Everyone ascended, but I didn't get on board

Chapter 189 The Temple's Power

The secret realm that Qiu Ci and his group needed to explore was discovered decades ago and originally only appeared once every twenty years. It was said to be extremely dangerous inside, requiring a minimum cultivation level of Nascent Soul to enter. The next opening time was in three days.

Their mission was to ascertain the specifics of the secret realm, record the locations of dangers and opportunities, and then facilitate the temple and the Federation in securing the entrance to the secret realm so that future cultivators could enter at any time.

Qiu Ci originally wanted to take advantage of these three days of free time to find out about the situation at the temple and have the dog system find the location of the base, but she didn't expect that the group of temple members would take the initiative to come to her door.

"A friendly spar?" She looked at the arrogant man in front of her.

"Yes, you'll be teammates from now on, so we need to get to know your strength." The newcomer glanced at her, a hint of disdain in his voice. "The other two from your Federation have already gone, you're the only one left."

"..." What does this mean? Is this a way of intimidating them?

Qiu Ci frowned, somewhat reluctant to participate in such a childish activity, but thinking of the other two, she wondered if she would seem out of place if she didn't go.
After thinking for a moment, she followed the other person out the door and headed towards the training ground.

As soon as she entered the venue, she heard laughter from the opposite side. She saw a figure fall off the competition platform. Upon closer inspection, it was one of the two Nascent Soul cultivators who had come with her yesterday. He had injuries on his face and was getting up in a disheveled state, clearly having just lost a fight.

The person supporting him was another companion, who looked even more disheveled, with blood still wet on the corner of his mouth.

"This is the strength of the Federation? Not so great. I think we shouldn't go into any secret realms." A man with a buzz cut on the stage looked at the two with disdain, his attitude extremely arrogant, which drew laughter from the others.

"Huh? The last one has finally arrived." Everyone noticed Qiu Ci who had just entered, and their mockery intensified. In particular, the man with the buzz cut on the stage looked her up and down and grinned crookedly, saying, "Oh, she's still a little girl. I can't bring myself to lay a hand on her."

"Come on, Haozi," someone next to him laughed even louder. "You didn't hesitate to make a move on those younger girls you dated before!"

"That's right, that's right, why pretend to be so chivalrous!" The people around them chimed in.

"But are all the people the Federation sent this weak? Won't this little sister cry if she loses?"

"No, no, Haozi, get down. Let me do it. I love my little sister the most."

"I think we don't need to compete. Little sister, if you call each of us 'brother' once, then you win, okay?"

Upon hearing this, the others laughed even louder.

Qiu Ci frowned even more deeply, ignoring the group of people who seemed to be suffering from severe chuunibyou, and went straight to the two injured people. "How are you?" She scanned them with her divine sense and found that they did not have any internal injuries, only superficial ones. It seemed that these people did not want to make too much of a fuss. She handed them two pills.

"Thank you." Without hesitation, the two took the pills and swallowed them. Instantly, most of their injuries healed, and their expressions softened. They immediately said worriedly, "Sister Chu, they did it on purpose. Don't fight them. Go back first!"

As he was saying this, he tried to pull her away, but the group of people surrounded them and blocked their way.

"Hey, what happened to the competition? Why are you leaving before it's even over!" The man with the buzz cut blocked the three of them, looking like he wouldn't let it go.

"That's right, there's still one person who hasn't competed yet!" the others chimed in.

"What do you want?" the two asked angrily.

"Not good at all!" The crew-cut man chuckled, his eyes even more mocking. "Why don't you say that everyone in the Federation is a coward? We'll take it as you admitting defeat and let you leave, how about that?"

"You..." The two were immediately enraged, their spiritual energy overflowing, and they wanted to attack without any regard for the consequences.

Qiu Ci raised her hand and patted their shoulders, quickly stopping the two of them, and said, "Fine! I'll compete with you."

"Sister Chu..." The two were startled and wanted to stop her. Qiu Ci, however, said directly, "How do you want to compete?" She didn't mind slapping the faces that were offered to her a few more times.

The people from the temple were stunned, seemingly not expecting her to agree. For a moment, they all turned to look at the man in the corner, asking, "Young Master Huo?"

The man, dressed casually, was the same man who was in the middle of the group yesterday, and also the leader of this group. Qiu Ci remembered that his name was Huo Yanting.

Huo Yanting glanced at her, his eyes cold and emotionless, as if he had swept away some dust. After a while, he said, "Since you can't take action, then let the woman fight her."

The man with the buzz cut darted around, as if he had remembered something funny. "Why don't we send Miao Jia, that simp? After all, she's been chasing after you, Young Master Huo, for so many years and even tried her best to get into the exploration team. She should be able to play a role."

As soon as he said that, the others echoed him, each one seemingly remembering something funny, and they chuckled.

“That’s right, they’re all women. Let Miao Jia show us what she’s made of.”

"Hahaha...maybe they even think they've done Young Master Huo a huge favor."

"As long as Young Master Huo speaks up, she'll probably fight tooth and nail to win."

"Quickly, send her a message. Don't be reluctant to let Young Master Huo go."

The group started chatting and laughing, their words devoid of any respect and full of flippancy, as if they were talking about some insignificant clown rather than their own teammates.

The man named Huo Yanting, however, made no attempt to stop them from beginning to end, simply replying, "Whatever!"

The man with the buzz cut then looked at her and said, "Little sister, wait a moment, our people will be here soon."

He immediately pulled out his phone, sent a message, and his eyes were full of excitement at the prospect of a good show.

"How long do you bet it will take to arrive this time?"

"I think it will take about fifteen minutes."

I think it will take ten minutes!

"five minutes……"

Qiu Ci felt inexplicably uncomfortable, and her brows furrowed even deeper. Before long, she heard running footsteps outside, and saw a woman in a light green dress rushing in.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed the woman at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm who had been standing at the very back that day.

She seemed to have arrived in a hurry, and was still a little out of breath. She seemed to have not expected so many people. She paused at the door for a moment, something flashed between her brows, she bit her lower lip, and after a while, she clenched the hand at her side and walked over.

She walked straight towards Huo Yanting, her face instantly turning worried and anxious, looking exactly like a lovestruck girl, even her voice taking on a sweet tone, "Ah Ting, you were looking for me?"

Qiu Ci paused for a moment, feeling inexplicably that something was off about this girl, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Huo Yanting did not reply, seemingly indifferent to the other party.

The people around them all looked on with knowing expressions. The man with the buzz cut stepped forward and pointed in Qiu Ci's direction, saying, "Miao Jia, we are sparring with people from the Federation. It just so happens that the opponent is also a woman. Young Master Huo wants you to go on stage."

The upstairs neighbors are doing renovations, it's driving me crazy.