Both Righteous and Demonic Paths Enraged
Qin Changqing said, “This is Zhao Country.”
“Zhao Country?” Qin Qiling was immediately taken aback, asking in confusion, “Master, why did you bring me here?”
Qin Changqing replied calmly, “Qiling, do you know what would have happened to you all if I hadn’t shown up this time?”
Qin Qiling recalled the brutality of the Demonic Sect cultivators and felt a lingering fear. He said somberly, “Probably not even one in ten would have survived.”
Qin Changqing nodded, speaking earnestly, “You’ve told me before how you’ve been repeatedly ostracized by your sect brothers. That has a lot to do with your detached, otherworldly personality. Of course, seeking peace and inaction isn’t a bad thing. There’s a cultivation sect in Zhao Country called the Nameless Pavilion—it’s perfect for you.”
Qin Qiling felt both surprised and touched. Surprised that his master intended to leave him in Zhao Country, and touched that his master had always been thinking of his well-being.
“Master, I’m a little scared…” Qin Qiling was only a teenager, after all. How could he not be afraid to be left alone in a foreign land?
Qin Changqing felt a pang of reluctance, but he steeled himself and said firmly, “No matter what hardships you face, you must confront them bravely. Escaping won’t solve anything. You’re my disciple—don’t disappoint me!”
Qin Qiling’s eyes reddened, but he nodded resolutely. “I will remember Master’s teachings!”
Qin Changqing took out numerous talismans and magical artifacts from his storage pouch and handed them over, instructing him gravely, “In an unfamiliar place, you can only rely on yourself. Don’t think that having my protection means you can rest easy—I can’t watch over you every moment. Understand?”
“Yes!”
“There’s no need for me to lecture you on not flaunting your wealth. The human heart is treacherous—stay vigilant…”
Qin Changqing gave him a storage pouch filled with talismans, treasures, spirit stones, and more. After solemnly giving him many more instructions, he patted his shoulder and teleported away.
“Master, I won’t let you down!!”
Qin Qiling kowtowed three resounding times toward the spot where Qin Changqing had vanished.
After returning, Qin Changqing teleported away a few more children with personalities like Qin Qiling’s who weren’t happy in their sects. Only then did he feel at ease.
A swirl of white light later, Qin Changqing was back at Qingyun Residence. He slowly removed his black robe and let out a soft sigh.
He hadn’t wanted to send away Qin Qiling and the others, but for safety’s sake, it was necessary. He’d have to keep a close eye on their situations from now on.
“Grow up strong, kids…” Qin Changqing stood by the window with his hands behind his back, his gaze distant.
——
Outside the Qingyuan Secret Realm.
“Fellow Daoists, the time has come.”
The elders from the ten sects who had been guarding the secret realm all stood up and once again summoned their treasures to open the entrance passage.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
Soon, figures shot out one after another from the passage. Seeing them covered in blood and filth, the elders’ faces, which had been smiling, gradually darkened.
“What happened? Why are you all so badly injured?”
“Did the beasts in the secret realm grow so fast this year?”
Shocked, the crowd hurriedly pulled their own disciples aside to question them.
“Martial Uncle, we… we were ambushed by Demonic Sect cultivators. Senior Brother Zhang died saving me… waaah!”
“Master, it’s my fault—I couldn’t protect my junior brother!”
“Elder, why did Demonic Sect cultivators invade the secret realm? So many senior brothers and sisters died. I’m the only one left from our branch…”
Hearing this, the elders from every sect revealed expressions of fury and shock. “What? Demonic Sect cultivators invaded the secret realm?!”
“How could they open the entrance?”
“Those damn Demonic Sect bastards dared to touch my Taixuan Sect disciples—I’ll make sure you all die horribly!”
“We must report this to the sect at once! The Demonic Sect massacred our righteous disciples—they’re trying to uproot us entirely! I’ll eradicate the entire Demonic Sect and repay them a hundredfold!!”
The elders from the various sects trembled with rage, their faces twisted in fury.
Another full half hour passed, and even after the passage closed, no one else emerged. The elders’ visions blurred as they nearly fainted, murmuring in disbelief, “All the disciples are out?”
After counting, there were only a little over sixty survivors. That meant, in this secret realm trial, more than thirty had died!
