The two looked over in horror, only to see Song Yan’s face appear before their eyes.

"You..."

The token fell into his hand, and the Spirit Mark immediately transferred.

Almost at the same moment, the two were teleported away by a white light.

"Phew..."

Gu Qingqing also let out a sigh of relief.

Previously, Song Yan discovered that when the Hidden Sword Gathering Spirit Stance was fully active, Gu Qingqing’s map would not show his location.

It seemed that the markers on this map determined location based on a Cultivator’s Spiritual Qi fluctuations.

Thus, methods of concealing one’s aura could hide one’s marker on the map.

This achieved the purpose of hiding one’s location or launching a surprise attack.

And so, a bold idea emerged.

Along the way, he used Gu Qingqing as bait, attracting quite a few people to willingly offer their Spirit Marks.

At this moment, the number displayed on his Spirit Mark jade token had already changed to "forty-eight."

Gu Qingqing peeked over.

Seeing the number on Song Yan’s token, she was greatly surprised.

"So many... Senior Brother Song, you’re not in first place, are you?"

Song Yan rolled his eyes at her: "Stop flattering me, let’s go."

Her small face fell: "Senior Brother, at this critical juncture, why don’t you go by yourself?"

"If Qingqing goes any further, she’ll just get a few beatings and be teleported out."

"It’s better to have some backbone and run outside the Restriction to wait for teleportation."

Song Yan didn’t speak, just kept looking at her.

...

...

"Alright..."

The two continued forward. At this point, the trick of using the Junior Sister as bait was difficult to make work.

So Song Yan simply stopped concealing his figure.

"Senior Brother, are we really going straight to Deer Chasing Plain?"

Gu Qingqing tiptoed, pushing aside bushes, and whispered: "Will we suddenly encounter too many important people?"

"Senior Brother Li said that those experts must all be crowding towards the center, and the periphery is safe..."

Song Yan glanced at her: "You believe Fat Li’s nonsense? He just wants you to stay far away."

"Oh..."

The two hurried to Deer Chasing Plain, surprisingly not encountering anyone on the way.

It seemed most people had already headed to the central area.

The only time they encountered anyone was three Herb Gathering Disciples who had no intention of competing for ranking and had good luck. They were planning to leave outside the Restriction.

One of them, Song Yan even knew.

It was Cen Qinghe, with whom he had some interactions while stationed in Changping.

Upon encountering Song Yan, the three directly took out their Spirit Mark tokens and gave them to him.

They were not good at fighting and had only come here to find some treasures.

So their tokens all showed "one."

For them, they were going to voluntarily teleport away anyway. Since Song Yan also had some connection with Cen Qinghe, giving the Spirit Marks to an acquaintance was even better.

After all, they couldn’t win a fight anyway.

Giving the tokens directly was, first, more dignified, and second, it allowed them to interact with this somewhat famous Inner Disciple Senior Brother, doing him a favor.

The three wished Song Yan a good ranking, then handed over their tokens and were teleported away from the place.

"Senior Brother Song, I thought you were a quiet person with no friends..."

Gu Qingqing’s expression was somewhat suspicious: "I didn’t expect you to know so many people, and even pretty Senior Sisters."

"Could it be..."

She scrutinized Song Yan up and down, looking at this handsome and elegant Senior Brother, and showed an "unacceptable" expression.

"You wouldn’t be the type who seems proper on the surface but secretly flirts with all sorts of Senior Sisters..."

"Ouch."

Before she could finish speaking, Song Yan gave her a flick on the forehead.

"Lead the way, you talk too much."

"Oh."

Song Yan, who had originally hesitated about whether to go directly to the central area, now essentially had no other choice.

Because very soon, the last Restriction push would arrive.

The speed at which the Restriction devoured Spirit Mark tokens would become faster and faster over time.

Judging by the Spirit Mark consumption speed of the previous few Restrictions, this last Restriction would basically teleport one away as soon as one stepped out.

Therefore, to avoid too many battles during the final movement and being left outside the Restriction,

most Cultivators would choose to enter early and find a safe foothold.

A small number of Cultivators would still slowly enter the final battlefield as the Restriction advanced.

Regardless of which, everyone would eventually gather at Deer Chasing Plain.

The two rushed along, the small Blessed Realm was so large it made Song Yan suspicious.

As soon as they stepped into the range of Deer Chasing Plain, they discovered that a chase battle was unfolding in the Ancient Vine Forest in the distance.

Various Spirit Lights flickered in the distance, and faint roars echoed.

"Eh?"

Gu Qingqing’s small eyes widened: "It’s Senior Brother Li!"

Song Yan gazed intently.

It really was Li Qingfeng, that scoundrel.

"He runs pretty fast..."

"Hmm? Isn’t that Kong..."

Senior Brother Kong You? Was that his name?

At a shallow beach on the edge of Deer Chasing Plain, the disheveled Li Qingfeng was in front, with the Senior Brother Kong You and Kong Yun brothers in hot pursuit behind him.

"Where are you running!"

