The Yueqing Sect and the Wenjian Sect were both completely eliminated. This was an unprecedented situation in the history of the tournament.
Duan Hengdao was completely baffled. He quickly turned to look at Shen Ziwei and asked, “Second Senior Brother, do you think Senior Brother got eliminated because he ran into the Wenjian Sect?”
Shen Ziwei gently shook his head. “We'll review everything after the secret realm ends. For now, let's go find Third Junior Brother and Fourth Junior Brother.”
Si Miaoyan made a reasonable guess, “Did the Yueqing Sect and the Wenjian Sect take each other down?”
Miaomiao nodded in agreement. “I think so too. After all, the Wenjian Sect and the Yueqing Sect have always been at odds.”
“Two array formations can actually be stacked? How did they think of that?”
“It's the same principle as a cauldron exploding. Under the compression of two array formations, they will definitely blow up. She wanted to use this method to blow the Wenjian Sect's Personal Disciples to pieces!”
“The Changming Sect's move is seriously wild.”
“I'm willing to call this batch of disciples the absolute showstoppers of this generation.”
Su Zhuo and Song Hansheng, who had already been eliminated, looked at the scene in the secret realm, both of their faces filled with shock.
Su Zhuo was full of indignation. He turned to Song Hansheng and said through gritted teeth, “Senior Brother! Ye Qiao actually stole and learned our Yueqing Sect's inner sect array formation!”
Hearing this, Qin Huai, who was nearby, burst into a sneering laugh. “You guys are truly useless. You can't even guard your own sect's array formations, yet you're complaining about someone stealing them.”
Song Hansheng's eyelid twitched. He sharply scolded Su Zhuo in a low voice, “Shut up! Haven't you embarrassed us enough?”
He felt extremely annoyed deep down. He couldn't exactly reveal that back in the secret realm, Ye Qiao had told him to trade the Yueqing Sect's inner sect mental cultivation technique.
At that time, he had thought Ye Qiao wouldn't be able to comprehend it at all, but he never expected her to actually be a talisman cultivator.
At the thought of this, Song Hansheng's anger surged, and his expression turned incredibly sour.
*
Inside the secret realm, the members of the Changming Sect stared at the massive crater blasted open by the array explosion.
Ye Qiao looked at the crater and remarked casually, “Just how deep is this hole?”
Mu Zhongxi chimed in from the side, “No idea. But I've heard an unreliable rumor in the cultivation world that if you throw the name of someone you hate into a deep hole, you can curse them.”
“I wonder if it's true. Should we throw Master's name in to test it out?”
Qin Fanfan: “...”
Xue Yu added, “Elder Zhao works too.”
Elder Zhao: ...You little rascals.
Ye Qiao: “Let's do Yun Hen. I have a grudge against him.”
Ming Xuan: “Little Martial Uncle. He's always scamming me.”
Luo Qingyu added flatly, “Yunque. I can't stand her pretentious act the most.”
Hearing this, they all turned their heads in unison to look at Zhou Xingyun, their eyes shining with anticipation.
Being stared at by everyone with such eager eyes, Zhou Xingyun's heart softened slightly. After a brief silence, he softly uttered two words: “Yun Hen.”
Inside the secret realm, they were having a grand old time tossing out names one after another.
Seeing this, Elder Zhao and the others in the elders' seats couldn't help but twitch their lips in unison, helplessly grumbling in their hearts: These little rascals.
...
The group jumped down. Surrounded by dirt walls, it was pitch black, and they couldn't see a thing.
Ming Xuan and Ye Qiao pulled out Fire Control Talismans from their storage rings, igniting them to light up the surroundings.
At this moment, Ye Qiao brought the Fire Control Talisman close to her face. Her eyes shone brightly as she whispered, “Shh, Fourth Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Brother. Do you know? There might be ghosts hiding down here.”
Hearing the word “ghost,” Mu Zhongxi's hair stood on end. With a trembling voice, he whispered, “J-Junior Sister, d-don't scare me.”
Seeing this, Ming Xuan burst into laughter. “Hahaha, Junior Brother, you're already a cultivator, yet you're actually afraid of ghosts.”
Mu Zhongxi's cheeks flushed, and he retorted indignantly, “Second Senior Brother, who says cultivators can't be afraid of ghosts?”
As they spoke, they walked deeper, and the path stretched longer. Right then, a faint green light suddenly drifted over from ahead.
Ming Xuan cried out, “Holy crap, Junior Brother! I didn't expect there to really be ghosts here!”
Mu Zhongxi was startled. He hurriedly pulled out the talismans Ye Qiao had given him earlier, chanting frantically, “Swiftly execute according to the law! Demons, monsters, ghosts, and ghouls, begone, begone, begone!”
Watching their fifth senior brother's dramatic display, the corners of Ye Qiao, Luo Qingyu, and Xue Yu's mouths couldn't help but twitch in unison.
Zhou Xingyun felt that the scene was rather embarrassing. He spoke up faintly, “It's not a ghost. It's a demon beast.”
Luo Qingyu added, “A Foundation Establishment Realm demon beast.”
Mu Zhongxi, still clutching the talismans in his hand, froze in place. “Ah? It's just a demon beast? I got worked up for nothing.”
Having said that, he immediately raised his sword, intending to go forward and kill it.
Hearing this, Ye Qiao's eyes instantly lit up. She quickly called out to stop Mu Zhongxi, “Fifth Senior Brother, don't be in such a hurry to kill them all. Remember to leave a few females.”
Mu Zhongxi was utterly confused. What did his junior sister mean by leaving a few females?
After giving her instructions, Ye Qiao turned to look at Xue Yu beside her. “Third Senior Brother, do you have any aphrodisiac pills?”
