Chapter 55

The two groups of people proceeded towards the marked location on the map, making sure to arrive before Yueqing Sect and kill the demonic beasts there first. Thanks to Ye Qiao, the Wenjian Sect group managed to avoid stepping on any traps.

This increased Ye Qinghan’s belief in Ming Xuan’s strength.

As they got closer to their destination, a light rain began to fall from the sky. The rain was somewhat corrosive, causing a burning sensation when it landed on their skin. Ye Qiao touched it and recognized this type of rain, having encountered it before.

She didn’t expect to see it again today.

Ye Qinghan frowned, “Does anyone have a defensive artifact?”

“No,” answered the little sister from Wenjian Sect decisively. “We’re poor.”

The prices demanded by the unscrupulous artifact forgers from Chengfeng Sect were too high, making it impossible for them to buy any. It was something they could never afford in their lifetime.

Upon hearing this, Ye Qiao sincerely suggested, “Why don’t you try using a pot or pan?”

She could set up an array, but it would be tiring and expose her position.

“Where did you get this from?” Xue Yu weighed the pot in her hand; it was quite light.

“I borrowed it from the cafeteria.” She initially intended to use it for alchemy, but the pills she made turned out unappealing. Besides, with the third senior brother being an alchemist, she didn’t need it. So the pot had been sitting idle.

“I also have three basins. Do you want them?”

Immediately, the three senior brothers replied without hesitation, “Yes.”

Ye Qiao covered herself with the pot, while the other three senior brothers each held a basin over their heads, leaving the onlookers dumbfounded.

“Ye Qiao brought everything except serious gear into the secret realm this time.”

“Wenjian Sect is completely stunned.”

Ye Qinghan blinked hard to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. He hesitated for a moment, looking at the large pot in her hand with some reluctance.

It was too ugly.

But he had to admit, it seemed quite useful.

After contemplating for a while, he finally asked her expressionlessly, “Do you have another pot?”

Ye Qiao didn’t even look back, “No.”

She wasn’t running a wholesale business.

Seeing this, Ye Qinghan could only keep quiet and relied on his physical skills to move through the rain. Compared to the miserable situation of Wenjian Sect, Changming Sect had it much easier.

The three of them chatted casually, showing no signs of tension.

“Yueqing Sect is also using an array to rush to the Wind Beast’s lair.”

Several inner sect elders watching from outside started murmuring to themselves.

To be honest, the spiritual energy consumed along the way…

It might have been better to learn from Ye Qiao and use a pot.

Ordinary oiled paper umbrellas couldn’t block the corrosive rain, but pots could. The rainwater pitter-pattered on their heads, creating a rhythmic sound.

The closer they got to the Wind Beast’s location, the stronger the wind and sand became. As the rain gradually stopped, Ye Qiao put away her pot, and the two groups stood in a line.

“The people from Yueqing Sect are almost here,” Ye Qinghan squinted.

“I’ll take care of their sword cultivator.”

He looked at Zhou Xingyun, “It would be faster if you join me.”

Yueqing Sect had four talisman cultivators and one Jindan stage sword cultivator. Although Ye Qinghan could handle them alone, he wanted a swift victory.

Both Zhou Xingyun and Ye Qinghan were renowned from a young age. While there were external speculations about their strength, they had never actually fought each other.

To this day, no one had ever seen Zhou Xingyun’s sword being unsheathed.

Feigning ignorance, Zhou Xingyun said, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Ye Qinghan took a deep breath, his voice cold, “If we cooperate, you need to show some sincerity from Changming Sect.”

With so many sword cultivators, teaming up against Yueqing Sect’s four talisman cultivators should be simple.

Ye Qiao noticed the protagonist’s determined look and touched her chin, realizing that the plot seemed… off.

Currently, Ye Qinghan was focused on defeating Yueqing Sect and hadn’t considered that Yun Que was among the four talisman cultivators.

In the novel, Wenjian Sect had a smooth journey, and Yun Que accompanied the protagonist in the second round.

Perhaps because she had disrupted Yueqing Sect in the first round, Song Hansheng angrily scolded Yun Que, preventing her from staying with Ye Qinghan as in the original story.

When Zhou Xingyun heard about the need for sincerity, he immediately pushed Ye Qiao forward, “All our sincerity from Changming Sect is here.”

A sword and talisman dual cultivator, the little sister was now Changming Sect’s greatest asset.

Ye Qinghan’s forehead twitched, feeling insulted by Zhou Xingyun.

Seeing the protagonist about to lose his temper, Ye Qiao quickly stepped forward to calm him down, “Don’t be angry. We’ll help, okay? Don’t you trust Changming Sect? We’re all honest people.”

Only then did Ye Qinghan’s expression soften a bit.

At least they had some sense.

