Compared to the other members of the six-person team, Yuan Ming was actually in a relatively safe environment.

He continued to move forward in the poisonous mist, with the help of the Soul Crow to investigate, always able to anticipate the danger and make preparations in advance.

However, in this vast poisonous mist, there were an absurd number of venomous snakes, insects, rats, and ants, as if they could never be killed.

After Yuan Ming finally killed all the poisonous bees that attacked him, he heard a series of rustling sounds coming from the dense fog.

The Soul Crow hovered in the thick fog and didn’t see anything coming.

While Yuan Ming was still puzzled, he suddenly felt that the Black Toad in his spirit beast bag was restless.

Without any hesitation, Yuan Ming immediately patted the spirit beast bag and took it out.

Yuan Ming held the Black Toad in his hands and only then did he realize that the reason why the Black Toad was restless was not because it sensed any danger, but because it was excited and unable to contain itself.

“What does this mean?”

Before Yuan Ming could figure it out, the Black Toad suddenly leaped out of his palm and landed on the ground in front of him.

As the Black Toad landed, Yuan Ming’s line of sight also shifted downwards.

At this moment, he was astonished to find that where the Black Toad landed, within a three-foot radius, a “white spot” suddenly appeared on the originally pitch-black ground.

This white spot, with the Black Toad at its center, looked very abrupt.

Yuan Ming carefully observed for a while and discovered that the edges of the white spot were blurry, as if they were constantly undergoing slight changes.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted and his brows furrowed.

He originally thought it was black moss on the ground, but it turned out to be a layer of black moths that were invisible to the naked eye.

These moths had their wings almost flat against the ground, and if they didn’t flutter slightly, it would be impossible to tell. The rustling sound also came from them.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to remind the other members of the team, he heard the shout of the burly man, Mang Tun, not far away, “What is this? So many… Ah, it’s so itchy, so itchy…”

In a place Yuan Ming couldn’t see, a large number of black moths under Mang Tun’s feet suddenly fluttered their wings and flew up from the ground.

Countless black moths, like a black whirlwind, swarmed towards him. Before he could react, they tightly wrapped around him.

The black moths sprinkled a large amount of black phosphorus powder, which quickly corroded the robe that covered Mang Tun’s entire body.

In just a few moments, the clothes on Mang Tun’s body became tattered, revealing large areas of dark blue tattoo patterns on his exposed skin.

A large number of black moths then crawled into the holes in his clothes.

In a panic, Mang Tun quickly began to slap himself.

But with his movements, more and more black moths stuck to him. He felt his skin becoming hot and itchy, and an unbearable itchiness spread from all over his body. At the same time, he felt his spiritual energy slowly flowing out at a slow pace.

As more and more black moths stuck to him, the speed at which his spiritual energy was being drained also increased.

“Roar!”

Mang Tun suddenly let out a roar, and the tattoo patterns on his body lit up, accompanied by a layer of dark red light. His skin quickly darkened, revealing a crocodile-like scale pattern on the surface.

At the same time, his figure also grew taller, and the originally black circular pupils in his eyes contracted and narrowed, turning into slender dark golden vertical pupils.

After being covered in animal skin, the itching on Mang Tun’s body disappeared, his aura increased significantly, and the loss of spiritual energy also stopped.

He raised his hand and took out a yellow paper talisman, throwing it towards the front. The talisman instantly turned into a burst of yellow light and fell to the ground.

In the next moment, the yellow paper talisman burst into flames, spreading like a carpet, burning a large number of black moths to death.

On the other side, the rest of the team members were also using their own methods to kill the black moths.

Only Yuan Ming didn’t make a move from beginning to end.

After releasing the Black Toad, it seemed to have turned into a mouse thrown into a rice jar. With its long tongue extending and curling, it swallowed large numbers of black moths.

The poisonous insects that others avoided like the plague had become the desired delicacy for the Black Toad.

When these black moths saw the Black Toad, they acted as if they had encountered their natural enemy, not even bothering to dodge, let alone actively attacking Yuan Ming.

So he proceeded smoothly and quickly left the area filled with black moths behind.

As he left the area filled with black moths, the forest ahead began to change. Instead of towering giant trees, there were low trees intertwined with black vines.

The Black Toad hopped to the edge of the low trees and didn’t enter directly, but stopped vigilantly.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming immediately controlled the Soul Crow, which was still outside, to fly into the black forest and investigate.

Following the Soul Crow’s line of sight, he saw the twisted black vines intertwining with each other inside, making it almost impossible to find a smooth path.

And beneath the black vines, mist filled the air, and water vapor rose from the ground, indicating the presence of many water puddles.

The Soul Crow landed on a black vine, its black eyes staring intently below, trying to see the situation inside as clearly as possible.

