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

"Are you alright, Duan Hengdao?"

Ye Qiao stared at him with a slightly incredulous look. How could Duan Hengdao utter such shameless words with such a serious expression?

"Master was right, the disciples of your Chengfeng Sect are indeed a bunch of freaks." Mingxuan sneered, arms crossed.

Shen Ziwei covered her junior brother's mouth, "Sorry, sorry, he's acting crazy. I'll go and teach him a lesson."

As it turns out, there's a limit to nonsense. Duan Hengdao blinked and saw his senior brother's sinister gaze, so he chose to keep quiet.

Qin Huai clapped his hands. "Are you all done going crazy?"

"Once you've finished venting your anger, let's talk about our mission this time." The important thing is to think about how to stop those demon kings from taking the great demons out of the secret realm.

They came here to save the cultivation world, not to chat.

Ye Qiao: "The mission is very simple. First, we need to find a way to destroy the magical artifact that can open the secret realm in one go."

"Before the secret realm closed, the sword cultivators intercepted the great demons who wanted to escape, while the talisman cultivators and weapon cultivators were responsible for setting up formations to keep those demon kings completely trapped in the secret realm."

"We can gradually add more detailed implementation strategies later."

The group nodded in unison; this was also their plan.

Song Hansheng and his fellow disciples exchanged glances. The young man looked up and declared beforehand, "We want the Bodhi Fruit this time."

Qin Huai casually shook his finger, met Song Hansheng's gaze, and said, "Coincidentally, that's what we thought too."

The two chief disciples exchanged a glance, their expressions both sharp and confrontational.

After all, the number of Bodhi fruits is limited, and everyone wants to get the lion's share.

Although I have a mission to complete, since I'm already here, it would be a shame not to take the Bodhi away after encountering such a sacred object.

Once the fruit on the Bodhi tree ripens, it will surely attract a horde of monsters.

"Then let's all rely on our own abilities." Ye Qiao wasn't particularly interested in the Bodhi Fruit at first, since she hadn't figured out how to deal with the Demon Emperor's inner core in her possession.

The patriarch said that if one wants to use a demon core, then one needs the help of demon beasts to convert it.

However, it's unlikely that any demon beast with a sound mind would help her convert the demonic energy within the demon core into spiritual energy.

Therefore, Ye Qiao had to temporarily abandon the idea of ​​using the demon core to break through the realm and turn her attention to the Bodhi Fruit.

Mingxuan pulled her aside, and the two of them lowered their heads slightly. "We were too hasty. Our numbers aren't equal."

Four members of the Yueqing Sect and five members of the Chengfeng Sect.

Their Changming Sect only had two people, and they were outnumbered and outmatched. How could they possibly compete with them?

Ye Qiao exchanged a glance with him: "I have four sword spirits, plus Xiao Qi and the tower spirit."

Mingxuan: "Awesome."

Alright, alright, it doesn't matter if they have fewer people, they have plenty of sword spirits.

"However, Qin Huai also has a sword spirit, and sword spirits are easily dispersed, so it's hard to say what will happen if a real fight breaks out."

Mingxuan pondered for a moment: "Your crescent crossbow is ignoring me."

He's still not very familiar with the Crescent Crossbow, and Mingxuan can only use it so-so.

"Song Hansheng also has the Bright Moon Arrow."

That arrow spirit is also very troublesome.

Moreover, Chengfeng Sect is a professional weapon refiner, and they may have just as many spiritual weapons as Ye Qiao.

It turns out that there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. In this mysterious realm of clouds and mist, all beings are equal. No matter how high your cultivation level is, you won't gain any advantage. When it comes to a real fight, it's all about numbers.

Ye Qiao saw that her second senior brother's head was drooping, like a wilted eggplant, and said, "However, you don't need to be in such a hurry."

One thing she didn't mention was that she had a trump card up her sleeve. Although the demon kings outside had seen through her true colors, the demon kings inside the secret realm were still unaware of it.

Her image as the Demon Queen hasn't completely collapsed yet, so regardless of whether the Demon Kings admit it or not, as long as she doesn't fall from grace, the demon race will temporarily stand on her side.

Therefore, if they can mobilize all the demons, their chances of winning are still very high.

Ye Qiao mumbled, "After all, there's always a way out."

The disciples of the three sects were all forming their own groups, discussing how to seize the Bodhi Fruit. After their meetings, Qin Huai, being the action-oriented one, immediately went to cultivate relationships with the independent cultivators in order to gather information.

