"Quick, look. What kind of flag is this? It's actually worth having a Nascent Soul demonic beast guard it," Duan Xianxing said excitedly.
Li Nanzhu nodded and slowly unfurled the flag.
What caught the eyes of the four was a sharp sword embroidered with silver thread. The moment they saw this pattern, the expressions on all four faces froze, quickly replaced by quite the spectacle of emotions.
Duan Xianxing's mouth twitched, his tone carrying a hint of disbelief and disdain.
"This is... the main sect flag of the Sword Heart Sect?!"
A trace of speechlessness also flashed across Jiang Yifan's cold face, and he silently shifted his gaze away.
Ling Suxin blinked, her expression a bit subtle.
Li Nanzhu simply rolled her eyes and whispered under her breath, "We risked our lives and almost got pounded into meat patties by a Nascent Soul demonic beast, only to end up grabbing Sect Leader Ling Xiao's family flag... This is just too much bad luck..."
Despite her grumbling, she neatly rolled the flag and handed it to Jiang Yifan.
After all, according to their agreement, the Five Elements Dao Sect had priority on flags, not to mention that it was her pills that had driven the demonic beast away. Currently, only Jiang Yifan lacked a flag, so giving it to him was perfectly appropriate.
"But this is fine too," Li Nanzhu quickly adjusted her mindset and said enthusiastically. "The Sword Heart Sect just lost a main sect flag, which is a direct loss of twenty points! One side's loss is our gain; this is greatly beneficial to us! And strictly speaking, the Sword Heart Sect should even be thanking us!"
Duan Xianxing was stunned. "Huh? Thanking us? Thanking us for stealing their flag?"
Li Nanzhu nodded righteously. "Exactly! Think about it. This flag was guarded by a Nascent Soul stage dragon crocodile. If the people from the Sword Heart Sect came to take it, how much would they have to pay?"
"They might have had several disciples eliminated before they could take it! We've helped them eliminate a massive potential risk in advance, indirectly preserving their vital forces! Shouldn't they thank us?"
Jiang Yifan: "..."
Ling Suxin: "..."
Duan Xianxing was dumbfounded. After pondering it carefully, he actually felt like it made some sense.
...
Outside the secret realm, on the observation platform.
Ling Xiao, who could clearly see this scene and hear Li Nanzhu's "grand theory" through the light screen, saw his face turn as black as the bottom of a pot. The veins on his forehead throbbed several times!
"Hmph! Pure sophistry! Distorted reasoning!" He gave a heavy cold snort, flicked his sleeve, and turned away, simply unable to watch any longer.
She stole someone else's flag and claimed she was helping them clear mines? This Li Nanzhu from the Five Elements Dao Sect was truly thick-skinned!
To the side, Zhao Wufeng's mouth also twitched. However, considering his status as a sect leader, he could only shake his head helplessly in the end.
The expressions of the other sect leaders and elders were also quite colorful. They wanted to laugh but didn't dare to make a sound, holding it in with great effort.
They had witnessed the entire process of how Li Nanzhu used those pills to drive back the Nascent Soul demonic beast. Hearing these words now gave them a brand new understanding of the style of the Five Elements Dao Sect disciples.
Meanwhile, more elders and spectators who were originally following other sect teams were drawn in by the outrageous commotion from the Five Elements Dao Sect. After seeing the replay, every one of them was left dumbfounded.
Rong Lingmeng's beautiful eyes shone with interest. She quietly sent a secret voice transmission to Feng Yi beside her, her tone carrying undisguised curiosity.
"Sect Leader Feng, that kind of pill your Martial Niece Li used just now... I wonder if you could part with a few? My Hehuan Sect is willing to pay a high price or exchange them for treasures of equal value."
That kind of medicine, which could create chaos or even drive back a powerful enemy at a critical moment, was simply a priceless treasure in certain situations!
Upon hearing this, a meaningful smile curled on Feng Yi's lips as he replied via secret voice transmission.
