Chapter 112

Song Hansheng’s arrival undoubtedly eased Ye Qiao’s increasingly precarious situation.

The appearance of these two direct disciples made the demonic saintess raise her eyebrows slightly. Her tone was cold as she cursed them under her breath, calling them “useless.”

They couldn’t even handle one person and allowed her to be released.

One of them was at the late Golden Core stage, and the other was at the mid Foundation Establishment stage. The only one with any capability to resist the demonic saintess was Song Hansheng. The young man used his fingers to cast spells, avoiding the relentless attacks. He set up one formation after another, with Ye Qiao constantly providing cover for him.

Two small black marbles shot from the fingertips and struck the approaching demoness, who was the saintess of the demon clan. These marbles were magical tools stolen by Ye Qiao from the demon realm. Despite their small size and seemingly insignificant appearance, they had great power, and it turned out that they actually hit their target.

The demoness was momentarily stunned, feeling a sharp pain in her abdomen.

She looked up and, the more she examined it, the more familiar the magical tools thrown by Ye Qiao seemed. Her expression turned cold. “How did someone like you come from the righteous path?”

She recalled why the items Ye Qiao brought looked familiar: their demon clan’s treasury had inexplicably lost many magical tools previously.

So this Ye Qiao not only dared to flaunt her power but also took the local specialties as she left.

Did she think that the magical tools of the demon clan were so easy to steal?

The demoness grew angrier and became more vicious in her attacks, aiming to deal with the highest cultivator, Song Han Sheng, first. The continuous disturbance from his array made it difficult for Ye Qiao to capture him, and instead, it wore her out.

A green vine emerged from the ground and struck Song Han Sheng fiercely. The Vajra Talisman was completely exhausted. Unlike sword cultivators, talisman cultivators had no means to fight back once they were in close combat. The pain was like their internal organs shifting, and they momentarily lost consciousness.

Song Han Sheng was a step too slow; the Fire Talisman flared up just in time to avoid the vine’s attack. His body was thrown violently into the air and landed near the edge of a cliff. The demoness’s expression turned icy again as she slammed her palm down.

She had changed her mind.

It no longer mattered whether she captured him; she just needed to keep one of them alive to negotiate with the Five Sects.

The remaining annoying righteous sheep were completely unnecessary.

The disparity in cultivation levels was too great. If Zhou Xing Yun were here, there might have been a chance to fight back, but without protection, the talisman cultivator was destined to be slaughtered. At the moment Song Han Sheng was about to fall off the cliff, he clung desperately to the edge with a pale face.

Below was a bottomless abyss; falling meant certain death.

He wanted to survive.

Ye Qiao, who was not far away, cursed under her breath. Although she was somewhat injured, with a little help from Xiao Qi’s subtle hints about the attack positions, she could barely manage.

Unexpectedly, the demoness stopped fighting her and turned her attacks on Song Han Sheng.

Ye Qiao hurriedly flew over and grabbed him. “Hurry up, get up here!”

But the next moment, neither of them could escape as the demoness mercilessly struck them down into the abyss.

The scene outside was silent.

“Damn.”

Some sighed in disappointment. “I realize I misunderstood Ye Qiao before. She actually went to grab Song Han Sheng.”

“I’ve been watching the competition for so long, and Ye Qiao has always been quite polite. She played around and pranked rival sects, but she never used such despicable means to watch someone die.”

Righteous disciples were indeed open and upright.

The great path is forgetful but not heartless.

“If Ye Qiao had hesitated even a little, Song Han Sheng would have fallen. The two had significant grudges, and with the sect competition, Song Han Sheng’s threat was considerable. If it were me, I might not have acted as decisively as she did.”

But Ye Qiao acted without hesitation.

“I’m going to call out a personal disciple next. You know what I mean.”

“Let me ask, can they survive if they fall? A Yuan Ying’s strike is no joke. If they don’t have pills, they will definitely die.”

“Hard to say. The bottom of such a cliff is known as a polluted land, where various forbidden evil creatures might thrive. Rarely do cultivators survive a fall.”

The competition scene had become chaotic, with all kinds of comments. Some even shouted that all the personal disciples might be wiped out, causing considerable panic. Eventually, the Sword Sect’s head had to step in to forcibly suppress the commotion.

