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

"Junior Sister is the pride of our sect." Mingxuan forcefully pushed Duan Hengdao, who was standing next to Ye Qiao, aside. "If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense."

Qin Huai also pushed Duan Hengdao away, nodded, and said, "She is a proper sword cultivator, not a pill cultivator. Don't talk nonsense."

Whether as an opponent or a teammate, Qin Huai admired her greatly. If she were to go into alchemy, who would he spar with in the future?

Duan Hengdao, who had been repeatedly pushed away, was speechless.

Am I some kind of superfluous person?

Old Master Mu was still skeptical. "Really?"

Shen Ziwei nodded in agreement, confirming, "Yes, she really is a sword cultivator."

Elder Mu: "Doesn't that further prove that she's suited for alchemy? Cultivating two paths simultaneously, she managed to create twenty pill imprints." Why bother learning swordsmanship? Go refine pills!

*

On a certain forum in the cultivation world, the discussion about the Cloud and Mist Secret Realm remains high.

The reason this sparked discussion among idle cultivators was simply that, at this critical juncture, groups of cultivators dared to enter the Great Secret Realm, and their fearless spirit attracted many onlookers.

However, things started to go wrong once the secret realm ended.

For a full seven days, cultivators guarded the outside of the secret realm, and no one came out of the exit of the secret realm.

This phenomenon has never occurred in any Great Mythic Realm before, and the strange news spread like wildfire.

"Isn't that amazing? Hey, hundreds of people went in, and not a single one came out of the secret realm."

"No one survived? Everyone who entered the secret realm died? Holy crap, is this Cloud and Mist Secret Realm really that terrifying?"

"Although it's also known as the Vanished Secret Realm, it wasn't without cultivators who entered a hundred years ago, and dozens of them came out alive. Now there's not a single person left. Can someone tell us what's going on?"

"I've heard—and I mean, I've heard—that after seeing Ye Qiao and the others being chased by the demon kings all the way, Song Hansheng sealed the secret realm at the last moment. I think this is inextricably linked to them; only talisman cultivators have the ability to seal a secret realm, right?"

In the cultivation world, talisman cultivators are rare, and given Ye Qiao's group's past record, when someone so succinctly revealed the secret, the others immediately understood.

"Master, I understand."

"Holy crap, these guys are really despicable! They actually trapped so many people in the secret realm? What are they up to?"

"They've been despicable for a long time. What will happen to the rogue cultivators inside?"

"It's been so long, they're all dead by now. The Five Sects don't value the lives of rogue cultivators."

"Here, a certain talisman sect is specifically mentioned."

"I don't object to the principle of the survival of the fittest, but this is blatantly disregarding the lives of others who enter the secret realm. How interesting, Five Sects."

"The powerful families and sects don't really treat rogue cultivators like human beings."

The hierarchy of discrimination in the cultivation world is still very strong. When encountering powerful disciples of aristocratic families during their training, independent cultivators can only survive by banding together. As a result, the cultivation world fosters exceptional unity among independent cultivators.

Ultimately, most of them were independent cultivators, and through a series of events, the matter of the Cloud and Mist Secret Realm was widely publicized.

"Although Song Hansheng is indeed immoral, he's handsome, wow wow wow, lick lick lick."

"Get out of here, you brainless fan of Song Hansheng."

"The culprit is Ye Qiao, who brought a large group of demon kings. She's known as Ye Langlang. Let her have fun. Who can cause trouble for her?"

"The walking disaster is no joke. If you run into Ye Qiao, you're doomed. You'd better run."

"Why are you talking about Ye Langlang? Not a single cultivator has emerged from the Cloud Mist Secret Realm for so long, aren't the other sects doing anything about it?"

"Mind your own business. Maybe all the cultivators in the Cloud Mist Secret Realm are already dead."

"What about the Azure Water Sect? It's understandable that the other four sects aren't helping, since they have to fight against the demonic cultivators. The Pill Sect should be fine, right?"

"What use is a bunch of ostriches from the Azure Water Sect?"

"..."

That's great. Who can escape the wrath of cultivators in the cultivation world? Si Miaoyan never expected that she would be caught in the crossfire.

Miaomiao was full of questions, "What does this have to do with us?"

Si Miaoyan pressed her temple hard, her voice indifferent, "Ignore them, let's enter the secret realm first."

