Chapter 34

None of the people paid any attention to Ye Qiao’s sincere suggestion just now. Ye Qinghan even chose to draw his sword on the spot and slashed at the barrier. As a result, the backlash doubled the sword energy, causing blood to appear at the corner of his mouth.

“Ye, Ye Senior Brother,” Yun Que supported him, her lips tight with panic and confusion, tears falling from her eyes. “Are you alright?”

Ye Qinghan shook his head, unwilling to give up, he drew his sword again and struck at the barrier.

This time, he bent over and spat out blood, his face turning a few shades paler.

Yun Que immediately took out a silk handkerchief to wipe his blood, and the two looked at each other affectionately, the atmosphere becoming increasingly ambiguous and romantic.

If you ignored the scattered cultivators inside the barrier who were almost driven mad with anxiety.

It could only be said that people’s joys and sorrows are not connected; some were falling in love while others were anxious about their lives.

“So elegant, too elegant.” Ye Qiao, who was outside the barrier and enjoying the show, clapped and sighed.

As expected of a cultivation world Long Aotian, even spitting blood he maintained his cool demeanor.

How did the original plot have the female protagonist and others escape?

Oh, it was all thanks to Ye Qinghan.

The male protagonist was indeed the master of clearing levels.

After exhausting his spiritual power and vomiting blood from the backlash, he barely managed to bring Yun Que out of the secret realm. This was the key moment that deepened their relationship.

Yun Que was moved beyond words, believing that only a man with such a sense of righteousness was worthy of her admiration.

Ye Qinghan had the ability to open the barrier, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t get hurt. With only two hours left before the secret realm closed, everyone was driven to madness. Song Hansheng could no longer stay calm: “Ye Qiao.”

“I know you have a way.”

“There are so many of us here; you can’t possibly just watch us die, can you?”

“Is this how the elders of Changming Sect teach you?”

Even at this moment, Song Hansheng didn’t forget to use moral coercion on her.

But Ye Qiao had always believed that as long as she had no morals, no one could morally coerce her. She sat cross-legged outside the barrier, with a fake smile and said, “What can I do if you can’t get out?”

Song Hansheng said, “Where’s that magical artifact from your Changming Sect?” He had seen her use it to blow open the belly of a monster beast.

Surely this barrier wouldn’t be a problem for it, right?

Ye Qiao touched her chin, “Gone.”

“Used it all up.”

Besides, no matter how powerful bombs are, they are physical attacks. They don’t do much against a magical barrier.

Ye Qiao’s words left Song Hansheng feeling utterly hopeless.

Unwilling to give up, he pulled out many talismans from his storage bag and tried to smash them against the barrier, hoping to break it.

But without exception, they all backfired.

Watching the busy crowd, Ye Qiao earnestly suggested, “If you can’t finish your tasks today, just do them tomorrow. Who knows, you might die tomorrow and won’t have to do them at all.”

“…Shut up, Ye Qiao!! Can you stop causing mental distress with your words?”

Ye Qiao’s laissez-faire comments were infuriating.

Song Hansheng took a deep breath, glaring maliciously at Ye Qiao. “If we can’t get out, do you think you can escape being labeled as someone who let us die?”

Unexpectedly, Ye Qiao was even more indifferent, “Then just don’t survive. After you die, it won’t matter if I’m accused of letting you die.”

Go ahead, let’s hurt each other.

Clearly, Song Hansheng had no way to deal with Ye Qiao’s indifferent attitude, and in the end, he was left fuming.

Ye Qiao remained calm and collected, so much so that Ye Qinghan decided to negotiate with her as a last resort.

“How many spirit stones do you want?”

Ye Qiao, nonchalantly holding a crumpled piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken in her hand, replied, “How much do you think the lives of your Wenjian Sect disciples are worth?”

Ye Qinghan was taken aback, finally exhaling a long breath. “One hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones.”

