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

The young prince stared intently at Ye Qiao. He could sense a familiar scent emanating from her, somewhat like the aura of the Heavenly Dao. But this person clearly didn't carry any great fortune, did she?

Ye Qiao was taken aback by his sudden question and honestly asked, "What kind of aura?"

The young prince was stunned for a moment, then raised his chin and looked at her, "It's that aura, the pale golden light."

Ye Qiao now understood what he meant. After thinking for a moment, she answered truthfully, "I am in harmony with the will of Heaven. Is this perhaps a blessing from Heaven after rewarding me?"

Then he stared at Ye Qiao without saying a word, which made Ye Qiao feel a little scared.

The young prince glanced at Ye Qinghan, then stared intently at Ye Qiao for a long time. His father had said that one should not make enemies with the strong, and that one should seek out those with great fortune after arriving in the territory of cultivators. Ye Qinghan was the most suitable choice for him. Regardless of whether the Sword Inquiry Sect won or lost, he was prepared to choose Ye Qinghan.

Unexpectedly, Ye Qiao suddenly appeared halfway through the journey.

After weighing the options, he finally made up his mind, "Then next, your Changming Sect's personal disciple will come with me to the South China Sea."

All five were somewhat reluctant, but their wishes were not important at the moment. Whether from the perspective of the sect or from their own interests, going to the South China Sea would not do them any harm.

After the young prince decided on his sect, the Sword Inquiry Sect's expression wasn't very pleasant. They had already decided on this mission, but the sudden appearance of the Changming Sect made everyone unhappy.

It's even more infuriating that Sheng Mingzong doesn't appreciate it at all.

Chu Xingzhi was even more confused.

Why?

Just because Ye Qiao's sword technique is superior to his senior brother's?

That shouldn't be the case; dragons don't seem to care about size.

Ye Qiao did win, but anyone who isn't blind could see that the young prince of the Dragon Clan ignored everyone except Ye Qinghan at the beginning, which clearly showed that he had a lot of goodwill towards Ye Qinghan. However, after the competition, he turned around and found Ye Qiao. This attitude is quite intriguing.

"Clearly, he prefers Ye Qiao a bit more now." Zhu You rolled her eyes. "Nothing wins the favor of the Dragon Clan more than a direct disciple who is in harmony with the will of Heaven."

"If you read more books, you'll know that both phoenixes and dragons are seekers of great fortune." Speaking of this, she suddenly remembered that Ye Qiao seemed to have a phoenix as well?

Does the young prince of the dragon clan know about this?

The entire Wenjian Sect stayed behind to help with the cleanup. With their help, the battlefield was cleared up quickly. After it was cleaned up, both sides quickly threw down their brooms and headed home. Now that the sect that would be negotiating in the South China Sea had been decided, it was time to prepare for the upcoming trip.

Elder Zhao was quite responsible, providing them with maps, pills, talismans, and some usable magical artifacts.

The only difficult point is that...

"A water-repelling bead." Xue Yu raised an eyebrow. "We'll probably have to ask about this at an auction or on the black market."

"Ordinary people don't need water-repelling beads, which is why they are rarely seen in the cultivation world these days."

"I have one at home." Mingxuan, who had been lazily dozing off with his chin propped up on his hand, suddenly opened his eyes and slowly said, "However, if I want to get the Water-Repelling Pearl, I may need to pay a price."

As for what the price will be, they do not yet know.

Three days later, Mingxuan, who had been given a beating after returning home, finally got his wish and brought back five water-repelling pearls.

Mingxuan returned to the courtyard and slumped listlessly onto the table. After distributing the food, he frowned in annoyance. "One for each person. They can breathe freely underwater. I really hate going into the water."

"Moreover, fire cannot be lit in water." Xue Yu's voice also weakened. Coincidentally, their sect had three cultivators with fire spiritual roots.

Even the divine fire could not ignite in the South China Sea.

After obtaining the water-repelling pearl, the young prince excitedly ran over to confirm it. He looked the five people over and asked, "None of you should have lightning-type spiritual roots, right?"

Lightning spirit roots are actually quite rare; some are excessively strong, while others are excessively weak.

The group exchanged glances, then refrained from answering each other's questions.

"My name is Ao Li." He told Ye Qiao his name, a gesture of goodwill from a dragon, "May we have a pleasant collaboration in the coming months."

Ye Qiao nodded. "It's a pleasure working with you."

Whether it will be pleasant or not, I don't know, but I'm sure things won't be peaceful in the South China Sea.

After deciding to join the Changming Sect, Ao Li obediently followed them to meet the sect leader. Qin Fanfan was not surprised by this result; after confirming that she was in accordance with the will of Heaven, it was only natural that the Dragon Clan favored Ye Qiao.

The young prince's expression turned strange after learning the name of the Changming Sect Master.

Qin Fanfan, Qia Fanfan, does this mean that the sect leader really likes to eat?

……

The outside world originally thought that Wenjian Sect was a sure thing to get this opportunity, but they actually lost to Changming Sect in the competition, which caused a lot of discussion among the cultivators.

"With Ye Qinghan in this generation of Wenjian Sect, and the other four each possessing their own unique abilities, how could they possibly lose to Changming Sect?" This was a surprised comment from a cultivator from the Wenjian Sect's territory.

"What's so strange about losing to Changming Sect? Changming Sect isn't a weak sect. You could say that among the five sects, only Changming Sect is qualified to fight Wenjian Sect. Ye Qiao, Mu Chongxi, and Zhou Xingyun—who's weak? In a team battle, is Mingxuan just for show?" Clearly, this person is a fan of Changming Sect.

"Ye Qinghan is indeed strong, and he can use the sword technique of the Nascent Soul stage with ease, but there is always someone stronger than him. Above the King, there is Ye Qiao."

"The Changming Sect has a pill cultivator. The Wenjian Sect's twins are very powerful when they cooperate. It's hard to win if they bring a pill cultivator along."

Among the cultivators, there were many with keen information. The competition wasn't kept secret; the arena had even collapsed once, making it difficult for outsiders not to know. With a little inquiry, it was easy to understand what had happened.

"Divine sense, alchemists' divine sense is still terrifying, and the Changming Sect is bold enough. In comparison, the Wenjian Sect only has five sword cultivators. How can they have as many tricks up their sleeves as the Changming Sect?"

"What level is Xue Yu's spiritual sense at? It must be above the mid-Nascent Soul stage, otherwise he would never dare to do this." Spiritual attacks do exist, but only powerful beings above the Nascent Soul stage dare to do this. Without absolute certainty, it's easy to become stupid if you use it.

These young masters from the eight great families are all cautious, and Xue Yu must have enough confidence.

"His spiritual sense might be at the late Nascent Soul stage. Even Ye Qinghan was affected; do you think he's weak?"

Despite having the cultivation level of the early Nascent Soul stage, his spiritual sense could leapfrog to the late Nascent Soul stage.

"I heard that Ye Qiao and Ye Qinghan destroyed the competition stage. Two Nascent Soul stage sword techniques, they really dare to smash things. If it weren't for the sect leader watching over them, the back mountain would have been destroyed."

"Who says you can't win with alchemy cultivators? Ye Qiao led a group of alchemy cultivators from the Azure Water Sect and won back then."

"I envy everyone who can be carried by Ye Qiao."

"I've met Ye Qiao before. This girl is such a damn good actress, she can make you cry on a stage. Seriously, my sir Ye Qiao from the Changming Sect."