Before long, the Human Demon King's eyes, which had been glowing with a blood-red light, dimmed, and he stopped moving, reverting to his original state.

"What's going on? The spiritual intelligence of this Human Demon King seems a bit off," he wondered to himself.

At that moment, the Human Demon King rose to its feet and walked toward the Blood Pool.

Yuan Ming's eyebrows rose as he looked at the runes carved around the Blood Pool, sensing that something might happen when the Human Demon King stepped into them.

Just as the Human Demon King was about to step over the Rune Iron buried in the ground, it suddenly halted, stopping in its tracks.

"Has it discovered something?" Yuan Ming was astonished.

But soon, Yuan Ming realized that he had been overthinking it.

The reason for the Human Demon King's pause seemed to be because the blood color in its eyes had receded once again, as if its spiritual intelligence was malfunctioning, causing it to stop.

A moment later, it stepped over the rune carvings and entered into the Blood Pool.

For some reason, the rune carvings did not react at all to the entrance of the Human Demon King, whether they had not met the trigger condition, or if they were not meant for the Human Demon King in the first place?

Regardless of which it was, Yuan Ming did not intend to intervene; he only wanted to hide quietly on the side and wait for the crisis to pass.

At this time, he noticed that the blood in the Blood Pool was churning violently, the disturbance was several times greater than before, causing countless "gurgle" bubbles to rise, completely shrouding the Human Demon King's upper body, submerging it up to the neck.

The wound on its chest was emitting curls of white smoke, spreading a scent of decaying flesh and blood into the air.

A red halo lit up from the entire Blood Pool, enveloping it completely.

"Could it be that this creature is healing?" Although Yuan Ming did not understand completely, he could guess a thing or two.

After a short time, the water level in the Blood Pool significantly dropped, revealing the Human Demon King's chest where the ghastly wound had been, which was now filled and repaired by fresh flesh.

Even the charred flesh on its body had been restored; its skin turned dry and waxy yellow, resembling a mummified corpse that had been dried for years.

"Such a strong recovery ability!" Yuan Ming watched the wound heal and felt a sinking feeling in his heart, his worries deepened.

All he could hope for now was that the Human Demon King would leave once its injuries were healed.

The hair on the Human Demon King's body had not grown, but its muscles gradually filled out, and its facial contours returned to their original shape, resembling a young man's face with a high nose bridge and chiseled features.

If it weren't for its overly protruding eyes, which twisted its expression, the face would have actually conveyed some noble and handsome qualities.

Yuan Ming inexplicably felt a chill in his heart, certain that he had seen a human face, the face of a young man.

"How can this be? Could it be that the Human Demon King is disguised as a human, or... has it transformed from a human?" These thoughts involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

While he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a shrill scream from the mouth of the Human Demon King in the Blood Pool, and its body suddenly stood up and clawed at its own chest.

Yuan Ming quickly looked over and saw the flesh on the Human Demon King's chest, which had just healed, rotten at a speed visible to the naked eye. The quickly darkening, purplish-black rotten flesh fell off from the chest, revealing the startling blood hole once more.

Not only that, but the flesh around the blood hole was also affected, decaying bit by bit, peeling away from its chest.

The Human Demon King frantically clawed at its own chest, tearing off the rotten flesh, struggling to get out of the Blood Pool.

But at that moment, the rune carvings surrounding the Blood Pool suddenly lit up.

From beneath the ground, a sequence of red lights arose; the rune carvings on the ground interconnected, forming an ancient Array that radiated red light.

Through the ground, Yuan Ming could see indistinct and archaic talisman characters.

To his surprise, these characters were not from the Southern Border, but appeared to be from the Central Plains.

However, each character's shape was different from any Yuan Ming recognized, all twisted and deformed, looking midway between text and drawing, complex and mysterious.

At the same time the runes lit up, numerous dark red rays of light emerged from the Array, writhing and probing into the Human Demon King in the center, wrapping around its neck like chains.

The moment the blood-colored chains ensnared him, the Human Demon King's face contorted in extreme pain, and it let out furious howls, its hands tearing at the bloody chains around its neck.

However, as soon as its claws touched the chains, they recoiled as if touching a red-hot iron.

"Whimper..."

The Human Demon King whined, the blood-red glow flickering in its eyes.

Seeing it ensnared, Yuan Ming knew the time had come and immediately turned to flee.

At that moment, however, that mysterious voice echoed in his head again: "Hurry... cut off its... head."

Yuan Ming hesitated upon hearing the voice and did not move immediately. Instead, he looked around again but still could not see the figure of the mysterious person.

"If you don't act now... the Array... won't hold it... you won't escape the cave... won't reach the surface... you'll die all the same," the voice became more urgent.

