The old monster of the Returning Void Realm who occupied the cave mansion would only open the furnace once a day. Now that the "human material" had been taken away, it meant that for the next two hours, he would focus solely on Alchemy, paying no attention to the happenings in the cave mansion.

Hao Shang thought this as he quickly walked over to a young man with white hair in the pharmacy.

"It's time to start." He whispered into the young man's ear.

The young man seemed unable to see. Upon hearing Hao Shang's words, he silently nodded, took out a small knife from his sleeve, and cut open the palm of his right hand.

Bright red blood immediately oozed from the wound, and soon after, a thumb-sized Gu Worm timidly emerged.

"The Soul-devouring Worm needs at least an hour to create a breach in the formation; we must hurry..." The young man's words were abruptly cut off by a loud noise.

"Oh? I didn't expect that after hiding for so long, I'd still be found. I wonder which Fellow Daoist has been tasked with apprehending me this time?" Following the loud noise, a hoarse voice, like a ghost's wail, echoed from deep within the cave mansion.

"Qu Jiuhuang, was it you who destroyed Wangyou Island, using the hundreds of thousands of mortals and the island's cultivators as raw materials for alchemy?" A deep voice from outside the cave mansion inquired calmly.

"Yes, it was indeed me. What, do you have ties with Wangyou Island and wish to avenge them?" Qu Jiuhuang admitted nonchalantly.

"As long as it's you, I have no interest in avenging them."

As soon as these words were spoken, a sound like thunder resounded across the seabed, followed by the crackling of shattered rock walls and the rush of water flooding in. Outside the pharmacy door, seawater poured in furiously.

"Impossible, the formation is broken!" Hao Shang and the white-haired young man were both taken aback.

Meanwhile, deep within the cave mansion, Qu Jiuhuang also showed a look of surprise. With a sweep of his sleeve, he gathered some important items and flew straight out of the cave mansion, rushing to the sea's surface.

On the sea surface at that moment, Yuan Ming stood with his hands behind his back, wearing a mask, with Vajra and Hua Zhi standing side by side behind him.

As soon as Qu Jiuhuang appeared, Yuan Ming swiftly formed a spell, and the hidden Array Flags flew out instantly, forming a Captive Formation that enveloped both him and Qu Jiuhuang. This translation is powered by the readers at *.

"Such mastery of formations... When did the Dongji Sea produce such an Array Master like you?" Qu Jiuhuang's expression turned grave as he glanced around, realizing why the formation he had set up was so easily breached.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist, staying at the seabed for so long, you must be somewhat out of touch with current affairs." Yuan Ming smiled slightly, raised his hand to form a spell, and several soul crows flew out from his Sea of Consciousness.

"Master, allow me to deal with him first." At this moment, Vajra stepped forward willingly.

Now, he was just a step away from breaking through and wished to use this battle to thoroughly temper his will and step into the Body of Wanxiang realm.

The insights gained between life and death are the most effective for breaking through bottlenecks. Moreover, with Yuan Ming and Hua Zhi covering the formation, even if he lost, he wouldn't need to worry about Qu Jiuhuang escaping.

Yuan Ming understood his intentions and nodded slightly, agreeing to his request.

However, in Qu Jiuhuang's eyes, Yuan Ming's action undoubtedly meant he looked down on him.

"Arrogant!"

Angered, he gave up the idea of escaping, clapped both hands, and summoned a blood-colored copper mirror, launching an attack towards Yuan Ming and the others.

In an instant, countless blood light and spirit flames rose within the Captive Formation. The great battle lasted four hours before it finally ceased.

As the formation opened, Yuan Ming, with some bloodstains on him, walked out from the formation. His Divine Sense scanned the surroundings, and seeing no one else around, he swiftly departed.

Not long after he left, two figures emerged from the seawater below, none other than Hao Shang and the white-haired young man.

They both had a lingering sense of fear on their faces.

With the formation broken and Qu Jiuhuang's cave mansion engulfed by seawater and collapsed, although they were Core Formation Cultivators, they were so drained and tortured by Qu Jiuhuang that barely any Mana remained. In such a dire situation, they almost couldn't escape, nearly buried at the seabed.

"Qu the Old Ghost, He Luohui from Wangyou Island, has come to settle the blood debt... Huh? Who are you, and where is Qu the Old Ghost?"

As Hao Shang and the young man breathed a sigh of relief, a great beam of light flew from the horizon. A young man in white roared with authority, and upon scanning with Divine Sense, saw only Hao Shang and the young man amid the collapsed seabed cave mansion, filling his eyes with confusion.

Hao Shang and the young man exchanged glances, both showing a bewildered expression.

...

On another front, Yuan Ming spent half a month taking the unconscious Qu Jiuhuang back to Spiritual Ape Island.

During this time, to prevent Qu Jiuhuang from awakening, he specifically found a safe place to implant a Soul Lowering Talisman on him, thereby keeping him completely under control.

The group of evil cultivators previously captured by Yuan Ming were also dealt with in this way.

And when he returned to Spiritual Ape Island, he directly imprisoned Qu Jiuhuang and other evil cultivators in Shura Palace, and ordered him to continuously pray to Ming Yue God, or else he would be completely killed.

After being afflicted with the Soul Descent Rune, Qu Jiuhuang had no choice but to accept Yuan Ming's demands in exchange for a chance to live.

