"Dragon Qiu's nest..." Yuan Ming's heart filled with joy, but the voice he uttered had completely deformed.

Another long silence ensued, and that voice echoed in Yuan Ming's mind again.

"You... have already been poisoned, and now... corpse paralysis has entered your body, the co-occurrence of the two poisons, difficult to survive."

That voice still resonated only in his mind, and it was not until then that Yuan Ming noticed that it belonged to a woman and sounded ethereal and pleasant.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming tried to speak but found himself unable to produce any sound.

"I can... save you, but... afterward, you help me, do something," the voice rang again, seemingly more coherent than before.

It felt as if the person was trying hard to learn to speak and was gradually getting accustomed to it.

"Oh oh..." Yuan Ming vaguely agreed while nodding.

"Now, do as I... say. Sink your thoughts... into the Sea of Consciousness... try to... connect with your own... Divine Soul Power."

Listening to that voice, Yuan Ming felt as if he was under a spell, his thoughts sinking into the Sea of Consciousness. In the midst of chaos, he gradually calmed down.

"Divine Soul Power, connect to the body... awaken... mana, move towards the lower body... first to the hips, then to... the thighs... calves, until it concentrates... in the big toe..."

Yuan Ming did as instructed, surprisingly smoothly, and as the poison moved downward, his upper body quickly regained mobility, and the numbness in his lower body began to recede.

Accompanying this, his right foot began to swell rapidly, expanding more than twice its size, and an indescribable pain struck, almost causing Yuan Ming's will to collapse.

"Maintain focus on Divine Thought... poisoning backlash... all efforts will be undone..." the pleasant voice timely reminded Yuan Ming, allowing him to forcibly regain his composure.

"What's next?" Yuan Ming could speak once more.

His forehead was covered with large beads of sweat that kept rolling down, and the intense pain nearly made him pass out.

"Sharp object, poke through foot... Yongquan point, poisoned blood, force it out of the body..."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming immediately used the tip of the Green Fish Sword to pierce the Yongquan point on his right foot, and the next instant, blood gushed from the bottom of his foot, its foul smell almost overpowering the odor of the Corpse Pit.

But as the poisoned blood flowed out in large amounts, the discomfort also quickly eased.

Once all the poisoned blood had drained, Yuan Ming's foot returned to its normal size, but the wound did not heal, and the pain, sharp as needle pricks, continued to torment him.

Yuan Ming struggled out of the Corpse Pit and quickly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for saving my life."

"Blood Pool... this way," the voice rang out again.

Yuan Ming, limping, followed the direction in his memory, groping his way towards the Blood Pool.

"Stop."

Suddenly, the voice called out a warning.

Yuan Ming immediately stopped walking, bent down, and touched the ground, only to realize he had reached the edge of the Blood Pool, another step and he would have fallen in.

"The objects on the ground... pick them up."

Though curious, Yuan Ming still squatted down and extended his hand to feel around.

In his grasp, Yuan Ming felt a slight chill and, upon lifting it, found a thin, triangular metal piece with complicated patterns etched on it.

"Eight pieces... pick them all up... surround the edge of the Blood Pool... bury them in the loose soil," the voice continued to direct.

Yuan Ming didn't hesitate, promptly burying the triangular metal pieces around the Blood Pool as instructed.

"Done."

"You can go... leave, this place," the ethereal voice said. This сhаptеr first аppеаrеd оn

"Thank you very much," Yuan Ming replied, thanking her and then started fumbling about, seeking a way out.

However, the cave was pitch black, and he had no light source on him, nor did he know magic like the Fireball Technique which could illuminate his surroundings. After much groping around, he still could not find an exit.

The mysterious person hiding somewhere seemed somewhat impatient at last and finally spoke up again, "Your Soul Power, not weak... divert Soul Power, concentrate on the eyes."

"Can it be done this way?" Yuan Ming exclaimed in surprise.

"Possessing Soul Power... not utilizing it at all... truly is... a foolish fellow," the voice sighed.

Yuan Ming immediately followed the suggestion, concentrating his Divine Soul Power, focusing his will on his own eyes, and looked around with wide eyes.

"With Soul Power concentrated, why... would you widen your eyes like that?" the ethereal voice chided.

Yuan Ming blinked awkwardly, returning to a normal demeanor, and finely tuned into the sensation of Soul Power concentrated in his eyes.

In no time, he felt a slight coolness in his eyes, followed by his pitch-black vision gradually clearing, as if ink was dissipating. The cave walls, Blood Pool, rocks... the blurred lines of various objects started to emerge.

Even though it was still very dim and things were unclear, it was no longer the pitch blackness where he could not see his hand before his face.

Yuan Ming looked around, trying to find the figure of the one who reminded him and to confirm a guess in his own heart, but in the end, he saw nothing.

"Hurry, leave, before you find yourself unable to," the ethereal voice rang out in his mind, a hint of warning clearly present in the reminder.

