Soon, the 50,000 Spiritual Springs satiated with energy, under the control of Wang Xiaoqiang's willpower, flew off into the distance, constantly expanding and contracting, and eventually all separated.

50,000 divided into two, becoming 100,000 Spiritual Springs.

Now, the number of Wang Xiaoqiang's Spiritual Springs had reached 779,600, just a half-step away from breaking through to the Fifth Stage of the True Immortal Realm.

If at this moment, Wang Xiaoqiang absorbed all the external Spiritual Springs into his body, he would certainly have a strong premonition of breakthrough.

However, he did not wish to reveal his cultivation base just yet.

Thus, the external Spiritual Springs could only remain outside.

Wang Xiaoqiang's Five Elements Spirit Spring could absorb Spiritual Power en masse at once, whereas the other cultivators could not do this, lest they risk exploding from the overwhelming energy.

More than an hour passed, and everyone eventually stopped, not because they did not wish to absorb any more, but because the Spiritual Energy inside their bodies had reached the limit their meridians could endure.

Seeing that everyone else had stopped absorbing, Wang Xiaoqiang also dared not continue, to avoid exposure.

After everyone stopped, they noticed the two pieces of Spirit Marrow at the center; one of the pieces was only about a third of the size it used to be,

while the other had only one-fifth of its original size left, looking even smaller.

Seeing this, everyone was inevitably surprised,

because, if measured by the absorption rate of the past hour, they should have only absorbed a little more than half of one piece of Spirit Marrow, and the other should have remained the same,

But now, the second piece of Spirit Marrow had nearly four-fifths taken, leaving only a fifth left.

This phenomenon was a bit eerie.

"Huh? How, how could this be?"

"Yes, this Spirit Marrow shouldn't have been used up so quickly!?"

"Could it be that some other living being has come to steal again?"

...

Person after person voiced their astonishment and speculations.

Wang Xiaoqiang seriously said, "It seems my conjecture was correct, there must be a terrifying creature that has been tracking us, slyly stealing the fruits of our labor... and this being must be several times stronger than us, which is why we cannot see its presence..."

Everyone shivered upon hearing this...

Stronger beings?!

If this being wanted to attack us, and we couldn't even see its shadow, we would only be lambs to the slaughter!

Thinking this, everyone felt a wave of panic, and they asked Wang Xiaoqiang anxiously, "Elder Brother Wang, if it's really as you say, what should we do?"

Wang Xiaoqiang put on an intimidated look and said, "If it truly is the mischief of a powerful being, we can only appease it. Otherwise, if we anger it, we will surely die! Not a single one of us will survive!"

Everyone trembled at his words. It was a psychological terror; those unknown terrors were always far more frightening than visible ghosts and monsters, which is why psychological thrillers are more chilling than tales of ghosts and goblins.

Under the distress and fear, the group's cohesion shifted towards Wang Xiaoqiang once more, and someone proposed, "Elder Brother Wang, we all follow your lead now; you are the head of this group. Whatever you arrange, we will follow..."

Wang Xiaoqiang said, "I'm of weak cultivation; I truly cannot be the leader. However, I can offer a suggestion: before we find the Armor, we should work together in harmony and refrain from slaughtering each other, otherwise we're only courting self-destruction!"

"Elder Brother Wang speaks truly, we are all brethren now, and Elder Brother Wang is our leader!" said one of the cultivators at the Seventh Transformation of the Immortal. It was evident he had a lot of respect for Wang Xiaoqiang.

Nevertheless, Wang Xiaoqiang could tell that some of the experts in the True Immortal Realm didn't quite respect him,

perhaps thinking that their own cultivation was higher than Wang Xiaoqiang's. If they acknowledged Wang Xiaoqiang as the leader now, then once the Armor was found, it would naturally belong to the leader. They were reluctant to serve someone else's interests in this way.

Wang Xiaoqiang waved his hands, saying, "I really can't take the position of being the leader. Alright, now let's elect someone to store these two pieces of Spirit Marrow safely, and then we can continue our search for the Armor."

"Elder Brother Wang, since everyone has faith in you, you should accept it." someone suggested.

"I am not the right person to hold onto it. Let's have someone else do it." Wang Xiaoqiang pointed to the cultivator with the weakest cultivation base – the one at the Third Transformation of the Immortal Realm – and said, "His cultivation base is the lowest in the team, so let him keep it. I believe he wouldn't dare to swallow it alone."

