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

Other disciples: "..."

You're quite the chatterbox. They were already pretty desperate, but after Steward Yu said that, they felt even more hopeless.

What's the difference between this and the idea that we seem to have a hard time fighting against demonic cultivators, but in reality we don't have much of a chance of winning?

Manager Yu is the administrator of the Changming Sect's library. Most disciples have little contact with him; the ones who have had the most contact with him are his close disciples.

They weren't sure how strong Manager Yu was, or rather, not only were they unsure, but Ye Qiao and the others also felt that the elders in the sect, each with their own responsibilities, were incredibly unpredictable.

At first, it was somewhat comforting, as things went smoothly under the protection of Elder Zhao and Steward Yu.

"How many elders and peak masters are left in our sect?"

There are quite a few high-ranking members in the Changming Sect, but they don't meet often, and some of them are not even in the sect.

"Ah, the peak masters are all here, but their strength is... well, to be honest, just so-so." Managing a mountain peak doesn't depend on cultivation level, but on methods, so they're not very good at fighting.

"..."

Elder Zhao felt that if he continued to ramble on like this, all the disciples would be petrified.

"Shut up already." Can't you even chat?

Manager Yu was speechless. "Is this all the resilience they have?" He understood why the disciples had to be tested repeatedly to develop their mentality, especially with the elders present. Otherwise, their performance in this situation wouldn't be much better.

Ultimately, it's because the cultivation world has been too comfortable for the past hundred years.

*

The demonic cultivators maintained contact with each other. Upon learning that a group of powerful figures had entered, the demonic cultivators tacitly chose to hide. At the same time, the strategist in the group quickly issued an order, instructing the Nascent Soul stage demonic cultivators to create countless clones in order to buy time.

"Our strategy is simple: delay them, especially Ye Qiao. None of you should fight her; provoking her will do you no good."

"Run when you see her. If she chases you, run faster. If you can't escape, try to stall her."

"If you encounter Ye Qiao, report her location immediately. Find out where she is. Try to avoid her, and if you can't avoid her, run."

Their purpose for this trip was simple.

Obtain the sect leader's order.

These sects are too much of a nuisance, and their cohesion is strong enough. To solve the problem once and for all, their target this time is the Changming Sect's sect leader's token. Seriously? As the leader of the five sects, who else would they target if not the Changming Sect?

"Which elder possesses the Sect Master's Token?"

"I don't know." They had no knowledge of the internal affairs of the Changming Sect. Checking out the peak master, elders, and the managing elders in various places would be a huge undertaking.

The strategist looked up, his eyes twitching slightly, and offered his opinion: "It's unlikely that the elders, who are responsible for their respective duties, will be included. The peak masters are already very busy managing their respective peaks, so they can basically be ruled out. The focus should be on finding someone with seniority and a close relationship with Qin Fanfan."

The demon cultivators nodded in agreement. Their demon race wasn't particularly adept at mental warfare, and they relied entirely on their highly intelligent strategists to devise plans for large-scale operations.

The other party pondered for a moment: "Wasn't the instruction to not kill anyone as soon as you went in, but to interrogate a few disciples?"

As a result, they lost control of their emotions. Having finally broken into the Changming Sect, they were too excited and started a massacre. This caused the disciples who witnessed it to hate them even more, and no matter what methods they used, they couldn't get a single useful clue out of them.

"They're not exactly immune to fighting spirit, after all. With things like this, they naturally won't back down," the strategist complained lightly. "But it doesn't matter. Keep a close eye on Ye Qiao, and then eliminate them one by one as I've instructed. We can play with them slowly."

In any case, their numbers are absolutely overwhelming.

The ones who should be troubled now are the high-ranking members of the Changming Sect.

On the other side, Ye Qiao didn't know if the demonic cultivators were doing it on purpose, but countless clones kept appearing to obstruct her along the way.

They all had one thing in common: they didn't fight her, they just provoked her. Every time Ye Qiao couldn't bear it anymore and was about to draw her sword to kill them, they would disappear the next second. Ye Qiao would catch up with them and take care of these clones one by one.

After this repeated itself, and seeing the demonic cultivator run away without looking back every time she saw him, she calmed down a little and realized that something was wrong.

"What's wrong, Qiaoqiao?"

"I have a feeling they've figured out my location?"

Jinghong Sword tilted his head slightly: "Hmm? Perhaps they have a way to contact you and are specifically targeting you?"

They wouldn't have the wild idea that anyone else would be specifically targeted, but with Ye Qiao, it's hard to say.

After all, Ye Qiao's actions are quite...unexpected? She didn't try to hide anything at all, but of course, it couldn't be hidden. If the demonic cultivators were in contact in private, then the demons inside would all know that Ye Qiao had entered.

The first thing she did after entering the sect was to activate the sect's protective formation. Then, clutching the small golden pagoda in her hand, she began to patrol the familiar sect grounds.

Once they saw any disciples who were alone, they would detain them without saying a word.

