Chapter 61

Yuan Ming gazed at the Hagon before him, knowing well that he could no longer afford to hesitate.

At this moment, Hagon was still struggling, fighting his final battle. The longer Yuan Ming delayed, the more Hagon would suffer.

"Hagon, I will definitely visit your daughter. You... rest in peace." Yuan Ming raised his long sword, closed his eyes, and was about to strike.

"Stop."

At that moment, a sudden shout interrupted Yuan Ming's action.

Yuan Ming opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the voice, seeing a figure rushing over from a distance.

"Fire Elder Hu?" Yuan Ming exclaimed in surprise.

"What are you doing?" Fire Elder Hu scolded angrily.

"I..." Yuan Ming's sword hung in mid-air, unsure of how to explain.

"It was... me... who asked... him to help me..." Hagon opened his eyes and said with difficulty.

After calming down, Yuan Ming asked, "Fire Elder Hu, is he about to become a human xiao?"

Fire Elder Hu, upon hearing this, did not show any surprise or refute it, but nodded calmly.

"Why? This is clearly the backlash of the Fur Technique and the Blood Qi Method. Why do you still let us cultivate them?" Yuan Ming frowned, unable to hold back his questioning.

"What are you? Are you beast slaves? Slaves, understand that?" Fire Elder Hu countered, his voice indifferent.

In other words, mere slaves had no right to question.

Yuan Ming's anger flared, not just for Hagon, but for himself as well.

If it weren't for the incense burner he had obtained by chance, which provided him protection, he might have also been unable to avoid the fate of becoming a human xiao.

At this moment, Fire Elder Hu's expression softened slightly, and he said, "The cultivation world is inherently cruel, and you should have understood this long ago. However, I can see that you are not an ordinary person. Perhaps you can truly leap out of this mire before the backlash strikes."

"What do you mean, Elder?" Yuan Ming asked.

"The backlash of the Fur Technique and the Blood Qi Method has a trigger mechanism. Not everyone will necessarily become a human xiao. As long as you can advance to a named disciple before the backlash triggers, you won't have to worry about it anymore. Hagon and you are both promising juniors I have high hopes for, but unfortunately, he may not last until that moment." Fire Elder Hu sighed heavily.

"Is there still a chance to save Hagon?" Yuan Ming's anger subsided slightly, but he still had doubts and asked.

"Once the transformation is more than half complete, it's very difficult to save him, but as long as it hasn't reached seventy percent, there's still a chance to try." Fire Elder Hu thought for a moment and said.

"Really?" Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming was overjoyed, all his doubts cast aside, and he asked eagerly.

"Whether he can be saved or not, we need to take him back and try." Fire Elder Hu said ambiguously.

"Thank you, Elder." Yuan Ming, without hesitation, bowed in gratitude.

"Roar..."

At that moment, Hagon, lying on the ground, suddenly let out a roar and struggled to get up.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he lunged at Fire Elder Hu with his hands.

Fire Elder Hu, expressionless, raised his palm and struck Hagon's head.

Yuan Ming, seeing this, was about to stop him but noticed a green talisman between his fingers, which he slapped onto Hagon's forehead.

The movement seemed forceful, but in reality, it was a subtle technique.

Hagon's body stiffened upon being hit by the green talisman and then fell backward.

The blood in his eyes receded, and the spread of white fur on his body halted.

"The situation is very serious. We can't delay. I need to take him back immediately." Fire Elder Hu frowned.

Yuan Ming opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

Although he was still dissatisfied with what Fire Elder Hu had done to him and Hagon, this might be Hagon's last chance for survival, and he had no reason to stop it.

On the contrary, he felt a strange sense of relief, at least he didn't have to send his friend on his way himself.

Fire Elder Hu said no more, summoned his spirit beast, the green falcon, lifted Hagon's arm, and placed him on the falcon's back.

With a whistle, the green falcon spread its wings and soared into the night sky.

Hagon, lying on the falcon, stared at Yuan Ming with bloodshot eyes, appearing somewhat dazed, as if still unwilling.

Yuan Ming suddenly felt a twinge of regret, unsure if his decision was right or wrong, as he read a plea in Hagon's eyes.

It was the same look he had when he had asked to die; he didn't want to go with Fire Elder Hu.

Yuan Ming returned to the temporary shelter by the campfire, looking at the golden, oily crocodile meat, but had no appetite.

At that moment, a faint, ethereal voice echoed in his mind:

"Fool... ish"

"What do you mean? Why do you call me foolish?" Yuan Ming shuddered and quickly looked around, asking.

However, the night wind blew, and the surroundings were silent, with no one responding.

Yuan Ming waited for a moment, feeling increasingly restless, kicked the fire out, and darted into the forest to find his next prey.

...

Time passed, and another month went by.

Yuan Ming arrived at the boundary marker, leaning against a large rock, waiting quietly.

