Xiao Yan's eyes lit up, and his gaze fell on the gray-haired old man.
The latter cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and then said:
"Before entering the secret realm, I overheard a conversation among several members of the Huoxun Clan, which included a method for leaving the secret realm. Apparently, at the border between the territories of the three great magical beasts within the secret realm, there is a 'three-no-touch zone' established by the Pill Tower. As long as you collect Fragrance-Nurturing Pill and bring them there, you can naturally leave the secret realm. As for the exact location..."
As he spoke, the gray-haired old man turned his head and looked around, pondering:
"Since entering the secret realm, I have kept this message in mind. I have come from the north, passing by the lairs of two beast kings along the way. Considering this place, I think the exit of the secret realm should be not too far from here."
Upon hearing these words, Xiao Yan was overjoyed and immediately thought of the secret realm map in his Storage Ring. Meanwhile, Xiao Siyu looked the gray-haired old man up and down, blinked her bright eyes a few times, and said nothing more.
After a while, Xiao Yan smiled and thanked the gray-haired old man, who quickly returned the greeting respectfully, along with the other three people beside him who also smiled apologetically.
After another round of simple pleasantries, Xiao Yan deduced from the gray-haired old man's words that the exit of the secret realm should be in the west. He immediately stopped lingering, and with Xiao Siyu beside him, under the protection of the Northern King, they transformed into three streams of light and disappeared into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
As Xiao Yan and his group disappeared completely into the horizon, the gray-haired old man's gentle face suddenly turned cold and stern, and a chilling glint appeared in his gloomy old eyes.
After watching the figure on the horizon completely disappear, the other three people beside them dispersed. Now that they were out of trouble, they should also prepare to leave this place quickly. If another large number of magical beasts gathered here, things would be very bad.
"Hehe, are you three brothers in such a hurry to leave?"
Just as the three were about to make a move, the gray-haired old man suddenly turned around and chuckled with a smile.
Of the four, he was the strongest, having reached the level of Seven-Star Yuan Zong. Therefore, upon hearing these words, the three opposite him immediately turned ugly.
"What, you think you can easily deal with the three of us without those beasts?"
A fat man opposite him spoke coldly, and at the same time, a faint aura of pressure emanated from his body. He was Six-Star Yuan Zong, second only to the gray-haired old man in cultivation, which was enough to give him the right to take him seriously in the current situation.
Upon hearing this, the gray-haired old man grinned and said:
"Brother Tuo, now that things have come to this, I have no energy left to fight you three brothers. I just want to give you three a good life so that you can successfully complete the test in the secret realm."
"Wealth and honor?"
What do you mean by that?
Upon hearing this, the three people opposite exchanged glances, their expressions filled with doubt. Seeing this, the old man's lips curled into a cold smile, and he continued:
"Those two companions were just about to leave the secret realm, which means they've already collected forty Fragrance-Nurturing Pill- Fragrance-Nurturing Pill. I believe that's enough for the four of us to gather the number needed to clear the level."
They have all found their own methods to make it this far in this secret realm. If nothing unexpected happens, they should be able to collect more than half of the Fragrance-Nurturing Pill needed to clear the level.
You actually dare to make a move on them?
The middle-aged man among the three immediately changed his expression upon hearing this. Even now, he was still shaken by the puppet's terrifying combat power. The fat man surnamed Tuo, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and looked at the gray-haired old man with a scrutinizing gaze, saying:
"Since you're willing to say that, you should at least explain how to deal with the Yuan Zun puppet beside that man. Otherwise, forget about getting the Fragrance-Nurturing Pill; it would be impossible for you to even walk to that man alive."
"Hehe, of course. The information I gave that man about the exit of the secret realm was indeed true, but... I didn't give a complete account. The area around that remote, isolated place is mostly occupied by experts at the Yuan Zun. These guys rely on their cultivation levels and instead of searching for the Fragrance-Nurturing Pill in the mountains themselves, they guard the end point, waiting for those Yuan Zong who have collected Fragrance-Nurturing Pill to approach before immediately attacking and robbing them. Murder and robbery are second nature to them. The reason I didn't tell him this information was that I had already decided at the time that if he clashed with the Yuan Zun experts, both sides would be severely injured, and the four of us would only need to step in and clean up the mess when necessary, thus reaping the benefits. Why not?"
