Cui Bi suddenly grew tense, biting her lip lightly, and said coldly, "I'm giving you freedom. Will you seek revenge on me in the future? I captured you and used the freedom that originally belonged to you to coerce you into capturing demonic beasts for me. You must hate me terribly, right?"

"Hate me?"

Shi Yan paused for a moment, thought it over, then chuckled and shook his head. "It's not quite hate, just some dissatisfaction. If you had treated me with kindness from the start, instead of coercion, I think I would have been happy to help you capture some Yin Beasts."

Cui Bi's beautiful eyes were sharp, staring intently at Shi Yan, as if trying to see through his true thoughts.

Shi Yan's gaze was open and honest, a smile playing on his lips. Under her scrutiny, he showed no signs of guilt, even shrugging lightly and saying, "If you could be a bit kinder, actually, we could be friends. Well, I'm human, and you are of the Yin Mei tribe. Although we are different races, it doesn't really matter."

"My name is Cui Bi, Yi Cui Bi. It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope you can be my friend."

Cui Bi was silent for a long moment, then suddenly extended her slender, pale hand toward Shi Yan with great magnanimity and said sincerely, "I apologize for my previous rashness. I hope you can forget the unpleasantness before, and just consider this our first meeting."

"Shi Yan." He extended his large hand and shook Yi Cui Bi’s. Shi Yan’s smile was brilliant. "This is much better."

"Thank you."

Yi Cui Bi suddenly blossomed into a serene smile. "If it weren't for your help, I think I would have been devoured by the Ghost Infant. The Ghost Infants emerge from the Yin Beast Mountain in large numbers periodically, treating my clansmen as prey, just as we hunt Yin Beasts. The Ghost Infants also hunt us; by consuming us, they can advance further along the path of evolution."

Shi Yan was aghast.

"The Ghost Infants seem to be the natural nemesis of our Yin Mei tribe. These Ghost Infants can continuously evolve; they are terrifying. They are immune to our tribe's soul attacks but can easily tear our physical bodies apart," Yi Cui Bi revealed with a look of lingering fear. "Whenever the Ghost Infants emerge from the Yin Beast Mountain, we Yin Mei dare not leave the ancient city, not even a single step. I heard my father say that these Ghost Infants were exiled here along with us. Those people brought the Ghost Infants in specifically to intimidate us Yin Mei tribe..."

"Uh, I know nothing about the past of your Yin Mei tribe, nor do I wish to make any comment," Shi Yan mused for a moment. "But I personally hold absolutely no prejudice against your Yin Mei tribe. I treat everyone the same—whether they are of a different race or my own kin. I will be friendly to those who are friendly to me, and I will certainly make things difficult for those who act against me. That is my most fundamental code of conduct. Well, I know you also want to leave this place, which aligns with my goal. I hope that in the days ahead, we can coexist peacefully and search for a way to leave together."

"My father is only one of the three great commanders of the ancient city. Our Yin Mei clansmen are very unfriendly toward you humans; you should have subtly noticed this. While you are here, I will still have to treat you as my servant. Only in this way will the other clansmen not target you. I hope you understand," Yi Cui Bi stated sincerely.

"I understand." Although Shi Yan disliked the arrangement, he knew there was no other way and nodded helplessly.

"Also, I hope you use the power of that Heavenly Fire sparingly, and it's best if no other Yin Mei clansman sees it again. Otherwise, I fear our entire tribe will turn against you," Yi Cui Bi sighed softly. "To be honest with you, I nearly wanted to kill you just now. The power of the Heavenly Fire you unleashed is a disaster for the Yin Beasts, and it is the same for us. Our bodies cannot withstand even the slightest scorching from the Heavenly Fire's power..." Shi Yan’s body jolted.

"You understand the seriousness of the situation now?"

Taking a deep breath, Shi Yan nodded. "I get it. If you cannot restrain me through the soul, I could wipe out your entire race by relying on the power of the Heavenly Fire, correct?"

Yi Cui Bi gave a wry nod. "Exactly. That is why if anyone discovered you possessed this ability, they would kill you without hesitation. Otherwise, once you grow strong enough to disregard our soul attacks, your threat here would be more terrifying than the Winged Tribe. After all, there are no special ice-cold supreme treasures here to defend against the intrusion of your Heavenly Fire. That is why we must return to the ancestral land, because it is said that a secret treasure capable of making our Yin Mei clansmen unafraid of fire's might and immune to the Ghost Infants' attacks resides there."

"Sss sss sss! Sss sss sss!" Wisps of gray mist drifted out from the Yin Beast Mountain ahead. As the gray Yin Qi permeated the air, strange-looking Yin Beasts flew out from those caverns one after another.

Those demonic beasts were bizarre: some resembled apes but had horns on their heads, others looked like tigers or lions but possessed scales. Each one was very peculiar, carrying a strong aura of chilling Yin energy. They were likely the Yin Beasts inhabiting the Yin Beast Mountain, and excellent materials for the Yin Mei tribe’s cultivation.

"Heavens, so many Yin Beasts are coming out! It looks like the restrictions on the Yin Beast Mountain are truly loosening."

