Yuan Ming did not intend to leave just yet by doubling back. Instead, he wanted to check out the other two areas before making any plans.

Before long, Yuan Ming arrived in front of a garden bursting with vibrant colors, and even before he stepped in, he was greeted by a mixture of over a dozen different floral fragrances assaulting his nose.

Yuan Ming's nostrils flared, and with just a slight inhale, he found the scent of the flowers pleasing and refreshing to the heart and spleen.

He walked slowly into the garden and quickly discovered many aged Spiritual Flowers and Spirit Grasses under his scanning gaze. Although they were not too rare, they could still be exchanged for quite a few Spirit Stones, so he immediately swept them up with a flick of his sleeve, and a stream of rosy light collected them all into his pouch.

However, at that moment, his brow suddenly furrowed, and the floral scent before his nose somehow turned into an odorous, nauseating stench of blood.

He immediately looked up and saw—what should have been a sea of competing flowers had morphed into a nightmarish vision of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The so-called blossoms and green leaves were clearly blood-stained hands, feet, and palms that seemed to sway in the wind but, in truth, were the twitching of fingers and toes.

In his palm, a newly picked Spiritual Flower had also transformed into the shape of a severed hand, its root constantly oozing blood, while its fingers desperately stretched out as if trying to touch Yuan Ming's own palm.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming frowned heavily but did not throw the strange flower in his hand away. Instead, with a thought, Soul Power surged out from his Sea of Consciousness, and Divine Sense swarmed upon the flower in his hand. To his sight, it remained in its original vibrant colorful form.

Moreover, everything shrouded by his Divine Sense, though still terrifying in Yuan Ming's eyes, appeared completely normal when observed with Divine Sense.

"Could it be Poison Technique instead of an Illusion Technique?" Yuan Ming realized something and immediately shut off his sense of smell, blocking the influence of the floral scent. The bizarre sights before his eyes faded away as a result.

But just then, the ground beneath Yuan Ming's feet suddenly turned unbelievably soft, and a massive force of suction emanated from below, swallowing a small section of his legs in a moment and continuing to pull him down faster and faster.

A chill ran down Yuan Ming's spine, and he quickly raised his hand, releasing Hua Zhi and Vajra while simultaneously pinching his spell, and a large area of bone-white flames suddenly flared up on the White Bone Knife, slashing towards the ground beneath him.

Hua Zhi and Vajra had just been released when Yuan Ming instructed them to take action as well.

Hua Zhi instantly drove its arms into the ground, sprouting countless purple vines that surged towards Yuan Ming's feet, while Vajra quickly stepped forward, grabbing Yuan Ming's arm and, working in concert with his own channeling of Mana, began to pull him out of the softened earth.

As if sensing Yuan Ming's impending escape, the suction force from below ground abruptly intensified. But as soon as the White Bone Knife plunged into the earth and the purple vines followed, a panicked howl echoed faintly from beneath.

The next moment, Yuan Ming felt the suction from below loosen, and in an instant, he was flung high into the air by Vajra's unexpected and sheer brute force.

From mid-air, Yuan Ming swiftly stabilized his body with Mana and looked back at where he had just been standing.

He saw the ground of the garden undulating and swelling under the chase of Hua Zhi's vines, as if a giant python was slithering through the soil.

Yuan Ming called back the White Bone Knife and, observing from mid-air, the "giant python's" slithering trajectory, he waited for the right moment and pointed fiercely. The White Bone Knife whooshed out and met the "giant python" head-on just as it broke the surface.

To his surprise, when the White Bone Knife struck the creature's head, it made a crisp sound as if it had shattered something, and with a painful cry, the creature immediately dove back into the ground, seemingly trying to flee.

Yuan Ming immediately pinched his spell, and the white flames on the knife, as if alive, latched onto the creature before it fully submerged back into the earth.

The creature, scorched by the white flames, soon bore countless pale Ice Crystals on its skin and its movements slowed significantly. Seizing this opportunity, the vines released by Hua Zhi quickly caught the creature from the soil and suspended it mid-air.

Only now did Yuan Ming get a clear view of the creature— it was not a giant python, but a bizarre lizard covered in white fur; on its head was a piece of Black Armor with small fragments chipped away, presumably from where the White Bone Knife had struck moments before.

The strange lizard, still hanging in mid-air, continued to struggle chaotically. As it did so, several white hairs fell off and, the moment they touched the ground, vanished as if swallowed by the earth. Shortly thereafter, the flowers in that area bloomed instantly, releasing waves of fragrant scent that assaulted Hua Zhi.

However, as Hua Zhi's true form was that of vines and with Yuan Ming directing nearby, it did not breathe in the scent of the flowers and thus remained unaffected.

Yuan Ming looked the creature up and down, his mind suddenly recalling a type of demon beast called "Ground-drilling Boar" mentioned in the Classics he had read before.

Indeed, the Ground-drilling Boar, similar to the Earth Demon, not only had the superpower to burrow through the ground but could also control the softness and hardness of soil and stone to a certain extent, trapping and killing its enemies with it.

In addition, the white fur covering this demon was quite peculiar— once shed, it caused the flora in a given area to emit Poisonous Incense. If inhaled, one would fall into an illusion. But this illusion affected the body, not Divine Sense, and posed no significant threat to a Cultivator; rather, it served as a shortcut to finding the beast.

Yet, Yin Capital City had been shrouded by an Illusion Array, significantly compensating for the drawbacks of the demon's Divine Skills and making it difficult for a Cultivator who entered its territory to distinguish between reality and illusion, eventually becoming prey to the demon beast.

