Yuan Ming turned and returned to the cave, closed his eyes, and sensed the situation of the two soul crows in the distance, his face showing a look of astonishment.

Inside the ancient castle where Bai Rong was located, there were now four more figures, three men and one woman.

Yuan Ming vaguely remembered these four people were part of the members for this mission, but they had chosen to leave the group at the entrance of Ghost Cry Gorge. He didn't expect them to reappear now.

It seemed these four people were in league with Bai Rong, participating in the mission organized by the White Night Scatter Alliance with ulterior motives. The mark left by the woman earlier might have been to guide these people.

"Sang Yan, are you sure this is the place?" asked a man in a gray robe among the four.

"Reporting to Elder Gu Tu, I followed what was stated in that incomplete scroll. I traveled west from the Snake King Cave for twenty miles and searched to find this place," Bai Rong said respectfully.

...

"Sang Yan! This Bai Rong is Sang Yan!" Yuan Ming's body shook slightly when he heard the conversation between the two.

The Three Cave Masters had once told him about Sang Yan. His condition for helping him refine the Green Fish Sword was to retrieve the Spiritual Material White Flame Gold from Sang Yan's hands at White Deer Hill after. Unexpectedly, Yuan Ming had now run into her here by chance.

"The Three Cave Masters said Sang Yan is a disciple of the Black Fire Sect. Then is this man in the gray robe also someone from the Black Fire Sect? Sang Yan calls him elder, could it be that he is a Foundation Establishment Cultivator whose cultivation is concealed!" Yuan Ming became vigilant.

...

Inside the ancient castle.

"Then there should be no mistake. However, this black restriction seems to be a Yin-locking Array, capable of automatically absorbing Yin Qi to maintain the array's operation for a long time. This ancient castle is rich in Yin Qi, continuously flowing. Breaking through this restriction won't be easy," Elder Gu Tu mused.

"What do we do then? Are we just going to make a wasted trip? We've spent quite a lot of spirit stones to fend off the poison miasma of Snake King Valley," a black-robed young girl grumbled irritably.

"Junior Sister Nala, don't be impatient. Elder Gu Tu is highly skilled in formations and arrays, ranking in the top five in our sect. Such a small array, he will surely think of a method to break it," Sang Yan said with a smile.

"Don't try to flatter me. Who's your junior sister!" The black-robed young girl frowned slightly, spitting out the words lightly.

Sang Yan smiled without saying a word, seemingly unfazed by the young girl's rudeness.

Standing behind Sang Yan was a burly man carrying a black blade, who seemed to be his guard, a flash of anger appearing in his eyes as he stepped forward.

Next to the black-robed young girl stood a young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, who also stepped forward, positioning the young girl behind him for protection.

"We have yet to accomplish our important task. What are you quarreling about? Stand down, all of you!" Elder Gu Tu ordered sternly.

Sang Yan motioned with his hand, and the burly man withdrew. The young man with the sword-like eyebrows next to the black-robed young girl also stepped back.

"Elder Gu Tu, although the Yin-locking Restriction is troublesome, with your proficiency in array restrictions, you surely have already thought of a method to break it, haven't you?" Sang Yan inquired.

"If it were a Yin-locking Array set up in recent years, I might not be able to break it. However, the restriction here appears to have existed for many years. Although it's still operational, the array instruments have begun to erode, and instability is already appearing in many places. It's not impossible to break it. Now, listen to my instructions..." Elder Gu Tu pondered for a moment before saying so.

Sang Yan and the others were overjoyed upon hearing this, eagerly listening closely; then, following Elder Gu Tu's orders, each took their positions outside the hall with white jade talisman magic artifacts given by Elder Gu Tu, and started casting to activate them.

Streaks of white light shaped like arrows shot out from the jade talismans, containing specks of runes, striking the black restriction.

This time, the black restriction could not swallow the white light and shook violently, clearly leaking wisps of black Qi.

