"You two, protect me," Yuan Ming instructed Vajra and Hua Zhi as he once again conjured three yellow banners, forming a circle of yellow light around him.

He summoned the Stealing Heaven Tripod and suspended it in front of him, channeling his Divine Sense into it.

Immediately after, his vision blurred, and he found himself within the space of the Stealing Heaven Tripod. With a leap, he landed on the White Jade Lotus Platform, attempting to survey the situation inside the Immortal Mansion.

However, without the Desire Power of believers as a link, the Stealing Heaven Tripod could not see into the Immortal Mansion.

"As expected, fortunately I made preparations in advance," Yuan Ming thought to himself, closing his eyes to try and establish communication with his Second Split Soul.

Within the white mansion, Yan Sijing was seated cross-legged in a room, practicing Breathing Control, when suddenly a voice sounded in her Sea of Consciousness.

"It's me, Fellow Daoist Yan."

"Yuan Ming! Where are you now? How are you able to send me a message?" Yan Sijing asked with great joy, hastily inquiring.

"This is a Divine Skill bestowed upon me by Lord Nether Moon God, allowing me to communicate briefly with other Divine Envoys and believers within a certain range, undeterred by any Forbidden restrictions," Yuan Ming explained.

"Oh, is that so? What should I do next?" Yan Sijing asked, clearly skeptical of Yuan Ming's words.

"Inside Yin Capital City, it's too dangerous. If this continues, we may both perish here. Our only hope now lies with Lord Nether Moon God," Yuan Ming continued without further explanation.

At this moment, Yan Sijing felt somewhat at a loss, and having already harbored some allegiance, her eyes lit up upon hearing him, but she quickly calmed down and asked, "As a Divine Envoy of Nether Moon God, you can seek help from Lord Nether Moon God at any time. Why inform me? Do you need me to do something?"

"Fellow Daoist Yan, you are wise indeed. I am currently praying to Lord Nether Moon God, but the restrictions within Yin Capital City are formidable, and my prayers have failed to draw the attention of Nether Moon God. Join me!" Yuan Ming said.

After a moment's hesitation, Yan Sijing still began to practice with her Magic Treasure to protect her surroundings, sat down cross-legged, and prayed sincerely to the Nether Moon God.

Within the space of the Stealing Heaven Tripod, a powerful burst of Desire Power transmitted over, originating from Yan Sijing.

Yuan Ming's face lit up with joy, and immediately using this Desire Power as an anchor point, he projected his Divine Sense.

With the support of the Stealing Heaven Tripod, Yuan Ming's Divine Sense easily pierced through the Forbidden restrictions of Yin Capital City and saw Yan Sijing's situation.

Yuan Ming's heart leapt with happiness. Initially, he had only wished to use the power of the Stealing Heaven Tripod to probe the Illusion Technique Restraints inside the Immortal Mansion; he had not expected that in the face of the Stealing Heaven Tripod, the Immortal Mansion's restrictions were as good as non-existent.

At this moment, Yan Sijing was sitting cross-legged in a room in the white mansion, only a dozen or so yards away from himself.

Yuan Ming communicated with Hua Zhi, instructing it to probe that room.

Hua Zhi shot out several vines that burrowed underground into the neighboring room, but they were totally unaware of Yan Sijing's presence.

"The Illusion Technique Restraints within Yin Capital City are indeed extraordinary; while they cannot stop the Stealing Heaven Tripod, they are difficult to break through with ordinary methods," Yuan Ming privately remarked, shifting his Divine Sense's perspective to look elsewhere in Yin Capital City.

The entire city was laid bare before his eyes, with Wan Qi Hong, Thunderbolt Ancestor, Golden Dawn Fairy, and others all present within Yin Capital City.

The entire city was shrouded in a faint Black Mist at the moment; everyone was busy searching for each other, occasionally passing within an arm's length, unseen by each other, and continuing on their separate ways.

