"Senior Brother Zhou, are you okay?" Lu Yaoyao called out softly.
Zhou Qing shook his head. Seeing the "So powerful" note above her head, he gritted his teeth and directly took off the Yang Fire Talisman from his body.
"Your cultivation is the weakest, so you'll feel the least pressure and move faster. Take this!" Zhou Qing said and threw it over.
Lu Yaoyao was startled and was about to say something, but Zhou Qing made a hush gesture.
There was no helping it. If you move faster, I can stay behind and slowly collect Ignore Points. Otherwise, if you keep looking at me, I'll have a presence.
To put her at ease, Zhou Qing simply sat down on the ground: "I'm not interested in being first. I'd rather take this chance to stabilize my cultivation under this gravity. You have to work hard. I used to be the weakest among the core disciples, but now it's you."
Looking at Zhou Qing's serious expression, Lu Yaoyao bit her lip lightly, then suddenly smiled sweetly, her eyes sparkling, and nodded heavily.
The "So powerful" note above her head immediately turned into "So loving."
Zhou Qing nearly choked at the sight of this.
"What do you mean 'so loving'?"
"I'm not your dad!"
"You can't even use adjectives properly. Is this what I am to you right now?"
[Heart Mirror Points +7]
Hearing the notification, his mood improved slightly.
Seeing the seven people ahead had already moved on, Zhou Qing quickly waved his hand to indicate.
"I won't let you down!"
Lu Yaoyao looked moved to tears and assured Zhou Qing before trudging forward with heavy steps.
It had to be said, the pressure here had a good stabilizing effect on those who advanced too quickly.
This period saw continuous advancements. If it weren't for the Ice Soul Ghost Scale Fish, this place would have been an excellent training ground.
Watching the backs of everyone fading away, Zhou Qing quickly stood up and moved forward under pressure.
The premise of collecting Ignore Points was an exciting and tense multi-person setting. If everyone was gone, who would ignore you?
It's like fishing in the backyard of Divine Peak. Even if you find a secluded spot, make sure other senior brothers can see you.
With this in mind, Zhou Qing followed the group, moving forward bit by bit.
[Ignore Points +1, +1, +1...]
Just when he reached the halfway point, the eerie howling sounded again, followed by a roar of wandering souls three times the previous number.
At the forefront, there were even a dozen terrifying wandering souls of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Zhou Qing immediately bent down, full of disbelief.
"How could there be so many?"
"These Supreme Elders are unreliable, treating us like cannon fodder."
Boom, boom, boom!
Explosions continued ahead, and soon someone couldn't hold on, using their remaining strength and faint glow to flee in panic.
Zhou Qing suddenly regretted giving the Yang Fire Talisman to Lu Yaoyao in a moment of impulsiveness. His talent skill "Lowering Presence" was only at its first level, perfect in the Qi Condensation stage with a 90% probability of being ignored, but there's still that 10% chance of being noticed.
What if he's just that unlucky?
To make matters worse, wandering souls at the Foundation Establishment Realm also had a 60% chance of noticing him.
He immediately turned and ran.
However, he underestimated the potential in people under crisis. In the gravity that absorbed its subjects like a sponge, a late Foundation Establishment senior sister ran past him like the wind.
Running while screaming like a slaughtered pig, the sound pierced Zhou Qing's eardrums.
The others also turned and ran, forming a chain reaction. The number was simply too much to deal with.
Seeing others passing him one after another, Zhou Qing became more anxious.
Maybe because their lives were on the line or the urgency, no one noticed Zhou Qing, not even lending a hand.
Finally, Lu Yaoyao ran past with a flushed face, and Zhou Qing knew it was his talent skill at work.
As long as he didn't call out, no one would notice him.
Just as he opened his mouth to ask for the Yang Fire Talisman back, a large group of wandering souls rushed from behind.
"It's over!" Zhou Qing turned pale, bracing for a final fight.
But the wandering souls, including the dozen from the Foundation Establishment Realm, didn't even glance at him, rushing past to chase the others.
Zhou Qing's heart pounded wildly. Clearly, in such a tense chase situation, everyone landed in that 40% ignorance zone.
Securing his luck, Zhou Qing dared not delay, struggling to move his aching legs out of there.
Fierce fighting sounds came from ahead, making Zhou Qing even more cautious.
After some time, he was three hundred meters from the exit, but his face turned pale as he pressed against the wall.
Countless wandering souls were swarming at the entrance, roaring constantly.
"This is bad!"
Zhou Qing suddenly recalled that at the beginning, the wandering souls would vent after chasing to the entrance before retreating back deep inside.
Now, if they blocked the entrance...
Zhou Qing's face turned even paler.
If he was lucky enough to be ignored earlier, what if he sealed his fate walking back through the 60% zone?
So many Foundation Establishment wandering souls and hundreds of Qi Condensation loose souls could tear him apart.
Even if the Supreme Elders were just a short distance away, they might not be able to save him in time, not to mention they dared not come in for fear of waking some terrifying entity.
"Before they retreat, there's only one path left!"
Zhou Qing gritted his teeth, looking deep into the passage, and without further delay, used all his strength to move forward...
...
"What happened?"
Several Supreme Elders waiting outside quickly stepped forward, anxiously inquiring as they saw people scrambling out.
But before they could finish a few words, others followed, escaping.
Watching their sweaty, panting state, the elders frowned.
"How could there be so many wandering souls? This isn't right!"
They couldn't understand what happened inside for a while.
"Senior Brother Zhou, where's Senior Brother Zhou?"
As they discussed sending in some core disciples at the Golden Core Realm, Lu Yaoyao suddenly shouted, anxiously looking around.
The others, still fearful, quickly looked around and indeed saw no Zhou Qing.
"Wasn't he at the back?"
"Yeah, he should have come out before us."
"Didn't any of you see him as you came out?"
"I was too busy running to notice."
Everyone spoke up, full of confusion about how such an obvious person could have gone unnoticed as they escaped.
Lu Yaoyao suddenly knelt before the elderly women, her face full of urgency.
"Supreme Elder, please save Senior Brother Zhou. He gave me his Yang Fire Talisman. He can't possibly fight those wandering souls alone."
The elderly women frowned, all looking at the large bronze door in the mountain.
"Shall I go in and check?" suggested the elder who recently had a breakthrough in her cultivation technique.
But she was quickly stopped by the others.
"It's too risky. If that thing wakes up, it won't differentiate between friend or foe. It could cause irreversible damage inside. Wait a moment, I'll notify the Sect Leader to bring people over!"
One of the elders swiftly turned into a stream of light and left.
Lu Yaoyao's eyes reddened as she anxiously stared at the bronze door.
Not long after, Sect Leader Cao Zhengyang hurried over with two direct disciples.
"You two, go in quickly and ensure Zhou Qing's immediate rescue. Remember, suppress your cultivation as much as possible!" Cao Zhengyang sternly instructed.
The two disciples saluted, then swiftly entered...