"Thank you for the kind offer, Fellow Daoist Long, but since we are fundamentally strangers, it would be better if we acted separately," Yuan Ming shook his head and declined politely.

Although these two were not bad people, he was not accustomed to traveling with strangers.

"We're not exactly strangers, Brother Yuan Ming. I've heard of your great reputation long ago," Long Chong said nonchalantly, grinning.

"Yuan Ming? Who is that?" Yuan Ming was startled, yet his face remained expressionless.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan's temperament is truly as Brother Tianming described—impermeable and as stable as a mountain," Long Chong exchanged glances with Qiong Yun, chuckling.

Yuan Ming had not expected to hear Liu Tianming's name, yet he still kept his composure.

"You don't need to be so guarded, Fellow Daoist Yuan. Qiong Yun and I owe Brother Tianming a great debt from many years ago. Over a year ago, we received his message mentioning that you had come to the East Sea, asking us to look out for you. Unfortunately, we never got the chance to meet. Now that we have encountered each other at the Immortal Fruit Conference, it is naturally my duty as the host to do the honors," Long Chong said with a smile.

Yuan Ming suddenly realized why Long Chong had specifically come over to make his acquaintance in front of the Void Temple previously.

But how had the two recognized him? The illusion technique of the Blood Bone Mask was nearly flawless; even Nascent Soul Cultivators could not see through it. How had Long Chong managed to discern his identity?

"Your Illusion Technique is profound, Fellow Daoist Yuan, and I cannot see through it. Yet you carry the Blood Dragon Jade Pendant I gifted to Brother Tianming. This object shares the same origin as my lifebound magical treasure, allowing me to sense it naturally," Long Chong seemed to have guessed Yuan Ming's doubts, pointing at the storage ring on his hand and a spot of blood light shone at his fingertip.

Yuan Ming was stunned, and his Divine Sense entered the storage ring.

The jade pendant given by Liu Tianming lay there quietly, currently emitting a faint layer of blood light.

"It seems I have been too careless," Yuan Ming thought to himself.

When Liu Tianming gave him the jade pendant, he hadn't looked closely and had simply stored it away, oblivious to its secrets.

"You've caught me in a predicament, Fellow Daoist Long. I've been troubled and had to change my appearance. Since we're all among friends here and meeting here is fateful, let's travel together," Yuan Ming nodded.

Since his identity had been recognized, maintaining a distance was pointless. Long Chong and his companions did not harbor any ill intentions, so traveling together might even be beneficial.

"Great, with Fellow Daoist Yuan joining us, our team will be as powerful as a tiger with wings. We might even take the top spot," Long Chong said joyfully.

Yuan Ming shook his head, "I'm afraid I must disappoint you, Fellow Daoist Long. The competition scores based on the number of treasures found, and I'm not skilled at locating items. With so many floating continents around, even adding me, it might still be quite difficult."

"Haha, when it comes to that, the two of us are quite similar. However, Qiong Yun has other methods. We'll just need to escort her," Long Chong laughed aloud.

Hearing this, Yuan Ming curiously glanced at Qiong Yun. She smiled slightly, suddenly raising her hand and waving it, a Black Wood Compass flew out from her storage ring, floating in front of the trio.

"This is a magical treasure my master specially bestowed for the competition, capable of indicating the location of the richest spiritual energy within a hundred miles. We merely need to follow its guidance to find the treasures," Qiong Yun explained proudly.

With that, she immediately began casting, activating the compass. A pale blue spiritual light burst forth from the center of the compass, manifesting a circular spoon-like phantom in mid-air.

The phantom spun swiftly and soon pointed far toward the southeast.

Following the guide, the trio quickly arrived at the edge of the Initial Continent. Looking southeast, a continent slightly lower than the one they were on was quietly floating, much larger in area and hard to estimate in size, its flora all a dark purple hue, presenting a rather picturesque scene upon looking from afar.

Qiong Yun's compass continued to point toward the southeast of the Purple Grass Continent. The trio exchanged glances, then targeted that land and flew towards it with tunneling light.

But just as they had left the Initial Continent, a tremendous rumbling noise suddenly filled their ears. A massive suction force erupting from the void beneath their feet ensnared them like they were caught in a deep oceanic whirl, uncontrollably pulling their bodies downwards.

The expressions on their faces changed dramatically. Long Chong suddenly bellowed, his body emanating a layer of pale blue mana that condensed into a lustrous water membrane on his surface, staunchly resisting the suction force.

Qiong Yun, meanwhile, released a Flying Sword Magic Treasure, stepping on it, riding it beneath her feet. A flash of purple thunder swiftly supported her body diagonally upward, using lift to counter the suction, stabilizing her form as well.

Yuan Ming was in a far worse state; his Cultivation was only at Early-stage Core Formation, far inferior to both Long Chong and Qiong Yun, unable to withstand the suction force, falling downwards.

"Damn it!" he cursed quietly, quickly imitating Qiong Yun's action. A streak of thunder flashed beneath him, and the Thunder God Hammer appeared out of nowhere.

Yuan Ming stood on the Thunder God Hammer, channeling his mana into it.

The Thunder God Hammer shot out several silver thunders, releasing a burst of formidable power, barely resisting the suction force from the Bottomless Abyss.

"Are you alright?" Long Chong shouted over.

"I'm still holding on," Yuan Ming countered the suction from below, pushing himself forcefully towards the Purple Grass Continent.

Long Chong and Qiong Yun also advanced with all their might, but the suction below was alarmingly strong, reducing their speed to less than one-tenth of their usual rate.

Furthermore, the closer they moved forward, the heavier the suction from the abyss below became. Soon, both Long Chong and Qiong Yun began to show signs of strain, and fine beads of sweat also appeared on Yuan Ming's forehead.

