Conspiracy

As soon as the commendation ceremony ended, Sang Ying and Dong Fuzhu returned to Swan Courtyard, surrounded by Ten Thousand Daos Born's disciples, to enjoy their hard-won victory.

As for Chi Yan, his situation was much worse. He had been secretly taken back to the Mara Gate's courtyard by Su Fuyun as soon as he was knocked off the fighting platform.

The accompanying medical practitioners rushed over, hoping to restore the powerful disciple's mobility before the sect competition.

However, it was clear that the damage caused to Chi Yan by the broken fire formation was not so easy to heal, and the healers brought by Mara Gate fed Chi Yan several spiritual pills.

The superior-grade elixir quickly took effect, completely healing his physical wounds.

The external injuries healed, but the person never regained consciousness.

Su Fuyun couldn't help but worry and asked the physician, "I wonder when Chi Yan will wake up? Will he be able to participate in the sect competition five days from now?"

The Mara Gate has already fallen behind in the individual competition. If they lose Chi Yan's strength in the sect competition, they will probably be crushed under Ten Thousand Daos Born's feet!

Su Fuyun dared not think about that scene. The scene of her being knocked off the fighting platform by Sang Ying had given her nightmares for many days.

However, the physician who heard Su Fuyun's inquiry gave her a grim answer, "His external injuries are very easy to heal; a few pills will suffice. It's just that his internal injuries are a bit strange, as if he's suffered some kind of backlash..."

The last two words were uttered very softly by the healer, but they still reached Su Fuyun's ears clearly.

Her expression instantly turned serious, and she said coldly to the healer, "Senior, you'd better watch your words. There's no backlash at all. Chi Yan was clearly injured by Ten Thousand Daos Born's disciple!"

The healer sensed the threat in her words and, remembering that he still needed to rely on the Mara Gate, could only quickly change his tone and agree with Su Fuyun.

"Judging from Chi Yan Chiyan's condition, he probably won't be able to participate in this sect competition." After considering for a moment, the healer decided to tell the truth, since he really couldn't revive the person at the moment.

Hearing this less-than-satisfactory reply, Su Fuyun clenched his fists. "Isn't there any other way? We don't even need to cure him; we just need to make sure he can survive the sect competition in five days."

She paused, her voice becoming almost inaudible. "I remember there seems to be a kind of elixir in the Immortal Spirit Realm that can temporarily unleash a cultivator's maximum power, curing all their ailments."

The healer was startled by her words and hurriedly said, "Holy Maiden, don't be fooled! This is no good! Although this medicine can temporarily stimulate a cultivator's potential, it will consume the cultivator's Essence Blood! Once the medicine takes effect, the person will die from exhaustion of Essence Blood within ten days!"

The medical practitioner had naturally heard of this elixir; in fact, he actually possessed a few.

In his early years, he didn't understand the potency of this elixir. He spent a lot of money to buy it, but after someone took it once and learned of its power, he was terrified and sealed it away.

Unexpectedly, Su Fuyun suddenly brought it up today, even wanting him to use this medicine on Chi Yan!

This is a highly sought-after talent in the Mara Gate right now. If something happens to him, the entire Yi Xiu family will likely face Mara Gate's wrath.

However, Su Fuyun ignored the medical cultivator's warning and instead threatened, "Senior, are you really unwilling to consider it? Have you forgotten that your family is currently visiting Mara Gate?"

The healer's lips tightened, and his expression gradually turned grim.

He knew, of course, that his family members were being held captive by the Mara Gate, who were ostensibly there as guests, but in reality, they were under his control.

Whenever he thought of this, the healer was filled with regret. If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have left his previous small sect and joined the Mara Gate because of the generous conditions offered by Mara Gate.

Now things have gotten even worse. Not only are they keeping the privacy they've seen hidden from them, but even their family members have been imprisoned by the Mara Gate, becoming a tool to control them.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes darkening. "What does the Holy Maiden mean by this? This pill can kill! Are you trying to harm your fellow disciples?!"

