Fang Yuanyuan and two others were currently searching for the location of the Nine Clouds Dragon Suppressing Seal.
Running into Li Yuan along the way, she naturally had to mock him with a few digs.
Rattling his composure was a pleasure in itself.
Once he lost control of his emotions, it would bring them plenty of advantages.
At the very least, contending for things later would be much easier.
According to her guess, as long as Li Yuan wasn't an idiot, he would compete for the Visualization Method.
And she wanted to compete for it as well.
However, she still had to find the Nine Clouds Dragon Suppressing Seal for her elder brother first.
Suppressing Li Yuan now would improve her odds of victory later.
Faced with Fang Yuanyuan's ridicule, Li Yuan should have been furious, especially given what had happened before.
If not for this brother and sister pair, why would he have suffered such humiliation?
However...
The tables had turned dramatically.
Before, he had been at a disadvantage, but now the other side was the weak one.
Why should he waste his breath getting angry with her?
As for being bullied by them after his previous loss, it didn't matter, because the outcome would be the same.
Only this time, they would be the ones subjected to ruthless humiliation.
Just thinking about it lifted his spirits.
"Your manners have improved quite a bit," Fang Yuanyuan remarked upon seeing no shift in Li Yuan's expression. She then turned to Jiang Man. "What are you planning to fight for this time? Do you want me to help you?"
In their eyes, poverty basically equated to a lack of resources and a narrow worldview.
Stirring up conflict through this would be ideal.
"We are contending for the Nine Clouds Dragon Suppressing Method," Jiang Man answered honestly. He then looked at her. "Does Miss Fang know where it is?"
Hearing this, Fang Yuanyuan froze. Looking at Li Yuan with some confusion, she said, "Young Master Li has boldness, but he's also rather foolish to stake everything on one throw like this."
Li Yuan shook his head. "I've realized that even though your Fang family is wealthy, not everyone in it has vision. You, for instance, are remarkably short-sighted."
Even now, she hadn't noticed their team's formation.
He was already standing beside Jiang Man.
What that implied went without saying.
Fang Yuanyuan wasn't angered. Instead, she turned back to Jiang Man. "How many spirit sources did Li Yuan give you?"
Jiang Man shook his head. "Not a single one."
"And yet you want to contend for the Nine Clouds Dragon Suppressing Seal too?" Fang Yuanyuan asked.
Jiang Man nodded.
"You certainly have big ambitions, but trying to seize that won't be easy." With that, she struck without warning. "Take action! I'll hold Li Yuan off—you two make them feel the cruelty of this competition first!"
In an instant, Fang Yuanyuan attacked Li Yuan.
In response, Li Yuan simply stepped back and dodged, not paying it much mind.
This woman...
She was just like the poor people she looked down upon, completely devoid of vision.
She underestimated poor people far too much.
To think he had once been just like her made his face flush with embarrassment.
Seeing Li Yuan do nothing but evade, Fang Yuanyuan was somewhat baffled.
She was surging with spells specifically to keep him tied down, fearing he would rush over to save the other two.
And yet...
Wasn't he being a bit too relaxed?
"Li Yuan, what is wrong with you?" Fang Yuanyuan demanded.
Li Yuan merely signaled for her to look behind her.
Puzzled, she turned her head.
There stood Jiang Man and Yan Huimin, perfectly fine, while two figures lay sprawled beside them on the ground.
They were none other than the teammates who had accompanied her.
Both were unconscious and badly injured.
By now, the three of them had already surrounded Fang Yuanyuan.
In an instant, Fang Yuanyuan felt like a sheep walking into a tiger's den.
"This makes no sense," she stammered, staring at the three of them. "How could my people go down without even making a sound?"
She was a good distance away from Li Yuan, and even she hadn't fallen yet, so how could the others have collapsed?
One had to remember that among them, one was ranked fourteenth in Qingyun Pavilion and the other twelfth.
Meanwhile, her people were ranked sixth and ninth!
Beating them should have been completely effortless.
At worst, it should have been an even match.
