Inside the pure white relic space—
Everything was silent.
The reason this relic space appeared pure white was because it was saturated with dense life energy.
So dense, in fact, that part of it had already condensed into liquid form. Because of this, what should have been a dim, grayish relic space now looked like it was wrapped in thick white mist.
Zhao Xuan sat cross-legged at the very center.
His eyes were closed.
Again and again, he stripped the life energy from his limbs.
Then again and again, he used vast quantities of life energy to refine them anew.
In truth—
Forcibly stripping life energy from a body that had already been refined does cause a certain degree of damage.
After all, that energy had already perfectly interwoven with the body, complementing it in harmony.
But—
Because Zhao Xuan's body was constantly filled with overwhelming life energy, any backlash that had just begun to form from the forced de-refinement was instantly healed by the surging vitality within him.
And so—
Once.
Again.
Again.
Again.
And again.
Time quietly slipped away as Zhao Xuan repeated this endless cycle of refining and un-refining.
Meanwhile—
Outside the relic, within Life City—
Neps had already gathered a massive force.
Thirty-nine people.
Yes.
You read that correctly.
Thirty-nine.
It could be said that almost every foreign ability user inside the relic had joined their alliance.
Of course—
Not everyone.
Shi Xuefei's group of five, along with one or two other teams, had not joined.
For a time—
The entire Life City was filled with undercurrents.
The thirty-nine people divided themselves into four squads, roughly ten people per squad.
Each squad maintained a certain distance from the others.
Not far.
At full speed, these Seventh-Rank prodigies could cross that distance in under ten seconds.
Thirty-nine people formed a tightly woven net and began sweeping through the entire Life City bit by bit, searching for Zhao Xuan's whereabouts.
However—
After one to two hours—
They had nearly turned the outer city upside down.
And still, they found no trace of him.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
A red-haired, freckled Western girl cursed under her breath.
At that moment—
Figures shot in from all directions.
The four scattered squads regrouped into one.
"Neps, this can't go on!"
"Yeah, this is a waste of time!"
"With this time, we could have killed several squads of Golden Guards!"
"If nothing unexpected happened, that brat Zhao Xuan is probably scared and hiding inside his relic space, trembling! Unless he comes out on his own, we'll never find him!"
"Exactly!"
One team leader after another spoke up.
Each of them frowning, faces filled with regret.
Regret.
How could they not regret this?
An hour and a half was enough for them to hunt at least five or six Golden Guard squads.
With decent luck, that alone could equal the value of a divine herb.
And now—
They had gained absolutely nothing.
Could they not regret it?
"Let's disperse. I'm guessing that brat won't dare come out for the next three days. He'll stay holed up in his relic space until the city gates open!"
"Yeah!"
"Exactly!"
Seeing the alliance he had painstakingly built about to collapse, Neps finally spoke up.
"Everyone, don't be so hasty. Who can guarantee that the brat will hide in his relic space until the gates open three days later?"
"What if—and I mean what if—"
He turned his gaze to Felimon.
"Let's use you as an example, Felimon."
"What if we disband now, scatter, and that Zhao Xuan brat suddenly comes out of his relic space and attacks you while you're fighting a Golden Guard squad?"
"Felimon, I know your team is strong. But—"
"How do you compare to Hawkins' group?"
"Even Hawkins and his people were all killed by that brat. Do you really think you could escape unscathed if he ambushed you?"
As soon as Neps said this—
The area fell silent.
Felimon's expression darkened.
Though he truly did not want to admit it—
He had to.
He was weaker than Hawkins.
Before entering Life City, they had clashed several times.
And every single time—
He had lost.
Not only Felimon—
After hearing Neps' analogy, everyone present fell silent.
They all didn't want to admit that they—and their teams—were weaker than Hawkins' group.
But—
Facts were facts.
They had no choice but to accept them.
"Neps, then what do you suggest we do?" Felimon asked coldly.
"Keep searching the city for him?"
"No," Neps said.
"As you all said, that brat is definitely hiding inside his relic space like a turtle. No one knows when he'll come out. It could be ten minutes from now. It could be an hour. Ten hours. A day. Two days. No one knows."
"So—"
"I think we should resume hunting Golden Guards. But the squads must not spread too far apart. Just like before—ensure that if one squad is attacked, the others can arrive immediately."
Hearing this—
Everyone's eyes flickered with thought.
"Fine. Let's do it!"
"That works!"
After a brief silence, everyone nodded in agreement.
Then—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With the sound of air being torn apart, the group of thirty-nine split into six smaller squads and scattered once more.
Not long after—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sounds of battle and violent collisions echoed from all directions once again.
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