Yuan Ming's mana in his Dantian was almost depleted, and the White Ape Transformation deactivated automatically, the White Ape Skin fell to the ground.
His soul power was only a third remaining; standing felt exhausting, and he wished he could collapse and sleep for three days.
However, he knew now was not the time to rest; Hu Huo's recent shout had made the situation clear enough. Kun Tu and the others might be nearby, and he had to leave quickly.
Biting his tongue tip, he stimulated his spirit with pain, picked up the White Ape Skin, and without even searching Hu Huo's body, he turned and fled, clutching a Wood Attribute Spirit Stone in his hand hidden within his sleeve, absorbing its power furiously without minding the pain.
He hadn't run far when a "whizzing" sound burst forth loudly.
A dense barrage of Wind Blades suddenly shot out from the forest in front, pouring down on his body like a torrential rain.
Yuan Ming's expression drastically changed, and he hurriedly used the remaining mana to execute the Shadowless Step. His figure blurred, moving two zhang to the side out of thin air, barely dodging the assault of the Wind Blade rain.
However, within the dense Wind Blades, two crescent-like peculiar Wind Blades suddenly changed direction, heading towards Yuan Ming's evasive direction, each slicing towards his legs.
Yuan Ming's temples throbbed as he immediately mobilized the last of his mana, activating the Mysterious Incense Burner hidden in his chest. He levitated half a zhang high, dodging the crescent Wind Blade's attack.
The Crescent Wind Blades did not turn again and instead chopped into the ground, "pu chi," burying into it.
Yuan Ming stopped activating the incense burner and staggered to the ground, gasping heavily.
Crisp clapping sounds came from the forest as Kun Tu walked out slowly with a smile on his face.
The Green Wolf Spirit Beast followed closely behind him, its ferocious eyes intently fixated on Yuan Ming, seemingly annoyed that he had dodged its attack.
"To evade my spirit beast's chained attacks under such condition, not bad, truly not bad," Kun Tu said, clapping and laughing.
"Kun Tu, it seems you've been nearby all along," Yuan Ming narrowed his eyes.
"Haha, of course I've been here for a while, just wanted to see what new capabilities you have now. Now that your mana is nearly exhausted, why not kneel and beg for mercy? If I'm in a good mood, I might even let you keep your whole corpse," Kun Tu laughed proudly.
"If you want my life, you can try to take it," Yuan Ming provocatively gestured to Kun Tu with a crook of his finger.
On hearing these words from Yuan Ming, Kun Tu's brow slightly furrowed. Chapter provided via *.
He had witnessed Yuan Ming killing Hu Huo right on the spot and did not have full confidence that Yuan Ming's mana was truly exhausted. With his opponent appearing extremely confident, he began to hesitate.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, but his face still held a cold smirk as he continued to draw in spiritual power from the spirit stone, trying to recover some mana.
"Right, where's Wu Lu? Isn't he always following Kun Tu? Could it be he's plotting something in secret?" He suddenly remembered something, thinking to himself.
Just then, footsteps emanated from the jungle behind Kun Tu, and three figures walked out gently.
The leading person was indeed Wu Lu, his hands holding a rope, the other end tied to the wrists of two women—it was Tuya and her daughter.
Yuan Ming's eyes darkened, his fists clenched tighter.
"Wu Lu, did you really have to split up from me just to capture these two mortals?" Kun Tu frowned and asked.
"Elder brother sees clearly, these two are not trivial mortals; they are very useful," Wu Lu responded.
"Useful? What use?" Kun Tu asked curiously.
"When I was a Fur Beast Slave in the Ten Thousand Mountains, I had some interactions with Hagon and heard some of his stories. This Miao Hua Village is Hagon's hometown, and Hagon and Brother Yuan Ming are quite close friends, having shared many hardships, right?" Wu Lu turned his head towards Yuan Ming, a smile forming at the edge of his mouth.
"I don't know what you're talking about; Hagon and I barely know each other," Yuan Ming said impassively, his heart secretly cursing his luck.
"Hehe, this little girl just confessed everything. They are indeed Hagon's wife and daughter. You even killed Hu Zha, breaking the sect rules, and just now you greatly depleted your primordial qi in an attempt to restore Hagon's sanity. Brother Yuan Ming, the changes in you are truly beyond my expectations; even a thoroughly beast-transformed Human Demon is saved by you, impressive," Wu Lu said with a faint smile.
Kun Tu, hearing this, finally understood and was thrilled, "Great! Wu Lu, well done. When we return to Biluo Cave, I will definitely reward you heavily."
"I wondered why you would suddenly go mad and kill Hu Zha; it turns out it was for such a foolish reason," Kun Tu then looked at Yuan Ming, laughing heartily.
"Even if they are Hagon's wife and daughter, do you think I would sacrifice my bright future and even my life for two strangers?" Yuan Ming scoffed coldly.
Kun Tu's smile froze slightly; indeed, he would never do something so foolish.
"If Brother Yuan Ming truly doesn't care about their lives, why not leave immediately instead of hanging around and chatting with us?" Wu Lu said with a smile.
"Brother Wu Lu just reminded me, I indeed have other matters to tend to. I'll take my leave now. Their lives, you may do as you please," Yuan Ming replied with a faint smile, turning to walk away.
Upon seeing this, despair flashed across the faces of Tuya and her daughter.
"You really going to ignore their welfare? Very well, Wu Lu, kill the woman; let's keep the little one. My Yin Ghost Flag hasn't been nourished for a while, and later we'll use the girl's essence blood for the sacrificial flag," Kun Tu sneered.
