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

Inside the Demon King's Palace, everyone appeared relaxed, but their hands were all at their waists, a gesture of readiness for attack or defense. None of them moved, wanting to see what the demon and monster races were really up to.

Even the hot-tempered Sect Master of the Sword Inquiry Sect suppressed his temper and stood there coldly, motionless.

The demons have taken many hostages, and even they dare not act rashly. After all, it is impossible to keep your word with the demons; they could kill all the hostages in a heartbeat.

"Two spiritual artifacts have recognized their masters. Do you have anything to say?" Finally, the Demon Lord broke the silence. His question, whether a test or not, made everyone tense.

Qin Fanfan smiled and said, "I've noticed that your subordinates are no different from pigs who only know how to eat. You've failed repeatedly on so many attempts to enter the forbidden area. You managed to bring out two spiritual artifacts, but you didn't manage to get a single one. That's quite a failure."

Mentioning this, even the Demon Lord's face twisted in pain.

Yes, he only obtained two innate spiritual artifacts, and those were found during a raid on a city when he failed in his disciple missions. But Ye Qiao!! She possesses five spiritual swords and four spiritual artifacts!

Ye Qiao, you've gone too far!

"Xie Chuxue." He coldly turned his attention to the young man who had remained silent, seemingly lost in thought. "Aren't you quite good at guessing? Two innate spiritual artifacts have recognized you as their masters in quick succession. Can you guess which two sects' innate spiritual artifacts they belong to?"

Xie Chuxue hesitated for a while before slowly saying, "One might be the Pure Lotus."

"The other one, let's say the Han Guang shovel."

There's no need to guess much. Just considering the nature of that magical artifact, the Dark Book, it's hard to explain in a few words. The Sword Inquiry Sect probably wouldn't allow such a chaotic and evil magical artifact to be brought out.

Then it can only be the Pure Lotus and the Han Guang Shovel.

"Oh? Why these two?"

"Because of the Dark Book... oh, that infamous Dark Book, you must have heard of it, right?" Xie Chuxue raised an eyebrow slightly, a half-smile on her face. "A thousand years ago, it caused the destruction of a small sect and countless deaths of disciples from major sects. The Sword Inquiry Sect would not allow such an evil artifact to be brought out."

He spoke with unusual certainty, and the Demon Lord seemed quite satisfied with his answer. "Then who do you think is the owner of the Light-Containing Shovel?"

"Zhou Xingyun, I suppose." Xie Chuxue was still happy to argue with him, since it was always good to delay for a while.

"Oh?" The other person laughed. "I thought you would think it was Ye Qiao? After all, you look very good to him."

If you look closely, you'll notice that Xie Chuxue's favorite disciple isn't Mingxuan, whom he personally taught, but rather Ye Qiao. He always seems to be subtly paying attention to her.

Xie Chuxue rested her chin on her hand and said, "Xiao Qiao is quite popular with spirit artifacts, but I think Han Guang Shovel prefers a more stable master."

"Ye Qiaoyao? When she's in a normal mood, she's quite composed, isn't she?"

"You said it yourself, it's when she's back to normal."

Han Guang Chan prefers cultivators with stable emotions, and among the five, Zhou Xingyun is the most emotionally stable—stable enough to commit suicide without any issues. The others, however, are still easily attracted to new things, retaining some of their youthful impetuosity.

Zhou Xingyun, well. This disciple inherited the ancestral master's Dao and has the most potential to become the sect leader. Giving him the Han Guang Shovel would be very good.

Qin Fanfan couldn't help but give Xie Chuxue a hard tug, signaling him to stop wasting time talking nonsense with the Demon Lord.

Xie Chuxue shrugged. His words were half true and half false. The Han Guang Shovel must belong to Zhou Xingyun. The Demon Lord would find out that his speculation was correct once he sent people to investigate. But the Dark Book…

It is highly likely that it is in Ye Qiao's hands.

