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

Xue Yu was speechless for a moment. "That's not what I meant. Don't you think her talent is really different from the other direct disciples?"

Song Hansheng looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds, then asked, "What are you suspecting, Ye Qiao?"

Ye Qiao couldn't speak openly, fearing that revealing heavenly secrets would incur the wrath of Heaven. "If I remember correctly, there was a problem with my spiritual root back then, wasn't there?"

Song Hansheng hummed in agreement, "It's healed now." It was probably because of the damage that Yun Que was relatively weak; he didn't know much about such things.

Normal people wouldn't even think about changing spiritual roots, so Ye Qiao's suggestion was essentially pointless. She waved her hand and said, "Never mind."

"How did you talk to the sect leader and the others about what happened with the demons?" Ye Qiao asked curiously.

Song Hansheng: "We'll deal with it after the competition. But..."

He paused, "We might also be interrogated." After all, there were only a few of them present at the time, and it seemed that the Yueqing Sect wanted to suppress the matter. Making such a fuss would undoubtedly tarnish the reputation of the righteous path.

Why would a righteous disciple want to associate with the demons?

"Once the competition is over, the Moon Purity Sect will give us an explanation." Song Hansheng looked at her. "You really don't plan to come back?"

Song Hansheng took a step back, not forgetting to take the opportunity to put down the sword cultivators: "What's so good about being with this group of brainless sword cultivators who are always fighting and killing each other?"

Perhaps out of fear of Zhou Xingyun's sword, he turned and left without looking back after saying that.

The following days were for the lottery competition. If she was lucky and didn't draw any strong opponents, Ye Qiao could stay in the top three. However, apart from being a little lucky at the beginning, she drew only the top-ranked disciples in the group afterward.

Ye Qiao was unwilling to give up, so she washed her hands and prepared to start anew.

Then, she drew Qin Huai, who was destined for her.

Before the two even started fighting, Ye Qiao decisively raised her hand and said, "I concede."

Qin Huai had just finished saying, "I know you're strong," when she conceded defeat, leaving him somewhat stunned. His expression froze, he blinked, stepped off the stage, and questioned Mu Chongxi beside him, "What do you mean? Does she look down on me?"

"She thinks highly of you, so she conceded defeat," Mu Chongxi replied, then happily went to play with Ye Qiao.

Nobody wants to fight a ruthless person like Qin Huai; when he fights, he hurts himself as much as he hurts the enemy.

Moreover, Ye Qiao's ranking has already stabilized at third place, and even after defeating Qin Huai, she is still in third place.

The ranking only affects the points. The combined points from the individual competition and the team competition of the five members of Changming Sect are enough to secure them the top spot in the sect rankings.

The final ranking of the top ten sword cultivators is as follows: Mu Chongxi first, Ye Qinghan second, Ye Qiao third, Qin Huai fourth, and Chu Xingzhi fifth.

Chu Xingzhi, that unlucky fellow, encountered Ye Qiao and Qin Huai one after the other. He was wielding an ordinary Xuan sword, while Qin Huai was fighting with the Qingfeng sword. He was suppressed throughout the fight and felt extremely frustrated.

Apart from the match against Ye Qiao, Ye Qinghan did not lose any of the other matches.

However, due to the point difference between him and Ye Qiao, he lost his first place and was overtaken by the naive and innocent Mu Chongxi.

Ye Qinghan now glares at them wherever she goes.

Ye Qiao shrugged innocently.

Ming Xuan ranked second on the talisman cultivation list, Mu Chongxi first in sword cultivation, and Ye Qiao third. As for the senior brother...? Let's not even mention him.

Now only the alchemists are left to compete.

In the final stages of the competition, only two alchemists remained: a direct descendant of one of the Eight Great Families, a disciple of the Azure Water Sect, and Xue Yu of the Changming Sect.

There are six alchemists among the direct disciples, which shows that the Five Sects are really short of alchemists.

To enter the Five Sects, one's spiritual root must be of the highest quality; not just anyone can enter. In all these years, Xue Yu has been the only one in the Xue family with exceptional talent. Xue Yu was preparing the spiritual plants he would use for the competition when several direct descendants of the Xue family gathered around, saying, "You shouldn't have gone to the Changming Sect in the first place."

"I think so too."

"A sect that doesn't even have proper alchemy practitioners is nowhere near as reliable as the Azure Water Sect."

One reason why no geniuses are willing to go to Changming Sect is that Yueqing Sect is good at talismanic arts, Wenjian Sect is good at sword arts, and only Changming Sect is good at everything, but none of them are particularly outstanding. If you have to say one thing, it is that their Qingfeng Jue and Ta Qingfeng are very useful.

But for alchemists, learning to step on the breeze only extends their lives by a few seconds.

