"This Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique is indeed exquisite, but I, Yuan Ming, lack the Earth Spirit Root, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to cultivate this method," Yuan Ming hesitated slightly before sending a message through his divine sense.

"Don't worry, others without the Earth Spirit Root indeed cannot cultivate the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique, but you are an exception," Qi Ye said.

"Oh? How so?" Yuan Ming asked, puzzled.

"You possess the Demon Image Prison Suppression Skill and the Shura Blood Devouring Map. The combination of these two can resolve the issue of lacking the Spirit Root," Qi Ye said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming's face showed a contemplative expression, as if he had realized something.

"The main function of the Spirit Root is to channel nature's spiritual energy into the body, which is why mortals without Spirit Roots cannot cultivate. Cultivators who lack the Earth Attribute Spirit Root cannot cultivate Earth Attribute Cultivation Methods. But you are different. Your Demon Image Prison Suppression Skill has already achieved a certain level of proficiency, having refined a large amount of Blood Origin Power from various demon beasts. Among these, there are quite a few with the Earth Attribute. In other words, your physical body has already stored a substantial amount of Earth Spirit Power, and there's no need for a Spirit Root to channel it. You can directly refine and absorb it," Qi Ye explained.

Yuan Ming also realized this and immediately tried to operate the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique; streams of Earth Spirit Power indeed surged from all over his body, converging within his spleen.

His spleen lit up with an earthy yellow glow, growing increasingly intense, before transforming into a pure Earth magic power.

The mana of the Nine Elements Technique was stored in the Dantian, whereas the power of the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique was stored in the spleen. The two did not interfere with each other and coexisted peacefully.

It seemed that Qi Ye's method was indeed effective, and Yuan Ming was secretly delighted. He paused his cultivation, relayed Qi Ye's words to Hua Zhi, and took out the Purple Extreme Tai Sui, cutting off half of it and tossing it into the Spiritual Beast Bag where Hua Zhi resided.

After hearing Yuan Ming's words, Hua Zhi stood there stunned for a good while before regaining her composure, with her Divine Soul fluctuating quite differently from before.

"Thank you, Master, and senior Qi Ye. I have remembered many things, including the Symbiosis Technique! Rest assured, Master, I will certainly complete the Symbiosis Technique, absorb the Purple Extreme Tai Sui, and enhance my Absorption ability to refine the Sandman Poison for you!"

After Hua Zhi said these words, she immediately returned to the Spiritual Beast Bag, and countless vines sprouted from her body, wrapping around half of the Purple Extreme Tai Sui.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming nodded and continued to operate the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique.

The earthy yellow glow on his spleen became brighter, exuding a sense of solidity and grandeur, seemingly connected to the earth beneath his feet as one.

Yuan Ming's face showed a look of surprise, and he continued to operate the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique, gathering more Earth Spirit Power.

The Sandman Poison within his body was also affected by the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique, converging towards his spleen, and the numbness quickly receded.

"It's really effective!" Yuan Ming suppressed the excitement in his heart and focused on operating the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique.

As time passed slowly, nearly half of the Sandman Poison in his body converged in his spleen. His hands and feet were now barely movable, and his tongue had regained its softness, so he could speak.

However, at this moment, Yuan Ming's spleen suddenly ached intensely, as if pierced by countless red-hot knives, and the previously fulgent organ rapidly exhausted.

Yuan Ming was greatly alarmed and hastily stopped operating the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique.

"I didn't expect the Sandman Poison to be so formidable. Your Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique is too superficial and cannot withstand the erosion of a substantial amount of the poison. However, don't panic, Yuan. I anticipated this," Qi Ye's voice rang out again, still as calm as ever.

As soon as his voice fell, the Shura Blood Devouring Map flew out from Yuan Ming's body, emitting a thick Blood Light.

Qi Ye chanted a spell, and the Shura Blood Devouring Map rapidly shrank until it became a dazzling fist-sized ball of blood-colored light, slowly merging into Yuan Ming's spleen.

Rolling Blood Origin Power gushed out from the Shura Blood Devouring Map, mixed with a perpetual and strange spiritual power that entered his spleen.

The previously exhausted spleen was injected with an astonishing vitality and began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye, quickly becoming full and plump, and the stabbing pain vanished.

Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief and resumed operating the Taiyin Refining Spleen Technique.

A moment later, all of the Sandman Poison converged in his spleen, and the numbness in his body disappeared completely. He rolled over and stood up.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to thank Qi Ye, the mark of the Stealing Heaven Tripod on his arm suddenly became abnormally hot. Then, the mark slowly faded away, soon disappearing altogether.

Although the Incense Burner Mark disappeared, the Stealing Heaven Tripod did not.

Furthermore, Yuan Ming felt that his connection with the Stealing Heaven Tripod had deepened unknowingly.

In addition, drastic changes took place within the Stealing Heaven Tripod. The white mist swirling around the altar roared and dissipated quickly, expanding the visible area by several times.

In front of the altar was a plaza-like open area, with a huge trench some twenty to thirty zhang wide stretching across it, pitch-black and bottomless. The edges were extremely smooth, as if cut by a knife, appearing like a massive sword mark.

The first soul told Yuan Ming of the changes within the Stealing Heaven Tripod. He was inwardly astonished, yet his expression remained calm to avoid alerting Qi Ye.

"Senior Qi Ye, I was able to suppress the Sandman Poison thanks to your guidance. I cannot thank you enough." Yuan Ming conveyed his thanks through his divine sense.

