Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Bring out your spoils

One disciple after another from the six sects appeared on the teleportation array, and the Demon Clan also began to return.

Chi Ling narrowed his eyes. [Something feels wrong.]

In his view, with the Demon Clan elites out in force, the Human Race should have lost most of their people inside the Langya Secret Realm. But the number of returning disciples did not look small.

He steadied himself and thought: [Maybe the Goldenwing Eagle and a few other powerful demonic beasts were busy hunting the very top human geniuses.]

A returning disciple hurried over while handing in supplies and reported: “Sect Master, the Demon Clan slipped into the Langya Secret Realm!”

The high elders of the six sects answered, faces still grim: “We already know.”

When the returning disciples lifted their heads and saw the Demon King’s Water-Moon Mirage hanging on the other side, their expressions shifted.

Demon Clan. They were getting more and more arrogant.

Chi Ling let out a soft laugh and asked: “Why are you staring at this king? Tsk, tsk. Your harvests look tiny. You wastes who crawled out alive must have been hiding in the Outer Zone. Under the Demon Clan’s hunt, if you want to live, you can only be a turtle.”

His laughter grew even wilder.

The disciples’ faces filled with grief and anger.

Yan Xiao could not hold back and said: “I did stay in the Outer Zone, but who says your Demon Clan is invincible? Our Human Race has peerless geniuses who will fight you!”

He almost blurted out Li Shuang’s name, but after a second he forced himself to stop. [If the Demon Clan remembers a name, that is never good. Senior Sister Li helped us. We should tell the Sect Master in private. Saying it in front of the Demon King would only harm her.]

Other young disciples joined in, saying: “You’re bragging too early!”, “There’s still one last hour before the secret realm closes. We’ll see who suffers most by then!”, and “Nanlan Continent is not a place for your Demon Clan to run wild.”

Before this, the post-realm tally was always a fight between the six sects. Now, because the Demon Clan had joined in, the six sects stood united.

When there was no outside enemy, they fought among themselves. With a common threat, no matter which sect won, it would be the honor of the whole Human Race.

The younger generation understood this well. Several of them had been saved by Li Shuang, yet none of them spoke her name in front of the Demon King. It was a quiet agreement inside the Human Race.

More than half an hour passed, and the array kept lighting up.

Lin Qing Ling grew more and more nervous. Li Shuang and Liu Jun Cheng still had not come out.

Suddenly the array flashed. Lin Qing Ling looked over with hope. The next moment, her expression dimmed. The ones who came out were still not Li Shuang and Liu Jun Cheng.

Beside her, Luo Ming Yue and Jiang Yi tensed up as well. Liu Jun Cheng and Li Shuang were strong, but even the Goldenwing Eagle had entered the Langya Secret Realm. If they ran into the Goldenwing Eagle…

Luo Ming Yue’s eyes reddened. [Please, heavens. Let nothing go wrong.]

Cries rose from the direction of Ling Xu Peak as people broke into smiles and called out: “Third Junior Brother, Junior Sister!” The new arrivals were Ye Zhao Zhao and Chang Le An.

Immortal Ling Xu smiled and said: “My two disciples truly have good fortune. Both returned safely. Zhao Zhao, Le An, go and show your spoils. Let the Demon Clan see that the Human Race is not empty.”

He stroked his beard, full of pride. Because the Demon Clan had joined, the less confident disciples had stayed in the Outer Zone, which meant their gains would be small. That all but guaranteed that the Demon Clan’s piles would crush any one sect. If Ye Zhao Zhao and Chang Le An could turn things around, Ling Xu Peak’s worth would stand out. Wearing the kindest smile he had shown in a long time, Immortal Ling Xu urged them: “Hurry, don’t just stand there. Go tally your resources.”

Seeing that smile, Chang Le An and Ye Zhao Zhao shivered. Only the two of them knew the truth: this time, they basically had no spoils.

At first they went to the Inner Zone, but they found nothing. Later they slunk back to the Outer Zone and managed to scrape together a few items. But with so many disciples searching the Outer Zone, everything had been picked over. What they found might even be less than others.

As Immortal Ling Xu spoke, everyone’s eyes focused on Ye Zhao Zhao and Chang Le An. Even the Demon King looked over with a cold gaze.

He knew the name Chang Le An. In the last Langya Secret Realm, the Human Race’s Ranking Champion had been this person. Could he really have another great haul this time?

Chi Ling narrowed his gaze and said with interest: “The previous Ranking Champion, how much will you have this time? I am very curious.”

Chang Le An and Ye Zhao Zhao felt their scalps tingle and, with no way out, inched forward.

Steward Li, who handled the tally, looked at them with expectation and said: “Come, take out your resources.”

Chang Le An slowly took out one plant, a fifty year old huangjing.

Steward Li’s face froze. Huangjing? This spirit herb is still widely farmed in the cultivation world today. Inside the Langya Secret Realm, such a harvest barely counts.

Sheng Yuan jumped in and said: “Of course the good stuff comes later. Junior Brother Chang is just taking out the cheap things first.”

Steward Li nodded and kept his hopeful eyes on them. After a pause, Ye Zhao Zhao took out a sixty year old huangjing.

Steward Li lost patience and said: “For common herbs like huangjing, take them all out at once. Bring out the rare spirit grasses and ores and let everyone see.”

Sheng Yuan urged them on and said: “Yes, Third Junior Brother, Junior Sister, stop keeping us in suspense.”

He was probably the most anxious person after the two of them, because this would decide whether he could fill the hole he had secretly created.

Chang Le An and Ye Zhao Zhao kept their heads down. They did not dare answer and kept taking out a little huangjing, some iron ore, and other common resources.

Everyone waited. They waited and waited, but no prized items appeared. Instead, Chang Le An and Ye Zhao Zhao stopped moving altogether.

Sheng Yuan pushed them, nervous and tight-voiced, and said: “Third Junior Brother, Junior Sister, what about the rest? Hurry and take it out.”

Chang Le An and Ye Zhao Zhao lowered their heads and did not dare say a word.