"One hundred spirit stones each," Yuan Ming said, holding up a finger.

"No way, at least a thousand spirit stones each, I only have four," the man in black shook his head resolutely.

"One hundred and ten spirit stones," Yuan Ming raised the offer.

"Fellow Daoist, your bargaining is really insincere," the man in black frowned.

"This kind of one-time thing, that's the price," Yuan Ming raised an eyebrow, questioning.

"Just eight hundred spirit stones. If you don't agree, then forget it," the man in black did not continue bantering and spoke directly.

"Two hundred spirit stones, don't be so quick to disagree. If the item were easy to sell, you wouldn't be unable to sell it for several days," Yuan Ming said.

"Are you going to buy it or not..." the man in black said indignantly.

"Of course I'll buy it. I think those who could use this item can't afford it with spirit stones, and most of those with spirit stones are strong enough not to need it. They would rather create a top-grade magical tool with their spirit stones. Isn't that right? Like that person over there." Yuan Ming waved his hand in the direction of a distant figure, greeting Gu Qiuming.

The latter cooperated by raising his only remaining arm in response.

Seeing this, the man in black's eyebrows twisted into a knot, and he was at an even greater loss for words.

"Fellow Daoist, the price I'm offering is a fair one," Yuan Ming said, patting the man in black on the shoulder with a look of earnestness.

"Fine, I haven't met someone as eloquent as you. A thousand spirit stones, and the three Heart-splitting Bombs are yours. But let's get one thing straight, no more haggling!" the man in black hesitated for a moment, slumped his shoulders, and said.

"Alright, wait here for a moment, I'll go get the money right away," Yuan Ming readily agreed.

"That won't do, you have to pay right now," the man in black immediately said.

"What are you so worried about? I'll leave a deposit of three hundred spirit stones here, and the Heart-splitting Bombs are still in your hands, isn't that reassuring enough?" Yuan Ming said while handing over three hundred spirit stones to the man in black.

"Really? Aren't you afraid I'll just take your spirit stones and run off?" the man in black quickly caught them, skeptical.

"No worries, I can afford to lose three hundred spirit stones. See, my sect brother is also selling stuff over there. If you have any rare exotic beasts you want to sell, just mention my name, Hagon," Yuan Ming said with a smile, then turned and left.

The man in black glanced at the one-armed old man, looked at another vendor not too far away, and his peripheral vision caught two people leaning against a tree, suddenly feeling surrounded by Yuan Ming's people. With the sensitive nature of the item he was selling, he dared not harbor any other thoughts and could only wait there nervously.

What he didn't know was that in the darkness not too far away, a black soul crow was staring unblinkingly at him.

Yuan Ming hurried back and found Gu Yue, who had not yet had the chance to sell his items for him.

After a discussion, he helped Yuan Ming gather a thousand spirit stones, the price being that whatever money was made from selling those magic artifacts and storage bags in the future would belong to Gu Yue and had nothing to do with him anymore.

When he returned to the Ghost Market, Yuan Ming successfully bought the three Heart-splitting Bombs and almost spent all his savings at once.

Later, he spent the last hundred or so spirit stones he had left on some useful talismans, and then hurried back to the Ten Thousand Mountains to continue his seclusion.

About a month later.

After using the remaining Qingxuan Incense and with the help of the Golden Flower Pill, Yuan Ming finally broke through to the twelfth layer of Qi Refinement in one fell swoop.

By then, there were less than ten days left until the meeting on White Deer Hill.

Although he had a Foundation Establishment Pill and did not want to give up on the opportunity promised by his sect, he made many preparations. In his view, this so-called opportunity was likely just a Foundation Establishment Pill. If he were successful, he could have two Foundation Establishment Pills, which would greatly increase his chances of successful Foundation Establishment.

However, with many talents from various sects present at the time, he had to be fully prepared. It was also time to call back the Black Toad.

...

Yuan Ming hurried all the way to Snake King Valley.

The environment inside the valley was as before, with towering trees and miasma shrouding the area as if it had always been like this and would never change.

He sat cross-legged at the entrance where he had parted with the Black Toad, closed his eyes to sense its location, and his eyes suddenly darkened.

He couldn't sense the Beast Taming Rune inside the Black Toad!

With Yuan Ming's current understanding, there were only two possibilities for this phenomenon: either the Black Toad had been killed, causing the Beast Taming Rune to naturally dissipate, or the Black Toad had been confined by some kind of Array Restriction, severing the connection between him and the Beast Taming Rune.

Since the Black Toad had advanced to the Second Level and awakened several powerful abilities, it was his most important asset. If it had been killed, that would be a significant loss.

Thousand thoughts raced through Yuan Ming's mind, and he felt a sense of unease. He forced himself to calm down.

First, he needed to determine whether the Black Toad was alive or dead.

The Black Toad had previously been fond of that black Stone Pillar; it was likely to have gone there.

With this in mind, Yuan Ming swiftly headed towards the Snake King Cave.

Boosted by the White Jade Belt, he quickly arrived at the entrance of the Snake King Cave. Just as he was about to enter, he stopped abruptly and released three soul crows.

One flew into the Snake King Cave, another stood guard outside the entrance, and the third kept watch over the surrounding area.

After completing these preparations, Yuan Ming took out the Shuiyun Banner and held it in his hand as he entered the Snake King Cave, swiftly making his way to the deepest part of the cavern as if he were familiar with the route.

