After a night of rest, the lingering effects of the intense itching and swelling on Duan Xianxing had mostly subsided. Although his face remained somewhat pale and his spirit slightly flagging, he had at least regained his mobility.
However, his pursuit of Liu Qingyang had not ceased; it had merely shifted from physical violence to death stares. Liu Qingyang spent the entire time wearing a fawning smile, terrified of reigniting his good brother’s fury.
At dawn, just as the group prepared to delve deeper into their exploration, Ling Suxin suddenly came to a halt.
"It’s the eldest senior sister and the others! They’re very close!"
Sure enough, in less than the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, a weary but sharp-looking group appeared at the other end. It was the remaining disciples of the Hehuan Sect, led by their eldest senior sister, Rong Yuying.
Rong Yuying was still dressed in red, looking bright and flamboyant, though a trace of exhaustion and the wear of travel lingered between her brows. Only eight disciples remained behind her; they had clearly endured more than one fierce battle along the way.
Seeing that the members of the Five Elements Dao Sect were mostly intact, and especially seeing that Ling Suxin was safe and sound, Rong Yuying breathed a visible sigh of relief.
The two parties briefly exchanged information about their respective situations.
When Rong Yuying heard that Duan Xianxing had been hit by a super-doubled itching powder from his own teammate, coupled with Liu Qingyang’s 'divine assistance,' even her considerable composure couldn't stop her lips from twitching several times. The gaze she directed at Liu Qingyang was filled with pity.
"Oh, right!" Rong Yuying remembered something and gestured to a junior sister beside her, who handed over three banners radiating a soft glow. "We had some good luck earlier and found several of your sect's banners. It’s only right to return them to their owners."
Jiang Yifan and the others looked; those three banners were indeed marked with the emblem of the Five Elements Dao Sect!
"Sister Rong, this..." Li Nanzhu began to decline.
Rong Yuying waved her hand and said frankly, "No need to be polite; these belonged to you in the first place. Our Hehuan Sect also found two of our own banners. Now that our two sects have joined forces, we should naturally share resources. These three banners will count for 30 points; we'll simply deduct them from the points we earn together later."
Seeing Rong Yuying put it that way, Li Nanzhu stopped being unnecessarily polite and solemnly accepted the banners. "Thank you, Sister Rong! We shall do as you say."
With this, the Five Elements Dao Sect’s score instantly increased by 30 points!
Combined with the 50 points gained from eliminating the Mingguang Sect and various other points found or snatched along the way, their total score had finally seen a significant boost.
Once the two sects merged, the team's strength exploded.
Between the Five Elements Dao Sect and the Hehuan Sect, there were now eight Golden Core stage cultivators. They were now a force that could not be ignored within this secret realm!
Over the next day, this joint team explored while simultaneously beginning a spree of plunder.
Armed with their formidable strength, they specifically targeted teams likely to have high points, particularly those they had friction with: the Wuji Sect, the Sword Heart Sect, and the Xuan Tian Sect.
The most unfortunate was Mu Zeting of the Wuji Sect.
Whether it was bad luck or something else, the fellow once again walked right into their crosshairs.
There was no suspense. Under the combined efforts of several Golden Core stage cultivators, his team was soundly thrashed before they could even organize a counterattack.
Duan Xianxing, in particular, vented all the fury he held for Liu Qingyang onto Mu Zeting. After beating him black and blue, he snatched the points jade pendant and eliminated him from the competition.
As Mu Zeting was teleported out, his venomous gaze almost felt physical.
Li Nanyi of the Sword Heart Sect was more alert. Whether it was due to a secret treasure or incredible intuition, he sensed the danger before the joint team could close in and slipped away early with Le Changxi and a few core disciples, narrowly escaping.
However, the slower and weaker disciples in his team weren't so lucky. They were overtaken by the joint team and easily eliminated.
As for the disciples of the Shenmu Sect and Water Moon Sect, with whom they had relatively civil relations, the joint team’s methods were much gentler.
