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

Not only did he not feel any discomfort, but he actually seemed to get more and more energetic as he chopped. What kind of logic is that?

The elder murmured, "...How long will this lightning tribulation last?"

If her aptitude is as high as they guessed, she might be struck by lightning for more than three days and three nights; the tribulation of lightning usually progresses in layers.

Only by successfully overcoming the Heavenly Thunder can one officially form the Core Formation.

"It might take three days, or even longer. Let's just stay here and keep watch. We'll call it a day when it ends."

"Notify those irrelevant cultivators outside the arena to disperse." The Sword Inquiry Sect Master made a swift decision. "The remaining disciples are free to stay or leave as they see fit. All elders and sect masters, stay here and guard until Ye Qiao's tribulation ends."

Her tribulation affected everyone outside the arena, a truly unprecedented event in the cultivation world.

Yunhen went to inform the cultivators to disperse, waved his hand to remove the barrier, and said calmly, "You can leave now. The remaining disciples can also return to their sects early to prepare for the individual competition. Those from Changming Sect, please stay."

The cultivators outside the arena couldn't be happier, since nobody wanted to stay and get attacked. Judging from Ye Qiao's attitude, it wouldn't be over in less than three days, and they could just go home and look at the recording stone then.

Song Hansheng stood there with his arms crossed, and seeing the people from Changming Sect gathered together, he said coolly, "I thought you would stay."

"Our souls are with Ye Qiao," Ming Xuan said lazily. "Our bodies, however..."

This cannot be left behind.

Being together means getting attacked together.

Yun Que couldn't understand heavenly lightning, but she had a vague sense of foreboding. She looked up, her watery eyes fixed on Song Hansheng, "Senior Brother, is the lightning tribulation so fierce because it means she has great talent?"

Song Hansheng: "..."

"Otherwise?" He explained impatiently, "Ye Qinghan, a Nascent Soul cultivator, has been splitting his weapon for three days, and the longer it goes on, the higher it gets."

Those with low talent are not even worth being struck by lightning by the Heavenly Dao; being targeted by the Heavenly Dao is a unique skill in itself.

Yun Que tightened her grip slightly, suppressing her doubts. Why didn't she receive heavenly lightning back then?

The absence of heavenly lightning is a rare occurrence in the cultivation world. The Five Sects are already quite unfriendly towards her, and if they find out how she acquired her spiritual root, she might not even be able to participate in the individual competition.

Inside the secret realm, after Ye Qiao finished speaking, the secret realm went ballistic. It was extremely anxious, wanting to kick her but unable to reach her, and almost cried from anger.

Ye Qiao lay on the ground, rolled over, and continued to be struck by lightning. She heard the woman from the secret realm, her voice almost breaking with tears, angrily demand, "When will this tribulation end?"

"I have no idea."

This was her first time undergoing a lightning tribulation, and she had no experience whatsoever. As it turned out, the initial lightning tribulation was relatively minor, but by the latter half of the night, the lightning struck everywhere, turning the entire area into scorched earth. The entire area within a hundred miles of the secret realm was devastated.

The secret realm was prepared to grit its teeth and endure it on its own. It was only three days; it was a creation of heaven and earth, and it shouldn't be so fragile.

Others thought the same way.

Three days and three nights should be enough to finish chopping them all, right?

On the third day, just as dawn was breaking, several elders stood quietly waiting. When they saw that it was getting light, one of the elders stood up and smiled with satisfaction: "It's the third day. It's almost over."

It's finally over.

"Are you happy?" Qin Fanfan asked quietly.

"Happy." The elders nodded. Who wouldn't be happy to finally leave this place?

Fearing being implicated, they even opened a special barrier, and the group of elders and sect leaders waited for Ye Qiao to come out as if they were in prison.

Qin Fanfan laughed too: "Then you're celebrating too soon."

The tribulation of a Heavenly Spiritual Root is different from that of a Top-Grade Spiritual Root. He had investigated before and found that Ye Qiao would not be able to finish it in less than five days, which meant that only a little over half of it had passed.

Elder: "..."

The secret realm was on the verge of collapse. It screamed, wishing it had never seen this person again since she entered the secret realm.

Ye Qiao gazed at the secret realm in mid-air, which was constantly dispersing and reforming, and was already close to being distorted and insane. She remained silent, lost in thought. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before it collapsed.

