"This suggests that Wan Tianren has been hiding his true capabilities. Either he suppressed his realm in my presence, or he possesses some formidable life-saving Divine Artifact. Either way, it indicates that this person not only has deep thoughts but also a deeper foundation than we imagined," Wang Fulong sighed and said.

"Master, do you think he might already know that we arranged all of this? I always feel that the way he looks at me after returning is a bit odd. I'm afraid he might strike at me at any moment; my situation is probably very dangerous," Wei Ling said with some panic.

"Don't scare yourself. If he indeed had some solid evidence, he would have already acted against you while in the Fire Rock Desert, where there is no supervision. Why would he continue to carry out tasks with you?" Wang Fulong scolded slightly.

Thinking it over, Wei Ling found it reasonable and nodded quietly to himself.

"After he returned, did you notice any signs of injury?" Wang Fulong pondered for a moment and then asked.

Wei Ling hesitated, then recalled carefully and immediately said, "Yes, when he returned today, he coughed up blood. Although he tried to conceal it, I still saw it."

"It's normal to get injured, especially when dealing with the Black River Four Foes. If he could wipe them out unscathed, he wouldn't be a Returning to Void Stage Cultivator; he would probably be a Dharma manifestation Stage Cultivator," Wang Fulong said thoughtfully.

"So Wan Tianren might be a Dharma Phase Cultivator!" Wei Ling said, taken aback.

"Of course not. No matter how much a Dharma Phase Cultivator suppresses their aura, I would be able to see through it. Even if I couldn't, that esteemed individual wouldn't make such a mistake," Wang Fulong scoffed and shook his head.

Little did he know, Yuan Ming was not an ordinary Dharma Phase Cultivator; he was also a Body Cultivation cultivator with the Body of Wanxiang, and a Soul Cultivator in the Word Witch Realm.

With simultaneous suppression by Divine Soul Power and control by Qi Blood Power, combined with the concealment of the Undying Tree, even the Guardian Sima Changqin couldn't see through him.

"So, in his injured state, do you have the confidence to kill Wan Tianren?" Wang Fulong suddenly asked.

Hearing this, Wei Ling's heart tightened, and he quickly shook his head, replying, "Master, although he is injured, it definitely doesn't seem to have affected his core. I know very little about him; if I rashly make a move and succeed, that's fine. But if I fail, it would undoubtedly bring disaster upon our Sunset Sect. That is definitely not a wise move."

Although he said this, in his heart, he was truly thinking that he wouldn't risk his own life at any cost.

"What you say makes sense. Let's do this: continue to monitor him for a few days. Don't do anything out of the ordinary to disturb him. I will think of a way to solve him as soon as possible," Wang Fulong said without forcing him.

"As you command, Master," Wei Ling exhaled in relief, bowing deeply.

Upon returning to the camp, he saw Yuan Ming sleeping against the tree trunk. He initially thought to greet him and check his injuries up close, but recalling his Master's earlier words, he refrained from doing anything excessive.

Yuan Ming glanced in Wei Ling's direction and dispersed the Circular Light Technique from his hand.

His attention returned to the crimson orb on the Undying Tree, yet he wasn't in a rush to pick it. Instead, he continued to absorb the Spiritual Vein Power from the ground for cultivation.

Time flew by, and three days passed in a flash.

During this period, besides several attacks from fire beasts, Yuan Ming's group didn't encounter any particular dangers. They unconsciously quickened their pace in exploration.

Wei Ling behaved quite normally, even consulting Yuan Ming on some decisions to be made. Although his tone wasn't exceptionally polite, he mostly respected Yuan Ming's suggestions.

Yuan Ming mostly stayed at the back of the team, showing a relatively low profile, except when Wei Ling approached him voluntarily.

Another two days passed, and as all groups seeking the Heavenly Fire ventured deeper into the Fire Rock Desert, they became significantly dispersed.

