Chapter 51

Ye Qiao looked up and down at the two of them, unable to hold back her laughter.

It was quite amusing; Song Hansheng and Su Zhuo were hanging upside down together, the sight of the two troubled brothers was truly entertaining.

Ming Xuan couldn’t resist poking fun at Song Hansheng, poking him with his hand and mocking, “Hahaha, you’re in this situation too, Song Hansheng.”

The Yueqing Sect was the most disdainful sect towards other symbol cultivators, and Ming Xuan had been attacked by others before.

Now, he was extremely pleased, and Ye Qiao joined in the fun. The two of them seemed like the antagonistic villains, laughing wildly at Song Hansheng and his companions.

Not only Song Hansheng, even Duan Hengdao felt uneasy listening to their laughter.

“Where are the identity tokens?” Shen Ziwei was there to focus on the task. He immediately searched the two men’s pouches but couldn’t find the tokens after searching for a while.

Clearly, after the lesson of being eliminated in the first round, Song Hansheng had become smarter and hid the identity tokens in advance.

“Since there are no identity tokens, let’s just take their pouches.” Ye Qiao reached out without hesitation and took off the pouches from the two men, which contained many talismans and spirit stones.

When it came to money, Ye Qiao was always particularly enthusiastic and full of energy.

“I couldn’t help but look at Ming Xuan’s identity introduction. The Second Young Master of the Ming family, damn it! Which legitimate family has this kind of personality?”

“This thing is not reliable at all. It even says that Ye Qiao is a quiet and reserved person. Hahaha.”

“Alright, I get it. The absurdity of the identity introduction is no less than saying Ye Qiao is an honest person, right?”

Ming Xuan removed the seal on their pouches and even found Song Hansheng’s two underpants inside, wrinkling his brow in disgust.

Song Hansheng, what kind of weirdo is he?

Stuffing his underpants into the pouch.

“Little sister.” He spoke with disdain, “We don’t need their talismans.”

“These men are too dirty!”

Seeing the two bright red underpants, Ye Qiao fell silent for a moment and couldn’t help but say, “…Brother, is this your zodiac year?”

She shouldn’t have said anything, but as soon as she spoke, Song Hansheng’s face turned as red as a cooked shrimp, roaring, “What are you looking at! You two, just wait for me!”

Since they were all here for the competition, what’s wrong with him keeping personal items? What does it have to do with the Changming Sect?

One audience member remained silent for a while before saying, “These disciples are quite twisted.”

In everyone’s eyes, those who could bear the title of disciples were considered high-class, elegant, and aloof geniuses of the world.

But now, all that sophistication seemed to have vanished.

They began to seriously doubt whether these unreliable disciples were truly the future of their cultivation world.

Duan Hengdao, looking at the two Yueqing Sect disciples hanging, hesitated and pursed his lips, “What should we do with them now?”

Ye Qiao didn’t even turn her head, “Let’s tie them up first.”

“If that doesn’t work, should we find someone to watch over them? I think Big Brother is quite suitable for that.”

Zhou Xingyun was quite relaxed; if they asked him to guard, who would come to rescue them? It was such an easy job.

Of course, the premise of all this was that they could find Zhou Xingyun.

After a moment of hesitation, Duan Hengdao decisively slipped away as well.

The two teams dispersed, leaving Song Hansheng and Su Zhuo hanging together, experiencing the hardships of the secret realm.

***

After Song Hansheng’s reprimand, Yun Que became much more obedient in the secret realm. With her cultivation not weak and her talent high, coupled with her identity as a symbol cultivator, she had barely entered the secret realm when a sect extended an olive branch to cooperate with her.

Si Miaoyan was the first to encounter Yun Que.

Both of them were girls, and with Yun Que appearing a bit dim-witted, Si Miaoyan quickly reached an agreement with her to cooperate.

Learning from the lesson of Song Hansheng in the previous round, everyone hid their identity tokens in advance, not giving Ye Qiao any chance for a sneak attack.

Si Miaoyan said, “If your Yueqing Sect wants to take first place, our request for this round is not high, third place will do.”

Yun Que’s voice was soft, “How do you want to proceed?”

“The Wenjian Sect bunch of brutes are not to be feared. The Wenjian Sect is highly likely to cooperate with the Changming Sect’s symbol cultivator.” Si Miaoyan smiled slightly, “Let’s eliminate Ming Xuan from the Changming Sect first.”

Among the five sects, the Changming Sect was the weakest and posed no threat to the first place. Ye Qinghan would not cooperate with the Yueqing Sect, leaving only Ming Xuan as the symbol cultivator.