There, the towering black stone pillar that once stood had vanished, and a large, three-zhang-wide hole appeared in the ground, pitch-dark and bottomless. Nearby, the ground was littered with various-sized rocks and dirt, seemingly the aftermath of the black stone pillar being forcibly removed.

Yuan Ming had already discovered this situation through his soul crow, so he wasn't surprised. With a thought, he controlled the soul crow to fly into the black hole to investigate while he searched the rest of the cave.

With the strength of his Divine Power, he quickly made a discovery. Under a large rock, he found a piece of broken vine that was part of the Purple-Black Demon Vine, confirming that the Black Toad had indeed been there.

At this moment, the soul crow had reached the bottom of the dark hole. The hole extended straight down, reaching a depth of over thirty zhang, resembling a deep well.

The space at the bottom of the hole was much larger than above, yet completely empty, with a Green Stone passageway emerging from one side and stretching into the distance.

The floor and walls of the Green Stone passage were smooth, evidently man-made, and covered in dust.

Yuan Ming controlled the soul crow to scout around the underground area and, detecting no dangers, he conjured the Shuiyun Banner to protect his body and leaped into the large hole.

The Shuiyun Banner shot out two large hand-like blue water glows, grasping onto the hole's walls and greatly reducing his descent speed, allowing him to safely land.

After looking around the bottom of the hole for a while and finding no new pieces of vine, he turned his gaze toward the Green Stone passageway.

The soul crow had already flown into the passageway, advancing at least three hundred zhang without reaching the end.

With things having come this far, Yuan Ming did not back down. He conjured the Shuiyun Banner to protect his body, stepped into the passageway, and released his Divine Sense.

He hadn't walked far when he suddenly stopped, looking toward the right side of the passage wall. There, in a corner, was a thumb-sized dark spot that seemed to have been corroded by something.

This spot was inconspicuous, and if he hadn't expanded his Divine Sense, he would have never noticed it.

Yuan Ming drew closer to the dark spot and sniffed gently, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

The dark spot gave off a sour smell, unmistakably that of the Black Toad Poison Liquid; it seemed the Black Toad had passed through here, and was likely ahead.

He quickened his pace and soon vanished into the darkness.

The length of the Green Stone passageway far exceeded his expectations. Yuan Ming rushed forward for a full quarter of an hour and still saw no end in sight.

Luckily, there were no forks in this passage, so there was no fear of getting lost.

As he walked a bit further, Yuan Ming's brows suddenly rose in intrigue.

The soul crow that served as his scout finally reached the end of the Green Stone passageway, and an exit emanating white light appeared in front of it.

Yuan Ming instructed the soul crow to stop, and he himself quickened his steps, rapidly reaching the passage exit.

A look of astonishment suddenly crossed his face as he looked up into the space above his head.

After entering the Green Stone passage, Yuan Ming didn't forget to control the two soul crows on the surface; the one at the mouth of the Snake King Cave remained in place to monitor the situation at the entrance.

The other crow, sent out for scouting, he controlled to fly directly overhead, providing him a reference point to confirm his position.

The soul crow overhead had arrived at an unexpected location: the ancient castle that Bone Map and the others had previously visited.

It turned out that this passage led to the underground of the castle, suggesting some connection between the two.

Yuan Ming conjured the Shuiyun Banner to protect his entire body and stepped into the white exit.

His vision was filled with dazzling white light, then in the next moment, all light suddenly vanished, and he found himself inside a grey stone hall.

The stone hall was rectangular, about fifteen to sixteen zhang long and seven to eight zhang wide but only one to two zhang high, creating an extremely oppressive feeling.

On both sides of the hall stood four stone pillars, each large enough to be embraced by a person, carved with numerous human and beast figurines in relief.

These reliefs had a bizarre style; far from adding color to the stone hall, they made it appear even more sinister, resembling the underground palace of a tomb.

Yuan Ming paid no attention to the environment because the walls of the grey hall were covered in lush Purple-Black Vines, with Purple-Black Vines also entwining around the eight stone pillars—these were the very Purple-Black Demon Vines from inside the Black Toad.

The Black Toad was lying next to one of the stone pillars, belly up and sound asleep, its rounded belly comically expanding and contracting with each breath.

Yuan Ming heaved a heavy sigh of relief and glared at the Black Toad.

This Black Toad was actually taking a deep sleep here, causing him unnecessary worry.

Once he confirmed the Black Toad was safe and sound, Yuan Ming totally settled down and began to take a closer look at the grey hall.

The walls of the hall flickered with a faint black light that was barely visible. When he tried to probe with his Divine Sense, it barely penetrated before being blocked, suggesting that the white glow was some kind of restriction that could isolate the power of Divine Sense, which was why he couldn't detect the Black Toad's presence from outside.

Not only did the walls flicker with black light, but the air also hung with threads and strands of dark energy that resembled fluff. Each stream emitted a faint malicious aura.

Yuan Ming was familiar with this energy—it was the same dark energy emitted by the black stone pillar before.

The Purple-Black Demon Vine on the Black Toad's back, in conjunction with the toad's breathing, had flowers that opened and closed as if they were breathing through their mouths and noses. The dark energy in the hall slowly converged towards them, being absorbed by the flowers and leaves of the Purple-Black Demon Vine.

Yuan Ming was not surprised; the Black Toad had been absorbing the strange dark energy before, but now it seemed that it was actually the Purple-Black Demon Vine that was absorbing the dark energy.

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