"Yes, Master." The Black Robed Elder replied and immediately turned to walk towards the exit of the secret chamber.

Yuan Ming waved his hand, withdrawing the prohibition and followed with Hua Zhi.

They passed through a series of corridors, heading deeper underground, encountering numerous fleeing Wu Yue Sect disciples along the way. But seeing the Black Robed Elder, they all panickedly saluted, calling out "Elder Pan Ji".

At Yuan Ming's instruction, the Black Robed Elder succinctly responded with one word each time: "Scram!"

The disciples often fled as if pardoned, few daring to ask further questions. Only one Black Robed Elder, sensing that something was amiss, stepped forward to inquire. The result, naturally, was Yuan Ming unhesitatingly blasting him away with a punch.

In less than the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, they had made their way downward to a spacious and empty underground hall.

At the entrance of the hall, there was a prohibition enshrouded in black light, which Elder Pan Ji casually unlocked.

As they entered the hall, Yuan Ming saw at its center a half-spherical forbidden light screen, ten zhang in radius, inverted on the ground.

It shimmered with multicolored brilliance, emitting an incredibly dense force of prohibition, and its contents were hazy and indiscernible.

"Open this prohibition," Yuan Ming ordered.

"Master, I only have the key to the prohibition of this hall, not of this Great Array's prohibition. Besides the Sect Hierarch, only the Nine Yin Venerable can open this Great Array," Elder Pan Ji said with a vacant look in his eyes, his tone wooden.

"Go, forcefully open it," Yuan Ming said, frowning slightly.

"Yes," replied Elder Pan Ji.

With those words, he stepped forward, waved his hand, and a pitch-black spiral cone appeared in his palm.

The cone was densely engraved with runes, exuding a sharp aura.

"Rise," Elder Pan Ji commanded in a low shout.

With his hands joined in front of him, the black cone rose into the air, spinning rapidly between his hands.

As the cone continued to spin, the runes on it lit up one after another, and a sharp and fierce power gathered from the spiraling cone to its tip.

Elder Pan Ji danced his hands, channeling all his mana into the cone and intoned woodenly, "Go."

The next instant, the black cone turned into a streak of black light and shot out, striking the forbidden light screen.

A loud "bang" resounded!

The light screen, impacted, distorted violently, with the hit area caving in to form a deep pit, seemingly on the verge of being breached.

However, at that moment, a circle of runes on the ground beneath the light screen lit up, and a surge of earthy yellow luminescence rose up, merging into the light screen.

The prohibition light screen, which had been about to break, suddenly surged in brightness and swelled outward abruptly.

The expansive radiance of multicolored light stretched outward, repelling the black cone back where it came from.

Struck by this force, Elder Pan Ji was sent flying with a "bang", crashing heavily into the stone wall.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming raised his hand and threw a punch forward, casually dispersing the incoming force.

"What a formidable prohibition," Hua Zhi remarked, unable to help but click her tongue in awe.

But Yuan Ming arched an eyebrow, a relaxed expression in his eyes.

He had observed Elder Pan Ji's attempt to break the prohibition in detail and had essentially figured out how this Great Array's prohibition worked.

The Great Array possessed both defensive and retaliatory capabilities. Ultimately, Elder Pan Ji had lost because his strength wasn't powerful enough, failing to breach it before the Array could retaliate.

Yuan Ming stepped forward, summoning the Demon Image Prison Suppression Skill and activating the Qi Blood Power within him to circulate wildly, emitting red steam from his body. He clenched his fists, took a step forward, and launched a punch at the forbidden light screen.

A deafening "boom" resounded!

A Blood-colored Giant Elephant materialized and charged at the forbidden light screen.

The earth shook fiercely as the multicolored prohibition light screen, rather than caving in as before, had its surface lights careen in disarray, clearly thrown off rhythm by the blow.

One punch had not shattered it, which was within Yuan Ming's expectations.

Hence, without pausing, he stepped forward, and another punch thundered out.

As the Blood-colored Giant Elephant collided again, the light screen appeared as if a layer of paint had been chipped off; a vast amount of the multicolored light flaked away, revealing an underlying layer of dull earthy yellow light.

Yet, it still refused to be broken through.

At that moment, the luminescence from the ground lit up, and a ring of rune light surged upward, with the array's counterattack about to launch.

But at that moment, Yuan Ming had already closed in on the array. Eager for swift action and with his punch charged to less than fifty percent, he struck again, emitting a thunderous roar.

The surging yellow light from the ground came to a sudden halt, and the multicolored prohibition light screen likewise shattered in response.

As specks of brilliant light dissipated into nothingness, the scene beneath the prohibition gradually became clear, revealing itself to Yuan Ming's eyes.

On the ground lay a twisted tree, black as a coiled dragon, towering over several zhang high, its canopy sprawling like a magnificent canopy, densely covered with black leaves.

Yuan Ming's eyebrows furrowed tightly as he felt the rich life essence emanating from the tree trunk, his heart inevitably filled with surprise.

