Soon, the last two rounds of the competition were over.
As expected, Xiao Jixue, who had crafted a twelfth-tier spirit talisman, took first place in the minor competition.
The first-place prize was a Clearlight Stone, a primary crafting material for defensive Spirit Treasures.
Xiao Jixue had entered this competition specifically for it.
He planned to use the Clearlight Stone to make a hairpin for Tang Yan.
Tang Yan had given him a hairpin before, so Xiao Jixue wanted to make one with his own hands for him in return.
[Just as I expected, Eldest Senior Brother came first.]
Tang Yan marveled again inwardly. [Eldest Senior Brother's talent for cultivation is far greater than Martial Uncle Nangong's back then, or even Wei Lianyi's now.]
[In just a few months, he advanced another minor realm to the late Nascent Soul stage, and even crafted a twelfth-tier spirit talisman that only someone at the peak of Nascent Soul should be able to make.]
[The author really had a screw loose. A character who ranked first in both looks and talent, and they actually made him turn evil halfway through and become the main villain.]
*[But even though Eldest Senior Brother was a villain, he barely did anything bad, and he never opposed the male or female lead.
In fact, during the finale, he briefly regained his senses amid the chaos and blew himself up, taking out the Demon Clan's big boss, the Little Demon Venerable, who had descended onto the Immortal Spirit Continent's battlefield. With the Demon Clan left leaderless, the Immortal Spirit Continent was saved.]*
Holding the Clearlight Stone, Xiao Jixue paused briefly.
This was the second time he had heard the word "villain" from Ah Yan.
Although he did not know what it meant, he could make a guess.
In the future, he would stand against the Cultivation World, perhaps even on the same side as the Demon Clan.
Unfortunately, as for exactly why he became a villain, someone always stopped halfway through, whetting his curiosity only to leave him hanging.
Honestly... Xiao Jixue gave a helpless chuckle inwardly.
"Come on. Let's head back."
Tang Yan hurried to his feet and obediently followed him.
On a certain mountain of Talisman Peak, towering into the clouds and thick with spiritual energy.
Chai Rong, who had just forced himself on a menial disciple, was utterly bewildered when Bai Wuxia, the Law Enforcement Hall's master, arrived with his men and tied him up with an Immortal-Binding Rope.
"Senior Brother Bai, Peak Master, what are you doing?"
Pressed to his knees on the ground, Chai Rong looked dumbfounded, shock filling his heart.
He had only forced himself on a menial disciple. Did they really need to treat him like this?
Qi Yan, the Peak Master of Talisman Peak, stared coldly at Chai Rong.
She sneered inwardly.
Heh. We must have been blind. We never noticed that Chai Rong was a Demon Clan spy too.
Not long ago, she had even suggested to her senior brother, the Sect Leader, that Chai Rong had a solid cultivation base and was reliable in his work.
After the next inner sect assessment, they could promote Chai Rong to Deputy Peak Master of Talisman Peak.
Fortunately, Martial Nephew Tang Yan's warning had allowed them to see Chai Rong's true colors.
"Take him away." Bai Wuxia offered no explanation and simply gagged Chai Rong.
"Yes."
When Chai Rong was escorted outside, he was stunned to discover that his three disciples had been bound as well.
Chai Rong's thoughts immediately descended into turmoil, and an ominous sense of foreboding crept over him.
Forcing a menial disciple was not enough to make Bai Wuxia and Qi Yan go to such lengths.
He had concealed himself well on Talisman Peak, covering up every trace of his shady dealings.
Now they had even arrested his disciples. Could it be... his other identity had been exposed?
Filled with dread and terror, Chai Rong was taken to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect's Shadow Prison.
There, he saw Sect Leader Fu Shouci and the other Peak Masters and Deputy Peak Masters.
Even Ding Liyun and Lin Feng had been arrested, along with their disciples.
Chai Rong's heart went utterly cold, his face ashen.
They really had been exposed!
But no matter how hard he, Ding Liyun, and Lin Feng racked their brains, they could not understand how their identities as Demon Clan agents had been exposed.
They had remained undiscovered for over a decade. Why were they all being rooted out now?
No matter how puzzled they were, Fu Shouci would never give them the answer.
"Jiang Mei, take the people from Formation Peak and set up several more layers of formations outside the Shadow Prison as soon as possible."
Fu Shouci gave his instructions as he walked.
