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

Chu Xingzhi replied casually, "Us? We failed our mission completely and are being criticized and denounced as a group."

"Why did we fail?" Ye Qiao was even more confused. Failure is failure, so why did we have to come to Changming Sect to be criticized and denounced?

"Because they're useless." Xie Chuxue said with a smile, then, fearing a beating, lightly took a step back behind Duan Yu and continued, "What else could they be but useless if all four sects failed? Now, only the Dragon Pearl of the Dragon Palace, belonging to the Changming Sect, remains. They can't even coordinate the most basic actions. Such useless people have no reason to exist in any of the five sects."

What a venomous tongue!

The Sword Inquiry Sect Master coldly defended his sect's disciples, saying, "That's because all four sects were split up!!"

Not everyone is like Changmingzong, who has all three professions.

They had to split up their lineup to make it more balanced.

The result was obvious: this decision was a mistake.

Once separated, the group's teamwork was atrocious. They didn't even put their backs on each other; they were cursing and swearing the entire way on the mission.

Upon returning to their respective sects, the four sects that had failed their missions glared at each other as if they were enemies.

"Speaking of which..." Elder Chengfeng coughed twice, "Actually, it's not that we can't cooperate. The cooperation with Changming Sect was very successful."

The only successful collaboration they've ever had is with the Changming Sect.

It should be noted that Ye Qiao has cooperated with all four sects, and she has extensive experience in cooperating with each of them.

The problem is that Changming Sect went on a mission.

Who would have thought their collaboration would turn out so awful? It perfectly illustrates the saying, "Together they're a pile of shit, apart they're a sky full of stars."

"That's right." Chu Xingzhi seemed to have found a venting point and launched into a tirade of accusations, "We cooperated very well with Ye Qiao, it's clearly them who are incompetent."

Ye Qinghan and Zhu You nodded subconsciously.

Duan Hengdao let out a sarcastic "Wow," and said, "You blame the road for being uneven when you're no good? Yes, we cooperated quite well with Ye Qiao, so why can't you two do it?"

This mission was a joint effort between Chengfeng Sect and Wenjian Sect, consisting of three weapon cultivators and seven sword cultivators, yet they still failed.

It's easy to imagine how poor their coordination was.

He was also dissatisfied with these sword cultivators, who were brave but reckless, and always acted without consulting them.

Su Zhuo complained, "Why am I grouped with alchemists? I really don't understand how they grouped us this time. They could at least give us two sword cultivators."

Liu Yun: "You've taken so many pills from us on the way, did we even give you spirit stones before you started complaining?"

Watching their bickering, Ye Qinghan summarized, "This failure can be summed up in just one sentence."

After saying that, they all drew their weapons, pointed them at the other side, and shouted accusations: "It's all their fault!!"

The fault lies with other sects; our own sect is absolutely not at fault.

"..."

This is quite a sight. If it weren't for the sect leader above keeping things in check, this group of people would definitely have started fighting today.

"All of you, shut up!" When Elder Zhao arrived, he saw that the group of people were holding swords and making talismans, all pointing them at each other. If anyone made the first move, they would definitely start fighting in the middle of the hall in the next second.

He angrily waved his hand, knocking all the longswords and talismans to the ground with a clatter.

A silence.

He gave the group a cold glare. "Who gave you permission to point weapons at your fellow disciples?"

"Since things have come to this, let's leave it all to work things out. We'll go out again when we can work together well."

I thought that after so many training sessions, this mission would be a sure thing, but it turns out I overestimated them.

"Can you guys wait until things are calm before you start arguing?" Ye Qiao's lips twitched when she heard the voice on the other end of the jade slip. "Think of a solution, everyone."

This was the first time Ye Qiao had ever asked them for help.

The disciples, who had been arguing fiercely, glanced at the elders and, seeing that they had no intention of stopping or warning them, immediately began to dictate to her all at once.

It was no less than a training battle; it was the first time he had been able to act as a mentor in front of Ye Qiao.

