Struggle

Yuan Ming seized the opportunity, pushing the power of his Essence Accumulating Arm to its limit, and poured all his magical power into the Azure Fish Sword.

He leaped high into the air, abandoning his slashing attack for a more armor-piercing thrust towards the Unicorn Viper Python.

The latter was entangled by the Blood Soul Vine and was in no condition to pay attention to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming's long sword pierced directly into the viper python's right eye without encountering any resistance, sinking in completely.

With a soft "pop,"

A spray of blood erupted. The Unicorn Viper Python, which had been struggling violently, suddenly stiffened, then sprang up, flinging Yuan Ming off its body.

Immediately after, the viper python's body contorted and twisted, almost forming a ball. However, it didn't struggle for long before its strength gave out, and it ceased to move.

After getting up, Yuan Ming immediately pounced again, stepping on the viper python's head and pulling out the Azure Fish Sword.

Gripping the sword with both hands, he hacked wildly at the viper python's chest, sending scales flying and blood splashing.

This wasn't Yuan Ming acting out of malice or anger; he needed to quickly find the viper python's heart to prevent the Blood Soul Vine from completely taking over and parasitizing it. Otherwise, it might revive and move again, and in his current state, he would be in serious trouble.

After a difficult period of hacking, Yuan Ming finally managed to cut open the viper python's chest and saw its still faintly beating heart, which was indeed covered in fine black threads.

Without any hesitation, he immediately thrust his sword, shattering the viper python's heart in a few swift moves.

Having done all this, Yuan Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief. He took off his blood storage pouch, placed it on the wound, and began collecting Blood Food.

But just then, another change occurred.

The Unicorn Viper Python, which was thought to be completely dead, suddenly moved again. Dozens of black vine-like growths, as thick as a thumb, sprouted from its wounds and instantly bound Yuan Ming.

At this moment, Yuan Ming's body was still affected by residual poison, and his magical power was severely depleted. He could no longer forcefully circulate his vital energy. His vision blurred, his body was weak, and he had almost lost all ability to resist.

The Unicorn Viper Python's head then lifted once more, assuming the same downward-looking posture as before.

However, its only remaining eye was now completely blood-red, devoid of the human-like emotions it had previously displayed. Its gaze was vacant and dull, clearly indicating it was now parasitized and controlled by the Blood Soul Vine.

Bound by the vines, Yuan Ming was brought before the viper python's head. He then noticed that within the right eye socket, pierced by the Azure Fish Sword, a black tumor was writhing and pulsating.

"So it doesn't need to parasitize the heart..." Yuan Ming realized, but it was too late.

The vines were slowly drawing him towards the Unicorn Viper Python's gaping maw. Despite his desperate struggles, he was ultimately unable to escape being swallowed.

Yuan Ming focused his eyes with all his might, trying to regain clarity, but he couldn't. Even facing death and with no hope of survival, he was unwilling to give up.

A desperate struggle might offer a sliver of hope; giving up now meant certain death!

The third layer of the Nine Yuan Art within him circulated frantically, attempting to condense more magical power to give him the strength to fight again. However, this last-minute effort was ultimately ineffective.

The Unicorn Viper Python's bloody maw swallowed Yuan Ming.

Just as the viper python's maw was about to close, Yuan Ming's eyes began to glow with a blood-red hue. A fierce and violent emotion, not his own, surged into his mind.

This emotion contained anger, hatred, bloodlust, and many feelings Yuan Ming had suppressed. Only one thing overlapped with his current emotions: unwillingness.

Unwillingness to be defeated, unwilling to die, unwilling to give up.

In the next instant, Yuan Ming was almost overwhelmed by this complex emotion, nearly losing his senses.

But at the critical moment, a surge of warmth from his arm stabilized his mind, allowing him to control the emotion that was threatening to drive him mad.

Simultaneously, Yuan Ming felt the White Ape beast hide on his body tighten instantly. The feeling of connection to his bloodline became even stronger, and his previously stagnant vital energy suddenly began to boil again.

Yuan Ming felt a feverish heat spread through his body, with a large amount of vital energy surging towards his chest.

Following this, his chest flesh bulged, and new bones formed. A pale golden arm abruptly burst through his chest, forcefully tearing through the vines binding him. Its fingers, like blades, stabbed into the viper python's right eye.

The golden arm grabbed the writhing black tumor in the eye socket and squeezed with its fingers.

With a soft "crack," the black tumor exploded, turning into dust.

Immediately after, the Unicorn Viper Python's body rapidly shriveled and contracted, and the parasitic vines within it withered instantly, turning to ash.

Yuan Ming then regained his freedom, falling to the ground.

He quickly and curiously examined the single arm that had appeared on his chest, having even forgotten to collect Blood Food.

The arm looked no different from his ape arm, but it was covered in pale golden fur, appearing as if it had been grafted onto his White Ape body, creating a jarring disharmony.

"Could this White Ape beast hide still have room for evolution?" Yuan Ming wondered, both surprised and intrigued.

