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**
"What? You've already completed your mission this fast?"
At the center of the Ten Thousand Medicinal Mountain Range, inside a massive stone hall atop a towering peak, Lin Feng looked in astonishment at the peak Rank 7 magic beast before him.
He had originally thought these beasts would engage in fierce life-and-death battles with the other contestants before anyone was forced to withdraw from the Ten Thousand Medicinal Mountain Range. But he hadn't expected them to lose so quickly.
"Yes, when those contestants saw us, many immediately turned around and fled. There was hardly any resistance."
Hearing Lin Feng's question, the beast hurriedly explained.
Lin Feng pondered for a moment, and after some thought, decided the beast wouldn't dare lie to him. He then took out a storage ring he had prepared beforehand. As he tossed it over, he said, "There are pills inside. Divide them among yourselves."
The Rank 7 beast quickly caught the flying ring. Sensing the massive quantity of pills within, a look of delight instantly flashed across its enormous face.
Immediately after, it swallowed the ring whole and was about to leave to distribute the spoils. However, just as it lifted one of its huge claws, it suddenly remembered the black-robed expert who had appeared earlier.
It turned its massive head back and said in a muffled voice, "Master, after that Xiao Yan escaped, another black-robed expert appeared in the sky and chased after them. From the faintly terrifying aura he exuded, I think he's a Dou Zun."
"Dou Zun?"
Hearing that, Lin Feng's expression turned to shock.
But soon after, realization dawned on him, and he quickly guessed who it must be. Aside from that Old Mu Gu, who had planned to kill Xiao Yan in the Pill Realm to seize the Flame Mantra and his Heavenly Flame, Lin Feng couldn't think of anyone else.
He nodded slightly and continued to ask, "Where did Xiao Yan go?"
"The outer region of the Ten Thousand Medicinal Mountain Range."
The beast quickly replied.
Having gotten the information he wanted, Lin Feng chuckled softly. "Alright, I got it. You can go."
"Okay."
The Rank 7 beast responded eagerly before trotting off, eager to share the pills.
"What's the matter, husband?"
As the beast left, Xiao Yixian walked forward, her soft voice filled with curiosity.
Hearing that, Lin Feng turned around and said calmly, "The Hall of Souls has started moving. Have you picked your medicinal ingredients? If you're ready, let's go take a look."
"I already have everything I need for the mission and the herbs I wanted. We can go anytime."
Xiao Yixian nodded in response.
Seeing this, Lin Feng turned to the three women — Cao Ying and the others — and said, "I'm going out with Xiao Yixian for a bit. We'll be back soon. You can stay here for now. If you need to refine pills, feel free to use any herbs here."
"No problem."
The three women immediately nodded.
With so many precious medicinal ingredients around, they didn't mind staying a few days longer. Besides, there were still several days before the mission deadline — waiting a bit wouldn't hurt.
Seeing that none of them objected, Lin Feng immediately took Xiao Yixian and sped out of the grand hall, heading toward the outer region of the Ten Thousand Medicinal Mountain Range.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yan and his group, after deciding to temporarily withdraw from the mountain range, flew at full speed toward the outskirts. However, just as they reached a sunken basin, the space around them suddenly began to distort violently.
"What's going on with the space around us?"
The abrupt spatial changes immediately threw the group into panic.
"This is bad! It's a soul barrier! Someone's trying to trap us!"
Seeing the distortion, Xiao Yan and Song Qing both exclaimed in shock.
They knew that a soul barrier was formed entirely from soul power — not only could it prevent detection from outside, but once it was cast, even if a battle occurred inside, those outside wouldn't sense a thing.
Now, this mysterious expert had suddenly cast a soul barrier to trap them — clearly, his intentions were malicious.
"Everyone be careful! Someone's trying to ambush us! Stay close together and don't get picked off one by one!"
Xiao Yan was the first to react, shouting loudly.
He didn't yet know who this mysterious expert was or how strong he might be, but judging by the sheer power of the barrier, even if they joined forces, it would take quite some time to break through.
As for Song Qing, he was already scared out of his wits by the sudden development. Hearing Xiao Yan's command, he barely managed to recover his composure and quickly ordered everyone to regroup.
The others, too, upon hearing Xiao Yan's shout, hurried to gather beside him and Song Qing, staying alert to the surroundings. Unlike before, all the surrounding routes were sealed by this spatial barrier.
With no way out, their only choice was to huddle together and increase their odds of survival.
"I am Song Qing, disciple of the First Elder of the Pill Tower! Senior, I beg you to show mercy and let us go!"
Song Qing shouted, hoping to use the name of the Pill Tower to scare off their unseen attacker.
"Hehe, if I were afraid of the Pill Tower, I wouldn't be here to kill you in the first place."
No sooner had his words fallen than a confident, mocking voice rang out from the sky beside them.
As the voice faded, Mu Gu's figure stepped out from the void and appeared before them. His greedy gaze slowly swept over Xiao Yan and the others.
"What do you mean by this, sir? Do you intend to attack us?"
Song Qing and the others' expressions darkened, their shock quickly turning to anger. They never imagined that in this Pill Realm, aside from the magic beasts, there would be someone brazen enough to actually make a move against them.
"Hehe, so what if I am? With the likes of you, do you really think you can escape from the palm of my hand?"
