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

In the two collaborations, Liu Yun led the way. KFC, having leisurely eaten and drunk its fill, saw a familiar face and immediately flew over, flapping its wings a couple of times. Then it found a comfortable spot, nestled in Ye Qiao's arms, and fell fast asleep.

It can actually fly?

Ye Qiao remembered that it used to be a free-range chicken that only knew how to play the game of "Qin King circling the pillar" with her.

Mu Chongxi leaned closer: "It must have found quite a few crystals, right? After eating for so long, has there been any change?"

Judging by the time it took to fight, a whole day had passed. Ye Qiao looked her over for a moment and said frankly, "You've gotten fatter."

It used to really look like a chicken, but now the characteristics of a phoenix are showing. When it flies, its red feathers are bright and its phoenix tail droops slightly. It is very beautiful overall, but it is a bit chubby.

Zhou Xingyun pinched the KFC chicken, lazily picked it up and shook it, estimating, "Once it wakes up, its cultivation level should improve a lot."

Monsters and divine beasts should be similar; it's much easier for beasts to break through realms than for humans. They can easily break through after a good night's sleep.

Cultivators not only need to withstand tribulations, but also face bottleneck periods.

The members of the Changming Sect gathered around to watch KFC, while the members of the Biyue Sect glanced at it subconsciously.

"A phoenix?" Si Miaoyan noticed the red feathers on the little beast and its beautiful phoenix tail, and almost instinctively guessed that it was a mythical beast.

Divine beasts in the cultivation world are almost extinct. Once discovered, they must be reported to the Five Sects, and finally the sects and the Eight Great Families will hold a meeting to discuss their fate. If they are indeed divine beasts, they will probably cause quite a stir.

"Are you kidding me?" Mingxuan shouted. "It's a chicken!! A chicken!"

As long as they insist that it is a chicken, who would dare to say that the Changming Sect is hiding a phoenix?

Si Miaoyan was taken aback by his agitated attitude and mumbled an "oh." Even though she knew that Changming Sect was abnormal, she was still sometimes startled by their overreactions.

"Your chickens are quite beautiful," she said sheepishly.

After a brief rest, Si Miaoyan distributed pills to them. Ye Qiao shook the porcelain bottle she had just received; the pills inside were round, smooth, and white, making them quite appealing.

She opened it and smelled it.

It also has a faint, pleasant fragrance.

"As expected of a major sect." Her eyes lit up.

Mingxuan also opened it and smelled it, then couldn't help but nudge Ye Qiao with his elbow: "Learn from her." See what she smells like.

Mu Chongxi nodded in agreement: "This is the kind of pill that a proper alchemist could refine."

Who would have thought that Ye Qiao was actually a pill cultivator?

Zhou Xingyun had never experienced Ye Qiao's destructive power, nor did he know what she would be like after she mastered it. Seeing that his two junior brothers said so, he mistakenly thought that Ye Qiao often failed in alchemy.

He hesitated for a moment, then calmly tried to comfort his junior sister by talking about the failures of others, and said in a low voice:

"It's normal for alchemists to have their furnaces explode."

"Third Senior Brother can also cause an explosion?" Ye Qiao looked up, vaguely remembering that the last time Xue Yu caused an explosion was because of the smell of her snail rice noodles.

Zhou Xingyun didn't hesitate to reveal Xue Yu's dirty secrets, "Yes, when he first came to the sect, he would blow up the alchemy furnace every day. Back then, his hair looked like it had been blown off by coal while mining coal."

Xue Yu caused the furnace to explode every day, making the clan feel like it was experiencing an earthquake every time.

Ye Qiao: "..."

She never actually blew it up.

Ye Qiao reasonably guessed that the alchemy furnace used for proper alchemy would definitely be different from the large pot in the cafeteria, and that the fact that her pills didn't explode might be because she was using a pot to refine them.

She secretly made up her mind that once this secret realm ended, she would go to the night market to buy a pill-making furnace and give it a try.

The Azure Water Sect was quite generous in distributing the pills; they gave out Heart-Clearing Pills, Spirit-Returning Pills, and some pills for healing injuries.