Qin Huai's appearance is the type that female cultivators would like, and he speaks more pleasantly than Song Hansheng and the others, making it easy to extract useful information from him.

Sure enough, Ye Qiao had just shamelessly gone over to try and get some information when the female cultivator, who was completely infatuated with Qin Huai, started spilling the beans, her face full of adoration.

"A single Bodhi fruit can increase one's cultivation by a hundred years. Even those with poor comprehension can easily break through a realm, while geniuses with good comprehension can break through two realms in a row."

Therefore, the number of cultivators who entered the Cloud and Mist Secret Realm this time was far beyond imagination.

"Logically speaking, there should have been many people entering the secret realm this time because of the sacred object, the Bodhi Fruit. But who can blame them when the demon and monster races are at war?" The girl shrugged and grinned. "Now, those who enter the great secret realm are all daring cultivators who dare to defy the odds."

The girl's words awakened them at that moment; yes, that's right.

At this moment, apart from those who were on a mission, everyone else who dared to come in at this critical juncture was a ruthless person who was not afraid of death.

Zhai Chen concluded, "In short, we must be cautious in everything we do."

This time, we not only need to guard against the demon kings, but also be wary of the cultivators' ambushes.

Murder and plunder are not uncommon occurrences in the cultivation world.

"If we have a lot of Bodhi Fruits, can we break through in the secret realm?" Duan Hengdao rubbed his hands together, eager to try. "We'll arrange for someone to guard the formation then."

As soon as Duan Hengdao said this, everyone tacitly turned their attention to Ye Qiao.

After all, everyone knows that breaking through to the next realm is the most difficult for her. Even if she were given a Bodhi Fruit, Ye Qiao's Nascent Soul realm would not change much.

The others are different; they are generally around the late Nascent Soul stage. A Bodhi Fruit could very well allow them to leap two realms and reach the Divine Transformation stage. Therefore, she is the only one who can guard the formation.

"Don't worry." Seeing that they were all looking at her, Ye Qiao assured them, "If you break through to the Nascent Soul stage, I will definitely protect this formation for you without a doubt."

"But you'd better not swallow the Bodhi fruit."

"Don't forget we still have a mission," she said, lowering her voice. "When you all break through to higher realms, are you going to leave me to deal with a whole group of demon kings by myself?"

Ye Qiao imagined what it would be like then, and her lips twitched. She was so busy.

"Don't worry, we definitely won't leave you alone." Duan Hengdao patted her seriously. "Are we some kind of unreliable people?"

Ye Qiao did not answer and slapped away the hand that was on her shoulder.

Except for the last sentence, they did not lower their voices at all. Ye Qiao and the others made it seem as if they had already obtained those Bodhi fruits.

The cultivators, with their keen hearing and sharp eyes, slightly turned down their lips and looked at them with a cold gaze.

What a confident group of people!

They haven't seen such a confident team in a long time.

"Which family's cultivators are you from, out here for training? You're so young, yet you dare to enter the Cloud Mist Secret Realm and spout such nonsense." A female cultivator in the group put her hands on her hips, a half-smile on her face. "If you die in the Cloud Mist Secret Realm, I'm afraid your elders won't know who to ask for revenge."

The Cloud and Mist Secret Realm is a perfect place for killing and plundering. No recording stone or jade slip can contact the outside world, and many cultivators die silently inside without anyone knowing.

Mingxuan recognized her as the woman who had called him a vixen. He spoke nonchalantly, "It's just a training exercise. Life and death are predestined, wealth and honor are determined by fate. It doesn't matter."

The woman was surprised by his optimism. She scoffed, "I advise you to give up on coveting the Bodhi fruit. Otherwise, you won't even know how you died."

Her words were so pointed that Mingxuan's brows furrowed slightly before relaxing.

"Auntie." The boy tilted his head and suddenly called out, "If you really can't understand human language, I also know a little bit of martial arts."

He threw a punch without warning, the resulting gust of wind causing the woman to instinctively lean back.

They dodged it.

Ye Qiao was slightly surprised by this scene. After all, even if Ming Xuan's physical skills were poor, it was impossible for him to be unable to hit a rogue cultivator.

Moreover, Mingxuan's physical skills are quite good.

The woman was also somewhat surprised by Mingxuan's speed. She narrowed her eyes and asked, "You're a sword cultivator, aren't you?"

