(Thirty-One) Senior Xiao Yan

Xiao Yan, wearing a silver-white mask, blended seamlessly into the crowd with Gu Xing, watching with a listless expression as a young man stepped forward.

Watching this minor Dou Zong and Seventh Grade Alchemist proudly introduce himself and then urge everyone to follow him to fight against that powerful Magical Beast.

This young man seemed to have some real prestige, and many people showed interest, directly believing in and accepting his leadership.

But in reality, this young man didn't care about leading the group at all. At this moment, he was like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, showing off his talent to the object of his affections.

The young man stared intently at a woman with a look that was both boastful and burning with desire, as if this would give him positive feedback and allow him to get what he wanted.

However, the woman's expression was quite calm, with only a polite smile on her pretty face that was more of a polite gesture than an expression of emotion.

The woman was not plump; in fact, she appeared somewhat slender. However, she was full in all the right places, and her beautiful face, though expressionless, exuded a captivating charm.

Of course, Xiao Yan's focus was not on appearance, but on inner and outer qualities.

This woman was not from Ancient Race and did not possess the power of the Dou Di Bloodline within her. However, her Soul Power was exceptionally strong. Although it was not as powerful as that medicine or something, she had truly broken through to the Spirit Realm.

A Spirit Realm Soul can already contend with Dou Zun expert using her Soul Power. If she cultivates Soul Attack Secret Art, then apart from being a little weak in body, she will be almost on par with Dou Zun.

They can even bully ordinary Dou Zun in terms of perception.

In other words, this woman could easily conceal her presence and venture deep into the Myriad Medicine Mountain Range to harvest Medicinal Herbs on her own. Even if she were discovered, she wouldn't be powerless to fight back, and escaping wouldn't be a problem.

But she didn't do that. Instead, she hid in the crowd and watched the show. That was just too wicked, just like Xiao Yan.

Just then, seemingly noticing Xiao Yan's gaze, the woman suddenly turned her head and saw two suspicious figures dressed in black robes with their faces hidden behind masks.

As if she had thought of something, the woman's pretty face instantly turned serious. However, before she could speak, the two of them disappeared from her sight.

Only a wicked and rampant laugh remained, seemingly far away yet also sounding right next to his ear.

"Hehehe..."

"Ying'er, what are you looking at?" Song Qing asked, leaning closer to Cao Ying.

Song Qing and Cao Ying were gazing at each other with affection when Cao Ying suddenly looked away, staring blankly at an empty space, which puzzled Song Qing.

"I think I've found someone from the Soul Hall," Cao Ying said solemnly.

"The Soul Hall?!" Song Qing also became cautious, carefully sensing the area following Cao Ying's gaze, but still couldn't find anything unusual.

"Senior Brother Song, you should be careful! That Soul Hall expert could disappear in an instant, so his strength must have reached the Dou Zun Realm. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and Senior Brother Song is likely to be targeted."

Out of politeness, Cao Ying still offered a reminder.

The two men exuded extremely strange auras. Even though Cao Ying had broken through to the Spirit Realm, she still couldn't sense their strength. They were probably mid-level Dou Zun experts, and it was likely that two elders from the Soul Hall had personally taken action.

"Ying'er, don't worry. If the Soul Hall really dares to make a move, I, Song Qing, will definitely protect Ying'er!" Song Qing thought Cao Ying was just concerned about him, and for a moment he was flattered.

Gu Xing kept his eyes down, not knowing what his young master was thinking or why he suddenly started making such disgusting noises like the Soul Clan members, even down to the exact same repulsive feeling. But Gu Xing knew that at this moment, all he needed to do was act like a quiet, handsome man.

"We couldn't find the Soul Clan members. It seems only a few Dou Zun from the Soul Hall came. They don't seem to care about the Three Thousand Burning Flame?" Xiao Yan asked with some surprise.

"Young Master, the Soul Clan has always been like this. Since a thousand years ago... well, the Soul Clan has always kept a low profile and almost never sends personnel to interfere in the situation on the Dou Qi Continent. Instead, they have launched the Soul Hall to work for the Soul Clan."

"The composition of the Soul Hall is extremely complex. There are specially trained death servants, souls that have been captured and then surrendered and have been implanted with Soul Seal that controls life and death, and some evil cultivators who were originally hated by everyone on the Dou Qi Continent."

"However, the Soul Hall Master is indeed a member of the Soul Clan, and the Soul Hall executes orders from the Soul Clan."

