To be honest, Hua Jian didn’t care at all about whether the others lived or died. So what if they died? What did it have to do with her?
She just didn’t want her friends to die. Linglong, Shiqi, Caidie, Xiao Qi… if they weren’t in this Secret Realm, she couldn’t be bothered to say these things to these people.
If you want to seek death, go ahead. I, Hua Jian, won’t keep you company!
Unfortunately, she had too many attachments now. Even if she forced her plan through, these people would stop her.
She could only try to persuade them not to interfere with her plan before it began.
The Sword Hero stared at Hua Jian for a long time, finally letting out a heavy sigh and turning to walk a short distance away.
He didn’t agree or disagree, but judging by his actions, he was probably tacitly approving of Hua Jian’s actions.
“She admitted herself that she’s a Demonic Cultivator, and you just stand by and do nothing? You’ve completely disgraced the name of the Sword Hero!”
The Heavenly Dao Sect Cultivator, who was being firmly blocked by Linglong and couldn’t advance half a step, loudly accused him.
But the Sword Hero turned a deaf ear, holding his sword and standing in the distance like a pole, saying nothing, acting as if everything had nothing to do with him.
He had decided to completely stay out of this matter.
Of the four Saint Sect cultivators present, two sided with Hua Jian, one chose neutrality, and only the Heavenly Dao Sect chose to stand against Hua Jian.
In this situation, it was really hard to say who was the Demonic Cultivator that everyone should be hostile toward.
“Will you Heavenly Dao Sect people not stop until you’ve forced her onto the Magic Path?!” Linglong swung her sword again, forcing the Heavenly Dao Sect cultivator back.
“What do you mean ‘forced’? She admitted it herself!”
“An admission made under coercion and enticement? No wonder the Hudaosi doesn’t think much of you Heavenly Dao Sect people either!”
“You…”
Hua Jian didn’t pay attention to the war of words between Linglong and the Heavenly Dao Sect cultivator. They could bite each other all they wanted; they wouldn’t kill each other.
The potential obstacles from the Saint Sect side had been removed. Now it was time for her to act.
Crouching slightly, she leaped powerfully into the sky, flying toward the colorful branches hanging down from above.
It was at that moment that several streaks of light suddenly shot out from the crowd, aiming straight for Hua Jian’s vital points.
Hua Jian quickly twisted her body to dodge the sneak attacks, then immediately spotted the attackers in the crowd.
They were all cultivators from the Sword Hero’s faction, and… the looks in their eyes were filled with hatred.
This wasn’t hatred for the Magic Path. It was hatred for a traitor.
Hua Jian immediately understood the situation.
These attackers were the Demonic Cultivators Xia Hui had mentioned, the ones who had infiltrated the Ascension Gathering.
They wanted to stop her from rescuing the others from the Ascension Gathering.
These attackers didn’t hide either, flying out from the crowd one by one, pointing at Hua Jian and cursing loudly.
It was all the usual stuff. Things like not being able to trust the Magic Path, that Hua Jian was definitely deceiving them, that they needed to rid the people of a scourge.
They made it sound so real.
While cursing, they rushed toward Hua Jian at high speed.
A few of them had even fought alongside Hua Jian against the black-clothed cultivators not long ago, but now they were turning their weapons against her.
But the leader of these cultivators was nowhere to be seen. It was clearly the Sword Hero’s faction, but now the Sword Hero himself had vanished.
The cultivators below saw these people rushing out to intercept and kill Hua Jian, and for a moment, they didn’t know which side to take.
Should they help Hua Jian or help these people? They were completely confused.
If they helped Hua Jian… Hua Jian had admitted herself that she was from Wanhuagu.
If they didn’t help… maybe Hua Jian really could get them out of the Secret Realm safely?
While they hesitated, a sword-wielding girl had already charged into the sky, directly knocking one of the attackers down from the air.
“I don’t care if she’s a Demonic Cultivator or not. You people definitely aren’t good guys.” Shiqi lifted her sword and slashed at the attacker.
Her thinking was simple: Hua Jian definitely wouldn’t harm her. If she wanted to, she would have done it long ago.
But these people, spouting righteous words while using sneaky, underhanded tactics like ambushes, were definitely not good people!
A flash of disdain appeared in the eyes of the attacker Shiqi had caught. The gap between Shiqi’s strength and his was not small. He could deal with her easily.
“So you’re her accomplice. Then I’ll deal with you first…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Shiqi suddenly ducked her head.
A small, colorful butterfly flew out from behind her head, scattering a cloud of sparkling scales at him.
The attacker instinctively raised his hands to shield his face. The scales landed on his arms, and before long, they caused large numbers of red spots to appear on his forearms.
“Another accomplice!”
“You’re the accomplice! My master is the Fengzhu of Five Poisons Peak! If I’m an accomplice, then what are you?!” Caidie hid behind Shiqi’s back, throwing bugs at the attacker while questioning him.
She and Linglong were both Direct Disciples of the Saint Sect. They were willing to believe Hua Jian, but these people refused. Their intentions were condemnable!
“Even if Sister Hua Jian is from that Wanhuagu, she’s a good person. A much, much better person than you!”