"It's a trivial matter, not worth mentioning. You are too kind, Yuan," Qi Ye responded with a hearty laugh.

"Senior Qi Ye, regarding the Golden Crow Divine Arrow from the Li Palace that you asked me to collect, I have obtained it. I wonder what the next step is?" Yuan Ming, who had started to trust Qi Ye, inquired.

"Next, there's no need for Yuan to do anything specific. Just store the Golden Crow Divine Arrow carefully and don't let anyone discover it. When the time comes, I will contact you again..." Qi Ye said.

Speaking halfway, Qi Ye abruptly stopped and then cried out in alarm, "Not good! It's awakening ahead of time!"

"What exactly is awakening ahead of time?" Yuan Ming, also startled, hurriedly asked.

"The island will be extremely dangerous for the next three days, Yuan, you must protect your life at all costs! I can say no more, or it will discover me..." Qi Ye spoke in a rush, his voice rapidly weakening until it fell silent.

Yuan Ming furrowed his brows, clueless about the situation.

It was clear from Qi Ye's urgency that some major disaster had occurred on the island.

After a moment's thought, he enveloped the Sealing Stone Box containing the Golden Crow Divine Arrow in a Barrier with the Silver Token, and then stored it within the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space.

The Shura Blood Devouring Map was currently housed within Yuan Ming's spleen, but it didn't affect its usage.

A stream of Blood Light shot from Yuan Ming's palm, pulling Lei He's corpse and the Nascent Soul into the Shura Blood Devouring Map, refining them into a Blood Slave.

"Boom Boom Boom"

Just then, a series of thunderous roars suddenly came from outside the palace, shaking the very ground beneath their feet.

Yuan Ming, sensing trouble, quickly rushed out.

Upon exiting, his brow furrowed even deeper.

The sky outside had become enveloped in a thick layer of Black Mist, almost completely blocking out all sunlight. The dim light and the incessant shouting and killing noises echoed in the distance.

From afar, Yuan Ming saw that the grand doors of the plaza had been breached, an uncountable number of black Tree Men were pouring into the Fire Essence Palace non-stop.

The Jin Chao Clone, Golden Cloud Fairy, and Yan Xiang, among others, had been scattered by the Tree Men and were now engaged in fierce combat with them.

Loud explosions roared in the distance, and an entire palace rooftop was blown off.

The figure of Golden Transformation Master burst out from it, only to have just reached mid-air when several thick black tendrils extended from the ruins of the great hall below and wrapped around him, yanking him back down.

A furious roar emanated from the ruins as a two-zhang tall black Tree Man stood up, its vast figure appearing almost like a dark god worshipped in some primitive religion.

Elsewhere, Yan Xiang was besieged by hundreds of black Tree Men. Although there were no particularly odd-shaped Tree Men among them, the relentless waves of attackers still left him overwhelmed.

More and more wounds on his body ignited Yan Xiang's already irritable mood to the brink of eruption. He let out an angered roar as he wildly poured magical power into the Mystic Fire Fan in his hand.

The feathers of the Mystic Fire Fan vibrated violently as the surging mana transformed into a torrent of Flames. With Yan Xiang's swing, a gigantic and ferocious Fire Dragon was drawn forth, encircling him before forming a circular flame wall over a zhang high, pouring out intense flames in every direction.

The black Tree Men close to him were immediately engulfed by Flames and turned to ashes in short order.

Yan Xiang managed to catch a moment's breath but could hardly rejoice.

His magic power had been consumed greatly, and without a chance to replenish, more black Tree Men were already stepping over the ashes of their companions, converging on him once again.

Seeing that Yan Xiang's attacks were effective, the Jin Chao Clone's body ignited with golden Flames, and from its chest, as if a vortex, a thick stream of golden Flames was violently ejected, piercing through the chests of three ordinary black Tree Men.

The ferocity of these black Tree Men was beyond imagination. Not only did they fight without fear of death, but their bodies were also incredibly sturdy. Only the most intense Flames could incinerate them; otherwise, it wasn't easy to defeat them with strength alone.

These creatures were numerous, seemingly endless in their assault.

Besides the mass of ordinary black Tree Men, there were also some with significantly larger bodies, or with plate armor formed on them, or with spiked vines—all sorts of odd-shaped Tree Men.

Yuan Ming, watching everyone else struggling in battle, was reluctant to join in the fray, but before he could return to the grand hall, he noticed that a dozen Tree Men had already spotted him and were charging his way.

Without any hesitation, he retreated back into the palace and closed the doors behind him. A cacophony of sounds resembling the clashing of metal against stone immediately erupted outside.

Yuan Ming's gaze swept over the interior of the hall, but he couldn't find anywhere to hide.

In the current situation, if he were entangled by these black Tree Men, it was doubtful that even releasing Hong Ling and Blood Shadow would allow for a quick escape.

After briefly contemplating, Yuan Ming leaped up to the rafters of the grand hall.

He then took out the Stealing Heaven Tripod, placed it against the wall at the base of the rafters, and in a swift movement, concealed himself within the Tripod.

No sooner had he hidden himself than the doors of the Li Palace were smashed open by a great force, and a dozen black Tree Men squeezed into the grand hall, stumbling over each other and even falling to the floor.

Fortunately, these creatures seemed to lack high spiritual intelligence and, failing to see Yuan Ming, furiously rampaged throughout the grand hall. Some even thrust their tendrils into the ground, peeling back a layer of the floor.

After their destructive bout, the black Tree Men rushed out once more, leaving the hall in complete disarray.

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