Yuan Ming looked at Ha Gong in front of him, knowing that he couldn’t hesitate any longer.

At this moment, Ha Gong was still struggling, still fighting his final battle, and every minute Yuan Ming delayed, Ha Gong would suffer even more.

“Ha Gong, I will definitely go see your daughter, you…rest in peace.” Yuan Ming raised his long sword high, closed his eyes, and prepared to strike.

“Stop.”

Just then, a voice interrupted Yuan Ming’s action.

Yuan Ming opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the voice, seeing a figure rushing towards them from afar.

“Elder Hu Huo?” Yuan Ming exclaimed in surprise.

“What are you doing?” Elder Hu Huo scolded angrily.

“I…” Yuan Ming held his sword in mid-air, not knowing how to explain.

“It was me…who asked him…to help me…” Ha Gong opened his eyes at this moment and said with difficulty.

After calming down, Yuan Ming asked, “Elder Hu Huo, is he going to turn into a human demon?”

Elder Hu Huo nodded without surprise or objection, but calmly.

“Why? This is clearly the backlash of the Beast Transformation Technique and Blood Qi Art. Why do we still need to cultivate them?” Yuan Ming furrowed his brows and couldn’t help but question.

“What are you? Are you beast slaves? Slaves, understand?” Elder Hu Huo asked in return, his voice indifferent.

Implied in his words was that mere servants had no right to question.

Yuan Ming was burning with anger, not just for Ha Gong, but also for himself.

If he hadn’t accidentally obtained the incense burner and found refuge, he would probably have been unable to avoid the fate of becoming a human demon.

At this moment, Elder Hu Huo’s expression eased slightly, and he said, “The cultivation world is inherently cruel, you should have understood that long ago. However, I can see that you are not an ordinary person, perhaps you can escape this quagmire before the backlash.”

“What do you mean, Elder?” Yuan Ming asked.

“The backlash of the Beast Transformation Technique and Blood Qi Art has a triggering mechanism. Not everyone will definitely turn into a human demon. As long as you can ascend to the rank of a named disciple before the backlash is triggered, you won’t have to worry about suffering the backlash. Ha Gong, like you, is a promising junior in my eyes, but unfortunately, he may not be able to hold on until that moment.” Elder Hu Huo sighed heavily and said.

“Is there still a chance to save Ha Gong?” Yuan Ming’s anger subsided slightly, but he still had doubts and asked.

“If the transformation is more than halfway, it’s difficult to save him, but as long as it’s not more than seventy percent, there is still a chance.” Elder Hu Huo pondered for a moment and said.

“Really?” Yuan Ming was overjoyed at the news, all his doubts were cast aside, and he eagerly asked.

“Whether he can be saved or not, we’ll have to bring him back and try.” Elder Hu Huo said noncommittally.

“Thank you, Elder.” Yuan Ming quickly thanked him.

“Roar…”

But just then, Ha Gong, who was lying on the ground, suddenly roared and struggled to get up.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he reached out his hands to grab Elder Hu Huo.

Elder Hu Huo raised his palm expressionlessly and slapped him on the head.

Yuan Ming wanted to stop him, but he saw a green talisman paper clamped between his fingers, which was slapped on Ha Gong’s forehead.

Although his action seemed powerful, it was actually done with finesse.

Ha Gong was struck on the forehead by the green talisman paper, and his body stiffened for a moment before falling straight back.

The redness in his eyes faded slightly, and the spread of white fur on his body stopped.

“The situation is already very serious, we can’t delay any longer. I have to take him back immediately.” Elder Hu Huo frowned and said.

Yuan Ming opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

Although he was still dissatisfied with everything Elder Hu Huo had done to him and Ha Gong, this might be Ha Gong’s last chance, and he had no reason to stop it.

On the contrary, he felt a different kind of relief, at least he didn’t have to personally send his friend on his way.

Elder Hu Huo didn’t say anything more, summoned his spirit beast, the Blue Falcon, lifted Ha Gong’s arm, and placed him on the back of the Blue Falcon.

With a whistle, the Blue Falcon flapped its wings and flew up into the night sky.

Ha Gong lay on the back of the Blue Falcon, his eyes bloodshot, staring straight at Yuan Ming, appearing somewhat dull and seemingly unwilling.

Suddenly, a sense of regret arose in Yuan Ming’s heart. He didn’t know if his decision was right or wrong, because he saw a pleading look in Ha Gong’s eyes, just like when he begged for death.

Yuan Ming returned to the temporary shelter by the campfire, looking at the golden and oily roasted crocodile meat, but he had lost all appetite.

At this moment, a ethereal voice faintly sounded in his mind:

“Foolish…stupid.””What do you mean by this? Why do you say I’m foolish?” Yuan Ming suddenly shivered and quickly looked around, asking.

However, the night wind blew and the surroundings were silent, with no one responding.

Yuan Ming waited for a moment, feeling increasingly restless. He stood up, kicked the fire to extinguish it, and rushed into the mountains to find his next prey.

…

Time flew by, and over a month passed.

Yuan Ming arrived at the boundary monument and leaned against a large stone, waiting silently.

Accompanied by a whistling wind, Elder Hu Huo descended from the sky on a green falcon and landed on the ground.