*

At that time, the rogue cultivators who were the focus of everyone's attention had been hiding in the secret realm with Ye Qiao for three whole days. The secret realm was not that big, but for cultivators, being able to hide for three days was really impressive.

Moreover, in three days, in the perilous Cloud and Mist Secret Realm, not a single person was harmed. Everyone would say that's awesome.

"I knew I hadn't misjudged you, Ye Qiao." The man who had recognized them from the start was extremely excited.

He knew that if he latched onto the right powerful figure, he could get out alive.

Ye Qiao went out early to scout the location. With her concealment spells, even those undergoing tribulation would occasionally forget their presence. After memorizing the key details of the surroundings, she took out a sheet of Xuan paper and carefully drew out the layout. "It's been three days. There's no need to hide any longer. From now on, follow my instructions and try to get everyone out of here safely."

There's no point in hiding any longer. In three days, those evil cultivators will probably have used up most of their pills.

It's time to take action.

"I didn't expect that." A rogue cultivator leaned against the formation and said sincerely, "You're actually a pretty nice person."

No one expected that she would take them along despite past grievances.

Ye Qiao felt guilty and remained silent upon hearing this. To be precise, it wasn't that she was a good person, but rather that they couldn't escape responsibility for the sealing of the secret realm.

The rogue cultivators didn't expect them to do anything. In a typical great secret realm, it takes five days to enter, and out of every hundred people who enter, nearly sixty or seventy will be lost. Now, seven days have passed, and the fact that more than ninety percent of the cultivators are still alive is an unprecedented miracle.

The idea of ​​safely evacuating everyone is simply a pipe dream.

Ye Qiao pointed to the simplified map she had drawn in her hand with her fingertip, "We'll start our operation tonight. When we get to Cloud Mist Valley, we'll run north, and you'll run south."

"There are probably more than eighty of you. You'll be responsible for making some noise to lure the demon kings to the center of the valley." She circled the location. "The eleven of us will lure the evil cultivators."

Upon hearing Ye Qiao's arrangement for them to find the demon kings, a chill instantly ran down their spines. The bloody scene of demon kings tearing cultivators apart not long ago flashed through their minds, and they subconsciously resisted: "Those demon kings aren't hitting you, why don't you go find the demon kings?"

Ye Qiao readily agreed: "Then how about a few of us go deal with the Demon King, and the rest of you go fight the evil cultivators?"

The monk shook his head: "No, no."

They were no match for the evil cultivators. The number of evil cultivators was unimaginable; they would have died in the past.

In contrast, although the demon kings are also ferocious, the demon beasts are clumsy, and the demon kings generally prefer to use physical attacks. As long as they don't get too close to the demon kings, they can escape.

However, once a heretical practitioner is hooked, all sorts of disgusting methods will emerge.

Su Zhuo's voice was harsh: "If this won't work and that won't work, then you might as well just wait here to die."

"Alright, stop arguing. Let's go lure the Demon King." After thinking it over, Elder Mu still felt that the Demon King was better. The Demon King was wonderful because at least the Demon Kings didn't covet his direct descendants.

"Since that's the case, let's stop talking nonsense." Song Hansheng interrupted impatiently, "Let's get started."

He felt suffocated being around these rogue cultivators, and he always felt that his IQ had dropped considerably.

At this point, the team temporarily split into two groups.

*

The entire Cloud Mist Valley is laid out like a valley, and at night it is shrouded in ethereal mist. The mist has a dizzying effect, and if you stay in it for too long, you will be trapped and die, becoming nutrients for the flowers and leaves in the valley.

Ye Qiao had his reasons for choosing this place. Since the goal was to wage a protracted war, the poisonous Cloud Mist Valley was an excellent place to weaken the enemy.

They have pre-refined pills that allow them to fight for a long time in Cloud Mist Valley. In terms of resources alone, what can the evil cultivators do?

Mingxuan and several other talisman cultivators were responsible for hiding at the first hiding place and making noise to attract them. He observed from the talisman that the evil cultivators were rushing to his position, so he quickly shouted.

First, fight a terrain-based battle.

With Ye Qiao's detailed map of the terrain, the evil cultivators instinctively held their breath as they entered the valley, yet they could still feel the mist spreading from all directions through their mouths into their bodies. They found this place very strange.

"Boss, should we stop chasing them for now?"

After all, we're all in the secret realm now, and it's possible that none of us will be able to get out. So, isn't it better to stay alive?

