Elder Meng Shan’s footwork shifted, and his figure charged towards Yuan Ming like a specter.

“Shadowless Step…”

Yuan Ming’s heart tightened as he saw a cold glint suddenly light up in front of him.

In the instant Elder Meng Shan rushed to his front, the emerald dagger in his hand thrust towards Yuan Ming’s chest and abdomen.

Yuan Ming was well-prepared, his palm hidden in his sleeve suddenly shot out, the Nine Elements Formula circulating wildly within his body, channeling mana. The small Bagua mirror in his palm, barely refined, lit up with a golden light screen.

The moment the dagger struck the golden light screen, a tremendous force erupted, scattering golden light in an explosion, and the Bagua mirror instantly cracked with a “crack” sound.

Yuan Ming felt a massive force impact him, a surge of power rushing up his arm to his shoulder and neck, causing intense pain, and he was sent flying backward.

Before he hit the ground, Yuan Ming noticed something strange on the ground behind him.

He saw the earth behind him upheave as rocks and soil surged upward, forming a noticeable ridge of earth, clearly the work of the mountain turtle using its innate divine ability to burrow underground.

As the earthen ridge rapidly extended towards the female array master, Elder Meng Shan’s smile grew more pronounced.

But just then, the rising earthen ridge suddenly halted.

Following that, a dull and mournful bellow echoed from beneath the thick layer of earth.

The ground shook violently, rocks and soil collapsed, and a massive figure burst forth from underground—it was the mountain turtle.

However, at this moment, its eyes were filled with terror, as if something extremely frightening lurked below.

Yuan Ming watched as black spots appeared on its enormous head, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes.

How could he not be fully prepared to protect Xiying?

With soul crows watching from the trees and a black toad safeguarding underground, he aimed to prevent any beasts from burrowing and launching a sneak attack from below, an area he couldn’t cover!

He could only arrange for the most powerful black toad to guard beneath the array master, serving as the last barrier.

The mountain turtle’s massive body became incredibly heavy, and after only a few steps, it collapsed to the ground in severe pain, convulsing uncontrollably. Its huge head strained with the last of its strength before dropping heavily.

Seeing the mountain turtle’s head smashing towards the female array master.

The mountain turtle’s massive body blocked his view, and as he leaped into the air, he saw Silver Cat Guoguo, who had been sitting beside the female array master with a slightly dazed expression, suddenly burst into action as the head fell.

Its body radiated with a sudden surge of silver light, and its small form grew in an instant, transforming into a six-foot-long, three-foot-tall snow-white beast, almost resembling a robust white tiger.

A second-level junior spirit beast!

At this moment, Guoguo’s body was silver-white, its fur longer, its pupils one gold and one amber, its claws and teeth gleaming coldly.

With a roar, Guoguo simply lifted its paw and swung, bringing a gust of wind and a “bang” sound.

The mountain turtle’s huge head was easily torn open under its sharp claws, turning into a shower of blood and bone fragments that sprayed out.

This sight not only stunned Yuan Ming but also caused Elder Meng Shan to pause.

But what surprised him even more was yet to come.

The massive silver-white tiger suddenly shimmered with a layer of silver light and vanished from his sight.

Yuan Ming immediately extended his divine sense to search, but to no avail.

The silver tiger had disappeared, its form and even its aura completely gone.

Silver Cat always had a way of appearing beside him unnoticed, only making her presence known to Yuan Ming when she wished to be detected, and this time was no exception.

Not only did Yuan Ming fail to detect Guoguo’s whereabouts, but Elder Meng Shan also lost his sense of the silver tiger.

But in the next instant, Meng Shan swiftly swung his claw, smashing it into the empty space beside him.

His claw shone with dark light, unleashing a torrent of formidable power.

Accompanying this, a blur and distortion appeared in the void as if covered by a layer of mist, and a giant white shadow emerged from it—it was the silver tiger.

As it revealed itself, a snow-white claw, already gathering strength, swept towards Elder Meng Shan.

The white claw collided with the black claw, and a powerful shockwave exploded from the impact.

The silver tiger’s massive form was pushed backward by the force.

But Elder Meng Shan didn’t fare any better, retreating seven or eight zhang away.

“Such formidable strength!”

He had seen the array master teleported after being attacked and guessed she wouldn’t be transported far in a short time. Hoping to find her first by searching the vicinity alone, he thought he could gain an advantage if he found her first.

Unexpectedly, not only did he encounter a bratty kid blocking his way, but this array master, already severely injured by the Great Elder’s Soul Bat, also had a hidden spirit beast of such formidable strength.

