Thunderous Action

The leader was a middle-aged disciple at the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment. He stared at Qin Yuan and said solemnly, "Senior Brother Qin, in the secret realm, everyone relies on their own abilities. Shall we part ways here?"

He clearly didn't want to clash head-on with Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan also didn't want to make a move now. He nodded, "Please."

The Third Peak team breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left.

"Senior Brother Qin, what do we do now?" Zhao Tiezhu asked.

"Collect resources and head towards the core area," Qin Yuan replied. "Take down all the spirit herbs and demonic beasts we encounter along the way."

Everyone responded and began to act.

The Misty Forest was rich in resources. Not long after they started, they discovered several hundred-year-old Mist Spirit Grass and a nest of Ironback Ants—the shells of Ironback Ants were excellent materials for refining defensive magical artifacts.

Qin Yuan had the Inner Sect disciples collect them while he released his Spiritual Sense to remain vigilant of their surroundings.

After walking for about an hour, they had collected quite a few resources, and the team had gradually ventured deeper into the forest.

Just then, hurried footsteps and sounds of fighting suddenly came from ahead.

Qin Yuan raised his hand, and the team immediately stopped and concealed themselves.

A youth covered in blood stumbled out of the woods. Upon seeing the Fifth Peak group, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly shouted, "Senior Brother Qin! Save... save me!"

Qin Yuan recognized him—it was Zhou Ming, the Tenth Peak disciple he had saved at the White Bone Cave.

"What's going on?" Qin Yuan asked.

"Seventh Peak... Seventh Peak surrounded our Tenth Peak!" Zhou Ming panted, "They have eight people, and we only have five. We can't fight them! I risked my life to come out for reinforcements!"

"Seventh Peak?" Qin Yuan's eyes turned cold. "Who's their leader? Is Xiong Li there?"

"No!" Wu Hao shook his head. "Xiong Li took the main force to the core area and left this small team to clear out the outer areas. They said... they said they want to eliminate the smaller peaks first before heading to the core area to compete for resources."

Qin Yuan pondered for a moment and asked, "Where are they? Take me there."

Zhou Ming was overjoyed. "They're in a valley about three miles ahead! Senior Brother Qin, follow me!"

Zhou De frowned. "Senior Brother Qin, could it be a trap?"

"It doesn't matter," Qin Yuan said calmly. "It's a good time to eliminate some enemies in advance."

He turned to the Fifth Peak group and said, "You all stay here and hide. Wait for my signal."

"Senior Brother Qin, I'll go with you!" Zhao Tiezhu said.

"I'll go too!" Zhou De also stepped forward.

Qin Yuan looked at them and nodded. "Alright, but don't make a move. Protect yourselves."

The three followed Zhou Ming and quickly headed towards the valley.

The valley was not large, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only a narrow entrance.

At this moment, in the valley, seven Seventh Peak disciples were fiercely attacking a defensive formation. Inside the formation, four Tenth Peak disciples were struggling to hold on, all injured and on the verge of collapse.

The Seventh Peak disciple in the lead was a scarred face at the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment. While attacking the formation, he sneered, "You weaklings from the Tenth Peak, stop struggling! Get eliminated early to avoid suffering!"

Inside the formation, a Tenth Peak disciple angrily retorted, "Zhang Kuang! Your Seventh Peak is going too far! When our Senior Brother Wu brings reinforcements, you'll regret this!"

"Reinforcements?" The scarred face, Zhang Kuang, laughed heartily. "With the strength of your Tenth Peak, who can you bring as reinforcements? Fifth Peak? They can barely protect themselves! Sixth Peak? Would they dare offend our Seventh Peak?"

Before he finished speaking, a calm voice came from the valley entrance:

"Oh? Is the Seventh Peak that amazing?"

Zhang Kuang's head snapped back. He saw Qin Yuan walking in with Wu Hao, Zhou Ming, and Zhao Tiezhu.

"Qin Yuan?!" Zhang Kuang's pupils contracted, and he then sneered, "I wondered who it was. It's the 'genius' from the Fifth Peak. What, you want to meddle in other people's business?"

Qin Yuan glanced at the scene, confirming Xiong Li was not present, before looking at Zhang Kuang. "You have two choices: one, crush your teleportation talisman and get eliminated yourself; two, I'll send you out."

"Arrogant!" Zhang Kuang roared, "You, a mere sixth layer of Foundation Establishment, dare to speak such big words? Brothers, attack! Take him down first!"

