Wang Xiaoqiang picked up seven pieces of Spirit Marrow and scanned the crowd, saying, "Now let's all form a circle and start refining the Spirit Marrow together. Of course, those of us with a weaker cultivation base will refine it slower compared to those with higher cultivation bases, suffering a bit of a disadvantage, but there's really no such thing as absolute fairness in this world, so we can only do it this way."

Upon hearing this, everyone had no objections and nodded in agreement.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Wang Xiaoqiang placed the seven pieces of Spirit Marrow on the ground. He arranged for everyone to sit around the Spirit Marrow and prepare to absorb it.

This team, initially comprising a hundred competitors, had dwindled because a powerhouse with a Twofold Body of the Immortal Venerable Realm was killed by Wang Xiaoqiang and Zhao Feiyan. Fifteen brainless followers had died under the attack of flying beasts, and the rest had vanished without a trace. Given the perils within Yan Mountain, surviving and walking out of Yan Mountain seemed harder than reaching the heavens. Just now, under the attack of three unicorns, another seven people had perished. So far, only seventy-seven people remained. When all seventy-seven had sat down, Wang Xiaoqiang instructed, "Alright, now everyone start refining the Spirit Marrow..."

As soon as Wang Xiaoqiang gave the command, everyone began to refine and absorb with somewhat eagerness. Compared to the team in the first competition, this team's cultivation strength was much more robust, and the speed of the Refine Medicine Power was also faster. However, because there were many pieces of Spirit Marrow, it didn't seem quick.

Seeing that everyone was focused on refining the Spirit Marrow, Wang Xiaoqiang also released 100,000 Spiritual Springs to absorb the Spirit Marrow.

Absorb, absorb, absorb, absorb, absorb...

The 100,000 Spiritual Springs absorbed the Spirit Marrow not only quickly but also in large quantities. Compared to the speed of seventy-six people absorbing the Spirit Marrow, it was many times faster.

While the seventy-six people had not yet completely absorbed one piece of Spirit Marrow, another had already been entirely absorbed by Wang Xiaoqiang.

The satiated Spiritual Springs, under control of Wang Xiaoqiang's willpower, flew far away, continuously expanding and contracting, then began to divide.

Burst, burst, burst... burst, burst, burst, burst...

A barely audible splitting sound rang out as 100,000 Spiritual Springs divided into two, turning into 200,000 Spiritual Springs.

At this time, the crowd was still intently absorbing the Spirit Marrow. Seeing this, Wang Xiaoqiang released another 100,000 Spiritual Springs to absorb the Spirit Marrow.

An hour ago, he would not have dared to do this, but now things were different. He had advanced from the Second Layer of the Blood Realm to the Third Layer of the Blood Realm. Both his body and his meridians had nearly doubled in strength, enhancing his ability to withstand Spiritual Energy, so he wasn't worried about the Spiritual Energy rupturing his meridians.

When 100,000 pieces of Spirit Marrow had just been satiated, under the control of Wang Xiaoqiang's willpower, they flew far away, divided in two, and transformed into 200,000 Spiritual Springs.

However, at that moment, the weakest person had already stopped refining.

Wang Xiaoqiang didn't dare to continue absorbing the Spirit Marrow any further, firstly for fear of being discovered and secondly because the sudden division into 200,000 Spiritual Springs involved a massive amount of Spiritual Energy. If absorbed into his body, it would be explosively intense!

If there were to be another division, it might exceed the safe limit, and he feared his meridians couldn't withstand such violent Spiritual Energy.

Now, Wang Xiaoqiang's Spiritual Springs had increased by another 200,000, reaching a total count of 1,079,600. It was estimated that if he absorbed them into his body, he would ascend a level, possibly surpassing the sixth stage of the True Immortal Realm.

When everyone stopped the refining of the Spirit Marrow, Wang Xiaoqiang scanned the Spirit Marrow on the ground. Seeing that he had absorbed two and seventy-six people had absorbed one, only four remained on the ground. To avoid making people suspicious, Wang Xiaoqiang took the lead and, with a tone of surprise, said, "Wow, everyone's combat power is pretty strong to absorb so much in one go!"

"Something's not right, three have been refined!" someone quickly noticed something strange.

"Yes, even though we are many, it's impossible to have absorbed three in just this half hour; one would be the limit!" someone else analyzed.

Zhao Feiyan also wore a look of bemusement. She then glanced around at the crowd, using Divine Sense to probe each person's cultivation base to see if anyone had unexpectedly advanced. If so, that would be highly suspicious.

However, Wang Xiaoqiang was directly overlooked by her because she didn't believe Wang Xiaoqiang would cheat. In fact, even if she had checked Wang Xiaoqiang's cultivation base, she would have found that not only had it not increased, but it had decreased.

Since no suspicious individuals were discovered, Zhao Feiyan spoke with a frosty tone, her voice cold enough to drop ice, "If anyone is cheating, I hope they will be more cautious next time. No leniency will be shown if discovered."

Everyone dared not make a sound anymore.

Now, Zhao Feiyan had the highest cultivation among the team. More than just admiring her beauty, everyone also held some apprehension about her, fearing she might suspect them.

Wang Xiaoqiang said, "Feiyan, let's collect the Spirit Marrow and refine it slowly later. For now, let's all move on together."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Feiyan collected the four remaining pieces of Spirit Marrow from the ground, and everyone rose to their feet as the team set off.

As the team resumed their journey, although they lacked an official leader, everyone now regarded Wang Xiaoqiang and Zhao Feiyan as the leaders. They closely followed the two as they moved on.

