Yuan Ming looked at the man with the red face and started asking questions, mainly about his position within the Wu Yue Sect, and whether he had ever harmed innocent people. He received an affirmative reply.

Yuan Ming's figure rapidly expanded, and in a blink, he transformed into a huge black tree.

Broad branches and vines fell from the tree, entangling the red-faced man, quickly turning him into a large black cocoon suspended from the trunk.

Yuan Ming did not leave; he stayed right there.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

The black tree rapidly shrank, returning to human form in a few breaths.

The black cocoon disintegrated, with the red-faced man falling to the ground and bowing to Yuan Ming: "Master."

Yuan Ming looked the red-faced man up and down and nodded slightly.

The man was only a Core Formation Stage cultivator, so turning him into a Tree Puppet naturally didn't take much time.

Despite appearing unchanged, the man's body was filled with the vitality of the Undying Tree, and after some time to nourish him, he would be ready to attempt merging with the Heavenly Ghost Wanderer.

Yuan Ming waved his sleeve, collected the red-faced man into the Spiritual Beast Bag, and turned to walk outside.

At that moment, a silver light flashed in the secret chamber, revealing a silver figure – it was the Silver Kong Tree Demon, looking pale and gasping for breath.

"How come you're here? Has something happened over there?" Yuan Ming asked, his eyes showing a hint of movement.

"The Nine Yin Venerable has made another move, and his strength has increased dramatically all of a sudden. Neither I nor the master are a match for him! Left with no choice, the master had to hide in the magma beneath the earth, relying on the protective effects of the Blood Puppet Armor to endure, and is now hurrying here, requesting Fellow Daoist Yuan's assistance," Silver Kong said breathlessly and quickly.

"The Nine Yin Venerable! What's happening? Tell me more," Yuan Ming said, infusing a thread of Undying Tree Demon Power into Silver Kong, his expression grave.

As a Tree Demon, Silver Kong absorbed this Demonic Power and felt much better; his breathing immediately steadied.

He nodded gratefully and then detailed the situation of the Nine Yin Venerable taking action once again.

"Controlling someone's Divine Soul over hundreds of zhang away is truly formidable. That black shadow must be the Divine Soul Transformation of the Nine Yin Venerable. His strength suddenly growing so much probably has something to do with that," Yuan Ming mused.

"That's what my master believes, too. She asked me to remind you to be very careful of that shadow," Silver Kong said.

"Where is your master now?" Yuan Ming asked.

Although it was just one of Xi Ying's Clones, since it had to do with her Divine Soul, he wouldn't be stingy in offering his help.

"The underground magma is extremely hot, and even the Blood Puppet Armor cannot fully isolate the heat. The master's tunneling speed isn't fast; she has not yet entered the Black Wind Desert," Silver Kong replied.

"Leave this to me. You go back first and give her this item, with which she should lead the Nine Yin Venerable around for four more days," Yuan Ming said after a moment's thought, handing a black item to Silver Kong. It was the Fire Burning Stick he had obtained from the Three Immortals Island.

"Four days!" Silver Kong was startled, thinking that Yuan Ming was afraid of the Nine Yin Venerable, and a look of disdain flashed in his eyes.

"The temperature of the underground magma is astonishing; half of my master's Mana has already been drained. She can't endure that long! Please, Fellow Daoist Yuan, act quickly and at least allow my master to escape the Flame Purgatory and come up to the surface for a breather," he quickly reined in his emotions and pleaded.

"Give this item to Xi Ying, and she will know what to do," Yuan Ming said indifferently, rising into the air and flying up, passing through the wall and disappearing.

Silver Kong stood there stunned, then stomped his foot and merged into the Void, rushing back.

Half a day later, Silver Kong arrived at the edge of the Black Wind Desert.

As Xi Ying's spiritual beast, he had a connection with her Clone and could sense that it was rapidly approaching.

Silver Kong dove underground, silently waiting.

Above Silver Kong, in the air, a flock of black birds flew from the south, heading straight towards the Black Wind Desert.

The birds were called Black Spots; they liked the dark and feared the heat. Every summer, they would migrate in groups back to the Northern Desert, and now it was their migration time.

At that moment, the Black Spot flock suddenly changed direction and swooped downwards, crashing toward the ground.

During the dive, the bodies of these Black Spots blurred and transformed into shadows, swiftly merging into one, creating a black figure—it was indeed the Demon Crow, the Divine Soul Transformation of the Nine Yin Venerable. As soon as it touched the ground, it plunged into it, heading straight for Silver Kong underground.

Silver Kong had been hiding underground, constantly vigilant and monitoring the surroundings. When the Black Spot flock swooped down, he sensed something was wrong and immediately dove into the Void to flee using the Void Escape Technique.

"Kekeke... Can you escape?" the Demon Crow laughed strangely, pressing forward with its right hand again.

Silver Kong's head buzzed, his consciousness quickly sinking, and his form emerged from the Void.

"So that's how it attacks its enemies," said a transparent figure standing quietly in the distant underground, looking this way. It was Yuan Ming, who had used the Void Transformation Technique. MyVirtualLibraryEmpire

(*)hoststheoriginal.

Apart from his Void Escape Technique, Silver Kong's combat ability was not very strong. Worried something might go wrong with Silver Kong en route, Yuan Ming had followed all the way and was glad he did.

Yuan Ming brought out the Soul Destroying Sword, merged with the nearby shadows, while the Undying Tree Roots in his Dantian suddenly stretched and plunged into the Void.

In the Void in front of the Demon Crow, five black roots emerged, stabbing towards its body.

The aura of the Undying Tree Roots was weird, subtly restraining Soul Power; the Demon Crow didn't dare let them get close and dodged to the side.