“…,” Ye Qiao didn’t respond, smiling as she stared at him, dragging out her words, “Oh~ So the precious disciples of Wenjian Sect are only worth one hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones?”

Even Ye Qinghan’s perpetually cold expression cracked momentarily. How could there be someone like her in the world?

Does Ye Qiao even know the meaning of moderation?!

Apparently, Ye Qiao didn’t know. She even started an auction, “Is there anyone from Yueqing Sect willing to offer a higher bid?”

After waiting for a while with no response, she dragged out her words again, “Oh~ So even the precious disciples of Yueqing Sect aren’t worth a hundred thousand spirit stones.”

Song Hansheng: “…” What the hell are you ‘oh’ing about!

In the end, it was the talisman users who had more money. As time ticked away, Song Hansheng couldn’t hold back and made an offer, “One hundred and fifty thousand top-grade spirit stones.”

“I don’t have any more.” He gritted his teeth, wishing he could turn back time and stay far away from Yun Que.

If it weren’t for her insistence on taking this path, how could they have encountered a high-level monster beast? If it weren’t for her greed for the spirit fruit, how could they have triggered the surrounding barrier?

Ye Qiao knew that if you shear a sheep too much, it goes bald. She clapped her hands and leisurely took out a blank sheet of paper from her storage bag, “Shall we write a contract?”

A contract…

There’s even a contract.

Song Hansheng held back his anger as he watched Ye Qiao push the contract through the barrier. He had no choice but to press his fingerprint on it.

Ye Qinghan silently pressed his fingerprint alongside him.

Strangely, Song Hansheng felt a sense of balance in his heart.

It was probably a feeling of ‘It’s not just me who’s unlucky,’ which alleviated his painful heart quite a bit.

Even though she had offended the disciples of two sects, Ye Qiao showed no sign of guilt. She stood up leisurely, “Shall we go then?”

“Go where?” Duan Hengdao almost thought she was just playing with those people.

Unexpectedly, Ye Qiao responded confidently, “To catch the monster beast, didn’t I say so from the beginning?”

“…,” How could she still remember that?!

Mu Chongxi felt that his little sister was on a completely different track from everyone else! In the grand secret realm, wasn’t everyone supposed to lay low, try to survive, and wait for the secret realm to dissipate to return safely to their sect?

At such times, who would be idle enough to venture into a monster beast’s lair?

It turned out Ye Qiao would.

Moreover, she actually managed to find two hiding places of high-level monster beasts.

Both beasts were at the Golden Core stage. Although Mu Chongxi could defeat them, remembering Ye Qiao’s instructions, he held back his urge to act and watched her daily antics of courting death.

His little sister sneakily crouched down. When the two beasts were asleep, she grabbed a stone and hurled it at them.

After the sneak attack, Ye Qiao ran.

Using her movement technique, she quickly repositioned herself, jumping twice to get away from the beasts’ sharp claws.

The two beasts roared in anger. Ye Qiao, still unsatisfied, continued to provoke other beasts along the way. Seeing Ye Qiao running frantically towards him, Duan Hengdao felt a sense of foreboding.

“Ye Qiao?”

Without looking back, Ye Qiao shouted, “Run.”

Duan Hengdao instinctively ran with her, not daring to look back because the commotion was terrifying.

It felt like some terrifying presence was making his scalp tingle.

“Why are we running?” He couldn’t help but ask.

Ye Qiao calmly replied, “I’m being chased by two Golden Core stage monster beasts, six late-stage Foundation Establishment beasts, and eight mid-stage Foundation Establishment beasts.”

Duan Hengdao: “?”

Why are there so many beasts chasing you? What the hell did you do, Ye Qiao!

If the timing weren’t wrong, he would have wanted to grab Ye Qiao by her clothes and yell at her like a maniac.

Halfway through his mad dash, Duan Hengdao noticed that Mu Chongxi and Ye Qiao had already run ahead of him.

He was speechless.