The seven Seventh Peak disciples turned simultaneously and lunged at Qin Yuan!

The glint of swords and the brilliance of spells instantly enveloped Qin Yuan!

Qin Yuan didn't move.

He didn't even draw his sword.

He simply raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and then—

Gently clenched his fist.

"Condense."

As the word was uttered, the air in the valley seemed to freeze instantly!

The movements of the seven Seventh Peak disciples abruptly halted, as if bound by invisible shackles, unable to move! Their faces showed expressions of horror as they desperately urged their spiritual power, but they couldn't even move a finger!

What kind of spell was this?!

Zhang Kuang was even more terrified—facing this power, his cultivation at the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment felt as weak as an ant!

Qin Yuan slowly walked forward, stopping in front of Zhang Kuang.

"Looks like you chose the second path."

He extended his index finger and lightly tapped Zhang Kuang's forehead.

"Bang--!"

Zhang Kuang felt as if he'd been struck by a heavy blow, flying backward. In mid-air, he transformed into a white light and vanished—he had been judged "dead" by the secret realm and teleported out.

Immediately after, Qin Yuan did the same, his finger tapping in quick succession.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Six soft sounds, six white lights.

All seven disciples from the Seventh Peak were eliminated.

The entire process took less than three seconds.

The valley fell into a deathly silence.

The four disciples from the Tenth Peak stared blankly at the scene, their mouths agape, forgotten to close.

Although Zhou De and Zhao Tiezhu knew Qin Yuan was strong, they hadn't expected him to be this powerful—seven cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, one of them at the seventh layer! And they were just… gone?

Zhou Ming trembled with excitement, "Senior Brother Qin… is too strong!"

Qin Yuan turned and said to the disciples of the Tenth Peak within the formation, "It's safe now, you can come out."

The four finally snapped back to reality, quickly dispelling the formation and walking up to Qin Yuan. They bowed respectfully, "Thank you, Senior Brother Qin, for saving our lives!"

"No need," Qin Yuan waved his hand. "What are your plans now?"

The leader, a young man at the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment, gave a wry smile. "Our strength is too weak. We originally planned to gather some resources in the outer areas, but we didn't expect to run into the Seventh Peak… Now, we'd like to follow you, Senior Brother Qin. May we?"

Qin Yuan looked at them and nodded. "You may, but if danger arises, you'll have to fend for yourselves."

"Yes!"

The group left the valley and merged with the main force of the Fifth Peak.

Outside the Xuan Yuan Small Realm, on the grassy plains of a valley.

The elders of the Nine Peaks sat in a circle. In the center, a large water mirror floated, divided into dozens of smaller screens, displaying real-time scenes from various locations within the secret realm.

Suddenly, in one of the screens in the upper left corner, seven white lights flashed in succession.

"Oh? Someone's out already?" the presiding elder raised an eyebrow.

The other elders all looked over.

Elder Li of the Seventh Peak's expression changed—the location where those seven white lights appeared was the valley where his Seventh Peak team was! And judging by the screen, that team had been instantly wiped out!

"Who did it?!" Elder Li's face darkened.

The screen switched, showing the scene in the valley: Qin Yuan leaving with the disciples of the Tenth and Fifth Peaks, while the seven from the Seventh Peak had vanished without a trace.

"Fifth Peak… Qin Yuan!" Elder Li gritted his teeth.

The other elders also saw this and showed expressions of surprise.

"This Qin Yuan… his strength is even greater than the rumors," the elder of the Eighth Peak stroked his beard.

"The leader of that Seventh Peak team, Zhang Kuang, is at the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment, right? He was instantly killed?" the elder of the Ninth Peak clicked his tongue in amazement.

Elder Xu's face broke into a smile. "This child Qin Yuan is indeed remarkable."

Elder Li's face turned ashen, and he snorted, "He just got lucky with a sneak attack. When he meets Xiong Li, he'll know what true strength is!"

Before he finished speaking, the water mirror changed again.

On the edge of the core area, two teams had encountered each other.

It was the main forces of the Third Peak and the Seventh Peak!

Qin Yuan led the combined team of the Fifth and Tenth Peaks, advancing towards the core area.

With his Spiritual Sense scouting, the team avoided many beast lairs and other peaks' teams, reaping a considerable harvest.

By the time they reached the edge of the core area, each person's storage bag was filled with spirit grass and materials.

