Chapter 139: Dispute

"My roasted earth dragon tendons, my earth dragon meat." Yiran sat in front of the formation, her delicate face filled with deep regret.

Shen Qingyun looked at the self-proclaimed foodie before him and shook his head helplessly. "Don't be sad. Your Crimson Flame Formation is actually quite formidable. I never took you for a formation master!"

Turning her head to glare at Shen Qingyun, Yiran aggrievedly muttered, "I'm never playing with formations again."

"..." Shen Qingyun glanced at the armored rhinoceros carcass not far away, thinking to himself that lacking dragon meat, this beast would have to suffice.

After all, the little one wasn't picky.

...

The next day, the trio set off once more. They traveled along the route Yiran had taken when she fled, effectively retracing their steps. According to Yiran's estimations, at their current pace, it would take at most half a day to reach the Ghost Wolf Lair again.

The three of them moved with agile grace, darting freely through the dense forest. With the lightest touch of their toes against the ground or even tree trunks, their bodies would shoot forward like arrows, the rushing wind whistling past their ears.

Shen Qingyun paused on a tree branch, reaching out to press his palm against the empty air. Seeing this, Feng Chuxun and Yiran promptly sought out trees of their own and halted upon the branches.

Feng Chuxun leaped over to the same tree as Shen Qingyun, crouching on an adjacent branch to ask in a low voice, "Is something the matter?"

Shen Qingyun nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly as he gazed at the forest ahead. "There are a lot of people up ahead."

Feng Chuxun blinked. What did other people have to do with them?

"There are also quite a few fierce beasts," Shen Qingyun added.

A sharp glint crossed Feng Chuxun's eyes. "What are they doing?"

Shen Qingyun smiled faintly and gestured for Yiran to come over. Seeing this, Yiran wandered over in confusion.

Shen Qingyun asked, "Yiran, are you certain your sister and the others will be waiting for you at the Ghost Wolf Lair?"

Yiran nodded vigorously, promising, "Definitely! My sister and I made an agreement."

"Good."

Shen Qingyun pursed his lips and asked again, "Then how far are we from the Ghost Wolf Lair now?"

Yiran thought about it earnestly before replying, "About the time it takes to burn half an incense stick."

"We will suspend our journey for now."

Shen Qingyun pondered for a moment before declaring this to Feng Chuxun and Yiran.

"Why?" Yiran asked, bewildered.

"To engage in a spot of robbing the rich to help the poor." A meaningful arc formed at the corner of Shen Qingyun's mouth as he took the lead, dashing forward and plunging deep into the forest.

Feng Chuxun and Yiran closely followed behind.

In a clearing amidst the trees, a crowd of people formed a circle. Within this circle stood eight different fierce beasts. For the moment, these beasts had cast aside their inherent racial animosities, uniting to face a common enemy, their ferocious gazes locked onto these "uninvited guests."

"No one is to move forward rashly!"

Among the crowd, a young man's eyes flashed with a cold light. The sleeve on his left arm was torn, a crimson stain soaking a large patch of fabric. He was clearly the leader of this group. With his command, everyone maintained their circular formation, eyeing the beasts with extreme vigilance.

The beasts bore varying degrees of wounds, their auras sluggish and weak. The only reason they were still standing was due to sheer willpower.

Up in the canopy, Shen Qingyun nodded approvingly at this sight. Huddling together for mutual protection in a place like this was quite a clever idea. However, for these people to willingly obey his commands, this leader's strength must have been universally acknowledged; he was likely a student of the academy as well.

Glancing sideways at Feng Chuxun, Shen Qingyun asked, "How many of these beasts can you take out with a single sword strike?"

A sword gleam flashed across Feng Chuxun's eyes. "All of them."

"Good!" Shen Qingyun stated decisively. "These beasts are ours now."

Beside them, Yiran's eyes widened in shock. "Brother Shen Yun, are you planning to make a move against them?"

"What, is that a problem?" Shen Qingyun glanced at her and noticed a trace of hesitation on her face. "Yiran, having such a soft and indecisive heart is not a good thing. We are participating in a trial. We have no idea how many Beast Soul Pills are hidden in this forest. If we want a high ranking, turning our blades against fellow academy members in the end is inevitable."