Kong Yun’s hand glowed brightly, and several streams of water turned into blades, striking towards Li Qingfeng.

Li Qingfeng looked quite disheveled at this moment, with several tears in his Daoist robe.

Even the large black pot he carried behind his waist seemed... not so black anymore.

Even though he was being chased everywhere and fleeing in a sorry state, Li Qingfeng still held a special Spiritual Plant wrapped in Spiritual Qi, floating in his palm.

This Spiritual Plant was entirely purple, with leaf veins like golden threads, glowing with golden light.

The roots were still covered in wet mud, clearly having been dug up not long ago.

"Golden Vein Vanishing Spirit Grass..."

Song Yan’s pupils suddenly contracted.

Vanishing Spirit Grass is mainly used in Alchemy as one of the Materials for refining the Low Grade second-order Medicinal Pill, the "Spirit Nurturing Pill."

It is also used in the engraving process of some Formation Plates and Talismans.

A usable Vanishing Spirit Grass requires at least eighty years of growth. The one in Li Qingfeng’s hand was only about sixty years old.

However, Vanishing Spirit Grass has a special medicinal property; during its growth, there is a small probability of developing a pattern that looks like golden veins.

Such Vanishing Spirit Grass contains extremely rich Spiritual Qi.

It can be directly considered to have an additional hundred years of medicinal power on top of its original age.

In other words, this particular Vanishing Spirit Grass could be considered to be one hundred and sixty years old.

"No wonder the Kong brothers are in such hot pursuit."

Among the two brothers, the Elder brother Senior Brother Kong You had excellent talent, and he would likely be preparing for Foundation Establishment matters in three to five years at most.

Although the Spirit Nurturing Pill cannot help a Cultivator break through a Bottleneck, it can provide a good transition during the initial period after a Cultivator reaches Foundation Establishment.

The Spirit Nurturing Pill is to the Foundation Establishment Realm what the Qi Nourishing Pill is to the Qi Refining Stage.

And in terms of importance, it is even higher than the Qi Nourishing Pill.

"But why didn’t he put the Spirit Medicine in a medicine box?"

Unlike Spirit Fruits and similar items, this type of Medicinal Plant that needs to be dug up with its roots mostly requires a medicine box for preservation.

Otherwise, simply putting it in a qiankun bag would cause its Spiritual Qi to dissipate quickly.

...

Suddenly, Song Yan’s thoughts were drawn away from the scene before him.

He seemed to have thought of something and fully released his Divine Sense.

"Indeed..."

The chase between these three was simply too noisy.

Just within the range his Divine Sense could cover, there were already eleven or twelve auras hidden in the dark... Among the Cultivators watching from a distance, there were also sharp-eyed individuals.

"No wonder the Kong brothers are going crazy..."

"Golden Vein Vanishing Spirit Grass, this one alone must be over five hundred Spirit Stones, right?"

"If sold to an Alchemist, it would probably be even higher."

A Spiritual Plant like this isn’t just for refining one batch of Medicinal Pills. After being processed by professional methods, the medicinal liquid, roots, stems, leaves, etc., can all be gradually consumed according to the required dosage.

It’s estimated that it could be used for three to five batches.

"This kind of Spiritual Plant usually grows in the nests of some Spirit Monsters, how did this person get it?"

"Looking at this situation, I feel like he snatched it from the Kong brothers..."

Li Qingfeng also knew that he was currently the center of attention.

However, he had no time to be smug. As he fled, he wiped away a bead of sweat, and a sweet, metallic taste welled up in his throat.

Just now, under the pincer attack of the Kong brothers and that strange Demon Beast, he had forcibly activated the Sky Devouring Art. At this moment, he felt a burning pain from the Spiritual Qi backlash and a sensation of distended Meridians.

"How can there be Demon Beasts in this Blessed Realm? The Elder didn’t mention it at the beginning..."

He grumbled inwardly, yet Fat Li still forced a sinister smile onto his face.

He ran, looking back, and spat a mouthful of blood at the Kong brothers.

"You two hangers-on, you brothers have been chasing this young master for half an hour... How long more do you plan to chase!"

"This young master doesn’t like men!"

Boom—

A thick bolt of lightning crashed down, and the surging airflow swept across an entire ancient forest.

Unlike Kong Yun’s exasperation, the Elder brother Senior Brother Kong You merely frowned slightly, his robes fluttering as he dashed with the wind.

Regardless, it was utterly unacceptable for a Spirit Item to be snatched right under his nose.

He subtly moved his fingertips, and the rich Water Element Spiritual Qi on both sides slowly converged, seemingly intending to trap Li Qingfeng’s escape routes from both sides.

At the same time, several wind blades shot towards him.

Li Qingfeng roared inwardly.

"Brother Sun! Where on earth did you go?!"

Being able to snatch this Golden Vein Vanishing Spirit Grass from the Kong brothers and that Demon Beast was an unexpected bonus.

Li Qingfeng’s qiankun bag no longer had a medicine box to hold Spiritual Plants.

