The Hunyuan Sect was not short of money and possessed a vast hoard of fine medicinal pills. After a flurry of activity, Lu Xiuhan finally opened his eyes.
"Master, those three sects banded together to deal with our Hunyuan Sect! They ganged up on me, and that's how I got eliminated!
This whole thing was definitely the work of that Feng Xi!"
Baili Muchen froze.
The Xuantian Sect had joined forces with two other sects to target the Hunyuan Sect?
Had the core disciples of the Beast Taming Sect and the Wanjian Sect lost their minds?
Forget him—even the leaders of those two sects were stunned.
Xiao Baidao wore a look of utter astonishment, which instantly gave way to unbridled ecstasy.
"What did you say? You saw Feng Xi? How is she? Was she injured? You didn't do anything to her, did you?"
Lu Xiuhan nearly vomited a mouthful of blood!
Are you blind?!
I'm in this state, and you're still asking me if I did anything to her?!
***
### Chapter 29: Not Only Fine, but Stirring Up Trouble
While chaos reigned outside, Feng Xi and the others were having a jolly good time inside the secret realm.
Lu Xiuhan had always been arrogant and overbearing, and Liu Shaobai and the others had long since disliked him.
Now that they had beaten him to a pulp and split up his belongings, it felt simply wonderful.
Feng Xi blinked her eyes. "Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, this isn't the time to celebrate just yet—there's still Shen Zhilan!
Only once we eliminate her can we harvest the rest of the Hunyuan Sect disciples.
She's different from Lu Xiuhan; her vigilance is extremely high, and the trick we just used definitely won't work. We need to change tactics.
How about this—let's use a honeytrap.
Senior Brother Xing Wu, you'll just have to take one for the team!"
Xing Wu: "..."
Xing Wu sneered. "Didn't you just say it yourself? She looks down on me completely. What use would it be for me to go?!"
Feng Xi chuckled. "It seems you don't understand her at all!
Even though she looks down on you in her heart, she still wants to use you, so she puts on a very attentive front. She might even occasionally let slip a hint of adoration.
If you don't believe me, go try it and see.
Senior Brother Xing Wu, honestly, I'd love to send someone else, but among everyone here, you are the most handsome. You're the only one who can pull off this mission."
Although Xing Wu knew Feng Xi was just buttering him up, he still felt a little carried away, especially when he saw Jun Wen's constipated expression.
"Alright, then I'll give it a try."
Seeing him agree, Feng Xi breathed a sigh of relief.
In the book, Xing Wu was also one of Shen Zhilan's desperate simps. He had helped her countless times, only to end up dead without a whole corpse.
One had to admit that Shen Zhilan was toxic; without exception, every single one of her simps came to a bad end.
It wasn't that Feng Xi possessed a Saintess halo and wanted to rescue Xing Wu from the fires of hell; she simply didn't want Shen Zhilan to have an extra helper.
Whether it was the previous alliance or dividing up Lu Xiuhan's loot, it was all part of her strategy to drive a wedge between Liu Shaobai's group and the Hunyuan Sect.
As long as Liu Shaobai and the others kept locking horns with the Hunyuan Sect, it would be very difficult for Shen Zhilan to recruit them as simps or adoring fans.
With the plan agreed upon, Feng Xi and the others set up an ambush just like before.
Xing Wu went to meet Shen Zhilan alone.
Shen Zhilan was in a pretty good mood right now, because shortly after Lu Xiuhan left, she had actually stumbled upon a monster beast egg.
It was wreathed in golden patterns, hinting at its extraordinary nature.
She felt quite smug; she truly was someone favored by Heaven's Path, able to pick up such a treasure so casually.
However, seeing that Lu Xiuhan still hadn't returned, she grew a bit impatient.
He was just a piece of trash, so why was he wasting so much time?
Yet she had no intention of going over to check, because she needed to keep up appearances.
Even if the scandal broke later, it would be that idiot Lu Xiuhan acting on his own, having nothing to do with her.
Right at that moment, she spotted Xing Wu.
