Yuan Ming's situation wasn't any better, as he was entangled by several blue demon beasts.

Two of the demon beasts opened their mouths to suck him in, with two streams of force enveloping his body.

Yuan Ming had already cut off his connection with Lei Yu. Lei Yu was no Xiao Hua; during the previous exchange with Huan Ling Zi, Lei Yu had appeared only for a moment and was still poisoned. At the moment, Lei Yu was in the Spiritual Beast Bag, refining the potent poison.

Without the assistance of Lei Yu's demonic power, Yuan Ming's magic practitioner strength declined significantly, and he found himself involuntarily flying backward.

Several other demon beasts pounced at him, with their thick and sharp horns aiming at his body.

"Master, be careful!" Xiao Hua shrieked in alarm.

However, Yuan Ming didn't panic and brought out a silver banner.

In the bright silver radiance, the banner unfurled in the wind, transforming into a giant silver flag that entwined around him.

The blue demon beasts' horns struck the large silver flag, creating a harsh scraping noise. They immediately shifted aside and did not harm Yuan Ming.

Nonetheless, Yuan Ming, along with the flag, was still knocked backward, and more demon beasts closed in on him.

Yuan Ming didn't have time to think too much. His Soul Power whirled in his Sea of Consciousness and, unnoticed by others, he fired a Crow's Call Wave from his forehead, hitting a nearby demon beast.

But in the next instant, he witnessed a scene that greatly surprised him.

The black sound waves penetrated the demon beast's body, yet the creature didn't show the slightest change in movement; not even an instant's pause in stiffness.

Yuan Ming couldn't believe it. With his current Divine Soul strength, the Crow Caw Illusion Technique he used would have affected a Nascent Soul cultivator or an equivalent level Soul Cultivator. Yet these blue demon beasts seemed unaffected.

"Be careful, these demon beasts don't have Divine Souls. Your illusion techniques have no effect on them!" Xi Ying suddenly warned from within the Sea of Consciousness.

Yuan Ming also noticed this. There were no Divine Soul fluctuations on these demon beasts, they were like puppets.

"Incredibly strong and capable of immediate recovery even after being wounded, and not fearing Divine Soul attacks. It seems that these demon beasts are undoubtedly Starry Sky Beasts; no wonder Luu Changkong said that it's impossible to fight against these things, one can only flee!" Yuan Ming's expression turned grave as he swung the Thunder God Hammer to collide head-on with one of the Starry Sky demon beasts.

The Starry Sky demon beast's head was smashed in half, but Yuan Ming was also sent flying. However, this also enabled him to escape the encirclement of the other demon beasts.

"Everyone, these demon beasts are likely the Starry Sky Beasts mentioned by Elder Luu. We cannot fight directly against them. First, we must join forces to drive them back, then scatter and flee!" Yuan Ming shouted loudly, channeling Mana into the Thunder God Hammer, releasing the power of thunder and lightning accumulated within it.

Scores of branches of lightning burst forth, creating a forest of thunder and lightning that struck among the group of Starry Sky demon beasts. Each bolt of lightning emitted a frightening presence.

Explosions of thunder sounded, the ground was blasted with charred craters and a dozen or more demon beasts were flung away.

Long Chong held his Frost Long Spear in front of him, eyes slightly closed, reciting spell incantations. His arms crossed and hands formed a peculiar Dharma Seal, channeling the Mana throughout his body into the spear. Meanwhile, the Winter Flood Dragon at his side spat out frost, coating the spear with a thick layer of frost.

He suddenly opened his eyes, and the long spear in front of him burst out with a pure white spirit light, and in the next instant, like a javelin, it shot toward the herd of beasts.

The Frost Long Spear arrived in a flash, piercing directly through the bodies of three Starry Sky demon beasts, freezing them into ice sculptures.

Then, the bodies of the demon beasts suddenly exploded, turning into countless ice cones that shot towards their companions, filled with bone-chilling frost that turned half of their bodies white.

The others also made their moves, with ice blades and bolts of thunder striking the herd.

