Zuo Qinghui’s entire body was enveloped in a layer of golden light, his figure floated lightly and flew towards Yuan Ming, easily breaking through the flames and giant wood illusions ahead.

However, he had just flown a few feet when the scenery before him suddenly blurred, and his figure inexplicably returned to its original place.

A look of astonishment flashed in Zuo Qinghui’s eyes. He formed a hand seal in front of his chest, and the golden light around him intensified, making him appear as if he were cast in gold. He transformed into a streak of light and shot in another direction at an astonishing speed.

But as quickly as he went, he returned even faster. Almost the instant he flew out, he found himself back in the same spot.

Zuo Qinghui’s expression grew serious. The formation in this cave dwelling was not simple; it seemed capable of relocating his figure or perhaps it was some kind of illusion he couldn’t easily see through. In any case, he couldn’t afford to be careless.

At this moment, Yuan Ming had already taken the opportunity to run out of the cave dwelling, feeling a slight relief in his heart. Being in close contact with a Nascent Soul stage cultivator was incredibly stressful. Fortunately, Zuo Qinghui hadn’t used his full strength earlier, and Yuan Ming’s quick reactions, along with the white ape’s efforts, had barely managed to withstand the attack. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to block that strike from the golden ruler treasure.

He knew that the Five Elements Illusionary Formation inside the cave might not hold Zuo Qinghui for long. Once Zuo Qinghui broke free, it would be nearly impossible for him to escape the pursuit.

Although he didn’t want to confront a Nascent Soul stage cultivator head-on, today’s extortion by Zuo Qinghui had left him with almost no retreat. If he agreed, he would become a money-making slave for Zuo Qinghui, constantly monitored and unable to keep any secrets. His future breakthroughs would be hopeless, and he would be enslaved for life.

Yuan Ming took a deep breath, a resolute glint flashing in his eyes. No matter what, he had to keep Zuo Qinghui here today to eliminate future troubles!

While communicating with Hua Zhi and Lei Yu through his mind, he flipped his hand and took out a giant bronze sword, which crackled with blue lightning. It was the bronze thunder sword from the stone manual, and he thrust it into the ground!

The purple spirit stone on the sword hilt immediately flashed with spiritual light, continuously injecting spiritual power into the ground.

Over the past five years, although he rarely went out, he had managed to find enough thunder attribute ores to repair the sword and embed it with top-grade thunder attribute spirit stones.

Inside the cave, Zuo Qinghui stood still, no longer acting hastily. Instead, he spread his spiritual consciousness, carefully observing the surroundings and deducing the changes in the Five Elements Illusionary Formation.

According to his estimation, although this trapping formation was somewhat ingenious, it wasn’t beyond his ability to break.

Just then, a rumbling sound of thunder echoed, and blue lightning bolts emerged from the ground, quickly intertwining to form a thunder formation several feet in diameter, surrounding him with even greater power than when Yuan Ming had been trapped by it.

Zuo Qinghui raised an eyebrow slightly and waved his hand. The golden ruler treasure shot out, spinning rapidly and striking the thunder formation.

With a light tearing sound, the thunder formation was easily ripped open, creating a large gap.

The golden ruler treasure didn’t stop, transforming into a golden rainbow and striking a part of the Five Elements Illusionary Formation.

With a tearing sound, the entire formation trembled, a white mark appearing as if it were a crack.

Golden light shone brightly from Zuo Qinghui’s body, circulating continuously. Under his control, he shot through the gap in the thunder formation, heading straight for the white crack.

Although Zuo Qinghui hadn’t figured out the operation of the Five Elements Illusionary Formation, he intended to break it with brute force.

Yuan Ming, seeing this, didn’t panic. He turned the five command flags in his hand.

Suddenly, green spiritual light surged around the white mark, and green tree shadows appeared out of nowhere, enveloping the white mark and disappearing. Zuo Qinghui struck empty air, immediately becoming furious. He quickly changed his hand seals.

The golden ruler treasure blurred slightly, transforming into several golden ruler shadows, then struck various parts of the formation like a thunderstorm. The surrounding formation space churned like boiling water but showed no signs of collapsing.

Yuan Ming secretly activated the soul crows, black light flashing from his forehead as four soul crows flew out.

He formed hand seals, casting the dream butterfly illusion technique. The four soul crows silently flew to the four corners of the cave, then simultaneously opened their mouths and let out a loud cry, spraying black sound waves towards Zuo Qinghui.

In another corner of the cave, the Stealing Heaven Cauldron was already burning two newly made Seven-Step Reversals.

If Zuo Qinghui had previously intended to beat Yuan Ming into submission and turn him into a money tree, now his killing intent had grown, and he truly wanted to kill Yuan Ming.

Just as he was about to use another technique to completely break the trapping formation, he felt the surrounding space ripple, and black sound waves enveloped him. His face changed in shock, and he hurriedly retreated.

He hadn’t figured out what the black sound waves were, but he knew they couldn’t be good for him, so he decided to dodge first.

Nascent Soul stage cultivators were far faster than any Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, and in the blink of an eye, he had shot far away, almost out of the range of the black sound waves.