This cast a huge shadow over some of the unsuspecting disciples.

The Ghost King Tower suddenly enlarged as if a monster had swallowed them whole. When they opened their eyes, they thought they were doomed, but they never expected to be imprisoned in a completely unfamiliar place. They were filled with anxiety, thinking they had been locked in a dungeon by demonic cultivators.

Ye Qiao gave the sword spirits a simple demonstration of what it means to confidently toss rings; as soon as she saw someone, she would drop the tower she was holding.

She hits the target every time she throws; now who can tell her apart from Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King?

"Do you need us to deal with those who are eyeing you?" Jinghong Sword asked.

Although they can't compare to those two killing swords in terms of killing, the three of them have different attributes, making it easy for them to deal with the demonic cultivator's clones.

"Yes, we need to." Ye Qiao replied. He realized he didn't have enough swords when he needed them, so he released all the weapon spirits and sword spirits. They immediately began clearing away the countless clones along the way.

One of his clones is quite special; his strength is exceptionally powerful, a rarity among all Nascent Soul cultivators.

The other person easily bypassed the pursuit of the other sword spirits and arrived in front of Ye Qiao, a smirk playing on their lips. "You are Ye Qiao of the Changming Sect?"

His expression was remarkably calm, even somewhat mocking.

She was calm and composed, somewhat different from the demonic cultivators she had encountered before.

Ye Qiao looked at him, "?"

He chuckled, "It's nothing, I just wanted to see you. The Left Protector was defeated by you, and the Right Protector fled in disarray and is now imprisoned in the dungeon, his fate unknown. I'm quite curious about you."

"So, which protector are you? Or which young master? Or the Holy Son?"

Ye Qiao then seriously considered the vacant positions in the Demon Clan. The Demon Clan was truly full of talented people, with young Nascent Soul geniuses as the leading figures and unfathomable left and right protectors as the supporting figures.

That's great. The wealthy families who are short of manpower will probably drool when they hear about it.

"Neither." He denied her guess, then turned on his microphone to mock, "As the leaders of the five sects, your cohesion and abilities are rather pathetic. Of course, I didn't mean to target you."

"But you're pretty useless too? You have to use a clone to test me just to see me?" Ye Qiao told him, "Of course, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm just saying that all demons are trash?"

The exact same script.

His smile vanished instantly, and black lines spread across his palm as he struck without warning, ready to teach her a lesson.

The Frost Sword appeared the next second, and the little girl rushed to the front without saying a word. The fierce wind accompanied by flying frost made the demonic cultivator's movements freeze and slow down instantly.

Faced with the little girl's relentless pursuit, he was forced to withdraw his attack and retreat continuously. The ground where he landed froze into a patch of ice. He clicked his tongue and said, "A real culprit."

Sword cultivators possess their own sword spirits, and fighting against sword spirits is an extremely unwise choice. Dispersing them is of little use; only completely breaking the sword will work.

He focused on defense throughout, but the experienced Frost Sword seized the opportunity to close in, delivering a powerful punch that sent him flying to the ground.

Another clone?

On the road, Jun and Lueying had killed countless clones, and the two sword spirits were visibly getting impatient.

Seeing the figures disappear, even they more or less understood what was going on. Jun tilted his head and asked, "This kind of delaying tactic is disgusting."

With so many clones, just how many Nascent Soul cultivators entered at once?

Lueying also said, "They're as disgusting as rats in a sewer."

Just as they thought the other had left, Ye Qiao suddenly felt a chill behind her. The Jinghong Sword swiftly shot out from her side, meeting the attack head-on. Countless bolts of lightning flashed, forcing back the man's attack. The Shadow Blade waved its wide sleeves, forming a wall woven from lightning, watching him warily.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

Clearly, he's just here to stall for time.

Whether it was the endless rambling just now or the actions now, they were all using clones to constantly stall for time.

The deep purple sword spirit suddenly swooped forward, its expression cold. "I'll go find his true form for you, Qiaoqiao."

Once that clone comes into contact with her, her main body will definitely be affected, and her lightning will be unrestrained in any way.

We can determine the direction of the lightning strike by observing its spread.

Seeing this, Ye Qiao also began to observe the battle. The demonic cultivator was clearly very wary of the Jinghong Sword, constantly dodging the lightning that rushed up from all directions.

With each advance and retreat, the Jinghong Sword's fighting style was exceptionally forceful, forcing the demonic cultivator into a corner with nowhere to escape.

It should be noted that the sword spirit with the lightning attribute is inherently aggressive, and the demonic cultivator simply couldn't handle it. The Jinghong Sword struck at the right moment, and the lightning spread across his body, with current overflowing everywhere. Ye Qiao observed the direction of the current and found that it wasn't nearby. She stepped forward, preparing to leave and find the location of the demonic cultivator's main body.

Just then, the Shadow Sword, which had been hovering high in the air, suddenly flew up and joined the battle.

Its action was so sudden that Ye Qiao instinctively tried to grab it but missed.