Upon hearing the words, Yuan Ming's heart stirred. After he watched Yun Luo Fairy's tunneling light disappear, he took out the Jade Scroll Mo Sanqi had given him and began to carefully examine the situation on Spiritual Ape Island.

The island was not small, covering hundreds of miles, with about five to six hundred thousand mortals living there. They formed several villages and towns, as well as a city, resembling a miniature nation.

Such a large mortal population on a spirit island in the Dongji Sea was uncommon. The main reason so many people were allowed to live on Spiritual Ape Island was that the island had two Red Copper Ore veins that required a large workforce to mine.

In addition to the two Red Copper Ore veins, there were three other industries on the island.

The first was the spirit field. The Spirit Veins on Spiritual Ape Island were somewhat scattered, which was disadvantageous for cultivation, but large tracts of spirit fields had been cultivated, spanning two to three hundred acres.

These spirit fields could grow spirit grain and Spiritual Medicine, yielding a significant profit each year.

The second industry was the Spirit Lake, inhabited by a group of Water Worm Apes. Although they were only Second Rank, they possessed great strength and were skilled swimmers, making them excellent spirit beasts for guarding Cave Mansions and pulling sea ships. Each one could be sold for a high price.

The name Spiritual Ape Island was largely attributed to those Water Worm Apes.

As for the third industry, it was the two White Infant Fruit Trees mentioned by Yun Luo Fairy.

After examining the content of the Jade Scroll, Yuan Ming stood and paced a few times within the pavilion. He then took out a Sound Transmission Talisman, moved his lips a few times, and crushed it.

Before long, two Nascent Soul cultivators hurried over, landing outside the pavilion. Behind them were more than a dozen Core Formation cultivators dressed in various garments, all seemingly influential figures among the island's cultivators.

"Greetings, Island Master."

Yuan Ming's gaze moved back and forth several times over the ma-faced man and the red-clothed woman. The two of them did not dare to meet Yuan Ming's gaze and hurriedly lowered their heads in fear and trepidation, their expressions slightly unsure, while the several Core Formation cultivators didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

After retracting his gaze, Yuan Ming, without wasting words, focused his mind and immediately began to use the Nightmare Divine Ability.

All present, including the red-clothed woman and the ma-faced man, instantly fell into a nightmare.

Yuan Ming walked directly to the red-clothed woman and the ma-faced man and poured Soul Power into the Seas of Consciousness of both, using the Soul Searching Divine Ability.

He raised an eyebrow when he found that seals had been placed in their Divine Souls, preventing his Soul Search.

"Such a crude seal thinks to stop me," Yuan Ming let out a slight cold laugh, intensifying his Soul Power. He quickly broke the seal and accessed their memories.

Just as Yun Luo Fairy had hinted, both individuals had issues. After all, in Yuan Ming's view, looking across the entire island, the first ones that Silver Dragon Taoist would take an interest in were these two Nascent Soul cultivators.

The red-clothed woman, named Ruan Hongxiang, was the elder of the Ruan Family, a Cultivation Family that had settled on Spiritual Ape Island.

The Ruan Family had resided on the island for a long time, and nearly half of the several hundred cultivators on the island belonged to the Ruan Family, overseeing the spirit fields.

Ma-faced Ye San was a Nascent Soul Loose Cultivator, in charge of managing the Spirit Lake.

On the surface, both had an ordinary vassal relationship with Silver Dragon Taoist. However, behind the scenes, they had already become Silver Dragon Taoist's inner disciples and were instructed to monitor Yuan Ming's every move and report on a regular basis, waiting for an opportunity to cooperate with Silver Dragon Taoist to seize back the island.

Yuan Ming was never lenient with those who tried to harm him. He raised his hand to kill the two immediately, but suddenly remembered something and stopped.

His third eye emitted sound waves that shook the bodies of Ruan Hongxiang and Ye San, causing them to collapse to the ground, unconscious.

Yuan Ming's hand emitted a green light, collecting the storage magic tools and Magic Treasures from inside their bodies and taking away the two people as well.