The major sects were known for their generosity. The four exchanged glances, each seeing in the other's eyes the message: "They're gullible, have lots of pills, and are easy to fleece."

The Flaming Mountain is quite different from other secret realms.

The monsters that roam this place year-round come out in groups. They have low intelligence but high cultivation. Liu Yun doesn't care about any strategies or methods and directly commands them to go and fight.

Ye Qiao hesitated several times before speaking, saying, "Actually, we could use some other methods."

In her view, the group of monsters had very low intelligence and could be dealt with easily with a little trickery.

Instead of sending them to fight a group of low-IQ monsters one-on-one, as Liu Yun had instructed.

It's a waste of time and energy.

Liu Yun glanced at her, thinking Ye Qiao was provoking her, and replied without looking up, "Mind your own business, I know what I'm doing."

The sect competition is not only an honor for the sect, but also for the students who are only teenagers, all of whom want to become famous overnight.

Ye Qiao has become too popular in just a few months, even surpassing Ye Qinghan who was originally the most talked about. Liu Yun can hardly help but suspect that she is deliberately trying to show off.

"..."

Ye Qiao clicked her tongue softly.

Fine.

She could tell that the five direct descendants were all somewhat rebellious and didn't like anyone questioning their decisions.

Mu Chongxi followed behind, his hands clasped behind his head, and said casually, "But at this rate, we're still counting down the days until monkeys evolve into humans."

"What's the rush?" Liu Yun asked, trying to appease her disciples who were starting to show signs of dissatisfaction. "It's only the second day."

"We have the elixirs, and you have the strength. Sooner or later, first and second place will be ours."

Ming Xuan thought to himself, "But they just want to get some pills, not be dragged down to fourth from the bottom."

If he weren't indebted to someone for their generosity, he would have ended the collaboration on the spot.

"What happened at the Changming Sect?"

It's not that they're not moving, it's just that compared to the previous secret realms, the Changming Sect's progress is too slow.

It even seems to be trending towards the bottom.

On the third day, the three sects were closely competing in the rankings: Yueqing Sect in first place, Wenjian Sect in second place, and Chengfeng Sect in third place.

The Changming Sect, which they considered the greatest threat, had actually fallen to fourth place.

Normally, this shouldn't happen. Song Hansheng keenly sensed something. After pondering for a moment, he explained, "I think that after Yun Que is eliminated, the Biyue Sect is very likely to try to curry favor with Ye Qiao."

Although this is a very unambitious statement, it is probably very close to the truth.

The situation is very different now compared to before when Changming Sect was looked down upon. If Si Miaoyan is smart, she will definitely join forces with Ye Qiao.

After the three leaders met, their disciples all appeared somewhat listless.

Song Hansheng was alright; they had cooperated with the Biyue Sect before and obtained a lot of pills, but without more pills to sustain them, they might not be able to hold on until the fourth day.

"What are they doing? Changming Sect is ranked fourth." Chu Xingzhi clicked his tongue in disbelief. Logically speaking, with Ye Qiao around, this shouldn't be the case.

Song Hansheng said, "Having a group of alchemists getting in the way will definitely have an impact on the Changming Sect."

Protecting alchemists while also killing demonic beasts, so being fourth is not surprising.

"But Ye Qiao doesn't seem like someone who can be influenced by others, does she?" In Zhu You's impression, Ye Qiao was the type who could stand out from the crowd.

Qin Huai, who had met Ye Qiao before, smiled thoughtfully and said, "Of course she doesn't care about anything on her own."

The saying goes that the greatest truths are the simplest, and one who is without desires is invincible. Ye Qiao can be incredibly carefree on her own, but it's different when she's on a team; she always has to consider the bigger picture.

Qin Huai guessed that the problem might lie with the Azure Water Sect.

After all, cooperation between the two groups requires a leader, and since they are both direct disciples, they may currently be in a phase where neither side is willing to concede to the other, and who knows what internal conflicts might have arisen.

