Just as they were about to enter Song Xinwu’s blind spot, another person arrived—the Western Buddhist monk.

Now, Elder Fang couldn’t act; everything had to start over!

Sure enough, the elder who had just been in motion had now completely concealed his presence, and even Fang Zhiming couldn’t sense him.

At this moment, Fang Zhiming’s hatred for the bald monk far surpassed his feelings for Qin Ruqing.

Buddhists are very sensitive to emotions, and indeed, the monk’s compassionate gaze turned toward him, asking gently, “Why do you harbor such hatred, Master Fang?”

Damn, I forgot that Buddhists are sensitive to emotions.

Fang Zhiming gritted his teeth but used all his strength to suppress his anger, forcing a smile and saying, “Monk, you jest. We have no grievances or enmity. Why would I hate you?”

He sheathed his sword, even mimicking the gesture of clasping hands in greeting, and quickly moved in another direction.

The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was lost; now he had to find another chance.

The monk returned the gesture and then turned to Qin Ruqing, saying, “He clearly hates me.”

Qin Ruqing looked at the monk with surprise. “He might hate you for interrupting the sparring. But that’s alright; hatred often lasts longer than love. After this, Brother Fang will surely remember the monk deeply.”

The monk smiled and said, “Miss Qin, you indeed have great insight. Would you be interested in listening to me talk about Buddhism?”

Qin Ruqing eagerly agreed, “Yes, yes! I’m very interested in such a Zen-like path!”

So, when Qirong and Song Xinwu arrived, they saw Qin Ruqing and the Buddhist monk sitting on the ground, discussing Zen and the Way.

Qi Rong’s expression didn’t change much.

After all, he felt that anything strange could happen with his sister, so nothing seemed too surprising.

Song Xinwu, however, had a question mark appear above his head, feeling utterly confused.

Wasn’t she just fighting fiercely with someone?

How did she switch to discussing Buddhism so quickly?

Are their mental states on the same level? How did she make such a transition?

Qin Ruqing saw Song Xinwu and called out, “Hey, Brother Song, would you like to join us and listen to the Buddha’s teachings?”

Song Xinwu was confused but found himself sitting down without realizing it, under the Buddha’s kind and expectant gaze.

When Dan Qing arrived, he saw the scene: Qin Ruqing, Song Xinwu, and Qi Rong were all gathered around the illuminated Buddha, listening intently.

Qin Ruqing had a gentle smile and occasionally nodded

. Song Xinwu was stiff with sweat on his forehead.

Qi Rong looked bored, yawning and resting his chin on his hand.

The Buddha adjusted the light to a perfect brightness and, noticing Dan Qing’s arrival, extended an invitation, “Master Dan, would you like to join us?”

However, Dan Qing, being a sword cultivator, had no interest in such things.

He immediately looked at Qin Ruqing and said firmly, “Miss Ruqing, would you be willing to have a duel with me?”

Qin Ruqing replied with a laugh, “I would like to, but I’m currently busy.”

She then gestured to Qirong to make some space and invited, “Sword Master, come and sit with us!”

Party Qing glanced at Qin Ruqing, nodded, and took the vacant seat next to her.

Song Xinwu stood stiffly, watching as the sword master sat down beside him.

At that moment, he felt utterly bewildered.

Fang Zhiming was equally perplexed.

He had been watching for an hour and saw Qin Ruqing attracting more and more people around her.

Wasn’t this the Hundred Clans Conference?

The miasma had shrunk significantly, and it was a critical time for ranking. Yet, they were all just chatting and talking?

Were they not top talents anymore?

What happened to their competitive spirit? Were they not fighting for the spots in the Void Ruins?

And the Golden Core demon beast standing nearby was being ignored?

The elder hiding in the shadows was also speechless.

He had planned to use the news of the Golden Core demon beast to stir up chaos, hoping to benefit from the confusion.

However, while many people had arrived, the situation remained calm.

The younger generation was becoming increasingly incomprehensible.

The Fang family elder sighed inwardly and decided not to delay any further.

He sent a message to Fang Zhiming:

“Since they refuse to attack the tree demon, you should do it. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you in secret. Even if the tree demon goes berserk, you’ll be safe.”

Fang Zhiming nodded and was about to act when he suddenly paused, a flash of something crossing his eyes.

Although the plant-type demon beast wasn’t very aggressive, even if he angered it, it would only go into a frenzy for a while before calming down.

