White Scale Master exchanged a glance with Queen Ming Kong before stepping forward a few steps and began to pray.

Although he had just been trapped in an illusion, causing significant damage to his Divine Soul, his prayers now were unexpectedly devout. It was unclear whether he genuinely succumbed to the power of the Nether Moon God or if he harbored some ulterior motive.

Yuan Ming had little interest in guessing White Scale Master's true intentions. After all, even if the latter had a scheme in mind, the Desire Power he offered was real and beyond tampering.

Yuan Ming quickly took note of the orders he had communicated to his clanspeople and collected two Magic Treasures, ready to transfer them as requested by White Scale Master.

The last to pray was, of course, Queen Ming Kong.

Compared to the other two, she was more calculating, and the Desire Power she offered was slightly inferior. Nonetheless, its richness far surpassed that of any at the Core Formation Stage, let alone Foundation Establishment cultivators or mortals.

She also had Yuan Ming convey some orders on her behalf and took out two talismans and a Jade Scroll to be transferred. However, at the end, she posed an intriguing question.

"If someone else from my clan were to pray to you, seeking your help to save Bijiao Island, would you respond?"

Yuan Ming instantly understood Queen Ming Kong's thought and couldn't help but laugh, "As long as the prayers are sincere, I will naturally offer aid."

Queen Ming Kong nodded noncommittally, no longer speaking, and concluded her prayer.

...

An hour later.

On Lank Island, Yuan Ming emerged from the Stealing Heaven Tripod and tucked away the Silver Token, continuing deeper into the island.

He had already given orders to Yan Siyun to get the people from Hundred Pills Square to establish contact with the Three Bijiao Islands. Soon, he would be able to transmit the orders and items of Queen Ming Kong and the others through the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

After dealing with these matters, Yuan Ming spent some time refining part of the Desire Power provided by Queen Ming Kong and her companions, which greatly enhanced his Divine Soul Cultivation.

Although Queen Ming Kong and her companions' devotion paled in comparison to that of Yan Sijing and others, the sheer amount of Desire Power they provided as Nascent Souls was too vast for Yuan Ming to absorb at once. Moreover, the urgent task at hand was still to explore the Immortal Island, so he did not linger within the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

As time slowly passed, the scenery Yuan Ming saw remained unchanged, and the joy that had lifted his spirits from acquiring Desire Power gradually became weighed down again.

After an indeterminate amount of time, he suddenly heard faint sounds of explosions from afar.

He was instantly energized and hastened towards the source of the sounds. However, halfway there, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his gaze sweeping across to his left.

Surrounded by several large trees, there was a small depression on the ground. In the center of the depression lay a black chess piece, quiet and unassuming. Though the piece wasn't large, it was particularly conspicuous against the backdrop of pure white.

Yuan Ming approached, picked up the chess piece, and channeled Mana into it, but like a stone dropped into the ocean, there was no response. He probed with his Divine Sense, and still, he detected neither runes nor any Forbidden within the piece.

It seemed to be just an ordinary chess piece.

Yuan Ming furrowed his brows and pondered for a moment before placing the chess piece into his Storage Ring. Then he continued towards the direction of the sounds.

The place where the chess piece was located wasn't far from the origin of the sounds.

Circling a few large trees, Yuan Ming soon saw an open area far ahead, where two groups stood facing each other.

For safety's sake, he did not approach but quietly released his Divine Sense towards the clearing.

There were five people on the clearing. One group consisted of Nascent Soul cultivators who had participated in activating the outer sea Teleportation Array; thus, Yuan Ming roughly recognized them.

The leader was a gaunt old man wearing a bamboo hat and straw raincoat, holding a black bamboo stick—it was none other than Nascent Soul Old Man Hei Zhu from Yuzhu Island.

Beside him were a male and a female cultivator. The man, named Shi Yanshi, was a Nascent Soul from Red Leaf Island. He was dressed in light blue scholar's attire with a goat beard, resembling a private school teacher.

The woman was Aunt Wan Hua from Wanhua Island. She was petite, with a Flowers Crown on her head and clothes woven from fine leaves. Her delicate fair skin set against the green made her look like a Fairy born from a flower bud, evoking an instinctive tenderness from those who beheld her.

All three had only reached the early stage of Nascent Soul cultivation, whereas one of the two they faced was a mid-stage Nascent Soul figure.

This mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was a sickly-looking man with red hair. His complexion was so pale it lacked any trace of blood, and a long scar across his nose split his face in half—as if it had once been severed.

In his right hand, he leaned on a Blood-red Walking Stick. A cross-shaped wound on the back of his hand oozed bright red blood, which seemed to possess life, hovering and connecting him to the walking stick like a ribbon.

Behind him was a young man with white pupils and eyebrows, looking just like an ice sculpture with a chill enveloping his entire body.

"Blood Realm Venerable, with many Tree Men roaming the island now, even if we join forces, we might not gain any advantage. Are you really intent on fighting with us here?" Old Man Hei Zhu spoke with a grim expression, questioning loudly.

"Otherwise, what? The Tree Men are all dry inside, just sawdust, not satisfying to eat at all. Now that I've finally encountered you, Blood Food teeming with vitality, even if I wanted to let you go, my stomach wouldn't agree." The Blood Realm Venerable chuckled.

