As the original stone in Mo Qi's palm melted, a continuous stream of spiritual energy flowed into his body, like a tidal surge, vast and powerful, surging madly.
The sea of his soul also rose and fell, responding fiercely to the immense tide of spiritual energy.
This was a critical juncture for a breakthrough, and Mo Qi absolutely could not be disturbed, otherwise, he might suffer a qi deviation.
Yet, he could clearly sense Shui Han approaching him.
He didn't know what she intended, but he could do nothing.
If she harbored ill intentions, he could only accept his fate.
Shui Han, however, sat down beside him.
Very, very close; he could almost smell her faint fragrance.
"This spirit stone, if you don't use it and instead count it towards the competition, do you know how many points it would add to your score?" Shui Han suddenly had a mischievous thought and began speaking to herself.
Mo Qi couldn't help but feel a surge of blood and qi, nearly losing his breath.
Shui Han continued, "I know what you're thinking. You believe the prizes for winning the competition are nothing special, so you've decided to enjoy it directly."
"But have you ever considered if your actions are too selfish?"
"Have you thought about your teammates? Because of your selfishness, they might lose out on some valuable prizes."
Mo Qi was indeed greatly affected, his soul sea churning, almost leading to a qi deviation.
But Shui Han should not have, of all things, mentioned teammates. Those useless teammates, when had they ever considered him a teammate?
Therefore, it was only natural for him to enjoy what he had found himself.
What's more, Shui Han, who was usually taciturn, found herself racking her brain for more words, but couldn't come up with anything.
Her original intention was to continuously nag him, disrupting Mo Qi's concentration and causing him to suffer a qi deviation.
However, she was truly poor at speaking, and all she could repeat was talk of selfishness and heartlessness.
Eventually, Mo Qi became immune to it!
She herself felt her words were pale, powerless, and utterly meaningless, so she eventually gave up!
She felt much more relaxed when she stopped talking!
It seemed silence suited her best!
At this moment, Qiang Senrui and the other three walked over.
Shui Han looked up and simply watched them with cold eyes.
These four understood after just one glance.
They were so close; if they intended to harm Mo Qi, Shui Han would inevitably be injured as well.
Therefore, Shui Han's intention was to prevent Mo Qi from being harmed.
"Alas," Qiang Senrui sighed, "it's such a waste to let him use such a good thing. It's like casting pearls before swine."
After speaking, he turned and left.
The other three had no choice but to follow.
A moment later, as the cycle of the heavens was completed, Mo Qi had broken through to the eighth level of Human Immortal.
Opening his eyes, Mo Qi saw Shui Han sitting beside him and immediately smiled warmly, "Thank you!"
Shui Han gave him a look of disdain, stood up, and walked away into the distance.
Mo Qi still intended to follow her like a shadow.
Just then, Xiao Bu Dian arrived, and he was forced to stop and attend to Xiao Bu Dian.
As a result of that momentary delay, Shui Han had vanished without a trace.
Mo Qi looked around, unable to find any sign of Shui Han, and felt a pang of anxiety. He quickly sent Xiao Bu Dian away, then headed towards secluded corners and the depths of the mountains himself.
No matter how careful he was, it was almost impossible not to encounter anyone. Moments later, he heard a voice: "Don't chase me alone. I don't have much. Even if I gave it all to you, there wouldn't be much."
It sounded like Wu Lei's voice. From the situation, it seemed someone was chasing him, wanting to snatch his spirit stones.
After all, they were from the same team; he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
Mo Qi immediately moved towards the direction of the sound.
The voice was running in this direction, so in no time, he saw the two people: the one fleeing was Wu Lei, and the one chasing him was Cai Xun from the Ge family.
Previously, Cai Xun had been keeping an eye on Duan Ganxin, rendering him completely ineffective. But at a certain moment, he noticed Wu Lei quietly collecting spirit stones.
He immediately turned his attention to chasing Wu Lei. Their strategy wasn't to rob anyone; their main objective was to prevent others from collecting spirit stones. After all, they had someone who was continuously collecting spirit stones, and moreover, a master at it.
As long as they ensured that others collected spirit stones slower than them, they would win.
Therefore, throughout the chase, he had only been leisurely pursuing Wu Lei without making a move.
Wu Lei, however, was simply running, completely oblivious to the fact that his pursuer had no intention of attacking.
Seeing Mo Qi approaching, he was overjoyed, resorting to desperate measures.
"Save me, save me," he shouted at Mo Qi as he ran.
Mo Qi's thoughts raced in his mind.
Saving Wu Lei was a matter of righteousness!
But if he were to save him, he had no confidence he could succeed, and it was highly likely that both he and Wu Lei would be bogged down dealing with Cai Xun.
In other words, Cai Xun could tie up two of their people by himself.
This was not a worthwhile trade!
Not saving Wu Lei was a matter of strategy!
Furthermore, from his perspective, it was clear that Cai Xun was not using his full strength, maintaining a lazy demeanor throughout.
Therefore, Cai Xun was merely toying with Wu Lei!
If Cai Xun wanted to play, let him play.
Mo Qi suddenly moved aside, crossed his arms, and adopted a haughty posture.
His attitude was clear!
