Just as Ye Qingchen suspected, Wang Teng interpreted his actions as a sign of complete exhaustion. After all, Ye Qingchen had just injured more than a dozen Boulder Demon Apes. The strength of these creatures was much greater than that of an average human at the Peak of the Martial King Realm. For Ye Qingchen to demonstrate such fighting power at the fourth level of the Martial King Realm was already inconceivable. Thus, Wang Teng concluded that Ye Qingchen must have reached his limit.

Feng Yuan also noticed something was amiss and asked Wang Teng, "Young Master Wang, what should we do now?"

Wang Teng squinted and said coldly, "He’s just exhausted. As long as he’s not dead, he can keep fighting. What are everyone’s point totals?"

Feng Yuan quickly tallied the scores and reported, "Young Master Wang, the person with the lowest score has over five hundred points, and the highest has over seven hundred."

Wang Teng sneered. "That’s still not enough. Continue to lure in more Spirit Beasts. If this kid can hold on until we’ve gathered enough points for everyone, I might just let him off this one time."

"Young Master Wang, quick, look! What is that?" a disciple from Duanjin Academy suddenly exclaimed, pointing toward the center of the battlefield.

Just a moment ago, an attack from a Boulder Demon Ape had struck the ground, creating a pit about ten meters deep from which a seven-colored light now emanated.

"If I’m not mistaken, that light means a Spirit Beast Egg has appeared," Wang Teng said, his eyes narrowing as he followed his subordinate’s finger. "The competition in the core of the Secret Realm must have been so fierce that those Spirit Beasts laid their eggs in the outer areas. We just happened to stumble upon them."

Hearing Wang Teng’s explanation, everyone’s eyes filled with fervent greed. A Spirit Beast Egg that could emit a seven-colored light was definitely extraordinary. Even Wang Teng couldn’t help but clench his fists in excitement.

He turned to Feng Yuan and ordered, "Open a gap in the formation and grab those Spirit Beast Eggs!"

Feng Yuan nodded and immediately began performing hand seals, opening an exit in the confinement Formation. Wang Teng then led his men as they swarmed inside.

"It really is a Spirit Beast Egg! Hahaha, we’re rich!"

As soon as Wang Teng reached the edge of the pit, he saw six neatly arranged eggs, each over a foot long. The seven-colored light radiated from the eggs themselves. He was the first to jump in, selecting the largest Spirit Beast Egg and placing it into his storage ring. The other disciples from Duanjin Academy quickly followed his lead, scrambling to grab the remaining eggs.

This commotion naturally caught Ye Qingchen’s attention.

An indignant Zi Xing said angrily, "These people are despicable! Not only did they steal our points, but now they’re taking the Spirit Beast Eggs too."

It was no wonder Zi Xing was angry. If not for Wang Teng and his group, all of these treasures would have belonged to her and Ye Qingchen.

Ye Qingchen simply waved his hand. "Senior Sister Zi Xing, there’s no need to be angry. They will repay the debts they owe us sooner or later."

After saying this, Ye Qingchen paid Wang Teng’s group no further attention. He was busy fending off the Boulder Demon Apes while searching for a weakness in the formation. Initially, the apes’ siege had prevented him from focusing on breaking out, but with only three remaining, he could finally observe the formation and look for an opportunity.

"Young Master Wang, why is there a stone egg here?" a disciple from Duanjin Academy asked in confusion, holding up a pockmarked, mud-caked stone egg he had picked up from the pit.

Wang Teng took the egg and tapped it twice. Confirming it was just an ordinary stone, he laughed coldly and tossed it back into the pit. "The saying goes that whoever sees the treasure gets a share. I’m feeling generous today. This stone egg is so ugly, we’ll just gift it to them. Hahaha."

His men chimed in, gloating at their enemy’s misfortune.

"Young Master Wang is so magnanimous!"

"When Ye Qingchen finds this stone egg, he’ll have to be eternally grateful to Young Master Wang!"

"Haha, no Spirit Beast Egg for him, just a useless rock! He’ll probably cough up blood from anger!"

After speaking, Wang Teng led his people out of the formation. He then confiscated all the Spirit Beast Eggs his men had snatched, claiming they would be distributed uniformly back at the academy. Although the disciples were reluctant, they had no choice but to hand them over, wary of the power of Wang Teng’s uncle, Wang Tong.

Once he had collected the Spirit Beast Eggs, Wang Teng opened his map and began assigning each person a specific type of Spirit Beast to lure. With the arrangements made, they split up to act.

This was because, from the very beginning, Ye Qingchen had shown no intention of breaking the formation. In Wang Teng’s eyes, Ye Qingchen was clearly clueless about formations and utterly helpless against a grade-four confinement Formation. Moreover, Ye Qingchen was now a spent force. He was exhausted from facing the last three Boulder Demon Apes and had no strength left to break the trap. That was why Wang Teng had sent all his men out to lure more Spirit Beasts. Fearing his subordinates might not attract powerful enough creatures, he even went out personally.

Seeing Wang Teng and his men depart, Ye Qingchen understood their plan. He stopped holding back and acted decisively, coordinating with Zi Xing to kill the remaining three Boulder Demon Apes.

Afterward, Ye Qingchen told Zi Xing to take some Spirit Pills to recover her strength while he focused on activating his Dual Pupil Martial Soul to find a way to break the formation. Although his own expertise was not yet sufficient to create powerful formations, his knowledge from the Immortal Array Canon gave him an extraordinary understanding of them. By focusing his full attention, it took him less than a quarter of an hour to find the formation’s weakness.

However, Ye Qingchen did not rush to break it. Like Zi Xing, he began consuming Spirit Pills to recover from the battle. Aided by his Willow Wood Martial Soul and the pills, he recovered most of his strength in less than an hour.

At that point, he glanced at Zi Xing, who was still meditating, and slipped out of the confinement Formation alone. He took out the Ten Thousand Laws Formation Flag and began to set up an array in the surrounding area.

After completing his work, Ye Qingchen returned to the original confinement Formation, his gaze falling upon the deep pit where the Spirit Beast Eggs had been found. He jumped in. The Spirit Beast Eggs were long gone, leaving only the discarded stone egg.

He picked it up and examined it carefully, even using his Dual Pupil Martial Soul to observe it, but he could not discern any mystery.

It seems this really is just an ordinary rock. Ye Qingchen sighed, preparing to toss the stone egg back into the pit.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened!

The stone egg suddenly broke free from his grasp and flew directly into his sea of consciousness. The object, originally a foot long, shrank continuously upon entering his sea of consciousness, eventually becoming the size of a pigeon’s egg and settling beside the grey jade tablet.

Before Ye Qingchen could even process what had happened, the unrefined Demonic Qi began to flow out from the grey jade tablet and furiously surge into the stone egg.