Chapter 697 - 698: Land of Haze

"Little Purple Mink, get back here."

Ye Xuan shouted anxiously, but it was too late.

BOOM!

The gravel palm, which had been scattered by the earthy-yellow runes, revived just a moment after exploding. SWISH! Innumerable grains of gravel converged, once again forming a giant palm. The Little Purple Mink, which had charged out earlier, was instantly and tightly enveloped within it.

’It’s over.’

Ye Xuan’s heart sank. The crushing power of the gravel could kill a Martial Artist at the Peak of Tier Eight Second Layer in an instant. Though the Little Purple Mink was mysterious, how could it possibly withstand such pressure?

Without thinking, he rushed toward the gravel palm. The palm noticed him and came crashing down.

At this critical moment, Xiao Wuji appeared before Ye Xuan in a flash. With a THUD, he slapped Ye Xuan with his left palm, sending him flying. At the same time, Profound energy surged in his right palm. He released his barrier, and a massive hand of Profound energy collided with the gravel palm.

Spitting a mouthful of blood, Xiao Wuji was sent flying back in a sorry state. The gravel palm paused for a moment, showering down sand and stone, but then it immediately slammed down toward Xiao Wuji again.

"Master Xuan Ye, what are you standing around for? Hurry up and leave!"

Just then, Xiao Canglan appeared at Ye Xuan’s side and said anxiously. He then shot off like a streak of light after Xiao Wuji and unleashed a fierce kick with his right leg.

DONG!

The kick struck like a meteorite, instantly colliding with the gravel palm. A ripple spread out from the point of impact. RUMBLE! A vast cloud of dust billowed out, and a huge crater was blown into the palm.

Taking advantage of the moment the gravel palm was stunned, Xiao Canglan and Xiao Wuji instantly escaped the danger zone.

The gazes of Yu Chi Bugong and the other experts sharpened. They were clearly shocked by Xiao Canglan’s power, and a cold, sinister light flashed in their eyes.

Ye Xuan’s attention, however, was focused inside the giant gravel palm. He was surprised to find that although the Little Purple Mink had been swallowed by the palm, its aura had not disappeared.

Activating his Divine Spirit Gaze and Life Martial Soul, Ye Xuan peered into the gravel palm. He saw that inside, numerous gravel-like crystals had formed. Between these crystals, the Little Purple Mink’s faint aura was darting about. Wherever it passed, the aura of the gravel crystals vanished.

Moreover, through his soul contract with the Little Purple Mink, Ye Xuan could feel that the creature inside the palm was not panicked at all. Instead, he felt waves of excitement coming from it.

’This little guy...’

Ye Xuan was speechless. He was out here worrying about it, but it was actually having fun inside.

Although he didn’t know how the Little Purple Mink was surviving in the gravel that could instantly kill a Martial Artist at Tier Eight Second Layer, Ye Xuan was confident that if it was acting this way, it wasn’t in any mortal danger. The little fella was smarter than anyone.

"Go!"

Knowing the Little Purple Mink was out of danger, Ye Xuan didn’t hesitate any longer and shot forward like a streak of light.

And so, across the black wasteland, a giant gravel palm gave frantic chase, while dozens of human experts fled before it. They clashed continuously as they ran.

"We’ve reached the end of the black wasteland."

Finally, after two more of their number had fallen, their frantic flight brought them to the end of the black wasteland. A lush, verdant mountain forest appeared in their sights.

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!

With expressions of joyful surprise, everyone escaped the black wasteland’s territory at top speed.

"You wretched ants! I will spare you this time. But if there is a next time, I, the great Sand King, will turn you into nutrients for this wasteland."

The deep, furious voice of the Sand King echoed from behind them. Then, with a BOOM, the giant gravel palm shattered, turning into countless specks of gravel that scattered across the ground.

SWOOSH!

A bolt of purple lightning suddenly shot out from the exploding gravel, flying toward Ye Xuan.

Xiao Wuji’s gaze hardened, and he was about to act, but Ye Xuan instantly stopped him. The purple lightning was none other than the Little Purple Mink. It landed on Ye Xuan’s shoulder, looking a little drunk, its eyes glazed over.

"HIC!"

It swayed back and forth and let out a big burp. Its small belly was bulging—who knows how much it had eaten. It was so dizzy it could hardly stay upright.

’This little thing.’

Ye Xuan picked it up by its ear and tossed it directly into his Spirit Pet Bag.

Yu Chi Bugong’s gaze sharpened, and he said with a smile, "Master Xuan Ye, is that your Spirit Pet? I wonder what kind of Demon Beast it is, to be able to survive inside the Sand King."

Ye Xuan said nonchalantly, "It’s just a Little Purple Mink, nothing worth mentioning. It’s just a bit cute."

"Is that so? A Little Purple Mink that can survive inside a Sand King capable of easily killing a Martial Artist at Tier Eight Second Layer... In all my long life, I’ve never seen such a thing. It wouldn’t happen to be some ancient, exotic species, would it?" Yu Chi Bugong said with a cunning smile.

The experts from the other factions also showed curiosity on their faces. In the eyes of Qiu Yuan from Lingkong Cave, a hint of greed flashed.

’This old bastard.’ Ye Xuan knew full well that Yu Chi Bugong was trying to paint a target on his back.

