At this moment, a cold sneer filled with mockery came from behind Yuan Ming and Yan Sijing.

Both of them looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a graceful figure in a black robe, shrouded in the Yin Qi not far away, evidently a Core Formation Stage cultivator from the Black Desert Scatter Alliance.

This person had appeared quite abruptly and without a sound, neither Yuan Ming nor Yan Sijing had noticed where this person came from or when they had appeared.

Yan Sijing's expression changed drastically, a golden light flashed in her hands, and a gold treasure sword with an ancient design and engraved with numerous monster patterns appeared, her face full of wariness.

"Isn't it a bit sneaky to eavesdrop on others' conversations so silently?" Yuan Ming stopped Yan Sijing with a gesture and asked in an even tone.

The figure in the black robe paid no heed, as if Yuan Ming and Yan Sijing were of no consequence, and the figure blurred, heading straight toward the valley.

Yuan Ming narrowed his eyes slightly, casting his divine sense over the black-robed individual and beginning to use the Dream Butterfly Illusion Technique.

No matter when this person appeared, since they might have heard his and Yan Sijing's plans, they couldn't be allowed to leave like this.

However, the person in the black robe continued moving at the same speed, completely unaffected by Yuan Ming's illusion technique.

Yuan Ming's pupils contracted, and he felt a surge of surprise in his heart.

With the strength of his divine soul, and his mastery over illusion techniques, even late-stage Core Formation cultivators might not be completely unaffected.

In the middle of his thoughts, Yuan Ming promptly activated the Night Parade of Hundred Demons; space fluctuated in front of the black-robed person, and a gray figure emerged out of nowhere—it was Fang Youting, in his ghost slave form, reaching out with a claw.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Five streaks of black thunder lanced from his fingertips towards the black-robed figure, a new Yin Thunder divine skill that Fang Youting had acquired since transforming into a ghost slave.

Seeing Yuan Ming make his move, Yan Sijing also shouted, her gold treasure sword unleashing a roaring sound that shook the void, slicing toward the black-robed figure.

The figure in the black robe didn't move, and ripples of white spread out from their body.

Fang Youting's eyes immediately became vacant, and the Yin Thunder he released veered off course, narrowly missing the black-robed figure and passing by.

Yan Sijing's eyes also showed a hint of confusion, as if she had fallen into an illusion, and the sword in her hand suddenly went awry, cutting in another direction.

"Illusion Techniques!" Yuan Ming realized with a chill in his heart, now understanding why the black-robed person was unaffected by his own illusions.

This person had easily plunged Yan Sijing and Fang Youting into an illusion; their mastery over illusion techniques was likely not inferior to his own.

Yuan Ming uttered a sharp cry, his Soul Pill in the Sea of Consciousness suddenly shrunk to the size of a sesame seed, then swiftly expanded.

A torrent of powerful divine sense burst forth violently, forming a mighty surge of divine sense waves that forcefully struck Fang Youting and Yan Sijing.

This was a technique to break illusions that he had recently devised by combining the Soul Pill Technique, the Soul-shocking Secret Technique, and the "soul collision" capability: the Ten Directions Soul Wave.

The Ten Directions Soul Wave's effect on breaking illusions was nowhere near that of soul collision but was advantageous due to its wide range.

Fang Youting and Yan Sijing shuddered, coming back to their senses.

The person in the black robe turned their head to glance at Yuan Ming, a flicker of surprise evident in their eyes, then with a flash, they had vanished into the depths of the valley and quickly disappeared without a trace.

A peculiar expression crossed Yuan Ming's face, but he made no further attempt to stop them.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, why did you let that individual in black go?" Yan Sijing asked anxiously, her words carrying a hint of reproach.

"No matter, that person will not leak our secrets," Yuan Ming replied with a slight flicker in his gaze.

"Why? Do you know that person?" Yan Sijing frowned, dissatisfied with Yuan Ming's explanation.

Yuan Ming did not reply but with a wave of his sleeve, three small yellow flags landed around him, the very Magic Treasures that Ya Xian had used.

"I have an urgent task to attend to, and I would ask you, Fellow Daoist Yan, to act as my protector for a bit," he spoke quickly, and without waiting for Yan Sijing's response, he activated the three small yellow flags.

