qiao had brought them back, these children were definitely not ordinary.

**”They are here to help us save the cultivation world,”** Ye Qiao replied smoothly, pointing to the direct disciples and adding, “They are from the Eight Great Families. I haven’t asked which specific families they are from yet.”

It wasn’t surprising that the sect leaders hadn’t thought of the direct disciples. These direct disciples were all very impressive, and it was hard to imagine them in such a disheveled and pitiful state.

**”Ah, they are direct disciples,”** Xie Chuxue muttered with a mix of admiration and confusion, “So many direct disciples…”

A rough glance showed that at least half of the direct disciples were present.

The leader of the Wenjian Sect’s first reaction was, “Where did you abduct so many direct disciples from?”

It wasn’t surprising he was sensitive; after all, Changming Sect had a history of such deeds! If they had previously abducted from prisons, then kidnapping direct disciples would be a minor thing for them.

**Zhu You** pressed his lips together, “Master, do we really seem like kidnappers to you?”

The leader of the Wenjian Sect hesitated, knowing he wouldn’t have thought this before, but with Changming Sect’s direct disciples involved, anything was possible.

Misunderstood, Zhu You remained silent for a moment, his lips twitching, and said, “We didn’t kidnap them. They came here willingly.”

**”Yes, we came willingly,”** Qi Lu straightened up and hurriedly explained, “We are here to help, Sect Leader.”

Willingly? Qin Fanfan asked tentatively, “Did the Eight Great Families send you here for reinforcements?”

**”The Eight Great Families wouldn’t let us help, so we sneaked out,”** Qi Yu replied.

Xie Chuxue, standing by and hearing this, laughed while rapidly clapping like a seal.

**“Excellent, truly excellent.”**

Not only had they come out of the inheritance site early, but they had also managed to seduce almost half of the Eight Great Families’ direct disciples. Xie Chuxue could almost imagine the furious expressions of the Eight Great Families.

With direct disciples from various professions arriving for support, along with the direct disciples they had on hand, and the bizarre operation of riding a phoenix while dragging demon kings, the tense atmosphere that had barely risen was thoroughly disrupted. The group, with mixed feelings, all returned to their residence in the small city.

This was supposed to be a meeting for the sect leaders, with direct disciples expected to stay out, but this time, all of them were exceptionally retained.

The leader of the Wenjian Sect briefly summarized the current situation for them and wanted to hear the disciples’ opinions, **“The demons aim to occupy the nearby small cities, first capturing the places where cultivators reside, and then continue their attacks.”**

The demons had been trying to seize the cultivation world for a long time, creating numerous problems that were usually handled by the sect leaders. This time, the situation was complicated by the involvement of the demon race, making things somewhat unclear.

**“What do you think? Should we defend or retreat?”**

**“We probably can’t hold out,”** Zhu You said, looking down and tapping the table, **“Their numbers are simply too great. We could choose to hold out, but it would be a bloody battle.”**

**“So, what do you suggest?”**

**“Just let go of the surrounding small cities,”** Ye Qiao, who was casually swaying in her chair, interjected, **“There are about a dozen small cities. The main city is next. If they want to continue occupying cultivator territory, the only route is the main city.”**

**“We can set up an ambush in the main city.”**

**“As for the other dozen or so small cities, we can organize the cultivators there to retreat in advance, taking valuable items with them. The talisman practitioners should set up traps around and inside those abandoned small cities for the demons to walk into.”**

**“Additionally, we should organize a group of archers to shoot from a distance once they enter the small cities. Even if we only manage to inflict some damage, it will be worth it.”**

**“The demons and monsters are the ones initiating the attack. We don’t need to fight them directly. If they want the nearby small cities, let them have them. Our goal is to use their time attacking these cities to exhaust their demons and evil cultivators, so we aren’t vastly outnumbered in the end.”**

Ye Qiao paused, **“If you trust me, I can personally teach them how to deal with those demons.”**

Xie Chuxue looked at her in surprise. He was also in favor of abandoning the small cities, but the sect leaders were worried that letting them go might lead to chaos due to insufficient personnel to control the situation, so they had chosen to defend.

However, times had changed, and with the direct disciples of the Five Sects present, it was more suitable to leave the control to them.

Seeing no objections, Qin Fanfan nodded, **“Then we’ll go with Ye Qiao’s plan.”**

They didn’t really understand strategy; after all, in the cultivation world, strength and talent spoke louder, and who would spend time researching how to scheme against others?

**“There’s another problem.”** The leader of the Yueqing Sect, Yun Hen, said heavily, **“We’re running low on talismans.”**

As a major sect specializing in talismans, Yueqing Sect had no shortage of them, but the consumption rate had been too rapid over the past month of fighting the demons. The talismans sent by the inner disciples had already been distributed. According to Ye Qiao’s plan, they needed to set up traps and schemes, which required more talismans than they currently had.

**“We do have talismans. Who says we don’t?”** Ming Xuan clapped his hands and proudly displayed them, **“I brought a lot of talismans from my home. There are both formation and attack talismans. As long as they dare to come, we’ll blow them to pieces.”**

Xue Yu was surprised that he had finally taken from his own home. He twitched his mouth and asked, **“Did you steal them?”**

Ming Xuan slightly rested his chin on his folding fan and replied displeasedly, **“How can it be called stealing if I took it from my own house?”**

**“I took them openly and honestly.”**

Ye Qiao silently gave him a thumbs up, **“Good job.”** He truly dared to steal.