With a whistling sound, Fire Elder Hu descended from the sky on the green falcon and landed on the ground.

"Fire Elder Hu, how is Hagon now?" Yuan Ming quickly stood up and asked.

"He was too deeply eroded by the Fur Technique. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't save him." Fire Elder Hu said, his expression unchanged.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming stood silently, saying nothing.

"What, are you alone?" Fire Elder Hu looked around and asked.

"I just arrived and haven't seen Wulu appear yet." Yuan Ming exhaled, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

"Hand over this month's quota." Fire Elder Hu said indifferently, without further questioning.

Yuan Ming removed the blood storage bag from his waist, handed it over, and received a small jade bottle containing the antidote from Fire Elder Hu.

Yuan Ming opened the bottle, took out the pill, checked it briefly, and swallowed it.

Fire Elder Hu did not leave immediately as he had before but stood quietly, looking up at the sky, lost in thought.

Yuan Ming frowned, seemingly burdened, and did not want to stay long, bidding farewell and leaving.

"Wait." Fire Elder Hu called him back, his gaze returning from the sky.

"Is there something else, Elder?" Yuan Ming turned around.

"The rewards for the last trial mission have been distributed. Don't you want them?" Fire Elder Hu said.

Yuan Ming's expression changed slightly but quickly returned to normal. "There was an issue with the last trial, I thought there would be no reward."

"The trial had some unexpected issues, but it doesn't affect the reward. You performed well in this trial, so you are specially granted two hundred portions of blood food as encouragement." Fire Elder Hu said.

"Two hundred portions!" Yuan Ming's face showed surprise.

"Is that too little?" Fire Elder Hu glanced at Yuan Ming.

"Of course not, it's too much. I didn't do much in the trial and don't feel I deserve such a heavy reward." Yuan Ming shook his head.

"Is it because of the human xiao king that I and the silver cat killed? Is it exposed?" His heart raced.

If so, it could be a disaster.

"Someone among the named disciples specifically mentioned your contributions to the sect." Fire Elder Hu looked at Yuan Ming and said.

Yuan Ming felt a sense of relief.

When he and the silver cat killed the human xiao king, no one else was present. Fire Elder Hu must be referring to Chen Wan.

"Thank you, sect, for the generous reward." Yuan Ming bowed.

Fire Elder Hu grunted and walked toward the green falcon without another word.

"Fire Elder Hu, I encountered an accident during the mission and had to withdraw early. How did the trial end?" Yuan Ming asked as he followed.

"That's not something you need to know." Fire Elder Hu frowned and coldly rebuked, jumping onto the falcon's back.

The green falcon spread its broad wings and soared into the sky, quickly disappearing in the distance.

Yuan Ming stood silently for a moment, then left and headed to a secluded valley deep in the mountains.

At the bottom of the valley, there was a cave in a stone wall, originally a gray bear's den. After killing the bear, Yuan Ming had made some adjustments and used it as his current residence.

Yuan Ming sat down in the cave, planning his next move.

The reward of two hundred portions of blood food invigorated him. With the accumulated portions, he had now submitted over nine hundred portions, not far from his goal of one thousand. With a bit more effort, he should be able to gather enough.

The backlash of the Fur Technique had been getting worse recently, and he had been worried his body wouldn't hold out until he gathered enough blood. Now, it should be fine.

Time was pressing, and Yuan Ming was about to leave.

After taking a few steps, a burning sensation suddenly arose in his lower abdomen, as if a fire was burning inside, causing intense pain in his organs.

Yuan Ming was alarmed and quickly sat down, closing his eyes.

A moment later, he frowned, using his not-so-strong divine sense to faintly detect the source of the burning sensation, which seemed to come from the antidote pill he had just taken.

Yuan Ming's expression was uncertain. The antidote pills he had taken before had never caused this, so what was different this time? What was Fire Elder Hu up to?

Before he could think further, the burning sensation suddenly burst and spread throughout his body.

His meridians began to vibrate, and a fierce aura rose. The white ape skin on his waist automatically unfurled and attached to his body, transforming him into a white ape.

After reaching the fifth layer of Qi Cultivation, the white ape transformation was more robust, but his back was slightly bent, and his limbs were longer, making him more ape-like.

The white ape's fur bulged and wriggled as if many small rats were moving inside.

Yuan Ming was familiar with this situation, which had been occurring more frequently recently, indicating the Fur Technique was backlashing again.

He quickly circulated the Nine Yuan Technique to suppress the malevolent aura and held the incense burner in his arms.

Heat waves from the incense burner entered his body, assisting the Nine Yuan Technique in suppressing the Fur Technique's backlash.

After a few breaths, Yuan Ming's face turned abnormally pale.

This time, the backlash of the Fur Technique was different. Waves of indescribable agitation surged in his heart, far more intense than any previous backlash.