Seeing Wang Hao in position, Wang Yanzhao immediately acted according to the pre-arranged plan. He directly cast a spell at the pond.

The pond erupted with a loud explosion, quickly settling down again, but then suddenly churned violently like boiling water. From within emerged a large-headed fish demon the size of a shark. Seeing only a Qi Refining stage human before it, it opened its maw—large enough to swallow a person—and let out a roar filled with fury.

The fish demon launched attacks repeatedly. Fortunately, Wang Yanfeng had already made his escape beforehand, so they missed their mark.

The fish demon was very cautious. After waiting for a while and seeing no further movement, it finally began pursuing Wang Yanfeng along the stream. Wang Yanfeng occasionally threw out spirit talismans, deliberately provoking the fish demon.

Seeing the fish demon depart, Wang Hao also quietly slipped into the water, minimizing his movements as much as possible and slowly approaching the small island at the center of the pond.

When he was still ten meters away from the Condensing Essence Fruit tree, Wang Hao stopped. This distance was already sufficient for him to pick the fruits.

Wang Hao summoned his Gale Sword. With a swish, he severed the three Condensing Essence Fruits and then used the Traction Technique to draw them into his storage pouch.

Seeing the seeds light up in his farm, he swam towards the shore without looking back! During this time, several Tier 1 demonic beasts in the lake noticed Wang Hao, but he was extremely fast. Before they could catch up, he had already reached the shore.

Once out of the water, Wang Hao had no fear of a few Tier 1 fish demons. He beheaded them almost one per sword stroke.

Wang Hao did not linger in battle. After dealing with the pursuing demonic beasts, he sent a retreat signal to his two companions and immediately used the Earth Escape Technique to leave without even collecting the corpses of the beasts.

On the other side, after Wang Yanfeng lured the fish demon into the formation, he and Li Derong frantically poured spiritual power into it, hoping to trap the fish demon for a few more moments to buy time for Wang Hao.

Since things went exceptionally smoothly on Wang Hao’s end, naturally they also had no intention of tangling with the fish demon. They directly abandoned their positions and the formation flags, only retrieving the formation disk before hastily retreating.

Without their control, the formation was broken by the fish demon moments later. But by then, all three had already escaped over a hundred li away. The fish demon could not leave the water for long. It looked at where the Condensing Essence Fruit tree had been stealthily robbed by its pondside and let out a series of unwilling cries from its mouth. Finally, it sank back to the bottom of the pond to sleep again. As a Tier 2 demonic beast with a long lifespan, fifty years was nothing; it could wait.

“Whew, that was close! Luckily Fairy Li’s Concealing Spirit Incense was highly effective. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to approach the Condensing Essence Fruit so easily!” Wang Hao said thankfully, wiping sweat from his brow as he distributed the fruits in his hand to them!

Wang Yanfeng carefully cradled a Condensing Essence Fruit. With his aptitude, he wouldn’t get priority for his family’s Foundation Establishment Pills. Now that an opportunity for Foundation Establishment lay before his eyes, he wished he could immediately swallow and refine it.

Li Derong was much calmer. She glanced at Wang Hao and asked, “Do you plan to attempt Foundation Establishment in this valley?”

Wang Hao gave a bitter smile. “Not me. With my Five Spiritual Roots, I can’t compare to you guys. If I rashly consume a Condensing Essence Fruit, I’m afraid I’d burst. It’s better to take it back and refine it into Foundation Establishment Pills first!”

“You can refine Foundation Establishment Pills?” Li Derong asked in surprise.

Wang Hao shook his head. “Of course I can’t. But Old Wang is now a Tier 2 Mid-Grade alchemist. Give him a few years, perhaps he can!”

Wang Yanfeng also came to his senses at this point. As someone with Three Spiritual Roots, his chances of successfully establishing his foundation by directly swallowing a Condensing Essence Fruit weren’t high either. So he said, “As far as I know, our family’s Old Patriarch is a Tier 2 High-Grade alchemist. Perhaps we could request him to open his furnace for alchemy! But this matter must be kept strictly confidential. Fairy Li?”

“I understand its importance,” she said as she handed her Condensing Essence Fruit back to Wang Hao. “My Li family will provide all other supplementary ingredients. We only ask for two Foundation Establishment Pills in return. Is that acceptable?”

“This…” Wang Hao hesitated for a moment but still pushed the fruit back. “I will do my utmost to facilitate this matter, but ultimately it’s up to our Family Head to decide. Fairy Li might as well return and invite your Li Family Head here for discussions!”