Fortunately, as they gradually neared the Purple Grass Continent, the suction force gradually weakened and suddenly vanished as soon as they stepped back onto solid ground.

"Phew, we've finally made it through. This secret realm is truly bizarre; if the distance between these two continents had been any greater, we might not have been able to cross it," Long Chong said with some relief.

"It seems the secret realm restricts us to only moving between nearby continents," Qiong Yun sighed.

Yuan Ming had the most difficult time crossing; wiping his forehead, he quietly worried.

The distance between these two continents wasn't very far, and he was able to hang on, but if it had been any farther, it would be a different story.

Fortunately, he had the golden sunflower Beast Taming Technique, which could enhance his Mana level. If push came to shove, he would have to reveal this secret technique.

Upon this thought, Yuan Ming's mood stabilized. He looked around, his eyes narrowing slightly, "These purple flowers and grass are quite odd, and they likely contain potent poison. The two of you should be careful."

Upon hearing this, Long Chong and the other also started inspecting the surrounding flora.

From a distance, the purple flowers and grass appeared dazzling, but only upon closer inspection did one discover the hidden malice.

Like a carpet, the dark purple grass leaves covered the entire continent. Both the grass leaves and the flowers had tiny, sharp teeth around their edges, looking like gaping mouths waiting for prey to come along.

Seeing this, Long Chong casually took out a piece of fresh red meat of unknown origin and threw it onto a plant.

The purple plant's leaves and flowers suddenly sprang to life, pouncing on the meat and biting into it.

Numerous cuts appeared on the meat, and a foul smell of decay wafted from it.

Long Chong retrieved the meat with a spell, only to find it largely corroded by the poison. Embedded within the black, smelly mass of decayed meat were seven to eight dark purple sharp teeth, as if they had grown right inside the meat.

"It seems these poisonous plants and flowers have developed some level of spiritual intelligence. Not only do they actively attack prey, but they also release poisonous teeth that penetrate into the body of their prey," analyzed Long Chong.

"That piece of meat came from that second level peak demon beast, the Black Rock Lizard Snake, that you killed not long ago, right? This snake contains intense poison, and its flesh naturally possesses considerable resistance to poison. Yet, it was corrupted so quickly; it seems that the purple poisonous flowers are quite potent. It's best not to touch them," Qiong Yun advised.

Yuan Ming nodded silently, then asked in his Sea of Consciousness, "Xi Ying, can you identify these types of poisonous plants?"

"I've never seen this type of poisonous plant either, but since the toxicity is so intense, you might try collecting some. Once we exit the secret realm, you could show them to Yan Sijing and the others. They are adept at alchemy; perhaps they could figure something out," Xi Ying suggested.

That was exactly Yuan Ming's intention. Waving his hand, he emitted a blue light hand that uprooted all the nearby dark purple poisonous grass. After some thought, he sent a poisonous plant into the Spiritual Beast Bag.

"Hua Zhi, you consume these poisonous plants and see if there's anything special about them," Yuan Ming transmitted.

Hua Zhi soon replied, "Master, these poisonous plants taste very strange, and they're just intensely toxic without any other abilities."

Understanding this, and perceiving that Hua Zhi didn't like the poisonous plants, Yuan Ming decided not to release it.

In a spot slightly further away, clusters of delicate bright purple flowers were about to bloom. The tender buds contracted and expanded, spewing out light purple pollen from the gaps. From a distance, they looked like miniature fountains.

Perhaps it was because Yuan Ming had uprooted all the dark purple grass leaves, but the bright purple flowers suddenly turned towards the three of them. Only the size of a baby's fist, the buds drooped down as the petals, glowing with a purple light, suddenly opened wide. Revealing a dense set of sharp teeth, they sprayed a stream of purple poison mist towards Yuan Ming and the others.

With the Cultivation levels of Yuan Ming and the others, such an attack naturally couldn't harm them. Long Chong swept his sleeve, and a strong wind emerged from nowhere, blowing away the purple poison mist.

Qiong Yun's brow twitched, and the Purple Thunder Small Sword appeared in a flash, cutting down all the purple flowers.

Possibly reminded by Yuan Ming's earlier actions, Long Chong and the other, like Yuan Ming, also picked a few from the remains of the purple flowers and collected them.

Yuan Ming, too, once more sent the purple flowers into the Spiritual Beast Bag, receiving from Hua Zhi the same evaluation of being unpleasant and worthless.

Afterward, the trio briefly rested for a moment, regaining the Spiritual Power they had consumed while flying and then continued to follow the Compass's direction, flying southeast.

The Purple Grass Continent was much larger than the previous one they had visited; they flew almost twenty to thirty li without seeing its edge.

And at that moment, a large mulberry forest appeared in front of them.

The trunks of the mulberry trees maintained their original brown color, but the leaves had also taken on a dark purple hue.

The spreading purple grass and flowers seemed to stop at the foot of the mulberry trees, where the soil appeared to have been turned over by someone. Amongst the mounds of loose earth and debris, bits and pieces of purple plants appeared, seemingly torn apart by something.

"Is the Compass guiding us to enter this mulberry forest?" Yuan Ming looked ahead and estimated the size of the forest before turning to ask.

Upon hearing this, Qiong Yun activated the spell again, and the circular dial on the Compass spun around, ultimately still pointing towards the southeast.

"It looks like we have no choice but to go in," Long Chong chuckled, taking the lead into the forest.

Just then, Yuan Ming's expression shifted slightly, and he suddenly looked up towards the top of the mulberry trees: "Be careful, there are demon beasts hiding in the canopy."

As his voice dropped, the purple mulberry leaves suddenly shook violently, and one by one, round, grayish-white heads popped out.

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