With a thought, the third arm clenched into a fist and threw a punch. The powerful force propelled his body forward, and its strength was even greater than his original two arms.

"I wonder if this arm can be retracted. I can't possibly have an arm sticking out of my chest forever, can I? That would look too strange," Yuan Ming mused inwardly.

As if responding to his thoughts, the golden ape arm on his chest actually retracted.

He quickly touched his chest; everything was normal, with no changes.

After a moment of thought, Yuan Ming immediately took out his blood storage bag to collect Blood Food. After stripping the horn from the viper python's head, he hurried away.

Several more months passed in the blink of an eye. The Hundred Thousand Mountains were now in the depths of winter.

Heavy snow sealed the mountains, blanketing everything in white.

During these months, Yuan Ming had diligently cultivated and continuously hunted Fierce Beasts for Blood Food, gradually improving. Each month, he submitted more than the required amount, sometimes even ten times the quantity.

Of course, during this process, he avoided using the Fur Transformation Technique whenever possible.

It had been less than a year and a half since he officially became a Furred Beast Slave, yet Yuan Ming had already accumulated five hundred and seven portions of Blood Food.

The goal of completing a thousand portions within three years and becoming a Registered Disciple of Jade Luo Cave before his complete downfall no longer seemed so out of reach.

One day, in the early morning.

Yuan Ming walked through the snowy mountain forest, a thick deer leg slung over his shoulder, his steps sinking deep into the snow.

His skin was dark and his face rough, making him indistinguishable from the people of the Southern Border, or even wild men, from the outside.

After the winter snow sealed off the mountains, many bear and python Fierce Beasts had entered hibernation, and the activity of other Fierce Beasts had greatly reduced, making hunting much more difficult than before.

Yuan Ming had left two mornings ago and was only now returning. If he hadn't been lucky enough to encounter a Black Horn Deer, he would have returned empty-handed.

As he passed through a pine forest, he suddenly heard a commotion ahead, as if people were fighting.

Yuan Ming instinctively wanted to detour and leave. Nowadays, apart from hunting Fierce Beasts to accumulate points, he wasn't particularly concerned about anything else. This was because as his cultivation grew, the backlash from the Fur Transformation Technique became more severe.

Especially after growing his third golden ape arm, each time he used the Fur Transformation Technique to change, the ferocious aura in his chest would become even stronger, and that bloodthirsty, violent emotion would repeatedly assault his sanity.

Yuan Ming didn't know how much longer the incense burner hidden in his arm could suppress this backlash.

Just as he was about to detour and leave, he suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice: "You Hyena Hall scum, if I weren't heavily injured, would the two of you dare to attack me?"

"Hagon?" Yuan Ming thought to himself.

In response to the voice were several sneers and disdainful taunts, along with the sounds of a struggle.

Yuan Ming sighed, put down the deer leg in his hand, and quickly hurried over.

Before he could even get close, a figure flew out from a thick clump of bushes.

Yuan Ming reacted quickly, catching the person's back. Using his left foot as a pivot, he spun in a circle, dissipating the force of the impact and steadying himself.

Immediately after, two more people jumped out from behind the bushes, each holding a sharp knife.

Upon seeing Yuan Ming, the two clearly froze. Then, one of them, with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks, immediately shouted, "Who are you? Are you trying to interfere?"

The other had already raised his sharp knife, pointing it at Yuan Ming's nose.

"Brother Yuan?" Hagon's face was deathly pale, sweat beading on his forehead, and he called out in surprise.

His clothes were stained with blood, and there was a ridiculously large tearing wound on his abdomen. His arms also bore several regularly shaped knife wounds, totaling more than ten.

"What happened to you? How did you get so badly injured?" Yuan Ming asked with a frown.

"I..." Hagon couldn't finish his sentence before his body went limp, and he collapsed against Yuan Ming.

Looking at the unconscious Hagon, Yuan Ming felt a sense of helplessness.

"You two, why aren't you leaving?" he looked up at the two pursuers and reprimanded them.

"Are you looking for death?" the sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked guy yelled and lunged at Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming's eyes flashed. He raised one hand and softly chanted, "Rise!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a yellowish-brown halo lit up from the ground. The sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked guy let out a scream as his outstretched foot was pierced by a sharp stalagmite rising from the ground.

The other person, seeing this, quickly looked at the ground beneath his feet and rapidly retreated.

Yuan Ming couldn't be bothered to argue with them. He slung Hagon over his shoulder and turned to leave.

Having brought back a living person, Yuan Ming naturally couldn't return to his cave base camp. He had to change direction and head to a temporary resting spot he usually used.

It was a dilapidated, rotten treehouse, seemingly the dwelling of a former Furred Beast Slave, which had been abandoned for a long time. Yuan Ming tidied it up simply, and it was barely usable.

He brought Hagon into the treehouse and used some of the medicinal powder he had acquired to treat his injuries. Afterward, he went outside to build a bonfire and roast the Black Horn Deer leg.