Yuan Ming remained unflustered, flipping his hand to release a green formation flag, which turned into green light and merged into the formation.

The scenery before Zuo Qinghui changed, and a vast green forest appeared above him. Then, a pressure of over ten thousand pounds appeared out of nowhere, slightly slowing his movements, and he was engulfed by the black sound waves released by the soul crows.

Zuo Qinghui’s eyes became dazed, and he stood there in a stupor.

Yuan Ming felt a surge of joy but didn’t dare delay. He immediately flicked his fingers, and the Shadow Piercer shot out, aiming for Zuo Qinghui’s temple.

A black shadow flashed in his hand, and the Soul Extinguishing Sword appeared. He swung it, emitting a piercing screech.

A black sword qi, four or five feet long, shot out, also heading straight for Zuo Qinghui’s head.

At that moment, the golden ruler treasure suddenly appeared beside Zuo Qinghui, blocking the Shadow Piercer, then rapidly circled around.

With a light sound, the Shadow Piercer was cut into two pieces.

Zuo Qinghui’s figure suddenly moved sideways, dodging the Soul Extinguishing Sword’s attack. His eyes became exceptionally clear, and he lunged towards Yuan Ming.

“You are a soul cultivator! You are in league with Pu Zhengqing!” As he spoke, the golden ruler treasure shot out from his hand, transforming into a huge rainbow and shooting towards Yuan Ming.

Wherever it passed, the illusion formation’s spiritual light was easily torn apart, revealing Yuan Ming’s figure.

Before he could dodge, the golden ruler treasure slashed down on him like a golden lightning bolt, several times faster than before.

With a tearing sound, Yuan Ming’s body was split in two, but surprisingly, no blood appeared. The two halves of his body turned into illusions and dissipated.

Deep within the Five Elements Illusionary Formation, Yuan Ming’s figure reappeared, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

That was a profound change in the Five Elements Illusionary Formation, where everything within the formation could be turned into illusions.

This was a high-level change in the Five Elements Illusionary Formation, and over the past five years, he had spent a lot of effort practicing this formation, consuming numerous spirit stones to finally master it.

Fortunately, he had put in the effort to master this formation, as it was his trump card for survival.

Yuan Ming cautiously moved his figure again, simultaneously releasing all eight soul crows to cast the crow cry illusion technique on Zuo Qinghui.

Black sound waves, denser than before, enveloped Zuo Qinghui, covering a wider area.

Zuo Qinghui’s face grew tense. This was his first time fighting a soul cultivator, and he retreated again to avoid the attack.

However, behind him, the void crackled with lightning, and eight thick blue lightning bolts shot out, containing astonishing power that Zuo Qinghui couldn’t ignore. His eyes flashed coldly, and the golden ruler treasure emitted a long cry, its golden light intensifying, forming an armor-like shield around him.

The eight blue lightning bolts struck Zuo Qinghui first, their blinding blue light blooming and then dissipating.

The black sound waves from the soul crows swept over, giving him no chance to dodge, engulfing his body.

Powerful illusion sound waves surged like a tide, impacting Zuo Qinghui’s soul.

Having just been injured by the bronze thunder formation, Zuo Qinghui’s soul was unstable, and his eyes showed signs of confusion, truly falling into an illusion.

Behind him, black light flashed, and the Soul Extinguishing Sword qi that had been dodged earlier shot over, striking Zuo Qinghui’s head and entering his sea of consciousness, slashing fiercely at his soul.

The illusion before Zuo Qinghui’s eyes disappeared, and his body trembled violently. Unable to bear it, he clutched his head and let out a miserable scream, standing still.

Yuan Ming squinted his eyes and swung the Soul Extinguishing Sword, slashing three times in quick succession.

Three Soul Extinguishing Sword qi shot out, striking Zuo Qinghui while he was immobilized.

Zuo Qinghui let out a blood-curdling scream, blood flowing from his seven orifices, his face deathly pale. His sea of consciousness was almost destroyed.

His magical power was also greatly affected, and the golden ruler treasure’s light dimmed significantly, less than a tenth of its previous brightness. At the same time, Yuan Ming’s body swayed, his face pale, his soul power exhausted.

The Soul Extinguishing Sword’s power was astonishing, but it also consumed a tremendous amount of soul power. With his current soul strength, he could only fully activate it four times in a short period.

At that moment, the Soul Extinguishing Sword suddenly emitted a humming sound, releasing a fierce and malevolent aura that struck Yuan Ming. His already depleted soul trembled violently.

What’s happening? Yuan Ming’s sea of consciousness throbbed with pain, his head feeling like it was splitting open. He released the Soul Extinguishing Sword in shock, but it was too late. His soul trembled violently, and Yuan Ming felt his head spinning, his vision darkening, and his consciousness fading. At this critical moment, Yuan Ming raised his hand to summon the Stealing Heaven Cauldron, which merged into his arm, releasing a surge of heat that flowed into his sea of consciousness.

His soul power quickly recovered, and the heat flow directly enveloped his soul, merging with it. The intense pain in Yuan Ming’s soul immediately eased, and his dissipating consciousness quickly regained clarity.