A useless person with five spiritual roots? I sacrificed the proud daughter of heaven.

The speakers were several disciples of the Wuji Sect, their expressions arrogant, as if they didn't take these assassins seriously at all.

The other cultivators held their breath. Although they all thought the same thing, no one spoke up.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and the local bully gets slashed with a knife. The disciples of the Wuji Sect, relying on the support of the Wuji Sect, have always been arrogant and looked down on everyone. Now they are very curious to see how these assassins will deal with the disciples of the Wuji Sect.

Unexpectedly, the man leaning against the corridor lingered on the black boulder for a moment, seemingly pondering the meaning behind the words of the Wuji Sect disciple.

After a while, he raised his head and smiled broadly.

“These fellow Daoists are right. I came here only for the gold and stone. Since you have not obtained the gold and stone and are disciples of the Wuji Sect, please leave now.”

After the man finished speaking, he made a gesture of invitation, and the assassins surrounding Xiaoxiang Terrace immediately made way for him.

The disciples of the Wuji Sect scoffed, seemingly having anticipated such a reaction. They paused briefly as they passed the thunder talismans before swaggering away from Xiaoxiang Terrace.

Seeing this, the remaining cultivators looked at each other in bewilderment.

Suddenly, a voice rang out: "Sir! I am from the Free and Unfettered Palace! I didn't get the gold or stone either!"

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

"Sir! We are from Lingxiao Tower! We didn't get the gold and stone either!"

"Sir, I am from the Tian Shu Sect! I didn't obtain the gold and stone either!"

In an instant, all the cultivators present introduced themselves, as if the man was not there to surround them, but to check their household registration.

The man believed any cultivator who introduced themselves and claimed they hadn't obtained the gold or stone, and let them leave with a warm smile.

Upon seeing this, Yun Qianshan immediately relaxed. Just as he was about to speak, Sheng He tugged at him and gestured with her chin, indicating that Yun Qianshan should not speak yet.

Ahead, several disciples of the Qingyun Sect who had come with them approached the assassin with glee and, mimicking the others, called out, "Sir, we are from the Qingyun Sect, and we did not obtain the gold or stone. Please let us leave."

"Qingyun Sect?"

The assassins instinctively tried to step aside, but then they heard the man chuckle. He glanced in the direction where Sheng He and the other two were, and shook his head.

"The disciples of Qingyun Sect cannot leave for the time being."

"Why!"

"Why can disciples from other sects leave, but disciples from the Qingyun Sect can't?"

"We are disciples of the Qingyun Sect! Aren't you afraid of causing trouble by keeping us here?!"

No matter how much the Qingyun Sect disciples pleaded, the man remained silent.

Yun Qianshan stared wide-eyed at Sheng He, puzzled, and whispered, "Could it be that they're here for the Qingyun Sect?"

Sheng He didn't reply. There were fewer and fewer people on Xiaoxiang Terrace. She took Mu Yao's hand with one hand and Yun Qianshan's hand with the other and quietly retreated to a corner when no one was paying attention.

Using a hand seal to change her Qingyun Sect disciple attire, Sheng He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to the three of them before loudly proclaiming, "Sir, we are from the Xuantian Palace, and we didn't obtain the gold or stone either!"

"So you're disciples of the Xuantian Palace." The man raised an eyebrow, glanced casually at the woods behind him, and chuckled, "Let them leave..."

"Wait!" Just as Sheng He and the other two were about to leave, a sharp male voice suddenly came from the forest, "Don't let them go! They are from the Qingyun Sect!"

The disciples of Qingyun Sect looked at them in surprise upon hearing this. Qingyun Sect was extremely large and had many disciples. Although many disciples had heard of Sheng He's great name, she had spent six years training outside and, after returning, spent most of her time either at Sword Peak or Sword Lodge. Therefore, not many people had actually seen her.

Many people recognized Mu Yao and Yun Qianshan, but no one spoke up to identify them. The man was clearly targeting the Qingyun Sect, and there were dozens of Golden Core cultivators watching them closely. The possibility of forcing their way out was almost zero.

In such situations, if fellow disciples can escape, their chances of being rescued will naturally be greater.

Just then, a man suddenly rushed out of the woods, looking at Sheng He with a face full of resentment.

"You are clearly a disciple of the Qingyun Sect, yet you dare to impersonate a disciple of the Xuantian Palace. What, Sheng He, are you in such a hurry to switch sects?"

"This is?"

"Could this be Shen Ci, the senior disciple of the Wuji Sect? I saw him in the Eastern Sea not long ago. He was so full of vigor back then, how come he's like this now..."

"Yes, I've met Shen Ci before. He was truly an outstanding person! I heard he was already at the late stage of the Golden Core realm at such a young age and had a bright future. How come he's changed like this after only a few years?"

Sheng He sized up Shen Ci in front of her. In just a few months, Shen Ci seemed to have become a completely different person. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was messy and hanging down his back, and he was not wearing the clothes of a Wuji Sect disciple. Instead, he was wearing a very ordinary magic robe. His whole person exuded a cold and resentful aura, which was completely different from his previous elegant young man image.

Sheng He then remembered that his master had mentioned something casually two months ago, saying that Shen Ci's bad behavior was self-inflicted and that he was expelled from the sect shortly after returning to Wuji Sect. He had come to Qingyun Sect to look for Zhao Yanran once, but left after learning that Zhao Yanran was still being punished at Siguo Cliff.

Now, they've truly brought this upon themselves.

But... Sheng He glanced at the man leaning against the corridor and suddenly remembered that she had indeed offended someone.

Listening to the cultivators' hushed discussions, Shen Ci's expression changed repeatedly. He gritted his teeth and stared at Sheng He with resentment.

If it weren't for Sheng He, how could he have become like this?

After being expelled from his sect, his storage bag was also taken back by the sect, leaving him without even enough money to buy a talisman. Like a tiger fallen into the plains, he was bullied by dogs. The junior brothers and sisters who used to fawn over him changed their tune and started to ride roughshod over him.

If it weren't for his master giving him some spirit stones out of consideration for their past relationship, he doesn't know what would have happened to him.

He should have been the most prestigious disciple of the Wuji Sect, but now he's like this, all because of Sheng He!

Thinking of all this, Shen Ci gritted his teeth in hatred, his eyes fixed on Sheng He.

"Sheng He, you've ruined me so much, you won't leave Xiaoxiangtai alive today!"

"And you too, hand over the gold and stone and I might spare your lives; otherwise, you'll all be buried with Sheng He!"

Before Shen Ci finished speaking, dark clouds suddenly surged up in the sky, and the fifth-grade thunder talisman attached to the beams and pillars of Xiaoxiang Terrace ignited. With a loud "boom!", a bolt of purple lightning struck straight down, shattering a corner of Xiaoxiang Terrace into pieces.

The remaining lightning bolts flowed into the lake along the beams and pillars, and for a moment, the entire surface of the water was flashing with terrifying purple lightning.

There are five more of these fifth-rank purple thunder talismans pasted on the beams and pillars of Xiaoxiang Terrace.

The cultivators present swallowed hard, still shaken, when they saw the charred beams and pillars. They all regretted not announcing themselves and leaving sooner, because if such purple lightning had struck them, they would not have been able to withstand it.