"Sect Leader Rong overpraises her. It's just a gadget my disciple refined randomly; it's nothing presentable, and the efficacy is unstable. I'm afraid it would only make a fool of itself."
He neither agreed nor completely refused. His tone was gentle but carried a sense of distance, clearly unwilling to let this specialty item leak out easily.
Rong Lingmeng caught the meaning behind his words and did not press him. She only smiled slightly, but she kept the matter in mind, planning to negotiate slowly if the opportunity arose in the future.
...
Within the secret realm, Li Nanzhu and the others took a short rest and recovered some spiritual energy.
"This place is not suitable to stay for long. The commotion just now was too loud and will likely attract others," Jiang Yifan analyzed calmly. "We must leave as soon as possible and reunite with our other fellow disciples."
Ling Suxin also nodded in agreement. "Fellow Daoist Jiang is right. Moreover... the smell here..." She tactfully did not finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear: this place was temporarily uninhabitable.
Li Nanzhu and Duan Xianxing nodded deeply. That smell was indeed a bit overwhelming.
The four rose quickly. With Jiang Yifan and Ling Suxin scouting ahead and Li Nanzhu and Duan Xianxing following close behind, they moved swiftly toward the agreed-upon final rendezvous point.
On the way, Li Nanzhu curiously asked Ling Suxin why she had appeared alone in that area.
Ling Suxin explained, "I sensed intense spiritual energy fluctuations here and rushed over. As for my sect sisters, they have their unique ways of contacting each other and must have reunited already. There is no need for concern." Her tone was calm, clearly showing great confidence in her fellow disciples' methods.
Hearing this, Li Nanzhu couldn't help but sigh inwardly that these great sects truly had deep foundations. Even in this mist secret realm where divine sense was restricted, they had unique ways to communicate and meet up.
As the four traveled through a hilly region with rising terrain, the sounds of fierce fighting and violent spiritual energy collisions suddenly erupted ahead!
"There's something happening!" Jiang Yifan immediately raised his hand to signal everyone to stop. The group quickly suppressed their auras and crept forward silently.
Hiding behind a dense patch of shrubs, the four looked ahead.
In a clearing, two groups were locked in a fierce battle!
One side wore Xuantian Sect robes, consisting of about four people with sharp sword light and a fierce offensive. The other side was composed of three Beast Taming Sect disciples, accompanied by several snarling, fierce demonic beasts of various forms, hissing and biting in a chaotic scene.
Both sides were clearly fighting over a flag planted in the middle of the clearing. Beside it lay the corpse of a guardian beast, though it was unclear which side had killed it.
Li Nanzhu's gaze swept over the Xuantian Sect members, and she suddenly remembered something, slapping her forehead. "Oh! I almost forgot!"
She hurriedly pulled four secret realm jade pendants from her storage bag—the ones belonging to the four unlucky souls she had knocked unconscious and robbed earlier!
"I was so busy running that I forgot about them..." Li Nanzhu muttered. Then, without any hesitation, she applied pressure with her fingers—
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Four crisp snapping sounds rang out in succession!
Outside, the light screen areas belonging to the Mingguang Sect, the Wuji Sect, and the Xuantian Sect simultaneously lit up with piercing red alarm lights!
"Huh?!"
"Someone's been eliminated?!"
"It's Huineng and Huiming from the Mingguang Sect! Zhao Qian from the Wuji Sect! And the one from the Xuantian Sect!"
"What happened? Weren't they unconscious all this time?"
To the astonishment of the crowd, four pillars of light descended from the sky, enveloping a certain spot in the secret realm.
The next moment, four unconscious figures, each with a prominent lump on their forehead, were teleported directly out and landed heavily in the designated area below the platform!
"Ouch!"
"Hmm...?"
"Hiss... my head hurts so much..."
The intense pain and the disorientation of the teleportation finally forced the four awake from their comas.
Huineng, Huiming, Zhao Qian, and the Xuantian Sect disciple opened their eyes groggily, clutching their aching heads and looking around with dazed expressions...
Who am I? Where am I? What happened?
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