It was the first time Qi Xiu had encountered someone so shameless. He smiled and, right in front of Zhu Mo, collected all the jade seals.

"What if I say no?"

"If you don't give them to me, what could I possibly do?"

Helplessly spreading his hands, Zhu Mo sighed and shook his head.

"Then I can only snatch them!"

With a heavy step, the flesh on Zhu Mo's body quivered. His footfall shook the ground violently. The surging waves of soil, like angry dragons, ferociously pounced towards Qi Xiu, who stood opposite.

Standing with his hands behind his back, the raging wind made Qi Xiu's robe flutter wildly.

HUMMM—

The rainbow-hued True Gang appeared, like an unyielding rock amidst raging tides, unmoved even as the thunderous soil dragons surged past it.

CLANG—

A fist, as heavy as a millstone, hammered down upon Qi Xiu's Body-Protecting True Gang. The terrifying force shook the void. The air around twisted and the ground cracked, sending waves of soil billowing.

SNAP!

The Body-Protecting True Gang was shattered by Zhu Mo's punch.

Above Qi Xiu's head, a True Gang Mark instantly transformed into a new Body-Protecting True Gang, blocking that mountain-shaking, earth-shattering fist.

"Not dodging?"

Looking at Qi Xiu, who squarely took his powerful punch without evasion, Zhu Mo tilted his head.

"Got anything else?"

Watching Zhu Mo calmly, Qi Xiu's expression remained tranquil.

Zhu Mo's fists might indeed be powerful, but not to the extent that they couldn't be dodged.

The reason he didn't dodge was to see just how many tricks these madmen, who dared to risk an eighty percent mortality rate to attend the Shenxiao Sect's entrance assessment, really had.

"Want to see something else? Sure."

Zhu Mo grinned, his body lunging forward, and his figure suddenly vanishing from in front of Qi Xiu.

The next moment, numerous afterimages appeared all around.

This portly, bald man was moving at an extremely fast pace, the ground echoing with deafening booms that resembled the reverberations of a pile driver at full throttle.

Is this setting up a formation?

Turning his gaze, a purple light gleamed in Qi Xiu's eyes.

Zhu Mo's speed was indeed fast. But the fluctuations in qi caused by his every move were all laid bare within the scope of the Observing Qi Skill.

Zhu Mo's seemingly chaotic movements were, in fact, expertly setting up nodes on the ground with each stomp.

During his movements, over a hundred nodes had been placed by him.

These nodes were subtly connected by a thread of qi.

Linking all the nodes together formed an array akin to the Pill Furnace.

And at the very center of this Dan Furnace was Qi Xiu!

THUD—

Stopping a hundred meters away from Qi Xiu, Zhu Mo wore a smile. He clasped his hands together to form a spell. Behind him, a giant Dan Furnace abruptly materialized, its fierce flames blazing, seemingly enclosing mountains and rivers.

Stepping Array Setup—Mountain River Demon Refining Great Formation!

Stepping Array Setup? Wasn't this technique lost to time?

As the formation rose around him, Qi Xiu quickly realized he was now standing within a Pill Furnace. Towering flames surged violently, their horrifyingly potent demonic refining true fire threatening to turn everything within the formation into ash.

Stepping Array Setup!

A long-lost method, it is a branch of array arts.

Those who study this method do not rely on Array Plates or Array Maps.

Instead, they use the earth's qi to set up the formation, connecting points with their footsteps to form arrays.

Its power is substantial, and the array is set up swiftly.

There's no need for advance preparation of Array Plates or Array Maps.

The only drawback is that it must be used on land. Otherwise, if it cannot connect to the earth's qi, the formation cannot be activated.

"You sure know a lot. Old Zhu here knows much more. Let me ask again, will you give me the jade seals?"

Activating the formation, the refining demonic true fire erupted like a volcano. The extreme temperature melted the surrounding ground into flowing magma.

