"The Cold Yin Frost Poison can numb the Dantian and then erode the meridians. Once both the Twelve Main Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians are all poisoned, his hands and feet will be paralyzed, his muscles rigid, and even his Adam's apple will not move. He won't even be able to speak," Ba Da said, quite pleased with himself as he stepped forward without waiting for Yuan Ming to say anything.

"You again, you scoundrel..."

Yuan Ming's words were cut short as his throat suddenly choked up, rendering him voiceless, and the hand he raised stiffened abruptly, veins bulging on his arm as the poison evidently began to erode his meridians.

At this moment, Yuan Ming felt regretful, blaming himself for being too anxious to save someone and having let his guard down, not realizing when these people had caught up with him.

Seeing Yuan Ming immobilized, Ba Da, holding a sharp knife, turned his head to Kun Tu and asked,

"Shall I first cut his tendons in his hands and feet, then pierce his collarbones and leave him with a breath of life so that you can slowly torture him? Is that alright?"

"That's fine. He killed people from the Beast Slave Hall, and even the Three Cave Masters can't protect him. We don't need to kill him in secret anymore. If we bring him back to the Sect, we might even get some extra rewards," Kun Tu nodded and said with a smile.

When Ba Da turned back around, the smile on his face had vanished, replaced by a look of bitter hatred.

"Yuan, if you hadn't meddled, I would have controlled Chen Wan with drugs by now and made her my slave. Now she's become an Inner Sect Disciple, and I no longer have the chance to lay a hand on her. All this, it's your fault," Ba Da moved closer to Yuan Ming, viciously accusing him of his "crimes."

Yuan Ming's Adam's apple moved painfully twice, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound could come out.

"You, you really deserve to die," Ba Da came up beside him and spat in a whisper.

Just as Ba Da got close enough, he suddenly heard a sigh: "Ah, I wanted to get rid of Kun Tu first, or at the very least Hu Huo. You, unlucky fool, are just seeking your own death."

Ba Da's pupils contracted sharply, and he hastily backed away.

However, Yuan Ming, who lay on the ground, suddenly slapped the ground and bounced up vigorously, the hand that had been hidden in his sleeve emerging with a Red Bent Horn grasped in it, thrusting directly at Ba Da's throat.

A piercing sound rang out.

Ba Da had no time to react and was directly impaled through the throat by the Red Bent Horn, blood gushing out immediately.

He clasped his hands over his throat, blood oozing through his fingers, stumbling backward, his eyes wide with shock, he opened his mouth to speak, but his mouth was already full of pink froth.

In a panic, he pulled out a porcelain bottle from his chest, uncorked it, and poured the powder inside over the wound on his neck.

The loss of blood caused his hands to tremble violently, spilling much of the powder, none of which landed on the grievous wound.

Yuan Ming watched the scene calmly, clutching the Red Bent Horn tightly, drawing a vast amount of Pure Yang Power from it, neutralizing the last traces of Cold Yin Frost Poison in his body. With his other hand holding a sword, he stepped forward and chopped off Ba Da's head.

This sudden turn of events caught Kun Tu and the others off guard.

None of them could have imagined that Yuan Ming had the means to neutralize Ba Da's poison so quickly, nor did they anticipate that everything Yuan Ming had shown up to this point was just a ruse.

He had already neutralized the poison but still pretended to gradually succumb to its effects. Had Ba Da not rushed forward first, any one of them who did would have been in trouble.

"With you lot of trash, you also wish to kill me? Didn't you look at yourself to see how capable you are?" Yuan Ming kicked away Ba Da's head and swept his gaze toward Kun Tu and the others.

"You, excellent!" Kun Tu's eyes narrowed slightly, and a murderous intent flashed in them.

"Indeed, I'm in excellent shape now. Speaking of which, Kun Tu, you'd better really kill me this time, or I'll certainly take your head for a night pot," Yuan Ming taunted, then suddenly spun and dashed toward the distant woods.

Provoked by Yuan Ming's challenge, Kun Tu could no longer restrain himself, and slapped the Spiritual Beast Bag at his waist vigorously.

A streak of green light flared, and a huge Green Wolf with a white tuft on its brow, carrying Kun Tu, burst out, chasing after Yuan Ming.

Hu Huo also promptly summoned his Green Falcon, with two Human Demons hopping aboard, taking to the sky and pursuing Yuan Ming.

The One-eyed Woman and Wulu, lacking their own spirit beasts, could only sprint at full speed, following suit.

However, before leaving, Wulu glanced at Tuya and her daughter and shook his head, saying, "You are all doomed anyway; run as far as you can."

Yuan Ming, using the Shadowless Step, quickly sped out of the village and into the forest, where he soon disappeared from view.

Seeing Yuan Ming slip away, Kun Tu immediately patted the head of the Green Wolf beneath him, motioning it to track by scent.

The Green Wolf sniffed the ground and quickly began pursuing in one direction.