She had previously experienced the collapse of the secret realm.

The thunder roared, each strike stronger than the last, and it struck for five whole days.

With the final thunderclap, the secret realm vanished completely before their eyes. Ye Qiao squinted, lay motionless on the ground.

Having grown accustomed to the light in the secret realm, the sudden appearance of the dark, still-lingering thunderclouds outside felt somewhat disorienting.

Ye Qiao gently rubbed her eyes and walked out, expecting to see a group of fans enthusiastically showering her with flowers and welcoming her.

When she came out, the scene was not quite what she had imagined.

The audience seats were empty, and the elders' seats were protected by a barrier. When they saw her come out, they all kept their distance, as if she were some kind of terrorist.

Ye Qiao: "?"

"What are you doing?" She walked over in a daze, and the other disciples automatically made way for her, each of them giving her a strange look.

The other disciples exchanged glances, unsure what to say, when Mingxuan broke the silence, "How do you feel after reaching the Golden Core stage?"

Ye Qiao subconsciously lowered her eyes and used her divine sense to probe the situation inside her body. There was a round golden core. She blinked and said, "It's fine."

The girl looked back at the vanished ghost realm, thought for a moment, and said frankly, "It's just that it's a bit of a useless realm."

She destroyed two secret realms, and she doesn't know if she has some kind of poison.

She didn't have any problems adapting, and even seemed to get more energetic the more she fought. The only problem was that she looked a bit like a beggar after each tribulation.

Elder Zhao: "..." You little brat, you even know you're a bit of a waste of the secret realm? He could already imagine how the Sword Inquiry Sect would ask him for money this time.

But a genius is indeed a genius, and he could only pay back the money with tears in his eyes, making the already impoverished sect even worse off.

"Qin Fanfan!" The Sword Inquiry Sect's question arrived late but surely.

"This is the second time your Changming Sect has destroyed this secret realm." The elder of the Wenjian Sect's voice turned cold. "This is a grand secret realm that only appears once every hundred years. Do you think it's a place for them to play around in? You just destroy it like that."

It may be a long time before the Ghostly Realm reopens after it has recovered and rebuilt. This year's batch of disciples are all quite remarkable.

One practices dual cultivation, the other practices triple cultivation.

What's even more amazing is that Ye Qiao also possesses a Heavenly Spiritual Root.

The genius wasn't even a genius from his sect, so as the organizer, the higher-ups of the Sword Inquiry Sect naturally didn't hesitate to condemn him.

Seeing the situation was turning bad, Qin Fanfan quickly stepped in front of the other person and changed the subject: "This is outrageous! She's gone too far! She's destroyed the secret realm twice! Everyone, please calm down, I'll go and reprimand her right now!"

Then he grabbed Ye Qiao and ran away.

"Ah, right, right, right!" Elder Zhao had a sudden inspiration: "I'll go and scold her too."

After saying that, he ran away.

Other elders: "..." There are hardly any normal people in the entire Changming Sect.

The elder of the Azure Water Sect withdrew his gaze and frowned. Five days of lightning tribulation, such a terrifying display. The Changming Sect has certainly made a name for itself this time. He sighed, "Why would such a genius go to the Changming Sect?"

"So how did she, a mid-level disciple, become a direct disciple?" Rather than believing that Changming Sect had given up entirely, they were more inclined to believe that Qin Fanfan had known all along that she was a genius and had planned it all along.

Case solved.

So, the seemingly naive and innocent Qin Fanfan is actually the one with the deepest secrets. They thought he was unassuming and didn't fight for anything, but in reality, Qin Fanfan had been planning this for a long time.

Seeing the elders present gradually starting to speculate about conspiracy theories, Yunhen, who had been relatively quiet, could no longer remain seated. "She is a disciple of my sect," he said expressionlessly, reminding them, "that girl Ye Qiao, I brought her back from the foot of the mountain back then."

To put it bluntly, Changming Sect clearly took advantage of him.

The Sword Inquiry Sect Master glanced at it. "Tsk, so that genius was originally from your sect? And then what did you do? You chose to steal her spiritual plant?"

Yunhen: "..."

"Make her kneel down?" The elder of the Biyue Sect sneered. Although he couldn't stand the Changming Sect's smugness, he also couldn't stand Yunhen.

