Li Lang looked around in confusion as he stayed on all fours. The ground below him continued to tremble, and the purple fog that was engulfing the entire coliseum was adding to the chaos.

Thankfully, the shaking soon stopped. Numerous disciples cried out in panic throughout the venue, but Li Lang decided to chase after Ling Xue.

What is she up to…Everyone was in a panic but she was running with a purpose in mind. Is there somewhere safe to weather the storm?

Li Lang’s curiosity won over him as he searched for the two most talented disciples of their generation. Visibility was severely limited, even when he tried to enhance his vision with Qi. It wasn’t just any ordinary fog as it blocked Qi senses, too.

Many other people were running around in the haze and just when Li Lang was pushed to the side by one of the panicking disciples, a loud explosion rang out from above.

It cleared away some of the smoke above, revealing several sect elders and deacons, locking swords with unfamiliar cultivators.

Each unknown assailant wore fully black attire that even covered their face and hair. Only their eyes peeked out, but it was unmistakable that they were all at least in the Foundation Establishment realm as they flew around and held their own against the party from Spirit Grove.

“Despicable demonic cultivators, how dare you invade our sect? You all court death!” An elderly man in olive-green robes shouted.

The men in black didn’t bother to respond and continued their attack. Seeing the intruders’ silence, the elder turned to his comrades.

“Spirit Grove! We will not yield to these cowardly invaders. Now is the time to show your loyalty to the sect and eliminate these evildoers! They will all surely perish once our grand formation starts up!”

“Great Strike of the Forest!”

“Mystic Serpent Slash!”

The battle above soon intensified as the combatants started to use more powerful moves. Various attacks that took the form of animals sailed through the skies and explosions could be heard more and more frequently.

It naturally drew the most attention with its flashy display of Qi Arts and with the explosions clearing away the fog.

Many disciples below all looked up at the scene in awe. Even when a devastating attack hit the coliseum building, they all remained motionless. Thankfully, the building only trembled slightly and remained unharmed.

However, the scene only caused Li Lang to move faster.

This is not something I want to be near! All these disciples must be insane if they aren’t moving when they could die any moment from a stray attack!

He quickly abandoned his search for Ling Xue and sprinted toward where the tunnel entrance to the interior of the coliseum was. Having been there the previous year for the alchemy test, Li Lang soon managed to find some comfort in the safety of the building.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, he continued his journey in search of a safer place.

Need to look for a shelter…No bunkers in here, but the underground crafting facilities should be secure.

Drawing from his memories, Li Lang raced through the building toward his destination. He swiftly made his way out to the other side of the building. Even outside the coliseum, fog obscured everywhere, albeit thinner than within the arena.

Li Lang didn’t make it far before he heard footsteps from behind. He turned to find Ling Xue, carrying an unconscious Liu Xing.

“What’s wrong? What happened to him?” Li Lang asked cautiously.

The girl glanced up in shock upon seeing Li Lang, but didn’t stop moving.

“...Follow me.” Her icy voice reached Li Lang loud and clear, despite how softly she spoke.

“No, thank you.”

Li Lang knew something was off, but having seen her fight, he didn’t dare come into conflict with her when he was so isolated from others. He feigned disinterest, like he had always done during their trips together, and scurried away.

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“Don’t run! If you know what’s good for you, you’ll listen.” Ling Xue cried out.

A chill instantly ran down Li Lang’s back as he remembered how it felt when he had first encountered a mid-level Qi beast out in the wild. He was being stared down by an existence much more powerful than him, and it felt like he was on thin ice.

“...Very well.”

Not being given a choice, Li Lang was forced to help Ling Xue carry along the unconscious Liu Xing.

Just as Li Lang feared, they were headed toward the barrier of the sect. They barely passed by anyone along the way as the majority of the disciples gathered for the competitions and the few caretakers they did run into were too worried about themselves to notice them.

Upon reaching the edge of the sect, Li Lang glanced up toward the sound of fighting coming from outside the barrier.

The explosions ringing out outside the sect were even more intense than the battle in the arena. However, Li Lang didn’t get the chance to spectate for long as he felt a prickly gaze from beside him.

“Hurry up.”