He then emitted streams of Soul Power from his third eye again, Soul Searching the other Core Formation cultivators, finding several who had close dealings with Ruan and Ye and were given tasks to secretly monitor him.

Like Ruan Hongxiang, he confiscated their storage magic tools and Magic Treasures and suppressed them.

Yuan Ming then waved his hand to dispel the Nightmare, and the rest of the people woke up one by one, gasping for air and showing expressions of terror on their faces.

"Starting today, the Ruan Family cultivators will leave Spiritual Ape Island. The rest of you may stay," Yuan Ming ordered indifferently. Thiscontentispresentedby*.

The remaining Core Formation cultivators who had come with Ruan Hongxiang were startled. They soon realized that Ye San and Ruan Hongxiang were nowhere to be seen, finally turning their gazes toward a middle-aged man at the late-stage of Core Formation.

"Island Master Yuan, may I know the reason for sending the Ruan Family away?" The middle-aged man was sweating, but still asked through gritted teeth.

"Do you truly not know the reason?" Yuan Ming gave a cold laugh.

He had just checked this man's memory. The middle-aged man, named Ruan Tao, had not had direct contact with Silver Dragon Taoist nor participated in his conspiracies. However, Ruan Tao knew that Ruan Hongxiang was Silver Dragon Taoist's disciple and had a vague guess about certain matters.

Most of the Ruan Family on the island were actually innocent, but they could no longer stay.

Seeing Yuan Ming's penetrating gaze, Ruan Tao's last bit of hope was shattered, and his face turned ashen.

He numbly bid farewell and flew toward where the Ruan Family resided.

Yuan Ming remained silent. With the departure of the Ruan Family, the daily operations of Spiritual Ape Island would be affected.

Yet, as he had just taken charge of the island, he needed to start well. If he was not ruthless now, removing the known threats, more trouble would arise later.

"Ye San and the Ruan Family harbored dual loyalties; I, as the Island Master, cannot keep them. No need to worry, as long as you remain loyal to me, you will not only be able to live and work in peace on Spiritual Ape Island, but I will also reward you handsomely," Yuan Ming looked at the remaining people and said.

The cultivators outside the pavilion, who were previously uneasy, were reassured upon hearing this and thanked Yuan Ming profusely.

"Alright, carry on with your duties. Cao Gang will take over the spirit field as of today, and Li Muhai will be in charge of overseeing the Spirit Lake," Yuan Ming continued, pointing to an elder in green and a young man with blue hair.

Cao Gang and Li Muhai were both mid-stage Core Formation cultivators, one practiced a wood attribute cultivation method, and the other a water attribute cultivation method. Although these two were relatively new, managing the spirit fields and Spirit Lake would be a way to hone and test them. As long as they had the capability and willingness, he did not mind offering them the opportunity.

Cao Gang and Li Muhai were overjoyed and hastily bowed in thanks.

Yuan Ming then allocated tasks to the others, and once everyone had dispersed, he turned to a green mountain in the center of the island.

This was where the spiritual energy of Spiritual Ape Island was the most abundant. The cave mansion of the Silver Dragon Taoist was also located here, though now it had been emptied.

After sweeping the area with a glance, Yuan Ming continued to the back of the mountain where there were two ten-zhang-tall green fruit trees enveloped in a layer of blue light.

The trees were emerald in color, their leaves bearing more than a dozen snow-white spirit fruits the size of a fist, shaped like curled up infants with distinct mouths, noses, hands, and feet—an extremely peculiar sight.

These two spirit trees were none other than the White Infant Fruit Trees, the most important spiritual materials of Spiritual Ape Island.

"Indeed, these fruits are extraordinary; the spiritual power contained within them is no less than that of the Red Mulberry Immortal Fruit," Yuan Ming thought to himself, a flash of green light flickering in his palm as a green jade scroll appeared.

This object had been found in Ruan Hongxiang's storage magic tool, which contained records of the effects of the White Infant Fruit and methods of cultivation.

White Infant Fruits were said to have the effect of cleansing marrow and refining essence and were effective even for Returning to Void Cultivators.

This spirit fruit also had another marvelous use: it could be mixed into a spiritual liquid that, when applied to the skin, could make it flawlessly fair, transforming ugliness into beauty, much to the delight of female cultivators.