After they had been gone for quite some time, a cluster of richly fragrant bushes in the woods slowly unfolded its vines, revealing Yuan Ming, who had been concealed inside a cage made of vines.

Meanwhile, in the direction the Green Wolf was chasing, a black raven flew off into the distance with a piece of torn cloth in its beak.

Having shaken off Kun Tu, Yuan Ming looked up and scanned the sky, not spotting Elder Hu Huo anywhere and immediately set off to return.

His purpose for this trip was to save Tuya and her mother; he had deliberately provoked Kun Tu to draw him away from the mother and daughter.

But before he had taken many steps, a chaotic flurry of footsteps approached—it was the One-eyed Woman and Wulu catching up.

"This yin soul just won't disperse!"

Yuan Ming cursed, his body immediately leaning back against an ancient tree lush with greenery. His heart silently recited the mnemonic, casting the Wood Concealment Skill.

Accompanied by a burst of green light, his skin instantly revealed the rough pattern of tree bark, merging with the ancient tree as though becoming one with it, vanishing into the woods.

After a short while, the one-eyed woman and Wulu appeared in Yuan Ming's field of vision, one after the other.

Seeing that it was only them and no one else, Yuan Ming immediately made a decision.

When the two approached, he planned to let the one-eyed woman in the lead pass and then launch a sneak attack on Wulu who followed.

After killing Wulu, he would then pursue and kill the one-eyed woman.

He concealed his figure, held his breath, and concentrated his mind, watching the movements of the two. As the one-eyed woman was about to come over, Wulu suddenly called out, asking the one-eyed woman to wait for him.

"Useless trash!" The one-eyed woman just glanced back and muttered under her breath before continuing on her way.

Wulu, scolded "useless trash", stopped in his tracks, glaring resentfully at the woman.

"Hmph, running so fast, in such a hurry to meet death? And she dares to call me trash?" he muttered to himself and, to Yuan Ming's surprise, turned around and walked back the way he came.

This left Yuan Ming somewhat caught off guard.

He had planned to kill Wulu first, but then Wulu turned back halfway.

While he hesitated, the one-eyed woman was already upon him.

"Kill."

Yuan Ming steeled his heart, formed a spell with one hand, and mana surged into motion.

As the one-eyed woman took a step, the ground beside her suddenly lit up with a yellow halo. Three sharp wooden thorns in a "品" shape pierced out of the ground, aiming straight for her body.

Her reaction was extremely quick; with a flick of her wrist, the long whip coiled around her waist shot straight into the sky. With a "thud," it pierced a thick branch above.

The one-eyed woman used the pulling force of the whip to leap straight up, avoiding the attack from the wooden thorns, soaring into mid-air.

Just as she was about to reach that branch, the surrounding branches and the vines entwined around the trees suddenly became like live snakes, wrapping towards her from all sides.

Being in mid-air, the one-eyed woman only had the branches above to leverage from.

Unfortunately, before she could shake the vines to change direction, the branch above became as limp as a noodle, twisting and coiling around her whip, hoisting her up in the process.

The one-eyed woman, realizing the situation was dire, stimulated the mana inside her body and her whip bristled with barbs. A fierce force burst forth, instantly snapping the branch.

She then fell towards the ground below.

Do vines and branches had already converged from all sides, twisting together to form a cage of vines, trapping her in the center.

Seeing this, the one-eyed woman immediately pulled out a round iron sphere, black and unremarkable, from her sleeve, channeled mana into it, and threw it towards the ground below.

At the same time, she crossed her arms and curled up into a ball, a layer of dark yellow light emanating from her body as if she had deployed some Earth Attribute magic.

"Boom"

The next instant, a ball of flame burst forth from below.

The converging vines had not yet fully formed the Wood Prison before they were shattered by the force of this sudden explosion, scattering in all directions.

"An Earth Fire Bomb?" Yuan Ming frowned; he had seen his fellow disciples refine it at the Fire Refining Hall.

The one-eyed woman was blasted upwards by the force of the explosion, and then she began to descend towards the ground.

The yellow glow had already dissipated from her body, and her arms and back had varying degrees of burns. She looked somewhat disheveled.

The moment she landed, she whipped towards the void behind her, guarding against an attack from an unknown source.

However, the whip met nothing but air, making only a "snap" sound!

She dared not linger and immediately tried to run back.

But just as she turned around, Yuan Ming's figure emerged from the ancient tree. With a light tap of his foot, he silently initiated the Shadowless Step, swiftly catching up to the one-eyed woman.

She felt a shiver down her spine and without looking back, the black wood hairpin atop her head was propelled by mana, shooting backwards in a "swoosh."

Yuan Ming ducked and lunged forward, avoiding the black wood hairpin, and with a flash of cold light in his hand, the Green Fish Sword appeared, thrusting forward and aiming directly for the one-eyed woman's heart.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.