I courted death and then tried to escape, so the whole sect wants to get rid of me.

The Ninth Elder was about to leave when he heard this and paused: "There's no need to have too much contact with the Wen family anymore. They're different from others, and the situation is worse than we thought. Just protect yourselves for now."

He then dispelled the barrier and quickly left without looking back.

He left. Song Yao, having completed her mission, turned and walked leisurely into the courtyard.

Jiang Jin's expression was complicated as he hurriedly caught up with her: "When did Ye Chang'an tell you? How could he reveal things so easily? Isn't he very hostile towards our Nine Saints Hall? And Fourth Senior Brother, this is the Northern Shaking Sect, why would Fourth Senior Brother come here? Why didn't you tell me first...?"

Disciples from other sects were walking in ahead. Song Yao paused, turned to look at him, and frowned slightly: "Jiang Jin."

Jiang Jin was taken aback: "What?"

Song Yao: "You're so noisy."

Jiang Jin asked incredulously, "Me, I made a scene?"

Song Yao: "If you were as quiet as Fourth Senior Brother, you would probably be more likable."

Jiang Jin: "..."

Song Yao pulled her cloak tighter, her fair face lifting slightly as she sighed softly, "Be good. If you don't want our sect's affairs to become common knowledge, then shut your mouth, okay?"

Staring into those clear, bright eyes, Jiang Jin was inexplicably choked up. The words he was about to say finally escaped his lips: "I...I know."

Song Yao smiled with satisfaction, "Let's go in."

-

The courtyard is spacious, with cushions arranged along the waterside pavilion. Iced cheese, warm tea, and various snacks are laid out on the table. A breeze blows through the hall, and the gauze curtains hanging under the eaves sway gently.

In the central open space, several disciples were performing a sword dance to entertain the crowd. The sword light flowed with their movements, and the sword tassels fluttered lightly, eliciting low cheers from those around them.

The group from Jiushengtang sat by a stone table overlooking the water, on which was inlaid a chessboard carved with the Big Dipper.

A group of disciples stood around, watching intently, occasionally whispering among themselves.

Song Yao walked over and took a look, then recognized him.

This is a unique way of playing chess in the cultivation world.

Both sides need to use spirit stones to arrange small formations on the chessboard to compete, and the winner can obtain all the spirit stones on the chessboard.

Array cultivators are generally prohibited from participating in the game.

Song Yao had played with her senior brother and fifth junior sister a few times before. They were both array cultivators and could always beat her.

She rarely cried or made a fuss. After secretly learning the skills for a period of time, she ran down the mountain, humiliated the other disciples, and made a fortune of spirit stones.

Because the wins were too excessive, the Nine Saints Hall banned its disciples from playing the Spirit Stone Chess Formation for a period of time, saying it was no different from running a gambling den.

Seeing this, she was immediately seized by a playful impulse, and buried her head in the stone table, sitting upright and proper: "I want to play the next round too."

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl opposite her lightly flicked her fingertips with spiritual energy, and a sliver of white light fell onto the spirit stone.

The starlight suddenly lit up, coiling like silver snakes and breaking through the trap set by Chen He. The array's core collapsed instantly, and several spirit stones rolled onto the table.

Chen He cupped his hands and laughed, "Impressive, impressive, I lost."

As she spoke, she stepped aside to make way and waved to Song Yao: "Seventh Senior Sister, come and play!"

Song Yao immediately squeezed into his seat, took out a handful of spirit stones from his storage bag and poured them onto the table, eagerly saying to the person opposite him, "I'm ready."

Seeing this, the girl opposite couldn't help but smile. Just as she was about to agree, a sound suddenly came from the entrance of the courtyard.

The disciples who had been gathered around the stone table stopped talking and turned to look.

—A group of people from Taiqing Pavilion walked slowly towards them. Ye Chang'an, who was in the lead, had a gloomy face, followed by the Wen siblings on his left and right.

The disciples gathered around the stone table subconsciously took a half step back, and the noisy atmosphere in the courtyard quieted down a bit.

Everyone knows that Ye Chang'an dislikes the Nine Saints Hall, and no one wants to provoke him for no reason.

Even the girl opposite him, who had been smiling, lost her composure, her hand holding the spirit stone pausing in mid-air, hesitant.

Ye Chang'an's gaze swept across the courtyard, and as expected, it stopped in the direction of the Nine Saints Hall disciples. He paused for a moment, then walked straight toward them.

The atmosphere around them instantly became even more tense.

Chen He and the others curled their fingers slightly, subconsciously pressing their hands to the swords at their waists, watching Ye Chang'an warily, fearing that he would cause trouble in public.

Song Yao, who was playing with spirit stones in the middle, was interrupted and looked up somewhat unhappily: "Young Master Ye, shall we play a game?"

Chen He's pupils contracted slightly, causing everyone around him to swallow hard.

As expected of the champion of this year's Ten Thousand Bones Forest Secret Realm, he wasn't afraid of Ye Chang'an at all, and even dared to provoke him...

Everyone silently took another half step back.

The next moment, Ye Chang'an also silently took half a step back, his expression slightly stiff: "I don't know the spirit stone chess formation, why don't you let Wushuang and Wumian do it?"

His words weren't exactly polite, but for Ye Chang'an's consistently unruly nature, they were the epitome of courtesy.

After a long silence, everyone realized what was going on.

Could it be that Young Master Ye has reconciled with the Nine Saints Hall at some point?

That shouldn't be the case, it hasn't been that long.

Or is it just a superficial effort?

Could it be that they have to show some respect to this year's champion because of Chen Qingqiu's reputation?

Everyone speculated, but regardless, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as this guy doesn't cause trouble, that's the best news ever.

But no one expected that the one who started the trouble was someone else.

Song Yao frowned even more deeply and refused him with even greater displeasure: "Aren't they array cultivators? Trying to swindle me out of spirit stones? Absolutely not."

Everyone: "..."

This little Danxiu has quite the nerve!

They already publicly provoked Ye Chang'an last time, and now they're doing it again.

They're really, really, really risking their lives.

Ye Chang'an was unusually good-tempered today, and even explained, "Wushuang has indeed studied formations, but Wumian has not. Let Wumian leave."

Song Yao thought for a moment, regained some interest, and nodded: "Okay, let's go."

The Wen family and the Nine Saints Hall had a deep connection, and the chess player was one of the best. The disciples gathered around with great interest, and some even secretly put in some spirit stones.

In situations like this, Song Yao couldn't suppress her tendency to show off and raised her hand, saying, "You go first."

Wen Wumian had originally intended to let this girl, who looked much younger than him, have a moment of surprise upon hearing this, then nodded and gently gestured with his hand.

The five spirit stones on the table rose up and slowly drifted along the Big Dipper pattern on the chessboard, settling on the five key star positions.

A few faint silver threads were drawn between the spirit stones, and as the light flowed, the prototype of a basic trapping formation quietly unfolded on the huge chessboard.

Ye Chang'an had a chair brought over and sat down behind Wen Wumian, his face calm and a smile on his lips.

Although Wen Wumian is not a formation cultivator, he has learned some techniques, and there are few in Taiqing Pavilion who can defeat him.

Although he couldn't beat Song Yao and couldn't do anything to her for the time being, it wouldn't hurt to show her some power in public.