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

Zhou Xiu couldn't stop her lips from twitching, and she murmured a soul-searching question: "Why...?"

Why is it Ye Qiao again?

Thanks to her poisoning, Zhou Xiu has developed a conditioned reflex of stomach pain whenever she sees Ye Qiao.

"What are you doing here?" Zhou Xiu straightened her legs shakily, and seeing the smiling woman greeting her, she pursed her lips. "Where is your lord? Or rather, your chieftain?"

Ye Qiao and Zhou Xingyun exchanged a glance. The senior brother raised an eyebrow at her, signaling her to explain.

Looking at her carefree demeanor, and recalling his missing companion, Zhou Xiu quickly made a guess: "What are you playing this time? A water tribe soldier? Or the chief's lackey?"

Ye Qiao is such a good actress that Zhou Xiu developed a psychological trauma towards her after being deceived once.

Ye Qiao was also puzzled by Zhou Xiu's words. She raised an eyebrow but did not answer. Instead, she asked, "What are you doing in Longxia?"

If I remember correctly, that leader should be dead and nothing but ashes left.

A group of people venturing into Dragon Gorge for no apparent reason must have some special purpose.

"We need water-based magical artifacts." Zhou Xiu's face fell slightly at the mention of this. He didn't want to come at all. What was the difference between rushing in before figuring out the other party's strength and courting death? But the two seniors seemed to be very confident. If he didn't come in, he would be alone. Being alone when the water tribe was hostile to human cultivators was a terrible prospect.

Water-based magical artifact?

"What do you want with it?"

The two chatted casually. Zhou Xiu felt a chill run down his spine in this unfamiliar environment. He tried to ignore the strangeness and replied in a low voice, "Who wouldn't want a spiritual artifact? And it's said that this water-type spiritual artifact is very powerful."

There are two Nascent Soul stage cultivators in the team, so they definitely won't get any spiritual artifacts. But the South China Sea is such a vast place that it has not only spiritual artifacts, but also other heavenly treasures. Following the seniors and clinging to their coattails will at least ensure their safety.

"You've been here longer than us, haven't you?" Seeing that Ye Qiao kept giving irrelevant answers, he tentatively asked, "Have you... seen the aquatic chieftain?"

Zhou Xiu suspected that Ye Qiao was playing some kind of role-playing game again. So what role was she playing this time? Was she the leader's lackey?

Also, the things in Ye Qiao's hands looked quite familiar.

Holding the light blue map in her palm felt like holding a handful of cool water. She fiddled with the small buildings on the map, causing them to shift and change, making the little figures on the map run in increasing panic. No one could remain calm in the face of suddenly moving ground.

She and Zhou Xingyun studied the use of this magical artifact together. With just a slight touch, everything here would undergo earth-shattering changes. No wonder every time a magical artifact appeared in the world, it would be fought over fiercely by outsiders.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Xiu seemed to understand why the buildings in Longxia Gorge, which were perfectly fine before, were undergoing such strange changes.

He had a bad feeling, or rather, not so bad. The boy licked his lips, his voice a little dry, "Ye Qiao. I have another question. Where is the leader here?"

Now that you have the water-based magical artifact, what about the leader here?

"Good question," Ye Qiao echoed, then shrugged. "He's dead."

Seeing the boy's pitiful and bewildered expression, Zhou Xingyun, moved by compassion, recalled yesterday's scene, "If you had come earlier, you might have seen him blown to bits. Now there's not even a trace left."

Ye Qiao's curse seal was more powerful than imagined, and it was on a completely different level from the one that exploded on Ye Qinghan when he was in the Golden Core stage. It seems that the blessings from Heaven increase with strength.

"Are you looking for the leader? Then you might as well come to me." Now that she has the water-based magical artifact, she is the one in control of this area.

After experimenting with the magical artifact a few times, Ye Qiao found it extremely interesting and had a great time, while the cultivators who had ventured into Dragon Gorge were thoroughly tormented.

He paused, stunned. "You..."

