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

Ye Qiao, the philandering woman, was unaware that Qin Huai had silently criticized her.

Having listened to Fang Zhiyao's rambling the whole way, Ye Qiao, who had little enthusiasm for weapon crafting, had to change the subject and asked, "Where's your senior brother?"

Fang Zhiyao was taken aback, then shook her head. "I don't know. Senior Brother usually doesn't come with us."

There is a barrier between weapon crafting and sword crafting, and weapon crafting cultivators generally prefer to work alone, as they need a quiet environment to refine weapons.

Qin Huai, who had been observing from the shadows for a moment, heard Ye Qiao's call and stepped out briskly. Seeing the two of them walking together, his brows furrowed. "Why are you two standing together?"

Ye Qiao rolled her eyes at him.

Qin Huai also gave her a cold snort.

"How did you get here?" The saying "No one visits the temple without a reason" applies everywhere. Normally, they wouldn't go to each other's sects unless there was a reason. If the relationship is good, it's fine, but if the relationship is not good, like between Changming Sect and Wenjian Sect, a fight is possible.

Ye Qiao mumbled, "I had some business to attend to, so I came with my martial uncle."

She felt that perhaps Chengfeng Sect also had no solution. If they wanted to keep this Demon Lord under control, Ye Qiao herself would have to do it. Once her divine sense was stronger, she could force him out.

Qin Huai knew it was a private matter from her vague answer, and since he wasn't interested in it, he nodded and avoided the question.

"You're going to Penglai in a few days, would you like to lead a team?" He asked this question casually.

"Penglai?" Ye Qiao had never heard of this place before.

"Excuse me," she asked politely, having just returned to her sect and not yet fully processed the outside news, "Is the Penglai you speak of the legendary Penglai Immortal Island?"

She had often heard of Penglai Island when she was still in modern times.

So this thing actually exists in the cultivation world?

"Yes, that's the place." Fang Zhiyao nodded slightly. "I heard that the people on the Immortal Island are skilled in divination and fortune-telling."

Ye Qiao: "What are you going to Penglai for? To ask the Dao?"

Just hearing the name tells you about the special nature of this place.

"Don't you want to go and see for yourself?" Qin Huai lazily raised an eyebrow and asked back, "Penglai is said to be a very magical place, and the cultivators there possess secret techniques for breaking through realms. Besides, those who come from Penglai are all very strong."

Ye Qiao gave a perfunctory "ah" twice. "So, was going to Penglai premeditated, or was it ordered by the elders?"

She remembered that one of the elders in their sect was also from Penglai. Each elder came from a different sect and place, so to become an elder, one either had to be outstanding or have a strong backing.

"It was the elder's order."

Seeing her clueless expression, Qin Huai wondered if he was used to it or what, and offered to explain: "That place has various poisonous and aggressive spiritual plants, somewhat like a secret realm we visited before."

Given enough time, spiritual plants can take human form. These self-aware plants are extremely hostile to outsiders and will attack without hesitation if they discover an intruder. In other words, this area is full of danger.

"Then this will require a large number of alchemists to go there," Ye Qiaoming replied knowingly.

However, if one goes with alchemists, without the protection of those with higher cultivation levels, one's own safety is not guaranteed.

Unfortunately, the Sword Inquiry Sect is currently unavailable. Ye Qinghan had told her not long ago that he was taking his junior brothers and sisters to the secret realm, so the Penglai trip could only be led by other disciples.

No wonder Qin Huai asked this question. After all, with Ye Qinghan gone, wouldn't it be his chance to rise from second place?

She immediately understood the other person's intention and said lazily, "Oh, you want to lead the team."

Qin Huai nodded. "Don't you want to?"

Ye Qiao wasn't really interested: "This shouldn't be a matter of whether we want to or not; it depends on the sect leaders' arrangements."

The sect leaders' intentions were not hard to guess. With a new Nascent Soul cultivator in the cultivation world, and the other sects not knowing who it was, they naturally wanted their disciples to try to break through to the Nascent Soul realm as well.

Changming Sect only went to the Dragon Clan once, and easily broke through a realm. Who wouldn't be envious?

Penglai then led a group of people down.

"Ye Qinghan is busy." Qin Huai was tempted. "I want to lead the team."

Ye Qiao felt that his plan was likely to fail, because Ye Qinghan would most likely be forced to go. She poured cold water on his idea, saying, "I don't think he has a choice. The Sword Inquiry Sect will definitely force him to go."

The Sword Inquiry Sect is much stricter than them. It concerns the collective honor of the sect, and this is not something Ye Qinghan can control.

In fact, it was pretty much what Ye Qiao had guessed.

Several sect leaders did indeed discuss this matter. Ye Qinghan explicitly stated that he wanted to go to the secret realm, clearly believing that a trip to the secret realm would be far more useful to them than a trip to Penglai.

"If Ye Qinghan isn't going, who do you think would be suitable to lead the team in a place as dangerous as Penglai?"

If you're looking for someone, you should naturally look for someone who is capable of handling things independently.