"It seems this Black Mist is the Illusion Array," Yuan Ming thought to himself.

Two spots within the Black Mist-shrouded Yin Capital City were particularly dense: one in the center of the city where the City Lord Mansion was located by its signboard, and another in the East City, which appeared to be a garden.

Streams of Black Mist emanated from the City Lord Mansion, running through all the streets of the city, eventually converging in the garden of the East City. The city's streets seemed like the Array Patterns of a Formation.

Yuan Ming observed the Black Mist in the city attentively, his brows suddenly knitting together.

A streak of Blood Light shot from afar, speeding toward the location of Vajra and Hua Zhi with extraordinary swiftness.

"Eh! This aura of Blood Light is very similar to the Blood Shadow that attacked me earlier, and it is unaffected by the Black Mist's Illusion Array. Something's odd about this Blood Light," Yuan Ming mused and, with a flip of his hand, he conjured his Soul Destroying Sword, activating the Curse Rune.

With his current Divine Soul Power driving the Soul Destroying Sword, its might was completely different from before.

A powerful Curse burst forth from the space of the Stealing Heaven Tripod, striking the incoming Blood Light.

A shrill scream echoed from within the Blood Light as all of it collapsed, revealing a Blood-colored Orb the size of an egg.

A human face emerged within the Orb, its expression full of pain and rage as it bellowed, "It's you! The one with the Black Sword just now. Have the guts to show yourself!"

Yuan Ming gave a cold smile and raised the Soul Destroying Sword, making a feint in the air.

A thick Black Sword Qi appeared out of the void above the Orb, stabbing toward it.

The face within the Orb roared, its body emitting ten thousand rays of Blood Light that instantaneously formed a substantial Blood Barrier, appearing extremely sturdy.

Grass and trees within the boundary of the Barrier instantly withered, while stones and wood became completely dry, their moisture sucked out in a flash.

Unfortunately, Soul Destroying Sword Energy is stimulated by Soul Power, and even when it was still a Magic Artifact, it could penetrate protective shields formed by mana. Now that it has advanced to a Magical Treasure, it's even less likely to be blocked by ordinary means.

With a flash of black Sword Qi, it pierced through the Blood Barrier and entered the blood-colored orb.

The face within the orb was split in half, emitting a death rattle as it completely dissipated into smoke and thin air.

The blood-colored orb, having lost all its power, dropped to the ground with a "clatter".

Yuan Ming was taken aback; his original intention was to injure the face within the blood-colored orb and then use the Soul Searching Technique to probe its details. He hadn't expected that with the power of the Stealing Heaven Tripod bolstering it, the Soul Destroying Sword's power would greatly increase, directly slaying the blood-colored face.

That blood-colored orb lay quietly on the ground, emitting a faint blood light. It seemed to have been damaged due to the shadowy face being slain.

This orb seemed extraordinary and was likely a powerful Magic Treasure; it shouldn't be discarded carelessly.

Yuan Ming invoked his Divine Sense, pouring it into the blood-colored orb, then suddenly froze in place.

Inside the blood-colored orb, there was only a single huge rune. However, a strong blood vortex swirled around the rune, roaring as it spun, bursting with an astonishing aura that was no less than the black cane with seven runes owned by the Heavenly Ghost wanderer.

"Only one rune, yet its aura is so powerful?" Yuan Ming, who was also well-versed in Artifact Refining, had never heard of such a phenomenon.

Unable to understand, he didn't ponder it further. He remotely cast the Exorcism Technique, tossing the blood-colored orb beside Hua Zhi and Vajra.

"What is this?" Hua Zhi asked, wrapping her vines around the orb.

"This orb seems to have the effect of absorbing Essence Blood, which is quite similar to your abilities. Moreover, there is only one rune inside the orb that you should be able to activate. For the time being, keep it and use it," Yuan Ming's voice appeared in Hua Zhi's mind.

