Chapter 1178: Hurrying to the Exit

An invisible light remained suspended in the distant sky. A vast and mighty Spiritual Strength was just like floodwaters as it swiftly swept out in all directions. At this moment, other than a couple of extremely powerful high rank Magical Beasts that remained in the mountain range, the other Magical Beasts sensed an extremely powerful Spiritual Pressure. Their bodies involuntarily trembled under this intense Spiritual Pressure...

"This Xiao Yan is really strong. He has really broken through to the eighth tier. How unbelievable..."

Xiong Zhan looked at the invisible light in the sky. The vast, mighty Spiritual Strength there caused even him to feel a little afraid. His great strength revealed itself through his physical body. However, if one were to compare their souls, it was likely that two Xiong Zhan would not be able to match one Xiao Yan.

The river-like Spiritual Strength continued to spread for a couple of minutes before gradually disappearing. At the same time, that invisible light slowly appeared in front of Xiong Zhan's eyes.

The light scattered and a human figure vaguely appeared. At a careful glance, it was surprisingly Xiao Yan. However, the body of the current Xiao Yan seemed to be extremely illusionary...

"This is... a soul?"

Xiong Zhan stared at the illusionary Xiao Yan in the sky. His heart was suddenly startled as he softly guessed.

Something like the soul was too illusionary and indistinct to the experts of this era. Spiritual Strength was also colorless and without form. One would have difficulty detecting and dealing with it. Very few people had seen something similar to a human-shaped soul. After all, forming an illusionary soul into a human form, which did not scatter for a long time, was something that even some elite Dou Zuns had difficulty achieving.

The "Xiao Yan" in the sky shook for a moment before suddenly lowering his head. He looked to the stone chamber on the ground. There was a skinny figure slowly stepping through empty air, walking over. Xiao Yan's eyes swept over the figure and discovered that it was Xiao Yan's physical body...

While the physical body walked through the air toward the soul, the "Xiao Yan" agglomerated by the soul also moved. It walked toward the actual body. The spiritual body would shrink a little each time a foot landed. By the time the spiritual body had arrived in front of his actual body, he had already transformed into a palm-sized cluster of invisible light. After which, it drifted, landed on the actual body's forehead, and disappeared...

When the soul once again entered the spot between Xiao Yan's brows, his body slightly trembled. The spiritual pressure in the sky also disappeared at this moment.

Xiao Yan's body stood in the sky for awhile. His dark-black eyes once again recovered his consciousness. He inhaled a deep breath of air and suddenly began to form some seals with his hands. Following which, a mighty Spiritual Strength spread out from between his brows at a lightning-like speed. Finally, it agglomerated into an invisible Spiritual Handprint where Xiao Yan's hand was.

"Big brother Xiong Zhan, try and receive a Spiritual Handprint of mine!"

A low, deep cry was emitted from Xiao Yan's mouth. Immediately, his eyes turned to Xiong Zhan below in an abrupt fashion as he laughed. That handprint, formed by a vast and mighty spiritual pressure, transformed into lightning that rushed over to the top of a mountain where Xiong Zhan was located!

"Ha ha, good!"

Xiong Zhan laughed out loud when he heard Xiao Yan's laughter. Immediately, his large fan-like hand was clenched. Both of his eyes narrowed as he stared at the mighty, invisible strength that flashed across the sky.

"Bang!"

That invisible Spiritual Handprint instantly arrived. After which, it collided violently against the steel-like fist of Xiong Zhan. Immediately, a low, deep muffled sound resounded over the entire mountain.

The two collided, but the expected energy ripple did not appear. As Zhong Zhan threw his fist forward, his expression immediately changed. The strength of the Spiritual Handprint was not very strong. However, when the two collided, he could sense a faint pain and giddiness suddenly emitted from deep within his head. His feet withdrew, taking two steps back before stabilizing his body.

"This... is this a spiritual attack?"

A grave expression surged up Xiong Zhan's face after he stabilized his body. Although he did not use all of his strength earlier, Xiao Yan's strange attack was not something that he could block by just relying on the strength of his physical body because it did not attack one's physical body but one's soul instead...

Although this level of attack had great difficulty causing an opponent lethal harm, if one were to suddenly use such an attack during battle, the temporary state of confusion would be enough to cause the battle situation to change!

"It is rumored that the alchemists from ancient times were people that even some Dou Qi experts did not dare to randomly offend. Spiritual attacks were difficult to detect and defend against. However, the current alchemists seemed to have lost this kind of training method. Hence, most of them had to rely on the strength of their Dou Qi when battling with others....

Xiong Zhan revealed an expression of deep thought. He was a Magical Beast, so he had lived for quite a long time. When the Pill Realm was still at its peak back then, he was lucky enough to follow a renowned alchemist guru. Hence, he had a certain understanding of things related to alchemists.

"Haha, big brother Xiong Zhan, are you alright?"

Xiao Yan in the sky slowly descended while Xiong Zhan was deep in thought. Finally, he smiled at Xiong Zhan and inquired.

