Billows of black air surged out of Yuan Ming's palm, seemingly endless, continuously pouring into the brain of the White Eagle.

As time passed, the consciousness of the White Eagle indeed began to gradually disintegrate, its resistance growing weaker and weaker.

A slight smile curved Yuan Ming's lips as he continued to operate his Beast Taming Technique, determined to subdue the White Eagle in one go.

Given the current circumstances, this time, there was a very good chance of success.

Just at that moment, a sudden change occurred!

The ground beneath Yuan Ming's feet unexpectedly split open, and a purple-black vine shot out, swiftly entwining his legs.

This vine was only as thick as a finger, with a smooth surface and delicate leaves adorned with purple spots, making it quite beautiful to look at.

However, this slender and beautiful vine contained an astonishing amount of strength; his legs were instantly tightened, rendered completely immobile as if bound by iron chains.

Though taken by surprise, Yuan Ming did not panic, and he even did not give up on subduing the White Eagle, gesturing towards the nearby Green Fish Sword.

The Green Fish Sword leaped up, transforming into a fan-shaped cyan shadow that chopped down on the purple-black vine.

A soft "bang" sounded as the vine was slashed, creating only a shallow cut that was less than a third of the depth of the vine itself.

A flicker of shock finally crossed Yuan Ming's face.

Although the Green Fish Sword was only a half-magical artifact, its power had increased significantly as his cultivation advanced, easily able to slice through tree trunks as thick as water buckets — to think it couldn't subdue a slender vine?

The purple-black demon vine twisted like a snake, quickly burrowing out from the ground and wrapping towards Yuan Ming's upper body.

Yuan Ming hurriedly drove the Green Fish Sword again, aiming for the slit in the demon vine.

However, as if the demon vine were sentient, it rapidly twisted and dodged.

With a "bang", the Green Fish Sword struck the vine, but it hit a different part and the previously split section emitted faint purple-black light, healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Yuan Ming's pupils constricted, and he quickly gave up on subduing the White Eagle, retracting all his Mana.

Without his Mana to sustain it, the tree prison confining the White Eagle also disintegrated; the eagle barely escaped with its life and immediately struggled to flit away without looking back.

Yuan Ming couldn't afford to pay attention to the White Eagle. He gathered all his Mana into the Green Fish Sword, which glowed with a misty cyan light, and fiercely chopped at the base of the demon vine that clung to the ground.

With a soft "puff," the vine was largely severed, spewing out purple fluid from the cut.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming was delighted and immediately drove the Green Fish Sword again, intending to completely sever the vine.

Just at that instant, the ground split open once more; a slightly thinner purple vine shot out, swiftly coiling around the Green Fish Sword and wrapping several loops around it.

Yuan Ming hadn't expected this twist, quickly trying to control the Green Fish Sword to break free.

However, the Green Fish Sword, being only a semi-magical artifact and essentially no different from ordinary swords, needed to accelerate over some distance to exert its edge's power and was thus unable to significantly damage anything wrapped tightly around it. No matter how the Green Fish Sword thrashed, it couldn't shake off the entangling vine.

More and more vines emerged from the ground and bound Yuan Ming's body.

His upper body was quickly covered by the demon vines, making it impossible to move his arms, and his face under the frog skin turned red from the pressure.

The strength of these demon vines was truly astonishing, squeezing him so tightly that his bones made a "cracking" sound and he could barely breathe.

A chilling sense of fear surged in Yuan Ming's heart. He knew that the Black Toad Transformation was utterly ineffective against these demon vines.

Now, with his body completely entwined in purple-black demon vines, it was already impossible for him to switch to the White Ape Transformation.

"Right! Since this vine is a plant, it should also be vulnerable to the Toad Poison Arrow," Yuan Ming suddenly remembered, channeling his Mana into the poison sack on his back.

Streams of Black Toad Poison Liquid shot out, striking the purple-black demon vine.

A sizzling sound of corrosion rose as the touched vines rapidly withered and shriveled.

The purple-black demon vines twisted violently, even emitting a rustling sound, as if a living creature were crying out in pain.

