Some minutes earlier, just as the Crimson Pyrogryph let out a pained roar that sounded more like a desperate cry for help than anything else—
BOOM! Boom, Boom!
Explosions resounded one after another, and the instant the Crimson Pyrogryph's cry faded the elders stopped 'waiting' and launched themselves back into the fight.
It soon became clear that under their combined assault the colossal beast was gradually being overwhelmed.
Trickle.
Unknown to the colossal demonic beast and the four Elders, just as they were ferociously clashing high in the sky, at ground level in the crevasse of the jagged mountain something was happening—something so important that, if they knew, it was undeniable they would have stopped everything.
Trickles.
Inside the 'pool' in which the Thunder Vein Dew was located, the extremely precious Heavenly Wonder was… floating?
A small part of the silver liquid was floating, seemingly guided by an invisible force as it flew toward a part of the crevasse where it would then disappear in midair, seemingly having been absorbed by an invisible force.
One whose only sign of existence was this scene with the Thunder Vein Dew and the fact that the air was slightly distorted at the location where the Heavenly Wonder was gradually disappearing.
And this scene of the Thunder Vein Dew vanishing in midair repeated itself again and again and again, with the amount of this Heavenly Wonder present in the 'pool' diminishing with each passing second.
At that instant the five fighters in the sky were fighting for this Heavenly Wonder, but unknown to them their fight was benefiting someone else, the irony!
SHhhhhhhh!
The sound of flames burning and even melting the air resounded as the clash continued, with all participants too concentrated and focused to notice their surroundings, or at least that was the case with the Crimson Pyrogryph.
The elders on the other hand… that was another story.
For while they were locked in a hard battle against this powerful demonic beast, their intelligence was higher than its, so they never lost sight of their true objective and always kept an eye on the Thunder Vein Dew.
Consequently, they obviously saw this 'third party' stealing the Thunder Vein Dew they had put so much effort into obtaining.
At that moment an explosion of anger and at least one elder striking at this 'third party' would have been the expected reaction but—
No!
Their reaction wasn't one of anger, in truth it was even the opposite, for the instant they saw this display a hint of a smile appeared on all four Elders' visages as they exchanged relieved glances.
"The plan is working, and Young Master Qin is taking the Thunder Vein Dew!" one of the Elders commented through sound transmission, his face alight with a smile.
A smile that the other Elders returned, for like the first elder who had spoken, they were clearly delighted with this development—it was proof that all of their efforts and the sacrifices the Sect had made would prove to be worth it.
"Don't lose focus just before true success, we still need to hold out until the Young Master extracts the entirety of the Thunder Vein Dew!" sternly warned the Grand Elder, though the joy in his voice was unmistakable.
The other elders nodded before launching themselves back into the fight with renewed vigor, for they knew the finish line was in sight.
They only needed to hold on until Young Master Qin extracted the entirety of the Thunder Vein Dew, and then they would have succeeded.
The only unfortunate part was that the Thunder Vein Dew, being extremely precious, could not be instantly extracted and transferred into Young Master Qin's storage ring, but needed to be drawn out slowly or else it would lose much of its properties.
Which was why the expedition group, the four Elders, and even the Sect Master needed to act as 'baits' and temporize so that he could have the time to extract it in its entirety.
Otherwise, if not for this property, that the more precious something was, the harder it became to obtain and extract, when Sect Master Qin earlier stole some drops of Thunder Vein Dew he could have taken all of it in a single move, rendering every step they had taken afterward unnecessary.
Boom, Crack, Shake, Boom!
Heaven and Earth continued to tremble as the battle between cultivators and demonic beast continued on with renewed ferocity.
With the Elders' clear understanding of the situation they 'joyfully' held out against the Crimson Pyrogryph while giving their all to make sure it didn't have any breathing room, breathing room that may have allowed it to discover the situation with the Thunder Vein Dew.
Trickle.
The Heavenly Wonder continued to trickle away under the Elders' joyful gaze, and at that instant not one of the four Elders thought of using their Divine Sense to scan the Heavenly Wonder and 'Young Master Qin' who was acquiring it…
And why would they, they didn't have any energy to waste in the high intensity fight they were currently having, while at the same time why would they need to?
It wasn't as if it was possible for somebody other than Young Master Qin to be obtaining the Heavenly Wonder, after all they had even received his confirmation just before the fight… so it was impossible… right?
That was what they believed about the situation and unfortunately… this would become something they would regret for the rest of their lives!!!!
Trickle.
The last drop of Thunder Vein Dew disappeared into thin air.
At that moment what had previously been a full 'pool' filled to the brim with this extremely precious Heavenly Wonder was now nothing more than an 'ordinary' rock basin.
Smile.
All four Elders smiled at this scene, and their smiles deepened the next moment as they saw a small distortion in the air move at high speed away from the area.
'We succeeded!!!' This was the thought that passed through every Elder's mind.