The boy seemed to want to say something, his face turning red as he stared intently at Ye Qiao for a few seconds. He really wanted to ask, "Are you poisonous?"

Wherever they go, they have to take over the other side's territory?

But now wasn't the time to talk about this, and Ye Qiao pretended not to see his questioning look, which seemed to want to confront him but didn't dare to. "Did you see Mu Chongxi and the other two?"

Logically speaking, this trio with fire elemental roots shouldn't be in such a bad situation. They are all skilled in talisman cultivation, sword cultivation, and alchemy, making for a pretty perfect lineup.

"I saw them." He surveyed his surroundings and only relaxed when he saw that there was no real danger. He told the truth, "They're circling around the Dragon Palace."

Zhou Xiu didn't want to stay with this group of disciples; they were trouble-making machines in every sense of the word.

The people from Changming Sect are all rather abstract; Xue Yu's trio is still leisurely strolling around the Dragon Palace, while Ye Qiao's trio has already dominated Dragon Gorge.

"You killed the leader?" he asked, still finding it hard to believe. "You two did it?"

"And him too." Ye Qiao pointed to the young prince beside her.

"Oh." Zhou Xiu wasn't interested in the child. He muttered to himself, "Slaying a Nascent Soul cultivator beyond one's level? You people are terrifying..."

"Do you have anything else to do?" Ye Qiao wanted to stay in this place for a few more days, at least to figure out how to use this magical artifact. The young prince said that this magical artifact could only be used in specific places, and if he wanted to change the place, he would need to get used to it for several years.

In other words, once it leaves Dragon Gorge, this magical artifact is useless.

No wonder the leader here, despite being only at the Nascent Soul stage, spends all his time guarding his small plot of land.

Zhou Xiu shook his head vigorously. If it weren't for the stubbornness of his teammates, he wouldn't have come to this place in the first place. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Um, Ye Qiao, could you release my companions?"

Since it's Ye Qiao, then we can rest assured; at least there's no danger.

"Sure." Ye Qiao nodded. She could use the aquatic creatures here to practice, but she was a little surprised that a cultivator would dare to come into this godforsaken place, Dragon Gorge.

The three of them were purely accidental; Zhou Xiu and his group were simply courting death.

Ye Qiao thought for a moment and carefully studied with her senior brother how to release the people. With a light stroke on the spiritual artifact, the water waves that had been engulfing the people stopped. With another light stroke, the powerful water waves pushed the group of cultivators away and threw them all out.

The group of cultivators, who were dazed and confused from the fall, were still trembling. The surrounding water seemed to have a mind of its own, with raging waves one second and calm water the next, leaving everyone bewildered by the strange changes.

Why aren't they killing them?

In a daze, everyone scrambled away.

Zhou Xiu was the only one who walked out slowly; the others were all pushed out by the water. They were not seriously injured, but they were somewhat frightened.

"Where have you been?" someone immediately questioned him.

Zhou Xiu was weak and listless. "I'm trapped inside the coral reef."

The man's expression softened, and he continued to complain, "We were all thrown out, how come you walked out? And we haven't even found our spiritual artifacts yet, how come you're out already?"

Zhou Xiu was fed up with these brainless people. He suppressed his impatience and roared, "Stop looking! The spiritual artifact has an owner; it's obviously not something we can take."

"I heard that Dragon Gorge doesn't usually experience such a large disturbance." Some people attributed the problem to the timing. "We should have come in when Dragon Gorge rioted not long ago. If we had come earlier, this accident might not have happened."

"No." Zhou Xiu shook her head at her seniors, on the verge of tears: "It really has little to do with this."

After all, whether you arrive early or late won't affect Ye Qiao's dominance here.

……

Mingxuan and his companions were cautiously hiding when, for some unknown reason, the aquatic tribe suddenly became hostile and demanded their capture. They had been living peacefully for days, so they immediately turned tail and ran.

Xue Yu tossed the Landscape Map into his hand, trapping the group of fools in an illusion. Soon, the three of them disappeared without a trace.

"Is that dragon leader out of his mind?" Mingxuan couldn't help but say. "He said we were guests, but we only stayed for a few days before he captured us."

