Chapter 696: Xiao Yan Breaking Out in Cold Sweat

At the same time, the endless sea of people around also burst into earth-shaking cheers at this moment.

Countless scorching gazes suddenly halted at the spatial gate.

And under the gaze of everyone present, the spatial fluctuations of the black gate grew increasingly violent.

Eventually, many contestants' figures also emerged from within like a tide, walking out slowly.

Finally, amidst the cheers filling the square, he lightly landed on the plaza ground.

And as more and more contestants walked out of the spatial gate one after another, the cheers grew ever louder.

At this moment, the vast plaza trembled minutely under that terrifying sound wave.

Especially when Dan Chen, Cao Ying, and the other four women, whose extremely eye-catching graceful figures, emerged slowly and then were exposed to the warm sunlight.

In an instant, the cheers in the field rose to their peak as well.

After all, Cao Ying's reputation as the bewitching maiden of the Cao clan had become renowned throughout the Dan Realm over these years.

Everyone present knew that she and Dan Chen would be strong contenders for the championship of this Dan Convention.

And Lin Feng, upon seeing this scene, couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth a few times.

Although he didn't care about these things, didn't anyone among them notice that he was an eighth-rank alchemist?

But while cheers shook the heavens elsewhere, Ye Zhong, seated nearby, upon seeing Ye Xinlan walk out safely, happily loosened his clenched fists.

"Hiss~"

Accompanied by the black spatial gate sounding again, Xiao Yan's figure swooped into everyone's view.

But this joyous scene in the field, after his appearance, abruptly weakened by half.

Gazes filled with various meanings all turned in unison to stare at Xiao Yan in the field.

"Huh?"

Sensing the change in the surrounding crowd, Xiao Yan frowned, and a bad premonition suddenly arose in his heart.

"Boom—"

Just as he was utterly bewildered, the spatial gate that had been open for a long time finally began to close gradually.

The distorted spatial fluctuations on it also gradually dissipated.

As for the spatial gate, it also returned to tranquility once again.

And just as the black gate closed, on one side of the highest seats before the plaza, a thin old man with a beard reaching his chest stood there, his face gloomy and uncertain.

Upon seeing the gradually closing black gate without the familiar figure he knew appearing, his hand suddenly clenched the railing before him with great force.

"Crack—"

Accompanied by his sudden exertion, the sturdy railing before him, capable of blocking attacks from a Dou Zun Jian Feng expert, actually didn't even last two seconds under his grip before snapping apart.

"Xiao Yan, you madman, daring to harm my disciple within this Holy Dan City, I will make you pay with blood!"

The long-bearded elder saw that from beginning to end, his proud disciple Song Qing had not been able to walk out of that gate safely; in an instant he became overwhelmed with grief, his face filled with killing intent as he spoke in a low voice.

And that undisguised killing intent of his was naturally sensed by Xiao Yan below.

However, when he saw the long-bearded elder on the high platform above, eyes split with fury staring at him, he suddenly felt at a loss, inwardly thinking: "Could something be wrong? Why is this person staring at me like that, and why do the people around also seem so strange?"

At this moment, he had no idea that those fleeing alchemists earlier, in order to avoid being labeled as greedy and fearful of death,

had unanimously claimed that, under the coercion of Old Man Mu Gu, they had first attacked Xiao Yan, and that it was Xiao Yan bearing a grudge against the Dan Tower for expelling him.

In order to take revenge on the Dan Tower, they then struck out at them within the Dan Realm.

"Is that the Xiao Yan who massively slaughtered Dan Tower disciples within the Dan Realm?"

"To act against Dan Tower's people on Dan Tower's own turf—what gall!"

"This guy previously offended the Soul Hall, and now he's thoroughly offended the Dan Tower—this time he's probably going to have to bid farewell to the world!"

"."

Although the voices of those people earlier were not loud, Xiao Yan, whose soul power had already reached the Spirit Realm, still heard what they said.