His gaze turned cold, and he spoke icily, "Patriarch Yuchi, you’ve been speaking to me with that sarcastic undertone ever since we got here. I wonder what your true intentions are? And another thing—you hid your strength well just now, didn’t you? Almost all the major powers suffered casualties, so how is it that only the Yuchi family is unharmed? I heard the Yuchi family was the first to learn of this secret place. Is it possible that you are already very familiar with this area, Patriarch Yuchi? Perhaps you’ve even encountered that Sand King before."

Ye Xuan’s words made everyone’s expression change, and they all turned to look at Yu Chi Bugong.

During the earlier escape, they hadn’t paid much attention. But now that they looked, it was just as Ye Xuan had said. All the great families had suffered casualties, but for the Yuchi family, only a few elders had sustained minor injuries, nothing serious.

"Patriarch Yuchi, don’t you think you should offer us an explanation?"

Even Clan Leader Long Yuan of the Long family, who had been smiling like a kindly old man the entire way, now had a grim expression.

Yu Chi Bugong said, annoyed, "Don’t listen to this brat’s nonsense! While the Yuchi family was the first to hear the news, we’re exploring this place for the first time, just like all of you. Think about it—if our Yuchi family had truly encountered this Sand King before, with our strength, would we still be standing here safely?"

Everyone couldn’t help but frown. The Sand King from before was terrifying. With only the few experts from the Yuchi family, they truly might not have been able to survive.

Ye Xuan sneered from the sidelines. "You alone wouldn’t be enough, of course, Patriarch Yu Chi Bugong. But the Yuchi family is one of the two greatest powers in Celestial Capital Prefecture. What would happen if you mobilized your full force?"

Everyone’s expression changed once again.

"Bullshit!" Yu Chi Bugong couldn’t help but curse out loud, so angry he felt his lungs would explode.

"Alright, that’s enough arguing. Since we’ve decided to explore as a team, we shouldn’t be suspicious of one another. We’d be better off spending our energy exploring rather than wasting it on accusations."

Clan Leader Long Yuan said in a low voice.

"Hmph." Yu Chi Bugong snorted coldly and said no more.

"As long as certain old fossils don’t target me, I naturally won’t say anything," Ye Xuan said lightly.

"You..." Yu Chi Bugong’s gaze turned frigid, and a terrifying killing intent shot from his eyes. His glare looked as if he wanted to tear Ye Xuan to pieces.

Xiao Wuji gave a wry smile from the side. "Young Master Ye, why must you do this? Offending the Yuchi family will bring you a lot of trouble in Celestial Capital Prefecture."

Ye Xuan sneered, "That old fossil started it. I didn’t provoke him."

Previously, although Ye Xuan had never liked Yu Chi Bugong, there was no mortal enmity between them. At most, they just rubbed each other the wrong way.

But when Yu Chi Bugong had tried to kill him in secret earlier, it had caused killing intent to boil up inside Ye Xuan. Ye Xuan had always been merciless toward those who wanted him dead.

"Everyone, before us now is a dense forest. Let’s temporarily call it the Land of Miasma. The forest is filled with various kinds of miasma, many of which are toxic. Everyone, be careful," Clan Leader Long Yuan said in a low voice.

’The Land of Miasma?’

Ye Xuan’s gaze swept over it. For some reason, the dense forest gave him an extremely strange feeling.

Xiao Wuji quickly added from the side, "Young Master Ye, this Land of Miasma is where we were poisoned by the Three Incenses Miasma before. This dense forest is extremely dangerous, with all sorts of poisonous creatures appearing. However, there are also quite a few Spirit Medicines. The Xiao family previously found some top-grade Tier Eight Spirit Medicines here. Unfortunately, before we could venture deeper, we were poisoned by the Three Incenses Miasma and had to retreat."

"So this is the place?" Ye Xuan nodded slightly.

Having learned from their experience on the wasteland, the group grew extremely vigilant as they carefully flew into the mountain forest.

As they flew, everyone kept a constant watch on their surroundings, flying at a low altitude.

WHOOSH!

Abruptly, an elder from the Helian family, positioned on the left side of the group, suddenly flew toward a nearby patch of bushes. He raised his right hand, a colorful lingzhi mushroom already in his grasp.

"A Seven-Colored Xuan Lingzhi!"

Ye Xuan’s eyes lit up, and the other experts also looked over.

The Seven-Colored Xuan Lingzhi, a Tier Seven Spirit Medicine. It could improve a Martial Artist’s constitution and increase the speed at which they absorb Heaven and Earth Profound Qi. It was among the very best of Tier Seven Spirit Medicines, in no way inferior to the Seven-Colored Lotus that Ye Xuan had encountered in the Floating Light Secret Realm.

This kind of Spirit Medicine was an extremely rare treasure in the outside world. Yet here, an elder from the Helian family had found one with ease.

The gazes of everyone watching this scene became somewhat heated.

The Helian elder’s expression remained unchanged as he handed the Seven-Colored Xuan Lingzhi directly to Patriarch Helian Yue.

Helian Yue smiled faintly and said, "Everyone, this Seven-Colored Xuan Lingzhi was found by an elder of my Helian family, so it belongs to the Helian family. I trust no one has any objections?"