Yuan Ming had no idea if the Soul Collision technique could break through illusions, but facing a life-or-death situation, he was willing to risk severe damage to his own soul. Without holding back, he commanded the soul crow to crash into his spiritual consciousness with full force.

 

An almost explosive pain assaulted him, scattering three-tenths of his soul power within his sea of consciousness, but the illusion before him also dissipated under this stimulus.

 

Yuan Ming quickly composed himself and let out a sigh of relief.

 

The Soul Collision technique indeed had a miraculous effect on breaking illusions, though it seemed a bit too forceful. He estimated that using half the power of the technique should suffice to break Sha Hao's illusion.

 

As thoughts raced through his mind, he didn't stop moving, continuing to burrow underground. Soon, he reached Hua Zhi's side, swept her into his spirit beast bag, and then proceeded to flee forward.

 

He didn't use the Soul Collision technique to awaken the two beasts. Firstly, because the technique was too powerful and could cause irreparable damage to the souls of Hua Zhi and Vajra if he wasn't careful, and secondly, the soul crow had greatly depleted its soul power, so he needed to conserve its use.

 

Based on previous experiences, Sha Hao's illusions had a range limit. As long as he escaped far enough, the illusions affecting the two beasts would automatically dissolve.

 

Sha Hao sensed that Yuan Ming had broken free from his illusion, disbelief flashing in his eyes. He had expended a great deal of soul power to activate eight blood bats to emit a soul-distorting illusion wave. Even he would struggle to escape it, and his intent had been to kill Ha Gong in one blow, but he had failed.

 

Sha Hao's gaze grew solemn. This was an unprecedentedly formidable enemy he faced since his Foundation Establishment. His intent to kill grew even stronger.

 

At that moment, a black light pierced through the white mist and landed steadily in his hand—it was the peculiar black sword.

 

Good, you're worthy of my Soul Extinguishing Sword!

 

Grasping the black sword, a dark sword light about a three meters long shot out from the blade, exuding a wild aura. With a downward slash into the void, the sword emitted a ghostly wail. A flash of black light followed, and a sword qi about ten meters long shot into the ground.

 

The ground was left without a mark, the soft soil and gravel undisturbed, as if the black sword qi was a fleeting illusion.

 

Deep underground, Yuan Ming moved swiftly, quickly putting a distance of seventy to eighty meters between himself and Sha Hao. Vajra and Hua Zhi showed signs of awakening. He felt a slight relief and continued forward while contemplating how to counterattack. He hadn't come here to leave empty-handed. Just then, light suddenly brightened ahead, and Yuan Ming emerged from the ground into a large mine cavern.

 

The cavern spanned over four to five hundred meters in area and was about ten meters high, covered in dust, evidently abandoned for many years. Sha Hao's cave dwelling was constructed within this vein, and it was normal for several underground mines to be nearby. He paid it no mind and was about to choose a direction to continue forward.

 

At that moment, he felt a sudden premonition of dread. He quickly turned to look behind him, sensing a sharp aura rapidly approaching. As he released his spiritual consciousness, it was instantly shredded upon contact with the sharp aura and forcibly absorbed.

 

A piercing pain in his mind made Yuan Ming gasp, and he quickly retracted his remaining spiritual consciousness, turning to face the direction of the attack. A flash of golden light by his side, and the Dragon Scale Shield appeared, held in front of him.

 

In the blink of an eye, a black sword qi shot out from the cave wall, aiming straight for his face.

 

Yuan Ming activated the Dragon Scale Shield to meet the attack, while simultaneously sidestepping to dodge.

 

Yet the black sword qi pierced through the Dragon Scale Shield as if it wasn't there, and like it had eyes, it adjusted its trajectory, continuing to slash towards Yuan Ming!

 

Yuan Ming's face paled with shock, and he poured all his strength into the white jade belt, his feet executing the Shadowless Step, creating several blurry afterimages.

 

But the black sword qi was unaffected, homing in on his true body, its speed increasing rapidly, soon cornering him in the cave.

 

With nowhere to run, Yuan Ming flung his arms outward, releasing a dozen mid-tier rune talismans that flew out, transforming into various spells like fire serpents, water swords, and lightning, all aimed at the black sword qi.

 

The fire serpents and water swords proved ineffective, only the lightning spells caused the black sword qi to pause slightly, but it was far from being destroyed.

 

A glimmer of hope in his eyes, Yuan Ming produced three silver rune talismans in his hand and activated them. These were called Heavenly Thunder Talismans, top-tier talismans purchased in Xiaohu City.

 

Crackling sounds filled the air as three silver lightning bolts as thick as bowls appeared, like three silver lightning dragons, their claws and fangs bared as they pounced on the sword qi.

 

Silver runes surrounded the lightning, illuminating the entire mine, all striking the black sword qi.

 

A thunderous boom echoed as the black sword qi was mostly dissipated.

 

The remaining sword qi, still stubbornly advancing, finally caught up to Yuan Ming, striking him on the head.

 

Yuan Ming's head remained unharmed, but the residual black sword qi, upon touching his body, entered his sea of consciousness and slashed down towards his soul!

 

An aura that made his soul tremble enveloped him, giving him the sensation of being crushed and then sucked away.