Xie Chuxue's answer was that she couldn't get it.

The Demon Lord clearly believed it to be true.

After all, the Dark Book was indeed an evil artifact known to everyone a thousand years ago, and the Demon Lord was quite wary of such an evil thing. Even if Ye Qiao brought it out, he couldn't subdue it, which may be one of the reasons why he believed it to be true.

But Xie Chuxue firmly believed that no matter how outrageous things were, if that person was Ye Qiao, then it would make perfect sense.

He was deceiving the Demon Lord, and the Demon Lord took the bait; that exchange of information was enough.

Xie Chuxue guessed that they might be afraid of the Dark Book, otherwise they wouldn't have emphasized it among so many magical artifacts. The only ability of that book was its extremely strong control, which would be an absolute disaster on the battlefield.

However, its weakness is also obvious: if there are companions nearby, the thin wires can be broken.

What is the Demon Lord afraid of in the dark?

Xie Chuxue lowered his eyes and continued to think, but still had no clue. He guessed that he would soon find out what the Demon Lord was afraid of about the Dark Book.

Further words were pointless. After their verbal exchange ended, Qin Fanfan coldly drew his sword. Noticing that the Demon Lord was about to separate his avatar, and fearing that the Demon Lord would cause trouble for the children again, he thrust his sword forward, his voice chillingly cold, "After nearly a hundred years, you still haven't learned your lesson?"

The Demon Lord tilted his head, staring at Qin Fanfan with a gloomy expression.

Being forced to retreat and bide his time by the righteous path for nearly a century has always been a disgrace to him.

The sword in Qin Fanfan's hand was a spiritual sword passed down through generations of the Changming Sect. The strong righteous sword energy it contained made the Demon Lord almost instinctively take a step back.

"Fanfan is so amazing, I'm so proud of her."

Someone let out a strange cry.

"..." This sect leader of Chengfeng Sect is a pervert.

……

There is a city at the border between the demon realm and the cultivator realm. Any demon cultivator passing through must pass through this city. Because it is closest to the demon realm, the entire city is dilapidated and sparsely populated. After all, not everyone has the courage to live next to the demon realm. Although there are few people, cultivators have lived here for generations, but the environment is extremely poor.

The city where the disciples belonged was a bustling metropolis with a constant stream of cultivators. They had never seen such a city before. They were specially treated upon arrival, and many people came forward to watch.

The young men, some carrying swords, others medicine pouches, and still others holding magical artifacts, their colorful sect robes intertwined, attracted the attention of countless cultivators outside.

For them, these direct disciples are an extremely rare breed.

Mu Chongxi waved like a leader going to the countryside, only to be punched on the head by his senior brother. He let out a yelp and looked at Ye Qinghan with a pout: "How are we supposed to get in and find Master and the others?"

"Instead of thinking about helping our masters, let's deal with the monsters and demons near the city first," Ye Qinghan said coldly.

Mu Chongxi nodded. That's right, and besides, Master and the others don't need my help at all!

They weren't the only ones here; there were also some seniors who had just emerged from seclusion. Each of them exuded an unfathomable aura, drawing the adoring sword cultivators' infatuated stares.

The oldest member of the group was only around twenty years old. Compared to a group of powerful figures who were often over a hundred years old, they were like children. Instead of assigning them any other tasks, they were left to guard the city.

For them, the city was not worth defending. Chu Xingzhi went out to scout but did not see a trace of the demons. It was clear that they had been settled in a place that was not needed. He said bluntly, "They look down on us."

"They're hundreds of years old, it's normal for them to look down on us," Xue Yu said calmly.

Chu Xingzhi: "Hmph."

"So we're just going to waste our time like this?"

"This is the only way for now." We can't just abandon the people of this city to go and support our predecessors.

People might even find them a nuisance.

Their leisurely and aimless days, when they came purely to make up the numbers, didn't last long. Almost immediately after they finished complaining, the talisman cultivators on night watch suddenly sat up.

