Yuan Ming halted his pace, his gaze shifting between the swamp and the Purple Maple Forest, eyebrows twitching.

"It's just an island, yet the environment is so complex and changeable, and each area's terrain and vegetation is distinctly different. If this were naturally formed, it would be too coincidental."

"It seems someone did this intentionally, could it be the Master Hei Mu?"

The remains of Master Hei Mu were on this island, and with his capabilities, he indeed could have achieved this. Moreover, according to the records in that journal, this person was truly one with unconstrained and imaginative thinking.

Thinking deeper, those fierce beasts on the island were probably also brought here by Master Hei Mu, no wonder they were all so rare.

Yuan Ming quickly shook his head and stepped forward.

No matter whether this place was the work of Master Hei Mu or someone else, it didn't concern him. He just wanted to capture a suitable spirit beast.

As he walked through the swamp, Yuan Ming found it difficult because of the muddiness. He took out the toad skin, cast the Fur Cloak Skill, and transformed into the shape of a toad.

In these recent days, he had thoroughly investigated the origin of this toad skin. It came from a water-dwelling fierce beast called the Black Pattern Poison Toad, which was more suited for movement in such a damp and muddy environment than the White Ape Transformation.

Since perfecting the first level of the Moonlight Technique, his resistance to the backlash of the Fur Cloak Skill had greatly increased. He no longer needed to be as cautious as before, and the evil aura triggered by the Black Toad Transformation was far less than that of the White Ape Skin.

After transforming into the Black Toad Form, Yuan Ming moved much more freely. The muddiness no longer stuck to his feet, and he could easily cross any puddle he encountered.

Quite satisfied, he quickened his pace.

At that moment, a number of green plants with large leaves appeared ahead, some with pink, basin-shaped flowers blooming amidst them, resembling lotuses, and a faint fragrance wafted over on the gentle breeze.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to take a closer look, his head suddenly felt dizzy, and his legs turned weak.

"The scent of the flowers is poisonous!"

His mind sharpened, and he immediately retreated.

A streak of green shot out from beneath the vibrant lotus leaves, snapping at his calf—it was a flat-headed green snake.

Yuan Ming struggled to leap backward, narrowly dodging the green snake's attack, his right hand forming a seal and pointing forward.

A faint green light emerged from the nearby flora, and several grass stems suddenly came to life, lunging at the green snake.

The green snake, taken by surprise, desperately dodged left and right. Grass stems surrounded it from all angles, leaving it with no escape, and it quickly became entangled.

The grass stems intertwined and knitted together. In the blink of an eye, they formed a grass cage, trapping the green snake within.

The green snake exhibited fluctuations of spiritual power, signifying its strength. These grass stems, at most as thick as a finger, should have snapped with a single struggle, but no matter how the green snake twisted its body, it couldn't break free. Instead, it was wound tighter and tighter, until it could no longer move at all.

Yuan Ming retreated a considerable distance, completely away from the pink lotus before stopping, and sat down cross-legged to run the Nine Elements Technique, trying to neutralize the poison.

After advancing to the sixth-tier Qi Refining, his mana had thickened again, now capable of permeating his organs. With the circulation of mana, the dizzy and weak sensations quickly faded, and he soon recovered.

Yuan Ming then stood up and looked at the immobilized green snake, his gaze flickering slightly.

This grass cage was actually the Wood Prison Technique, which he was using in actual combat for the first time.

Unlike the Wood Stabbing Technique, the Wood Prison Technique relied on nearby plants to capture the enemy. Therefore, the power of this spell depended to some extent on which plants were used to cast it.

The grass stems were fragile, yet the cage they formed could trap the green snake. If he were to use other more robust trees to cast the Wood Prison Technique, the binding power would surely be greater.

Yuan Ming gestured with his hand, and several wooden thorns emerged from around the pink lotus, shredding the flowers so that the fragrant air quickly dissipated completely.

He waited in place for a while, then approached, grasped the green snake's head, and chanted an incantation.

Waves of black air began to well up from his palm, becoming more and more abundant until they engulfed the green snake's head.

At the same time, faint silver patterns began to appear on Yuan Ming's forehead, rapidly spreading down his arm, reaching his hand quickly.

There was a soft "pop" sound, and the black air swirling above his palm morphed into several black tendrils that burrowed into the green snake's head.

The green snake suddenly showed a look of agony, struggling incessantly.

However, Yuan Ming's grip was like an iron hoop, firmly holding onto the green snake. The blackness in his hand grew denser, drilling even faster into the green snake's head.

The expression of pain on the green snake intensified, with a raspy cry emanating from its mouth.

As time ticked by, there was a soft bang from inside the green snake's head, as if something had burst. Its body became limp, lifeless.

Yuan Ming's expression stiffened as he released his grip.

"Beast Taming Technique is indeed difficult. I was as careful as I could be, yet I still destroyed this snake's Divine Soul," he sighed.

He had been practicing in secret these days, thinking he had mastered the Beast Taming Technique well, only to realize that in actuality, it was not the case.

The key to the Beast Taming Technique lay in overpowering the fierce beast's consciousness. However, the Divine Soul was inherently fragile, and the slightest mishap could result in its destruction.

"It seems I need more practice," Yuan Ming thought to himself as he continued on his way.

Half a day later, in a part of the swamp where the aquatic plants thrived.

Yuan Ming used the Wood Prison Technique to capture a gray fox fierce beast, roughly as tall as half a person, pressing his palm against the fox's head as streams of black air surged into it.

The Gray Fox cried out in pain, its body trembling incessantly.

