Several days later.

At Yuan Ming's summons, Hua Zhi quickly arrived at the deserted island; however, to Yuan Ming's dismay, behind her came a large group of so-called "Holy Spirit Association" demon beast members, looking grand and imposing.

Yuan Ming instructed Hua Zhi to settle those demon beasts briefly, then summoned her along with Vajra and Lei Yu to his side.

"The previous matters have come to an end. In the coming period, I plan to find a suitable place for focused training. The outside world is still in turmoil, so you'll also need to conceal yourselves and lie low with me for a while," Yuan Ming said.

Hua Zhi, Vajra, and Lei Yu were already aware of Yuan Ming's plans and showed no surprise.

"Hua Zhi, the Holy Spirit Association you established lacks organizational structure and action plans. It's just chaotic messing around. With those subordinates around, you're too conspicuous. If powers like Dongji Palace or Luo Jia Mountain find out, it will harm both yourself and others. Disband them all," Yuan Ming said, looking at Hua Zhi.

"Master, I got along very well with those people and don't want to just abandon them like this. Besides, you're underestimating me. When Sister Xi Ying unified the Yunhuang Continent back in the day, I was always by her side, learning quite a bit about sect management methods. Although the Holy Spirit Association was formed on a whim, I have already planned out how it will develop, and it might have potential in the future," Hua Zhi said reluctantly.

"So what do you want to do?" Yuan Ming noticed her little scheme and asked deliberately.

"Master, I want to take them out for an adventure... Rest assured, I will develop the Holy Spirit Association well. When it grows strong enough, like Dongji Palace, I'll bring them to find you, and by then, we'll return to Dongji Sea together and see who dares to pursue you?" Hua Zhi said, patting her chest.

"What if I disagree?" Yuan Ming raised his eyebrows and asked.

"If you disagree… if you disagree, disagree… then I won't go," Hua Zhi dropped her small face immediately, saying pitifully.

"Fine, always staying by my side, you still seem like an immature child. Going out to experience the world might be good, but be sure to protect yourself," Yuan Ming thought for a moment and suddenly smiled.

"Thank you, Master, you're really great!" Hua Zhi immediately exclaimed with joy.

Vajra, standing beside them, seeing this, also spoke up: "Master, I've been thinking carefully these days. What you said before is right. The Body of Wanxiang has many shortcomings. I also want to go out for some adventure." Read ahead and get updates at *.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming shifted his gaze to Vajra, showing a contemplative expression.

Now, Hua Zhi's strength has advanced further, reaching the upper fifth level, while Vajra lags considerably behind.

So Vajra, unlike Hua Zhi, really wants to go out for training rather than just traveling around.

He's different from Hua Zhi, being a body cultivation type, with an exceptionally robust physique, the kind that becomes stronger in battle as you fight fearlessly, improving quickly.

Always staying by Yuan Ming's side, he actually had too few chances to experience life and death tempering.

"You do need to experience more tempering outside to achieve higher accomplishments in the future. Just as well, I've recently refined some Blood Origin Pills, perfect for providing you some, to assist with training," Yuan Ming said.

Speaking up, he took out a White Jade Porcelain Bottle and tossed it to Vajra.

Vajra caught it, opened the stopper, and poured out three round blood-red pills, feeling the incredibly rich blood qi power within them, his eyes immediately brightened.

"These three Blood Origin Pills are refined from the corpses of Level 5 demon beasts slain in Emperor Yan's Tomb, containing great blood qi power, needless to say, but also retain some difficult-to-remove impurities. So don't rely too much on these elixirs and avoid continuous use for the sake of quick advancement, remember," Yuan Ming warned.

"Thank you, master. Rest assured, I understand. Body cultivation tempers the physical body, and indeed absorbing the Power of the Sun is the correct way; hastiness will not lead to success. I know this truth," Vajra said, clasping his hands.

On hearing this, Yuan Ming nodded slightly.

Vajra has always been steady in character, and in this aspect, Yuan Ming feels assured.

Then Yuan Ming turned his gaze to Lei Yu, who had remained silent by the side.

Before Yuan Ming could ask, Lei Yu had already proactively spoken: "Master, I don't want to go out for training yet. I want to continue staying by your side."

"Lei Yu, aren't you silly? With the vast world outside, don't you want to broaden your horizons with some adventures? Following me, I'll take you to the Azure Dragon Sea and Luojia Sea to gain knowledge that will open your eyes and captivate you completely," Hua Zhi asked with a puzzled look.

"You want Lei Yu to follow you as your mount," Vajra mercilessly exposed her thoughts.

Hua Zhi's little thought got publicly revealed, immediately displaying a look of ashamed anger, preparing to fight Vajra.

"I'm not going, though. If master completes retreat and wants to contact you, having me here makes it convenient," Lei Yu said.

Upon hearing this, Hua Zhi and Vajra fell silent, feeling a bit guilty in their hearts.

Yuan Ming was also surprised at Lei Yu's answer, but soon showed a pleased and satisfied expression.

