Battle Through the Heavens: Reap the Red Lotus Karmic Flame at the Start

With Wei Jiangyuan and Xiao Yan working together, their soul power was indeed unmatched by ordinary people, and they collected the last of the herbs at an extremely fast speed.

The two of them harvested about fifty of the nearly eighty herbs together, leaving only about thirty behind. Xiao Yan held all his spoils in his hands, and as the pressure from the restrictive soul-shaking technique intensified, he truly felt exhausted.

On the other side, Wei Jiangyuan's face was also flushed. His soul power was no longer as stable and swift as before. Xiao Yan said to Ling Zhuo, "This is our limit for now. These herbs should be enough for you and your men, right?"

Upon hearing this, Ling Zhuo smiled and said, "I know you're holding back, but I'm in a good mood and I'm too lazy to bother with you."

Ling Zhuo then stepped forward, his late-stage Spirit Realm soul erupting like a tsunami from between his brows, the overwhelming pressure causing the mountain rocks to crumble and fall. Dozens of ancient bronze seals rippled simultaneously, but were forcefully torn open the moment they clashed with Ling Zhuo's soul power—the three herbs were instantly and forcefully pulled out by Ling Zhuo.

Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan exchanged a glance, both knowing that their little tricks hadn't truly fooled Ling Zhuo. Naturally, neither of them could genuinely exert themselves to gather herbs for Ling Zhuo; they had both held back some. However, now that Ling Zhuo was taking the lead, the remaining amount of herbs began to dwindle rapidly, eventually reaching a point where even with everyone's best efforts, they couldn't collect them all. Ultimately, in this crucial Fog Mountain, only Ling Zhuo would emerge as the ultimate winner.

The most painful part of this process was for Wei Jiangyuan, because it was his two failures that ultimately led to these herbs ending up in Ling Zhuo's storage ring.

Compared to Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan, Ling Zhuo's behavior was far more domineering. When Xiao Yan and his companions obtained herbs, they at least left some roots and stems behind, giving the herbs a chance to regrow. However, Ling Zhuo ruthlessly uprooted all the herbs he harvested, leaving not even a trace.

Among the watching alchemists, many were already in utter despair: Ling Zhuo's domineering performance was too oppressive, and it seemed that the championship was no longer in doubt.

With a powerful soul and a huge advantage in herbal reserves, who can stop Ling Zhuo now?

"A late-stage Spirit Realm soul—truly terrifying!"

"The Spirit Race's foundation is still too terrifying."

As time passed, only seven herbs remained in the herb garden; the rest ended up in Lingzhuo's pocket.

After Ling Zhuo finished doing everything, he reached out to Xiao Yan and said, "Give it to me."

Xiao Yan and his companion also had more than twenty high-grade herbs in their hands, which were also part of their transaction with Ling Zhuo.

"Where's the Nine-Jointed Green Bamboo?" Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed. "So many herbs are already in your hands, so you should give me the Nine-Jointed Green Bamboo first."

"Hehe." Ling Zhuo sneered at this moment. He did not deliberately make things difficult for Xiao Yan. He took out the Nine-Section Green Bamboo and presented it directly to Xiao Yan.

After checking the herbs, Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan confirmed that Ling Zhuo hadn't done anything suspicious and, as agreed, handed over all the remaining herbs to him. Once everything was done, the two groups faced each other, the tension between them palpable. The original onlookers began to quietly retreat. They all wanted to see how things unfolded, but were afraid the upcoming conflict would affect them.

Only Cao Ying stood behind Ling Zhuo, maintaining that ambiguous smile. After a moment, she took the initiative to say, "Since you gentlemen do not intend to make a move, then thank you."

Having said that, he waved the storage ring in his hand and then simply left with Cao Ying.

Lei Jingxiao watched Ling Zhuo leave, somewhat resentful, and pleaded with Xiao Yan, "Brother, are we just going to let him go like that? Actually, I still have a way to unleash my power here in Misty Mountain. Let the three of us work together to stop him!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan's expression changed several times, but he ultimately shook his head at Lei Jingxiao, stopping his inner thoughts: "Junior sister is here, we can't fight."

The three of them together have a good chance of catching Ling Zhuo, but who can protect Yao Qingyu? Although Cao Ying is dissatisfied with Ling Zhuo, her life is in the hands of the Ling Clan after all, and if a real fight breaks out, she will most likely have to help Ling Zhuo.

"We can only let him take advantage of this time. Let's see who comes out on top in the final Dan competition!"

……

On the way out of Wushan, Lingzhuo and Cao Ying left easily.

During this time, Ling Zhuo smiled at Cao Ying and said, "I still have to thank you this time. If it weren't for your suggestion, I might have given this herb garden to them this time."

Cao Ying also recalled Ling Zhuo, who had initially learned that Xiao Yan and his group were requesting a trade. At that time, he was truly intimidated by Xiao Yan's methods and was unwilling to have any contact with Xiao Yan, so he planned to wait for the Pill Gathering to end in the Pill Realm.

Cao Ying then analyzed, "Young Master Ling, although we have harvested a lot of herbs this time, it is very likely that Yao Qingyu, who has already lost the ability to participate in the conference, will continue to appear as our opponent at the Pill Conference."

"It doesn't matter. Whether she's here or not, it won't ruin our plans. On the contrary, these herbs will make your alchemy process easier." Ling Zhuo smiled confidently, clearly already having everything under control.

Cao Ying followed Ling Zhuo for a while but still didn't see any of the backup plans Ling Zhuo had arranged. Somewhat puzzled, she asked, "Young Master Ling, where are our people?"

Ling Zhuo didn't turn his head, his tone smug as if he had known: "What do you mean 'our people'? There are only the two of us here."

Upon hearing this, Cao Ying's eyes finally showed a genuine look of surprise. Ling Zhuo had truly come alone without any backup plan. If Xiao Yan and his group really intended to ambush him, then the probability of him being left here was extremely high.

"Young Master Ling, aren't you afraid that Xiao Yan and the others will definitely target you..."

"I promised Lingluo I would bring Lingyu out of the Pill Gathering alive, so I can't let him take any more risks." Lingzhuo paused, then turned to look at Cao Ying, a hint of admiration in his eyes. "Besides, I know you're a smart person; you wouldn't cooperate with Xiao Yan and the others to plot against me. Since you've determined it's safe, what's wrong with coming alone?"

Cao Ying suddenly felt that Ling Zhuo standing in front of her had completely changed; the sacrifice of Ling Luo, a member of the Ling Clan, seemed to have truly touched him.

At this moment, Cao Ying's heart was filled with mixed emotions. Ling Zhuo seemed even more dangerous now, and the feeling of having one's fate controlled by others was unsettling. She could only silently pray that what she had written on the jade slip would prompt Xiao Yan to do something to change the current situation…