As long as they eliminated Ming Xuan, Si Miaoyan believed that the Wenjian Sect would have no one else to cooperate with.

Upon hearing that they should first deal with the Changming Sect, Yun Que immediately agreed.

While in the Yueqing Sect, she had always looked down on Ye Qiao, but since entering the secret realm, everyone had formed a strong prejudice against her. Clearly, she was the genius, but all the attention had shifted to Ye Qiao.

Yun Que was eager to prove herself and readily agreed to Si Miaoyan’s suggestion.

Si Miaoyan wasn’t the only one who thought this way; Qin Huai and the others shared the same sentiment.

As long as they could eliminate Ming Xuan, they had this match in the bag.

The audience couldn’t help but feel a sense of sorrow.

“Poor Ming Xuan.”

“…Aside from the Wen Jian Sect, all the other sects want him dead.”

“It’s not about dying, just being eliminated~”

“If Ming Xuan doesn’t die, wouldn’t the Wen Jian Sect soar? Him dying is the best choice.”

The first day in the secret realm was relatively peaceful. Ye Qiao and Ming Xuan worked together smoothly, slaying many monsters along the way.

Their speed was also faster than the other teams.

This quickly caught the attention of the elders.

“Eh.” The elder from the Cheng Feng Sect widened his eyes, “These two kids are faster than the others.”

Something was clearly off.

How did Ming Xuan manage to avoid all the residual formations? Not stepping on a single one— even Song Hansheng couldn’t do that.

But if there were two talisman masters, it would be a different story.

The elder from the Cheng Feng Sect had always suspected that the old fox Qin Fanfan was hiding something.

To Qin Fanfan’s relief, his direct disciples were not slacking off and had actually started searching for the monster nests. Their ranking kept rising and eventually stabilized at third place.

“This location, the Bishui Sect and Yun Que are heading here as well.”

They were about to collide.

…

Si Miaoyan looked at the approaching two and smiled, feeling lucky.

If Ming Xuan were with Mu Chongxi, she would have to consider if she could beat them.

But Ye Qiao wasn’t a concern. A Foundation Establishment cultivator—how much trouble could she cause?

Not giving the two any time to react, the moment she saw them, Si Miaoyan lowered her eyes and blew a long note on her flute. The tune was light but had a strange fluctuation.

Ye Qiao’s mind felt like it was being pulled by an invisible string, causing a moment of blankness due to the pain.

Ming Xuan activated a sound-blocking talisman, but it had no effect, and his face turned pale.

“It’s a sound attack.”

In the cultivation world, some used bows, some used flutes, and others only used swords. Those who could master multiple instruments were rare geniuses.

Ming Xuan quickly said, “For the Bishui Sect to reach here safely with a few alchemists, they obviously have other instruments.”

“The sound-blocking talisman can’t stop it.”

Enduring the stabbing pain in their minds, their faces turned pale. Not fainting on the spot was due to their strong mental strength.

“Sorry,” Si Miaoyan’s voice was cold, directed at Ming Xuan, “You are too much of a threat.”

Without giving them a chance to cooperate, she partnered with Yun Que, using formations to divide the battlefield.

The flute sounded again, accompanied by countless killing arrays. In their current state, they couldn’t hold on for long.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. These kids are fighting fiercely.”

“If Ye Qiao can team up with the Cheng Feng Sect, Yun Que can obviously team up with the alchemists. But I didn’t expect Si Miaoyan to use a sound attack.”

So, everyone had a trick up their sleeve.

“This year’s disciples have high talent.”

“That Yun Que is not bad either.”

Qin Fanfan drank several mouthfuls of water, slamming the table in anger, “Shameless old fox, hiding an alchemist who can use sound attacks.”

The Bishui Sect leader glanced at him disdainfully, “It’s called strategy, just a trick of war.”

Qin Fanfan was left speechless.

He couldn’t bear to watch the next scene and found an excuse to leave.

The Bishui Sect leader smiled with extreme pleasure, “Oh, such a fragile mind.”

“First, deal with Ming Xuan,” Si Miaoyan’s goal was clear. Ye Qiao was not a threat in her eyes.

Yun Que immediately sped up the formation.

A chilling light, countless sword shadows stabbed at Ye Qiao. Already in pain and pale, dealing with the annoying elements in the formation made her extremely frustrated.

Ye Qiao sneered, “Fine, you forced us into this.”

She rolled to dodge the stabbing sword, emotionless as she took out a suona from her storage bag.

On the day they collected debts, she had everything prepared, but out of consideration for Yueqing Sect’s reputation, she didn’t use the suona. Now, it didn’t matter; it was time to use it.

Wiping the blood from her ear, she shouted to Ming Xuan, “Second senior brother, where’s your gong and drum?”