A wave of joy washed over her. Earlier, Xing Wu had said some inexplicable things to her—it must have been that wretched girl Feng Xi stirring up trouble. This was the perfect chance to clear things up.
Putting on a sweet smile, she stepped forward to meet him.
"Senior Brother Xing Wu, I was actually just looking for you.
What did you mean by what you said earlier?
Did someone say something to you?"
Seeing her like this, a surge of disgust rose in Xing Wu's chest.
Sure enough, Feng Xi was right—this woman looked down on me in her heart while putting on a flattering face on the outside.
Suppressing his disgust, he said, "It's nothing. I was in a bad mood at the time, so I spoke nonsense.
Where's Lu Xiuhan? How come I don't see him?"
Shen Zhilan's heart skipped a beat. It seemed Xing Wu had been jealous of Lu Xiuhan earlier, which explained his behavior.
See? She was right—no man could resist her.
So, with a look of helpless resignation, she said, "Senior Brother Xing Wu, it's true that I admire Second Senior Brother, but my admiration is truly only for his cultivation.
So after you all left, I explained this to him, and he stormed off in a huff."
Xing Wu sneered inwardly. Clearly, Lu Xiuhan had gone off to hunt down Feng Xi, yet in your mouth, he simply stormed off in a huff?
Not a single word out of your mouth is true!
I really must have been blind before to think you were a good person!
He forced down his irritation and said, "As long as it's cleared up, that's fine. We're both on our own—how about we travel together?"
Shen Zhilan hurriedly nodded in agreement.
After chatting for a bit, Shen Zhilan said, "Senior Brother Xing Wu, although it's a bit presumptuous, I still want to remind you that Feng Xi is cunning and deceitful, full of lies. You'd better keep your distance from her."
Xing Wu grunted in agreement while sneering inside. *That little girl Feng Xi might be a bit mischievous, but she has a warm heart—a hundred times better than a lying woman like you!*
When they finally reached the ambush zone, Xing Wu could no longer hold back and directly summoned his spirit beast—the One-Horned Hurricane Wolf.
"Shen Zhilan, didn't you look down on our Beast Taming Sect? Today I'll let you witness the methods of our Beast Taming Sect! One-Horned, attack!"
Spirit beasts shared a deep mental connection with their masters, so the wolf had heard every word Feng Xi said earlier. At this moment, it hated Shen Zhilan to its core!
It bared its fangs and lunged straight at Shen Zhilan.
Shen Zhilan was completely dumbfounded!
She couldn't fathom why Xing Wu had suddenly flipped the script, but she had no time to dwell on it. She formed hand seals, and several water arrows shot toward the One-Horned Hurricane Wolf and Xing Wu.
She wasn't afraid of Xing Wu at all. Even though both were at Foundation Establishment Level 3, she was absolutely confident she could defeat him.
Some men were just gluttons for punishment—making him submit after beating him up didn't sound like a bad idea!
As she thought this, several figures leaped out from the surroundings, hurling spiritual arts and flying swords right at her.
Shen Zhilan was completely bewildered!
"Stop! There must be some misunderstanding here, you guys listen to me..."
Unfortunately, no one was listening to her!
Right now, everyone just wanted to eliminate her as quickly as possible and ideally... split her loot together.
Feng Xi stood off to the side, cheering them on.
"Put your backs into it, *huo-hei*!
Poke her in the eyes, *huo-hei*!
Stab her in the belly, *huo-hei*..."
Shen Zhilan was so angry she was about to explode!
"Feng Xi! This is definitely your doing. I am at absolute odds with you!"
Feng Xi clicked her tongue. "Why aren't you playing the pure, pristine white lotus flower anymore? Go on, keep acting!
You snatched my herbs, shattered my dantian, and framed me for it, getting me demoted to a chores servant.
Even then, you weren't satisfied—you incited Lu Xiuhan to kill me. How can your heart be so pitch-black?
Did you think no one would see through your true face?
Everyone's eyes are sharp; all the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters saw right through you long ago!