"Hmph, boasting shamelessly. Do you really think the two of you alone can keep us here?" Aunt Wan Hua snorted coldly.

The Blood Realm Venerable stared at Aunt Wan Hua, a hint of joy suddenly flashing in his eyes: "Oh, my luck today is good. I've actually met a Green Wood Evergreen Body. To tell you the truth, I've grown tired of those dirty Blood Foods from the past. I haven't had much chance to eat a pure one like you—it must have a unique flavor, huh? Heh heh!"

As he spoke, he even stretched out his blood-red tongue and licked his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing with the action.

Aunt Wan Hua felt goosebumps all over from his gaze and immediately yelled angrily, raising her hand and swinging it. A flower basket filled with blooms soared from her grip, flying into the air.

The basket spun in mid-air, releasing a large cloud of pale yellow pollen that enveloped the Blood Realm Venerable.

The Blood Realm Venerable showed no fear. He stamped his blood-red walking stick on the ground, and instantly a Blood Pond appeared in front of him. A Blood Dragon shot out and met the pale yellow pollen, opening its mouth to inhale, easily swallowing all the pollen.

Yuan Ming, observing the scene through his Divine Sense, heard a surprised and joyful voice emanate from the Shura Blood Devouring Map in his Sea of Consciousness.

"It's the Blood Transformation Technique! Wonderful, there's actually a cultivator who has cultivated this technique to the Nascent Soul level. It seems my Blood Transformation Sect has not declined; there's still a legacy left in the world!"

Upon hearing the words "Blood Transformation Technique," Yuan Ming's expression shifted slightly. He was just about to inquire for more details but noticed that the battle had taken another turn.

The Blood Realm Venerable had easily cracked Aunt Wan Hua's move. He was about to scoff when he suddenly paused, apparently surprised.

A variety of colorful flowers had unexpectedly begun to sprout on the Blood Dragon he had conjured, blooming rapidly. From their buds, they sprayed out more pollen that floated toward the Blood Realm Venerable.

At this moment, the young man with white eyebrows behind the Blood Realm Venerable took action.

He raised his hand slightly, and an Ice Cone shot from his fingertips, releasing a vast fog of frost, wrapping around the Blood Realm Venerable's body like two arms.

The pollen entered the frost mist, floating for less than a moment before being encased in ice and falling to the ground.

Old Man Hei Zhu, upon seeing the young woman's move, suddenly flicked his fishing pole, and the line pierced the void, appearing behind the young man with white eyebrows.

Right then, the Blood Realm Venerable let out a sinister laugh. Countless blood threads suddenly grew on the Blood Dragon, wrapping around the flowers, and then the dragon turned its head, accurately finding the position of the hook and biting down on it.

Old Man Hei Zhu's expression changed; he immediately tried to retract the hook, but the young man with white eyebrows also acted at the same time, sending waves of cold towards the fish hook, drastically slowing it down.

In the next moment, the Blood Dragon bit the fishing hook, and the blood threads from its body followed the line into the void opened by the fishing pole, lunging at Old Man Hei Zhu.

Suddenly, Shi Yanshi flipped his right hand, and a brush covered in ink appeared in his palm. As he started to write swiftly, a dark "Forbidden" rune emerged in the air in just moments.

As the rune appeared, the void tunnel opened by Old Man Hei Zhu's fishing pole abruptly closed, barely managing to block the incoming blood threads.

However, due to the backlash, Old Man Hei Zhu coughed twice, spitting out mouthfuls of blood while his aura became chaotic.

Nevertheless, Old Man Hei Zhu still gave Shi Yanshi a grateful look, since the main body of his Magic Treasure, the fishing pole, remained undamaged and could possibly be restored. But if the blood threads had corrupted it, it would have been completely unusable.

The Blood Realm Venerable, having not managed to fully corrupt Old Man Hei Zhu's Magic Treasure, was not bothered and simply chuckled:

"Hehe, I've long heard that Old Man Hei Zhu's fishing skills are unmatched, that every cast guarantees a catch. What's wrong, now that you've hooked this big fish, are you too scared to reel in the line?"

Old Man Hei Zhu did not respond to his mockery, instead he sent a message to Shi Yanshi: "Fellow Daoist Shi, with your knowledge of formations, is there a way to deploy one to get us out of here?"

"Difficult," Shi Yanshi shook his head.

"Difficult means there's still a chance, right? How long would we need to hold them off if I and Fellow Daoist Wan give it our all?" Old Man Hei Zhu pressed.

Shi Yanshi was silent for a moment: "Two hours."

Hearing this, Old Man Hei Zhu looked toward Aunt Wan Hua and conveyed Shi Yanshi's words to her. However, Aunt Wan Hua sighed.

"The vitality of the plants here is weak. Relying only on Magic Treasures, I'm no match for them." She shook her head slightly.

Old Man Hei Zhu's expression darkened, and with gritted teeth, he pulled out three Jade Talismans that shone with subdued spirit light.

"These were left by our island's founding ancestor..."

He hadn't finished speaking when the Blood Realm Venerable burst into laughter: "Are you done discussing? Once you're finished, you can go die!"

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