After confirming that Sha Hao had completely left, Yuan Ming's complexion suddenly turned as pale as paper, and he fell to the ground with a "thud", gasping for breath.

The Fire Cloud in mid-air surged a few times and quickly dissipated.

Vajra flew over, looked at Yuan Ming's weakened state, wanting to help but not knowing where to start, and could only fret anxiously.

"Get me out of here, quick..." Yuan Ming said hoarsely.

Vajra nodded repeatedly, picking up Yuan Ming with two arms and sprinting into the valley with the other two arms holding his legs together, and after a few leaps, he disappeared into the vast forest.

Yuan Ming didn't let Vajra run too far, and soon had him put himself down, hastily summoned Hua Zhi, and then sat down cross-legged, taking out two Mid-grade Wood Attribute Spirit Stones to absorb the spiritual power and recover.

Although Hua Zhi and Vajra didn't get along, with Yuan Ming injured, they didn't argue any further at the moment and each guarded one side as his protectors.

Vajra directly sat cross-legged on the ground, his eyes, large as copper bells, scanning around alertly.

Hua Zhi, on the other hand, spread its vines far and wide, covering an area of a hundred paces, capturing every small animal that passed by, devouring their blood to heal its injuries.

After a quarter of an hour, Yuan Ming opened his eyes, his pale face having recovered slightly.

As a disciple of Xi Cangqiong, Sha Hao indeed had an impressive attainment in Soul Cultivation, and his strength surpassed Yuan Ming's expectations.

When Yuan Ming had escaped to the valley, his mana was almost depleted, and having continuously activated the Fire Cloud Secret Technique just now, his mana had been completely exhausted, fortunately scaring Sha Hao away at the last moment.

Ga ga...

Accompanied by a shrill cry, Lei Yu fell from the sky, landing beside Yuan Ming.

"Luckily, I had released you earlier after entering that valley, or today I really would have died at Sha Hao's hands," Yuan Ming stroked Lei Yu's smooth feathers.

"Master, how did you break those illusions?" Vajra turned to ask, curious.

Hua Zhi also ran back and sat on the other side of Yuan Ming, obviously wanting to know the answer too.

"I didn't break Sha Hao's illusions at all," Yuan Ming shook his head.

"Didn't break the illusions? How is that possible? Sha Hao clearly fell for your illusion at the end and was nearly blown to pieces by you," Vajra didn't understand.

"Who said that being in an illusion means you can't cast illusions on someone else?" Yuan Ming chuckled.

Vajra scratched his head in confusion, not understanding Yuan Ming's words.

"When I was affected by Sha Hao's illusion, I couldn't see my surroundings clearly. However, with your reminder, I realized that Sha Hao's illusions had distance limitations, so I had Lei Yu peek at the situation inside the valley from above. Indeed, Lei Yu was not affected and could see everything clearly from mid-air. Although Lei Yu's spiritual intelligence isn't as high as yours or Hua Zhi's, he could still tell me some basic information, such as Sha Hao's position. This way, even though I was still under Sha Hao's illusions, it was almost as if I wasn't," Yuan Ming explained.

"Oh, I see, that's quite complicated," Vajra still seemed somewhat confused.

"Strong limbs, simple mind," Hua Zhi, having understood, sent a telepathic tease.

"You sprout, asking for a beating!" Vajra roared angrily, his palm as large as a fan fiercely grabbing towards Hua Zhi's head.

With ready anticipation, Hua Zhi swiftly burrowed into the ground.

"If you dare, don't run underground!" Vajra thundered furiously.

"If you dare, come down and fight!" Hua Zhi retorted.

"You come up!"

"You come down!"

Yuan Ming sighed, ignoring the two and continued to hold the spirit stones, recovering his mana.

Vajra and Hua Zhi made noise for quite a while before calming down.

"Master, what happened afterward? How did Sha Hao fall for your illusion?" Vajra ran back beside Yuan Ming, pressing for details.

"I cast the Fire Cloud Skill, making Sha Hao think I was getting frantic, drawing him closer. Then, when he was off-guard, I cast an illusion. My illusion might not be as powerful as his, but it's effective as long as I know his position. Sha Hao was caught by surprise, but it seemed he had a way to break it and managed to escape in time," Yuan Ming glanced at Vajra, explaining.

"So that's how it was," Vajra finally completely understood and looked at Yuan Ming with admiration.

"Master, what do you think Sha Hao used to break your illusion?" Hua Zhi also emerged from the ground, asking.

"I can't guess. It might be some method specifically for breaking illusions," Yuan Ming said.

Through the previous battle, he had also vaguely figured out a method to break illusions.

Just now, he had bombarded the valley with the Fire Cloud Secret Technique. Due to the lack of mana, he hadn't used any protective measures, and his body was inevitably affected by the blasts, causing considerable pain.

With each wave of pain, the illusions before his eyes showed slight fluctuations.

Yuan Ming licked his lips, his tongue had cracked a bit, and fresh blood was still slowly seeping out.

His earlier statement to Vajra that he hadn't broken Sha Hao's illusions wasn't exactly accurate.

He had bitten himself when Sha Hao was fleeing, using the excruciating pain, along with the aid of the Moonlight Technique and the incense burner, to linger between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Yuan Ming confirmed that about one third of his mana had recovered, so he summoned the White Jade Shuttle and rushed back, quickly returning to the previous valley.

He landed a good distance from the valley and released a soul crow to scout inside.

