Yuan Ming had now fully grasped the essence of the black sword qi and no longer panicked as before. While retreating backward, he flung his hand and released four Thunder Talismans in one breath. At the same time, a black needle shadow shot out from his sleeve, vanishing in a flash.

Half of the high-grade talismans Yuan Ming had purchased in Xiaohu City were Thunder Talismans, chosen for their effectiveness against soul cultivators. Now, he used them all at once.

Amidst the thunderous roars, four thick thunder dragons emerged, striking the black sword qi.

The black sword qi, formidable as it was, couldn’t withstand the combined strike of the four Thunder Talismans and dissipated into a wisp of blue smoke with a sizzle.

Simultaneously, a vague black line flashed before the white eagle circling the nearby thunderclouds. Before it could react, the black needle pierced through its head, and the white eagle plummeted to the ground.

After its advancement, the black needle’s attack power and speed had increased dramatically, leaving the ordinary second-level white eagle utterly defenseless.

“Ha Gong!” Feeling the white eagle’s demise, Sha Hao’s heart ached, and he recklessly charged towards Ha Gong.

However, a thunderous “boom” resounded from the sky as a silver lightning bolt, much thicker than before, struck down at Sha Hao.

Sha Hao dared not be careless and halted his charge, activating his grey umbrella to release a golden protective shield.

The silver lightning struck the golden shield, causing it to tremble violently.

Sha Hao’s complexion changed slightly, evidently surprised by the lightning’s power, and the previous poisoning, combined with the consecutive swings of the Soul Extinguishing Sword, had already weakened him.

But this lightning strike was just the beginning. The thunderclouds roared, and one after another, identical bolts of lightning rained down, causing the golden shield to flicker and nearly shatter.

The grey umbrella above him dimmed, its spiritual essence greatly damaged.

Sha Hao’s expression darkened like water, and with a low growl, he manipulated the umbrella, causing it to burst into golden light and finally stabilize the shield.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming immediately formed a hand seal.

The dark clouds summoned by the thunderstorm quickly expanded and thickened, growing several times larger in an instant, with the lightning within also doubling in size.

Lei Yu, hidden within the clouds, was overjoyed as his wings emitted brilliant lightning, shooting out purple arcs in all directions.

The lightning within the clouds, as if summoned, converged towards the center, intertwining and twisting.

With a thunderous “boom,” a silver lightning pillar as thick as a bowl descended from the sky, striking at Sha Hao on the ground.

Sha Hao shouted loudly, his clothes bulging and then shattering, revealing a golden half-armor from which endless golden light flowed like a curtain, covering his entire body.

Just as he finished these preparations, “crack,” the golden shield shattered like glass, and the grey umbrella was also destroyed.

The undiminished power of the silver lightning pillar continued to strike Sha Hao, emitting a deafening boom.

The golden light curtain trembled violently, its surface sparking chaotically and roaring piercingly.

The light curtain quickly thinned, revealing cracks.

Sha Hao’s face turned extremely ugly, and liquid-like golden light emerged from the muscles of his inner armor, circulating around his body, restoring the golden light curtain to its original state, seemingly even thicker than before.

Sha Hao breathed a sigh of relief, but a trace of pain flashed in his eyes as the suppressed green qi surged back onto his cheeks.

Then, with a jolt, he suppressed his discomfort and propelled the silver orb to shoot a bright silver light towards a certain point in the void.

With a “bang,” a black shadow was struck by the silver light and sent flying—it was Yuan Ming’s top-grade magical artifact, the black needle!

However, from another side, amidst a slight movement of mist, two golden talismans and a green orb emerged—two high-grade Golden Spear Talismans and the last Heart-Splitting Thunder.

Two golden spear shadows, each about a zhang long, and a thick thunder pillar appeared out of thin air, striking the golden shield.

Sha Hao was startled and tried to activate the silver orb to block, but it was too late.

The three attacks struck the golden light curtain fiercely, causing it to tremble violently, and Sha Hao stumbled.

Before he could regain his footing, the black needle artifact shot from behind him, piercing the golden light curtain and entering nearly halfway before twisting like a venomous snake, burrowing further inside.

The golden light curtain trembled incessantly, once again showing signs of collapse.

Sha Hao’s heart chilled, and with a wheel-like motion of his hands, he pressed one hand against the light curtain, pouring in his mana.

But at that moment, the white mist opposite the black needle blossomed, and the white ape Vajra appeared, wielding the staff and striking down fiercely!

With a “bang,” the golden light curtain trembled violently, cracks appearing on its surface, clearly unable to hold.

Sha Hao’s face paled with shock, and as he tried to repair the shield, a rich green color surged on his face, and the poison within him erupted completely.

His body trembled, and he spat out green-tinged blood, collapsing weakly to the ground.

