Outside the ancient stone city, in the vast, dense forest, the roars of Yin Beasts could occasionally be heard.

The tribesmen of the Yinmei clan stayed put inside the ancient city, meek and obedient, daring not to venture out for fear of being ambushed by the ferocious beasts outside.

Recently, these Yin Beasts from the Yin Beast Mountain, owing to a loosening of the spiritual restrictions there, had fled in droves, causing chaos everywhere.

Among the Yin Beasts were even Ghost Infants of the sixth and seventh tiers!

Ghost Infants were the natural nemesis of the Yinmei, and their appearance made every member of the clan feel perilously close to death, terrified to the extreme. The moment they heard the "whoo-whoo" cries of a Ghost Infant, the Yinmei tribesmen’s hearts would turn to ice.

Within the Ancient Stone City, the dark gray stone walls were covered with carvings of various demonic beasts, interspersed with bright, crystalline stones embedded in the very center of the ramparts, releasing a dazzling, shimmering light.

The entirety of the massive ancient city was enveloped by an extremely fierce energy fluctuation. This powerful wave persisted, turbulent and surging, possessing a potent deterrent effect on the Yin Beasts.

The barrier enveloping the ancient city kept the howling Yin Beasts at bay. Those beasts only dared to screech outside the walls but did not dare to brazenly storm into the city.

Upon the ancient city wall of the Ancient Domain.

Yi Tianmo, cloaked in a long cyan robe, stood tall, his expression grim, overlooking the distance alongside Zha Meng and Kaba, two commanders of the Yinmei clan.

Yi Cuibi and Zha Ji stood behind the three commanders—Yi Tianmo, Zha Meng, and Ka Ji—their gazes equally solemn.

Outside the city, the roars and swift movements of Yin Beasts sounded incessantly. Grayish Yin energy lingered, thick and unmoving. Various Yin Beasts surrounded the ancient city, seemingly waiting for something.

Yi Tianmo and the other two stood on the ramparts, brows furrowed, murmuring in low voices, their expressions far from optimistic.

"Cuibi, what about that human martial artist you captured last time?" Zha Ji asked casually, fiddling with several cyan glass beads.

Faint soul fluctuations emanated from those cyan beads. As the beads rolled and collided in his palm, they occasionally spat out wisps of soul aura—quite peculiar.

"What business is that of yours?"

Yi Cuibi's delicate brows slightly furrowed, seeming unwilling to engage. She glanced to the other young woman beside her and casually inquired, "Xuefei, your father is extremely familiar with the Yin Beast Mountain. Your people have been active there often lately; do you know why the restriction there loosened?"

Xuefei was the only daughter of Commander Kaba. Her skin was crystal white like frost and snow, her eyebrows like ink strokes, and her eyes like deep pools—a rare beauty among the Yinmei.

"I have no idea, it just loosened inexplicably. This time is truly strange; so many Ghost Infants have left the Yin Beast Mountain... they've been circling here for days and still haven't dispersed. What on earth are they trying to do?" Xuefei shook her head, indicating she was equally unclear.

"Cuibi, that human martial artist is a bit dangerous. Why don't you trade him to me?" Zha Ji's cyan glass beads continued to clink in his palm, the faint soul fluctuations rolling within. "These Yin God Pearls are what I refined today by extracting the souls of those martial artists using a secret technique... they benefit our soul cultivation. If you hand that person over to me, I can give you all these Yin God Pearls."

"Oh? Zha Ji, when did you become so generous?" Xuefei asked with a curious lift of her eyebrow, showing a touch of surprise. "To trade so many Yin God Pearls for one human martial artist... is he that special?"

"The human martial artists I captured were pursued here specifically to deal with that person. Unexpectedly, he remains unharmed, seemingly possessing some secret. Yes, I think he must be quite special." Seeing that Cuibi remained unwilling to trade, Zha Ji guessed that Cuibi had likely also realized Shi Yan's uniqueness, so he brought the matter to the forefront. "Isn't that right, Cuibi? You’ve imprisoned him for so long; you must have discovered something about him?"

"I found nothing," Yi Cuibi replied coldly.

Zha Ji chuckled, clearly not believing her. "How about this: come over to my quarters, and I'll let you freely choose five human martial artists. I'll trade five human martial artists for that one person, how about that?"

"Zha Ji, you are annoying!" Yi Cuibi snapped, displaying clear impatience.

Zha Ji let out a cold snort, his eyes suddenly turning frigid, clearly displeased as well.

"Aooooo!"

Just then, a frantic roar from a Yin Beast echoed from the depths of the dense forest outside the city.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A winged figure, five or six meters across with gray wings, came sweeping through the air amidst the siege of Yin Beasts, beating its wings furiously.

The surrounding Yin Beasts attacked wildly, but the elder of the Winged Clan remained completely unfazed. Streams of brilliant wind blades shot out from his body, forcing the Yin Beasts to evade.

Enduring the pressure of the Yin Beasts, the gray-winged elder forcefully broke through and proudly arrived upon the ancient wall of the Yinmei clan's city.

The barrier restriction on the Yinmei city wall strangely contracted the moment his figure appeared, allowing him just enough space to enter.

"Brother Duolong, what wind blows you here?"