……

On one hand, they had to search for the monsters according to the map, and on the other hand, they had to endure the heat in the secret realm. The key was that Liu Yun was in charge of the team. He led a group of people around aimlessly the whole time, without considering other ways to deal with the monsters. They just went straight into battle.

Ye Qiao stated, "If we continue like this, we will lose sooner or later."

It's been three days already, and she still wants to win.

After winning, she would have a million dollars, and she would be able to escape poverty and become rich.

Ye Qiao asked, "If it really doesn't work out, should I lead the team?"

"You're just a Foundation Establishment cultivator," Liu Yun said, her expression gradually becoming impatient. "How dare you lead the team?"

Miaomiao tugged at him: "...Third Senior Brother."

Liu Yun had never been on a mission with them before, so she had never witnessed how Ye Qiao turned the situation around single-handedly.

Miao Miao reminded her, "Ye Qiao is very capable."

As the group chatted, they unknowingly approached their destination, where a group of black dots were crawling near the scorching rocks.

Upon closer inspection, the group discovered that the black dots were actually a densely packed horde of monsters gathered together, a sight that would cause intense discomfort to those with trypophobia.

Not only are there many of them, but each one is about the size of a palm.

"Fire ants live near extremely hot areas and like to come out in swarms." Mingxuan's expression tightened slightly, and he became secretly vigilant. "They are very sensitive to smell. They use scent to locate people."

"Let's spread out and set up our positions so we don't get surrounded."

One ant is fine; it's easy to deal with because of its low cultivation level. But if a swarm of ants crawls out, that would be a disaster.

"How did you know?" Mu Chongxi was a little confused.

Mingxuan mocked him, "There's no harm in reading more books in the library."

Xue Yu knew more about the secret realm than he did. Before going down into the secret realm, Xue Yu was doing his homework in a book, and he accidentally wrote it down.

"You've been sweeping through the library for so long, but I haven't seen you even read a single book." Mu Chongxi was a little annoyed by this remark and retorted, "And you even burned down the library."

Mingxuan chuckled: "People who skip classes all day have no right to talk about me."

Mu Chongxi: "It's like you weren't included in the last group's confinement to the forbidden area."

"..."

The two tore at each other for a long time, revealing each other's secrets, leaving the cultivators outside the arena dumbfounded.

"Good heavens, good heavens! Burning down the library, being locked in the forbidden area, cleaning up the library—is your Changming Sect always this chaotic?"

"No wonder the atmosphere in this sect is so good. This is the camaraderie among fellow disciples who were imprisoned together in the forbidden area. Fellow Daoists, I am moved to tears."

Si Miaoyan felt a chill run down her spine as she watched the fire ants gradually swarming around her. Hearing the Changming Sect members still flirting, she couldn't help herself and instinctively looked to Ye Qiao for help: "What should we do now?"

Since fire ants live in extremely hot regions, it means they are not afraid of fire.

How should we deal with so many monsters?

It was a complete disaster.

"Ask your junior brother." Zhou Xingyun didn't even look up, his tone indifferent: "We mere Foundation Establishment cultivators dare not speak."

They heard everything Liu Yun said clearly.

Of course, we should seize the opportunity to give them a good retaliatory sarcastic rebuke.

Liu Yun: "..."

He pursed his lips, and in an attempt to save face, said, "Mingxuan and Ye Qiao, set up the formation first and look for any pills in the mustard seed bag that can interfere with the scent of the fire ants. The sword cultivators can go out and take care of them."

The group searched their mustard seed bags for the odor-interfering pills, but none of them found them.

As all the fire ants swarmed in, gradually filling the array barrier with black, Mingxuan felt a pang of unease: "They'll eat the array. Hurry up, or the array will crumble."

Faced with this situation, everyone seemed somewhat at a loss, and they all turned their gaze to Ye Qiao.

Ye Qiao, who was appointed to the mission in a time of crisis: "..." Did he remember her at this moment?

She looked down and rummaged through her mustard seed bag, quickly taking out all the underworld pills she had refined and distributing them.

"The five of you, each of you will receive one."

"Don't vomit."

Whichever flavor she gave me: snail rice noodles or durian, she preferred.

