Compared to the other members of the six-person squad, Yuan Ming was actually in a relatively safe environment.

As he continued to move forward through the poisonous fog, with the aid of ravens scouting ahead, he was always able to discern dangers in advance and prepare accordingly.

However, in the boundless poisonous fog, there were an absurd number of venomous snakes, insects, rats, and ants, seemingly endless, as if they couldn't be exterminated.

After Yuan Ming had finally killed off the poisonous bees that attacked him, he heard a rustling sound from within the dense fog.

The soul crows circled in the fog, but they didn't see anything approaching.

While Yuan Ming was feeling puzzled, he suddenly sensed that the Black Toad in his Spiritual Beast Bag was getting restless.

He didn't hesitate for a moment, slapping the Spiritual Beast Bag and taking it out immediately.

Holding the Black Toad in his hands, Yuan Ming then realized that the toad's restlessness was not due to sensing any danger but was rather a barely containable excitement.

"What does this mean?"

Before Yuan Ming could figure it out, the Black Toad pushed off his palm with a leap, landing on the ground in front of him.

As the Black Toad hit the ground, Yuan Ming's gaze shifted downward.

At that moment, he was surprised to find that around the area where the Black Toad landed, within a circumference of three feet, a "white spot" suddenly appeared on the originally pitch-black ground.

This white spot, centered around the Black Toad, seemed out of place.

Yuan Ming observed carefully for a while and realized that the edges of the white spot were blurry and seemed to be undergoing slight changes.

Suddenly, his pupils constricted and his brows furrowed tightly.

What he thought was mossy ground turned out to be a layer of barely visible black moths.

The wings of these moths lay nearly flat on the ground, barely detectable when they fluttered slightly, and the rustling sound was indeed coming from them.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to warn the other team members, he heard Mang Tung's shout not far away: "What's this? So many... uh, so itchy, so itchy..."

In a spot unseen by him, a large number of the black moths beneath Mang Tung's feet suddenly began to flutter their wings and rise from the ground.

Countless black moths, like a whirlwind of darkness, rushed toward him; before he could react, he was engulfed in a dense swarm.

The black moths dropped a large amount of black phosphor powder onto Mang Tung's towering figure, quickly corroding his cloth robe.

In just a few breaths, Mang Tung's clothes had become ragged and torn, and on his exposed skin, large areas of dark blue tattoos emerged.

A great number of black moths then made their way into the holes in his clothes.

In his panic, Mang Tung frantically started slapping at them.

But as he moved, more and more black moths clung to him, and he began to feel a burning heat on his skin, accompanied by an unbearable itching from all over his body, along with a sense that his Mana was slowly draining away.

As more and more black moths attached themselves to him, the rate of Mana draining also increased.

"Ha!"

Mang Tung let out a fierce shout, and the tattoos on his body lit up; with the emergence of a dark red glow, his skin quickly darkened, and the surface began to show scales resembling those of a crocodile.

At the same time, his stature grew taller by a fraction, and his originally round black pupils narrowed into slits of dark gold.

Once his body was covered in Beast Skin, the unbearable itching on Mang Tung's body subsided, his aura grew stronger, and the loss of Mana ceased.

He took out a Yellow Paper Talisman from his bag and tossed it forward; the talisman instantly turned into a streak of yellow light and vanished into the ground ahead.

The next instant, the Yellow Paper Talisman flared up with roaring flames that spread like a carpet, burning a vast number of black moths to death.

Meanwhile, the other members were also using their own methods to exterminate the black moths.

The only one who didn't take action from beginning to end was Yuan Ming.

After releasing the Black Toad, it seemed like a mouse dropped into a rice bin; with an extension and retraction of its long tongue, it gobbled up swathes of black moths.

The venomous insects that others desperately avoided had become delicacies that the Black Toad could not get enough of.

The black moths, when encountering the Black Toad, were like meeting their natural predator, and they couldn't even flee in time, let alone attack Yuan Ming.

Therefore, his journey was smooth, and he soon left the others far behind.

Having left the area filled with black moths, the landscape ahead began to change; no longer were there towering giant trees, but instead, a low forest entwined with black vines.

The Black Toad hopped to the edge of the low forest but didn't directly enter and instead stopped vigilantly.

Noticing this, Yuan Ming immediately sent the soul crow that was flying on its own into the black forest to scout ahead first.

Through the eyes of the soul crow, he saw twisted black vines intertwining with each other, with hardly any clear path to pass through.

Under the black vines, fog was everywhere, steam rising from the ground, indicating numerous pits and puddles scattered about.

The soul crow landed on a black vine, its black eyes intently staring down, trying to see as clearly as possible what was inside.

In the instant that it turned its head, a black poisonous snake as thick as an arm suddenly lunged from the vines not far away. Its wide-open mouth revealed terrifying fangs as it bit down toward the soul crow.

