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

……

On the other side, the tower spirit that had followed the two disciples of Penglai to find Elder Zhao paused slightly and suddenly let out an "Ah".

"What?" Yue Qing'an raised an eyebrow.

The tower spirit shook its head: "It's nothing."

Ye Qiao just crammed a lot of people into the tower at once, and it's almost driven crazy by all that chattering.

It couldn't understand why Ye Qiao had gathered so many people.

Along the way, the two were trying to find disciples or any elder, but their luck was terrible. Not only did they not see any elders, but several elusive demonic cultivators would suddenly appear and strike at their vital points, scaring Chu Ling into turning and running away.

Yue Qing'an made a hand seal, retreated while softly uttering the word "束" (shù).

The light blue magic seals merged from top to bottom, firmly sandwiching the bloodthirsty demonic cultivator like a sandwich. Yue Qing'an felt an indescribable unease at this moment. "Hurry up and go."

They from Penglai have a special talent for predicting good and bad fortune. Upon seeing this, Chu Ling hurriedly nodded and followed behind her senior brother. The two of them left this place in a hurry, one after the other.

She led the tower spirit to search Jade Cry Mountain, but they didn't find any trace of Elder Zhao or the others.

Just then, Yue Qing'an noticed someone approaching. The tower spirit wanted to rush up to check the situation, but Chu Ling grabbed it, saying, "Don't go out."

They encountered too many demonic cultivators on the road, causing the two to become somewhat paranoid. The two, brother and sister, stood back to back, their hands tightly clenched in hand seals, ready to counterattack at any moment.

"Who are you?" The newcomers were three powerful figures whose cultivation levels were unclear. Yue Qing'an subtly observed them. He had a good memory, but he didn't seem to have seen so many unfamiliar faces in the Changming Sect.

Yue Qing'an looked wary and pulled Chu Ling back.

This child is really vigilant.

They exchanged glances, and one of the men, who had a more serious appearance, stepped forward and introduced himself: "My name is Ye Huan. You might have heard of me?"

Upon hearing the name, Yue Qing'an was slightly taken aback. "The Ye family's... Patriarch?"

"Yes." He nodded, and thinking the two didn't believe him, he even showed them the Ye family's warrant.

"My senior brother doesn't disbelieve it either." Chu Ling belatedly realized, gave a slight dry laugh, and explained, "It's just that there have always been rumors that the Eight Great Families and the Five Sects don't get along." Seeing the Ye family members, she was actually quite shocked. When did the Eight Great Families and the Five Sects become so friendly?

Shouldn't one just mind their own business at a time like this?

The Ye family patriarch's response was brief: "I owe someone a favor."

"Are you two children from Penglai?" He glanced at their attire briefly.

Chu Ling and Yue Qing'an were slightly taken aback, then quickly replied, "Yes, a direct disciple from Penglai Island."

The two of them, along with the tower spirit, unwittingly joined the ranks of their seniors. With powerful figures present, they exchanged a glance and felt a long-lost sense of relief.

After discovering that the jade slip could connect them to the elders, they immediately contacted Elder Zhao.

After briefly learning of Elder Zhao and the others' location, they immediately rushed over.

As one of the few demons with some intelligence, Xu Jun only needed to issue orders. The demon cultivators locked onto their targets very quickly. After all, Qin Fanfan had only a few elders in contact with her. With Elder Duan absent, only Elder Zhao remained.

He made up his mind immediately. As an elder of the inner sect.

Elder Zhao definitely possesses the sect leader's token.

The only problem left for the demonic cultivators is how to find those elders. Those people are hiding too well. Apart from having fought with one elder, not to mention Elder Zhao, even the manager of the library has disappeared without a trace.

"Why don't we try to force them out?"

Demonic cultivators are best at carrying out massacres, the kind that wipe out everyone.

"Good idea!" Xu Jun said with a smile. "The problem is, where are those disciples?"

Aside from the initial massacre when they stormed in and saw the entire Changming Sect in chaos, with disciples fleeing in all directions, half a day has passed and they haven't seen a single disciple along the way.

Where did all those people go?

His subordinate couldn't help but shudder at his laughter, "I don't know."

They all mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

"Keep searching, search every place one by one." There are twelve peaks in total. Even if they are hidden in the concealment array, they will eventually find them. The demons have increased their search efforts. Demon cultivators can be seen running around all over the Changming Sect. It's only a matter of time before they are found.

Elder Zhao finally couldn't resist any longer, "I'll go and meet them."

