"What? Gold rank five?"
Shen Yun Yao was shocked.
In just a few breaths, the pressure emanating from the man in the gold-rimmed glasses had surged from Gold rank three to Gold rank five.
Despite her surprise, Shen Yun Yao reacted swiftly, condensing another water ball engraved with an arcane array, intending to trap the man in the gold-rimmed glasses again.
"Chi~ Huala!~"
The man in the gold-rimmed glasses simply waved his hand, and a flash of fire instantly shattered Shen Yun Yao's condensed water ball.
Ye Feng frowned slightly. A glow flashed in his hand, and a syringe and a bottle of transparent potion appeared.
With extreme speed, he drew the potion into the syringe and then flashed beside the man in the gold-rimmed glasses. After several solid collisions, "Peng Peng!~", Ye Feng successfully injected the potion into the man.
"Ye Feng, it won't work! The Arcane Poison is ineffective against Gold rank five and above Arcanists! It will be isolated to a specific area!"
Upon seeing this, Shen Yun Yao immediately shouted anxiously.
Hearing this, Ye Feng retreated several meters, maintaining a distance from the man in the gold-rimmed glasses.
"Shen Yun Yao, you truly are that old man's disciple. You know quite a lot!"
The man in the gold-rimmed glasses' voice was filled with displeasure. He had originally intended to suppress his aura, then deliver a fatal blow to Ye Feng.
"Kid, I admit, you are strong, but... wha... what?"
The arrogant voice of the man in the gold-rimmed glasses was cut short, replaced by immense surprise.
Shen Yun Yao also frowned.
Because the arcane energy of the man in the gold-rimmed glasses was rapidly decreasing, and the pressure he emitted was also swiftly weakening...
In a short while, the man in the gold-rimmed glasses followed in the footsteps of the leather-pants man, lying on the ground, his face withered as he groaned...
"No... impossible... I was clearly Gold rank five... why..."
The man in the gold-rimmed glasses muttered to himself, his face filled with astonishment.
Shen Yun Yao also looked at Ye Feng with surprise. It was the first time she had seen the Arcane Poison work on someone Gold rank five...
"Hoo~!"
Ye Feng let out a gentle sigh. The potion he had just injected into the man in the gold-rimmed glasses was not obtained from the leather-pants man. Instead, it was something he had confiscated from Mei You when he captured Mei You and Bi Mao near the ancient dune battlefield.
Ye Feng was also somewhat surprised.
He had merely guessed if the potion on Mei You might be different from the leather-pants man's... He hadn't expected it to be different indeed...
Judging by the man in the gold-rimmed glasses' reaction, it seemed to be of a higher grade...
Immediately after, Ye Feng conducted a thorough and "friendly" interrogation of the man in the gold-rimmed glasses and the leather-pants man, then left the area with Xiao Xiao and Shen Yun Yao.
After all, the commotion just now was likely to attract others to investigate...
...
The three walked along a path overgrown with weeds and littered with robot wreckage.
"Ye Feng, is Xiao Xiao alright?"
Shen Yun Yao looked at Xiao Xiao, who had already fallen asleep on Ye Feng's back, with concern.
"She's fine. She's just exhausted from expending too much physical and mental energy, so she fell asleep!"
Ye Feng shook his head slightly and replied.
"That's good then!"
Hearing this, Shen Yun Yao was truly relieved.
"But speaking of which, Xiao Xiao's arcane energy fluctuations are only at Silver high-tier, yet her combat power far exceeds Silver..."
Shen Yun Yao looked at the sleeping Xiao Xiao with a look of surprise. "That dark-skinned fellow... not only had a very peculiar ability, but his strength was at least Gold rank four... yet he was killed by Xiao Xiao..."
"Xiao Xiao has a rather special ability!"
Ye Feng couldn't help but think of the Angel Blade's Royal Decree and the Angel Armor, but he didn't elaborate.
"Yun Yao, who exactly did you offend in the City of Arcanists? Why are so many people trying to kill you?"
Then, Ye Feng looked at Shen Yun Yao with some bewilderment. "From the words of the leather-pants man and that man in the gold-rimmed glasses just now, their assassination attempt on you was actually tacitly approved by one of the so-called Five Arcanist Heroes, Tu Kui?!"
"I'm not entirely sure... The higher-ups in the City of Arcanists are divided into many factions... Especially after the disappearance of the Flame Ranger, it became even more complicated..."
"The fact that they wanted to frame Princess Bing for my death might be related to my teacher, Uncle Luo Ming!"
"Judging by the almost ridiculous level of imitation from the man in the gold-rimmed glasses earlier, if I had truly died at their hands, Uncle Luo Ming and Princess Bing would likely be in big trouble..."
Shen Yun Yao pondered for a moment and sighed helplessly.
"Luo Ming?"
Hearing this name, Ye Feng felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
"Yun Yao, is the Luo Ming you're referring to a muscular middle-aged man with a red bandana tied to his forehead, who looks quite kind?"
Ye Feng recalled Luo Ming, whom he had met at the Tyrannosaurus Rex base, and asked.
"Uh... yes, that's right~"
Shen Yun Yao was slightly taken aback. "Ye Feng, you know Uncle Luo Ming?"
"Sort of. I bought arcane energy firearms from him."
Ye Feng nodded.
"No way..."
Shen Yun Yao was speechless for a moment.
"By the way, Ye Feng, was what you wrote in that letter last time really just your personal insights on arcane cultivation?"
Suddenly, Shen Yun Yao seemed to remember something important and lowered her voice, asking Ye Feng.
"That letter... you mean the letter I gave you the day we left Mech City?"
"It's my insights on arcane cultivation, summarized from reading many books!"
"Why do you ask?"
Seeing Shen Yun Yao's serious expression, Ye Feng was somewhat puzzled.
"Ye Feng, you..."
Shen Yun Yao looked at Ye Feng with a strange gaze. "You seem unaware of how valuable what you wrote is, especially your understanding of arcane runes and arcane formations..."
"When I first arrived at Mech City and underwent the assessment, I revealed some of the contents... some parts of that letter... shocked the high-ranking officials of the City of Arcanists."
"Some even suspected that I had infiltrated the core of the City of Arcanists and stolen their secret tomes..."
"However, the contents of the letter probably differed from the secret tomes of the City of Arcanists. Coupled with the fact that the Arcane Core is the highest secret of the City of Arcanists... despite their shock, they didn't truly believe I had stolen anything..."
"Finally, I lied and said an old senior gave it to me, and they were convinced..."
Shen Yun Yao quickly explained to Ye Feng, her voice full of astonishment.
"What the heck? What's going on?"
Ye Feng was equally surprised.
The insights on arcane energy and arcane rune cultivation in that letter were written after multiple in-depth discussions with Shen Qing, Shen Bai, and others, combined with the records from the Fire Seed Codex and the Soul Reaper's Secret Records. A considerable portion of it was content from the Fire Seed Codex...
"It seems the Fire Seed Codex and the Soul Reaper's Secret Records are not just guides to this ancient ruin... they might hold value that I haven't yet discovered!"
After some thought, Ye Feng muttered to himself.
"Before coming to this ancient ruin, I anticipated that someone might make a move against me, and the reason was the content in the letter you gave me..."
"But I didn't expect so many people to target me... and even involve the Five Arcanist Heroes..."
She paused, Shen Yun Yao added again.
"Speaking of which, poor Princess Bing!"
Finally, Shen Yun Yao added.
"Princess Bing? Bing, what happened to her?"
Hearing this, Ye Feng became worried.
...