Bright yellow light rose from the flags, forming a thick, hemispherical light barrier that enveloped Yuan Ming's figure, impervious to divine sense.

Yan Sijing, confused and somewhat angered by Yuan Ming's string of actions, simply took a deep breath, quelled the fire in her heart, and silently sat down cross-legged near the yellow light barrier.

Fang Youting stood on the other side of the yellow light barrier, his eyes blank as he scanned the surroundings.

Yuan Ming, sensing Yan Sijing's actions through his second split soul, nodded slightly, took out the Silver Token, and added another layer of silver light behind the yellow barrier before he sat down with peace of mind and took out the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

Moments later, the yellow light barrier dissipated, and Yuan Ming's figure was revealed.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, how did things go?" Yan Sijing stood up with a smile, refraining from questioning Yuan Ming about what he had done.

"All is taken care of. Thank you for waiting, Fellow Daoist Yan; let's set off," Yuan Ming responded with an additional glance at Yan Sijing, who had quickly adjusted her mood, as he put Fang Youting back into the Night Parade of Hundred Demons and spoke.

Instantly, the two of them soared up and entered the valley.

The further they went, the denser the Yin Qi in the valley became; soon, a thick, grey-black fog emerged in the air, and even from a distance, Yuan Ming and Yan Sijing could feel their meridians becoming numb, and a piercing pain began to emanate from deep within their bones.

"Ghost Miasma! The Yin Qi here is so dense!" Yan Sijing's face turned grave.

Yuan Ming's gaze flickered as well; he had heard that Ghost Miasma would only form in places with extremely dense Yin Qi, where ghosts gathered. It was extraordinarily noxious, and even cultivators could wither and die from drained Essence Blood if their cultivation was too weak.

However, for some Ghost Path Magic Treasures, Ghost Miasma is a great nourishment.

With a thought, Yuan Ming secretly activated the Night Parade of Hundred Demons. The flow of air in the valley stirred, and the dense Ghost Miasma began to drift towards the two of them.

Yan Sijing's complexion changed, and in a panic, she conjured up a fiery red Round Orb, floating above her head.

A red Light Pillar enveloped her from the Round Orb, shrouding her within.

When the Ghost Miasma touched the red Light Pillar, it immediately made a "sizzling" sound and evaporated by the red light within the pillar.

Yuan Ming, on the other hand, slightly activated the Night Parade of Hundred Demons and a white light emanated from his body.

At the touch of the white light, the Ghost Miasma immediately vanished without a trace, not even touching his body.

Yan Sijing couldn't see through what method Yuan Ming had used, but she didn't ask any further.

After both of them employed their methods, they continued to move forward and soon flew into the Ghost Miasma.

The Night Parade of Hundred Demons was like a gaping Taotie, causing the Ghost Miasma to surge wherever it passed, over a range of hundreds of meters.

Although the valley seemed unchanged, the essence of the Ghost Miasma had already been absorbed completely.

The Night Parade of Hundred Demons emitted joyful tremors, and the patterns on it became several shades clearer. Several Ghost Slaves within the scroll also absorbed the power of the Ghost Miasma, their strength slowly increasing.

Especially the Heavenly Ghost Wanderer, his body quickly became more substantial, faintly surpassing Fang Youting in momentum.

Yuan Ming felt secretly delighted; the Heavenly Ghost Wanderer was originally a peak-level Soul Cultivator of a love witch, forcibly demoted in Cultivation by Curse Runes. If he could recover his strength by relying on the Ghost Miasma, he would undoubtedly become a powerful aid for Yuan Ming.

After some contemplation, he threw the White Bone Knife and the Heavenly Ghost Wanderer's black staff into the Night Parade of Hundred Demons as well.

Both items were yin attribute Magic Treasures, which could potentially become more powerful if nourished by the Ghost Miasma.

As for the Soul Destroying Sword, Yuan Ming did not put it into the Night Parade of Hundred Demons.

This sword required the pure power of Yin Soul, and the Ghost Miasma was somewhat mixed for it, potentially harmful rather than beneficial.

