Chapter 36: Harvest, Eliminating Six People

Ye Qingning was not an array master. After sharing her plan with Bai Wei earlier, she was shocked to see Bai Wei’s stunned reaction when she learned Ye Qingning intended to set up a trapping array.

Although Bai Wei had attended an introductory array class with Ye Qingning, this was not unusual, as every talisman practitioner would take such classes. After all, arrays could integrate talisman seals to enhance their power, and the talismans they drew could also be used in arrays.

The introductory array class was to familiarize students with various kinds of arrays.

Bai Wei had always attended these classes with Ye Qingning, but she could never understand how Ye Qingning, who had attended the same classes and lived with her, had learned to set up arrays.

What Bai Wei didn’t know, the dog system knew all too well.

In her past life, to save Xie Jibai, who was trapped in an array, Ye Qingning had once broken through the Eight-Directions Trapping Array without finding the array’s core, using her life-bound sword to force her way through.

However, breaking the array forcibly caused her to suffer the backlash of the array.

Since Ye Qingning was the type to get back up wherever she fell, she had studied the Eight-Directions Trapping Array during her recovery.

At the time, Ye Qingning didn’t understand arrays, but as a crucial supporting female character in the story, she had an exceptional memory and committed the Eight-Directions Trapping Array to heart.

In this life, after entering the talisman path, she not only drew talismans but also studied arrays.

Talisman arrays were a type of array, including trapping arrays, killing arrays, illusion arrays, and so on. The Eight-Directions Trapping Array was one of the trapping arrays in talisman arrays.

Since she didn’t have the usual array plates or array flags for temporary array setups, she could only use talisman arrays.

Before she designed all of this, she had never expected that, in her previous life, after being harmed by the Eight-Directions Trapping Array, she would set up a simplified version of it in this life—her very first array.

Once the array was set up, the examination disciples hiding in the dark realized something was amiss.

To be precise, they had already realized something was wrong the moment their verification failed. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so careless, and now, they could only understand their situation further.

But it was already too late. They had all verified Ye Qingning’s identity.

After all, it was about earning points, and no one was slow. In fact, after confirming their identities, they were even afraid that someone else might verify it first and snatch their points.

Now, even if they realized their mistake, they had no opportunity to verify again until three days later.

But the situation might not last for another three days.

One of the smartest among them, a disciple from the academy and Bai Wei’s sixth junior brother, found the examination disciple who had just been knocked unconscious.

Upon discovering that the unconscious disciple did not have an identity tag, he immediately understood everything.

Not only had he been tricked, but he had also been completely deceived by the two of them.

The so-called “demon” he had believed in was not a demon at all. The person he thought was his second senior sister, and the one he believed had been robbed of their points, was likely the real demon!

Otherwise, why would she knock this person unconscious and steal their identity tag?

The trapping array was set up with the knowledge that there were other examination disciples hiding in the dark, aiming to trap them here and steal their identity tags.

If it weren’t for this, they wouldn’t need to put on a show and deceive others into misverifying identities.

That way, this second senior sister could take their points without worrying about anyone else verifying her.

What a brilliant scheme!

But he had been careless. Although he was hiding in the dark, he hadn’t realized when the trapping array had been set up!

When he arrived here, everything seemed normal, and he hadn’t noticed anyone setting up an array beforehand.

Clearly, one of the two people pretending to be harmless had set up the trapping array while the fight was happening.

A body cultivator and a sword cultivator—one of them was clearly an array master! An array master who had entered two different paths!

Array masters who walk two paths were notoriously difficult to deal with, and since there were two of them, it was even harder to fight back in a one-on-two situation.

Given that, now that he was trapped in the array, facing the threat of losing his identity tag, why not choose to join forces with the others?

“I’m sure the other senior brothers and sisters hiding in the dark have also failed their verifications, and we can’t verify again for three days. If I’m not mistaken, my second senior sister is the real demon.”

“It’s a pity we can’t verify her identity again, but if we don’t want to lose our identity tags to her, I suggest we show ourselves. We have to join forces to escape this situation, or we’ll be eliminated!”

Ye Qingning glanced at the man who stepped out from the shadows.

He was dressed in black, tall, and handsome. Hearing him call Bai Wei “second senior sister,” she suddenly remembered that she had seen him at today’s banquet.

However, at the time, she and the dog system had suspected the sword master brother was Shen Xuanli, so they hadn’t paid much attention to him.

She hadn’t expected that this man was also one of the examination disciples. She hadn’t suspected him at all.

To be honest, this man did seem rather pleasant to the eye. Although his face was not his real one, he was still better than Qin Changsheng, the scumbag. The key was that he had a way with words.

Other hidden examination disciples, upon hearing the man’s words, became even more panicked.

Though they had realized it, hearing someone else state it aloud made them even more anxious. No one wanted to be eliminated, and they were all moved by his words.

They didn’t want to be eliminated just like this, so they had no choice but to fight.

Soon, Ye Qingning and Bai Wei saw four figures emerge in front of them.

Ye Qingning counted them. Including the one who had just been knocked unconscious, and the man who had been stirring things up, there were six in total. Their energy signatures matched what she had sensed earlier.

“Since that’s the case, let’s not waste any more time,” Ye Qingning said.

If they wasted time, the power of the trapping array would diminish, so it was better to finish this quickly!

A two-on-six battle (one unconscious) was about to break out.

In an instant, the valley was filled with sword energy, martial arts techniques, and magic treasures. The sound of fighting echoed everywhere.

The five thought that if they teamed up, they would have a good chance of winning, especially since the person who had been knocked unconscious had been ambushed, and their identity tag stolen.

But once the fight began, the five quickly realized that even though their opponents were only two people, they were not easy to handle.

Especially that body cultivator! Every move was ruthless and terrifying.

With just one punch, he nearly broke his ribs, more ferocious than any body cultivator he had ever encountered. His own sword skills seemed powerless in comparison.

The two worked together seamlessly, and the five found themselves at a disadvantage.

It didn’t take long before two of them were defeated.

The remaining three also felt an unprecedented sense of danger.

Two of them began to regret their actions—regret coming here right after receiving the news and regretting believing the other’s act.

But it was too late. None of them understood arrays, so they couldn’t find the core and couldn’t escape the trapping array. Their only option was to fight until the end.

Soon, two more were defeated and, helpless, handed over their identity tags.

“Sixth junior brother, it’s your turn now,” Bai Wei smiled and said to the man.

She wasn’t bullying him. He had come here of his own accord after receiving the news, so she couldn’t blame her.

With a reluctant look in his eyes, he handed over the last identity tag.

Bai Wei looked at the identity tags in her hand. Although demons could plunder others’ points, they had to verify the other person’s identity before they could claim those points and verification scores.

If it weren’t for such a rule, after stealing the points, Ye Qingning would have been the one to verify the identities, since without her, Bai Wei wouldn’t have been able to take the six disciples’ points.

Ye Qingning had been so kind to her, and she swore that from now on, she would do everything she could to repay Ye Qingning’s kindness. If she ever discovered anyone’s true identity in the future, she would tell Ye Qingning so that she could verify it.

Ye Qingning, feeling that they had earned quite a few points from the six, couldn’t help but ask, “How did we do? How much did we move up the rankings? How many points did each of them have?”