"Eh!"

Yuan Ming suddenly discovered something abnormal, these Purple-Black Demon Vines not only grew lush leaves and blossomed with purple-black flowers, their length had also changed drastically.

Originally, the Demon Vines were at most around seventy to eighty feet long, but the ones before him were far beyond that, at least over sixty feet long. Could it be related to the strange black mist they had absorbed?

After a moment of contemplation, Yuan Ming communicated with the Black Toad through Divine Sense.

The Black Toad's belly quivered as it woke up.

Sensing Yuan Ming's presence, the Black Toad quickly flipped over, with a purple-black glow emerging on its back, and the Demon Vines that covered the entire hall rapidly retracted into its back.

A few breaths later, the Demon Vines inside the hall had all disappeared, and the Black Toad also hopped to Yuan Ming's side.

Yuan Ming connected with the Black Toad mentally, inquiring why it had come here.

The thoughts of the Black Toad buzzed over, struggling to recount its experiences in the Snake King Valley during this time.

The spiritual intelligence of the Black Toad was not high, its account was not very clear, but with some guessing and piecing together clues, Yuan Ming roughly understood the Black Toad's journey here.

After Yuan Ming left it in the Snake King Valley that day, the Black Toad immediately returned to the Snake King Cave here and continued to absorb the fierce black mist inside the black stone pillar.

At first, all was calm, but a few days later, the black stone pillar suddenly rose from the ground, while the earth below shook like an earthquake, revealing a straight hole in the ground.

The black stone pillar then plunged into the hole as if someone was controlling it.

The Black Toad was lying on the pillar at the time and, seeing such drastic changes, hurriedly wrapped its body tightly around the pillar with the Demon Vine to avoid being thrown off.

The black stone pillar followed that green stone passage beneath the ground and arrived at this gray underground palace.

Here, the strange black mist was even denser. The Black Toad was overjoyed and simply chose to stay, releasing its Demon Vines to absorb the mist.

The Purple-Black Demon Vines thrived on the strange black mist, the more they absorbed, the more vigorously they grew.

While the Black Toad, as the symbiotic body of the Demon Vine, didn't gain any benefits, it also felt very comfortable and soon fell into a deep sleep, until it was awakened by Yuan Ming just now.

Yuan Ming pondered all this, feeling incredulous, and at the same time, his gaze fell upon the Black Toad's spine—that bulge had now grown quite a bit, looking like it was wrapped in several purple-black leaves.

"Where is that black stone pillar now?" Yuan Ming asked.

The Black Toad raised its head and looked toward the deepest part of the underground palace.

There, on the wall, stood a tightly shut black stone gate with the black stone pillar erect beside it to the right. The patterns on it glowed with a black ghostly light, and the emanating black mist was ten times denser.

"You don't need to worry about me; continue absorbing the black mist," Yuan Ming instructed.

Upon hearing this, the Black Toad joyfully croaked and once again released its Demon Vines to absorb the black mist of this place.

Yuan Ming approached the stone pillar and tried probing it with Divine Sense once more, to no avail—just like before, as soon as it touched the pillar, an invisible force repelled it.

He sighed, looking towards the black stone gate and tried extending his Divine Sense inside.

However, just like the walls, the stone gate was also protected by some kind of prohibition; his Divine Sense could not penetrate through.

Yuan Ming searched carefully around the stone gate for a while but found no mechanism to open it.

The black stone pillar wouldn't have moved from the Snake King Cave to this place for no reason; there must be something significant behind the stone gate.

After a moment's silence, Yuan Ming suddenly flicked his finger.

A dazzling golden light shot out, which was the Nine-Ring Gold Saber he had obtained from the Bone Map, fiercely striking the stone gate.

With a "clang" sound, the Nine-Ring Gold Saber was repelled, and the black stone gate remained unscathed.

Yuan Ming's brows furrowed, and he then made a grabbing motion with his right hand, conjuring the Burning Explosion Skill and continually infused it with Mana.