He doesn't have a very good temper, and he can even explode at the slightest provocation. Just waiting around isn't a good idea. If any disciples are found during this kind of mountain search, their escape as elders could be one of the triggers for conflict.

Xu Jun was forcing all the peak masters and elders of the twelve peaks to show themselves. Any elder with a conscience would no longer choose to hide, after all, there were still so many disciples waiting for them outside. If they did not show themselves, the only ones who would suffer would be the young children outside.

Having finally met the elders of the Changming Sect, Xu Jun deliberately found a safe distance and greeted them with a smile, "I have long admired the Changming Sect. Which one of you is Elder Zhao?"

Elder Zhao's brow twitched slightly, and he stepped forward.

"Give me the sect leader's token." Xu Jun went straight to the point. "We demonic cultivators also have principles. Give us the token, and we won't carry out a massacre in Changming Sect for the time being. Otherwise..." He sneered slightly, "you probably can't bear the consequences."

Elder Zhao certainly couldn't afford to lose the lives of thousands of people in the sect.

However, he was slightly surprised that the other party's target would be the Sect Master's Token.

Elder Zhao's expression was cold, clearly indicating that he had no intention of agreeing.

The faces of the group of demons also darkened at the same time, and they all simultaneously made fighting motions, but the tips of their blades were aimed at some of their disciples hidden behind their formation.

Xu Jun raised an eyebrow. "If you don't give them to us, have you considered the situation of the inner and outer disciples? Isn't it a pity that the future hope of your cultivators is being wasted here? We've captured nearly a thousand disciples from your Changming Sect."

His expression was so nonchalant that Elder Zhao couldn't immediately discern the truth in his words.

Elder Zhao dared not gamble on whether the other party's words were true or false. After all, apart from encountering Chu Ling and the others at the beginning, he had rarely seen any lone disciples on the road. Most of them had been taken away by the demonic cultivators.

Manager Yu said, "Give him the token."

The peak master of Jade Qiong Mountain was slightly incredulous, "How could this be given to the demon race?"

The sect leader's token carries a different meaning, representing the succession of sect leaders across generations. Even if it's a case of calling a deer a horse, those who have inherited the Changming Sect's legacy will still listen to it. After all, the founding ancestor of the Changming Sect established long ago that seeing the token is equivalent to seeing the sect leader.

In short, the sect's internal affairs are fine, but those powerful figures who owe Changming Sect favors only recognize the tokens.

If Qin Fanfan, as the current sect leader, were still here, it would be fine. The problem is that Qin Fanfan is not here, and it is unknown whether he can come back. Under such circumstances, how can we hand over the sect leader's token?

Steward Yu: "If we send out the token, they won't carry out a massacre. Don't you understand?"

They only want to control the Changming Sect.

If a sect leader's decree can make a sect submit, why bother with a massacre and invite a collective attack from the righteous path?

Manager Yu said dejectedly, "Give them to them. Otherwise, we might be able to get away unscathed, but what about the children behind us?"

His words struck a chord with several peak masters. Yes, they could leave, but what about the children?

After weighing the pros and cons, Elder Zhao agreed.

He was well aware of the importance of the sect leader's order, but he absolutely could not allow his hundreds or thousands of disciples to perish at the hands of the demons today.

Just as both sides were about to have further talks.

"etc!!"

A loud shout interrupted him.

In her haste, Chu Ling grabbed a flying tower spirit and hurled it at it, instantly interrupting the conversation. The powerful beings accompanying her, seeing this standoff, also hurriedly joined the fray.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. As soon as they came in, they slaughtered the outer disciples of Changming Sect. After that, they were only concerned with searching for your whereabouts. By the time they wanted to take a few hostages, all the disciples had already disappeared. They didn't have any hostages at all." Chu Ling had never spoken so fast before. After her outburst, everyone else was stunned.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Steward Yu was slightly surprised: "Chu Ling?"

"What did you mean by that?"

"That means the entire Changming Sect has vanished," Chu Ling said. "They couldn't possibly have any hostages."

Taling patted his belly, beaming with pride.

That's right.

The hostages are all inside its belly.

There were nearly a thousand people inside its belly, all of whom Ye Qiao caught with ease and locked up on the eighteenth floor. When she threw them out, she scared them to death.

Yue Qing'an nodded: "In any case, the sect leader's order cannot be given to him."

They were having a good talk when a group of people suddenly barged in. Xu Jun's smile vanished: "Penglai Island, a personal disciple?"

In this solemn setting, filled with a chilling atmosphere, Chu Ling couldn't help but ask, "Big brother, are we not worthy of having names?"