In the cultivation world, sword cultivators are the most common profession, while other professions are extremely rare. Mingxuan and his companions' physical skills are considered quite good among ordinary rogue cultivators, which led her to mistakenly believe that they were all sword cultivators.

Mingxuan didn't speak, and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

The atmosphere between the two sides was somewhat tense. The old man in the group slowly stepped forward and said, "Xiao Shuang."

"Elder." The woman called Xiao Shuang lowered her eyes, called out once, and then said nothing more.

"Elder"? That's an interesting title.

Song Hansheng spoke first, his tone ambiguous, "How should I address you?"

"Just call me Elder Mu."

Song Hansheng's face suddenly turned cold. He turned away without saying another word, and pulled Ye Qiao and the others away. They quickly followed. Ye Qiao asked curiously, "Is there something wrong with the surname Mu?" She knew very little about the situation in the cultivation world and was not quite sure why Song Hansheng's expression had changed.

"These people are not rogue cultivators at all. They are members of the Mu family from Beicheng."

"You all know that each sect has its own fixed city, right? For example, Cloud City, located at the foot of the Five Sects, is more of a territory of the Changming Sect, while the North City is designated as a city of the Wenjian Sect, which is considered a large city in the cultivation world."

"Oh." A city within the territory of the Sword Inquiry Sect, huh? Ye Qiao asked curiously, "Does the Sword Inquiry Sect collect protection fees?"

Song Hansheng was momentarily speechless, but quickly understood the meaning of her "protection fee." He replied, "I won't accept it. The relationship between the two parties is not one of protection and being protected. The cities are independent, but each city under the jurisdiction of a sect assumes that it is under the protection of the sect."

As the saying goes, even when beating a dog, one should consider its owner. A city backed by the powerful Wenjian Sect will naturally be a bit arrogant.

That's good; both sides thought the other was a rogue cultivator.

"That old man's identity is not simple." Mingxuan narrowed his eyes. "Judging from the respectful attitude of those people, that old man is at least a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Ha, a powerful being of that level shouldn't be in seclusion. He should be coming to the Great Secret Realm for the Bodhi Fruit."

Su Zhuo explained slowly, "Because this old man who has lived for hundreds of years is nearing the end of his lifespan, if he wants to continue living, he can only try to break through to a higher realm to extend his lifespan, and the Bodhi Fruit is his only option to break through quickly."

This fight is going to be very intense.

"Let's cooperate first," Zhai Chen said cautiously. "When we get the Bodhi Fruit, we can divide it equally. If it's really not evenly divided, we can see who put in more effort." The more information they gathered, the worse it seemed. Splitting things up was clearly disadvantageous for them.

Most importantly, those who try to take things from Ye Qiao rarely end up well. It's better to cooperate. Cooperation is good, cooperation is wonderful. As the saying goes, unity is strength.

While Ye Qiao and her team were discussing the matter, the other teams also had their own thoughts.

"Elder, what are the backgrounds of those people? Did you see that pretty boy make a move? When he threw that punch, the force and speed were definitely extraordinary," Xiao Shuang asked urgently. "I have a feeling they're not easy to use."

The old man's face also turned somewhat grim. He had been stuck in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm for a long time, and he came to the secret realm with the mentality of taking a gamble. A single fruit could save him hundreds of years of cultivation and allow him to easily break through to the next realm.

Facing a group of independent cultivators, he was confident that these Bodhi fruits were already his for the taking.

"It's alright." Old Mu let out a soft snort. "The oldest of them is only around twenty years old. What trouble can a bunch of immature kids cause?"

"But have you ever seen a teenager at the peak of the Golden Core stage?"

Xiao Shuang realized that the group of people were all at the peak of the Golden Core stage, which is the highest level in the secret realm. Does that mean that the eleven people might be more than just Golden Core, or even Nascent Soul stage?

They're only teenagers, probably in the Nascent Soul stage.

"I'm afraid he's either one of the Eight Great Families or a disciple of a sect."

Otherwise, where would a group of little monsters have come from, coming down the mountain together?

"It doesn't matter. We can kill anyone who gets in our way, no matter which family they belong to. Don't forget this is the Cloud and Mist Secret Realm. It's normal for a few people to die here."

Even if we kill them all, their sects or families wouldn't be able to eliminate everyone who enters or leaves the secret realm just to seek revenge, would they?

A hint of ruthlessness flashed across Old Mu's face. "I just hope they'll be sensible enough not to fight me for it."

……

On the surface, the group maintained a calm demeanor and continued towards their destination. Along the way, they encountered many other groups, and Song Hansheng calmly reported their cultivation levels: "They are all at the peak of the Golden Core stage."

