Chapter 176: The Qiao Family’s Doubts

As everyone remained vigilant, a white figure suddenly leapt high from the dense forest in the distance, landing heavily in front of the group.

“Phew, finally found you.”

Everyone took a step back in unison, even the Qiao Family Old Ancestor felt something was off.

“Old Ancestor, there's no fluctuation of Mysterious Power at all... he relied purely on physical strength.”

“Hmm... a mighty one who specializes in body cultivation does have a great advantage in the Secret Realm of White Luo Mountain. But how did he manage to completely suppress any fluctuation of Mysterious Power?”

At this moment, Gu Fan stepped forward, holding up a jade pendant in his hand.

“Entrusted by the Qiao Family, I came to find the Qiao Family Old Ancestor and assist in rescuing him!”

The Qiao Family members looked at each other in confusion, then saw their Old Ancestor slowly step forward.

His gaze was calm, and with a wave of his large hand, he took the jade pendant.

The Qiao Family Head at the side cautiously said:

“Old Ancestor, be careful, it might be a trap.”

“No matter, I know what I’m doing!”

The Qiao Family Old Ancestor fiddled with the jade pendant in his hand, his gaze turning sinister as he said:

“You’ve got some nerve, killing a member of my Qiao Family, stealing the jade pendant, and even daring to come here to deceive me?! Courting death!”

As he finished speaking, an aura more powerful than even the three Old Ancestors from before erupted forth.

Gu Fan was startled at first, instinctively thinking the Qiao Family old woman was trying to harm him!

But then he quickly realized and coldly stared at the Qiao Family Old Ancestor, saying:

“You know best whether I’m deceiving you or not. My only duty was to deliver this, and now that I have, I’ll take my leave since you don’t believe me.”

“Wait!”

The Qiao Family Old Ancestor immediately called out to Gu Fan.

Just as he said, the Qiao Family Old Ancestor was indeed testing him.

“You claim to be entrusted by the Qiao Family, but a mere jade pendant can’t prove that. After all, one could simply kill a member of my Qiao Family and take it.”

Gu Fan recalled the secret about the Qiao Family that the old woman had told him before leaving, and his expression turned a bit unnatural.

“There is a way, but I’m afraid you won’t acknowledge it if I say it.”

The Qiao Family Old Ancestor let out a cold laugh:

“As long as you can prove your innocence, why wouldn’t I acknowledge it? Go ahead and say it!”

Gu Fan glanced at the seven or eight Qiao Family cultivators who were faintly surrounding him, the corners of his mouth curving slightly.

“You asked for this, not me.”

“Cut the nonsense!”

“Fine! The message I was told to deliver before setting off was: the few little wives you keep outside sensed something was wrong and have already run away. This junior had no ability to make them stay, and feels deeply apologetic!”

As these words fell, the Qiao Family Old Ancestor’s expression changed drastically, a wave of extreme shame surging to his face.

“Nonsense! I’ll smash that mouth of yours!”

Gu Fan laughed heartily:

“You're really shameless. Still full of energy, huh, Old Qiao? Even out here you've got the stamina to maintain little wives! Hahaha!”

All the Qiao Family cultivators immediately lowered their heads, pretending they heard nothing, each suppressing their laughter.

But upon seeing that the Qiao Family Old Ancestor, though angry, hadn’t truly struck, they understood—this matter was most likely true.

Seeing the expressions around him, the Qiao Family Old Ancestor became even more embarrassed, finally letting out a cold snort:

“Shaoyang, oh Shaoyang, your wife is still the most sensible. Hmph!”

Qiao Shaoyang hadn’t expected his wife to use such a method either. He could only smile helplessly and follow along.

Gu Fan was brought back into the cave by the others, where the Qiao Family Head was the first to speak:

“This young hero braved danger to enter the Secret Realm in search of us. We are truly grateful!”

Gu Fan waved his hand:

“It was just a transaction. Your elder promised me a reward enticing enough, so there’s no need to say more thanks.”

The Old Ancestor, however, nodded with visible satisfaction.

"I like how direct you are, but did you encounter the other three families’ enemies along the way?"

Hearing this, Gu Fan smiled.

"Naturally I did. Not only did I encounter them, I even fought them."

Everyone was shocked. To have fought them meant he had alerted the three Old Ancestors.

And for Gu Fan to have escaped unharmed from the hands of the three Old Ancestors, his strength was undoubtedly extraordinary!

"This young hero is truly formidable, to leave unscathed from the hands of the three Old Ancestors—truly admirable!"

Gu Fan merely chuckled and said nothing.

Revealing a portion of his strength was enough to ensure he wouldn't be underestimated, saving himself from further unnecessary troubles.

Escaping from the three Old Ancestors was sufficient to prove his power.

"Liao Zan, those three of the Solar Radiance Realm had greatly diminished strength, which is the only reason I managed to escape. However, their subordinates were indeed many—no less than twenty True Moon Realm mighty ones!"

"If they coordinate with the three Solar Radiance Old Ancestors to encircle and kill us, once we are surrounded, escaping will be extremely difficult."

The Qiao Family Old Ancestor understood this clearly. As the miasma continued to encroach over time, his own condition was also deteriorating.

Dragging on like this would only make the numerical advantage of the enemy more prominent.

Thinking of this, he looked at Gu Fan and said:

"Since we invited you here, it must be to ask for your help. What do you intend to do? Surely you didn’t come all this way just to deliver a message?"

Gu Fan thought to himself, communicating with this group was truly straightforward—their minds were sharp.

"Indeed. The first thing is this jade pendant, which contains a strand of your essence and blood, Qiao Family Old Ancestor. I think this should be quite the tonic for you in your current state."

The Old Ancestor nodded.

"Correct. Swallowing my own essence and blood can slow the decline, but it's not enough to reverse the overall situation."

The others also nodded. At this location, the miasma’s impact was extremely severe.

Even replenishing with his own preserved essence and blood was not enough to become a turning point.

"Yes, the Old Ancestor is right. It's still not enough to turn the tide."

"Damn it, if this doesn't work, let's just make a break for it from the White Clear Pool. If we're lucky, we can go straight back and wipe out the lairs of the three families!"

"Shut up!"

The Qiao Family Head shouted coldly, then turned to Gu Fan and said:

"You just mentioned the first point, young hero. Please share the second point."

Gu Fan nodded and said:

"The second point is that I have a secret technique that can temporarily help you resist the miasma’s encroachment. But I cannot guarantee how long it will let you recover, nor how much strength it will restore."

"Once you've recovered your strength, then we can go and challenge the three families to a final battle."

The Qiao Family Old Ancestor calculated silently.

Finally, he looked up and said:

"If I can recover over eighty percent, one incense stick's worth of time is enough. I can hold off two people."

Upon hearing that he could hold off two people, Gu Fan immediately responded:

"I can help hold off one. The rest of the True Moon Realm cultivators are extremely weakened. The seven or eight of you in the True Moon Realm should be fully capable of slaughtering them all!"

"By then, we'll gather everyone's strength to kill the three Old Ancestors of the families, and it'll all be over!"

The Old Ancestor looked at Gu Fan and said seriously:

"But that all hinges on how much your secret technique can help us recover. If it can’t reach the level I mentioned, we'll still likely fail."

"Heh, isn’t it enough to just try and see how much it restores?"

Gu Fan raised his hand, and a faint spiritual energy slowly appeared.

At the instant this golden spiritual energy emerged, the thick and dense miasma around them immediately scattered as if it had encountered something terrifying!

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