"No."

Responding indifferently, although he was in the center of the formation, Qi Xiu was not at all flustered.

The Mountain River Demon Refining Great Formation was indeed powerful. But it was not enough to stop him, who possessed nine Mixed Primordial Beads.

Without needing to use any spells, just with the pure brute force of Hunyuan Gang Qi, he could tear apart this formation!

After all, the amount of True Gang he possessed was substantial. It would take an ordinary Cultivator of Dao five hundred years to match it.

Five hundred years of cultivation power could not be stopped by a single formation.

"You really won't give them up?"

His eyes flashing fiercely, Zhu Mo activated his spell, intensifying the formation.

"Won't give them."

"Really won't give them up?"

"Won't give."

Qi Xiu was getting somewhat annoyed by Zhu Mo's questioning. Just as he was about to break through the formation, Zhu Mo, across from him, suddenly dispelled his spell and withdrew the Mountain River Demon Refining Great Formation.

"What are you doing?"

Zhu Mo's move truly caught Qi Xiu by surprise, his gaze revealing a hint of befuddlement.

"What am I doing? If you won't hand them over, do you think I can actually refine you to death? Hmph! Stingy!"

Pursing his lips, Zhu Mo snorted, turned away, and executed a perfect dive, intending to burrow into the ground.

Having never seen a cultivator with such a temperament, Qi Xiu chuckled and called out to the departing Zhu Mo.

"Wait, here."

Tossing a few jade seals, Qi Xiu was just about to speak.

Suddenly, a monstrous snake slithered out from the woods. Its rotten flesh and bones were exposed beneath its scales, which were filled with pustules and flesh sacs. It was over a hundred meters long, as thick as a water barrel, and constantly dripped thick black liquid from its mouth.

It coiled around a towering ancient tree.

Its dismal green serpent eyes looked down from above, reflecting the figures of Qi Xiu and Zhu Mo.

"Wutu Bone? Quick, let's get out of here!"

Pupils contracting as if he recognized the terrifying creature, Zhu Mo quickly turned around, grabbed Qi Xiu, and dove underground to escape.

HISS—

The monstrous snake known as Wutu Bone, upon seeing the two escaping, opened its maw and let out an astonishing hiss, thunderously pursuing them.

The ground boomed! Earth and rocks surged! The Wutu Bone churned a long, deep furrow in the ground as it ferociously pursued Qi Xiu and Zhu Mo, flattening a large area of the forest in its wake.

Traveling underground at high speed, Qi Xiu looked around curiously. This Earth Escape Skill was completely different from his water escape.

A film-like Escape Light shone underground, much like it would in water. As soon as rock and soil touched the light, they would automatically part. It was a truly magical phenomenon.

Such bad luck, encountering this thing all of a sudden.

Looking distressed, Zhu Mo continually expended True Gang energy to accelerate the Escape Light, trying to shake off the monstrous snake Wutu Bone behind them.

Although the snake couldn't use Escape Light, its crawling speed wasn't slow at all.

The fact that its fleshy body kept a tight chase was extremely frightening.

"What's the origin of this Wutu Bone, and why are you so afraid of it?"

Glancing back at the grotesque and hideous Wutu Bone, Qi Xiu did not detect any demon Qi from it. Judging from its rotting body, it did not seem like a living thing.

"This creature was deliberately released by the Shenxiao Sect to increase the difficulty of the entrance exam. It's not a living thing, but a peculiar entity wandering on the Yellow Springs Path, between life and death. A Cultivator of Dao simply can't kill it, yet its saliva and venom can corrode the Body-Protecting True Gang. Just a touch, and the flesh will immediately decay, beyond even a god's ability to save."

Beads of sweat appeared on Zhu Mo's forehead as he rolled up his sleeves.

His True Gang energy was already more than half depleted. If he couldn't shake off this abnormal monstrous snake soon...

He might really meet his end here!

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