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

The battle between Zhou Xingyun and Ye Qinghan was not something anyone else could interfere with. This was the first time the two had truly faced off. Ye Qinghan's heart sank slightly as she stared at Zhou Xingyun's position.

In a flash, two different sword energies collided, creating a violent friction sound. An overwhelming pressure enveloped the area, and they tested each other's strength with more than a dozen moves in just one minute.

After exchanging blows with him, Ye Qinghan keenly sensed something was wrong. "Your sword seems a bit unresponsive?"

Ye Qinghan had long heard of Zhou Xingyun's sword; it was a spiritual sword, said to have gained sentience. In terms of weaponry alone, it was far inferior to the ordinary Xuan sword in Ye Qinghan's hands.

Zhou Xingyun replied, "It's a bit rebellious."

The Dust-Breaking Sword was passed down from the Zhou family ancestors, and each chosen sword master is the future head of their family.

Duan Chen was unwilling to cooperate with him, but no one but Zhou Xingyun could pull it out.

The only way to draw it out was for Zhou Xingyun to hold it in his hand.

"Duan Chen actually refuses to acknowledge him?" The elder of the Sword Inquiry Sect was shocked. "No wonder. The two of them lack coordination. Fanfan, how long has this been going on?"

Qin Fanfan, who was being questioned, was speechless. He had no idea.

In fact, his understanding of each of his disciples was limited to one who was lazy all day, one who was shameless, one who liked to refine pills and poison people, one who went down the mountain to play every day, and another who had hanging himself as a hobby.

Qin Fanfan was completely baffled as to what they were good at and what they weren't good at.

After the two separated for a while, Zhu You finally mustered the courage to approach them and try to mediate their fight.

"etc."

"I'm going to hold a meeting with him." After saying that, Zhu Youchao and the others from Changming Sect smiled amicably and quickly dragged Ye Qinghan away.

The two found a quiet place, and Zhu You glanced in the direction of Yun Que, saying in a calm tone, "Ye Qiao's contracted beast was thrown down by Yun Que, so it's normal for Changming Sect to be angry."

"This isn't a gang fight," she explained seriously. "It's just revenge."

Ye Qinghan frowned. He didn't know the cause and effect, he only saw Ye Qiao leading a group of people to beat up Yun Que.

A hint of hesitation appeared on the boy's expressionless face, but he still said, "Yun Que is a girl."

Is it appropriate to be surrounded and beaten by a group of people?

Zhu You couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "But Ye Qiao is a girl too! You can't ignore her gender just because she acts like a carefree person all the time!"

Zhu You, fearing that Ye Qinghan was still standing there foolishly acting as a protector, opened the jade slip, leaned close to his senior brother, and reminded him, "Look, our Wenjian Sect is now ranked fourth."

Ye Qinghan valued the honor of his sect highly, and his brows furrowed tightly after seeing the ranking on the jade slip.

"Yes, Senior Brother." Chu Xingzhi joined in, earnestly advising, "Yun Que only got a beating, but if our Sword Inquiry Sect continues to lose, the title of the number one sect this year may really have to change hands."

"Let's go quickly."

The three members of the Sword Inquiry Sect quickly retreated. With Ye Qinghan no longer an obstacle, this place was now entirely under the control of their Changming Sect.

Mu Chongxi perked up, "Quick, quick, crush her identity card. Invite her to the elimination area for tea."

The two who were arguing also came to their senses.

Song Hansheng didn't want to get involved in this matter, but he had only been able to find the Qingxin Grass thanks to Yun Que, so he could only barely suppress his anger. "I'll make her apologize to you."

Mingxuan snatched Yunque's mustard seed bag, rummaged through it, and sure enough found the identity tag. He shook his head, his tone insincere: "Our KFC is still missing. What's the use of her apology?"

"How much do you think your junior sister is worth?" Mu Chongxi asked in return.

Song Hansheng choked up.

The Yueqing Sect may be wealthy, but that doesn't mean they can withstand the repeated extortion by people from the Changming Sect.

"You didn't lose anything!!" Su Zhuo said, knowing that the one who was beaten the worst in the end was clearly their junior sister.

Mu Chongxi: "Our spirits have been wounded."

"..."

Song Hansheng wished he could stab Yun Que, the troublemaker, to death with his eyes. He took a deep breath and said coldly, "Let her press it."

