Han Xuhan's answer made Qian Yun do a double take. He instantly whipped around to gaze behind him, at the platform hidden behind a thin layer of fog.

As far as he remembered, there were only two cultivators whose judgement still displayed the pending status after he had returned from the test hall. One was Mu Ran, who was now lying down a few feet away, unconscious. The other one was... Yuen Zhou.

Now that he thought about it, he should have known something was up when he had taken his first look at the leaderboard. But back then, he had been distracted by Han Xuhan's exceptional result and hadn't gotten the time to mull over the suspicious coincidence.

Yuen Zhou was a troublesome cultivator to deal with. Even from where he stood, he could see the silhouettes of her undead army standing still not far away from the platforms, completely ignoring the ongoing battle.

"Think about it, brother Yun. If Yuen Zhou comes out and doesn't become your lackey like that brother Feng behind me, do you think you'll be in a very good position ? You might outnumber me, but her undead army outnumbers you. At that time, you'd be lucky to escape this place alive."

While kindly explaining the peril Qian Yun would face once Yuen Zhou returned, Han Xuhan took out a pair of knives from his robe. He didn't have many left, having used a large number of the knives against Shen Kai. But they'd be enough to buy him some precious time. And right now, time was the only thing he needed.

"Now, the thing is, I might not be able to defeat the two of you once you attack me. But I can definitely waste a lot of time fighting you off, and martial sister Yuen Zhou should definitely return here by that time. After all, both Mu Ran and her test seems to have followed a similar direction."

Han Xuhan suddenly threw out one of the knives behind him after finishing the sentence. Even though his skill in throwing knives were mediocre, he was a cultivator. And the speed he could throw things at was nothing to laugh at. The knife tumbled in the air and nearly hit Feng Jun sneaking up on him dozens of meters away, who barely managed to dodge it in time.

Due to the interference of the fog, weapons like throwing knives and arrows were ten times deadlier. But Feng Jun was a cultivator at the sixth layer of physique transformation realm himself. No matter how fast Xuhan's knives were, his enhanced reflexes and agility was enough to save his skin.

Moreover, the cover of the fog worked both ways. While Feng Jun couldn't immediately detect the knives Xuhan might throw out, Xuhan couldn't see his silhouette properly either when he had to be on guard against two enemies at once.

"Oops, missed the crotch by a teensy bit. What a shame. Shen Kai would have gotten a new kindred soul...

So anyways, as you can see, we are in a temporary stalemate. So how about you..."

Xuhan trailed off, lost in thought.

" How about I what ?" Qian Yun asked curiously.

"I just realized that I haven't thought of what to say after that part of my speech. Excuse me for a moment while I think something up," Xuhan answered, distracted.

Qian Yun had already seen through Xuhan's attempts to buy time. But he didn't feel particularly threatened by Xuhan in any way. What could a single cultivator at the second layer of physique transformation realm do here other than defend himself using tricks ?

It did not matter how much time Han Xuhan bought for himself. In the end, he was hardly a threat to Qian Yun's plans. Moreover, it wasn't as if he was in a hurry. With each passing second, his plans were coming closer to completion. Within a few minutes, this entire land of laws would fall within his grasp once more...

Wait, where did those thought come from ?

Meanwhile, Han Xuhan finally managed to come up with the following part of his speech.

"Ah, right. Where were we? That part about being in a stalemate. So my thoughts on the current situation is... since both of us intend to buy time in our own ways, it seems that we have the same aim and can work together. Why don't you keep standing there, and I'll keep standing here, and brother Feng Jun will keep crouching behind me like he's taking a dump until new elements to our battle are introduced. Sounds legit, right ?"

Qian Yun sighed. This was getting ridiculous. How long did he need to keep listening to this clown ? If he hadn't needed these cultivators alive and intact, he would have found a way to directly kill this eyesore by now.

Just as he was feeling conflicted over whether to just sacrifice this guy in front of him instead of using him for the purification process, another flash of violet light appeared on the platform.

Finally ! Qian Yun rejoiced silently. Another soul shard has been purified...

But the flash of light did not disappear as he had expected and instead got brighter. Concentrating hard, Qian Yun could sense a web of mental network appearing across the platform. As the violet light got brighter and brighter, the web of mental connection expanded continuously, strengthening his perception of the surroundings more and more, as well as giving him a certain feeling of control over everything around him.

A smirk appeared on Qian Yun's face. The wait had been worth it. Sixteen new chains of mental connection had appeared in his mind. The purification process is mostly completed. Other than the three soul shards that had been prepared for Han Xuhan, Mu Ran and Yuen Zhou, the rest should have started assimilating with the main body...

Qian Yun turned to look at Han Xuhan, who had suddenly fallen silent after seeing the appearance of the violet lights.

As the cultivators who had reappeared above the platform received Qian Yun's orders through the mental network slowly walked over towards their position, Han Xuhan started fidgeting nervously, making Qian Yun feel a rush of vengeful relish.

Once they had gotten close enough for them to see the newcomers, Qian Yun scanned for the familiar figure of Yuen Zhou. But she wasn't among them. Qian Yun immediately shouted out an order.

"Everyone, the cultivator who was controlling the undead army earlier might pose some problems once she returns. Take care of the zombies before she appears. "

The cultivators nodded in acknowledgment of his order and rushed toward the zombies standing guard near the platform. Through the veil of the fog, Xuhan and Qian Yun could vaguely see the chaos that ensued. The zombies were slowly being pushed back, away from the platform, deeper into the fog.

Secretly, Qian Yun ordered two of the cultivators who were busy fighting to sneak around the area and attack Han Xuhan from two different directions. Then he ordered three other cultivators to stand guard near the platform and attack Yuen Zhou the moment she makes her appearance. Using the fog and Qian Yun's mental directions, the two cultivators, combined with Feng Jun and Qian Yun himself, were soon surrounding Han Xuhan, who was complety unaware of the fact.