"Old fellow, how dare you snatch my jade slip!"
"Old monster, stop your slander! It was you who snatched the jade slip and then blamed me."
"You court death!"
The two Nascent Soul powerhouses immediately drew their swords and fought.
Other Nascent Soul powerhouses interested in the jade slip also made their judgments based on their accumulated wisdom over a thousand years.
They attacked the one they considered most promising.
After all, in the cultivation world, suspicion needs no evidence; it's better to strike first and ask questions later.
As for Xiao Fei, who was hiding in the distance, resembling an ant, no one took him seriously.
They certainly wouldn't believe that a Golden Core cultivator like him could steal the jade slip under the watchful eyes of so many Nascent Soul powerhouses.
At this moment, the entire jade square had erupted into chaos, with everyone fiercely competing for treasures. Even Zhang Luo was fully engaged in attacking a cultivator who had seized a crystal ball.
Xiao Fei now felt a sense of loss. He had worked so hard, and tens of thousands of Iron Fire Ants had died to open the passage. Yet, of the three treasures on the altar, he had only obtained one. The other two had been given away to these old ghosts for free.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt cheated. However, with his meager strength, he dared not participate in the battle of the Nascent Soul powerhouses.
Just then, he noticed the altar itself might be worth some spirit stones.
"Let's try!"
With this thought, Xiao Fei's divine sense quietly spread out, enveloping the altar.
"Collect!"
The jade altar suddenly vanished into thin air, appearing directly in Xiao Fei's spatial dimension.
Xiao Fei glanced around. Everyone was busy fighting for treasures, and no one had noticed him.
Since that was the case, there was no better time to leave!
Xiao Fei unhurriedly moved out of the jade square. As he passed through the circle of spiritual wood, he drew his flying sword and thrust it at the ground.
However, the ground lit up with a white glow, blocking his flying sword. He tried several more times, but to no avail.
It seemed the formation setter had anticipated such actions and prepared countermeasures to prevent anyone from stealing the spiritual wood.
Xiao Fei was still unwilling to give up and turned his gaze to the branches.
These spiritual fruits, when they burst open, only showed red juice, with no seeds visible. He wanted to break off a few branches to try.
Immediately, he released a swarm of Iron Fire Ants, which flew to the branches and began gnawing at the trunks.
After a moment, a branch about an inch thick was bitten off and fell down, caught by Xiao Fei.
Xiao Fei returned along the same path. When he reached a secluded spot, the muscles in his face contorted rapidly, and he quickly transformed into a square-faced individual with thick eyebrows and large eyes, completely different from his previous appearance.
He then removed all his robes, tossed them into his spatial dimension, and quickly changed into a new set.
His facial transformation technique had been obtained from Ancestor Shangguan. He hoped it would be enough to fool the giant octopus.
However, as soon as he stored the robes in his spatial dimension, he noticed something amiss.
Within his spatial dimension, he was the master and could control everything. These stored robes bore a mark of divine sense.
It was obvious that the giant octopus had tampered with them. However, his spatial dimension could isolate such senses, so the giant octopus should not be able to track him.
Returning to the palace, he searched everywhere but could not find Huang Feifei.
Logically, Huang Feifei should have been one of the first to enter, yet he couldn't find her.
"Could she be dead?"
Thinking of this, Xiao Fei felt a pang of sadness. Huang Feifei had been with him the longest, and he had grown accustomed to her presence.
If he ever found out who killed Huang Feifei, he vowed to avenge her when he gained enough strength.
Xiao Fei thought this to himself, but reality struck him swiftly.
The battle between the Nascent Soul powerhouses in the jade square intensified, with their brains almost splattering out.
After all, the treasures involved were too precious; even a Soul Transformation expert would not stand idly by.
At this moment, a Nascent Soul powerhouse emerged from the square, appearing to be in good spirits. Seeing Xiao Fei, who resembled an ant, he casually unleashed a palm strike.
Thus, Xiao Fei, who had just been contemplating avenging Huang Feifei, was instantly killed by a palm strike.
Only two sections of lotus root remained on the spot, still steaming.
Xiao Fei's luck was truly terrible this time. Just after his death-substitute puppet had taken a hit for him, his divine sense flickered. As soon as he opened his eyes, he found himself back in the jade square.
What's more, he had the misfortune of appearing right in the center of a battle between several Nascent Soul powerhouses.
"Boom!"
Having just come back to life and before he could even catch his breath, he was dead again, leaving behind only a pile of shattered lotus roots.
Having died twice in quick succession, Xiao Fei suffered immense depletion. Fortunately, his luck improved slightly, and he didn't reappear on the battlefield but outside the palace.
At this time, the entire small world had descended into utter chaos. Various powerhouses were fighting each other for treasures, and many more experts, having received the news, were flooding into the small world.
This was likely just the beginning. For these three treasures, the entire cultivation world would be in turmoil for some time to come.
Xiao Fei carefully avoided crowded areas and slowly crept towards the exit.
However, the exit was already a scene of battle between several groups of Nascent Soul powerhouses. Magical artifacts and divine abilities flew everywhere, and the light was so blinding that one couldn't open their eyes. With Xiao Fei's meager cultivation, he couldn't get close at all.
He could only hide on a distant mountain peak and observe secretly, waiting for a suitable opportunity to escape.
However, the battles within the small world were becoming increasingly fierce, with experts arriving from all directions upon hearing the news.
Xiao Fei even saw several experts from the Qin Kingdom among them, including the Great General he had seen from afar.
The fighting grew more intense, and the small mountain peak where Xiao Fei was hiding was also flattened by a divine ability. Fortunately, he had moved in advance when he sensed danger, or he would have died again.
Although he still had a few death-substitute puppets, each death weakened him further. He had already died twice and could not withstand any more.
Just then, an exceptionally powerful aura erupted from the center of the small world. This aura far surpassed that of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Could this be a Soul Transformation expert making a move?"
Xiao Fei was already trembling under the immense pressure of this heaven-like aura, not daring to even breathe heavily.
At this moment, from the direction of the entrance, another powerful aura arose.
"Another Soul Transformation expert has personally arrived!"
Immediately after, a third, a fourth...
The appearance of Soul Transformation experts signaled that the Nascent Soul powerhouses were now out of the running.
These powerhouses did not disappoint, immediately causing the world to shake and rivers to surge backward.
The small world, already inferior to the real world outside, quickly developed numerous spatial rifts due to this turmoil.
"Everyone, escape quickly! The small world is about to collapse!"
A Nascent Soul powerhouse shouted and flew towards the exit. As soon as this cultivator reached the exit, his body was suddenly split in two and fell to the ground.
It turned out that the exit had developed a spatial rift during the exchange between the Soul Transformation experts.
This cultivator was unlucky enough to run directly into the spatial rift.
However, the small world was accelerating its collapse under the great battle of the Soul Transformation experts, and spatial rifts were appearing everywhere.
If they could not leave in time, they could only perish along with this small world.
The exit was already crowded with Nascent Soul powerhouses, cautiously probing their way forward.
Xiao Fei and a group of Golden Core cultivators could only follow behind, anxiously watching but not daring to get too close.