“Take them out and play right at her!”

Dodging the killing arrays, Ming Xuan quickly retrieved the gong and drum from his bag.

It wasn’t that he was stingy, bringing the gong and drum into the secret realm.

After returning from the previous mission with the main group, he was so tired that he stuffed them into his bag and forgot to take them out.

Ming Xuan had endured Si Miaoyan long enough. The mind was the most fragile part, and the constant stabbing pain had made him a bit unhinged.

Hearing Ye Qiao’s words, Ming Xuan’s beautiful face twisted into a sinister smile. Aiming at Si Miaoyan, he struck hard.

Come on, let’s hurt each other.

He thought to himself, his previous suffering was because he wasn’t with the right person.

Previously, he followed the third junior brother into the secret realm and was always chased like a dog.

Now, being with Ye Qiao was much better.

Outside, when Si Miaoyan heard Ye Qiao’s shout, “You forced us into this,” her fingers paused, feeling an ominous premonition.

The next second.

“Boom”

The sound of gongs and drums, accompanied by the suona’s symphony, echoed continuously in the secret realm.

The gong and drum clashed, followed by the suona, one after another, in a surprisingly rhythmic pattern.

The sound was so loud that even the nearby direct disciple teams could hear it.

“…So lively.”

Mu Chongxi folded his hands and chewed on a stalk of dogtail grass, blinking curiously, “Is someone getting married in the secret realm?”

There were sounds of gongs and drums and the wail of a suona.

Xue Yu frowned, “We should find our little sister and junior brother soon.”

Both were at the Foundation Establishment stage, one at the beginning and one at its peak. If they encountered Ye Qinghan and his group, they would only end up being eliminated.

They didn’t aim for first place and leisurely tried various positions to break free from the formations, eventually finding a way out.

Avoiding competition like this was quite relaxing.

Mu Chongxi nodded carelessly, “Got it, got it. With Ye Qiao, what are you worried about? With her around, there won’t be any problems.”

Xue Yu’s mouth twitched.

But he was worried Ye Qiao might cause some trouble.

…

The two sounds lingered around, incessantly assaulting the soul. The impact was so strong that Si Miaoyan’s pupils trembled slightly, and her flute playing paused for a second, disrupting the rhythm and melody.

Seizing the opportunity, Ye Qiao filled her sword with Qingfeng energy and struck at the weakest point of the formation, breaking it into ashes beneath her feet.

The Cheng Feng Sect elder frowned, “Such speed, does she understand formations?”

Ye Qiao and Ming Xuan broke out almost simultaneously. Ming Xuan was understandable, being a talisman master.

But for her, a sword cultivator, to understand formations?

An elder explained, “It must have been a coincidence.”

They hadn’t seen Ye Qiao studying the formation’s layout. She just casually swung her sword and broke it, purely a lucky break.

“Don’t accuse us unfairly,” Elder Zhao huffed, “Maybe the formation from Yueqing Sect was just too fragile.”

“That’s too much!” The Yueqing Sect elder gritted his teeth, “What do you mean by the formation being too fragile?”

The Cheng Feng Sect elder’s expression was complicated. He had always suspected that the Changming Sect might be hiding something.

After all, they were one of the Five Great Sects. Would Qin Fanfan really make an ordinary mid-grade Foundation Establishment disciple a direct disciple for no reason?

To be honest, the things those two pulled out earlier nearly sent them packing.

Gongs, drums, and suonas—who brings such useless things into the secret realm instead of proper artifacts and pills?

Do you Changming Sect people have any normal members?

Without these antics, under the unexpected attack from Si Miaoyan and the continuous cooperation from Yun Que, even Ming Xuan at the peak of Foundation Establishment and Ye Qiao at the early stage would be toast, let alone Ye Qinghan.

But who could have expected this outcome? Who could have imagined it?

“No way, these two brats actually survived?”

Qin Fanfan had been too scared and went to the restroom to avoid watching his disciples getting eliminated.

When he returned anxiously, he saw the two disciples breaking out of the formation.

Originally tense, Duan Yu sat back down after seeing them emerge, rolling his eyes at Qin Fanfan, “Mind your words.”

What do you mean they “survived”? Someone might think the Five Sect Competition was a deathmatch.

Qin Fanfan ignored him and kept asking, “How did they survive?”

How did they manage to survive the onslaught of sound attacks?

He guessed, “Could it be that Zhou Xingyun arrived to save them?”

Well…

How to explain this?

“You…” Duan Yu’s expression became more complicated. After hesitating for a moment, he said in a strange tone, “Old Fan, have you ever heard of the combination of suona and gongs?”