A Foundation Establishment Level 7 cultivator versus a Foundation Establishment Level 5 cultivator—in the eyes of most of the cultivators watching, this would be a one-sided, crushing battle.
The victor would certainly be Long Lei from Tiger King Stronghold.
Even if Shi Ying were a cultivator of the Great Strength Tribe, possessing an extraordinary bloodline and capable of cross-realm combat, the gap of two minor realms was insurmountable.
However, once the battle commenced, except for Qin An and a few other cultivators, no one expected Shi Ying to fight Long Lei evenly, not falling behind.
"How is that possible?!"
"There's a two minor realms difference between them!"
Some cultivators felt unbelievable, their eyes wide, exclaiming in shock.
"It must be because of her gauntlets!"
"Maybe those are magical items that enhance combat power!"
Some cultivators looked at the gauntlets on Shi Ying's fists, their eyes gleaming as they speculated.
The gauntlets on Shi Ying's fists, put on before the battle, looked dark and had a layer of fur, seemingly made from the skin of some spirit beast.
Some high-grade, strong birds of prey and ferocious beasts, after their tendons, bones, fur, etc., are crafted using special methods, can indeed become magical items that enhance combat power.
Attentive cultivators noticed that every time Shi Ying and Long Lei's fists and feet collided, the gauntlets on her hands would instantly release a black light, greatly increasing her strength, allowing her to stand toe-to-toe with Long Lei.
"Worthy of being a disciple of the Great Strength Tribe, they truly have trump cards!"
Seeing this, Yun Haishan was overjoyed; Sect Leader Qin's prediction had indeed come true.
Qin An smiled slightly.
He had already seen that both Shi Meng and Shi Ying likely still had greater trump cards yet to be revealed.
These two battles seemed to not require his intervention.
"Damn it!"
"Those two Great Strength Tribe cultivators are so difficult to deal with!"
Wei Zhen gritted his teeth, his face ugly.
He had wanted to use the method of "borrowing a knife to kill someone," to severely teach Qin An a lesson, but now it seemed that because of the intervention of the two Great Strength Tribe cultivators, this plan was no longer feasible.
He was even a little worried that if the Long brothers were injured, the high-level members of Tiger King Stronghold might blame him, which would be troublesome.
"Long Lei, Long Dian, you two retreat!"
"We'll deal with Qin An after entering the Secret Realm!"
After brief consideration, Wei Zhen decisively sent a sound transmission to the Long brothers, telling them to withdraw.
The Long brothers didn't want to fight anymore; after receiving Wei Zhen's sound transmission, they immediately retreated from the battlefield.
"Why stop fighting?"
"Oh, you two can't beat us, preparing to be shrinking turtles!"
Shi Meng, whose fighting spirit was high, was taken aback when his opponent suddenly withdrew, then grinned and laughed.
"A Foundation Establishment Level 7 can't beat me, a Foundation Establishment Level 5? You're weak!"
Shi Ying looked at Long Lei disdainfully, looking as if she hadn't had enough.
The Long brothers, having retreated to Wei Zhen's side, felt that the gazes of countless cultivators around them were filled with ridicule and mockery, wishing they could find a crack in the earth to hide in.
"Once we enter the Secret Realm, we will definitely grind them into dust!"
Long Lei, burning with shame and anger, said hatefully.
In his opinion, although Shi Meng and Shi Ying were strong and difficult to deal with, they lacked cunning and scheming; once they entered the Secret Realm, as long as they used some underhanded methods, they could definitely kill them.
"Shi Meng, Shi Ying, that's enough!"
Qin An also called back the Shi siblings.
He understood that the real battle with Wei Zhen and the others would take place within the Secret Realm.
After eighty-one days, when the Secret Realm closed, only one side between them and Wei Zhen and the others could walk out alive.
"Big Brother Qin, do you believe that if we kept fighting, I could beat that guy until he cried for his mother?"
Shi Meng, pulling his younger sister Shi Ying back to Qin An's side, said unwillingly.