"It seems that Elder Gu Tu is highly accomplished in formations. I wonder who is more powerful compared to the masked woman in Black Rock City who sets arrays with a wave of her hand?" Yuan Ming thought secretly upon seeing this.

There wouldn't be an immediate result here at the ancient castle, so he shifted his thoughts and, through the vision of the other soul crow, looked at the situation inside the Snake King Cave.

At this time, Bai Ye and the others, after a bout of battle, had already reached the depths of the Snake King Cave.

With Bai Ye and Huan Shi, two Foundation Establishment Cultivators present, and everyone sticking together and fighting cautiously, they had not suffered any casualties.

The space here not only didn't shrink but had also become much larger, and the poison miasma around was even denser. Both members of the White Night Alliance and those Loose Cultivators, though protected by Obstacle Avoidance Pearls, were gradually showing signs of fatigue.

Yuan Ming's soul crow was not a physical living creature, unaffected by the poison miasma, and he followed them easily from a distance.

At this point, the Golden Flower Poison Pythons attacking from the surroundings had started to decrease, and the group faced less resistance.

Bai Ye's and Huan Shi's expressions showed no sign of relaxation but instead, became even more solemn.

"We must be very close to the Snake King's nest by now. Don't be careless, stay alert!" Huan Shi shouted.

No sooner had his voice faded than a threatening hiss came from the cave ahead, low and hoarse, but with a soul-piercing strength.

The Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators trembled greatly, their complexions paling.

The lurking soul crow's body shimmered with disordered black light, shaking uncontrollably.

"This roar carries a sound wave attack that can actually harm the Divine Soul!" Yuan Ming quickly commanded the soul crow to retreat.

As he pondered, a streak of Golden Shadow flashed through the poison in front of him, and a golden snake tail, as thick as a bucket, shot out toward the group, the gale it brought nearly blowing them away.

Huan Shi's figure dashed out swiftly, blocking in front of everyone, a bronze shield appearing in his hand. As he clashed with the golden snake tail amidst a burst of cyan light, both were repelled.

A loud noise erupted as Huan Shi, still holding the shield, was snapped back several steps by the impact while the golden snake tail was also forced back.

"It's the Golden Flower Snake King! Set up the formation!" Huan Shi shouted without steadying himself.

The ten members of the White Night Alliance quickly formed a circle, inserting white flags into the ground, burying them nearly halfway.

With a flick of his sleeve, Bai Ye sent out several Array Plates that settled in each position around the circle.

Boom!

The ten large banners rose up, emitting a dazzling white light, connecting with each other and forming a circular white array that enveloped the ten people within.

The five Loose Cultivators recruited to face the might of the Snake King were extremely terrified and subconsciously retreated.

"Retreating means nothing but a dead end, hide inside the array! The Golden Flower Snake King is a Second-Level Fierce Beast, without the array, you are no match for it at all!" Bai Ye shouted.

The already sealed white array "huala" sounded, splitting open a passage for entry.

The five Loose Cultivators, in a state of panic, quickly rushed towards the breach in the array.

From the thick poison miasma ahead, a giant python at least four to five zhang long with its body covered in golden scales shot out of the poison miasma, its huge snake head spewing out a swath of dark green Poison Liquid, striking at the five Loose Cultivators.

Bai Ye flipped his hand and took out a purple Token, channeling mana into it.

The Token suddenly surged with a great deal of purple light, and a surge of purple flames also emerged within the white array, burning fiercely.

With a light shout from Bai Ye, a zhang-long purple Fire Snake shot out from the array, colliding with the dark green Poison Liquid.

With a "sizzling" sound, the purple Fire Snake extinguished, and the dark green Poison Liquid was also scattered, splashing in all directions.

The sound of "sizzling" rang out as large and small pits were corroded into the ground and stone walls.

A splatter of Poison Liquid, through sheer bad luck, hit one of the fleeing Loose Cultivators on the head.

That person's head instantly melted into a pool of sticky muck, unable to even scream before he fell dead.

Yuan Ming witnessed this scene with his heart pounding in terror, grateful that he hadn't been greedy enough to follow them in and risk his life.