Perhaps they can wait until the cultivators forcefully open the secret realm to rescue them, and then they can all get out together.

"Shut up! The secret realm will be opened by the five sects later. Let's kill those wretched bastards who are wailing in front of us first!!"

"Especially that female cultivator in red!" He shouted, his voice booming, his teeth grinding together, filled with rage. "Don't think I didn't see it. She's the mastermind. That little bitch was the first to start wailing. The others were just echoing her."

He suddenly opened his mouth, inhaling a large amount of mist. The leader of the evil cultivators felt dizzy for a moment and instinctively covered his mouth.

He used telepathy to ask his subordinates, "Have you seen those cultivators?"

"No, but they are definitely in the valley!"

Since that was the case, the evil cultivators had no choice but to bite the bullet and head into the strange valley. The valley was low-lying and surrounded by piled-up rocks. Following Ye Qiao's instructions, the five of them held a dozen or so explosive talismans and hurled them at the piled-up rocks around them.

Three more blasts followed, and the boulder crashed down. The evil cultivators immediately realized it was an explosive talisman upon hearing the sound.

However, just as they were about to follow the direction of the explosive tag to find the person, they realized that the direction from which the sound came out was wrong!

The explosion came from the right, and they all turned to stare at the right, but why did the noise come from above?

"Aaaaaah!!"

The rolling boulders suddenly slid down like a mudslide, burying them completely. The screams that came out were inhaled into the thick fog again. The weaker evil cultivators couldn't catch their breath and fainted on the spot.

This group of evil cultivators is not a loving organization; they wouldn't care about their unconscious companions. After struggling to crawl out of the pile of rocks, they continued on their way.

Completely unaware, the unconscious evil cultivator was gradually decomposed by the mist and silently transformed into nourishment.

"..."

After throwing out the talismans, they ran away, leaving the next step to the weapon cultivators. After all, Ye Qiao had said that the focus now was on reducing the number of evil cultivators.

The evil cultivators wanted to fight to the death, but they couldn't just ignore it and fight alongside them. Right now, the disciples' goal was to get everyone out of the secret realm safely, otherwise the cultivators outside would drown them with their spittle.

With the talisman cultivators retreating, it was up to the three weapon cultivators to take the lead. The three weapon cultivators from Chengfeng Sect came up with a variety of tricks, using everything from intricate nets and poisoned needles to crossbows—any weapon that could be placed around the area was used.

They dodged the flying projectiles in the thick fog like blind men. Occasionally, they would run into evil cultivators head-on. Just when they finally managed to avoid those ubiquitous projectiles...

Under the cover of night and thick fog, a rope was tied to the top of the mountain. Suddenly, the rope snapped in mid-air, and a huge blade fell down, severing the heads of the evil cultivators walking in front.

Blood was everywhere, rolling on the ground.

Ye Qiao gasped, finally understanding why Fang Zhiyao was considered the most decisive and cunning of the three weapon cultivators.

Fang Zhiyao smiled shyly at her.

Ye Qiao: "Stop laughing, it's making my stomach hurt."

Mingxuan took the opportunity to whisper to her, "He's too cunning. We absolutely cannot have a man like that."

Ye Qiao coldly elbowed him, "Stop joking, Second Senior Brother."

Compared to that, the grand competition was indeed a small-scale affair; when it came to killing people at crucial moments, these disciples were all incredibly skilled.

Mingxuan: "Damn, that hurts, Ye Qiao!"

……

damn it.

What the hell is going on here?

The heretical practitioners felt as if they had seen a ghost.

The short stretch of just a few kilometers through the valley claimed nearly half of their lives.

The evil cultivators have been fighting wits and courage with the righteous cultivators for decades, and they have never seen any righteous cultivator use such dirty methods.

Who came up with this idea?!

The leader of the evil cultivators had a sinister expression. He suddenly flicked his sleeve and struck out in all directions. The indiscriminate attack affected Ye Qiao and the others who were hiding in the valley. They scattered and their auras were exposed at that moment.

They ran out of talismans and traps, but this time none of them managed to escape.

This was unexpected for the evil cultivator. After all, these cunning old foxes would run away after scheming against them, even more wicked than the evil cultivators themselves! He never expected that his attack would blast everyone out.

Ye Qiao landed and winked at him with a smile: "Hi, what a coincidence~ It's us again, are you surprised?"

"..."