The Black Armored Demon General saw Yuan Ming's momentary distraction but did not take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack; instead, he leaped into the air and rushed toward Guanghan City on the surface at an incredibly fast speed.

Only then did Yuan Ming come back to his senses. As he was considering whether to pursue, a sudden voice from Qi Ye came from within his Sea of Consciousness.

"Yuan, hurry and chase after the Evil King Mirror! He's most likely going to seize the Great Wilderness Star River Pearl. You must not let him succeed, otherwise, all will be lost!" Qi Ye's voice carried an urgent tone.

"So Senior Qi Ye, you're still alive? Is the Evil King Mirror the black mirror inside the Black Armored Demon General? The Undead Demon Tree mentioned it before, but what is the Great Wilderness Star River Pearl?" Yuan Ming's gaze flickered, and instead of pursuing, he suppressed the impulse to move and sent a telepathic message back.

Seeing that Yuan Ming did not move, Hua Zhi and the others also refrained from chasing.

The Green-clothed man, however, turned into a green shadow and vanished; Yinkong, too, disappeared without a trace.

Jin Chao saw this, grasped the Golden Cloud Fairy beside him, and shot straight up into the sky.

"Why have you stopped, Yuan? There's no time to hesitate," Qi Ye said anxiously.

"What's the rush, Senior Qi Ye? Haven't Senior Jin Chao and that Green-clothed man gone after him? With them there, the Black Armored Demon General won't be able to get his hands on it easily. Let's talk about the Evil King Mirror and the Great Wilderness Star River Pearl," Yuan Ming replied with a light smile, beckoning with his hand.

A Blood Shadow shot out from Hua Zhi and landed in his hand—it was the Shura Blood Devouring Map.

"That's also true. The Black Armored Demon General who escaped just now is the transformation of the Evil King Mirror Artifact Spirit. He's heading for Guanghan Palace on the surface of the Soluble Cave to snatch one of the Spiritual Treasure Orbs, the Great Wilderness Star River Pearl," Qi Ye replied after a brief silence.

"Judging from your words, Senior Qi Ye, it seems you know quite a bit about the Evil King Mirror. Why does it want to seize that Great Wilderness Star River Pearl?" Yuan Ming telepathically inquired.

"This..." Upon hearing his question, Qi Ye hesitated.

"Senior Qi Ye, with the situation at hand, I advise you not to continue hiding anything. It would be best for both of us to be forthright," Yuan Ming suggested through telepathy.

"What do you mean by that, Yuan? I've never deceived you. Our previous few communications have been quite brief because of the Undead Demon Tree. I am its puppet; I can only communicate with you during its suppression of the Evil King Mirror, and not for too long, or it risks detection," Qi Ye explained.

"Is that so? If Senior Qi Ye is indeed a puppet of the Undead Demon Tree, then how can you communicate with me? From what I've observed, the other Tree-man Puppets mostly lack spiritual intelligence, and those that have it dedicate themselves entirely to serving the Undead Demon Tree without any sign of betrayal. Clearly, both body and mind are controlled by the Undead Demon Tree, so why is it that you are an exception, Senior? Furthermore, when the Undead Demon Tree just killed your physical body, how did you survive and injure the Undying Tree Soul with that Black Sword?" Yuan Ming asked several questions in succession.

"Alas, I was unlucky to be refined into a puppet by the Undead Demon Tree. However, I once had the fortune to practice a secret technique called the Primordial Embryo Soul Storage Technique, which allows for part of one's consciousness to be separated from the main body and reside in another object, coexisting with the main soul's consciousness. It is thanks to this technique that I could remain spiritually alert and wasn't completely controlled by the Undead Demon Tree," Qi Ye explained.

"Primordial Embryo Soul Storage Technique? So, are you communicating with me using a detached consciousness, Senior Qi Ye?" Yuan Ming asked telepathically.

"Yes, my physical body perished previously, and it was also me who controlled the black sword to attack the Undying Tree Soul," Qi Ye said.

"I see, it's indeed a profound and mysterious technique. May I ask where your split soul resides, Fellow Daoist Qi Ye?" Yuan Ming inquired again through telepathy.

"This... Please forgive me, Yuan, for a detached consciousness has weak combat ability. If I reveal my hiding place to others, it would be extremely dangerous for me," Qi Ye apologized.

"Is that so? Since the Senior is unwilling to tell, then allow me to guess. You've placed that consciousness inside this Shura Blood Devouring Map, haven't you?" Yuan Ming raised the blood-red screen in his hand.

Qi Ye was silent.

"And it's not just the consciousness. The Artifact Spirit of the Shura Blood Devouring Map is also yours, isn't it? It must be some sort of split soul," Yuan Ming continued.

"You're thinking too much, Fellow Daoist Yuan," Qi Ye replied.

"Am I?" A cold glint flashed in Yuan Ming's eyes as he flipped his hand and stored the Shura Blood Devouring Map away in the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space, where the white fog still lingered densely.

A black arrow-shaped light shot from within the fog, launched by the first soul sitting on the White Jade Lotus Platform. It penetrated the Shura Blood Devouring Map and struck the Artifact Spirit fiercely.

Under the influence of the main soul, the first soul had also broken through the Sleep Witch Realm, and with the power of Desire endowed by the Lotus Platform inside, the first soul's Soul Power had reached the level of a Half-step Spoken Witch, making it unnecessary for Yuan Ming's true form to be present.

Although the arrow-shaped black light was a mere common Divine Soul attack, its power was still incredibly formidable.

