"Kun Tu, brother, he's not a Human Demon, don't you think it's a bit too much to keep yelling about beating and killing?" Chen Wan's eyebrows furrowed as she couldn't help but speak up.

"Just a Fur Beast Slave, it's his own fault for not being able to keep his mouth shut. He was asking for death," Kun Tu glanced at Yuan Ming and said.

"Alright, stop wasting time here, let him lead the way. We need to hurry up and find the Human Demon King. As long as we can kill it, this trial will be considered more than complete for us. Maybe we can even hope to be promoted to the Inner Sect," said the tall young man with a chuckle.

"There are no forks in this passage, just keep heading inside straight ahead, you can't go wrong," Yuan Ming immediately said.

The tall young man's smile faded, and he sneered, "Without you leading the way, you're useless. Killing you is not out of the question."

Hearing this, Yuan Ming had no choice but to agree.

He took a torch from someone and walked at the very front of the group, leading everyone back.

After a long walk, when they were nearing the cave, they gradually picked up the stench of blood and decay in the air, and one by one, they unconsciously fell silent, beginning to quiet down.

This team, excluding Yuan Ming, had another seventeen or eighteen people, who seemed to be leaders among the Registered Disciples – numerous and strong. Although they were somewhat arrogant, they were not foolish.

When they arrived at the entrance to the cave, they all unconsciously stopped, gesturing for Yuan Ming to go in first.

Helpless, Yuan Ming could only walk in ahead of the others.

Fortunately, the cave was empty; the Human Demon King had not returned.

He carried the torch and looked around inside, checking every corner that he couldn't see clearly before, but he didn't find the presence that had transmitted a message to him earlier. He did, however, notice that there were new rune carvings on the ground around the Blood Pool, faintly surrounding it.

Yuan Ming was certain that when he had buried the triangle charm iron earlier, those rune carvings had not been on the ground, indicating that they were made after he had left.

"The Human Demon King is not here, it's temporarily safe inside." Yuan Ming shouted to the people outside.

After his words fell, it took a full thirty minutes before someone entered the cave.

After that, the rest of the people filed in, seeing no danger inside, they grew bolder and started to look around.

"Where's the Human Demon King? Where is it?" someone asked.

"Looks like it ran off?"

"Search around, are there any other caves?" the tall young man ordered, looking every bit the leader.

Kun Tu meanwhile edged closer to Yuan Ming, intentionally or otherwise.

Yuan Ming was on guard, moving nimbly, always keeping a distance from him.

Just then, from the other side of the cave, suddenly there was a scream.

Before anyone could react, they saw a huge head rolling "gulu gulu" to their feet.

Immediately after, a Blood Shadow flew past in the dimness of the cave.

The tall, thin man who had previously mocked Yuan Ming barely had time to let out a brief shout before the upper half of his body flew up, spraying blood everywhere.

"The Human Demon King, it's the Human Demon King..." someone shouted first.

All around the cave, lights of various colors lit up as these Registered Disciples each activated their Protective Magic Artifacts, retreating to the other side.

Yuan Ming threw the torch towards Kun Tu's direction and turned to disappear into the darkness, using his better knowledge of the terrain to quickly hide his figure.

Drawn by the torch, the Human Demon King's figure flashed and pounced towards Kun Tu.

"Yuan Ming!"

Kun Tu was furious and urgently mobilized his mana. A jade pendant hanging on his body suddenly burst into a soft glow, enveloping him.

At the same time, he dodged with a sidestep, avoiding the Human Demon King's frontal assault.

However, as they passed each other, the Human Demon King suddenly swept out an arm, its muscular and wiry limb, covered in long hair, landed solidly on his body.

Kun Tu's body was surrounded by a bright green glow, which then shattered with a "crack," and his body tumbled outwards.

In this brief encounter, before the others even got a clear look at the Human Demon, several were already dead or injured, causing those Registered Disciples, who were full of ambition, to suddenly lose their composure.

"We can't hold it, our Protective Magic Artifacts can't withstand a single blow."

"It's too strong, it's too strong..."

While the people were screaming in fear, they were retreating backwards, unwittingly clustering together.

"Idiots, spread out, don't bunch up," the tall young man shouted angrily.

No sooner had he spoken than the Human Demon King charged at them.

"Everyone to your positions, as we previously discussed, quickly set up the Fire Array," the tall young man called out aloud.

Only then did everyone start to regain some composure, hastily scattering to all sides.

The tall young man brought his hands together, in the palm of his hands was a Green Talisman Paper, inscribed with runes that seemed both drawn and painted, depicting the figure of a Golden Bell.

The Green Talisman Paper ignited in his palm, producing a wisp of green smoke, and then translucent Golden Light spread from it, forming a radiant golden bell image that enveloped his body.

The young man took the initiative to step forward, blocking the Human Demon King's path, buying time for the others.

Inspired, the rest began to spread out to either side, closing in with the intent to surround the Human Demon King in the middle.

In the advancing crowd, Ba Da's figure was moving backwards, retreating all the way to the entrance of the cave they had come through, and escaped without looking back.

The Human Demon King collided with the tall young man, raised a palm, and slapped it down.

