What's wrong with a snake that just wants to cultivate and transform?

At that moment, some cultivators, like Xu Nian, realized the gravity of the situation and hurriedly shouted warnings to their fellow sect members, “Enemy attack, beware of the thunder explosion talismans!”

But before the warning could be amplified and spread using spiritual power, one of the shouting cultivators was fatally stabbed in the chest from behind.

With his last breath, he turned in disbelief only to find that the one who had betrayed him was the junior brother he had just pushed out of harm’s way.

The “junior brother,” without hesitation, swiftly slit the throat of his senior, sending him to the afterlife.

Simultaneously, similar chaos erupted among the seats of the disciples from other sects on the stands. Numerous cases of sect members killing each other suddenly unfolded.

Most of those ambushed and killed were among the first to notice the air raid of thunder explosion talismans.

Meanwhile, the cultivators who had spotted the thunder explosion talismans in the sky, fearing they would be the next targets of backstabbing, hurriedly moved away from the crowd, refraining from alerting others as their predecessors had done.

“Traitors, there are traitors in the sect.”

“Be careful, there are demonic cultivators among us!”

The sudden turn of events sparked panic and chaos. Many disciples were petrified by the horrific scene before them. Eyes met with suspicion and caution, each fearing the other might suddenly turn and send them to meet the King of Hell.

The thunder explosion talismans took advantage of the confusion, striking unsuspecting disciples and exploding upon impact.

The stands, filled with cultivators, had turned into complete chaos. Explosions rang out among the crowd, spattering blood and scattering severed limbs everywhere.

Except for those who, like Xu Nian, had immediately erected protective barriers or other defenses upon noticing the aerial threat, the rest, caught off guard, suffered heavy casualties from the talisman attack. Even those who managed to hastily use their spiritual energy or pull out protective shields in the moment of the explosion were mostly left severely injured and incapacitated. The unluckier ones were struck directly on the head by a talisman and perished instantly without a chance to react.

The moment the thunder explosion talismans descended, Xu Nian quickly pulled Mu Yanyu into her protective shield, sparing them from the calamity.

Several disciples in the Tian Yuan Sect’s area were assassinated, particularly higher-ranking ones. The assailant’s movements were too swift for Xu Nian to intervene, let alone the fact that there seemed to be more than one assassin around her, making Xu Nian hesitate to act rashly.

Xu Nian had seen the face of this assassin before on the flying boat. Although he looked like one of the disciples at that moment, his aura had completely changed. He was definitely not an original disciple of the Tian Yuan Sect. It was unknown how he replaced the original disciple and infiltrated the competition.

While Xu Nian remained vigilant against the assassin’s sudden attacks, she glanced at the performing cultivators below. The elite disciples of the Eight Great Sects, being on stage, were unable to assist their lower-ranking sect members in the audience. As the thunderstorm fell, hidden enemies below surged towards the elite disciples.

A sudden gust of wind indicated an imminent attack. The assassin, having just eliminated a few remaining disciples, launched a sudden attack towards Xu Nian.

In the face of danger, Xu Nian barely had time to push Mu Yanyu out of harm’s way, yelling, “Get down, hide!”

The assassin’s blade swiftly penetrated flesh, and as it was withdrawn, blood spurted from the body of a large snake.

The assassin glared coldly at Xu Nian and spoke with malice, “How does a disciple of the Tian Yuan Sect know the techniques of a demonic cultivator?”

Xu Nian had no intention of clarifying for the unknown assailant. As she concentrated, the Titan Python that had taken the hit for her opened its gaping maw and ferociously lunged at the assassin.

In just a few moments, the spectator stands had become a scene of carnage, with few of the eight sects’ elite disciples left conscious and even fewer able to move. Those who could were embroiled in desperate battles for their lives against the traitors, with no one left to attend to Xu Nian’s situation.

Now free from constraints, Xu Nian kept summoning Titan Pythons to form a protective circle around her, shielding herself from the assassin’s unpredictable moves. Additionally, she deployed hundreds of swift and venomous blue snakes to launch an attack on him.

The assassin felt a chill at the sight of the tide of venomous snakes and pythons, especially the blue snakes with blue patterns. Even a late-stage Golden Core cultivator would undoubtedly die without immediate expulsion of the poison if bitten unguarded.

His original mission was to eliminate the remaining high-ranking cultivators of the Tian Yuan Sect. Seeing that this woman appeared to be only at the early stage of Golden Core, he first stealthily attacked a mid-stage Golden Core male cultivator on the stand. The man, caught off guard, was fatally struck by his sword, gasping more than breathing. Though the cultivator pointed at him in his final moments, the assassin quickly silenced him forever with another cut to the neck.

The assassin had initially planned to kill Xu Nian next, assuming her to be an early-stage Golden Core cultivator, and then provide support to his accomplices on the stage. However, Xu Nian proved far more troublesome than anticipated.

After a moment’s consideration, the assassin chose to abandon his pursuit of Xu Nian and leaped onto a gourd-shaped flying artifact to ascend into the sky.

Just as Xu Nian was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she saw the assassin heading towards the competition stage, where Ji Yuebai was located.

Determined not to let the assassin join his accomplices and cause trouble for Ji Yuebai, Xu Nian sprang into action. She couldn’t just stand by and watch him potentially harm Ji Yuebai.

Xu Nian quickly slapped her storage bag and summoned the flying lotus cloud magical artifact she had practiced with countless times in the black box. She poured all her energy into it, catching up with the assassin who was riding the gourd.