The majority of cultivators in the Yueqing Sect are talisman cultivators. Other sects would find it difficult to find even one talisman cultivator. They recruit all talisman cultivators in the cultivation world, and not one of them is assigned to other sects.

Yunhen's face darkened.

He was annoyed. He was already in a terrible mood after learning that he had let a top-tier expert go for nothing. The elders and sect leaders of the other sects kept bringing it up again and again. Wasn't this slapping him in the face?

Ye Qiao was the most ordinary child in Yunhen's eyes.

Then one day, everyone came to tell him, "Don't you know? She's actually a genius!"

This stark contrast caused Yunhen to lose his composure.

"She wanted to leave on her own. And that child wasn't like this when she came from my sect." He couldn't help but argue, back then she was clearly just an insignificant mid-grade spiritual root!

The Sword-Asking Sect Master retorted, "Then why don't you reflect on why things were different after she went to the Changming Sect?"

Although everyone looks down on the Changming Sect's usual lax and unambitious atmosphere, it must be said that compared to other sects, the Changming Sect's atmosphere is more comfortable.

Yunhen fell silent. The Sword Sect elder calmly explained, "You regret it now because she's a genius. But what if she wasn't? You'd be glad you drove her away back then."

Human nature is hypocritical. Yunhen's actions are understandable, but it's too late to regret them now. The matter is settled, and the fact that Ye Qiao is a direct descendant of the Changming Sect cannot be changed.

Yunhen's voice weakened as he explained, "I never intended to drive her away."

If he had known that Ye Qiao possessed a Heavenly Spiritual Root, he would have definitely reserved the position of his sect's direct disciple for her.

"Anyway, Ye Qiao came from your sect." The Biyue Sect Master said sarcastically, "Now look what's happened, you've found a worthy opponent for the competition. Now their Changming Sect is in first place in the team competition, are you happy now?"

They were unhappy too.

It's not something anyone would be happy about when the Changming Sect suddenly appears and snatches first place.

Yunhen's lips twitched, but he couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal.

What's wrong with him just trying to secure benefits for the sect? Xiao Que's talent was indeed exceptional back then; otherwise, why would he have gone so far as to steal spiritual plants from a disciple?

Letting go of a Heavenly Spiritual Root and then picking up a Top-Grade Spiritual Root seems like a complete loss.

Yunhen felt more and more regretful the more he thought about it.

Those were disciples he had raised, yet they ended up benefiting the Changming Sect. Qin Fanfan's smug expression just now made Yun Hen feel as if his heart was being branded with fire. Unable to control his anger, he glared coldly at his disciples, his gaze seemingly glancing at Yun Que, and took a deep breath: "Return to the sect."

"You were beaten up by Ye Qiao." Song Hansheng walked by lightly and scoffed at her, "Aren't you ashamed?"

The boy's back was cold and arrogant, which infuriated Yun Que.

Su Zhuo was busy comforting Yun Que, saying, "That's just how Senior Brother Song is." While saying this, his thoughts couldn't help but drift off.

Second Senior Sister actually has a Heavenly Spiritual Root...

and.

He stared blankly at the sect rankings in the team competition, pursed his lips, and thought that if Ye Qiao were still in the Yueqing Sect back then, perhaps the Yueqing Sect would be number one now.

*

The scores for the fifth round have been tallied, and Changming Sect is undoubtedly number one. The cultivation community is buzzing with discussion about it.

"Heavens! The Changming Sect, which has always been at the bottom, is now number one? Is the cultivation world doomed?"

"No, no, no, Changming Sect won first place based on its strength. If you don't know, you can take a look at the recording stone. That new disciple will give you a surprise."

"What a huge surprise! A direct disciple of the Heavenly Spiritual Root, damn it, he kept it hidden until the very end."

If it weren't for this tribulation lightning, who would have thought? This is absolutely unbelievable!

"I was there. Five days of lightning, and the secret realm was shattered."

The scene in the audience of the fifth match was very grand. A group of elders, sect leaders and their disciples squeezed into a barrier just to avoid the residual power of the lightning tribulation, which is rare even in the cultivation world.

……

The team competition has come to an end, but the necessary procedures still need to be followed. For example, the Changming Sect, which won first place for the first time in many years, was naturally surrounded by a group of cultivators who wanted to find out the news. As the winner, they had to show their status. The enthusiastic Changming Sect fans who came after hearing the news almost buried them in their chatter.

