That makes sense. If any one of these three genius alchemists—Zishu, Susu, and Yexi Ruo—were to be acquired, it would be a great fortune for the sect. But in the end, they were all taken back by Jing Li and became personal disciples or core disciples of the Pill King Hall.

The achievements were utterly absurd. Now, Zishu lay peacefully asleep in the desert, waiting for his enemies to walk right into his trap. Su Su, carrying an axe, smashed all those who had ambushed her to death, then collected their spatial rings. Their points and spoils naturally belonged to her.

In this battle for the Heavenly Ranking, the most eye-catching fairies are Su Shaxuan, Shangguan Ling, and Xi Lianyan from Saintess Peak, and Su Su from Danwang Palace. However, Yi Ruowu from Huantian Palace, who has always been hailed as the most beautiful woman on the continent, performed rather mediocrely.

This is understandable. The others are all at the late Nascent Soul stage, while Yi Ruowu is far behind in terms of cultivation. This kind of gap in strength cannot be made up for by any amount of skill.

After several rounds of fighting, Yi Ruowu had suffered serious injuries, the most severe of which was the wound on her abdomen. Blood kept gushing from the wound, and her face was growing paler and paler. This was when she was at her weakest. If someone were to launch a sneak attack at this moment, she would certainly not survive.

A cold light flashed in Yi Ruowu's eyes. She wouldn't die so easily, nor was she willing to die like this. She had expected to be given special attention and support in the Heavenly Ranking competition, given her position within the sect. With the sect's resources, breaking through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage wouldn't be a problem. Who would have thought the Grand Elder would employ such a hidden move, pushing out the long-hidden Divine Child and granting him a status above even the Holy Maiden, while also providing him with full resource support? Fearing Yi Ruowu might harbor resentment and retaliate against the Divine Child, the Elder preemptively used sect missions to hinder her cultivation, causing her to fall so far behind others. At the early Nascent Soul stage, barely reaching the threshold of the Heavenly Ranking competition, surviving among countless geniuses was an impossible task.

However, the Grand Elder personally ordered her to participate in the Heavenly Ranking Competition. His intentions were obvious: he wanted her to die in the competition, so that if she was inferior, no one could complain. His main purpose was to eliminate this obstacle for the Divine Child. Unfortunately, the Divine Child, on whom the Grand Elder placed so much hope, was instead killed by the combined forces of Xiu Qiyu and Zishu, the continent's top geniuses. That good-for-nothing is probably being bled dry and had his bones pulled out, living a life worse than death!

The more prestigious they were before, the more miserable they are now. The Illusionary Heaven Palace is not as wonderful as outsiders imagine; there is only one law of survival here: the strong prey on the weak, and the winner takes all.

Yi Ruowu was absolutely unwilling to die here like this, so she quickly ate a few healing pills and used her true energy to dissolve the medicinal effects, which finally made her feel a little better.

With her injuries slightly healed, Yi Ruowu got up, preparing to leave. She figured the news had probably already spread, and those with ill intentions towards her would soon arrive. By then, she wouldn't be able to leave even if she wanted to.

That damned alien race, so thick-skinned and tough. If she hadn't self-destructed a magical artifact, she might already be dead at their hands.

But it seemed too late; she had been targeted. Yi Ruowu gritted her teeth and continued running forward. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, she would never give up.

She knew perfectly well what would happen to her if she fell into the hands of those people.

"Damn it, a fallen phoenix is ​​worse than a chicken. Does it really think it's some high and mighty, pure and innocent fairy?"

"I heard that Fairy Yi is Xiu Qiyu's fiancée. If Xiu Qiyu finds out what we're doing, will he go on a killing spree?"

The others couldn't help but shudder at the thought of Xiu Qiyu's terrifying combat power. All the people Xiu Qiyu wanted to kill on this continent were now dead.

"That's completely unfounded, completely unfounded. Xiu Qiyu's perfect match is clearly that one from the Pill King Hall. Rumor has it that Xiu Qiyu entered the Pill King Hall directly for her and became a guest elder. It is said that the two are inseparable and have a very deep affection for each other."

"But I clearly heard that two days before the Heavenly Ranking Competition, Xiu Qiyu and Fairy Yi met. The two looked at each other with deep affection. Anyone who wasn't blind could see that Xiu Qiyu still had feelings for Yi Ruowu."

"It seems so. Legend has it that Xiu Qiyu, in a fit of rage for the sake of a woman, directly crippled the divine son who had bullied Fairy Yi, just to vent Fairy Yi's anger."

"These are all true." What's with this skeptical tone?

"It's really unfair that the duck that was already in our hands flew away. Don't you want to taste the most beautiful woman on the mainland? Especially since she is Xiu Qiyu's woman."

The scarred man licked his lips, a wicked glint in his beady eyes: "Hurry, chase after her! Don't let that bitch get away. So what if he's Xiu Qiyu? The fact that his woman was played with by someone else only proves his incompetence. Why am I so excited to be able to trample both the most beautiful woman and the most talented girl on the continent at the same time?"

"What's there to be excited about! You think you can beat Xiu Qiyu? Do you think he'll spare your family and your sect? It's just a woman. The women you've been with before weren't bad either. It's not worth taking such a risk." As a result, the dark-skinned youth saw a snow-white blade tip pierce through his heart. Without thinking, his tiny nascent soul flew out and fled for his life.

Are these people insane? I should never have partnered with them; they're clearly a bunch of ruthless killers.

"The three of you go after his Nascent Soul and kill him on the spot, leaving no future trouble."

"yes."

"The rest of you follow me."

They surprisingly reached a consensus very quickly. The example of the opponent from before was right in front of them, and they didn't want to end up being utterly annihilated.

There was a dense forest ahead, and the terrain would allow her to maneuver around. Yi Ruowu quickened her pace and ran towards the forest.

The escape had aggravated her injuries. Yi Ruowu gave a bitter smile. If she really couldn't escape, she would rather self-destruct and take a few people down with her.

She gritted her teeth and bandaged her wound, running while sprinkling medicinal powder to mask the lingering scent of blood. However, the presence of people behind her continued to draw closer; there were actually about ten of them, including several at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. To mobilize so many people for someone as weak as her at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm was truly an honor.

Unless a miracle occurs, she has absolutely no way of leaving safely now.

She seemed to hear the sound of flowing water, and Yi Ruowu's eyes lit up, which gave her a glimmer of hope for survival.