165: Lu Yuan didn't die!

The team once again embarked on the path of pursuit.

Lu Yuan followed behind Qin Feng, seemingly casually surveying his surroundings.

In reality, his mind had already sunk into his sea of consciousness, communicating with the Heavenly Thunder Light Falcon.

Using the Falcon Eye Lock-on skill!

Although he couldn't summon it directly, borrowing its perception was effortless.

The world in Lu Yuan's eyes seemed to have changed.

His vision transformed from 5.0 to 500.0, and he could freely zoom in and out, switching sizes!

"Senior Schoolmate Qin Feng, that thicket of bushes to the front left seems a bit off," Lu Yuan reminded "casually."

Qin Feng heard him, stopped, and carefully sensed his surroundings.

"Hmm? Nothing unusual," he frowned.

"Maybe it's the lighting, I thought I saw a shadow flicker," Lu Yuan scratched his head, looking "unsure."

Qin Feng walked over, half-believing, half-doubting, and pushed aside the bushes.

"Oh? There are several shed animal hairs here, very light in color, almost blending with the dead leaves!"

"It's from the Void Shadow Stealth Leopard! It really came this way!"

Raimond and the others were invigorated.

"Junior Schoolmate Lu Yuan, not bad! Good eyesight!" Lin Wei praised, a hint of admiration flashing in her eyes.

Lu Yuan smiled modestly: "Just luck, just luck."

They continued to move forward.

Not long after, Qin Feng once again found himself in a predicament.

The tracks ahead stopped in an open area.

"Strange, there's no cover here, how did it disappear?" Qin Feng muttered to himself, his brows tightly furrowed.

Lu Yuan chuckled inwardly, his perspective freely changing in his eyes. The leopard had utilized a very shallow depression, almost creeping along the ground, and its fur color was similar to the ground, making it extremely difficult to spot.

"Senior Schoolmate Qin Feng, look over there," Lu Yuan pointed to a small patch of slightly darker soil at the edge of the depression, "Is the soil there a bit wetter than elsewhere? Could it be dew or something it kicked up when it passed?"

Qin Feng's eyes lit up, and he immediately rushed over.

After a careful inspection, he exclaimed in surprise: "That's right! There are extremely faint residual spatial fluctuations here! It made a short-distance jump from here!"

"Brilliant! Lu Yuan!" Raimond couldn't help but cheer.

"Your observational skills are stronger than some professional Scout Card Masters!"

Qin Feng also looked at Lu Yuan with some admiration.

He hadn't held much hope for this "connected" Junior Schoolmate who joined halfway.

Unexpectedly, his keenness in tracking was in no way inferior to his own, and even in observing certain details, he was more insightful than him.

Lu Yuan still maintained a "lucky" demeanor: "Mainly, Senior Schoolmate Qin Feng had already locked onto the general direction, I just got lucky."

He didn't want to appear too extraordinary and draw attention.

It would be best to complete the task as soon as possible and return.

And so, under Lu Yuan's occasional "strokes of genius" guidance, the team's efficiency in tracking the Void Shadow Stealth Leopard greatly improved.

Qin Feng and Raimond's perception of Lu Yuan also changed imperceptibly.

This Junior Schoolmate didn't seem as simple as he appeared on the surface.

He seemed to be hiding some unknown little secrets.

However, as long as it benefited the team, they were happy to see it happen.

After all, who among those who could enter his Nine Heavens Academy wasn't a favored child of heaven?

Team trust was thus established bit by bit, through subtle influence... Meanwhile, within the Lost Water Realm.

"Boom!"

"Haha! A Tier 2, 3-star [Flame Hound]! Green quality! A good start!" A rogue Card Master picked up a card that had dropped on the ground, shouting excitedly.

The secret realm had just opened, and its rules were reshaped.

The scattered Source Power spawned a large number of low-tier demonic beasts, which were easily slain by the Card Masters who subsequently poured in.