The attacker, momentarily cowed by Caidie’s status, felt annoyed. He slapped away the bugs Caidie threw, charging forward without a word to continue fighting Shiqi.
Even in a two-against-one situation, he still managed to hold a slight advantage. His strength made the onlookers start to whisper among themselves.
Should this person be this powerful?
But the change in their hearts didn’t affect the overall situation. Shiqi had only stopped one attacker. The others were still charging to kill her.
Hua Jian had prepared herself for battle, but the moment she summoned her usual vines, she suddenly felt a tremendous pulling force from the sky.
She couldn’t even maintain her balance.
Her entire body flew toward the sky as if in reverse free fall, and the branches and leaves above seemed to sense something, spreading toward her at a faster speed than before.
Seeing this, the attackers immediately wanted to pursue her further, but just as they were about to catch up to Hua Jian, a cluster of cherry-blossom pink petals appeared in front of them.
“If you want to harm Miss Hua Jian, how can you not ask for my opinion?”
A girl walked out from the fluttering petals. Xia Hui stood smiling in front of these cultivators, issuing them an order to stop right there.
Feihua Dun. She was also a Wanhuagu cultivator!
The attackers’ pupils contracted, but the arrow was already on the bowstring; they had to shoot. Even if the other party was from Wanhuagu, she was their enemy now!
“Demonic Cultivators, die!”
“My, my. I’m from the Magic Path, but aren’t you as well? Don’t forget, I was the one who gave you your faces.”
Easily dodging the attacks released by the attackers, Xia Hui took the opportunity to get close to one of them, lightly brushing her hand over his face.
In an instant, that attacker’s face began to fester. Pieces of rotting flesh fell from his face, revealing his true appearance to everyone.
He had been using a fake face all along!
Tell me, would a good person use a false appearance all the time?
What would a person using a forged appearance, hiding in a crowd, be planning to do?
No matter how you thought about it, it wouldn’t be anything good.
As his true face was revealed, the aura around the attacker also became turbid. The Sword Hero, who had been maintaining neutrality not far away, immediately opened his eyes.
“Demonic Qi!” he snorted coldly.
The next moment, a flash of cold light cut through the sky, descending before the attacker who had exposed his true form.
The attacker hastily raised his sword to defend himself, but within just a few moves, he was suppressed by the Sword Hero who had attacked.
His exposure wasn’t the end. Xia Hui smiled and looked at the other attackers present, a dangerous curve lifting the corner of her mouth.
“You should also let everyone see your true faces.”
The attackers’ expressions changed drastically. What did this Wanhuagu person want to do?
This wasn’t part of the agreed-upon plan!
They had agreed to work together to pull off a big stunt against the Right Path.
Now the big stunt was out, and barring any accidents, the Right Path was going to suffer heavy losses this time.
So why was Wanhuagu suddenly turning traitor?
“The Sacred Maiden of Yaochi is right here! Wanhuagu, have you hooked up with the Saint Sect again?!”
The attackers tried to remind Xia Hui what a profitable deal it would be to have the Right Path’s great Heavenly Talent, Linglong, die here.
But Xia Hui indicated that Linglong was nothing. Her own Saintess Daren’s happiness was the most important.
“Miss Hua Jian’s will is Wanhuagu’s will. If she wants to save people, we will help her save people.”
“Mad! These people are mad!” Hearing this, the attackers could only feel that Wanhuagu had gone insane.
To change the plan because of one person? Did they think the Right Path would let them off if they backed out now?
Wishful thinking!
Not only would the Right Path not let them off, but the Magic Path, which they had double-crossed, wouldn’t let them off either!
And the reason Wanhuagu was willing to pay such a high price to change the plan… was because Hua Jian wanted to save people?
“Do you think the Right Path will let you off if you back out now? Stupid!”
“Whether it’s stupid or not doesn’t require your reminder. After all, there’s no need to listen to the words of stupid people.”
Amid the continuous stream of curses, Xia Hui had already brushed past these attackers, tearing off their fake faces one by one.
After losing their disguises, the Demonic Qi on their bodies was completely revealed, polluting the nearby space into a patch of blackness.
Xia Hui took two steps back, clapping her hands as she spoke.
“Luring the little Heavenly Talents from deep in the mountains, taking their flesh-and-blood to make disguise masks… you who could think of such a method are truly worthy of the name ‘Magic Path.'”
“Wasn’t it your Wanhuagu that made the masks?!”
“You provided the materials. We merely processed them. You can’t pin that on our Wanhuagu.”
Xia Hui covered her mouth and shook her head, very smoothly shifting the blame back.
After shifting the blame, she looked down at the crowd, who were already dumbstruck.
“I’ve already caught the real bad guys. What are you all still waiting for? Do you want to be trapped to death in this Secret Realm by these bad guys?”
The cultivators who had just watched a big show and were still immersed in shock finally started to use their brains, beginning to consider the situation after everything that had happened.
First, Hua Jian and Xia Hui were together. They were from Wanhuagu, the Magic Path.
Those who had rushed out from the crowd to ambush Hua Jian were from other factions of the Magic Path.
These two Magic Path factions had now erupted into a major conflict.
The reason seemed to be that Hua Jian, because she wanted to save her friends, intended to abandon the original plan and let the people in the secret realm out.