Vajra’s eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty excitement, and two ape arms shot out from beneath his ribs, striking the golden light curtain with afterimages, causing the nearby air to buzz.

Finally, under Vajra’s relentless pounding, the light curtain shattered with a roar, scattering into countless golden lights.

The freed black needle artifact immediately transformed into a vague black line, piercing through Sha Hao’s dantian.

Sha Hao let out a pained cry as the remaining mana in his dantian dissipated, and he knelt on the ground.

“Boom!”

Another silver lightning pillar thundered down, engulfing Sha Hao’s body, and the two blood bats circling him were also enveloped by the lightning, their screams silenced before they could even begin, annihilated on the spot.

The bright, blinding lightning soon dissipated, revealing Sha Hao’s charred body, now unconscious, with only the faintest breath remaining.

A silver orb rolled to his side, motionless.

The orb’s surface bore several clear scratches, but its mana fluctuations were stable, and it had not suffered significant damage.

In his other hand, he still tightly held the black sword, its surface dim and the black light on the blade flickering chaotically, giving the impression it could collapse at any moment.

Yuan Ming emerged from the mist, took out the Cold Star Sword, and touched the two artifacts, both of which remained unresponsive.

He activated the Cold Star Sword, covering the two artifacts with thick white ice crystals, wrapping them up before collecting them. He then approached Sha Hao and with a single gesture, summoned the black needle artifact to hover in front of Sha Hao’s forehead, ready to pierce his skull at any sign of movement.

Sha Hao’s illusions were formidable, and Yuan Ming had to be cautious.

However, Sha Hao made no move, his breath growing weaker, seemingly at death’s door.

Yuan Ming finally relaxed, took Sha Hao’s inner armor and storage ring, and placed his hand on his head to perform a soul search.

He soon withdrew his hand, standing silently.

Through the soul search, Yuan Ming roughly understood Sha Hao’s experiences after the fall of Bi Luo Cave.

On the day Bi Luo Cave fell, Sha Hao awoke from Xiying’s illusion to find the Soul Calming Jar he was guarding gone. Fearing the Grand Elder would hold him accountable and believing the Grand Elder was no match for Xiying, he took advantage of the distraction to flee Bi Luo Cave.

Before leaving, he looted all the items stored by the Grand Elder in the cave dwelling and made his way to the Central Plains.

Afterward, Sha Hao, under the alias Pu Zhengqing, began hunting cultivators in the Central Plains—not for wealth, as he had plenty of spirit stones, materials, and elixirs from the Grand Elder’s collection to last him a long time. His hunting was for the black sword.

Yuan Ming took out the black sword, his eyes burning with eagerness.

According to Sha Hao’s soul memories, the sword was named “Soul Extinguishing,” a true top-grade artifact for soul cultivators.

Sha Hao, a disciple of the Grand Elder, had spent ten years gathering precious materials for the Grand Elder to request Master Heimu to forge it.

The Soul Extinguishing Sword was made from Nine Nether Ming Iron as the main material, combined with many yin attribute spiritual materials from the Southern Border. The sword light it emitted when activated had the effect of attacking the soul, ignoring the defenses of ordinary protective artifacts.

Nine Nether Ming Iron was a top-tier yin attribute spiritual material. Yuan Ming had read about it in “Record of Strange Stones.” Born in extremely yin places, it was a fusion of yin qi and ming iron ore, incredibly hard and not susceptible to destruction by lightning, fire, or other elements like ordinary yin materials.

Moreover, Nine Nether Ming Iron had a unique feature: it could absorb soul power, hence the nickname “Soul Absorbing Ming Iron.” The souls slain by the Soul Extinguishing Sword would be absorbed and devoured by it, enhancing its own power.

The forging of the Soul Extinguishing Sword was extremely difficult from the very beginning, and the runes on the sword were copied from the Soul Calming Jar by the Grand Elder. Master Heimu, upon reaching the final step of inscribing the runes, found the sword malevolent and took the opportunity to flee. His defection led to the collapse of the sword’s runes.

At this point, Yuan Ming recalled a passage from Master Heimu’s notes, “I stumbled upon the forging of a special secret treasure.” Master Heimu’s last words also mentioned that if things continued this way, everyone would die!

It turned out that his departure from Bi Luo Cave was related to the forging of this sword.

The Grand Elder had no choice but to command the three cave masters to take action. After much trial and error and considerable time and effort, they re-inscribed four runes, and Sha Hao would usually keep the sword in a yin cave to nourish it. To strengthen the sword, it needed to absorb a large number of souls, so Sha Hao secretly hunted rogue cultivators to collect them.

During the battle that destroyed Bi Luo Cave, Sha Hao was directly subdued by Xiying’s powerful illusions, without a chance to draw his sword.

Now, this soul sword, a product of Master Heimu and the three cave masters’ efforts, had fortuitously fallen into Yuan Ming’s hands.