Nearly half of the Starry Sky demon beasts were sent flying, throwing the herd into chaos.

The group hurriedly took the chance to shake off the Starry Sky demon beasts and scattered to flee.

Seeing their prey escape, the Starry Sky demon beasts were enraged and immediately gave chase.

The group barely escaped from a dead end, ignoring the poisonous cloud within the swamp, they used all their might to fly away, distancing themselves from the Starry Sky demon beasts.

Yuan Ming was one of the fastest fleeing, and although the sky above the swamp was covered with poison clouds, he could only fly at low altitude.

Yuan Ming utilized the Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Technique, merging it with Xiao Hua's demonic power, raising his Mana to a late-stage Core Formation level, and advanced using the Ghost Shadow Escape Technique.

Although he hadn't practiced this escape skill to a profound level, with the foundation of late-stage Core Formation Mana, he was still faster than the others. He soon left the pursuing demon beasts far behind, able to see only a shadow.

Yuan Ming pushed his speed to the limit, preparing to completely shake off the Starry Sky demon beasts.

Just at that moment, the poison clouds overhead dispersed, and countless stars began to fall like rain, with star rain pouring down.

The Starry Sky demon beasts behind him cried out excitedly. Their bodies glowed with bursts of starlight as they greedily absorbed the falling stars, and their speed increased significantly.

"Star rain at a time like this..." Yuan Ming's face turned somber, summoning a shield Magic Treasure to fend off the star rain, his escape speed greatly reduced.

With the gap closing rapidly due to this disparity, Yuan Ming's mind raced for a strategy.

"Master, I'm ready," the voice of Lei Yu came from the Spiritual Beast Bag.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief and immediately summoned Lei Yu to his back.

The protective range of the shield Magic Treasure expanded several times, covering Lei Yu as well, but the speed at which the starlight eroded it increased greatly.

Yuan Ming didn't mind; after the battle in the Shura Palace, he had obtained numerous Magic Treasures, so losing a few was of no concern.

"Master, relying solely on Lei Yu may not be secure. I'll help out as well and hold down these Starry Sky Beasts from underground, buying you some time," Xiao Hua said, seeing Yuan Ming increasingly relying on Lei Yu and seemingly afraid of being neglected, she volunteered eagerly.

"These Starry Sky Beasts do not have the ability to tunnel through the earth, so striking from below is indeed viable, but there's a star rain falling outside, which will also cause you considerable harm," Yuan Ming pondered before speaking.

"Master doesn't need to worry about that, my strongest ability is regeneration, I will only lose some primordial energy at most," Hua Zhi replied.

"Then please take care, don't overexert yourself, and if things get tricky, tunnel underground and escape immediately," Yuan Ming instructed.

Hua Zhi nodded, a green light flashed over its body, and its figure actually split into two, creating a slightly smaller Hua Zhi.

"This Clone Divine Ability?" Yuan Ming asked curiously.

"Hmm, after my breakthrough to Level 3, my ability to split my body has become more and more exquisite, and I've recently comprehended this cloning ability. This clone contains part of my demonic power and can withstand the poison mist for you for a while," Hua Zhi explained.

After saying this, Hua Zhi plummeted down, burrowing into the ground.

Yuan Ming, through the Divine Sense of his first soul, sensed Hua Zhi's condition; star rain was permeating the depths of the earth, affecting even the deep underground.

However, Hua Zhi's strong regenerative ability came into effect, immediately healing the inflicted damage, although its demonic power was being continuously consumed.

Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief and combined the Beast Taming Technique of the Golden Sunflower with Lei Yu's demonic powers.

Lei Yu spread its wings outward, shooting arcs of electricity that transformed into a thunder shadow, moving forward at a speed several times faster than before, disappearing into the fog in the blink of an eye.

"Roar..." The pursuing Starry Sky Beasts behind them were a mix of shock and anger as they forcefully gave chase.

At that moment, dozens of purple-black vines burst from the ground, entangling the legs of the Starry Sky Beasts.