He could only temporarily seal it with Spiritual Qi, continuously replenishing the Spiritual Qi to ensure the medicinal properties of the Spiritual Plant didn’t dissipate.

But Brother Sun definitely had a medicine box.

He just wanted to quickly find Sun Zhengfu or Gu Qingqing, any acquaintance, hand over the Medicinal Plant, and then he could pretty much end his Sword Testing journey.

"I should have asked Junior Sister Cen for one when I met her earlier."

"What rubbish Spirit Marks, what rubbish rankings, they don’t matter. But the Spirit Stones right in front of me can’t be lost..."

Feeling the surging Spiritual Qi around him blocking his escape, Li Qingfeng seemed to make a certain decision and abruptly stopped his figure.

He formed a hand seal, Spirit Light flashed, and a greenish-blue vortex suddenly erupted around him.

The fallen leaves on the ground moved without wind, following this blue vortex, transforming into dozens of flying leaf Spirit Lights that shot towards Kong Yun!

This was a bit of Yao power accumulated in his body from previously activating the Sky Devouring Art.

It was expended through Daoist techniques.

The Spiritual Qi reserve of Qi Refining Stage 6 was truly not much, but fortunately, the Sky Devouring Art’s characteristic allowed him to improve in sustained combat.

Kong Yun hadn’t expected the opponent to counterattack so decisively. The three protective Talismans floating around him shattered with a bang.

His footsteps suddenly halted, and he activated all his Spiritual Qi to protect himself.

Fortunately, his protective Spiritual Qi was not broken, otherwise, with that fatty’s strange technique, he might have had his Spirit Mark jade token sucked away and been eliminated on the spot.

Senior Brother Kong You frowned, his wide sleeves fluttering, and surging lightning Spiritual Qi rapidly converged.

"Not good!"

Fat Li’s heart sank, but there was no retreat. The Sky Devouring Art operated at full power.

A bolt of lightning crashed down.

The momentum was so immense that it was clearly intended to severely injure and eliminate the opponent.

But what was unexpected was that when the lightning technique fell, there was no impact or smoke as imagined.

At this moment, Li Qingfeng’s body was surging with lightning arcs, his body stiff, and his hair stood on end.

The power of the lightning Spirit did not dissipate; instead, it seemed to have been forcibly absorbed by him.

Outside.

The illusory projection of the Ancient Vine Forest had now attracted the attention of most spectators.

The last Restriction area was here, and the final melee would also conclude here.

At this moment, the square was abuzz with discussions.

"Who is this? A Qi Refining Stage 6 Cultivator, able to directly withstand a blow from Senior Brother Senior Brother Kong You?"

"I know this person, his name is Li Qingfeng. When he first joined the sect, he worked in the dining hall."

"I didn’t expect him to be so skilled..."

On the Elder’s platform, several Elders also saw this scene.

"What secret technique is this?"

The Elder who was asked shook his head: "This old man is ignorant, but it seems to be a method that can temporarily absorb external Spiritual Qi."

"Quite interesting."

Before the words fell, a sudden change occurred in the illusion!

Li Qingfeng seemed unable to withstand the overly surging lightning Spiritual Qi at once. His legs went numb, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.

The Spiritual Qi in his hand became unstable, and the Golden Vein Vanishing Spirit Grass flew out of his grasp.

Senior Brother Kong You’s eyes lit up, and he was about to snatch it.

But then, a familiar Sword Qi swiftly arrived, sweeping up the Spiritual Plant in mid-air.

It landed steadily in a distinctively jointed hand.

Senior Brother Kong You looked at the newcomer, and the emotions in his heart slowly settled.

"Song Yan..."

Unbeknownst to them, Song Yan had appeared on a branch of an ancient tree.

He flew down and came to the side of Li Qingfeng, who was grimacing from the electric shock.

He raised an eyebrow: "Fatty, you said you stole the Spiritual Plant, and you’re still so polite to deliver it to my doorstep. You’re being too formal, too formal."

Li Qingfeng was too weak to speak, only groaning on the ground.

Who knows what he was cursing.

Song Yan patted his shoulder: "Fatty, seeing as you’re offering the grass as a gift, I won’t pursue that previous matter."

"Alright, your Spirit Mark, give it to me first. You should go out and heal quickly, alright?"

Li Qingfeng could be eliminated, but it had to be by him.

Otherwise, he couldn’t swallow this grievance.

Song Yan casually took the Spirit Mark jade token from the other party’s waist, then cheerfully bid farewell to Fat Li.

Fat Li used all his might, stammering out a few words: "I’ll f*ck your gr..."

Before he could finish, a white light flashed, and Fat Li disappeared.

On Song Yan’s Spirit Mark token, the number changed to "sixty-nine."

Xiao He asked doubtfully: "Yan Yan, what did he mean just now?"

"It’s bad words, children shouldn’t listen."

"Oh."

He put the Spiritual Plant into a medicine box and stored it in his qiankun bag.

Turning around, he looked back.

He found Senior Brother Kong You staring at him intently.