“One hundred spirit stones each,” Yuan Ming raised a finger and said.

“No, at least one thousand spirit stones each. I only have four,” the man in black firmly shook his head.

“One hundred and one spirit stones,” Yuan Ming increased the price.

“Friend, you are not sincere in bargaining like this,” the man in black frowned.

“This one-time item is only worth this price,” Yuan Ming raised an eyebrow, questioning.

“Eight hundred spirit stones. If you don’t agree, then forget it,” the man in black didn’t engage further and said directly.

“Two hundred spirit stones. Don’t rush to disagree. If the item sells well, you won’t have trouble selling it in a few days,” Yuan Ming said.

“Do you really want to buy or not…” the man in black said angrily.

“Of course I want to buy. I think the people who can use this item don’t have enough spirit stones, and most of the people who have enough spirit stones are strong enough to forge a high-quality magic weapon. Don’t you agree? Like that person over there,” Yuan Ming said, waving his hand in the distance as a greeting to Gu Qiuming.

The latter also raised his only remaining arm in response.

Seeing this scene, the man in black couldn’t help but feel frustrated and couldn’t say anything.

“Friend, the price I gave you is already reasonable,” Yuan Ming patted the man in black’s shoulder, looking serious.

“Fine, I haven’t met someone as eloquent as you. One thousand spirit stones, and the three Cracked Heart Thunder are yours. Let’s make it clear, no more bargaining!” After hesitating for a while, the man in black’s shoulders slumped and he said.

“Okay, wait here, I’ll go get the money right away,” Yuan Ming agreed cheerfully.

“No, it must be settled immediately,” the man in black said immediately.

“Why are you so worried? I left three hundred spirit stones as a deposit here, and the Cracked Heart Thunder is still in your hands. Aren’t you reassured?” Yuan Ming said, giving three hundred spirit stones to the man in black.

“Really? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll swallow your spirit stones and run away?” The man in black immediately caught the spirit stones, still doubtful.

“It’s fine. I can afford to lose three hundred spirit stones. Besides, if you have any rare birds or exotic beasts to sell, you can sell them to my senior brother over there and mention my name, Ha Gong,” Yuan Ming smiled and said, leaving these words behind as he turned and left.

The man in black glanced at the one-armed old man, then glanced at another vendor not far away, and caught sight of two people leaning against a tree. He suddenly felt that everyone around him was associated with Yuan Ming. Coupled with the sensitivity of the item he was selling, he didn’t dare to have any thoughts and could only wait there anxiously.

He didn’t know that in the darkness not far from him, there was a black Soul Crow staring at him without blinking. Yuan Ming hurried back and found Gu Yue, who hadn’t had a chance to help him sell things yet.

After some discussion, he asked Gu Yue to help him gather one thousand spirit stones, and in return, all the subsequent magic tools and storage bags would belong to Gu Yue, with no further connection to him.

After returning to the Ghost Market, Yuan Ming successfully bought three Cracked Heart Thunder and almost spent all his savings.

Afterward, he used the remaining one hundred-plus spirit stones on him to buy some useful talismans, and then hurried back to the Ten Thousand Mountains overnight to continue his seclusion.

About a month later.

With the help of the remaining Qingxuan Incense and the Golden Hua Pill he swallowed, Yuan Ming finally broke through to the twelfth level of Qi Refinement.

At this time, there were less than ten days left until the meeting at the White Deer Summit.

Although he had a Foundation Establishment Pill and didn’t want to give up the opportunity promised by the sect, he had made a lot of preparations. In his opinion, this so-called opportunity was probably just another Foundation Establishment Pill. If he could get it, he would have two Foundation Establishment Pills, greatly increasing his chances of successfully establishing a foundation.

But when the time comes, there will be many talented people from various sects, so he must be fully prepared and retrieve the Black Toad.

…

Yuan Ming hurried to the Snake King Valley.

The environment in the valley remained the same, with towering trees and a miasma enveloping it, as if it had been like this for eternity and would never change.

He sat cross-legged at the entrance where he had parted with the Black Toad, closed his eyes, and tried to sense the Black Toad’s location. His eyes suddenly sank.

He couldn’t sense the Beast Control Runes inside the Black Toad!

Based on Yuan Ming’s current knowledge, there were only two possibilities for this phenomenon. One was that the Black Toad had been killed and the Beast Control Runes naturally dissipated. The other was that the Black Toad had been sealed by some kind of formation, cutting off his connection with the Beast Control Runes.

The Black Toad had already advanced to the second level and awakened several powerful abilities. It was his most important helper at the moment. If it was killed by someone, the loss would be too great.

Yuan Ming’s thoughts were in turmoil, and he felt that something was not right. He forced himself to calm down.

Now, the first thing to do was to determine the life or death of the Black Toad.

The Black Toad used to like that black pillar very much, so it was very likely that it went there.

Thinking of this, Yuan Ming quickly rushed towards the Snake King Cave.

With the blessing of the White Jade Belt, he quickly arrived at the entrance of the Snake King Cave. Just as he was about to enter, he suddenly stopped and released three Soul Crows with a wave of his hand.

One flew into the Snake King Cave, one guarded outside the cave entrance, and the third monitored the surrounding area.

After doing all this, Yuan Ming took out the Water Cloud Banner and held it in his hand, entering the Snake King Cave. He quickly arrived at the deepest part of the cave, familiar with the path.

