Chapter 44

“Song Hansheng.” Someone maliciously called out loudly to him, “How does it feel to be the first one out?”

Song Hansheng had just been teleported out of the array, his face dark with anger.

Coming out with him was Chu Xingzhi, who, in contrast to Song Hansheng’s sinister expression, seemed quite cheerful.

No need to ask—he was happy because he had dragged the chief disciple down with him.

Yueqing Sect wasn’t weak. As the chief disciple, Song Hansheng could have turned the tide with his mastery of the Five Elements Array, given the right position.

That is, if he hadn’t been backstabbed.

Thinking about being eliminated due to betrayal, Song Hansheng couldn’t hold back and swung a punch at Chu Xingzhi’s face.

Chu Xingzhi lightly leaned back, dodging the punch, with a friendly expression, “Why are you hitting me? It was Ye Qiao who ordered it, and I was also threatened by her. How about we team up next time to take her down?”

Song Hansheng replied, “Get lost.”

If he trusted Chu Xingzhi again, he would be an idiot.

The keen-eyed audience didn’t miss their little conflict, and they burst into laughter.

“Pathetic. This never happened in previous competitions—one backstabbed, and the other got knocked out by a pill furnace.”

“No worries, it’s just the first round. There are several rounds ahead, we’ll definitely get our chance to come back!”

“This is hilarious. That fool Chu Xingzhi didn’t see how the Yueqing Sect wanted to kill him?”

“Master,” Song Hansheng muttered, walking dejectedly towards Yun Hen. He had indeed been careless—who would have expected such a dirty trick on the first day?

Yun Hen stood up, staring at the image reflected in the recording stone, somewhat lost in thought.

He remembered Ye Qiao’s cold, unhesitating demeanor.

Yun Hen didn’t regret his decision back then. When choosing between an average talent and a prodigy, was there any doubt?

He just hadn’t expected Ye Qiao to be so resolute.

Now, with his most prized chief disciple eliminated, it was impossible for him not to be angry.

It was a slap in the face for their Yueqing Sect.

Yun Hen even thought that Ye Qiao might be exacting revenge for his previous neglect. He sat back down, calming his emotions, and decided to have a proper talk with her once she came out.

…

Meanwhile, several core disciples of Chengfeng Sect were swiftly hunting down beasts. When they heard that two core disciples had been eliminated, they were quite shocked.

“How is it that Ye Qiao from Changming Sect wasn’t the first to be eliminated?”

Qin Huai, although unaware of what happened between the two sects, couldn’t fathom how Chu Xingzhi got eliminated.

A sword cultivator should excel in such a secret realm, right?

He was so shocked that he nearly got distracted and ambushed by a beast.

Duan Hengdao, displeased, said, “Focus, Senior Brother.”

“It’s impossible for Ye Qiao to be the first out on the first day.” He rolled his eyes and confidently added, “I bet Ye Qiao had a hand in their elimination.”

Duan Hengdao had unwavering faith in Ye Qiao’s knack for causing trouble. Changming Sect didn’t seem eager to compete for rankings, almost giving off an ‘I give up’ vibe, so it wasn’t surprising that Ye Qiao started causing chaos.

It was just unclear what underhanded method she used to eliminate two Golden Core cultivators—it was quite remarkable.

Qin Huai sheathed his sword smoothly, “Fine, think what you want.” He didn’t care, “We just need to take first place.”

Their only real competition now was Wenjian Sect.

“Since you say so, if we run into Changming Sect, we might as well eliminate them too.” Qin Huai thought it over, still cautious.

A couple of flukes were one thing, but with Duan Hengdao constantly bringing up Ye Qiao’s name, what if she was indeed a variable?

It was better to eliminate her just to be safe.

After all, eliminating more core disciples wouldn’t harm their sect.

*

With Song Hansheng out, Yun Que was likely busy courting Ye Qinghan, which left Yueqing Sect stuck in third place.

Xue Yu checked the rankings and, seeing the ‘53’ beast count for his sect, quickly put away his jade slip, trying to forget the embarrassing number. “Honestly, I’ve always felt that the breakthrough speed of that Yueqing Sect little sister isn’t normal.”

He had wanted to say this for a long time—half a year to reach the Golden Core stage was unprecedented in the cultivation world.

“She used to have damaged spiritual roots. They were likely healed.” Ye Qiao mused, rubbing her chin.

Xue Yu pondered for a moment, then bluntly said, “In that case, either she’s on drugs or had some lucky encounter.”

Ye Qiao hesitated. She was actually thinking.

Maybe some demon king or dark lord had willingly formed a contract with her.

No joke, she was serious.

Nothing was surprising about the protagonist having some extraordinary benefactor.