Shen Zhilan, people who do too many wicked deeds will suffer a backlash. Your retribution has arrived!"
Shen Zhilan gritted her teeth. "Stop spouting nonsense here, everyone listen to me..."
Her only answer was an even more ferocious barrage of attacks.
Shen Zhilan was smarter than Lu Xiuhan; knowing she was bound to be eliminated today, rather than letting them subdue her, she decided to eliminate herself.
With that, she crushed her own jade token.
She hated Feng Xi to the core.
She had originally thought Feng Xi was a useless trash with no utilization value, yet time and time again, the girl had brought her trouble.
She could not be allowed to live!
And those idiots like Xing Wu—once they outlived their usefulness, not a single one of them would escape; they would all die!
However, the more pressing matter right now was how to explain things to Baili Muchen.
Meanwhile, outside, Baili Muchen was mocking Xiao Baidao and the other two.
"The core disciples of your three sects sure have some nerve!
Teaming up to deal with our Hunyuan Sect—what kind of skill is ganging up in superior numbers?!
If secret realm trials are going to be run like this, I say we shouldn't even open them in the future!"
Hu Wankui and Lu Zhenkuan were secretly thrilled inside. *Ahahaha, the little brats finally figured it out!*
*They should have done this long ago!*
Every time they saw old man Baili Muchen looking so smug and pleased with himself, it made their blood boil!
Well, how do you like that? Go on and be smug now! Keep being smug!
Xiao Baidao's mood had soared straight to the heavens!
It was simply wonderful that his little apprentice was safe and sound!
Not only was she safe, but she had stirred up trouble!
This time, the Xuantian Sect was guaranteed at least third place—equaling their best historical record!
It was truly a double blessing!
As for Baili Muchen, he could say whatever he wanted; let him squawk all he liked! Anyway, it wouldn't dampen Old Master's great mood!
***
### Chapter 30: Come and Get Me
At that moment, Shen Zhilan was teleported out.
Although Baili Muchen had anticipated this scene, his expression remained grim.
Looking ashamed, Shen Zhilan said, "Master, this disciple is incompetent and failed to withstand the joint assault of Jun Wen and the others. However, this disciple did obtain a stroke of fortune within the secret realm."
With that, she took out the monster beast egg.
Baili Muchen's expression immediately softened a fraction. "Not bad, this is an immortal beast egg. While it can't compare to a divine beast, it is still exceptional.
If you have the affinity in the future, it might even evolve into a divine beast."
No matter what, Zhilan was still exceptionally talented, and she was clearly favored by the heavens.
The Golden Suanni, which had been dozing off, abruptly opened its eyes and gazed with a sort of infatuated obsession at the immortal beast egg in Shen Zhilan's hands.
Inside that immortal beast egg was a scent it deeply craved; its ancient heart, dormant for tens of thousands of years, began to flutter with excitement.
It couldn't help but stand up—and then it suddenly remembered what Feng Xi had told it.
*It's a trap!*
*Definitely a trap!*
*It must be some dirty trick cooked up by those flashy, shameless hussies of the Hunyuan Sect, trying to make me their breeding stud!*
*Not a chance!*
With that, it glared fiercely at the immortal beast egg and flopped back down onto the ground.
To prevent its imagination from running wild, it began silently reciting the *Heart-Clearing Mantra*.
Feng Xi had taught it this on the way here.
Although it had claimed it didn't want to listen, it couldn't stand Feng Xi chattering on and on, so it had picked it up anyway.
Right at that moment, a pig-slaughtering scream pierced the air!
"My Spirit Stones! My spirit artifacts! My medicinal pills!
Master, Feng Xi and the others looted my storage ring, you have to avenge me!"
Lu Xiuhan had originally intended to change into a clean set of clothes, only to discover that his storage ring was stuffed entirely with large rocks!
He immediately spewed a mouthful of blood!
Hearing Lu Xiuhan's words, Baili Muchen's face turned livid with rage!
Lu Zhenkuan and the other two exchanged glances. The kids might have gone a little overboard, but damn, was it satisfying to hear!
