Zhao Li understood Old Huang's identity and was deep in thought when Old Huang, who had suddenly disappeared, just as suddenly reappeared where he had been.
Although he had deliberately controlled his emotions, it was still faintly visible that his expression was somewhat sad. Old Man Bai asked:
"Old Huang, is something wrong? Do you need us to do anything?"
Old Huang shook his head. The matter of his disciple almost causing a major disaster out of jealousy was not something to be proud of, and coupled with the fact that he didn't know the full details of what had happened, he was feeling troubled and didn't tell them:
"It's nothing, there was a minor incident in the Pill Realm, I've handled it. The Pill Convention will continue."
Zhao Li watched from the side. Although curious, since Old Huang wasn't willing to talk, he didn't press the matter.
...
In the Pill Realm, everything returned to calm, but Yao Chen felt an inexplicable sense of lingering fear, as if he had just walked back from the gates of hell.
However, after releasing his Soul Power to search carefully, he found nothing. He then stopped overthinking and quickly moved forward, following the special marks left by Xuan Yi and the others:
"Let's go meet up with Xuan Yi and the others first."
Half an hour later, Yao Chen caught up with Xuan Yi and the others. At this point, the team was more than half gone again. Although they had escaped once more and survived, everyone's spirits were not high.
They had also discovered that the time they could hide was getting shorter and shorter. Although they had held out until the last day, no one knew what would happen next.
Seeing that everyone was in poor condition, Yao Chen took out some Pills and distributed them:
"I still have a lot of Healing Medicine here. If anyone needs it, use it first. It's the last day, no matter how hard it is, we have to hold on."
During the trip to the Godfall Ice Plain, he had developed the habit of keeping life-saving Pills with him.
"Thank you, Brother Yao!"
Some people took the Pills, consumed them on the spot, and quickly adjusted their breathing to recover. Time was precious; an extra minute of recovery meant an extra sliver of hope for survival.
But not everyone saw hope. During the past few days of fleeing, many people had fallen into despair:
"Can we really make it through?"
"What should we do now? It's the last day, why don't we split up and hide?"
No one knew who said this, and the scene fell into silence.
After a long while, Yao Chen spoke softly, feeling physically and mentally exhausted:
"If you want to leave, then leave. Next time, I don't know if I can still hold on. Of course, for those who are willing to stay, I naturally won't force you to leave."
As his words fell, some people looked ashamed but still chose to leave. They decided to find a place to hide. When that lunatic came looking, with Yao Chen and his group holding him off, their chances of survival would be much greater.
But some also stayed. They believed in Yao Chen. All this way, Yao Chen had always been the first to rush forward, facing the biggest threats. They knew that even if they stayed, Yao Chen wouldn't let them be cannon fodder.
Out of a team of a hundred or so people, only a little over thirty remained. Yao Chen sighed slightly and assigned everyone their respective tasks.
Deep into the night, the bright moon was blocked by dark clouds, with only a few stars occasionally twinkling.
The forest was silent. Yao Chen leaned against a tree, frowning in thought.
"Brother Yao Chen, take this. Take it first and heal your injuries. Only you can stop that lunatic."
Xuan Yi quietly gave Yao Chen a Healing Medicine. It was Eighth Grade, given to her by her teacher for emergencies.
Today, she had seen Yao Chen's reckless fighting style. If he didn't recuperate in time, it would easily leave hidden injuries. But she was smart and simply said that they still needed Yao Chen to stop Hun Fenghao.
Yao Chen gently shook his head and said:
"No need, I'll be fine after adjusting my breathing."
He didn't stand on ceremony, and what he said was indeed the truth.
He had consumed many Pills today, and there was still a large amount of medicinal power accumulated in his body. Coupled with possessing a Heavenly Flame, he was constantly refining the accumulated medicinal power. All he needed now was to sit quietly and adjust his breathing.
"Then you rest first, I'll stand guard for you."