Even though the exploration teams were numerous, scattered across the vast desert, they were like buckets of sand falling into an ocean, causing hardly any waves.

In the same way, as they delved deeper, various fire beasts encountered in the desert grew more numerous, some reaching levels three to four, causing casualties to many teams.

This led to a gradual slowdown in each exploration team's progress, merely covering a hundred miles daily, maintaining contact through Communication Talismans.

On the morning of the sixth day,

A group of people reached a circular dune area and stopped to rest.

As usual, Yuan Ming sat down, using the Undying Tree Root to absorb the underground Spirit Vein.

In the past few days, he tried to rest wherever there were Spirit Veins underground.

Over these days, his cultivation hadn't improved much, but the red orb on the Undying Tree had grown several times larger, with a faint sense of imminent breakthrough.

"It seems this red orb is about to transform; I wonder what it will become?" Yuan Ming thought with anticipation.

"Master, it's already the sixth day. Since it's confirmed that Wei Ling is an accomplice of the Black River Four Foes, why don't you take him down, yet continue following him around?" Lei Yu's voice rang in Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness.

"No rush, let's wait a bit longer," Yuan Ming replied via transmission.

"What are you waiting for?" Lei Yu asked, puzzled.

Yuan Ming chuckled silently. Wei Ling was of little concern; capturing him could be done anytime.

He kept this person around to observe Sima Changqin's subsequent actions.

Having advanced to the Dharma manifestation Stage, Yuan Ming was not the small figure who had previously been chased around. If Sima Changqin wanted to play, he was more than willing to join.

Moreover, if he captured Wei Ling and left now, he would be completely blind, needing to guard against both the treasure-hunting teams and the Ten Thousand Demon Country, which would be counterproductive.

"You do as you please, but Master, could you let me out to gather some intel? Staying in the Shura Palace all day is really boring," Lei Yu said.

"No, the people from the Ten Thousand Demon Country are in the Fire Rock Desert now. You would be treated as a demon from the Ten Thousand Demon Country, very dangerous," Yuan Ming firmly refused.

"Alright," Lei Yu answered grudgingly, knowing Yuan Ming's words were indeed true, and didn't insist further.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming closed his eyes, urging the Undying Tree Root to absorb the underground Spirit Vein.

At this moment, a Golden-eyed Spirit Falcon patrolling the high sky suddenly folded its wings and plummeted straight down.

Immediately, a Nascent Soul cultivator in the team shouted loudly:

"Enemy attack!"

This shout tore through the morning silence, instantly alerting everyone who had started to relax.

They had agreed beforehand that in case of a demon beast attack, they would generally shout 'demon beast', if the situation was unclear, they would shout 'situation', and only during an enemy attack would they shout 'enemy attack'.

Since entering the Fire Rock Desert, their only enemy naturally was the Demon Clan of the Ten Thousand Demon Country.

Yuan Ming had been distractedly investigating the underground Spirit Vein, trying to discover its distribution pattern, and had not paid much attention to the external situation.

When he turned his head towards the direction of the enemy, he saw only hundreds of long spears made of condensed yellow sand in the sky, like a rain of arrows, falling towards them.

"Arrange formation, meet the enemy." Wei Ling shouted aloud while his figure flicked and moved to the forefront of the team.

His sleeves shook, and with a "whoosh", two cyan whirlwinds twisted like Flood Dragons, rushed straight up into the sky, and swept into the rain of sand spears.

Amidst the explosions, the sand spears broke completely, turning into falling sand dust.

Hundreds of feet away behind the sand dust, over a hundred tall figures emerged, each covered in hard scale armor, with long tails trailing behind them, the Lizardmen.

Their heads were broad, necks thick, blending almost imperceptibly into their bodies. Each was bare-chested, with brown-black pants exposing their tails, standing on distant sand dunes, staring with round bulging eyes, pupils forming two slits, peering from afar.