For a time, the sound of cards dropping "ding-ding-dang-dang" echoed continuously throughout the secret realm.

Wow! The drop rate is super high!

Tier 1 and Tier 2 blue and green cards were everywhere, and occasionally, Tier 3 cards could be seen.

Although the quality of these cards wasn't high, their quantity was simply too great!

Those Card Masters with weaker strength or from smaller factions were like mice that had fallen into a rice bin, their faces beaming with unexpected joy as they frantically harvested these "benefits."

"I'm rich! I'm rich! Just these low-tier cards will sell for a lot of money when I go back!"

"This trip wasn't in vain!"

However, the true major powers, such as the Yao Family, the Provincial Government, the Zhou Family, and Deyun Hall, disdained these low-tier cards.

Their teams, upon entering the secret realm, immediately summoned their flying beasts.

"Caw—!"

"Roar—!"

Various flying mounts soared into the sky, their targets clear, heading straight for the depths of the secret realm, to the former volcanic region!

The place where Lu Yuan was most likely to have "met his demise"!

And also, according to legend, the most likely location for a "supreme object" to appear!

Their goal, from the very beginning, was not these leftovers... The Lost Water Realm, the former volcanic region.

Now, it was a scorched wasteland!

The air was filled with a strange smell of sulfur mixed with new earth!

It smelled terribly foul.

Days passed, and this area was almost turned upside down by various groups.

"Damn it! Didn't even find a single hair!" The captain of a small team spat fiercely, throwing the detection instrument in his hand to the ground.

"Boss, let alone gold cards, we haven't even seen a few decent orange cards!"

A subordinate next to him wailed.

"Though those low-tier demonic beasts dropped quite a few blue and green cards, barely recovering some of our capital."

Such conversations constantly played out in various parts of the camp.

The initial fervor?

It had long since cooled!

Replaced by deep disappointment, and confusion.

Zhou Wanxiong's face was ashen as he stood outside a makeshift command tent, listening to his subordinates' reports.

"Patriarch, we have already used the most advanced Source Power detection array, covering a hundred-mile radius, even scanning deep underground, and there is no energy reaction from any high-tier cards," a Zhou Family enforcer bowed and said.

"Impossible!" Zhou Wanxiong suddenly turned, "A gold card! That's a gold Origin Card! How vast are the Source Power fluctuations it contains! How could it disappear into thin air?!"

He couldn't accept this result.

He even suspected that other factions were secretly playing tricks, having already taken the gold card but keeping it a secret.

"Could it be... that kid Lu Yuan didn't die in the volcanic region at all?" another enforcer hesitated to ask.

"Nonsense!" Zhou Wanxiong roared, "With such a huge commotion at the time, how could a Tier 3 kid survive?!"

He paused, then said unwillingly:

"Search again! Scour every inch for me! If he's alive, I want to see the card, if he's dead... I still want to see the card!"

He, Zhou Wanxiong, absolutely could not return empty-handed!

Those two gold cards were the Zhou Family's only hope for a comeback!

Their only hope!

Compared to the anxiety and disappointment of other factions.

Within the Yao Family's camp, the atmosphere was quietly changing.

Inside the temporary council tent, Yao Tianxiao and several elders sat around a crude map.

"Tian Xiao, according to feedback from all sides, and our Yao Family disciples' investigations over the past few days, no trace of Lu Yuan's two gold cards has indeed been found," an elder said in a deep voice.

"Logically speaking, when a Card Master dies, their bound Origin Card will definitely be dropped! Without special means of preservation, the card's energy will dissipate over a period due to the loss of its master's Source Power sustenance, causing it to drop in tier... eventually returning to heaven and earth, or re-condensing into an unowned card under specific conditions! gold cards have immense energy, and the dissipation process would cause a huge commotion, it's impossible for there to be no traces," another elder analyzed.

"Unless..."

Yao Tianxiao slowly spoke, his gaze sweeping over everyone,

"That kid didn't die at all!"