It might not cause enough chaos to fully disrupt the situation.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Zhiming drew his sword but didn’t act immediately.

Instead, he took out a vial of liquid and applied it to the blade.

The hidden Elder Fang nearly gasped in surprise. “Extreme Illusionous Heart Liquid… Zhiming, what are you doing? Using this will make the tree demon completely go berserk. In that case, even I might not be able to protect you.”

Fang Zhiming’s expression was calm as he continued to apply the light purple liquid to his sword. “I’m not crazy; I’m very clear-headed. Our main goal here is to kill Qin Ruqing. Otherwise, why would we need to dispatch an elder like you?”

“The others are all crazy people with warped minds. They don’t follow common sense. If we don’t do this, they might even try to settle things with a friendly sparring match to determine the rankings. How could we cause chaos then?”

“Elder, it has to be done this way if we want a chance to act today.”

The presence in the shadows hesitated for a moment but ultimately did not speak up to stop him.

Fang Zhiming understood this as tacit approval.

He smiled, stood up with his sword, and a hint of madness flickered in his eyes.

While Qin Ruqing and her group were chatting, they suddenly heard a clear “clink” sound.

They stopped talking and turned their heads to see the source of the noise.

They saw the Golden Core demon tree, which was so large that ten people couldn’t encircle it, with a sword stuck into its trunk.

The sword wobbled, and green sap oozed out from where the blade entered the tree.

A suppressive, restless aura spread out.

The canopy above, which covered the sky, began to hum and shake, and the vines hanging from it slowly started to writhe.

In a moment of eerie calm, Qin Ruqing and her group simultaneously scattered.

As they moved, thick vines like the size of a small leg thundered down and created a large pit where they had been standing.

“Fang Zhiming, are you insane?!” Song Xinwu roared.

He couldn’t understand why Fang Zhiming was acting this way.

The tree demon was standing there calmly, and it was at the Golden Core Realm.

How could they attack without a thorough plan?

Fang Zhiming didn’t respond but used his spell to control the flying sword, which began to cut down large branches.

Originally, the tree demon was only attacking selectively, but after this, it completely went berserk.

The entire tree shook violently, with dead leaves falling off.

All the vines on the tree began to writhen like a mass of snakes, creating a terrifying sight.

Qin Ruqing erected a golden flame barrier above her head to block the vines.

She then shouted sternly to Qi Rong:

“Qirong, run! Get out of the canopy! Quickly!”

Everyone instinctively scattered towards the edge of the canopy.

Only by escaping the range of the tree demon’s canopy could they have a chance at survival!

The ground trembled, but it wasn’t the ground itself; it was the ancient tree’s roots, extending underground.

At this moment, the roots were frantically writhing, occasionally popping up to attack anyone on the surface.

As Qin Ruqing was darting away, she saw Fang Zhiming, whose mouth was bleeding.

He had been injured by the tree demon during his initial attack and was already in serious condition.

Qin Ruqing’s eyes narrowed.

She flashed over to him and, as Fang Zhiming looked at her, she struck him with a flaming fist, shouting:

“You filthy, stupid trash!”

This punch was actually one of her Dao Physique skills, a beginner version of the Lotus Fire Embodiment, which provided partial enhancement to specific body parts.

The punch sent Fang Zhiming flying, causing him to spit out blood mid-air before crashing to the ground.

At that moment, tree roots emerged from below and aimed like spikes towards him.

Fang Zhiming rolled to avoid the attack, but saw Qin Ruqing forming hand seals in mid-air, conjuring a golden lotus.

Fang Zhiming’s pupils constricted as he realized that being hit while severely injured meant certain death.

Without hesitation, he crushed his jade slip.

Before being teleported out, he gave Qin Ruqing a smirk of triumph, mouthing the words: “You will die.”

Qin Ruqing was not at all intimidated by this.

She glanced slightly towards a certain direction—she had always known where the person from the Fang family was hiding.

She had long suspected the Fang family was out to kill her, so she had prepared extensively.

Besides asking the Fifth Family to increase patrols, Qin Ruqing had also made several preparations herself.

Her greatest reliance was her Dao Physique and system.

Since she couldn’t develop her Dao Physique further in the short term and her power was limited, Qin Ruqing focused on the system.

She was able to detect the hidden person’s location because she activated a “targeting device.”

This was a new item in the system mall that didn’t enhance power or attributes but only helped with aiming.

