Chapter 71

After the negotiations, it seemed to be the first time the Lord of Cloud Water City acted as a double agent. He hunched over throughout, and his back looked much more weathered. His demeanor was like that of a warrior heading to their doom, exuding an air that was pitiable to no one.

Song Hansheng couldn’t help but rub his arm.

What a terrifying Ye Qiao.

The captured member of the Bishui Sect, Miao Miao, had already given up resisting and decided to seek help from her sect. Unexpectedly, she was released. She rubbed her wrist, completely bewildered.

What had happened?

The Lord of Cloud Water City, who had initially captured her, now proactively approached them and confessed everything about colluding with the demon tribe.

“The once-in-a-century grand competition has intrigued the demon tribe with your performances in several secret realms,” the lord said, his tone full of weariness. “Maybe it’s because the personal disciples this time are all quite formidable that they decided to make a deal with us.”

“They wanted to nip you in the bud.”

At the time, he was blinded by greed, but now, thinking clearly, he realized that capturing the disciples of the five sects was no easy task.

Had the demon tribe ever succeeded in the past years?

Although the lord also thought this group of personal disciples looked a bit foolish, there are always exceptions to every rule. That one called Ye Qiao—he finally remembered who she was.

The one who caused chaos in the first two secret realms was none other than the young, unconventional Ye Qiao, right?

“Great! So it was you all along.” Chu Xingzhi kicked him in fury. “You’ve been deceiving us innocent and kind-hearted people all this time!!”

Si Miaoyan pursed her lips and whispered to Miao Miao, “Has he gone mad? Choosing this moment to defect to us.”

Unbelievable.

The sect leaders, who knew the truth, thought: …No, he just firmly believes the demon tribe has no hope anymore and has been persuaded by Ye Qiao to turn over a new leaf.

Ye Qiao, who successfully turned the lord of Cloud Water City against his former allies, was extremely pleased.

She was so sly that she specifically gathered the demon tribe at midnight, shouted some meaningless, passionate slogans, and led them to attack.

Midnight was perfect.

Midnight helped her play ghostly tricks.

Not only was she looking forward to it, but the demons were even more eager, anticipating the panic-stricken faces of the disciples.

Under the dim moonlight, the grass swayed in the wind. As the demons approached, the already prepared disciples were on high alert.

Su Zhuo and a few talisman masters had set up an array in advance. Everyone was busy preparing to welcome the demons.

“They’re coming,” Chu Xingzhi said nervously.

Mingxuan threw out a talisman, “Activate the array first.”

Talisman masters are excellent at long-range attacks. Those demons didn’t know much about arrays, and if it came to a fight, they wouldn’t have much chance to retaliate.

What scared Mingxuan and the others the most was the legendary saintess.

Ye Qiao stood dazed, watching their various moves, her gaze empty, unconsciously memorizing their techniques. At this moment, the wind lightly lifted her veil.

In the dark night, the young girl stood at the back, merely observing with an empty expression. Under the glint of swords and shadows, her eyes seemed somewhat sinister.

“Damn.”

“How terrifying.”

Xue Yu couldn’t see her face clearly, but the fleeting glimpse of her eyes, paired with her empty expression, perfectly matched the image of a maniac from a story.

“What does she look like?” Mingxuan came over.

Xue Yu: “…Her face is as pale as a ghost, and her head is especially big. Her shadow is huge too.”

Zhou Xingyun was skeptical: “Are you sure she’s human?”

“Why isn’t she making a move?” Si Miaoyan’s expression was tense. “Can’t she see her underlings are almost gone?”

Chu Xingzhi understood: “I heard that villains in stories always make the final move.”

“So she wants to wait until we’re almost exhausted before taking action?” The little sister from the Wenjian Sect pursed her lips and coldly said after knocking away a demon with her sword, “What a vicious woman.”

Their senior brother’s fate was uncertain, and he probably had fallen into that woman’s clutches, hadn’t he?

The disciples fought while still managing to chatter among themselves.

Ye Qiao didn’t know what kind of monster they thought she was, but seeing their expressions, she almost laughed.

Song Hansheng suffered the same treatment.

He flicked his talisman, and the next second, he saw his fellow sect disciples all stand up straight, their nerves visibly taut.

He smiled broadly, “Hey, hey, hey, Ye Qinghan, don’t you think it’s fun to see them all flustered and panicked?”

For the first time, Song Hansheng felt the pleasure of tormenting others.

Suddenly, he could understand why Ye Qiao had chased a group of people through the secret realm back then.

Ye Qinghan couldn’t comprehend it: “…No, I don’t.”

He didn’t understand why Song Hansheng had become like this.

The demon tribe had many at the Golden Core stage, but so did the disciples. In terms of cultivation, the demon tribe couldn’t match those righteous path disciples who built their foundations step by step.

In terms of the Golden Core stage, they didn’t have enough numbers, but then the Lord of Cloud Water City defected halfway through.

As a result, the situation temporarily turned one-sided. When the demons were utterly defeated, the disciples breathed a sigh of relief, not daring to deplete all their spiritual energy. Instead, they focused on Ye Qiao and her two companions.

After all, she was at the Nascent Soul stage!!

The other two weren’t easy to deal with either, both in the late Golden Core stage.

At this point, everyone except Zhou Xingyun was convinced that Ye Qiao was the final BOSS.

As for Ye Qinghan and Song Hansheng, who were in the late Golden Core stage? They were just the BOSS’s male pets!

The disciples didn’t really regard the Golden Core stage demons seriously. When they saw Ye Qiao stand up and take a step towards them, Su Zhuo reflexively retreated. At the same time, an array was formed, constantly guarding against her approach.

That profound sense of oppression made it hard for everyone to breathe.

Was this the power of the Nascent Soul stage? Commanding without anger.

Little did they know, the sect leaders who knew the truth were already laughing themselves to tears.

So, with everyone’s hearts in their throats, setting up arrays, clutching talismans, and gripping swords, ready to face the impending storm, Ye Qiao smiled.

Her smile made everyone even more anxious.

“She’s smiling, aaahhh.”

“So creepy.”

“…Is this the villain’s smile from the novels?”

“She’s coming, she’s going to make a move, be careful.”

Seeing Ye Qiao’s slow movements, everyone held their breath, ready to use their trump cards to withstand her attack.

Then, the final villain leisurely took off her mask.

Revealing Ye Qiao’s annoyingly lively face, she cheerfully waved at them:

“Hey, hey, hey, we’re all on the same side~”

“Long time no see, did you miss me?”

“…”