IOUs are things where the wrongdoer is identified and the debtor is held responsible; Song Hansheng is not going to be the one to take the fall.

Under pressure from everyone, Yun Que's tears fell in strings. She hated these people to death and could imagine the scene of those cultivators pointing and whispering about her after she made such a fool of herself.

Ultimately, whoever is eliminated first in the secret realm will be left feeling awkward on the elimination bench alone.

Just as she was about to put her fingerprint on the IOU, Mu Chongxi suddenly pulled it back.

"etc."

"We've changed our minds."

"You should just leave the game."

Under Yun Que's incredulous gaze, Ye Qiao waved her identity token and said nonchalantly, "Goodbye."

Even if Yun Que was stupid, he would realize that these people from Changming Sect were just playing him for a fool!

Her eyes and ears were practically bleeding; the shame and grievances intensified, causing Yun Que to vomit blood again in anger.

As the identity token shattered, the teleportation array sent Yun Que out. Song Hansheng didn't feel anything, only that he was free.

They'd already tried to stop him, and since they couldn't, they couldn't blame him. Song Hansheng glanced at Su Zhuo and said, "Let's go."

The two had just finished arguing when Su Zhuo noticed that his beloved junior sister was missing, leaving him somewhat distraught.

Song Hansheng sneered, "So you're still hung up on her? Why don't you go down and keep her company?"

Su Zhuo certainly couldn't be eliminated along with Yun Que, otherwise, once they got out, those who liked the Yueqing Sect would spit on him and say that he didn't value the competition.

The Azure Water Sect didn't get involved in this matter. They witnessed the whole thing, so they weren't surprised at all by Yun Que's elimination.

"Why would Yun Que provoke Ye Qiao for no reason?" Miao Miao said, crossing her arms.

With Yun Que gone, the Treasure-Seeking Beast naturally left with her as well. This meant that the Yueqing Sect no longer had the ability to lead them to find spiritual plants. Si Miaoyan said without hesitation, "Then let's end our cooperation here."

The two plastic alliances have been completely shattered.

"How about we go and form an alliance with Ye Qiao and the others?" Miao Miao exclaimed excitedly. "Since Xue Yu isn't here, won't we all be able to benefit from this?"

"..." This strange idiom left the senior sisters and brothers speechless as they looked back.

The fourth senior brother of the Azure Water Sect said, "I'll go talk to Ye Qiao and the others about cooperation."

No one else had any objections.

Ye Qiao was pondering about the original plot. In the novel, the original owner had her spiritual root dug out. After she left and stopped being a tool, how was Yun Que's spiritual root repaired?

Using spiritual plants?

"I've noticed a problem." Just as Ye Qiao was deep in thought, Ming Xuan spoke up in a serious voice.

"Um?"

The group tilted their heads in confusion, thinking that Mingxuan had discovered something amiss.

Mingxuan said sincerely, "I've noticed that Junior Sister is quite pretty when she's not talking."

Mu Chongxi rarely agreed.

When Ye Qiao stood there without speaking, her eyebrows and eyes were slightly lowered. Dressed in a dark blue casual robe, she looked very quiet and serene, just like a senior sister from a noble family who was aloof and ethereal.

"Has any of you cared whether Xue Yu lives or dies?" Ye Qiao was stunned, not expecting the group to veer off-topic like this. She shook her head and sighed, "The world is going to the dogs, people are so cold-hearted, there's not a shred of camaraderie among fellow disciples."

Reminded by her, the senior brothers, belatedly realizing what was happening, quickly took out their jade slips to confirm that Xue Yu was still alive and well.

While the four members of the Changming Sect were engaged in a group fight, Xue Yu was still wandering alone.

He wasn't very lucky; he ran into the Chengfeng Sect members halfway there.

Qin Huai: "What a coincidence."

Xue Yu smiled slightly: "What a coincidence." How unlucky.

Qin Huai's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected someone to come to him with a pillow just when he was about to doze off. He was feeling restless and irritable because of the environment of the Flaming Mountain. In addition, the illusions that would pop up from time to time in this secret realm were confusing people. Those with weak or unstable minds could easily lose their way.

Cheng Fengzong and his party were all in poor condition by the second day.

Originally intending to make a deal with the Azure Water Sect, Qin Huai was surprised that the Moon Purity Sect beat him to it. Seeing Xue Yu was like finding an oasis in the desert for Qin Huai; his eyes practically lit up with greed: "Do you have any Heart-Clearing Pills?"

