Li Zhuohua entered a state of complete focus in battle.
Whatever Wen Shuangbai said, whatever the other teammates were doing—Li Zhuohua blocked it all out, her mind solely fixed on the Liu Hong Sword in her hand and the enemy before her.
Sword and wielder became one, every strike from the Liu Hong Sword a lethal move.
Soon, Yu Xiaoxiao had suffered multiple wounds, her body drenched in blood.
Her lifebound sword was tightly entangled by Wen Shuangbai’s Fire Plume Whip, leaving Yu Xiaoxiao defenseless. On the verge of being struck down by Li Zhuohua’s blade, a sudden realization struck her in that life-or-death moment.
What is a sword? Must it only be the weapon in one’s hand?
If the heart holds a sword, then anything can become a blade. What does it matter if the hand is empty?
Wen Shuangbai had been closely monitoring the battlefield.
These two enemies were no ordinary foes—they were the novel’s female lead and the male lead who survived until the end.
Even with five against two, even though Li Zhuohua’s cultivation surpassed Yu Xiaoxiao’s, and even though the senior brother could suppress Lu Ying, Wen Shuangbai didn’t dare let her guard down for even a second.
The difference between protagonists and antagonists lay in their luck. That tiny sliver of fortune could mean the difference between life and death.
In a battle to the death, protagonists could achieve enlightenment and turn the tables.
Wen Shuangbai had no intention of letting her team become the whetstone for the protagonists’ growth.
Noticing an unusual surge of spiritual energy around Yu Xiaoxiao, Wen Shuangbai quickly devised a plan. She feigned shock and called out, “Di Qi?! Why are you here?”
Brother Di?
Hearing that name, Yu Xiaoxiao’s eyes flickered, her focus wavering for just an instant.
That was all the opening Li Zhuohua needed.
The Liu Hong Sword plunged straight into Yu Xiaoxiao’s spirit bone. Remembering Wen Shuangbai’s repeated warnings, Li Zhuohua didn’t withdraw the blade immediately. Instead, she twisted it ruthlessly, ensuring the spirit bone was thoroughly shattered before finally pulling back.
With a wet gasp, Yu Xiaoxiao coughed up blood and collapsed into the crimson pool beneath her. Her fading gaze drifted weakly to the side.
There was no Di Qi.
She… she had been tricked.
“You… you all…” Yu Xiaoxiao felt so cold, so broken. She couldn’t understand—how could Li Zhuohua and Wen Shuangbai, fellow women, treat her like this?
What had she done wrong? She had genuinely considered them her senior sisters. Why… why would they do this to her?
Her master had been right. She was too kind, too trusting.
With a bitter smile, Yu Xiaoxiao closed her eyes in sorrow and was eliminated from the competition.
“Xiaoxiao!” Lu Ying’s eyes burned with fury. In his frenzy, he actually managed to repel Xie Ziyin, Shen Hefeng, and the others with a single strike. He rushed to Yu Xiaoxiao’s side, cradling her in his arms. “Xiaoxiao!”
Strike while the enemy is vulnerable!
The Qingling Mountain team moved in perfect unison, giving the protagonists no time for tearful farewells as they prepared to finish off Lu Ying.
But in that moment, Wen Shuangbai’s heart skipped a beat—something felt wrong.
Then she caught sight of the eerie smile curling Lu Ying’s lips.
Her blood ran cold.
“Fck! Run!” she screamed, leaping toward the window. “He’s going to self-detonate!”
She had been so focused on eliminating the enemy that she’d forgotten—they still had this mutually destructive card to play.
“Too late.” Lu Ying tenderly wiped the blood from Yu Xiaoxiao’s lips as his spirit bone began to combust. Spiritual energy from all over Qi Manor converged violently into the small room. “You’ll be eliminated with us… hahahaha!”
Amid Lu Ying’s mad laughter, Xie Ziyin took a deep breath and pulled out the alchemy furnace he’d bought from Wen Shuangbai when he first transmigrated into this world. He hurled it straight at Lu Ying.
BOOM!
The enlarged furnace shattered into pieces as the entire outer courtyard was reduced to dust. The spiritual flames, fueled by the detonation of a cultivator’s meridians and spirit bone, devoured everything in their path—buildings, plants, trees—leaving nothing but annihilation in their wake.
Lu Jiayao, who had been sent to call for help, returned with Steward Qi and Wu Ren just in time to witness the devastation. His vision darkened, and he let out a scream, lunging toward the inferno.
Wu Ren grabbed his young friend, pulling him back with a heavy heart. “Brother Lu, you must stay strong. With flames like these… I fear they’re already gone.”
Lu Jiayao stood frozen, staring blankly at the sea of fire. He wanted to rush in, to die with his beloved teammates—but then he remembered Wen Shuangbai’s final instructions.
If they didn’t make it, he was to collect their rewards and negotiate for the highest possible compensation from Qi Manor. Every coin counted.
Wu Ren signaled to the other guards, who quickly escorted the dazed Lu Jiayao away.
Just as everyone assumed the team had perished, a voice suddenly cried out, “What—what is that?!”
Wu Ren squinted through the smoke—and saw five figures, wreathed in flames, crawling desperately out of the blaze.
Wen Shuangbai felt like her entire body was being roasted alive. Clinging to survival, she reached out with a charred hand and seized Wu Ren’s ankle. “Brother Wu… h-help us!”
Stunned by their sheer will to live, the onlookers snapped into action—some rushing to rescue the survivors, others battling the flames.
Before Qi Manor’s healers could arrive, Steward Qi had the five placed on a nearby patch of open ground and personally extinguished the remaining flames.
