The intense burning pain almost made him lose his grip on the knife.

However, Wulu seized the moment to leap out of the encirclement and immediately activated the Heavenly Escape Stone Talisman.

His figure vanished from sight instantly, disappearing without a trace.

The fire mantis creatures that were hunting him immediately lost their target. After a moment of hesitation, they turned their gaze towards Yuan Ming.

But just as they turned, Wulu's figure suddenly reappeared behind one of the fire mantises, his jet-black long knife slashing towards its head.

The black blade light flashed, and the fire mantis's head rolled off, with molten lava-like blood flowing out.

The other fire mantis beside it saw this and swiftly turned around. Its two scythe arms turned into two red shadows, instantly striking at Wulu from the front.

Wulu had no time to cloak himself, hurriedly using the knife to block, only to see the fire mantis's eyes suddenly light up with a red glow, and two fire line-like red lights burst from the mantis's forelimbs.

The blade of the scythe on the forelimbs seemed to ignite as it turned fiery red, its surface glowing brilliantly as it fiercely struck the jet-black long knife.

With two loud explosions!

Two more bursts of flames erupted, sending Wulu flying once again, his body half-charred.

Sparks flew from the jet-black long knife, creating two dents on it.

Wulu's eyes showed surprise. This black long knife, though seemingly ordinary, was actually a Spiritual Treasure he had meticulously crafted according to ancient methods, with intentions of making it his Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Unexpectedly, after enduring just two attacks from the fire mantises, the long knife showed signs of damage.

These fire beasts were unexpectedly formidable to such an extent.

Two nearby fire mantises lunged at him, forcing Wulu to retreat hurriedly and once again activate the Heavenly Escape Stone Talisman, concealing himself.

By the time he reappeared, he had arrived beside Yuan Ming.

"These creatures are indeed strange, not easy to deal with," Wulu sighed, looking somewhat pained at his long knife.

"Look over there." Yuan Ming didn't agree or disagree but raised his hand and pointed to the side.

Following the sound, Wulu saw the fire mantis whose head he had previously chopped off still standing in place instead of falling, its severed head on the ground with its compound eyes staring directly at him.

"It won't die from that?" Wulu remarked in disbelief.

"These fire beasts appear similar to common demon beasts, but their body structure is vastly different. Places like the head and the dantian are no longer vital points and can't be judged by common sense," Yuan Ming explained.

"No wonder, I better leave these fire beasts to Brother Yuan." Wulu smiled wryly.

Yuan Ming nodded and leaped off the low hill, landing amidst several mantis fire beasts.

Seeing this scene, Wulu felt uneasy. He had been fighting these fire beasts, trying all he could to avoid being surrounded, yet Yuan Ming had landed right in the center of the fire beasts.

The gap between him and Yuan Ming seemed even larger than he had anticipated.

Amidst Wulu's scattered thoughts, over a dozen fire mantises charged forward,

Yuan Ming twisted his wrist, and a black Fire Burning Stick appeared in his palm, which was Emperor Yan's Ruyi Scepter.

A red shadow flashed beside him, and a towering fire mantis was the first to pounce, raising both its forearms high to strike at his head.

Yuan Ming lowered his body to evade the mantis's slash, and his Emperor Yan's Ruyi Scepter swung towards the fire mantis's head.

With a dull "bang," the fire mantis's head burst open like a watermelon, spraying crimson lava.

Yet the head was not the vital part of the fire mantis; its body staggered slightly but steadied itself, with its two mantis blades continuing to slash at Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming deftly dodged again, and his Emperor Yan's Ruyi Scepter turned into a black shadow and plunged through the wound on the fire mantis's neck into its chest cavity.

The red spiritual patterns on the Emperor Yan's Ruyi Scepter suddenly lit up, emanating a peculiar wave.

In the next instant, the fire attribute spiritual power within the fire mantis gushed uncontrollably out, being fully absorbed by the Flame Yellow Ruyi Scepter.

It was as if the fire mantis had been drained of all its strength in an instant. Its form quickly wilted, collapsing to the ground.

Yuan Ming dodged another fire mantis's attack and raised his hand to beckon.

The Emperor Yan's Ruyi Scepter pierced through the fire mantis's skin and flew back into his hand.

The previously warm stick was now scalding hot, wrapped with a strand of golden-yellow peculiar spiritual power, which was clearly the pure power of the Sun.

"Just as I suspected, these fire mantises contain the power of the Sun within them, no wonder their strength is so formidable." Yuan Ming thought, cultivating to absorb it into his body.