Seeing Song Han Sheng fall, Yun Hen, who had remained calm, suddenly stood up, looking unusually anxious and unable to sit still. “When can we get in to save them?”

He was the head of the disciples and the one he was most proud of. Watching the two fall was a huge blow to all the elders.

Qin Fan Fan was also anxious. She grabbed onto the Chang Feng Sect elder’s clothes, her tone growing cold. “With so many personal disciples inside, you from Chang Feng Sect have researched magical tools for so many years, and you can’t even open a secret realm?”

The Chang Feng Sect elder’s face alternated between green and white. His own disciples were also inside. If it hadn’t been for Ye Qiao saving them, they might have been in trouble as well.

So he couldn’t argue with Qin Fan Fan. After all, Ye Qiao had saved his sect’s disciple.

His face was dark as he could only vent his anger at Yun Hen. “There’s never been a case where someone took the Source Pearl away before! How could you force open the secret realm in such a short time?”

Outside was chaotic, and so was the elder’s seat and the sect leader’s seat, with a strange and depressed atmosphere. The Sword Sect elder’s expression was solemn. He sighed slightly and signaled everyone to calm down:

“There are many personal disciples who have been lost midway in the cultivation world. Take it lightly.”

If they could, they wouldn’t want any disciple to be in trouble. Losing one was a huge loss to the cultivation world.

“It’s not your disciple who’s in trouble.” Qin Fan Fan was also extremely agitated, and her little disciple was different.

The cultivation world placed great importance on talent, and Ye Qiao’s spiritual root was one of the rare heavenly grades. With three types of cultivation plus heavenly grade, if something happened to her, it would likely cause turmoil in the cultivation world.

Elder Duan still managed to stay relatively calm. “Let’s see what the other sects are doing. Their recording stones are also shattered.”

After they fell, the visuals completely disappeared.

Qin Fan Fan took a deep breath and could only hope that the child was smart enough to survive with Song Han Sheng until they could rescue them.

As for Ye Qiao, who was unaware of the turmoil outside, the mustard seed bag she obtained earlier came into play at the moment they fell.

The defensive magical tool was an umbrella. As it opened, she tightly held the handle and pulled Song Han Sheng along. They were initially falling rapidly, but their speed slowed down, and they eventually landed safely on the ground.

**A Close Call**

Ye Qiao let out a sigh of relief. She was confident she could catch Song Hansheng, knowing that with so many mustard seed bags in hand, she wouldn’t face significant problems.

Falling rapidly from the cliff, the spiritual energy was completely consumed by the miasma at the bottom. Song Hansheng, who didn’t practice sword control and had no protective magical tools, would have turned into nothing but bones if Ye Qiao hadn’t saved him with her magic tool and landed safely.

Song Hansheng, sweating coldly, looked at Ye Qiao, who was leading the way. Still shaken from the edge of death, he spoke haltingly, “Ye Qiao.”

“Thank you.”

“……”

Ye Qiao, who was surveying the surroundings, turned back with a raised eyebrow. The fact that Song Hansheng, who usually had a superior attitude, would actually thank her was surprising.

“It’s nothing. You helped me too,” she replied while clearing the path with the tool.

Song Hansheng pressed his lips together and followed her. “I thought you wouldn’t save me,” he admitted. He was so shocked that he was still processing what had happened.

There were past grievances between them in the small secret realm, and he hadn’t expected her to come to his rescue.

Had Ye Qiao hesitated even a little, he would have fallen to a gruesome end.

Ye Qiao thought for a moment, “When I was fighting the demoness earlier, you could have chosen not to come out.”

Since Song Hansheng hadn’t chosen to escape, Ye Qiao naturally couldn’t just watch him fall.

This was the rare moment when they didn’t exchange barbed words. Remembering the magical tool Ye Qiao used to save him, Song Hansheng asked casually, “Where did you get that umbrella?”

Chang Ming Sect probably couldn’t afford such magical tools, so did Ye Qiao buy it herself?

Ye Qiao was momentarily stunned. “Oh.”

“This?” She shook it. “I found it in Duan Heng Dao’s mustard seed bag.”