There were only a few Nascent Soul stage cultivators who could be of any use in the entire city. Those with the strongest spiritual sense were thrown out to keep watch at night. Song Hansheng was the tallest among them, so he naturally kept a close eye on his surroundings with a gloomy face.

Normally, demons wouldn't attack a city without a reason, but perhaps knowing that the Han Guang Shovel was in Zhou Xingyun's hands attracted the attention of countless demons.

It was nothing more than showing concern; what made Song Hansheng's face turn pale was not that, but rather the fact that his divine sense detected a large-scale self-destruction of demonic beasts.

Monster? Self-destruction?

This kind of vocabulary is quite novel. After all, demonic beasts are creatures without intelligence. If they had intelligence, they would be even less likely to self-destruct. Self-destruction is a major taboo in the cultivation world, as one's soul would dissipate after death. If a demonic beast were to self-destruct, it could only be a group of low-level, mindless demonic beasts.

Moreover, it was a demon emperor who was directing them to do this.

Attacking cultivators by sacrificing the lives of their own people is utter madness.

"Those...those seniors...?" Mu Chongxi's mind went blank.

"The monsters that self-destructed were targeting our predecessors; we only have a bunch of demons here, like shrimp soldiers and crab generals."

They only had to deal with the demons they were most familiar with. In comparison, those crazed, self-destructing monsters were far more dangerous. The power of a Golden Core cultivator's self-destruction was equivalent to the strongest attack of countless Golden Core cultivators. On a large scale, it would be a disaster.

"Seriously, a large-scale self-destruction would just interrupt the spellcasting, right?" Duan Hengdao said somewhat naively.

"How could a self-destruction be interrupted?" Su Zhuo glanced at him.

Duan Hengdao raised an eyebrow and reminded him, "The Dark Book, isn't that magical artifact's main power of control?"

That's right.

"What about Ye Qiao?" She was holding the secret book.

Xue Yu shrugged. "He went to rescue the young prince."

The shockwave from the demons' self-destruction made it impossible for anyone to approach. They had been forced by their predecessors to stay behind and guard the city, and the events inside were not their concern at the moment.

"It's best not to use the Dark Book," Chu Xingzhi said, scratching his head in annoyance. "I've already told you, it's a bad thing."

Once it's taken out, there's a risk of being controlled by the secret book if it's used before gaining the book's approval.

He even reminded Ye Qiao again, but he didn't know if she listened.

"The Dark Book has not yet recognized a master." In other words, the Dark Book is an evil artifact that could betray you at any time.

"Stop talking nonsense, the demons are here."

Song Hansheng had set up an array around them in advance. The array was triggered the moment they arrived, and all the sword cultivators drew their swords.

Compared to the demon race, the demon race is insignificant. For a Nascent Soul stage demon to dare to come up is simply suicide. The formations were activated one after another. They didn't take the demon cultivators seriously. They all looked into the distance, wanting to go to the demon race to support their seniors.

"What would happen if we left?"

"I'll be criticized to death."

After all, they were guarding the city, and if anything went wrong, they would be held responsible for being left behind. At this moment, they found themselves missing Ye Qiao dearly.

If Ye Qiao were here, she would have made a move long ago.

"Sigh." They sighed deeply.

……

"Outside. What's that noise?" After rescuing a group of seniors from the Demon Abyss, Ye Qiao urged KFC to head to the battlefield. When she turned around, the sudden gust of air and the unprecedented pressure made her ask the others.

That feeling gave Ye Qiao a bad feeling.

Apart from KFC and Little Prince, who were unaffected, the other seniors on site all frowned in unison.

"It was the airflow from a self-destruction."

Someone gave her an accurate reply.

"Huh?" Ye Qiao had never heard of this term before. Under the skeptical looks of the other seniors, she pressed for an answer, "What does it mean?"

