“That's enough. I want all of you to shut up now.” Gong Xifan raised his hand, and a force surged in and enveloped the room.

Yue Lingjun bit her lower lip tightly and did not utter one word more. No one else dared breathe. They all looked at Gong Xifan fearfully.

“All of you are at fault in this matter. But, seeing how the crime you have committed is a small one, you'll just receive one lash of the whip each as punishment!” Gong Xifan announced a.s.sertively. He then turned to Ye Jiuge and said, “Ms. Ye, I would like you to help execute their punishments.”

“As you wish.” Ye Jiuge pulled out the Lightning Snake Magical Whip and held in both hands. Bolts of lightning cracked, flying out from the whip.

She had wanted to whip these people for a long time.

The people before her exchanged glances. No one dared move.

“You'll all be whipped once. No one will be able to escape.” Ye Jiuge scanned the crowd before her, and her eyes eventually rested on Yue Lingjun.

Yue Lingjun pulled on Qiao Shaohua's sleeve. He reluctantly pleaded with Ye Jiuge, “Ms. Ye. My junior sister is still young and immature. Moreover, she's a girl. Can I be whipped on her behalf?”

“You can be whipped on her behalf. But can you kill, go to war, eat, and cultivate on her behalf?” Ye Jiuge sized up the female spiritual pract.i.tioners then continued, “If you do not dare to take responsibility when you make a mistake, then you should just scram. Go back home and focus on sewing from now on!”

“Who said that I do not dare to take responsibility for my wrongdoings? I'm not scared of being punished. I'll go first.” A pretty female spiritual pract.i.tioner gritted her teeth and took a step forward.

The woman's name was Su Xun'er. She was a disciple of the Qiqiao Sect and had been in the same group as Baili Moyun.

“Sure. Stand still!” Ye Jiuge lifted the whip and lashed Su Xun'er's back.

Su Xun'er closed her eyes nervously. Her entire body stiffened as she waited for the whip to land on her.

Crack! There was a deafening sound as the Lightning Snake Magical Whip emitted a blinding purple light and mercilessly landed on Su Xun'er's back.

Su Xun'er trembled a little, but she quickly realized that she felt no pain. She gaped at Ye Jiuge in shock.

“Next.” Ye Jiuge directed her attention onto her next target as she clutched the whip.

“Xiao Xun, are you alright?” Xia Chenxi, who had been in Su Xun'er's group earlier, quickly ran to her side to support her. Xia Chenxi's eyes were filled with worry and fear as she looked at Su Xun'er.

Xia Chenxi was a disciple of the Tianxiang Sect. She might not be able to compete with Lin Yanxi in terms of looks, but she was good at flirting and playing up to others. As a result, the male spiritual pract.i.tioners grouped with her always ended up taking good care of her.

Xia Chenxi had never thought that there would come a day where she would be whipped before an audience. She was so nervous that she was on the verge of puking.

“Don't be scared. It'll be over quickly.” Su Xun'er squeezed Xia Chenxi's hand. It was her way of giving her a hint.

Xia Chenxi looked at Su Xun'er's calm eyes with confusion. She wanted to ask her a few more questions, but Su Xun'er had already moved to the side.

Su Xun'er would just end up offending if she voiced the truth. Knowing that Ye Jiuge had gone easy on her was enough.

When it was her turn to be punished, Xia Chenxi also realized that Ye Jiuge's las.h.i.+ng was 'all bark and no bite.' She understood that Ye Jiuge had gone easy on her and also chose to remain silent, like Su Xun'er.

Ye Jiuge had indeed gone easy on Su Xun'er and Xia Chenxi. Those two female spiritual pract.i.tioners had performed well earlier, and they deserved to be groomed. However, she was not going to go easy on Yue Lingjun and the other male spiritual pract.i.tioners.

Her whips would make their bodies seize up with fear. At the same time, they would not injure their muscles and bones.

After all, they still needed them to attack the protective formation. If they were injured, they would use that as an excuse to not take part.

“That b*tch. I'm never ever going to let her get away with this.” Yue Lingjun's hatred was etched in her memory after Ye Jiuge slapped her in the face and whipped her back.