At this moment, a dense shadow condensed before Silver Kong, and the Soul Destroying Sword emerged, slashing down through the air.

It seemed as if something was severed; Silver Kong's consciousness instantly cleared. He threw a startled glance at the Demon Crow, then at the Soul Destroying Sword, before his body once again dissolved into the void, fleeing into the distance.

The Demon Crow hurriedly raised a hand to press towards Silver Kong, but Silver Kong had already escaped far away and was unaffected.

"You're seeking death!" the Demon Crow roared in anger, turning its gaze towards where Yuan Ming was located, evidently having noticed him long ago.

The Demon Crow's body transformed into a black shadow and rushed over, reaching near Yuan Ming in an instant and transforming into a towering black beast several meters high. It opened its huge maw and viciously bit down towards Yuan Ming.

However, Yuan Ming did not pay any heed to the attacking Demon Crow; instead, he looked around himself.

His Divine Sense that he had spread around was quietly undergoing changes, with invisible fine threads emerging, casting towards the Demon Crow.

The whole process didn't produce much of an aura fluctuation, nor did it induce any Soul Wave; had he not just witnessed the entire process of the Demon Crow's attack on Silver Kong, it would've been extremely difficult to detect.

"So this is your 'thread-piercing' ability? Distracting me with a flashy performance while secretly and silently drawing out my soul threads - what a clever trick!" Yuan Ming said with a smile.

The Demon Crow did not respond at all. A layer of black light surfaced on its massive body, and the speed at which those soul threads shot over increased several-fold, about to land in its hands.

At that moment, thick Black Mist erupted from Yuan Ming's body, which was none other than the Undying Tree Black Fog.

The fine threads formed by his Divine Soul Power broke upon contact with the mist, leaving the Demon Crow grasping at nothing.

Without any hesitation, the Demon Crow turned and transformed into a black light, fleeing into the distance.

Yuan Ming slightly smiled and flipped his hand to take out a Silver Token.

The nearby void buzzed, and a silver, spherical Barrier a hundred meters in diameter appeared out of thin air, enveloping both Yuan Ming and the Demon Crow within.

The black light that the Demon Crow had transformed into slammed fiercely against the silver barrier, resulting in a loud boom.

The silver barrier shook slightly before returning to its original state, while the Demon Crow's body was bounced back, evidently surprised as it spoke, "This is ..."

"This is your grave!" Yuan Ming declared. The Soul Destroying Sword hovering in front of him shot out, reaching the Demon Crow above in an instant.

Black Sword Qi erupted, and the Soul Destroying Sword turned into a black rainbow streak, fiercely cleaving down!

Midway through its descent, the black rainbow suddenly split into ten identical black sword rainbows, crisscrossing as they slashed towards the Demon Crow's body.

The terrifying Soul Destroying Sword Energy filled the entire silver space, causing even the Barrier to tremble.

The Soul Destroying Sword Energy was especially potent against soul bodies; before the ten sword rainbows had even fallen, the Demon Crow's body was already immobilized, with wounds appearing one after another.

"Such mighty Soul Destroying Sword Energy - you are Yuan Ming!" the Demon Crow shouted fiercely.

"If your true form were here, we could have had a battle, but what a pity that you only sent a Divine Soul Clone," Yuan Ming replied, forming a hand seal and pointing.

The ten sword rainbows descended, and the oppressive might of the sword energy came with them. The already battered body of the Demon Crow was flattened and then burst open, turning into countless scattered black lights.

Yuan Ming raised an eyebrow; directly hit by the Soul Destroying Sword Energy, the Demon Crow had yet to completely disintegrate. Life force was clearly lingering within the scattered black lights, all flying towards him, apparently making a last-ditch counterattack.

Yuan Ming's gaze shifted as he activated the annihilation and Blood Frenzy Rune.

Immediately, the black lights lost their sense of direction and were thrown into disarray by the effect of the Blood Frenzy Rune.

The Yin Thunder Rune on the Soul Sword blazed brilliantly and amid the rumbling of thunder, dozens of black lightning bolts shot out, striking those black lights.

The silver Barrier also swiftly contracted at this time, compressing those scattered black lights towards the center.

"Go!" Yuan Ming pressed his hands forward, and the Undying Tree Black Fog around his body surged, drowning the silver space and absorbing the black lights.

Countless Undying Tree Roots also sprouted from within the Undying Black Fog, piercing into the black lights, devouring the Soul Power within.

A few breaths later, all the black lights had vanished completely.

"This Nine Yin Venerable doesn't seem so remarkable after all; that was taken care of quite easily," the voice of Vajra came from the Spiritual Beast Bag.

"That was only a soul splitting, its Soul Power was roughly equivalent to a love witch. That's why I could resolve it so quickly. If the Nine Yin Venerable itself had come, I'm not confident that I could have dealt with it," Yuan Ming shook his head as he spoke.

The capabilities of the Nine Yin Venerable might appear common, but they were in fact quite astonishing. Yuan Ming had personally experienced the control force of the thread-piercing Divine Skills, which was almost impossible to escape.

Yuan Ming had managed to break free earlier solely because he had been in a descended state, unnoticed by the Nine Yin Venerable.

Moreover, the soul splitting's speed of drawing soul threads just now was much slower than that of its main body. When Yuan Ming had possessed the Evil Eye Venerable, the Nine Yin Venerable had subdued him and Luo Yongqi and the others in an instant.

The thread-piercing power of the Nine Yin Venerable was undoubtedly mysterious, its only weakness being the short range, but now with Divine Soul Transformation, it could use divine abilities from several hundred meters away.

An irresistible control force, separated by several hundred meters, and able to complete the thread-piercing Divine Skills instantly...

Yuan Ming shook his head, dissipated the silver Barrier, and once again vanished into thin air using the Void Transformation Technique.