Now at the Qi Refining twelfth layer, not only was his Mana much richer and thicker, but his control over spells had also greatly improved. Soon, he expanded the fireball to the size of a millstone, with the power fluctuations bursting forth far stronger than when he battled Bone Map.

"Go!" With a push of his hand, Yuan Ming launched the giant fireball at the black stone gate and simultaneously retreated backward.

Billowing flames spread out, engulfing the entire gate as the massive explosion caused the whole underground palace to shake, and chaotic ripples emanated from the prohibitions on the gate.

The red flames quickly dissipated, and a charred large pit appeared on the ground in front of the gate, but the black stone gate was still intact.

A few dozen feet away, Yuan Ming's expression became utterly solemn.

After pondering for a moment, he reached into his chest and pulled out a black bag, the Corpse Nourishing Bag belonging to Bone Map, which contained the corpse of the Heavenly Snake Master.

With a wave of his hand, he summoned the corpse of the Heavenly Snake Master, ready to remove the black iron nail to control the corpse with the soul crow.

Suddenly, the corpse of the Heavenly Snake Master opened its eyes, which shone with an extreme excitement and ferocity. The black iron nail on its forehead buzzed and trembled, as if an invisible force was about to pop it out.

A "clang clang" noise came from ahead, but it was coming from behind the black stone gate, as if someone was frantically knocking from the inside.

Yuan Ming's expression changed drastically, his heart beating wildly with each knock from behind the door, a sense of indescribable fear welling up in him, as if there was a primordial beast standing before him.

He immediately activated the Corpse Nourishing Bag and recollected the Heavenly Snake Master, channeling his Mana to suppress the corpse.

The Heavenly Snake Master's corpse gradually calmed down, and the knocking from behind the black stone gate ceased as well.

Yuan Ming immediately distanced himself from the black stone gate, his heart finally settling down after it had thumped wildly, his gaze towards the black stone gate flickering incessantly.

The Heavenly Snake Master's body appeared to be the key to opening that stone gate, but what exactly was behind it to give him such a terrifying feeling?

With his current strength, it seemed that he wasn't qualified to open the gate; rashly entering might just lead to situations he could not handle.

Yuan Ming turned and walked over to the Black Toad, not paying any more attention to the black stone gate, and sat down with his legs crossed to restore the Mana that had nearly run dry from casting the Burning Explosion Skill.

As soon as his Mana had somewhat recovered, fearing that the Heavenly Snake Master's corpse might trigger something odd again, he immediately left with the Black Toad.

Not until his feet touched the ground of Snake King Cave did Yuan Ming feel completely at ease. Without the strength of at least the Foundation Establishment Stage, Yuan Ming would not come to explore this place again.

He cast a spell to conceal the entrance of the underground cave and then turned to leave Snake King Valley, heading back to Biluo Cave.

Three days later, Yuan Ming rushed back to the Sect.

The White Deer Hill summit meeting was not far off; the atmosphere in Biluo Cave had become much livelier than before. Even the disciples who had not signed up to participate were looking forward with anticipation to the grand event, guessing which of the Biluo Cave disciples attending the summit had the best chance of achieving good results.

Yuan Ming naturally did not care about these trivial matters; upon returning to the Sect, he stayed at his own residence, not leaving his room.

Time quickly passed, three more days went by.

One day, as Yuan Ming was cultivating in his room, he heard a series of urgent "bang bang" knocks at the door.

He got up to open the door and found a servant, who was responsible for cleaning the area, standing outside.

"Superior immortal, news has just come that the Sect is summoning all disciples to gather in Qingluo Square," the servant said respectfully.

Yuan Ming was startled and asked, "Summoning all disciples? Did they say what for?"

"They did not mention it," the servant shook his head.

"Alright, I understand. I'll head there immediately," Yuan Ming said after a brief silence.

The servant bowed, took his leave, and went to knock on another disciple's residence nearby.