As they walked, Zhao Feiyan quietly said to Wang Xiaoqiang, "Xiaoqiang, what do you think about the strange occurrence just now?"

Wang Xiaoqiang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Cheating is out of the question because there has yet to be a Spell Technique that can speed up the refining of medicine power so quickly. I think while we were focused on absorbing the Spirit Marrow, some powerful living being intervened and stole our Spirit Marrow!"

Zhao Feiyan nodded in response, saying, "That's possible! Next time we absorb Spirit Marrow, we need to be more careful and not lay out all of it."

At those words, Wang Xiaoqiang's heart sank, and then he feigned a look of shock, saying, "No! If it's as I suspect, a powerful being is involved, it must still be following us. If we don't produce the Spirit Marrow, we might anger it… Since we can't even see its form, it must be an immensely powerful existence. If it decides to deal with us, we wouldn't even know how we died."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Feiyan's pretty face turned solemn, she nodded in firm agreement, yet somewhat unwillingly said, "So we just let it keep stealing from us?"

"Alas, there's no other way. We must avert disaster by making monetary sacrifices. After all, compared to our lives, everything else is trivial!" Wang Xiaoqiang said.

"Hmm, you make sense!" Zhao Feiyan nodded, increasingly seeing Wang Xiaoqiang as meticulous. If she found out it was Wang Xiaoqiang who had taken the Spirit Marrow, would she turn against him?

The sky was getting dusky, the west ablaze with a swath of rosy glow, stunningly beautiful and truly spectacular.

By now, everyone had been walking for a whole day, and they expected to enter the heart of the mountain range by the next morning,

The heart of the mountain range was teeming with Fifth Level and above Spirit Beasts, making the mountain paths even more perilous and severe.

The psychological quality of this group was quite strong; no one had yet displayed any signs of panic, but everyone hoped to find the number four Armor before entering deeper into the mountains, to avoid even greater risks to their lives.

"Tell everyone to stop for a rest!" Wang Xiaoqiang said to Zhao Feiyan.

"It's better to travel by day, let's rest after it gets dark!" Zhao Feiyan said.

"The transition from day to night is when Spirit Beasts appear most frequently. It's best if we stop to rest now to avoid running into them!" Wang Xiaoqiang said.

Zhao Feiyan saw the sense in Wang Xiaoqiang's words and ordered everyone to stop for a rest. Then she quietly asked Wang Xiaoqiang, "Little Qiang, should we use this time to let everyone Refine and Transform the Spirit Marrow?"

Wang Xiaoqiang replied quietly, "Not yet, let's save it for tomorrow morning!"

Zhao Feiyan was stunned, asking with surprise, "Why?"

"I think the number four Armor is likely in the heart of the mountain range, which is extremely dangerous. I'm worried these people might think it's too tough and dare not enter. If it turns out that only the two of us go in, the risk would be greater. If we hang the four pieces of Spirit Marrow in front of them, there's no fear they would back down…" Wang Xiaoqiang whispered.

"Hmm, that makes sense." Zhao Feiyan felt that not only was Wang Xiaoqiang's thinking meticulous, but he was also cunning as a fox. She couldn't help but stare at him and asked, "Hey? How come you're so smart? Are all Earthlings as smart as you?"

"If all Earthlings were that smart, then Earth wouldn't be called a Lower Plane." Wang Xiaoqiang said, "But honestly, the technology on Earth is much more advanced than in the Immortal Realm."

Curious upon hearing this, Zhao Feiyan pulled Wang Xiaoqiang to sit down on a large rock and said, "Tell me about Earth..."

Wang Xiaoqiang began to describe Earth's high technology, talking about skyscrapers hundreds of floors high, airplanes and cars, huge machines that could fly in the sky like birds, human cloning, just like the Avatar Technique, which could recreate a person. He talked about computers and mobile phones, as handy as a Communication Talisman.

He talked about Earth's harmonious society, which had far less fighting and killing than the Immortal Realm...

Listening, Zhao Feiyan's heart filled with longing for Earth, and she sighed lightly, "Ah, Little Qiang, I really wish to go to Earth to live a peaceful mundane life, without having to cultivate every day... without worrying about being killed by enemies one day..."

"Feiyan, if you really want to go, I can take you there!" Wang Xiaoqiang stated earnestly.

"Really?"

"Of course!" Wang Xiaoqiang nodded, "Wait until I return to Earth, and I'll come to Constellation Sect to find you."

"Hey!" Zhao Feiyan nodded happily.

After resting for a while, eating some dry food, and drinking some water, the team set out again as it grew dark.

Traveling at night, everyone moved slowly. Roars of Spirit Beasts echoed from far and near. The whereabouts of the team were already within sight of those Spirit Beasts, but with over seventy True Immortal Realm Cultivators, their combined strength was still quite formidable, so those Spirit Beasts dared not rashly trouble them.

In the middle of the night, under a hazy moon, distant rushing water could be heard.

As they continued forward, the sound of water became louder, and soon everyone identified it as the sound of a waterfall.

Finally, when the group reached a deep ravine, they saw a waterfall cascading down from the mountain cliff, pouring into a deep pool.

The pool, with a diameter of forty meters, could be seen under the dim moonlight, as deep as fifty meters. There was a rock jutting out in the middle of the pool, on which grew a Lingzhi that glowed red and black in the night.

"Wow! Could that be the Water-Fire Lingzhi?" The crowd stared at the Lingzhi in the deep pool, all exclaiming in amazement.

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