"..."

A strange smell wafted out, and everyone's expressions became quite interesting.

They are confident that this unforgettable smell can be detected not only by fire ants with their sensitive sense of smell, but also by people from miles around.

Those who knew them would think they were discussing countermeasures, while those who didn't would think a group of close associates were eating shit together.

Simiaoyan sniffed the durian-scented pill in her hand, her face paling slightly. She asked weakly, "Is it alright to hold it?"

Ye Qiao thought for a moment and said, "That works too."

She didn't think that much when she sent it; the mixed smells made it even stranger.

The fire ants outside the gate became even more agitated upon smelling the scent, and Liu Yun's face contorted slightly from the stench: "What are you trying to do?"

"We asked you to come up with a solution, not to provoke these fire ants."

Ye Qiao glared back: "Aren't we trying to find a solution?"

Seeing that everyone was holding a snail rice noodle and durian pill, she took out five talismans from her storage pouch and asked the alchemists, "You all have these in your alchemy furnaces, right?"

"Yes," Miao Miao answered quickly.

Can a cultivator who doesn't have a pill furnace still be called a pill cultivator?

"Okay." Ye Qiao distributed the talismans to the five people and said quickly, "These are called sealing talismans. In a moment, you will take out your alchemy furnaces, and then each of you will take a pill and crawl into the furnaces. Use the sealing talismans to stick on the lids of your furnaces to prevent fire ants from getting in."

The alchemy furnace is very durable. There's a reason why some magical artifacts are expensive. An alchemy furnace costing tens of thousands of spirit stones is comparable to a high-grade magical artifact.

It can easily withstand the attacks of fire ants.

Ye Qiao distributed her foul-smelling pills only to the five members of the Biyue Sect. Zhou Xingyun smelled the pills and actually thought they were alright.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up."

Si Miaoyan subconsciously did as she was told.

Liu Yun was dumbfounded; she had never seen anything like it before. "You're asking us all to crawl into the alchemy furnace? Is that appropriate?"

Ye Qiao thought it was quite suitable. If she weren't so poor that she didn't have a pill furnace, she would also like to crawl in and draw the fire. Why stand up and fight when you can lie down?

Under Ye Qiao's command, all five of them crawled into the alchemy furnace, affixed sealing talismans to it, and then lay down inside, comfortably starting to slack off.

The rest is up to the four members of the Changming Sect.

Anyway, all the alchemist needs to do is lie inside the alchemy furnace and attract the fire; the fire ants outside can be left to others to deal with.

Mingxuan, Mu Chongxi, Ye Qiao, and Zhou Xingyun were so envious they almost ground their teeth to powder.

They wanted to crawl in too.

"..."

Because they were lying inside the alchemy furnace, they were almost overwhelmed by the smell of snail rice noodles and durian.

Ye Qiao lit a talisman and focused intently on using the Gentle Breeze Technique to swiftly eliminate the fire ants. Taking a moment, she asked, "How does it taste?"

Si Miao said, "Actually, it smells quite nice after a while."

Miaomiao also said, "It doesn't seem too bad."

The spiritual energy was very strong, and apart from its somewhat strange appearance and taste, she was quite interested in trying it.

Mingxuan: "...Do you even know what you're talking about?!"

To say that a pill that looks so ugly is delicious, are you alchemists all crazy?

Ultimately, through the combined efforts of the four, more than half of the fire ants were eliminated.

After Liu Yun reluctantly climbed out of the alchemy furnace, he heard his junior sister say this and mustered up his courage to take a bite. After feeling the rich spiritual energy, the young man nodded in agreement: "The taste is indeed quite good."

As long as it works well, it's a good pill for alchemists.

The taste is pretty good...

not bad.

Ye Qiao was praised and proudly popped a Rejuvenation Pill into her mouth. "Of course. People in my hometown really like to eat it."

Shen Ziwei, who happened to be passing by, couldn't help but shudder when she smelled the stench.

He was even more surprised after overhearing the conversation between the two people.

I go.

This is so exciting, the Biyue Sect and the Changming Sect actually teamed up to eat shit?