“Is the secret to the Changming Sect that the faster you run, the more qualified you are to become a disciple?”

These guys moved like rabbits, masters of fleeing.

The three of them ran towards the barrier with sparks and lightning trailing behind them. As a Golden Core stage beast pounced, Ye Qiao dashed into the barrier where Yun Que and the others were.

Outside the barrier, living beings could enter, but monster beasts were not allowed.

A group of monster beasts, blocked outside, started to rage helplessly, frantically smashing against the barrier, creating a scraping sound that made one’s scalp tingle.

“What did you do?”

Inside the barrier, Song Hansheng saw Ye Qiao rush in, and his head almost exploded.

“You led all those monster beasts here?”

He saw two Golden Core stage beasts frantically clawing at the barrier, attacking in waves. It was hard not to suspect that Ye Qiao had done something atrocious.

Ye Qiao shrugged, “Nothing much. Just wait until they weaken the barrier enough, then strike.”

You should always use your surroundings to your advantage.

She believed that if the hatred level was high enough, even monster beasts couldn’t resist trying to kill her. Didn’t they see those beasts outside almost going crazy?

“Escaped…we escaped.” Duan Hengdao, chased all the way, was still in a daze.

He felt that following Ye Qiao during this time was more thrilling than a year of his own training trips.

Ye Qinghan, watching the beasts surrounding them, guessed her intention, “You want to use these monster beasts to break the barrier?”

It wasn’t impossible.

But… shouldn’t normal people think about breaking the barrier through their own efforts?

“Your opportunism,” Ye Qinghan’s expression was cold, and he looked at her with an incomprehensible gaze, “will cause you to stumble one day.”

“I don’t believe in ‘suffering is a blessing,'” Ye Qiao retorted, “You can suffer, but we won’t.”

Why work hard when you can take shortcuts?

Ye Qinghan fell silent, his cold eyes showing disdain. He felt she was stubborn, lacking Yun Que’s integrity.

Ye Qiao, seeing this, guessed that he was comparing her to Yun Que again in his heart.

She couldn’t be bothered to engage in such pointless conversations with the protagonist and turned to Duan Hengdao, “Do you have a net for capturing monster beasts?”

“Yes.”

Ye Qiao sighed in relief, smiling as she curved her lips, “Have you ever played Fish Master?”

When traveling, Duan Hengdao had all kinds of magical tools. He took out a golden beast-capturing net, scratching his head in confusion, “What’s Fish Master?”

“It’s casting a net to catch fish,” Ye Qiao explained, staring at the barrier and touching her chin, “How accurate are you?”

Duan Hengdao replied, “Very accurate.”

This wasn’t an exaggeration. As a qualified tool cultivator, they always needed to throw their tools to the fighting cultivators accurately, so his aim was top-notch.

“Then I’m relieved.”

Ye Qiao mumbled.

A group of monster beasts crazily pounced on the barrier, and the originally thick barrier weakened visibly with each attack.

“It’s about to break,” Mu Chongxi whispered.

The moment the barrier silently shattered, all the cultivators almost shot out like arrows. There was less than an hour before the secret realm would close. If they didn’t get out, they’d be trapped inside.

Ye Qiao, having put away the contract, skillfully began to flee.

Woohoo, let’s fly~

Ye Qiao’s wind-stepping technique didn’t go to waste. A string of monster beasts chased after her, flying in the sky and crawling on the ground, creating a spectacular scene.

Wherever she ran, there were no birds in a thousand miles and no traces of humans.

Since she was the one who angered the monster beasts, Duan Hengdao would be safe as long as he wasn’t with her. The boy diligently followed behind, casting the net.

The monster beasts, having exhausted much of their strength attacking the barrier, were now being led around by Ye Qiao like dogs, making it easy for Duan Hengdao to capture them one by one.

What could he say…

He finally understood what Ye Qiao meant by ‘catching monster beasts.’

Duan Hengdao muttered, “So that’s what it is.”

