I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

The leader was a middle-aged disciple at the sixth level of the Foundation Establishment stage. He stared at Qin Yuan and said in a deep voice, "Senior Brother Qin, in this secret realm, everyone relies on their own abilities. Shall we part ways here?"

He clearly didn't want to confront Qin Yuan head-on.

Qin Yuan didn't want to make a move right now, so he nodded and said, "Please."

The Third Peak team breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left.

"Senior Brother Qin, what should we do now?" Zhao Tiezhu asked.

"Gather resources and head towards the core area," Qin Yuan said. "Take down all the spiritual herbs and demonic beasts we encounter along the way."

Everyone responded and began to act.

The Misty Forest is rich in resources. Not far along, they discovered several hundred-year-old "Mist Spirit Grass" and a nest of "Ironback Ants"—the carapaces of Ironback Ants are excellent materials for crafting defensive magical artifacts.

Qin Yuan instructed the inner disciples to collect the materials, while he himself released his divine sense to be vigilant about his surroundings.

After walking for about an hour and collecting a considerable amount of resources, the group gradually ventured deeper into the forest.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps and fighting suddenly came from ahead.

Qin Yuan raised his hand, and the team immediately stopped and concealed themselves.

A young man covered in blood staggered out of the woods. Seeing the group from Fifth Peak, his eyes lit up, and he cried out urgently, "Senior Brother Qin! Help...help me!"

Qin Yuan recognized him—it was Zhou Ming, the tenth peak disciple he had saved in the White Bone Cave.

"What happened?" Qin Yuan asked.

"The people from the Seventh Peak...the people from the Seventh Peak have surrounded our Tenth Peak!" Zhou Ming gasped for breath. "There are eight of them, and only five of us. We can't possibly win! I risked my life to rush out and ask for help!"

"The Seventh Peak?" Qin Yuan's eyes turned cold. "Who's leading the team? Is Xiong Li here?"

"No!" Wu Hao shook his head. "Xiong Li took the main force to the core area, leaving this small team to clear out the outer perimeter. They said... they wanted to eliminate us small peaks first before going to the core area to compete for resources."

Qin Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "Where are they? Take me there."

Zhou Ming was overjoyed: "It's in a valley about three miles ahead! Senior Brother Qin, follow me!"

Zhou De frowned and said, "Senior Brother Qin, could this be a trap?"

"It's alright," Qin Yuan said calmly. "It's good to take care of some enemies ahead of time."

He turned to the group on Fifth Peak and said, "You all stay here and hide, wait for my signal."

"Senior Brother Qin, I'll go with you!" Zhao Tiezhu said.

"I'll go too!" Zhou De also stepped forward.

Qin Yuan looked at them and nodded: "Okay, but don't make a move. Protect yourselves."

The three followed Zhou Ming and quickly ran towards the valley.

The valley is not large, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only one narrow entrance.

At this moment, in the valley, seven disciples from the Seventh Peak were relentlessly attacking a defensive formation. Inside the formation, four disciples from the Tenth Peak were struggling to hold on, all bearing injuries and on the verge of collapse.

The leader, a scarred-faced disciple at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, attacked the magic array while sneering, "You trash from the tenth peak, stop struggling! Get out of here sooner rather than later, to save yourself the pain!"

Inside the magic array, a disciple from the tenth peak roared, "Arrogant! You seventh peak members are going too far! Just wait until our Senior Brother Wu brings reinforcements, and you'll be sorry!"

"Reinforcements?" Scarface laughed arrogantly. "With the strength of your Tenth Peak, what reinforcements could you possibly bring? The Fifth Peak? They can't even protect themselves! The Sixth Peak? They dare to offend our Seventh Peak?"

Before the words were finished, a calm voice came from the entrance of the valley:

"Oh? Is the Seventh Peak so impressive?"

Zhang Kuang turned around abruptly and saw Qin Yuan leading Wu Hao, Zhou Ming, and Zhao Tiezhu in.

"Qin Yuan?!" Zhang Kuang's pupils contracted, then he sneered, "Who do we have here? It's just the 'genius' from the Fifth Peak. What, trying to meddle in other people's business?"

Qin Yuan glanced around the arena, confirming that Xiong Li was not there, before turning to Zhang Kuang: "I'll give you two choices: one, crush the teleportation talisman yourself and get out of the game; two, I'll send you out of the game."

"Arrogant!" Zhang Kuang roared in fury. "You, a mere Foundation Establishment Level 6 cultivator, dare to spout such nonsense? Brothers, charge! Cripple him first!"

