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

"Let's go find the elders first," Zhu You said coldly and quickly. "Split up and return to your respective sects. Be careful, lest there be an ambush."

In this situation, either the demons have invaded, or the demons are causing trouble again; it's always best to be careful.

Duan Hengdao raised his hand, "I have a puppet here, we can use it to go in and scout the situation first."

He distributed them to the people from the other four sects, saying, "Here you go. You can send them in to test the waters when you enter your sects."

The weapon cultivators of Chengfeng Sect were unusually generous, so Ye Qiao didn't stand on ceremony with them. She casually picked up a small figure and sent it to investigate the situation within the sect.

Fortunately, the Changming Sect is safe and there is no major danger yet. According to the information from the puppet, all the inner disciples of the sect have been transferred away, leaving only a few outer disciples in the sect.

After the five ran into Changming Sect, they realized the seriousness of the situation.

Ye Qiao grabbed a disciple from the outer sect who had rushed out in a panic, "What happened?"

"N-I don't know." The other person was also bewildered, but was overjoyed to see all the direct disciples of their sect return. "The elders had called all the inner disciples away, leaving only us here. It's so good that you're back!"

At least these disciples are reliable in terms of skill.

Especially since they had just returned from the place of their heritage.

With them around, at least my mind is at ease.

Upon hearing this, Ye Qiao comforted the other party a few times. The other senior brothers also failed to get anything out of the outer sect. After exchanging glances, they made a decisive decision: "Let's go to the main peak to see if Master is there, and also check with the elders of the Elders' Hall."

"We'll meet here after we've gathered the information."

Mu Chongxi kicked open the door, only to find the Elders' Hall empty; several elders were nowhere to be seen.

"Apart from Steward Yu of the Library Pavilion, almost all the other elders and senior uncles have gone down the mountain."

Ye Qiao turned her head and asked, "Did Steward Yu say what happened?"

Xue Yu said, "The demons have invaded, so everyone has gone down to provide support."

Mingxuan nudged Xue Yu, puzzled, "But didn't they come before?" They didn't seem to intend to start a war then; it would be foolish for demons to fight cultivators. Surely they wouldn't send so many elders and disciples to provide support?

Xue Yu took a deep breath. "What if we add the demon race?"

It's probably because those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts. Humans, demons, and monsters have never lived in harmony for a single day. Either the monsters are being killed or they are chasing after and eating the cultivators.

But this is the first time I've seen the demon race and the monster race unite to deal with cultivators.

Unlike the others, Mu Chongxi's mind worked differently. He was excitedly eager to try: "So, after killing so many monsters in the secret realm, can we finally go out and kill some more?"

"Why would the demon race join forces with the demon race for no reason?" Zhou Xingyun couldn't understand.

Xue Yu suddenly remembered Xie Chuxue's worried look when they went to the trial grounds. He cracked his knuckles to calm himself down. "I always felt that Junior Uncle might have known something all along."

But don't even think about it, Xie Chuxue is an old riddle teller, she's unlikely to tell them.

Or perhaps it's because once they're told they might be breaking the so-called rules,

Not only were the direct disciples of the Changming Sect feeling terrible, but the direct disciples of the other four sects were also somewhat devastated.

Damn it, I went out for a bit and my house got robbed?!

The demon race has always been the sworn enemy of cultivators.

According to the elders who remained, after joining forces with the demon race, the demons brazenly began attacking other minor families and provoking other sects. The five sects had protective formations, but the other sects were not so lucky and almost all of them fell.

The sect had only a few hundred inner disciples, who, under the leadership of the elders, all went down the mountain to assist other cities.

Now, no one expected that a group of disciples who went to the place of inheritance would return ahead of schedule.

For those cultivators, it was both surprising and delightful.

The trusted men actually had the right to refuse to go down the mountain to rescue them, but no one could bring themselves to say it at the moment.

Aside from some cultivators and rogue cultivators, there are also many ordinary people in the cultivation world with extremely poor cultivation levels who barely survive on meager spiritual energy.

Ye Qiao quickly opened the jade slip, and sure enough, the other sects were in the same situation. The sects had transferred away most of their inner disciples, leaving only two or three elders to guard the sect.

There's no need to worry about the sect's safety, as there's a protective formation in place. The problem now is, where should these disciples go to rescue people?

"Let's meet up first." Ye Qiao casually tossed the jade slip into her mustard seed bag and notified the group of disciples to have the other four sects come to Changming Sect to meet up. You ask her who gave her this confidence?

Isn't it common sense to come to the first meeting?

After everyone had gathered, they were still wearing the same clothes as before. The incident had happened so suddenly that they were all still wearing their old beggar's clothes, looking disheveled. Qin Huai was displeased and said in a cold voice, "We'll wipe out the demon race sooner or later."

