Xue Yu walked ahead to lead the way, reminding the others behind him from time to time.
At this moment, Ye Qiao's gaze accidentally caught sight of the Yueqing Sect group sneakily hiding to one side. Feeling suspicious, she asked, “Third Senior Brother, what are they doing hiding over there?”
Ming Xuan followed her gaze and sneered. “What else? They're probably planning to quietly tail other cultivators so they can seize an opportunity to snatch their spoils.”
Ye Qiao understood instantly. Wasn't this the textbook definition of a sneaky camper in the cultivation world?
Ming Xuan paused, then warned, “We suffered a setback at their hands in the last secret realm, so we have to be careful this time. Don't let them target us.”
Ye Qiao asked curiously, “What exactly happened that caused us to suffer a setback?”
Seeing Ye Qiao's curiosity, Ming Xuan decided to tell her about this old grievance.
“Once, in a secret realm, Xue Yu and I finally managed to track down a stalk of Heart Clearing Grass. Just as Senior Brother killed the demon beast, Song Hansheng's group suddenly burst out and snatched it right from us.”
“But they never expected that Fourth Junior Brother, who happened to be lost at the time, overheard their conversation. She stepped in directly and taught them a good lesson.”
After hearing this, Ye Qiao silently gave Luo Qingyu a thumbs-up in her mind.
She was impressive. She hadn't expected her Fourth Senior Brother to look so delicate and weak, yet show absolutely no mercy when it came to scheming against others.
Xue Yu chimed in to warn them at the right moment, “So we must be extra cautious later. Don't let them target us again.”
Just as he finished speaking, a spark of inspiration flashed in Ye Qiao's mind. She looked at the others and asked, “Do you guys want to scheme against them again?”
Mu Zhongxi was instantly intrigued and chimed in eagerly, “Yes, yes! I've been wanting to try what Fourth Senior Brother did back then. Just thinking about it is thrilling!”
Ye Qiao explained her carefully calculated plan to the four of them in detail.
After listening, Luo Qingyu spoke calmly, “Little Junior Sister, I have a few cloaks here. Does anyone need one?”
Ye Qiao's eyes lit up. “Those are perfect! As expected of you, Fourth Senior Brother. You even prepared these tools for 'big operations' in advance.”
Hearing this, Luo Qingyu felt a bit embarrassed and explained softly, “Since I am an artifact cultivator, it's inevitable that I'll run into some danger when going out, so I always keep a few cloaks on me.”
Standing to the side, Ming Xuan rolled his eyes and grumbled silently to himself.
“Give me a break. The various magical artifacts in your storage ring outnumber the talismans I draw. If we actually run into enemies, who knows who would end up dead first? How could you be in any danger?”
Ye Qiao raised her hand to pull her black cloak tight, hiding most of her face beneath the hood, and whispered, “Okay, let's make our move.”
The group quickly dressed themselves. The heavy cloaks concealed their figures and appearances as they silently drew closer to the Yueqing Sect group.
Using the miasma and their cloaks as cover, the senior brothers and sister began to execute their plan to play a trick on the Yueqing Sect group.
With a perfectly natural expression and without revealing any flaws, Ye Qiao discreetly slipped a wooden box containing a fake replica into Song Hansheng's hands.
Once they had retreated far into a safe zone, Mu Zhongxi and Ming Xuan, who had just watched the entire show, gasped in admiration.
Ming Xuan marveled, “Amazing, Third Senior Brother! I really couldn't tell you had such great acting skills!”
Embarrassed by the praise, Xue Yu quickly waved his hands. “Alright, alright, let's keep moving forward.”
“There are probably quite a few good things in this secret realm. If we're too late, the Yueqing Sect people will likely snatch them all.”
With that, the group of five regrouped and continued their exploration.
Before long, they reached the center of the secret realm, where they unexpectedly discovered a large patch of spiritual plants growing.
Xue Yu leaned in to take a closer look and couldn't help but feel surprised. “It's Heart Clearing Grass! I didn't expect such a large patch to grow here!”
He quickly urged everyone, “Hurry and harvest them! If we wait until the Yueqing Sect group catches up, it'll be trouble!”
Not daring to delay, they immediately stepped forward and began to deftly harvest the Heart Clearing Grass.
Just as Ye Qiao squatted down to pick a stalk, a talisman shot toward her!
Ming Xuan reacted quickly, using his own talisman to block it. He frowned and said in a deep voice, “An Exploding Talisman!”
Just as he finished speaking, the Yueqing Sect group stepped out of the miasma.
Song Hansheng spoke flatly, “I didn't expect you to block it.”
When Luo Qingyu saw that it was Song Hansheng, and remembered how that Exploding Talisman had almost hit Ye Qiao, her face instantly darkened. A cold aura of low pressure radiated from her as she said chillingly, “You're courting death.”
