Hundreds of miles away in the depths of the subterranean world, the Nine Yin Venerable sensed that his Demon Crow Clone, which embodied his Divine Soul Transformation, had been killed, and his eyes immediately darkened.

"The person who just killed my soul splitting so easily is definitely not an ordinary cultivator."

Yuan Ming had remained in an invisible state and had not shown his face, and although the soul split of the Demon Crow later recognized him, the silver barrier could isolate its connection with the true body of the Nine Yin Venerable, so the Venerable was unaware that the man was Yuan Ming.

It was Yuan Ming's sudden appearance that made him feel uneasy.

The Nine Yin Venerable's mind raced with thoughts, and he suddenly turned around and flew into the subterranean magma, heading straight for the Xi Ying Clone.

The Xi Ying Clone was in very poor condition at the moment. Although its Blood Puppet Armor could block the subterranean magma, it couldn't stop the scorching heat within the magma, and the mana sealed within the armor was slowly evaporating.

After several days, the mana inside the Blood Puppet Armor had already fallen to that of the Nascent Soul Early Stage.

Although her strength had greatly diminished, the Xi Ying Clone's senses were still sharp. Sensing that the Nine Yin Venerable was steadily closing the distance, she had no choice but to clench her teeth and dive deeper into the magma at an increased pace.

Less than a thousand feet behind her, the Nine Yin Venerable sensed the Xi Ying Clone picking up speed, surrounded himself with numerous black threads, and with a blur, propelled himself forward over two hundred yards in a sudden burst, now only five to six hundred yards away from the Xi Ying Clone.

Although this divine power was quite costly for him to use and each usage required a certain interval, it allowed him to ignore terrain limitations and was extremely advantageous in pursuits and escapes.

As time went on, the Xi Ying Clone was still rapidly advancing through the subterranean magma, but could clearly feel the Nine Yin Venerable behind her steadily shortening the distance, leaving her helpless for the time being.

Accompanied by a sharp hooting laugh like that of a night owl, a black shadow silently appeared behind her and reached out to point a finger at her.

The Xi Ying Clone's vision darkened, and her consciousness once again became confused.

However, she was prepared; golden flames immediately appeared above her head, burning away the soul threads disturbing her consciousness, and she continued to flee deeper into the magma.

The deeper she went into the magma, the higher the temperature, the faster her body melted and her breath weakened at an accelerated rate.

"Very good, as long as this person's mana drops to the Core Formation Stage, they will be powerless to fight back," the Nine Yin Venerable swept a cold smile across his eyes and continued to chase forward, driving the Xi Ying Clone deeper into the magma.

The longer he stayed in this subterranean lava, the more it harmed him, but he could still endure.

The Xi Ying Clone kept diving deeper; the temperature around her rose higher, and she was no longer able to maintain her human shape. The mana was dissipating even faster, and her consciousness grew increasingly blurred.

"Is this the end? If I had known, I would have taken the risk and given the Soul Suppressing Kettle to Yinkong to carry away..." the Xi Ying Clone lamented in secret.

At that moment, both the Xi Ying Clone and the Nine Yin Venerable looked forward to see a red shadow appearing ahead, flying swiftly towards this location.

The red shadow easily broke through the scorching layers of magma, flying with ease as if this were not the perilous depths below, but rather the open air above ground, unobstructed.

"It's that!"

The Nine Yin Venerable spread his Divine Sense, and quickly recognized the figure within the red shadow—it was the Silver Kong Tree Demon, holding a black Fire Burning Stick in its hand.

A faint red light glimmered at the core of the Fire Burning Stick, casting out strands of red light that protected Yinkong's body and effortlessly isolated the terrifying high temperatures of the subterranean magma.

"I never thought Yuan Ming would have such a Fire Resistant Exotic Treasure! No wonder he said that it would suffice to give this item to the master," Yinkong said with a joyful face, feeling ashamed for his previous bad thoughts about Yuan Ming.

"What's this? It can completely isolate the erosion of magma!" The Nine Yin Venerable also noticed the amazing power of the black Fire Burning Stick and was greatly surprised.

