Chapter 61: Stripping Clothes – How Can You Believe the Words of an Opponent?

“The Second-Seat Sword Cultivator from the Wu Nian Sect got eliminated?”

Ji Mingyue looked at the spirit jade token hanging from her waist. The crystal-blue water rose, and the jade token began transmitting messages to them.

They were standing on a massive lake. The lake surface had frozen over, and the ice was thick enough to support their footing.

According to Baili Que’s talisman sensing, the first round of collapse caves had already formed. The snowfall was gradually lessening. After the Withered Snow Phase passed, the ice surface would start to melt, and the snow on the ground would gradually thaw as well. Only after the snow layer thinned would it be easier to judge the location of snow caves to avoid accidentally falling in.

The Gui Xian Sect’s chief team had been lucky—when they first entered, they were teleported to the edge of the ice lake. They had no idea about the situation with the other sects; the only news they received was that Wu Nian Sect’s Second-Seat Sword Cultivator had been eliminated.

Fighting right from the start—this was not a good sign.

The leader of Gui Xian Sect’s chief team was Guan Huailin. He was the oldest and had frequently traveled outside before, so he was more composed in unexpected situations.

Guan Huailin had the chief team pause on the ice lake to wait out the peak snowfall period. At the same time, he dispatched several accompanying talisman cultivators to scout the area and check for magical beasts nearby.

In a water-element illusion realm, most magical beasts were also of the water element. Judging from the coldness of the environment, it was unlikely that water beasts would appear. They lived in the water and couldn’t survive out of it, making them easy to freeze beneath the ice. The greater threat was the ice beasts on the snowfield.

“We’re in a really remote area—no magical beasts nearby at all,” Baili Que returned with a few talisman cultivators. “If I’m not mistaken, we’re likely at the southernmost edge of this entire illusion realm. Heading east, there’s a withered forest. There might be beasts there.”

Guan Huailin exhaled, frost forming on his breath. Snowflakes clung to his eyelashes as he glanced around. In the distance were rolling low hills, all blanketed in white.

“Alright, once the snow melts, we’ll head east,” Guan Huailin said. “We don’t know what the other sects are doing, so we’ll be relying heavily on you talisman cultivators along the way.”

Baili Que nodded. “Understood.”

In the center of the group, Xu Xianxing was warming his hands over a hard-earned fire. There was a layer of material underneath to keep it from damaging the ice.

Wen Yun had a Water Spiritual Root, and the illusion realm granted him enhanced resistance, so he was basically unaffected by the cold. Ji Mingyue had taken a warming pill and was fine as well.

Xu Xianxing, however, was afraid of the cold. He had snagged some Blazing Wood Crystals from Ji Mingyue to make a portable hand warmer, but even so, he still shivered.

“Junior Brother Xu, you’re having a rough time. I have a few more warming pills—take them,” Guan Huailin said, playing the responsible senior, taking care of the younger disciples.

Xu Xianxing shook his head. “I’m fine, Senior Brother.”

He just wanted to warm his hands. If they froze stiff, he’d have a hard time refining spiritual artifacts later.

This time, they didn’t bring any unnecessary items—only some low-grade supplies that had been evenly distributed. Spiritual artifacts and other pills would need to be made on the spot by artifact refiners and alchemy cultivators.

In the illusion realm of the Immortal Sect Tournament, no place was absolutely safe. Everyone had to maintain their best state to respond to ever-changing situations.

“You all rest here. I’m going to scout ahead,” Guan Huailin summoned his sword and flew into the air.

Only the four chief cultivators and the accompanying group of several dozen people remained on the ice lake. The other sword cultivators followed Guan Huailin.

Standing in the wind and snow, Wen Yun stomped the ice beneath his feet. There was a cluster of frozen water beasts below him. They looked like carp, but their mouths were lined with rows of sharp teeth. Before they could go invisible in the water, they’d been frozen solid.

“You should’ve brought your usual fox-fur cloak into the illusion realm,” Wen Yun said, looking at the shivering Xu Xianxing.

Xu Xianxing sneezed. “I miscalculated—I thought we’d draw a pure water illusion realm.”

“The snow’s stopped, but the wind is picking up.” Baili Que raised his hand to shield himself from the cold gusts. “I wonder how the second-seat team is doing.”

Ji Mingyue said, “Our second-seats this year are all strong cultivators, especially with Lian Mu among them. They should be fine.”

“The Wu Nian Sect’s Second-Seat Sword Cultivator got eliminated so quickly,” Xu Xianxing said through chattering teeth. “I heard he was pretty strong—maybe he ran into the Qing Xuan Sect?”

“No,” said Baili Que. “We just got in. All sects started from roughly the same location. Qing Xuan Sect wouldn’t waste their energy on Wu Nian Sect.”

People from Qing Xuan Sect were usually strategic. Their approach to other sects was to “nurture before striking”—they’d wait for others to accumulate resources before ambushing them.

Baili Que added, “Chi Xiao Sect was the last to enter. That’s unlikely too. Maybe it was someone from our own sect.”

Before anyone could speculate further, a new message came through the spirit jade token: all thirty members of the Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat team had been ejected from the illusion realm.

Ji Mingyue said, “That fast? Looks like two second-seat teams ran into each other.”

Wen Yun glanced up. Guan Huailin returned and said, “It’s time to move.”

…

…

In the collapse cave, Lian Mu and the last artifact refiner of the Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat team stared at each other in silence.

