Yuan Ming, upon seeing this scene, did not rush to take action. Instead, he clad himself in a gray cloak and moved slightly away from the wooden pillar to avoid being affected by the power of thunder and lightning.

Outside, the rain intensified, and before long, thick thunderbolts streaked across the overcast sky, illuminating it.

Purplish lightning flickers emerged from the wooden pillar as the thunder within the clouds was drawn towards it, striking it and conducting into the dungeon array.

The Winged Bird Egg greedily absorbed the pure power of thunder and lightning. With its shell already cracked, it completely shattered, and a wet, black chick hatched, falling onto the stone platform with a "patter."

The bird was only half a foot long, yet its wings were extraordinarily large, stretching a full foot when unfolded, with lightning patterns faintly visible on its skin.

Despite just hatching, the black chick flapped its wings twice and unexpectedly took flight.

Gu Qiulong was overjoyed and released a white net magic artifact, casting it towards the black chick.

He was focused on capturing the Winged Bird and did not notice that in a corner above the dungeon, two purple-black vines silently emerged, quickly blooming with purple spiritual flowers, spreading a seductive scent rapidly throughout the dungeon.

Lying on the ground, Gu Qiuming inhaled this scent and his already weak body became entirely limp, his face showing a look of intoxication.

Gu Qiulong had just captured the black chick and was about to cast the Beast Taming Technique to subdue it when he too smelled the scent of the poisonous flowers, his limbs becoming weak and powerless.

Under the influence of the scent, the newly hatched black chick also became groggy and lay prostrate on the ground.

"Who's there!" Gu Qiulong finally realized something was amiss, his face suddenly changing as he raised a purple crystal pearl.

A purple light beamed down, creating a purple halo enveloping his body and isolating the seductive scent on the outside.

Gu Qiulong felt weakness in his limbs.

But before he could react, the dungeon exploded from all around, as thick purple-black vines lashed out, attacking Gu Qiulong and entangling with one another, transforming the entire dungeon into a dense sea of vines.

Gu Qiulong's face turned pale, and he quickly increased the power of the purple halo.

The ends of the attacking purple vines sparkled with green light, turning into green swords.

Dozens of green swords pierced from all directions into the purple halo, perforating it and causing it to collapse with a roar.

The purple orb also shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.

Gu Qiulong quickly recited a spell, his body glowing with blue light as he transformed into a blue rainbow and shot out, making his way through the forest of vines to land in a corner of the dungeon.

"Water Form Technique!" Yuan Ming, who was hiding nearby, exclaimed softly at this.

The Water Form Technique was a type of spell that could change one's form, turning the tangible body into intangible water for a short period, to evade enemy attacks.

There were similar shape-changing techniques within the Five Elements Magic, and if used properly in the heat of battle, they could have miraculous effects.

Yuan Ming had always wanted to learn, but such shape-changing techniques belonged to high-level magic, not only were they difficult to obtain but also to master. He was surprised that Gu Qiulong knew how to perform it.

Curious as he was, Yuan Ming did not hesitate in his actions. He activated the Earth Tunneling Talisman to approach the dungeon walls and placed the Stealing Heaven Tripod inside the dungeon, inserting a lit Poisonous Incense and a Seven-step Immovable into the tripod.

With a thought, he directed his Divine Sense to control the two streams of poisonous incense drifting toward Gu Qiulong.

Just as Gu Qiulong calmed his mind and took out a Detoxification Elixir to consume, processing it with his cultivation, he had become entirely alert and immediately sensed Yuan Ming's movement, pulling out both a yellow short halberd and a green feather fan.

The yellow short halberd transformed into a long yellow rainbow, slashing at the Stealing Heaven Tripod, while the green feather fan ferociously fanned out, sending more than a dozen door-sized green Wind Blades whirling towards the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

Feeling the powerful Mana fluctuations from the two top-grade magical tools, Yuan Ming retracted the Stealing Heaven Tripod with a thought and activated the Earth Tunneling Talisman to escape into the distance.

Several loud "booms" followed as one wall of the dungeon was blasted to bits, especially from the yellow short halberd which easily penetrated the wall's earth.

Gu Qiulong's face twisted with anger as he prepared to continue his attack when he again felt a softness in his body and his consciousness rapidly grew dim.

Having fought alongside Yuan Ming on multiple occasions, Hua Zhi's cooperation was now well-honed. Vines shot out once again, and dozens of green wooden swords slashed down.

Gu Qiulong fiercely bit his tongue tip, using the pain to stimulate his senses and slapped his waist.

A golden figure burst forth, landing before him, revealing a golden tiger beast about a foot long, with the presence of a Second Level Early Stage.

With a mouth as wide as a basin, a flat nose, drooping ears, and erratically-angled fangs, the beast's body was gaunt and feeble, looking extremely unsightly and bearing no semblance of the king of a hundred beasts.

This ugly golden tiger let out a low growl, and its withered body emitted a dazzling golden light, with its once gaunt form becoming robust and powerful. Claws shot out, extending a golden aura a foot long, and with continuous slashes, it easily shredded all the green swords.

The tiger then emitted a roar that could pierce through metal and rock, sending blades of golden light alongside the roar, aiming at the distant purple-black vines.

The golden light was incredibly sharp, and with a succession of "puff puff" sounds, the demon vines that filled the dungeon space were almost entirely swept clean, leaving only a heap of broken twigs and fragments.

