"How did these three guys get mixed up in this mess?"

On the open ground by the lake, nearly twenty Cultivators were divided into five or six groups, restraining each other.

Among them, Taiping Peak’s side had the most intact strength, followed by Wipe Sword Peak’s Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers.

As for Li Qingfeng and the other two... to say they were caught in the melee would be less accurate than to say they were fleeing.

Song Yan’s gaze lingered briefly on the three female Cultivators, then returned to the trio, thinking to himself, "Logically, those three aren’t the easiest ones to be picked off here..."

"Did they break a heavenly rule?"

But he quickly noticed the three beauty fruit plants, a ripple appearing in his eyes.

"Four hundred Spirit Stones."

Song Yan was quite clear on market prices in this area.

It seemed they had just snatched the fruits and were at the critical juncture of making their escape.

"Hmm..."

Song Yan genuinely wanted to engage in more battles with equally matched opponents during this Wipe Sword event to test his own strength.

With so many opponents, he honestly felt it would be somewhat difficult to wipe them all out in a chaotic battle.

Moreover, based on his experience, in a multi-party free-for-all, once one side shows slightly stronger strength, but not too much more than the others,

it’s very easy for a situation to arise where the other parties temporarily join forces, and he would be ganged up on.

Just as he was pondering a strategy, Gu Qingqing let out a cry of surprise, interrupting his thoughts.

It turned out that Gu Qingqing, after several turns, was still fleeing in the direction of the three beauty fruits.

She was preparing to snatch another one while Wipe Sword Peak and Tongchen Peak, who were fighting nearby, weren’t paying attention!

However, this move naturally didn’t escape the notice of the other Cultivators.

"Boom——"

Except for Sun Zhengfu and Li Qingfeng, all the Cultivators in the chaotic battle unleashed their Spells towards Gu Qingqing!

Greed, it was simply too much greed.

He grumbled inwardly, but within Song Yan’s wide sleeves, Sword Qi was already surging.

Exposing himself at this moment was indeed somewhat dangerous.

However, with his friends in front, he couldn’t just stand by and watch them suffer a loss.

Sleeve Green Snake.

The accumulated Sword Qi suddenly erupted, and at the same time, his figure streaked towards the lakeside like a flash of lightning.

With a flick of his sword-finger, two powerful Sword Qi immediately shot through the air.

They precisely blocked several Spells attacking Gu Qingqing.

The shockwave from the clashing Sword Qi and Dao Spells sent her back a few steps, bringing her closer to Sun Zhengfu and Li Qingfeng.

Everyone looked towards the newcomer, their expressions varied.

"Senior Brother Song!"

Gu Qingqing cried out, her eyes filled with both surprise and joy.

Seeing this, Li Qingfeng immediately moved closer with Sun Zhengfu.

Among the crowd, Wu Shuangzhi stared blankly at the young Cultivator.

Her crimson lips trembled slightly, wanting to call out his name.

Senior Brother Song... but the current situation didn’t seem quite appropriate.

She looked back and saw near the vermillion fruits.

The three from Wipe Sword Peak had already dealt with the two Disciples from Tongchen Peak and had decisively taken the third vermillion fruit.

Although she felt a bit unwilling, she still made a decisive decision and lowered her voice, saying, "Right now, our spiritual energy is depleted, and we are exhausted."

"The spiritual fruits have also been divided. Let’s conserve our strength, fight and retreat, leave this place, and then make further plans."

"Okay, Senior Sister Wu."

"We’ll listen to you."

The leading Disciple of Wipe Sword Peak stuffed the last vermillion fruit into his qiankun bag.

The number of spiritual patterns on his waist token actually reached nineteen.

"These three... they’ve been killing their way through."

They had some strength.

"Old Song..."

Li Qingfeng wanted to say something, but Song Yan interrupted him: "It’s best to leave here first."

Although that one sword strike had deterred some people, the Disciples of Taiping Peak and Wipe Sword Peak had already set their sights on them, and more Cultivators were rushing over from further away upon hearing the commotion.

Moreover... extending his Divine Sense to its maximum, the spiritual energy fluctuations in Qingjiang Flatland by the lake and the nearby dense forest became increasingly chaotic, with twenty to thirty different auras gathering towards this location.

