Divine Transcendence

Chapter 174: Leave none behind

"What the hell is this thing!"

Although Gu Tu didn’t know what secret technique Yuan Ming was using, he felt a growing sense of unease. He quickly formed hand seals, and black spells shot out one after another.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, which merged with the spells. The black spells instantly turned blood-red and merged into the Black Needle Artifact and the Nine-Ring Golden Knife.

The two artifacts trembled violently, their power increasing by nearly half, and they fiercely struck the same spot on the Golden Silk.

The golden silk was dented, and the outer three layers of golden silk tore apart, while the remaining layers barely managed to withstand the attacks of the two artifacts.

Yuan Ming didn’t have time to lament and quickly formed a hand seal.

The golden silk suddenly flew outward, wrapping around the Black Needle Artifact and the Nine-Ring Golden Knife, quickly forming a golden silk ball that trapped the two artifacts inside.

Almost at the same time, a white shadow flashed by Yuan Ming’s side, and the skin of the White Ape was already draped over him.

Yuan Ming’s body instantly grew larger, transforming into a white giant ape over ten feet tall. In his left hand, he unknowingly held the Cold Star Sword and stabbed at the two Qinggang corpses in the void.

A bone-chilling cold burst forth, and a layer of white ice appeared on the surface of the two Qinggang corpses, slowing down their movements.

This series of actions may seem complicated, but in reality, it only took two or three breaths. Gu Tu was slightly surprised and was about to use other means.

Yuan Ming himself flew out, under the enhancement of the fur technique, he appeared next to Gu Tu in a flash. The Cold Star Sword in his left hand had already been put away, and more than a dozen attack-type talismans that he had purchased in the Black Rock City market were thrown out.

Fireballs, fire snakes, and lightning appeared one after another, forming a wave of spells that erupted with astonishing magical power, all of which struck Gu Tu.

The wooden prison technique around Gu Tu suddenly disintegrated, and all the purple-black demon vines retracted into the ground. The surging wave of spells fiercely struck the yellow shield.

A series of loud explosions occurred, and the intense collision of magical power caused visible ripples in the nearby air.

The yellow shield trembled violently, and cracks appeared on its surface, but it did not collapse.

Inside the shield, Gu Tu’s body also trembled, but when he saw the shield holding up, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He pressed his hands on the inside of the shield and infused it with abundant magical power, trying to restore its strength.

At this moment, a purple color suddenly surged on Gu Tu’s cheeks, and his hands and feet became somewhat weak and powerless, and his magical power operation was also affected.

"I’m poisoned! Could it be the sweet smell I smelled in the passage just now? But I closed my breath in time, how could I still be poisoned!" He was shocked.

At this moment, on the faces of Sang Yan and the others who were attacking the Water Cloud Banner, purple poison spots also appeared, and their magical power receded like a tide, their expressions greatly changed.

"It finally took effect." Yuan Ming relaxed.

The poisonous mist sprayed by the Black Toad earlier was mixed with the snake venom of the Snake King. Its effect was completely different from the liquid toad poison. The poisonous mist did not have strong corrosiveness, but it could damage the opponent’s organs and meridians.

This poison did not need to be inhaled to take effect. As long as the skin touched the poisonous mist, the highly toxic substance would automatically penetrate.

However, Gu Tu quickly turned his hand and took out a pill, put it in his mouth, and the purple color on his face quickly faded away. His actions immediately became agile, and he continued to infuse magical power into the shield, quickly healing the cracks on its surface.

At this moment, three black lights appeared around Gu Tu without knowing when, and they pierced through the cracks in the shield from three directions, flying towards Gu Tu’s head.

They were three Soul Crows!

Gu Tu’s heart trembled, and he tried his best to dodge two of them, but the third one hit his forehead.

He felt a "bang" in his mind, as if something had burst open. His whole body froze, his gaze became dull, and the cracks in the shield stopped healing.

At the same time, Yuan Ming also felt a severe dizziness, but he bit his tongue hard. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he quickly approached Gu Tu and pushed forward with his right hand. A grinding plate-sized red fireball shot out and hit the crack in the yellow shield.

