Chapter 78

Ye Qiao’s scalp tingled because the thing behind them was so terrifying it felt like it was draining her sanity.

The demon beast had four arms, its head covered with uneven feathers, and dozens of eyes gleaming coldly in the night. It was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.

She unconsciously held her breath, her skin crawling in disgust.

Zhou Xingyun furrowed his brow at the sight of the beast’s feather-covered head. He pressed his lips together and said in a detached tone, “Core Formation stage.”

“Damn.” Ye Qiao had always felt like something was watching them, but she was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, and sensing a Core Formation beast was far beyond her abilities.

No wonder she hadn’t felt it before.

With so many eyes staring at them, it was no wonder she hadn’t sensed anything.

The higher the cultivation level of a demon beast, the stranger it looked. Ye Qiao had thought snake-like or rodent-like demon beasts were already bizarre, but it turned out that a Core Formation demon beast could be downright monstrous.

Ye Qiao grabbed her seemingly dazed senior brother who was standing still and said, “Run!”

The higher the cultivation level of a demon beast, the higher its intelligence. Zhou Xingyun wasn’t weak, but it seemed the beast was wary and hadn’t attacked recklessly. It had been observing them since the day began.

Ye Qiao didn’t give it a chance to react. She dragged Zhou Xingyun and chose to flee.

Zhou Xingyun looked back and couldn’t resist. He swung his sword, and the sword energy shot out like a rainbow, slicing off the uneven feathers on the beast’s head.

Demon Beast: “……?”

Ye Qiao couldn’t help but exclaim, “Senior Brother, stop provoking it ah ah ah damn it.”

As expected, Zhou Xingyun’s action completely enraged the beast. It dropped all four hands to the ground and started clawing and chasing after the slowest Ye Qiao. Seeing that she was about to be caught, Zhou Xingyun swiftly grabbed her by the back of the neck and used his Light Wind technique to create distance. He looked back.

“Move quickly.”

On the first night in the secret realm, the two succeeded in their goal of being chased by a Core Formation demon beast.

“Are there Core Formation demon beasts in the secret realm?”

Zhou Xingyun, while calculating their distance, answered calmly, “Great secret realms always have Core Formation beasts. It’s just that we were lucky before and didn’t encounter any.”

The audience also remarked, “… I retract my statement about Ye Qiao being lucky.”

“Her secret realms have always been chaotic, okay.”

Zhou Xingyun reacted quickly, calculating the distance between them and not giving the demon beast a chance to attack. Whenever it got close, he would pull Ye Qiao away. Ye Qiao would occasionally throw talismans at it.

She might not be strong, but she had plenty of talismans. Although she couldn’t defeat the beast, she could delay it.

Through their combined efforts, they managed to avoid any major issues for the time being.

The first day was already so eventful.

One could only imagine what the rest of the secret realm had in store.

Under Yun Que’s guidance, Song Hansheng obtained quite a few Qingxin Grasses, but since they had no alchemist, they pondered for a moment before deciding to seek out the Bishui Sect to discuss cooperation.

The Bishui Sect wasn’t lacking in alchemists but needed spiritual herbs. After reaching an agreement, the cooperation between the two sects was barely satisfactory.

One sect ranked first, and the other second.

“Treasure-hunting beasts are really useful.” The elder of Yue Qing Sect was quite pleased with the ranking. After all, the grand sect competition was an annual bragging session for the elders and sect leaders.

The elder of Bishui Sect wasn’t so optimistic: “It’s only the first day.”

Elder Zhao sighed in exasperation. It was precisely because it was the first day that he was exhausted.

To provoke a Core Formation demon beast on the first day—how were they going to survive the rest of the days?

Ming Xuan and Mu Chongxi teamed up together. Ming Xuan first used his spiritual sense to scan the area for safety and then prepared to search for Xue Yu with Fourth Junior Brother.

This round, Xue Yu was crucial.

Moreover, the little sister and senior brother seemed as slippery as mudfish; even if he was alone, he could manage just fine.

Ming Xuan’s spiritual sense was strong, and with the assistance of talismans, Mu Chongxi cleared the path with his sword, making quick work of the demon beasts.

However, their luck wasn’t great. On the very first day, they encountered the two direct disciples from the Sword Sect.

Chu Xingzhi and his little sister, Zhu You.

“Well, what a coincidence,” Ming Xuan said calmly, tightening his grip on the talismans and staying alert to the two.

Chu Xingzhi sneered, “Ming Xuan? Don’t think that just because you’ve broken through to the Golden Core stage, I’ll think highly of you.”

He had looked down on Ming Xuan since the start of the competition.

Back then, he was the one who mocked Ming Xuan the most. Their dislike for each other was deeply rooted. They had refrained from arguing in Yun Shui City purely because they needed to cooperate to complete tasks. Now, in the third round of the competition…

When experts meet, they often mock each other as a form of respect.

“Oh, oh, oh.” However, Ming Xuan wasn’t the kind of person to be easily intimidated by mockery. He lifted his chin, showing a grin that was just as infuriating as Ye Qiao’s, “So concerned about my breakthrough to Golden Core? What, are you secretly in love with me?”

His jabs successfully disgusted Chu Xingzhi, whose face turned sour. He placed his hand on the sword at his waist, ready to make a move.