Yuan Ming moved around in the passageway, familiarizing himself with the abilities of the white belt.

He cast the Wind Swift Skill, and the lightness effect of the skill could be stacked with the belt's power. Coupled with the enhancement of the Shadowless Step, his movement technique escalated to an astonishing level, nearly imperceptible to the naked eye. He could cover a distance of six or seven zhang in a flash, ghost-like.

If he used the Shadowless Step at full strength, faint illusions would follow in his wake, akin to some illusion-based spells.

Yuan Ming was secretly pleased. With such speed combined with the White Ape Transformation, he would have a significant advantage in the future, whether it was for preserving his life or facing opponents in combat.

He looked regretfully at the other two gems on the belt; if those stones were also inscribed with Light Body Runes, he could only imagine how formidable the belt's acceleration effect would be.

Although only one gem was intact, it was enough for his use.

The only problem now was that the belt belonged to Sang Yan and wearing it outside posed a risk of being noticed by the people of the Black Fire Sect.

However, this wouldn't stump him. With a proper disguise, there should be no issues.

Yuan Ming wore the belt inside his clothes and covered it with his robe. He then gathered the Storage Bags from the five Loose Cultivators who had died at the hands of the Snake King before turning to leave for Bai Ye.

Huan Shi had also regained consciousness by now. His look towards Yuan Ming was complex, as he evidently had learned everything from Bai Ye.

Seeing that Yuan Ming did not touch the corpses of the ten members of his alliance, Bai Ye inwardly sighed with relief, and his opinion of Yuan Ming greatly improved.

"Fellow Daoist Hagon, you have hidden depths. I'm impressed," Bai Ye said, cupping his hands in salute.

"You flatter me, I took a risk just now," Yuan Ming said, blinking.

"What I admire even more is your righteousness," Bai Ye said, saluting with his hands again.

"Now that there is no longer a threat outside, you should be able to handle your injuries on your own. I shall take my leave," Yuan Ming said, and then turned to leave.

"Fellow Daoist Hagon, please wait a moment," Bai Ye suddenly spoke.

"Alliance Leader Bai Ye, do you have anything else?" Yuan Ming turned back to look.

"Fellow Daoist Hagon, you killed both Golden Flower Snake Kings. I was wondering if their Snake Pearls are still with you?" Bai Ye hesitated before asking.

"There is one left. What do you want with it, Alliance Leader Bai Ye?" Yuan Ming asked, nodding slightly.

"To be honest, our White Night Scatter Alliance was commissioned by Eastern Domain White Dragon Island to hunt the Golden Flower Snake Kings and obtain a Snake Pearl. I am willing to offer two thousand Spirit Stones to purchase the Snake Pearl from you. Would you be willing to part with it?" Bai Ye hurriedly said.

"A Snake Pearl doesn't seem to be worth that many Spirit Stones. Besides, as far as I know, the Young Master of White Dragon Island is already dead," Yuan Ming slowly said. Although he had never sold a Golden Flower Snake Pearl, he had seen similar Second-level Fierce Beast Spiritual Materials in the Black Rock City Market, worth at most a thousand Spirit Stones. Bai Ye was willing to pay double the price.

"Although the Young Master of White Dragon Island is dead, this matter involves the reputation of our alliance, and I hope you can part with it," Bai Ye said with a wry smile. What he left unsaid was that without the Snake Pearl, it would be impossible to make up for the alliance's losses.

Yuan Ming nodded, produced the Snake Pearl from the Single-Horned Snake King, and tossed it over.

Bai Ye quickly caught it and presented two thousand Spirit Stones.

"One thousand three hundred is enough," Yuan Ming only took one thousand three hundred Spirit Stones.

He felt somewhat fond of the alliance leader, viewing a potential connection favorably. The other party had suffered heavy losses, and based on his own personality, he was not one to kick someone when they were down. Since staying in Biluo Cave wasn't a long-term plan, perhaps Alliance Leader Bai Ye could be useful in the future.

"I said two thousand, and it cannot be less," Bai Ye insisted.

"No need, both of you take care," Yuan Ming said with a slight bow, and then his figure flickered and vanished like the wind.

Bai Ye was shocked. During the earlier battle, Hagon hadn't shown such speed. Could it be that he still had reserves during the fierce battle?

If that were truly the case, the potential of this Qi Refining Stage Cultivator was too great!

"Big brother, can you tell where this person comes from..." Huan Shi couldn't help but ask.

Bai Ye gave Huan Shi a look, indicating him to be quiet.

Realizing his blunder, Huan Shi quickly shut his mouth.

Only after a good while, when they felt Yuan Ming was far enough away, did they begin to speak again.

"Hagon saved us not once but twice. Once we get back to Black Rock City, let's not look into his background, and don't mention him to anyone. We'll tell the master of the White Dragon Island that we obtained the Snake Pearl through a fierce battle by the whole alliance!" Bai Ye said.

"Understood. But it may be troublesome if the Black Fire Sect investigates," Huan Shi nodded.

"What's so troublesome about that? With so much miasma in the valley, everyone was scattered. Who knows where they went, and the dead weren't our doing," Bai Ye said.

"That's true," Huan Shi agreed.

"Second brother, I'm sorry. The Foundation Establishment Pill you painstakingly prepared for Tuozhe—under the urgent circumstances, I gave it to Hagon to reciprocate for his earlier assistance," Bai Ye said.

"Zhe'er has already perished, even if the Foundation Establishment Pill is still intact, he can't use it anymore," Huan Shi sadly said.

"This mission cost us so many hands, and the Purple Flame Flag was also damaged; it's all my fault. I really shouldn't have been greedy and accepted this mission," Bai Ye slowly stood up, looking towards where the members of the White Night Scatter Alliance had fallen, his face filled with regret.

