Chapter 52

Qin Fanfan: “What?”

What do you mean by the combination of suona and gongs? Is that even possible?

“You should go back and watch the recording stone after this is over…” Duan Yu’s voice was distant, “Those two kids pulled out a gong and a suona.”

“The commotion just now, I bet every direct disciple in the secret realm heard it.”

No matter how calm Si Miaoyan was, she couldn’t withstand the combination of those two playing the suona and hitting the gong. Once her rhythm was thrown off, the two immediately seized the opportunity to break Yun Que’s formation.

Qin Fanfan, who had instinctively sat back down, widened his eyes again upon hearing this, “Why did she bring those things?”

Duan Yu: “You ask me, who am I supposed to ask?”

Who knows what these kids have in their spatial pouches? Gongs and suonas, of all things. But considering the Yueqing Sect guys also carried underwear, Duan Yu was not that surprised anymore.

He realized that this generation of direct disciples all had some quirks.

You just have to get used to it.

Qin Fanfan hadn’t experienced such torment, but for him, both disciples being alive was good news.

He immediately grinned from ear to ear, “That kid Ye Qiao is really something.”

Qin Fanfan was sure that if it hadn’t been Ye Qiao paired with Ming Xuan today, Ming Xuan would definitely have been eliminated.

Disciples like Ye Qiao were wild and reckless, but in the big competitions, they never dropped the ball. It was a love-hate relationship.

Breaking out of the formation led to a two-on-two situation.

Si Miaoyan took a deep breath, put away her flute, and swore.

Next time she entered a secret realm, she would definitely bring earplugs!!

The way those two combined their attacks just now had completely shattered her long-held perceptions.

Si Miaoyan decided to confront them head-on. Ming Xuan had to be eliminated anyway, and both she and Yun Que were at the Golden Core stage. Dealing with two Foundation Establishment disciples would be a piece of cake.

Ye Qiao estimated the combat strength of both sides, “In broad daylight, under the clear sky, you actually…”

The next second, her tone changed abruptly: “——Run!”

The direct disciples of Changming Sect were all experts at running away. In the blink of an eye, the two had dashed two miles away, leaving Si Miaoyan momentarily stunned.

Ming Xuan, being dragged along as they ran at top speed, was bewildered, “Are we just retreating without a fight, running away like this?”

“Run? What do you mean run?” Ye Qiao corrected his incorrect grammar, “This is called a tactical retreat.”

…

For the first time, Changming Sect’s ranking didn’t fall behind too much on the first day. Ming Xuan and Ye Qiao cooperated well, and with two talisman cultivators having broad divine senses, they could escape if they encountered danger they couldn’t handle.

They were slippery as eels, impossible to catch.

Qin Huai, watching the constantly changing rankings, was starting to get anxious.

Currently, Yueqing Sect was first, Changming Sect second, and Wenjian Sect third.

“Want to collaborate?” Zhai Chen approached him.

“You need talisman cultivators, and we need to eliminate Ming Xuan.”

It was clear that Changming Sect was threatening their first-place position. Zhai Chen didn’t understand how Ming Xuan, who he had never seen as this strong before, was managing to advance so well in the ancient secret realm without stepping into a single formation.

“In the end, our Yueqing Sect will be first, and your Chengfeng Sect will be second. How about it?”

In the past, Qin Huai would never have agreed to such a deal. Chengfeng Sect had been second for so long that it was enough.

But looking at the current trend, if they didn’t cooperate with Yueqing Sect, they might end up last.

“Alright.” After weighing it for a moment, Qin Huai agreed.

The audience was looking forward to it.

“How is Ming Xuan managing to make so many sects want to get rid of him all by himself?”

“Big trees attract the wind, right? He’s almost in first place. This is the first time I’ve seen Changming Sect ranked this high.”

It seemed that ever since that little little sister joined, the situation for Changming Sect had reversed. But it was only the first day; making conclusions too early could backfire, so no one dared to say too much.

Ye Qiao and Ming Xuan had attracted all the hatred, running all over the secret realm, being chased by everyone.

