Over the next few days, Xiao Yan's journey was quite peaceful. Apart from the areas near the three major magical beasts marked on the map, he rarely encountered Yuan Zong level magical beasts roaming the mountains and forests. Even when he did encounter them, they were mostly just beginners at the Yuan Zong Sect. The situation of traveling in groups like before seemed even rarer. It was unclear whether they were too well hidden or had already been killed by other alchemists.
Using his special connection with the earth's veins, Xiao Yan collected quite a few rare and precious herbs along the way. Although they were no longer as extremely valuable as the Purple Spirit Reed Flower Liquid, they were still rare treasures in the outside world. This made Xiao Yan marvel at the richness of the Pill Tower's collection. If it weren't for the crucial importance of winning the Pill Gathering Competition, the medicinal herbs he had collected in the past few days alone would have made the trip worthwhile.
On a mountain peak, Xiao Yan sat quietly cross-legged, one palm pressed firmly against the ground, eyes closed, concentrating on sensing everything around him.
Over the past few days, he had thoroughly investigated every place he had passed through. Although he encountered many alchemists in a hurry, he had not found any trace of Xiao Siyu, which made Xiao Yan feel somewhat worried.
This Cang Ridge Secret Realm is different from other places. Some Yuan Zun monsters who are restrained from acting freely in the outside world due to their status may not be so wary of them here because of their family status. If any of them are old enemies of the Xiao Clan, it will be a huge problem if they encounter them!
After a while, Xiao Yan suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, and the moment he looked up, his gaze locked onto a cluster of peaks beyond his southern line of sight.
After dozens of searches, he finally found a slightly familiar, scorching aura—it was Xiao Siyu's Black Sparrow Flame.
Judging from that direction, the area where those mountains are located is the domain of one of the three great demonic beasts. Even Xiao Yan wouldn't dare to approach that place easily. Why would Xiao Siyu risk going there?
Upon thinking of this, Xiao Yan felt uneasy and dared not speculate any further. He immediately waved his sleeve, and black curtains instantly formed in the sky. With a flash, he passed through those curtains and disappeared into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
Before a frigid snow-capped mountain range, only a few thousand feet apart, two figures were racing at breakneck speed, one in front of the other. Judging from the chaotic aura of the former, he was clearly at his last gasp, yet even so, he was still frantically consuming the little Origin Qi he had left. His bright eyes were filled with hope as he gazed at the majestic snow-capped mountains ahead. Once he reached them, he thought that his companions would no longer dare to pursue him so closely.
"Hmph! You vile woman, you spared no effort to drag me there, hoping I would hesitate to act against you? Dream on!"
Sensing the woman's intentions, an old man chasing closely behind had a fleeting thought on his solemn face, followed by a fierce glint in his eyes. He clenched his fists together in front of his chest, instantly creating two bloody gashes in his palms. The moment the blood gushed out, a surge of powerful Origin Qi gathered within them. He then slammed his fists into the void on either side, his figure flashing through the air and catching up with the red-skirted figure in an instant.
"Stop!"
The old man let out a sharp shout, twisted his palm, and blood mixed with powerful Origin Qi roared out from his palm, directly blasting the former's graceful body.
The sudden change in the situation startled the woman, but given her current state, she was powerless to retaliate. She gritted her teeth and concentrated all the remaining Origin Qi in her body behind her, forming a thin layer of flame barrier.
However, this only earned him a disdainful sneer from the old man. Then, his withered hand suddenly fell, and the powerful energy shattered the barrier without any hindrance, before landing heavily on the woman's smooth back.
"Bang!"
The sound of bones breaking accompanied by spurting blood caused the woman in the red dress to plummet uncontrollably towards the plain below. Her life force instantly weakened to the extreme. After her body crashed into the ground, creating a huge crater, and rolled and collided several more times, she finally stopped, her breath extremely weak.
"Whoosh!"
A whooshing sound rang out, and the old man appeared before the woman like a ghost. Looking at her pale face, a murderous intent appeared on his old face. This woman was none other than Xiao Yan Xiao Siyu, whom Xiao Yan had been searching for for more than ten days without success.
"So what if you're the pride of the Xiao Clan? Once you're here, you'll kneel before me if I say so, and you can escape even if I do! Where can you go if I say so?"
"Oh..."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Siyu's face revealed a hint of contempt, and she forced a smile as she retorted:
" Daoist Xuankong... is nothing special."
"How dare a prisoner speak so rudely!"
Anger flashed across the old man's face. With a thought, Xiao Siyu's delicate body was lifted into the air. As the killing intent in Daoist Xuankong's eyes intensified, Xiao Siyu's body visibly began to wither, and her bones were forced to emit a series of cracking sounds.
Hearing the crisp sounds coming from the woman's body, the old man let out a cold laugh. He then glanced at the majestic mountain not far away, and his heart tightened slightly. He reached out and beckoned, and Xiao Siyu's Storage Ring fell into his hand. Only then did he smile with satisfaction, and with a wave of his hand, he was about to kill her.
"Clang!"
However, just as he was about to make a move, a black figure appeared beside him in an extremely strange instant, and a fist accompanied by the sound of thunder slammed down. Daoist Xuankong's expression changed drastically. Almost subconsciously, he used the Power of the Great Dao and frantically mobilized his Origin Qi to barely block the fist that was aimed straight at his face. Even so, the terror of the thunder still caused him to retreat rapidly. Only when he was a hundred feet away did he look at the figure that had suddenly appeared with an extremely ugly expression.
However, at that moment, a dark curtain flashed above the figure's hand, and the Storage Ring that had just been obtained was instantly handed over to the other party.
"My Storage Ring!"
Upon seeing this, Daoist Xuankong immediately shouted angrily, but upon looking at the figure again, his expression suddenly hardened, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:
"Dragon people! No, they're puppets, puppets made from the Ancient Void Dragon?"
Upon realizing this, Daoist Xuankong was immediately alarmed, and a look of horror appeared on his face. He then turned his gaze again and saw that a figure in black robes had appeared beside Xiao Siyu at some point.
Seeing Xiao Siyu's extremely weak aura before him, Xiao Yan's expression instantly turned extremely gloomy, and the killing intent in his eyes surged wildly. He gritted his teeth and forced Xiao Siyu to swallow several pills before speaking in an extremely cold voice.
" Northern King, kill him!"