With that, she raised her hand and threw several pill-like objects toward the group opposite them.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Violent explosions erupted all around!
Song Hansheng hastily activated a Vajra Talisman barrier to resist the impact, but the powerful shockwave of the explosion still sent him stumbling back repeatedly.
To the side, Yunque failed to dodge in time. She was violently blown away by the shockwave, crashing heavily against a tree.
Her body couldn't stop trembling, and her eyes instantly reddened from the pain.
Yunque choked up as she looked at Su Zhuo. “Little Senior Brother, it hurts so much.”
Su Zhuo quickly reached out to help her up, glaring furiously at Luo Qingyu's group.
“We are Personal Disciples of the Yueqing Sect! How dare you lay a hand on us!”
Luo Qingyu burst out laughing at his words. Taking a step forward, her cold aura spread as she retorted, “When you threw that Exploding Talisman to attack my Little Junior Sister just now, why didn't you mention the Yueqing Sect?”
“What, are the magistrates allowed to light fires while the commoners aren't even allowed to light lamps?”
Song Hansheng looked up at Luo Qingyu, his tone dripping with blatant arrogance. “So what if we attacked first? You are nothing but cultivators from a minor sect. Do you really think you can stand against a major sect?”
Mu Zhongxi immediately stepped forward, gripping his longsword as he retorted without backing down, “So what if you're a major sect? Does that give the Yueqing Sect the right to run rampant, steal spiritual plants, and injure people as you please?”
Song Hansheng spared Mu Zhongxi a brief, indifferent glance and said flatly, “Opportunities in a secret realm have no owner. Whoever can grab them, owns them.”
With nothing to fear, Mu Zhongxi drew his sword and pointed it at Song Hansheng. “We found this Heart Clearing Grass first. If you want to snatch it, you'll have to go through me first.”
Seeing that the two sides were on the verge of fighting, Ye Qiao quickly lowered her voice and said to Xue Yu and Ming Xuan:
“Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Brother, hurry! While they're fighting, let's harvest all the Heart Clearing Grass. Don't leave a single stalk for them!”
The two immediately complied, quickly setting to work harvesting.
See that the large patch of Heart Clearing Grass was about to be completely picked clean by the three of them, Su Zhuo hurriedly turned and shouted to Song Hansheng, “Senior Brother! They're about to harvest all the Heart Clearing Grass!”
Just as he spoke, a series of tremors suddenly shook the ground.
Xue Yu swept his divine sense out and warned the others, “Watch out, something is coming!”
Ye Qiao's heart tightened. “Third Senior Brother, what is it?”
Mu Zhongxi stared into the depths of the miasma and answered in a deep voice, “Demon beasts. There are probably no less than a hundred of them!”
As a demon beast flew toward them, Mu Zhongxi unsheathed his sword and cleaved it in two with a single strike.
Xue Yu turned to Ye Qiao and said, “Little Junior Sister, this is a perfect opportunity to gain some experience by fighting these demon beasts. Make the most of it.”
Ye Qiao nodded. Gripping her longsword tightly and keeping her eyes on Mu Zhongxi's sword forms, she rushed in to join the fray against the demon beasts.
On the other side, Song Hansheng watched the two of them fight, his suspicion growing the longer he looked.
“The speed of this sword technique is fast, and every strike is incredibly precise. It seems somewhat similar to the sword techniques of the Changming Sect...”
Su Zhuo quickly spoke up, “Senior Brother, your eyes must be playing tricks on you.”
Yunque chimed in, “Yes, Senior Brother. They claim to be cultivators from a small sect. How could they possibly be disciples of the Changming Sect? You must have mistaken them.”
Song Hansheng didn't answer them. After a moment of hesitation, he turned to Xue Yu and asked, “Is that girl a newly recruited sword cultivator disciple of your sect?”
Xue Yu raised his eyes indifferently, his tone somewhat blunt. “What has that got to do with you?”
Song Hansheng's face darkened instantly. His suspicion was now all but confirmed—this group before him was definitely the Changming Sect.
He sneered in ridicule, “Your Changming Sect wasn't like this before. How did you all become so shameless now?”
Ming Xuan immediately stepped forward to shoot back, “The past is the past. Right now, we are the Niohuru Changming Sect!”
He had learned this phrase from Luo Qingyu, and it was the perfect comeback to use against Song Hansheng.
This guy was always so arrogant, holding his nose high in the air as if everyone owed him eight million spirit stones. He was utterly insufferable.
Ming Xuan raised his chin, tossing the words out with supreme confidence, feeling secretly pleased with himself.
Song Hansheng was momentarily speechless, left without a comeback. His face flushed a mix of green and white.
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