"Our Black Annihilation Army has always fought against the Soul Hall, and rarely has it directly clashed with the Soul Clan."

Gu Xing gave an explanation.

Xiao Yan nodded to indicate that he understood. So, after fighting the Soul Clan and the Xiao Clan, he was exhausted and had to fight the Gu Clan while leaning on a cane. The Gu Clan was quite cooperative, and every time they attacked, they aimed at his cane.

Just then, a Black-robed Man suddenly attacked people in the crowd, killing more than a dozen Alchemist on the spot with a single move.

The hundreds of figures who had gathered were not fools; they instantly surrounded the Black-robed Man in the middle.

"Your Excellency, what do you mean by this?" Song Qing asked, both surprised and angry.

Although he had some suspicions, Song Qing was actually within the attack range of the Black-robed Man. If Cao Ying hadn't warned him beforehand, and if Song Qing hadn't reacted quickly, there would probably be another corpse lying on the ground now.

Beside Song Qing stood the alluring Cao Ying, whose beautiful Beautiful Eyes were also filled with a solemn expression as she stared at the Black-robed Man with extreme apprehension, trying to reconcile the image of the two people she had just seen with her own memories.

However, possessing a soul perception far superior to others, Cao Ying could clearly sense that the Black-robed Man in front of her had a completely different aura from the two men from before.

In other words, there are at least two more Dou Zun expert hiding in the shadows...

"Two little geniuses from the Pill Tower, hehe, that's quite a reputation, but compared to the Yao Clan genius of the Ancient Eight Clans, you two are just extras."

Surrounded by the crowd, the Black-robed Man remained completely calm, a strange smile always on his face, his eyes fixed on a person with a gourd-shaped pattern on his forehead.

"The Yao Clan ..." Cao Ying frowned, her Beautiful Eyes fixed on the Black-robed Man. She vaguely remembered the Yao Clan, and it seemed that Pill Gathering Champion was a member of the Yao Clan.

"How dare you! There are so many of us, are you really afraid of us?!" Song Qing shouted angrily.

In Song Qing's mind, the Pill Tower was the number one Alchemist organization on the Dou Qi Continent, but according to the Black-robed Man, the Yao Clan seemed to be even better than the Pill Tower.

This is practically challenging Song Qing's bottom line!

"Hehe, you frog in a well. In your eyes, there is probably only the Pill Tower. Little do you know that in the face of the real top forces, the Pill Tower is just a new organization..." The Black-robed Man looked at Song Qing with a smile, his tone clearly carrying a hint of cat-and-mouse teasing.

Yao Xingji was now ashen. Like the powerful figures protecting Xiao Yan, the elders protecting him had also not participated in the Pill Gathering. Whatever happened in the trial space was a real trial, and he could only rely on his own strength to get through it.

The moment the Black-robed Man appeared, Yao Xingji tried to leave, but he ran into an impenetrable Soul Barrier and was now locked on.

Clearly, the current challenge has surpassed the level of a medicine star.

However, the Soul Hall's actions were not altered by the will of these Alchemists. A dozen or so men in black suddenly emerged from the crowd, silently reaping the lives of the Alchemist like killing weapons.

Faced with the threat of death, and a particularly gruesome one at that, the pampered Alchemist couldn't hold back any longer. One by one, they took out the Space Stone that had been distributed to them before entering the trial space, intending to give up their qualification for this Pill Gathering and forcibly teleport away.

"If I let you leave and reveal my Soul Hall's plans, I will become a sinner of the Soul Hall..." the Black-robed Man said with a faint sneer, then waved his sleeve.

An invisible spatial fluctuation spread out silently, enveloping everything within the Soul Barrier. The Alchemist who wanted to escape the trial space were all powerless to resist, and their figures were frozen in place.

The Black-robed Man stretched out his palm and gently clenched it. Immediately, a violent pressure burst forth from the surrounding space, intending to crush the solidified Alchemist into "scum".

"Hehehe..."

However, before the Black-robed Man could fully grasp the object, an extremely arrogant and wicked laugh rang out from the corner, causing the Black-robed Man to pause slightly in surprise.

Looking slightly to the side, one could see two people dressed in black robes and wearing silver masks, their entire bodies shrouded in an ethereal Soul Power. Even the Black-robed Man could not see through their strength.

Before the two men was a lump of fresh, still-steaming fertilizer. Judging from the pieces of clothing, it was clear that some ignorant man in black had offended them.

That signature laugh couldn't be wrong after all. The Black-robed Man hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "What missions do you two have?"

