Chapter 35

Yuan Ming seized the opportunity, gathering all his strength and channeling it into the Green Fish Sword.

He leaped high into the air, abandoning the chopping technique and instead using a more powerful thrust to charge towards the Horned Viper Python.

The latter was entangled by the Blood Soul Vine and was currently unable to pay any attention to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming's long sword met no resistance as it pierced straight into the viper python's right eye, disappearing completely.

A soft "pu" sound echoed.

A large splash of blood spurted out, and the Horned Viper Python, which had been struggling fiercely, suddenly stiffened, then violently recoiled, throwing Yuan Ming off its body.

Immediately, the viper python's body contracted and twisted, almost forming a ball. However, after a brief struggle, it lost its strength and stopped moving.

After getting up, Yuan Ming immediately pounced again, stepping on the viper python's head and pulling out the Green Fish Sword.

He held the sword with both hands and began hacking wildly at the viper python's chest, causing scales to fly and blood to spurt.

This was not because Yuan Ming wanted to vent his anger, but because he needed to find the viper python's heart quickly to prevent it from being completely taken over by the Blood Soul Vine. Otherwise, it might come back to life, and in his current state, things would be dire.

After a difficult struggle, Yuan Ming finally cut open the viper python's chest and saw its heart, which was still faintly beating, covered in black threads.

Without hesitation, he immediately raised his sword and stabbed it, shattering the heart in just a few strikes.

After completing this, Yuan Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief. He took out a blood storage bag and began collecting the blood.

However, just at this moment, another unexpected change occurred.

The Horned Viper Python, which was thought to be dead, suddenly moved again. From the wound in its body, dozens of black vines as thick as thumbs suddenly grew out, instantly binding Yuan Ming.

At this time, Yuan Ming still had residual toxins in his body, and his magical power was severely depleted. He could no longer forcefully stimulate his qi and blood, his vision became blurry, and he was almost completely unable to resist.

The head of the Horned Viper Python, however, lifted again, still in the same low, downward-looking posture.

Only its remaining eye was now completely blood-red, devoid of the human-like emotions it had before. Its gaze was now dull and lifeless, clearly indicating that it had been parasitized and controlled by the Blood Soul Vine.

Yuan Ming, bound by the vines, was brought to the viper python's head. He then noticed a black tumor in the hole where his right eye had been pierced by the Green Fish Sword, which was contracting and writhing.

"It seems it doesn't need to parasitize the heart..." Yuan Ming realized, but it was already too late.

The vines were slowly pushing him towards the viper python's blood-red mouth. Despite his desperate struggle, he was ultimately unable to avoid being swallowed.

Yuan Ming tried to focus his vision, but he could not. Even in the face of certain death, he refused to give up.

A desperate fight might offer a glimmer of hope, but giving up meant certain death!

The third layer of the Nine Yuan Technique in his body began to run wildly, attempting to gather more magical power to give him the strength to fight again. However, this last-minute effort was ultimately ineffective.

The viper python's blood-red mouth still swallowed Yuan Ming.

Just as the mouth was about to close, Yuan Ming's eyes began to turn blood-red, and a fierce and violent emotion, not his own, suddenly surged into his mind.

This emotion was filled with anger, hatred, and a thirst for blood, all of which Yuan Ming rejected. The only thing that aligned with his current emotion was the unwillingness to lose, to die, and to give up.

In the next moment, Yuan Ming was almost overwhelmed by this complex emotion, nearly losing his mind.

But at the critical moment, a warm current from his arm stabilized his mind, allowing him to control the almost maddening emotion.

At the same time, Yuan Ming felt the white ape skin on his body tighten, and the connection to his bloodline became even stronger. The stagnant qi and blood in his body suddenly boiled again.

Yuan Ming felt a burning sensation all over his body, and a large amount of qi and blood surged towards his chest.

Then, the flesh on his chest swelled, and a bone grew, forming a pale golden arm that burst out of his chest, piercing through the vines that bound him. The five fingers, like knives, stabbed into the viper python's right eye.

The golden arm grabbed the writhing black tumor in the eye socket and squeezed it tightly.

With a soft "bang," the black tumor exploded, turning into powder.

Immediately, the body of the Horned Viper Python rapidly shrank, and the parasitic vines inside withered and turned to ash.

Yuan Ming was then freed and fell to the ground.

He quickly examined the new arm that had appeared on his chest, almost forgetting to collect the blood.