“Elder Hu Huo, how is Ha Gong doing now?” Yuan Ming hurriedly stood up and greeted him, asking.

“He was too deeply affected by the Feather Transformation Technique. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t save him,” Elder Hu Huo said, his expression unchanged.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming stood silently in place, not saying a word.

“Why, are you the only one here?” Elder Hu Huo glanced around and asked.

“I just arrived not long ago and haven’t seen Wu Lu yet,” Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had completely let go of a heavy burden in his heart.

“Hand over this month’s contribution.” Elder Hu Huo didn’t ask further and said calmly.

Yuan Ming took off the blood storage bag hanging from his waist and handed it over, receiving a small jade bottle containing the antidote from Elder Hu Huo.

Yuan Ming opened the bottle cap, poured out the pill inside, and glanced at it before tilting his head back to swallow it.

Elder Hu Huo didn’t leave immediately like before, but stood quietly by the side, looking up at the sky, lost in thought.

Yuan Ming furrowed his brows, seemingly burdened with worries. He didn’t want to stay here for long and bid farewell.

“Wait.” Elder Hu Huo stopped him and withdrew his gaze from the sky.

“Elder, is there something else?” Yuan Ming turned around.

“The rewards for the last trial have been distributed. Don’t you want them?” Elder Hu Huo said.

A strange expression flashed across Yuan Ming’s face, but he quickly regained his composure and said, “I thought there would be no rewards due to the mishap in the trial.”

“The trial had some unexpected incidents, but it doesn’t affect the rewards. You performed well in this trial, so you are granted two hundred portions of blood food as encouragement,” Elder Hu Huo said.

“Two hundred portions!” Yuan Ming’s face showed surprise.

“What, do you think it’s too little?” Elder Hu Huo glanced at Yuan Ming.

“Of course not, it’s too much. I didn’t do much in the trial, so I dare not accept such a heavy reward,” Yuan Ming shook his head.

“Some named disciples specifically mentioned your contributions to the sect,” Elder Hu Huo looked at Yuan Ming and said.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

When he and the Silver Cat killed the Demon King, there was no one else present. Elder Hu Huo should be referring to the matter with Chen Wan.

“In that case, I humbly accept the generous reward from the sect,” Yuan Ming clasped his hands.

Elder Hu Huo nodded and didn’t speak to Yuan Ming anymore. He turned around and walked towards the green falcon on the side.

“Elder Hu Huo, I encountered an accident during the mission and withdrew early. I don’t know what happened afterwards in the trial,” Yuan Ming caught up and asked.

“This is something you don’t need to know,” Elder Hu Huo frowned and reprimanded, jumping onto the back of the green falcon.

The green falcon spread its wings and flew into the sky, quickly disappearing into the distance.

Yuan Ming stood silently for a while, then left the place and arrived at a secluded valley deep in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

On one side of the valley’s bottom, there was a cave on a stone wall. It used to be the den of a gray bear, but after Yuan Ming killed it, he slightly tidied it up and used it as his current residence.

Yuan Ming sat down in the cave and pondered his next actions.

The two hundred portions of blood food reward greatly excited him. Combined with what he had accumulated before, the amount of beast blood he had turned in had already exceeded nine hundred portions. He was not far from his goal of one thousand portions. With a little more effort, he should be able to gather enough.

Lately, the backlash from the Feather Transformation Technique had become increasingly severe. He had been worried that his body wouldn’t be able to withstand it until he gathered enough beast blood, but now it should be fine.

Time was running out, and Yuan Ming stood up, ready to leave.

Just as he took a few steps, a burning sensation suddenly emerged from his lower abdomen, as if a fire was burning, causing his internal organs to ache.

Yuan Ming’s heart skipped a beat and he quickly sat down, closing his eyes.

After a moment, his brows furrowed. Through his weak divine sense, he faintly sensed the source of this burning sensation, which seemed to come from the detoxifying pill he had just taken.

Yuan Ming’s face changed unpredictably. He had never encountered such a situation with previous detoxifying pills. What was Elder Hu Huo planning to do?

Before he could think further, the burning sensation suddenly erupted, spreading throughout his body.His meridians began to hum and tremble, a fierce and evil aura suddenly surged up, and the white ape skin around his waist automatically rolled up, adhering to his body, and instantly transformed into the shape of a white ape.

After reaching the fifth level of Qi refining, the transformation into the white ape was even more robust than before, but his spine was somewhat curved, and his limbs were even more slender, looking more like a white ape than before.

The white ape’s fur was constantly bulging and wriggling, as if many small mice were burrowing inside.

Yuan Ming was not unfamiliar with this situation. It had been happening more frequently in recent days, indicating that the fur-wearing technique was starting to backfire again.

He hurriedly operated the Nine Yuan Jue to suppress the evil aura, while taking out the incense burner and holding it in his arms.

Waves of heat from the incense burner entered his body, assisting the Nine Yuan Jue in suppressing the backlash of the fur-wearing technique.

A few breaths later, Yuan Ming’s complexion became extremely ugly.

The backlash of the fur-wearing technique this time was different from before. Waves of indescribable restlessness surged up from his heart like raging waves, several times stronger than any previous backlash.