Ming Xuan couldn’t help but whisper, “I’m telling you, now everyone thinks I have extraordinary talent, and all the hatred is directed at me.”

No one knew that their sect actually had two talisman cultivators. Everyone naturally assumed it was Ming Xuan’s profound understanding of formations that had driven their rankings up.

Ye Qiao: “You’ve had it rough.”

“When you get eliminated, I’ll lead our sect to victory.”

Ming Xuan: “Thanks a lot.”

Just as he finished speaking, a brutal sword aura slashed through the air, and the two quickly dodged, finding themselves cornered by Qin Huai and Zhai Chen.

“Prepare to die.” Qin Huai lifted his sword and flew at Ming Xuan, while Ye Qiao, reacting much slower, threw her mystic sword.

It instantly collided with the sword aura and shattered in mid-air.

Such fierce sword moves.

Ye Qiao had been using the sword for so long that she felt a pang of heartache when it was suddenly broken, “I’ll have to ask Master for another one.”

Qin Fanfan, watching from outside, was both angry and amused.

“Sure, sure.” He’d give her ten mystic swords if she could take first place.

Muttering to himself, Ye Qiao’s unserious expression also grew more focused.

Qin Huai’s sword moves were relentless. His speed was much faster than hers, and not only that, the coldness of his sword aura, as if merged with his sword, made it look effortless compared to her struggle.

The suppression of realms was no joke.

Moreover, unlike the direct disciples who had been learning swordsmanship since they were seven or eight, Ye Qiao, who had only studied for half a year, was clearly not up to par.

Taking advantage of Ye Qiao being engaged with Qin Huai, Zhai Chen also pursued Ming Xuan.

Obviously, their goal was to eliminate Ming Xuan.

“As long as Ye Qiao can hold off Qin Huai and not let him turn his attention to Ming Xuan, Ming Xuan can take one out with him.”

Being from one of the Eight Great Clans, even though he was a realm lower, Ming Xuan could still hold his own against Zhai Chen with the help of talismans and cultivation methods.

As long as Ye Qiao could stall Qin Huai…

But expecting someone at the early Foundation Establishment stage to stall someone at the Golden Core stage seemed impossible.

Ye Qiao was good at dodging, but under absolute realm suppression, she was struggling, getting hit twice in a row, and tasting blood in her mouth.

She stood up without much expression, quickly analyzing Qin Huai’s attack patterns in her mind.

“In this situation, just dodging won’t work.” Duan Yu, who had been guiding Ye Qiao the longest, was tense. This kid always seemed to treat lessons as if she could just run away if she couldn’t learn, which was frustrating.

But when pushed to her limits, she could be quite tenacious.

Duan Yu remembered the last time she got motivated was halfway through practice when it was time to eat. She had been lying down, ready to give up, but got up immediately when dinner was mentioned.

…She needed some motivation to fight back.

Ming Xuan, seeing Ye Qiao struggling, was anxious but couldn’t help. Every time he tried to assist, Zhai Chen intercepted him.

Zhai Chen sneered, “You can’t even protect yourself and you’re worrying about Ye Qiao?”

Ming Xuan turned to meet Zhai Chen’s gaze and suddenly thought of something. He shouted loudly, “Ye Qiao!”

He hinted frantically, “For the sake of our one million!”

The audience was confused.

…What’s the one million?

They soon noticed that Ye Qiao, who had been struggling, had a change in her eyes upon hearing this.

She no longer just dodged but delivered a spinning kick to Qin Huai’s left shoulder, knocking him out of his safe zone.

Qin Huai hadn’t expected her to suddenly change tactics. Hadn’t she been running all this time?

Ye Qiao picked up a plain stick from her waist, striking with overwhelming force, grazing Qin Huai’s sword. The impact almost made him lose his grip.

Changming Sect’s swordsmanship emphasized speed, and Ye Qiao’s integration of Qingfeng Technique was impressive.

Qin Huai’s heart sank slightly, realizing how troublesome Ye Qiao was.

Especially since he couldn’t quickly deal with her in a direct fight.

…

Meanwhile, the other battle was also intensifying.

The two exchanged formation techniques and, as they closed the distance, almost simultaneously grabbed each other’s spatial pouches, touching the other’s identity tokens.