Normal trials had deaths too, but never more than ten. Now they’d lost over three times that number—the elders’ hearts bled. These were all their precious darlings!
What they didn’t know was that without Qin Changqing’s intervention, not a single righteous disciple might have survived!
“The passage has been open so long—anyone who could get out probably has. Those still inside…”
“Demonic Sect! I’ll never share the same sky with you!!”
This was far too serious. The elders immediately led their disciples back swiftly to report to their sects.
On the other side.
The four Demonic Sects also opened their secret realm passages to retrieve their disciples.
“Heh heh, all those painstakingly nurtured immortal seedlings wiped out—the old fogeys are probably puking blood from rage!”
“I can already picture those old coots raging impotently—guhahaha!”
The four Demonic Sect elders laughed heartily at each other.
But soon, they couldn’t laugh anymore.
What was this? Why did their own Demonic Sect disciples look so wretched?
By the time everyone was out, the Demonic elders gasped in shock and outrage. “What happened? How are so many missing?”
Four hundred Demonic Sect cultivators had entered, but only a little over two hundred returned. That meant over a hundred Demonic Sect cultivators had died inside!
“Those Ten Sect brats were that strong? They killed so many of our disciples?”
The Moon Demon Sect elder couldn’t believe it.
“Elder, it wasn’t like that. We had the numbers advantage—the righteous disciples were no match for us. But just as we were killing up a storm, a mysterious black-clothed man suddenly appeared. Not only did he save them, he slaughtered a bunch of us…”
“Yeah, yeah! We ran into a mysterious guy in a black robe and mask too. He came and went like a ghost, unfathomably powerful. We couldn’t resist at all.”
“Same here—probably the same person…”
The Demonic Sect disciples spoke up one after another, their faces filled with grief and unwillingness.
“A mysterious black-robed man?”
The four Demonic Sect elders exchanged glances, their faces flickering with uncertainty and alarm.
How could such a mysterious expert appear in the Qingyuan Secret Realm? Wasn’t it supposed to bar anyone above the Qi Refining stage?
If he wasn’t Qi Refining, how could he slaughter their disciples so freely?
“Something’s off here. We need to report back to the sect master immediately!”
The four nodded gravely, then led their disciples soaring into the sky.
Soon, the sect masters of the ten sects received the news and flew into a rage as well.
“What are the Demonic Sects playing at? Trying to start a righteous-demonic war?!”
“Invading the secret realm and killing so many of my disciples—this grudge won’t rest until they pay!”
……
In the grand hall of Bihai Sect’s main peak.
The trial disciples, including Wen Luqing, had been safely returned.
The sect master stared at their bedraggled states, his face ashen, a chill running through his heart.
Thank goodness Wen Luqing, their most talented disciple, hadn’t died—otherwise, they’d be regretting it to their graves.
“From what you’ve described, the invading Demonic Sect cultivators outnumbered you by at least four to one. And yet you all survived?”
The sect master suddenly fixed his gaze on them.
The disciples’ hearts tightened. They bowed and said, “We were just lucky, Sect Master.”
“Lucky? I doubt it.”
The sect master narrowed his eyes. “Over four hundred Demonic Sect cultivators hunting down a mere hundred righteous disciples. Sure, there are geniuses among you, but escaping Repeated encirclements from several times your number… that doesn’t add up.”
The other elders caught on too. They’d been too worried before, but now it seemed suspicious.
The secret realm teleported people randomly—they couldn’t have grouped up right away. Against such ruthless Demonic Sect cultivators, the survival rate from the Ten Sects was oddly high.
“Speak!”
The sect master barked, making everyone flinch.
He suspected something was wrong within the sect.
“Luqing, what really happened?”
One elder sent a transmission to ask softly.
Wen Luqing pursed her lips and shook her head. “Martial Uncle, I really just got lucky and escaped.”
The elder nodded slightly, not suspecting her. Wen Luqing had a heavenly spirit root and plenty of life-saving treasures—escaping Demonic Sect cultivators wasn’t impossible.
“Sect Master, there was a mysterious black-clothed man… he saved me…”
“I was saved by a mysterious black-robed man too…”
Under the elders’ intense pressure, someone finally cracked, spilling everything like beans from a bamboo tube.