Gu Qiulong, witnessing this scene, breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been affected by more than one type of seductive scent, his will teetering on the edge of collapse. At this moment, relaxing slightly, he hurriedly sat down with his legs crossed, took out an elixir and popped it into his mouth, and stuck a talisman on his body. At the same time, he ordered the golden ugly tiger to protect him.

Just then, scattered throughout the dungeon, all the broken branches and vines suddenly levitated, shone with strands of green light, and enveloped Gu Qiulong and the golden ugly tiger completely.

The next moment, all the broken vines shot out like bows drawn taut, striking at Gu Qiulong and the golden ugly tiger with an alarming force!

This was the high-level Wood Attribute magic, the Ten Thousand Wood Arrow Technique, which could control all forms of wood to become sharp arrows. Yuan Ming had stolen this technique from the elder Fairy Luoshui of the Water Spirit Palace and later taught it to Hua Zhi.

Facing the incoming vines, Gu Qiulong stood his ground and continued to cultivate in an effort to resist the seductive scent he had inhaled. In his view, with the golden ugly tiger present, these broken vines posed no threat at all.

However, contrary to his expectations, the golden ugly tiger ignored the vines attacking from all directions. After a moment of dazed eyes, its gaze suddenly turned towards Gu Qiulong.

A flash of golden light passed by its mouth, and its already considerable jaw swelled in size more than twice in an instant, lunging ferociously towards Gu Qiulong.

Gu Qiulong leaped to his feet, startled. Just a moment ago, through his Divine Thought, he sensed that his spirit pet had fallen under some illusion technique, mistaking him for an enemy!

But at this moment, he had yet to expel the seductive scent, and his entire body was still somewhat weak. Before he could act, the golden ugly tiger had already pounced, biting his leg and tearing fiercely.

"Ah!"

Gu Qiulong screamed as the ugly tiger tore off his entire right leg and gulped it down, before flinging his body with a swipe of its paw. He slammed against the dungeon wall and passed out.

No sooner had the golden ugly tiger done this, the confusion in its eyes dissipated, and it wondered why, despite aiming to bite the enemy, it ended up severing its master's leg instead.

At that moment, thousands of vine arrows whistled in, engulfing the tiger's form.

There were continuous "boom boom" explosions, the solid ground collapsed like rotting wood, blasting a deep pit several meters wide, and raising a cloud of dust.

The air in the dungeon was damp and the dust quickly dispersed, revealing the figure of the ugly tiger squatting at the bottom of the pit, its body riddled with holes from the Ten Thousand Wood Arrow Technique. Many vines were still piercing it, and blood stained most of its body.

"Crack"

The ground beneath the golden ugly tiger cracked open, and seven or eight thick vines shot out, rapidly entwining around the tiger's body.

These vines were dense with wood grains and displayed blood-red patterns quite different from the previous vines.

The ugly tiger, in shock and rage, bristled like a porcupine, and shot out fine golden rays, not less sharp than the previous golden Sword Qi, stabbing into the surrounding vines.

But these vines had changed; the golden light penetrated only halfway before dissipating.

The Blood Pattern Vines wound quickly around him, continuously applying the Wood Prison Technique, and in the blink of an eye, the tiger was bundled up like a rice dumpling.

Not only that, but the vines hissed, shooting out thin blood-red tendrils that pierced into the tiger's body.

The formidable body of the golden ugly tiger shrank quickly, its flesh withering and its breath growing weaker.

The ugly tiger roared in terror and rage, exhaling a thick black mist that wrapped around its body and quickly seeped into it.

Not far away, Yuan Ming let out a light exclamation upon seeing this. That black aura he had just witnessed, he had experienced it in the Underground Palace of Snake King Valley, similar to the black mist emitted by the black Stone Pillar.

As the golden ugly tiger's body absorbed the black mist, spirals of black patterns emerged on its skin, and its body swelled rapidly, doubling in size in the blink of an eye. Its power surged several times over, reaching the peak of the Second Level Mid-Stage and verging on the Second Level Late Stage.

Seeing such a change in the ugly tiger, Hua Zhi was initially shocked, then delighted.

Its emotions fluctuated extremely violently, and the operation of its demonic power was affected.

The golden ugly tiger, sensitive to this, immediately struggled vigorously.

A terrifying strength burst forth, causing the nearby air to tremble, and the Blood Pattern Vines restraining it crackled, fissuring with cracks.

Yuan Ming quickly summoned the White Ape and threw it into the dungeon space.

White Ape too was excited, splitting its mouth into a grin, laughing with a "cackle" as it landed, and shot out like a white shadow, heading straight for the golden ugly tiger.

"I don't need your help!" Hua Zhi shouted as it saw White Ape appear. With a pull of its right hand upwards, its arm grew exponentially larger.

The ground under the golden ugly tiger burst open, a huge vine palm the size of a house emerged from beneath the earth, grabbed the golden ugly tiger's body like it was a small cat or dog, and despite the tiger's struggles, it was futile.

White Ape had also rushed over, reaching out its hands towards the golden ugly tiger.

"Get lost!" Hua Zhi roared with anger, and the ground split once more, as a second giant vine palm surfaced from underground, striking at White Ape with a fierce gust.

White Ape showed no sign of retreating, smashed out a punch generating a substantial burst of fist wind, and the terrifying force caused the ground to tremble faintly.

The giant palm and fist collided!

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