In a contract, the higher the level of the contracted beast, the faster the cultivator’s advancement.

Speaking of which, Ye Qiao sighed as she looked at her own contracted beast.

To this day, she still didn’t know what breed this ‘Kentucky Chicken’ was. After shedding its red down, it grew beautiful fiery red feathers.

For safety’s sake, the two decided to find the other three members first. Otherwise, if they encountered Ye Qinghan, they would be done for.

After traveling overnight for a day, they only found Mingxuan in the secret realm.

Ye Qiao asked, “Where are Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Brother?”

Mingxuan shrugged, “I haven’t seen Mu Chongxi since entering the realm, and Senior Brother went to hunt beasts.”

Despite feeling there wasn’t much hope, Zhou Xingyun couldn’t stand the number 53 due to his OCD. Determined to make it a hundred, he grabbed his sword and set off.

In the secret realm, being alone was never a good idea, but Zhou Xingyun was strong enough not to worry about it, which eased Ye Qiao’s mind.

“Let’s go,” she said.

The three of them felt significantly safer traveling together. Ming Xuan then remembered to share some important news with his junior disciples, smiling broadly as he did, “Song Hansheng and Chu Xingzhi got eliminated on the first day.”

Neither of them were good people, so aside from his surprise, Ming Xuan felt quite schadenfreude seeing them eliminated.

Ye Qiao said, “I know.”

She pointed to herself, “I did it.”

Ming Xuan was stunned, “Huh?”

He blinked, unable to process what he’d heard.

Xue Yu clapped his hands, “Hey, someone’s coming.” His spiritual sense had easily detected the presence of two unfamiliar and quite powerful auras nearby.

His voice turned serious, “Two Golden Core cultivators.” If they were sword cultivators, it could be trouble.

Encountering others in the secret realm was normal. Ming Xuan had felt fearless when following his senior brother, but now with his little sister at the Foundation Establishment stage, another junior brother as a pill cultivator, and himself being the only one with any combat ability, things were different.

Qin Huai, seeing the red sect robes, knew who they were facing. As soon as his junior brother detected someone, he hurried over to check.

It was indeed the core disciples of Changming Sect.

Qin Huai immediately drew his sword, smirking as he looked at Ye Qiao, “So, you’re the Ye Qiao my useless junior brother keeps talking about?”

Clearly, the newcomers were hostile.

“Hand over your identity tokens,” Ye Qiao said, ignoring his nonsense. Analyzing the situation quickly, she spoke rapidly, “I’ll come back to save you in a moment.”

A Foundation Establishment cultivator boasting about saving two Golden Core cultivators? What audacity.

“Alright,” they actually agreed.

Were they crazy?

The elder of Chengfeng Sect watching this scene laughed, “How rare.”

It was rare to see core disciples trust each other like this. Despite the supposed team battle in past years, it usually ended up as everyone fighting on their own.

Though unsure of the source of her confidence, the trust among the core disciples was indeed enviable.

After handing over their identity tokens to Ye Qiao, Qin Huai drew his lips into a smirk, “Letting a Foundation Establishment cultivator hold onto your identity tokens?”

Was it ignorance, or did Ye Qiao truly have some skills?

Ye Qiao looked at him, “I don’t recall offending you guys?”

She and Duan Hengdao had gotten along pretty well in the secret realm before.

“Of course not. But to avoid any accidents, it’s better if you’re out.” Qin Huai’s sword was already aimed at Ye Qiao’s face.

“I was wrong.” Ye Qiao quickly admitted her mistake, glancing at Ming Xuan who was secretly forming hand seals. She decided to buy time, “How about we discuss this further?”

She recognized Ming Xuan was setting up an array.

Who knew Second Senior Brother could set up arrays? Ye Qiao was a bit surprised.

Qin Huai sneered, “You’re dead today.”

He split his sword into two shadows, thrusting them towards the three of them with great force.

Mingxuan, usually laid-back, wore a rare serious expression. His fingers flicked through talismans, and with lightning speed, he threw four talisman seals. Golden light rose from the ground, forming a four-sided lock that trapped Qin Huai in place.

—Four-Point Array.

It could temporarily immobilize the opponent, more complex than a binding talisman, requiring some time to set up.

Qin Huai’s face darkened.

He’d forgotten about the bothersome talisman cultivator.

Seeing Qin Huai trapped, Ye Qiao immediately changed her tune, “Hey, I wasn’t wrong.”

Qin Huai: “…”

Junior Brother was right—this person was indeed annoying!

Mingxuan tersely said, “Quick, go. Stop fooling around.”

Ye Qiao didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the identity tokens and ran.

Duan Hengdao, seeing Ye Qiao, hesitated briefly. But during the competition, showing mercy to the enemy was out of the question.

