"Bang!" A muffled crash!

As Yuan Ming's fists touched those two Vessel Gold Hammers, the fierce impact sent them flying backward.

Yuan Ming's arms also trembled violently, feeling a fierce shock from his bones. He couldn't help but shake his arms, dispersing the force of the shock.

The bald Demon Cultivator, after retreating several steps to stabilize his stance, stared at the cultivator who recklessly charged in, with an expression full of disbelief.

These two Vessel Gold Hammers were refined with various high-grade spirit materials and sealed with the demon souls of two Soul-shocking Beasts as Artifact Spirits, almost comparable to high-level magical treasures, yet were blocked by that man barehanded.

Before he could fully process his shock, Yuan Ming had already charged again.

This time, however, he did not attack with bare hands but with a twist of his wrist, a Exterminating Immortal Sword appeared in his hand.

It's not that he couldn't defeat the other barehanded, but he did not want to waste time here.

The fall of the Black Evil Sect was only a matter of time, he needed to find that Crystal Stone quickly before then, so he must fight swiftly and decisively.

Seeing Yuan Ming advancing with his sword, the bald Demon Cultivator roared angrily, his mana surged forth into the two Vessel Gold Hammers.

Immediately, a flash of light appeared on the hammer bodies, directly condensing into two shadows of demon beasts that enveloped the hammer bodies, emitting intense spiritual power fluctuations.

The bald Demon Cultivator rushed forward, leaping into the air, raising his arms high, and heavily smashing down with both hammers.

In the void, the whistling wind mixed with beastly roars kept sounding, the noise shook several nearby Black Evil Sect cultivators to the point of fainting, yet it still couldn't affect Yuan Ming in the slightest.

He looked up at the bald Demon Cultivator, his expression unwavering, mana within him flowing into the longsword in his hand, slashing diagonally upwards.

"Zing!" A sharp cry rang out.

A jet-black sword light burst forth from the Exterminating Immortal Sword, like a giant black crescent moon flying diagonally.

In the instant of intersecting lights, the dual hammers in the bald Demon Cultivator's hands broke with a snap, being cut into two.

The black crescent sword light relentlessly struck the bald Demon Cultivator.

As the sword light fell, a sheet of golden light appeared on the Demon Cultivator's body, revealing a layer of protective armor.

However, that golden light only shone for a moment before abruptly exploding, shattering the bald Demon Cultivator's body into pieces.

Yuan Ming charged forward, swiftly bent down to remove the storage ring from the bald Demon Cultivator's hand, and dashed away.

The Exterminating Immortal Sword, which had merged the Yin Worm Beast's demon soul as its sword spirit, had power far beyond its original state.

The remaining Black Evil Sect cultivators naturally scrambled away as they saw Yuan Ming in such a manner, especially noticing his apparent intent to leave the battlefield, none willing to provoke him.

After killing here and moving on, Yuan Ming swiftly sped towards the depths of Black Mo Island, completely out of the sight of Dongji Palace cultivators, he then concealed his form, trying to avoid further clashes with Black Evil Sect demon cultivators.

After about thirty minutes, Yuan Ming stopped outside a valley on the island.

"Artifact Spirit Sir?" He took out the Stealing Heaven Tripod and tried calling out.

After waiting for a while, he finally heard the Artifact Spirit's response echoing within his Sea of Consciousness: "Continue further inside; in the crevice deep in the valley, there's a hidden secret chamber. The Crystal Stone you seek is hidden within."

Yuan Ming was overjoyed upon hearing this and rushed into the valley immediately, no longer hesitating.

After traveling for a while, Yuan Ming was somewhat surprised to find that there were no cultivators guarding the area, and the valley only had some ordinary spiritual medicines planted, making it seem unlike a place containing secret treasures.

As he ventured deeper, he saw only some dilapidated old bamboo buildings in the valley, even without any spiritual medicine planted.

Compared to outside the valley, the spiritual energy here became increasingly thin.

Just as Yuan Ming wondered if he had gone to the wrong place, the terrain ahead gradually narrowed, faintly hearing the subtle sound of flowing water, seemingly reaching the deepest part of the valley.

Yuan Ming quickened his pace and soon reached the end of the path.

The narrowing cliff finally converged, forming a hundred-zhang high cliff face, densely covered with moss, growing some dark green ferns, with no signs of any secret chamber.

At the base of the cliff near the ground, there was a small stone cave, from which a spring flowed slowly, forming over time a small water pool three feet square.

The spring in the pool was crystal clear, with a floor of green stones, faintly revealing finger-sized fish swimming back and forth.

Yuan Ming released his Divine Sense, and after probing, found nothing unusual.

Just as he was about to ask the Artifact Spirit, he saw a sudden blue light shoot from the Stealing Heaven Tripod in his hand, hitting the seemingly mundane pool in front of him.

The surface of the small pool swayed with ripples under the blue light.

