"In any case, Fellow Daoist, you have shown me no small kindness; now that it is within my power, I must offer my assistance," Yuan Ming said. Suddenly, he raised his hand and a beam of spirit light swept across Wei Die and her group of disciples.

The next moment, a gu worm the size of a pinky finger flew out of each of their bodies, gathered in front of Yuan Ming's palm, and he casually crushed them.

"Just now, those two had placed tracking insects on you, which I have now removed for you. Take this token and keep it safe. Given the current situation, it is probably no longer safe for you to stay in the Southern Border. With this token, you can go to the East Sea and join the Moon Sect, where no one will trouble you again," Yuan Ming said as he handed over a jade pendant marked with his Divine Sense, smiling as he spoke.

Wei Die took the jade pendant in a daze, then suddenly looked up at Yuan Ming's face.

"Fellow Daoist, no, you, you are..." Her voice trembled slightly.

"Indeed, I am Yuan Ming. However, there's no need for such courtesy, 'Fellow Daoist' will suffice," Yuan Ming said with a smile.

Wei Die unconsciously clenched the jade pendant; she could never have imagined that the young man she had casually saved years ago had now become a renowned power throughout Yunhuang.

"Benefactor Brother, are you leaving again?" However, Tuya by her side did not care about these things and just tugged at Yuan Ming's arm reluctantly.

"Don't worry, I will also spend some time in the East Sea later. Once you have settled down, I will come and visit you," Yuan Ming said, gently stroking Tuya's head to comfort her.

"Alright, then it's a promise!" Tuya nodded vigorously.

Yuan Ming patted her head and was about to leave when Wei Die called out to him.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, one moment, please take this jade scroll," Wei Die offered the same jade scroll she had produced earlier.

"The 'Transplanting Technique' is a foundation of your Senluo Sect; isn't it inappropriate to simply give it away to me?" Yuan Ming asked.

"Alas, now that only a few of us remain in the Senluo Sect, what use is there in cherishing this technique like a prized broom? Besides, since I have already promised, there is no reason not to give it. I just don't know if it will be of use to you, please don't disdain it," Wei Die said with a sigh.

Yuan Ming nodded, accepted the jade scroll, bid farewell, and then disappeared from the spot.

"Let's go, Tuya, come to my side. Tell me more about when you and your mother were rescued," Wei Die stood silently for a moment before shaking her head, leading her remaining disciples to embark on their journey to the East Sea, and called Tuya to her side.

At the same moment that Yuan Ming eliminated the gu worms from their bodies, Gan Ye's expression suddenly changed far away.

"Damn it, he discovered my gu!" Gan Ye cursed in anger.

"What do we do now? Without the gu, the world is so vast, where do we even begin to look for Wei Die and her group?" Cultivator Zhong was somewhat bewildered.

"Look for what! To have discovered my Ten Thousand Miles Tracking Gu, his Divine Sense must be at least twice as powerful as mine. It's pointless to ask for more trouble; it will be us who end up dead!" Gan Ye said bitterly.

"You noticed quite quickly, but unfortunately, it's too late," Yuan Ming's voice suddenly sounded from the sky at that moment.

"No, we are people of the Cloud Desolation Alliance, you cannot..." Gan Ye's body trembled, and he hurriedly shouted.

Before he could finish speaking, a pitch-black vortex suddenly appeared above his head, sucking in his Nascent Soul.

Cultivator Zhong and his other disciples met the same fate. Within a breath's time, their physical bodies lost their vitality. Just as they were about to fall, they were caught by roots of the Undying Tree summoned by Yuan Ming, all turned into nutrients.

After dealing with this matter with a flick of his hand, Yuan Ming set off once more. As he traveled, he perused through the complete 'Transplanting Technique' scroll and headed towards Luota Town.

With Yuan Ming's tunneling speed, he soon arrived at Luota Town.

The town was an ordinary small town in the Southern Border with no more than a thousand people, all of whom were mortals with not a single cultivator among them, nothing out of the ordinary.

Yuan Ming did not ask anyone for information; instead, he mustered a strand of Soul Power and sent it into the body of an old oil seller in the town. TheM|V|LE&MPYRteamworkedhardonthischapter.

The old man's eyes immediately became vacant, and he stood there motionless.

Yuan Ming circulated the Soul Power and performed the Soul Searching Divine Ability, probing the old man's memories.

With his current level in the Soul Cultivation Realm, performing a Soul Search was no longer as cumbersome as before; a thought was all it took.

Since the old man was just a mortal, Yuan Ming quickly finished probing and found no information about Kato.

A faint light flashed between his eyebrows as he sent out more than a dozen strands of Soul Power to simultaneously conduct a Soul Search on more than a dozen people, still with no results.

Yuan Ming continued casting, and finally, during the third round of probing, he made some discoveries.

He swiftly arrived at an abandoned courtyard in the east of the town with several large holes in the roof and weeds overgrown in the yard, indicating it had long been uninhabited.

Yuan Ming searched the yard and found nothing of value.

"Could I be mistaken?" he wondered, walking out of the abandoned courtyard, his expression suddenly paused.

Not far away, outside another courtyard, a blind old man was holding a broom, sweeping fallen leaves off the ground.

This man was none other than the night watchman old man Yuan Ming had encountered in the Da Jin Palace before.

"This man is from Da Jin, how could he appear in the Southern Border?" Yuan Ming was surprised, examining the old man closely and quickly confirming that it was indeed the same night watchman.

Since his last visit to the palace, enough time had passed for a mortal to travel from Da Jin to the Southern Border. Could this be just a coincidence?

Yuan Ming pondered for a moment, then activated his Divine Sense, attempting to perceive the blind elder. His face immediately betrayed a look of shock and doubt.