The vines binding Yuan Ming loosened significantly, and he could breathe smoothly once more.

Relieved, he continued to spray the poison on the demon vines, attempting to break free.

At that moment, Yuan Ming felt a sharp pain in his calf, as though someone had stabbed him with a knife.

He quickly looked down, his face changing color.

He saw that, unbeknownst to him, the tip of a purple vine had easily reached his calf and sharpened, piercing through the Black Toad Skin and burrowing into his flesh.

With the situation critical, Yuan Ming didn't have time to think; he leaned over and grabbed the tip of the demon vine, pulling it out.

However, the Black Toad Transformation hadn't enhanced his arm strength, and he simply couldn't pull out the vine. Moreover, the portion of the vine inside his calf continued burrowing deeper into his body, causing the nearby muscles and skin to quickly swell up.

"What in the world is this thing!" Yuan Ming cursed aloud, continuing to pull fiercely on the vine.

At the same time, a stream of black air emerged from his right hand, surging into the interior of the demon vine; it was the Beast Taming Technique.

Though the vine appeared plant-like, Yuan Ming had to treat it as a Fierce Beast like the White Eagle due to its series of baffling actions, adopting a desperate measure.

Indeed, once the black air of the Beast Taming Technique entered the demon vine, its movements immediately stiffened.

Encouraged, Yuan Ming powered up the Beast Taming Technique to its fullest, continuing to disrupt the demon vine.

The poisonous sack on his back never stopped discharging poison liquid, drenching the bizarre vines on his body with black poison liquid, causing large patches of the purple vines to begin wilting.

Under such a dual attack, the amplitude of the purple-black demon vine's attacks became increasingly smaller.

Where the demon vine connected to the ground, there was a "whoosh" sound as a thick root covered with black tendrils emerged from the ground, still caked with much soil.

Through the roots and soil, one could see that the base of the demon vine had several wrinkle-like slits forming a wriggling, ugly face.

"Demon Vine!" Yuan Ming couldn't help but widen his eyes.

He had read in the classics of the Gui Cang Pavilion in Biluo Cave that the fierce beasts of the Ten Thousand Mountains were not always animals like tigers, leopards, wolves, and bears; some trees and plants, if circumstances allowed, could awaken their spiritual intelligence and absorb nature's spiritual energy to transform into fierce beasts.

The vine root swung upward with a whoosh, emitting a dull whooshing sound and, with a bang, struck the back of Yuan Ming, who couldn't avoid it.

Yuan Ming felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer, toppling to the ground as he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and his Beast Taming Technique was disrupted.

Without the suppression of the Beast Taming Technique, the stiff and immobile purple-black demon vine immediately regained its ability to move, wrapping Yuan Ming up tightly once again.

Dozens of black roots on the vine root suddenly grew longer in the wind, swift as arrows leaving a bowstring, all piercing into Yuan Ming's back.

All the poisonous sacks on the frog's back were pierced by the roots, and the swollen poisonous sacks, like deflated rubber balls, shriveled up, and the spraying of poison liquid also immediately ceased.

Not only that, but the black roots also exuded a strange suction force, causing the blood inside Yuan Ming's body to boil and surge toward the black roots.

Yuan Ming felt his strength draining along with his Qi-Blood, hastily flipped over, gathered his dissipating Mana, and resumed casting the Beast Taming Technique.

This time, he called upon all of his Mana and Soul Power without reservation, frantically driving the Beast Taming Technique.

With a boom, a surge of black mist, several times more intense than before, burst from Yuan Ming's hands, rolling into the body of the purple-black demon vine.

All movement of the purple-black demon vine froze once again; however, the bloodthirsty black roots didn't stop. The originally black roots turned blood red, and other areas of the demon vine also began showing hints of blood color.

The previously poison-damaged vine body began to heal rapidly.

Yuan Ming's expression was grim, but he didn't distract himself by casting spells to stop the vine roots from drawing blood, as all his Mana was still used to cast the Beast Taming Technique, like a tidal wave crashing into the consciousness of the purple-black demon vine.