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, "That's a good idea. Elder Brother Wang is truly wise."

The cultivator at the Third Transformation of the Immortal Realm collected the two considerably shrunken Spirit Marrows into his Storage Ring from the ground.

Then, everyone set off together, venturing deeper into the mountains in search of the Armor,

Having learned from the last experience, no one dared to split up the team this time.

Because the team was together, even when encountering powerful Spirit Beasts on the way, those beasts could only dodge and walk away from a distance.

As they traveled, everyone spread out their Divine Sense to search. Wang Xiaoqiang, having weaker Divine Sense, didn't waste his, as using Divine Sense consumes Divine Sense energy.

Although they encountered other contestants with different numbers, by dawn, they still had not found Armor number 66.

Everyone was somewhat disheartened, all showing signs of impatience.

However, Wang Xiaoqiang didn't feel the same. He had once lived like a wild man in the Mystic Yin Mountains for months, his will had long been honed and didn't get restless like the others.

Moreover, more importantly, Wang Xiaoqiang's participation in the Armor Snatching Tournament wasn't exclusively for the Armor or the Spirit Marrow; he saw it as an excellent opportunity to improve himself.

And now, the Armor Snatching Tournament had just begun, the arduous journey was still to come.

"Let's rest for a bit," Wang Xiaoqiang called out as a glimmer of morning light appeared on the Eastern Horizon, stopping in his tracks to rest on a rock.

Hearing this, everyone else also stopped to rest. They ate dry food to replenish their strength.

After resting for a while, Wang Xiaoqiang asked the cultivator with a weaker cultivation base, the one at the Third Transformation of the Immortal Realm, to take out the two remaining Spirit Marrows for everyone to absorb together.

For cultivators, Spiritual Energy was far more effective than dry food at relieving hunger and reviving the spirit,

Upon hearing this, everyone sat down in a circle. When the cultivator took out the Spirit Marrow and placed it on the ground in the middle of the group, everyone started to absorb it desperately.

Wang Xiaoqiang felt that the officials who organized such an Armor Snatching Tournament definitely didn't do it just to have everyone play a game of hide-and-seek. The Armor shouldn't have been placed beforehand, and the officials must be sending experts to secretly monitor each team, only placing the Armor in front of the team when their confidence had almost crumbled.

When the Armor was eventually found, it would be the time for brotherhood to turn into enmity and knives to be drawn against each other; of course, there might still be loyal followers, but by then, surely, half the people, especially those above the True Immortal Realm, would step forward to fight with him over the Armor.

Thinking of this, Wang Xiaoqiang no longer pretended; he released 50,000 Spiritual Springs to start absorbing the Spirit Marrow.

This time, the two Spirit Marrows were completely absorbed.

After his 50,000 Spiritual Springs were filled, they split into two, becoming 100,000 Spiritual Springs. Wang Xiaoqiang's count of Spiritual Springs had now reached 829,600.

Seeing the two Spirit Marrows depleted so quickly, although the others were surprised and suspicious, recalling what Wang Xiaoqiang had mentioned about the "powerful beings", they dared not ask further, nor did anyone dare make a sound of suspicion, fearing they might offend the powerful being and be attacked by it.

As the sun rose, everyone set off again — it almost seemed to confirm Wang Xiaoqiang's speculation. After the group pushed further into the mountains for a while, finally, a cultivator with strong Divine Sense from the True Immortal Realm was the first to detect the location of the Armor,

Subsequently, this cultivator silently dashed towards the Armor.

Just as this person made a beeline for the Armor, more than a dozen other people's Divine Senses picked up on the location of the Armor as well.

At this moment, brotherhood was thrown out the window; these dozen people also headed toward the Armor without a sound.

The rest, seeing this unfolding, didn't need to ponder to know the Armor had been located; thus, they, too, flew toward it.

Ultimately, only twenty-three people remained motionless. These individuals all promptly urged Wang Xiaoqiang to hurry and snatch the Armor. It was clear these twenty-three really treated Wang Xiaoqiang as their leader.

Wang Xiaoqiang nodded and rose into the air with these twenty-three people. Although he, like everyone else, had a strong desire to seize the Armor, he did not show any sign of rush.

He just flew at a steady pace with the twenty-three people. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com), and cast your monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)

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