Junior Sister must ascend this time!

Master Zhou gestured for Elder Ji and Yun Qing to stand further away, then stood in the center of the open space himself.

His method of setting up the formation was completely different from Elder Ji's. Elder Ji was more composed and pursued a steady and methodical approach, with each step calculated.

His speed was even faster; he positioned several spirit stones simultaneously, as if processing multiple lines in parallel, his technique swift and his efficiency extremely high.

Yun stared intently, comparing every detail of Master Zhou with the traces on the ascension platform.

With her answer even more certain, she secretly used a recording stone to record the entire process of him setting up the formation when the two were not paying attention.

She wasn't afraid of being discovered by Elder Ji; she could easily say she was recording it for him to amuse himself. Who wouldn't want to laugh at someone they dislike when they have nothing to do?

Just then, Master Zhou's movements suddenly paused, and the array pattern, which had only lit up halfway, stopped.

Seeing this, Elder Ji became even more certain that he wouldn't be able to set up the formation so quickly. She then crossed her arms, raised her chin high, and whispered to Yun Qing, "See? I told you his formation-setting skills weren't up to par."

Master Zhou frowned, looked down to check the location of the spirit stones, then readjusted one of the formations and continued setting it up.

After a while, Zhou Ke straightened up and dusted off his hands: "I'm done."

The array patterns on the ground slowly lit up, with spiritual light flowing around them. Although it wasn't as stable as Elder Ji's array, it was indeed a success.

He looked at Elder Ji and said, "Well? I'm done setting it up. You can leave now and don't bother me anymore."

"Although you successfully set up the formation, however..." Elder Ji paused deliberately before continuing, "you took more than an hour to set it up."

"impossible!"

Master Zhou wouldn't believe his nonsense. He looked at Yun Qing and asked, "Tell me, did I spend more than an hour setting up the formation?"

Yun Qing nodded weakly; he had indeed taken a little too long to set up the formation.

If Elder Ji had a tail, it would be wagging its tail to the sky right now. He pointed at Yun Qing and said, "She's one of the five direct disciples of this generation, and she has six other masters. She couldn't possibly be lying to you, could she?!"

Master Zhou asked Yun Qing again, "Did Ji Wuce succeed in setting up the plan? How long did it take him?"

Yun Qing feigned a troubled expression, "Elder Ji... finished setting it up in less than an hour..."

Master Zhou was so angry that his face turned red. On the one hand, he couldn't accept losing to Ji Wuce, and on the other hand, with the witnesses present, he couldn't cheat.

"I don't believe it!"

"I don't care whether you believe me or not!" Elder Ji grabbed Yun Qing and headed outside. "I won anyway!"

Master Zhou: Spitting blood...

After the two left the array hall, it was already dark. Yun Qing bid farewell to Elder Ji, intending to return to Qingyun Peak first.

Elder Ji was in a good mood today. He took out a complete guide to array formations that he had compiled from his storage bag and handed it to Yun Qing. "You can take a look at these when you have time. Remember to come find me tomorrow!"

Yun Qing didn't expect to gain anything unexpected; Elder Ji is a person she can get along with!

When she returned to Qingyun Peak, she saw a figure standing at the gate of her courtyard from afar.

Upon closer inspection, she realized it was Pu Hengzhi. She opened the courtyard gate and went inside with him.

"Sect Leader?! You've come to see me so late, is there something you need?"

Pu Hengzhi found a stone bench and sat down. "I heard from Yan Li that you're going to use the power of lightning to establish your foundation tomorrow?"

Yun Qing sat down opposite him. "Yes, Master. This is the only way I can become stronger."

Pu Hengzhi sighed, took out a storage bag and placed it in front of her. "Alright, I believe Yan Li has already explained the pros and cons to you. I won't try to persuade you anymore. These are defensive magical artifacts that can help you withstand some damage."

Yun Qing nodded obediently, "Thank you, Master! I have confidence in myself, so you don't need to worry."

"Okay." Pu Hengzhi stood up to leave. "You should get some rest. I'm leaving now."

"Wait a minute! Sect Leader!" Yun Qing quickly called out to him.

Pu Hengzhi rubbed her head. "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

"I think there might be other reasons why Uncle Fushu failed to ascend. I don't believe it was an accident," Yun Qing said bluntly.

Pu Hengzhi's hand froze in mid-air, too shocked to find his voice for a long time. Finally, he spoke, "You... what did you say? What did you discover?"

Yun Qing lowered her head and considered her words carefully before saying, "Today I watched Elder Ji and Hall Master Zhou set up the array in the Array Hall, and there was one thing that I found a bit strange."

"What?"

"When I kowtowed to my Uncle Fushu before, I remembered the pattern of the array. Today, when I watched Master Zhou set up the array, some of the techniques were very similar to the marks on the Ascension Platform."

As Yun Qing spoke, she took out the recording stone from earlier and handed it to Pu Hengzhi, saying, "Especially the way the formation was adjusted, it's almost exactly the same."

Pu Hengzhi took the photographic stone and examined it carefully frame by frame, not missing a single detail.

When Pu Hengzhi saw that Master Zhou had mistakenly changed the position of the formation, his hands began to tremble. After his junior sister failed to ascend, he went to the ascension platform countless times until he discovered that something was wrong with the formation.

So similar, so very similar...

Yun Qing continued, "I also went to check the cracks in the sect's protective formation, and the flow of spiritual energy there is the same as the habits of Hall Master Zhou when setting up the formation."

"The crack is located near the back mountain of the sect, where Uncle-Master Fushu's tomb is located..."

Pu Hengzhi suddenly grabbed Yun Qing's shoulders, his emotions running high. "You mean... Zhou Ke's two acts of sabotage were related to Fu Shu? But Fu Shu and he have never had any contact, let alone any grudge. Why would he do this?"

He then realized his behavior was inappropriate, released his grip, took a few steps back, and remained silent for a long time.

When she spoke again, she had suppressed her emotions and said, "I'm sorry, I lost control of my emotions."

He was so shocked that he forgot to ask Yun Qing why she knew so much about formations, even though she studied swordsmanship.

Yun Qing shook her head, indicating that she didn't care. "That's why I suspect there's someone behind him, so I'd like to ask the sect leader for a favor."

Pu Hengzhi took a deep breath to calm himself down. "What do you want to do? I fully support you."

"Since his target is Uncle Fushu, then Master, you only need to spread the word that Uncle Fushu's tomb has been experiencing abnormal fluctuations in spiritual energy recently and that the surrounding formation needs to be maintained. Then you can personally send him there."

Pu Hengzhi frowned slightly. "Are you trying to make him give himself away?"

Yun Qing nodded. "He has been looking for an opportunity to contact Uncle Fushu's tomb. Given this opportunity, he won't remain inactive."

Pu Hengzhi didn't answer her immediately. Instead, he stared at her for a while before smiling and saying, "I underestimated you. You actually did so much secretly, and even figured out how to expose Hall Master Zhou. If I hadn't come today, you would have come looking for me anyway, wouldn't you?"

"You're working hard to become a direct disciple so you can get close to Hall Master Zhou and Elder Ji, isn't that right?"