Xiong Zhan also shook off the thoughts in his heart after hearing Xiao Yan's voice. He raised his head and looked at Xiao Yan, only to involuntarily feel slightly startled. He did not know whether it was an illusion, but he sensed Xiao Yan had gained an additional demeanor that was difficult to detect when he looked at him. This kind of feeling was as though he was currently not facing Xiao Yan but his soul...

"Looks like it should be a change that occurs after having advanced to a tier 8 alchemist..."

Xiong Zhan did not probe too deeply in regards to this. He smiled at Xiao Yan and said, "This attack of brother Xiao Yan is really quite strong. If it was someone at a lower level, it is likely that his consciousness would have been damaged under such a spiritual attack."

Xiong Zhan's form of address had become much more familiar while speaking to Xiao Yan. Although he was a Dou Zun class expert, the current Xiao Yan had already advanced into the realm of a tier 8 alchemist guru. There would definitely be things that he needed to request from the other party in the future...

Xiao Yan smiled. He did not filter off the slight change in Xiong Zhan. He involuntarily sighed emotionally within his heart. The world of the strong was indeed one where strength was honored. These words were especially suitable when used by Xiong Zhan, with his forthright character.

"You have finally come out..."

A clear voice suddenly sounded from behind Xiao Yan. That voice naturally belonged to Zi Yan, who had already waited to the point of being frustrated.

Xiao Yan turned around. He looked at Zi Yan, grinned, and asked, "How many days have I been in this retreat?"

"Nearly eight days..." Zi Yan rolled her eyes as she replied. "If you were a little later, this Pill Realm would have closed. At that time, you would have also lost the qualification to join the competition."

"Eight days huh... in that case, there is still one more day." Xiao Yan slightly nodded. Exhausting eight days did not exceed his expectations. He mused for a moment, took the map out of his Storage Ring, and got his bearings. After which, his eyes turned to the north as he said, "I have already gathered all of the task items. All I need to do is hurry to the exit of the Pill Realm. What about you two?"

Hearing this, Zi Yan spread her hands as she said, "We will follow you fist. However, there are members of the Pill Tower guarding the exit of the Pill Tower. Therefore, you can only leave first once we get there. I will think of a way to leave myself."

Xiao Yan slightly nodded. He was aware of some of Zi Yan's abilities. Moreover, she was able to enter this Pill Realm without anyone knowing. Naturally, she should have the means to leave it.

"In that case... let's move. There is still some distance until that exit. We must increase our speed in order to reach it before it closes."

"Yes. Well, you should take care of this first. However, you must not monopolize it." Zi Yan suddenly opened her small hand and an emerald-green Storage Ring appeared. The face of Xiong Zhan by the side twitched involuntarily when he saw this Storage Ring.

"This is?" Xiao Yan was a little uncertain.

"Cough, this contains all the rare medicinal ingredients within the stone hall..." Xiong Zhan behind Xiao Yan dryly coughed. His tone was a little dry when he spoke.

Xiao Yan was speechless when he heard his words. He looked at the urging eyes of Zi Yan and involuntarily shook his head with a bitter smile. This little grandaunt was indeed attempting to confiscate the fortune of others...

Xiao Yan received the Storage Ring in passing. It was a lie if Xiao Yan said that he was not interested in all these medicinal ingredients. With this medicinal ingredient warehouse, he would save tons of effort and time when he refined medicinal pills in the future. After all, some of the medicinal ingredients within were quite difficult to find in the outside world.

"Is big brother Xiong Zhan also following?" Xiao Yan put the Storage Ring on his finger, coughed gently, and inquired.

"Yes. I will still need to rely on this little grandaunt if I wish to leave. Moreover, I will be your bodyguard at the same time. Otherwise, if you end up meeting those fellows from the last time along the way, your situation would be quite bad..." Xiong Zhan spoke as he unwillingly shifted his eyes away from the Storage Ring on Xiao Yan's finger.

"Haha, in that case, I'll trouble big brother Xiong Zhan."

Xiao Yan involuntarily smiled when he heard this. He cupped his hands to Xiong Zhan with gratitude and said, "In that case, let's leave immediately..."

"Flying over by ourselves is really too troublesome..."

Xiong Zhan laughed. His mouth suddenly emitted a whistle. Immediately, a clear bird cry resounded over the Ten Thousand Medicinal Mountain Range. A moment later, an enormous figure flew to the distant mountain range and lingered above the mountain.

"Let's go. This Mysterious Bird Beast is extremely quick. Moreover, it also saves us effort..."

Xiong Zhan waved his hand at Xiao Yan. After which, his foot stomped on the ground and he rushed up. He steadily landed on the spacious back of the Mysterious Bird Beast. Xiao Yan and Zi Yan closely followed.

"Cry!"

The enormous Mysterious Bird Beast emitted a sharp cry. Immediately, it flapped its large wings. It carried a wild wind as it swiftly rushed to the north of the Pill Realm...