Yuan Ming managed to flee a couple of hundred yards before he dared to stop, taking cover behind a rock, his chest heaving wildly as he gasped for air.

Just a moment ago, he had felt that he was about to be discovered. Had it not been for the seductive scent he had lit in advance, which hindered the other party for a moment, he surely wouldn't have been able to escape.

"Core Formation Stage soul cultivators are truly terrifying. Thank goodness for the cloak Xi Ying gave me. I wonder how Xi Ying is doing," Yuan Ming pressed one hand against his chest, feeling as though he had narrowly escaped death.

However, amidst his panic, he still closed his eyes slightly and began to check the perspectives of the two soul crows he had sent out.

One remained at the cave entrance where Xi Ying was, and the other continued to monitor the plaza area.

At the entrance of Biluo Cave, there was still no sign of the silver cat, while the Great Elder once again flared his sleeves, starting to blow away the fog in search of the cave entrance with a gust of wind.

The fog incense wouldn't last much longer, and with the Great Elder's cultivation, he and Xi Ying were bound to be discovered sooner or later.

Yuan Ming's brows furrowed deeply as he pondered a strategy. A moment later, he inserted a deep black stick of incense into the incense burner, where the fog incense was burning, and lit it.

Create chaos and escape during the confusion!

After smelling the familiar scent of the Beast Attraction Incense, Yuan Ming once again used the Exorcism Technique to control the incense burner. Guided by the direction provided by the soul crows, he moved towards the Great Elder's location under the cover of the thick fog.

...

In the front mountain plaza, the chaos continued.

Earlier, the blood bats had caused nearly a hundred cultivators from both Biluo Cave and the Dawn Alliance to fall into a frenzy, attacking other members of the Dawn Alliance as if they had lost their minds.

Some of the elders who had been dispatched to the east and west sides of Biluo Cave also began to return with their people in tow, meeting up with the remaining disciples to mount a desperate resistance.

After the Great Elder broke away from the siege and ducked towards the rear mountain, the hunched-back elder and two other Core Formation Stage cultivators briefly conferred before chasing after the Great Elder. Meanwhile, Ou Ji stayed behind, directing the cultivators of the Dawn Alliance to fend off counterattacks from the remaining forces of Biluo Cave, while also stepping in to stabilize the frenzied members of their own alliance.

After all, many of them were their own people who had merely lost their sensibility momentarily; they couldn't be killed indiscriminately.

The original chaotic situation began to show signs of improvement.

With both cave masters captured, the remaining Biluo Cave cultivators, leaderless, no longer cared whether they could control them or not and released almost all their spirit beasts, fighting like trapped beasts in a desperate struggle.

However, just as they were fiercely battling, a peculiar situation arose.

A Green Wolf, which had been under control and engaged in combat, suddenly came to a stop mid-charge and turned its head towards the direction of the rear mountain.

Its eyes gradually turned red, its mouth revealing blood-stained teeth as thick saliva dribbled out. Suddenly, it charged madly towards the rear mountain as if possessed by madness.

The bewildered Biluo Cave Disciple still on the Green Wolf's back didn't know what was happening and hastily used the Beast Taming Technique, trying to regain control of the Green Wolf.

But at that moment, the Green Wolf had lost all sense of reason, and the Beast Taming Technique also failed to work. Its back arched in furious leaps, it threw off its rider, and headed straight for the rear mountain.

Like the Green Wolf, more and more spirit beasts broke free from control and flung their masters away, or even dragged them along, rushing towards the rear mountain. The spirit beasts of the Dawn Alliance were no exception.

In no time, the spiritual birds and Fierce Beasts from the surrounding mountains all converged around Biluo Cave.

A stampede of beasts…

In the rear mountain, as the fog incense burned out, the dense white fog gradually began to disappear.

The Great Elder, Chen Cangqiong, had also found his direction again and was preparing to continue on his way when he suddenly heard the sound of hooves rumbling around him, which put him on high alert.

He shifted his gaze around and saw that in the distance, within the rolling fog of the forest, huge figures burst forth and charged directly towards him.

Among those shadows were the massive One-horned Rhinoceroses, Green-furred Giant Wolves with wings on their backs, Black Pigs covered in Scale Armor, and fire-red Scale Pythons as thick as barrels...

Some of them were spirit beasts raised by the Biluo Cave Sect, and even more were Fierce Beasts that lived in the Ten Thousand Mountains; however, all of them were charging towards him as if driven mad.

"How can there be a beast tide?" Chen Cangqiong looked anxious and confused.

The Fierce Beasts and spirit beasts all around him had charged up in a frenzy, and he had no choice but to take action in response, once again bogged down.

Above in the sky, huge birds of prey also swooped towards his direction, diving from above towards the Great Elder.

Chen Cangqiong was surrounded by nearly a hundred Fierce Beasts, blocking his path.

"Annoying!"

A resonant, powerful growl erupted from Chen Cangqiong, and the blood-colored bat mark on his forehead lit up. From behind him, a terrifying claw of the Blood Soul Illusion swept across in a scythe-like motion.

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, and the Fierce Beasts within a hundred yards of the Great Elder were all torn asunder by the Blood Claw, their Divine Souls shredded as if their entire strength had been drained. They fell in disarray across the ground.