“Junior sister, just stay with it!” Qiao Shaohua coaxed Yue Lingjun and pulled on her sleeve.

Most of the people here did not think well of them. If she were to continue throwing a tantrum, they might be killed when they attacked the protective formation later.

“Coward.” Yue Lingjun delivered a hard slap to Qiao Shaohua's face before she turned around and ran away in frustration.

Qiao Shaohua was merely useless. He would not have to suffer this way if he were a tougher man.

Qiao Shaohua had not expected Yue Lingjun to treat him like that. He went into a daze and stood rooted to the spot.

The laughter and sneering from the spiritual pract.i.tioners standing behind him made him feel utterly embarra.s.sed.

He would not even have given Yue Lingjun a second glance, if not for the fact that her grandfather was Patriarch Lingyun. Qiao Shaohua clenched his fists tightly. Patriarch Lingyun would definitely give him a hard time if something were to happen to Yue Lingjun. Thus, he had no choice but to tolerate the humiliation that he had received. He ran after Yue Lingjun to comfort and please her.

“Don't run too far!” Gong Honglei stood up and shouted. They might be far away from the protective formation for now, but no one could guarantee that the Bloodthirsty Sect would not make its way here at any moment.

“Don't pretend to be kind.” Yue Lingjun snapped fiercely at Gong Honglei. Then, she slapped Qiao Shaohua in the face once more before running toward the forest in the distance.

Qiao Shaohua yelled for his junior sister to stop while chasing after her.

“What a despicable man!” Baili Moyun said disparagingly.

“He may have a good reason for acting like that!” Gong Honglei sympathized with Qiao Shaohua. It was definitely challenging to follow around an unruly woman like Yue Lingjun.

“Tsk! What reason? He just wants to lick her boots,” Baili Moyun said with disdain. “He definitely needs to stay alert even as does so! He could be trampled to death at any moment if he's not careful.”

“You are right. Raising one's cultivation base is the cardinal principle. He's simply neglecting the fundamentals when he does those things.” Gong Honglei shook his head.

Gong Honglei came from a cadet branch of the Gong Clan and had continuously been discriminated against while growing up. He had convinced others of his merits and earned their respect because of his skills and abilities. That had allowed him to be in the main family's good graces today.

Thus, Gong Honglei was convinced that Qiao Shaohua had made the wrong decision and was misbehaving now.

“Be careful, Honglei,” Nangong Li said abruptly.

Nangong Li had only said three words, but everyone understood what he was getting at.

Both Qiao Shaohua and Yue Lingjun were in the same group as Gong Honglei. However, they were both in a poor state at the moment, and they could end up hindering him later.

“Don't worry. My uncle knows all about it.” When he'd first been brought those two thorns-in-the-sides, Gong Xifan had told him that he could ditch them whenever necessary. He was to ensure his own safety above all else.

The group was still talking amongst themselves when Su Xun'er and Xia Chenxi suddenly walked over.

“My dears, we are really tired right now. Come and find us another time if you'd like to chat!” Baili Moyun winked his beautiful eyes and began trying to charm the two women.

“Stop being so full of yourself. We did not come here to look for you.” No one expected Su Xun'er to roll her eyes at Baili Moyun.

She had been interested in developing a romantic relations.h.i.+p with Baili Moyun because she had found him exceptionally talented and handsome. However, after the earlier incident and the whipping she'd just received, she had come to realize that she could not rely on any man in this world.

That was why she had decided to do business with Ye Jiuge.

Xia Chenxi agreed.

“Miss, can you sell us two Legendary Venomous Insects?” asked Su Xun'er.

The Blood Mosquitoes had been all over them before, but Ye Yu, Luo Tian, Baili Moyun, Nangong Li, and Gong Honglei had emerged unscathed.

It was easy to see how useful the Legendary Venomous Insects were. Legendary Venomous Insects were lifesavers, and they wanted to buy two for themselves.

In truth, many thought the same. This was also why no one dared breathe a word while being whipped.

They all wanted to get on Ye Jiuge's good side so they could obtain Legendary Venomous Insects for themselves.