Yuan Ming tidied up his clothes and stepped out of his room, walking down the mountain.

Qingluo Square, which the servant mentioned, was the large green stone square at the mountain's foot where Biluo Cave would gather disciples for significant events.

By the time Yuan Ming arrived at Qingluo Square, many people were already there. Disciples from various halls naturally clumped together; Yuan Ming joined the Fire Refining Hall Disciples, where Fang Ge and Mu He had already arrived.

"Junior Brother Yuan Ming, it's been a while since I've seen you. Eh, your cultivation?" Fang Ge greeted him with a smile, his expression suddenly turning to one of surprise.

"I've been in closed-door cultivation for some time, and I've had some minor success," Yuan Ming said vaguely.

"Last time at the sword refining, your level was only at the Qi Refining Ninth Level. It hasn't been that long and you've reached the Qi Refining Tenth Layer. It seems Junior Brother Yuan Ming must have had some fortuitous encounters," Fang Ge complimented.

"What fortuitous encounters could there be? I just happened to come across a bottle of Strengthening and Nourishing elixir lately, which allowed me to advance luckily," Yuan Ming modestly stated.

"Oh, so that's how it is," Fang Ge nodded still showing a hint of doubt in his eyes. The speed of Yuan Ming's cultivation advancement was indeed hard to comprehend.

Yuan Ming naturally noticed Fang Ge's doubt, but the speed of his cultivation was too fast, and any excuse would seem to cover something more significant, so he did not offer explanations, especially since Elder Brother Fang Ge was not one to pry.

After all, although Biluo Cave was a Sect, aside from the Inner Sect Disciples, the higher-ups and even the elders generally didn't care much about the ordinary Registered Disciples.

Mu He was engrossed in a book of runes and did not join in the conversation between the two.

More and more people gathered in the square, and soon enough, aside from a few who were out on Sect missions, all the Biluo Cave Disciples had assembled in Qingluo Square, numbering seven or eight hundred.

The Foundation Establishment Stage elders from the various halls had also arrived, standing in front of the crowd.

Yuan Ming was witnessing for the first time since joining the Sect the gathering of the Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators of Biluo Cave, numbering as many as seventy or eighty.

In the distance of Qingluo Square, a silver cat sat perched on a large tree, its head resting on its front paws, looking at the bustling crowd with interest.

A stir went through the crowd suddenly, and everyone turned their attention to the front.

Two figures approached, one a middle-aged man with copper rings on his ears and the other a black-bearded old man with yellowed skin and a sturdy frame; they ascended the temporary wooden platform set up in front of the crowd.

"How come only the Great Cave Master and the Second Cave Master have come? Aren't the Third Cave Master and the Great Elder coming?" the crowd whispered among themselves.

Yuan Ming was also curiously observing the two Core Formation Stage cultivators, but he was too far from the wooden platform to sense their aura.

"Fellow disciples of Biluo Cave, this summoning pertains to the White Deer Hill summit meeting. The significance of this decennial meeting to the entire Southern Border and Northern Territory's Five Great Sects, I am sure you all understand, and I will not elaborate further," the Great Cave Master began, his voice resonating across the square, silencing everyone.

"In two days' time, the summit will commence. Since White Deer Hill is quite far from the Sect, we will depart tomorrow led by the Second Cave Master, Law and Regulations Hall's Elder Mo Sa, and Execution Hall's Elder Chu Xiong," the Great Cave Master added after a pause.

The people below had anticipated this assembly's connection with the White Deer Hill summit and were not surprised.

Yuan Ming was fully prepared, carrying essential items with him at all times, and would have no issue even if they departed right now.

"Before we set out, there are two things I need to clarify with everyone. The first is to announce the rewards the Sect has prepared for this summit," said the Great Cave Master, glancing at the black-bearded elder by his side.

The crowd below buzzed with discussion, and those who had enrolled for the summit looked on with eager anticipation, Yuan Ming included.

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