The seven disciples of the Seventh Peak turned around at the same time and rushed towards Qin Yuan!

Swords flashed and magic light shone, instantly enveloping Qin Yuan!

Qin Yuan didn't move.

He didn't even draw his sword.

He simply raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and then—

A gentle squeeze.

"凝".

As the word was uttered, the air in the valley seemed to freeze instantly!

The movements of the seven Seventh Peak disciples suddenly stopped, as if they were locked in place by invisible shackles, unable to move! Their faces showed horror as they desperately tried to activate their spiritual power, but they couldn't even move a single finger!

What kind of magic is this?!

Zhang Kuang was utterly horrified—his cultivation at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment was as powerless as an ant before this power!

Qin Yuan slowly stepped forward and walked up to Zhang Kuang.

"It seems you've chosen the second path."

He extended his index finger and gently tapped Zhang Kuang's forehead.

"Bang--!"

Zhang Kuang was struck as if by a heavy blow, and flew backward, turning into a white light in mid-air and disappearing—he had been judged "dead" by the secret realm and teleported out.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Yuan followed suit, tapping his fingers repeatedly.

Bang bang bang bang!

Six soft sounds, six beams of white light.

All seven disciples of the Seventh Peak were wiped out.

The whole process took less than three breaths.

The valley was deathly silent.

The four disciples of the tenth peak stared blankly at this scene, their mouths agape, unable to close them.

Although Zhou De and Zhao Tiezhu knew Qin Yuan was strong, they didn't expect him to be this strong—there were seven Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, one of whom was at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment! Just like that... that's it?

Zhou Ming was so excited he trembled: "Senior Brother Qin... is too strong!"

Qin Yuan turned around and said to the tenth peak disciple inside the magic array, "It's safe now, come out."

The four of them then came to their senses, quickly dispelled the magic array, walked up to Qin Yuan, and bowed deeply, saying, "Thank you so much, Senior Brother Qin, for saving our lives!"

"No need," Qin Yuan waved his hand. "What are your plans next?"

The leader, a young man at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment, said with a wry smile, "We're too weak. We originally wanted to gather some resources on the outskirts, but we didn't expect to encounter the Seventh Peak... Now, we'd like to follow Senior Brother Qin, is that alright?"

Qin Yuan looked at them and nodded: "Okay, but take care of yourselves if you encounter any danger."

"yes!"

The group left the valley and rejoined the main force at the Fifth Peak.

Outside the Xuan Yuan Small Realm, on the grassland in the valley.

The nine elders sat in a circle, with a huge water mirror floating in the center. The mirror was divided into dozens of small images, displaying the scenes of various places in the secret realm in real time.

Suddenly, seven beams of white light appeared in succession in one of the images in the upper left corner of the water mirror.

"Oh? Someone's already out so quickly?" The presiding elder raised an eyebrow.

All the elders looked over.

Elder Li of the Seventh Peak's expression changed—the location where the seven white lights appeared was precisely the valley where one of his Seventh Peak's squads was located! Moreover, judging from the scene, that squad was instantly wiped out!

"Who did this?!" Elder Li's face darkened.

The scene shifts to the valley: Qin Yuan leaves with the disciples of the tenth and fifth peaks, while the seven people from the seventh peak have vanished without a trace.

"The Fifth Peak... Qin Yuan!" Elder Li gritted his teeth.

The other elders also witnessed this scene and all showed expressions of surprise.

"This Qin Yuan... is even stronger than rumored," said the Eighth Peak Elder, stroking his beard.

"That team from the Seventh Peak, the leader of that arrogant guy was only at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, right? How could he be instantly killed?" The Ninth Peak elder clicked his tongue in amazement.

Elder Xu smiled and said, "Qin Yuan is indeed a good child."

Elder Li's face turned ashen, and he coldly snorted, "It was nothing more than a successful sneak attack. Once he encounters Xiong Li, he'll know what true strength is!"

Before he finished speaking, another change appeared in the water mirror.

The two teams met at the edge of the core area.

They are the main force of the third and seventh peaks!

Qin Yuan led the combined teams from the Fifth and Tenth Peaks towards the core area.

With his divine sense probing, the team avoided many monster lairs and other teams from other peaks, reaping a rich harvest.

When they arrived at the edge of the core area, each of them had a lot of spiritual herbs and materials in their storage bags.

