Although the Golden Flower Poison Python was massive, its movements were surprisingly agile. It weaved through the dense forest without any hindrance, moving at an extremely fast pace.

In just a few breaths, the Golden Flower Poison Python had already caught up to Bai Rong, whose expanded fangs released a stream of purple poison gas that surged downwards.

Seeing that she couldn't dodge in time, Bai Rong promptly turned around and grabbed a bronze mirror with her hand, reflecting it towards the python.

The mirror's surface shone with a white light, forming a solid Round Shield in front of her.

The surging purple gas struck the Light Shield, emitting a "puff puff" sound, but was unable to shatter it.

However, the spreading poison leaked from both sides of the shield, inching closer to Bai Rong.

Just as Yuan Ming hesitated about whether to move forward to help, he suddenly saw Bai Rong rapidly retreating, with an ancient-looking bell now in her other hand.

"Dang"

She fiercely shook it, and the bell rang out loudly.

At that moment, from an ancient tree beside the Golden Flower Poison Python, a shadow in black suddenly swept down.

Accompanied by a hissing sound.

The python's huge head immediately fell to the ground, and as blood splattered in all directions, the poison it had been spraying from its fangs suddenly stopped.

Behind the Golden Flower Poison Python, a man in black emerged, shaking his shoulders as he walked.

"Corpse Control! Is she from the Black Fire Sect?"

When he had a clear view of the man in black, Yuan Ming's brow furrowed.

His entire body was not clothed in black, but wrapped in black ribbons from head to toe, leaving only two deep-set eye sockets unwrapped, which emitted two glimmers of green light.

On the outer sides of his arms, two slender, curved blades were somehow fitted, still smeared with the python's fresh blood.

After slaying the Golden Flower Poison Python, Bai Rong did not approach but quickly stepped in front of the nearby stone wall, carefully inspecting it as if looking for something.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming felt a bit surprised and did not reveal himself, just silently observed.

Shortly after, he saw Bai Rong search through the stone wall and place something on a rock at the base of the wall.

After positioning it, Bai Rong, along with the corpse she brought, quickly left.

Only after her figure had disappeared did Yuan Ming come out from behind a tree, full of suspicion as he began to search beneath the stone wall.

When he lifted the rock, he found something underneath akin to the Jade Talisman given by the White Night Alliance, seemingly some sort of guiding beacon.

Yuan Ming hesitated for a moment. Not knowing what it was, he refrained from touching it impulsively.

He covered the rock again.

By the time he thought to follow Bai Rong, he could no longer find any trace of her.

Turning his head, Yuan Ming saw his Black Toad, which he had placed on alert at the perimeter, now running atop the corpse of the Golden Flower Poison Python.

He quickly followed and saw that the vine extending from the bulge on the toad's back had penetrated the corpse of the python, appearing to absorb the remaining strength from its body.

Moments later, the previously bloated corpse of the Golden Flower Poison Python gradually withered and shrank.

The squatting Black Toad, on the other hand, emitted a faint black mist all over its body, and the vines on its back writhed excitedly, clearly having reaped considerable benefits.

"I've only heard of snakes swallowing toads, this is the first time I've seen a toad swallowing a snake," Yuan Ming muttered to himself.

The Black Toad immediately started hopping in front of him, which seemed like an affirmative response.

Thinking it over, Yuan Ming felt he understood.

When he had relied on the Fur Cloak Technique to survive, wasn't he also hunting Fierce Beasts and consuming their flesh to enhance his strength?

"Since you're so fond of eating poison, come on, I'll take you to have a feast, eat until you're stuffed," Yuan Ming said with a smile.

Xiao Hei immediately let out an excited low cry, pushing off the ground with a leap, and hopped onto Yuan Ming's shoulder.

Guided by the soul crow, Yuan Ming continued to explore ahead.

The deeper he went, the thicker the Poison Miasma became.

Eventually, Yuan Ming himself began to feel distinctly unwell, breathing heavily.

Just when he decided to stop for a rest, a series of urgent combat noises suddenly came not far ahead.

"Bai Rong?" Yuan Ming instinctively thought of that woman.

With a thought, the soul crow flew ahead first.

But when Yuan Ming saw clearly through the soul crow's eyes, he realized that the one fighting was not Bai Rong at all, nor was it a single person, but rather Mang Tung and Kun Sha.

The two were trapped in the center by four massive Golden Flower Poison Pythons, barely holding on with the help of a Defensive Magical Artifact in Mang Tung's hand.

However, the protective Light Shield emitted by the artifact was riddled with holes and clearly wouldn't last long.

"Are you done yet? Can you do it or not?" Mang Tung kept urging as he controlled the artifact.

Kun Sha was also anxiously busy, replying non-stop, "Just a moment more, just a moment more..."

Yuan Ming observed the scene, with a nagging sense that something was amiss.

