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

Ye Qiao hadn't been watching the show for long when a slight commotion came from not far away. The scene of the ground trembling was extremely familiar, and Duan Hengdao's expression changed slightly: "A demonic beast is coming."

"I estimate there are more than a dozen."

As soon as he finished speaking, the ground shook violently, and more than a dozen demonic beasts galloped towards them, their target clear: Ye Qiao.

She reacted quickly, stepping on the sword and slipping away.

Although I don't know why they're chasing me, running away is the right thing to do in this situation.

Seeing this, Mu Chongxi and Duan Hengdao quickly followed.

"Holy crap, have these monsters gone mad?"

Duan Hengdao stepped on Mu Chongxi's sword, glanced back, and couldn't help but swear.

They're still clinging on, like a dog that's smelled a bone and won't let go, as if they want to tear a piece of flesh off them.

Ye Qiao looked back at the relentlessly pursuing demonic beasts and suddenly remembered that the cause of the riot in the demonic beast forest was still unclear. She had a guess at the moment and reached out to pick up the bamboo shoot she was holding at her waist.

He gently swayed towards the group of demonic beasts.

The next second they chased even more frantically.

Ye Qiao: "Understood."

So they weren't chasing her, but the stick in her hand?

"What the hell is this thing? It's so weird." Duan Hengdao also noticed her actions and muttered, "There shouldn't be any spiritual artifacts with this shape in the top ten of the spiritual artifact ranking."

Ye Qiao nodded: "It seems to be quite valuable. Otherwise, so many monsters wouldn't have chased me."

"..." So all you've been focusing on is whether it's valuable or not.

She remarked with some emotion, "In all my years, I've never been pursued so persistently."

They tied the captured red bird to a tree and attached an invisibility talisman, so no one should notice it for a while. Ye Qiao thought she would take it with her when she got back.

The group of demonic beasts were not powerful enough to be easily shaken off. Once he could no longer see them, Mu Chongxi put the Duan Hengdao off his sword.

After letting out a slight sigh of relief, Duan Hengdao cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Ye Qiao and gave her a warm smile: "Thank you for your help. I'll head back now."

"My senior brothers should have arrived in Cloud City by now. I need to hurry and find them to meet up."

"Are you talking about the Great Secret Realm in a few months?" Mu Chongxi scratched his head. Although he didn't know Duan Hengdao's identity, he figured it was probably related to the Great Secret Realm.

The Cloud City Secret Realm opens once every hundred years, containing many ancient spiritual plants and treasures. Each opening brings forth a bloody storm.

Opportunities in Greater Rifts are limited, and countless people fight tooth and nail for treasures.

"Yes, there's a great secret realm opening in a few months." Duan Hengdao said earnestly, "My senior brother said a treasure-hunting beast has appeared. I'll go try my luck then. Who knows, maybe I'll get incredibly lucky and manage to contract a spirit beast?"

Speaking of which...

"Which sect are you from? I'm a direct disciple of the Chengfeng Sect. Come visit me at the Chengfeng Sect sometime!" Duan Hengdao was extremely excited.

Mu Chongxi had some idea of ​​his identity, so she wasn't surprised and simply replied, "Changming Sect."

"Inner sect?" He finished speaking and then looked Mu Chongxi up and down, quickly rejecting the idea: "No, at the Golden Core stage, it can only be a personal disciple."

A Golden Core cultivator in their teens is a level that no independent cultivator could ever reach.

Mu Chongxi nodded and pulled Ye Qiao along, "This is my junior sister. We came out to train together."

Duan Hengdao was surprised by the identities of the two men, and his expression became somewhat subtle after hearing that they were his personal disciples.

He could understand why the Yueqing Sect was shameless, after all, they had used countless insidious methods over the past thousand years. But the Changming Sect...?

That sect, known for its kind-hearted people, has really broadened his horizons today.

"Then let's part ways here."

Ye Qiao waved to him, her voice warm: "See you at the competition."

Duan Hengdao's lips twitched. "Alright."

However, he didn't really want to run into Ye Qiao during the competition, because he had a feeling that the situation in this year's competition might change drastically.

"Do you guys feel anything is wrong?" Duan Hengdao originally planned to use a flying artifact to leave this place, but he noticed something was amiss before he even took a step.

The cultivator was exceptionally sensitive to his divine sense; he could sense even the slightest movement. Mu Chongxi, puzzled, asked, "Something seems off."

Upon hearing this, Ye Qiao expanded her divine sense as well, "It seems so."

There seems to be a barrier around us.

Although she hadn't experienced many secret realms, she had at least gone to a small secret realm with her senior brothers, and this situation was very much like a barrier to the secret realm.

"It's a Greater Rift." Duan Hengdao's hands and feet felt cold. "It seems we've stumbled into the area where a Greater Rift has been opened."

The secret realm seemed to be alive, appearing on its own. Once it appeared, it enveloped the surroundings like a domain. Standing here was equivalent to stepping into the secret realm, and if they wanted to leave, they could only wait for the secret realm to disappear automatically after a few months.

"But wasn't it said that the Great Mythic+ dungeon wouldn't open for several months?" Mu Chongxi was exasperated. "Why did it open early?"

