Tianyu's young face displayed a rare look of stunned confusion. After a moment, he gripped Zhan Jiuzhou's shoulder and said helplessly, "My dear grand-nephew, that little benefactor cannot be counted. She is no longer here; you should give up!"
Straining to finish speaking, he closed his eyes and fainted.
"Uncle Tianyu!"
Seeing that not only had the person not been found, but Tianyu had also fainted, Lan Xuerou immediately panicked. Yet, at this moment, the battle situation between Yue Ci and Yun Youyue ahead also took a sudden turn.
Just as Yue Ci and Jing Fei were about to capture Jing Lan and Yun Youyue, a giant Celestial Dragon Serpent suddenly appeared and blocked them for a moment. Yun Youyue immediately crushed her jade tablet and vanished!
Following that, Jing Lan did the same, escaping. The Celestial Dragon Serpent then dispersed into a cloud of black mist and fled.
"Damn it! Why did the jade tablet's functionality recover at this particular time!" Yue Ci gritted his teeth, furious, and punched the ground.
Zhan Jiuzhou and Jing Fei harbored even greater resentment.
"The one who let Yun Youyue escape was Sun Chongyang!"
Jing Fei's gentle voice carried a mix of bewilderment and dissatisfaction. "Why would he do that? He knows Yun Youyue is a traitor from Shenqi Mountain! Neither the academy nor the captain has ever wronged him!"
Zhan Jiuzhou knew more than Jing Fei. "It should be because of the Sun family."
He briefly explained the Sun family's affairs to Jing Fei, then put away his twin blades and stood up, saying coldly, "Whether it's true or not, the captain has done nothing wrong to him. Since he dared to do such a thing, he must bear the same punishment as Yun Youyue."
"What's your plan?" Yue Ci asked.
Zhan Jiuzhou took out a jade tablet.
"Sun Chongyang's jade tablet?" Jing Fei saw Zhan Jiuzhou nod and immediately understood. "His jade tablet is in our hands. If that's the case, we don't have to worry about him escaping like Yun Youyue."
"Indeed." Zhan Jiuzhou turned and instructed the cultivators from Wanbao Pavilion behind him, who moved like shadows, "Issue a decree to halt the competition and mobilize all forces to capture Sun Chongyang. As for Yun Youyue..."
He beckoned to another person, who immediately understood and crushed their jade tablet, leaving the secret realm.
After Zhan Jiuzhou finished giving his orders, Yue Ci followed suit, issuing the same command to the members of Yue Qingshan.
Not far away, Bai Xia watched these developments, her gaze deepening. However, with a look of concern, she hobbled forward. "Senior Brother Jing Fei, are you all right?"
Jing Fei shook his head. "It's a shame that traitor Yun Youyue got away."
"She's truly a despicable person!" Bai Xia gritted her teeth and cursed. "And so am I. I was blind back then to have even become friends with such a person."
Jing Fei said gently, "Don't blame yourself, Bai Xia. None of us expected Yun Youyue to be this kind of person."
Worried that Bai Xia might be dwelling on the matter and affecting her recovery, he unthinkingly changed the subject.
"Bai Xia, I think this rain will last for several more days. Although the jade tablets can be used now, the competition isn't over yet. I plan to explore the surroundings a bit more, and perhaps look for Sun Chongyang, Sun Ling, and Li Shiqing. It would be even better if I could find the captain."
As he spoke, Jing Fei couldn't help but sigh. He thought of Bai Shengyi and then of the cultivators behind Zhan Jiuzhou.
Zhan Jiuzhou had joined their competition team temporarily. He only knew that the other party was from the Bu Tian team, and knew nothing else. Now it seemed that the other party was also connected to Wanbao Pavilion.
However, Zhan Jiuzhou's strength was not the highest among those Wanbao Pavilion cultivators. Why would those cultivators listen to him?
Did Elder Yun and the captain know about all this?
He had always been humble, gentle, stable, and dignified, an undisputed leader of the Shenqi Academy. Yet, at this moment, Jing Fei's heart was filled with mixed emotions and great hesitation.
However, he still made up his mind.
Jing Fei looked up and said to Bai Xia, "You are injured now, and it will be inconvenient for you in the secret realm, nor will it be conducive to your recovery, so..."
