Nine participants stood silently along the raging river, each of them positioned strategically to surround the large creature that was now half submerged in the flowing water.

None of them looked to be in a good state, with their clothes dishevelled and exhaustion clearly showing on their faces.

Yet despite their weary bodies, they dared not avert their gazes from their opponent. They fully understood that a single moment of carelessness could easily result in grievous injuries – injuries that could effectively end their run here in the Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

The Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator in the centre was currently riddled with wounds, its tough scales torn off in multiple spots to reveal bleeding wounds.

It was clearly in a worse condition as compared to the nine participants, and was no longer thrashing around as violently as before.

In fact, its movements were now reduced to the slight opening and closing of its jaws, and even that was done in a slow and subdued manner.

“It is nearing its limit,” Ye Yuyang said, her clear and soothing voice unable to conceal her relief. “Just a little more!”

Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligators had always been known to reside in the river, so drawing it over to the river would have seemed to be a foolish choice at first glance.

However, they had chosen to do so regardless, basing this decision on nothing but pure trust in Chen Pingxi’s ability.

And Chen Pingxi truly delivered.

After drawing the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator over to the river, Chen Pingxi immediately took the lead in the battle that followed.

With the way she manipulated the water element to increase the strength of her techniques, it would not even be too much of an exaggeration to say that she was the one carrying the entire group to victory. In comparison, the rest of the group were merely playing support roles that might or might not have mattered.

Even with that, this still turned out to be a long and difficult battle that took its toll on all nine participants. Thankfully, the end finally appeared to be within sight!

“Well then, one final sprint. Let’s end its suffering once and for all!” San Wanfan lifted his glaive.

Yet despite his attempt to sound confident, the trembling of his arms betrayed his true current state.

“There’s no need for that,” Zhou Qin said. “It’s already over.”

Hmm?

Everyone looked at him, confused by what he was saying.

Yes, the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator was clearly on its last legs, but that was not enough.

One should not simply underestimate the vitality of Origin Core realm monsters. Even when brought to the brink of death, most of them would be able to quickly recover as long as they were given the opportunity to do so.

But while the rest of the group shifted their attention towards Zhou Qin, Chen Pingxi silently raised her sword with her eyes closed.

[Tidal Burst]

Boom-!

The grand explosions that followed shocked everyone into instinctively putting up their guard.

Throughout the battle, Chen Pingxi had thrown out plenty of water-element attacks. And at this moment, the energy-imbued water that had resulted from every single one of her earlier techniques exploded all at once.

It was a huge eruption of energy, carrying a total force that might not necessarily be less than that of the earlier Tidal Hammer.

And this time, parts of the explosion even occurred from within the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator, directly bypassing the monster’s external defences!

The Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator was unable to even muster a final roar.

All it could do was look up to the heavens for a moment before falling limply onto the riverbank, blood pouring out of its orifices while carrying bits and pieces of ruptured organs.

The group took a deep breath in silence.

Zhou Qin was right – it was already over.

At this moment, they could not help but turn their attention to Chen Pingxi, who had silently closed her eyes and sat down cross legged on a rock to recover her energy with spirit stones.

Her relatively tiny frame appeared inexplicably large all of a sudden, exuding an untouchable aura akin to a goddess who was meditating atop a lotus flower.

Prime disciple of the Origin Lake Sect, Tidal Fairy Chen Pingxi.

She was truly deserving of her name!

Understanding that the battle had truly concluded, the Yin Yang Sword Sisters and members of the Mo Group quickly followed Chen Pingxi’s lead, sitting down to recover as well.

Before long, San Wanfan was the only one who remained standing.

This was not because he was not tired. Instead, it was because he had something more important to do.

Be it the Yin Yang Sword Sisters’ Yin Yang Sword Diagram or the Tidal Fairy’s Tidal Hammer and Tidal Burst, they were all impressive techniques that were extremely difficult to handle.

Witnessing them in the flesh, he immediately came up with a bold idea to further his plans.

“It has been a pleasure fighting alongside everyone today. I, San Wanfan, hereby thank you on behalf of the Black Tortoise Sect!” San Wanfan clasped his fists towards everyone.

“It is nothing,” Ye Yuyin shook her head. “We are the ones who should apologise for getting you caught up in our battle.”

Indeed, they were the ones who had been engaging the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator from the start.

Even though they did not exactly request for assistance, it remained a fact that the Mo Group had helped them in this battle.

“Please don’t stand on ceremony, Sister Ye. Our factions can be considered as one big family, so it is only natural to help each other out in the face of any difficulties,” San Wanfan replied. “That said, I do have a selfish request to make, which I hope everyone would be able to indulge.”

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“Please speak,” Ye Yuyin said. “Since you have been kind enough to help us out, it is only fair that we try our best to help you in return.”

That said, she could not help but feel shocked by the response that followed.

“I’m glad that Sister Ye thinks this way. In that case, I shall be frank,” San Wanfan said. “Our party was assaulted by Infernal Claw Quan Hui’s party earlier, and temporarily fell into a disadvantage as a result. That said, we are not intending to take it lying down. Instead, we will be launching a counterattack with the intention of forcing them out of the mystic realm. For the honour of the Black Tortoise Sect, I humbly request your assistance in our endeavour!”

Not only had he mentioned earlier that it was only natural for them to help each other out, but he also made sure to emphasise that this concerned the honour of the Black Tortoise Sect.

By doing so, rather than a matter relating solely to his party, San Wanfan wanted to make this a matter relating to the Black Tortoise Sect.

As disciples of the Black Tortoise Sect’s subordinate sects, this would naturally create a huge psychological burden on both the Origin Lake Sect and Flying Swords Hall participants.