He then advised Hua Zhi and Vajra again before letting the two leave.

"Lei Yu, was what you said earlier your true thoughts? You really don't want to go on adventures with Hua Zhi?" Yuan Ming asked.

After a slight hesitation, Lei Yu said, "Being with Hua Zhi is quite fun, but since they all left, someone has to accompany master, right?"

Yuan Ming felt a warmth in his heart upon hearing this.

"Lei Yu, when you attacked Ye Wuya earlier, what kind of divine skill did you use? How could you make a late-stage Returning Void cultivator instantly lose combat ability?" Yuan Ming suddenly remembered something and asked.

Mentioning this matter, Lei Yu seemed a bit excited, with a hint of pride in his voice: "Master, after I advanced to level five, I awakened a brand new ability, which I call 'Thunder Heart Strike'."

"Thunder Heart Strike..." Yuan Ming murmured.

"This is a precise attack that can directly apply the power of thunder and lightning to the opponent's heart. Once hit, the enemy, no matter how strong their physical body, will be paralyzed and unable to move for a short period." Lei Yu further explained.

"Your ability is quite interesting. Combined with your speed, it can indeed be unexpectedly effective." Yuan Ming praised.

Lei Yu was even happier upon hearing the compliment.

"Let's go, this is not a place to linger. We should keep moving." Yuan Ming glanced at the sky and stood up.

With such a large group of members from the Holy Spirit Association brought here by Hua Zhi, even the most inconspicuous deserted island would probably be noticed, leaving him no choice but to depart.

Lei Yu immediately leaped up, spread its wings, and took off into the void, carrying Yuan Ming swiftly away into the distance.

...

A month later.

In a remote area of the Dongji Sea, a few small islands were sparsely distributed.

The islands were bare, with exposed rocks and rarely any vegetation, making them look desolate.

In midair, Lei Yu retracted its wings and circled above for a while with Yuan Ming, using its divine soul to scan the islands below, before swooping down and landing on a desolate island with sparse trees in the center.

These islands were all deserted, with little wildlife, indicating that they were places with scarce spiritual energy, hardly visited by anyone, making it an ideal hiding spot for Yuan Ming.

Lei Yu landed with him on the east side of the island, where there was a sparse patch of trees. Hidden within the trees was a wind-eroded cave beneath a steep cliff, less than two meters high, making it highly concealed and impossible to spot without divine sense from above.

Yuan Ming first stored Lei Yu back into the spiritual beast bag, then walked into the cave himself.

The inside of the cave was not large, but aside from the uneven floor, it was quite dry and comfortable, suitable for taking refuge.

He quickly tidied up the cave, then set up an array at the entrance to conceal his presence, took out the Shura Palace, placed it on the ground, and with a flicker, entered it.

Yuan Ming walked directly to the space where the Black Tower was located.

As soon as he appeared, Ruan Hongxiang, Ye San, and others immediately came forward to salute him: "Lord Nether Moon God."

Yuan Ming nodded slightly, not saying much to them, merely waving his hand to make a dozen figures appear, rolling to the ground, all still in a deep sleep.

Seeing this, Ye San and the others exchanged glances with a flash in their eyes, and all took a few steps back, standing silently.

Among the people on the ground, aside from three female disciples of Su Nu Sect, the rest were all cultivators from Wuya Island, including six late-stage Returning Void cultivators and over ten Nascent Soul realm cultivators, led by Island Master Ye Wuya.

Yuan Ming stripped them of their storage magic tools and then proceeded to implant a soul descent rune into each of them, one by one.

After completing this, he pointed a single finger to his brow, releasing a fan-shaped soul power to awaken all the people on the ground.

In the moment of awakening, all those people looked terrified, as if they had been through a never-ending nightmare. The moment they recognized their surroundings, they all appeared wary, attempting to summon their magic treasures.

However, upon feeling their wrists and fingers, they realized their storage magic tools had all been stripped away.

"Haven't you had enough fighting on Wuya Island? I could suppress you then, and I can kill you now." Yuan Ming shouted violently, his robe billowing without wind, his aura suddenly erupting.

Simultaneously, twelve soul crows flew out, forming a crow formation.

Each soul crow opened its mouth and emitted a Crow's Call Wave, instantly creating a magnificent black sound wave.

The surging sound wave spread out fan-shaped, crashing towards Ye Wuya, Zi Mei, and the others. Sensing danger, they immediately tried to use their cultivation techniques to protect their divine soul.

However, the Nascent Souls and soul powers of Ye Wuya, Zi Mei, and the others were sealed, unable to function at all.

Though the Nascent Soul realm cultivators had some residual mana left, that bit of magic power and divine soul was hardly able to resist the Crow's Call Wave.

The moment the black sound wave swept over, everyone from Wuya Island was struck stiff, as if having their throats grabbed, each eye wide in shock, emitting "uh uh" sounds, their vision beginning to blur.

Ye San and the others standing behind Yuan Ming were not directly hit, but even the residual sound waves were hard to endure, causing each of them to clutch their heads and flee into the distance.