The law of the jungle—the strong preying upon the weak—was forever the primary theme of this world.

Furthermore, Shen Qingyun was not simply making things up. The higher-ranked students of the Seven Palaces would all realize this eventually; there was a reason they held the top spots.

Once there was nothing left to explore in the forest, and they discovered that nearly all the Beast Soul Pills had been gathered, their targets would inevitably shift to those who possessed the pills—namely, the students of Zixiao Academy executing the trial.

Yiran blinked her dark, limpid eyes, a struggle flickering deep within them. After a moment, she said, "Brother Shen Yun, I won't actively attack them. And I don't believe your prediction that the Zixiao students will end up fighting among themselves."

This was the absolute limit of Yiran's compromise.

Shen Qingyun said, "No matter. You only need to set up a formation in secret and trap them inside."

As for whether they would end up turning on each other, let us wait and see!

Yiran nodded. This much she could manage.

"Make your move, and make the commotion as loud as possible," Shen Qingyun instructed Feng Chuxun.

"Understood."

Feng Chuxun nodded, his fingers closing around the hilt of the Red Snow sword. Pushing off the tree branch, his body shot forward like an arrow released from a taut bow, plunging directly toward the beasts. At the same time, Yiran began setting up her formation, runes dropping to the ground one after another and sinking invisibly into the earth without a single person noticing.

As Feng Chuxun descended upon the area, everyone froze. Before they could react, a terrifying sword intent and turbulent spiritual fluctuations had already flooded the surroundings.

"Who goes there!?"

Sensing the horrifying sword intent, Tao Jun's expression abruptly shifted as he shouted out.

Feng Chuxun stood atop a beast carcass, a chilling sternness frozen on his brow. The sword intent swirling around him radiated such sharpness that no one dared to draw near.

Tao Jun felt an immense wave of pressure—not originating from Feng Chuxun's cultivation realm, but from his heaven-piercing sword intent. As far as he knew, no one within Zixiao Academy had pushed their sword intent to such a terrifying degree. Perhaps someone in the Inner Court had, but such a person would never appear in a place like this.

If it wasn't a student, then only one possibility remained: this person was not from Zixiao Academy!

Eight Beast Soul Pills emerged from the bodies of the fallen beasts, flying upward to land squarely in Feng Chuxun's palm.

Seeing this, Tao Jun's complexion turned livid. "Who are you? Zixiao Academy is holding a trial here, and outsiders are not permitted to interfere!" Those eight Beast Soul Pills were the targets they had investigated beforehand and collected only after paying a heavy, bloody price. Now, they had simply become wedding dresses for someone else.

Feng Chuxun swept a cold glance over him and tossed the Beast Soul Pills up into the air. A relaxed, carefree voice rang out simultaneously. "Such precious items just tossed about so casually—what if they get chipped or bruised?"

The speaker was naturally Shen Qingyun. Moving like a phantom, he caught the Beast Soul Pills and drifted down gracefully, resembling an immortal descending from the heavens.

Gazing at Shen Qingyun suspended in the air, the hearts of everyone present trembled. Another one? Could they have run into bandits today?

Hostile glares fixed upon the newcomer. Naturally, they held no goodwill toward someone who had suddenly ambushed them and stolen the fruits of their hard labor.

"Your Excellency, these Beast Soul Pills are the spoils of Zixiao Academy. Isn't it rather unseemly of you to act this way?" Tao Jun said through a darkened expression.

"How can you say that?" Shen Qingyun replied with a beaming smile. "We saw you lot surrounding these beasts without killing them and assumed you had no interest in the Beast Soul Pills. Now that we've killed them, is it really too late to say you actually wanted them?"

"Your Excellency, I suggest you hand over the Beast Soul Pills," Tao Jun said coldly, his words dripping with overt threats.

"You all seem remarkably confident in your own strength." The smile never left Shen Qingyun's face.

"Hmph! In that case, don't blame us for being impolite!" Tao Jun let out a cold snort and waved his hand. "Attack! Take back the Beast Soul Pills!"

Shen Qingyun swept his gaze over them, then looked off into the distance, muttering softly, "Why haven't they arrived yet? Could the commotion not have been big enough?"