A blood shadow flashed out from the Shura Blood Devouring Map, letting out uncontrollable screams; it was Qi Ye's voice.

"How about now?" A giant hand formed from condensed Soul Power emerged from the white mist, seizing the blood shadow in its grasp; it was indeed the Great Black Sky God Palm.

"Yuan, your insight is sharp; indeed, the Artifact Spirit of the Shura Blood Devouring Map is a soul split of mine. Nevertheless, the Primordial Embryo Soul Storage Technique I mentioned is not a lie; it does exist. I had placed that strand of consciousness in the Fire Burning Stick you obtained earlier. The split consciousness is too far from the main soul to provide mutual protection," Qi Ye said with a slight bitter smile.

"Rest assured, Yuan, after you obtained that Fire Burning Stick, my consciousness had already transferred to the Artifact Spirit of the Shura Blood Devouring Map, leaving not a trace within the Fire Burning Stick. You can use that treasure without concerns," he quickly added, as if remembering something.

"No matter what, tell me everything you know about the Evil King Mirror and the Great Wilderness Star River Pearl! My patience is limited; I don't want to hear another lie, or else don't blame me for being merciless," Yuan Ming said coldly.

Qi Ye had been a great help to him in taking down the Undead Tree Demon, and he didn't want to forcibly Soul Search him, but if Qi Ye were to deceive him again, he would show no mercy whatsoever.

"Let's just lay it all out. I am not a native creature here but come from the Demon World. The Evil King Mirror also originates from the Demon World, crafted by a vile and evil criminal, an odd Spiritual Treasure," Qi Ye sighed helplessly as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming felt a jolt, quite surprised.

"Continue," he said, suppressing the urge to inquire further, urging Qi Ye to proceed.

"The Evil King Mirror can absorb negative emotions such as hatred, curses, enmity, jealousy, and it strengthens itself by feeding on these emotions, growing in power step by step. In order to gather more extreme negative emotions, the Evil King Mirror often incites various factions within the Demon World to kill each other, bringing great disaster to the creatures of the Demon World. However, the Evil King Mirror is also pursued by many cultivators there. For some unknown reason, it eventually escaped from the Demon World to the Yunhuang Continent," Qi Ye continued.

"Then you followed it to the Yunhuang Continent?" Yuan Ming asked.

"My clan was destroyed by the Evil King Mirror, many relatives dying by its hands. My grudge with the Evil King Mirror is irreconcilable, and at a great cost, I arrived at the Yunhuang Continent," Qi Ye said evenly, yet Yuan Ming heard in his voice a deep sorrow and self-blame, not seeming feigned.

"Why did the Evil King Mirror appear on the Three Immortals Island? And how did you get here?" Yuan Ming asked after a slight silence.

"Why the Evil King Mirror is here, I'm not quite clear on that myself. After I came to the Yunhuang Continent, after years of investigation, I found that the mirror was sealed in the Three Immortals Island, so I followed. However, according to my years of observation, someone intended to use the power of the Undying Tree to suppress the Evil King Mirror, but they underestimated its power. Over the years, not only has the mirror's evilness not been ground away, but it also influenced the Undying Tree, causing it to fall into the Evil Path. When I sought it here, I ended up enslaved by the Undying Tree." Qi Ye seemed not to hold anything back, telling all that he knew.

Hearing this, Yuan Ming finally understood why the Evil King Mirror appeared on the Three Immortals Island and decided not to delve into the unclear details.

It doesn't matter whether it was the Three Immortals Island or the Evil King Mirror; neither had much to do with him.

"What is the Great Wilderness Star River Pearl? Why would the Evil King Mirror want to snatch it?" Yuan Ming inquired.

"The Great Wilderness Star River Pearl is a Space Spiritual Treasure, like the Lank Chessboard and Hou Yi's Sun Shooting Bow, left by the Three Immortals. Its Divine Skill is to break open the void, creating void passages, allowing easy passage through Secret Realms or Forbidden Barriers. If the Evil King Mirror gains control of the Great Wilderness Star River Pearl, from then on, it could come and go as it pleases in heaven or earth, and no one would be able to catch it. The Yunhuang Continent would also endure an endless typhoon of blood due to the mirror," Qi Ye said in a grave voice.

"You've said so much just to get me to deal with the Evil King Mirror? Do you think with all this alarming talk, I would go head-to-head with an Evil Treasure from the Demon World?" Yuan Ming sneered suddenly.

"I wouldn't dare harbor such expectations. It's just that the spatial barriers of the Three Immortal Island Secret Realm are incredibly strong, and the only way out is the Great Wilderness Star River Pearl. If we let the Evil King Mirror escape with the pearl, I fear we may be forever trapped here," Qi Ye explained.

Yuan Ming frowned upon hearing this.

Qi Ye's words indeed touched on his Achilles' heel. If the Evil King Mirror indeed took the Great Wilderness Star River Pearl, he would truly be in trouble.

With that thought, Yuan Ming soared up and chased after them towards the upper levels.

Flower branches and the others remaining in the soluble cave saw Yuan Ming following the Black Armored Demon upward and also hastened to follow suit.

After a while, there was not a single person left inside the cave.

When the cave had fallen into utter silence, a faint sound suddenly came from a corner.

Then a heavy friction sound ensued, and a huge stone slab was suddenly propped up, then pushed over and smashed down, as a figure climbed out from underneath.

This man had a dirt-covered face, looking utterly disheveled, it was Wu Yuezhi.

Wu Yuezhi swept a cold glance around, then his face suddenly turned ruthless and his figure vanished from the spot in the blink of an eye.

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