…

　　Yan Luo placed Shi Mu in a valley to train for two months.

　　After bringing him there, Yan Luo compelled the Fallen Angel Desk to release a layer of intangible energy around his body. She left after that, vanishing without a trace.

　　When Shi Mu tried to contact her, there was no response at all.

　　Thanks to the energy from the Fallen Angel Desk, he was able to move freely without needing to worry about the erosive qi of the dead spirit. It must have been due to some magical charm used by Yan Luo on the Fallen Angel Desk.

　　During this period, Cai was able to connect with Shi Mu’s heart. When he learned about his current situation, he was eager to follow.

　　That was until Shi Mu described the desolate environment there, filled with scattered bones and skeletons. When he heard that, Cai immediately changed his mind and said he was willing to keep watch over the residence on Shi Mu’s behalf. He would rather die than be dragged there.

　　Just as Shi Mi put the staff that he was holding away, there was a sharp and sweet voice from far away.

　　“You may possess some kind of strength, but it’s barely enough to deal with an ordinary person.”

　　As Shi Mu looked around to see who and where the voice was coming from, he caught sight of the speaker on the side of the valley. They wore silver armor as they floated down elegantly. It was none other than Yan Luo.

　　She had put her trusty armor back on but was not wearing a helmet or any other accessories. She had her hair tied up high, which made her look a little less charming but much more heroic.

　　Seeing Yan Luo walking toward him, he immediately got up and addressed her.

　　“The opponent I’m about to face is not any ordinary person. He possesses the strength of a Heaven-rank warrior. There’ss no way I can easily win this fight without resorting to the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. Anyway, where are you heading this time?”

　　“Follow me.”

　　As always, before Shi Mu could reply or agree to Yan Luo’s proposition, she had already flown off as a silver ray of light.

　　Seeing this, Shi Mu had no choice but to follow like a streak ray of red light.

　　As they traveled, Yan Luo seemed to be very familiar with the surrounding environment and the undead creatures they encountered along the way. Sensing the qi that Yan Luo exuded, the monsters immediately moved out of the way, fearing that they would get into an altercation with her.

　　After half an hour, the silver and red light descended one after another, landing on a huge circular crater.

　　The huge pit was filled with so much purple smog that it was hard to clearly see what was inside. They were only able to catch a glimpse of the sharp boulder protruding inside.

　　“This is…?” Shi Mu asked.

　　Before he could even finish speaking, he suddenly felt a strong attack from behind him. In an instant, he fell into the pit as Yan Luo’s voice rang in his ear.

　　“This is the nest of the Serpent Hound King.”

　　Upon hearing that, Shi Mu could not help but smile bitterly. The Wishful Staff was his hand in an instant, as the flaming wings behind him flashed.

　　Yan Luo came to the rescue as she thrust with such force that she was able to stabilize up to ten feet below the ground.

　　With the whirlwind from his wings, he struck the purple fog near him.

　　However, it was only a moment of effort before the purple fog spread again.

　　As soon as the purple fog surrounded him, Shi Mu felt his skin turn numb. There was an itch that he could not help reaching for instinctively.

　　However, he quickly retracted his hand when he regained his senses. His body flashed intensely and a circle of red flames spread from the left arm to his entire body.

　　Golden scales covered his body.

　　Shi Mu suddenly felt a wave of spiritual fluctuations coming from the left. The golden light in his eyes flashed, and he could clearly sense the purple fog violently rolling toward him.

　　Shi Mu’s heart skipped a beat.

　　“Not good!”

　　The next moment, a huge purple figure emerged from the fog and rushed toward him.

　　It was a giant hound, 30-feet long!

　　The hound’s eyes were a foggy white color, while its skin was purplish and covered with palm-sized rotting sores.

　　From time to time, some sort of purple and black mucus would fall as a buzzing sound came from the ground.

　　“The Serpent Hound King!”

　　Shi Mu remembered Yan Luo’s words and he caught a momentary glimpse.

　　The Serpent Hound King flew high up in the air. It stretched its claws out and turned its bloody mouth toward Shi Mu.

　　Shi Mu crouched and fell under the belly of the giant hound. With a swift motion, he swung the Wishful Steel Staff and charged upward.

　　Woosh!

　　A white tornado suddenly emerged and struck the abdomen of the hound, forcing it into the air.

　　Shi Mu was trying to straighten up his body to land another attack on the hound with his staff. However, an extra tail suddenly protruded from its rear end and swung at him.

　　He had quickly lifted his staff to prepare for another attack, but the flexible tail caught him off guard. It passed his staff and lashed at his body.

　　Shi Mu was shocked and immediately used the staff to block the swinging tail.

　　Pak!

