Following Bai Zhiqiu’s plan, the three of them arrived before a long, narrow canyon.
The mountain walls on both sides of the canyon were extremely steep, and the passage ahead was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. It was clearly a terrain that was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
“Is your ‘great idea’ for us to just stand guard here?” Yu Qingyao asked, glancing at Bai Zhiqiu.
Bai Zhiqiu shook her head, a mysterious smile playing on her lips. “Not at all, not at all — “
She unhooked the Lopan from her waist and took her abacus in hand, plucking two beads and tossing them toward the entrance ahead.
“The prime spot in Yixiantian was occupied long ago, so what we need to do isn’t to occupy it, but to attack!”
The moment the beads hit the ground, they suddenly transformed into a large amount of thick smoke that drifted straight toward the inside of the canyon and the rock walls on both sides.
“I’ve calculated that there are at least twenty-some people crouching here, just waiting to slaughter fat sheep like us — “
“A Toll Alliance?” Wu Yan immediately thought of the term.
This was a tactic usually organized by disciples of second-rate sects who knew they couldn’t defeat other Heaven’s Favorites. It mainly involved using superior numbers to overwhelm fewer opponents, specifically gathering points through illegal teaming before distributing them internally. However, since the three of them were technically an illegal team themselves at the moment, they weren’t exactly in a position to judge.
Yu Qingyao could already see the bushes among the rock walls shaking incessantly from the thick smoke. “But we aren’t fat sheep.”
“Exactly!” Bai Zhiqiu’s voice suddenly rose in pitch as she threw several more beads onto the ground. “To us, they are the fat sheep! This tactic is called ‘the predator becomes the prey’! Get ready!”
This time, the beads did not turn into smoke. Instead, they transformed into wooden vines that began to stretch out in all directions.
“Damn it, attack!”
Seeing the vines about to reach his hiding spot, the leader of the ambush finally reached his limit. He leaped up, dodging the entangling vines. His long saber, wreathed in deep yellow Spirit Chi, slashed violently at the ground. Row after row of jagged rock spikes erupted from the earth, racing toward Wu Yan’s group.
Simultaneously, the cultivators hidden on the rock walls struck. Wu Yan counted them; there were twenty-seven people.
In an instant, attacks of various colors and forms enveloped the three of them.
“We knew you were going to do that!”
A milky-white halo appeared above the heads of Wu Yan’s trio, transforming into a solid shield that blocked every incoming attack.
Wu Yan didn’t stay idle either. She raised Wu Nian and swung a single strike forward.
“Piaomiao Sword Arts — Myriad Transformations!”
A moon-white sword light flew forward, splitting into two, then twenty. In the blink of an eye, thousands of sword lights covered the entire canyon, saturating both the passage ahead and the walls on either side.
Before the momentum of that attack even faded, flames flickered on Yu Qingyao’s long sword. She didn’t choose to attack multiple targets at once like Wu Yan did; instead, she slashed directly at the previously generated wooden vines.
“Argh! Hot, it’s so hot!!”
“Why won’t this fire go out?”
“You despicable woman!”
The wooden vines erupted into a raging inferno. The flames spread along the vines, causing the bound enemies to scream in agony.
With that single move, the points on Yu Qingyao’s Jade Token increased by 4.
Wu Yan’s attack was equally effective. Not only did she blast the leader out of the Secret Realm, but she also killed many of the surrounding cultivators. This was evident by the sudden increase of 9 points on her Jade Token.
With such a fierce offensive and the death of their leader, the Toll Alliance, which had been so aggressive just moments ago, instantly collapsed as their formation fell into chaos.
“Now!”
Bai Zhiqiu flicked her abacus. Countless silk threads shot out from the device, weaving into a massive net that caught the cultivators attempting to flee.
Bai Zhiqiu shook her head smugly, her tone light and airy. “As the saying goes, it’s like catching a turtle in a jar. A bountiful harvest indeed!”
“Alright, Sister Wu Yan, Miss Yu, it’s time to collect our spoils — “
Wu Yan’s inner soul was currently hovering directly above the silk net, swinging her bare feet. ‘One, two, three… exactly twenty people. I didn’t expect this little fraud to have some skill, catching so many people at once. Little Wu Yan, hurry up and swallow all these points. We want to be first!’
Wu Yan pretended not to hear her and walked up to the net. “Zhiqiu, Qingyao. My points are already enough to advance. You two should split the points from these people.”
Bai Zhiqiu walked to Wu Yan’s side and waved her hand. “Hey, Sister Wu Yan, that might be true, but the more points the better — how about this? Once Miss Yu and I reach 10 points each, we’ll split the rest equally among the three of us. What do you think?”
Yu Qingyao surprisingly stood on the same side as Bai Zhiqiu. “She’s right, Senior Sister. It’s better to split them equally. After all, everyone contributed. If Miss Bai and I took this many points, I wouldn’t feel right about it.”
“Uh, young heroines, if you really don’t want to split them, could you consider letting some of us go?”
Inside the net, a male cultivator wearing blue-purple Taoist robes raised his hand to suggest. A second later, he was converted into points for Bai Zhiqiu.
The remaining people could only tremble in fear upon seeing this, not daring to move an inch.
However, there were clever ones among them. Some chose to crush their own Jade Tokens, voluntarily teleporting out and crediting their points to Bai Zhiqiu in an attempt to cause a rift during the distribution of spoils.
Unfortunately for them, the final total scores for Wu Yan, Bai Zhiqiu, and Yu Qingyao were 17, 15, and 14, respectively.
Having obtained enough points, the three of them didn’t linger. Under Bai Zhiqiu’s guidance, they found the exit.
***
In the outside world.
The cheers surrounding the Martial Arts Platform were deafening. On the platform, dozens of cultivators had already successfully advanced and left the Secret Realm.
Xia Lingshuang stood with an expressionless face, her back straight as she watched the teleportation screen in the center of the platform.
“Hmph, Elder Xia certainly has a lot of patience. Not a single disciple from the Piaomiao Sect has come out yet, and yet you don’t seem worried at all,” an Elder from the Vajra Gate said mockingly. His disciples had been eliminated by Wu Yan’s group a day ago, so seeing that the Piaomiao Sect’s disciples had not yet left the Secret Realm, he naturally couldn’t pass up this chance to scoff.
“This is a matter for my Piaomiao Sect. Elder Xiong needn’t trouble himself. Rather than worrying about this, perhaps you should go back and check if your disciples are prepared for tomorrow’s Resurrection Match.”
Xia Lingshuang was naturally not worried. With that person there, it was impossible for the Piaomiao Sect to fail.
Sure enough, a second after Xia Lingshuang replied, the teleportation screen rippled. Three figures emerged from the light.
It was the trio of Wu Yan, Yu Qingyao, and Bai Zhiqiu.
Immediately afterward, a gold and white figure appeared.
“It’s Saintess Ji! How many points do you think she has?”
“Is that even a question? It has to be over 30 points!”
“I wouldn’t be so sure!”
“Oh, please. If Saintess Ji doesn’t have at least 30 points, I’ll treat you to a deluxe feast at Zuixian Tower!”
“We meet again, Wu Yan.”
Unexpectedly, Ji Xuerou greeted Wu Yan.
“Yes, we meet again, Miss Ji.”
The two exchanged pleasantries like friends, yet no one knew what thoughts they were truly harboring in their hearts.
‘Hypocrites!’ a certain woman in red thought to herself.