But now, with the Illusion Array broken and Yuan Ming possessing a strong Divine Soul and expertise in Illusion Techniques, this demon's limited abilities were akin to making a futile attempt in the presence of an expert. Despite having the Cultivation of a Third-level Demon Beast, its exhibited combat power was even less than that of some Second-level Demon Beasts.

Yuan Ming lifted his hand and the White Bone Knife darted forth, severing the head of the Ground-drilling Boar, its body immediately absorbed by Hua Zhi, soon becoming a mummified corpse.

With no demon beasts hindering him, Yuan Ming continued his exploration of the garden, eventually finding several ancient Spirit Grasses, but there were no other gains.

For an ordinary Core Formation Cultivator, the harvest from the garden would have been considered abundant, those many stalks of Spiritual Medicine could be exchanged for Spirit Stones or refined into elixirs, either way, it was quite remarkable.

However, in Yuan Ming's heart, this place was a treasure trove on par with the City Lord Mansion, mere Core Formation Stage Spirit Grasses were still far from satisfying him.

Yuan Ming left the garden and returned to the dense woods, his gaze wavering between the lake and the rockery, eventually choosing to step onto the lake's gangway.

Since five Nascent Soul Stage experts were jointly investigating the City Lord Mansion and their speed was mostly faster than his, he had to beat everyone to it, making quick decisions to grab the treasures in the garden before rushing back.

In the several areas, only the three-layered pavilion gave Yuan Ming an extraordinary feeling. He didn't approach it earlier out of caution, but now, realizing that the garden didn't harbor any heavy treasures, he figured the rockery wouldn't either, which meant no need to waste time.

Yuan Ming hurriedly walked on the gallery bridge, with Hua Zhi and Vajra closely following behind, one man and two beasts keeping vigilant of their surroundings while searching for treasures along the way.

As they drew closer to the island in the lake, lotus leaves began to appear in abundance beside the gangway.

Among the tender green foliage, lotus pods hung their heads, and as the breeze blew, they resembled drowsy children, occasionally touching the lake surface, waking with a start from the ripples they created, before hurriedly straightening up, struggling to hide their sleepiness, soon drooping down again.

Yuan Ming looked around and felt the Wood Attribute Spiritual Energy in the air had thickened several times over, and on impulse, he cast a spell to pick a lotus pod and excavated several fragrant, energy-rich lotus seeds.

Covering the lotus seeds with his Divine Sense, he investigated them and found no abnormalities, so he tried eating one.

Upon swallowing the lotus seed, Yuan Ming instantly felt a warm current spread throughout his body, his depleted mana was instantaneously replenished, and even his cultivation somewhat advanced.

Seeing such miraculous effects from the lotus seeds, Yuan Ming's eyes brightened, and he called Hua Zhi and Vajra over to pick them together.

While picking, Yuan Ming also dug out the Spiritual Lotuses hidden beneath the lotus leaves. Though their exact effects were unknown, judging by the strong Spiritual Energy not inferior to the lotus seeds, he knew they were no ordinary items.

While sweeping through the area as they moved forward, Yuan Ming suddenly discovered that far from the gangway, in the depths of the lake concealed by layers of lotus leaves, a multicolored aurora burst forth like a rainbow after rain, dazzling and strikingly beautiful.

Yuan Ming, feeling the dense Spiritual Energy emanating from behind the lotus leaves, had a stirring in his heart and immediately floated down to the lake surface, walking toward the source of the aurora.

He pushed through the obstructing lotus leaves, and a small multicolored lotus appeared before him. The lotus was already in full bloom, with seventy-two tender petals arranged in three layers, surrounding the handful of multicolored lotus seeds at the center. The rich Spiritual Energy formed a fine mist that undulated with the aurora, seemingly breathing.

Deeply captivated by the sight before him, Yuan Ming couldn't help but admire it and prepared to approach and pick it, but after taking just two steps he felt a sudden twitch in his eyelids and an intense sense of danger emerging from his Divine Soul.

Yuan Ming's heart skipped a beat, and before he had a chance to react he felt a pain in his ankle, following which his body uncontrollably flew up, ending up suspended upside down in midair, like an insect caught in a spider's web.

At the same time, the calm surface of the lake churned, and two blood-red vines covered with barbs emerged from the water, stabbing toward Yuan Ming.

Seeing the ferocious appearance of the two vines, Yuan Ming quickly pinched a spell, summoning the Bronze Small Tripod, from which endless Flames poured out, forming a shield in front of him to block the vines.

But against the roaring fire, the exterior of the blood-red vines seemed to be covered with a thin film, showing no signs of catching fire. Meanwhile, as they continually lashed out, the Flame Shield began to shrink and soon shattered.

Almost the moment Yuan Ming was attacked, Hua Zhi and Vajra, standing on the gangway, simultaneously reacted, each beginning to use their methods.

Hua Zhi rapidly closed the distance and extended her arms, with purple-black tendrils coalescing into a large purple sword, which swooped down towards the blood-red vine with a howl.

The blood-red vine immediately changed its target, its barbed body rising up to meet the giant sword, and at the moment of contact, it twisted around and became entangled with it, transferring its barbs across the sword's surface and even tearing off chunks of the plant's skin and splinters.

Seeing Yuan Ming suspended upside down by two blood vines wrapped around his ankles, Vajra immediately used his inner breath to walk on water, flashing several times before arriving below Yuan Ming, grabbing one of the vines latched onto his ankle, and with a surge of strength in his arms, attempting to tear it in two.

During this process, the barbs on the vines madly tried piercing Vajra's body but were like striking an iron wall, sparking upon impact without penetrating an inch.

However, the resilience of the vine also exceeded Vajra's expectations; he exerted almost all his strength but managed only to tear a small gash in the vine, unable to completely break it.

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