Chapter 86

“Someone’s coming.”

Si Miaoyan noticed the movement and gave a heads-up, “There are quite a few people, be careful.”

With Danxiu clearing the path, there was no need for others to waste their spiritual awareness on scouting. Hearing Si Miaoyan’s warning, the members of the Changming Sect instinctively protected Danxiu, their nerves on edge.

It was already the third day; it was only a matter of time before encounters with other sects occurred.

However, her warning came too late. As Ming Xuan’s foot touched the ground, golden runes spread rapidly from beneath him. His brow twitched suddenly.

A formation!

The young man turned around and quickly shouted to the others, “Spread out, there’s an ambush.”

Ming Xuan’s warning was quick, and the others swiftly moved aside, but he wasn’t so fortunate.

He had only a few formation-breaking talismans, and Song Hansheng’s formation skills were superior to his. Even if he managed to break through, it would take time. Trapped in the formation, Ming Xuan could only watch the situation outside helplessly.

Ye Qiao was the quickest to react, moving decisively without hesitation. With a swift grab, she took Miao Miao and prepared to retreat.

Currently, the Changming Sect was in fourth place and posed no significant threat. Ye Qiao didn’t believe that a few sword cultivators and talisman cultivators were worth the combined ambush of the three sects.

Therefore, their target could only be Danxiu.

Ye Qiao was fast, but Ye Qinghan was even faster. He intercepted their escape route and, with a powerful kick, struck without mercy. As Ye Qiao dodged, Ye Qinghan’s eyes briefly showed a hint of something unclear before he abruptly stopped and hooked Miao Miao’s mustard seed bag with his fingertips, effortlessly snatching it away.

“Ah!” Miao Miao exclaimed in surprise, caught off guard.

Ye Qiao was genuinely fooled by Ye Qinghan’s feigned attack. She raised her eyebrows slightly, surprised that these inner disciples had improved.

They were no longer as reckless and quick to resort to violence as before.

With the three sects collaborating, all focused on seizing the mustard seed bags. Duan Hengdao shot a few inconspicuous beads from his fingertips, instantly knocking down the mustard seed bags that hung from their waists during the escape.

Si Miaoyan reached out to grab them, but Chu Xingzhi ambushed from behind, sprinting over and capturing the mustard seed bags with a fierce sword strike.

Si Miaoyan’s pills and alchemical furnace were all inside the mustard seed bags. She noticed the intention of these people, her face changing dramatically. It was the first time she saw such a direct approach of seizing mustard seed bags without any cooperation or elimination of competitors.

“You guys…” She bit her lip slightly, “This is excessive.”

“It’s just a matter of deception in battle,” Chu Xingzhi said smugly, turning away with a casual air.

Wasting time on seizing identity tokens was unnecessary, especially when fighting those people; it was completely unnecessary.

Moreover, their current condition was poor, and they might not be able to outlast these opponents.

But seizing the mustard seed bags was much easier. The three sects worked together to quickly obtain them.

“Ye Qinghan,” Ye Qiao saw that almost all the mustard seed bags from the Danxiu had been taken. Her eyes flashed, and she suddenly called out to Ye Qinghan, who was about to leave.

Ye Qinghan paused, his expression cold. “What is it?”

Ye Qiao walked up casually and gave his shoulders two friendly pats. “Just wanted to call out to you.”

Ye Qinghan frowned at Ye Qiao’s lack of propriety. “Move.”

Seeing Ye Qinghan raise his hand as if to attack, Ye Qiao grinned and swiftly stepped aside, but couldn’t resist saying, “Hey, hey, hey, just making a friendly greeting between experts. From what I can see, with your bad temper, you’ll definitely end up being cheated on.”

In the original plot, with so many romantic interests, Ye Qinghan might as well have a grassy prairie on his head for horses to run.

“Just because you don’t speak doesn’t mean no one thinks you’re mute.” Ye Qinghan’s expression turned colder. He found this person inexplicable—suddenly patting his shoulder just to say hello?

They were not familiar with each other.

After the three sects finished their business, they withdrew. The vigorous departure had a touch of Ye Qiao’s past style, making the cultivators sigh.

They’ve all learned to be cunning.