These four Golden Flower Poison Pythons, at best, appeared to be around Qi Refining fourth and fifth layers, so how could they have driven these two men to such desperate straits?

Just then, frequent disturbances suddenly erupted within the mountains and forests.

Even from a distance, Yuan Ming could feel the ground shaking violently.

Through the soul crow's vision, he saw within the billowing fog, huge shadows emerged en masse—hundreds, perhaps thousands of Golden Flower Poison Pythons burst forth, flooding towards the two from Mang Tung like a surging tide.

The Defensive Magical Artifact of Mang Tung finally succumbed under the immense pressure and collapsed with a boom.

But at the same moment, a red light rose from the center of the two men, followed by an explosion of red mist.

Accompanied by this was the agonized roar of Mang Tung.

The spreading red mist, highly corrosive in nature, managed to drive back the approaching Golden Flower Poison Pythons.

Because of the mist's dispersion, a large number of Golden Flower Poison Pythons actually turned direction and began rushing toward Yuan Ming.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming quickly called the soul crow back, put away the Black Toad, and dodged towards the direction of the mountain wall.

However, before he had gotten far, the Golden Flower Poison Pythons were already slithering their bodies and rapidly surging towards him.

"This is bad! This is a disaster on the level of a beast tide!" Yuan Ming knew he could not contend with them and immediately climbed up the mountain wall.

As the beast tide was about to arrive, he reached a cliff in the middle of the mountain wall and saw a black cave just over a person's height.

Yuan Ming hurried into the pitch-black entrance, but as soon as he took a step, the ground fell away beneath him, and he lost balance, tumbling forward.

Fortunately, what lay ahead was a steep slope, not a cliff, and after several rolls, Yuan Ming braced himself on the ground with one hand, halting his tumbling momentum and flipping to his feet.

Only then did he realize that the passage within the cave was unusually spacious.

Inside the passageway, a warm current constantly blew outwards, halting the outside Poison Miasma at the entrance, leaving nothing but darkness inside, free from the miasma.

Yuan Ming extended his hand, gathered a bit of Mana, and shaped a fist-sized Fireball.

With a flick of his fingertip, the Fireball shot out with a "whoosh," racing downward and exploding about thirty feet away.

Yuan Ming leaned aside to dodge the scorching blast, using the sparks from the explosion to see inside clearly.

The passageway angled steeply downward and was not devoid of contents; the ground was littered with huge, white Beast Bones, more abundant further down, akin to a graveyard of wild animals.

With a thought, Yuan Ming sent the soul crow ahead to scout the path for him.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the soul crow finally flew through a pile of white bones that nearly blocked the passage and entered an open and dim space.

The space was described as dim rather than dark because it wasn't completely underground.

Above, a small opening allowed some daylight to filter through, providing just enough light to consider it a Sky Pit.

Soon after, Yuan Ming punched through the large pile of Beast Bones blocking the entrance and arrived there as well.

As soon as he entered, he couldn't help but shiver.

Even though there was daylight seeping through the Sky Pit, it felt even colder than the passageway he'd just left.

The higher up the Sky Pit, the more the surrounding walls teemed with life, covered with green moss and various ferns. Near the entrance, numerous vines entwined, making the already small opening even more concealed.

The ground inside the Sky Pit was also scattered with the remains of wild beasts, most of which were decayed; only a few still had undecomposed fur and skin.

After a careful inspection and finding no danger, he saw in the center of the Sky Pit an oddly shaped black withered tree.

It stood only three feet tall, shaped like coral with many tendrils, entirely black as ink with a metallic luster, appearing as if it had been cast from black iron.

At first, Yuan Ming truly thought it was a lump of iron.

But upon closer examination, he saw wooden grains and scars of an old tree on this "iron lump," with exposed roots visible at the base.

However, the tree was clearly dead, devoid of any leaves.

At the tree's root was a slightly indented pit, still bearing traces of once collected liquid.

Yuan Ming reached out, waving his hand above the pit without touching and felt a cold chill.

"Could this be the legendary Yellow Springs Tree?"

A spark of realization flashed through his mind as he recalled what this thing was.

The records stated that in places where Yin Qi gathered, if springs formed by chance and attracted the earth veins' Yin Qi, a Yinling Spring would develop.

And if a tree seed fell into it and managed to take root and sprout, the resulting tree would be a Yellow Springs Tree.

Thus, depending on what seed fell into the Yinling Spring, the Yellow Springs Tree could vary greatly in appearance. Some could grow into stout trees, which when used to make coffins, could preserve a body uncorrupted for a century.

Others would only grow into small shrubs like the one before Yuan Ming's eyes, whose beads or fragrances, when crafted, had impressive calming and tranquilizing effects.

Some special Magical Artifacts could also be refined using wood from the Yellow Springs Tree as a primary spiritual material.

All things considered, this was a remarkably rare treasure!

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