Soon, a massive "Fire Lotus" bloomed within the "Snow Night."

As it bloomed, the "darkness," so thick it seemed impossible to dissolve, was swiftly incinerated, allowing sight to finally return to the area.

Zou Feng and He Yuan’s figures reappeared.

The two had switched positions.

Zou Feng looked as if he had never even struck, still holding the same stance with his hands clasped before his chest.

He Yuan’s sword, however, had not been returned to its sheath.

His eyes were filled with shock as he slowly turned his head.

"Incredible Palm Skill!" Staring at Zou Feng, He Yuan spoke, enunciating each word.

After he finished saying those three words, his entire body began to twist and contort, followed by a series of violent explosions erupting from within.

The explosions lasted for a full five breaths. The light faded from He Yuan’s eyes, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

Zou Feng, however, remained motionless. A stream of Sword Qi, seemingly with a will of its own, was inside him, trying to destroy his life force and burst out of his body.

This was the terror of a True Qi Realm powerhouse.

The reason it was called "True Qi" was precisely that some of their techniques could truly, if briefly, become living "creatures."

The techniques came alive!

So, Zou Feng wasn’t holding his pose just to show off; he was desperately suppressing the Sword Qi that threatened to erupt from his body at any moment.

Fortunately, his True Man State hadn’t ended yet, so it shouldn’t be a major problem.

’Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Force, engage at maximum power!’

’Dammit, if it can suppress a sea, how can it not suppress this little bit of Sword Qi?’

After putting all his effort into suppressing the Sword Qi, Zou Feng tilted his head back, opened his mouth, and roared, "AAAAHHHH—"

And with that, he forcibly expelled the Sword Qi from his body.

It shot toward a new batch of Sword Sect experts who seemed to be rushing over from the distance.

Meanwhile, the crowd of onlookers who had been anxiously awaiting the outcome of this battle, whether they were from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect or Biyou Palace, were all still in a state of shock.

Because the "darkness" had obscured their vision, the fight between Zou Feng and He Yuan hadn’t actually been that thrilling to watch.

After all, they couldn’t see anything clearly.

He Yuan, the Flying Snow Sword, who usually defeated his opponents in a single move, had instead been killed in one move himself.

And by a Fourth Grade, no less, who hadn’t even stepped into the True Qi Realm.

Normally, if you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes, no one would believe it if you told them.

But the one who had just died a violent death was, without a doubt, the Third Grade True Qi Realm expert, He Yuan.

"He... he won!? Did Elder Zou win?"

The first to snap out of it were, naturally, the disciples of Hundred-legged Ridge.

After exchanging glances, many of them broke into ecstatic expressions.

After all, because they hadn’t been able to inhale the Hundred-legged Ancestor’s Poison Miasma, the battle had become completely one-sided against them.

They wouldn’t have been able to hold on for much longer; heavy casualties were only a matter of time.

But with Elder Zou having taken out a Third Grade Powerhouse, the situation was now completely different.

The boost to the morale of the Hundred-legged Ridge disciples was no less potent than taking a huge lungful of the fresh miasma provided by the Hundred-legged Ancestor.

"Elder Zou, your Poison Skill is unmatched, your Magical Power boundless!"

"Your divine arts are vast, your poison reigns over the Central Plains!"

"The Flying Snow Sword brought that humiliation on himself! His death is nothing to mourn, hahaha..."

The Hundred-legged Ridge disciples were used to flattering the Hundred-legged Ancestor, so all sorts of bootlicking phrases came to them effortlessly.

As for the disciples of the Celestial Essence Sword Sect, they inevitably began to panic.

With He Yuan gone and no other True Qi experts arriving to support them, how could they dare to face a monster like Zou Feng?

Someone shouted, "Retreat!" and the Celestial Essence Sword Sect disciples immediately scattered and fled.

"Hey! What do you think this place is? You think you can come and go as you please?!"

"None of you are leaving!"

Their spirits rekindled, the Hundred-legged Ridge disciples naturally wouldn’t miss the chance to beat a dog while it’s down. They all roared as they chased after the fleeing Sword Sect disciples.

Meanwhile, having spat out that stream of Sword Qi, Zou Feng had finally managed to mostly regulate his breathing.

But his True Man State had passed, and the immense cost of executing the Five Poison Heart-Burning Palm left him feeling dizzy and disoriented.

Fortunately, Xiaolv had already taken the opportunity to sneak up to He Yuan’s corpse and was injecting it with venom to begin the transformation.

However, he was a Third Grade Expert after all, so the transformation speed was noticeably slower.