The arm looked similar to an ape's arm but was covered in pale golden hair, making it look like it had been grafted onto the white ape's body, which was quite disharmonious.

"Could this white ape skin still have the potential to evolve?" Yuan Ming was both surprised and curious.

He thought for a moment, and the third arm made a punching motion, generating a powerful force that pushed his body forward, even stronger than his original two arms.

"I wonder if this arm can be retracted. I can't possibly have an arm hanging from my chest all the time; that would be too strange," Yuan Ming thought.

To his surprise, as he thought this, the golden ape arm on his chest actually retracted.

He quickly touched his chest, finding it normal with no changes.

After some thought, Yuan Ming immediately took out a blood storage bag to collect the blood. He then removed the horn from the viper python's head before leaving.

...

Several months passed, and the Ten Thousand Mountains were now in the depths of winter.

The mountains were covered in snow, and the landscape was a vast expanse of white.

During these months, Yuan Ming continued to practice diligently while hunting ferocious beasts to collect blood, gradually improving. Each month, he exceeded his quota, sometimes even by ten times.

Of course, he avoided using the Fur Transformation Technique whenever possible.

Since he officially became a Fur Transformation Beast Slave, less than a year and a half had passed, but he had already accumulated 507 units of blood.

Completing a thousand units within three years and becoming a registered disciple of the Bi Luo Cave before his complete transformation was no longer an impossible goal.

One morning,

Yuan Ming carried a thick deer leg on his shoulder, walking through the snowy forest.

His skin was dark, and his face was rough, making him indistinguishable from the people of the Southern Border or even wild men.

After the winter snow, many bears and pythons entered hibernation, and the activities of other ferocious beasts were greatly reduced, making hunting much more difficult.

Yuan Ming had left home two days ago and only returned now. If not for his good luck in encountering a Black Horned Deer, he would have returned empty-handed.

As he passed through a pine forest, he suddenly heard a commotion, indicating a struggle.

Yuan Ming instinctively wanted to avoid it. Currently, apart from hunting ferocious beasts to accumulate points, he was not interested in anything else, as the backlash from the Fur Transformation Technique became increasingly severe with his cultivation.

Especially after growing the third golden ape arm, each time he used the Fur Transformation Technique, the ferocious and violent emotions in his chest became even stronger, repeatedly challenging his rationality.

Yuan Ming did not know how long the incense burner in his arm could suppress this backlash.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a familiar voice: "You scum of the Hyena Hall, if I weren't severely injured, you two wouldn't dare to attack me!"

"Hagon?" Yuan Ming thought.

The response was a few sneers and mocking taunts, followed by the sound of a struggle.

Yuan Ming sighed, put down the deer leg, and quickly rushed over.

Before he could get close, a figure flew out from a dense bush.

Yuan Ming, quick on his feet, caught the person's back, using his left foot as a pivot, and turned to absorb the impact, stabilizing him.

Then, two more people jumped out from behind the bushes, each holding a sharp knife.

Upon seeing Yuan Ming, they were clearly taken aback. One of them, with a sharp face and a monkey-like appearance, immediately shouted, "Who are you? Want to meddle in our business?"

The other raised his knife, pointing it at Yuan Ming's nose.

"Brother Yuan?" Hagon, pale and sweating, called out in surprise.

His clothes were soaked in blood, with a large, exaggerated tear in his waist and abdomen, and several neat knife wounds on his arms, totaling over a dozen.

"What happened to you? Why are you in such a state?" Yuan Ming frowned.

"I..." Hagon's words were cut off as he collapsed, leaning against Yuan Ming.

Seeing Hagon unconscious, Yuan Ming felt helpless.

"You two, get lost!" He looked up at the two pursuers and shouted.

"Looking for death?" The sharp-faced man shouted, lunging at Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming's eyes flashed, and he raised his hand, chanting, "Rise!"

As he spoke, a yellow light appeared on the ground, and the sharp-faced man let out a scream as his foot was pierced by a sharp stone spike that rose from the ground.

The other man, seeing this, quickly looked at his feet and retreated.

Yuan Ming, not wanting to waste time, picked up Hagon and carried him away.

Having saved a life, Yuan Ming could not return to his main cave, so he headed to a temporary shelter he used.

It was a dilapidated tree house, seemingly the former residence of a Fur Transformation Beast Slave, abandoned for a long time. Yuan Ming cleaned it up a bit, making it barely usable.

He brought Hagon into the tree house, used the medicine powder he had to treat his wounds, and then went outside to start a fire and roast the Black Horned Deer leg.