Chapter 1395: Keep Them Alive

Passing through a dense forest, over a dozen spirit herbs came into Ye Yuan's sight.

"Hey, didn't expect such good luck—right after arriving, I run into over a dozen Tianxiang Hanqian Grasses."

Ye Yuan had just been teleported not long ago when he caught the scent of spirit herbs and followed it all the way here, not expecting such a good haul.

Just as Ye Yuan was about to collect these Tianxiang Hanqian Grasses, there was another stir in the dense forest.

"Hey, didn't expect to run into over a dozen Tianxiang Hanqian Grasses at once—pretty good luck."

A young man emerged from the other side of the forest, his words almost identical to Ye Yuan's.

However, he completely ignored Ye Yuan.

This rookie at the late Cave Profound realm wasn't even worth his notice.

"Kid, I'm taking these spirit herbs. Your Uncle Qiao is in a good mood today, so I won't kill you—get lost!" the young man said with a wave of his hand, very magnanimously.

Ye Yuan found this amusing and laughed, "I discovered these spirit herbs first. Isn't this a bit unfair?"

Qiao Jie laughed heartily upon hearing this, "Kid, you probably don't know who your Uncle Qiao is, do you? Go ask around about the reputation of Qiao Jie from the Outer Court of Tianyu King City!"

Ye Yuan said indifferently, "Don't know you, and not interested in knowing. Now, get as far away as possible and scram."

With that, Ye Yuan walked straight toward the spirit herbs.

Qiao Jie's face darkened, and he snorted coldly, "You don't know when to die! You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!"

Qiao Jie directly drew his sword and thrust it at Ye Yuan, truly intending to kill.

Ye Yuan couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids; he waved his hand and slashed out with his sword.

Qiao Jie had been charging with overwhelming momentum, but as soon as Ye Yuan's sword came out, his face showed extreme terror, and he quickly changed from a straight thrust to a parry.

He never dreamed that a late Cave Profound cultivator could unleash such a stunning sword strike.

Ye Yuan's casual slash startled the very soul out of him.

"Clang!"

Qiao Jie's sword was directly broken in two!

He stumbled back several steps, the shock on his face lingering for a long time.

If that sword had gone a bit deeper, he would have been split in half right then.

Qiao Jie couldn't understand how a late Cave Profound cultivator could possess such formidable strength!

"You... how can you be so strong?"

Ye Yuan ignored him and collected those Tianxiang Hanqian Grasses into his storage ring.

"Still not leaving?" Ye Yuan frowned and said sternly.

Qiao Jie was startled and turned to flee. He took three steps in two, disappearing from Ye Yuan's sight in an instant.

Ye Yuan slowly put away his storage ring and continued forward.

The storage ring each person wore was newly issued by the team leader upon entering the secret realm.

Before this, all of them were required not to bring their own storage rings inside.

This way, cheating could be prevented.

Moreover, this storage ring was specially made—once the jade pendant was crushed, it would automatically detach from the body and become another's spoils.

"Why didn't you kill him?" At this moment, Wuchen suddenly spoke up.

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "We've just entered; no rush. Keep his little life for now; I'll take it directly from them later."

Wuchen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, "You sly kid! No wonder you asked me to plant a mark on every one of them—so this was your plan!"

Ye Yuan meant to keep these people alive first, letting them search for heavenly treasures far and wide.

In the end, Ye Yuan would just snatch the storage rings directly from the others.

Back at the altar, Ye Yuan had asked Wuchen to plant a mark on every student from Zuoxiang King City.

Wuchen was the artifact spirit of a Heavenly Sovereign spiritual treasure; leaving a trace of imprint on a group of people at the Heaven Gazing and Cave Profound realms was the simplest thing.

Of course, that included Qin Tian and Qin Yuanlong and the others.

As long as these people entered a certain range near Ye Yuan, Wuchen could detect them.

Weren't they coming to kill him? Then he'd play hide-and-seek with them.

"Hey, none of these outer court disciples are a match for me, and I can't beat those inner court disciples. This trial isn't much fun. So, let's not waste time on it. Let's go find Little Fatty first. If they can't find me, I'm afraid someone might target him. If an inner court disciple from the Qin family finds him, that would be bad," Ye Yuan said.

Over the past few years, Ye Yuan had directly swallowed the new pills he had researched, and his cultivation was not far from the Great Perfection of Cave Profound.

Moreover, with Star Slash gradually approaching Great Perfection, Ye Yuan's current strength was far greater than when he fought Qin Shao.

Ordinary Great Perfection Cave Profound cultivators, even half-step Heaven Gazing, were rarely a match for Ye Yuan.

So these outer court disciples simply didn't interest him.

Take that Qiao Jie just now—if Ye Yuan had truly intended to kill, the other party wouldn't even have had time to crush his jade pendant before being killed instantly.

After three years of tempering, Ye Yuan had become more and more adept at controlling Star Slash.

Unless he went all out, he could even unleash Star Slash instantly, just like earlier.

This jade pendant was meant to protect the disciples to the greatest extent, but in past trials, there were not a few who were killed before they could crush the jade pendant.

For one thing, those people didn't want to give up the heavenly treasures they had found until the very end.

On the other hand, although the teleportation zones for the outer and inner courts were separate, these two areas were connected!

Once an inner court disciple sneaked into the outer court disciples' area and launched a surprise attack, how could a rookie at the Cave Profound realm react in time?

So in this trial, everyone had to maintain a high level of alertness.

Any moment of relaxation could be fatal.

...

A few days later, in the inner court area, three figures gathered together.

"Brother Qin Tian!" Qin Pei and Qin Zheng greeted Qin Tian with a bow.

Qin Tian nodded slightly and said, "Mm, Father went to great effort and expense for this Hundred Cities Trial. So Ye Yuan must die this time!"

"Of course! I've been waiting too long to avenge Yu'er!" Qin Pei said indignantly.

"That kid embarrassed our Qin family in front of the whole city. If we don't kill him, it won't ease the hatred in my heart!" Qin Zheng also said.

Clearly, they both held deep grudges against Ye Yuan.

Suddenly, Qin Tian turned his palm over, and a flesh-colored little bug flickered faintly in his palm.

"Uncle Yuanlong has used a secret technique to plant the Mother-Child Heart Link Worm on Ye Yuan. I can now sense his location! We'll sneak over quietly and not let anyone else discover us. This kid is very shrewd; we only have one chance, so we must be extremely cautious. Once we strike, we must have absolute certainty! If he crushes the jade pendant, we'll have no chance!" Qin Tian said solemnly.

Qin Pei said, "Don't worry, Brother. With the strength of the three of us, plus the Refining Heart Turtle Breath Technique, even if he walks right past us, he won't notice!"

Qin Tian nodded and said, "Good, let's set out."