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

"Late stage of Golden Core cultivation."

Xie Chuxue stepped onto the ground, looked at the two exhausted people, and chuckled, "Not bad, you two. You even have such good chemistry when breaking the mirror."

The two unfortunate individuals exchanged glances and simultaneously broke into bitter smiles.

Xie Chuxue narrowed her eyes, looking at the two who had finally relaxed. "Let me remind you, nowadays, most of the direct disciples are at the peak of the Golden Core stage. Do you know what that means?"

"The Changming Sect has two Golden Core Peak cultivators, Xue Yu and Mu Chongxi, and the remaining sects have even more."

"If, by some coincidence, we all break through on the same day..."

He paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "The scene will be terrifying."

The tribulations of more than a dozen Nascent Soul stage cultivators caused a great stir not only among the Five Sects but also throughout the entire cultivation world.

He waved his hand casually, "So what we mean is, we'll find you a suitable place to undergo your tribulation. Oh, and all the disciples in the late Golden Core stage can stay here; you're not needed here."

Being left behind because of insufficient cultivation is a disgrace no matter where you are.

So, anyone with a bit of self-respect... would work even harder to cultivate, right?

The thought had just arisen in Xie Chuxue's mind.

Then they discovered that Mingxuan and Ye Qiao had huddled together, passionately criticizing the group of Golden Core Peak Talent Dogs.

Mingxuan slapped the ground and stood up. "When they come back, the two of us will isolate them all together."

Ye Qiao immediately slapped the ground and stood up, "Great idea!"

The two of them single-handedly isolated all their close disciples—brilliant!

Xie Chuxue, who thought the two would be spurred on and work harder, was speechless.

I guess I'm getting old.

Xie Chuxue thought to herself.

I can't keep up with the thought processes of these mentors at all.

"I guess this can be considered a kind of training," Ye Qiao said listlessly, leaning against the wall. "Where do you plan to send them to undergo their tribulation?"

"Beyond the Three Realms, there is no place unaffected by lightning tribulations."

Mingxuan seemed to understand something: "The Ghost Realm?"

Xie Chuxue nodded, glancing at him. "The lightning tribulation will be minor; at least it won't affect the other three realms."

The other three, who had come online to watch the two get beaten up, stroked their chins upon seeing this. "A tribulation that can't be overcome in the cultivation world, are they telling us to secretly undergo it in the ghost realm and then come back? Did the ghost realm agree to that?"

The elders probably didn't want the cultivation world to be filled with sparks and lightning for several days in a row, so they simply packed up and sent away this group of disciples who were about to enter the Nascent Soul stage.

Ye Qiao's incident was terrifying enough. Since then, they have learned their lesson. The talents of these disciples are all ridiculously exaggerated. The Golden Core stage is manageable, but the Nascent Soul stage must not be allowed to gather together to undergo tribulation...

That was a disaster.

Xie Chuxue waved his hand, "It's not about sneaking around. You can go openly. The cultivation world and the ghost world don't have any grudges. It's just that there are many experts there." His tone contained a hint of warning: "There are more Nascent Soul stage cultivators than in the cultivation world, and they are not those weak and incompetent demons."

There are many experts.

They nodded, understanding.

Since the two talisman cultivators from Changming Sect couldn't go, Mingxuan and Ye Qiao had to draw the talismans that their other senior brothers would need in advance.

Since I'm going to the Ghost Realm with other disciples, and with the talisman cultivators from the Moon Clean Sect around, I only need to draw some defensive talismans.

There's even less need for array talismans.

Ye Qiao studied a few interesting talismans, which were said to cause a collective dance after being affixed. She secretly stuffed them all into her senior brother's storage bag. Sword cultivators were not very accurate at throwing talismans, but Zhou Xingyun, with his wind spiritual root, could perfectly control the position of the talismans.

It would be perfect to give it to him.

The others had no idea what she had drawn, but the remaining sects without talisman cultivation were green with envy. Duan Hengdao couldn't contain his jealousy, grabbed her, knelt on one knee, and frantically hinted, "Ye Qiao, I swear on my senior brothers' lives, as long as you join our sect, they will all become your dogs!"