At this moment, he too had brought out several precious Fire Protection Treasures, but the subterranean lava was too scorching for them to be effective, unable to block even half of the intense heat.

A gloomy light flickered in the eyes of the Nine Yin Venerable. He no longer pursued the Xi Ying Clone and instead turned towards Yinkong in an attempt to block him.

Yinkong, unconcerned, turned his head and dove deeper into the magma, easily descending two to three thousand yards away from the Nine Yin Venerable, bypassing him to rush towards the Xi Ying Clone.

Lacking a Fire Resistance Treasure like the Fire Burning Stick, the Nine Yin Venerable dared not delve too deep into the magma and soon stopped reluctantly, casting a long-distance Illusion Technique. Al#w@a@ys r*ead at the s!our*c.e—^M&[email protected]$P@*YR.!

But because of certain special reasons, the Nine Yin Venerable was not proficient in Illusion Techniques, and the various auras in the subterranean magma, along with the terrible heat, greatly affected the operation of his Divine Sense, significantly weakening the effect of the Illusion Technique.

Yinkong's form only wavered slightly before he immediately broke free of the Illusion Technique and continued forward, eventually joining up with the Xi Ying Clone in a short while.

Surrounded by the red light, the intense heat around the Xi Ying Clone instantly vanished.

The Xi Ying Clone's body reformed, and as her mana ceased dissipating, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's good that you arrived in time. If it were one or two hours later, I would have completely dissolved in this subterranean lava."

"This is what I should do. Oh, master, Yuan Ming had a message for you..." Yinkong repeated Yuan Ming's words.

"Stall for four days? I understand," the Xi Ying Clone said, nodding after a moment of surprise. She placed the Silver Kong Tree Demon into the Spiritual Beast Bag and urged the Fire Burning Stick to fly forward.

Seeing this, the Nine Yin Venerable's face was extremely dark.

The development of the situation had gone beyond his expectations.

And for some reason, he had a bad premonition in his heart as if continuing the pursuit might lead to unfavorable circumstances.

However, the Soul Suppressing Kettle was an artifact that the Nether Moon God had expressly ordered to be brought back; it could not be abandoned no matter what. After weighing the options repeatedly, the Nine Yin Venerable had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue to follow.

...

Yuan Ming did not linger on the fringes of the Black Wind Desert; he proceeded to the deeper parts of the desert and found a safe underground space to hide, attempting to recover the Divine Soul that had been damaged a few days earlier during the confrontation with the Evil Eye Venerable.

The Stealing Heaven Tripod quietly floated beside him, emitting a faint and soft light.

Ever since the Wu Yue Sect and the Cloud Desolate Alliance had gone to war, the situation grew increasingly tense. Guided by their own preemptive layout and the influence of scattered individuals like Xu Cheyan Siyun, more and more mortals and Cultivators began to believe in the Nether Moon God, praying for the God's blessing. Streams of enormous Desire Power began to converge like rivers flowing into the sea.

The Divine Soul and Mana within the Nascent Soul were intricately linked and of great consequence, permitting no errors. Despite having a significant amount of Desire Power readily available, Yuan Ming did not refine it.

All of the Desire Power merged into the Stealing Heaven Tripod; in just a short period, the amount of Desire Power accumulated within the White Jade Lotus Platform had already more than doubled since before.

Though the space within the White Jade Lotus Platform was not small, it seemed to be reaching saturation.

"It seems that although the Stealing Heaven Tripod is enigmatic and unpredictable, the amount of Desire Power it can hold is limited. I wonder what change will occur when it's completely filled with Desire Power?" Yuan Ming mused as he looked at the Stealing Heaven Tripod, harboring expectations in his heart.

His Divine Soul was drawn into the space of the White Jade Lotus Platform precisely because the Desire Power there had reached a certain level. If the White Jade Lotus Platform underwent another transformation, it's possible that his Divine Soul might be able to escape from its predicament.