But before Meng Shan could recover from his shock, the ground beneath him suddenly trembled violently, and the rocks and soil collapsed once more.A pitch-black vine suddenly shot out from below, wrapping around his calf in an instant.

Following that, a puff of black smoke spread from his calf, where his clothes instantly rotted and turned black, then crumbled into dust and fell.

“Ugh…”

An intense, unbearable pain surged from his calf, causing him to let out a muffled groan.

Elder Meng Shan hurriedly swung his clawed hand down, severing the vine with his sharp claws.

After breaking free, he immediately made several leaps to distance himself from the vine.

Looking down at his calf, he saw the flesh where the vine had wrapped was rotting, and his entire calf was now covered in black spots.

“What a potent poison,” Elder Meng Shan’s expression changed drastically, panic setting in.

He had never imagined that in his attempt to capture a female array master to aid his escape, she would have so many protective measures in place.

Two spirit beasts, each comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, one light and one dark, both possessing extremely troublesome unique abilities.

In his mind, such powerful spirit beasts were naturally the female array master’s backup; how could they be related to that minor Qi Refining stage cultivator?

Before he could figure it out, a white shadow suddenly appeared at his side. The silver tiger-like spirit beast materialized out of thin air and swiped at him fiercely.

Elder Meng Shan, already contemplating retreat, hastily dodged, moving over thirty feet away.

But before he could land, a shadow swept up from the ground behind him, and a black vine, like a swift serpent, launched a surprise attack, aiming straight for his face.

Elder Meng Shan swung his clawed hand to block it, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a black crow swooping in from the side, also aiming for his face.

This series of continuous attacks, despite his battle-hardened experience, left him somewhat flustered.

Just as he dodged the silver tiger’s claw, blocked the poisonous vine, and blew away the crow with a gust of wind from his mouth, the intense pain in his calf struck again. The strange poison was now causing his entire lower body to go numb.

Upon landing, he stumbled and fell to the ground.

Then, the sound of a sword cry rang out.

A snow-white, burly figure wielding a sword flashed out; it was Yuan Ming, who had donned the hide of a white ape, transforming into one and gaining a boost in strength and vitality, as he hurled his sword at Elder Meng Shan.

A streak of cold light flashed by, instantly freezing the arm that held the black claw.

Elder Meng Shan felt a chill surge up his arm, which had gone stiff. As he was about to muster his magic to resist, he saw the transformed Yuan Ming swing his arm, hurling a round bronze sphere at him.

The muscles in the white ape’s arm tensed, and the immense force sent the bronze sphere flying with a sonic boom, arriving in an instant with a trailing phantom image.

Elder Meng Shan had no chance to dodge.

The bronze sphere, covered in runes, lit up with striking luminous traces.

With a ‘click’, the bronze sphere suddenly split open, revealing a dazzling silver-white light from within.

“Zzzt…”

After a series of silver arcs danced, the silver-white light burst explosively.

“Boom!”

A striking column of lightning shot up from the forest, unleashing a powerful shockwave. Amidst the dazzling light, one could vaguely see Elder Meng Shan’s body stiffen and shake as arcs of electricity exploded around him.

The loud noise drowned out his screams.

When all the lightning had dissipated, a shallow, scorched pit appeared on the ground, with trees within a ten-yard radius charred black, their trunks still aflame, emitting wisps of white smoke.

At the center of the pit, Elder Meng Shan’s body still stood, but it was unrecognizable. At the top of his head was a terrifying wound from the lightning strike, still emitting smoke.

He could not believe that one day he would be killed by a mere Qi Refining stage cultivator.

At that moment, the silver tiger’s figure flashed, raising its massive paw and smashing down, tearing Elder Meng Shan’s remains to shreds.

Yuan Ming quickly stepped forward, picking up a finger from the ground and pulling off a storage ring set with a blue gemstone. Before he could examine the storage ring in his hand, the Soul Crow spotted a small group of people approaching from afar.

He quickly pocketed the storage ring and the clawed magical instrument from Meng Shan’s hand, retreating to stand in front of Xiying.

Yuan Ming signaled the Black Toad to continue hiding, leaving only a vine tendril to burrow into the neck of the headless Mountain Tortoise, frantically absorbing the remaining power, while the pile of fierce beasts Yuan Ming had previously slain had already been sucked into its belly by its underground tendrils.

Turning around, Silver Cat Guoguo had already returned to her usual cute and docile appearance, squatting beside the female array master, continuing to guard her.

Voices were already approaching from the distance.

Yuan Ming looked in the direction of the footsteps, seeing a group of Dawn’s men, about seven or eight of them, led by the jester, hurrying towards them.