"What realm are you in? If you have a small infant inside you during the Nascent Soul stage, it means you're in the Nascent Soul stage. If you detonate it, the effect will be no different from a self-destruction, except that the destruction will not only destroy your realm, but also your physical body and soul."

"Self-disclosure is too extreme. In all my years, I have never seen anything like it."

"Did one of the cultivators self-destruct?" Ye Qiao's heart suddenly started racing. "That's impossible." Since even their souls were gone, no one should have chosen to self-destruct.

"Not a cultivator," the other party denied her statement. "It should be a demon beast."

"A demonic beast?"

"Yes, this is a perfectly legitimate and open conspiracy. A large-scale self-destruction of monsters is nothing short of a walking disaster."

"And it is clear that only the Demon Emperor carries out the orders. Demon beasts have a class consciousness, and the Demon Emperor is above all other demon beasts. Some lower-level demon beasts cannot refuse his orders."

"Where did the self-destruction occur?" Ye Qiao couldn't help but look in the direction of the airflow. "Was it a demon?"

Her master was also in the demon realm. There were also several elders and her senior uncles.

"Inside the Demon Realm," the elder murmured to himself, "many powerful beings are inside. Let's hurry and set off."

At least they can offer some help.

Ye Qiao didn't move.

Not only her master, but if her senior brothers were also assigned to support the demons, it would be no different from her whole family being sent in.

Upon suddenly receiving such news, it's easy for a person's mind to go blank. For a moment, Ye Qiao also wanted to rush into the Demon Realm to find Qin Fanfan and the others.

But the image of Mu Li in her mind coldly told her: You can't stop anything.

"Since the Dark Book is not at your disposal, in the chaos of the battlefield, do you think it will choose to control the demonic beasts to escape your control, or obediently acknowledge you as its master?"

It's obvious that the answer can only be the former.

The number of demonic beasts was terrifying. Even though she could control the situation with the Dark Book, her abilities were limited. When surrounded by demonic beasts, she had no way to control this evil artifact, which was known as the evil of the human world.

If it were to turn around and control the demonic beasts to attack them, the cultivators would already be at a disadvantage, and the secret book would only worsen their already precarious situation.

If she wants to change the situation, the best way for her to do so is to use the secret book of contracts and then use it to change the course of the battle.

"What are you still daydreaming about? Your master and the others are inside." Someone impatiently urged, "Hurry up and take us in."

Ye Qiao turned her head. "Should we not go?"

After she finished speaking, she suddenly looked meaningfully at the dozen or so powerful figures behind her whose cultivation levels she couldn't discern. Then, thinking of the fifty-odd people in the domain, she suddenly realized that she wasn't alone.

That would be interesting.

"How can you, as a trusted disciple, be so cowardly?" His dissatisfaction with her was palpable, and his finger was almost poking her face. Ye Qiao leaned back tactically, and at the same time, she suddenly slapped the KFC.

KFC suddenly swung around, and apart from Ye Qiao and the little prince, the others were almost thrown off their feet.

The speed of a phoenix is ​​no joke; being thrown off such a high altitude without using a sword would be disastrous.

Ye Qiao looked at her senior, whose face had turned pale with fright at the sudden turn of events, and remained calm. "I'm a very timid person. I'm most afraid of people raising their voices at me." She lowered her head shyly and quickly added, "When I'm scared, I get easily agitated, and when I get agitated, the bird I'm riding tends to fly off in all directions."

"So you'd better not scare me."

The wording was very polite, and the attitude was also fine.

But the threatening words were practically overflowing.

He was furious, almost instantly realizing that Ye Qiao had her own ideas. The man's face darkened. "Didn't Qin Fanfan tell you that disciples must obey orders when they are out in the world?"

Ye Qiao replied to him in a serious tone: "Our clan practices a free-range policy."

Obedience to orders is not an option for her.

She continued expressionlessly, "Also, senior, to be honest, if you were where I used to live, we wouldn't usually call you senior."

"What's it called?" he asked, his nose flaring with anger.

"Call him Old Deng."