Yet...
After only a few exchanges, how were they already down?
Just how many spirit sources had he offered?
Since when had a miser like Li Yuan become so generous?
"Miss Fang, I'm afraid you'll have to take your leave first," Li Yuan said as he unleashed his attack.
Boom!
A formidable surge of power blasted forward.
Fang Yuanyuan transformed into a wisp of green smoke and escaped, speeding off in another direction.
Li Yuan was about to give chase. How could he let someone flee right under his nose?
Was his pride as Qingyun Pavilion's third- and fourth-ranked member so cheap?
Yet before he could pursue, Jiang Man stopped him.
"We follow," Jiang Man said.
Li Yuan was puzzled.
"She's definitely going to find her brother. Their family connections are broader than ours, so it should be easier for them to locate the Nine Clouds Dragon Suppressing Seal," Jiang Man explained.
Relying on themselves wasn't ideal; it was better to rely on others.
When it came to tracking things down, their team was truly lacking.
"Stay on her. Don't lose her." Jiang Man channeled his Divine Travel Step and immediately gave chase.
The other two caught up shortly after.
Jiang Man noticed that neither of them was using the Divine Travel Step.
It was likely some other technique.
The scent of poverty radiated from him all too clearly.
Damned rich kids.
"We don't need to stay too close, but make sure she knows we're following," Jiang Man instructed.
"What if she runs straight out of the back mountain?" Yan Huimin asked.
"She won't," Li Yuan said earnestly. "Something is clearly off about our team, completely contrary to what she expected. Even if her vision is limited, she won't flee the back mountain.
"Because she needs to go back and warn him.
"Otherwise, a hidden threat like us could easily catch her brother off guard and inflict heavy damage."
Meanwhile, Fang Yuanyuan, fleeing up ahead, also noticed the pursuers behind her.
Something was wrong. Something was completely wrong. By all rights, it shouldn't be hard for Li Yuan to catch up, yet they were intentionally shadowing her from behind. Were they trying to make her lead them to her brother? What gave them that kind of confidence?
Looking back on what had just happened, she realized her two companions had gone down remarkably fast.
Could it be that Yan Huimin had also advanced to the Qi-Linking seventh layer?
It was very likely.
No wonder they dared to contend for the Nine Clouds Dragon Suppressing Seal.
With that realization, Fang Yuanyuan found herself torn between leaving the back mountain directly or going to warn her elder brother.
After hesitating for a long while, she decided to head straight to him.
With her joining the fray, four against three might still stand a chance.
Otherwise, if they crossed paths unexpectedly, her brother would be caught completely off guard.
Li Yuan and his crew were truly underhanded, concealing their cultivation to launch a sneak attack.
She then slowed her pace, intending to recover her strength as she traveled.
Yet before she could recover, the people behind her suddenly picked up speed, as though preparing to overtake and subdue her on the spot.
Startled, she hurriedly channeled her power and sped up again.
Seeing her accelerate, the pursuers slowed down once more.
Fang Yuanyuan: "..."
These people...
She wasn't sure whether slowing down would invite a devastating strike, but she didn't dare gamble.
The back mountain was vast, but she hadn't separated from her brother for long, so finding him wouldn't take much time.
Before long, she finally spotted Fang Tianyi's team scouting around a small grove.
At this moment, Fang Tianyi was still searching for the Nine Clouds Dragon Suppressing Seal's location. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to find.
Plenty of people had their eyes on such a premier technique—at least six teams.
The top two from each pavilion would set their sights here.
As for those ranked third, it was hard to say.
Some might gamble everything and come, but others still lacked a Visualization Method and might choose to seek one instead.
Li Yuan and his team, for instance.
Given what he knew of Li Yuan, nine times out of ten he would look for a Visualization Method.
Suddenly, he heard someone calling out to him.
"Brother!" Fang Yuanyuan approached in a disheveled state.
"Stay on guard!" With just a distant glance, Fang Tianyi warned his teammates to be alert.
Someone had likely made a move early.
Chapter 62