Spells were hurled forth in a flurry, all of which Feng Chuxun neutralized with his sword intent. Standing atop the pile of beast carcasses, Shen Qingyun looked down at them and said, "In terms of numbers, we are inferior. But in terms of strength, you lot are far behind!"

"Ignorant fool!" Tao Jun spat out coldly. "If you insist on seeking your own death, I will gladly oblige you!"

"Sword God, Intimidation."

Shen Qingyun's voice echoed out. Simultaneously, a terrifying wave of sword intent soared upward, piercing straight through the clouds.

In a certain camp, a tall female cultivator dressed in a printed long dress seemed to sense something. Her beautiful eyes lifted toward the source of the soaring sword intent. "Something is happening." She immediately turned her head to address the others in the camp. "An incident has occurred. Let's go take a look!"

...

The moment Shen Qingyun's words fell, an invisible domain instantly enveloped the clearing. The winds and clouds shifted dramatically; everything was locked down and suppressed, leaving even the void itself with no escape.

Tao Jun's face morphed into one of utter shock. He discovered that he could no longer move his body. Staring at Shen Qingyun with horrified eyes, he thought: Did he cause all of this? If this is real, just how terrifying is this man's true strength?

Shen Qingyun leaped down from the beast carcass and strolled leisurely over to stand right in front of Tao Jun. Examining him closely, he smiled warmly and asked, "How many Beast Soul Pills do you all have?"

At that precise moment, Shen Qingyun sensed several presences entering the range of his divine sense. With a flick of his mind, the restraining power of the Intimidation vanished instantly, and everything returned to normal.

Several formidable spiritual fluctuations rushed in from afar, gradually permeating the atmosphere of this region. Tao Jun and the others wore startled expressions as they looked toward the source of the fluctuations—were reinforcements arriving?

Swish!

Several figures moved at lightning speed. One second they were mere silhouettes far away, and in the next heartbeat, they had arrived right before them. Yiran also jumped down from her tree and hurried to Shen Qingyun's side. "My sister is here."

Shen Qingyun glanced at Yiran and then shifted his gaze toward the newly arrived figure, whose alluring physique was now fully visible.

Everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to look. First, they lingered on that statuesque, tall figure, appreciating her form before raising their gazes to rest upon an exquisite face.

"Yilin." Tao Jun's mouth twitched slightly; he was clearly well acquainted with the newcomer.

"Sister!"

The moment Yiran spotted Yilin, she launched herself directly into her arms. Seeing that Yiran was unharmed, the coldness in Yilin's eyes rapidly melted away, replaced by a tender warmth as she pulled her younger sister into a tight embrace. "Where on earth did you run off to? You scared the life out of me! When I finished dealing with the Ghost Wolf King and came back to find you gone, I was worried sick."

Yiran extricated her head from that towering bosom and looked up at Yilin with an innocent expression. "Sister, I'm completely fine! I owe it all to these two older brothers."

Only then did Yilin direct her gaze toward Shen Qingyun and Feng Chuxun, a trace of suspicion rising in the depths of her eyes as she scrutinized the pair. She knew her sister better than anyone: smart, yet frighteningly prone to trusting others and overly dependent. Treat her just a little bit nicely, and she would immediately treat you like an older brother. If someone with malicious intent really wanted to sell her off, she would probably count the money for them happily and even chip in her own savings if the total fell short.

Yiran continued, "Sister, Big Brother Shen Yun and Big Brother Feng Xun are so amazing, and they know so much! Why haven't I ever heard of them in the academy?"

Shen Qingyun's expression turned slightly peculiar; it seemed his disguise was about to fail.

"Is that so? Which palaces do they belong to, then? Perhaps Sister knows them," Yilin said meaningfully.

Yiran had no suspicions whatsoever. "They're from the Seventh Palace."

*Oh, great.* Shen Qingyun's heart gave a slight shudder. His altered appearance had reached the end of its usefulness. Sure enough, upon hearing Yiran's words, the suspicion in Yilin's eyes grew even heavier as she stared unblinkingly at the two of them.

"Xuan Gang." Yilin's red lips parted slightly, and a man stepped out from behind her. Yilin turned her head to look at him and asked, "Within the academy, do these two individuals exist?"