"No wonder I felt demonic Qi lingering around him earlier, turns out he has been practicing the Demon Clan's cultivation techniques. So, he's considered a demon cultivator," Yuan Ming suddenly realized.

"Barely, but it's not any high-level technique. It just barely allows one to absorb demonic Qi into the body to strengthen the physical body. Coupled with some fortuitous opportunities, he was able to cultivate all the way here, though it's not without great future trouble," Qi Ye's initial surprise quickly waned.

Yuan Ming didn't pay much attention to this, as his focus was entirely on Vajra and the Black Robed Elder.

After unleashing his killer move, the Black Robed Elder's magic treasure in hand immediately changed to an octagonal copper hammer that was pitch-black all over. He hurled it towards White Ape.

Vajra only wanted to recognize Yuan Ming right away, and upon seeing the Black Robed Elder blocking the way, he became furiously enraged at once.

With a roar from his mouth, two beams of gold light suddenly shone from his eyes. His body exuded an even crazier surge of Demonic Qi, wrapping around him as if he were wearing a black armor on the outside.

"Get out of the way."

Vajra's huge hand, like a fan, swung fiercely and heavily slapped the octagonal copper hammer.

With a "bang", accompanied by a circle of deep purple halos rippling out, the copper hammer, under the massive shock, indented half a palm print on its surface and uncontrollably spun back.

The Nascent Soul elder was startled, his two arms suddenly thickened, and with a crisscross motion in front, shrouded in black radiance, he managed to stop the hammer.

But the elder's expression was far from relaxed; his arms were trembling slightly, and his legs were forced to retreat a bit forcefully, apparently unable to completely block it.

Just at that moment, a white shadow flickered behind him, and White Ape's figure appeared out of nowhere, with its fan-sized enormous hands slamming down ferociously on the elder's head.

With a "pop", the Nascent Soul cultivator's head exploded, splattering brain matter like a shattered watermelon.

Seeing this scene, even Yuan Ming couldn't help but twitch the corner of his eye slightly.

Vajra's speed, coupled with the power of that strike, was definitely not something that could be achieved by someone below the Tongqiao Body realm, and given its physique, its physical strength was probably even greater than Yuan Ming's.

Immediately afterwards, they saw the Nascent Soul that was hidden inside the battered body become exposed, covered with strands of Demonic Qi and a fierce and evil expression, obviously having transformed into a Demon Infant.

Seeing its physical body destroyed, the Demon Infant, relying on its ferocity, turned into a black shadow and darted straight towards Yuan Ming's forehead, attempting to seize his body with lightning speed.

However, before it could get close, a streak of lightning burst forth from Yuan Ming's forehead and struck it.

The Demon Infant didn't even get a chance to cry out before it was annihilated in the exploding lightning, turned to dust.

Upon seeing this, White Ape rushed towards Yuan Ming with joy.

The ground thundered with its charging, causing the mountains and forests to tremble.

At this moment, Ha Chi and the others just arrived and saw this scene. Their faces changed dramatically, feeling like their souls had left their bodies.

"Run..."

Seeing Yuan Ming standing still, Ha Chi turned red with urgency. This chapter's true source is * (*).

The others, seeing the corpses scattered all around, were chilled to the bone and fled in panic.

However, in the next instant, they witnessed an absurd scene.

The White Ape that charged with imposing momentum stopped before reaching Yuan Ming, bowed with a clasped fist salute like a human, and called out "Master".

Master?

Hearing this word, Ha Chi and his companions' jaws almost dropped, and they even forgot to continue running.

"Vajra, you've grown a lot in these years," Yuan Ming said as he looked at the giant creature in front of him and smilingly patted it.

"Master, how did you come here? I was just about to leave to look for you," Vajra said with a surge of joy in his eyes, completely ignoring Ha Chi and his group.

Yuan Ming was about to speak when he suddenly remembered Ha Chi and the others and turned his head to shout at them, "You too, come here."

They shuddered in fright at his shout; who would dare to really come closer?

But they also dared not leave and could only stand stuck in a dilemma on the spot.

"Come here," Yuan Ming said with emphasis.

The group, chilled to the bone, didn't dare to hesitate any longer and hurriedly scurried over.

"Apart from the belongings on those two Nascent Soul cultivators, don't touch anything else. Search the others and share what you find," Yuan Ming waved his hand and instructed.

Ha Chi and his companions, already too frightened to breathe properly, were even more baffled at his words and stood dumbfounded without moving.

"Alright, pick up what you can and then leave quickly," Yuan Ming said.

Seeing an impatient expression on his face, Ha Chi and the others did not dare to hesitate any longer. They quickly scavenged the corpses and then scrammed from the place.

It wasn't until they had run a great distance that they still couldn't quite believe what had happened.

"Boss... Boss, who do you think that Fellow Daoist Yuan is?" the thin man asked, still shaken.

"Who knows? Let's get moving. With so much loot, we'll have to leave the Southern Border for a while," Ha Chi shook his head and said.

Meanwhile, after taking the storage magic tools from the two Nascent Soul stage cultivators, Yuan Ming, along with Vajra, re-entered Snake King Cave.

Yuan Ming, with Vajra in tow, reached the depths of the underground cavern and followed the green stone pathway to reach the grey Underground Palace inside.