The core area is a vast valley, with a hundred-zhang-high platform in the center. On the platform are three jade boxes—the final rewards placed by the sect, which only the top three peaks are qualified to open.

Surrounding the valley are the "Hundred Herbs Garden" and the "Spirit Beast Valley," where spiritual herbs abound and rare monsters lurk.

At this moment, at the entrance to the valley, the two teams are facing off.

On one side was the Third Peak, led by Lu Yun, followed by nine inner disciples, each with an impressive aura.

On the other side was the Seventh Peak, led by Xiong Li, who also brought nine elite soldiers.

Both were experts at the ninth or tenth level of Foundation Establishment. At this moment, their auras were released and collided with each other, causing sparks of spiritual energy to fly in the air.

"Lu Yun, your Third Peak stole a thousand-year-old spiritual ginseng from our Seventh Peak last year. It's time to settle this score," Xiong Li sneered.

Lu Yun said expressionlessly, "Treasures belong to the capable. If you have the ability, you can take them back this year."

"Alright!" Xiong Li laughed. "Let's have a match first, to warm up!"

Just as the two were about to make their move, Lu Yun suddenly raised his hand: "Wait."

"What, scared?" Xiong Li mocked.

Lu Yun ignored him and said in a deep voice, "Xiong Li, we'll have to settle this sooner or later. But before that, there's something we need to deal with first."

"What is it?"

"Qin Yuan of the Fifth Peak." A cold glint flashed in Lu Yun's eyes. "He poached disciples from my Third Peak and injured some of my Third Peak members. This debt must be settled."

Xiong Li raised an eyebrow: "Coincidentally, our peak master also instructed us to 'take care' of Qin Yuan in this secret realm."

The two looked at each other and suddenly laughed.

"How about..." Lu Yun said, "we join forces temporarily to deal with Qin Yuan first, and then compete for the resources in the core area?"

Xiong Li stroked his bald head and thought for a moment: "Okay. But how will we divide the spoils after we kill Qin Yuan?"

"It all depends on our abilities," Lu Yun said. "Anyway, we haven't reached the first and second peaks yet, so we have plenty of time."

"make a deal."

The two reached an agreement and were about to discuss the specific plan when a disciple from the Seventh Peak rushed over:

"Senior Brother Xiong! Zhang Kuang and the others... are out!"

"What?!" Xiong Li's expression changed drastically. "What happened?!"

"It was Qin Yuan from the Fifth Peak! He led the people from the Tenth Peak and wiped out Zhang Kuang and his entire gang in the valley!"

Xiong Li and Lu Yun exchanged a glance, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.

Zhang Kuang was at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, leading six disciples at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, yet he was completely wiped out by Qin Yuan? Qin Yuan's strength...

"It seems we underestimated him," Lu Yun said in a deep voice.

A fierce glint flashed in Xiong Li's eyes: "Then we should get rid of him even sooner!"

Just then, footsteps were heard at the entrance of the valley.

Qin Yuan led the combined teams from the Fifth and Tenth Peaks as he entered.

Upon seeing Xiong Li and Lu Yun, Qin Yuan did not stop walking; he walked straight to a spot ten feet in front of them and stopped.

"Oh, you're both here." He glanced at the two of them and said casually, "It saves me the trouble of looking for them one by one."

Xiong Li stared at Qin Yuan, then suddenly frowned—he still couldn't see through Qin Yuan's cultivation level! This made him feel uneasy.

"Qin Yuan, where are your men?" Lu Yun asked coldly. "Did you kill Zhang Kuang and the others?"

Qin Yuan nodded: "It's me. Your people will be joining them soon."

"Arrogant!" Lu Yun laughed angrily. "You think that just because you defeated someone like Zhang Kuang, you can stand against us? Let me tell you, the seventh level of Foundation Establishment and the ninth level of Foundation Establishment are two different worlds!"

Xiong Li also stepped forward, his aura as a peak Foundation Establishment level 10 erupting: "Qin Yuan, I'll give you one last chance: hand over all your resources, crush the teleportation talisman yourself to get out of the game, and I can let you suffer less."

Qin Yuan looked at the two of them and suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, yet it sent a chill down the spines of Xiong Li and Lu Yun.

"I'll give you a chance too." Qin Yuan held up three fingers. "Within three breaths, you're out. Otherwise..."

He paused, his gaze suddenly turning cold:

"I'll send you on your way."

As soon as he finished speaking, the terrifying aura of the Foundation Establishment Realm expert was released without reservation!

boom--!!!

A sudden gust of wind swept through the entire valley!