The Great Elder, Immortal Venerable Yuan Sheng, hurriedly flew over.
"Sect Leader, please see clearly. Hua Han was personally nurtured by me. I know that child very well; he would never do such a thing."
"If it really were him, I would not spare him lightly!"
Gu Qingyu, who had just put on her outer robe again, finally regained her senses at this moment.
"Then who? Were you besieged by other disciples?"
Immortal Venerable Yuan Zhen clenched his teeth, and the expressions of the other sect leaders were incredibly grave.
If such a thing indeed happened, it would be even more serious.
It would signify that among the most elite disciples of the sect, there appeared to be a large number of black sheep, enough to threaten the future foundation of the sect.
Finally returning under the protection of her sect’s seniors, Gu Qingyu rekindled her hatred.
She said harshly, "That person is not a disciple of our sect; he must be a villain sent by another sect!"
"Without the aura of our sect’s disciples, he simply couldn’t have entered the Demon-slaying Tower."
"How did he sneak in?"
Everyone was baffled. This update ıs available on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝕟𝕖𝕥
Prior to this trial, the Demon-slaying Tower hadn’t been opened at all, and outsiders couldn’t have lurked in beforehand.
Even if they did get in, triggering the Demon-slaying Tower in advance would have drawn attention.
During the opening, the Sect Leader and all the elders were standing outside the tower, so there was no chance to slip in.
However, that was no longer the important part.
What mattered is that an ill-intentioned enemy had appeared within the tower.
"Once the Demon-slaying Tower is activated, except for the day the trial is opened, one cannot enter midway."
The Second Elder, Primordial City Immortal Venerable, tightened his expression and urgently asked, "What kind of power does this person possess?"
Gu Qingyu thought carefully for a while, "At least a Seventh-grade Golden Immortal?"
Recalling the situation at that time, Jiang Cheng was able to restrain her easily, must be above Fifth Grade.
Estimating him as a Seventh-grade Golden Immortal was already giving him quite some credit.
"Seventh-grade Golden Immortal?"
"The strongest among the disciples inside is only Leng Huahan, who is a Third-grade Golden Immortal!"
"If this person slaughters our sect’s true disciples inside, wouldn’t that result in a great disaster?"
This Demon-slaying Tower is an heirloom Immortal Treasure, passed down through many generations within the sect.
Though these elders are Immortal Venerables, they cannot interfere with the trial inside.
The sect also has several Eighth-grade and Ninth-grade Golden Immortals, but they are elders and naturally did not enter the Demon-slaying Tower to participate in the trial this time.
And now, midway through the trial, they can’t go in even if they want to.
"Stop the trial, close the Demon-slaying Tower!"
Immortal Venerable Yuan Zhen decided promptly.
The other elders nodded in succession; at this point, the trial was no longer important.
The priority was to weed out foreign enemies.
With a command, the towering stone tower dimmed down, and a large number of disciples still struggling inside the tower were passively transmitted out.
Many wore bewildered expressions.
"I wasn’t killed, so why was I eliminated?"
"Yeah, I was in the middle of a fight; what’s going on?"
"Darn, I was just about to ascend to the eighth level..."
Leng Huahan, who was on par with Gu Qingyu, also flew over.
"Master, what happened?"
The Great Elder, Immortal Venerable Yuan Sheng, glanced at the cold-faced disciple and solemnly said, "An outsider snuck into the tower."
Leng Huahan’s icy eyes narrowed slightly, his blade-like eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"How could an outsider enter the Demon-slaying Tower?"
"I don’t know either, but Gu Qingyu encountered that person and was controlled."
Upon hearing this, a tremor involuntarily shook Leng Huahan’s rigid face as he finally displayed emotion.
If the other could control Gu Qingyu, then he might also fall for the same trick.
All the disciples had retreated to the rear, and the sect’s Great Array and Restriction were activated.
All the elders wielded Immortal Artifacts, setting up formations, fully prepared for battle.
Sect Leader Immortal Venerable Yuan Zhen had even brought out the Magical Treasure, the Li Yuan Mirror.
Under the light of this treasure, any disguise or transformation would be revealed.
In the sky above, beams of silver light swept not only over the elders and disciples but didn’t spare even a speck of dust on the ground.
However, they found nothing.
Under the Li Yuan Mirror, everyone revealed their true form, all were disciples of the sect; there were no external enemies present.
Elders and senior disciples from various peaks and halls all accounted for their disciples, and everything matched up.
No one was missing, nor was there anyone extra.
The disciples were buzzing with discussions as they learned of a foreign enemy infiltrating the tower.
"Now that the Demon-slaying Tower is closed, why hasn’t that person appeared?"
"Yeah, when the Demon-slaying Tower closes, those inside are expelled."
"Could that person be invisible?"
"Invisible? Even if invisible, they couldn’t hide under the Li Yuan Mirror."
"Then where are they?"
"Could Senior Sister Gu have been mistaken? Maybe there wasn’t any foreign enemy after all."
"That seems unlikely..."
Leng Huahan approached Gu Qingyu.
"Junior Sister Gu, are you sure there was no mistake at that time?"
This voice of questioning represented the opinion of most present.
Gu Qingyu’s expression changed, and she coldly said, "Senior Brother Leng, what do you mean? Are you accusing me of lying?"
"I mean no such thing, I’m merely doubtful of your strength."
Leng Huahan spoke expressionlessly, "Perhaps you experienced a Qigong Deviation inside the tower, causing your Immortal Soul to be disturbed, leading to hallucinations."
Gu Qingyu almost exploded with anger.
Her precious Immortal Beast was killed right in front of her, and she still remembered the visage of that thief distinctly; how could it possibly be a hallucination?
"Leng Huahan, do you want to compare skills with me?"
In her fury, she even omitted the honorific "Senior Brother."
Over the years, there had been a fierce rivalry between Leng Huahan and her.
One was the True Disciple, the other the Sect Leader’s personal disciple; neither could suppress the other.
Although they hadn’t resorted to dark tricks and underhanded moves, they could cooperate during joint training.
However, deep down, they were dissatisfied with each other, both eager to outdo the other.
Leng Huahan drew his sword proudly, "Since the Demon-slaying Tower didn’t decide who was superior, let’s have a direct fight."
"Enough from both of you!"
The Sect Leader and the Great Elder shouted angrily at the same time.
"You two will have plenty of opportunities for dueling in the future!"
The competition among disciples was something they were eager to see, but not at this moment.
Their eyes fixed unblinkingly on the leaderboards high in the sky.
The others finally realized something was off.
The Demon-slaying Tower was closed, the trial leaderboard should have disappeared, yet it still existed.
"There’s someone still inside!"
"That person hasn’t come out yet!"
"With the tower closed, how can they still remain inside?"
This situation had never occurred in their sect’s creation of over a hundred million years.
It surpassed their comprehension; nobody could figure it out.
Just then, another disciple exclaimed in surprise.
"Look quickly, the leaderboard has changed!"
"Someone has broken into the tenth level!"
"The tower is closed, how can the leaderboard still change?"
"It’s true! The name displayed is... Senior Sister Gu Qingyu?"
All the disciples looked at Gu Qingyu in unison, bewildered; hadn’t she already come out?