This place was just as it had been years ago, the gray walls shimmering with black light, and clouds of black fog floating in the void. The black stone pillar, as thick as a millstone, now stood beside that black stone gate.

Inscribed all around it were ancient patterns, with a thick black fog swirling around its surface, giving it an incredibly heavy appearance.

As soon as he entered the place, Qi Ye's voice echoed in Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness.

"What... what is this place, to possess such rich and pure Demonic Qi?" he exclaimed in astonishment.

"This is the place I mentioned to you before. What do you think? Is the Demonic Qi here suitable for cultivating your Half-Demon Body?" Yuan Ming replied indifferently.

"It's sufficient. As long as there is ample Demonic Qi, I can assure you your cultivation will go smoothly," Qi Ye responded.

Yuan Ming ceased speaking with him, instead asking about the recent situation of Vajra.

He was told that it too had only recently broken through to the Tongqiao Body, after which its cultivation progress had slowed down.

"Master, did you come here for the Demonic Qi?" Vajra too was surprised to learn of Yuan Ming's purpose for coming here.

"Correct, I need Demonic Qi for body refinement," Yuan Ming confirmed with a nod.

Vajra, not particularly verbose to begin with, kept his doubts to himself despite his curiosity, and simply stood silently at the side.

Yuan Ming checked the black stone pillar and immediately swept his Divine Sense over it, but like before, he was deflected by an invisible force.

He furrowed his brows, gathering all his Divine Power, and turned it into a sharp Soul Blade that stabbed towards the black stone pillar.

This time, his Divine Thought effortlessly pierced through the invisible barrier, landing on the black stone pillar.

The patterns on the stone pillar immediately lit up, and a myriad of Forbidden Runes began to emerge on its surface, intricate and countless.

Yuan Ming was dumbfounded by the sheer number of restrictions, which he believed was second only to the Stealing Heaven Tripod among all the magic treasures and artifacts he had encountered in the past.

He tried using a secret technique to refine the black stone pillar but soon retreated in defeat.

The Forbidden Runes were indeed what was inscribed on it, but they were entirely different from those on ordinary magic artifacts. When Yuan Ming infused his mana, not only could he not refine it, but it was like pouring cold water into boiling oil, eliciting a fierce reaction.

In no time at all, the mana he had sent into it was completely evaporated.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, there's no use trying. The Sacrificial Refining Method of the Yunhuang Continent cannot refine this treasure from the Demon World," Qi Ye's voice chimed in his mind at the right moment.

"Why is that?" Yuan Ming asked, puzzled.

"The magic treasures from the Demon World, when activated, operate on Demonic Qi, and naturally, they must be refined with Demonic Qi as well. You don't even have a Half-Demon Body, let alone the ability to manipulate Demonic Qi to refine this treasure," Qi Ye explained.

"I see. Fellow Daoist Qi Ye, do you recognize what this is?" Yuan Ming inquired.

"This... Not to deceive you, I can only tell that this object is extraordinary, but what exactly it is, I cannot say for sure. However, its placement here seems to serve the purpose of sealing the door," Qi Ye said cautiously after some hesitation.

"For sealing the door?" Yuan Ming expressed his surprise.

He remembered that when he first discovered this stone pillar, it was not near the stone gate.

"Some of the patterns on this stone pillar are Sealing Runes from the Demon World. I can teach you the method to break them," Qi Ye offered.

"That would be great," Yuan Ming said, delighted.

Immediately, Qi Ye conveyed the Breaking Formation Technique to Yuan Ming.

Since he couldn't summon enough Demonic Qi, and the common arrays couldn't be utilized, he had to use an array to break the seals.

Following Qi Ye's instructions, Yuan Ming quickly set up an Array around the stone pillar. Once he infused his mana into it, the Array began operating on its own.

The surrounding void's Demonic Qi was drawn by the Array, converging towards it.

Suddenly, the Array driven by spiritual energy began to shift to black as the Demonic Qi poured in, and a Forbidden Breaking power emerged from within, shrouding the black stone pillar.

The runes on the stone pillar began to light up one by one, and an originally invisible black chain emerged from the void, stretching from the pillar to the stone gate.

"Indeed, it's a Door Sealing Stone," Yuan Ming murmured to himself upon seeing this.

He then rallied his full strength to activate the Array, starting to break the seals.

As the light from the ground Array flowed faster, the runes of the black stone pillar gradually dimmed, and the chain that connected to the stone gate began to virtualize.

"Bang"

A faint sound was heard as the chain finally broke apart, and the runes and seals on the black stone pillar also vanished into thin air.

Yuan Ming was overjoyed.

He walked forward, caressed the black stone pillar for a while, and then collected it into his Storage Bracelet.

The moment the black stone pillar disappeared, a gust-like sound came from inside the stone gate, slamming into it so violently that it echoed throughout.

Then, incredibly rich black Demonic Qi surged out, filling the entire cave like a dense fog.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Ming's surprise was overwhelmed by his excitement.

"Who would have thought that the Yunhuang Continent possessed such vast and pure Demonic Qi. What exactly is behind this stone gate?" Qi Ye, too, couldn't help but marvel.