The difference between the Great Secret Realm and the Small Secret Realm is that in the Small Secret Realm, those with the Golden Core cultivation can act recklessly, while in the Great Secret Realm, they only dare to enter with the escort of elders. Now, there are two Golden Core cultivators and one Foundation Establishment cultivator among the three of them. Can they walk out of the Great Secret Realm alive?

Ye Qiao looked at the two people who seemed to have lost their parents, paused, and then comforted them, "It's alright."

"Think about it, we still have the Moon Cleansing Sect and the Sword Inquiry Sect with us, so we're not the only unlucky ones."

That does make me feel a bit better.

Duan Hengdao: "...You know how to comfort people."

The sudden opening of the Great Secret Realm caught everyone off guard. Yueqing Sect was the first to realize something was wrong, but by the time they tried to escape, it was too late. No one had the ability to break through the barrier, and they were trapped in place, at a loss.

Upon noticing someone approaching, Ye Qiao immediately chose to remain still and observe from a tree.

At the same time, he called out to the two people below, "Come on up, I have a feeling there's some drama to come."

Duan Hengdao: "..." Hey, hey, hey, three close disciples are squatting in the tree watching the show in such a lewd way, is this appropriate?

Mu Chongxi had already climbed the tree. After hesitating for a moment, he also chose to squat in the tree and watch the show together.

Never mind, there's no one here anyway.

The people who came were from the Yueqing Sect and the Wenjian Sect. Song Jian and his group had been marked with crawling talismans, but they had now returned to normal. Perhaps to avoid losing face, he unusually did not wear the inner sect robes to parade around, but instead changed into ordinary clothes.

The situation was a standoff between the two sides, and somehow, Song Hansheng and Ye Qinghan ended up facing off.

Both were the sect's pride and the chief disciple, neither willing to yield to the other.

Song Hansheng grabbed Yun Que's arm and said quickly, "Junior Sister, it will be dangerous for you to follow this brainless sword cultivator into the Great Secret Realm."

As he spoke, Ye Qinghan had already drawn his sword, his eyes filled with coldness. "Want to die?"

Ye Qiao exclaimed in amazement, "As expected of the cultivation version of Long Aotian, even his words are so arrogant."

Song Hansheng gave a forced smile, "Go ahead and try if you dare. Do you really think your Sword Inquiry Sect is invincible?"

With the opening of the Great Secret Realm, joining forces would have been the best option for both sects. However, the arrogant attitude of the Sword Inquiry Sect members along the way was unbearable for Song Hansheng.

The two plastic alliances immediately broke down.

Ye Qiao loved seeing these two gangs fighting like dogs. If they really joined forces, she and her senior brother would be chased all over the secret realm.

Caught in the middle, Yun Que couldn't help but whisper, "Senior Brother Ye... that's not what he meant. He just wanted to protect me."

Song Hansheng was so angry he felt like vomiting blood.

Their faces were being rubbed against the ground, and the junior sister was still siding with outsiders, trying to curry favor with the Sword Inquiry Sect.

"It seems like Yunque's fishpond has exploded," Ye Qiao said with great interest.

As a heartthrob, she must have a group of suitors. In the novel, Song Hansheng was also attracted by her pure and unpretentious nature, but Song Hansheng has not yet fallen in love with Yun Que.

Yun Que's biased actions will probably infuriate the other party.

On the other side, Yunque had already made her choice.

The Great Secret Realm is so dangerous, she naturally feels safer only by staying with Ye Qinghan.

A group of talisman cultivators still need protection in critical moments; they are nowhere near as powerful as sword cultivators.

She hid behind Ye Qinghan, not daring to look at her senior brother's face, and whispered softly, "I'll go with Senior Brother Ye."

"Don't worry about me, senior brother. I'll take good care of myself."

The disciples of the Moon Purity Sect had extremely mixed feelings.

Your junior sister ran off to another sect... To put it nicely, this shows a lack of worldly experience; to put it bluntly, it shows a lack of common sense and a betrayal of one's own people.

Ye Qiao had watched enough of the drama and enjoyed Song Hansheng's incredibly expressive face, which resembled a palette of colors. She clapped her hands and said, "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Duan Hengdao asked, his eyes wide.

Ye Qiao: "Let's go treasure hunting. Didn't you want to find the treasure-hunting beast? Let's try our luck."

She actually knew about the Treasure-Seeking Beast. The original novel mentioned that this little thing was the female lead's spirit pet, and no one else could even dream of it. Although the Treasure-Seeking Beast was out of their reach, there were other spirit beasts in the Great Secret Realm besides the Treasure-Seeking Beast.

Seeing Duan Hengdao's hesitation, Ye Qiao used her classic saying, "Since we're already here, let's go have some fun together."

Duan Hengdao: "..." Play?

Who would go to such a dangerous place as a Greater Rift to play?

Do you think this is a vacation?!

In this situation, staying put and waiting for the secret realm to dissipate before leaving is the safest option. Duan Hengdao, a weak and helpless weapon cultivator, has always been the type to hide whenever possible and never cause trouble for his senior brothers.

Now, suddenly invited to join, Duan Hengdao hesitated for a moment, but a strange sense of eagerness also stirred within him.

It's like following Ye Qiao is something you can trust.

Bah! The other party is clearly only at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Duan Hengdao didn't hesitate for long. He met Ye Qiao's eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Alright then."

Forget it, I'll just go for it. It's dangerous for me to stay here alone anyway, and if I'm unlucky enough to die in the secret realm, that's my bad luck.