 

In desperation, Yuan Ming's mind raced, and within his sea of consciousness, black light flashed as three soul crows materialized in a row to meet the black sword qi, simultaneously executing the Soul Collision technique.

 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

 

Two consecutive loud noises as two soul crows collided with the black sword qi, were shredded by it, and the black sword qi rapidly weakened, finally shattered by the third soul crow's Soul Collision technique, but the third soul crow also dissipated.

 

Yuan Ming's complexion turned as pale as paper.

 

With his current level as a soul cultivator, he could only conjure six soul crows in a battle, and now four had been used, leaving only two, with no chance of replenishing them in a short time.

 

His soul power within the sea of consciousness was also greatly depleted, less than thirty percent of its original.

 

The black sword qi could actually target the soul directly. If it had been any stronger, Yuan Ming feared he might have perished right there.

 

Still shaken, Yuan Ming took out an elixir to restore his soul power and circulated the Death Moon method, calming his agitated soul.

 

At that moment, a warm current flowed from the incense burner mark on his arm into his sea of consciousness, rapidly restoring most of his depleted soul power.

 

Yuan Ming's heart finally settled somewhat.

 

At this time, Vajra and Hua Zhi had both awakened from the illusion within the spirit beast bag.

 

Although Sha Hao's black sword qi was too bizarre and formidable, even surpassing the silver orb, he had been poisoned. The newly concocted Seven Steps Down poison was potent, surely corroding his internal organs, leaving him unable to recover quickly.

 

Yuan Ming's soul power, on the other hand, was rapidly recovering due to the influence of the Heaven Stealing Cauldron. With the assistance of Hua Zhi and Vajra, the situation was still in his hands.

 

After a moment of contemplation, Yuan Ming only released Hua Zhi and then activated the Earth Escape Talisman, returning the way he had come.

 

At this time, Sha Hao was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his face flickering with blood light as he concentrated on expelling the poison. The peculiar black sword was nowhere to be seen.

 

Beside him coiled a massive yellow python, its head raised, and its earthy yellow eyes scanning the surroundings alertly.

 

During his escape, Yuan Ming had observed the presence of the yellow python through the soul crow.

 

The Qi serpent was not an ordinary serpent demon beast but a rare variant capable of transforming into a dragon, just like the Golden Flower Poison Python.

 

However, the Qi serpent was an earth-attribute demon beast, lacking the Golden Flower Poison Python's potent venom. It was known for its great strength and sturdiness and could perform various earth-attribute divine abilities, making it a valuable spirit beast.

 

Judging by the demon qi of this Qi serpent, it had reached the upper second level.

 

As Yuan Ming's thoughts raced, he immediately communicated with Lei Yu.

 

In the sky, Lei Yu was still engaged in a chase with the white eagle.

 

When Lei Yu was a first-level demon beast, it was already faster than the white eagle. Now that it had broken through to the second level, its speed was even greater, but in a head-on confrontation, it was only evenly matched, so it kept the white eagle entangled in the sky.

 

Sensing Yuan Ming's message, Lei Yu shook off the white eagle and flew back above Sha Hao, letting out a sharp cry.

 

The previously clear sky suddenly became covered with dark clouds, and a fierce wind arose, the fog sea below churning. Soon after, thunder rumbled.

 

The white eagle quickly caught up, but Lei Yu had hidden within the dark clouds. Lightning flickered within the black clouds, and the white eagle dared not enter, circling anxiously nearby.

 

The Qi serpent looked up at the sky, showing a trace of fear, its body radiating an earthy yellow glow. Most of its body burrowed underground as if that would bring it comfort. Serpent demon beasts inherently carried a yin aura and were quite fearful of lightning.

 

Sha Hao, of course, also noticed the situation in the sky, but he was at a critical moment in suppressing the poison within his body and couldn't afford to be distracted.

 

The dark clouds in the sky thickened rapidly, and soon heavy rain poured down, with dazzling lightning bolts beginning to move within the clouds, much smaller than when used in the Ruins Swamp.

 

The next moment, the dark clouds pressed low, and five or six silver lightning bolts struck down, targeting Sha Hao and the Qi serpent.

 

Sha Hao mentally instructed the Qi serpent to shield him for a while.

 

Just as the Qi serpent was about to overcome its fear and act, it sensed a destructive aura from the silver lightning. With a "swish," it instinctively burrowed into the ground.

 

Sha Hao was both shocked and furious, forced to stop his efforts to expel the poison and waved his hand to summon a gray umbrella-shaped magical instrument.

 

The gray umbrella opened above his head, spinning with dazzling golden light, instantly forming a tangible golden barrier that protected Sha Hao below.

 

The silver lightning struck the golden barrier, sparking blinding flashes of silver light, but the golden barrier remained unshaken.

 

A murderous glint flashed in Sha Hao's eyes, no longer caring to continue expelling the poison. Black light flashed in his right hand, and the peculiar black sword reappeared. Taking a deep breath, he slashed at a certain spot on the ground behind him.

 

With a "sizzle," a slightly smaller black sword qi was released.

 

Just as the sword qi was less than ten meters from the ground, a figure leaped out from below and darted away, revealing itself to be Yuan Ming.