Yuan Ming's gaze fell on the ripples, his eyes suddenly changed, immediately noticing that the rippling water surface was glowing with a radiant white light, like a copper mirror, reflecting a beam of light upwards.

The light beam cast onto the opposite cliff, where there was a seemingly inconspicuous protruding rock.

Yuan Ming understood, immediately jumped up, and pressed on the rock, channeling mana into it.

The next moment, the protruding rock suddenly lit up, with a circle of light shining around it, and then a devouring force pulled Yuan Ming inside.

Yuan Ming staggered forward, quickly landing on his feet, and found himself in a secret chamber.

The secret chamber wasn't large, with stone niches carved into the four walls, housing oil lamps burning an unknown demon beast's oil, emitting a bright light without any smoke.

The chamber was very simply furnished, with only a table and a meditation cushion, resembling a quiet room meant for cultivation.

Yuan Ming saw a black incense burner placed at the center of the table, flanked by a purple black wooden box and a jade box, his eyes lit up, and he rushed over.

He swept over with divine thought, checked it, and found no anomalies. As if having an intuition, he grabbed the purple black wooden box and flung it open with a "snap".

As the box lid slid open, a brilliant yellow light emanated, revealing an oval crystal stone the size of a palm, covered with rhombus-shaped crystal surfaces, reflecting dazzling luster from different angles.

However, what surprised Yuan Ming was that he could feel the extraordinary nature of the crystal stone, but couldn't detect any spiritual power fluctuations.

"Don't doubt, this is what you're looking for." As if sensing Yuan Ming's confusion, the voice of the artifact spirit suddenly echoed in his sea of consciousness. R&ea$d ah#ead and get u$pdat&es! by v!i^sit!i!n-g* M^^+VL$E&MP.Y$R.

"Senior, what exactly is this crystal stone, why is it so special?" Yuan Ming couldn't help but ask.

Silence was the response.

Seeing the artifact spirit ignore him, Yuan Ming didn't mind. Just as he was about to reach out to put the crystal stone away, the Stealing Heaven Tripod in his hand suddenly emitted light, with an invisible force drawing from it.

The crystal stone, attracted by the force, flew up by itself and collided with the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

At the moment of contact, the crystal stone suddenly virtualized and was pulled into the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space, falling onto the altar, perfectly embedded in a groove in the array.

The next moment, a yellow halo lit up on the array, transforming into a streaming glow that expanded outward before quickly disappearing.

Feeling something unusual, Yuan Ming hurriedly checked the changes in the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

Upon investigation, he discovered, to his surprise, that the seal in the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space had significantly loosened, and with a bit of control, he could easily open a narrow passage to freely place items in the tripod's space.

However, it was still quite difficult to allow people to come and go as before.

Nevertheless, Yuan Ming was already very pleased. As long as he could gather all the crystal stones and reclaim control of the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space, it wouldn't be hard anymore.

Calming his emotions, his gaze fell onto the jade box, and he reached out to pick it up.

The jade box felt quite heavy in hand. As Yuan Ming slid open the lid, no light appeared, but a rich life aura emanated.

Yuan Ming's palm trembled, wood grain appeared uncontrollably on his fingertips, and the branches of the Undying Tree extended, reaching toward the jade box but retreating right before touching it.

At the same time, Yuan Ming clearly felt the Undying Tree within him trembling uncontrollably, the sensation filled with joy, reverence, yearning, and a trace of submission.

His heart couldn't help but skip a beat, and his heartbeat sped up.

Yuan Ming's gaze fell inside the jade box, seeing a palm-sized piece of tree wood lying quietly, in shades between blue-gray, covered with rough tree grain, looking extremely ancient.

At the moment his fingertips touched the wood piece, the Undying Tree flared up with a shock, then shook violently, all complex emotions vanished, leaving only submission.

It was submitting to a piece of bark!

At this moment, Yuan Ming's astonishment was indescribable; influenced by the Undying Tree, he too felt a slight urge to bow.

However, he forcibly calmed his emotions, still deeply puzzled in his heart, what kind of existence must this bark belong to for the Undying Tree to willingly submit?

Moreover, why would such an item be here?

Clearly, with something like this present, why did the artifact spirit senior not mention it beforehand?

"Senior, are you aware of the existence of this spirit wood?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Yes," the artifact spirit replied quickly this time.

"What is it? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Yuan Ming asked in confusion.

"Why should I tell you? You came looking for the crystal stone, not this bark," the artifact spirit countered.

Yuan Ming, upon hearing this, was momentarily speechless.

"Anyway, thank you, senior," Yuan Ming expressed gratitude.

The artifact spirit fell silent again.

He packed the peculiar bark, together with the jade box, and then, with a wave of his hand, collected the exquisite incense burner from the table, not finding anything special about it.

Yuan Ming checked the chamber again, found nothing else, and prepared to leave.