The gray-haired old man slowly swept his gaze over the three people opposite him, and smiled confidently.
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man and the other person exchanged glances, a hint of emotion flashing in their eyes. The fat man to the side, after a moment of contemplation, narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice:
"You're that confident? That kid has that puppet by his side; even a true Yuan Zun expert would have to restrain their temper in his presence. Who would dare to argue with him?"
This left the gray-haired old man momentarily speechless, a look of uncertainty appearing on his face. Seeing the hesitation on the other two's faces, he cursed inwardly, then his expression shifted, and he said in a deep voice:
"Instead of speculating like this, why don't we join forces and take a gamble? If this succeeds, the resources of a Yuan Zun expert are far more substantial than the rewards from the Pill Gathering. At the very least, the four of us traveling together is better than one person blindly wandering through this secret realm. As long as we don't encounter Yuan Zun expert, this secret realm is enough for us to roam freely. Besides, you heard what those beasts said before they died. If I'm not mistaken, those two should be the culprits behind this beast rampage. Didn't we almost die in the mouths of those beasts ourselves? Don't you have any resentment about this grudge?"
"This..."
Upon hearing this, the three people opposite exchanged glances. Even the fat man stopped talking and frowned in thought. Soon, the other two nodded to the gray-haired old man to indicate their willingness to cooperate. Seeing this, the fat man glanced at the former and reluctantly agreed.
Afterwards, the four rested briefly on the spot. After refining the pills in their bodies, they took advantage of the fact that the demonic beasts in the surrounding sky had surrounded them again. Each of them used their own methods to transform into four streams of light and quickly passed through the horde of demonic beasts, chasing after the direction in which Xiao Yan and the others had left.
Shortly after the four departed, all the magical beasts in this world suddenly froze in mid-air. Where the group had lingered, a large cloud of black mist suddenly emerged from the previously calm void, swirling and solidifying into a black-robed figure whose face was obscured.
The figure extended a pale white palm and gently inhaled into the void, capturing a wisp of extremely thin residual energy. After a brief examination, the black-robed man suddenly let out a cold laugh, then extended his other palm, his fingers slightly bent, and abruptly grabbed into the void. Instantly, a wisp of extremely pure Origin Qi was forcibly torn and condensed from the heavens and earth.
Immediately afterwards, the man in black robes merged the remaining aura with this wisp of pure primordial Origin Qi. Then, with a flick of his finger, an invisible spatial fluctuation began to shuttle and collide between the two energies, like threading a needle, gradually merging the originally unrelated aura and Origin Qi. In the end, it actually made the almost dissipated remaining aura solidify again.
After doing all this, the man in black robes gently flicked a wisp of someone's aura, and a phantom stream of light shot out from it, like a ribbon, pointing in the direction where Xiao Yan and the others had left.
"Hmph, let's see who can save you this time!"
The black-robed man's lips curled into a sinister smile. He sneered and immediately transformed into a cloud of black mist, rushing towards the direction indicated by the aura. Meanwhile, the surrounding world quietly shattered with a series of crisp cracking sounds. The countless demonic beasts that surrounded the world were also dismembered into countless pieces of flesh as the void shattered.
In a stone forest.
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and lightly touched a boulder in front of him. With the support of the earth's vein power, his soul perception spread out in all directions with extreme sensitivity. Wherever it passed, strange spiritual herbs and mysterious magical beasts hidden deep in the earth were all reflected in Xiao Yan's mind. Even the slight tremors of the earth veins became quite clear.
After a long while, he opened his eyes, a murderous intent surging deep within his pupils, and slowly spoke:
"Just as you predicted, those guys actually dared to chase after us."
As they spoke, Xiao Yan's gaze fell on Xiao Siyu, who was examining the map of the secret realm and roughly determining the location of the so-called exit of the secret realm, following the route they had taken.
