Chapter 28

The Grand Secret Realm had appeared suddenly, and no one had previously made any guides about it. No one knew what dangers lay within. As they followed Ye Qiao halfway, Duan Hengdao began to regret his impulsiveness.

Why did he impulsively agree to go treasure hunting with Ye Qiao?

Setting aside whether they could find any treasures, their team—consisting of two at the Golden Core stage and one at the Foundation Establishment stage—would stand no chance against powerful monsters.

Regret wouldn’t help now. They had to push forward. The environment on the first day in the secret realm was relatively normal, but it grew stranger the further they went. As night fell, they decided to rest and continue the next day.

Ye Qiao took the opportunity to study the Yueqing Sect’s cultivation methods and talisman books. While talisman-making followed universal principles, drawing the formation talisman wasn’t too difficult. Success mainly depended on precise control of positioning and adeptness.

Aside from formation talismans, there were also various breaking talismans. It was no wonder talisman cultivators were rare; mastering these techniques was mentally exhausting.

Ye Qiao imitated the Yueqing Sect’s formation talismans with her fingers and found it manageable.

She then sat down to draw qi and began copying the formation talismans from the Yueqing Sect’s book.

With the wolf-hair brush from her fourth senior brother, her failure rate significantly decreased. Duan Hengdao and Mu Chongxi were fast asleep nearby. Worried about potential dangers, she drew talismans while staying alert to her surroundings.

Unknowingly, the number of talismans beside her increased.

Ye Qiao wiped the cold sweat from her hand, a result of gripping the brush too tightly.

“Wake up,” she reminded, “someone’s coming.”

Duan Hengdao groggily opened his eyes, “Who?”

Ye Qiao: “I’m not sure.” She had sensed it while drawing talismans, but since they were far away, she hadn’t woken the others.

“You sensed someone from that far?” Duan Hengdao scratched his head, puzzled.

Logically, talisman cultivators, pill cultivators, and artifact cultivators should have the strongest spiritual senses.

These craftsmen needed spiritual sense to refine tools, concoct pills, and draw talismans, so their sea of consciousness was highly refined, making them more sensitive to danger.

The width of one’s sea of consciousness was also related to their cultivation level. He was at the Golden Core stage, and Ye Qiao was only at the Foundation Establishment stage. How could her spiritual sense be broader than his?

Before he could figure it out, Ye Qiao waved a small stack of talismans and grinned.

“Brothers,” she said, “we’ve got work to do.”

“???”

Mu Chongxi shivered at her enigmatic smile.

Work? What work?

Ye Qiao had just finished drawing talismans and needed test subjects. It seemed someone was coming their way, saving her the trouble of experimenting on her own people.

“You guys want to play a talisman game?”

She waved the talismans in her hand casually, “I’ve got plenty, we’ll see who gets tagged.”

“…” Duan Hengdao had never seen someone so extravagant with talismans. Typically, a talisman master could draw only five or six talismans a day before their spiritual sea was exhausted.

In Changming Sect, there was only one talisman master, so he naturally assumed these talismans were drawn by Ming Xuan.

“Your senior brother really cares for you,” Duan Hengdao couldn’t help but sigh.

Ye Qiao: “? What is he talking about?”

“Do you want some?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The two eagerly took the talismans. Who wouldn’t want talismans? They’re precious. Normally, talismans are tightly held by talisman masters. This was their first time handling so many.

Duan Hengdao examined the talismans with fascination, “Wow, Ming Xuan must have spent a lot of time on these.”

“So, what do these talismans do?”

Ye Qiao realized Duan Hengdao had misunderstood but didn’t bother to explain. Let him be mistaken; during the grand competition, they were still opponents. Revealing her ability to draw talismans now would only cause unnecessary trouble.

“Most are formation talismans, with a few offensive ones.”

“Use them as you please. I have plenty more.”

Ye Qiao’s extravagance made Duan Hengdao jealous. He wished he had a talisman-drawing senior brother too. It would be so useful in a fight, just throwing talismans could deal with the enemy.

As the three of them were engrossed in examining the talismans, a stranger’s voice sounded from behind.

“Which sect are you from?”

Ye Qiao turned around, taken aback by the fresh green robes of the group approaching them.

What a green sect.

She stepped back slightly, gripping the talismans tightly, and replied cautiously, “Which sect are you from?”

The other party responded arrogantly, “Xuanyun Sect.”

Ye Qiao had never heard of them.

Duan Hengdao was slightly startled. He leaned in and whispered, “Oh, I know them. They’re quite a big sect. Although they can’t compare to our Five Sects, they’re somewhat famous in the cultivation world.”

“Their sect advocates for Dao through killing. They claim to be righteous, but I think they have a lot in common with demonic cultivators.”

Low emotional intelligence: Their ways are no different from demonic cultivators.

High emotional intelligence: They have a lot in common with demonic cultivators.

Ye Qiao understood.

“Why are you dawdling? Hand over your treasures,” the leading man demanded with a malicious grin. “Or don’t blame me for killing a few of you to feed my sword.”

Duan Hengdao frowned, clearly disgusted by their attitude.

He was about to declare their sect, but Ye Qiao stopped him.

Are you kidding?

In this situation, why declare your own sect? Better to pull hatred towards a rival sect.

Ye Qiao ignored him and flung a talisman at the man’s face.

The explosive talisman ignited instantly, blowing the man’s hair straight up with a loud “bang.”

