Stealing the female lead's favor turns her from a heartthrob to a universally disliked figure.

The sound of the zither pierced the heavens, then abruptly stopped, revealing a magnificent and terrifying spirit-guiding array that had been completed.

However, this time Li Qingqing had a little trick up her sleeve. She limited the range of the spirit-guiding array to a small area around them and did her best to prevent the spiritual energy from dissipating and gathering into spiritual mist on the periphery.

"Waaaaah... Spiritual energy is flowing into my body, I feel like I'm going to ascend to heaven!" A disciple cried and laughed, shouting excitedly.

Then, with a bang, someone noticed that a Qi Refining Realm disciple had broken through to the next level, looking completely bewildered.

Following that, more and more people broke through.

Some people were so excited that they exclaimed, "I'm going to pour foot bath water for Master Lingqin Peak from now on!"

"Then I'll massage her shoulders and legs!" Someone who had advanced to the next level could no longer absorb spiritual energy, and chimed in with a smile.

"Can I marry the Master of Lingqin Peak?" A disciple chuckled.

Li Qingqing pressed her temples, feeling both amused and exasperated.

These people are so noisy!

Yao Han noticed his master pressing his brow, and then reached out his own hand.

"Master, my hands are constantly sweating. Is there something wrong with my cultivation?"

Li Qingqing was stunned for a moment, then immediately reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Your heart is beating a little fast, and there's some resistance when the spiritual energy circulates to your legs. Don't be impatient, just absorb the spiritual energy to nourish your dantian first."

"Okay. Thank you, Master." A smile flashed in Yao Han's eyes.

As he lowered his eyes, he heard his fifth junior brother muttering to himself.

[Is Third Senior Brother faking it? He's not sweating at all; he's clearly sweating from the heat. His rapid heartbeat is only because Master touched his hand.]

Yao Han narrowed his eyes slightly. More importantly, he confirmed something else.

The moment his master touched his hand, he was able to hear other people's thoughts again.

However, he had secretly touched his master's clothes on the spirit boat before, but he didn't hear it.

He now suspects that they can only hear if their master touches them first; if they touch their master first, it has no effect.

He plans to have his senior and junior classmates verify this discovery later.

Li Qingqing didn't notice anything amiss with her disciple this time, because she suddenly felt that the surroundings had become much quieter.

The noise stopped, and she felt even the air was fresher.

While others were cultivating, she also sat down beside the wind zither and began to absorb spiritual energy to cultivate.

At the same time, disciples from various sects in the small secret realm noticed that the spiritual energy in the secret realm was all drifting in one direction, and they all ran after it.

They all thought that some rare and precious treasure was about to appear in the world.

However, when they saw the group of Nine Spirits Sect disciples who had enclosed their land for cultivation, they were all dumbfounded.

"What kind of new large-scale spirit-gathering array is this? They've taken all the spiritual energy; they don't care if we live or die."

"Never mind, grab a spot, squeeze in! This spiritual energy is so rich and pure, it's practically like being infused with a spirit..."

As soon as he finished speaking, some people squeezed their way towards the Nine Spirits Sect disciples.

At first, people could squeeze in, but later, it became impossible to squeeze in at all.

Those who managed to squeeze in were all smiles, while those who couldn't were cursing and swearing.

Li Qingqing suddenly put away the zither, flashed away, and went to a place with lush vegetation on the outskirts to perform three cycles of the Cycle of Reincarnation Breathing Technique, which allowed the spiritual energy that had reached the critical point to break through the barrier of the realm.

She's actually reached the mid-stage of the Spirit Division Realm!

She unconsciously touched her burning lower abdomen, and blushed slightly.

For some reason, she always felt that there was still a powerful force in her dantian that had not been fully absorbed.

It seems... it seems to have been left by that masked man!

Somewhat bewildered, he walked back and found that someone had clashed with the disciples of the Nine Spirits Sect over territory, and a fight had broken out.

She glanced at her five disciples, then took out her zither and softly played a note.

In an instant, the maddeningly dense spirit-attracting array dissipated.

However, she did not try to stop the conflict, but instead stood quietly on the sidelines watching them fight.