"Thank you, Master." Hua Zhi, who was in dire need of a powerful Magic Treasure, quickly gave her thanks and injected her demonic power into the blood-colored orb.

Bright blood light immediately illuminated from the orb, proving that she could indeed activate it.

Hua Zhi was secretly delighted and absorbed the blood-colored orb into her body to refine it with her demonic power.

Yuan Ming withdrew his Divine Sense and continued to investigate the Black Mist Illusion Array within Yin Capital City. However, his expertise in formations was too shallow, and after a long observation, he couldn't find any clue.

"Forget it, I'll ask for her help." Yuan Ming's gaze shifted and landed on a black-robed person in the city, who was the Loose Cultivator from the Black Desert Alliance that had entered Ghost Miasma Canyon with him.

The first soul shot out from Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness, falling towards the black-robed person with the power of the Stealing Heaven Tripod, and disappeared into the body in a flash.

The black-robed person suddenly stopped walking, as if detecting the intrusion of the first soul. A burst of Golden Light shone from their forehead, and a swirl of Golden Flames enveloped the first soul.

This Golden Flames possessed the power to burn Divine Souls, causing the first soul to suffer intense pain as its Soul Power rapidly evaporated.

"Stop it, Xi Ying, it's me!" Yuan Ming quickly controlled the first soul to speak.

The terrifying Golden Flames instantly subsided, and a trace of surprise flashed in the black-robed person's eyes. Then, they slowly pulled down the black veil covering their face, revealing an exceptionally delicate face. It was none other than the long-missed Xi Ying.

"Where are you? How can you see my true face?" She looked around curiously.

"There's no need to look. I'm in another place in Yin Capital City, not near you. Currently, I can only communicate with you briefly through the power of the Stealing Heaven Tripod and the Soul Splitting Skill. As for your identity, you used an Illusion Technique to subdue my Ghost Slave, which is exactly the same as what was used during the great battle that wiped out the sect in Biluo Cave years ago. I might mistake other people's techniques, but how could I possibly not recognize yours?" Yuan Ming said with a smile.

His words were true, as he indeed had recognized Xi Ying through the Illusion Technique earlier.

However, he wasn't completely certain, which is why he had waved three small flags to open a protective shield and used Black Incense Possession on Xi Ying, to confirm the identity of the person in the black robe. And as he suspected, the possession had indeed taken place on the black-robed person.

"Hmph, you're somewhat clever. I thought that you'd be completely smitten with that girl from Five Thunder Sect and wouldn't be thinking straight," Xi Ying huffed.

"Are you talking about Yan Sijing? I have no relationship with that woman, just some entanglements of interest," Yuan Ming began to explain his relationship with Yan Sijing in detail, including the incident with the Stealing Heaven Tripod and the Moon God Sect, omitting only the recent use of the Stealing Heaven Tripod to possess Xi Ying.

As Xi Ying listened, the coldness in her eyes gradually faded, yet her expression remained unchanged.

"I didn't acknowledge you when Yan Sijing was nearby. Why did you come here, and why are you accompanying a member of the Black Desert Alliance?" Yuan Ming inquired.

"I have many reasons for coming here, and we can talk about them in detail later," Xi Ying said after a moment of silence.

"Fine," Yuan Ming nodded.

"And you? Did you really come to this Immortal Mansion by accident?" Xi Ying asked.

"It was truly an accident, but there might have been other factors involved…" Yuan Ming briefly recounted his encounter with the Heavenly Ghost wanderer, not hiding any details about the Night Parade of Hundred Demons or the fact that the wanderer was from the Wu Yue Sect.

"That Heavenly Ghost wanderer doesn't seem like an ordinary wanderer. Choosing to live beneath the Soul Burying Abyss, and after I killed him, this Immortal Mansion emerged immediately. There could be some connection between the two," he speculated openly in front of Xi Ying.

"Let's not worry about that. Do you have the Night Parade of Hundred Demons? That's great!" Xi Ying's face lit up with joy.

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