Gazing at the five charred bodies still stubbornly clinging to life, Steward Qi hesitated—then reluctantly pulled out his most prized possession: two Life-Death Bone Restoration Pills, reserved for dire emergencies.
After a moment’s thought, he carefully split one pill into five portions, feeding each survivor a small piece.
Just enough to keep them alive. The healers could handle the rest.
[Heavens!!! The legendary Life-Death Bone Restoration Pills!! If they knew what they just ate, they’d probably rise from the dead out of sheer regret for wasting such a treasure…]
[I—I’m speechless. I don’t even know what to say. I just feel like I should go train harder.]
[This is infuriating! What kind of steward favors Qingling Mountain like this?! Lu Ying’s self-detonation didn’t even take out a single one of them!]
[If I were the steward, I’d favor them too. They work hard, never slack off, endure hardships without complaint, and know how to sweet-talk. What employer wouldn’t want subordinates like that?]
[Regardless, the elimination this round has to be the enemy team. They’ve been wiped out and can’t earn any more points. After that scam at the inn, their score must be the lowest.]
[What about the other team?]
[They didn’t earn points this round either, but they didn’t spend any either.]
[Hah! Serves them right! No more annoying opponents in future matches!]
[Qingling Mountain won through dirty tricks! Did you see how they treated Lu Ying and Yu Xiaoxiao?!]
[Wake up. Look where they were fighting—Wen Shuangbai’s room! Why were the enemies hiding there in the first place? Did Qingling Mountain force them to sneak in?]
During the three days Wen Shuangbai and the others lay unconscious, the cultivators of the Ten Thousand Saints Palace and those from Qingzhou were locked in heated arguments on the Mystic Heaven Mirror.
Regardless, the battle—where the many ganged up on the few—was recorded by a memory pearl and circulated widely among the disciples of Qingling Mountain. The disciples eagerly studied and emulated it.
Not long after, disciples from other sects no longer dared to look down on or scorn those from Qingling Mountain as they once had, instead giving them a wide berth.
---
Three days later, in the medical quarters of Qi Manor.
Wen Shuangbai drank the medicinal broth, then fixed her exposed eyes—the only part of her face not wrapped in bandages—on the elderly physician with sincere desperation. "Senior, is there any way you can make me vomit?"
The old physician stared at the woman swathed in white bandages, baffled. "Huh? Vomit?"
Wen Shuangbai nodded mournfully. "I want to throw up the Bone-Rebirth Pill. Please, I beg you!"
The physician's long beard twitched, and he immediately turned on his heel and stormed out. "No!"
Wen Shuangbai watched him leave with deep regret.
Beside the bed, Xie Ziyin—also wrapped in bandages—let out a derisive snort. "I already told you it wouldn’t work. You just refused to listen."
Wen Shuangbai ignored him and discreetly checked her storage ring.
Thank goodness—she had managed to stash her Fire-Plume Whip and other valuables inside at the last critical moment.
The storage ring was fireproof, so nothing was damaged. Not even her four hundred spirit stones.
Wen Shuangbai sighed in relief.
Since Xie Ziyin was sitting on their second junior sister’s bed, Yin Xuan couldn’t lie down and had to lean against Lu Jiayao instead. Eyes closed, she imagined the taste for a moment before murmuring wistfully, "I didn’t even get to savor the Bone-Rebirth Pill."
Lu Jiayao, who was peeling oranges for everyone, huffed. "Well, I didn’t even get to eat one!"
"Pfft, you?" Shen Hefeng scoffed, fiddling with his turtle shell—blackened but still intact despite the spiritual flames. "If you’d been inside, you wouldn’t have even crawled out. You’d have been burned to ashes before getting a taste of the Bone-Rebirth Pill."
Li Zhuohua sat ramrod straight, using her Glowing Rainbow Sword as a cane. "Junior Brother Santu, did Steward Qi say when we can return to duty? I feel perfectly fine now!"
Thanks to her body-tempering training, she was sturdier than her junior siblings and had actually woken up the day before.
After lying around for a full day, Li Zhuohua was bored out of her mind. Every inch of her ached from inactivity!
Steward Qi, who had just reached the doorway: "..."
He stepped inside, his expression complicated as he surveyed the group. "No rush. Focus on recovering first."
Wen Shuangbai’s eyes lit up at the sight of him. She greeted him warmly before cutting straight to the point. "Steward Qi, do we still get paid while recovering?" If not, she could declare herself fully healed and return to work immediately.
Steward Qi gave a firm nod. "Yes."
"By the way, I came to ask—how did you all discover there were intruders hiding in your rooms?"
With her paid leave secured, Wen Shuangbai relaxed back into the bed. "They touched my things."
Steward Qi: "?"
You even have things in your room?
"My room might look bare, but I know exactly where every last item is placed and whether someone’s been sneaking around touching them," Wen Shuangbai said.
Though Lu Ying and Yu Xiaoxiao had put everything back afterward, they couldn’t fool her keen, thrifty eyes.
Her belongings were hers—no one else had the right to covet or meddle with them.
Xie Ziyin, sitting quietly nearby, smirked.
Lu Ying’s group had also rifled through his room, flipping through his alchemy manuals.
Steward Qi: "......"
After a long pause, he said, "Rest well. I’ll take my leave—"
"Steward Qi!" Li Zhuohua sprang up, startling him so badly he feared her Bone-Rebirth-Pill-reinforced body might shatter from the sudden movement.
"Steward Qi," the restless sword cultivator insisted, "I don’t need to recover. Just let me go back on duty!"
Steward Qi felt both exasperated and proud.
Look at this—such dedication.
After a moment’s thought, he denied Li Zhuohua’s request to work while injured but extended a promotion instead. "Once you’ve all fully recovered, report to the inner guards. Your pay will double."
The six of them: "!!!"
