Chapter 54

The Sect Leader of Chengfeng Sect squinted his eyes.

His heart sank.

He thought to himself why the people from Changming Sect weren’t worried at all; turns out they were well-prepared.

“So this is your Changming Sect’s trump card.”

A talisman cultivator, someone who practices both talisman and sword cultivation.

The elders never would have thought that the people from Changming Sect could keep such a big secret, without any news of a disciple achieving dual cultivation in both paths.

“You’re allowed to keep a trump card, but we can’t have a genius in our sect?” Qin Fanfan immediately straightened his back, his mouth curling up as he replied proudly in the same tone, “This is called strategy.”

In an instant, he forgot all about Ye Qiao’s little habits of skipping classes, sleeping all day, and being lazy.

So what?! Maybe she was just tired. Dual cultivation in sword and talisman could easily lead to mental fatigue. Was Ye Qiao slacking off? She was just tired.

At that moment, Qin Fanfan had all the excuses ready for his beloved disciple.

“You all knew about this long ago?” Elder Zhao was completely baffled and nudged Duan Yu beside him, “That girl Ye Qiao is actually a dual cultivator of sword and talisman?”

Before, the old man from Chengfeng Sect had been asking him a bunch of strange questions every day.

Elder Zhao had thought that old man had bad intentions, but now it turned out that he had seen some clues and was testing him.

Duan Yu: “…” If he had known, would he have been beating up Ye Qiao every day?

Talisman cultivators and pill cultivators were rare in the cultivation world. Changming Sect had waited for many years to have Ming Xuan and Xue Yu, so of course, they had to protect them. Therefore, it was only Mu Chongxi and Ye Qiao who got beaten up frequently during training sessions.

But… Duan Yu thought guiltily, Ye Qiao had thick skin and flesh, she should be fine.

Ye Qiao used the opening move of Yueqing Sect without fear of being recognized. After breaking the formation, she pulled her Fourth Senior Brother over, “Don’t step randomly from now on, just follow me.”

Formations could vary infinitely, derived from the sects of a hundred years ago. Some formations Ye Qiao had never even seen before.

The cultivators outside were also in an uproar.

“What’s Ye Qiao’s background? Dual cultivation of sword and talisman? Changming Sect has been hiding this for so many years.”

Ye Qiao, with her average spiritual roots, became a direct disciple at the Foundation Establishment stage. Everyone thought Changming Sect had given up.

Who would have thought this little sister really had some skills?

A fan of Wenjian Sect couldn’t hold back:

“Then I’ll go check out the situation at Changming Sect. Brothers, if I don’t return, follow me.”

Dual cultivation of sword and talisman, the first in the cultivation world, who wouldn’t want to see something new?

“Superficial.” A cultivator scolded, “Unlike me, I’m not going to see Changming Sect because she can cultivate both paths, I mainly want to see what else she can do.”

…

Unaware of the storm she had stirred outside, Ye Qiao continued chatting, “Did you guys see Song Hansheng on your way?”

The place where she hung Song Hansheng was quite conspicuous, they should have all seen it, right?

Mu Chongxi was extremely excited, “I did, I recorded it with a memory stone. Next time, I’ll check the forum to see if anyone wants it. I used six memory stones, I can sell them for ten top-grade spirit stones each.”

“People have their own memory stones and can record it themselves outside, why would they buy yours?” Ye Qiao thought no one would be foolish enough to do that.

Mu Chongxi confidently said, “Mine is a first-person view, taken up close to Song Hansheng. Can they get the same from outside?”

Makes sense.

Ye Qiao said, “We split the profit 50-50.”

“Why?”

Ye Qiao pointed to herself, “Who got Duan Hengdao to tie him up? Without me, could you have recorded it?”

Mu Chongxi reluctantly agreed, “Fine, fine. You get four, I get six.”

They quickly divided the loot, then led the way, map in hand.