His Mana and Soul Power were nearly exhausted, and if he spread his energies further, it would be even harder to make an impact.

The only strategy left was a desperate one, using the Beast Taming Technique to destroy the consciousness of the demon vine, which might give him a slim chance of survival.

The man and the vine were thus locked in a standstill.

Time slowly passed.

Yuan Ming's face was pale, his body swaying as though he would collapse at any moment, appearing in dire straits.

His mana and soul power had both hit rock bottom, most importantly, his blood had been drained by the demon vine by almost half, causing waves of dizziness in his mind. If his body hadn't always been robust, he would have already fainted.

The state of the purple-black demon vine wasn't much better either, having endured the impact of the Beast Taming Technique for so long. The will of the demon vine was on the verge of collapse, and most of the vines wrapping around Yuan Ming had fallen off.

"This is bad! Although the consciousness of this demon vine has greatly weakened, it can still hold on for a while, and my condition is terrible, with both mana and soul power nearly exhausted—I could collapse at any moment!" Yuan Ming thought anxiously, glancing at his right arm.

Biting his teeth slightly, he divided a strand of mana and soul power, injecting them into the incense burner mark on his right arm.

Based on past experience, whenever his Divine Soul Power was greatly depleted or attacked, the incense burner would emit a warm flow similar to soul power, aiding him significantly.

At this moment, Yuan Ming's soul power was immensely depleted, and the incense burner still remained silent. Out of desperation, he risked triggering it.

The mark emitted faint green light, and the green incense burner flashed out, flying autonomously to hover above Yuan Ming's head, stopping at the Bai Hui acupoint on his head.

Yuan Ming, upon seeing this, was stunned.

Other than that time when it carried his Divine Soul Possession into the body of the young Emperor, the green incense burner had always obediently followed his commands upon being summoned, and such a scenario had never occurred before.

Before he could think further, a thick stream of warm flow burst out from the incense burner, passed through the Bai Hui acupoint, and entered the Sea of Consciousness.

Yuan Ming's exhausted spirit immediately revitalized, and he hurriedly circulated the Moonlight Technique to absorb the warm flow. The nearly dried-up Divine Soul Power in his Sea of Consciousness began to recover.

However, the warm flow from the incense burner was too vast this time, and the Moonlight Technique couldn't absorb it fast enough, with nearly half of the warm flow being directly injected into the Beast Taming Technique.

The black mist produced by the Beast Taming Technique suddenly exploded in intensity, resembling a black furious dragon charging into the body of the purple-black demon vine.

The purple-black demon vine trembled violently, its resistance will retreating progressively.

Perhaps sensing that Yuan Ming couldn't absorb it, the warm flow from the incense burner suddenly split in two. The majority continued to enter Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness, while a minor part was introduced into the Black Toad's skin.

An eerie black light surfaced on the Black Toad's skin, with the toad phantom reappearing, looking much clearer than before, with many green spots on the surface, exactly matching the color of the incense burner.

The toad phantom opened its mouth and spewed a black light, merging into the heavily scarred toad's back.

The poison sacs, perforated by the roots of the demon vine, slowly began to move, secreting streams of black poison liquid once again, enveloping the roots of the purple-black demon vine.

This Black Toad poison liquid had also undergone some changes, the color was much lighter, and it distinctly also mixed with specks of green, exactly like the toad phantom.

Although the color of the poison liquid had lightened, its potency had significantly increased. As soon as it touched the roots of the demon vine, they immediately began to rapidly dissolve. The entire root base of the demon vine was slowly sinking, appearing to be corroded and engulfed by the Black Toad poison liquid.

Facing attacks from both sides, the will of the purple-black demon vine collapsed even faster.

Just as Yuan Ming gritted his teeth, preparing to continue driving the Beast Taming Technique for one final fierce attack, the green incense burner suddenly trembled, its surface green light also flashing.

Yuan Ming's mind boomed as if a thunderclap had exploded, his vision instantly turned pitch black, and he fainted.

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