The other Core Disciples, especially the top few, all looked calm. Clearly, they had thought of this long ago.
This Blood Origin Realm competition would not be simple. Not only did they have to beware of the demonic beasts within the Blood Origin Realm, they also had to watch out for the Zhang Family's disciples—and even some disciples from their own sect. In short, it would be extraordinarily difficult.
Then again, if it were not difficult or dangerous, why would they offer three Blood Origin Fruits as rewards?
Even Xiantian experts coveted Blood Origin Fruits!
After speaking, the two elders led the several dozen Core Disciples of the Yi Yuan Sect toward the depths of Green Peak Mountain's rear range. All of them practiced martial arts and moved with incredible speed. In less than half an hour, they had entered the mountain's depths. The two elders released their terrifying auras without restraint, and the demonic beasts did not dare approach at all.
This made the Yi Yuan Sect party's journey exceptionally smooth. When they arrived beneath a precipitous peak, they saw it soaring into the clouds, dangerously steep, its mountainside already swallowed by a sea of clouds.
At the foot of the mountain was a small flight of steps, wide enough for several people to travel side by side. It wound upward all the way to the summit.
Before long, the Zhang Family's people arrived as well. Leading them were two Zhang Family elders, one tall and one short—two gaunt, sinister-faced old men. Standing before the Fat Elder and the thin elder, their auras yielded nothing in comparison.
Behind the two elders stood several dozen elite disciples of the Zhang Family. At the front were seven young people standing proudly, each with an even more formidable bearing than the last.
From the Yi Yuan Sect disciples' whispers, Ye Xiwen soon learned the identities of these seven youths. They were likely the foremost experts among this generation of the Zhang Family's Core Disciples. Zhang Jingxin, Zhang Wu, and Zhang Yuelian, standing at the very front, were the strongest. All three possessed strength at the Houtian Ninth Stage Peak and were practically on the verge of stepping into the Xiantian realm. The remaining four—Zhang Yuntian, Zhang Wenxiao, Zhang Ziqiu, and Zhang Guoqi—were all at least in the late Houtian Ninth Stage. Their strength was unfathomable, and in sheer momentum they completely overwhelmed the Yi Yuan Sect's side. The Yi Yuan Sect only had three renowned top experts. Ye Feng had joined later, while Ye Xiwen had sprung up completely out of nowhere. Even with Ye Feng and Ye Xiwen included, they were still at a disadvantage in numbers.
While the Yi Yuan Sect disciples sized up the Zhang Family's experts, the Zhang Family's experts were also sizing up the Yi Yuan Sect disciples. Everyone understood that victory or defeat in this contest would rest entirely upon these twelve top experts.
Ye Xiwen quickly sensed two venomous gazes. They belonged to the brothers Zhang Yuntian and Zhang Yunfei.
"Since everyone is here, let us begin!" the Fat Elder said.
The four Xiantian elders seemed to share an unspoken understanding. With a stomp of their feet, they shot up the steps, and before long, they had vanished from everyone's sight.
The instant the four Xiantian elders sprang forward, several top disciples seemed to have anticipated it and immediately shot out after them.
Their figures flashed like bolts of lightning, racing across the mountain path in an instant.
Only after seeing them all dash out did the others finally come to their senses and hurriedly follow, but by then they had already fallen far behind.
As the crowd charged forward in a disorderly rush, the hierarchy was immediately revealed. The four Xiantian elders were naturally the fastest, almost like streaks of lightning as they vanished into the mountain path. Next came Ye Feng and the other top experts, forming the first group. Close behind them was a group of more than thirty Houtian Ninth Stage experts. Though they were not top experts, they had nevertheless entered the Houtian Ninth Stage, and their speed was not slow in the slightest. They quickly gave chase.
Only then came the noisy group of over a hundred Houtian Eighth Stage disciples. Yet even among them, differences in strength gradually became apparent.
They scattered along the mountain path and began racing forward. No one here was an ordinary character; every one of them was the cream of the crop from the two factions. Their speed was astonishing, and describing them as swift as lightning and sparks was no exaggeration.
Only after everyone had rushed out and taken to the mountain path did Ye Xiwen finally set off.
Ye Xiwen shot forward like lightning, activating the Heavenly Immortal Steps at full force. In barely two or three breaths, his feet had already landed on the mountain path.
Ye Xiwen moved with effortless grace, as though taking a leisurely stroll through a courtyard. His figure flickered across the mountain path, appearing more than ten meters away with every flash. His speed was incredible.
Yet the Heavenly Immortal Steps themselves produced an incomparably graceful effect. The more proficient one became, the more unrestrained and elegant they appeared.
It was as though an immortal from the heavens were strolling through a courtyard, yet the speed was astonishingly fast.
In just a few minutes, Ye Xiwen had caught up with the disciple running at the very back.
He was a Zhang Family disciple at the early Houtian Eighth Stage, who had gradually been left farther and farther behind the group ahead.
Unlike ordinary disciples, who had not learned movement techniques at all, these were elites from the two families. More or less, all of them had learned movement techniques; the only difference was their rank.
As these disciples ran, all sorts of movement techniques unfolded at once. Some were grand and majestic, sweeping forward with overwhelming force; others shifted in strange and unpredictable ways.
In virtually an instant, Ye Xiwen, using the Heavenly Immortal Steps, overtook that disciple. The disciple had not even reacted before he saw a figure pass him, racing far ahead.
By now, Ye Xiwen understood that this was likely a test of each disciple's skill in movement techniques. Generally speaking, the deeper one's cultivation and the higher the rank of one's movement technique, the faster one could run, so the gaps would quickly widen.
"Damn, who is that?" The Zhang Family disciple could only see Ye Xiwen's distant back and could not make out who he was. Then, around a bend, Ye Xiwen vanished from before his eyes.
Having been overtaken once again, the Zhang Family disciple felt utterly stifled, but there was nothing he could do. With Houtian Eighth Stage strength, he was already a Core Disciple of high standing within the Zhang Family, admired by all outside. But here, every person was no weaker than him. Nearly all of them were supreme experts. How depressing.
But he was not the only one who would feel stifled. As Ye Xiwen went all out, his speed grew faster and faster, as if he were about to leave behind an afterimage. More and more Yi Yuan Sect and Zhang Family disciples were overtaken by him.
They could only stare dumbfounded as Ye Xiwen raced away alone, leaving everyone far behind. Before long, even his back vanished from their sight.
Other than secretly clicking their tongues in astonishment, they could only lower their heads and sprint madly onward.
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