"That old man tried to mislead us from the very beginning. The Huoxun Clan members were on the platform before the Pill Gathering even started. Except for a short time before entering the secret realm, they fought individually in the first few stages. How could they have had time to discuss anything related to the secret realm? Even if they wanted to discuss it, how could they let an outsider like him hear it? Moreover, he said he traveled south and passed through the territories of two beast kings, but according to the map, unless he crossed the snow mountain range where Xiang Wuhui was, it would be impossible for him to encounter the two beast kings. But from his description, it's clear he hasn't been there yet. At least half of what he said is false. As for why he tried so hard to suggest that we go in this direction, perhaps he had other intentions. But at least according to the map, the direction we're heading should be correct."
Hearing this, Xiao Yan was surprised by Xiao Siyu's keen insight. He hadn't expected that this woman could perceive so much information from just a few words, and that she could be so insightful. He had really underestimated this second young lady of the Xiao Clan.
After Xiao Siyu finished speaking, her beautiful eyes gradually moved from the map in her hand to Xiao Yan, and she asked:
"Should we go back and deal with them directly, or go around and follow them to see what that old man is up to?"
"There's no need. Since they've already decided to kill and rob, we might as well give them a surprise..."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan grinned coldly, but as soon as he finished speaking, his expression suddenly tightened. His soul perception under the influence of the earth veins seemed to have detected something terrifying, and he exclaimed in alarm.
"No! There's something behind those guys... in front of them!"
Xiao Yan quickly closed his eyes and focused his mind. Xiao Siyu tacitly stopped speaking, but instead waved her jade hand, and a ripple of energy quickly spread out, forming a protective shield a few feet around the two of them, isolating them from all external noise and fluctuations.
According to the power of the earth veins, just a moment ago there was a rapidly approaching aura far behind the four people. However, in the blink of an eye, that aura appeared directly in front of the four people, and it seemed to have stopped and blocked them.
Due to the great distance, Xiao Yan could not ascertain the exact identity of the aura, but from that terrifying speed, he could immediately tell that the other party was definitely a powerful expert at the Yuan Zun level!
"Is it Xiang Wuhui? He really won't give up!"
Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, Xiao Siyu's eyebrows furrowed, and she gritted her teeth, angrily rebuking him. Then, her face filled with worry, she asked, "..."
"What should we do? Keep going forward, or choose another direction, try a zigzag route, and maybe we can leave him far behind?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan frowned, shook his head, and said in a deep voice:
"I'm afraid that won't work. We've cleaned up every trace we left along the way, yet he still managed to catch up. He must have some tracking skills. If we do nothing and just run away, we'll be cornered soon. Once that happens, we won't even have a chance to fight back. I think it's better to... strike first. Let's prepare and catch him off guard. Once he's injured, no matter what, he'll have a hard time catching up with us!"
As he finished speaking, a resolute look appeared on Xiao Yan's face. Xiao Siyu nodded in agreement, and with a thought, her Origin Qi surged up, and black-gold flames shone in her pupils.
Xiao Yan withdrew his hand, quickly surveyed the surrounding environment, selected a place with dense stone forest, and with a flick of his finger, summoned the Northern King back into his Storage Ring. Then, to Xiao Siyu's astonishment, he conjured an avatar that had not been used for a long time, ordered it to sit cross-legged on a relatively low standing stone, while he and Xiao Siyu used the Great Dao of the Void to conceal their auras and hid behind a boulder not far away.
"Puff!"
Xiao Yan opened his mouth and spewed out six balls of Heavenly Flames in succession. Before the terrifying high temperature could spread, it was quickly mixed together by his two hands. All the violent energy was forcibly suppressed between his hands, and the surging Origin Qi in his body also gathered rapidly into his palms without reservation.
Staring intently at the flames gradually coalescing and coalescing in his palm, Xiao Yan felt an immense pressure rise in his heart, and even his breath unconsciously tightened in his chest. Xiang Wuhui true Four-Star Yuan Zun, a level of powerhouse that was arguably the strongest Xiao Yan had ever faced. This time, he dared not hold back in the slightest. If he wanted to take Xiao Siyu away from here, he had to win this battle in one strike!