He scanned the three fellow Cultivators from Wipe Sword Peak, roughly committing their appearances to memory.

He decided to engage them in battle if the opportunity arose later.

This Wipe Sword event had no rules restricting teaming up or forming alliances.

Those who formed alliances were mostly close friends from the sect or Disciples from the same peak.

Although Song Yan was from the same peak as these three, they could also be his opponents.

As for now, seeing the Buddha off to the West, the priority was to find a way to help his three friends break through.

"..."

Suddenly, he noticed Li Qingfeng exchanging glances with Sun Zhengfu and Gu Qingqing.

The three of them looked secretive, clearly plotting something.

In fact, Li Qingfeng also felt a bit uncomfortable.

He had originally thought of leveraging Old Song’s prestige as much as possible, to throw his weight around for a while, and only use that move when they were truly in danger.

He just hadn’t expected this situation to come so quickly.

"You guys..."

"Old Song, for you, what’s important now is to preserve your combat power, and after a few hours, to compete with those ’experts’."

"On our side, I, Old Li, have a brilliant plan."

He patted Song Yan’s shoulder.

"Take this!"

Three plumes of smoke suddenly rose from Li Qingfeng’s hand, enveloping the four of them.

Since he had already made such a plan, he didn’t hesitate or waver in the slightest.

Sun Zhengfu’s palm glowed brightly, and he pressed his hands down in a sweeping motion.

The earth rolled like surging waves, and several earthen walls rose up, separating the chaotic crowd one by one.

Although Song Yan didn’t know what these three were up to, to prevent other Cultivators from sneaking into the smoke and launching a surprise attack, several Sword Qi had already emerged, protecting his body.

Then, Gu Qingqing darted out from behind him, looking at him with a rather sly expression.

"Hehehe, don’t worry, Senior Brother Song... I, Gu Qingqing, am not made of dough!"

At some point, that fiery red Talisman had already been affixed to his Daoist robe.

Li Qingfeng made a hand seal, and the spiritual patterns on the specially made Talisman instantly lit up.

Before Song Yan could react, his figure vanished from its original spot with a "whoosh."

"It worked!"

Li Qingfeng chuckled, but then turned to see the Disciples of Taiping Peak and Zuowang Peak charging over with Killing Intent, and his face immediately fell: "Hey, wait! Brothers, can our grievances... Ouch."

"Brother Sun, Qingqing, scatter and divide!"

"Run for your lives!"

..."?"

The brief sensation of dizziness slowly dissipated.

Song Yan stood on the edge of a black and red mountain range, staring wide-eyed at the small snake that had emerged from his lapel.

"..."

This, surely this isn’t a specially made teleportation Talisman... "Fat Li, that ungrateful fellow."

After holding it in for a long time, he couldn’t help but curse a few times.

"...Just you wait."

Such a precious item, actually used on his own people!?

"If I had known this, why didn’t you just give me the Talisman and I’d leave myself?"

It was clear who came up with this trick.

Brother Sun was always upright and proper, and Gu Qingqing’s little brain wasn’t that complicated.

He knew the reason why the three of them did this: it was nothing more than fear that he would be distracted and exhausted by having to look after them, thus preventing him from performing at his best against strong opponents.

"To pull a stunt like this..."

However, he then shook his head and chuckled.

The three of them were determined not to drag him down, and it did remind Song Yan of something.

His friends were not hothouse flowers that needed his constant care.

His own mindset, upon closer examination, was actually a bit arrogant.

He should respect them as competitors.

These guys were indeed not easy to deal with... It’s just... since they’ve already made their move, next time they meet, he must give Fat Li a good thrashing!

"Where did this send me?"

He gathered his thoughts and took out his map to compare.

"Linyun Mountain Range..."

This mountain range was on the southwestern edge of the Wipe Sword region, bordering a sea.

Half of the mountain range was submerged in gray mist, and the other half was swallowed by the seawater outside the Restriction.

Regarding this place, the map did not have any resource collection markers.

This was a very "barren" location.

"It’s still early, let’s slowly make our way in."

Just as he was about to step forward, he froze in place.

Because at this very moment, the liangyi pearl, which had been silent for a long time... actually let out a soft hum.