Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

Seeing that the seventh brother had been taught a lesson by the eldest brother, the sixth brother chuckled inwardly and then took out all the crystals he had just obtained from Li Lei.

"Boss, these are the crystals I collected before, thirty in total. The rest are with Fifth Sister."

"Is it easy?" Lu Yunshi asked as he took the crystal from Lao Liu's hand.

Knowing what Lu Yunshi was asking, Lao Liu first nodded, then shook his head. "Mid-stage Body Tempering crystals are easy to obtain; you can just buy them. Most people will choose to sell them. But for late-stage Body Tempering crystals, you'll inevitably have to fight. Right now, we only have a little over sixty late-stage Body Tempering crystals, which can only guarantee that two people pass the test."

Lu Yunshi nodded slightly upon hearing this. "That's normal. How could someone in the late stage of Body Tempering let such a good opportunity pass by? But have you finished counting the number of people going up the mountain together, as I asked you to do before?"

The sixth brother did not answer the question, but instead looked at the seventh brother.

"The tally is complete. Aside from our six brothers still down the mountain, there are thirty others. They've all been assessed, and most are at the late stage of Body Tempering. So, we need a total of..."

The seventh brother frowned, but before he could figure it out, the sixth brother gave the answer first.

"We need at least 2,520 mid-stage crystals and 1,080 late-stage crystals, assuming we don't even need to aim for the mystery grand prize."

"I see...that's quite a large number." Lu Yunshi pondered for a moment after hearing this, and then said, "Tell the people in the late stage of Body Tempering that we will help them solve half of the problem, and they can solve the rest themselves. After we go up the mountain, we will use resources to make up for the remaining part."

"As for those in the mid-stage of Body Tempering, we will be responsible for all their late-stage crystals and half of their mid-stage crystals."

"Is the boss going to do another round of screening for usable people?" asked the seventh brother.

"Being able to use them with confidence is only one aspect. More importantly, they must have value that we can utilize. Thirty people are too many and too much of a burden for us. We are not going to lead people up the mountain to fight a war. We are just selecting some people who can be used on the mountain. There is no need for so many."

After speaking, Lu Yunshi looked ahead. Just then, Li Hongying seemed to sense something and looked over in his direction. Instantly, her sharp eyes melted.

The next second, Li Hongying swung her longsword and easily deflected the cultivator's iron hammer, leaving the cultivator horrified.

No, didn't you always dodge my attacks before? Where did this force come from?

"Sorry, let's end this fight here. I was hoping to stall for time and then pretend to be exhausted to lure others up for a challenge, but I have more important things to do now." Li Hongying tilted her head slightly and smiled, her ponytail swaying gently. It was a beautiful sight, but her words were quite infuriating.

"Hahaha, from what you're saying, it seems like you can defeat me easily?" The Iron Hammer cultivator was unsurprisingly enraged upon hearing this, and his blood and qi surged throughout his body.

"Fine, fine, then let me see why you're spouting such nonsense..."

Before he could finish speaking, a gust of wind suddenly swept past his ear, cutting off the Iron Hammer cultivator's voice. He stared blankly at the girl who had just swung her sword, and raised his slightly trembling hand to touch his face.

It hurts! There's blood!

"I've already said I don't want to waste my time listening to you, especially your loser's words, they're boring."

As Li Hongying spoke, she brandished her longsword with one hand. A moment later, a gust of wind swept in, then was disturbed by the longsword and eventually stopped on the blade.

"This is... the Intercepting Wind Palm?" The Iron Hammer cultivator's eyes widened.

No, sister, this is the Intercepting Wind Palm technique! Why are you holding a sword?

Aren't we living in the same world?

But soon, the suffocating sense of crisis brought him to his senses. He also knew the Intercepting Wind Palm technique; it was impossible for it to give him such a heart-pounding feeling.

If that sword comes at me, I'll be in real danger.

"Are you ready?" Li Hongying asked coldly as she approached step by step, sword in hand.

"Hahaha!" The Iron Hammer cultivator laughed three times upon hearing this, his eyes filled with fighting spirit. "I knew you were strong, but I didn't expect you to be this strong. Woman... you have successfully caught my attention, but I haven't eaten yet today. How about we fight again another day after I've eaten and drunk my fill? Let's just consider this one battle as your victory."

After saying that, the Iron Hammer cultivator took out the cloth bag containing the crystals and threw it away, then turned and left with a flourish.

As the old saying goes, surrendering means losing half the battle.

Although Jing Shi lost, he preserved his strength, avoiding the possibility of someone else taking advantage of him after his defeat. As long as he is still alive, Jing Shi still has a chance to pass the test.

This is the choice of a smart person.

"Tsk... How boring, but it did save some time." Li Hongying pursed her lips as she watched the Iron Hammer cultivator leave, the gentle breeze swirling around the sword dissipating as it could no longer be maintained.

She turned her head and glanced around, then twirled her sword and shouted in a very cool manner.

"Who else!?"

"He's gone! He's gone! I didn't expect that guy to surrender. Judging from his aggressive demeanor before, I thought he could at least exhaust half of Li Hongying's strength. I didn't expect him to be such a coward."

"If you're so good, then go up and fight."

"What a joke! I just broke through to the late stage of Body Tempering, what's the big deal? Besides, didn't you hear this crazy woman say that she was just acting?"

"Damn, they're all in the late stage of Body Tempering, but they don't seem to be in the same style as us."

"Let's go quickly, lest this crazy woman target us, or what will we do if I lose the crystals we have?"

Upon seeing Li Hongying's imposing demeanor, the onlookers scattered without hesitation, fearing they might be targeted by the madwoman.

After seeing that most of the people had left, Li Hongying sheathed her longsword, quickly adopted a girlish demeanor, and ran towards Lu Yunshi, calling out in a coquettish manner.

"Cloud Time"

"Tsk, Fifth Sister's appearance is truly an eyesore." Seventh Sister lowered her head and closed her eyes, unwilling to be offended by the sight.

The person is beautiful, and the movements are alluring, but how come they combine to create such a grotesque appearance?

Lu Yunshi, who had never seen Li Hongying look like this before, looked at his two brothers with some trepidation. "Wait, has your fifth sister been reading some weird books lately? I'm getting a little scared."

In the past, Li Hongying would just run over and lie down on him; she would never make these facial expressions or gestures.

The two brothers exchanged a glance, shrugged together, and indicated that they didn't know where to go.

At this moment, Li Hongying finally ran up to them, and before the three could react, she gently swung her pink little fist at the faces of the two brothers.

The two brothers stared wide-eyed, and before they could react, the person had flown away.

After doing all this, Li Hongying finally felt at ease clinging to Lu Yunshi.

"No, Seventh Brother didn't nag you, I didn't." Sixth Brother, who was covering his face, stood up from the ground, about to protest, but was silenced by Li Hongying's piercing gaze.