Their party soon reached the edge of the sect and two guardians in light-brown robes noticed them. They quickly approached with worried expressions upon seeing the children.

“What are you guys doing?! Hurry up and stay indoors somewhere. It’s not safe around here!”

Another explosion rang out worryingly close to the group. It caused the guards to look over, and Ling Xue took full advantage of that opening to fish out a talisman.

Before Li Lang could even warn the guardians, they immediately noticed her strange action. However, they weren’t able to react to the already-thrown talismans heading straight toward them. The flimsy piece of paper sailed through the air in a direct path to the two sect guardians, landing right on their foreheads.

It shone brightly for a brief moment before it dimmed as it stuck to their foreheads. Nothing particular happened except the two guards were now frozen in place.

“I…can’t move! What are you doing? What is this talisman?”

Ling Xue ignored them and urged Li Lang to continue forward with an icy glare. Feeling his life under threat, Li Lang had no choice but to comply.

The two soon made it to the barrier where the young girl wordlessly placed down Liu Xing. She pulled out even more talismans before throwing them at the barrier, and Li Lang braced for impact.

Instead of an explosion like Li Lang expected, the talismans simply dissolved upon contact, bringing a section of the barrier along with it.

“You stay behind. You better not follow me unless you want to get hurt. Understood?”

The young boy nodded as Ling Xue began carrying Liu Xing alone and exited the barrier.

Once she disappeared from view, the barrier soon repaired itself.

This…I’m not ready to handle any of these developments. I’ll need to get stronger fast if I want to protect myself…Now how am I supposed to explain myself to the sect…?

As the fighting continued outside the barrier, Li Lang quickly backtracked to where the two guardians were. They were both still frozen in place, so Li Lang helped them remove the talisman stuck to their foreheads in hopes of gaining their favor.

“I’m here to save you!”

“Just hurry it up, kid! We don’t have time for this!”

However, as soon as they were freed, one of the guards immediately grabbed Li Lang and pinned him down.

“You, brat! Answer honestly. Who are you?”

“Senior, I’m just a normal outer disciple. That girl from earlier threatened me into helping her!”

“So you admit to helping a treacherous disciple? If you had any pride as a disciple of Spirit Grove, you should’ve put your life on the line to stop her, even at the cost of your life!”

“...That’s unreasonable. I stood no chance against her. She’s the strongest in my generation for a reason.”

“I don’t care about your excuses. You can plead your case to the head guardian. We’re taking you in.”

With two powerful cultivators restraining him, Li Lang had no choice but to be escorted into the nearby building. They brought Li Lang down to the basement, into a dungeon with half a dozen jail cells. The cells were made from wood, but Li Lang wasn’t foolish enough to think they could be easily broken through.

He was stuffed inside a cell before the guardians quickly left to tend to the urgent situation outside.

That could’ve gone better, but at least I should be safe in here… Right?

Li Lang plopped himself down on the dirty hay in his cell and sighed to himself. He felt around his pocket and realized the guards were in too much of a rush to even confiscate his belongings. Ruby was still with him, so he still had ways to kill time.

Just as he brought the stone to his head, the sound of rustling hay alerted him to the cell adjacent to his. In the dark corner of the cell, a face suddenly appeared, making Li Lang flinch back.

“Do you know what’s happening outside? It’s awfully loud today!”

Li Lang took a second to examine the boy with a youthful face but a tall figure comparable to an adult’s. He had black hair tied up into a ponytail instead of a bun. Li Lang calmed down a bit upon seeing his olive-green robes similar to his own.

“...You’re… an outer disciple as well?”

“Yup, that’s right. The name’s Long Yi. Got booked for trying to skip out on this bothersome competition. Anyway, what’s going on outside? It’s my first sect competition, but I’m sure it isn’t supposed to be this hectic, right?”

It’s his first year? This guy is only around ten years old…?

“...The sect is under attack by…Demonic cultivators, I think.”

“What?! So that’s why most of the guards left!” Long Yi almost charged toward Li Lang, only to be stopped by the wooden bars that separated the cells. “We’re going to be sucked dry by the demonic cultivators! We have to escape to somewhere safe right away!”