The assassin was surprised to see her daring pursuit but quickly responded, turning back to unleash several sword energies at Xu Nian.

However, Xu Nian had already rehearsed such a scenario in the black box. In the instant before the sword energy arrived, she maneuvered the flying lotus to shoot up at a ninety-degree angle. As the sword energy exploded with a gust of wind, she skillfully clung to a lotus petal, performing a 360-degree flip around it, perfectly avoiding the range of the sword energy.

Simultaneously, she drew out a long sword she had found among the bodies, infusing it with substantial spiritual energy and hurling it with all her might towards the assassin.

The assassin had thought Xu Nian would be severely injured or even killed by his close-range sword energy. He was completely caught off guard when she not only emerged unscathed but also counterattacked with a flying sword.

Doubting Xu Nian’s identity, the assassin wondered if she was an infiltrator like himself.

However, a thrown flying sword was less threatening than sword energy, especially in the vast expanse of the sky, and the assassin easily dodged it.

The assassin sneered inwardly: Surely she was an outsider who had sneaked in, not knowing how to release sword energy or control a sword formation, foolishly throwing the sword with brute force.

But Xu Nian had anticipated this. She condensed her spiritual energy into an extremely thin line, silently controlling the dodged flying sword to stealthily attack the assassin from behind.

Caught off guard, the assassin felt a sudden pain in his back and, reaching back, found his hand covered in blood. He never thought that, used to ambushing others, he would be sneak attacked by this despicable female cultivator with such a childish and inferior tactic.

Wounded and humiliated, the assassin summoned dozens of flying swords, intending to overwhelm Xu Nian. He reasoned that her small flying lotus cloud artifact couldn’t withstand the weight of the Titan Python, and without support in mid-air, the python would plummet to its death. He wanted to see how this female cultivator could dodge his flying sword attack.

Seeing the barrage of flying swords, Xu Nian didn’t hesitate to turn the flying lotus around and flee.

The assassin glared fiercely, determined to leave her with no place to hide.

But the next second, he suddenly felt numbness spreading across half of his body. The flying swords that were fiercely chasing Xu Nian lost control and clattered to the ground.

Incredulous, the assassin fell from his gourd artifact, catching a glimpse of blue-green color wound around the hilt of the sword that had wounded him. He realized then that it wasn’t a tassel but a blue snake, venomously hissing at him!

At this point, it was too late to realize the danger. The potent toxin had already spread throughout his body in those few moments. Filled with unwillingness and resentment, the assassin fell from the sky and shattered to pieces, becoming part of the pile of corpses.

…

The moment the thunder explosion talismans were unleashed, the Nascent Soul Elders of the Eight Great Sects instantly sensed the attack. They also discovered that the talismans were not launched by a single cultivator but by mechanical artifacts unique to the demonic sects.

They leaped into action, intending to join forces to create a protective barrier for their disciples. However, they were suddenly immobilized in mid-air, sealed in place, unable to use either their untransformed spiritual energy or their converted spiritual energy.

Such ability to control over twenty Nascent Soul Elders suggested the involvement of the ancient Demon-Sealing Formation, known for its complex structure and stringent deployment conditions. Given the event’s location at the heart of Fanyin Pavilion’s inner island, the only explanation seemed to be a treacherous alliance between Fanyin Pavilion and the demonic cultivators, resulting in the betrayal of the entire cultivation world.

Elder Qiu never expected to encounter such an unfortunate event while away. He furiously questioned the nearby Fanyin Pavilion Elders, “You Fanyin Pavilion Cultivators have some nerve to join forces with the demonic path to slaughter righteous disciples. Aren’t you afraid of being besieged and annihilated by all the sects in the cultivation world, destroying your small islands?”

An Elder from Wuji Sect also threatened, “If you release us now, perhaps we can still plead for those innocents in your Fanyin Pavilion. I advise you not to spurn our offer and face dire consequences.”

The other sect Elders, now suspecting Fanyin Pavilion’s involvement, also expressed their condemnation.

The leading Elder of Fanyin Pavilion, Elder Wu, with a face drenched in sweat, defended, “Fanyin Pavilion has always been cautious and meticulous. We would never dare to betray the cultivation world and collude with demonic cultivators. Everyone knows that demonic cultivators are a scourge of the cultivation world, deserving of death. We, too, are trapped here, watching our disciples slaughtered by these evil demonic cultivators. We have no reason to side with them.”

The trapped Nascent Soul Elders could only watch in agony as their fellow sect members in the stands were ambushed and slaughtered by the demonic cultivators lying in wait. They felt a crushing sense of loss and indignity.

Their only hope lay in the sect’s elite disciples participating in the performance competition in the waiting area. Selected as the best from their respective sects, these disciples held their ground against the sudden attacks of the demonic cultivators, even managing to gain a slight advantage in some instances.

This advantage was largely due to Ji Yuebai’s leadership. She orchestrated the disciples’ response with precision, quickly deploying sword formations to target the weak points of the encircling demonic cultivators. This strategy resulted in the gradual reduction of the demonic forces, preventing them from breaking through.

Once these demonic cultivators were eliminated, they could then focus on finding a way to dismantle the ancient Demon-Sealing Formation controlling them.

Elder Qiu’s heart was filled with mixed feelings. He never imagined that he would one day rely on Ji Yuebai, a younger cultivator, for rescue.