Chapter 130: Turning the Tables

Lu Xiangxiang took a deep breath, calming her own emotions.

It's only the first day, no rush.

Having thought this through, Lu Xiangxiang gripped her sword, stepped forward, and attacked the few people walking toward her.

…

At the same time, Xiao Zhufeng and the others also saw the changes on the points ranking, and they all began to pay attention to Yuan Yao.

Inside the secret realm's eastern valley.

Yuan Yao's vision flashed, and the scene before her changed.

She looked around and realized she had left the Goddess Stone Statue Gate, but she did not see those few Carefree Sect senior brothers and sisters from earlier here.

They were probably transmitted to another place.

Yuan Yao seemed to recall something, and took out her jade tablet to look.

She was happy.

"I have become first on the points ranking..."

She said happily.

This way she wouldn't embarrass her master and the Carefree Sect.

She put away her jade tablet and walked forward.

As she continued forward, the originally wide and flat road gradually narrowed, and the towering mountains on both sides began to slowly close in, as if squeezed by an invisible force.

The further she went, the smaller the distance between the peaks became, until finally only a narrow passage remained that could fit two people walking side by side.

When Yuan Yao hesitated about whether to go forward, she actually heard fighting sounds coming from behind the narrow passage.

She raised her eyebrows, immediately lightened her steps, and sneaked up.

The closer she got, the fiercer the fighting sounds became, accompanied by shouts.

"You Holy Gate people are truly despicable! You actually used such poisonous methods!" a female voice called out.

A mocking male voice came: "The competition rules never stated that poison is forbidden. I specialize in both medicine and poison; this is my strength. How so? You won't let me use my strength? Don't worry, this isn't a lethal poison. But you had better leave the secret realm quickly to find an antidote, otherwise I cannot guarantee your foundations won't be harmed."

"You!"

Yuan Yao found this female voice somewhat familiar.

Suddenly, a blast sounded.

The man who had just spoken shouted angrily, summoned a few Holy Gate disciples, and went after those who had fled using explosive talismans.

Yuan Yao's heart stirred; she rushed out of the narrow passage, took a clear look, and saw four young men and women in bright yellow Holy Gate robes chasing three young men and women in white clothes.

Those three young men and women in white were precisely from the Carefree Sect!

"Senior Sister Su..." Yuan Yao's face instantly turned cold.

No wonder she found the voice familiar—it was Senior Sister Su from Heaven Inquiry Peak!

Her gaze fell on the four Holy Gate disciples.

Three of them were at the late Foundation Establishment Realm; the other's cultivation she could not discern.

Yuan Yao's gaze turned icy; she immediately lunged forward, her hand conjuring a Phantom Spirit Sword.

At that moment, the four Holy Gate disciples also caught up to Senior Sister Su's trio and surrounded them!

Due to poison, Senior Sister Su's trio had blackened lips and purple-tinged hair, their bodies weak; they struggled to fend off the Holy Gate four's attacks.

Just as Senior Sister Su's trio were overturned to the ground, unable to fight back, Senior Sister Su caught a glimpse of Yuan Yao's figure from the corner of her eye.

Senior Sister Su's face changed drastically; she shouted, "Junior Sister, run!"

That shout also startled the Holy Gate four.

They immediately turned and saw the high-ponytailed girl's figure, her beautiful face as cold as frost.

"Another one has come." The young man skilled in both medicine and poison gave a light snort, raised his crossbow, and without hesitation shot a poisoned bolt toward Yuan Yao.

Swish swish swish—

The crossbow bolt tore through the void, straight toward Yuan Yao!

Yuan Yao swung her sword, deflecting several bolts with a few clangs; the bolts lodged into the rock wall and ground.

The young man narrowed his eyes, continuing to shoot at Yuan Yao while ordering, "Quickly seize those three's jade tablets!"

The other three Holy Gate members, upon hearing, immediately moved to act.

Yuan Yao dodged the crossbow bolts.

As Yuan Yao swept her sword horizontally, a flash of red sword light suddenly struck at the Holy Gate four.

The Holy Gate four quickly defended, and then—

Yuan Yao actually flashed to appear before the young man; before he could react, she thrust her sword straight at his arm!

Pierced through!

"Ahhh!" the young man screamed miserably.

The Holy Gate three's faces shifted, and they immediately launched an attack on Yuan Yao.

Yuan Yao quickly drew her sword, bent to dodge the attack, then backhanded stabbed another at a tricky angle.

That person's thigh was pierced through!

"Ah—"

Yuan Yao drew her sword, and a "splitch" sound of flesh tearing came, making one's scalp go numb.

Her gaze cold and deep, she faced the Holy Gate four alone.