Those disciples who had been poisoned and persecuted by Ye Qiao in the secret realm were inexplicably a little excited.

Ye Qiao switched to two swords, one swift as a glimpse and the other a fleeting shadow, the two sword energies attacking the man separately.

The twins from the Sword Inquiry Sect immediately reminded them, "Don't focus too much on the swords. Don't try to control them; they are a pair of love swords, their intentions are connected. The two sword energies can be unleashed together."

Ye Qiao did as instructed.

Sure enough, the two sword energies became entangled.

Taking advantage of the demon's momentary lapse in movement, she reached for the magical artifacts stored in the treasure vault, intending to use them as weapons.

"Wait, the lotus lantern isn't for you to smash Ye Qiao!! Open it, rotate the edge, and you can use it as a hidden weapon," Shen Ziwei told her anxiously.

Ye Qiao tentatively turned the lotus lantern in her hand, and the spiritual energy stored inside was instantly released, scattering like a celestial maiden scattering flowers onto the three demons.

Her eyes lit up. "That's amazing!"

"It really works, thank you Ziwei." She unusually stopped being sarcastic about his name.

Shen Ziwei was inexplicably excited by the praise.

In contrast, the three demons were devastated.

"..." The man cursed under his breath, looking at the long sword that had been beaten to a pulp.

He wanted to learn from Ye Qiao and use the magical artifacts from the Dragon Clan's treasury, but he didn't know how to use them! The Demon Clan was a bunch of illiterate people, so there was no way anyone could teach him.

As Ye Qiao dealt with the man's attacks, Ye Qinghan's calm voice rang out from within the jade slip, "Crush him with your sword! Now, strike."

The Nascent Soul stage clone landed behind, and upon hearing this, Ye Qiao twisted her wrist and slashed fiercely.

A crisp clang rang out, perfectly severing the opponent's longsword.

Ye Qinghan breathed a sigh of relief.

That was really exciting.

He's never been this nervous when he plays.

Without weapons, it would be much easier to fight. Ye Qiao prepared to press her advantage and throw talismans. Xie Chuxue had prepared quite a few, mostly for defense, with very few offensive talismans. She had drawn too few of them.

Just as she was about to switch weapons, Song Hansheng raised his chin and asked her through the jade slip, "Ye Qiao, where's your pen?"

Ye Qiao did not disobey him and took out the wolf-hair brush from the mustard seed bag. "Here it is."

Song Hansheng: "Can you draw talismans from a distance?"

As Ye Qiao was searching for a suitable weapon, her attention was drawn back to the question, "How do I draw it?"

"The Changming Sect doesn't have this kind of painting method," Song Hansheng said. "You can paint in the air."

Upon hearing this, Ye Qiao focused her divine sense on the tip of the brush as Song Hansheng instructed, and sure enough, a little bit of blue light spread out. Some people can succeed with this painting method on the first try, while others may not succeed even after more than ten attempts.

Song Hansheng tried it when he was young, but later found it was too taxing on his mental energy, so he decisively abandoned it.

"Can it be used for attacks?" Ye Qiao quickly glanced at the talismans she had memorized, preparing to experiment.

Song Hansheng replied, "Yes. This can be used as a means of self-protection for talisman cultivators, but if there are enough talismans, there's no need to draw talismans from a distance."

He had never used this method of drawing before, since the Yueqing Sect never lacked talismans.

For him, drawing like this was not only a waste of time, but also a waste of spiritual energy, but these two things had no effect on Ye Qiao.

She grasped the pen, and a pale blue talisman formed in the air. The moment she touched it, the talisman took shape, like a lotus flower in bloom. In the final moment, the sharp petals steadily struck his body.

The demon's face turned red after being stabbed. The pain of the swirling petals expanding throughout his meridians swept over him the moment they entered his body. He was simply unable to cope with her endless tricks.

"Wonderful!" Song Hansheng's eyes lit up slightly, and he couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.

"Feed." Chu Xingzhi nudged Song Hansheng with his elbow. "That lotus flower is your symbol, isn't it?"