She had it all planned out? Deliberately angering the monster beasts to break the barrier, not only scamming the other two sects’ spirit stones but also capturing the exhausted beasts easily?

So how did she know there would be a barrier here?!

Using normal logic…

No, he couldn’t use normal logic to understand Ye Qiao.

Would a normal person go and provoke a group of sleeping monster beasts, and still manage to thoroughly offend the other two sects’ direct disciples during a training trip?

The three of them worked together seamlessly, bringing out all the monster beasts before the secret realm closed. Almost at the moment the secret realm disappeared, the surrounding strange barriers also vanished completely.

“I’ll leave the monster beast bones for you,” Ye Qiao offered, considering that Duan Hengdao needed materials for refining tools.

Duan Hengdao scratched his head, “Then you keep the inner cores.”

The harvest this time was significant, with enough materials for him to use for a long time.

After quickly dividing the spoils, Ye Qiao felt like she had forgotten something, “Oh right.”

“Where’s my chicken?!”

Since monster beasts weren’t allowed inside the barrier, where had her Kentucky chicken gone?

Her shout was loud enough. Mu Chongxi looked around and finally found the chicken on Ye Qiao’s head.

This little guy had found quite a spot, nestled on Ye Qiao’s head, seemingly planning to build a nest.

She was exasperated, pulling the chicken down and scolding it, “No nesting on my head.”

The chicken pretended not to hear.

“…” Fine. Do all these beasts understand human speech?

“Let’s go,” Ye Qiao said, calming herself and suddenly having a bright idea, “By the way, isn’t that red bird still tied to the tree?”

“Yeah,” Mu Chongxi looked at her puzzled, “Weren’t you planning to bring it back to the sect?”

Ye Qiao pulled him along, “Let’s experience riding a bird.”

In ancient times, there was Santa Claus riding reindeer. Then there was Harry Potter riding a broom. Now it’s their turn to ride a bird.

“Not impossible, right?”

Mu Chongxi: “???”

So, under Ye Qiao’s instigation, the two of them found the red bird tied to a tree by a demon-binding rope. The red bird, now tied and utterly despondent, looked at the two hateful humans, having lost all will to resist.

Duan Hengdao, somewhat used to her outrageous behavior, sighed, “So, I guess this is goodbye?”

“See you at the competition.”

Ye Qiao, studying how to ride the bird, didn’t lift her head and responded:

“See you at the competition.”

The two of them had been missing for five days. Without a doubt, Qin Fanfan and the senior brother already knew they had snuck down the mountain.

“Giddy up.”

After a moment of consideration, Ye Qiao simply sat on the bird, “Run!”

The red bird was furious.

This human was treating it like a cart horse.

Mu Chongxi hesitantly sat on it too, feeling that this mode of transportation was rather dubious…

The red bird, already enraged by the two humans, was now even more frustrated being treated like a draft animal. As it took to the sky, it started shaking violently.

Ye Qiao clung on tightly, but as they approached the Changming Sect’s territory, the red bird shook even more aggressively.

She couldn’t hold on any longer, and as she was thrown off, Ye Qiao’s only thought was, “Riding a bird really isn’t feasible.”

Just before the two humans and one beast crashed to the ground, Elder Zhao was engaged in friendly discussions with the disciples of other sects.

The disciples of the Bishui Sect had come to Yunzhong City in recent days, supposedly for the opening of the great secret realm. However, the secret realm had opened early, and everyone had been blocked outside, leaving them disappointed. Since Yunzhong City was close to the Changming Sect’s territory, they decided to visit the Changming Sect.

Xue Yu and Ming Xuan had been released from the forbidden area and were now making small talk with the two disciples from the Bishui Sect.

Just then, something dark suddenly fell from the sky.

With a “bang,” dust flew up.

Under the bewildered gazes of the crowd, Ye Qiao nonchalantly got up from the ground, “Hi, second brother, third brother.”

“…”