Her sword technique was fierce and fast as tangled hemp, making it hard to see her movements.

Boom!

The Holy Gate four were taken by surprise and forced to retreat from Senior Sister Su's trio.

And Senior Sister Su and the other two were stunned; they had never seen the junior sister look like this, so……

Awesome!!!

Senior Sister Su and the other two's eyes lit up.

At this moment, Yuan Yao did not quickly set up a formation as before; instead, she pressed the attack on the four from the Holy Sect, seemingly wanting to personally avenge Senior Sister Su and the other two.

The young man took several sword blows; though not fatal, they hurt terribly and his face turned pale.

He gritted his teeth, grabbed something from his storage space, and threw it toward Yuan Yao.

"Be careful!" Senior Sister Su's expression changed in alarm.

Just as the white powder fell onto Yuan Yao, her left hand instantly condensed a formation barrier, blocking all the white powder.

Yuan Yao gripped her sword and swept upward!

In an instant, sword wind rose up, forming a hurricane that swept the white powder toward the young man.

Seeing this, the young man's face showed a hint of panic, and he quickly retreated.

While fleeing, he hastily pulled out an antidote from his storage space, and just as he was about to swallow it——

A sword blade thrust straight at his back.

"Ah!" The young man's back was instantly struck by a sword; blood spread from the wound, the pain made his hand tremble, and the antidote fell to the ground.

And the hurricane sweeping the white powder struck his body.

The young man's face showed panic.

In the blink of an eye, his exposed skin turned red instantly.

Intense itch and pain permeated layer by layer into his meridians.

The young man let out a painful groan, his body involuntarily went limp on the ground, his whole body convulsed, and white foam gradually spilled from his mouth!

"Senior Brother Li!" the three from the Holy Sect exclaimed in shock.

They wanted to rush over to check on the young man's condition, but Yuan Yao blocked them with a single sword strike!

Yuan Yao was about to cast a formation to trap those three when suddenly her expression changed, and she quickly turned her head to look.

"Junior sister……"

Only to see Senior Sister Su being held at throat‑point by a young woman in bright yellow Holy Sect robes, her sword tip pressed against her neck.

The young woman was lovely as flower and moon, with a small mole on her delicate nose bridge; she smiled lightly and said, "Yuan Yao, right? Hand over your jade tablet, and I'll release your senior sister."

"Senior Sister Ling!" several from the Holy Sect shouted joyfully.

The young woman was precisely the eldest disciple of the Holy Sect's sect master, Ling Huya, twenty‑three years old.

Ling Huya tied for third place with the Holy Sect's Gong Sun Hong on the previous session's sect grand competition disciple ranking.

Yuan Yao's expression turned cold and solemn.

"Junior sister, you don't need to worry about me!" Senior Sister Su said, quickly pulling out the jade tablet from her bosom, intending to crush it, but suddenly her whole body stiffened.

Ling Huya snatched the jade tablet from her hand, then gave Yuan Yao a faint smile: "You have so many banners on you; I think I can spend a lot of time wearing you down."

That was a naked threat.

Hearing this, Senior Sister Su's eyes reddened; she shook her head and said, "Junior sister, run quickly! Killing is not allowed in the secret realm's elimination tournament……

Before her words finished, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

The powerful aura emanating from Ling Huya continually suppressed Senior Sister Su.

Yuan Yao's pupils contracted slightly; she pressed her lips together and said, "Release them, and I'll give you all the banners inside my jade tablet."

"What if I say I want to eliminate you?" Ling Huya smiled faintly the whole time.

Yuan Yao slowly tightened her grip on the sword hilt, her knuckles whitening from the force.

"Junior sister, hurry up and leave!" the two poisoned Carefree Sect disciples beside Senior Sister Su urged, "We'll be fine!"

As soon as they finished speaking, they vomited blood due to Ling Huya's pressure.

Yuan Yao took a deep breath, then slowly lifted her gaze to Ling Huya.

"I'll give you the jade tablet."

Ling Huya raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise, looking at the fifteen‑year‑old girl before her; the girl's youthful face could not hide her extraordinary beauty, and her eyes betrayed determination.

This attitude……

It doesn't seem feigned.

She actually cares this much about these people? Clearly they aren't her direct senior brothers or sisters……

If it were me, not to mention senior brothers and sisters from other peaks, even my own close senior siblings couldn't make her give up the jade tablet.

Yuan Yao took out the jade tablet from her bosom and stared straight at Ling Huya.

"Catch."

She threw the jade tablet up into the sky.

At this moment, the people outside the secret realm saw this familiar scene, and their eyelids twitched violently.

This jade tablet couldn't be……