The key issue is that the jade slip was broken, so we can't contact the elders, and we don't even know the specific reason. It's really frustrating.

Mu Chongxi rested his chin on his hand, suddenly having a whimsical idea: "I'll write a book called 'The Evil Cultivation Technique: My Prison-Style Personal Guide'."

They're locked up in the dungeon every day. They're righteous disciples, not criminals!

The place was very chaotic, and it was even easier to shake off that group of people. The three of them had been hiding for several days but still couldn't contact Ye Qiao. The three of them sat in a row on the reef, resting their chins on their hands, with the same depressed expression.

"How about we go to the Dragon Palace and get revenge on those dragons?" Mu Chongxi sat up, eager to try. They could just lock them up in jail if they wanted to; they hadn't offended those dragons.

"Are you kidding me? Those guys are all at the Nascent Soul stage." Xue Yu tried to pull the two out of their minds.

Xue Yu preferred to avoid unnecessary trouble and would stay out of things if possible, but Mu Chongxi clearly didn't think the same way. Ming Xuan also wanted to join in the fun.

One is the impulsive Daoist Wenxin, the other is the carefree Daoist who thrives on chaos.

Xue Yu didn't even bother to roll his eyes at those two people.

He was pulled along by the two of them and ran towards the Dragon Palace. He hadn't found his junior sister, so maybe he could go and cause trouble for the Dragon Palace.

Xue Yu looked around, then grabbed the two of them. "Haven't you noticed that the number of aquatic creatures has been decreasing these past few days?"

It seems that a few days ago, while they were chatting, all the aquatic monsters that had surrounded them disappeared, and their numbers have been decreasing even more rapidly in the past few days.

Seeking advantage and avoiding harm is the instinct of demonic beasts. The large-scale reduction of aquatic creatures in the past few days has made Xue Yu feel uneasy.

Upon hearing this, Mingxuan paused in his steps. "It seems so?"

His spiritual sense was slightly weaker than Xue Yu's, but Fu Xiu's spiritual sense was also broad, and a simple scan would reveal that there were no demonic beasts around.

Very strange.

"Should we still go?" Mu Chongxi asked, his hand already on his sword as he saw their reactions.

Mingxuan: "Go, why not? I've always wanted to know what the demon and monster races are up to. They've been trying to attack cultivator territory one after another, like they've gone mad. And that's not all, the elders have gone mad too, frantically telling us to go down to the inheritance grounds and find places to train."

"Don't you think they're in too much of a hurry?" Mingxuan's series of questions left people completely speechless.

Mingxuan can be quite sensitive at times.

"Ever since we came out of the Ghost King Tower, they seem to have been leaving us in various training grounds, first the legacy left by the patriarch, and then this hellish place."

Every day is a routine of training and honing skills, with no effort spared in showering them with resources.

In the past, it was entirely up to individuals whether or not they went to Changming Sect.

Xue Yu was slightly taken aback. "You're right. We need to figure out why this Dragon Palace is so special that the elders would use it as a training ground to send us here." Cooperation is secondary; training is their main objective.

The three reached a consensus, decisively affixed several invisibility talismans, and headed straight for the Dragon Palace.

Having finally reached his destination, Mingxuan collapsed onto the ground, utterly exhausted. "I'm so tired. Let me die."

Xue Yu gave a perfunctory reply, "Oh, remember to leave the spirit stones to us after you die."

"That won't do." Mingxuan, who was lying on the ground, suddenly sat up in shock, as if he were dying: "I can't let you get away with this."

Mu Chongxi scoffed, "Go to hell, you piece of trash Mingxuan."

Just as the two were about to hurl insults at each other and exchange feelings, Xue Yu suddenly gestured for them to be quiet, "Hey, wait, wait! There's a noise."

The commotion came from the Dragon Palace, but the two of them couldn't sense it; however, Xue Yu could.

"What's going on? There's a crackling sound coming from inside."

Mingxuan pondered for a moment, then raised his hand and lit a talisman, revealing the scene inside the Dragon Palace.