"Are these the Demon Clan of the Ten Thousand Demon Country?" Yuan Ming moved beside Wei Ling and asked.

"Sand Lizard Clan, one of the thirty-six tribes of the Ten Thousand Demon Country, born Body Cultivators, favorites of the desert, natural assassins." Wei Ling glanced at him, frowning, and said.

"Assassins?" Yuan Ming asked in surprise.

During this period, he had been collecting intelligence on the thirty-six tribes of the Ten Thousand Demon Country. This Sand Lizard Clan was insignificant in the country, and he hadn't collected intelligence on it yet.

"These guys excel at concealment and ambush; in the desert, they can integrate with sand and soil, sometimes even Divine Sense investigation might not detect them." Wei Ling said, glancing around.

Yuan Ming's gaze suddenly shifted; he looked at a spot on the ground, jumped back, and warned, "Be careful!"

Wei Ling, startled like a bird, leapt high and retreated.

From where Yuan Ming had looked, the ground suddenly spun inward, a vortex of yellow light unexpectedly appeared, then expanded instantly.

In a flash, it was like countless blade lights spinning out, slashing in all directions.

Had Yuan Ming and Wei Ling not timely retreated, they would surely have been caught within it.

As Yuan Ming retreated, his sleeves fluttered, pushing the cultivators behind him backward. Although they staggered and fell backward in panic, they completely avoided the attack of the blade lights.

In mid-air, after releasing a breath, Wei Ling suddenly felt a strong wind behind his ears, shrank his neck, and fell downward.

A snow-bright blade light appeared from nowhere, grazing over his head, slashing his kerchief off, along with a few strands of hair, floating in the air.

As a Returning to Void cultivator, Wei Ling reacted swiftly, shaking his wrist while falling.

Three golden copper coins flew out, flashing golden light in mid-air, instantly dispersing into hundreds of afterimages, transforming into a rain of coins, chasing and enveloping the blade light.

The snow-bright blade light was originally about to disappear when enveloped by the rain of coins, it brightened again, resonating into numerous blade glows, dispersing the rain of coins.

At the same time, a figure appeared behind the blade glows, undoubtedly another Sand Lizard.

Only this one's figure was relatively smaller, scales shimmering blue-black, holding a snow-bright scimitar almost as large as himself, shaped like a crescent moon.

This demon's demon energy was powerful, had already reached Level 5.

By now, the ground's swirling blade lights gradually dissipated, revealing half a dark red Sand Lizard head in the sand pit, looking coldly towards Yuan Ming, also a Level 5 Demon Clan member.

Wei Ling's face was grim, raised his sleeves and retrieved the golden copper coins, intending to strike again.

"These Sand Lizard demons seem reluctant to start a fight; we'll see." Yuan Ming restrained Wei Ling.

Wei Ling paused upon hearing, halting his hand.

Indeed, the Sand Lizard Clan on the ground slowly retreated, leaving the area.

Just like Yuan Ming's team, they too were thrown into the Fire Rock Desert by the Ten Thousand Demon Country; this encounter was like two armies' scouts suddenly meeting, probing each other's depth without the necessity of a deathly battle.

Seeing their retreat, Wei Ling also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fellow Daoist Wan, thanks earlier." He thanked Yuan Ming for the earlier warning.

"No problem." Yuan Ming waved his hand, unconcerned.

Wei Ling relaxed inwardly; apparently, Wan Tianren was still unaware of his relationship with the Black River Four Foes, which relieved him.

"Please help keep watch to prevent another sneak attack by the Demon Clan of the Ten Thousand Demon Country; I must quickly report this encounter to the higher-ups." Wei Ling said seriously, cupping his fists.

"Of course, Fellow Daoist Wei, feel free, I will keep an eye on things here." Yuan Ming nodded.

"Thank you." Wei Ling thanked swiftly and left.

In a secluded spot, he took out the Communication Array Plate to contact Wang Fulong.

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