Li Derong said, “That might not be necessary either. This place is closest to your Wang family’s Mount Ruojun. After we leave here, I’ll accompany you there directly and first ask Senior Wang’s opinion first. But how do we get out? Wait for the Golden-Eyed Duck?”

Hearing this, Wang Hao smiled and patted his Spirit Beast Bag, releasing Yaya. “Just now by the pondside, I noticed the Golden-Eyed Duck acting strangely; upon checking I found it had indeed completed its advancement.”

The two were overjoyed upon hearing this; after staying at the valley bottom for several years, they could finally leave.

Actually, the Golden-Eyed Duck had woken up long ago, but Wang Hao wanted to obtain seeds from the Condensing Essence Fruit tree, so he hadn’t informed them yet.

After advancing into a Tier 1 High-Grade spirit beast, Yaya’s size increased significantly, now capable of carrying two people flying. Wang Hao sent out Wang Yanfeng and Li Derong in batches, thinking to quickly return to Mount Ruojun, when suddenly two figures appeared directly ahead blocking their path. Originally thinking to mock them for seeking death, but upon observing the aura of the newcomers, he felt something off—these two were actually Foundation Establishment cultivators!

A black-clothed cultivator spat out a weed from his mouth, laughing. “Yo, big bro, our luck is pretty good today. Fat sheep delivering themselves to our door!”

“Judging by their clothes, they’re from the Qingniu Market Li family and Wang family; clan disciples are usually quite wealthy indeed. Lucky us brothers!” Another grey-clothed cultivator also stared intently at the three people, his eyes gleaming.

“Have you eaten a bear heart or leopard gall, daring to move against our Wang family people?” Unable to hold back, Wang Yanfeng rebuked.

“Hahaha!” The two Foundation Establishment cultivators exchanged a glance. “A mere Foundation Establishment clan, with such big airs. Junior, even if your family ancestor were here, old me would still scrape off three ounces of oil from him!”

While still exchanging verbal barbs, Wang Hao hurriedly transmitted his voice to Li Derong. “Fairy Li, if you lure away one Foundation Establishment cultivator, do you have confidence in escaping?”

As the Li family’s Foundation Establishment seed, she naturally possessed trump cards. She replied, “If just one, naturally no problem!”

“Good, then later we split and flee; you deal with the grey-clothed Foundation Establishment cultivator, I’ll handle the black-clothed one. My Eighth Uncle’s combat strength is lacking; staying would only hinder us. Let him ride my spirit beast to head to Mount Ruojun and report!”

“No problem, see you at Mount Ruojun!” As her words landed, she directly manipulated her yellow long silk to attack the grey-clothed Foundation Establishment cultivator, leaving him stunned. Damn, what a hurry!

Wang Hao hastily transmitted his voice telling Wang Yanfeng to ride Yaya and leave quickly while he took out the Earth Turbidity Seal to attack the black-clothed Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The grey-clothed cultivator hurriedly parried. “Huh, these juniors are quite eager. Since that’s the case, old me will send you west then!”

The black-clothed cultivator, seeing the Earth Turbidity Seal, lit up. “Tier 2 magic tool! Truly a big fat sheep, ah! Big bro, that girl—don’t kill her! Brother hasn’t had meat for months!”

The grey-clothed cultivator responded, “Got it.” Glancing to the side, he saw Wang Hao releasing the Golden-Eyed Duck to prepare for escape. He quickly moved to intercept. “Where do you think you’re going!”

This distraction allowed Li Derong’s fierce attack to actually strike the big man’s back, leaving a glaring wound. The grey-clothed cultivator stumbled, and the spell he fired went astray. Seizing the opportunity, Wang Yanfeng pulled distance and escaped.

The grey-clothed cultivator was furious. “Huh, junior, seeking death!”

Wang Hao was also fighting while retreating, reasoning that as long as they split in three directions, the enemy could only chase two. Wang Yanfeng, who hadn’t shown wealth, was relatively safe.

“Big bro, let’s solve these two first, then chase that one. Just a Tier 1 spirit beast, it can’t fly fast!”

“Good, quick battle, quick resolution!”

Fighting and fleeing the entire way, Wang Hao’s mood was extremely depressed. He had just obtained the Condensing Essence Fruits and hadn’t been happy for a moment before encountering robbers. Who could he reason with? He lived cautiously and never offended anyone; even some unfriendly clan members were brushed off with a smile. Why? This thieving heavens just won’t let him rest!