Afterwards, he spoke helplessly: "I killed Dan Tower disciples? Those people were framing me; coming to the Holy Dan City to participate in the Dan Convention, I had nothing to do, how could I go kill Dan Tower disciples"

As he went on, his voice suddenly grew weak.

At this moment, he also suddenly came to his senses.

He himself, when schemed against by Old Man Mu Gu in the Dan Realm, had indeed killed over ten Dan Tower disciples!

And upon seeing that so many people now knew of this, his complexion suddenly changed drastically.

"Heh heh, this guy now knows fear—what was he doing before? Now that the Dan Tower has lost so many disciples, how could they possibly let it rest?"

As the focus of everyone's attention, his every move was watched; upon seeing his drastic change in expression, they immediately gloated over his misfortune.

"Damn it, this has already spread—now we're in trouble!"

Thinking of the possible consequences, Xiao Yan felt his scalp go numb.

Even if this situation arose, even the Dan Tower's Three Great Heads would likely be unable to help him.

After all, he is no longer a Xiao Dan Tower disciple, and moreover, he has killed this many Dan Tower disciples this time.

If those three still dared to favor him, they would probably have been removed from office and investigated from the start.

"What should I do? After the Dan Convention, how can I leave this Holy Dan City unharmed?"

Having spent years in the Dan Tower, he naturally knew well its power.

Thinking of those Dan Tower experts, Xiao Yan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

He knew that, although the Dan Tower's senior leadership had no concrete evidence whatsoever regarding his killing of Dan Tower disciples,

even Old Man Mu Gu had none.

But he clearly understood that those Dan Tower experts who had lost blood relatives, juniors, or beloved disciples would not listen to his explanations.

Because anyone sent to participate in the Dan Convention is an outstanding member of their family or sect.

Now that they have been killed, he could even tell with his toes that the slain alchemists' elders would fall into what degree of fury.

Yo, I didn't expect that just leaving the Pill Realm would bring such great news.

After a brief moment of confusion, Lin Feng, having figured out the situation, was overjoyed.

"What are you doing, kid? This is a public place."

Seeing his happy expression, Cao Ying beside him quickly pinched his waist and warned.

"Brother Lin Feng, don't draw too much attention."

Dan Chen also quickly reached out her slender hand and tugged at Lin Feng's sleeve.

"Cough, cough, I'll pay attention, but you're a girl—don't go hurting people's waists for no reason."

After receiving the warnings from the two girls ahead, Lin Feng also coughed and quickly suppressed the grin that was about to split to his ears.

While speaking, he also grabbed Cao Ying's soft white jade hand that was pressing on his waist and pulled it away.

After all, that concerns the lifelong happiness of his wives—it's no joking matter.

Cao Ying stared with her beautiful eyes at the soft jade hand held in his palm, and she froze on the spot.

After all this time, it was the first time she had been held so intimately by a peer male.

As for Dan Chen beside them, upon seeing this she didn't wait for Xiao Yixian and Ye Xinlan to react.

She swiftly extended her jade hand and, without a sound, pulled apart their clasped hands.

Being pulled like that, she finally reacted, her face flushed as she turned away.

Looking at her appearance, she was obviously extremely shy at that moment.

Dan Chen pursed her lips slightly, then smiled and nodded toward Lin Feng, saying, "Lin Feng, President Xuan Kongzi is watching you."

Hearing that, Lin Feng indeed forgot about it, just as she had expected.

He then raised his head, scanned the crowd, and suddenly his gaze stopped at the highest seat in the plaza.

There were the two men and one woman Lin Feng had seen before.

At that moment, they exuded a vast aura that made Lin Feng feel somewhat oppressed.

"The Pill Tower's three big shots? Hmph!"

Lin Feng's gaze swept over the three figures, and he snorted coldly in his heart.