After he finished speaking, his senior brother caught him and beat him up.

"Quiet down." Seeing that they were still so energetic, the sect leaders were very pleased. "The most important thing on this trip is to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. The disciples who are at the late Golden Core stage have all stayed behind because you can't keep up with their progress. You can break through in the cultivation world later."

Upon hearing that he really didn't intend to bring any other disciples, Mu Chongxi's lips drooped. "Ah, right, right, you're so great, so high and mighty. You've left all the smart ones in our sect behind. How are we supposed to live?"

Ye Qiao glanced at them and saw that most of the disciples were at the peak of the Golden Core stage, with very few at the later stages. Among them was Su Zhuo.

Ye Qiao raised an eyebrow at him.

Su Zhuo lowered his head, completely lacking the courage to look back.

Miao Miao from the Biyue Sect was also kept behind.

Qin Fanfan said briefly, "The four of you, stay and train together. Whoever breaks through to the peak of the Golden Core stage first can go out together."

It is worth mentioning that Wenjian Sect and Chengfeng Sect, as expected of the popular sects that were frequently discussed on the cultivation forums, did not have a single direct disciple left behind due to insufficient strength.

Ye Qiao cast an envious and jealous glance at her.

The other two disciples silently looked back at the past.

This person is toxic.

Who would have thought they would be the object of Ye Qiao's jealousy? Does she truly lack any self-awareness as a genius in the cultivation world?

A group of trusted followers were all ready to leave, their demeanor sluggish and some even making sounds of protest.

Zhou Xingyun said listlessly, "I don't want to go."

Mu Chongxi also said indignantly, "Why don't you include our junior sister in your activities?!"

"If she goes, do you think things will be peaceful?" Ye Qinghan gave him a cold look.

"But it would be really boring in the Ghost Realm if she weren't around." Song Han said calmly, stating a painful truth. "After all, if you sword cultivators who don't use your brains were to rely on the whole thing, you might as well find a place to hang yourselves."

The disciples of the Yueqing Clan all turned around in shock: "???" What's wrong, Senior Brother?

Have you been infected by Zhou Xingyun?

It turns out.

When Ye Qiao and Ming Xuan get together, how could they possibly be well-behaved?

To be precise, it's impossible for Ye Qiao to stay quietly and cultivate when she's with anyone. Even after her disciples left, Ye Qiao wasn't idle either; she simply wasn't going to stay.

But to slip away from under the noses of a group of elders and avoid being caught, some tricks are needed.

After they left, Mingxuan called over a few of the disciples who had stayed behind. He knew that the Changming Sect had a dog hole that could be used to sneak out unnoticed. However, before he could put it into action, he looked up and saw Elder Zhao blocking the way.

Seeing Mingxuan leading his three disciples, Elder Zhao frowned deeply. "Mingxuan, do you also want to skip class by crawling through a dog hole like them?"

The young man smiled slightly, "No, you've mistaken the elder."

He casually crossed his legs and said, "Make way, Elder. I'm looking for a place to lie down and sleep."

Elder Zhao: "..."

He looked up and saw these trusted disciples, and felt a little suffocated:

"You should reflect on why there are three talisman cultivators among those who stayed behind."

Su Zhuo, Ye Qiao, and Ming Xuan are all talisman cultivators.

What, is talisman cultivation really that hard to learn?

Ye Qiao raised his hand earnestly: "Elder, I am different from these cunning talisman cultivators. I am a genuine sword cultivator! Please let me out."

She really didn't want to stay and be beaten by Xie Chuxue.

Mingxuan's eyes widened slightly, somewhat shocked. "So, in order to get out, you've already expelled yourself from the talisman cultivation academy?" Ye Qiao?

Ye Qiao has only just broken through to the late stage of the Golden Core realm; how could she possibly catch up to the next realm through mere cultivation?