In an instant, a snake as thick as an arm suddenly protruded from a nearby vine and attacked the Soul Crow. Its large bloody mouth revealed terrifying fangs as it bit towards the Soul Crow.Fortunately, Yuan Ming reacted quickly, controlling the Soul Crow to flap its wings and dodge, soaring into the sky.

Yuan Ming was startled by this sudden attack. When he looked down again through the eyes of the Soul Crow, a scene that made his scalp tingle unfolded in the forest below.

On the vast black vines, numerous black venomous snakes hung upside down, their mouths wide open, swaying like willow branches. However, there was no sense of gentle breeze or drizzle, but rather an eerie horror.

“How am I supposed to get through this place?” Yuan Ming couldn’t help but feel troubled.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of not being able to defeat these venomous snakes, but these pitch-black creatures were indistinguishable from the color of the vines. If they clung to the vines and remained motionless, he wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.

Moreover, there were puddles and pits underfoot, who knew what else might be lurking inside.

As he hesitated, a black toad suddenly hopped onto his foot. The vine protruding from the lump on its back wrapped around his calf and tugged forcefully.

“Do you mean for me to follow you?” Yuan Ming asked, puzzled.

The black toad released Yuan Ming’s trouser leg and hopped into the dark forest ahead.

Yuan Ming glanced back at the way he had come, hesitated for a moment, and then followed.

As soon as he stepped into the dark forest, Yuan Ming felt a moist and soft sensation under his feet, as if he were stepping on grass growing on a mudflat, with a slight sinking feeling.

With a “plop”, the black toad ahead hopped and plunged into the nearest puddle.

Bubbles rose from the puddle with a “gurgle”, but there was no sign of the black toad for a long time.

Yuan Ming waited for a while, then saw the already dark puddle suddenly churn with ink-like black water. One by one, eel-like venomous creatures, belly-up, emerged from it.

“Well done!” Yuan Ming praised in a low voice.

At this time, in another puddle a little further away, black water also bubbled up, and a large number of eel-like venomous creatures emerged belly-up.

Following that, the figure of the black toad also emerged from the water, waving the vine on its back as if beckoning to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming immediately understood. The black toad was leading him.

He only needed to walk along the edge of the puddles that the black toad had cleared, ignoring the potential dangers on the ground and focusing on dealing with the black snakes in the trees.

With this in mind, Yuan Ming held the Cold Star Sword in one hand and pointed at his forehead with the other.

Two more black Soul Crows flew out from his forehead, circling above his head.

The three Soul Crows helped him watch his left, right, and rear, while Yuan Ming kept an eye on the front. There were no blind spots in his field of vision, so he didn’t need to worry about the black snakes’ sneak attacks.

Yuan Ming continued to walk deeper into the dark forest, and this arrangement proved to be surprisingly effective.

Now, no matter from which angle the black snakes tried to attack him, he could immediately detect them and easily kill them with a swing of his sword.

When he passed through some areas where the ground was overflowing with water, almost like a swamp, Yuan Ming would insert the Cold Star Sword into the ground. With the stimulation of his magic power, it would release an extreme cold aura, instantly freezing the ground water.

With the cooperation of the Soul Crows and the black toad, this originally dangerous black vine forest became a smooth path for Yuan Ming.

Apart from consuming some soul power and magic power, Yuan Ming passed through easily without any cost.

Other teams were not so lucky. Just in this same forest, many people were lost.

……

After Yuan Ming walked out of the black vine forest, he didn’t rush to continue on his way. Instead, he recalled two of the Soul Crows, leaving only one and the black toad on guard.

He sat down cross-legged, holding a spirit stone in each hand, and began to recuperate.

However, not long after, there was a sudden burst of strange noises from the forest, sounding quite alarming.

Yuan Ming quickly got up and controlled the Soul Crow to fly towards the source of the noise.

Before the Soul Crow could find out what was happening, there were hurried footsteps rushing towards him from the other side.

Yuan Ming gripped the Cold Star Sword, on high alert.

A slender figure burst out of the thick fog. It was Bai Rong.

Behind her, a vague giant shadow could be seen, pursuing her in a peculiar manner.

Bai Rong’s face was covered with a black veil, so her expression was not visible. However, from her disheveled hair, one could tell she was in a state of disarray.

Yuan Ming immediately ran to the side and hid behind an ancient tree, watching the scene.

From the fog behind Bai Rong, a golden python, as thick as a sea bowl and seven or eight zhang long, rushed out. Its long body twisted and turned at a high speed.

Its body was covered with brilliant patterns, its huge python head stood tall, its mouth wide open, with two pairs of white venomous fangs and a red tongue flicking in and out.

“Golden Flower Venomous Python.” Yuan Ming recognized the creature at a glance.

(End of Chapter)