With a loud bang!

As soon as the huge red ball touched the shield, it immediately exploded with great momentum, and the crimson flames engulfed Gu Tu’s figure.

The entire snake cave shook violently, and small and large rocks fell like rain.

Yuan Ming immediately flew backward the moment he released the explosive technique, narrowly avoiding the storm caused by the explosion.

At this moment, a figure shot out from the red flames, flying towards the distance. It was Gu Tu.

Half of his body was charred black, and several bones could be seen between his chest and abdomen. Obviously, he was seriously injured by the explosive technique, and his flying figure appeared somewhat unsteady.

Yuan Ming threw away the middle-grade spirit stone that had been drained in his left hand, and at the same time, he extended his right hand. The Shaking Mountain Hammer appeared in his hand and was fiercely thrown towards Gu Tu.

With a sharp and piercing whistle, the Shaking Mountain Hammer chased after Gu Tu.

Gu Tu spat out a black gas, barely forming a black gas barrier behind him, but it was easily shattered by the Shaking Mountain Hammer. Although the speed of the Shaking Mountain Hammer decreased significantly, it still hit Gu Tu’s back.

His whole person was sent flying, heavily crashing into the mountain wall, and spewing out a mouthful of blood.

Before he could get up, the ground around him suddenly cracked open, and the dozen or so purple-black demon vines emerged again, curling towards him.

Gu Tu, who was seriously injured and had his artifacts trapped by Yuan Ming, was completely powerless to resist and was easily entangled by the demon vines.

"Please hold on, let’s talk! I am an elder of the Black Fire Sect. If you dare to harm me, the Black Fire Sect will never let you go..." Gu Tu threatened with a fierce expression.

Yuan Ming, with an expressionless face, formed a hand seal. The dozen or so purple-black demon vines pierced into Gu Tu’s body, and before he could finish speaking, they had already sucked him dry.

Since he chose to take action, there was no turning back.With the death of Gu Tu, the two Qing Steel corpses, the black needle magical tool, and the Nine Ring Golden Knife all ceased to move. The latter fell to the ground, powerless.

Yuan Ming had been simultaneously operating multiple magical tools and had released the Soul Crow Soul Strike three times in a row. His soul power was greatly depleted, and his magical power was already on the verge of exhaustion. He was holding on by sheer willpower. Seeing his formidable enemy fall, he finally couldn’t hold on any longer. He sat down on the ground, dispelled the Fur Coat Technique, and began to pant heavily.

The situation just now was a matter of life and death. If he hadn’t been able to kill his opponent in one fell swoop, he would have been no match for him once he recovered. The unpredictable abilities of a soul cultivator were truly demonstrated at this moment, providing an opportunity for the Explosion Technique.

Outside, Sang Yan and the others were each taking out antidotes and trying to neutralize the deadly poison in their bodies. Hearing Gu Tu’s dying scream, their faces showed shock.

Although they had only caught a glimpse of him, all four of them had seen that Yuan Ming was merely a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining. How could he possibly have killed Gu Tu? Could it be that Bai Ye and Huan Shi were not injured?

Without a word, Sang Yan turned around and dashed towards the outside of the snake cave.

Seeing this, the other three hurriedly followed.

"Cut the grass and remove the roots, leave none behind!" Yuan Ming didn’t look back, but ordered the Black Toad in a deep voice.

More than a dozen purple-black demon vines immediately retracted into the ground, and the Black Toad turned into a yellow shadow, diving towards the outside.

Terrified screams soon came from outside, but quickly fell silent.

The Water Cloud Banner quickly shrank, turning into a small blue banner, and flew back into Yuan Ming’s hand, revealing the situation on the other side.

The bodies of the three girls in black lay not far in front of the Water Cloud Banner, already turned into mummies. Sang Yan had escaped to a distance of about ten meters, but unfortunately, she also couldn’t escape the fate of being sucked dry.

Those purple-black demon vines slowly sank into the ground, shaking excitedly.

Deep underground, the Black Toad burped contentedly, its aura seeming to grow a bit stronger.