No sooner had his Divine Sense made contact with the other party than it disappeared without a trace, as if the space around the blind elder could devour his Divine Sense.

Simultaneously, the blind elder stopped sweeping and turned to 'look' in this direction.

At that "look", Yuan Ming felt the hairs on his back stand on end, as if a terrifying entity had locked its gaze on him, and the Soul Extinguishing Sword within his Dantian hummed a warning.

Moreover, the Stealing Heaven Tripod within his arm trembled non-stop, as if it was about to fly out and move towards the blind elder.

Greatly shocked, Yuan Ming hastened to wrap the tripod in Mana, suppressing its abnormal movements.

Fortunately, the anomaly with the Stealing Heaven Tripod lasted only a few breaths before calming down.

Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes becoming exceptionally sharp.

Ever since he obtained the Stealing Heaven Tripod, it had always recognized only him as its master. The fact that the blind elder could cause such a reaction from the tripod was astonishing!

"This town is Kato's hometown, and Kato's corpse appeared next to the burial site of the Stealing Heaven Tripod. Now the tripod is acting up... all this...", Yuan Ming's mind raced with countless thoughts as he proceeded forward.

The blind elder dropped his broom and gestured to Yuan Ming to follow, then proceeded into the courtyard with a shaky gait.

Yuan Ming's eyes flickered as he activated his Soul Power.

A dozen soul crows emerged from beneath his feet, burrowing into the ground and flying towards various parts of the town to investigate the situation both inside and outside of it.

Two beams of light flew out from the Spiritual Beast Bag at his waist, it was Vajra and Hua Zhi, landing near the courtyard.

After completing these actions, Yuan Ming continued to move forward and entered the courtyard.

The blind elder sat on a stone bench in the courtyard to rest, apparently not surprised by Yuan Ming's arrival.

"Elder, since our parting at Da Jin Imperial City, I did not expect to encounter you here," Yuan Ming was the first to speak.

The blind elder's white eyes scrutinized Yuan Ming before revealing a set of uneven teeth with a smile, "Yuan, have you reached the Word Witch Realm already? It seems that the current master of the Stealing Heaven Tripod is quite remarkable."

Yuan Ming narrowed his eyes and asked in a deeper tone, "May I know the distinguished name of the Daoist friend, and what is your connection with the Stealing Heaven Tripod?"

"There's no need for wariness, Friend Yuan. I am Xia Jie, from the Overseas World, and as for my identity, I am like you; I have had possession of the Stealing Heaven Tripod for a while," Xia Jie said with a smile.

Hearing this, Yuan Ming could no longer maintain his composure.

It was because of Xia Jie's identity as well as his origins. Xia Jie actually came from the Overseas World—could it be that the Stealing Heaven Tripod was truly an artifact from the Overseas World?

This man seemed to know a great deal about him. Their earlier encounter at the Da Jin Palace could very likely have been intentional on his part.

But what exactly did this series of actions by this man signify? To observe his power, waiting for an opportunity to seize back the Stealing Heaven Tripod?

"So Daoist Xia Jie hails from the Overseas World of cultivators; no wonder your Divine Skills are so exceptional. I admire you," Yuan Ming forced himself to calm down and greeted with a fist and palm salute.

"Friend Yuan flatters me too much. I am now but a half-crippled body, how can I still speak of Divine Skills?" Xia Jie shook his head and said with a wry smile.

Yuan Ming snorted silently; this man could easily devour his Divine Sense, yet he could not see through whatever Divine Skill the other had used.

This kind of capability, even a mid-stage or late-stage Soul Cultivator of Word Witch Realm may not be able to achieve.

Nevertheless, he had now broken through to Word Witch in Soul Cultivation, and his Body Cultivation had also reached the Realm of Wanxiang. He had no fear.

"Friend Yuan, there is no need for vigilance. I am not your enemy. You and I are both owners of the Stealing Heaven Tripod, and in the future, we may well have to help each other," Xia Jie waved his hands at Yuan Ming and said.

"What Daoist Xia Jie said makes sense; I acknowledge you as a friend," Yuan Ming's eyes twinkled as he laughed heartily, stopping the soul crows from scouting, but he did not recall them.

"Friend Yuan is indeed the Nether Moon God, your perceptions and knowledge are first-class in the Yunhuang Continent, far beyond that Wuyue God," Xia Jie laughed and said.

Their laughter helped to ease the tense atmosphere.

"Does Daoist Xia Jie know the Wuyue God?" Yuan Ming inquired.

"I have met her twice. I intended to collaborate with her initially, but who would have expected her to be insane to the core, colluding with the Demon World and forgetting her roots. I didn't conduct any further dealings with her," Xia Jie shook his head and spoke.

Xia Jie then personally set to work preparing a table full of food and drinks, all made from very unusual ingredients, especially a Green Fish with a belly that sported four bulges and a forehead with a small horn, suggesting a possibility of transforming into a dragon.

"These dishes seem to be not from the Yunhuang Continent," Yuan Ming commented.

"You have good eyes, Friend Yuan. These items are all brought from the Overseas World. This fish is called Little Green Dragon and is a rare delicacy, even in the Overseas World. Eating it is quite beneficial for Nascent Soul cultivators, but it is difficult to rear. I have pondered over it for hundreds of years, but the results are still unsatisfactory; it's hard to breed a pure Little Green Dragon," Xia Jie explained.

"I see, then I am in luck today," Yuan Ming said with a laugh, secretly using his Purple Extreme Tai Sui to sense the dishes, and after confirming they were free from poison, began to partake.

As they ate and talked, Xia Jie, with his extensive wisdom and genuine conversation, seemed to really bear no malice, greatly expanding Yuan Ming's horizons.