An army gathered because of Li Hongjiu dispersed after his disappearance, each side turning its focus back to the tokens again, treating the gathered masses as a gluttonous feast, a bloody slaughter suddenly erupted.

Lu Yin, desperately fleeing, was somewhat frantic. He was originally arranged by Wei Mo as the head of the East Victory reception team, meant to welcome Shi Chun, and it was simple to leave Shi Chun forever once received.

Now that Shi Chun wasn't received, everyone was eyeing the pile of tokens he had snatched from Shi Chun, and he was besieged by a mob, fought desperately to escape, only to be pursued relentlessly.

He certainly knew what the problem was, so he suddenly flung out a bunch of tokens, all fake ones from Shi Chun.

Thus, he managed to escape smoothly, while a crowd behind scrambled for those fake tokens.

"Don't snatch, it's fake."

With many people, and many fake tokens, it didn't take long for someone to realize the tokens thrown were fake.

Each side verified the tokens they snatched, indeed they were all fake.

After a brief pause, the sides suddenly clashed again, fighting once more. Although Lu Yin had thrown fakes, other teams did have real ones.

In the West Ox Team's Command Center's mirror image, a 'Sky Splitting Sword' in someone's hand appeared, directly cut and severed, revealing the broken section to the mirror image.

"Fake..." Niu Qian muttered, staring.

The 'Sky Splitting Sword' thrown by Shi Chun from the Nanshan reception team was eventually snatched by them.

It was no surprise someone snatched it, as both Nanshan and Heavenly Court knew it was fake, never really attempting to snatch it. Wei Mo directly deemed it fake, East Victory didn't participate in snatching either, naturally leaving the West Ox Team or Beiju Team to snatch it.

After battling fiercely, it turned out to be fake.

Misfortunes never come alone, soon they received a report that the Heavenly Court tokens thrown out by Lu Yin were also fake.

A subordinate hesitated and asked, "Are the ones Lu Yin threw really the batch Shi Chun obtained?"

Niu Qian sneered, nodding towards the fakes in the mirror image, "Isn't it obvious? I wondered why his tokens felt odd earlier, why all were Heavenly Court tokens. There aren't many Artifact Refining World representatives participating; Shi Chun happens to have one, quite renowned, what's his name again?"

The subordinate replied, "Tong Mingshan, Sect Master of Mingshan Sect."

"Exactly, Tong Mingshan, who won the championship in that Divine Fire Covenant, can easily produce fakes with such quality." Niu Qian shook his head and then said seriously, "Seems like the Sect Master of Mingshan Sect likes counterfeiting, no wonder he was expelled from his sect back then, birds of a feather indeed. Remind all teams to be cautious in the future..."

He raised his hand to pause, "Shi Chun could become a major threat; he has capable people with him, that vast sea of fire is no trivial matter. The Phoenix Clan happens to suppress, notify Feng Yin that his opponent has arrived, ask him to pay more attention."

Detecting a similar issue, not only this side, but also the Beiju Team's Command Center mirror image displayed fake tokens; they managed to snatch a few, learning about the fake 'Sky Splitting Sword' issue earlier than the West Ox Team.

No choice, the fake sword in Gao Lian's hand was snatched by them.

The same reasoning applied: the three major teams deemed it fake and didn't participate, so what remained, either the West Ox Team or their team snatched it.

This side then received news from a spy from the West Ox Team that the 'Sky Splitting Sword' they snatched was also fake.

Commander Lan Shehu, puzzled and hearing the report, frowned, "How many fakes did that guy create?"

The subordinate replied, "That Sect Master of Mingshan Sect, Tong Mingshan, is adept at Artifact Refining; surely all fakes are his doing, and it's uncertain how many were made—fake swords are fine, but countless fake tokens could cause chaos."

"One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel, this artifact refiner coming here to play around!" Lan Shehu cursed, yet helpless; rules are in place, cursing won't help, immediately instructed, "Inform everyone, tokens are being counterfeited, remind folks to discern carefully, not to fight blindly."

"Yes." The subordinate received the order.