Such a spirit fruit naturally could not be guarded by Silver Dragon Taoist's old restrictions.

Yuan Ming released several streaks of green light, which entered the blue light.

The previous array could barely be considered third-level and stood no chance against Yuan Ming's current power—it was quickly breached.

He took out a set of fourth-level arrays and began to arrange them near the two fruit trees.

Once he completed these tasks, Yuan Ming finally felt at ease and headed to the front side of the green mountain.

Although the Silver Dragon Taoist's cave mansion had been emptied, Yuan Ming did not bother to clear out any possible concealed surveillance methods that the adversary might have deployed, instead choosing an appropriate location to carve out a new cave mansion for himself.

In less than two hours, the cave mansion was completed.

Yuan Ming took out another two sets of fourth-level arrays and arranged them around the cave mansion. The Gathering Spirit Tree was also planted inside, gathering spiritual power.

The green mountain was originally abundant with spiritual energy. The roots of the Gathering Spirit Tree penetrated the void, attracting streams of nature's spiritual energy, and the spiritual energy within the cave mansion soon advanced a grade.

Yuan Ming was quite satisfied with this and then formed seals with both hands. A moment later, he conjured a purple palace the size of a washbowl, which slowly rose from his hand.

This palace was none other than the Shura Palace, once hidden in the Black Wind Desert.

With vast space contained within, the Shura Palace was a rare magical treasure. Before Yuan Ming's seclusion at Chang Chun Temple to break through to the Returning to Void Stage, he had made a trip to the Black Wind Desert and claimed the palace for himself.

Yuan Ming entered the palace, arriving in the space where the Black Tower was located, and with a wave of his sleeve, more than a dozen figures flew out—Ruan Hongxiang, Ye San, and others, all unconscious.

A fan-shaped Soul Power emanated from Yuan Ming's brows, awakening these individuals.

As they recognized their surroundings and the hovering Yuan Ming above, they were utterly shocked.

"You know why you're here. You dared to collaborate with the Silver Dragon Taoist under my nose and plot against me. Originally, you all should have been put to death. But as heaven cherishes life, I'll give you a chance to live," Yuan Ming said slowly.

Ruan Hongxiang, Ye San, and the others turned ashen.

"We will heed any command from Island Master Yuan, and we will surely comply," Ye San, with quickly spinning thoughts, knelt with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly to Yuan Ming.

Witnessing this, the others abandoned their dignity and knelt as well, begging Yuan Ming for mercy.

"Relax, it's nothing perilous. From today onwards, you'll live here, praying to me ceaselessly day and night," said Yuan Ming indifferently.

"Praying? Senior, are you a Soul Cultivator?" asked Ye San, relieved that Yuan Ming truly did not plan to kill him and speaking hesitantly.

"Correct, I am also known as the Sect Hierarch of the Moon Sect, the Nether Moon God. The only thing you need to do from now on is pray to the Nether Moon God. As long as you do so sincerely, I will spare your lives," Yuan Ming said slowly.

Ye San had a realization; it was no wonder all their little schemes were transparent to Yuan Ming.

"If someone dares to be slippery and deceitful, there will be only one outcome!" Yuan Ming activated the Exterminating Immortal Sword, and a terrifying Sword Qi that spanned the sky shot out, cleaving the nearby ground.

The Black Tower Space trembled as a vast Sword Trace Rift appeared on the ground, immeasurably deep, as if the earth was split in two.

"We wouldn't dare!" exclaimed Ye San, Ruan Hongxiang, and the others, trembling as they knelt down.

"Good, then begin," Yuan Ming put away the Exterminating Immortal Sword and instructed.

The dozen or so people did not dare to speak another word, promptly sitting cross-legged and praying to Yuan Ming earnestly.

Moments later, streams of Desire Power began to emanate from them and converged toward the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

Yuan Ming assessed the purity of the Desire Power and nodded slightly before turning and leaving the Shura Palace.

With their storage magic tools and magic treasures taken away, they were like defanged tigers with no means of escaping the Black Tower Space.