Taking advantage of his height, Xue Yu pressed down on Ye Qiao’s head. The two turned around and whispered, “Are we really going to help Wenjian Sect? Do you believe that after dealing with Yueqing Sect, Ye Qinghan won’t target us next?”

The Wenjian Sect’s reputation wasn’t very good.

Ye Qiao: “It’s okay; after all, we’re not exactly good people ourselves.”

Xue Yu: “…”

Song Hansheng had misplaced his identity badge, and Ye Qiao suspected it might be on Yueqing Sect’s only sword cultivator.

Therefore, she had no objections to dealing with Yueqing Sect’s sword cultivator first.

The two sects, dressed in red and white, stood in a line.

Seeing this, Song Hansheng frowned, realizing something was off: “These two sects can actually join forces?”

Wasn’t Wenjian Sect always disdainful of teaming up with weaker sects?

In the secret realm, cooperation was typically in a one-on-one fashion. Chengfeng Sect was fighting solo, while Yueqing Sect and Bishui Sect had reached an agreement.

Yueqing Sect protected Bishui Sect, and Bishui Sect provided them with pills. Since forming arrays consumed a lot of spiritual energy, they couldn’t last long without an alchemist’s support.

“Ye Qinghan probably wants to use the talismans left by Ming Xuan to make things easier in the secret realm. A bunch of brainless sword cultivators, don’t know what they’re so excited about all day,” Su Zhuo sneered disdainfully.

“Su Zhuo, don’t forget that not long ago, you guys were the ones getting hung up,” another retorted.

“Ye Qiao: Who are you calling brainless?”

“No, no, Ye Qiao is a dual-cultivator. Strictly speaking, she’s not the same as those brainless sword cultivators.”

In the end, the audience concluded that Su Zhuo must have never received a beating from Ye Qiao.

“If Ye Qiao had stayed with Yueqing Sect, they would have had two sword cultivators and five talisman cultivators, considering Ye Qiao can match two,” someone commented.

Indeed.

Who wouldn’t want a dual-cultivator disciple? With slightly better talent, one could replace two.

Yun Hen, feeling the surrounding gloating eyes, regretted his decision. After all, it was just a spirit herb. Losing a disciple over such a trivial matter wasn’t worth it.

But he had to maintain his pride, so he only said:

“It’s just a mid-grade spiritual root.”

“Even as a dual-cultivator, she’s only a mediocre talent.”

Elder Zhao smiled slightly, “Your top-tier spiritual root cultivators still ended up at the bottom in the end. No matter how high the spiritual root, it doesn’t stop you from being at the bottom.”

The elders’ sarcastic remarks made the atmosphere among the inner disciples lively.

…

The moment Song Hansheng encountered Ye Qinghan, he felt something was off but remained calm. On the ancient battlefield, their talisman cultivators had the advantage of terrain. After Ming Xuan was eliminated, Yueqing Sect dominated the secret realm.

Ye Qinghan didn’t waste words and immediately drew his sword, engaging in battle, with cold light flashing and the formation coming into play.

The intense spiritual energy fluctuations and the pressure of two Jindan stage cultivators made Ye Qiao momentarily uncomfortable, causing her actions to falter for a moment. Zhou Xingyun released his pressure to cover her.

Feeling suddenly lighter, Ye Qiao looked up and smiled at Zhou Xingyun, then quietly stepped back, using the height of the senior brothers to hide herself.

Almost as soon as the two groups started fighting, she began to form hand seals, and the Yueqing Sect’s formation started to move.

The confinement array silently spread from under their feet, trapping the Changming Sect members inside.

“???”

“Huh?”

“If I’m not mistaken, isn’t this array set up by Ye Qiao herself?”

“You’re not mistaken. She started quietly setting up the formation as soon as she arrived.”

What is this? Trapping ourselves?

Seeing the Changming Sect members trapped, Song Hansheng was also stunned. “Wait…”

He hadn’t trapped Ye Qiao’s group.

He looked at his junior brother with suspicion, wondering if Su Zhuo had set up the confinement array.

Since the array patterns were indeed from Yueqing Sect, Song Hansheng and the others hadn’t suspected anything.

They assumed the opponents had set up the formation in advance.

The culprit, Ye Qiao, stood inside the formation, watching the fight unfold. Her voice suddenly rose: “We can’t get out. What should we do? Can someone come rescue us?”

Xue Yu: “…”

Seeing that the others were deeply engaged in the fight and ignoring her, Ye Qiao’s expression changed. She quickly observed the situation outside and then sat cross-legged, saying, “Alright, let’s let them fight for a while.”

No one knew Ye Qiao could break the formation. They all thought Changming Sect was temporarily trapped, so the two groups fought without any hesitation.

With flying sand and stones, the five-element formation, Ye Qiao planned to wait until they were exhausted before breaking the formation and collecting the spoils.

Zhai Chen watched this scene, mumbling in fear or awe, “So badass…”