Fortunately, Yuan Ming reacted extremely quickly, controlling the soul crow to flap its wings swiftly and dodge, flying up high into the sky.

The sudden attack startled Yuan Ming. When he looked over again through the soul crow's eyes, the scene in the forest below made his scalp tingle.

He saw that on a swath of black vines, several black poisonous snakes hung down, their gaping mouths swaying like willow branches. There was nothing of the gentleness of a soft breeze or light rain, only a sense of exceptional horror.

"How on earth do I get through this damned place?" Yuan Ming couldn't help feeling troubled.

It wasn't that he feared he couldn't beat these poisonous snakes; it was just that these pitch-black creatures blended in so well with the vines, he couldn't distinguish them if they stayed still.

Moreover, underfoot there were patches of water, which might house some unknown perils.

While he hesitated, Black Toad suddenly hopped onto his foot, extending a vine from its swollen back to wrap around his calf, tugging forcefully.

"Do you mean for me to follow you?" Yuan Ming asked doubtfully.

Black Toad let go of Yuan Ming's pant leg and leapt ahead into the Black Forest in front of them.

Yuan Ming glanced back in the direction from which they had come and, after a moment's hesitation, followed suit.

Upon stepping into the Black Forest, Yuan Ming instantly felt a moist and soft touch underfoot, like walking on sedge growing on a mudflat, with a sensation of sinking slightly.

With a "plop" sound, Black Toad hopped ahead and dove headfirst into the nearest pool of water.

Bubbles "gurgled" up from the water, but Black Toad's figure was nowhere to be seen for a long while.

Yuan Ming waited for a long time before he saw the already dim pool stir with ink-black water, as creatures reminiscent of eels and poisonous in nature, belly-up, started surfacing from within.

"Well done!" Yuan Ming praised quietly.

At a pool of water a bit farther from the first one, "gurgles" also began as more of the eel-like poisonous creatures belly-up came forth.

Behind them, Black Toad's figure emerged from the water, swinging the vines on its back as if beckoning Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming quickly understood that Black Toad was signaling for him to follow its lead.

He needed only to walk along the edges of the water holes that Black Toad had cleared, so he could ignore potential dangers on the ground and focus solely on the black snakes in the trees.

With this thought, Yuan Ming hefted the Cold Star Long Sword in one hand while touching his forehead between the eyebrows with the fingers of his other hand.

Two more black soul crows flew out of his forehead, circling overhead alongside the original one.

With three soul crows watching his left, right, and back, and Yuan Ming himself vigilant in front, there were no blind spots to worry about. He didn't have to fear any sneak attacks from the black snakes anymore.

Yuan Ming continued towards the depths of the Black Forest, and his strategy proved to be extraordinarily effective.

Now, no matter from which angle the black snakes attempted their stealthy assaults, he could immediately detect them, and with a casual swing of his sword, he could easily kill them.

When passing areas where the ground water had overflowed to the point of becoming nearly swamp-like, Yuan Ming would plant the Cold Star Sword into the earth and release an extreme chill with the help of his mana, instantly freezing the liquid on the ground.

With the coordinated effort of the soul crows and Black Toad, what had been a perilous Black Vine Jungle turned into a clear path for Yuan Ming.

Beyond using up some Divine Soul Power and mana, Yuan Ming passed through effortlessly without paying any other price, unlike other teams who suffered losses in the very same forest.

...

After exiting the Black Vine Jungle, Yuan Ming did not rush to continue on his way, but instead retracted two of the soul crows, leaving only one and Black Toad to keep watch.

He himself sat down cross-legged, with a Spirit Stone in each hand, and began recovery through Breathing Control.

However, before long, a series of mysterious sounds came from deep within the mountains, rumbling with great momentum.

Yuan Ming promptly got up and controlled the soul crow to fly towards the source of the noises.

But before the soul crow could investigate anything, there were already urgent footsteps rushing towards him from another direction.

Yuan Ming, his hand on the Cold Star Sword, prepared for the potential threat.

He saw a slender figure dash out of the thick fog; it was Bai Rong.

Following closely behind her was a large, vague shadow pursuing her in an odd manner.

Bai Rong's face was covered by Black Gauze, her expression obscured. Still, her disheveled hair indicated her disarray.

Yuan Ming immediately ran to the side, hiding behind an ancient tree to watch.

Emerging from the fog behind Bai Rong slithered a Golden Flower Poison Python with a body as thick as a sea bowl and a length of seven to eight Zhang. With a rapid twisting motion, it moved swiftly, its splendidly patterned body glimmering, and as its massive head reared high, a wide mouth and two sets of white fangs were exposed, with a crimson-tongue flickering in and out.

"Golden Flower Poison Python," Yuan Ming recognized the creature at a glance.

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