Yi Cui Bi shrieked, then suddenly exclaimed, "Bad! The commotion caused by these Yin Beasts will surely alert the Winged Tribe members; they might be coming over too. No, I must return immediately and inform my father about the situation here."

"Those Yin Beasts won't dare approach," Shi Yan smiled. "Well, I'll retract the Heavenly Fire's power first. As long as the aura of the Heavenly Fire remains, those Yin Beasts will remain quite docile. Hmm, to hunt more Yin Beasts, we still need to be more discreet so they will take the bait."

Clusters of flame clouds transformed into streaks of fiery light, flowing back into the Blood Pattern Ring from all directions, reabsorbed by the Earth Core Fire.

The blazing energy on Shi Yan's body quietly merged back into the Blood Pattern Ring, and his crimson form quickly reverted to normal.

Before long, not a trace of fiery energy remained around Shi Yan.

The Yin Beasts of the Yin Beast Mountain, positioned midway up the slope, stared at Shi Yan strangely but held back, seemingly aware that Shi Yan was not easy to provoke.

The bolts of lightning crackling around the Yin Beast Mountain, for some unknown reason, began to gradually weaken. The massive lightning bolts, once thick as dragons, gradually shrank to the thickness of an arm...

"The power of the restriction is... is continuously weakening!"

Yi Cui Bi was extraordinarily astonished. "Something is wrong, very wrong! Something must have happened, or the Yin Beast Mountain wouldn't be behaving so strangely!"

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" A whistling sound suddenly came from the back side of the Yin Beast Mountain. Soon, black dots appeared from behind the mountain.

"Birdmen!"

Shi Yan narrowed his eyes to get a better look, suddenly exclaimed, then immediately reacted. "Wait, these must be the Winged Tribe members you mentioned, right?" The black dots in the distance were humans with various types of wings. Their only difference from ordinary people was the wings sprouting from their backs, and their bodies were incredibly robust.

Five young men of the Winged Tribe, all with sinister looks, hooked noses, and eyes cold and gloomy, flapped their long gray wings and rapidly flew out from behind the Yin Beast Mountain toward Shi Yan's location.

"They are the Winged Tribe members," Yi Cui Bi nodded, her delicate eyebrows tightly furrowed. "It seems the change in the Yin Beast Mountain has also alarmed the Winged Tribe. Well, if even they are alerted, I think the clansmen in the ancient city must have sensed it too, and they might already be rushing over."

The five young Winged Tribe members rapidly rushed forward, flapping their gray wings.

In a short time, these five youths arrived before Shi Yan.

The five merely glanced at Shi Yan from a distance, and their already cold eyes grew even icier. The leading youth sized up Shi Yan unkindly and suddenly sneered, "A human, no less!"

All five young men of the Winged Tribe were at the Deity Realm cultivation level, and pure energy fluctuations surged from their gray wings.

However, these Winged Tribe youths seemed extremely weak in soul attainments; they hadn't even formed mental power, meaning they couldn't instantly immobilize Shi Yan’s Sea of Consciousness like the Yin Mei clansmen could.

But curiously, the Winged Tribe possessed a very unique brain structure that seemed capable of blocking the intrusion of soul power, acting like some kind of soul insulator. When Shi Yan released his spiritual consciousness, it could not penetrate their brain regions.

It appeared that the difficulty these different races faced in soul cultivation was related to their brain structure. Their unique cranial configuration gave them excellent defense against the soul attacks of the Yin Mei tribe, but it also prevented them from making much progress in soul cultivation.

"What's wrong with a human?" Shi Yan’s expression darkened, a cold smile playing on his lips, his tone nonchalant.

The Yin Mei tribe’s soul characteristics could confine him, so he behaved himself when facing them.

The Winged Tribe members were physically robust and highly immune to soul attacks, making them formidable enemies for the Yin Mei tribe, but Shi Yan did not take them seriously. Even at the same Deity Realm level, without using any Profound Ice Cold Flame or Earth Core Fire power, Shi Yan was confident he could handle these five.

"I hate humans!" the Winged Tribe youth sneered suddenly and brazenly said, "Tell me how you got in here! How many companions do you have? Otherwise, I'll let you know how terrifying it is to barge into our Winged Tribe's territory!"

"When did this become your Winged Tribe's territory?" Yi Cui Bi scolded coldly.

"Heh heh, even your Yin Mei ancient city is our Winged Tribe's territory! This place is certainly no exception!" The Winged Tribe youth said with arrogance. "Cui Bi, right? You just wait. Before long, our Winged Tribe will conquer you Yin Mei tribe, and you will become my female slave. Hmph, I will dote on you thoroughly... I know your Yin Mei bodies can’t endure the fierce lashing from us Winged Tribe men, so don't worry, I'll be gentle, I won't kill you."

Yi Cui Bi’s delicate body trembled; she gritted her teeth in fury, glaring at the youth with hatred.

"Birdman, your mouth stinks," Shi Yan snapped coldly.

"Damn human, what did you call me?"

"Birdman!"