Mu Gu said indifferently as he looked at their terrified expressions. If it had been that group of more than a hundred from before, he might've found it troublesome. But facing only about twenty of them now, his confidence was through the roof.
"Sir, I advise you to think this through. Most of us here are disciples of the Pill Tower's higher-ups. If you back off now, we can pretend this never happened.
But if you insist on making an enemy of us, although we're not as strong as you, we still have plenty of tricks up our sleeves that can make you pay dearly."
Seeing that the other party refused to back down, Song Qing could only grit his teeth and resort to threats.
Everyone here was at least a seventh-tier alchemist, so they could clearly sense that this black-robed man before them was a Dou Zun. No wonder they were panicking. Still, if he refused to let them go, they had no choice but to join forces and fight.
After all, they had no way of breaking the soul barrier he had set up. In a place with no escape, their only option was to fight!
Even Xiao Yan was clenching his fists tightly, his palms already slick with sweat. Although he had experienced several battles involving Dou Zun-level experts, this time they were all mere Dou Zong fighting against a Dou Zun. It made him extremely tense.
This Pill Gathering was far too important — it concerned whether he could obtain the Three Thousand Burning Flame. Moreover, he still had to save his teacher and his father, and he had promised Xun'er that he would go to the Gu Clan to propose marriage.
He absolutely couldn't die here.
"Hmph, letting you go isn't impossible," Mu Gu said with a wicked smile. "The only reason I stopped you is because I have a grudge with Xiao Yan's elders. If you hand over Xiao Yan's head to me, I'll have no reason to offend the Pill Tower."
"What?"
Hearing that, Song Qing and the others' faces all changed drastically. They turned to glare at Xiao Yan, whose expression was full of confusion.
This guy had nearly dragged them into a deathtrap — how could they not be furious?
As for Xiao Yan, he was completely dumbfounded.
He had no idea when he had ever offended this black-robed Dou Zun!
"Senior, since this is a personal feud between you and Xiao Yan, why not let the rest of us innocent people go? You two can settle your grievances on your own, how about that?"
Seeing a possible way out, Song Qing immediately changed his tone, clasped his hands, and bowed respectfully.
"Yes, Senior, we have nothing to do with Xiao Yan. We just happened to travel together. Please, let us go, and we will repay your kindness in the future!"
Once he spoke, the others hurriedly chimed in as well.
After all, during their time together, they had seen Xiao Yan's strength — he wasn't easy to deal with. Now they just wanted to get away as soon as possible and avoid getting dragged into this deadly conflict.
Xiao Yan's expression darkened at the sight of this scene. The look he gave Song Qing and the others was filled with disgust.
He pointed at them and demanded, "When we were in a team, I helped you fight countless powerful magic beasts, didn't I? And now, the moment we face danger, you're so quick to sell me out? Besides, I don't even know him! It's obvious this guy is trying to sow discord among us — don't fall for it!"
Hearing his words, Song Qing and the others dared not meet Xiao Yan's eyes.
They merely turned their bodies slightly, avoiding his gaze, while their hopeful eyes remained fixed on Mu Gu. Because what Xiao Yan said wasn't wrong — he had indeed helped them greatly before. Yet in the face of danger, they were now about to betray him without hesitation.
But still, they couldn't bring themselves to fully believe Xiao Yan either. After all, why would a Dou Zun suddenly appear out of nowhere, trap them, and directly name Xiao Yan?
So they stuck to their decision — leaving this place was their only priority.
"No, you must hand over Xiao Yan's head. Otherwise, how can I trust that you're not trying to deceive me? Besides, I know Xiao Yan has close ties with the Three Leaders of the Pill Tower. What if you escape and go warn them?"
Mu Gu directly rejected their proposal.
The reason he wanted these Pill Tower disciples to attack Xiao Yan was because he knew that Xiao Yan possessed a fusion of multiple Heavenly Flames, as well as the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change from Burning Flame Valley.
Under the power of multiple flames, that technique allowed Xiao Yan to temporarily boost his strength tremendously. That's why Mu Gu wanted to use these people to wear him down. Now that they wanted to back out, of course he wouldn't allow it.
Song Qing and the others' expressions sank as their minds raced, weighing their options. But Mu Gu had no intention of giving them much time.
"Ten seconds," he said coldly. "If you don't kill Xiao Yan within ten seconds, I'll start attacking indiscriminately. And don't try to bargain with me — I won't accept any terms."
The group immediately grew anxious, their eyes darting around nervously.
As for Xiao Yan, who could feel their gazes repeatedly turning toward him, his heart sank like a stone. It seemed there was no longer any hope of relying on these people to fight the Dou Zun together. Realizing this, he silently began preparing himself for battle.
"You have three seconds left."
Mu Gu's sinister voice rang out again, a cruel smile curling on his lips.
Song Qing and the others grew even more frantic. At this point, they didn't know what to do — should they join forces with Xiao Yan against this Dou Zun, or kill Xiao Yan and use his head to buy their own lives?
But when they thought about how things had already fallen apart between them and Xiao Yan. How, compared to the terrifying Dou Zun before them, the Dou Zong-level Xiao Yan would be much easier to deal with…
They began to waver. After all, with so many of them, if they all attacked one high-level Dou Zong together...their chances of winning seemed… pretty good.
"Two seconds left."
Mu Gu's cold voice echoed once more.
Song Qing and the other dozen people exchanged glances, their eyes flashing with hesitation and grim resolve.
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