Xue Yu subconsciously rubbed his arms, looking highly vigilant. “Junior Sister, are you a pervert?”
Seeing his coy, dramatic look as if he were being taken advantage of, Ye Qiao couldn't resist lightly kicking him and snapped, “I think you're the pervert here!”
Luo Qingyu helplessly pressed her forehead and quickly explained, “Junior Sister means that if we feed the female demon beasts the aphrodisiac pills, we can attract the surrounding male demon beasts. That way, we can farm more secret realm points. Get it?”
Ye Qiao looked at her fourth senior brother with an appreciative expression. “Bingo! You got it right. Too bad there's no prize.”
Xue Yu thought about it and found it highly logical, but he still silently raised his hand with a serious expression.
“Junior Sister, I'm a respectable pill cultivator.”
If Elder Zhao and his old man found out that he was secretly refining aphrodisiac pills, they would definitely lose their minds with anger!
Ye Qiao was concise, her eyes resolute. “For our two million.”
Xue Yu understood instantly. He immediately made an OK gesture, quickly pulled out his cauldron and pill formula from his storage ring, and said with great enthusiasm as he flipped through them, “Alright! I'll refine some right now, just in case!”
*
“What on earth do they mean by 'two million'? Does anyone know?”
“No idea. It's probably some top secret of the Changming Sect. Otherwise, why would they all look like they've been pumped with stimulants?”
“If the head of the Xue family finds out his son is refining aphrodisiac pills in the secret realm, he'll probably go crazy with worry.”
...
The effects of the aphrodisiac pills spread rapidly. From all directions, demon beasts were drawn in, forming a dense, dark crowd that swarmed toward them.
Ye Qiao and Mu Zhongxi immediately stepped forward side by side, joining forces to slay the oncoming demon beasts.
After swiftly dealing with them, Ye Qiao panted slightly, wiping the thin sweat from her forehead. She turned and asked, “How many demon beasts are we still short of?”
Xue Yu looked down at the point jade slip in his hand. After checking it carefully, he spoke up, “We're still short by three hundred.”
Ming Xuan asked softly from the side, “Then do we need to head back the way we came?”
Mu Zhongxi proposed, “Since we're already here, we might as well look further inside.”
The others chimed in, passing the motion with five votes. As for Zhou Xingyun's opinion...
Forget it, it wasn't important.
With the decision made, the six of them continued to explore deeper.
At this moment, Luo Qingyu suddenly noticed something unusual. The material of the surrounding stone walls was highly unique. It wasn't the typical construction stone used by cultivation sects at all, but rather faintly resembled materials unique to the Demon Realm.
Just as everyone was wondering, Zhou Xingyun, who was leading the way, spoke in a low voice, “There's a door.”
Stone door slowly pushed open, revealing a sealed chamber with four stone walls. Engraved all around were incomprehensible characters that looked like some kind of curse seals.
Ye Qiao, Mu Zhongxi, and Ming Xuan began to wander around.
Xue Yu looked around and said with some worry, “Don't touch anything randomly. These things look very dangerous at first glance.”
Yet even Zhou Xingyun, who was usually bored by everything, couldn't help but reach out and poke the misaligned curse seals, commenting, “So ugly.”
Xue Yu: “...”
“Hahaha, give up, Xue Yu.”
“Anyway, it's not like the Changming Sect being abnormal is a new thing.”
“To be honest, this year's tournament seems way more interesting than previous years.”
Xue Yu seeing that he really couldn't stop them, sighed helplessly and turned to Luo Qingyu. “Fourth Junior Brother, aren't you going to do something?”
Luo Qingyu looked speechless and replied flatly, “Even you can't control them, Third Senior Brother. What could I possibly do?”
Having said that, she also followed, joining the ranks of the exploration team.
After wandering around the chamber, Ye Qiao spotted a scroll floating in mid-air. It was in a half-open state, and upon opening it, a golden glow floated with speckles of shimmering light.
Ye Qiao asked with some curiosity, “What is this thing?”
Zhou Xingyun said, “It seems like some kind of medium that maintains the opening of the secret realm.”
Mu Zhongxi asked casually, “What would happen if we took it?”
Zhou Xingyun shook his head gently. “No idea.”
Ming Xuan was instantly eager to try. “How about we take it down in a bit and see?”
Xue Yu was full of apprehension and quickly tried to dissuade them, “That's probably not a good idea. Taking things from the secret realm without permission is a bit inappropriate, isn't it?”
Luo Qingyu said flatly, “It's not like anyone's name is written on it. So what if we take it?”
“Besides, treasures in secret realms have always belonged to whoever is fated to find them.”
Ye Qiao immediately nodded in agreement. “Exactly! Don't worry, Third Senior Brother. Even if something goes wrong, at worst, Master will take the fall for us.”
Just then, a heavy, somewhat raspy voice drifted from behind them, “Little girl.”
Ye Qiao: “Is it really a ghost this time?”
Mu Zhongxi, Ming Xuan, and Xue Yu said in unison, “I don't believe it.”
Luo Qingyu: ...
“Be serious,” Zhou Xingyun gestured for them to look behind. “Show the old man some respect.”
“...” The cultivators outside the realm: Is this what you call respect, Changming Sect?
The old man: “...”
Have all Personal Disciples changed these days? Why are they all so unhinged?
Ye Qiao caught sight of an old man standing not far away. He wore dusty gray clothes, and his hair was messy, making him look destitute and aged.
Ye Qiao asked with feigned innocence, “Old gentleman, are you unable to get out?”
Hearing this, the old man was overjoyed. He immediately followed her lead and sighed with feigned helplessness, “Indeed. I've been trapped here for decades and can't get out.”
“But fortunately, I've finally met you all.”
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