I saved the entire sect by playing idly by letting things fall apart.

Song Hansheng's arrival undoubtedly alleviated Ye Qiao's increasingly dire situation.

The arrival of these two disciples caused the Demon Saintess to raise an eyebrow slightly, and she coldly muttered "useless trash."

They couldn't even keep an eye on one person; they actually let him out.

One was in the late stage of Golden Core, and the other was in the mid stage of Foundation Establishment. Among the two, only Song Hansheng had a slight ability to resist the Demon Saintess. The young man made hand seals with his fingertips, dodging the relentless attacks. One formation after another was set up under his feet, and Ye Qiao kept covering for him.

Two black marbles shot from her fingertips and hit the demon saintess who was approaching Song Hansheng. They were magical artifacts that Ye Qiao had stolen from the demon realm. They were very powerful, and the marbles were so small that they were almost inconspicuous. However, she actually managed to hit her with both of them.

The demon girl's attack suddenly froze as she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.

She looked up and the more she looked, the more familiar the magical artifact Ye Qiao threw out seemed. Her expression turned slightly cold. "How did you righteous disciples produce such a scourge?"

She remembered why the things Ye Qiao took out looked familiar, and why their demon clan's treasure vault had inexplicably lost many magical artifacts before.

So this so-called disciple of Ye Qiao not only impersonated her and used her influence to her advantage, but also took local specialties with him when he left.

Do they really think their demonic artifacts are so easy to obtain?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and the girl became even more ruthless. She was determined to deal with Song Hansheng, who had the highest cultivation level, first. However, the array formations in Song Hansheng's hands kept harassing her, which prevented her from catching Ye Qiao and instead caused her to be worn down until now.

The green vines that sprouted from the ground suddenly struck Song Hansheng hard. The Vajra Talisman was completely gone. Talisman cultivators are different from sword cultivators. Once attacked at close range, they have no chance to fight back. He felt a pain as if his internal organs had shifted, and his mind went blank for a moment.

Song Hansheng was a step too slow. His fire-controlling talisman ignited, barely managing to dodge the vines. He was thrown into the air and landed hard on the edge of a cliff not far away. The demon saintess's eyes turned cold, and she struck down with her palm again.

She changed her mind.

Whether we catch them or not is no longer important; we just need to leave one alive to negotiate with the five leaders.

The remaining bunch of annoying, righteous little sheep have absolutely no need to exist.

The difference in cultivation level was too great. If Zhou Xingyun were here, he might be able to try to fight, but without protection, a talisman cultivator was destined to be slaughtered. Just as Song Hansheng was about to fall to the bottom of the cliff, he gripped the edge tightly with one hand, his face turning deathly pale.

Below was a bottomless abyss; falling down meant certain death.

He wants to live.

Ye Qiao, who was not far from him, cursed under her breath when she saw this scene. She was actually not too bad off; at most, she was beaten badly. With Xiao Qi secretly reminding her of the opponent's attack position, she was still able to avoid being too passive.

Who would have thought that instead of fighting him, she would attack Song Hansheng instead.

Ye Qiao rushed over and grabbed him, shouting under Song Hansheng's utterly stunned gaze, "Quick, quick, get on!"

However, the next second, no one could escape. They were mercilessly struck down by the demon saintess and fell to the bottom of the cliff.

The area outside was completely silent.

"Holy crap."

Somewhat saddened, he said, "I realized I misunderstood Ye Qiao before; she actually stopped Song Hansheng."

"I've been watching the competition for so long, and Ye Qiao has always been quite polite. She may play around, but at most she'll trick rival sects or righteous disciples. She would never stoop to such despicable means as to leave someone to die."

Disciples of the righteous path are naturally open, honest, and upright.

The Great Way transcends emotions, but it is not without feelings.

"If Ye Qiao hesitated even slightly, Song Hansheng would have fallen. The two also have a considerable grudge against each other. In addition, Song Hansheng poses a significant threat in the sect competition. If it were me, I might not be as decisive as her."

But Ye Qiao grabbed him without hesitation.

"Next, I'm going to name a protégé. Those who know, know."

"I have a question. Will they survive if they fall? A palm strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator is no light matter. Without elixirs, they would really die."

"It's hard to say. The area at the bottom of this cliff is known as a filthy place, where all sorts of evil creatures that can't stand the light of day can breed. It's rare to see a cultivator fall down there and survive."

The competition venue was in complete chaos, with all sorts of rumors circulating. Some even shouted things like, "The cultivation world's direct disciples are probably going to be wiped out this time," causing considerable panic. It wasn't until the sect leader of the Sword Inquiry Sect intervened that the chaos was forcibly suppressed.