Both Cai Xun and Wu Lei understood.
Wu Lei cursed as he ran past Mo Qi.
Cai Xun, however, was somewhat disappointed. He had genuinely hoped Mo Qi would save Wu Lei, but unexpectedly, this fellow was so cowardly, refusing to help when it mattered!
His mind also raced. Should he continue chasing Wu Lei, or switch his focus to Mo Qi?
But in an instant, he made his decision: he would continue chasing Wu Lei.
This fellow who wanted to block the path but didn't dare to was too weak to be a threat.
If he were to waste his time on him, wouldn't that be a waste of half a person?
Therefore, he decisively ran past Mo Qi, ignoring him.
Mo Qi continued to hide and evade, his victory lying in not attracting attention!
The prerequisite was that Xiao Bu Dian would not be intercepted!
But as fate would have it, moments later, he heard Xiao Bu Dian's cry. His heart sank, and he immediately flew towards the direction of the sound.
From a distance, he saw Qiang Senrui chasing and attacking Xiao Bu Dian.
The Xin family had long since realized that Xiao Bu Dian was Mo Qi's trump card. He relied on it to continuously collect spirit stones, and its speed in collecting spirit stones was faster than anyone else's.
If nothing unexpected happened, Mo Qi would win the competition with its help.
How could the Xin family tolerate such a thing?
Therefore, while keeping an eye on the Wang family, they were also searching for Xiao Bu Dian everywhere.
Their efforts were not in vain; before long, Qiang Senrui found Xiao Bu Dian's whereabouts.
Without hesitation, he launched an attack on Xiao Bu Dian.
Even when its body expanded and grew larger, Xiao Bu Dian was no match for him. It could only cry out and flee.
Mo Qi now considered Xiao Bu Dian as his own family. How could he tolerate his family being bullied?
He immediately unleashed the Qiankun Ring, which emitted a powerful radiance and struck towards Qiang Senrui.
Qiang Senrui wielded a precious sword, which controlled a talisman. The talisman was inscribed with runes, and as the sword danced, it emitted a purple-gold light from the runes, continuously striking at Xiao Bu Dian. Xiao Bu Dian initially blocked a few attacks with its black energy, but it was no match and could only flee desperately.
While fleeing, it dodged Qiang Senrui's attacks.
Despite its current large size, it was still agile, dodging and weaving, managing to evade most of Qiang Senrui's attacks. However, it was still grazed a few times, causing it to yelp in pain.
Seeing Mo Qi suddenly appear, Xiao Bu Dian also let out a joyful cry and ran towards Mo Qi.
Mo Qi's Qiankun Ring emitted a dense light, striking towards Qiang Senrui. Qiang Senrui sneered, "Finally, you've shown yourself? Just in time to catch you all."
As he predicted, when he chased and attacked the little demonic beast, Mo Qi would definitely appear. Then he would capture them all and force them to hand over the spirit stones they had collected.
At this moment, everything seemed to be developing according to his expectations.
He felt a sense of smugness.
Seeing Mo Qi attack with his magical artifact, he disdained it, casually pointing his precious sword. The talisman's light intensified, like streaks of purple-gold swords, densely meeting the white light.
The white light exploded like a balloon encountering a needle, rapidly shrinking. The purple-gold light powerfully collided with the Qiankun Ring.
The Qiankun Ring swayed, almost falling. Mo Qi frantically channeled his spiritual power, feeling a pressure as heavy as Mount Tai pressing down.
Unable to withstand the fierce and powerful pressure any longer, it was instantly crushed. He was sent flying like a kite with a broken string.
The Qiankun Ring was knocked to the ground, and the white light was instantly scattered.
The purple-gold light continued to roar forward, sweeping towards Mo Qi, who was still rolling on the ground.
If struck, Mo Qi would surely be pulverized!
While rolling, in a moment of desperation, he awkwardly threw out the Ding Long Pearl.
The Ding Long Pearl emitted a radiant light, connecting heaven and earth. Upon contact with the purple-gold light, it also dissipated instantly.
The Ding Long Pearl fell to the ground.
However, the purple-gold light also suffered maximum consumption. The sharp blades at the front of the sword-like beams became blunt.
The entire light mass also became blurry and gradually dispersed.
Finally, it transformed into a blurry purple-gold light shadow that struck Mo Qi.
Mo Qi's body tore, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, falling to the ground and unable to get up for a long time.
Xiao Bu Dian had shrunk back and was growling and baring its teeth at Qiang Senrui.
Qiang Senrui smiled triumphantly, looking at Mo Qi, without launching any further attacks.
The talisman simply floated in the air, like a sleeping demon, its eyes closed, temporarily devoid of its ferocity.
"Hand over the spirit stones you found, and you won't have to suffer any physical pain," Qiang Senrui said with a smile.
"You're not qualified," Mo Qi slowly stood up, holding the Jiutian Divine Arrow, and aimed it at Qiang Senrui.
Qiang Senrui's expression immediately changed. There was a hint of tension. He had heard of Mo Qi's magical artifact, which had been invincible on the battlefield, but he believed its true power was not as exaggerated as the legends claimed.
After all, he himself only had Human Immortal cultivation.