“How are we going to play now? We’re out of pills, and there’s nothing left.”

“Specifically, how will Bishui Sect handle it? They’re in a terrible state.”

“Changming Sect isn’t any better, in fourth place. Tsk tsk.”

The only good news was that they still had their identity tokens, so they wouldn’t face elimination just for losing the mustard seed bags.

Si Miaoyan came back to her senses, her lips pressed tightly together. “Our pills were all inside the mustard seed bags, and now they’ve been taken.”

Everyone’s faces were grim. Ye Qiao, remaining calm, continued to ask, “What about the alchemical furnace?”

Miao Miao’s eyes dropped, her voice weak, “It was also in the mustard seed bag.”

“Then it’s over,” Ming Xuan spread his hands.

If they had the alchemical furnace, they could still refine pills on-site. But without it, there was nothing they could do.

Ye Qiao’s mustard seed bag didn’t have any pills left, let alone spiritual plants. The atmosphere became somewhat gloomy.

“Let Ye Qiao lead the team for the next two days,” Miao Miao broke the silence and said quietly.

Her ability was well-recognized, and it was clear that Liu Yun was not suitable for leading the team.

Mu Chongxi clicked his tongue in frustration, “Where were you earlier?”

Si Miaoyan lightly nudged her junior brother with her arm, “Why don’t you go apologize to Ye Qiao?”

Without the necessary skill, Liu Yun’s stubbornness had led to their sect finishing at the bottom twice in a row.

Liu Yun’s face changed slightly but remained silent.

“Go apologize and let Ye Qiao take over,” Miao Miao urged.

Liu Yun was somewhat reluctant. Considering so many cultivators were watching, he bit his lip and said, “What difference will Ye Qiao make?”

“Do you even know who she is?”

Miao Miao was somewhat displeased with the questioning, “Isn’t it enough that she led the Changming Sect from the bottom to first place?”

The two almost started an argument.

Liu Yun had heard of Ye Qiao’s achievements, but he had never dealt with her personally. While he acknowledged that Ye Qiao had some cleverness, he still couldn’t bring himself to apologize.

Liu Yun stubbornly kept silent, seemingly retreating into himself.

Seeing the gloomy faces of the Changming and Bishui Sect disciples, if not for the numerous cultivators watching, the elders from the other three sects might have laughed uncontrollably.

Ye Qiao finally got a taste of her own medicine.

She had always been the one leading attacks on others; now she was on the receiving end! Serves her right!

After experiencing a looting, Ye Qiao rudely kicked Liu Yun’s leg, “Get up, everyone.”

“Hey, hey, hey, friends,” she jumped up, looking at the downcast group. Clapping her hands, she tried to lift everyone’s spirits, “Have you ever turned the tide in adversity?”

Si Miaoyan reminded her, “…Although I don’t want to discourage you, usually, we are the ones being overturned.”

Bishui Sect had always lingered in fourth place; they had worked hard and had never been surpassed.

This level of stability was comparable to the Changming Sect’s perennial bottom position.

“It’s no big deal,” Ye Qiao was optimistic. She was now offering her experience, “Winning is a joy for all. Losing means returning to the sect to celebrate the New Year. At worst, we’ll finish at the bottom. Can they really capture us?”

Ye Qiao’s words made the others look at each other, seeming to find some strange sense in it.

“Let’s rest for now. Tomorrow, we’ll split into two groups and follow my instructions.” Ye Qiao shook a small magical artifact she had casually taken from the demon clan.

It was just a small butterfly-shaped device that could record voices.

When Ye Qiao had patted Ye Qinghan’s shoulder earlier, she had discreetly placed the butterfly on him.

The inconspicuous device was not likely to attract attention as a listening device.

The butterfly quickly flapped its wings, transmitting the voices of a few disciples from the neighboring Jianxian Sect. Noticing their surprised looks, Ye Qiao calmly explained, “It’s a small, unremarkable gadget I placed on Ye Qinghan. It can eavesdrop on their movements and positions.”

“Curious about what Ye Qiao has learned in the past.”

“She’s so adept at casually placing things on people.”

“The expressions of Bishui Sect are utterly stunned.”