Before he could react, she threw several more, and Mu Chongxi followed her lead, throwing talismans at their faces.

Strike while the iron is hot, even if it doesn’t kill them, it can weaken them.

A barrage of talismans followed, and despite the man’s Golden Core stage cultivation, he struggled to withstand it, vomiting blood.

“Senior brother!” A fellow disciple in green robes hurriedly supported him, a fierce glint in his eyes, “They must be from Yueqing Sect.”

The girl’s attire didn’t reveal her sect, but possessing so many talismans meant she couldn’t be a rogue cultivator.

“They can’t be from a small sect.”

Mu Chongxi didn’t use his sword, opting to throw talismans instead, giving the impression that all three were talisman masters.

“So many talisman masters, could they be from Yueqing Sect?”

In major sects, talisman masters were primarily in Yueqing Sect.

Changming Sect also had a talisman master, but every disciple there was known for being overly righteous and naive.

They couldn’t be from Changming Sect.

Yueqing Sect, on the other hand, was notorious for being unscrupulous for resources. The disciple immediately felt he had figured it out.

These must be those shameless Yueqing Sect disciples!

Seeing the others throwing talismans so joyfully, Duan Hengdao couldn’t resist joining in. He threw a binding talisman. With the Golden Core stage cultivation added, the injured man couldn’t dodge.

The talisman flew rapidly, and golden talisman lines flashed, forming a formation that trapped the man.

The man’s face contorted with rage. “Yueqing Sect disciples, huh?”

“Fine, I’ll remember you.”

Duan Hengdao’s binding talisman was effective. Back then, Song Hansheng used this formation to trap rogue cultivators. Now, these people were stuck for the time being. Ye Qiao estimated they had about five minutes before they could break free.

Ye Qiao, worried they might come after her when freed, shouted, “What are you standing around for? Keep throwing!”

She had drawn a bunch of odd talismans and needed test subjects. Weren’t these guys perfect for the job?

Duan Hengdao discovered the fun in this. There were all kinds of talismans: laughing talismans, crawling talismans, sleeping talismans, stinking talismans. The more bizarre, the better.

He shivered.

What a terrifying Changming Sect.

Ming Xuan wasn’t a proper talisman master; why was he delving into such strange paths?

If they faced Changming Sect in the future competition, just dealing with these talismans would be torturous.

Using the talismans to stall, Ye Qiao soon saw the Yueqing Sect arrive. The three groups unexpectedly ran into each other.

Song Hansheng immediately noticed Ye Qiao. New and old grudges combined, and he prepared to settle scores, coldly spitting out two words: “Ye Qiao.”

Ye Qiao’s eyes lit up. She waved enthusiastically, “Senior Brother Song.”

“Come save us,” she pointed at the Xuanyun Sect members, looking utterly confident, “These nobodies from some insignificant sects actually dare to challenge us from Yueqing Sect. They have no idea what’s coming to them.”

“?” Song Hansheng: “What?”

What do you mean by ‘us’ from Yueqing Sect?

Who is ‘us’ with you?

He was stunned for a second, and the insulted Xuanyun Sect disciples immediately flew into a rage, raising their swords and charging toward Song Hansheng.

Talisman masters aren’t skilled in close combat, so Song Hansheng quickly retreated to a safe distance. He wasn’t stupid and quickly realized that Ye Qiao was trying to divert the trouble. “Don’t listen to them! They are obviously disciples from Changming Sect and Chengfeng Sect.”

Song Hansheng gritted his teeth, “I don’t even know her well.”

The Xuanyun Sect man clearly didn’t believe him. “Not familiar? Who are you trying to fool? You called her by name right away just now!”

“Senior Brother, stop listening to his nonsense. Let’s show them what we’re made of.” An impatient disciple drew his sword.

Sword cultivators generally have fiery tempers and are easily provoked.

Ye Qiao, standing on the side, fanned the flames even more, “Yes, Senior Brother Song, how can you say that? We are from the inner sect of Yueqing Sect. You’re making us so sad.”

“Shut up!” Song Hansheng was nearly driven mad with anger. “Are you blind? Can’t you see they have two sword cultivators and an artifact cultivator? Our Yueqing Sect doesn’t have artifact cultivators, and we only have one sword cultivator!”

Ye Qiao’s voice suddenly rose, drowning out his words, “What? How dare you call them blind? Senior Brother, even if you’re the chief disciple of Yueqing Sect, you can’t say such things!”

Xuanyun Sect became even more enraged upon hearing this. He hated the disciples of the Five Sects, thinking they were all arrogant.

“Don’t let them get away. I want to see what’s so great about a bunch of talisman masters.” He sneered and joined the fight with his sword.

Song Hansheng cursed under his breath, realizing it was pointless to argue with these fools. He grabbed his talismans, and chaos ensued.

Ye Qiao, meanwhile, reveled in the chaos. She didn’t attack anyone directly but moved through the battlefield, occasionally kicking or tripping someone. Both sides, thinking they were being attacked by the other, fought even more fiercely, edging toward an all-out brawl.

Once the chaos reached its peak, Ye Qiao waved to her companions, signaling them to leave. They swiftly and quietly departed, their work done, leaving behind a mess.

Duan Hengdao, having done nothing but follow along, watched Ye Qiao’s maneuvers that led to the two sides fighting each other.

“……”

He felt: Lesson learned.