Zha Meng, whose hair was entirely silver, threw his head back and laughed heartily, cupping his hands toward the patriarch of the Winged Clan from a distance. "We were just discussing whether we should pay a visit to your Winged Clan. I didn't expect Brother Duolong to arrive first. Excellent, excellent."

In Yi Tianmo's grayish-white eyes, a flicker of worry appeared, and he subtly glanced toward Yi Cuibi.

Yi Cuibi, who was speaking with Zha Ji and Xuefei, had her beautiful eyes flash with a strange light. She gave a nearly imperceptible nod, then turned to Xuefei and Zha Ji: "I have something urgent; I must take my leave first." With that, without waiting for Zha Ji or Xuefei to respond, her delicate form shimmered, and she vanished lightly.

The patriarch of the Winged Clan, Duolong, landed before Zha Meng, Yi Tianmo, and Kaba, his eyes blazing with murderous intent, and suddenly shouted, "I heard you captured some humans?"

"That's right," Zha Meng replied, looking surprised. "A while ago, for some unknown reason, some humans inexplicably appeared in the forest near us, and we are currently holding them captive. Why is Brother Duolong suddenly concerned with humans? Don't tell me your Winged Clan also wants to refine something using the souls of human martial artists?"

"Bring out all those human martial artists immediately! I need to find someone," Duolong commanded, his eyes, like those of a venomous snake, flashing with extreme ferocity. "My son, Hanlong, was killed by a human. I want to grind that person to dust and let him experience all the tortures of my clan!"

"What!"

Zha Meng, Kaba, and Yi Tianmo all let out involuntary gasps, their expressions utterly shocked.

"Good, I know what to do," Zha Meng nodded, recognizing the gravity of the situation. He called out toward Zha Ji from afar: "Go bring all those human martial artists over here."

Zha Ji promptly bowed and left.

"Brother Yi, I heard you also apprehended a human martial artist? Do you perhaps have him too?" Zha Meng looked toward Yi Tianmo.

"Yifeng, go back and bring that brat over too," Yi Tianmo cut straight to the chase, calling out to a young man not far away. Yifeng quickly departed as well.

"Brother Duolong, are there also Yin Beasts rampaging around on your Winged Clan's side?" Kaba suddenly inquired.

"It's not as severe as yours; the Yin Beasts appearing near our Winged Clan are lower in rank and easy to eliminate," Duolong said grimly. Before he could avenge his son, he seemed unwilling to discuss other matters.

Kaba had wanted to ask more, but seeing his cold demeanor, he managed a strained smile and dropped the subject.

Zha Meng and Yi Tianmo also refrained from saying much, all three wearing strange expressions as they waited in silence.

Not long after.

Zha Ji and several Yinmei youths dragged the massive cage, pulled by demonic beasts, bringing Cao Zhilan, Pan Zhe, and the others together.

Cao Zhilan, Gu Linglong, Pan Zhe, and Zhai Yanqing sat huddled in a corner of the cage, their faces uncertain, anxiously observing Duolong of the Winged Clan and the Yinmei leaders, their hearts filled with apprehension.

Over this period, their followers had been taken away one by one... and then vanished forever.

They knew in their hearts that the companions Zha Ji and the others had taken away were killed. Although Cao Zhilan dared not use her Spirit God Martial Soul, she could vaguely sense that those people's souls had been extracted from their bodies and refined into special medicinal materials, becoming a form of cultivation medicine for the Yinmei clan.

Once Cao Zhilan shared her findings, despair filled the hearts of all survivors. They began to regret entering the Abyss Battlefield to hunt down Yang Mu and Shi Yan, regretting their relentless pursuit of everything... regretting it all.

Duolong's sinister, resentful eyes swept over those in the cage one by one, and he kept shaking his head.

A dark green stone sphere suddenly materialized in Duolong's palm. He casually brushed it, and a ring of green light immediately rippled across the sphere.

Within the hazy green light, Shi Yan's likeness slowly manifested, like an illusory reflection in water.

"Shi Yan!"

Inside the cage, Cao Zhilan, Pan Zhe, Gu Linglong, and Zhai Yanqing's eyes widened in horror. Their spirits involuntarily trembled as they instantly realized that the person Duolong sought was the very fiend, the culprit, who had led them into this desperate situation.

"It's that guy!" Zha Ji also exclaimed softly.

"Who?!" Duolong ground out through clenched teeth.

"The one imprisoned by Cuibi. I saw him not long ago," Zha Ji dared not lie under Duolong's severe and icy gaze, hurriedly explaining, "That person is somewhat special. The people I captured were brought here specifically to kill him, but even with so many joining forces, they couldn't kill him."

"Yi Tianmo!"

Intensely sharp auras suddenly burst forth from Duolong's body. He roared, shouting in fury, "Why haven't you brought that person to me yet!"

In Yi Tianmo's grayish-white eyes, dense, grayish-white filaments suddenly sharpened, and a strange soul storm erupted in his mind. The essence draining from his body rapidly converged, surging into his meridians, preparing him to confront Duolong.

"I have already sent Yifeng to fetch him," Yi Tianmo stood fully alert, his expression icy. "He should be brought over shortly, Brother Duolong. Don't be too agitated."

"Good... I hope your people can deliver that fellow over, otherwise, do not blame me for being impolite," Duolong's eyes were bloodshot, and he slowly nodded.

PS: First update.