“…”

The Wu Nian Sect artifact refiner finally broke. “Didn’t you say it’d be a one-on-one between you and our second-seat? What the hell is this?!”

Lian Mu’s sword was still at his throat. She brushed the snow from her head and replied, “Didn’t you all stay put, waiting to ambush us?”

The Wu Nian Sect artifact refiner was speechless. “…”

Two quarters of an hour earlier, as the peak snowfall period ended, the collapse cave had extended to their location.

Lian Mu had just finished fighting with Wu Nian Sect’s Second-Seat Sword Cultivator when the ground gave way. She fell into the snow cave, thinking she was alone—only to walk a few steps and find the rest of Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat team had fallen in too.

So it turned out that group had never gone far—they were just waiting for their own second-seat cultivator to deal with her, so they could immediately head out to find the squad led by Qu Ruotian and ambush Gui Xian Sect’s second-seat team.

Unfortunately for them, the one who got dealt with was the Wunian Sect’s second-seat Sword Cultivator.

When Lian Mu ran into them, she didn’t hesitate. She drew her sword and cleaned them up. That team had mostly alchemy cultivators and talisman cultivators, all of them with three spiritual roots. After falling into the collapsed cave, they were flailing around in chaos and didn’t even notice Lian Mu sneaking in.

A few sword strikes took out the ones who looked like they could fight. The remaining alchemy cultivators and artifact refiners were essentially left at her mercy.

Now, only one artifact refiner remained.

“You want to get out of here?” Lian Mu didn’t rush to kill him.

Wunian Sect’s artifact refiner: “…You’re being kind?”

Lian Mu said, “It’s just the two of us now. The cave mouth is too high, one person alone can’t get out. If the second snowfall hits, both of us will be buried alive.”

“Aren’t you a Sword Cultivator? Can’t you fly on your sword?” the artifact refiner asked.

Lian Mu replied, “That’s not your concern. My best friend is also an artifact refiner. Since you’re one too, I’ll give you a chance to get out alive—but on one condition. You help me repair my sword.”

The Wunian Sect artifact refiner hesitated. “…You’re not lying to me?”

Lian Mu gave a plain, honest smile. “Of course not. I’m a good person.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Not much. Just be a ladder.”

The collapsed cave’s top was still open to the sky, but the walls were steep. Lian Mu had found a relatively shallower spot earlier—just a bit taller than the height of two people.

She’d also purposely left the tallest guy alive during the fight earlier.

Lian Mu led the Wunian Sect artifact refiner to that shallow spot, stepped on his shoulders, and climbed up. The walls were slippery and hard to find footing.

Once she was securely up, the artifact refiner stretched out a hand, asking for help.

Lian Mu extended the sword’s scabbard for him to grab onto and pulled him halfway up—then stopped.

Half of the artifact refiner’s body was out of the hole, the other half dangling in midair. He didn’t have the strength to pull himself up on his own.

“Did your sect give you artifact refiners some spiritual materials?” Lian Mu asked.

The artifact refiner didn’t know why she suddenly asked that, but his heart skipped a beat.

That slight pause was all Lian Mu needed to catch on. She basically confirmed it, and without hesitation, pulled him all the way up.

Next second, she pinned him to the ground. “Where’s the Spatial Pouch with the spiritual materials?”

Now he understood—this was what she was really after. He roared in fury, “Don’t even think about it!”

Seeing his expression—completely unwilling to yield—Lian Mu couldn’t be bothered to argue. She grabbed both his wrists with one hand and searched his body with the other.

Amid the vast snowy plains, her green-and-yellow silhouette stood out starkly.

Up in the sky, a team of sword cultivators happened to be flying past.

They were a scouting group sent by Qingxuan Sect, including their chief Sword Cultivator.

Spotting figures down below, Ying You halted his sword, and the others looked down as well.

“Those are people from Gui Xian Sect and Wunian Sect. Leader, should we go deal with them?”

Ying You lowered his gaze and lifted his hand. “No need. They’re both alone now—not worth the effort.”

Standing behind him, Feng Yunyì looked down and realized one of them was the sword cultivator who had been watching him outside the illusion realm. When he saw what she was doing, his eyes widened in surprise. “She’s… stripping the Wunian Sect guy’s clothes?”

Feng Yunyì looked around again—besides snow and more snow, there was nothing.

“Gui Xian Sect people really are different this year,” he muttered. “In this freezing weather, she’s deliberately humiliating a Wunian Sect cultivator.”

The old Gui Xian Sect would’ve never done something like this—at the very least, they wouldn’t have stripped someone naked in the snow. Besides, everyone was wearing their sect uniforms. Stripping someone was basically stepping all over their sect’s pride.

Ying You watched for a moment and, seeing nothing else of note, prepared to leave. “Head west. The others are still waiting for us.”

Down on the snowfield.

Lian Mu had already stripped the guy bare and finally found a Spatial Pouch.

The Wunian Sect artifact refiner clutched his clothes, eyes brimming with tears, on the verge of crying. “You… you’re seriously messed up!”

Lian Mu peeked into the pouch. The spiritual materials weren’t high-grade, but they were still useful. She tucked it into her robes, then picked up her sword and walked toward him.

The artifact refiner scooted back in fear, eyes wide. “Didn’t you say you’d let me live?”

Lian Mu ran him through with a single strike. He didn’t resist at all—his body dissipated into mist almost instantly.

“How could you believe what your enemy says?”