53: anger!

"What? Are you telling the truth?" Hearing that their supposed 'reliance' was already dead, Xiang Ning finally couldn't help himself and turned around abruptly.

"No! If the Blood Abyss really contains what you said... how could you possibly have discovered this information!?"

Chu Yuan thought to himself, 'Because I can fly, and I have Divine Sense...'

"I naturally have my own methods. Whether you believe it or not is up to you." He paused, then continued, "The resources that Tian Tian and the others collected, although numerous, are not actually very valuable.

They aren't even as precious as a single spirit nurturing pill!

If they weren't necessary for the Formation, why would I go through all this trouble?"

"Although you are a little stronger than me, you are still just a student... You even know how to set up a Formation?" Xiang Ning remained skeptical.

Chu Yuan didn't explain further but instead asked in return, "I suppose your classmates in the Qi and Blood Realm also couldn't understand—how can you do this? How can you do that?"

Xiang Ning's face darkened. What did that mean? Was he implying his level was too low?

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Chu Yuan smiled and said, "You're idle anyway, why not come along and collect resources?"

"..." Xiang Ning looked at the storage ring on Chu Yuan's hand and said incredulously, "Seriously, man, do you remember what just happened?"

"Of course I remember." Chu Yuan rubbed the storage ring. "I robbed your storage ring, but you were the one who attacked first."

"And you still want me to help you collect resources?"

"One thing at a time... Besides, what do you mean by 'help me'? It's not like I'm the only one who will use the Formation once it's set up. Don't you want to survive?"

"That makes sense... but you don't have to go through all that trouble. Give me the storage ring."

Chu Yuan shook his head. "Look at you, why are you talking nonsense again?"

"...No, then give me the jade tablet inside that has the character 'Xiang' carved on it. You have no use for that thing."

Chu Yuan searched through it. The storage ring wasn't large, only about one cubic meter. There weren't as many items as he had imagined, mostly just some Medicinal Pills for Cultivation.

He quickly found the jade tablet Xiang Ning mentioned, took it out, and handed it to him.

Xiang Ning didn't hesitate; he immediately picked up his broken blade, cut his palm, and pressed it onto the jade tablet!

The jade tablet glowed with a hazy light, and a thin line of blood extended from it, shooting straight into the sky! It slowly dissipated after several dozen seconds...

"Is this... a distress signal?"

"It's a distress token given by his grandfather. Only his blood can activate it. It can penetrate spatial barriers and travel thousands of miles in an instant!" Mao Rui explained. "Even if the guardian is dead, as long as the outside world receives the message... someone will come to save us soon!"

"Save my ass..."

"Huh?"

Xiang Ning's expression was ugly as he stared at the jade tablet in his hand, where the phenomenon had already vanished. "The Bloodline distress signal... it can't be sent out! The Secret Realm has been sealed off by an expert using spatial methods!"

"What the hell? Spatial methods?! That must be at least the Seventh Realm, right? Or the Eighth Realm?" Mao Rui's eyes widened. "Then what do we do now?"

"Wait for death..." Xiang Ning shook his head. "Fatty, haven't you disliked that Qi Ying for a long time? She was glaring at you earlier. Do you want to have some fun before we die? I'll help you hold down Li Ji..."

"I'd still rather live..."

Banter was just a habit for the two of them. In reality, Xiang Ning had already realized the danger. Although he still felt it made no sense—a group of top-tier seeded contestants, including many descendants of Martial Arts Families... such as himself and Mao Rui—why was the protective work done so poorly?

But since it had already happened, they could only try to find a way to survive on their own!

Chu Yuan's background was mysterious, and his methods were brilliant. Since he was so confident in the Formation he mentioned... perhaps he was worth trusting?

Chu Yuan had been Cultivating for a long time. After successfully refining one Blood Pill and one spirit nurturing pill, he finally reached the Peak of the Foundation Establishment!

A sensation of swelling came from within his body, and even his head felt a bit dizzy. He knew this was because he was being too eager for quick success, absorbing too much energy in a short time. After all, that was equivalent to directly swallowing a complete Supernatural Realm Martial Artist!

This kind of behavior was actually bad and might even affect his future Cultivation! But... he couldn't worry about that now. If he really died in this trial, there would be no future...

Although Chu Yuan had confidence in the power of the Blood Sea Soul Locking Formation, a sense of crisis always lingered in his heart!

During this time, Tian Tian came to deliver Materials once more, and Xiang Ning and Mao Rui had returned twice. The Rank of the Materials they were responsible for searching for was different. Tian Tian was responsible for the lower-end ones, which could be found in the vicinity shown on the map.

As for Xiang Ning and Mao Rui, they led people to be responsible for the higher-end ones, which might be guarded by other exotic beasts and were harder to obtain. Although they couldn't order around the trial participants from other Prefectural Capitals, most of the trial participants who came from the Imperial Capital were willing to listen to Xiang Ning.

Now, the Materials for the Formation were basically complete, only waiting for Tian Tian's final delivery. And there were no abnormalities near the stone platform for the time being, which made Chu Yuan heave a slight sigh of relief...

He habitually swept out his Divine Sense, and the scene within a radius of several thousand meters appeared in his mind. But when he saw the scene at the foot of the mountain, Chu Yuan's expression turned cold and stern...

"Hand over the stuff." Qi Ying tossed her dagger casually and looked at Tian Tian. With the help of high-Rank Medicinal Pills, her injuries had almost recovered overnight.

Tian Tian's fingers tightened, gripping the straps of several backpacks, and she said with an apologetic smile, "With your status and strength, wouldn't these trash Materials lower your status? Big sister, please don't make things difficult for me, otherwise that jerk Chu Yuan will beat me to death..."

A trace of mockery appeared on Qi Ying's face. This little slut was clearly collecting these things for Chu Yuan willingly; did she think she hadn't seen it?

Although she didn't know what use Chu Yuan had for this trash, as long as she could ruin his plans, she would feel a bit better!

She stopped talking nonsense and moved. Tian Tian only saw an afterimage flash past, and the next moment, a cold gleam passed before her eyes! Intense pain shot through her arm and face almost simultaneously!

She was only a Martial Artist in the Qi and Blood Realm; if Qi Ying wanted to attack her, she naturally had no ability to resist at all...

The backpack filled with Materials fell to the ground, and there was a severed hand still gripping the strap!

Tian Tian collapsed to the ground, swallowed by a tidal wave of fear.

"I've seen plenty of sluts like you, and I've killed plenty too." Qi Ying rummaged through the Materials in the backpack and said nonchalantly, "Do you think clinging to Chu Yuan is a good thing? Originally, no one would bother with a small character like you, but because of Chu Yuan, you deserve to die..."

"Is that so?" Chu Yuan's icy voice suddenly rang out.

But arriving even faster than his voice was a streak of cyan-gold light! It tore through the air, suddenly piercing into Qi Ying's abdomen, lifting her body up, and pinning her to the tree behind her!

"Chu... Yuan..."