After hesitating for a moment, Yuan Ming clenched his fist, struck the wall, and rushed out with his sword.

The sound of his footsteps immediately caught the attention of the Human Demon King. The whining figure in the Blood Pool suddenly jerked, turning its head to look at Yuan Ming. It seemed to smell the scent of a living person and became uncontrollably agitated.

The Human Demon King struggled violently, and the dark red chains wrapped around his neck were yanked fiercely and shook violently.

The Rune Iron, which was buried in the ground, suddenly showed a tendency to be pulled out.

The entire dark red Array shook intensely, on the verge of collapse.

"It's too late..." Yuan Ming sighed in his heart.

He had just reached the Human Demon King's side, his long sword in hand not yet swiping, when a "bang" resounded from the ground.

A piece of Rune Iron, like an anchor, was pulled out, and the body of the Human Demon King tilted and lunged toward him.

Although he had not completely freed himself, the stretched distance was enough for his sharp hooks to slash Yuan Ming's throat.

At this critical moment, a silvery shadow suddenly flashed and landed on Yuan Ming's shoulder out of thin air.

Yuan Ming vaguely felt it was a silver cat, but he dared not distract himself to look. Thischapterisfromthecollectionat*.

"Cut!"

The voice of command echoed in his mind with an undeniable tone of command.

Yuan Ming felt his head buzz as if struck by a bell, and immediately a sense of irresistible compliance rose within him.

It was as if a voice in the darkness was telling him to obey, to obey unconditionally.

At the same time, the Human Demon King's claws were also swinging at him.

At this moment, the silver cat squatting on Yuan Ming's shoulder gracefully faced the Human Demon King head-on, its eyes of different colors seemingly ablaze with bright stars, casting little sparks of light.

The moment the light splashed out, the struggling Human Demon King's body stiffened and stood still, his swinging claw also stopping inches from Yuan Ming's throat.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to yield and recognize the voice from the depths of his heart, desiring to submit, a warm sensation suddenly flowed from his right arm.

The green mark from the incense burner emerged, and a tidal wave of strength surged into his brain, instantly sobering him up.

The urge to submit that he had felt earlier vanished without a trace.

Upon seeing this, the silver cat's differing eyes revealed a flash of surprise, which quickly turned into confusion.

"If you don't strike soon... even if you don't die here... going out... the elders of Biluo Cave... will still lead to death," a stern warning echoed once again in Yuan Ming's mind.

"It really is it..." Yuan Ming confirmed his guess; the one who had been conversing with him in his mind was the silver cat that had appeared beside him long ago.

What was the origin of this silver cat, and how could it have saved me before and now possess such great abilities to contend with this Human Demon King?

Numerous thoughts flooded his mind, and he no longer hesitated, regulating his strength with the Energy Storage Arm and slashing with all his might at the neck of the Human Demon King.

A loud "clang" rang out.

Sparks sputtered from the Human Demon King's neck, and a metallic sound came from the dry skin beneath.

Yuan Ming felt a jolt in his arm, not as if he were chopping into a body, but as if he was striking a piece of steel clad in cowhide.

The forceful power forced him to retreat.

Meanwhile, as if enraged, the Human Demon King let out an angry roar, his body emanating a blood-red glow, which pulsated so violently that it snapped every link of the dark red chains around his neck.

The Rune Iron on the ground also burst into pieces, and the Array Yuan Ming had set up under the guidance of the silver cat was completely deactivated.

"Roar..."

The Human Demon King roared furiously and leaped out of the Blood Pool, facing Yuan Ming head-on.

The diminutive silver cat, with its extraordinary agility, leaped from Yuan Ming's shoulder and headed straight for the Human Demon King, nimbly stepping on its head before leaping several meters away.

Its light posture and swift actions appeared not so much an evasion but more like a dance, rapid and graceful.

Yuan Ming took the opportunity to retreat.

The moment the silver cat landed, its heterochromic eyes suddenly lit up with a strange black light, and its body emitted an indescribable Mana fluctuation.

As this fluctuation arose, there was a sudden disturbance in the nearby Corpse Pit.

Subsequently, bodies that had been dead for who knows how long suddenly "came to life" one after another.

Yuan Ming was startled by this unexpected turn of events, watching in disbelief as those decomposed and foul-smelling corpses twisted their bodies and rose from the Corpse Pit.

Most of them missing arms or legs, some even headless, they moved awkwardly as they walked, and some crawled on the ground using their arms, all lunging towards the frenzied Human Demon King.

The Human Demon King swiped at an oncoming living corpse with a claw, instantly tearing the body in half, yet the severed halves stubbornly rushed forward, clinging to his body.

Then came the second, the third... more and more living corpses surrounded him, toppling the Human Demon King, all climbing onto his body.