"Ahhh, Ye Qiao."

"In the world of cultivation, who reigns supreme? Only I, Ye Qiao, am number one!!"

"Thumbs up!"

They were blocked on the way back to the courtyard before they even had a chance to get back.

"Get ready." Qin Fanfan reminded, "In a little while, you guys will be going over to share your experiences. The Sword Inquiry Sect will be holding a meeting with all of you personally trained disciples."

"Especially the five of you."

First.

There should still be a sense of ceremony, and of course, the elders' pre-match pep talk is also important.

"They'll let you share your experience of winning first place." Qin Fanfan knew that these kids didn't have much experience, and to be honest, he didn't either. He had originally prepared himself to come back to the clan for the New Year with a last-place finish.

Did not expect ah did not expect.

Surprisingly, they ended up coming in first place.

"Just say a few words when the time comes. Of course, you can prepare a note and recite it casually to get by."

The group nodded thoughtfully. They went back to their courtyards to tidy up briefly before heading to the address given by the Sword Inquiry Sect for the meeting. Ye Qiao changed her clothes; her red sect robes were torn, so she casually pulled out a light-colored outfit and hung the bamboo shoot at her waist.

Changing her clothes was the greatest respect she could show to society.

The other disciples have all arrived. Today's main focus is on a few members of the Changming Sect. The others are listless and not very interested, especially Ye Qiao, whom they gave resentful looks.

I hate talented people like Ye Qiao the most.

He's still a low-key, talented guy.

Damn it.

Because he was going up to give a speech, Zhou Xingyun dawdled for a long time without saying a word. Mingxuan next to him nudged him and said, "Don't be afraid."

"Just give a brief explanation." He thought his senior brother was just nervous.

Zhou Xingyun stood there, his gaze indifferent.

He looked like he was dissatisfied with something.

"...Wait a minute." After a long pause, he said in a flat tone, "I forgot my lines."

Then Zhou Xingyun calmly took out a slip of paper from his sleeve, read it aloud, and coldly said, "Alright."

He stepped back to make way for the others.

Elder Zhao rubbed his forehead.

As expected, you can't expect these kids to be very reliable.

Zhou Xingyun's actions caused a few seconds of silence. In the end, Xue Yu was pulled over; he was considered relatively normal. The elder of the Sword Inquiry Sect asked calmly, "With the individual competition approaching, are there any disciples you'd like to collaborate with?"

"Oh." Xue Yu paused for a moment, then said calmly, "Ye Qiao, right? We slept together."

They had at least refined pills together in the house, and his junior sister and he were the only two pill cultivators in the Changming Sect. If they had to cooperate, it would naturally be with Ye Qiao.

"???"

Seeing that Ye Qiao's reputation was about to be ruined, Mu Chongxi kicked him and chuckled, "Sorry everyone. He can't speak properly, so I'll do it."

The other party nodded. With the individual competition imminent, the most anticipated contestants were undoubtedly the disciples of the five sects. His expression softened, and he said in a deep voice, "With the individual competition approaching, if you absolutely had to choose one of the five sects to fight, who would you choose?"

Mu Chongxi said, "Ye Qinghan, I like him."

Both of them were born with sword skills and had never fought each other before. Mu Chongxi was quite interested in Ye Qinghan.

The other disciples exchanged glances, their eyes fixed on Ye Qinghan with meaningful expressions.

The elders frowned slightly, sensing that the topic had veered off course in a potentially disastrous direction.

"Ye Qiao." He could no longer contain himself and looked at Ye Qiao: "You come here."

She's the main character now.

The disciples, who had been listless, raised their eyebrows at the sight. None of them had escaped her torment in the secret realm.

Therefore, everyone wanted to hear what kind of nonsense Ye Qiao would say.

Ye Qiao said lazily, "Thank you, Master, thank you, Senior Brother, thank you to the rival sect for helping me grow, and thank you to fate for bringing us together. I believe we will get along very well in the future."

"Tch." Chu Xingzhi rolled his eyes, spitting out his contempt for her, calling her hypocritical.

Looking at her protégés who were all rolling their eyes, Ye Qiao waved her hand, smiled slightly, and concluded, "Finally, the road ahead is long, so don't be too arrogant. Ye Qiao will ensure you don't lose your way."

See you all in the individual competition!

-

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