So, in the eyes of the demons, only Ye Qiao deserves to have a name? When they mention him, they always say he's someone's direct disciple. Chu Ling really wanted to throw the tower spirit in this demon's face.

"But I haven't seen you before." Xu Jun nodded, showing no panic at the sight of so many cultivators. "Ah, have the cultivators who broke in earlier reunited? So all of you cultivators have finally arrived?"

The problem is that, according to his calculations, with one hiding and the other searching, it would be very difficult for them to meet.

He looked around, took out the jade slip and found it was glowing. The boy realized, "Oh, so the isolation formation has been broken."

Chu Ling became more confident: "You can't beat us."

Needless to say.

With so many elders present and experts providing support, even if the demonic cultivators are strong, they cannot possibly control the Changming Sect.

Chu Ling estimated their fighting strength and concluded that it was at most a 60/40 split.

They have a 60% chance of winning.

"Wow, Nascent Soul stage. And the Void Refinement stage too?" Xu Jun took a slight step back, his smile wicked.

He casually ordered, "Don't fight these Nascent Soul and Void Refinement cultivators. Kill all the disciples here."

Xu Jun's goal was clear: at least a hundred disciples were hidden in the concealed formation behind Elder Zhao.

Even if it means killing a thousand enemies while losing eight of our own, we must slaughter them all. Then we'll see if Elder Zhao can bear to watch his sect's disciples suffer.

He doesn't gamble on their strength, but he can gamble on their soft hearts.

"Our only goal is the Sect Master's Token. If you give us the Sect Master's Token, we might take pity on you and let you go."

As he spoke, more than a dozen demonic cultivators rushed into the concealed formation. The formation was filled with panicked cries. Some experienced disciples drew their swords immediately and organized the other disciples to deal with the situation calmly.

However, they were too young and lacked practical experience, and were completely powerless against a group of lunatics.

With a flick of his wrist, Ye Huan's sword flashed in a cold arc, severing the heads of the demonic cultivators who lunged at him. His superb swordsmanship could easily take the lives of three people with a single strike, but under Xu Jun's command, there was no way to stop all the densely packed demonic cultivators.

Sword cultivators are not like talisman cultivators who can easily control the entire scene. Coupled with a group of demonic cultivators who are willing to risk their lives to kill the disciples behind them, they naturally cannot stop them. Ye Huan and the others' faces were extremely cold.

What should I do?

They also lacked experience in outwitting and outmaneuvering demonic cultivators, and in terms of ruthlessness, they were far inferior.

Elder Zhao felt a chill run down his back.

He didn't believe that the demons from the Demon Abyss would be so kind as to retreat after obtaining the sect leader's order. Without a doubt, these demons hated the Changming Sect the most.

They were originally from the Changming Sect, and they sealed them away with a single sword strike for a full century.

If they weren't still thinking about this mission, they probably would have slaughtered the entire Changming Sect immediately.

Chu Ling's face was pale as she grabbed the tower spirit, "What should we do?"

Ahhhhh.

She didn't know what Ye Qiao was planning by sending the tower spirit to Elder Zhao, but Ye Qiao definitely had a plan. The tower spirit was being held too tightly, and it screamed, "Let me go, I'll help you!"

The tower spirit had just been planning how to summon the tower back, since the tower's main body was temporarily in Ye Qiao's hands, and not long ago Ye Qiao was using the tower to randomly capture lone disciples.

As Ye Qiao continued to approach its direction, it sensed the tower's location and hurriedly moved the tower towards it.

The tower spirit finally understood why Ye Qiao had asked it to find Elder Zhao.

They came to the rescue at a crucial moment.

Chu Ling hurriedly let go, bewildered. The tower spirit instantly soared into the air, and a tower suddenly appeared before everyone. The pale golden Ghost King Tower, eighteen stories high, hung in the air, and the sky darkened in an instant.

What the hell?

They frowned subconsciously and looked up.

Seeing a tower suspended high overhead, the other party seemed to be brewing something, and the scene looked rather frightening.

"Ghost King Tower?"

Xu Jun recognized this thing; it was Ye Qiao's magical artifact.

To be honest, this magical artifact isn't very useful, unless it can capture a group of demonic cultivators at once. However, since all the demonic cultivators are scattered, it has no way to control the situation.

"What can a magical artifact do?" Xu Jun asked slowly. "It's better to ask me than to ask others."

This heartfelt confession was met with indifferent stares from a group of people.

"If you kneel down before me, I might consider letting you go," he said with a grin, his tone childishly wicked.

"If you kneel down before me, we might consider letting you go, okay?" The familiar voice froze his smile once again.