Su Fuyun chuckled upon hearing this, "Senior, please don't misunderstand. I don't have that ability. I just feel that compared to losing a disciple with a Single Fire Spirit Root, losing first place in the sect competition and being outmaneuvered by Ten Thousand Daos Born would probably make the sect leader even angrier, wouldn't it?"

"If the sect leader knew that our Mara Gate wouldn't have suffered such a miserable defeat in the competition, all because you refused to obey my orders, what do you think will happen to your family, given the sect leader's temper?"

At this moment, the healer's face had turned completely dark. He looked at Su Fuyun and could no longer associate the word "pure and kind" with the person in front of him.

Indeed, how many of those who Mara Gate are good people?

"Fine!" the healer gritted his teeth. "I promise the Holy Maiden, but I hope she won't regret it in the end!"

Hearing the doctor's words, which carried a hint of threat, Su Fuyun laughed again.

How could she regret it? She would be overjoyed to get rid of someone who had repeatedly disrespected her!

Once the sect competition begins, she will use Chi Yan's abilities to boost the Mara Gate's score. When this person is no longer of any use, she will blame Ten Thousand Daos Born for his death.

I wonder if Sang Ying will have such good luck this time!

Watching the healer tremble as he took the pill from his Storage Bag, the vermilion pill immediately emitted a faint fragrance.

The pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth, flowing into Chi Yan's stomach the moment it was placed inside.

The pill was indeed remarkably effective; as soon as Chi Yan swallowed it, his originally pale complexion gradually regained its rosy hue.

The healer took the cultivator's pulse and confirmed that it was strong and powerful. Then he said to Su Fuyun, "The elixir has taken effect. When Fellow Chi Yan wakes up tomorrow, he will find that all his ailments have disappeared and he is full of energy."

"Very good!" Su Fuyun nodded. "Don't spread the word that Chi Yan is alright for now. Wait until the sect competition to give Ten Thousand Daos Born a surprise!"

Her face was full of anticipation, as if she couldn't see the bitterness on the doctor's face beside her.

Sang Ying and the others, who had been caught in Su Fuyun's trap, had just finished their small victory celebration and were completely unaware that someone had already planned to drag them into a deadly predicament.

Because they had effectively extinguished the arrogance of the Mara Gate, Elder Gu were overjoyed and thus reluctantly allowed their disciples to relax a little.

However, the celebration banquet ended quickly, and Jiulian and the other two took the opportunity to call Sang Ying and Dong Fuzhu into the house.

On the square table, three orange-tier Spirit Artifact were neatly arranged, each radiating a captivating spiritual light.

Dong Fuzhu was immediately drawn to these Spirit Artifact the moment she entered the room, and couldn't look away for a moment.

"I've called you here today to give you some rewards," Elder Gu said first.

He didn't mention the origin of the Spirit Artifact, only saying, "You two performed well in the individual competition this time. Each of you can choose one to take back as a reward!"

This Elder Gu was only possible because of the full support of the rival sect.

Although Sang Ying's Storage Bag was full of treasures, she did not refuse them. When she saw that one of them was a defensive Spirit Artifact, she thought of Bai Kejin, who was still seriously injured and in bed with Lan Fusheng.

Now that the sect has rewarded her, as the senior sister, she should also encourage her junior brothers.

With that in mind, Sang Ying's subordinates took action. Dong Fuzhu also showed no hesitation and immediately selected her favorite Spirit Artifact.

After they had all made their selections, Elder Gu continued, "Although you have successfully entered the top ten in the individual competition, the sect competition five days from now will truly determine the sect rankings. These next few days, Sang Ying must carefully supervise her junior brothers and sisters, and absolutely not allow them to slack off in their cultivation. The sect competition five days from now is sure to be full of turmoil!"

Sang Ying readily agreed.

Even if Elder Gu hadn't said it, she would have done it anyway. After all, the individual competitions had already been so arduous; who knew what methods the sects would use in the sect competitions!

After a brief discussion, the group made some arrangements for the sect competition.

What they didn't know was that, even before five days had passed, some sects had already begun to resort to underhanded tactics.

Take, for example, the Seven Emotions Pavilion, which had been well-behaved for a long time before finally unable to contain itself.