Xuan Yi nodded gently. At this moment, she wasn't as radiant as she was outside, and was even quite disheveled. But in Yao Chen's eyes, she seemed more real. He didn't refuse Xuan Yi's kindness, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.
Now was not the time for politeness. Every minute and every second was extremely precious; an extra bit of recovered strength meant an extra bit of Life Force.
Time passed, and the jungle was exceptionally quiet. After a long while, Yao Chen opened his eyes. He found it strange. Logically, more than an hour should have been enough for Hun Fenghao to find them again, but there was still no sign of them.
He looked around. It was still the same group of people. They were divided into different roles, standing guard, being vigilant, and recovering from injuries.
Immediately, Yao Chen stopped thinking about it. It was better if he didn't come looking; he wasn't a masochist.
What they lacked now was time. It would be even better if they could keep delaying until the second stage ended.
The night passed without incident. The next day, the sun rose, and the Morning Glow shone on everyone's faces. Compared to before, there was more hope in their eyes.
Last night was a rare peaceful night in the past few days.
In the clearing, Yao Chen scanned the surroundings and asked in a deep voice:
"Who still has a Jade Slip and is willing to voluntarily crush it?"
Since they discovered that Spatial Jade Slips could no longer teleport, they no longer relied on them. However, every time they reached a new place, and after a certain period, someone would voluntarily crush their Jade Token, even if it meant they might lose the Rules to continue the competition.
"I'll do it again. Who still has a Jade Slip? Give me one."
A tall, thin man wearing a yellow robe stepped forward. He had been the one to voluntarily crush it several times before, although it hadn't had any effect.
Soon, he took the Jade Token and crushed it decisively. Then, he felt a pulling force and looked pleased, but before he could say anything, he disappeared.
Everyone was overjoyed and looked at Yao Chen.
"What's going on? Did someone outside notice something was wrong and fix it?"
Yao Chen also couldn't help but feel happy.
"It's not impossible, but we still need to be careful. Everyone, why don't we go check out the exit?"
"Let's go!"
"We'll go together!"
"What a shame, I'm still missing one ingredient."
With a way out now, everyone was reluctant to just crush their Jade Tokens and give up their eligibility to compete.
Along the way, although they occasionally saw small groups of people, they clearly didn't dare to provoke Yao Chen and his group.
After more than half a day, they reached the exit without any major incidents.
Yao Chen looked at the more than thirty people beside him and said,
"Thank you all for your support along the way. I don't have much, but you can take these medicinal ingredients according to the Task List."
Yao Chen wasn't arrogant enough to think that he alone stopped Hun Fenghao and protected these people. On the contrary, it was precisely because of these people that he had the chance to directly confront Hun Fenghao. Before the task ended, he had taken out quite a few medicinal ingredients.
Seeing this, the others followed suit and exchanged with each other. In the end, only a few people didn't manage to gather all the required medicinal ingredients. There was nothing they could do; they were indeed missing quite a few types of ingredients.
Seeing that everyone had finished their negotiations, Yao Chen smiled, cupped his fists towards the crowd, and said loudly,
"Everyone, after we leave, we will be competitors. Farewell!"
After speaking, he stepped into the Passage. A sense of disorientation came over him. Yao Chen stood still and looked up, seeing the Pill Tower soaring into the clouds in the distance, feeling a moment of realization.
The exit of the Pill Realm didn't teleport them to the Northern District Plaza, or even within the Inner Domain of Holy Pill City, but to a dedicated Teleportation Plaza.
Watching people appear beside him from time to time, Yao Chen let out a long sigh of relief.
In just these few short days, it felt as if he had returned to those years on the Ice Plain, hiding and scheming.
Time flowed by, and the sun gradually set. The prescribed time was about to arrive. A Pill Tower Elder appeared, and after waving his hand to tear open a Space, he looked at the people in the plaza. There were fewer than a thousand of them, but he didn't think too much about it and said,
"Now, you can submit your medicinal ingredients. Those who have completed the task can enter this Space."
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