"Do I need to explain my actions to you?" A chilling shout rang out, and the Black-robed Man felt a slight daze.

Realizing the difference in their cultivation levels, the Black-robed Man immediately lowered his head and yielded, "I wouldn't dare!"

Seeing that he had truly intimidated the Black-robed Man, Xiao Yan said calmly, "This time, the Gu Clan, the Yan Clan, and the Yao Clan all have come. Your strength alone is not enough to wipe them all out, so there are several Heavenly Venerate secretly working behind the scenes."

The Black-robed Man was slightly taken aback. He knew this; the Eighth and Ninth Heavenly Venerates and the Black and White Heavenly Venerates were searching for members of the Gu Clan Yan Clan elsewhere. What was the situation with these two Silver Mask?

"Give Yao Xingji to me; the bloodline of this Ancient Race is special," Xiao Yan added.

The Black-robed Man looked even more puzzled, and then suddenly realized something—looking around, he was shocked to find that the constant wailing had stopped at some point, and the dozen or so men in black were all dead!

But the Black-robed Man's Soul Power showed no abnormalities!

This bizarre scene nearly caused the Black-robed Man to have his heart stop. Without any hesitation, Black-robed Man immediately retracted his Soul Barrier, and his Space Power surged wildly as he tried to escape as quickly as possible.

However, he encountered the same situation as Yao Xingji.

It was an unbreakable Soul Barrier.

Looking back suddenly, through the cold, Silver-white Mask, the Black-robed Man could clearly see that those eyes, which had never been warm at all, were now filled with the mocking glint of a cat toying with a mouse.

The hunter and the prey had somehow switched roles.

Upon realizing that the Silver Mask had deliberately mentioned Yao Xingji, the Black-robed Man seemed to understand something. He immediately crushed a Communication Jade Slip, and then his figure flashed as he shot towards Yao Xingji.

A massive surge of Soul Power erupted from between Yao Xingji's brows, but the Black-robed Man's Soul Realm was also at the Spirit Realm, and his Dou Qi cultivation was even Yao Xingji's. The two exchanged blows for only a few moves Yao Xingji was defeated on the spot.

Xiao Yan naturally had no intention of offering any help. He quietly watched the Black-robed Man perform, and then controlled ten Golden Puppet to surround him in the center. Ten pairs of cold and ruthless eyes locked onto the Black-robed Man, making him feel like he was sitting on a fuss, but without directly taking his life.

Shifting his attention away from Yao Xingji, Xiao Yan turned to look at Song Qing Cao Ying.

To be precise, after glancing at Song Qing, Xiao Yan fixed his gaze on Cao Ying.

Song Qing trembled all over, gritting his teeth as he looked at Xiao Yan. He wanted to move his body to stand in front of Cao Ying, but he was afraid that Xiao Yan would take his life. In the end, he could only stand frozen in place, conflicted.

Cao Ying glanced at Song Qing indifferently, a hint of disappointment flashing in her Beautiful Eyes, which she quickly concealed. She then respectfully said to Xiao Yan, "Junior Cao Ying was ignorant and mistook you for Soul Hall Venerable Elder. Please forgive me."

"Hehehe, how do you know it's a mistake?" Xiao Yan chuckled sinisterly.

"..." Cao Ying's pretty face twitched slightly. At this moment, she vaguely felt that this senior seemed to have a rather bad personality, but she was not sure and could only remain silent.

"I'm very curious," Xiao Yan said without any attempt to hide anything, "You should be in your early twenties this year, well, around twenty-two, but your Soul Realm has already broken through to the Spirit Realm. Such talent is very rare."

Having enhanced her most prized talent, Cao Ying's fear and apprehension had diminished considerably. She stood tall and met Xiao Yan's gaze with a hint of arrogance in her voice:

"From the moment I was born, my Soul Power was incredibly strong. As I cultivated, my Soul Power never stopped growing. Later, I became a disciple of Xuan Kongzi and was able to learn the Soul Cultivation Method. I was fortunate enough to break through to the Spirit Realm."

"How is this possible..." Song Qing looked at Cao Ying with disbelief. He had always thought that he was the most talented among the Pill Tower Five Great Families, and that he would be the first among the younger generation to break through to the Eighth Grade. But Cao Ying was already Eighth Grade Alchemist.

Cao Ying ignored Song Qing and just looked at Xiao Yan. She had a feeling that after he said "I want to become Xuan Kongzi's disciple", the senior in front of her suddenly looked a little strange.

It seems to have a hint of playfulness?