Xiong Yan's eyes flashed with obvious astonishment.

"You've recovered so quickly!"

The moment the flying sword was unleashed, Xiong Yan's physical body twisted bizarrely, bending at an odd angle to avoid a direct hit. However, the terrifying sword aura still enveloped most of his body.

"Pu pu pu..."

Xiong Yan was struck by thousands of sword lights, blood splattering everywhere, and his remaining right arm was severed.

Just as Xu Hei was about to press the attack, the space behind him suddenly twisted, and a bloody arm emerged out of nowhere, striking fiercely at his back.

This arm was precisely the left arm that Xiong Yan had lost.

"Boom!!"

Xu Hei was also hit hard, sent flying forward. The Rock Crystal Guardian on his back shattered mostly, and the terrifying evil energy invaded his body, but was blocked by the spider silk armor. Although it didn't cause much damage, it interrupted Xu Hei's offensive.

A fierce light flashed in Xiong Yan's eyes.

When he discovered this strange mushroom, he had thought of using it to ambush others, deliberately showing it to people. While others were caught off guard, he sealed his own divine sense and struck boldly, hoping to successfully ambush one or two.

But to his surprise, Xu Hei recovered so quickly! That was one thing, but Xu Hei dared to attack him, which was what shocked and angered him.

He had no choice but to release the left arm he had prepared in advance to harm others.

This left arm had indeed been severed by a restriction, but he had used a secret technique to hide it as a backup plan. Unfortunately, this scheme could only be used once.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, your divine abilities are indeed vast. I will remember today's events."

Xiong Yan's left arm flew back, reattaching at the severed position, and he picked up the right arm from the ground, grabbing the jade box, and quickly flew towards the Flame Demon Ancestor.

Suddenly, Xiong Yan paused, discovering an inexplicable shadow beneath him.

The shadow twisted into the shape of a crescent blade, slashing towards him.

"Night Owl?"

Xiong Yan's expression changed. He had been sealing his divine sense, avoiding the mushroom's poison, but he hadn't noticed this person approaching.

"Slash!!"

Xiong Yan decisively spat out blood, his speed skyrocketing more than tenfold in an instant, transforming into a blood light and fleeing into the distance. But the shadow's slash was equally fast, like a teleporting strike, severing his hand.

The jade box in his hand clattered to the ground, falling into the shadow.

At the same moment, Xiong Yan had already fled far away, disappearing as a blood rainbow.

Xu Hei quickly stepped forward, arriving at the jade box and grabbing it.

"What a pity, letting that scoundrel escape."

Night Owl also appeared nearby.

Everything happened too fast; from the moment the two attacked to Xiong Yan's escape, it was over in a breath. Nearby cultivators, seeing this, quickly took out their magical treasures to protect themselves, fearing a sneak attack.

Xu Hei was quite surprised and said, "You weren't affected?"

"Who said I wasn't affected? This mushroom's poison is domineering, even a mid-stage Divine Transformation cultivator would be affected, but it doesn't interfere with my actions." Night Owl crossed his arms, speaking arrogantly.

"..." Xu Hei was momentarily speechless.

"Attach this talisman, it can isolate divine sense and protect against harm."

Night Owl took out a fifth-grade Soul Suppression Talisman bought at a trade fair and attached it to the surface of the jade box, sealing it completely. Xu Hei initially wanted to give it to Night Owl, but the latter declined, saying he couldn't accept it, so Xu Hei stored it in his storage ring.

In the outer palace complex, they only found a poison pill and a poisonous mushroom of unknown variety, but all were extremely dangerous spirit medicines. Xu Hei felt something was amiss.

Who knows what lies deeper inside.

"Let's head further in, it seems the Flame Demon Ancestor has discovered something."

Xu Hei's figure flickered as he flew towards the depths of the palace complex.

"You go ahead, I'll follow shortly," Night Owl said calmly.

Xu Hei was a bit puzzled but didn't think much of it and quickly left.

After Xu Hei left, Night Owl, seeing no one around, leaned against the wall and retched. He swallowed an antidote pill and sat cross-legged, his face alternating between green and red. After a long while, he slowly recovered like the others.

"What kind of ghost mushroom has such power? I can't forcefully act next time," Night Owl cursed.

At this moment, he suddenly noticed a purple-haired man nearby, staring at him without blinking, who knows for how long.

"I didn't see anything," Han Te quickly said.

...

Xu Hei found a secluded spot and took out the spider silk armor, which was stained red with blood, the result of the overwhelming evil energy contained in that palm strike.

"Who knows how many people Xiong Yan has sacrificed; even a casual strike contains such overwhelming evil energy," Xu Hei thought grimly.

The power of that palm wasn't great, but the evil energy was astonishing. If not for the spider silk armor, Xu Hei might have suffered a loss.

After hearing about the fall of Heavenly Sand Star and the blood sacrifice of over a billion souls, just one Xiong Yan had such evil energy. The Flame Demon Ancestor and others would be even more terrifying.

Indeed, no opponent should be underestimated. Who knows what other tricks and trump cards Xiong Yan has up his sleeve. Next time, Xu Hei must be more cautious to avoid being caught off guard.

Xu Hei operated the Demon God Cauldron, spending half a stick of incense's time to extract and refine the evil energy, then donned the spider silk armor again.

"In this way, the Ancient Tomb Sect must also be guarded against. Their cultivation technique of ghostly arts also requires this evil energy as an aid," Xu Hei pondered.

Xu Hei stood up and went outside, just as Night Owl arrived.

The two exchanged no words, heading together to the entrance of the main hall. This hall was located in the center, directly facing the Guanghan Gate, and was noticeably larger than the other side halls.

Most of the cultivators had already entered, including those from the Blood Refining Sect, indicating it was a main hall.

The two calmed their minds and entered the grand hall.

The hall was spacious, with cultivators sitting around the edges, their expressions solemn. The place still held remnants of violent spiritual power fluctuations, indicating a previous confrontation.

At the front of the hall, there were two passages, one eerie and sinister, the other blazing and fierce, presenting two completely different scenes.

The commonality was that both passages looked exceptionally dangerous.

On the ground before the passages, there was a line of text left by predecessors.

"The Land of the Moon, the Land of the Sun, are the only two paths to the inner hall. Choose one at your own discretion! Remember, know your limits!"

Judging by the style of the text, it was clearly left by a cultivator from Divine Continent Star.

To leave text on such a hard surface, enduring countless years without fading, showed that this person's cultivation was extraordinary.

"It was left by one of the five Superior Immortals of the past. Judging by the style, it seems like the White Emperor?" Xu Hei speculated in the dark.

The Land of the Moon, the Land of the Sun, it was evident that the passages ahead were the entrances to these two places.

One yin, one yang, choose one.

No wonder there were no treasures in the outer palace complex; it turns out the five Superior Immortals of the past had also visited here. If there were any valuable treasures, they would have been taken.

The remaining spirit medicines were either useless to them or deliberately left behind by their people.