Shi Ying also said: "I'm confident I can defeat my opponent!"
Qin An smiled, "Don't worry, we'll have a chance to fight them once we're in the Secret Realm!"
Shi Meng's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands, saying, "Yes, once we're in the Secret Realm, let's beat them up severely!"
"We disciples of the Great Strength Tribe are not easy to mess with!"
As the opening date of the Cloud Hidden Immortal Mountain Secret Realm drew near, the number of cultivators gathered around Wei Zhen and the others far exceeded that of Qin An and his group.
Moreover, those cultivators were all quite strong, either allies of the Water Moon Sect or friends of Wei Zhen, among them were Golden Core Realm cultivators.
Wei Zhen didn't know what he said to those cultivators, but those cultivators turned their heads to look at Qin An and his group, their eyes filled with contempt and disdain.
"Sect Leader Qin, Wei Zhen's side has more people and stronger power; once we enter the Secret Realm, we might be at a disadvantage!"
"Or...should we not participate in this Secret Realm trial and return to the sect?"
Yun Haishan said softly.
He knew that this trial was a rare opportunity, and if he could find some opportunities, he might be able to make a breakthrough in his cultivation realm.
However, compared to advancement in cultivation, their own safety was clearly more important.
Not only Yun Haishan, but other Fire Cloud Sect cultivators who had come along also felt that once they entered the Secret Realm, it would be a death sentence, and their hearts were filled with the desire to retreat.
They all carried high-grade teleportation talismans; if they really wanted to leave, Wei Zhen and the others might not be able to stop them.
Qin An thought for a moment and nodded, "Well, you can go back if you want!"
"But I plan to stay and go into the Secret Realm!"
Yun Haishan was stunned, then smiled bitterly, "Sect Leader Qin, if you don't leave, we naturally won't either!"
"Fire Cloud Sect disciples always advance and retreat together!"
The other Fire Cloud Sect cultivators also nodded repeatedly.
Since destroying the Soul Burning Hall and forming an alliance with the Supreme Auction House, the cohesion and centripetal force of the Fire Cloud Sect disciples had reached an unprecedented high.
Qin An laughed, "Now that you're not leaving, once you're in the Secret Realm, you'll have to stay for eighty-one days; you won't be able to leave even if you want to!"
Seeing that Qin An could still laugh and looked relaxed, Yun Haishan's heart stirred.
All along, Qin An had given him a profound and unfathomable feeling.
Before, when Qin An was still at Foundation Establishment Level 2, he could set up formations or use magical talismans to slay Foundation Establishment Level 9 cultivators.
Now that Qin An has advanced by two minor realms, could he really slay a Golden Core Realm strongman like Wei Zhen?
Thinking of this, Yun Haishan's spirits lifted, and he resolutely shook his head: "We're not leaving!"
"We will enter the Secret Realm for this trial with Sect Leader Qin!"
"Whoever provokes us, we will fight them!"
Shi Meng said beside them, "And there's us siblings!"
"Together, we are not afraid of any cultivators in the Secret Realm!"
Qin An said, "Good!"
"We still have some time before the Secret Realm opens. Let me teach you some combined attack formations while we wait."
He then carved array runes on the ground and embedded spirit stones within the runes.
In just a few dozen breaths of time, he had set up a small isolation formation on the spot.
"He...he's actually a Formation Master?"
"Such a young Formation Master is rare!"
"Only in his early twenties, yet he has Foundation Establishment Level 4 cultivation and is a Formation Master. He has boundless potential and a bright future!"
"The people of Water Moon Sect have provoked him, I wonder if they will regret it!"
The surrounding cultivators exclaimed in amazement.
The cultivators who had originally looked down on Qin An now looked at him with respect, even flattery and fawning.
Some cultivators, however, looked at Wei Zhen and the others with schadenfreude.
Wei Zhen's eyes flickered; for a moment, he did feel some regret.
But immediately, this regret was replaced by boundless killing intent.
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