　　The thick tail slammed into the Wishful Steel Staff. The impact made Shi Mu’s arms go numb, to the point that he could barely hold on to the weapon.

　　Shi Mu swung the staff and squatted on the giant hound’s tail.

　　The hound’s tail seemed to have fractured. It was straight from the middle as it extended toward Shi Mu.

　　Woosh!

　　At the end of the giant tail, two groups of purple light suddenly appeared. The hound opened up its large mouth and spewed out purple smog.

　　Shi Mu was unable to prevent the attack. When the purple smog reached his face, he immediately got a foul stench.

　　Fortunately, he closed his eyes before the poisonous fog could damage his eyes.

　　His arm moved as it glowed with a black light. With a swing from left to right, a ray of black shadow cut through the void, making a shocking scream.

　　“Total Annihilation!”

　　Not needing to check if his attack was successful, he immediately stepped back.

　　Shi Mu checked his surroundings with his spirit sense and found out that the golden scales on his face showed signs of corrosion. He was fortunate that it had not penetrated all the way to his skin, which was at least some relief.

　　Even so, he did not dare to open his eyes. Instead, he had to rely on his spirit sense to the position of the Serpent Hound King.

　　The Serpent Hound King suddenly roared in anger, “Anyone who tries to step into my territory will die!”

　　Although he could not see it, Shi Mu could clearly feel the air constantly flowing around the Serpent Hound King.

　　It was obvious that this beast was accumulating some kind of magic!

　　Naturally, Shi Mu did not sit still to wait for death to come. The long black staff in his dance swayed, creating a white mist. The mist twisted and gathered under Shi Mu, like a ferocious beast.

　　On the opposite side, countless clouds of purple smog had gathered into a huge whirlpool. It went straight into the mouth of the Serpent Hound King, gradually forming a purple ball of fog.

　　Shi Mu placed his hands onto the Wishful Steel Staff while paying close attention to the movements around him.

　　The purple mist in the huge pit had rapidly disappeared as all of it had been sucked into the Serpent Hound King’s mouth.

　　A purple light suddenly appeared in the eye of the Serpent Hound King. In an instant, the purple mist began to spurt toward Shi Mu.

　　This set off a strange force that was strong enough to distort the space wherever he went. There were countless rock fragments and white bones around him that had been inhaled by the Serpent Hound King.

　　“Good timing!”

　　Shi Mu sighed softly. The long black staff in his hands began to dance as Shi Mu utilized the eighth phase of the Heavenly Staff Technique.

　　Roar!

　　With a thunderous roar, countless white clouds merged into a torrent of water, rushing toward the purple ball of fog.

　　Ugh!

　　With a bang, the violent torrent rushed over the purple ball of fog and burst it open.

　　However, the purple ball of fog was unpredictable and continued charging at Shi Mu at full speed.

　　Peng!

　　There was another collision as the purple ball of fog crashed into a large cloud.

　　Peng peng peng…

　　The collisions continued as the purple fog was bombarded.

　　The fog gradually became more unstable.

　　Just then, another white tornado suddenly smashed out from the fierce torrent and hit the purple ball of fog directly.

　　Boom!

　　A terrible explosion, followed by a violent shockwave, rocked the entire crater.

　　The purple ball of fog continued exploding as more of the thick purple mist dissipated, washing away by the surging torrent.

　　The white waves came like the tide, drowning the Serpent Hound King in an instant. In a blink of an eye, it was ripped to shreds. Even its spirit had been torn out.

　　The beasts were shocked as they had just witnessed their king getting assassinated in front of their eyes!

　　Next to Shi Mu, a silver figure arrived in a flash. With a wave of her hand, a silver light emerged with the soul of the Serpent Hound King wrapped inside it.

　　The figure was Yan Luo.

　　Shi Mu stood in the pit and gasped for breath. Once the Serpent Hound King had been killed, the surrounding poisonous mist dissipated. The burning sensation on his face had faded and he was able to slowly open his eyes.

　　As his vision began to focus, Shi Mu noticed that the circular crater had become elliptical. It was also even deeper than before.

　　“When you encounter a strong enemy, being too cautious will only give the opponent more openings. This Serpent Hound King was only at its early stage of Heaven Rank cultivation. Next time, you won’t be that lucky.”

　　Not waiting for Shi Mu to say a word, Yan Luo turned into a ray of light and flew into the pit.

　　Shi Mu heard her words and could not help but touch his chin as he thought about it.

　　He had indeed been too cautious in the battle. In fact, he was more than able to beat the Serpent Hound King head-on, but he resorted to a sneak attack. This ended up giving the Serpent Hound King many chances to launch its attacks at him.

　　As she went down into the pit, Shi Mu looked back at Yan Luo and chased after her.