The hippopotamus knocked down the trees tirelessly, turning them into piles with only torn wood fibers left. While the soil was churning, Xia Xiao was in a mess, constantly moving between the trees.

At first, he was able to keep up with the hippopotamus's speed, but was soon overtaken by it.

As soon as he jumped onto a tree, it shook and fell, and Xia Xiao fell with it. The hippopotamus under the tree was staring at him, opening its mouth, ready to bite him to pieces.

Seeing this, Xia Xiao was horrified. This was no longer a bloody mouth, but an abyss!

With his feet landing on the tree, Xia Xiao, with his hands in seals, suddenly burst out with his vitality and bounced out.

“Crack—”

The trees under his feet broke, and the hippopotamus' exaggerated bite force made Xia Xiao shudder as he glanced back.

Tired! Very tired!

Xia Xiao's brain was once again filled with fatigue, but it was the instincts aroused by the terrifying wild beast that prevented him from stopping.

When he stood on the tree again, Xia Xiao used his speed to temporarily ensure his safety, and then looked at Si Ying. A figure flashed behind the latter, and he didn't know who it was.

Si Ying noticed Xia Xiao's gaze and immediately activated his vitality, fearing that he would be attacked. He had previously restrained his vitality and his perception returned to its original state, so he didn't notice any movement at all. Suddenly, Si Ying felt a little nervous. If he was Xia Xiao's man, at this angle, he would definitely not be able to escape.

It’s only been eight days since the screening started, he can’t be eliminated, absolutely not!

Turning around, what I saw with horrified eyes was a familiar face.

“It’s you!”

Si Ying breathed a sigh of relief, and the woman who came over hummed:

"Who do you think it is?"

The woman had a slender figure, but unfortunately her breasts were not well developed, so she had no breasts. Xia Xiao recognized her at a glance.

According to the letter from the Su family, the National Elders' Council sent a total of five people this time. Apart from Si Ying, this woman is the strongest. The woman's name is Si Qingling, and she is also a member of the royal family. Her strength is only one level below Si Ying, but she is also in the middle stage of the young age of the Venerable Realm.

"Whoever it is, it's great that you came. I have almost exhausted Xia Xiao. You just need to give him the final blow!"

Seeing Xia Xiao like a monkey in the forest, Si Qingling said unhappily:

"Consumption? You are a young master in the Venerable Realm, and you call the battle with a Condensation Realm a consumption?"

Normally, Si Qingling disdained to argue with Si Ying. No matter how ostentatious the latter was, she could ignore him. Even if he lost face, it had nothing to do with her. But she hated people like Si Ying in her heart! If Si Buwen hadn't threatened her father, Si Qingling would never have helped him.

Among the five people sent by the National Elders' Council, Si Qingling was the most reluctant, but there was no way, as she seemed to be the closest to it.

"you……"

Hearing Si Qingling speak like this, Si Ying was very angry, but he gritted his teeth and didn't want to pay any attention to her.

"Forget it, I don't want to bother with a woman like you!"

Si Qingling, who was about to take action, threw away the dagger in her hand without hesitation. When the dagger pointed straight down and pierced into the ground, her tone was cold.

"Then go by yourself!"

Si Ying was injured at this time, his clothes were torn, and the dried blood on his face was like glue coagulating blood. Seeing Si Qingling doing this, he said angrily:

"Si Qingling, please don't be so shameless!"

Si Qingling rolled her eyes, turned her pretty and cold face away, and looked at Si Ying with a defiant tone in her voice.

"If the Great Elder hadn't threatened my father, do you think I would have helped you?"

The Si family is a royal family with many members, but Si Qingling's family has fallen. Because in the National Elders' Council, Si Qingling's father, as an elder, has always stood on the side of the emperor, instead of responding to Si Buwen. There are many people like him, but those royal families have left the National Elders' Council, except for his father! In the latter's words, there must be someone who stays there.

Si Qingling remembered that when she was young, she had advised her father to leave the old house as soon as possible, otherwise their family would be in turmoil sooner or later, but the old man did not agree. At noon when the sky was covered with dark clouds, her father stood in the courtyard, holding a book in one hand and one hand behind his back, showing the elegance of a scholar. He raised his head to the sky and recited poems, which were moving and tragic.

"Since ancient times, everyone has to die. Leave behind a loyal heart to be recorded in history!"

Compared to his father, Si Ying in front of him, even though he is a rare genius in cultivation, is just an unkind and disloyal scum!

As if he could see what Si Qingling was thinking, Si Ying's eyes widened. He didn't expect that Si Qingling, who had never been against him, would rebel in Wanling Valley. But he had his own way to deal with her.

"Do you know that with just one word from me, your family will disappear from the imperial capital. So, are you going, or not?"

Si Ying's smile was sinister. Seeing it, Si Qingling frowned and felt angry, but she still jumped off the branch. Not everything in this world is fair, but she would not go with the flow!

Falling down the tree trunk, pulling out the dagger from the ground and reinserting it into the scabbard on her arm, Si Qingling formed seals with her hands.

Three minutes later, when she ran behind the hippopotamus, Si Qingling had completed more than 130 seals. The vital energy released from her body turned into a talisman array, which was hidden in the center of Si Qingling's jade palm.

There was someone behind him, and the frantic hippopotamus turned back suddenly, but what was waiting for him was the talisman array in Si Qingling's hand.