It was designed to target people or objects within a specified range.

Due to the high cost and its seemingly limited function, Qin Ruqing had previously thought it was useless.

However, she recently decided to exchange for it and found it valuable for tracking hidden enemies.

By setting the description to target the highest cultivation within the range, the targeting device could automatically lock onto the hidden person, making the Fang family’s agent visible to her.

Qin Ruqing saw the hidden Fang family member casting a spell with his hands.

She tensed up, heightened her spiritual senses to the maximum, and as an attack from the shadows approached, she dodged, appearing to avoid a vine attack but actually evading a sneak attack.

The hidden Elder Fang’s eyes widened in surprise.

How could his nearly unavoidable attack be dodged?

After evading the attack, Qin Ruqing kept dodging the vines, but in reality, she was adjusting her position.

As she adjusted, she found herself directly in front of Elder Fang.

In the elder Fang’s view, this was almost a guaranteed hit.

He immediately began preparing his killing move.

However, what he thought was a sure hit was different from a real sneak attack.

While it was a guaranteed hit from his perspective, it was quite different from an actual surprise attack.

To Qin Ruqing, the incoming deadly strike might be intimidating, but with her senses fully activated, she was confident she could avoid it.

She dodged the incoming vines and used her strength to stabilize herself.

With the Golden Lotus forming beneath her feet, she quickly used two high-level Thunder Talismans on herself, spinning in the air and dodging the attack.

Since the attack didn’t hit anyone, it had to land somewhere.

After Qin Ruqing dodged, the attack was redirected towards the tree demon!

This was exactly the position Qin Ruqing had carefully calculated!

The tree demon seemed to sense the impending danger.

Its countless vines no longer attacked people but instead gathered together, trying to block the attack.

Taking advantage of this moment, Qin Ruqing didn’t pause.

She quickly formed hand seals and shouted towards Qi Rong, “Qi Rong, attack the tree demon! Song Xinwu, the tree demon!”

At this moment, Qin Ruqing’s focus was not on the Fang family elder but on the tree demon.

After all, the tree demon was a valuable target with lots of points!

Qi Rong instinctively turned to attack as soon as Qin Ruqing spoke.

Song Xinwu, who was trying to escape, paused for a moment, looked at Qirong, and followed his lead.

The tree demon, having taken the full force of the Golden Core elder’s attack, was on the brink of collapse.

Before it could recover, a huge Golden Lotus Seal, along with two powerful attacks, slammed into it.

The explosion shook the world, and with a bright flash of fire, the tree demon was blown apart!

The blast sent Qin Ruqing flying forward.

She coughed up blood but wasn’t finished.

She immediately used her magic to send a Golden Lotus towards the direction where the elder was hiding.

Threatened by the explosion and the Golden Lotus, the Elder Fang was forced to reveal his position.

Just as Dan Qing and the Buddha’s Child, who had narrowly escaped the explosion, were catching their breath, they saw a new black figure emerging from the smoke.

Qin Ruqing collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood, and angrily shouted, “How dare the Fang family sneak attack me in the competition! What are your intentions!”

The Fang family?

Elder Fang was stunned by the series of events.

He couldn’t understand how things had turned out this way.

But it seemed clear that Qin Ruqing had already discovered his position, causing his two sneak attacks to fail.

From the direction of the White Tower, a powerful aura was approaching.

Elder Fang faced two choices:

1. Secretly escape before the main officials arrive. Even if Qin Ruqing exposes his identity, he could later clear his name. There was still some time left.
2. Kill Qin Ruqing quickly before the main officials arrive and then escape urgently.

The decision had to be made in an instant.

The black-robed figure turned towards Qin Ruqing, extending his claw-like fingers, with murderous intent.

This Qin family prodigy had to be eliminated!

Injured and on the brink, Qin Ruqing began to emanate golden flames.

With the Dao Physique’s divine power, the Lotus Fire, enveloping her, this was one of her long-hidden trump cards, prepared for this very moment!

At the same time, Qin Ruqing lowered her eyes and crushed a piece of jade in her right hand.

The live crystal of the East Region’s prominent family, the Huizhu Building, instantly connected to the space of the shattered jade.

Enveloped in golden flames, Qin Ruqing smirked.

“Want to assassinate me, huh? Fine! I’ll give you a live broadcast for the entire city to see, so the Fang family can make a grand appearance!”