If they crushed the tokens, it would mean mutual destruction.

Ming Xuan maintained a nonchalant smile, “How about you give me my identity token, and I’ll give you yours?”

Zhai Chen replied, “Sure, you give me yours first.”

As soon as the words were spoken, both simultaneously crushed each other’s tokens.

Ming Xuan sighed, “Where’s the trust between people? You’ve really disappointed me.”

Zhai Chen responded, “As if you didn’t crush mine too.”

After the dust settled, everyone who had been holding their breath slumped down. Qin Fanfan remarked, “That kid Ye Qiao did her best.”

To hold off Qin Huai for that long was quite impressive.

The two had teamed up to eliminate Ming Xuan, and Ye Qiao couldn’t stop them.

Elder Zhao exhaled slowly, “It’s over.”

Completely over.

With their only talisman cultivator gone, there was nothing left to play for.

Unlike the dejected mood of Qin Fanfan and others, Ming Xuan felt a rare sense of relief.

Elimination was good; now he could start slacking off.

Upon hearing the news of Ming Xuan and Zhai Chen’s simultaneous elimination, Mu Zhongxi remained expressionless.

It’s fine; we still have the little sister.

Coincidentally, Xue Yu thought the same.

Zhou Xingyun, observing his calm junior brothers, also regained his composure.

Alright then.

If you guys aren’t worried, I won’t be either.

Thus, the four of them appeared completely unconcerned, as if Ming Xuan’s elimination didn’t affect them at all.

“So calm.”

“Do they have some ace up their sleeve?”

“Just wait, they’ll be laughing on the other side soon enough.”

Losing a talisman cultivator made navigating the secret realm a big problem. Without one, Wenjian Sect struggled, spending an entire day getting stuck in formations and making no progress.

Their situation was dire.

After exiting the secret realm, Ming Xuan pushed away the girls trying to cling to him. When asked about his feelings, he casually said, “Nothing special.”

“To be honest, although my body can’t accompany them in the secret realm, my spirit will always be with them.”

“… Don’t think that just because you’re speaking so righteously, we can’t see how relaxed you are.”

Watching her second senior brother get eliminated, Ye Qiao felt no other emotion but clear envy. If she wasn’t the only talisman cultivator left, she’d love to go slack off at the elimination seats too.

…

Seeing the two darkened names, Ye Qinghan frowned.

Eliminating two talisman cultivators on the first day, these people were quite something.

Unlike their Wenjian Sect, which was still stuck in formations.

“We need to find a talisman cultivator to cooperate with, or else we won’t even secure a top three position, let alone first.” The little sister said calmly, holding her sword.

Ye Qinghan pressed his lips together, his voice cold, “Ming Xuan is already out.”

Yueqing Sect wouldn’t cooperate if they wanted first place, as Wenjian Sect was a threat to them too.

The little sister’s tone grew frustrated, “Those talisman cultivators are blind, flocking to Yueqing Sect. Are the resources of other sects that much worse?”

Ye Qinghan’s mood also turned gloomy.

But for some reason, an image of Ye Qiao throwing talismans in the great secret realm flashed in his mind.

Maybe, he had overlooked someone?

…

“I underestimated you,” Qin Huai said slowly.

When he received the news of Zhai Chen’s elimination, he realized he’d been entangled with Ye Qiao for too long.

Clearly a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she should have been easy to deal with according to his plan.

“Indeed.” Ye Qiao didn’t show any surprise at the praise, remaining calm, “There are three geniuses in the competition: my senior brother, Ye Qinghan, and another underestimated genius—me.”

The elders outside rolled their eyes: Keep boasting.

Even in this situation, she still managed to brag. They had underestimated Ye Qiao’s shamelessness.

Qin Huai’s lips curled coldly, “Escape from me first, then you can talk.”

Ye Qiao seemed to have some bad luck. As if being pursued by Qin Huai wasn’t enough, Duan Hengdao and Shen Ziwei arrived at the same time.

“One, two, three…” She counted.

Three people in total.

All three direct disciples of Chengfeng Sect were here.