The talisman array swayed in an instant and expanded to a hundred meters. The hippopotamus's collision caused the air to vibrate, but the talisman array was not seriously damaged. However, Si Qingling's delicate body trembled slightly and she took a few steps back.

But soon, thin vines grew out of the talisman array, like flexible tentacles, tightly wrapping around the hippopotamus. The latter just broke free, but the thin vines as thin as fingers appeared from the talisman array again, wrapping it into a very thick ball with its flexible appearance.

Among the five elements, wood cannot overcome water, but water can give birth to wood. No matter how the hippopotamus struggles, these thin vines that absorb its vitality will restrain it. When the tiny leaves of the thin vines become full, Si Qingling takes a step forward, stands up against the talisman formation, and looks at Xia Xiao who is on a tree not far away.

Si Qingling did not chase after him, but instead formed seals with her hands.

Three seconds, after eighteen seals, he slapped the ground with his palms!

The entire forest was immediately sensed by Si Qingling, and all these green wood spirits were acting under his control. Following his will, the trees began to twist their trunks, and their branches intertwined, forming a huge arc, blocking Xia Xiao's way forward.

In the forest, the wood element is the strongest, and Xia Xiao became anxious.

Um?

Weird branches stretched out from all sides, extremely flexible, trying to tie Xia Xiao up. These branches grew very fast, making powerful creaking sounds that were frightening.

His eyes narrowed. Even if Xia Xiao used a machete to cut them off, the branches still continued to stretch towards him.

Although they were both in the Wood Element, the gap between Condensed Seed and Venerable Realm was just that huge. Without Ju Mang, Xia Xiao could only use his perception to make the trees grow some branches. But what Si Qingling showed at this time was the real power of the Wood Element, which could drive the Wood Spirits and travel across any place where trees and vines grew!

Xia Xiao now had very little energy left, and he couldn't get rid of these branches at all. When the thick branches under his feet also grew thin branches, Xia Xiao jumped down.

Although the ground was also Si Qingling's territory at the moment, Xia Xiao had no other way out. Looking at the ground, Xia Xiao felt that he would be tied up by vines as soon as he landed, and he had to be on guard at all times, but before that time, the tree trunk had stretched out several meters of flexible branches.

Click——

The branch strangled Xia Xiao, leaving him no time to fight back. When his arms and waist were pressed together, Xia Xiao heard a sound of bones cracking, but fortunately, there was no break.

wrong!

The energy on the note around his waist was enough to strangle him to death, but now it was just held in the air. Was it because Si Qingling had difficulty in fine manipulation? Or was she doing it on purpose?

Both are possible. Controlling an entire forest with the strength of a young Zunjing is already the limit for Si Qingling now. But the Su family mentioned in the letter that this person is not an enemy!

She is someone the Su family can trust. Even if Xia Xiao doesn't understand the story behind it, he can trust her once.

The next moment, Si Qingling jumped in front of him.

"I'm sorry!"

Si Qingling's voice was as cold as the gurgling of a cool stream in the forest. After she finished speaking, her jade hand had already fallen on her chest.

A force hit him, and although it was not fatal, Xia Xiao still spat out a mouthful of blood. Immediately, the paper that bound Xia Xiao broke, and the tree behind him broke in the middle.

Half of the tree fell to the ground, and Xia Xiao stumbled all over the place and landed on the ground.

Si Ying saw this nearby and frowned. If he let her succeed so easily, she would inevitably laugh at him. No, he had to deliver the final blow!

"etc!"

After Si Ying shouted, Si Qingling pulled out the dagger in his hand and stopped.

"Let me do it, and finish it well!"

As Si Ying spoke, his arm was suddenly wrapped in flames, and he stepped closer to Xia Xiao. The latter was weak, but Si Qingling must have held back before. But now that Si Ying was here, how could he escape this disaster? At this point, Xia Xiao had never thought that Shu Shuang and Su Huan had not arrived yet.

Logically speaking, it should be soon!

Ever since the screening in Wanling Valley began, they should have been looking for their own positions, or moving with Si Ying. Now Si Ying and Si Qingling are here, but where are they?

"Where's your majesty?"

Si Ying sneered, raised his arm and made a huge arc.

Xia Xiao's eyes narrowed. If they had to wait until the last moment to take action, now would be the last moment!

Si Qingling looked at Si Ying, feeling a little nervous. If she followed her father's wishes and helped the emperor stabilize the government, then Xia Xiao would need to return to the imperial capital. His multiple identities were the best way to strike a blow to the National Elders' Council, but Xia Xiao was about to be eliminated. If she fell out with Si Ying here, her father in the imperial capital would be in danger.

A look of anxiety flashed across Si Qingling's face, but at the critical moment, a sword came.

The iron sword was smooth as it passed over the tops of distant trees, cutting a crack in the sea of ​​leaves while chopping off several branches, heading straight towards Siying at an extremely fast speed.

But compared to Si Ying's falling arm, it was still slower.

Si Qingling rushed out with a quick mind, knocking Si Ying several meters away from Xia Xiao. His flaming arm left a trail of fire in the air, and then Si Ying fell heavily to the ground.

"what you do?"

Si Ying roared, and a big pit suddenly fell where he was standing. An iron sword stabbed diagonally into it. The sharp aura rose, causing Si Ying to raise his arm to block his eyes. But when he saw the pattern on the iron sword, Si Ying looked in the direction where the iron sword came from. Here she comes!

However, at this distance, he still has a chance to crush Xia Xiao's token before it arrives!