The intense poison of the Golden Flower Snake King was so terrible that it was far worse than the toad poison of the Black Toad, a force beyond what any Qi Refining Stage Cultivator could withstand.

The remaining four Loose Cultivators were scared out of their wits, exerting all their might to dash into the white array like the wind, as the gap closed immediately.

"Quick!" Bai Ye's eyes relaxed as he spurred the Token he held.

The purple fire inside the array intensified, launching a large mass of purple flames that crackled as they burned, shooting towards the golden snake head.

The golden snake head seemed to be quite wary of the purple flames, ducked its head to dodge, and avoided the strike.

At Bai Ye's side, Huan Shi also had a purple Token in hand, which he shook at the purple flames.

The purple fire spread out in the air, transforming into a several zhang-wide purple fire net that enveloped the huge snake head.

The sound of "sizzling" burning rose as the golden snake head was scorched with blackened wounds, emitting pained screams, and spewing out a stream of green Poison Liquid.

The corrosive Poison Liquid was too much for the purple fire net to withstand, as it corroded a large hole and then crumbled and disintegrated.

Shaking its head, the golden Snake King opened its bloody mouth wide, and issued another roar like a dragon's hiss, even more terrifying than before, causing the air in front of its mouth to waver with ripples.

Startled, Yuan Ming did not bother to keep watching; he immediately controlled the soul crow to turn and fly away.

However, he hadn't gone far when the soul crow was hit by the residual force of the roar's Sound Waves, its body trembling violently, black qi spilling out and almost turning it translucent. Fortunately, it did not completely disintegrate.

Yuan Ming felt dizzy as the vision conveyed by the soul crow rapidly blurred.

Not daring to hesitate, and taking advantage of the breather before the next wave of the roar, he quickly controlled the soul crow to withdraw from the Snake King Cave and took it back into his Sea of Consciousness.

At the same time, another soul crow flew out from his forehead, returning to the depths of the Snake King Cave.

Yuan Ming still wanted to keep abreast of the battle situation in the Snake King Cave, despite the cost of some damage to his Divine Soul.

After doing all this, Yuan Ming suddenly thought of something and called the soul crow guarding outside the cave in.

He controlled the soul crow to possess the Black Toad's body and then took out the Earth Travel Talisman and the Storage Ring to give to the Black Toad, before activating the talisman.

A layer of yellow light surfaced on the Black Toad's body, and with a "puff", it burrowed into the ground and headed towards the Snake King Cave.

...

The soul crow once again flew into the depths of the Snake King Cave, cautiously reaching the place where it had lurked before, and looked ahead.

At some point, green fog had appeared in the air ahead; mixed with the poisonous miasma of the place, the visibility was further narrowed, making everything seem somewhat blurred and indistinct.

The green poison fog carried a sour smell and clearly contained intense toxicity. The ground and stone walls corroded and pitted, and the body of the previously fallen Loose Cultivator was completely dissolved, leaving only a puddle of slime.

Within the green poison fog, the Formation that the Bai Ye Alliance had laid out was already shattered, the ten white large banners were destroyed, and their fragments scattered about.

The ten members of the Bai Ye Alliance who had hidden in the array, along with the four Loose Cultivators, were now all lying dead on the ground, their bodies nearly half-dissolved and their skin turned into an eerie pale green.

Of all the people who had entered, only Bai Ye and Huan Shi were still alive, engaged in combat with the Snake King using their Magic Artifacts.

However, both had pale green patches on their cheeks, clearly poisoned by the snake venom, and their movements had become much slower than before.

"How could the Bai Ye Alliance, who went through such great lengths to come here to slaughter the Snake King, be defeated so miserably!" Yuan Ming found it hard to believe. In the time it took his soul crow to withdraw and return, only half an incense stick's worth of time had passed, but the situation had changed drastically.

But then, he focused his gaze sharply.

He suddenly noticed something was not quite right with the Snake King that was battling Bai Ye and the others—it seemed not to be the same one as before.

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