Although Lei He didn't speak, he looked at the Qing Gui Grass Hat atop Yuan Ming's head with a flash of astonishment in his eyes.

"Senior Zhao Gui knew my Cultivation was insufficient, and it was inconvenient for me to move around in the Peach Forest, so he gave me this hat to provide some cover," Yuan Ming explained.

"Why is he so good to you? Could it be that you have some shady deal with him!" Yan Xiang, revealing a jealous expression, said rudely.

Since meeting Zhao Gui, he had been seething with frustration, but was unable to vent it. It appeared Yuan Ming was treated quite well, which only made him even more irritated.

"Senior Yan Xiang is taking it too seriously. There's nothing indecent. It's just that previously in the Stone Forest, I had better luck and found a few Blossoming Golden Sunflowers. Senior Zhao Gui said he wouldn't take advantage of me and gave me this item in exchange for the extra sunflowers," Yuan Ming replied cheerfully, not minding at all.

Upon hearing this, a fierce light flashed in Yan Xiang's eyes, and he clenched his fists tightly, seemingly about to strike and snatch it any moment.

Seeing the situation going south, Lei He was about to say something when an unexpected change occurred.

Suddenly, there was a crackling sound. The ground under Yan Xiang's feet split open, and a dark green-black vine shot out like a Spiritual Snake, quickly entwining his legs.

Yan Xiang cried out in alarm, but reacted swiftly. A Red Light flashed over the palm of his hand, and the large red sword appeared out of thin air, striking sharply without hesitation, chopping fiercely at the dark green-black vine.

With a muffled "bang", the sword was rebounded, and only a shallow mark was left on the vine.

"How is this possible!" Yan Xiang was shocked, as the red sword was an Eight Rune Treasure!

Yuan Ming and Lei He also looked alarmed.

Lei He was about to turn around and rescue him, but in the next moment, his eyes widened, his body paused, and his expression changed unpredictably.

Suddenly, Yan Xiang let out a miserable scream, and his legs shriveled visibly as numerous tiny thorns sprouted from the vine and pierced into Yan Xiang's legs.

Not only that, numerous hair-like dark green-black fine roots shot out densely from the vine, prickling into Yan Xiang's other body parts.

Yan Xiang continued to struggle violently, but he was utterly unable to free himself from the vine entwining him. His body began to shrink as if being drained, and his vitality rapidly faded.

Lei He's pupils constricted, and without hesitation, he turned and fled into the distance.

Given the discord between Yuan Ming and Yan Xiang, naturally, Yuan Ming ran even faster.

Boom Boom!

Several thick vines, like long dragons, burst from the ground, lunging at Yuan Ming and the other.

Yuan Ming used the Ghost Shadow Escape Technique and narrowly avoided the entangling vines.

However, before he could catch his breath, countless dark green-black tree trunks and vines surged from the surrounding ground, intertwining in mid-air. In an instant, they formed a dense green-black forest, enveloping Yuan Ming and Lei He.

Under the shadow of innumerable towering trees, the originally scorching environment turned instantly gloomy, the air even tinged with moist vapor.

The lush green-black forest seemed vibrant with life, yet within its reach, all peach trees withered instantly, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within several hundred feet vanished in a moment, turning it into a land of death.

Suddenly, intense cold surged in a part of the forest, and the branches and leaves of the trees there were covered in solid white ice.

"Boom"

A few breaths later, a purple spear shadow broke through the ice, revealing Yuan Ming's figure.

Almost simultaneously, another part of the green-black forest burst forth with thousands of Lei Guang, and a figure enveloped in Thunder sped out—it was Lei He.

Both Yuan Ming and Lei He had pale faces now, panting heavily.

These green-black trees were terrifying. The moment they were covered by the forest, they felt their Mana, Soul Power, and Qi-Blood Power being drained rapidly at an incredible rate.

If it weren't for their respective techniques and their prompt full-strength breakouts, they might have been drained dry by now.

"Where did that monster come from, it's not something we can handle, let's go!" Lei He, his face filled with fear, pulled out an elixir, swallowed it, and transformed into a streak of Lei Guang, shooting into the distance.

Yuan Ming, having lost a great deal of his Mana and Soul Power, now with only less than thirty percent left, also took out a lotus seed, swallowed it, and his Mana rapidly recovered. Simultaneously, a flash of Lei Guang appeared beneath him, and Lei Yu's figure emerged, carrying him as they shot forward.

A loud "boom" resounded from behind them!

A Red Fire Phoenix, bursting through the green-black forest, pursued Yuan Ming and the others, turning everything it touched along the way to ash.

Lei He, without slowing down, looked back and his face showed surprise.

Yuan Ming glanced at the Fire Phoenix, also startled.

Wrapped within the ferocious Fire Phoenix was a figure—remarkably, it was Yan Xiang.

At that moment, his legs were severed at the knees, his clothes in disarray, and his appearance utterly wretched, but his eyes burned with a fiery red glare.

In his hand, he held a red feather fan, somewhat similar in appearance to the green feather fan he had earlier. At the base of the fan, there was a Phoenix embossment, and the fan itself was adorned with golden-red feathers.

The surface of the red feather fan radiated brightly, emitting a terrifying Spiritual Pressure, causing Yuan Ming's chest to feel tight even from a distance.

"This fan must be a replica of a Spiritual Treasure; its power is probably not inferior to my Purple Star Nine Dragon Spear," Yuan Ming marveled inwardly, acknowledging that Nascent Soul cultivators were indeed no ordinary people.