Seeing Song Hansheng fall, Yun Hen, who had remained unmoved until now, suddenly stood up, his expression unusually anxious. He couldn't sit still any longer. "When exactly can we go in and rescue him?"

That was his chief disciple, his most prized disciple. Watching the two of them fall was a huge shock to all the elders.

Qin Fanfan grew anxious, reaching out to grab Chengfengzong's clothes, her tone turning cold: "With so many disciples inside, your Chengfengzong has researched magical artifacts for so many years, and you can't even open a secret realm?"

The elder of Chengfeng Sect's face turned pale and then red. His disciples were inside as well. The two weapon cultivators had little ability to protect themselves. If Ye Qiao hadn't saved them earlier, they might have been in trouble now.

Therefore, he couldn't very well confront Qin Fanfan, since Ye Qiao had at least saved his clansman.

His face was grim, and he could only vent his anger on Yunhen, "In all these years, no one has ever taken the Origin Pearl before!! How could you possibly force open the secret realm in such a short time?"

Chaos raged outside the arena, and also within the elders' seats and the sect's leadership hall. The atmosphere was strange and filled with gloom. The elders of the Sword Inquiry Sect looked grave, sighed slightly, and gestured for them to calm down.

"Over this long period of time, quite a few disciples in the cultivation world have perished along the way. Take it easy."

If possible, they would not want any of their disciples to get into trouble, as the loss of even one disciple would be a great loss to the cultivation world.

"It wasn't your disciple who got into trouble." Qin Fanfan was also frantic, and his little disciple was different.

The cultivation world places great importance on talent, especially spiritual roots. Ye Qiao's spiritual root is one of the rare Heavenly Grade. With three cultivations combined to reach Heavenly Grade, if something were to happen to her, the cultivation world would likely be thrown into turmoil.

Elder Duan remained somewhat calm. "Let's look at the other sects. Their recording stones have also been shattered."

What happened after I fell is completely lost to the camera.

Qin Fanfan took a deep breath, hoping that the child would be smart enough to survive with Song Hansheng and wait for them to rescue people.

Unaware of the turmoil outside, Ye Qiao found the mustard seed bag she had obtained earlier coming into play the moment she and Song Hansheng fell.

The defensive artifact was an umbrella. After unfolding it, she gripped the handle and pulled Song Hansheng along with her. The two of them were initially falling rapidly, but their speed slowed down, and they eventually landed safely and slowly on the ground.

It was a close call, but no real danger.

Ye Qiao breathed a sigh of relief. She was confident that she could catch Song Hansheng. With so many personal disciples' storage bags in hand, there shouldn't be any major problems.

He plummeted rapidly down the cliff, his spiritual energy completely swallowed by the miasma at the bottom. Song Hansheng couldn't fly on a sword, nor did he have any magical artifacts for self-defense. If Ye Qiao hadn't grabbed him in time and used a magical artifact to land safely, he would have been reduced to ashes.

A layer of cold sweat covered Song Hansheng's back. Looking at Ye Qiao who was leading the way, the young man was still shaken. He had just recovered from the brink of death, and his voice was somewhat dazed. After a long while, he slowly said, "Ye Qiao."

"Thanks."

"..."

Ye Qiao, who was looking around, turned her head and raised an eyebrow slightly. Song Hansheng, who had such a haughty personality, actually thanked her?

"It's alright, you helped me just now too," she replied while using the bamboo shoots to clear a path.

Song Hansheng pursed his lips, followed her steps, and explained, "I thought you weren't going to save me just now." He was so shocked that he was still somewhat in a daze.

The two didn't discuss the grand competition, but they also had their own grudges in the small secret realm. Song Hansheng never expected her to come.

If Ye Qiao had hesitated even slightly, he would have fallen and been smashed to pieces.

Ye Qiao thought for a moment, "When I was fighting with that demon saintess just now, you could have chosen not to come out."

Since Song Hansheng did not choose to run away, Ye Qiao naturally could not just watch him fall.

It was a rare occasion for the two to meet without any sarcastic remarks. Song Hansheng remembered the magical artifact she had used when she grabbed him earlier, and casually asked, "Where did you get this umbrella?"

Changming Sect probably didn't have the money to buy magic artifacts, or did Ye Qiao spend a huge sum of money to buy them herself?

Ye Qiao was taken aback for a moment: "Oh."

"You mean this?" She shook it. "I found it in Duan Hengdao's mustard seed bag."