When Zhou Xingyun learned that Song Hansheng was tied up by Ye Qiao in collaboration with the direct disciple of Chengfeng Sect, he was momentarily stunned. He felt that even if Ye Qiao destroyed the secret realm, he wouldn’t be surprised anymore, really.

“Bishui Sect and Yueqing Sect have teamed up.” Xue Yu came over to share the news, “Chengfeng Sect currently has no intention of collaborating with any sect.”

That only left Wenjian Sect.

Now Wenjian Sect was in fourth place, possibly their lowest ranking since the competition began.

Ye Qiao thought for a moment, “Then let’s team up with Wenjian Sect. I still have some talismans in my storage bag, we can use them to negotiate.”

Xue Yu rubbed his arm, sensing she was up to something again.

After Ye Qinghan emerged from the formation and saw they were in fourth place, his face darkened like the bottom of a pot. He realized once again the importance of talisman cultivators.

When Changming Sect approached him for collaboration, for the first time, he didn’t refuse. Instead, he asked, “What do you have to make us cooperate?”

“I have talismans from my Second Senior Brother. You need formation-breaking talismans, right?” To prove she wasn’t lying, Ye Qiao promptly took out the talismans she had drawn and showed them to Ye Qinghan.

They stood at a distance.

Ye Qinghan squinted, suppressing his urge to snatch them, and asked, “What do you want to do?”

“Let’s collaborate.” She took a step closer, “You know the situation. We’re in second place. Next, how about we deal with Yueqing Sect first? I have formation-breaking talismans. If you get trapped, I can help you.”

For Changming Sect to take first place, they had to deal with the trouble of Yueqing Sect first.

Ye Qinghan looked steadily at her, seeing her unwavering gaze and calm demeanor. The young man pondered for a moment before finally agreeing, “Okay. We take second, you take first.”

Of course, he was lying. Wenjian Sect had always aimed for first place. But for now, he needed to appease Ye Qiao, as she had Ming Xuan’s talismans. It wasn’t the time for conflict.

Once her talismans were used up, Ye Qinghan would deal with them.

It’s not hard to discard someone once they’ve outlived their usefulness.

Coincidentally, Ye Qiao thought the same.

With both harboring ulterior motives, they briefly exchanged plans and reluctantly agreed to tackle Yueqing Sect first.

With her Senior Brother present, Ye Qinghan didn’t dare to attack, so she walked ahead of the two teams.

Chu Xingzhi was the most dissatisfied with the collaboration. He grumbled all the way, huffing every time he saw Ye Qiao, and huffing again when he saw Mu Chongxi.

Xue Yu: “Are you a pig?”

Chu Xingzhi: “…”

When the two sects met, friction was inevitable. Chu Xingzhi, always looking down his nose at others, almost caused a fight halfway through the collaboration.

Mu Chongxi placed his hand on the Zhaoxi Sword, “I’ll cut down this arrogant fool with one strike.”

Xue Yu: “Calm down.”

No sooner had he spoken than Chu Xingzhi turned around, his tone harsh, “What are you standing there for? What are you two trash muttering about?”

Xue Yu smiled, “Alright, I’ll go poison him right now.”

This time, it was Mu Chongxi who stopped him, “Calm down, Xue Yu.”

The scene was lively, and with Ye Qiao’s persuasion, none of the sword cultivators who knew nothing about talisman cultivation doubted that it was her using Ming Xuan’s talismans that led the two sects to avoid all the formations.

Even Ye Qinghan couldn’t help but mutter, “Ming Xuan is dead, yet his power is still this terrifying.”

Could this be the difference of a talisman cultivator from one of the Eight Great Families?

Listening to Ye Qiao boast all the way, claiming that it was solely due to her talismans that they had safely made it this far, and seeing that group of people actually believing her, Ming Xuan was completely speechless.

Thank you all for thinking so highly of me.

*

One more chapter, posting this one ahead of time.