However, whether intentionally or not, the Ice Cones were not aimed directly at the Three-tailed Demon Fox but towards the position above it—that is, the spot where Huan Ling Zi was battling within the illusion.

Seeing this, Huan Ling Zi suddenly felt uncertain, unsure whether Yuan Ming had truly seen through his illusion. For a moment, he even forgot to call for the Three-tailed Demon Fox to dodge.

However, an attack destined to miss required no evasion; the Three-tailed Demon Fox didn't take the incoming Ice Cones seriously, allowing them to fly over its head.

Upon realizing this, Huan Ling Zi took a deep breath and immediately controlled his illusion to dissipate into Fox Fire and with a sneer, said, "You think what you see is me? How naive!"

But before he could finish, Yuan Ming chuckled lightly at that moment, and his right hand suddenly hooked.

At this point, the Ice Cones, whose momentum had just faded and were about to fall to the ground, paused mid-air under Yuan Ming's control. They then spun around in unison and shot suddenly at the Three-tailed Demon Fox from behind.

This took both Huan Ling Zi and the Three-tailed Demon Fox by surprise. Almost instantly, the Ice Cones deeply pierced the body of the fox, large patches of White Frost climbing up its trunk, turning the red patterns snow white. The blood from the wounds was already frozen, while the cold air reversed along the bloodstream, heading straight for the heart.

With a pained howl, the Demon Fox collapsed weakly, its towering fox body turning into a white ice sculpture, which then exploded with a bang, shattering along with the body of the fox inside.

With the fall of the Three-tailed Demon Fox, the illusions created by Long Chong and Qiong Yun were also lifted.

The two glanced around and quickly grasped what had happened.

Long Chong and Qiong Yun, thinking back to their previous belief that Yuan Ming was weak and recalling his various performances along the way, felt their faces burn with embarrassment and anger. They then turned their rage towards Huan Ling Zi but were interrupted by Yuan Ming's voice at their ears.

Long and Qiong exchanged glances and flew off into the distance.

Yuan Ming watched them leave, about to do something, when streaks of pink Fox Fire shot out from the shattered ice blocks, merging in mid-air into a pink fox shadow. It appeared to be the Three-tailed Demon Fox, but now with only two tails remaining and its aura greatly diminished.

"What kind of Divine Ability is this?" Even someone with Yuan Ming's experience was taken aback upon witnessing this scene.

"This is the Illusion Fox Clan's tail-breaking replacement death divine power, using a fox tail to fend off a fatal attack, similar in principle to that of the Heavenly Ghost Wanderer's Substitution Divine Ability," said Xi Ying, her voice echoing in his Sea of Consciousness.

"I see." Yuan Ming suddenly understood, a cold smile appearing on his face as he exhaled a black Sword Shadow that disappeared into the void.

With the severe injury to the Three-tailed Demon Fox, the Illusion Power enshrouding the area vanished suddenly, and the illusionary scene, which he had already seen through, shattered like a mirror. Even without using Soul Power, he could see everything around him clearly.

Huan Ling Zi was taken aback, clearly understanding that Yuan Ming had already seen through his illusion, but he quickly regained his composure and began casting spells onto the Stele with both hands.

Yuan Ming had obviously already seen through the illusion, so why the pretense if not for fear of being unable to defeat me head-on?

Now, even without the illusion, as a cultivator in the late stage of Core Formation, it would be easy for me to kill one in the early stage!

Huan Ling Zi channeled his Spiritual Power wildly into the stele, and the Two-tailed Fox Demon, with a resentful gaze at Yuan Ming, also mobilized its remaining demonic power, pouring it into the stele.

Besieged by the Fire Hawk, the five chains instantly unleashed a powerful force that scattered the Fire Hawk, and the remaining four chains shot out in kind, intertwining with the previous five.

The nine chains twisted and coiled together, and in just three breaths' time, they transformed into a giant iron serpent, with a nine-blade serpent head radiating a chilling light. In the next instant, it charged straight toward Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming let out a faint cold chuckle, as Lei Yu shot out from the Spiritual Beast Bag at his waist, landing on his shoulder and executing the Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Technique.

As Lei Yu's demonic power converged, Yuan Ming's Mana surged, skyrocketing to late-stage Core Formation level.