Chen Cangqiong easily blazed a trail of blood through the throng of Fierce Beasts, and, after discerning the direction, rushed toward the cave.

...

On the other side, Yuan Ming put away the incense burner after retracting it. The Beast Attraction Incense was already half burned, so he stored the incense burner away.

At that moment, Yuan Ming suddenly saw Xi Ying's sparrow fly through the thinning fog and come towards him.

"Xi Ying, have you come out of Biluo Cave?" Without waiting for the sparrow to speak, Yuan Ming asked first.

The sparrow landed on his arm, speaking human language, "I came out earlier, hurry over here."

"Lead the way!" Yuan Ming halted abruptly, turned around, and commanded.

The sparrow flapped its wings and flew in a certain direction.

Yuan Ming followed, his cloak billowing as he sprinted, the corners of his garment fluttering in the air.

He had not run far when the surrounding mist gradually dissipated, clearing the view of the surroundings; from a distance, he could see a large number of frenzied spirit beasts and Fierce Beasts that had already made their way to this area.

Although the Beast Attraction Incense had been extinguished, the lingering scent still affected the crazed Fierce Beasts. Having lost their direction, they began attacking the living creatures nearby.

As a living human, Yuan Ming naturally bore the brunt of the attack, becoming the primary target.

Seeing seven or eight Fierce Beasts charging at him first, with even more frenzied figures looming behind, Yuan Ming did not panic at all. He immediately took a Detoxification Pill and lit the seductive scent in the incense burner.

With the catalysis of the incense burner, the effect of the seductive scent increased manifold. Within a hundred paces around Yuan Ming, it instantly became forbidden ground for the Fierce Beasts.

All Fierce Beasts that approached within a hundred paces of him, without exception, began falling to the ground, descending into slumber.

Luckily, the sparrow, heeding Yuan Ming's warning, flew high above a hundred paces, arriving first at Xi Ying's location.

Yuan Ming rushed all the way and finally saw the silver cat's figure far in the distance, only to unexpectedly find it squatting beside that female Array Master from the Scatter Alliance.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to catch up, he suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the direction of the cave behind him.

The soul crow that stayed in Biluo Cave immediately gave him a clear view of the scene there.

He saw a burst of Blood Light suddenly appear at the mouth of the cave, massive rocks collapsing, dust and smoke billowing.

"Sha Hao, wake up, who took my Soul Suppressing Kettle…" Chen Cangqiong's figure burst out from the tumbling dust, his eyes blood-red, his face full of intense anger suffused with thick killing intent, he bellowed.

Before his words fell, three figures had already broken through the fog, following the sound of his voice and finding their way over.

"Chen Cangqiong, where are you going!"

"Do you think you can get away?"

"Chen Cangqiong, let's have a good talk."

Three voices arose from three different directions, and the hunchbacked elder, including the two other Core Formation Stage cultivators, appeared one after another.

The Great Elder felt as if his vision were already covered by red, his heart filled with nothing but raging anger that had nowhere to vent; he roared, "You're seeking death, I'll grant it to you!"

Behind him, the Blood Shadow surged forth, pouncing on one of them.

…

Watching the four Core Formation cultivators continue in their chaotic battle, Yuan Ming sighed with relief and turned his gaze back to Xi Ying and the female Array Master.

He saw that outside of them, there was a protective shield enveloped in green light, separating them from the frenzied Fierce Beasts around.

At that moment, a One-horned Rhinoceros with green scales covering its body was furiously slamming against the green light shield.

Its thick, slightly curved horn, gleaming with a metallic luster, struck the green light shield repeatedly, causing the entire shield to tremble violently, its light flickering.

The guiding sparrow flew into the green light shield, landing on the female Array Master.

After a moment, the spirit light in its eyes scattered and, once again flapping its wings, it flew away directly.

Seeing that he was about to reach the vicinity of the silver cat, Yuan Ming hurriedly extinguished the seductive scent in the incense burner, fearing it might affect Xi Ying adversely.

Spotting two Green Wolves drawing near the green light shield, the prepared Yuan Ming instantly raised his hand and waved; the Nine-Ring Gold Saber whistled out, skewering both wolves, while he himself, wielding the Cold Star Sword, charged next to the One-horned Rhinoceros, striking down with his sword.

The One-horned Rhinoceros, seeing an attack coming, immediately turned to confront it, its solitary horn aimed straight at Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming's sword flashed with cold light; as the frost surged from the blade, before even touching the One-horned Rhinoceros, a layer of White Frost had already formed on its forehead.

Even feeling the chilling breath, the One-horned Rhinoceros did not back down; in its ferocity, it let out a roar and charged with full force.

Finally, the long sword descended, colliding right with the horn.

A clanging metallic sound rang out.

The exceptionally hard horn ultimately could not withstand the Sharpness of the Cold Star Sword.

The Cold Star Sword cleaved through the tip of the One-horned Rhinoceros' horn, its edge penetrating its head.

The One-horned Rhinoceros' head was split in two, but it still managed to push Yuan Ming back a few steps before finally stopping.

By then, the already faltering green light shield also collapsed, dissolving into points of light and vanishing...

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