Suddenly hearing this arrogant female voice, the gathered crowd couldn’t help but turn their heads to look.
Dressed in a long purple silk gown and wearing a propitious phoenix coronet, with a jade-green treasure belt around her waist, Xiahou Rui appeared behind Zhu Fei alongside Jiang Yu, who held a folding fan in his hand.
And beside the two of them, there were also seven or eight other cultivators in Sect attire following closely.
They surrounded Xiahou Rui and Jiang Yu in the middle, highlighting their extraordinary status.
Zhu Fei fiercely shouted this name in his heart as a murderous intent suddenly burst forth from his eyes.
He clenched his fists tightly, then released them, clenched them again, then released them again!
Eventually, he concealed the turbulent murderous intent in his heart, and rationally chose not to immediately attack Xiahou Rui.
This was not because he was afraid of being seen by the people present, but because he knew that with his current strength, if he faced Xiahou Rui and all her people at the same time, he was not completely certain he could kill Xiahou Rui.
Once Xiahou Rui became alerted or even escaped, it would be no easy feat to find her again in the vast Wind Forest Valley.
Xiahou Rui must be killed, but he must not act impulsively. If he did not make a move, it should be as if he never had the intention, but once he did, it had to be a fatal blow! He could not give the other party any chance to escape!
"How bold! You dare not to answer Lady Xiahou’s question just now! Are your ears deaf?"
Just at that moment, a young male disciple from Blue Moon Pavilion, one of those who followed Xiahou Rui, suddenly berated Zhu Fei loudly.
The Blue Moon Pavilion was a second-tier sect, and they also had Golden Core cultivators within, who always regarded the Xiahou family as leaders to follow.
The male disciple had seen Xiahou Rui frown a moment before and knew that Zhu Fei’s attitude must have displeased Lady Xiahou.
In order to show off in front of Xiahou Rui, he was the first to accuse Zhu Fei.
Zhu Fei’s eyes grew stern, his figure suddenly became a blur, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of the male disciple!
With a "smack", Zhu Fei’s slap solidly landed on the face of the young man, sending him flying high into the air!
Although Zhu Fei did not plan to immediately attack Xiahou Rui, it did not mean he would let others bully him.
If one intended to use him to curry favor with that contemptible Xiahou Rui, then they must pay the price for their actions!
"You... You dare to strike my man!"
Xiahou Rui’s face instantly shifted in hue!
She stared deathly at Zhu Fei, her eyes flickering with a deep-seated venom and intense murderous intent, which radiated out rapidly from her as the epicenter to all directions.
"Hmph! Xiahou Rui, I admit you come from an extraordinary background, but if you think you can get all of us here to give up these Pill Spirit Fruits just because of that, then you are far too delusional."
Confronting Xiahou Rui’s anger, Zhu Fei was utterly unmoved.
He looked coldly at Xiahou Rui and suddenly raised his voice, "You should know that this place is Maple Valley, not Xiahou State in the Tianhua Domain, where treasures belong to those favored by fate. I believe that most of the people here share my thoughts, and I hope you do not act too presumptuously."
As Zhu Fei’s words fell, aside from Xiahou Rui and Jiang Yu’s group, the other cultivators who had been waiting there earlier all began to shift their gazes, lighting up with intrigue.
Their look towards Xiahou Rui and her company carried no more of the previous fear but instead began to glint with a trace of ferocity.
Only then did they realize that Xiahou Rui’s targeting of Zhu Fei was probably not because of any other reason but her desire to monopolize these Pill Spirit Fruits right in front of them.
This was undoubtedly an infringement upon the personal interests of everyone present.
Although at first, many of them might have been wary of Xiahou Rui’s identity, the truth was, as Zhu Fei had just mentioned, this was Wind Forest Valley, not Xiahou State, which was under the dominion of the Xiahou family.
If Xiahou Rui really intended to monopolize the treasure for herself, then they might have no choice but to fight fiercely for their own opportunities.
At this time, Xiahou Rui also seemed to grasp the intention behind Zhu Fei’s words, and her pretty face immediately turned livid with anger.
Her beautiful eyes were spitting fire, and her gaze towards Zhu Fei did not conceal her murderous intent.
"Hehe, my friend, I think you might have misunderstood us. We just happened to pass by here by chance and didn’t have the intentions you mentioned earlier."
At that moment, Jiang Yu, who had been standing beside Xiahou Rui, finally spoke up.
He first crossed his hands over a folded fan and gave Zhu Fei a slight bow, then turned and greeted the others with a fist and palm salute before continuing:
"Gentlemen, I am Jiang Yu, the senior disciple of Joyful Union Sect. I believe everyone is aware of the situation of our sect along with Lady Xiahou’s. These Pill Spirit Fruits are undoubtedly invaluable, but given the foundation of our two sects, we truly wouldn’t take them too seriously, so..."
Upon saying this, Jiang Yu gave Zhu Fei a meaningful look, and couldn’t help but add, "Therefore, I hope everyone will not act impulsively, doing something that could bring trouble to yourselves or your sects."
As his words fell, a mighty aura suddenly erupted from Jiang Yu’s body.
Even Zhu Fei, upon sensing it, couldn’t help but his pupils slightly contract.
This Jiang Yu had actually reached the Fake Pill Realm.
The so-called Fake Pill Realm is a level above Foundation Establishment Perfection, and yet it is not the true formation of a Golden Core.
It is no exaggeration to say that any cultivator who has reached the Fake Pill Realm could sweep through all the cultivators of the Foundation Establishment Realm, provided that no true Golden Core cultivators intervened.
Zhu Fei immediately became wary of this Jiang Yu.
He had not expected that such a powerful expert would be accompanying Xiahou Rui.
And from his self-introduction, it appeared he was also a disciple from one of the Ten Great Sects.
"Hmph! You just wait, no matter what, I will definitely kill you when the time comes!"
At this point, Xiahou Rui had already joined Jiang Yu and others, heading directly to a secluded place to wait.
Their posture seemed to suggest that they did not intend to have an immediate confrontation with Zhu Fei.
However, Xiahou Rui seemed unable to calm her fury and directly began to send voice transmissions threatening Zhu Fei bluntly.
Zhu Fei sneered to himself.
Truth be told, his actions had been aimed at bringing about this very scene.
He believed that with Xiahou Rui’s arrogance and folly, the first thing she would do once the Pill Spirit Fruits ripened was to target, and even attempt to kill, him.
Zhu Fei didn’t feel the need to do much; if he could just lure Xiahou Rui out alone, then he could leave her life behind in the Wind Forest Valley.
As for any possible retaliation from the Xiahou family afterward, Zhu Fei didn’t care at all. After all, at this point, even if he didn’t kill Xiahou Rui, he believed that Xiahou Rui and the Xiahou family wouldn’t let him off either.
Given this, what did Zhu Fei have to worry about?
Time slowly passed as everyone waited.
When the tree bearing the Pill Spirit Fruits suddenly emitted a burst of rich and fragrant medicinal scent, everyone immediately realized that the twenty Pill Spirit Fruits had finally matured at that moment!