Ye Qiao: "Is everyone here? Let's go rescue them."

Looking at her nonchalant expression, Ye Qinghan asked, "What makes you so confident you can save them?"

Not to mention that the situation was so serious that even the elders of the inner sect had to intervene, they themselves were completely baffled by the current circumstances.

She exclaimed, "What makes me so sure?"

Ye Qinghan could tell that everyone around her trusted her. He blinked and said calmly, "Since you're not confident, are you sure you want to go down the mountain together? No one can guarantee what will happen in the next second."

Mu Chongxi pursed her lips. "Don't all look so serious. Calm down. We're the only ones still alive. If we don't go, who will?"

So many elders have disappeared without a trace.

Besides, this is neither a trial nor a mission.

They didn't rely on elders or seniors to pave the way; they relied solely on themselves. Besides, the sect had protected them for so long, it was time for them to do something.

"Besides," Ye Qiao brandished her sword, her sleeve curving slightly, "in my opinion, the worst-case scenario is just that, there's no point in hesitating. We'll find out what the situation is like outside once we go out."

"Sword cultivators, take your swords; talisman cultivators, draw your talismans; alchemists, prepare your alchemy furnaces; weapon cultivators, bring your magical artifacts."

"Let's go down the mountain."

Even without Ye Qiao saying anything, everyone else had already silently prepared everything they needed. Their tattered sect robes were a jumble of colors, making them look more like members of the Beggars' Sect than disciples descending the mountain.

……

"Master," Xie Chuxue, who had also rushed to provide support, asked softly, "How is their training going?"

He glanced at it a couple more times, then respectfully lowered his eyes. It would be a lie to say he wasn't curious about his ancestor, who had once cultivated both alchemy and swordsmanship, but forcibly using magic to put him into a dream was also a great disrespect.

Xie Chuxue had experienced the demon and monster races joining forces to create chaos many times. He tried many methods at first, but he could not save the inner disciples or the lives of innocent cultivators.

There were also the elders who were sent down to provide support and died for their cause.

He failed time and time again, watching them die in front of him, as if fate was mocking his incompetence.

This time, he chose to place all his hopes on Ye Qiao.

The founder of the Changming Sect sighed. He was merely a phantom, not even a clone, yet he had been forcibly dragged out. "What's wrong?"

Xie Chuxue lowered her eyes. "The demon race and the demon clan have joined forces."

The previous tasks of the competition were all about hunting demonic beasts. It wasn't that they hated demonic beasts that much, but the number of demonic beasts was ridiculously large. They could be found everywhere in secret realms and cultivation worlds. They had little intelligence and attacked people indiscriminately. Even those that had gained sentience might not show any mercy to cultivators.

Whoever is strong will determine their status in the cultivation world.

There were many demon kings, and he, a mere talisman cultivator, couldn't possibly stop so many demon kings. Some elders were left behind to guard the sect, while the remaining capable ones went to support various aristocratic families, and some even participated in the rescue. Xie Chuxue had no way to ask for help, as all of her close disciples had gone off to pursue love.

Xie Chuxue was so frustrated by the repeated reincarnations that she felt like vomiting blood.

He desperately needed some comfort, at least to let him know how the group of disciples were doing in the trials.

I'm really not sure right now.

The founder of the Changming Sect was forcibly dragged into a dream. His illusory image flickered for a moment: "Are you saying that the demon race is very strong?" He didn't have much of a concept of the demon race, after all, the demon race was not a threat at all when he ascended.

Xie Chuxue's voice was calm. After a moment's thought, she revealed what she knew from her memories to the other party. Anyway, the ancestor was no longer considered human. "Very strong. All those who came were at the level of demon kings, and the leader was the young master of the demon race."

If he weren't strong enough, he wouldn't have failed every time. To be honest, it's really too much to ask a talisman cultivator to save so many people.

The transfer formation cannot eliminate everyone at once; the result is either his death or the group of people dying while covering the retreat of others.

No matter the time, it was impossible to save them all.

The patriarch of the Changming Sect pondered for a moment, looking at the gloomy expression on the other's face, and offered a dry reassurance, "Don't worry. With Xiao Qiao and the others in charge of the Five Sects, nothing will happen."

Although he didn't understand what was wrong with the other person's melancholy, based on his observation of Ye Qiao over the past long period of time...

The patriarch of Changming Sect looked deep in thought. If a demon king were to appear in front of Ye Qiao again, she would probably tear it apart with her bare hands.

*

I'm late! I've written 9,000 words, 1,000 more than the 8,000 I mentioned before. I should still be number one. If I maintain this ranking, I'll continue with 8,000 words. Occasionally I'll write 9,000 words. Please give me some rewards, even free ones! If I can maintain this, I'll write four chapters every day until the event ends.