The black pillar that stood here had disappeared, and a large hole with a diameter of three zhang appeared on the ground. It was pitch black and seemed bottomless. There were many large and small stones and soil scattered around the nearby ground, as if the black pillar had been forcibly pulled out.

Yuan Ming had already discovered this situation through the Soul Crows and was not surprised. With a thought, he controlled one of the Soul Crows to fly into the black hole to investigate, while he searched around in the cave.Relying on his powerful spiritual sense, Yuan Ming quickly made a discovery. He found a piece of purple-black vine under a large rock, which was part of the Purple-Black Demon Vine. It seemed that the Black Toad had indeed been here.

At this moment, the Soul Crow had also reached the bottom of the black hole. The hole extended straight down, reaching more than thirty feet deep, resembling a deep well.

The space at the bottom of the hole was much larger than above, but it was empty. A bluestone passage appeared on the side of the hole, extending into the distance.

The floor and stone walls of the bluestone passage were very smooth, appearing to be man-made, and were covered in dust.

Yuan Ming controlled the Soul Crow to explore the underground. After not finding any danger, he summoned the Water Cloud Banner to protect his body and jumped into the hole.

The Water Cloud Banner shot out two large hand-like blue water lights, grabbing onto the hole wall, greatly reducing his falling speed, and he landed safely.

He searched at the bottom of the hole for a while but did not find any new broken vines, so he looked towards the bluestone passage.

The Soul Crow had already flown into the passage, and at this moment, it had flown at least three hundred feet forward, but it still hadn’t reached the end.

At this point, Yuan Ming did not retreat. He summoned the Water Cloud Banner to protect his body, stepped into the passage, and released his spiritual sense.

Not long after, he suddenly stopped and looked at the wall on his right hand side. There was a thumb-sized black spot in the corner, which seemed to have been corroded by something.

This place was inconspicuous, and if he hadn’t expanded his spiritual sense, he wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

Yuan Ming leaned close to the black spot and sniffed lightly, his eyes suddenly brightened.

The black spot emitted a sour smell, which was the smell of the Black Toad’s venom. It seemed that the Black Toad had been here, and it was likely just ahead.

He quickened his pace, and his figure soon completely disappeared into the darkness.

The length of the blue stone passage far exceeded his expectations. Yuan Ming had been rushing forward for a quarter of an hour, but there was still no sign of the end.

Fortunately, there were no forks in the bluestone passage, so he didn’t need to worry about getting lost.

After walking for a while, Yuan Ming’s eyebrows suddenly raised.

The Soul Crow that was used to explore the way finally reached the end of the bluestone passage, and an exit emitting white light appeared there.

Yuan Ming ordered the Soul Crow to stop, and he himself quickened his pace, soon reaching the exit of the passage.

A surprised expression suddenly appeared on his face as he looked up at the sky.

After entering the bluestone passage, Yuan Ming did not forget to control the two Soul Crows on the ground. The Soul Crow at the entrance of the Snake King Cave was still standing in place, monitoring the situation at the entrance.

The Soul Crow that had been sent out to explore was controlled by him to fly directly above his head, allowing him to confirm his location.

At this moment, the Soul Crow above his head had arrived at an unexpected place: the ancient castle that Bone Diagram and the others had visited before.

This passage actually led to the underground of the ancient castle, suggesting that the two were somehow connected.

Yuan Ming summoned the Water Cloud Banner to protect his whole body and stepped into the white exit.

His eyes were filled with dazzling white light, and the next moment all the light suddenly disappeared, and he appeared in a gray stone hall.

The stone hall was rectangular, about fifteen to sixteen feet long, seven to eight feet wide, and only one to two feet high, giving a very oppressive feeling.

On both sides of the hall stood four stone pillars that could be embraced by a person, engraved with many human and beast reliefs.

The bizarre style of these reliefs did not make the stone hall colorful, but instead made it even more gloomy, looking like the underground palace of a tomb.

Yuan Ming didn’t pay any attention to the environment here, because the walls of the gray palace were covered with lush purple-black vines. The eight stone pillars were entwined with purple-black vines, which were the Purple-Black Demon Vines inside the Black Toad.

At this moment, the Black Toad was lying next to a stone pillar, sleeping soundly with its belly up. Its round belly was rising and falling, quite comical.

Yuan Ming let out a sigh of relief and glared at the Black Toad.

This Black Toad was actually sleeping soundly here, causing him unnecessary worry.

After confirming that the Black Toad was safe, Yuan Ming finally relaxed. He then carefully observed the gray palace.

The walls of the gray palace were faintly glowing with black light. He used his spiritual sense to probe, but it could only penetrate a little before it was blocked. It seemed that the white light was some kind of restriction that could isolate the power of spiritual sense. No wonder he couldn’t sense the existence of the Black Toad from outside.

Not only were the walls of this palace flashing with black light, but there were also strands of black energy floating in the air, like cloud fluff. Each strand emitted a faintly fierce aura.

Yuan Ming was not unfamiliar with this aura, it was the black energy emitted by the black stone pillars before.

The Purple-Black Demon Vine on the back of the Black Toad was moving in sync with the rise and fall of the toad’s chest. The flowers were also opening and closing, like breathing. The black energy in the hall slowly gathered and was absorbed by the leaves of the Purple-Black Demon Vine.

Yuan Ming was not surprised. The Black Toad had been absorbing the strange black energy before. But looking at the current situation, it was probably the Purple-Black Demon Vine that was truly absorbing the black energy.