She had returned Shen Ziwei’s mustard seed bag to him before he left, but hadn’t had a chance to return Duan Heng Dao’s. She had planned to return it after rescuing them, but ended up in this predicament with Song Hansheng before she could.

Song Hansheng: “……”

He fell silent for a moment before pointing at the mustard seed bags Ye Qiao was holding, “So, you stole things again?”

Ye Qiao smiled, “Don’t put it that way. If I hadn’t taken them, you wouldn’t have gotten them either.”

It was a harsh truth, but Song Hansheng couldn’t argue. Without Ye Qiao’s acquisition of so many mustard seed bags, he would have already met his end at the bottom of the cliff.

The area was shrouded in swirling black mists. Ye Qiao could feel these mists trying to invade their bodies and devour their internal spiritual energy. Soon, she felt exhausted and frowned, “This fog is absorbing our internal spiritual energy.”

Song Hansheng muttered a curse, clearly disgusted, “What kind of damned place is this?”

The dripping, murky water sounds were unsettling. Song Hansheng, feeling frustrated and unable to hide his disdain, said, “I’d never come to a place like this again in my life. It’s dirty, cold, and creepy.”

How could such a place exist in a secret realm?

Ye Qiao ignored his complaints and observed the misty surroundings, rummaging through the defensive magical tools in Duan Heng Dao’s mustard seed bag. After figuring out how to use them, she activated them, creating a protective layer around them.

“How long can this magical tool last?” Ye Qiao was not well-versed in magical tools.

Song Hansheng glanced at it, estimated, and smirked disdainfully. “Fifteen minutes. The Chang Feng Sect’s personal disciples, despite researching so many defensive magical tools, have only managed to achieve this level.”

“……” Ye Qiao suddenly felt that Song Hansheng’s ability to offend every sect’s disciples was not without reason.

This was their most harmonious moment, but it didn’t last long. The magical tool shattered, and the mist started to gather again, rushing towards them as if it were eager to consume them entirely.

Song Hansheng was prepared and activated a pre-arranged array to cover them, blocking most of the attacks. He thought they were safe, but soon after, slender spider threads started to fall towards the array’s barrier.

Ye Qiao: “Damn.”

The eight-legged spiders had blood-red eyes, staring at them like predatory beasts, ready to pounce at any moment.

After encountering the ugly Yuan Ying beasts, these spiders no longer disgusted Ye Qiao. “Why are there such things at the bottom of the cliff?”

The miasma and evil creatures were pervasive.

Song Hansheng, unlike Ye Qiao who slacked off, spoke with a subdued tone and quickened pace. “Every secret realm has such things. The bottom of the cliff gathers this kind of evil energy, sustaining these creatures.”

These evil creatures could only thrive in places like the cliff’s bottom. Without Ye Qiao’s mustard seed bag from the Bishui Sect, which contained pills to replenish spiritual energy, their only outcome would be to become skeletons.

Song Hansheng couldn’t help but marvel at Ye Qiao’s audacity. Who steals mustard seed bags? Yet, it turned out to be crucial. If someone else had come to save him today, they would have ended up waiting for death together.

As they walked, they passed by many scattered, eerie white bones.

Song Hansheng quickened his pace. “We need to find a way out.”

Otherwise, their fate would be the same as those white bones.

Ye Qiao pondered for a moment. “I’ll try controlling the sword.”

After throwing down the Bamboo shoot, she adjusted her stance and stood on it. The stick quickly rose into the air.

Ye Qiao’s eyes lit up as she prepared to call Song Hansheng to join her, but midway, the stick suddenly lost control and threw her off.

Ye Qiao landed awkwardly in a sprawled position.

She groaned in pain, lying on the ground and calming herself. As expected, she couldn’t fly with the sword.

If it were possible, the owners of those skeletal remains would have escaped long ago.

Song Hansheng sneered, “You’re not handling it well. Let me try.”

He also began to mimic Ye Qiao’s actions, reaching into Duan Heng Dao’s mustard seed bag to find a flying magical tool. He put it on, attempting to escape from the bottom of the cliff.

In the end, after falling in the same manner as Ye Qiao, Song Hansheng calmed down as well: “Neither the magical tool nor the sword control works. Do we have to fly up on our own?”