In the past three years, Yuan Ming has been capturing evil cultivators with Vajra and Hua Zhi by his side. Counting them up, he has captured nearly a hundred Nascent Soul evil cultivators, along with Fei Shang and Qu Jiuhuang, both of whom are in the Returning Void stage.

Nowadays, these people under the pressure of the Soul Descent Rune have been converted to believe in the Ming Yue God, praying and repenting day and night in Shura Palace.

As a result, Yuan Ming's income from Desire Power directly doubled, and with the future contributions from the newly captured Qu Jiuhuang, Yuan Ming can already ensure the cohesion of a Vow Power Pill every three months.

This way, gathering two hundred Vow Power Pills within a hundred years is no longer a difficult task.

Through the battle with Qu Jiuhuang, Vajra gained many insights and prepared to break through to the Body of Wanxiang, entering the Spiritual Beast Bag to retreat for cultivation. After consideration, Yuan Ming also decided to stop capturing and went into seclusion again.

Unknown to him, due to these three years of capturing, a rumor began spreading across Dongji Sea.

It is said that there is a great power with a sense of justice, who feels that the evil cultivators are rampant, secretly chasing and killing them to restore a clear sky to Dongji Sea.

Others say it is actually another ambitious demon lord, wanting to unite all the evil cultivators in Dongji Sea to form a new force strong enough to oppose Dongji Palace, capturing the evil cultivators merely as a warning, forcing others to submit.

For a while, rumors spread across Dongji Sea, filling the skies, leading many Returning Void Great Powers to become interested in this mysterious cultivator who never shows up or goes to Dongji Palace for rewards, some even offering bounties, either to meet him or to provoke and declare war.

But all these had nothing to do with Yuan Ming, who went into seclusion again.

...

Time swiftly passed, and thirty-seven years went by.

With the arrival of the century mark, Yuan Ming ended his seclusion once more.

This time, his mana significantly improved, though he was still quite a distance from the Late Stage of Returning Void.

After emerging, Yuan Ming showed up in front of Sikong Zhan and others, dealt with accumulated trivial matters, then returned alone to his cave mansion. Activating the forbidden, he summoned the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

"Artifact Spirit Elder, the hundred-year period has come, and the two hundred Vow Power Pills have been collected. Please appear and meet." Yuan Ming counted out two hundred Vow Power Pills and then called out.

As his voice fell, the two hundred Vow Power Pills instantly disappeared, and the Stealing Heaven Tripod emitted a dazzling spirit light, condensing a half-human-sized head phantom in mid-air, which was Artifact Spirit Kong of the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

"You did well, I have received the Vow Power Pills, and as promised, I will act for you once more. Whatever you need, feel free to speak." He slowly said, his voice directly entering Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness.

Compared to before, this appearance of the Artifact Spirit seemed more grandiose, whether due to recovering his original imposing manner or influenced by character, he seemed unwilling to meet Yuan Ming in a usual stance.

"The crystal stones in the Stealing Heaven Tripod altar have several exhausted of spiritual power, wondering if you could restore them, Artifact Spirit Elder?" Yuan Ming, not minding this point, directly asked.

After this period of cultivation, Yuan Ming became increasingly satisfied with Primordial True Skill, dispelling the intention of asking for a Cultivation Technique from the Artifact Spirit, turning instead to consider the possibility of repairing the Stealing Heaven Tripod to restore its original functions.

"Since the crystal stones are exhausted, they cannot be restored, only replaced. However, I cannot leave the Stealing Heaven Tripod, hence cannot assist in obtaining the replacement crystal stones," the Artifact Spirit shook his head.

"Previously you mentioned handling anything…" Yuan Ming's eyes flickered, hesitating to speak.

"Don't worry, I haven't finished speaking. Though I cannot act personally, I can tell you the specific locations of those crystal stones. You only need to follow my instructions to easily acquire these five types of crystal stones." The Artifact Spirit immediately said.

"Dare I ask, Elder, which five types of crystal stones specifically?" Yuan Ming asked in surprise.

"Among the Five Elements Crystal Stones, the Fiery Fire Essence Stone and Earth Element Stone are missing. Among special crystal stones, Guiyuan Heavenly Crystal, Abyss Nether Stone, and Love Inquiry Heart Jade are missing." The Artifact Spirit said, sending a strand of Divine Thought into Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness.

The Divine Thought contained the locations of these five types of crystal stones.

Upon careful examination, Yuan Ming found four of the five types of crystal stones were outside the Dongji Sea's range, with the Guiyuan Heavenly Crystal currently held by the Black Evil Sect on Black Mo Island in Dongji Sea.

Regarding the Black Evil Sect, the Artifact Spirit also thoughtfully provided more information, mentioning it as a sect established by demon cultivators, with several Returning Void Demon Cultivators stationed within, possessing significant strength.

After reading the information, Yuan Ming couldn't help but feel shocked.

Demon cultivators in Dongji Sea are practically like rats crossing the street. Even evil cultivators wanted by Dongji Palace rarely want to associate with them. They have mysterious actions, making it impossible to catch their trails. The Artifact Spirit clearly cannot leave the Stealing Heaven Tripod, yet where did he obtain the information?

"According to Elder, Black Mo Island is akin to a dragon's den and tiger's lair. It seems beyond my capability to infiltrate alone. Does Elder have any clever method?" Yuan Ming glanced discreetly at the Artifact Spirit, tempted to inquire, but knowing it would never reveal, hesitated for a moment before putting aside the idea, instead posing the question.