Yuan Ming paid no mind, murmuring incantations, and continued casting.

This was already his fifth attempt at taming a Fierce Beast; the previous four attempts all resulted in failure, with the beasts' Divine Souls bursting and perishing.

Yet with each failure, Yuan Ming summarized his experience, becoming increasingly adept at using the Beast Taming Technique. He felt that success was getting closer and closer.

A quarter of an hour passed quickly, and although the Gray Fox was still struggling painfully, its Divine Soul had not burst.

The ferocity in its eyes weakened gradually, and after a while, it let out a low whimper, signaling its submission.

"Finally succeeded!" Yuan Ming's eyes lit up with joy, but suddenly he stopped casting, retracted his palm, and the Wood Prison that held the Gray Fox also dispersed.

The Gray Fox regained its freedom, paused in confusion before it realized what had happened, then turned and fled into the depths of the swamp, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Yuan Ming watched the Gray Fox escape without taking any action.

According to the Bone Scroll given to him by the Three Cave Masters, controlling a spirit beast with the Beast Taming Technique involves the power of the Divine Soul. For a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator, whose Divine Soul is too weak, only one spirit beast can be subdued and controlled.

This Gray Fox was just a Level 1 Intermediate-stage Fierce Beast without any special abilities, so naturally, Yuan Ming would not choose it as his spirit beast.

He continued onward, searching for a Fierce Beast that met his criteria.

The area of this swamp was vast, far exceeding that of the Purple Maple Forest and Black Pine Forest he had encountered before. Although there were many Fierce Beasts living in the swamp, unfortunately, their strength was quite average, all at the Lower or Middle level, far from comparable to the Four-eyed Golden Ape, the Black Giant Crow, or the Earth Demon he had encountered before. None were worth taking as a spirit beast.

Even as the day turned into night, Yuan Ming had not found an appropriate candidate to tame.

He was not in a hurry nor did he leave the place. He took out a tent and set up camp in a relatively dry area to rest.

Because he was in a strange environment, Yuan Ming did not sleep that night, meditating instead; no accidents occurred.

The next day, Yuan Ming set off again.

The puddles in the swamp became fewer as he advanced, with dry areas increasing.

"I'm finally about to leave this region," Yuan Ming said with a relieved expression, quickening his pace slightly.

The swamp was full of mud and a pervasive stench; the conditions were quite harsh. Happy to be leaving this place, he continued on his way.

After walking for a while, Yuan Ming suddenly halted.

Before him, there spread a field of rich green lotus leaves with large pink flowers dotted in the middle— the same poisonous lotuses he had encountered before.

Unlike the few Bilian he had seen previously, the expanse of lotus flowers here was abnormally large, dominating the area ahead with no visible end. Thousands of pink flowers were standing tall, swaying in the wind.

Yuan Ming spotted those pink lotus flowers from a distance and stopped in his tracks.

So many lotus flowers together meant that the toxin concentration would undoubtedly be much higher than before; getting poisoned would be troublesome.

Yuan Ming decided to bypass the lotus grove, walking around its periphery.

Just at that moment, a hissing sound came from within the flowers, followed by a multitude of green snakes slithering out densely packed. It was the same kind of green snakes he had encountered before, and there were at least forty or fifty of them, all lunging towards Yuan Ming.

His expression changed slightly, but he did not take it too seriously, turning and swiftly retreating into the distance.

With such an open gap, the green snakes couldn't possibly catch up to him.

As expected, the green snakes gave up the chase after following him for a distance. They hissed at Yuan Ming for a while, then all slithered back into the thick of the flowers.

Yuan Ming's eyebrows twitched. The hissing of the green snakes carried a threatening tone, as if warning him not to approach.

"I was quite far from the lotus grove just now, theoretically not within the green snakes' attack range, yet they were so vigilant. Could there be something inside the flowers?" A hint of curiosity rose in his heart.

After considering for a moment, Yuan Ming shook his head and gave up the idea of investigating.

The flower grove was filled with toxic pollen, and there were those venomous green snakes. Lacking a means to deal with these dangers, it was better not to invite trouble.

Yuan Ming walked around the edge of the lotus grove, making his way forward.

Ga ga ga...

An ear-piercing cry came from behind, in the swamp. It sounded like the call of some bird, shrill and lingering, suggesting the coming creature was not small.

"A bird-type Fierce Beast!" Yuan Ming frowned, hastily hiding in a dense patch of grass nearby.

Within Ten Thousand Mountains, every noise must be treated cautiously, as a fearsome creature might suddenly appear. Moreover, since he had the incense burner, he could fly away at any time and wasn't concerned about the ordinary Land Beasts, but he was quite wary of bird-type Fierce Beasts.

No sooner had Yuan Ming concealed himself when a giant white figure flew out of the depths of the swamp, passing directly over his head.

Yuan Ming observed the true identity of the white figure: a giant eagle several zhang long, with eyes like copper bells, black claws, and snow-white feathers. Its massive size was no less than that of the previously encountered Black Giant Crow, clearly a formidable avian Fierce Beast.

The White Eagle glanced at the bush where Yuan Ming was hiding with its pale yellow eyes but ignored him, heading straight for the center of the lotus grove and vanished in an instant.

Yuan Ming stood up from the bushes, gazing into the sky.

"That White Eagle looks quite powerful, and it also has keen vision. It could spot me even through the mist. It seems to be a decent spirit beast, but its speed was too fast. Even using the incense burner, I couldn't possibly catch up to it, let alone subdue it."

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