The situation in the valley had not changed. He Wendao, Bai Ye, Lu Shen, and the bodies of the five Shengye Sect disciples were still in place, and a few scattered magic artifacts were there too.

Yuan Ming had the soul crow scout around once more to confirm there were no issues before he entered.

Looking at the bodies scattered all over the ground, a sense of desolation inevitably rose in his heart.

However, he quickly dismissed this peculiar emotion and gathered up the bodies and the scattered magic artifacts.

Hua Zhi shot two vines from the Spiritual Beast Bag into the ground, quickly dragging out the desiccated body of Shi Dian, which Hua Zhi had drained.

Yuan Ming collected it as well, and then stood in place and closed his eyes.

On the way here, he had quietly left a mana marker inside Xu Tian's body to facilitate his own monitoring, which would work as long as the distance did not exceed a hundred li.

Yuan Ming soon opened his eyes, summoned the White Jade Shuttle, and flew toward a distant area, finally arriving above a secluded recess in the mountains.

He descended and scanned the valley with his Divine Sense, discovering that many cultivators were rapidly traveling. Almost all of the scattered Shengye Sect disciples were gathered here, including Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er.

"Well, that saves me the trouble of looking for them one by one," Yuan Ming nodded slightly and descended.

The Shengye Sect disciples walking within the recess were initially tense when they saw someone approaching, but upon recognizing Yuan Ming, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Senior Hagon, it's great that you're unharmed," Xu Tian said joyfully.

Luo Xing'er, too, was overjoyed to see Yuan Ming safe and sound.

"How did you all manage to regroup after scattering?" Yuan Ming nodded to both and asked.

"Reporting to Senior Hagon, after Elder Lu Shen messaged me, I immediately flew away with the disciples aboard the flying boat. Then I informed the remaining disciples to regroup. The flying boat is huge, and I feared being discovered by the enemy's spirit beasts, so I dared not drive the flying boat with everyone aboard. Thus, we decided to walk back," a tall young man from the Shengye Sect stepped forward and spoke, bowing to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming recognized him as the pilot of the flying boat, named Luo Shan, a cultivator at the Qi Refining Peak. He was impressed with Luo Shan's handling of the situation. If the flying boat had left just a moment later, the disciples on board would have been wiped out by Sha Hao in the valley. Walking through the mountains also offered better concealment.

"Senior Hagon, may I ask how Elder Lu Shen and Elder Bai Ye are doing?" Luo Shan asked further.

"Lu Shen and Fellow Daoist Bai Ye, they have both fallen. Luckily the enemy was injured and has left. You are safe now," Yuan Ming said.

Upon hearing this, the tension that everyone had been holding was finally released, with some of the more timid and cowardly disciples even weeping with relief.

"What should we do now? Can you escort us back to the sect alone?" Luo Shan asked.

"Where is the flying boat?" Yuan Ming asked.

"The flying boat is currently stopped in another valley," Luo Shan replied.

"You retrieve that Green Wood Flying Boat, and I'll protect these disciples here. We can now leave aboard the flying boat. Don't worry, I'm here," Yuan Ming pondered briefly before speaking.

He then lent the flying shuttle to Luo Shan, urging him to make a quick return, and Luo Shan summoned the White Jade Shuttle and sped away.

Yuan Ming rode the Green Cloud Crane and patrolled the skies.

Watching Yuan Ming in the sky, many of the Shengye Sect disciples showed admiration.

"This Senior Hagon looks quite young, yet his strength is remarkable. Even Elder Lu Shen fell to the enemy, yet he managed to escape safely," a female disciple from the Shengye Sect with a round face held her cheeks in her hands, her eyes sparkling.

"Of course, Senior Hagon is..." Luo Xing'er began, lifting her fair chin, about to reveal Yuan Ming's glorious deed of killing the Great Jin National Master, but Xu Tian stopped her with a look.

"Junior Brother Xu, Junior Sister Luo, it seems you know Senior Hagon?" another disciple asked them.

"We haven't met him before, but Senior Hagon is acquainted with our family elders, and Xing'er and I have heard some of his exploits," Xu Tian explained.

"What exploits does Senior Hagon have? Tell us about them!" the round-faced female disciple urged.

"Senior Hagon is naturally modest and dislikes being talked about behind his back, so it's inappropriate for us to say more. Please understand," Xu Tian said, shaking his head.

Yuan Ming had offended Chang Chun Temple, and since he used the pseudonym Hagon, it was clear he didn't want to reveal his identity. Xu Tian, knowing some details from his grandmother, naturally wouldn't divulge them.

Everyone was disappointed by this but did not pursue the matter further.

A short while later, Luo Shan piloted the Green Wood Flying Boat, which emitted bright green light, quickly returning to the recess and gathered all Shengye Sect disciples. The flying boat slowly lifted off, heading toward the Shengye Sect's gate.

"Who has a way to contact the sect?" Yuan Ming looked at the others and asked.

The Green Wood Flying Boat was quite conspicuous, and it would be best to contact the Shengye Sect to send someone quickly in case of further incidents along the way.

However, everyone shook their heads.

"The magic tool for contacting the sect was with Elder Lu Shen," Luo Shan said.

Yuan Ming frowned without taking out Lu Shen's storage magic tool.

For this mission of the Shengye Sect, he had nearly risked his own life. Lu Shen's storage magic tool was not something he planned to return, considering it his well-deserved compensation.

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