These three, having previously chosen to help that guy Xiao Yan in an attempt to kill him,

will surely not let these three scoundrels off easily once he grows stronger.

He cursed them in his heart, but his face showed no other emotion whatsoever.

"This kid truly is a genius who climbed from the bottom; compared to many arrogant disciples in the Pill Tower, he can't hide his emotions at all—there are who knows how many like him."

Gazing at Lin Feng below, whose face showed no emotional fluctuation, Tian Leizi lowered his voice with a somewhat solemn expression.

Given Lin Feng's current talent, it's already enough to make those three cautious.

"No problem—I've already sent people to the Flower Sect, believing that Qing Xianzi will lend us a hand to kill Lin Feng. Then, no matter how talented the opponent, against absolute strength they'll die just the same."

Hearing a hint of worry in the former's tone, Xuan Kongzi immediately spoke to comfort.

"That's right—though that woman is annoying, in terms of Dou Qi cultivation I'm somewhat inferior to her. If I weren't an Eight‑Grade Nine‑Colored Alchemist, I might not even match that dead fox spirit."

"Moreover, even if that fox spirit doesn't act personally, the Flower Sect can certainly dispatch many Dou Zun experts, and plus the three of us can mobilize Dou Zun experts without alerting others. Facing so many powerhouses, I don't believe that kid could survive."

At that moment, Xuan Yi, dressed in a red cheongsam, suddenly spoke.

"What you say also makes sense."

Hearing the words of the two before him, Tian Leizi's heart settled instantly, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

But immediately afterward, he furrowed his brows.

His gaze swept unnoticed over the nearby dozen or so who, if not for the last shred of reason knowing they must not disrupt the Pill Assembly, would have rushed out to kill the Pill Tower experts aiding Xiao Yan.

"How are we going to deal with these people?"

Tian Leizi subtly signaled with his eyes toward that side and then asked.

Upon hearing that, the gazes of Xuan Kongzi and Xuan Yi also swiftly swept over the many Pill Tower experts.

Soon after, their brows furrowed just like Tian Leizi's.

"Xiao Yan is no longer a Pill Tower disciple; even if we wanted to speak for him, we couldn't say it's not a problem!"

Xuan Kongzi pondered a moment, then shook his head helplessly.

As for Xuan Yi, she placed both hands on the large lump of meat in front of her, her expression equally unpleasant.

"Sigh~"

Afterward, she lightly sighed, clenched her fists slightly, and said, "I don't believe Xiao Yan would be so impulsive; those Pill Tower disciples who escaped must certainly be hiding many details."

"I know that too, but those disciples laid out Xiao Yan's trump cards, fighting techniques, and battle recount without a single flaw. I also believe Xiao Yan wouldn't be so impulsive, yet from the current situation it seems they truly fought to the death. As you said, those people must be hiding some key information—but the problem is, everyone else believes them."

Hearing that, Xuan Kongzi responded with a bitter smile.

"Forget it, time's about up—let's begin."

Xuan Yi thought for a bit, unable to devise a countermeasure, so she could only temporarily handle the immediate matter.

"Exactly, handling the Pill Assembly affairs is urgent."

Hearing that reminder, Xuan Kongzi immediately scanned the entire venue.

"Cough, cough~"

The next moment, his light cough suddenly echoed in everyone's ears.

This caused everyone's gaze to converge on him.

And as the thousands of competitors below focused their gaze on him, Xuan Zi calmly said, "First, congratulations to those of you standing here—you have passed the extremely brutal second round of selection."

Having said that, he suddenly shifted his tone and continued, "However, you should also be aware that the upcoming final match is the most important part of the Pill Assembly. The participant who stands last in this round will become the champion of this Pill Assembly."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"

Xuan Kongzi's brief words were like a spark igniting explosives, causing the thousands of participants in the plaza to erupt in an uproar!

And at this moment, the most grand gathering of the alchemy world is finally about to arrive!