Xue Yu didn't even look up: "Mind your own business."

The direct descendant of the Xue family frowned. "What kind of attitude is that? I was just trying to give you a friendly reminder."

Xue Yu didn't even look up. "I don't need you to teach me how to do things."

Then, the direct descendant left, looking utterly shocked.

Ye Qiao watched the dazed direct descendant leave, glanced at the alchemy book, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, Si Miaoyan is going to refine top-grade pills. If you want to secure first place, you can try using heaven-grade pills."

Xue Yu is currently in the late stage of the Golden Core realm. For example, a Heavenly Grade pill requires at least the Nascent Soul stage. Refining pills beyond one's level could easily turn one into an idiot, and one's mental state might become abnormal.

"I'm going to take a gamble," Xue Yu said, stroking his chin. "I'm betting that I won't turn into an idiot after I finish the process."

"If you trust me," Ye Qiao said, turning her head as the Crimson Lotus Cauldron landed in her palm, "I can refine a Divine Elixir for you."

Spirit-replenishing pills are a necessity. She and Xue Yu have already refined quite a few, but they are all of high quality.

"You want to challenge the Heavenly Rank?" Ye Qiao was taken aback. "You can do it? But can you handle it?"

Her divine sense can reach the Nascent Soul stage, so let alone the top-grade, even the Heaven-grade can be completely refined without any problem.

However, this may not be the case for Xue Yu; refining a Heavenly-grade item could very likely lead to a collapse of his divine consciousness.

Xue Yu lowered his eyes: "Let's give it a try." He also wanted to help his sect win first place.

Ye Qiao was a bit crazy to begin with, so she didn't try to stop her at all. She said in a light tone, "Okay, I'll refine some top-grade spirit-replenishing pills for you to help you recover."

The other three were complete novices, utterly unaware of what it meant for a Golden Core cultivator to advance beyond their level and refine a Heavenly Grade. In contrast, knowledgeable alchemists would only think that these two were not only ignorant of their own limitations, but practically courting death.

After her third senior brother stepped into the arena, Ye Qiao found a relatively quiet place and took out the Red Lotus Cauldron. Her spiritual sense was very broad, so refining beyond her level was not a big problem, but she needed to consider the success rate of the pills, so the quantity was very important.

The competition among the alchemists inside the arena has already begun.

Both Si Miaoyan and Liu Yun started with ten Dan Seals and performed consistently.

"Si Miaoyan wants to refine a top-grade bone-regenerating pill."

The spiritual plant twirled in the girl's hands and smoothly fell into the alchemy furnace. The spiritual plant had to be selected by herself, finding the one she needed from thousands of others. She had an extremely high level of identification skills for herbs, and Si Miaoyan was the fastest to find the one she needed.

Liu Yun followed closely behind.

"The Azure Water Sect truly lives up to its reputation as a major sect."

The others were found one after another, but Xue Yu took forever to find his way, which was unusual for someone of his skill level.

Why hasn't this child been chosen yet?

The elder of the Azure Water Sect sounded slightly surprised, "He wants to refine a Heavenly Grade item."

Heavenly Grade, isn't that something only those in the Nascent Soul stage can get their hands on?

"Truly, the younger generation is to be feared." The sect leader of the Azure Water Sect spoke with a tone that was both mocking and sarcastic.

To put it nicely, they are promising young talents; to put it bluntly, they are courting death.

However, in the competition, the only ones who need to communicate and cooperate are the fellow disciples. Others can't get involved. I don't know how Xue Yu and the others discussed it and dared to risk refining the Heavenly Grade.

Ye Qiao had spiritual plants, which she had obtained from the Azure Water Sect. After burning a Fire Control Talisman, she threw all the spiritual plants into the talisman one by one.

Xue Yu finally gathered all the spiritual plants he needed. The young man moved a little slowly, but the spiritual fire at his fingertips shone brightly. He was a fire spirit root, so he could refine pills faster than others. However, before this, Xue Yu had only tried the top-grade ones, and it was undoubtedly difficult to refine the heavenly grade ones.

The talisman can be destroyed if you're not careful during the process of applying it.

Xue Yu, eyes fixed on the pills, raised his hand and cast three pill seals. The quality of the pills is more important than the quantity; if even one top-grade pill succeeds, he can secure first place this time.

The moment the three pill seals were formed, he felt a slight sense of relief. A sharp pain shot through his temples, but Xue Yu ignored it and continued to fuse and refine the pills. During this process, he accidentally destroyed one of them, and Xue Yu pursed his lips slightly.

Continue with the subsequent process in an orderly manner.

Blood dripped down his earlobe, soaking into Xue Yu's red sect robes. He seemed oblivious to the pain as the blood seeped into his clothes, blending and taking shape. Even the elder who had initially intended to mock his arrogance fell silent for a moment.