Xiao Baidao gave a cough. "Feng Xi and the others are all good kids; they wouldn't do such a thing.
Besides, Lu Xiuhan didn't see it with his own eyes—perhaps some glitch occurred during the teleportation process.
Sector Leader Hu, Sector Leader Lu, what do you two think?"
Lu Zhenkuan nodded. "Sector Leader Xiao makes sense. My two disciples are sensible people; they wouldn't stoop to looting a fire."
Hu Wankui chimed in with a look of extreme displeasure, "Don't go spreading baseless accusations! Isn't this just tarnishing my disciples' reputations?!"
Baili Muchen was so angry he nearly passed out!
*You people are literally talking nonsense with your eyes wide open!*
*You've thrown away your old faces entirely!*
*I'll settle accounts with those little brats once they come out!*
Inside the secret realm, Liu Shaobai and the others felt a lingering sense of regret.
After all, before they could even shear the sheep, Shen Zhilan—that plump, wealthy sheep—had slipped away.
Feng Xi was also rather regretful.
She had wanted to leave Shen Zhilan a parting memento, but the girl had scurried off much too fast.
She said to the group, "After the secret realm ends, Sector Leader Baili will definitely ask us about the storage rings. None of us know how to lie, so we'll just tell the truth.
After we ganged up on Lu Xiuhan, he generously gifted everything inside his storage ring to us.
Next, we'll start harvesting the Hunyuan Sect disciples. Let's not rob their storage rings, though—after all, we're all people of standing and decency; we can't do such wicked things."
The group: "..."
*Does your face not hurt when you say things like that?*
From then on, the Hunyuan Sect disciples suffered absolute disaster!
Whenever anyone encountered disciples not from their own sect, they launched an attack.
In less than two hours, not a single Hunyuan Sect member was spared; every last one of them was eliminated.
They set the record for the fastest elimination speed since the opening of the Tianlv Secret Realm!
Baili Muchen sneered at Xiao Baidao and the other two. "Don't look so smug just yet. Now there are only three sects left inside; I want to see how you lot tear each other apart."
Although his words sounded harsh, Lu Zhenkuan and Hu Wankui both furrowed their brows.
They didn't really take the Xuantian Sect seriously, seeing as the Xuantian Sect was dead-set on third place anyway.
Now it just depended on which of their two sects would claim first.
Inside the secret realm, Feng Xi's newly forged alliance also fell apart.
All the previous allies instantly reverted to a state of hostility.
Liu Shaobai and the other three reached a unanimous consensus in an instant: eliminate the Xuantian Sect first, and then settle the scores among themselves.
With that, they locked their gazes on Feng Xi and Jun Wen, ready to strike.
Feng Xi blinked her eyes and said, "Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, did you forget what our original intention was when entering the secret realm?
It's not to fight for first or second place, nor is it to score good treasures—it's for experiential training.
So why waste our energy on fighting and killing?
How about we concentrate our efforts on harvesting spiritual plants and hunting monster beasts, and let our results speak for us in the end?
That way, we won't damage our relations and we'll still reap rewards. Why not?
Besides, I'm so weak—how could you bear to lay a hand on me?"
The group: *You're weak, so you're right, huh?*
Still, they had been allies just moments ago, and it really was a bit hard to bring themselves to strike.
More importantly, Feng Xi didn't possess a jade token, so there was no way to eliminate her anyway.
Liu Shaobai took the lead in stating his stance. "Feng Xi is right. We really fell into a misconception earlier. If we want first place, we'll win it on our own merits—none of those dirty Hunyuan Sect tricks."
Xing Wu nodded. "Indeed. Without that troublemaker from the Hunyuan Sect, we're bound to harvest much more. Since that's the case, let's each rely on our own abilities!"
With that, he turned and walked away first.
Seeing this, Yuan Zongheng and Song Yudie also departed.
Only Jun Wen and Feng Xi were left behind.
Jun Wen found the whole preceding adventure utterly thrilling.