Song Hansheng paused and nodded, "Mm."

The water lily is the symbol of the Yueqing Sect's talismans, a pale blue, lifelike lotus flower embroidered on the sect's robes.

Chu Xingzhi asked his junior sister with great interest, "Our sect's emblem is auspicious clouds. Do you think she can throw it out?"

Each sect's robe has a different embroidered pattern. For example, the Sword Inquiry Sect has silver auspicious clouds, while the Changming Sect has cranes outlined in light gold thread on the red hem, which are both vibrant and eye-catching.

"Who knows?" Zhu You twitched the corner of her lips, not understanding what Chu Xingzhi's mentality was. If Ye Qiao really revealed it, wouldn't the Sword Sword Sect lose face?

In the end, Ye Qiao chose to end the man's life with the Qingfeng Technique.

The second move of the Qingfeng Technique.

An invisible wind blade arrived at that moment and severed his throat. A single sword strike almost severed his head. Ye Qiao then unleashed three more top-grade talismans to ensure he was completely dead.

"Beautiful!" someone inside the jade slip shouted.

"Ye Qiao! Ye Qiao! We are your masters!" Chu Xingzhi said smugly.

That was practically a demonstration of their skills. Although they only talked, it didn't stop him from using it to blackmail Ye Qiao.

"A teacher for a day is a father for life."

"We won't take advantage of you, you might as well just call us 'Dad'."

"That's right, that's right."

Upon hearing this, Ye Qiao, who had sheathed her sword, clicked her tongue.

They've all lost all shame.

The tense atmosphere between the four factions ignited quickly, but dissipated just as fast.

Clearly, they preferred to verbally take advantage of Ye Qiao rather than blaming each other.

The elders, who were about to reprimand them, were somewhat incredulous upon seeing this scene. So, the ultimate secret to uniting this group of disciples was Ye Qiao?

……

Ao Li followed Zhou Xingyun and brought the golden egg to Xue Yu and the others. The four of them were finally able to reunite, but the scene was a little strange.

All five of them were circling around an egg.

Xue Yu looked left and right, incredulous. "Is this KFC?"

"Yes, yes," Ao Li nodded. "It's undergoing rebirth."

"I don't know what went wrong, it turned into an egg."

Perhaps it's because it's in the South China Sea? So it's hiding inside?

"Then what should we do?" Mu Chongxi tentatively suggested, "Shall we... burn it? And try it?"

I wonder if transferring spiritual fire into the three fire elemental roots will have any effect.

They can't all carry an egg around every day, can they?

"That's a phoenix." Mingxuan stroked his chin. "It probably wouldn't even look at our paltry sums, would it?" The spiritual fire of a top-grade spiritual root is precious, but that's only true for cultivators.

Xue Yu pondered for a moment: "I think we can give it a try."

"Isn't Nirvana simply about struggling to break free from the shell amidst flames?"

Otherwise, Ye Qiao would not have allowed Ao Li to bring the egg to the three of them.

The three of them touched the egg, but the flames failed to ignite and were completely absorbed. The moment Mu Chongxi's hand landed, he could feel his spiritual root being rapidly absorbed. He twitched his lips and said, "...You're really not being polite."

It almost wiped out all the spiritual fire within his spiritual root.

The three of them then fed it one by one, but the egg seemed to never get enough to eat.

"She can eat so much." Mingxuan muttered, then thought of a more practical question, "Can Ye Qiao afford to support her?"

After being fed in turn, the temperature of the egg rose, and its shape could be vaguely seen from the outside; it was a chick.

The color appears to be yellowish-orange.

"Try transferring a little more in." Xue Yu distributed the pills to them to replenish their spiritual energy and continued feeding it. The three of them took turns feeding it a new round.

The phoenix's rebirth is cruel in a sense. At first, Ao Li could still stare at it, but later he turned his gaze away and dared not watch any longer.

As the flames seared the egg and the temperature steadily rose, Mu Chongxi's eyes widened. "Look! Look!! It's hatched!!"