Ye Feng scanned his surroundings, his expression grim.
The four paths forward were blocked, and the figures blocking them were not ordinary explorers, but leaders from the major factions present at the ancient ruins.
The one who had initially fired stone spikes at them was the portly middle-aged man from the City of Arcane, who smiled like a Maitreya Buddha – Tu Jian.
The one blocking them with fire was Ji Hei from the Explorer's Guild, a man as dark as his name suggested, his entire being gleaming with oil!
And the one blocking their path with a sandstorm was Sha Gui of Desert Storm. Currently, the latter was in the middle of a vast expanse of sand, his body semi-transparent and emitting a white light.
Finally, there were A Jin and Hai Chuzi from the Sea Restaurant...
"Ye Feng, watch out for No. 11 from Brad Base!"
Seeing this, Shen Yun Yao warned him, as No. 11 was nowhere to be seen.
"Young man, where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?"
Tu Jian, the plump man, narrowed his eyes and spoke to Ye Feng.
Due to his extreme girth, his eyes were almost closed when he squinted.
The other three said nothing, but stared intently at Ye Feng.
As for the other explorers, even those belonging to the five major factions, they had retreated far behind. They understood clearly that the current situation was not something they could interfere with...
"Give me the Stone of Hope!"
After staring at Ye Feng for a good while, the four of them spoke almost simultaneously.
As their voices fell, the expressions of Tu Jian, Ji Hei, Sha Gui, and A Jin's factions changed, and the atmosphere grew tense.
"Hey, Ji Hei, you t—"
At this moment, Sha Gui seemed truly afraid that Ye Feng might accept A Jin's offer, and let out a sinister voice.
Ye Feng stared at Sha Gui for a long time, then finally nodded and said, "Alright!"
Despite saying this, Ye Feng tossed the massive Stone of Hope towards Ji Hei.
"What?"
Ji Hei's face showed clear surprise, but his body reacted with lightning speed.
After a brief moment of stunned disbelief, he stepped forward several paces, extended his hand, and attempted to retrieve the Stone of Hope into his spatial rift ring.
But at that very instant, the ground before Ji Hei exploded upwards, forming a massive stone wall.
Ji Hei's body flashed with arcane energy, shattering the stone wall directly.
The stone wall created by Tu Jian barely slowed Ji Hei's progress. Just as Ji Hei's hand was about to touch the Stone of Hope...
"Crack! ~ Splash! ~"
Suddenly, several water-attribute arcane energy ropes, as thick as an adult's arm, erupted from the puddles beneath Ji Hei. They directly bound Ji Hei and pulled him downwards. It was Shen Yun Yao who had made her move.
The moment Ji Hei's body was pulled to the ground, several grenades thrown by Xiao Xiao landed above him.
"Bang! ~ Boom! ~"
Violent explosions and flashes of fire erupted instantly.
"Bang!"
A dull thud followed, as Ye Feng arrived beside the Stone of Hope, kicked it over ten meters away, and then caught it again.
"Young man, I've already shown enough sincerity!"
"But you don't seem to trust me very much!"
At this moment, A Jin's voice rang out.
"Huh?"
Ye Feng, pulling the iron chain binding the Stone of Hope, was somewhat surprised, as A Jin had indeed helped him block Sha Gui's attack just now.
Xiao Xiao, holding the Angel's Blade Royal Decree, and Shen Yun Yao, cooperating, ran to Ye Feng's side, also looking at A Jin with considerable bewilderment.
"Ye Feng... do you have any connection with that A Jin?"
Shen Yun Yao asked with some doubt.
"No..."
Ye Feng frowned.
Judging from the situation just now, it was highly possible that A Jin had seen him taking the arcane crystals in the suspended waterfall through some means, but the other party had not exposed him...
"Bang bang! ~ Splash~ Splash~!"
After the collision of Sha Gui's sand and A Jin's water fists, they each retreated several meters.
"Hey, A Jin, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Sha Gui's controlled sand, having mixed with water, had formed chunks, greatly reducing its flexibility. He glared angrily at A Jin.
A Jin did not reply, but looked at Ye Feng again, winking at him, "What do you say, young man? As long as the price is fair, I'm a man of my word!"
After speaking, A Jin glanced at Xiao Xiao next to Ye Feng, clearly hinting at the matter of him using super pure water to help Xiao Xiao remove the zombie's breath earlier.
"Ah! Ya~ Ddada~!"
"Swoosh~! ~ Hiss! Ah~"
"Crack~"
Before Ye Feng could reply, screams and gunshots erupted from explorers a considerable distance away.
A silver shadow flashed rapidly through the explorers, and one by one, they fell to the ground screaming...
...