Chasing down monster beasts hadn't been this exhilarating.
How had they managed to wipe out the Hunyuan Sect without expending any real effort?
It felt just like a dream!
Just now, with a few short sentences, his Junior Sister had defused a crisis of being ganged up on?
Junior Sister was truly a genius!
Just as he was feeling deeply moved, Feng Xi said, "Fifth Senior Brother, let's go—we'll go look for spiritual plants too!"
Jun Wen hesitated, words hanging on the tip of his tongue, before hardening his heart.
"Junior Sister, let's forget it. Spiritual plants always have guardian beasts. If I get distracted and can't look after you, what happens if you get hurt by a monster beast?"
Feng Xi curved her lips. "Fifth Senior Brother, ever since I took the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill given to me by Master, my dantian injury has healed quite a bit, and I already have a tiny bit of combat capability.
Did you forget? Earlier, I even used the Binding Art to attack Lu Xiuhan, and look—I'm still hopping around fine, aren't I?
So even if I can't beat them, I can run.
Besides, I just got a defensive spirit artifact from Lu Xiuhan's share; it can save my life in a pinch."
Jun Wen still felt the risk was too great and refused.
Feng Xi sighed. "The cultivation world is a place where the weak are prey to the strong; weakness is the original sin.
I can't live under the protection of Master and you guys forever. I have to grow strong step by step.
This secret realm trial is the best opportunity—please help me out!"
Hearing her put it that way, Jun Wen gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! But you have to listen to me—we can only deal with some low-tier monster beasts."
Feng Xi obediently agreed.
Before long, the pair located a stalk of Yellow-grade medicinal herb. Its guardian beast was a Toothed Golden-Backed Wolf, roughly equivalent to a human cultivator at the Qi Condensation 6th Layer.
Feng Xi had Jun Wen stand aside as a spectator. She flashed her little white teeth at the Toothed Golden-Backed Wolf and beckoned with a crooked finger.
"Come and get me!"
***
### Chapter 31: She Truly Is a Genius
Although the Toothed Golden-Backed Wolf had limited intelligence, it could still tell that the human before it was provoking it. With a roar, it lunged straight at Feng Xi.
Jun Wen instinctively wanted to summon his flying sword to slaughter the beast, and it took everything he had to hold himself back.
He stared nervously at Feng Xi, terrified that she might be in danger.
To his astonishment, Feng Xi's footwork was exceptionally fast; for all its lunging, the Toothed Golden-Backed Wolf couldn't even brush against the hem of her clothes.
In the end, it was... exhausted into a state of collapse.
Its tongue lolled out ridiculously far as it panted heavily in massive gasps.
Jun Wen: "..."
Such a combat style was unheard of and unseen.
Feng Xi merely broke out in a light film of sweat, highly satisfied with herself.
Her very first real combat, and she had run a monster beast ragged until it collapsed—she truly was a genius!
After a moment, Feng Xi lifted her chin. "Done resting? Let's go again!"
This time, Feng Xi didn't play tag with the wolf anymore; instead, she engaged it in earnest close-quarters combat.
Lacking a flying sword, all she could rely on was physical strikes imbued with spiritual power, along with the Binding Art and the Flame Art.
Thus, she found it a bit strenuous at first, but quickly grew comfortable and at ease.
The Toothed Golden-Backed Wolf was first bound up like a zongzi, and then scorched until it sported mangy bald patches.
The Toothed Golden-Backed Wolf let out a roar to the heavens: *Kill me! Just kill me!*
*A wolf can be killed, but not humiliated!*
However, Feng Xi didn't kill it. Instead, she released it, and once it caught its breath, she resumed fighting it.
The Toothed Golden-Backed Wolf finally understood: the little human girl across from it was using it as a sparring partner!
There was a limit to how much a wolf could be insulted!
This was bullying a wolf too far!
Yet other than howling in impotent rage, there was nothing it could do—it simply couldn't beat Feng Xi.
It wasn't until Feng Xi felt she had had enough that she leisurely strolled away.