"Wait." Lan Shehu suddenly halted him again, changing to voice transmission, "Shi Chun dares to treat us as nothing, and indeed he has the capability—how can Manxi not be made significant? This scourge may become a major threat, seize any chance to eliminate him early. Su Jikuan has always been proud, reportedly self-proclaimed as second to none below Heavenly Immortal; when contacting him, provoke him mildly, say I claimed Shi Chun is truly the top of this battle!"

The subordinate smiled subtly, replied via voice transmission, "Alright."

He wasn't alone; similar confusion arose on the Heavenly Court Team's side, they also grabbed two tokens thrown by Lu Yin.

Finding them fake, Manxi reconnected with Shi Chun, asked if he made the fakes.

Shi Chun straightforwardly denied, insisted on the earlier explanation—someone handed them to him, and he personally verified them as real, falsely accusing Lu Yin of counterfeiting, claiming the real ones were with Lu Yin, imploring Manxi to send someone to kill Lu Yin.

Manxi suspected him of lying, but lacked evidence.

The suspicion stemmed from receiving notification from a spy on the West Ox Team, stating the 'Sky Splitting Sword' they snatched was also fake.

He knew the 'Sky Splitting Sword' was counterfeited, clearly more than one was created, uncertain how many fakes that scoundrel produced, surely it's Tong Mingshan's handiwork.

Nonetheless, he quite admired Shi Chun, anticipated Shi Chun achieving great feats, and refrained from further inquiries when no truth surfaced.

A disengaged Shi Chun paced in the underground passage, fiddled with the Mother-child Talisman for communicating with Li Hongjiu, pondering.

Logically, Ming Chaofeng was most eager to learn about Li Hongjiu's status, waiting until now without any message from Ming Chaofeng, he speculated that the situation with Gao Lian might be bleak, fearing she didn't escape disaster.

Understandably, a crew already weary, if attention wasn't fully diverted, conflict was indeed perilous.

Of course, Gao Lian's survival wasn't his concern.

For him, the environment he crafted was favorable for Gao Lian's escape; if Xiao Sheng could flee, Gao Lian being unable to escape wasn't others' fault.

He contemplated the situation not out of worry, but lamenting lost contact with Ming Chaofeng temporarily, unfortunately so, since Li Hongjiu remains in his possession, perhaps still able to extract more value at Ming Chaofeng's side.

As they walked, they reached the cave entrance and ran into Wu Hong. The two sat down for idle chat. Wu Hong asked what happened with Li Hongjiu, and Shi Chun started talking about the incident, which made Wu Hong realize that his companions had done something big without him, his jaw hanging open for a long time due to a toothache.

Whether he regretted not participating or was relieved he missed it, who knows.

Shi Chun spoke with a lighthearted and relaxed attitude, truly unwinding as he planned to hide out until Li Hongjiu was cured.

Regarding his magical communication with the Demon Path, he simply read messages without replying, waiting until Li Hongjiu's toxin was cured before he personally went to make amends.

Meanwhile, he waited by keeping track of the time.

The next day, when a day had passed, he immediately got up and went back into the depths of the cave, waking Huang Yingying from meditation.

It couldn't be helped, fearing prolonged delay might lead to unforeseen complications, the issue of the Demon Dew needed to be resolved quickly.

Huang Yingying finished her cultivation and opened her eyes. He promptly asked, "So, can we proceed?"

Wu Jinliang crossed his arms and leaned against the cave entrance, wearing a mocking expression, signaling Huang Yingying to avoid seeking trouble.

Huang Yingying felt a bit apprehensive, cautiously suggesting, "I think we can give it a try now."

Shi Chun immediately gestured for him to proceed.

The three of them turned back and gathered in the neighboring cave, congregating around Li Hongjiu.

Huang Yingying circled around Li Hongjiu, standing behind him. Just as he raised his hand to exert mana, he suddenly paused, lifting his gaze towards Shi and Wu on the opposite side.

Because Li Hongjiu made a sudden gesture, suddenly retracting his fingers and flipping his palms, both hands swiftly forming finger techniques. Just then, two fingers extended simultaneously, stabbing into his left and right temples, creating ripples of mana that spread all around.

Huang Yingying spread his hands silently, asking what to do next.

Shi Chun motioned for him to pause, signaling him to wait and see.

The accumulated mana of Li Hongjiu didn't make them wait long. At a certain moment, he opened his mouth, and a ball of faintly wriggling red light floated out from his mouth.