The prisoners included Chai Rong, Lin Feng, and the others, as well as the elder surnamed Sun and the old man who had not bathed in three hundred years.
Using Xu Zhenzhen as bait, Fu Shouci and Bai Wuxia had also caught two administrative elders who had sneaked over to lurk outside Pill Peak's Shadow Prison in the middle of the night.
To prevent these spies from escaping, Fu Shouci increased security at the Shadow Prison severalfold overnight.
Still uneasy, he even asked Venerable Xu Yi, one of the sect's three Grand Elders, to come out of seclusion.
Since this concerned the sect and Demon Clan spies, Xu Yi packed up and came to the Shadow Prison without another word.
Jiang Mei nodded solemnly. "Yes."
After leaving the Shadow Prison, Fu Shouci and the Peak Masters bowed respectfully toward a certain spot in the empty air.
"Grandmaster, sorry for the trouble."
"Mm." A cold voice sounded in everyone's ears.
Xu You straightened up and was just about to leave with Fu Shouci.
With a smack, a shoe made of refined iron struck Xu You on the head, instantly raising a fist-sized lump.
The next instant, a scowling Xu Yi appeared behind Xu You and kicked him two li away.
"You little bastard! Look what you've done! You managed to lose your own daughter, then treasured a vicious impostor for decades!"
Iron shoe in hand, Xu Yi chased after Xu You, who had been kicked two li away, and beat him mercilessly while cursing.
"Ow... ow! Dad, Dad, Dad! I was wrong! I was wrong!"
"Your son was fooled by that Jiang Liu'er too, Dad!"
"..."
Watching Xu You's sorry state, the others shamelessly burst out laughing.
Several direct disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall stood with their mouths forming O's, their hearts jumping with every thump, thump, thump coming from the air.
Good grief! This was the first time they had ever seen the usually lofty Martial Uncle Xu beaten into such a sorry mess.
Haha.
From that day onward, the Law Enforcement Hall became even busier, occupied with rooting out Demon Clan agents hidden within the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.
Wei Lianyi also became incredibly busy.
After learning the information Tang Yan had revealed, Fu Shouci assigned powerful cultivators to protect Wei Lianyi in secret as well.
He also conducted a test, confirming that Wei Lianyi indeed felt intense discomfort and revulsion toward the prisoners in the Shadow Prison, but not toward anyone else.
Fu Shouci had Wei Lianyi join the Law Enforcement Hall.
Aside from her daily cultivation, she now had to travel everywhere with the Law Enforcement Hall.
Behind the scenes, the atmosphere within the Ten Thousand Swords Sect grew increasingly heavy and oppressive, like the calm before a storm.
The disciples and elders who could hear Tang Yan's thoughts were all secretly watching those around them for signs of Demon Clan spies.
But to disciples below the Golden Core stage, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect could not have been more harmonious.
Besides that.
A new trend suddenly swept through the Ten Thousand Swords Sect's inner sect.
A trend of protecting their butts.
On Artifact Peak, Talisman Peak, and Formation Peak, many disciples buried themselves in research all night long.
It had to be said that anyone who could become a direct disciple was a gifted scholar. After several nights of research, they really did come up with a few things.
All sorts of bizarre little gadgets were developed, including Butt-Guarding Talismans and Flower-Guarding Formation Patterns.
Funniest of all, someone even developed something to protect their little bird...
These items had already begun circulating privately, and sales were quite good.
Once the Qi Refining and Foundation Building disciples caught wind of the news and learned what these formation patterns and talismans were for, they all looked utterly bewildered and amazed. (´｀;) ?
The inner sect disciples' interests were truly... truly unique.
They did not understand! But they respected them!
Fu Shouci only learned about this several days later.
Those who had bought these ridiculous formation patterns and talismans had already drawn them on their bodies and put them to use.
His face darkened enough to scrape soot off it, and he cursed inwardly.
This is outrageous!
These little bastards, not a single one of them has their mind on cultivation.
If outsiders hear about all this nonsense in our Ten Thousand Swords Sect, they'll think our disciples have some bizarre special fetishes!
What will become of our dignity as a top-tier sect then?
And so, the Law Enforcement Hall gained yet another duty: cracking down harshly on butt-guarding formation patterns and talismans.
Tang Yan, who had also heard about the new trend: ??
He reached a conclusion.
Who would have thought the Ten Thousand Swords Sect's disciples were not only crazy about fighting, but had unhinged hobbies too!
Utterly bonkers!
Before you continue