It would be a good thing if Xue Yu succeeded. His pills were going to be submitted to them for evaluation, and then the top-grade pills would fall into their hands.

The process of alchemy was undoubtedly lengthy, and the wait outside was incredibly agonizing. Ye Qiao seemed oblivious to the passage of time, continuing her alchemy endeavor with her head down.

Suddenly, Ye Qiao noticed something and looked up at the arena.

It exudes the aura of a celestial being.

...Was it successful?

As soon as Ye Qiao smelled the scent, her movements quickened.

When Xue Yu lifted the lid of the alchemy furnace, everyone else nearly broke out in a cold sweat, holding their breath and cautiously asking, "Is it done?"

Xue Yu's expression remained unchanged, leaving the others somewhat unsure. The young man lowered his head to wipe away the blood and whispered, "I won."

Si Miaoyan paused, smelling the aroma of a top-grade pill as he opened the alchemy furnace. She gave a wry smile and nodded slightly to him, "Yes, you won. Congratulations."

One out of three pills was destroyed.

Two of them were successful.

The aura of the Heavenly Grade Pill refined by Xue Yu spread out, and those who smelled it felt refreshed and relaxed. Some of the chaotic spiritual energy that was running rampant in their bodies gradually calmed down, and they all praised it in their hearts as worthy of being a Heavenly Grade Pill.

The elder carefully accepted the top-grade elixir. This year, geniuses are arriving in droves; it's hard to say whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Generally speaking, geniuses tend to have more trouble later in life.

"Such a young age, yet the future is limitless..."

"yes."

The head of the Xue family was extremely excited, "My son, that's my son."

This means that Xue Yu's posture was a bit off, and his spiritual energy was severely depleted. Qin Fanfan quickly rummaged through her storage bag to see if there were any pills to replenish his spiritual energy, and then stuffed them into Xue Yu's bag.

Some of the better and even the finest ones do have an effect, but it's not enough.

Seeing this, the head of the Xue family frantically searched his mustard seed bag. He couldn't let his son become an idiot.

"No need to look anymore, I have it." Ye Qiao lazily raised her hand to interrupt them, seeing their anxious looks.

She had already completed the twelve pill seals in her hand.

The Crimson Lotus Cauldron was undoubtedly suitable for Ye Qiao. Kneeling on the ground, she refined pills alongside them. She first condensed three pill imprints, figured out the pill refining method, and then divided them in two to form six.

"Huh?" Someone with sharp eyes noticed her.

"Does Ye Qiao also want to learn from Xue Yu how to refine Heavenly Grade items?"

"It doesn't look like it, and she's only in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm."

The shape and aura of Ye Qiaodan Seal were reminiscent of the Spirit-Nourishing Pill, suggesting that the two children had planned it before the competition.

"She's refining a divine elixir." After saying that, the elder of the Azure Water Sect asked Qin Fanfan, "These spiritual plants you gave her?" The more he looked at them, the more familiar they seemed.

Qin Fanfan tucked her sleeves in and said calmly, "I don't know."

After Ye Qiao finished dividing the six pill seals, she calmed herself down. Forming pill seals was not difficult for her. With her spiritual sense reaching a certain width, she did not feel any significant discomfort even with top-grade pills.

Fearing failure, she unleashed six more pill seals at once. The twelve pill seals seemed to come alive, bouncing and circling around her.

The elder of the Azure Water Sect was slightly taken aback. He had no problem with twelve pill seals? Just how advanced was this child's spiritual sense?

After Ye Qiao finished imprinting the pill seal, she overheard her master and the Xue family head's discussion. She then combined all the pill seals and repeated, "I have a Spirit-Replenishing Pill."

She had refined the Spirit-Nourishing Pill before, but fearing it wouldn't be effective enough, she refined a little more on short notice.

Because it was a top-grade item, it wasn't too difficult for Ye Qiao. She opened the alchemy furnace, but the aura that appeared inside wasn't of the highest grade.

The elder of the Azure Water Sect breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, it wasn't top-grade.

If both members of the Changming Sect were to refine their Heavenly Grade techniques, where would the Biyue Sect's reputation stand?

For two sects that are not major alchemy sects to produce a Heaven-grade alchemy product, isn't that a slap in their face?

The pills inside the alchemy furnace solidified, and the moment the perfectly round pills were formed, the aura of the top-grade Spirit-Nourishing Pill spread throughout the area.

The effects of this elixir are immediate; the tasting of it slightly relaxes the tense consciousness in one's mind.

Ye Qiao's pills were unusually normal this time, round and plump, looking quite pleasing.

Upon seeing this, the Xue family head stood up again and began to get agitated, shouting, "That's my son's junior sister! My son's junior sister!"

"..." is wrong.