At the same time, this also helped him avoid pleading for their help from a personal standpoint, which helped him retain a bit of honour and face!

His request was met with momentary silence.

Ye Yuyin and Ye Yuyang exchanged conflicted glances.

Zhou Qin patiently waited for Chen Pingxi to make the decision, but Chen Pingxi simply kept her eyes closed without speaking.

In fact, they would probably have readily agreed if it was something else, but this matter involved taking on the party of a core disciple of one of the Four Great Symbol Sects!

Core disciples were the focus of every faction, individuals to be nurtured into future elders.

Even if the operation were to be a resounding success, it could very well result in an enmity between their sect and the Vermilion Bird Sect.

And creating bad blood with any of the other Four Great Symbol Sects was an extremely huge deal!

While they were officially subordinate to the Black Tortoise Sect, the alliance among the Four Great Symbol Sects was an ancient bond that had always bound the four factions together.

If the Vermilion Bird Sect were to come at them in the future, who was to say that the Black Tortoise Sect would definitely stand up for them, ignoring the alliance that it had with the other party?

That said, they were still duty-bound to assist the Black Tortoise Sect.

Because of that, this would have been a no-brainer if the one asking was a core disciple of the Black Tortoise Sect.

However, San Wanfan’s identity as only an inner disciple made it difficult for them to agree without question!

“Can I take your silence as consent?” San Wanfan pressed further. “After all, even if we disregard our assistance today, I don’t think this is an unreasonable request considering that the honour of the Black Tortoise Sect is at stake.”

“Ah, whatever! Fine, let’s do it!” Ye Yuyang was the first to speak, though there was a tinge of irritation in her voice.

She naturally understood that San Wanfan was trying to use the name of the Black Tortoise Sect to force them into agreeing, but it was not like they had much of a choice.

Since they probably had to do it anyway, they might as well put their all into it and make it a resounding success!

“Okay then,” Ye Yuyin answered helplessly after hearing her sister’s answer.

Next, all eyes fell upon Chen Pingxi.

They all knew that as the prime disciple, she could make any decision, and Zhou Qin would have to follow her lead regardless.

Chen Pingxi slowly opened her eyes and matched San Wanfan’s gaze.

“I would love to help, but I am ashamed to admit that I am truly spent after the battle earlier,” Chen Pingxi said with a faint voice that could easily be mistaken as that of someone on her deathbed. “If you wish, Junior Martial Brother Zhou and I can follow along and see what we can do. However, I really don’t think I will be able to join any battles for the time being. In fact, I would even need you to protect me during this period, Junior Martial Brother Zhou.”

“You can trust that I will not leave your side until you are fully recovered,” Zhou Qin replied immediately.

“That’s good enough,” San Wanfan agreed. “In that case, Sister Chen can just follow along for now and participate only after you have sufficiently recovered. That’s settled then! I’m sure we are all exhausted from the fight, so let’s rest up for now. I will let you know of the plan once we are done.”

San Wanfan was not entirely satisfied with Chen Pingxi’s answer, but there was nothing he could do about it.

After all, it remained a fact that she had done the heavy lifting in the battle earlier, so it would not be surprising if she was truly spent.

At the very least, he now had the Yin Yang Sword Sisters to fight by their side. Even if Chen Pingxi could not recover in time, the twin sisters would still be an enormous boost to their group’s combat capabilities.

In fact, it was not usually in his nature to be so overbearing when requesting assistance, but this case was an exception.

After all, their performance in the Four Symbols Mystic realm would have a huge impact on his party’s reputation. For the sake of his party, he would even be willing to go to more extreme ends!

And who knows?

If he managed to lead them in successfully taking down Quan Hui’s party, perhaps these beauties would also come to realise just how impressive he truly was!

***

Zhao Yunxiao looked at the jade tablets of the Mo Group, and could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

As expected, they seemed to have overcome the Bloodtoothed Dragon Alligator, and were now in a state of recovery.

That said, it was not like he no longer had to worry about them now.

If what Teng Qi said was true, then the main issue was what happened next.

Things would be much simpler if they somehow managed to get back their brains, but Zhao Yunxiao highly doubted that.

Since that was the case, would he eventually end up having to help them take on Quan Hui’s party?

Personally, he had to admit that this was quite an exciting offer, especially after all the disrespect that Quan Hui had shown his group in their previous encounter.

But at the same time, this would only be exciting if it was actually doable.

Zhao Yunxiao did not know the exact members of Quan Hui’s party, but there was no way that the Vermilion Bird Sect would allow the party’s strength to fall below a certain threshold.

On the other hand, he had done ample research on the Mo Group, so he was very clear on one thing – no amount of tricks was going to let them stand a chance against a core disciple’s party.

In order to have even the slimmest possibility of victory, they would have to enlist the assistance of all of the Yin Yang Sword Sisters, Chen Pingxi, and Zhou Qin.

If just one of them was uncooperative, that would effectively mark the end of this endeavour.

And even if they did join, the odds of winning were still abysmal to say the least.

In order to stand a decent chance, they would need to come up with a darn good plan!

Thinking up to this point, Zhao Yunxiao started looking around at other jade tablets for the first time since the opening of the Four Symbols Mystic Realm, searching for those that belonged to the participants from the Flying Swords Hall and Origin Lake Sect.

Zhao Yunxiao did not know if the four of them would end up joining the Mo Group.

But if he could at least keep track of their statuses, it would also give him greater clarity on the current situation of the Mo Group.

That would be necessary in order to carry out his current plan – to gather as much supporting evidence as possible, hoping to come up with an argument that was strong enough to dissuade San Wanfan from carrying out this foolish plan of his!