Xue Yu replied decisively, "No, I'm poor."

Of course he does.

But we have to be careful with what we use for our own sect members; we can forget about using it for the Chengfeng Sect.

Qin Huai didn't believe him: "Then let me see your sac?"

Pooh.

Shameless.

"Impossible." Seeing Qin Huai's eager stance, Xue Yu suddenly had an idea and calmly said, "I'm warning you, if you force me, I'll kill myself."

As he spoke, he picked up his ID card and tried to squeeze it.

"..."

Qin Huai never expected this suicide warning.

Xue Yu realized it was useful and quickly began to think of a countermeasure.

He learned this trick from Zhou Xingyun.

If anyone from Chengfeng Sect dares to snatch his mustard seed bag, he'll commit suicide right now to show them.

The boy's eyes were clear and bright, and he warned in a low voice, "We are all Golden Core cultivators. You can see whether you are faster or I can create them faster."

No matter how fast Qin Huai reacted, he couldn't stop Xue Yu from having a stronger spiritual sense than them. He could crush the identity token and be teleported away the moment they made their move.

Forget about the Heart-Clearing Pill; by then, nothing will be left.

Moreover, Changming Sect has two talisman cultivators, and Xue Yu definitely has defensive talismans given to him by Ming Xuan and Ye Qiao. If he fails, it will be a huge loss.

Qin Huai's smile froze, and his expression became somewhat forced: "Calm down, calm down, let's talk this out."

Seeing Xue Yu's expressionless face, which seemed to indicate he didn't want to communicate with them, Duan Hengdao tried to make his tone more friendly, "It's like this, we didn't intend to steal your mustard seed bag. We can exchange it for something of equal value, can't we?"

"I have all sorts of magical artifacts here. How about we exchange them? Is that alright?"

These words made Duan Hengdao want to vomit blood. He had originally planned to get something for nothing, since Xue Yu, a mere alchemist, couldn't pose much of a threat anyway.

He actually pulled this stunt.

*

Meanwhile, since their third senior brother was not around, Ye Qiao and the others prepared to set off to find him. After losing an ally, the Biyue Sect also turned its attention to Ye Qiao and his group, wanting to discuss an alliance with the Changming Sect.

"Should we form an alliance with them?"

The four of them started a meeting again.

Mu Chongxi said, "No, we still need to protect them."

Zhou Xingyun: "They are alchemists."

Ye Qiao agreed, "If we form an alliance with them, we can get free pills along the way."

Pills are quite expensive, and the pills she and Xue Yu made might not last until the end of the secret realm. But if they cooperated with the Biyue Sect, it would be different; they could eat and drink for free along the way.

"Sure," Ye Qiao smiled slightly. "It'll be a pleasure working with you."

Miao Miao immediately replied excitedly, "It's a pleasure to work with you!"

Ye Qiao had cooperated with Ye Qinghan before, but at that time they each had their own ulterior motives and wanted to use each other to their advantage before eliminating each other. It was also the last day of the secret realm, and the main goal was to cooperate to eliminate the opposing sect.

The situation is different now.

Since the two sects were cooperating in a legitimate way, they naturally needed a leader to guide them. Upon hearing this, the members of the Changming Sect slowly shifted their gaze to Ye Qiao.

"She's leading the team," several senior students said in unison.

Ye Qiao: "..."

"I'll lead the team," said the third senior brother of the Azure Water Sect, stepping forward and introducing himself: "My name is Liu Yun."

When Ye Qiao saw him, she looked him up and down, and then politely said, "Hello."

"Ye Qiao." Liu Yun nodded and said, "I admit you are very famous, but you are not a pill cultivator after all. I know this secret realm very well, so just follow me."

Ye Qiao gave a perfunctory "Thank you" upon hearing this. She had no idea she had become famous.

Mingxuan opened his mouth, "Are you sure? You want to lead the team?"

Liu Yun scoffed, "Given the current situation, if it's not us alchemists leading the team, who else could it be you talisman cultivators?"

Seeing that Mingxuan still wanted to argue, Ye Qiao stopped him directly, "Alright."

Anyway, the Azure Water Sect has plenty of pills, so if he wants to lead the team, then let him lead.

*

Four thousand nine, rounded up, is five thousand.