It wasn't until a few people surrounded Yao Han, and someone carelessly kicked Yao Han's wheelchair, that she raised her hand and released a burst of spiritual energy.

The next moment, the foot that kicked the wheelchair flew into the air, blood gushing out like a fountain.

Li Qingqing paused for a moment, then looked down at her right hand, which she hadn't yet retracted.

Could this be her work?

Then, she saw the previously chaotic crowd suddenly fall silent, staring at her in a daze.

Li Qingqing coughed lightly, "Sorry, I didn't control my strength well. I can only scold and hit my apprentice; I won't be happy if others do it."

Yao Han, who was being protected, felt as if she had eaten a piece of honey.

Wen Yang and Lan Cen, who were about to make a move, silently withdrew their hands.

Well, Master reacted faster!

"Which sect are you from? Why did you attack my disciple?" Li Qingqing asked gently, looking at the man whose leg was broken and who didn't even dare to cry.

“Master, they are from the Biyun Sect. He was one of the people who broke my leg before,” Yao Han said calmly.

Li Qingqing narrowed her eyes slightly. "Oh! That evens things out perfectly."

As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her finger, and the severed leg that had flown to the distance instantly vaporized into dust, making it impossible to reattach.

Just as everyone was astonished, they saw the disciple from the Biyun Sect who was missing a leg suddenly bend his other leg and kneel heavily on the ground, his kneecap shattered.

"You...you're taking advantage of our master's absence to bully the weak! You shameless!" The other Biyun Sect disciples were both angry and furious, pointing at Li Qingqing and cursing her.

Li Qingqing glanced at them indifferently. "You look much older than me, yet you dare to bully the younger ones? You clearly saw that I, the peak master, was right next to you, yet you still dared to touch my disciples. This is blatant provocation. I'm teaching you a lesson on behalf of your master."

"You...you just wait and see. Once we get out of here, you'll have the guts to fight our senior brother one-on-one."

"Oh? You're issuing a challenge to that Yun Qing? You'll have to sign a 'I'll take responsibility for my own life' statement, otherwise people will say I'm bullying the weak." Li Qingqing said nonchalantly.

No matter how talented Yun Qing is, he can only reach the Spirit Realm at most.

However, that old man from the Biyun Sect seems to have reached the peak of the Spirit Integration Realm last year. I wonder if he has entered the Divine Transformation Realm yet. That's a bit of a problem.

However, she wasn't afraid. She still had three Nascent Soul Sword Qi, which weren't easy to bully.

The people from the Biyun Sect didn't dare to say anything more at this point, and they helped their injured fellow disciples up and left.

They dared to make a move before, but they didn't know that Yao Han had been taken in as a disciple by the Lingqin Peak Master of the Nine Spirits Sect, and that this Lingqin Peak Master was very protective of him.

"Master, I'm sorry!" Yao Han stepped forward to apologize.

“That’s right, there’s no need to apologize.” As she spoke, she looked at the other disciples of the Nine Spirits Sect.

"This little secret realm is quite large. You can explore it around. We'll meet back here in seven days. Form your own teams and travel together. Be careful."

The others weren't stupid; they knew that gathering together to cultivate would attract too much attention, so they dispersed.

They were happy to be given the cultivation method that involved reversing the flow of spiritual energy, but they were not willing to let other sects benefit from it.

Moreover, if trouble arises, a fight will break out, which is hardly worthwhile.

After everyone left, Li Qingqing simply gave her Purple Spirit Crane to Yao Han.

"From now on, the Purple Spirit Crane will be your mount! If you encounter an enemy you can't defeat, ride it first; there's no shame in that. Once you become stronger, you'll have many ways to take revenge."

"Thank you for your guidance, Master!" Yao Han said gratefully.

"Master, could you help me examine my spiritual veins? I feel tightness in my chest from absorbing too much spiritual energy just now," Lan Cen suddenly said.

"Let me see." Li Qingqing really thought he was not feeling well, so she reached out and took his pulse.

Yao Han lowered his eyes slightly, as he couldn't possibly ignore his fourth junior brother's thoughts.

[My master's hands are so soft, I feel a little embarrassed to lie to her.]