Ye Qiao said, “You three ganging up on me alone, don’t you think it’s unethical?”

Qin Huai couldn’t believe it, “Do we need to be ethical with you?”

She was the most unethical one here.

As they spoke, Ye Qiao was hit continuously by wind blades. She steadied herself, reaching for her spatial pouch. Initially, she didn’t intend to use these things.

She was worried that an uncontrolled situation would affect Ming Xuan.

But now that Ming Xuan was gone, she had nothing to worry about. In her pouch were landmines and a cultivation version of a handgun, filled with all sorts of strange talismans.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Ye Qiao slowly pulled out a… strange-shaped weapon?

Was it a weapon?

Not only had the cultivators never seen it, even the sect master of Chengfeng Sect looked puzzled at Qin Fanfan.

“What is that?”

Qin Fanfan: “? How would I know?”

He had always let her do as she pleased, knowing little about her, only that the direct disciples liked to hang out with her, often skipping classes to go down the mountain.

As for what they were up to in private, Qin Fanfan was genuinely clueless.

Ye Qiao revealed a mysterious smile, slowly aiming the gun at Chengfeng Sect members.

Let’s see if your swords are faster, or if my talisman launcher is faster.

She aimed at the three and unleashed a barrage of attacks, indiscriminately firing at them. Qin Huai, seeing this, twirled his sword and deflected the incoming talismans.

So fast.

Duan Hengdao was startled.

Ye Qiao’s weapon was loaded with various strange talismans: laughing talismans, crawling talismans, mushroom talismans, and who knew what else. It was just a matter of who would be unlucky enough to get hit.

Under her barrage, Qin Huai was the first to be hit. He frowned, not feeling any harm, but the next second he couldn’t stop laughing uncontrollably.

Ye Qiao also laughed and bolted.

“Ha, ha, ha. Don’t run.”

Qin Huai, laughing madly and infuriated, chased after Ye Qiao with his sword, determined to eliminate this variable.

It was hard to perform well when you couldn’t stop laughing.

His laughter sounded like a deranged person tormenting a helpless girl, making the spectators outside the arena cringe.

“Could he stop laughing?”

“He can’t. I mean, seriously, Ming Xuan is so wicked for giving his little sister these talismans.”

“Move aside.” Shen Ziwei, eager to pursue, was suddenly grabbed by Duan Hengdao, who clung to his leg.

The talisman that hit Duan Hengdao was like an illusion talisman, making him see what he most desired.

Duan Hengdao, thrilled, grabbed Shen Ziwei and tried to pull down his pants. “Hehehe~ A great spiritual tool, such a huge spiritual tool.”

Shen Ziwei’s face twisted. To protect his dignity, he had to give up chasing Ye Qiao.

If he could, he would have slapped this idiot twice.

To hell with sect camaraderie.

I have no camaraderie with you idiots!

This scene of the disciples acting like fools made the other elders turn their heads away in embarrassment.

By the end of this, the entire cultivation world would know about the disciples’ collective madness.

Qin Huai chased her relentlessly, his thunderous sword strikes chopping down dead trees nearby. Ye Qiao remained unscathed, still having the leisure to glance back at the battle. Once she was sure things were chaotic enough, she sprinted away effortlessly.

Without Ming Xuan to protect, she was having the time of her life.

Although the talismans she used weren’t lethal, they were incredibly annoying!!

Moreover, the talismans shot from her hidden weapon were fast and numerous. Only Shen Ziwei managed to quickly erect a shield, while the others were hit while trying to dodge.

“All I can say is that these disciples aren’t united. If Duan Hengdao had brought out his defensive artifact earlier, they wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“It’s normal for disciples not to get along. That’s why there are team battles to help them bond.”

“If Qin Huai had been more vigilant, he wouldn’t have gotten hit. And isn’t anyone in Chengfeng Sect knowledgeable enough to recognize what she’s using?”

— No, no one could identify that thing.

In the elimination seats, Zhai Chen couldn’t hold back any longer, “Why did you create such crazy talismans?”

Ming Xuan, whose reputation was now ruined, remained silent for a moment. “…If I say I didn’t make them, would you believe me?”