Although it wasn’t wise to linger, Zou Feng really didn’t want to miss out on the Corpse Poison converted from a Third Grade Martial Artist. Thus, he had no choice but to first swallow three of the Nine Yang Primordial Energy Pills he had previously seized and then continue to hold his pose.

Fortunately, he wasn’t disturbed while he waited, and He Yuan’s corpse finally turned a dark, bluish-black.

This meant the Corpse Poison was ready.

Zou Feng didn’t dare to delay for a second and immediately absorbed it.

Before he had time for the Refinement process after absorbing it, Zou Feng was horrified to discover that an eyeball had suddenly appeared within the dark clouds formed by the Wind and Thunder Sword Array in the sky, and it was staring right at him.

The fall of a Third Grade Martial Artist was no small matter. The other experts of the Celestial Essence Sword Sect must have sensed it and were naturally rushing to investigate.

Seeing this, Zou Feng no longer cared about the Refinement of the Corpse Poison and began frantically striking the air with his palms.

He, of course, wasn’t foolish enough to clash head-on with the Wind and Thunder Sword Array. He was simply using his Palm Force to release a thick Poison Miasma to hide himself within it.

In just a few moments, the dense smoke from the Poison Miasma shrouded the surrounding area.

Its vision-blocking effect was almost on par with the previous "Snow Night Sword Domain."

Then, Zou Feng used his Spider Stance again, completely vanishing into the Poison Miasma...

By the time Zou Feng emerged from the Poison Miasma, he had already quietly left Hundred-legged Ridge.

’I can’t stay in that place any longer, no matter what.’

’If I stay any longer, the Sword Saint himself might use some profound method to lock onto me and send a long-distance Sword Qi gift package my way.’

Zou Feng knew very well that just because the Sword Saint was currently attacking the Five Poison Hall, it didn’t mean he could ignore the threat he posed.

He was a First Grade Expert. Taking someone’s head from a hundred li away using the Sword Control Technique was probably just a basic operation for him.

’Especially with the enhancement from the Wind and Thunder Sword Array, that guy might actually manage to lock onto me by accident.’

’Not to mention, the Celestial Essence Sword Sect’s experts aren’t limited to just the current Sword Saint.’

’If a few more Third Grade, or even a Second Grade, showed up, I’d be in for more than I could handle.’

’So right now...’

’The best course of action is to sneak back to the Silk Cave.’

’Speaking of which, I never should have gone to Hundred-legged Ridge in the first place.’

’But who could have guessed the Hundred-legged Ancestor would be such a coward? The fight hadn’t even officially started, and that giant centipede—originally a powerhouse who could even cast a group-wide buff—just up and fled so decisively...’

’Still, my trip there, by a strange twist of fate, ended up preserving the fighting strength of Hundred-legged Ridge.’

’After all, Hundred-legged Ridge was the strongest of the five halls. If they had suffered heavy casualties, it would have been a huge loss for the entire Biyou Palace.’

’Fortunately, I don’t have to worry too much about that now.’

’The Poison Miasma I released when I escaped wasn’t as good as the Hundred-legged Ancestor’s, but at least it will let the Hundred-legged Ridge disciples get a temporary fix.’

’Now they’ll be able to fight at their full potential.’

On his way back to the Silk Cave, Zou Feng killed quite a few more Sword Sect disciples, his eyes red with slaughter.

But he urgently needed to find a place to rest and recuperate.

First, to restore his condition to its peak, and second, to quickly and quietly complete the Refinement of the Corpse Poison.

The Corpse Poison converted from a Third Grade Expert was not so easy to handle. Failing to complete its Refinement quickly would only invite more complications.

Not long after, Zou Feng returned to the Silk Cave and immediately dove into its maze-like small caverns.

’Even if a True Qi Realm Sword Immortal is searching for me right now, they’d never guess that after fleeing the Silk Cave for Hundred-legged Ridge, I would choose to return to the Silk Cave.’

After entering the labyrinthine cave area, Zou Feng no longer heard the sounds of battle—the constant shouts and the clash of moves.

Instead, he would occasionally hear some... unnatural panting.

Evidently, after the Celestial Essence Sword Sect disciples chose to charge into the Silk Cave, what awaited them was not a battle of flashing blades and sword shadows.

It was another kind of great battle, one whose dangers were in no way inferior.

Don’t for a moment think this was some kind of pleasure. To fall into the hands of these female spiders, to have one’s mind bewitched, and to finally perish... the resulting corpse would basically be in a state fit to be flown like a kite.