His physical body was always in a state of hunger and thirst, and the moment that strand of Power of the Sun entered his body, it was swiftly absorbed by his physical form, instantly bringing a wave of warmth all over, incomparably comfortable.

After this experience, Yuan Ming looked at those Fire Mantises with only joy in his eyes, as if he were gazing at plates of delicious food ready to be served at the table.

All of this, although complex to describe, was actually completed in the blink of an eye.

Other Fire Mantises lunged at him from all directions, swinging their Mantis Blades at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

Dozens of red blade shadows slashed toward Yuan Ming, forming a massive web of blades, seemingly leaving no chance for dodging.

Wulu watched this scene from afar, showing a worried expression.

He knew that Yuan Ming could cast Thunder Escape Divine Ability, and theoretically he shouldn't fear such attacks, but here, the Fire Attribute Spiritual Power was extremely dense, and the Space Power was peculiar, so he might not be able to use Thunder Escape.

Yuan Ming operated his Eyes of Golden Flame, and his pupils emitted two beams of Golden Light.

The dense web of blades suddenly became clear, the previously seamless attack now full of gaps.

His figure transformed into a wisp of blue smoke, and with a single leap, he jumped out of the web's encirclement, shooting his Fire Burning Stick in his hand, aimed at a nearby Fire Mantis.

With a splat sound, Emperor Yan's Ruyi Scepter pierced through the Fire Mantis's Scale Armor and into its body.

This Fire Mantis's body quickly became shriveled, and its Spiritual Power was drained in the blink of an eye.

Yuan Ming retrieved Emperor Yan's Ruyi Scepter and rushed towards the next one.

Before long, all the Fire Mantises were slain by Yuan Ming, and dozens of strands of exceptionally pure Power of the Sun merged into his body, giving his physical strength a substantial boost.

Wulu watched everything from afar, and the expression of surprise on his face grew heavier.

"How did you do that?" Wulu couldn't help but ask when Yuan Ming returned.

"Just relying on Magic Treasure." Yuan Ming raised his hand and smiled.

Wulu glanced at the Emperor Yan's Ruyi Scepter in Yuan Ming's hand and did not ask further.

The two did not linger, and continued forward following the flow of underground fire veins.

On the road ahead, whenever there were Fire Beasts, Yuan Ming would take the initiative to handle them.

After all, these were great nourishment!

And with Yuan Ming leading at the front, the speed of their advance significantly increased, and soon they found a place where Spirit Veins gathered.

It was a vast lake, so wide that the two of them couldn't see the far shore with their eyesight.

What's even stranger was that the water of the lake was actually fire-red, containing extremely dense Fire Attribute Spirit Qi, and it was hot and boiling like magma, yet not as viscous. As the waves undulated, from time to time, scarlet flames would burst out from the water, exploding into fireworks in mid-air.

Although this place was where Spirit Veins converged, it was not the center of the spatial Spirit Vein, so Yuan Ming and Wulu did not stop, flying directly towards the opposite shore of the lake.

When they were almost in the center of the Fire Lake, Yuan Ming suddenly showed a hint of surprise, grabbing Wulu to stop.

"What's wrong?" Wulu asked.

"There's someone fighting ahead." Yuan Ming said.

Wulu concentrated and quickly detected chaotic waves of Spiritual Power emanating from the front, indicating that someone seemed to be fighting there.

However, the noise was very faint, and he could only sense it with complete focus.

Wulu glanced at Yuan Ming and let out a sigh again.

Yuan Ming didn't notice Wulu's thoughts and began casting the Circular Light Technique to investigate the situation ahead.

"It's him!" Yuan Ming muttered to himself.

In the Circular Light Technique appeared a giant white palace illusion, occupying a corner of the sky.

In the center of the palace illusion, a white-clothed cultivator was raising his arms casting spells, his face full of anxiety, it was Nan Shangfeng.

Outside the palace illusion, six ferocious and lion-like fire beasts were incessantly attacking the palace.

These Fire Lions spewed terrifying flames from their mouths, sweeping through the heaven and earth, looking extremely horrifying, their power surpassing the Fire Mantises encountered earlier.

However, whenever the Fire Lions' attacks landed on the palace illusion, a ripple like water would pass through the illusion, and the Fire Lions' attacks would be displaced, hitting the void around the palace illusion.

The palace illusion, relying on its space displacement technique, barely resisted the fire beasts' attacks, but the sweat continuously seeping from Nan Shangfeng's forehead, and his gradually unstable mana aura, all showed that he was reaching his limits.