Ye Qiao returned Shen Ziwei's mustard seed bag to him when he left, but she hadn't returned Duan Hengdao's yet. She planned to return it to him after rescuing him, but before she could return it to them, she and Song Hansheng ended up in this godforsaken place.

Song Hansheng: "..."

He paused for a moment, then precisely located his own bag from the mustard seed pouch Ye Qiao was carrying. Pointing to the pouches, he said, word by word, "So, you went to steal again?"

Ye Qiao smiled and said, "Don't say that. Even if I don't take it, you won't be able to."

It was heartbreaking, but Song Hansheng had nothing to say. If Ye Qiao hadn't obtained so many mustard seed bags, he would have been dead long ago at the bottom of this bottomless cliff.

A cloud of black mist surrounded her, and Ye Qiao could feel it trying to penetrate her body and devour the spiritual energy in her dantian. Before long, she felt tired and frowned, saying, "This mist is consuming the spiritual energy in my body."

Song Han cursed under his breath, full of disgust: "What kind of hellhole is this?"

The dripping water, full of filth, made Song Hansheng feel somewhat annoyed, his tone carrying an undisguised disgust: "I will never come to this godforsaken place again in my life."

It was dirty, cold, and eerie.

How could such a place exist in a secret realm?

Ye Qiao ignored his babbling, observed the chaotic fog around them, and fumbled for the defensive magic artifact in Duan Hengdao's mustard seed bag. After figuring out how to use it, she manually activated it, and the two of them were back to back, enveloped by the protective layer.

"How long can this kind of magical artifact last?" Ye Qiao had no knowledge of magical artifacts.

Song Hansheng glanced at it twice, made a rough estimate, curled his lip, and said disdainfully, "A quarter of an hour. The useless disciples of Chengfeng Sect, after researching so many defensive magic artifacts, are only at this level."

"..." Ye Qiao suddenly realized that there was a reason why Song Hansheng was able to offend every sect's disciple on average.

This was the most harmonious moment between the two, but this harmony could not last long. The moment the magical artifact shattered, the mist gathered again and surged towards them, as if vying to devour them completely.

Song Hansheng was prepared and activated the array he had set up in advance, which enveloped the two of them and isolated them from most of the attacks. He thought that would be enough to make them safe, but after a short while, thin spider silk suddenly struck down at the array barrier.

Ye Qiao: "Holy shit!"

The eight-legged spider had blood-red eyes and stared at the two of them intently, like a ferocious beast hunting silently, ready to pounce at any moment.

Having experienced the hideous monsters of the Nascent Soul stage, Ye Qiao was no longer disgusted by them. "Why are there such things at the bottom of the cliff?"

A surging evil aura and all sorts of evil things.

Unlike her, who slacked off and skipped classes all day, Song Hansheng spoke in a slightly calm voice, but quickly: "Every secret realm has it. The bottom of the cliff is where this evil energy gathers, providing sustenance for these things."

This kind of evil creature can only grow in places like the bottom of cliffs. If Ye Qiao hadn't possessed the mustard seed bag passed down by the Biyue Sect, which contained pills to replenish spiritual energy, then all that awaited them would have been the fate of being reduced to ashes.

Song Hansheng couldn't help but sigh. She was really sly. Who would steal a mustard seed bag? And it actually came in handy. If it had been someone else who came to save him today, they would both have ended up waiting to die together.

As they walked, they caught glimpses of many scattered, white bones.

Song Hansheng quickened his pace. "We have to find a way out."

Otherwise, their fate would be the same as that pile of bones.

Ye Qiao pondered for a moment, "I'll try flying on a sword."

After she finished speaking, she threw the bamboo shoot on the ground, adjusted her posture, and stood on it. Soon the stick flew up.

Ye Qiao's eyes lit up, and she was about to call Song Hansheng to come up with her when she suddenly lost control halfway up the flight and was thrown off.

Ye Qiao slammed her feet on the ground, creating a V-shape.

She cried out in pain, lay on the ground to calm herself down for a moment, and realized, as expected, she couldn't fly up on the sword.

If they could really fly up there, the owners of those skeletons would probably be gone by now.

Song Hansheng scoffed, "If you can't handle it, let me do it."

He also began to skillfully imitate Ye Qiao, reaching out to find a flying magic artifact in Duan Hengdao's mustard seed bag, putting it on his body, and attempting to get out from under the cliff.

Finally, Song Hansheng, who had fallen in the same way as Ye Qiao, calmed down: "Neither magical artifacts nor swords will work, are we supposed to fly up ourselves?"