"Thank you."

Yuan Ming thanked them and immediately felt along the side of the cave wall until he found a hidden exit and ran out.

After leaving the cavern, the stench of blood and decay in the air was significantly lessened. Yuan Ming took a deep breath and limped away down the passageway, making his escape.

But he hadn't gone far when his vision suddenly darkened and an intense wave of dizziness hit him, followed by a sharp, piercing pain at the center of his forehead.

His vision was obscured by the darkness once again until the Soul Power concentrated in his eyes could no longer maintain itself and dissipated on its own, causing the pain to slowly subside.

"This Soul Power is useful, but it's a pity that it can't be used at will." Yuan Ming clenched his teeth and couldn't help but pinch the sore spot on his forehead, as he supported himself against the wall and moved toward the other end of the passageway.

After walking for quite some time, a flickering light and some indistinct voices suddenly emerged from the darkness ahead.

Yuan Ming guessed that it was the disciples of Biluo Cave. He didn't want to encounter these people, but there was only one path through the passageway, and he couldn't go back to the Human Demon King's cave, so he had to grit his teeth and head toward the light.

"Who's there? Who is it?" A stern shout suddenly came from up ahead.

The noisy chatter ahead came to an abrupt halt.

"I, I am…" Yuan Ming began to say but hesitated.

After a moment's hesitation, he spoke up, "I am a Fur Beast Slave under Elder Hu Huo."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of a whooshing object came from ahead, and a Fireball Technique "whizzed" toward him, nearly filling half the cave.

Yuan Ming had no way to dodge and could only draw out the Green Fish Sword and step forward to bring the sword down in a vertical slash.

The fireball split into two with a sound and dispersed to either side.

Following the firelight, an arrow wrapped in green glow quickly shot through the air.

Yuan Ming staggered, struggling to execute the Shadowless Step to dodge. He narrowly missed the arrow attack, but lost his balance and fell to the side.

Laughter then followed from ahead.

"Brother Kun Tu, it's just a Fur Beast Slave, no need to be so cautious," someone said, laughing.

"What nonsense, now that we've arrived at such a dangerous place, it's better to be cautious. Better to kill wrongly than to let go," Kun Tu's voice responded immediately.

Hearing this, Yuan Ming suppressed his anger and didn't immediately stand up, fearing that it might provoke another attack from the other party.

Meanwhile, the light and footsteps gradually approached, and he saw two tall figures walking in front, holding torches high, with many more people following behind, indistinct in the shadows.

The leader brought the torch close to Yuan Ming and illuminated his somewhat pale face.

"Yuan Ming?" a voice uttered, puzzled.

Chen Wan squeezed through from behind the two men.

Hearing this, Kun Tu also pushed through the crowd and the instant he saw Yuan Ming, his face darkened.

"How come you're still alive?" Kun Tu said brusquely.

Yuan Ming didn't answer. Under the circumstances, Kun Tu was not in a position to attack him, and he certainly didn't want to provoke him.

"You… how come you are here?" Chen Wan asked.

Yuan Ming hesitated slightly before replying, "Earlier, I accidentally fell from above and ended up in the Human Demon King's lair. It was quite difficult, but I finally escaped and ended up here, where I ran into you guys."

"You escaped from the Human Demon King's lair?" someone exclaimed incredulously.

"We've been wandering around these interconnected caves for quite some time and haven't found it. You were just lucky enough to fall right into it," someone immediately joked.

The rest also chimed in, showing no sign of fear at all.

"If you go to find the Human Demon King, you will die," Yuan Ming said, not looking at the others but turning his eyes to Chen Wan as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, Chen Wan's face showed hesitation.

"A mere Fur Beast Slave dares to spout such frightening nonsense and mislead others?" Kun Tu shouted angrily.

"Look at him; he must have been scared out of his wits. We have so many people here, are we still afraid of a Human Demon King?" a tall and lean man dressed in Beast Taming Hall disciple's attire said laughingly.

"Hehe, expecting courage from a mere beast slave, yeah right?" another person mocked.

"Yuan Ming, do you still remember how to find the Human Demon King's lair?" Chen Wan asked.

Yuan Ming thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"This kid probably got scared before he even clapped eyes on it, haha…" the crowd laughed again.

"What are you thinking, if he had seen the Human Demon King, how could he possibly still be alive?" someone else said.

"Hey kid, don't be scared. We've cleaned out those Human Demons already. Once we strike directly at the heart and take the Human Demon King's head, you'll get to share in the glory," a burly and tall young man said.

"No need to waste words on him. By causing such confusion, we might as well slaughter him," Kun Tu suggested at the right moment.

"Exactly, this guy is useless; just kill him," Yang Chan added.

Ba Da, who had been hiding in the back all along, didn't speak, but his narrowed eyes were fixed on Yuan Ming, a dangerous flash passing through them.