However, the commotion brought about by Yuan Ming's generous nourishment of the Night Parade of Hundred Demons on their journey caused Yan Sijing to be on edge the entire time. Clutching the golden treasure sword in her hands, she was fully focused on surveying their surroundings.

"Fellow Daoist Yan need not be so concerned. This disturbance in the Ghost Miasma might be intentionally caused by the Immortal Mansion's master as a test for us. Should any ghosts attack, leave them to me," said Yuan Ming, noticing Yan Sijing's frightened state and feeling slightly apologetic. He reassured her and flew to her front.

"Ghost Miasma is born from the rich Yin Qi. Since such dense Ghost Miasma can form here, there must be many ghostly entities lurking. Be careful, Fellow Daoist Yuan," Yan Sijing sighed with relief and reminded him.

Yuan Ming hummed in acknowledgment and scanned the surroundings with his Divine Sense, the Soul Destroying Sword within him itching to move.

Different from Yan Sijing, he was actually very much looking forward to ghosts attacking.

The Soul Destroying Sword had just advanced to an Advanced Magical Treasure and needed a substantial amount of Yin Soul Power to nourish it.

In the past, no matter how much Soul Power the sword absorbed, its strength wouldn't change much, but now that the Soul Destroying Sword had formed a rune formation, the more Yin Soul Power it devoured, the greater its power would be.

Contrary to their expectations, they pressed on for a long time, yet didn't encounter a single ghost.

"Could it be that they were all killed by that person in the black robe earlier?" Yan Sijing speculated with a mix of shock and joy.

Yuan Ming remained silent, silently wondering if the ghostly entities in the area had been scared off by the Night Parade of Hundred Demons.

As he considered whether to stow the Night Parade of Hundred Demons, suddenly a grey shadow streaked out from the miasma behind them. It was a disheveled, fierce-faced grey-robed female ghost, pouncing towards Yan Sijing.

The Yin Qi swirling around this ghost was so strong that it was no less than that of a Core Formation Stage cultivator.

Yan Sijing reacted extremely quickly, raising the golden treasure sword and slashing a grand golden sword light backwards.

The grey-robed female ghost grabbed with a single hand, and a black Ghost Claw, about a meter in size, appeared out of thin air, easily blocking the golden sword light.

Before Yan Sijing could react, the grey-robed female ghost let out a piercing scream. In an instant, an area of more than a dozen meters around was filled with ghastly wails, painfully shrill to the ears.

Yan Sijing felt as if her Divine Soul had been struck heavily, her face instantly turned pale, and her mind went blank.

With a shake of her hand, the grey-robed female ghost pushed aside the golden sword light and clawed towards Yan Sijing's chest, about to slay her on the spot.

A black sword light shot from the front, piercing through the black Ghost Claw and dissolving it into nothingness.

Yan Sijing was also wrapped in a green glow and flew backward, landing behind Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming, whose Divine Soul was exceptionally stable as he had congealed a Soul Pill, wasn't affected in the slightest by the screaming and even wore a light smile as he sized up the grey-robed female ghost.

The grey-robed female ghost also fixed her gaze on Yuan Ming, finding it more challenging than facing Yan Sijing. After hesitating for a moment, she made another move, letting out another ghostly howl as two black Ghost Claws emerged out of nowhere, striking at Yuan Ming from both sides.

Yuan Ming chuckled lightly and spat two Soul Destroying Sword lights, obliterating the black Ghost Claws.

At the same time, a vast scroll phantom shot out from his body, swiftly wrapping around the grey-robed female ghost.

The grey-robed female ghost struggled fiercely but couldn't escape the scroll phantom's restraint and, after a miserable scream, vanished, getting absorbed into the Night Parade of Hundred Demons.

Yuan Ming hesitated for a moment before deciding not to kill and absorb her with the Soul Destroying Sword.

The Ghost Howl Divine Skill of the grey-robed female ghost was not weak, somewhat resembling the techniques used by Soul Cultivators. It could be useful in a critical moment.

He activated the transformation of the ghostly form of the Night Parade of Hundred Demons to begin refining the grey-robed female ghost into a Ghost Slave as well.

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