At a certain location on the Outer Domain battlefield, beneath the Xuantian Sect’s distress signal.
Two figures stood in mid-air, their faces grave as they stared down at a hole in the ground below, from which demonic energy was spewing.
“Roar!”
From within the hole, a continuous cacophony of various snarls and howls echoed out.
As the two watched the demonic energy venting from the hole with caution, the sound of air being torn apart suddenly came from afar.
A figure was approaching at extreme speed.
In the blink of an eye, the figure arrived beside the two, standing with hands behind their back atop a flying sword.
Recognizing the newcomer, the two exclaimed with delight:
“Senior Brother Wu, you’re here!”
The arrival was Wu Hong, the only Golden Core cultivator in their expedition group.
Wu Hong nodded at the two, then frowned as he looked down at the hole from which demonic energy was continuously spewing.
After assessing the level of the demonic energy, Wu Hong breathed a slight sigh of relief, saying thankfully,
“It’s okay, it’s just a Tier 3 Demon Lair.”
He could handle the demonic creatures within a Tier 3 Lair. If it had been Tier 4, he would have had to report it to the higher-ups.
However, dealing with this demonic energy itself was a bit tricky.
Wu Hong looked at the energy constantly flowing out of the lair. Circulating his spiritual power, he launched a tentative attack.
The white spiritual power and the black demonic energy instantly clashed, sizzling intensely.
Although Wu Hong’s spiritual power managed to erode a significant amount of Tier 3 demonic energy, it was eventually worn down by the endless stream surging from the lair.
Seeing the lair unaffected, Wu Hong didn’t act rashly. He simply waited quietly for the others to arrive.
Soon, after seeing the Xuantian Sect’s distress signal, people began to arrive one after another.
Among those who came were not only the group Wu Hong had led into the Outer Domain battlefield but also other Xuantian Sect disciples.
The first to arrive were mostly Xuantian Sect disciples at the late Zifu stage or higher. Long Yunjie was among them.
Those who followed were primarily Zifu stage disciples or Foundation Establishment disciples who happened to be nearby. Ye Qingxiao, bringing Yu Xueqing along like a bit of a tag-along, was in this group.
After they arrived, the pair found a quiet spot and started observing the situation.
Apart from Long Yunjie occasionally glancing their way, they didn’t attract much attention from the others.
Ye Qingxiao ignored Long Yunjie’s looks, instead gazing thoughtfully at the lair from which demonic energy was continuously spewing.
Time passed. When the number of gathered disciples reached over a hundred, Wu Hong looked around, thinking to himself,
“That should be enough.”
Finally, he spoke up:
“Foundation Stage junior brothers and sisters, move to the perimeter and protect yourselves.”
“Zifu Stage junior brothers and sisters, prepare to attack the lair with me.”
“As per the usual rules, the spoils of war are individual—whoever kills a demonic creature keeps its Magical Origin. However, poaching is not allowed.”
“As for the lair’s core origin, it will be distributed according to each person’s contribution in eroding the demonic energy.”
After finishing, Wu Hong looked at everyone and asked seriously,
“Do any of you have any objections?”
Everyone exchanged glances, then shook their heads, indicating they had no objections.
The rules for distributing spoils that Wu Hong mentioned were essentially the standard rules Xuantian Sect disciples followed while exploring the Outer Domain battlefield. They were relatively fair, so most could accept them.
The Foundation Establishment disciples began voluntarily retreating backward. After all, a Tier 3 Demon Lair was not something they could get involved in.
Yu Xueqing, who was still at the late Foundation Establishment stage, was among those retreating.
But even as she moved back, her gaze remained fixed on Ye Qingxiao.
This did not escape Long Yunjie’s notice, and it only fueled his jealousy.
Once all the Foundation Establishment disciples had retreated, Wu Hong raised his hand, ready to give the order to attack, when a voice suddenly interrupted him:
“Hold on!”
Immediately, the seventy to eighty Zifu stage cultivators present all turned their eyes sharply towards the one who had spoken.
Feeling the collective gaze of so many Zifu cultivators for the first time, Ye Qingxiao swallowed nervously. Despite cursing inwardly, he kept a smile on his face and continued,
“Um, Senior Brothers, if I were to handle the demonic energy of this lair all by myself, would the lair’s core origin then belong to me alone?”
Hearing his words and seeing his early Zifu cultivation, some sneered, some looked on coldly. In short, no one believed Ye Qingxiao could single-handedly deal with all the demonic energy of a Tier 3 Lair.
Seeing an opportunity, Long Yunjie taunted him,
“Ye Qingxiao, stop being delusional. We don’t have time to play games with you.”
But Ye Qingxiao ignored Long Yunjie, keeping his eyes fixed on Wu Hong.
Feeling his gaze, Wu Hong gave him a long, hard look before finally saying,
“According to the rules, that’s correct. If you can handle all the lair’s demonic energy on your own, the core origin naturally belongs to you alone. However.”
Wu Hong’s tone shifted as he continued,
“If you can’t resolve it in a short time, then don’t be unreasonable. We don’t have that much time to waste.”
The implication was clear: if Ye Qingxiao’s plan was to slowly grind away at the energy over a long period—something anyone could do with enough time—then it wouldn’t be acceptable.
Ye Qingxiao understood the implication perfectly. Undeterred, he glanced at the lair below and said with a smile,
“Senior Brothers, I wouldn’t be unreasonable. Please just wait a moment. I’ll take care of this lair’s demonic energy.”
With that, he gripped one of his Tier 3 Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pills, muttering inwardly,
“Qingxuan, you better not have set me up, or I’m going to make a fool of myself!”
The thought of what would happen if he failed filled him with a mix of shame and anxiety.
He silently regretted his decision.
*“I should have tested the power of the Tier 3 Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill before coming here.”*
But it was too late for regrets. Looking at the Tier 3 Lair spewing demonic energy, he felt a bit uncertain about relying on just one pill.
So, he took nine more Tier 3 Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pills from his storage ring.
With a total of ten pills ready, Ye Qingxiao used his spiritual power to guide their trajectory and hurled them all into the Tier 3 Demon Lair.
Then, he turned tail and ran, not forgetting to shout a warning:
“Senior Brothers, everyone, run!”
Although the gathered Xuantian Sect disciples had no idea what Ye Qingxiao had thrown into the lair,
no one was willing to risk their lives out of sheer caution. They all quickly retreated into the distance.
Among them, the one who moved fastest was Wu Hong, who, despite his honest appearance, was right behind Ye Qingxiao almost instantly.
Even Long Yunjie, who disliked Ye Qingxiao, was no exception. He might have been mouthing off with disbelief, but his feet moved just as quickly.
In this day and age, the stubborn ones who refused to believe in danger usually didn’t even have a grave left to mark their passing.
Those who survived to the end were always cautious, then cautious again—only then could they keep exploring and come back alive.
