Yuan Ming played with the fire-red spirit stone, shaking his head regretfully.

The spirit stone, due to the differing spiritual powers contained within, could generally be divided into five main categories: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. This particular spirit stone was obviously one of the fire attribute, and as he cultivated the Nine Elements Technique of the wood attribute, he couldn't use it to assist his practice by absorbing its spiritual power.

Yuan Ming put the spirit stone back into the small black bag and took out the book with great interest, eager to open it.

This book, having been stored in the small black bag, must not be an ordinary classic.

The pages of these books weren't made of paper but a soft white silk, which allowed for longer preservation than paper pages.

He flipped to the first page, and four large characters met his eyes: Black Wood Handbook.

"Black Wood? This name sounds so familiar... Could it be the Master Hei Mu from the Fire Refining Hall that Chen Wan mentioned?" Yuan Ming suddenly remembered what Chen Wan had told him, paused in his reading, and began to search the corpse again. Quickly, he found a nameplate in the chest pocket of the clothes, bearing the small characters "Hei Mu".

"It indeed is Master Hei Mu," Yuan Ming's eyes lit up.

Being hailed as one of the genius artifact refiners within Biluo Cave for a hundred years, the handbook left by Hei Mu was definitely of great value.

What he hadn't anticipated was that such a legendary artifact refining master would die here so mysteriously and inexplicably.

Just as he was about to continue perusing the Black Wood Handbook, Huo Chan'er, who had been playing around inside the house, suddenly dashed over, leaping onto Yuan Ming's shoulder, chirping anxiously with an air of alarm.

Yuan Ming furrowed his brow, promptly stowed away the Black Wood Handbook, and with a flicker of green light in his palm, the Green Fish Sword appeared, his eyes sharply scanning the surroundings.

However, as time ticked by, nothing unusual emerged around him.

Yuan Ming remained vigilant, carefully making his way towards the outside.

Huo Chan'er's spiritual sense had proven to be uncannily accurate time after time, possessing an extraordinary keenness capable of sensing the aura of Fire Jade Marrow through two stone walls—definitely not something to be ignored.

Just as he barely reached the doorway of the stone chamber, Huo Chan'er suddenly let out another sharp scream. Almost simultaneously, a yellow shadow leaped out from the rocks beneath him, and a long claw flashed lightning-fast towards his calf.

Yuan Ming hadn't expected an enemy to burst out from beneath the ground and hurriedly dodged to the side, while the Green Fish Sword reflexively countered, chopping towards the yellow shadow's chest.

The movement technique of the yellow shadow was incredibly tricky; with a slight sway, it avoided the Green Fish Sword's chop and slammed into the stone wall beside it, merging into it without resistance, vanishing without a trace.

Yuan Ming staggered, a long gash appearing on his right leg, oozing plenty of fresh blood.

Although he had tried his best to dodge, he was still grazed by the yellow shadow's claw. Fortunately, the wound wasn't deep and didn't impede his movement.

"Able to easily pass through stone walls... Was that thing just now an Earth Demon?" he inwardly mused.

He had read about Earth Demons in the classics, they possessed the superpower to tunnel through the ground, able to move freely through soil and stone, making them exceptionally difficult to handle in the current environment. Brou$ght to you by M@V6*LE&MPY6R#.+

It was said that Earth Demons only appeared deep within Ten Thousand Mountains, so why would one be found in the region of Qianlu Lake?

Not bothering to tend to his wound, Yuan Ming immediately ran outside.

Huo Chan'er perched on his shoulder, anxiously looking around.

"That's right, how could I forget to make use of its power!" A thought suddenly struck Yuan Ming, and he began to shape the spell for the Wood Stabbing Technique.

At that moment, Huo Chan'er shrieked again, its eyes turned towards the back.

Yuan Ming's spell-casting right hand promptly pointed backward, aligning with Huo Chan'er's gaze.

Slight yellow glows appeared on the wall to his back-left, and the yellow shadow demon revealed half its body.

Just then, as a green light flashed from the stone wall beneath it, a sharp Wooden Thorn sprouted out of nowhere, stabbing into the abdomen of the yellow shadow demon.

The yellow shadow demon being of earth and wood overcoming earth, the Wood Stabbing Technique easily broke through its bodily defense, ripping open a big wound.

The demon let out a pained scream; its surface yellow light scattered greatly, revealing its true form.

It was a creature with a large head and a slender body, covered in earthy yellow, its skin unusually smooth, and four long, thin claws which, amidst the ugliness, conveyed a sense of the ridiculous.

"Indeed an Earth Demon!" Yuan Ming whispered, casting another spell.

Two Wooden Thorns emerged, crossing towards the Earth Demon's body.

The Earth Demon shrank its body, avoiding the pursuit of the two Wooden Thorns, and disappeared into the stone wall.

Yuan Ming's expression was stern. He showed no excitement from not having landed a successful hit and continued to sprint towards the outside.

According to records in the classics, Earth Demons were vengeful. Although the Wood Stabbing Technique injured it, it might not have struck its vital parts, and the demon could possibly still be lurking close by. He needed to leave immediately.

During the rest of the journey, the Earth Demon didn't attack again, and Yuan Ming quickly reached the outside, his expression slightly relaxed.

Earth Demons could tunnel through the ground, and the more enclosed the environment, the more advantageous it was for them. Now, upon reaching the open area outside, the range of the demon's attacks greatly reduced, naturally becoming less dangerous.