A thin, long rope appeared in his hand, and he flung it towards Ye Qiao.

A Golden Core against a Foundation Establishment, even if the latter was an artifact cultivator, Ye Qiao couldn’t match the speed. She had only managed to ambush Song Hansheng previously by catching him off guard.

The slender rope slithered like a snake, bypassing Ming Xuan, and was about to capture the little sister. Xue Yu gritted his teeth and pulled out a pill furnace, which rapidly enlarged and blocked Duan Hengdao’s attack.

Without Ye Qiao, he would have never thought of such a versatile use for the pill furnace.

It could both attack and defend, extremely useful.

Seeing his binding rope entangled with a large pill furnace, Duan Hengdao’s eyes widened in astonishment.

Who taught him to use a pill furnace like that?

In such a cornered situation, flying on a sword wasn’t an option. Sword cultivators needed to lower their swords to adjust their stance before taking off again. Now, under Duan Hengdao’s watchful eyes, there was no chance to escape.

With Qin Huai about to break free from the array, Ye Qiao quickly scanned the surroundings for something to use.

Suddenly, she saw a few flying beasts in the sky. Her eyes lit up, and without hesitation, she pulled out the beast-binding rope Duan Hengdao had given her.

In the next second, the soft rope flew out and automatically wrapped around the bird’s claw.

In one swift motion, the large bird ascended higher, and Ye Qiao was quickly pulled into the air. As she was being lifted, she couldn’t help but shout.

“See you later, everyone! I’m off on a journey tonight.”

“…”

Duan Hengdao’s face darkened, recognizing his beast-binding rope.

Sure, it had an automatic locking function for beasts, but it wasn’t meant to be used like this!

Qin Huai watched helplessly as Ye Qiao flew away with the identity tokens. He wanted to help but was still trapped by the Four-Point Square. Not being a talisman master, breaking the square would take some time. Even though Ming Xuan was a level lower, breaking the Four-Point talisman wasn’t easy.

Ming Xuan had spent several years creating only three Four-Point Talismans, a testament to the complexity of the array.

The elder from Wenjian Sect sipped his tea and smiled leisurely, “Talisman cultivators are truly remarkable.”

One talisman cultivator could trap someone for so long, no wonder Yueqing Sect had become increasingly arrogant over the years.

It was a shame that Song Hansheng had been eliminated on the first day. If he had been part of the melee, Ye Qiao wouldn’t have had a chance to escape.

Ultimately, it was Ye Qiao’s despicable ambush on the first day that had given her a good opportunity to flee.

Seeing that it wasn’t his sect’s disciples who were trapped, the elder from Wenjian Sect feigned sympathy, “There’s a reason talisman cultivators are rare.”

The elder from Chengfeng Sect’s temple twitched, forcing a smile, “Our sect didn’t have any disciples eliminated on the first day.”

The elder from Wenjian Sect’s face darkened momentarily before he smiled again, “Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Even though Chu Xingzhi was eliminated, there’s still the chief disciple of Yueqing Sect accompanying him, right?”

Elder from Yueqing Sect: “???” How did this end with our Yueqing Sect getting hurt?

Duan Hengdao took out his magical weapon to try to knock Ye Qiao down, but Ming Xuan didn’t give him the chance, pouncing on him and pinning him to the ground.

Duan Hengdao couldn’t dodge in time, eating a mouthful of dirt and struggling to get up while Xue Yu quickly piled on.

“… Damn.”

Using the most primitive fighting method turned out to be quite effective.

The core disciples of Changming Sect ended up stacking on top of each other like a human pyramid.

Their usual image was completely gone. The elite competition had turned into a chaotic scramble like market vendors fighting over vegetables.

…

Within moments, Ye Qiao managed to climb onto the bird’s back. Using a bit of leverage, she perched on its back, hugging its neck, and took off without looking back.

“Damn. You guys are really shameless.” Duan Hengdao watched as Ye Qiao flew away on the bird. Struggling to breathe under the pile, he squeezed out a complaint, “You weren’t like this before!”

What had changed these once dignified core disciples?

Ming Xuan grinned at him, asking, “Can having dignity prevent us from being eliminated?”

Clearly not.

By escaping with their identity tokens, Little sister could prevent them all from being eliminated.

This was a risky move; for a thousand years, few core disciples had ever willingly handed their identity tokens to another. Failing to protect the tokens would mean the entire sect was wiped out.

Right now, Little sister was their village’s only hope!

“The core disciples this year…” The elder from Chengfeng Sect twitched at the chaotic scene and offered a candid assessment, “They have a lot of tricks.”

Everyone was speechless: “Tricks? More like shameless!”