Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

Standing behind Huo Qing, Xiong Kui stared wide-eyed at Xia Jin in shock.

He strode forward, leaned in to examine the face of the man Xia Jin was holding, and then gasped, "Good heavens! Brother Xia, you actually managed to bring this kid back?!"

He thought it was lucky that Xia Jin came back alive, but he didn't expect that she would actually bring back their mortal enemy, the young master of Tianbao City.

Faced with the shocked expressions of the three, Xia Jin shook her head with some dissatisfaction and casually threw the young master of Tianbao City on the ground.

"Hmph! What a pity, I wasted so much of my energy, and I didn't find any treasures, I only brought back this thing." Xia Jin curled her lips, her tone clearly showing disdain.

Huo Qing and Xiong Kui exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise at Xia Jin's strength in each other's eyes.

This Brother Xia, no wonder he was able to replace Lü Yang, the captain of the first squad of the Silver Sand Army, so soon after joining the Silver Sand Army!

Although the young master of Tianbao City was a complete wastrel, he was still a master at the second level of the Immortal Ascension Realm.

Even the three of them, if facing this young master of Tianbao City alone, might not be able to gain any advantage. To capture him alive, the three of them must work together.

Xia Jin single-handedly captured the main culprit alive; such skill is probably unmatched by many in the entire Silver Sand City.

"By the way, how are the three of you recovering from your injuries? If you're able to move, let's take advantage of the fact that it's just dawn and those monsters from the night have disappeared, and hurry back to Silver Sand City," Xia Jin asked, glancing at the three of them.

Xiong Kui patted his muscular chest and grinned, saying, "Brother Xia, don't worry. Our injuries have mostly healed overnight, and we'll have no problem traveling. It's still early; at our speed, we should be able to get back to Silver Sand City before dark."

Huo Qing nodded: "Xiong Kui is right. As long as we don't encounter any accidents, even though the three of us haven't fully recovered, we'll have more than enough time to reach Silver Sand City before dark."

Liu Xu didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

"Alright, let's go then." Xia Jin grabbed the young master of Tianbao City by the back of his collar and lifted him up like a chick.

The four of them didn't linger any longer and rushed out of their underground hideout.

Xia Jin walked at the front, but this time, he did not intend to cross the mountain range not far away.

He knew better than anyone what was in that mountain range.

Especially the old man's skin, the inexplicable and eerie feeling it gave him made Xia Jin instinctively not want to deal with it anymore.

Although Xia Jin was never a coward, that didn't mean he would pointlessly provoke unknown beings. Especially in a place like the Mirage Realm, those with excessive curiosity rarely survived long.

So he chose another small path to go around it.

The path wound its way between two barren mountains. Although it was much longer, at least it meant he wouldn't have to go through that place that gave him the creeps anymore.

After running for about several dozen miles, Xiong Kui finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Brother Xia, why don't we just go straight through from there?" Xiong Kui asked, panting heavily as he followed behind Xia Jin, his voice clearly puzzled. "We've walked that mountain range on the way here. Although the path isn't easy, it's at least much shorter than taking this detour. Going around like this will probably take several more hours."

A hint of doubt also flashed in Huo Qing's eyes. Although he did not speak up to agree, he was clearly also puzzled as to why Xia Jin would choose the more distant option.

Xia Jin stopped in her tracks after hearing what the two were saying.

He slowly turned around and looked at the three people behind him with a strange gaze.

"When you crossed that mountain range, didn't you see that dead human skin?"

"Dead human skin?" Huo Qing was taken aback, frowning in confusion. "What dead human skin?"

Xiong Kui shook his head, looking equally bewildered: "Brother Xia, what are you talking about? When we passed through that mountain range before, we never saw any dead human skin."

Liu Xu also shook her head, indicating that she had not seen what Xia Jin was talking about either.

The three reacted in a surprisingly unanimous manner, which surprised Xia Jin.

He didn't say anything more, but frowned and then reached out and pointed at the three people's foreheads from a distance.

The three ripples entered directly between Huo Qing, Xiong Kui, and Liu Xu's eyebrows.

All three of them closed their eyes at the same time.

The next moment, the image of the old man's skin that Xia Jin had seen in that mountain range flooded into the minds of the three of them like a tidal wave.

Huo Qing was the first to open his eyes, his face was pale, and a few beads of cold sweat had appeared on his forehead.

Xiong Kui's reaction was equally exaggerated. This usually fearless captain of the Silver Sand Army suddenly looked like he had seen a ghost and took several steps back.

After taking several deep breaths, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence from Xia Jin.

"Brother Xia, what... what the hell is this?!"

Even though he didn't see it with his own eyes, through the images Xia Jin presented to them, Xiong Kui could clearly feel the eerie oppressive feeling of that old man's skin.

The feeling is hard to describe in words; it's like something cold and sticky crawling up your spine, making it hard to breathe.

"What? You guys really haven't seen this old man's skin before?" Xia Jin glanced at the expressions of Xiong Kui and the other two, and instantly understood that they had indeed never seen the old man's skin before.

However, just as he was about to say that they should continue on their way, Liu Xu, who was standing beside him, suddenly frowned.

Xia Jin keenly noticed her unusual behavior and her gaze fell on her.

"Captain Liu, do you perhaps know the origin of this old man's skin?"

Liu Xu hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

There was an indescribable look in those clear, cold eyes, as if they were hesitating or weighing something.

"What I... know might not be true, so just take it with a grain of salt!" She sighed. "I only heard it from someone once when I was on a mission."

Xia Jin and the others remained silent, simply watching her and waiting for her to continue.

"That was about two years ago. I happened to be out on a mission when I met a cultivator from Purple Star State. He looked to be only at the second level of the Immortal Ascension Realm, but he was extremely knowledgeable."

"From him, I also learned some secrets about the Mirage Realm. Among them, he mentioned this... old man's skin."

"According to him, this kind of old man's skin appears very rarely in the entire Mirage Realm, and very few people have seen it. It is very mysterious. Some people spend their whole lives trying to find an old man's skin, but they can't even find a trace of it; while others will stumble upon it by chance, as if... those old man's skins actively choose to be seen by certain people, perhaps they are also choosing someone."

Xia Jin raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this.

"That rogue cultivator even speculated that these old people might all come from a very mysterious force in the Mirage Cloud Realm. That force doesn't participate in any conflicts in the Mirage Cloud Realm, nor does it associate with any other forces. Even those strange beings in the night won't actively provoke them."

Upon hearing this, Xiong Kui couldn't help but interject, "There's such a force? Isn't the Mirage Realm just filled with human cultivators and those filthy things in the night? When did another one appear?"

Liu Xu shook her head: "I don't know about that. Anyway, I only heard it from him."

Xia Jin remained silent, listening quietly, but a vague sense of unease lingered in her heart.

Could it be that this old man has taken a fancy to me?

Thinking of this, Xia Jin suddenly felt a sense of malice, and goosebumps instantly rose all over her body.