"How about Zhou Xingyun from the Changming Sect leading the team?"

"Zhou Xingyun is an unreliable disciple. It would be better to replace him with Qin Huai, who has a stronger sense of responsibility."

The sect leader of the Sword Inquiry Sect still had concerns, "Both of these disciples are at the late Nascent Soul stage. If they can break through to the peak Nascent Soul stage this month, that would be acceptable."

It's clear that Zhou Xingyun can't be relied on. Looking at the situation, let whoever wants to take it or leave it. Changming Sect is preparing to lay down its arms early.

That leaves Qin Huai as the only candidate, as none of the others have sufficient cultivation level.

"The Chengfeng Sect, with its three weapon cultivators and two sword cultivators, has too few members capable of protecting themselves. It will be difficult for them to gain the respect of the masses."

Generally, each sect seeks its own opportunities and fights independently. If they suddenly gather together, the fighting power of Chengfeng Sect is far inferior to that of Changming Sect.

The Changming Sect has three sword cultivators and one talisman cultivator; all four of them are capable of protecting themselves.

Objectively speaking, Changming Sect is the most suitable.

"Let Ye Qinghan handle this," the Sword Inquiry Sect Master said, rubbing his forehead. "Neither Qin Huai nor Zhou Xingyun possesses the ability to unite people."

"Hmph." Qin Fanfan chuckled coldly, but didn't mock him.

With just a few words, Ye Qinghan's fate was decided, without even considering whether Ye Qinghan might refuse. If this were a matter for the Changming Sect, those five rebellious sons would probably have retorted with a "refusal to cooperate" without a second thought.

Clearly, the sect leader of the Sword Inquiry Sect had never experienced being refuted by his own disciple.

……

When Xie Chuxue took her back, Qin Fanfan also brought the news to them.

"Within that great secret realm lies the spiritual mansion of a sword patriarch of the Sword Inquiry Sect." To cultivate a spiritual mansion, one needs to reach the Refinement of Emptiness or Integration of Body realms, and it is an opportunity left behind by a very rare and powerful figure in the cultivation world.

If we can find that spirit palace, then the gifts left inside will definitely be the most suitable for the Sword Inquiry Sect.

However, the sect leader believed that collective honor was more important. He was leading the direct disciples of five sects together, and if he succeeded, he could establish an absolute leadership position in the five sects.

Moreover, the opportunities in Penglai are not necessarily worse than those in the secret realm.

"It seems they are determined to make Ye Qinghan give up the secret realm and go to Penglai."

"Ye Qinghan wouldn't be happy, would he?" Mu Chongxi put herself in Ye Qinghan's shoes. If it were her, she certainly wouldn't be willing either. Whether Penglai could obtain the opportunity was still unknown, and whether it was suitable for her was another matter entirely.

But the secret realm definitely holds opportunities, and it's the most suitable one for you, so why take such a risk to gamble on an unknown?

"I just don't understand why he has so many problems all the time?" Mingxuan had a wolf-hair brush balanced on his lips, his arms casually crossed behind his head. His balance was quite admirable; I wondered how he managed not to fall.

Ye Qiao swung her legs, found a place to lie down, and said, "You don't understand." This is what they call the male protagonist's halo.

Although he could have gone to the secret realm to find an opportunity to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, the sect still hoped that he could lead the team.

It's definitely a great opportunity to prove myself. To be able to lead the disciples of five sects together would be a huge honor.

However, you can only choose one of the two.

The library was quiet. After gathering together, the group casually picked up a few books to read. After Ye Qiao's trip to Chengfeng Sect, all she gained were some methods of suppression. However, Xiao Ai posed almost no threat to her. It was already difficult for a remnant soul to have survived until now.

After teaching her a few methods to suppress the remnant souls, Cheng Fengzong drove them out.

They have absolutely no sense of hospitality.

"Do you think he could go to the secret realm first, and then take us to Penglai after he comes back?" Mingxuan suddenly had a whimsical idea.

This is equivalent to one person doing two jobs.

Even the old oxen plowing the fields weren't as tired as Ye Qinghan.

Ye Qiao was speechless. "Don't you think this will kill him?"

"Ye Qinghan is quite different from us," Zhou Xingyun said, seemingly speaking from experience. "I think he's perfectly fine."

Ye Qiao immediately sat up straight: "Tell me your story."

Zhou Xingyun seemed to have been holding back for a long time. He began to complain without expression, "A long time ago, when I was about thirteen or fourteen years old, before our two families separated, they lived next to each other."

"He lives next door to us. Ye Qinghan almost never rests. He's the only one practicing swordsmanship at night. When we practice swordsmanship, he's practicing swordsmanship too."

"That's great. If the two families continue like this, they can indeed make progress together."

What's wrong with encouraging each other?

"Then, while we went to rest, he was still practicing his sword. He finally quieted down for a while in the middle of the night, but before dawn, he started practicing his sword again." It was rare to see a hint of breakdown on Zhou Xingyun's usually calm face as he spoke: "Can you imagine? There really is someone who can do nothing but practice his sword all day long."

"..."