The Starry Sky Beasts struggled vigorously; with their immense strength, they soon tore through the vines and cleared them away.

However, the Hua Zhi underground repeated its tactics, using wave after wave of vine attacks, successfully holding several beasts in place and preventing them from moving forward.

The Starry Sky Beasts were raging like thunder without a way to overcome the obstruction.

Yuan Ming flew ahead for thirty minutes, completely losing the Starry Sky Beasts that were trailing him, and finally stopped as the star rain also began to cease slowly.

He placed Lei Yu into the Spiritual Beast Bag and sent a message to Hua Zhi for regrouping, then hovered in mid-air, quietly waiting.

A quarter of an hour later, the ground beneath him suddenly cracked open, and Hua Zhi emerged.

"Master! I have returned!"

Yuan Ming inquired, "You've worked hard, did you encounter any trouble?"

"No, that bunch of dumb bulls were really stupid; they only knew that the vines were blocking the path but didn't realize I was the one casting them. Until the end, they never found my location. After a standstill for a while, the dumb bulls gave up the chase and returned the way they came," Hua Zhi reported.

Yuan Ming nodded his head. Were the Starry Sky Beasts alarmed by us? Or did they come searching for us on purpose?

He pondered for a while but was unable to come to a conclusion.

"Eh, your demonic power doesn't seem to have weakened? You withstood the erosion of the star rain without harm?" Yuan Ming suddenly noticed something unusual about Hua Zhi and asked in surprise.

He had previously used the Divine Sense of his first soul to view Hua Zhi's side, and the star rain had indeed caused it substantial harm.

"Of course not, this damned star rain cost me a third of my demonic power, but on my way here, I encountered a Level 3 Lizard Demon Beast and casually killed and devoured it, which is how my power recovered," Hua Zhi said.

Yuan Ming realized the situation and felt quite envious of Hua Zhi's devouring ability.

"I must obtain the complete version of the Golden Sunflower Beast Taming Technique!" he clenched his fist in secret.

"Speaking of which, master, when I killed that Lizard Demon Beast, I came across a strange place, do you want to check it out?" Hua Zhi suddenly asked.

"What place?" Yuan Ming looked over.

"It seems to be a pond surrounded by an exceptionally rich poison mist, where the nature's spiritual energy is also very dense, as if it's hiding some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. I wanted to explore it, but as soon as I approached, I felt dizzy and quickly retreated," Hua Zhi said, still feeling the aftereffects.

"Is that so?" Yuan Ming's curiosity was piqued, and he asked Hua Zhi to lead the way.

They soon arrived at the site; the dense poison mist formed a thick fog wall, blocking their path, with the faint sound of flowing water coming from beyond.

Yuan Ming looked puzzled, as this place exerted an unusually strong suppression on his Divine Sense, limiting the reach of his original body's Divine Sense to just over thirty feet.

He sent down the Divine Sense of his first soul to investigate the situation and quickly made some discoveries.

Beneath this area lay a substantial amount of mineral veins, more abundant than other places, which was why the effects of the natural formation had increased to such an extent.

The reason Hua Zhi felt dizzy upon arriving here was also the intensified effect of the natural formation.

As for the situation behind the fog wall, Yuan Ming had also probed clearly: there really was a pond, but the water was purple-black with occasional viscous bubbles rising—a complete poison pond. The nearby ground was also corrupted into a pitch-black hue.

Nestled in the depths of the pond was a purple lizard with a five-colored comb on its head, resembling a bloated rooster.

The Lizard Demon Beast might look ugly, but its strength was formidable, having reached the third-level peak; it seemed to be slightly superior to the Three-eyed Crow and was just half a step away from Level 4.

This lizard was squatting on a several-foot-large, round and smooth purple object, surrounded by scattered demon beast bones—possibly remnants of what the Lizard Demon Beast had devoured.

The purple object, which looked like a big, round stone, was actually alive and breathing; its body expanded and contracted slowly with every breath.

(Fellow Daoists, I have made some revisions to the previous two chapters, you might want to take a look.)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.