However, he was currently wearing the Blood Bone Mask, an item with the effect of concealing fluctuations in aura, so the soaring Mana did not leak out in the slightest.

Yuan Ming opened his mouth to spit out the Thunder God Hammer. As the iron chain spear was about to pierce him, he met the spear tip with a strike.

When the two Magic Treasures collided in the air, the resulting shockwave swept across the surroundings, flattening the nearby reeds to the ground.

In the midst of the raging wind, Yuan Ming stood unflinchingly close by, without blinking an eye.

Meanwhile, Huan Ling Zi beside the stele was forced to take three steps back by the shockwave, his face showing an expression of disbelief.

With his late-stage Core Formation Mana, plus the aid of the Three-tailed Demon Fox, how could he be at a disadvantage in a clash of Mana?

"Damn it, this person is definitely not at the early stage of Core Formation. He must have concealed his true strength, no wonder he managed to defeat Cui Yu at the Immortal Fruit Conference! If I had known earlier, I would not have agreed to Cui Yu's request to help him secure that Thunder Wing Bird!" Huan Ling Zi silently regretted.

The Two-tailed Fox Demon was also sent flying, with a streak of golden lightning penetrating its body, which was precisely the power of Golden Thunder that Lei Yu had gained by refining a third-level Demon Pill.

The demonic power of the Illusion Fox Clan is of pure Yin attributes, quite similar to that of ghosts, and golden thunder is their nemesis.

Trails of golden electric arcs appeared across the Two-tailed Fox Demon's body, causing its demonic power to greatly diminish again, and its second tail began to regress. Fear appeared on its face as it transformed into a pink shadow and shot toward Huan Ling Zi's Spiritual Beast Bag.

However, the void in front of it fluctuated, and the Soul Destroying Sword materialized out of thin air, descending in a slash above its head.

The Two-tailed Fox Demon was greatly startled and tried to dodge, but suddenly its vision plunged into endless darkness. Its sense of smell, hearing, and Divine Sense were all severed, transforming it into a complete blind and deaf creature.

The black Sword Shadow fell upon the head of the Two-tailed Fox Demon, cleaving it in half, and blood mixed with red and white contents splattered.

Controlled by the Annihilation Rune of the Soul Destroying Sword, the Two-tailed Fox Demon was unable to cast its tail-breaking replacement death divine power in time. Its Divine Soul was annihilated by the Soul Destroying Sword, completely falling.

"Three tails!" Huan Ling Zi cried out in shock and anger.

The Three-tailed Demon Fox was his most capable spirit beast. On Kongling Island, there was a Secret Technique that could temporarily fuse the demonic power of the illusion fox with the Soul Power of Kongling Island's cultivators to enhance the power of illusion techniques, quite similar to the Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Technique.

Huan Ling Zi was renowned partly because of the Three-tailed Demon Fox and this secret technique. Just now, it was by leveraging this method that he had temporarily dragged Yuan Ming into an illusion.

Now that the Three-tailed Demon Fox had been slain, his divine powers were directly halved, and he was unable to explain himself to both the Kongling Island Master and the Illusion Fox Clan.

"You treacherous thief, how dare you kill my spirit beast!" Huan Ling Zi's eyes were blood-red as he flipped his hand and brought out that cyan lamp, which hovered mid-air.

The cyan flame expanded, turning into a cyan fireball ten feet in diameter, resembling a mini sun as it rolled toward Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming's expression was indifferent as he waved his hand and summoned a black screen—it was the Night Parade of Hundred Demons.

The screen instantly expanded tenfold and collided with the cyan fireball.

Huan Ling Zi, upon seeing this scene, was not alarmed but pleased.

The cyan fireball was no ordinary fire-based divine power; the wick of this cyan lamp was made from refining the essence of a fox tail from a Level 4 Six-tailed Demon Fox, containing powerful illusion power. Coupled with his use of the Empty Illusion Reincarnation Skill to activate it, the cyan fox fire could easily infiltrate within a magic treasure, seizing control of it.

This black screen flickered with incredibly strong mana fluctuations, even greater than those of the cyan lamp. If he could take control of it, it would somewhat compensate for the loss of the Three-tailed Demon Fox.