He felt it was somewhat cruel to say the rest to Bai Xia.
"Senior Brother, you want me to withdraw, don't you?" Bai Xia asked directly.
"Bai Xia, I..." Jing Fei started but stopped. "The captain is not here, Sun Chongyang has defected, and I have doubts about Sun Ling and Zhan Jiuzhou... Therefore, one of us must leave the secret realm to inform the academy of all this. If it were possible, I would have returned myself."
Jing Fei was not a shameless person. The more he spoke, the more hypocritical his words felt.
But he understood even better that their purpose in coming to the Huan Yu minor secret realm was for the Shenqi Grand Gathering, and Shenqi Mountain must achieve good results in the Grand Gathering.
"Senior Brother Jing Fei, I understand." Bai Xia laughed heartily, then hugged Jing Fei. She saw Jing Fei's instantly flushed face, a faint glint in her eyes, and with an air of carefree nonchalance, said, "I will return now."
Without hesitation, Bai Xia crushed her jade tablet.
"You let Bai Xia go back?"
As soon as Bai Xia left, Zhan Jiuzhou walked over.
His tone was not very good. Jing Fei frowned, his guard rising. "What's wrong?"
"Bai Xia might have a problem."
As soon as Zhan Jiuzhou spoke, Jing Fei immediately looked up and said seriously, "Fellow Daoist Zhan, do not speak carelessly."
"I grew up with Bai Xia, entered the academy at the same time, and have adventured together several times. I know her better than anyone else." Jing Fei suppressed his anger, and the peony in his hand became more flamboyant and vibrant.
Zhan Jiuzhou also had his own suppressed anger.
The thought of Bai Shengyi having an accident right under his nose made him want to tear Yun Youyue, that scoundrel, into a million pieces!
Hearing Jing Fei's blunt words, he let out a cold snort. "Then tell me, why, when the captain fell from the sky from exhaustion, were you so close yet did not intervene?"
...
Deep within the desert of the Huan Yu minor secret realm.
Due to the continuous rain, it had become a muddy, soggy place.
A man ran with difficulty, slipping with every step. Just as he was about to cross a mud mountain, two sharp arrows, one blue and one red, followed closely behind and pierced him fiercely.
"Ah!" Sun Chongyang cried out in pain. With a grim expression, he turned his head to look at the woman relentlessly pursuing him. "Li Shiqing, are you crazy?"
In fact, Jing Fei had said something incorrectly. At that time, gathered on the grassland, in addition to their group, Li Shiqing, who had just broken through to the late Nascent Soul stage, was also present. The ice dragon and fire phoenix that blocked the Azure Dragon's strike were both from Li Shiqing's hand.
However, that strike had consumed all of Li Shiqing's spiritual power, so she had been very low-key in recovering her spiritual power afterward.
Unfortunately, although she saw Yun Youyue, she was unable to block the Jinshi Beiyu Cup.
She originally wanted to kill Yun Youyue, but she saw Bai Xia's abnormality. By the time she reacted, it was too late, and Sun Chongyang had let Yun Youyue escape.
Li Shiqing said coldly, "I don't know if I'm crazy, but I know you, Sun Chongyang, are definitely crazy! Why did you let Yun Youyue go? Don't you know she's the murderer of the captain?"
"What do you know!" Sun Chongyang spat, saying with immense hatred, "Bai Shengyi deserved it all! If not for her, how could our Sun family have been expelled from the Shenqi Continent? If not for her, how would our Sun family have fallen to the point of being besieged by spirit beasts, with our lives hanging by a thread!"
Thinking of the message from home, Sun Chongyang continued through gritted teeth, "Moreover, she also killed my grandfather! If Yun Youyue hadn't acted, I would have!"
"Li Shiqing, we have no grievances. I don't want to be your enemy," Sun Chongyang said with a mocking sneer on his sinister face. "Besides, you are also a victim of Bai Shengyi's schemes. I know that if Bai Shengyi hadn't calculated it back then, you and the Li family wouldn't have been implicated by Bai Murong and Qing Buli. As long as you stop now, we can even join forces in the future. Wouldn't that be good?"