A mass that glowed red and shimmered, resembling a mouthful of blood, but the blood's periphery is clearly enveloped in a transparent liquid struggling against it, the center of the blood pulsating with sinister demon energy, the kind that gathers without dispersing.

Upon seeing it, Huang Yingying's eyes immediately shone brightly.

At this point, Li Hongjiu slowly opened his eyes, though still weary, there was a vibrant gleam. Extending a hand, he cast a spell to mentally support that liquid blood glow, exhaling and saying, "What a powerful Demon Dew, neither real nor illusion, almost lost my mind and body."

Huang Yingying circled to face him, clapping his hands, "Mr. Li is indeed impressive, able to cast a spell to expel the Demon Dew within and the Blood Essence I infused."

Shi and Wu exchanged a look, perplexed. Wu Jinliang asked in bewilderment, "He expelled the Demon Dew himself?"

Li Hongjiu shook his head and looked at Huang Yingying, correcting, "If it weren't for your so-called 'Blood Essence' that shook the demons' minds, leaving me with a sliver of clarity, my mind would have unraveled long ago, rendering me incapable of action." He glanced at the gathered demon energy in his palm and continued, "Your Blood Essence isn't something ordinary demons can achieve. May I ask your esteemed name?"

Previously, his state was half-conscious, occasionally hearing external matters, sometimes not. When deeply distracted by severe harm, he couldn't hear anything, leaving him unclear of the identity.

Shi Chun casually said, "Oh, he's Huang Yingying, husband of Bai Qiru."

"..." Li Hongjiu was instantly speechless, slowly turning to look at Shi Chun, as if asking if he was joking.

He hadn't forgotten the matter involving Bai Qiru's wife and himself.

Additionally, isn't Bai Qiru's husband fairly useless? This old demon with his hand of Blood Essence, how could he be considered worthless?

Shi Chun didn't care about that and asked with concern, "Brother Jiu, now that the Demon Dew has been expelled, will your body be alright?"

Li Hongjiu, surveying Huang Yingying, replied, "My body is severely depleted, harmed the Primordial Energy. A period of recovery will be necessary. Surviving it, to some extent, is a blessing not a curse, gaining insight beyond what I obtained on the mountain, giving me a stroke of fortune."

"That's good." Shi Chun let out a heavy sigh of relief, at last not letting his hardships go to waste.

Huang Yingying finally couldn't resist pointing at the mass of liquid blood glow, "Mr. Li, it's useless to you, how about letting me have it?"

Li Hongjiu immediately gestured for him to take it.

With glowing eyes, Huang Yingying grabbed it swiftly and stuffed it into his mouth, patting his belly contentedly as he left towards the neighboring cave, "Not to disturb you, if there's nothing, I'm going next door to cultivate."

No one stopped him.

Watching him disappear from sight, Li Hongjiu quietly confirmed, "Bai Qiru's husband from the rice shop in Dazhi City?"

Shi Chun suddenly realized something, couldn't help but chuckle, nodding, "That's correct." Then he squatted in front of him, took out a small bottle, poured out a pill with a faint halo and handed it over, "You need to recover quickly, you're out of supplies, have this, my pills aren't bad either, paid a hefty price for them."

Li Hongjiu cast an unusually complex look at Shi Chun, his mind resonating with a distant roar: Stop and you die, brave ones live, follow me to fight out...

He silently took the medicine. In his current physical state, spiritual pills were indeed necessary, formality has no purpose.

"Alright, take your time to recuperate, we won't disturb you any further." Getting up, Shi Chun signaled to Wu Jinliang to leave together.

Suddenly, Li Hongjiu's voice gently rang out from behind, "Shi Chun, thank you."

Shi Chun turned, laughing heartily, "We're brothers, saying thanks is too formal, quick recovery is better than anything. But let me make it clear, you can't help the Nanshan Team again, or I won't be able to explain to the Heavenly Court Team. Think about it, rescuing the opposing side, harming your own team, Heavenly Court over there would skin me alive, coming out would leave me with no way out. Best to hide until the battle is over before returning."

Leaving behind a trail of chuckles, Wu Jinliang followed the departing Shi Chun.

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