Chapter 106

The surroundings fell into complete silence. Under the gaze of everyone, Chu Xingzhi’s eyes widened when his sword broke: “Ye Qiao!”

Though it was just an ordinary Xuan sword, for a sword cultivator, having their sword broken was akin to having their face stomped into the ground. Enraged, he threw a punch directly at Ye Qiao.

She spun away to dodge, and in one swift motion, kicked downward. To her surprise, Chu Xingzhi feinted and used his other hand to strike at her abdomen.

Ye Qiao grabbed his arm and, in the same instant, flipped him to the ground.

Mu Chongxi immediately jumped up, his eyes shining brightly: “Ye Qiao, amazing!”

“Hit him! Hit him! Sidekick, spin, watch your back, Ye Qiao!” Ming Xuan also shouted excitedly.

The scene became extremely lively.

Ye Qiao and Chu Xingzhi exchanged glances, ready to continue, when the voice of an elder from the Sword Inquiry Sect suddenly sounded from behind.

“Haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

The previously lively crowd instantly fell silent.

“Will you die if you don’t cause trouble for one day?”

The elder from the Sword Inquiry Sect was genuinely frustrated, shaking his head in disappointment. The exam had been a mess, and now they were fighting with flower pots on their heads. He pointed at everyone present and said, “The secret realm will open in a few days. I hope all of you can reflect and behave properly.”

“Especially those who don’t use their brains and get overturned in the last two days, yet still have the face to watch the commotion.”

“…” The disciples from the other three sects felt subtly insulted.

He waved his hand and, looking at the silent disciples, said coldly, “Disperse.”

Having fought and vented her frustration, Ye Qiao walked away in high spirits. The flower pots were no longer on their heads as everyone returned to their respective sects.

When Qin Fanfan arrived, it was already too late. Following the disciples back to the courtyard, he asked, “I heard you guys fought? How did it go?”

Since Chu Xingzhi was also an opponent, it was good to get an early measure of his strength.

Ye Qiao, feeling somewhat proud, said, “I beat him.”

Although Chu Xingzhi had underestimated her, and her initial move had caught him off guard, Ye Qiao still won.

Qin Fanfan chuckled, not quite believing it. Even Mu Chongxi wasn’t certain to defeat Chu Xingzhi. But there was no need to say that out loud.

“Xiao Qiao.” Qin Fanfan walked with his hands behind his back, following the group. “You’ve been stuck at this stage for a long time. Is it because you can’t break through, or are you in a bottleneck?”

For talented disciples, breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage was usually easy. Ye Qinghan had broken through the Golden Core stage with such ease that it caused a stir in the cultivation world.

“I can break through,” Ye Qiao thought for a moment, “but my spiritual roots are too weak. The speed of breaking through doesn’t match my current spiritual roots.”

She needed to let them grow stronger.

At present, aside from absorbing lightning, there was no other way.

In the cultivation world, most disciples who had reached the Golden Core stage had already experienced lightning tribulation. The next stage would be the Nascent Soul stage.

But since the cultivation world wasn’t filled with Nascent Soul cultivators, Ye Qiao had no one to absorb lightning from.

Qin Fanfan appreciated her cautious approach, “Being too hasty can indeed destabilize your foundation.”

After a day of chaos, the next evening gradually returned to quiet. The various sects’ courtyards became silent as they analyzed the upcoming secret realm.

“It feels like the difficulty of these major secret realms is continuously increasing.” Not only Ye Qiao, but other disciples also felt it.

“It gets harder the further we go.” Ming Xuan lightly tapped the map given by the Sword Inquiry Sect, “The next secret realm is called the Thicket Forest. It not only has beasts but also many mutated trees. These trees not only eat people, but if you don’t escape in time when caught, you’ll be devoured and assimilated.”

The most troublesome aspect of this secret realm isn’t the beasts, but the plants. Those with fire-based spiritual roots have an advantage since some plants won’t dare to provoke them.

“If you encounter danger, just crush your identification token and run.”

Every hundred years, there’s a grand competition, and many prodigies have perished in this secret realm. It was only later that they developed identification tokens, which can be crushed to teleport out.

Ming Xuan handed them several fire control talismans. “If things go south, use these to pacify the plants. If that doesn’t work, just run.”

There wasn’t much else he could do, so he wished them all good luck, especially Ye Qiao.

While others might have it tough, she was bound to face the worst targeting.

“Ah, life is so hard,” Ye Qiao sighed, slumping over the table.

Since acquiring the alchemy furnace, her speed in creating pills had more than doubled. She stored the highly saturated ones in porcelain bottles and shared them with her senior brothers.

Given the upcoming secret realm, it didn’t sound very friendly, especially for Ye Qiao, who seemed to be against the world.

Xue Yu looked at the pills she had made, a smile forming on his lips. “If the Bishui Sect knew your level, they’d probably try to poach you.”

Previously, Ye Qiao had used a pot to refine pills in the secret realm, a method no one had seen before, making it hard to gauge her skills.

“If only I’d known earlier,” Ye Qiao tilted her head, tapping the ground absentmindedly. “If I knew they were so wealthy, I would have joined them back then.”

She cursed her youthful ignorance, swayed by five steamed buns.

Three days later, all the disciples were packed and ready, boarding the flying boat to the site where the secret realm would open. It was early morning, barely light out, and the disciples were drowsy and slumped over. Only the Sword Inquiry Sect stood straight like little poplars.

As Mu Chongxi walked, he felt a slap on the back of his head.

“Stand straight,” Duan Yu scolded from behind.

Mu Chongxi complained, “She’s not standing straight either, why don’t you scold her?” He pointed at Ye Qiao, who was too tired to lift her head.

Duan Yu replied, “Can she be the same as you?”

???

Why the double standard?

“Qiao Qiao, long time no see.” A cultivator outside greeted her enthusiastically. “Promise us you’ll come back smiling.”

“We believe in you! Even if you’ve offended all the top disciples, you’ll be just fine!”

“You’re the one who survives against all odds, Ye Langlang.”

Just as Ye Qiao heard these words and was about to cheerfully reply, “It’s no big deal,” she looked up and saw the other sects not far away.

Every gaze was icy cold.

If looks could kill, she would have been dead already.

Ye Qiao nonchalantly turned her head, pretending not to notice, while internally she was frantically thinking of a strategy. Ming Xuan nudged her, “What now? If you don’t find a team, you might really get targeted to death.”

In previous rounds, no one took a Foundation Establishment cultivator seriously, so Ye Qiao wasn’t heavily targeted. But now, her enmity level was off the charts.

Ming Xuan stroked his chin, appearing deep in thought. “I’m wondering, who’s the unlucky one who’ll have to team up with Ye Qiao this time?”

Out of five, one was always left alone. Ye Qiao had avoided being that one three times in a row. Who knew what would happen this time?