"Yes!" Wu Lu pulled out a curved knife from his waist without hesitation and swung it towards the neck of Tuya's mother.
Suddenly, a purple-black Vine shot out from the ground by Wu Lu's feet, wrapping around his arm and the curved knife, causing the blade's trajectory to skew.
Four streams of black liquid shot out from the nearby grass, speeding toward Wu Lu like powerful crossbow bolts.
Wu Lu was inwardly shocked and struggled to pull back his arm.
However, the purple-black demon vine tightly bound his arm as if it had grown there, making it impossible to move.
A foul wind blew, and several streams of black liquid had already reached Wu Lu.
The black poison liquid did not strike in one place but from above, below, left, and right, with exceedingly tricky angles. If Wu Lu could not break free from the demon vine, he would be hit no matter which direction he dodged.
Wu Lu's left hand, hidden in his sleeve, moved slightly as if he had done something, and suddenly a deep blue light shield appeared in front of him.
The black poison liquid hit it, sizzling on contact and pitting the blue light shield, but ultimately it was blocked.
"Haha, I knew you would make a move, meet your fate!" Kun Tu saw Yuan Ming act and was not startled but pleased. He laughed loudly and brandished a black flag vigorously.
A tangible black Yin wind surged from the flag, immediately whipping up fierce winds and rapidly dropping the temperature.
Yet Yuan Ming ignored Kun Tu and formed a hand seal toward Wu Lu.
"To ignore me is seeking death!" Seeing Yuan Ming disregard him, Kun Tu flew into a rage and furiously shook the Yin Ghost Flag a few times.
The flag radiated black light, and the surrounding Yin wind congregated into a two to three yards long black Wind Dragon that lunged toward Yuan Ming with bared fangs and claws.
Just at that moment, a black shadow flashed through the bushes beside Kun Tu and a black raven suddenly flew out, heading straight for Kun Tu's face—it was Yuan Ming's last Divine Soul Raven.
"What is that?" Kun Tu dared not be careless and dodged to the side, guiding the Yin Ghost Flag.
The black Wind Dragon that was attacking Yuan Ming instantly changed direction and collided with the raven.
The black raven was not very fast, but it was small and nimble. It barely dodged the black Wind Dragon's attack and once again lunged at Kun Tu, entangling him so that he could not split his attention.
Having seen Yuan Ming forming a hand seal previously, Wu Lu quickly concentrated and braced himself, forcefully maintaining the light shield in front of him.
The sizzling sound of corrosion came, and the demon vine wrapped around his arm secreted black poison liquid, easily corroding the fabric of his sleeves and contaminating his skin.
Wu Lu's skin instantly ulcerated, and the underlying flesh rapidly dissolved, revealing ghastly white bones in many places.
"Ah!" A chill ran down Wu Lu's heart. A layer of blue light emerged on his arm, trying to block the invasion of the demon vine's poison liquid, but it was not very effective.
While Yuan Ming controlled the black raven to entangle Kun Tu, he also summoned up a bit of mana he had just accumulated and activated the Beast Taming Technique to control the purple-black demon vine.
The tip of the demon vine sharpened, and a faint blood light appeared around it like a snake darting out of its hole, stabbing into Wu Lu's chest.
Given the current situation, his mana was about to be exhausted, putting him at a tremendous disadvantage. He had only a chance to win if he could kill one of his opponents as quickly as lightning.
Just then, the forest behind Yuan Ming exploded with a "boom," a violent wind shredding branches and dry leaves. Kun Tu's Green Wolf Spirit Beast lunged out, attacking Yuan Ming's back with its claws.
Yuan Ming startled, rushed to dodge to the side using the Shadowless Step.
His mana was already exhausted, making his movements slow. He barely avoided a deadly blow, but his arm was still slashed, revealing deep, bone-showing wounds as he staggered backward.
The Green Wolf Spirit Beast, seizing the advantage, opened its mouth and shot out four or five green Wind Blades spinning toward Yuan Ming's body.
Yuan Ming's face turned ashen. With his still functioning right hand, he drew out the Green Fish Sword and swung wildly to fend off the Wind Blades.
"Dang dang dang" Several harsh clashes later, a few Wind Blades were deflected, and Yuan Ming, along with his sword, was thrown backward, crashing heavily into a large tree, spurting a mouthful of fresh blood.
After suffering continuous severe injuries, Yuan Ming could not focus on anything else. The influence on the purple-black demon vine was minimal, but the black raven controlled by his divine soul suddenly went sluggish.
Seizing the opportunity, Kun Tu pointed with the Yin Ghost Flag, and a crescent-shaped black Wind Blade shot out from the tip of the flag at an astonishing speed, crossing a distance of several yards in a flash and striking the black raven.
With a light "tsk," half of the black raven's body was sheared off.
The black Wind Dragon opened its great maw and clamped onto the black raven, unleashing a dozen or so savage, fierce black Wind Blades inside its mouth.
How could the black raven withstand such an assault? Its body instantly dispersed.
This left Yuan Ming completely drained of both mana and divine soul power, overwhelmed by an irresistible fatigue.
"Haha, Yuan Ming, just give yourself up to my sacrificial flag!" Kun Tu laughed loudly as he waved the Yin Ghost Flag.
The black Wind Dragon surged forward with bared fangs and claws, shooting straight for Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming's expression changed as he tried to dodge, but his legs felt like they were filled with lead, not moving an inch.
The black Wind Dragon arrived in an instant, striking him hard in the chest.
Yuan Ming was sent flying, blood spewing from his mouth, his internal organs nearly displacing. He crashed to the ground and lay motionless.