Huo Chan'er crawled into Yuan Ming's embrace, looking up and emitting low whimpers, its body trembling slightly, revealing a sense of fear.

"Look how frightened you've gotten, little fellow. But it's understandable; first, it was the Four-eyed Golden Ape, then the Black Giant Crow, and now an Earth Demon has appeared. Indeed, it's better to leave early!" Yuan Ming gently stroked Huo Chan'er's fluffy head, also feeling the urge to retreat.

Though the island shrouded in dense fog was fraught with danger, it only added to its mystery—particularly with the discovery of Black Wood's corpse, igniting a desire to delve into its secrets. Alas, he was still too weak and would have to wait for another opportunity in the future.

He retraced his steps along the cold, misty stream, soon returning to the previous Black Pine Forest.

Yuan Ming hesitated and decided not to take the same way back.

If he followed the same route, he might encounter the Black Giant Crow and the Four-eyed Golden Ape again, and he certainly didn't want any unnecessary entanglements with those two creatures if he could avoid them.

Yuan Ming carefully recalled the situation since arriving on the island and tentatively concluded that the Black Pine Forest should also be on the periphery of the island. Heading in the opposite direction of the cold stream should also lead to the island's edge.

Following his judgment, the Black Pine Forest gradually thinned out, and the sound of rushing water approached; soon, he arrived at the lakeside.

Yuan Ming's expression eased, and he immediately canceled the Fur Cloak Skill. Deciding to rest in a dry spot, he exercised the Nine Elements Technique to recover his mana while contemplating an escape plan.

He still had rope with him, and making another raft was no difficult task; however, the real trouble was the black water demon that could unleash thunderous attacks. He felt it was still lurking nearby, waiting for him.

At that moment, Yuan Ming suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards a nearby pine tree.

However, there was nothing there—empty as could be.

"That's not right, I clearly sensed something there just now..." Yuan Ming muttered to himself, then he suddenly thought of a possibility.

"Silver cat, is it you?" he asked as he stood up.

The surrounding area remained silent, without any response.

"I know you're around here; could you show yourself?" Yuan Ming cleared his throat and spoke sincerely.

Although he didn't know why, the silver cat had always mysteriously followed him, and he believed it was nearby. With the silver cat's divine skills, if it chose to assist him, leaving this place would become much easier.

Beside the sound of water and wind, there was still no other movement.

Yuan Ming gave a wry smile, realizing this was the silver cat's way of declining to help. He stopped calling for it and sat back down to continue recovering his mana with the Nine Elements Technique.

Shortly after, he stood up, summoned the Green Fish Sword, chopped down a few black pines, trimmed branches, bound them with rope, and quickly made a new raft.

Instead of putting the raft into the water, Yuan Ming stored it in the black Storage Bag. Then, he invoked the incense burner, ascending as high as possible into the sky before flying full-force towards the distance.

The wind howled past his ears, and the mist was sliced open by his path, quickly covering a distance of seven to eight miles.

By now, Yuan Ming's face was pale as he slowly descended and stopped just a few feet above the lake's surface.

He took the raft out of the black Storage Bag, gently dropped it into the water, then drifted down, catching his breath softly.

Having flown so far, Yuan Ming's internal mana was almost depleted, and he felt extremely fatigued, longing for a deep sleep, but now was not the time to rest.

He mustered up his spirit, took out a pole, and carefully pushed the raft, rapidly heading forward.

This was the escape plan Yuan Ming had devised after much thought: first, use the incense burner to fly as far as possible, then escape on the raft.

This plan would have been impossible before since the Storage Bag given to him by the Three Cave Masters couldn't fit a raft. Only after obtaining Master Hei Mu's Storage Bag did this escape strategy become feasible.

It was a risky plan—if the black water demon saw through it, he would be almost completely defenseless. But he had no other options and had to take the risk.

Yuan Ming propelled the raft swiftly, his heart fluctuating wildly as he stayed alert to his surroundings.

As time ticked away, the black water demon didn't appear. His tense heartstrings gradually relaxed, and after continuing for another ten miles and ensuring the black water demon wouldn't show up, he finally stopped the raft, sat down cross-legged, and focused on recovering his mana.

Once his mana had recovered, Yuan Ming quickly stored the raft in the Storage Bag and continued to journey forward on the incense burner.

Later in the day as complete darkness set in,

by the shore of Qianlu Lake, a raft approached quickly and gently docked.

"Finally out," Yuan Ming leaped to the shore, exhaling deeply.

This trip to find the Bishui Stone, what he thought would be a simple task, had taken unexpected turns at every corner.

Yuan Ming shook his head and walked away briskly.

Dozens of feet away in the lake, a round black object emerged, large as a millstone and slick, with two big emerald eyes—it looked like the head of an aquatic creature. Around it, several black tendrils appeared, striving to paddle the water and quickly reach the shore.

If Yuan Ming were there, he would instantly recognize it as the black water demon that had previously pursued him.

But now its eyes lacked viciousness, revealing a sense of bewilderment as if under someone's mind control.

Atop the black head crouched a small silver figure—the silver cat.

The black water demon soon reached the shore, and with a graceful leap, the silver cat landed silently on the bank, its eyes shining in the night as it watched the direction Yuan Ming had gone.

The black water demon's body trembled, the dazed look in its eyes suddenly vanished, and after a terrified glance at the silver cat, it dove back into the water, disappearing from sight.