Bai Ye, not far away, stared blankly at everything that had happened, unable to recover for a long time.

He had previously pinned all his hopes on Yuan Ming, a desperate move akin to treating a dead horse as if it were alive. He had only hoped that Yuan Ming had something similar to the Earth Travel Talisman, which could help him and Huan Shi temporarily escape disaster. But he never expected that Yuan Ming would actually kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator and four cultivators of the same level.

Yuan Ming ignored everything else, took out several recovery pills and swallowed them, and began to meditate with a spirit stone in each hand. His depleted magical power finally began to recover a bit.

He then got up and collected Gu Tu’s black needle and Nine Ring Golden Knife, and then came to Gu Tu’s corpse.

Yuan Ming first picked up the Mountain Shaking Hammer next to him, then carefully examined Gu Tu’s corpse, finding a small black bag, a green ring, and a yellow spherical magical tool.

He opened the black bag, and a strong yin energy emanated from it.

Yuan Ming’s eyes flickered. With his experience in the Black Rock City market, he naturally recognized this item as a Corpse Nurturing Bag.

The Corpse Nurturing Bag is a basic magical tool for every disciple of the Black Fire Sect, similar to the Spirit Beast Bag of the Bi Luo Cave. However, it is used to store refined corpses or ghostly entities, providing them with a suitable environment so that their strength will not decline due to insufficient yin energy.

After some attempts, Yuan Ming successfully stored the two Qing Steel corpses in the Corpse Nurturing Bag, planning to deal with them later.

As for the green ring, it was a storage magical tool. He didn’t have time to examine it closely and put it away directly. He then picked up the yellow spherical magical tool.

Two cracks appeared on the surface of the spherical magical tool, which had obviously been severely damaged under his barrage of talismans and the Explosion Technique, and most of its spiritual power had leaked out.

Yuan Ming was disappointed. The defensive power of this spherical magical tool was quite impressive, not inferior to the Liu Jin Sha. Unfortunately, it had cracked, and he didn’t know if it could be repaired.

He put away the items, cast the Explosion Technique, and a ball of fire turned Gu Tu’s corpse into ashes.

Bai Ye watched Yuan Ming’s skilled handling of the corpse, and a chill ran down his spine for no reason. He just silently recovered his magical power.

Yuan Ming turned and came to the bodies of the three girls in black. The Black Toad had also brought over Sang Yan’s body, and the four bodies were lined up side by side.

Yuan Ming collected their magical tools, storage magical tools, and Corpse Nurturing Bags, then released a ball of fire, engulfing the bodies.

The bodies quickly turned into ashes. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly stopped.

Inside the ashes of Sang Yan’s body, there was an item left behind.

Yuan Ming was slightly surprised. He picked up the item, which turned out to be a white jade belt inlaid with three green gems.

He had seen this belt before, but there was no magical power fluctuation on it, so he thought it was a common item and didn’t pay attention to it. He didn’t expect that this belt could withstand the spiritual fire of the Explosion Technique.

Yuan Ming activated his divine sense to examine it closely and quickly discovered that one of the three green gems on the belt had a very faint spiritual power fluctuation. If his divine sense wasn’t strong enough, he would have had difficulty detecting it.

As for the other two gems, they had no aura at all, and each had a crack inside, as if they were damaged.

After a moment of hesitation, he tied the belt around his waist and infused his magical power into the gem that contained spiritual power.

The green gem lit up with a faint light, and a rune slowly appeared. Yuan Ming’s body suddenly became extremely light, as if he were a feather that could be blown away by a gust of wind.

This effect was very similar to the Wind Agility Technique, but much stronger.

Yuan Ming took a step forward, and his figure instantly became blurry. In a flash, he was ten meters away, and with a retreat, he was back where he started.

His face lit up with joy. No wonder Sang Yan was able to travel so fast earlier, and the Soul Crow couldn’t catch up with her. Even after being poisoned, she was able to run so far. It turned out to be because of this belt!

It was indeed an excellent magical tool for travel and combat.

(End of Chapter)