The core area was a vast valley. In the center of the valley stood a hundred-zhang-tall platform, upon which rested three jade boxes—these contained the final rewards placed by the sect, and only the top three peaks would have the right to open them.

Surrounding the valley were the "Hundred Herbs Garden" and the "Spirit Beast Valley," with spirit herbs everywhere and rare spirit beasts lurking.

At this moment, at the entrance to the valley, two teams were in a standoff.

One side was the Third Peak, led by Lu Yun, with nine Inner Sect disciples following him, each with an impressive aura.

The other side was the Seventh Peak, led by Xiong Li, also with nine elites.

Both were experts at the ninth and tenth layers of Foundation Establishment. At this moment, their auras were unleashed, clashing against each other, with faint sparks of spiritual energy crackling in the air.

"Lu Yun, your Third Peak stole a thousand-year-old spirit ginseng from our Seventh Peak last year. It's time to settle this score," Xiong Li said with a cold laugh.

Lu Yun's expression was impassive. "Treasures go to those who are capable. If you have the ability, take it back this year."

"Good!" Xiong Li laughed heartily, "Then let's have a match first to warm up!"

As the two were about to make a move, Lu Yun suddenly raised his hand: "Wait."

"What, scared?" Xiong Li sneered.

Lu Yun ignored him and said solemnly, "Xiong Li, you and I will eventually have to settle this. But before that, there's something that needs to be dealt with first."

"What is it?"

"Fifth Peak, Qin Yuan." A cold glint flashed in Lu Yun's eyes, "He poached disciples from my Third Peak and injured my Third Peak's people. This debt must be settled."

Xiong Li raised an eyebrow: "Coincidentally, our Peak Master also instructed us to 'take care of' Qin Yuan in this secret realm."

The two looked at each other and suddenly smiled.

"How about…" Lu Yun said, "We temporarily join forces, deal with Qin Yuan first, and then compete for the resources in the core area?"

Xiong Li stroked his bald head and thought for a moment: "Okay. But after we take care of Qin Yuan, how do we split things?"

"Each according to their ability," Lu Yun said. "Anyway, the disciples from First Peak and Second Peak haven't arrived yet, so we have plenty of time."

"Deal."

As the two reached an agreement and were about to discuss the specific plan, a disciple from Seventh Peak rushed over:

"Senior Brother Xiong! Zhang Kuang and the others… they're out!"

"What?!" Xiong Li's expression changed, "What happened?!"

"It was Qin Yuan from Fifth Peak! He led people from Tenth Peak and wiped out Zhang Kuang and the others in the valley!"

Xiong Li and Lu Yun exchanged glances, seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.

Zhang Kuang was at Foundation Establishment level seven, leading six disciples at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and they were all wiped out by Qin Yuan? Then Qin Yuan's strength…

"It seems we underestimated him," Lu Yun said solemnly.

A fierce glint flashed in Xiong Li's eyes: "Then we should get rid of him sooner!"

Just then, footsteps could be heard from the entrance of the valley.

Qin Yuan, leading the joint team of Fifth Peak and Tenth Peak, walked in.

Seeing Xiong Li and Lu Yun, Qin Yuan didn't stop and walked directly to a spot ten zhang in front of them before halting.

"Yo, you're all here," he glanced at the two and said indifferently, "Saves me the trouble of looking for you one by one."

Xiong Li stared at Qin Yuan and frowned – he still couldn't see through Qin Yuan's cultivation! This made him feel a trace of unease.

"Qin Yuan, where are your people?" Lu Yun asked coldly, "Zhang Kuang and the others, did you kill them?"

Qin Yuan nodded: "I did. Your people will soon join them."

"Arrogant!" Lu Yun laughed in anger, "You think defeating a nobody like Zhang Kuang makes you able to contend with us? Let me tell you, Foundation Establishment level seven and Foundation Establishment level nine are two different worlds!"

Xiong Li also stepped forward, and his aura at the peak of Foundation Establishment level ten erupted: "Qin Yuan, I'll give you one last chance: hand over all your resources and crush your teleportation talisman to leave, and I can make you suffer a little less."

Qin Yuan looked at the two and suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, but it made Xiong Li and Lu Yun's hearts tighten.

"I'll give you two a chance too," Qin Yuan extended three fingers, "Leave within three breaths. Otherwise…"

He paused, his eyes suddenly turning cold:

"I'll send you on your way."

As his voice fell, the terrifying aura of Extreme Realm Foundation Establishment was released without reservation!

BOOM—!!!

The entire valley was swept by a fierce wind!