The peak of the Golden Core stage is the limit of the realm restrictions in the secret realm, but it is not their limit. Those who dare to enter the secret realm at a time when the cultivation world is in turmoil are very likely to be in the Nascent Soul stage, or even above.

Normally, you wouldn't see a single Nascent Soul cultivator, but now, thanks to the Bodhi Fruit, all the rare experts have gathered together.

Upon arriving at their destination, they found many cultivators already stationed there. The lush, towering trees all looked almost identical, leaving Ye Qiao dazzled: "So many trees. Which one is the Bodhi tree?"

Mingxuan rested his chin on his hand, pondering for a moment before speaking, "I don't know. We'll see which tree has the most cultivators gathered there, and then we'll just go with the flow and guard that one." When in doubt, just go with the flow.

"No rush, take your time looking. The fruit trees won't be fully ripe for another day anyway."

"But we need to be careful, because once the Bodhi fruit falls to the ground, it will burrow into the ground and disappear. Let's hurry up and not let it disappear into the ground."

Ye Qiao was completely confused. "A groundhog?" It can even burrow underground.

"No, those Bodhi fruits have no consciousness; they are simply fleeing on instinct."

Therefore, pursuing the Bodhi fruit is also a considerable undertaking.

Upon hearing this, Ye Qiao carefully considered the weapon spirits and sword spirits in her possession, and found that there were actually very few that were truly useful.

Xiaoxi's domain has many limitations, and pausing time to grab the fruit is not worthwhile. Apart from the Frost Sword, other sword spirits are not very useful. The only thing she can rely on is that the Frost Sword can freeze the Bodhi Fruit at the critical moment.

Mingyi's voice was clear and crisp as she blinked: "How about we use an isolation array on the ground? That way they won't be able to burrow through the ground."

Song Hansheng shook his head, "The formation is useless against them."

"Ye Qiao, could you perhaps use your domain?" Song Hansheng suddenly thought of this and turned to look at her. Although the formation was useless, it didn't mean the domain was no good. Once the domain was activated, the ground would be sealed off from all sides, making it perfect for locking up the Bodhi Fruit.

Ye Qiao paused slightly, then smiled mysteriously at him, "I have some bad news for you, want to hear it?"

"What?" He instinctively shrank back, then, feeling embarrassed, Song Hansheng leaned forward again.

"My domain has shattered."

"???"

"Huh?" He wondered if he had misheard.

"My domain is shattered." Ye Qiao repeated herself. She found that everyone's reaction was even stronger than hers, and they were all looking at her with expressions as if their parents had died.

"Ye Qiao." Qin Huai raised an eyebrow. "What have you done with your domain?"

How could a domain shatter so easily? There's only one possibility: something must have exceeded the domain's tolerance, and that area must be incredibly powerful, otherwise it couldn't possibly have shattered. Thinking this, he casually asked, "How did it shatter?"

"The Demon Emperor shattered it." Even if Ye Qiao regretted it afterward, it was too late. "If I had known the domain would shatter, I wouldn't have gone to play with him."

Ultimately, she underestimated the terror of the Tribulation Transcending realm.

Her domain mechanism, especially the last mode, was quite invincible. Ye Qiao wanted to test the maximum tolerance of all things, and then, without any sense of the immensity of heaven and earth, she once again sought out the Tribulation Transcending stage to conduct the experiment.

Qin Huai had already guessed that she used her domain to trap and kill the Demon Emperor, and only after the Demon Emperor asked for help did the grand scene of all beasts paying homage and rushing in one direction occur. He couldn't help but twitch his lips, "What other surprises do you have that we don't know about?"

He has defeated the Demon Lord, tricked the Evil God, and incidentally added the feat of wiping out the Demon Emperor.

Her experiences in just a few short years are more exciting than the lives of others spanning hundreds of years.

"Hey hey hey." Even with her thick skin, Ye Qiao couldn't withstand their intense gazes. "Stop chatting for now, let's find out which one is the Bodhi tree."

"Leave this to us." Zhai Chen clapped his hands, and then a fluffy, beige-colored beast head poked out from his storage pouch.

The treasure-hunting beast swung its tail and hopped closer to Ye Qiao, excitedly rubbing against the "Never-Seeing-Your-Lord" pendant hanging at her waist.

Its expression was one of pure bliss, and it even let out a comfortable purring sound.

Ye Qiao: "..."