Suddenly, a roar came from within the green forest, and the myriad trees rapidly receded, vanishing in the blink of an eye, replaced by a tall figure with green skin and hair—the strange man.

This strange man looked similar to Hua Zhi when transformed into human form, and he was rapidly approaching Yuan Ming and the others.

The green strange man ran extremely fast, on par with those practicing Body Cultivation, his legs flashing with a layer of green light. With each step, he advanced tens of meters through the air as if using the Wood Shield Technique, quickly closing in on the three men.

"Scatter and escape, regroup at the base of the giant peak," Lei He shouted loudly, transforming into a streak of thunder and shooting to the left front.

Yuan Ming almost simultaneously slapped Lei Yu beneath him, turning into a streak of thunder, sweeping to the right.

Yan Xiang, seriously injured, was half a beat slower in reacting, cursing the others for their cunning, and he could only continue forward reluctantly.

The spiritual intelligence of the green strange man seemed not high, instinctively following the previous direction and chasing after Yan Xiang.

Sensing this scene through his Divine Sense, Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief, controlled Lei Yu to circle a wide path, and then headed towards the giant peak.

...

One day and one night later.

The towering mountain peaked into the clouds, covered in brilliant golden color, seeming as if crafted from gold, like the sun from the heavens, fallen to earth.

At the foot of the mountain, three streaks of light flew out from a nearby peach forest, it was Yuan Ming, Lei He, and Yan Xiang.

A cloud of dust closely followed the three, the ground vibrating under them, as over a dozen green strange men chased after them.

Yuan Ming and the others had initially scattered to escape, but another dozen green strange men emerged from within the peach forest, chasing after Yuan Ming and Lei He separately, forcing the trio back together.

With this episode, the conflict between Yan Xiang and Yuan Ming naturally had to be put aside.

With the tunneling speed of the three, they arrived at the base of the peak in the blink of an eye, where a winding path led up the mountain, with several palaces faintly visible along the sides, arranged somewhat irregularly.

"These Tree Men are persistently haunting us from behind; continuing like this is not a solution," Lei He said in a muffled voice.

"Forget about them, just climb up the mountain!" Yan Xiang said with a cold snort.

Along the way, he had used some secret technique to heal his legs, his tunneling light showing no intent to pause, directly changing direction and flying toward the mountaintop.

However, just as Yan Xiang stepped over the mountain's base and hadn't yet flown higher, he suddenly plummeted heavily, crashing to the ground.

In a cloud of dust, Yan Xiang coughed as he rose, dispersing the dust, his face displeased as he watched Lei He and Yuan Ming land steadily behind him.

"Fellow Daoist Yan Xiang, you were too hasty. In a place like this, how could there not be a flight restriction?" Lei He shook his head and said.

"We have to try. Those Tree Men are right behind us. How could we outrun them by climbing the mountain slowly!" Yan Xiang huffed, flying up the mountain path.

Lei He and Yuan Ming followed closely behind.

The green strange men also caught up, but stopped short in front of the golden peak.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming and the others were all pleased.

"It seems the Tree Men are a trial of the peach forest, they stop at the peak," Lei He exhaled lightly, expressing his happiness.

Although the mountain path was forbidden for flying, it did not prohibit using Escape Techniques, and the three quickly disappeared ahead.

The green strange men flailed their arms and legs, letting out roars of anger, but did not climb the mountain.

Yuan Ming and the others ran a good distance, seeing that the green strange men indeed did not follow, they finally let their tense hearts relax.

However, they did not slow their pace, climbing with all their might.

Soon, the trio reached the nearest palace, but the great doors of the palace lay fallen to the side, the adjacent walls covered in marks from swords and axes, as if forcefully breached.

The three quickly searched inside, and as expected, found no treasures.

"Humph! Just as I thought, someone got here ahead of us, took everything, and if we don't move faster, we'll miss out even on the soup!" Yan Xiang emerged from the palace, his face looking extremely gloomy.

Afterwards, the trio hastened their steps, encountering several more palaces along the way, all similarly broken into, with their contents taken.

Lei He and Yan Xiang hurried along increasingly faster, while Yuan Ming wasn't as rushed, following behind them, constantly using his Divine Sense to scan the surroundings.

It wasn't just the palaces; some paths on the mountain showed signs of battle, clearly indicating the mountain path was also dangerous and not to be underestimated.

A quarter of an hour later, the three reached an area near the middle of the mountain, their expressions changing slightly as sounds of fighting faintly came from ahead.

Lei He and Yan Xiang exchanged glances and immediately swept towards the direction of the sounds, quickly arriving at a flat area on the mountain waist.

There stood a majestic golden hall with its door tightly shut, yet unbreached.

In the open space before the hall, Island Master Gu Xuanyang was controlling a golden Flying Sword Magic Treasure, clashing with two Golden Stone Strange Beasts, whose bodies resembled those of fierce lions, towering more than three meters tall and tough as iron. Gu Xuanyang's Flying Sword, however, was incomparably sharp, nearly every strike able to shear off parts of the beasts' bodies.

The two Strange Beasts Gu Xuanyang was facing were already covered in wounds, with one having nearly half of its body cleaved off, and the other missing a hind leg, various sizes of gold and stone fragments scattered around on the ground.

In contrast, the Jade Dust Brush wielded by Daoist Qian Bao managed to have little effect on the Golden Stone Strange Beasts, with the white silk he spun being frequently severed by the fire spewed by the beasts.

Daoist Qian Bao, through the use of talismans and other methods, barely managed to maintain an unbeatable position, appearing quite embarrassed with his clothes also having some scorched marks, evidently scorched while dodging carelessly.

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