Yuan Ming gazed at the Stealing Heaven Tripod and after a moment retracted his gaze, moving upwards through keen evasion to reach the surface.

It was night, the starry sky gleamed brilliantly, and a round moon hung in the sky, casting its pure and bright light down to earth.

Yuan Ming sat cross-legged, circulating the Moonlight Technique to absorb the power of the moonlight.

Streams of moonlight power fell and gradually merged into his Nascent Soul.

Having reached the Sleep Witch Realm, he could directly draw in the power of the moonlight to nourish his Divine Soul, the most reliable and orthodox method of advancing Soul Power.

The Divine Soul within his Nascent Soul felt as if it was soaking in cool spring water, slowly healing from its wounds.

Yuan Ming spent the nights cultivating the Moonlight Technique and during the day bitterly practiced the Demon Image Prison Suppression Skill, and in the blink of an eye, four days had passed. The buffering time for the Stealing Heaven Tripod had also elapsed.

He summoned the Stealing Heaven Tripod, took out a stick of Black Incense with descending effects, inserted it in, and recalled the face of the Nine Yin Venerable in his mind. His vision quickly faded into darkness.

In the deeper parts of the underground within the central region of the Black Wind Desert.

The Nine Yin Venerable was enveloped in a layer of yellow light, moving forward along the edge of the underground magma layer with a grim expression.

Four whole days had passed, and the Xi Ying Clone had been hiding in the depths of the underground lava, showing no intention of coming out.

During these four days, he had tried everything — luring, threatening, or even having soul splits flank and intercept yet to no avail, wracking his brain in the process.

The Xi Ying Clone was as crafty as a monkey, diving deeper into the magma whenever he got close, always narrowly escaping capture by a hair's breadth.

"This person must be deliberately leading me on, wasting my time here. Is he perhaps waiting for that guy who tried to kill my soul clone to come and help?" the Nine Yin Venerable took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

If the Xi Ying Clone was indeed playing this game, it might not necessarily be a bad opportunity for him.

As long as he could capture that stealthy Cultivator, he could use him as a hostage. Even if he couldn't force the Xi Ying Clone to hand over the Soul Suppressing Kettle, the situation could take a turn for the better.

As for the prospect of being disadvantaged in a two-versus-one, the Nine Yin Venerable didn't even consider it.

Since he had acquired the Demon Crow with Divine Soul Transformation, coupled with his thread-piercing divine power, he was not afraid of facing four or five Nascent Soul Cultivators, or even a Sleeping Witch, and he even dared to contest a Returning to Void Cultivator.

Thus, in a direct confrontation, he was confident he could capture that Cultivator all at once, even if it cost him something. It was still better than wasting time like this.

The Nine Yin Venerable had a thought and was about to have the Demon Crow's soul split into a few additional soul threads to scout the surroundings.

At that moment, his eyes suddenly became vacant, and his consciousness quickly plummeted.

The Demon Crow within the Sea of Consciousness sensed the abnormality and immediately tried to resist, but a strange force invaded, effortlessly breaking through its defenses, compelling it into an almost sleep-like state.

Yuan Ming quickly regained consciousness to find himself surrounded by scorching lava, with foul odors assailing his nostrils; it seemed he had successfully possessed the Nine Yin Venerable.

His face showed delight; the Black Incense descent method was indeed powerful, so much so that even an entity like the Nine Yin Venerable could not resist it.

The Xi Ying Clone remained hidden in the depths of the underground magma, seemingly still in pursuit.

Yuan Ming circulated his Divine Sense, about to communicate with the Xi Ying Clone, when he suddenly stopped his action.

The previous possession of the Evil Eye Venerable had revealed that the Nine Yin's Dantian surprisingly lacked a Nascent Soul, a mystery he could not unravel.

Just now, as he spread his Divine Sense, he inadvertently discovered the reason behind this.

The Nascent Soul of the Nine Yin Venerable was actually within the Sea of Consciousness, in a state that was half illusory and half solid, and it was also fused with the Soul Power of the Sea of Consciousness.