Upon this thought, Huan Ling Zi used all of his mana to pour into the cyan lamp. The cyan fireball grew by another thirty percent, and the moment it touched the Night Parade of Hundred Demons, the immense fireball transformed into a cyan shadow and merged into the screen.

"I have it now!" Huan Ling Zi flew toward it with joy, a large cyan hand reaching out for the Night Parade of Hundred Demons.

A Black Robed Elder burst out from the Night Parade of Hundred Demons, wielding a black cane—it was the Heavenly Ghost Wanderer. With one strike from his black cane in mid-air, he shattered the large cyan hand.

The black cane then shot out, turning into a dark flood dragon enveloped by surging black mist. The dragon's massive claws lunged forward, aiming for Huan Ling Zi.

The dark light on the Night Parade of Hundred Demons flickered slightly, appearing completely unaffected just as before.

"How is this possible!" Huan Ling Zi was shocked. His cyan fireball had always been infallible in seizing magic treasures, yet it had failed.

The sharp claws of the dark flood dragon descended from above, their fierce wind tearing through his clothes and causing blood to gush from his chest.

Huan Ling Zi abruptly came back to his senses and pointed at the cyan lamp above.

The cyan flame burst with a pop, flickering intensely and Huan Ling Zi's figure disappeared in an instant; he reappeared several feet away, easily dodging the dark flood dragon's attack.

However, unaware to Huan Ling Zi, the dark flood dragon changed its course and dove toward the mid-air cyan lamp, biting it firmly. Strands of green light shot from the dragon's body, merging into the lamp.

The spirit light of the cyan lamp was rapidly sullied by the green strands, leaving it immobilized.

The dark flood dragon turned and flew back, landing in the hands of the Heavenly Ghost Wanderer and disappearing into the Night Parade of Hundred Demons with him.

This series of swift changes happened as quickly as lightning, and before Huan Ling Zi could react, the cyan lamp had vanished without a trace.

In a hurry, he attempted to summon the lamp using a spell, but there was no response; it seemed to be thoroughly sealed, and he stood there dumbfounded.

"If I were you, with neither illusion techniques nor magic treasures working, I'd have taken my own life long ago to save myself the embarrassment," Yuan Ming said, looking at Huan Ling Zi with a mocking smile on his lips.

"You... I'll put an end to this!" Bloodshot with rage and like a starving wolf driven to desperation, Huan Ling Zi roared as he lunged forward in a life-and-death struggle with Yuan Ming.

After all, Huan Ling Zi was a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator. Yuan Ming recalled the Soul Destroying Sword and the Thunder God Hammer, readying himself for the confrontation.

Yet, unexpectedly, Huan Ling Zi spun around and fled without hesitation.

As he flew, he tore open his clothes, bit his fingertip, and pressed it against his chest.

A palm-sized Golden Light Talisman was hidden on his chest. As his blood touched the talisman, a beam of golden light emerged, wrapping his body within it.

With a "whoosh," the golden light took him into the swamp, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone without a trace.

Yuan Ming was surprised but then nodded slightly.

Having lost his magic treasure and spirit beast, Huan Ling Zi's strength had diminished greatly. Although his actions seemed cowardly, they were not without reason.

Yuan Ming didn't rush to pursue. During their brief clash, he had already secretly marked Huan Ling Zi. Whenever he wished, he could find his location. There was no urgency at this moment.

With a wave of his hand, the cyan lamp flew out from the Night Parade of Hundred Demons.

The cyan fireball's technique of seizing others' treasures with illusion power was indeed extraordinary, but within the Night Parade of Hundred Demons hid the All Living Beings Dream Rune, any divine illusion technique that entered it was irretrievable and ineffective.

The flame on the cyan lamp had returned to its normal size, with the spirit light behaving obediently. It had been infiltrated by the All Living Beings' Dream illusion power, thoroughly erasing the mark of Huan Ling Zi's consciousness left inside it.

Yuan Ming looked at the lamp, a trace of joy on his face.

This lamp was also a Nine Rune Magical Treasure, its spiritual power fluctuations were not less than those of the Thunder God Hammer, and it could better support the casting of illusions, making it more valuable.

Yuan Ming attempted to inject his mana into the lamp to imprint his consciousness and completely subdue it, but repeatedly failed.

At the core of the cyan lamp's rune formation seemed to be a force preventing him.

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