The transition from the peak of the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage is a significant hurdle. Even for so many direct disciples, it would take at least half a year to overcome the tribulation of the Nascent Soul stage.

Leaving the four of them facing each other's faces for more than half a year, just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.

After failing to crawl through the dog hole, Ye Qiao found a piece of Xuan paper, picked up a brush, and wrote, "If we want to escape, we need to take a flying boat to the Ghost Realm. Among the families that own flying boats, what do you think of the Qi family, a family specializing in artifact cultivation?"

Mingxuan patted his clothes. "The Qi family? Of course, but the flying boats are quite expensive. And they might not even bother with you."

Given the arrogant nature of the Eight Great Families, they wouldn't even glance at a message.

After hearing that he could, Ye Qiao immediately picked up her pen and began to write:

"I am the sect leader of Changming Sect. If you can take us out with you, we will reserve a position for you as a disciple. That's right, you will be on equal footing with Ye Qinghan and Zhou Xingyun. All you need to do is take us out."

Fearing that the strength was not enough, she even added the two with the highest cultivation levels from the five sects.

After sending out the message, Ye Qiao made sure to set a time so they could discuss how to escape together on the flying boat.

Is that alright now?

As it turns out, sometimes if the message is unusual enough, it can indeed attract the other party's attention. For example, a certain direct descendant of the Qi family who received the message originally intended to throw it away, but when he glanced at the five big characters "Sect Master of Changming Sect" on it, he paused.

After reading the letter, the man was silent for a moment, then said, "Where did this damn liar come from?"

"They don't seem to be exactly scammers." The other person took out an identity plaque without any inscription. "It's a token passed down from the Changming Sect."

The man waved what he was holding. "Those protégés, have they gone mad?"

"I heard he's been mentally unstable for a long time." He shrugged. "Should we respond to them?"

"Then let's lend a hand. Although the five disciples didn't know they came up with such a wicked trick, it seems like it would be quite nice to befriend one of their disciples?"

Of the eight major families, only the family specializing in weapon crafting did not send its direct descendants into the sect, so their relationship with the five sects was generally average.

We've never been able to connect, so if we can maintain our relationship through this, it would be great no matter which sect we're from.

……

"Who would believe the contents of your letter?" Mingxuan shook her vigorously, "You even gave me a position as your personal disciple, so at least make your excuses more convincing."

Ye Qiao struggled to control her swaying body: "Then it must be a case of willing take the bait."

Moreover, traveling by airship is much better than walking.

Knowing that this group wouldn't stay still, Xie Chuxue had left behind a sound transmission talisman. After hearing Ye Qiao's plan, he stroked his chin and informed Qin Fanfan.

Qin Fanfan was indifferent. "If they can go down, then let them go down together. Anyway, the Ghost Realm has already given us advance notice. If we can break through smoothly, that place can be a good opportunity."

In fact, the reason why they didn't allow those in the late stage of the Golden Core realm to go was not their own idea. It was mainly aimed at Ye Qiao. This child was too troublesome, and the higher-ups of the other four sects wouldn't feel at ease if they didn't keep her in the sect.

After Qin Fanfan finished speaking, Xie Chuxue didn't reply. He stroked his beard and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Xie Chuxue smiled and said, "They plan to make a deal with the direct descendants of the eight great families of weapon cultivators and travel together on their flying boats."

"Oh?" Qin Fanfan pondered for a moment. "That's quite a powerful family. It would be good to befriend them. But where did Ye Qiao and his gang of brats get so much money?"

As far as he knew, families specializing in weapon crafting were all incredibly stingy, the kind that wouldn't spend a penny. If they were to make a purchase, the price would only be higher, not lower.

"They wrote me an IOU." Xie Chuxue smiled as she mentioned this.

Qin Fanfan frowned. "These brats probably don't have many spirit stones, right? If they don't pay up, aren't they afraid the Qi family will hold a grudge?"

"No, that won't happen," Xie Chuxue said calmly. "Because they wrote your name."

Qin Fanfan: "..."

*

Bonus chapter of 6,000 words~