At that moment, he suddenly raised an eyebrow as if he had discovered something, and quickly walked around the black ancient tree to the other side.

That's when he saw on the other side of the trunk, a section of the tree was indented inward. In that recessed hollow lay a person, curled up and lying at an angle.

Half of that person's body was embedded in the hollow, with arms crossed over the chest, the face buried within it, the entire body pitch black, as if fused into one with the entire tree.

Seeing this scene, Yuan Ming could not help tightening his scalp, which inevitably reminded him of the Undying Tree.

When he previously cultivated the Ju Mang Spirit Technique, he too had merged with the Undying Tree, a situation that was strikingly similar to what was before him now.

However, before he could take a closer look, Qi Ye's voice sounded in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Magic Cloud Tree, how could there be a Magic Cloud Tree here?" His voice was full of disbelief and amazement.

"You're saying this tree before us is a Magic Cloud Tree, not an Undying Tree?" Yuan Ming communicated through his Divine Soul.

"Having merged with the Undying Tree, can't you tell what an Undying Tree is? I can assure you with certainty, this one before us is definitely a Magic Cloud Tree," Qi Ye chuckled.

"Magic Cloud Tree, it should be exclusive to your Demon World, right? What characteristics does it have?" Yuan Ming inquired.

"Even in the Demon World, the Magic Cloud Tree is quite a unique existence. It not only contains a powerful life force but can also devour the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth, transforming it into Demonic Qi."

Hearing this, Yuan Ming did not pay too much attention; it was the black figure embedded in the tree that truly made him feel uncomfortable.

Thus, he once again activated the Demon Image Prison Suppression Skill and threw a punch toward it.

The Blood-colored Giant Elephant trumpeted furiously as it charged at the Magic Cloud Tree, its grand momentum shaking the void.

As if sensing the imminent crisis, the Magic Cloud Tree "shuddered," and both its trunk and leaves emitted rolling Demonic Qi that fused with a layer of grey light, forming a barrier to protect it.

However, having already achieved a Half-demon Body, Yuan Ming had held nothing back with his punch, and the formidable might of his Fist Power was near impossible to withstand.

A "bang" resounded.

The newly formed black barrier shattered instantly upon impact with the giant elephant.

The swirling Demonic Qi was dispersed by the punch's wind, scattering in all directions.

Yuan Ming frowned and delivered another punch.

This time, no Demonic Qi surged from the tree to form a barrier, but Yuan Ming was astonished to find that the black figure embedded in the tree suddenly moved. Cоntеnt sоurсеd frоm МV4LЕМРYR – Мy Virtuаl Librаry Еmpirе.

Sometime without notice, the figure had turned from its curled position facing the tree to now cover its ears with both hands, facing Yuan Ming.

The figure was emaciated, the face gaunt with tightly knitted brows, and the slightly twisted facial features indicated it seemed to be enduring some unspeakable pain.

Amid the howling sound, Yuan Ming's Fist Power scattered the Demonic Qi, heading straight for the figure's head.

But at that moment, the withered figure, which seemed lifelessly still, suddenly trembled at the eyelids and opened its eyes.

Yuan Ming only saw the thin lips of the other party moving up and down a few times before his Fist Gang "poofed" into nothingness in the void.

In the midst of his surprise, Yuan Ming's gaze met that of the black figure's eyes.

They were a pair of pitch-black eyes, without a hint of white, swirling with Black Mist within the pupils like two bottomless whirlpools.

In an instant, Yuan Ming felt as if his Divine Soul were about to fly out of his Sea of Consciousness, irresistibly drawn to those two swirling vortices of Black Mist, as if believing that was where he belonged.

"I so want to go..." A sigh from the Divine Soul resonated.

Yuan Ming snapped to awareness, his Divine Soul Power surging wildly to break free from that almost instinctual longing.

He hastily averted his gaze, not daring to lock eyes again, and immediately twisted his wrist, grasping the Soul Destroying Sword, and slashed a sword at the strange figure.

A black sword light swept across, transforming into an arc in midair and soaring toward the black figure.

The gaunt figure's eyes showed no spark of life, and its lips moved slightly again. The sword light that had nearly reached it once more "poofed," dissipating into nothing.

Yuan Ming felt a chill on his scalp at this sight.

He had not seen the black figure make a move, and he hadn't sensed any Mana fluctuations emanating from it.

But how was this accomplished?

Puzzled, Yuan Ming did not dare to approach any further but instead concentrated a Fireball on the tip of his finger, which quickly grew larger as the surrounding temperature rose sharply.

As Yuan Ming tossed the Fireball with a single hand gesture, it "whooshed" towards the black figure.

As the Fireball neared within a foot of the black figure, it paused as if blocked by something.

Without waiting for the black figure to employ that mysterious ability again, Yuan Ming shouted fiercely, "Explode."

The next moment, the Burning Explosion Skill was activated. The fiery Fireball erupted violently, a blaze lighting up the sky, and an intensely hot force spread out, churning up a scorching airwave.

Yuan Ming had infused his own Power of the Sun into the Burning Explosion Skill, hence the tremendous might.