"Elder brother, you don't need to blame yourself so much. I agreed to the mission too, and we took the deposit. Who could have foreseen that there would be two Snake Kings in this place, one of which was on the verge of progressing to the Flood Dragon stage. Luckily, the mission is already complete, and the generous reward from White Dragon Island can somewhat compensate for the losses. We'll do our best to make amends to the families of the fallen when we return," Huan Shi consoled.

Bai Ye shook his head with a bitter smile. Most of the participants in this mission were core members of the White Night Scatter Alliance. The death of each one was a tremendous loss, something that could not be made up for with mere wealth.

"Sigh, how is your recovery coming along? Let's leave as soon as possible!" He looked at Huan Shi.

Huan Shi leaned against the stone wall and slowly stood up.

The two picked up the storage bags scattered by their comrades and gathered the bodies, then made their way towards the exit.

A soul crow stood in the miasma ahead of Bai Ye and Huan Shi. It turned and flew away as they approached.

...

At this very moment, an illusion burst out from the Snake King Cave, revealing Yuan Ming's figure.

He had overheard the conversation between the two through the soul crow and nodded slightly.

Yuan Ming returned to the cave from before, sealed it with the Four Directions Sealing Spirit Talisman, and continued cultivating and controlling his breathing.

After half a day, Yuan Ming's mana was fully restored, and the injuries caused by the previous magical battle had healed completely.

With a gentle pat of his hand, "whirr," a small pile of items appeared before him. It was the gold-plated gauze, along with the Bone Map, Sang Yan, and other people's magical artifacts, storage rings, storage bags, and more.

Yuan Ming first picked up the gold-plated gauze. Three fist-sized holes had been torn in its delicate fabric. Although the runes hadn't been destroyed, its power was greatly reduced.

This was something Xi Ying had lent him to use, and now that he had damaged it like this, he wondered if Xi Ying would be angry. He would have to find a way to restore it to its original condition.

The one-armed old man at the Black Rock City Ghost Market had mentioned that the gold-plated gauze was refined using gold-plated silk, soft gold stone, and refined iron as the main materials. He planned to try and collect these three materials after returning to his sect, and then find someone to see if it could be repaired.

He put away the gold-plated gauze and picked up the Black Needle Magical Artifact from the Bone Map.

In the world of cultivation, flying needle artifacts are small, making the inscription of runes difficult, and their refinement extremely challenging. But once successfully refined, they are quite powerful.

Yuan Ming activated his Divine Sense to examine it and his face lit up with joy.

This Black Needle was a formidable Mid-Grade Magical Artifact. The runes inscribed within included one for sharpness, and another he had not seen before which, by the feel of it, probably related to Concealment.

With its small size and the Concealment rune, it could be used to ambush others. Bone Map had tried to do just that, but unfortunately ran into Yuan Ming, a Qi Refining Realm junior whose Divine Soul was far superior to his peers, and whose ruse had been easily seen through.

Yuan Ming carefully stored the needle away and took the second magical artifact he had obtained from Bone Map—the Nine-Ring Gold Saber.

This saber was also a Mid-Grade Artifact, with two inscribed runes related to sharpness; its destructive power was significant. In terms of raw power, it was not inferior to the Cold Star Sword, but unfortunately, it lacked any special abilities.

Lastly, Yuan Ming picked up Bone Map's storage ring, and his expression became stiff as he probed it with his Divine Sense.

Almost nothing was left inside Bone Map's storage ring, save for two to thirty Low Grade Spirit Stones, a few ordinary spiritual materials, two worthless magical artifacts, and a jade scroll—it hadn't even used up one percent of its capacity.

Yuan Ming was thoroughly disappointed. He had hoped to earn a significant amount of wealth from the storied storage ring of a Foundation Establishment Elder from the Black Fire Sect, only to find that the man's fortune was so meager, he was practically a pauper.

What Yuan Ming did not know was that Bone Map had spent all his resources on refining the Black Needle Magical Artifact, which is why his storage ring was so empty.

The Black Needle, similar to the Cold Star Sword in appearance, was made from an exceptional primary material—a small chunk of Nine Heavens Meteorite Iron.

Nine Heavens Meteorite Iron, from the regions beyond the Outer Nine Heavens, had been tempered by the Nine Heavens Gang Wind, Power of the Sun, essence of the Yin, and even the power of starlight, resulting in an almost indestructible quality, making it a precious mineral fit for refining magical treasures.

Having come into possession of this material by chance, Bone Map lamented the meager quantity. After much consideration, he barely managed to refine a single flying needle from it.

Despite its small size, the Black Needle held great potential. Bone Map had intended to use the Black Needle as his Lifebound Magical Artifact, planning to advance it to a High Grade Magical Artifact and, upon reaching the Core Formation stage, even a magical treasure. He had spent all his savings to ask an Artifact Refining Master from the Black Fire Sect to refine this Flying Needle for him, but now all his effort would be to Yuan Ming's benefit.

Naturally, Yuan Ming was unaware of these details and turned his attention to the other items in Bone Map's storage ring.

The spiritual materials were common and worthless. He glanced at them and then moved on, turning his Divine Sense to inspect the two magical artifacts.

One was a gray short knife, identified as a Low Grade Magical Artifact with ordinary materials—it was clearly forgotten and neglected.

As for the other artifact, it was a black iron nail with a weak aura that also looked like a Low Grade Magical Artifact.

The black iron nail was smeared with some fresh blue-black gelatinous substance, as if it had just been pulled from somewhere, sticky and somewhat disturbing to look at.

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