For instance, when they encountered Tao Ying or Ye Zhiqiu, they merely took their points jade pendants without dealing heavy blows. They even kindly drove them to the edge of the elimination circle so they could 'walk' out on their own, which would result in fewer point deductions upon elimination.
This was considered showing a bit of mercy.
In just one day, they seized nearly twenty more banners. Unfortunately, only three belonged to the Five Elements Dao Sect and two to the Hehuan Sect; the rest were from other sects.
Even so, it caused their points to soar.
Of course, there was a price. During the intense chases and encounters, three more female cultivators from the Hehuan Sect were unfortunately eliminated.
In the eyes of the spectators outside, the competition on the leaderboard was exceptionally fierce.
On the massive leaderboard beside the light screen, the rankings shifted constantly.
First Place: Sword Heart Sect. Second Place: Tianyan Sect. Third Place: Beast Taming Sect. Fourth Place: Five Elements Dao Sect.
For the Five Elements Dao Sect to climb from an initial disadvantage all the way to fourth place was nothing short of a miracle!
This was largely due to their efficient robbing strategy and Mu Wenyan’s tireless efforts in the Nascent Soul combat zone. The Hehuan Sect was ranked seventh.
The elders of the various sects had varying expressions. The faces of those whose disciples had been eliminated by the joint efforts of the Five Elements Dao Sect and the Hehuan Sect were particularly unsightly.
Liu Changhe saw that although his son was constantly causing 'situations,' he hadn't been eliminated yet and had even coasted along for many points. His expression softened slightly, though he couldn't help his lips twitching when he saw the ferocity with which Duan Xianxing beat Mu Zeting.
When the dawn of the third day reached the secret realm, everyone felt an invisible pressure.
The elimination circle was shrinking faster and faster, and its range was becoming smaller. The surviving teams were being driven toward the centermost region of the secret realm.
It was only now that the sensing from the Soul-Sound Bell—belonging to Mu Wenyan, whom Li Nanzhu and the others had been unable to reunite with—finally became exceptionally clear and strong!
The direction pointed straight to a valley in the core area shrouded by a strange barrier!
"The eldest senior brother is over there!" Li Nanzhu pointed excitedly. "It looks like the isolation barrier for the Nascent Soul cultivators is about to vanish!"
Everyone’s spirits rose, and they immediately headed toward the source of the sensation at full speed.
They had guessed as much earlier when they hadn't run into any Nascent Soul stage cultivators and couldn't find their eldest senior brother. Now that the barrier was opening and Nascent Soul stage cultivators were joining the fray, the competition would only become more intense.
They had to reunite with Mu Wenyan first!
However, shortly after they entered the safe zone, their path was blocked by two figures radiating the powerful pressure of the Nascent Soul stage.
The person on the left, wearing the disciple robes of the Wuji Sect, was none other than their chief disciple, Ji Yanzhi.
The person on the right was a young monk draped in moon-white monastic robes.
His face was handsome, possessing a certain dignified and solemn air, yet a faint, gentle smile played at the corners of his mouth.
Most prominent were the clear ordination scars on his smooth head and the Nascent Soul spiritual energy fluctuations radiating from him, which were distinctly different from Ji Yanzhi's.
Rong Yuying’s face turned icy as she said coldly, "I didn't expect the 'Smiling Buddha' Huixin to be here as well."
What caused everyone’s hearts to sink further was that on either side of Ji Yanzhi and Huixin, as well as in the forest of jagged rocks behind them, more than a dozen figures were looming.
Their auras were equally powerful—at least at the late stage of Foundation Establishment or even the Golden Core stage. They had vaguely formed a semi-circle around the Five Elements Dao Sect and the Hehuan Sect.
Even Huineng, who had fled earlier, was among this group. It was obvious that these two sects intended to cooperate to eliminate them all together!
"They’ve probably been lying in ambush here for a long time," Zhu Yinxi’s voice rang out, cold and laden with an unprecedented gravity. "They were waiting for this moment to catch us all in one net!"
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