The Grand Elder, all smiles, used sound transmission and commented, "We did it, but now is not the time to let our guard down, we still need to extract ourselves."
He took a small pause to let the gravity of his words settle before he continued, "Let's wait another minute before acting, in this way we will give Young Master Qin the time to escape the berserk fury of the Crimson Pyrogryph and Azure Thundergryph that is sure to follow when they realize the Thunder Vein Dew was stolen under their noses!"
"After that… it's time to save ourselves!"
The transmission ended on these words, but all the Elders' joy was temporarily extinguished, for at that moment the most dangerous part of the entire plan was coming, since trying to escape from these two berserk demonic beasts would be far harder than simply holding them down…
This was the moment where they were all at risk of falling but—
With Young Master Qin having secured the Thunder Vein Dew, even if all four of them and even the Sect Master died, the Sect was sure to rise, so even though they could potentially die here, none of these four Elders were truly worried!
After all, they were all old, so dying to give the Sect a brighter future was a trade they were willing to accept.
And this was also the mindset of the Sect Master, who was thousands of kilometers away, when the Grand Elder, after communicating with the other Elders, took an instant to inform him of the current situation.
***
Swish
Meanwhile, as this was happening, the distortion in the air that had been identified as 'Young Master Qin' under a powerful Stealth Technique was continuing to rapidly move away from the 'crime scene'.
Fwoosh.
Trees, stones, and mountains blurred around him as he rapidly moved through the Savagefang Mountain Range.
Currently he was running in place of the expected flying, and in this fashion, while he was slower, he was also far sneakier and was able to use the surrounding relief to mislead and lose the demonic beasts that were attracted by the potent scent released by the Thunder Vein Dew.
After all, for a Heavenly Wonder of this caliber the 'ordinary' storage ring of 'Young Master Qin' proved wholly insufficient to fully mask its potent scent, a scent strong enough to drive nearby demonic beasts crazy as they knew that by absorbing it they could successfully evolve!!
Fortunately, with this partial masking function, his own Stealth Technique, his caution, and even his use of the terrain to his advantage, he was able to evade fighting against these demonic beasts.
And while he did not fear them, battling against them would make him lose the one thing he could not afford to… time!
Swish–fwoosh.
With every passing moment the distortion in the air crossed immense distances, each second bringing him more and more into security, to the point that it truly looked like he would escape to safety but then—
"Young Master Qin!"
Three voices reached the distortion in the air as three cultivators dressed in the Core Disciples' robes of the Flame Sovereign Sect 'materialized' near 'Qin Lei'.
All three were handsome young men with powerful cultivation bases.
Even among the Core Disciples of an Overlord Sect, they were extremely powerful—the strongest, who appeared to be the leader, was at the 2nd layer of Core Formation, while the other two were at the 1st layer.
The distortion in the air stopped as he heard their voices, and he 'turned to look at them'.
The leader, Colt, took a step forward, a flattering smile making its way onto his visage as he bowed, "We greet Young Master Qin."
"We greet Young Master Qin," the two other Core Disciples echoed, also wearing flattering smiles and offering bows—and why wouldn't they?
After all, after today Young Master Qin was sure to transform like a carp leaping through the dragon gate; with the Thunder Vein Dew, reaching the Core Perfection Realm was a certainty, and even reaching a higher realm was possible!
They knew that entering Qin Lei's good graces was the key to a bright future, while offending him would lead straight to hell!
As these thoughts passed through their minds their flattering smiles grew wider, and Colt bowed once more, "Young Master Qin, if you allow us, we would be honored to escort you through the Savagefang Mountain Range as the Sect Master decreed!"
"..."
Seeing 'Young Master Qin' remain silent, Colt panicked, thinking that perhaps he wasn't satisfied with his sincerity…
Tap.
Colt struck his chest with his closed fist as his expression transformed into one of righteousness and determination, "Young Master, I am ready to offer my life to protect you from these filthy demonic beasts, so please allow me to protect you during your exit from this Mountain Range!" he declared while performing a deep bow.
The two other Core Disciples' eyes widened as they gritted their teeth, the same thought flashing through their minds, 'This bastard! He was faster than us at currying favors!'
Thud.
As these thoughts passed through their minds they both fell to their knees, loudly proclaiming their loyalty and determination to lay down their lives if necessary.
"..."
A silence stretched out for some seconds, but just before the three Core Disciples could ask themselves what was happening, a voice resounded, "Good, lead the way!"
Author Note:
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The Crimson Pyrogryph gets beaten up by the four Elders while with them acting as 'baits' Young Master Qin successfully sneak in and stole the Thunder Vein Dew.
And lucky him afterward there are three Core Disciples that come to protect him and make sure he returns to the Sect.
Ahh…clearly things are going alright as it should with a plan this well thought, there's no reason why it shouldn't work…right?
At the same time task successfully failed, it's chapter 300 and it still isn't the end of the Volume so yeah…that was to be expected but I'll try to finish it relatively soon.
———
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— End of Chapter —