Chapter 299: Turning the Tables!

The elders of the various sects were all indignant, feeling as if they had fallen into a trap.

Before they had even begun exploring the secret realm, they had already suffered losses. The elders of the various sects clearly found this hard to accept.

Wu Zhao saw that several groups had lost men, feeling secretly pleased, but on the surface he put on a wronged expression and said, "Heaven and Earth as my witness, I truly had no idea that this Orchid Heart Flower Sea was so poisonous! It's just that our Heavenly Qian Sect is vast and rich, and we don't lack these Orchid Heart Flowers, so I wanted to let everyone take them first. Who could have known it would turn out like this?"

"Hmph! Elder Wu, stop pretending! Only your Heavenly Qian Sect has entered here before, how could you not know!" an elder said angrily.

Wu Zhao still looked aggrieved and said, "It's not just our Heavenly Qian Sect that hasn't touched anything here; the Nether Cloud Sect hasn't made a move either. Why are you all questioning my Heavenly Qian Sect?"

When Wu Zhao said this, the members of the Nether Cloud Sect all felt a chill in their hearts—he was trying to divert the trouble onto them!

Sure enough, those elders immediately turned their guns around!

All of them were old foxes, knowing that Wu Zhao was deliberately putting on an act, but the Heavenly Qian Sect was powerful, so of course they would pick on the soft persimmon!

They had to find some outlet for their anger, didn't they? Wasn't the Nether Cloud Sect just perfect?

As soon as Wang Fan saw the Nether Cloud Sect, he perked up and pressed forward, demanding, "Mei Zhen, aren't you going to give us an explanation?"

How could Mei Zhen not know what these people were thinking? His face darkened and he said, "What explanation do you want? It wasn't me who told you to collect the Orchid Heart Flowers. Now that something's happened, can you blame it on my Nether Cloud Sect? The Heavenly Qian Sect is the only sect that has been here before. Why don't you go after them instead of coming to pick a fight with us? What's the logic in that?"

Wang Fan sneered, "You can't say that! The Heavenly Qian Sect is vast and rich in resources. Is your Nether Cloud Sect also vast and rich? Don't you lack Orchid Heart Flowers? But you didn't make a move. Isn't there a reason for that? Or have you already secretly colluded with the Heavenly Qian Sect?"

At Wang Fan's words, the elders of the other sects all changed color!

The Tianqian Sect was already powerful enough; if they added the Youyun Sect to their side, swallowing up the other sects would only be a matter of time!

Although the Youyun Sect was weak, which of the eight major sects didn't have some hidden cards? If they defected to the Tianqian Sect, the situation in the Southern Domain would become unpredictable!

Seeing this, Mei Zhen was greatly alarmed and pointed at Wang Fan, saying, "Wang Fan, don't slander me!"

Wang Fan snorted coldly, "Slander? If it weren't the case, at least you should have warned the rest of us sects not to go there, right? Now only you and the Tianqian Sect are safe and sound—how can that not arouse suspicion?"

Mei Zhen was sweating profusely in anxiety, feeling as if he couldn't defend himself no matter what he said.

The Youyun Sect was already weak; if they were to confront several major sects at once, they would have no way out but death!

This scheme of sowing discord by the Tianqian Sect was truly vicious!

"Senior Hanshan, why have you come out again? All that nonsense you spouted—wasn't it just your groundless speculation? You yourselves were greedy enough to collect the orchid heart and suffered the consequences, yet now you blame others. What kind of reasoning is that?" At this point, Ye Yuan stepped forward and said.

The moment he uttered those words "Senior Hanshan," everyone couldn't help but laugh.

However, given the current situation, they found it hard to laugh, and each of them held it in with great discomfort.

Wang Fan was so angry that his beard bristled and his eyes bulged. He roared, "You brat! It seems your Nether Cloud Sect is determined to break with the other six sects!"

Ye Yuan shook his head and sighed, "Senior Hanshan, your 'Hanshan Divine Art' has reached the pinnacle of mastery! When did Senior Hanshan come to represent the six sects alone? Not to mention the six sects—can you even represent the Supreme Purity Sect?"

"You!" Wang Fan was momentarily speechless.

How could he dare to claim representation? He was merely an insignificant elder of the Supreme Purity Sect; how could he represent the sect's opinion?

"'Me' what? You can't even see such an obvious scheme to sow discord. Are you a pig? Or have you been bought off by the Heavenly Qian Sect, deliberately causing enmity among the six sects?" Ye Yuan's sharp retort struck home with every word.

Mo Yuntian's eyes lit up at this. What a brilliant move of turning the tables!

Just now, Wang Fan had said that Nethercloud Sect and Heavenly Qian Sect were colluding, but now Ye Yuan turned it around by saying that Wang Fan had been bought off by Heavenly Qian Sect, instantly reversing the situation!

Regardless of whether the other sects believed Ye Yuan's words, they would not act rashly.

"You! You're slandering me!" This time it was Wang Fan's turn to feel like vomiting blood.

But Ye Yuan sneered, "Senior Hànshān, save it! In this secret realm, the situation is extremely delicate. Don't let yourself be used as a pawn! Focus on finding rare treasures and getting out alive—that's the way to go!"

He said this ostensibly to Wang Fan, but in reality, it was meant for the other elders.

Upon hearing Ye Yuan's words, the elders of the various sects also calmed down.

Now, within the secret realm, Heavenly Qian Sect was undoubtedly the strongest, but their advantage was limited.

Because of this, everyone had let their guard down.

But in fact, Heavenly Qian Sect had advantages that the other sects lacked. If they were used as pawns, they would end up losing more than they gained.

Each sect now had only about a dozen people. Once a fight broke out, no one would benefit; instead, it would only advantage others.

Not just Wang Fan—none of them could represent their entire sect!

The purpose of coming to this secret realm was to bring back as many rare treasures as possible.

The most important thing now was not scheming against each other, but preserving strength to find rare treasures!

Ye Yuan's words were a wake-up call, and the hostility of those elders weakened considerably.

As for what happened here, they would report it to the higher-ups of their sects after leaving, and the higher-ups would decide.

The Heavenly Qian Sect members had been watching the commotion. When Wu Zhao saw that Ye Yuan had defused the crisis with just a few words, his expression darkened.

"This kid's cultivation level may not be high, but he's quite cunning and has a good grasp of the situation! It seems Changyu was right—this kid really shouldn't be underestimated! Hmm, I'll find an opportunity later and kill him," Wu Zhao thought to himself.

As for the talk of colluding with Heavenly Qian Sect, Wu Zhao didn't mind at all.

The seven sect masters were all sensible people. As long as Heavenly Qian Sect existed, they wouldn't be foolish enough to tear each other apart—that would only benefit Heavenly Qian Sect!

"Alright, let's go first." Seeing no opportunity to exploit, Wu Zhao led the Heavenly Qian Sect disciples away.

The other elders also came to their senses and led their sects to depart.

However, after the incident in the flower sea, the elders had a full understanding of the secret realm's danger and naturally dared not be careless again.

Wang Fan shot Ye Yuan another fierce glare and said, "Kid, you'd better pray you don't fall into my hands! Hmph! Let's go!"

With that, Wang Fan directly led the Shangqing Sect disciples away.

Mei Zhen also let out a long sigh of relief and said to Ye Yuan, "Ye Yuan, we really have you to thank for getting us out of that jam. Otherwise, we would have suffered undeserved calamity!"

Ye Yuan smiled and waved his hand, saying, "It's nothing. It's what I should do."

Mei Zhen nodded and said, "Let's go too."

"Hold on!" Ye Yuan stopped them.