"Boom"

A heavy chiming of the bell rang out, as the golden light surged around the young man, the phantom of the Golden Bell shaking violently, yet not shattering immediately.

The tall young man inside the phantom of the Golden Bell let out a muffled groan, fresh red blood tracing its way out of his ears, instantly rendering him completely deaf, unable to hear anything at all.

However, by the illumination of the Golden Bell's glow, he saw a gigantic hole in the chest of the Human Demon King, a hole so large it penetrated through the entire chest, a clear sign of a severe injury.

"Quick, it's seriously injured, activate the Great Array, release the Flames, burn it to death," the tall young man shouted loudly, but as he opened his mouth, blood filled it.

Having said that, he immediately retreated back, to beyond the encirclement.

The surrounding crowd finally got into position, among them eight individuals each pulled out a small, triangle-shaped red flag from their bosoms and channeled their Mana into them.

The red flags lit up with bright light, a scorching aura spreading out from them.

In the next instant, the eight flags burst into towering flames simultaneously, turning into arm-thick Fire Pythons surging toward the Human Demon King.

The Human Demon King was covered in flames, its entire form igniting instantly. The most up-to-date version is on *.

The roaring Flames, fiercely burning, made the entire cavern oppressively hot, and even the stone walls that hadn't seen daylight for a long time cracked with dry sounds.

The miserable screams of the Human Demon King echoed in the cavern, causing those who heard it to get goosebumps.

After a dozen breaths' time, the Spiritual Power of the triangle flags was exhausted, and the flames of the Flame Array gradually withered, until they vanished completely.

The light within the cavern dimmed rapidly as Yuan Ming frowned and looked towards the Human Demon King.

All that could be seen was its hunched over form, arms wrapped around itself, every hair on its body singed, looking for all the world like a charred piece of black coal, still with sporadic sparks twinkling and wisps of smoke rising from its body.

"Dead?" Yuan Ming was somewhat surprised.

"Haha, it's dead, we've killed the Human Demon King," a thin young man exclaimed happily.

"It wasn't as formidable as we imagined..." another person laughed, completely forgetting the fear that had had him rolling in his own urine earlier.

"This time we are indebted to Senior Brother Qing Chuan. Without him buying us time, we wouldn't have managed to activate the Flame Array in time," someone finally spoke a word of fairness.

At this, the others also began to compliment the tall young man.

The tall young man, while wiping the blood from the corners of his mouth, waved his hand at the crowd with a show of reluctance to take credit.

"This was a concert effort by everyone, I..."

He hadn't finished his words when a round head suddenly flew up into the air, a gush of blood spurting toward the cavern ceiling like a fountain, then spraying onto the faces of the surrounding disciples.

Feeling the warm touch of fresh blood, the others had not yet registered what had happened when they heard Chen Wan's loud shout:

"No good! The Human Demon King isn't dead, everyone run!"

After speaking, she was the first to dashed into the tunnel.

Kun Tu, who was knocked down earlier, also secretly ignited a yellowish talisman paper and burrowed into the ground, disappearing from sight.

The panic of the others surged at that moment, and they all rushed towards the entrance of the tunnel.

The torches were thrown to the ground, and as a Blood Shadow flashed by, the flames were extinguished, plunging the entire cavern back into darkness.

Pitiful screams of agony began, which seemed to go on and on without end.

...

After a long time, the cavern finally became quiet again.

Yuan Ming was still hiding in the same place, covering his mouth with both hands, daring not to let out even a breath.

In the darkness, a rustling sound suddenly emerged.

Forcing his heart to steady, he focused once again, concentrating his vision into the darkness of the cavern.

The once not-so-spacious cavern was now a complete mess; the floor was littered with broken limbs and torsos, while the walls and ceiling were smeared with chaotic streaks of blood.

The rich smell of blood completely suppressed the stench of rotting corpses.

The Human Demon King, charred and smeared with blood, was dragging two mutilated corpses towards the direction of the Corpse Pit.

With every step, the sound of corpses dragging against the ground grated on Yuan Ming's nerves.

To avoid the vertigo and intense pain he experienced before, Yuan Ming watched for a moment before closing his eyes again to quietly recuperate.

After a good while, the sound of dragging ceased.

Yuan Ming immediately refocused his eyesight, searching for the trace of the Human Demon King.

After looking around, he saw the Human Demon King bending down, kneeling beside the Corpse Pit, looking downward at something.

Suddenly, it opened its mouth and spat out a black Round Orb, which shone with a splendid glow. The sphere pulsed with a dark sheen and immediately generated a powerful suction.

Almost at once, layers of Black Mist rose from the pit, blurry shades of Residual Souls slowly emerged, each with faces twisted in fear and struggle, evidently torn out against their will.

No matter how these shades struggled, it was impossible for them to resist the pull of the black Round Orb, and they were torn to shreds, bit by bit absorbed into the sphere.

The Human Demon King opened its mouth wide and swallowed the black Round Orb back down its throat, its eyes immediately lighting up with a blood-red gleam. But soon after, the light subdued, returning to their original appearance.

At this moment, however, the Human Demon King suddenly made a move that surprised Yuan Ming.

The creature clutched at its head with both hands, shaking violently, as if venting frustration and agitation.