Not only Bishui Sect was surprised, but even Ye Qinghan probably hadn’t expected that Ye Qiao’s seemingly casual pat on his shoulder was to place a magical artifact to monitor their movements.

Meanwhile, after wandering alone for three days, Xue Yu found the main group and was almost in tears, “Little sister.”

Hearing the noise, everyone turned to look.

It was Xue Yu, who had been missing for three days.

Instantly, everyone’s eyes lit up.

It was like seeing an oasis in the desert, or a dog spotting a bone. The group swarmed around Xue Yu, enthusiastically surrounding him.

“It’s been a long time; I’ve missed you, Xue Yu,” Ming Xuan was extremely enthusiastic, reaching out to start rummaging through Xue Yu’s mustard seed bag.

They were almost dying from the heat.

Without any more pills, Ming Xuan felt he and this secret realm were doomed to perish.

Xue Yu was taken aback by the warm welcome. Just as he was about to say something, he saw his dear fellow disciples snatching his mustard seed bag and crowding around it, searching for items.

“…Not a trace of camaraderie!!”

Xue Yu realized, remaining silent for a moment, “You guys want my mustard seed bag, don’t you?”

“Third Senior Brother,” Ye Qiao was also searching and took the opportunity to ask the owner of the mustard seed bag, “Do you still have any alchemical plants?”

“Yes,” Xue Yu was more perceptive than they were. He always prepared strategies before entering secret realms, so he naturally had alchemical plants. He looked at the others and hesitated, “You… were robbed by someone, weren’t you?”

Except for the Changming Sect members, everyone else’s mustard seed bag locations were empty.

It looked like they had encountered robbers.

“We ran into the other three sects,” Ming Xuan said listlessly, “And now we’ve been robbed. Ah, really, the world is getting worse, and human nature is so cold.”

“Exactly, exactly,” Ye Qiao nodded vigorously in agreement, not at all feeling that this was the atmosphere she had fostered.

Xue Yu found it hard to believe, “So, you were ganged up on by the three sects?”

What kind of grudge would make three sects ally against them?

He genuinely didn’t expect such a situation so soon after joining. Xue Yu couldn’t help but ask, “What should we do next?”

“Next,” Ye Qiao paused, looking at everyone with a smile, “Why don’t we…”

Her tone was drawn out, making everyone think she was about to say something scandalous.

Instead, she loudly announced, “Let’s all refine pills together.”

Everyone: “…”

“We don’t have an alchemical furnace. What will we use to refine?” Miao Miao thought she had forgotten this point and reminded her, “Our alchemical furnaces are all in the mustard seed bags.”

“It’s no big deal,” Ye Qiao said. The mustard seed bags hadn’t been intercepted, and she still had several large cauldrons with her.

And now that Xue Yu has joined them, it means they have the previously missing alchemical plants as well. With a group of alchemists gathered together, what else could they do but refine pills?

She immediately sat down and pulled out her several large iron cauldrons from her mustard seed bag, waving her hand to get their attention.

Ye Qiao cleared her throat and said sincerely, “Does anyone here know how to use a large cauldron for alchemy?”

“…What?” Si Miaoyan’s first reaction was to think she must be hearing things.

Ye Qiao repeated, “Alchemy, with a cauldron. Is it possible?”

Since they didn’t have any alchemical furnaces now, they might as well use the large cauldrons.

“Are you kidding?” Liu Yun lifted his gaze, his first reaction being that she must be joking.

How could she still be in the mood for jokes at a time like this? He didn’t know if Ye Qiao was just optimistic or if the Changming Sect’s attitude was this relaxed.

Ye Qiao replied, “I’m not joking.”

She touched the corner of her lips, somewhat helpless.

Was her tone not sincere enough?

“The problem is, Ye Qiao,” Liu Yun looked at her serious expression, his mouth twitching slightly, “Have you ever seen an alchemist use a large cauldron to refine pills?”

Ye Qiao gave him a puzzled look, “You’re alchemists, why can’t you use a large cauldron for alchemy?”

Liu Yun responded, “We are alchemists, not cafeteria workers! Have you ever seen a divine being use a cauldron?”

Ye Qiao immediately felt somewhat insulted, her tone calm, “I can.”