Exploring the Valley Through the Black Market, Di Yao Uses Poisonous Insects to Cast a Long Line

The next morning, Sunset Forest was shrouded in mist.

The fog was thick.

But it was no ordinary morning mist.

This place was close to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The fog carried three types of aura: poison, cold, and heat. If an ordinary Soul Master inhaled even a breath of it, they would suffer dizziness at best and damaged meridians at worst.

But today, there were other scents mixed into the mist.

The smell of rust.

The scent of medicinal powder.

And a faint trace of Soul Beast Luring Incense.

Di Yao stood beneath an ancient tree at the mouth of the valley, lightly rubbing a bit of soil between his fingertips.

Grayish-white powder was mixed into the dirt.

Hu Liena stood behind him and frowned. "Poison-Avoiding Powder?"

Di Yao nodded.

"It's well prepared."

Hu Liena's gaze turned cold. "Someone snuck in?"

Dugu Bo emerged from the Poison Mist, his expression dark to the extreme.

He held a tiny silver needle between his fingers.

A faint blue gleam shone at its tip. It had clearly been treated with medicine specifically meant to break poison arrays.

"Array-Breaking Needles, Poison-Avoiding Powder, Soul Beast Luring Incense."

Dugu Bo's voice was filled with icy fury. "They came well prepared."

Dugu Yan stood behind him, obvious disgust on her face.

"The Black Market Soul Hunting Group?"

Hu Liena looked at Di Yao.

Di Yao did not answer immediately.

He looked toward the forest in the distance.

There were several footprints there, faint but clearly not left by wild beasts.

The intruders had been very cautious.

Rather than barging into the valley, they had split into three groups. One scattered Poison-Avoiding Powder, one released Soul Beast Luring Incense, and one used Array-Breaking Needles to test the density of the Poison Mist.

They were not ordinary poachers.

They were a trained Soul Hunting Group.

Poisonous light surged in Dugu Bo's eyes.

"I'll melt every last one of them."

He said it calmly.

But Hu Liena could tell that he truly intended to kill.

The Herb Garden was Dugu Bo's forbidden ground.

Anyone who had come this close had already crossed his bottom line.

But Di Yao spoke. "Don't kill them all."

Dugu Bo paused.

He turned his head, his gaze as cold as a blade.

"Brat, you think you can tell this old man what to do?"

Di Yao raised his eyes to meet his.

"If you kill them all, you'll only vent your anger."

Dugu Bo sneered. "This old man kills precisely to vent his anger."

Di Yao's tone remained calm. "Then the people behind them will send a second group."

Dugu Bo narrowed his eyes.

Hu Liena glanced at Di Yao, already understanding what he meant.

Di Yao continued, "The fact that they found this place means they know there is something deep within Sunset Forest."

"They did not come here by chance."

"If you kill them all, the trail ends."

Dugu Bo's expression darkened.

Of course he understood the reasoning.

But understanding it was one thing. Having someone creep so close to the Herb Garden made it impossible for him to suppress his killing intent.

Dugu Yan could not help speaking, anger in her voice. "Are we just letting them go? They can come today, and tomorrow they might bring even more people!"

Di Yao looked at her.

"That's why we let one go."

Dugu Yan froze.

Di Yao said coolly, "One person who believes he escaped is more useful than ten people who refuse to talk."

Hu Liena's lips twitched slightly.

That sounded exactly like Di Yao.

Cold, ruthless, and effective.

Dugu Bo stared at Di Yao for several breaths before finally giving a cold snort.

"You do it."

Di Yao did not refuse.

He stepped forward, and his Second Soul Ring slowly emerged.

The dark-gold aura of the Ten Thousand Demon Edict spread outward.

The poisonous insects that had been restlessly stirring nearby suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Poison Scorpions, Red-Thread Centipedes, Ghost-Face Spiders, Fire-Spotted Snakes...

These low-level venomous creatures instinctively lowered themselves.

Not in complete submission.

Rather, their instincts had been suppressed by a pressure from a higher existence.

Dugu Bo watched the scene, his gaze growing increasingly profound.

He was an expert in poison.

These venomous creatures had been affected by the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and had become exceptionally vicious. Even his Poison Mist could only command some of them.

Yet Di Yao could make them quiet.

Even if it was only temporary suppression, it was already terrifying.

Di Yao raised his hand and slightly turned his fingers.

Some of the poisonous insects surged toward the woods on the left.

Others circled toward the right.

Only the middle was left with a path that appeared safe.

Hu Liena understood immediately.

"You want them to think they found a way out."

Di Yao nodded.

"Follow them."

Hu Liena asked no more questions. Her figure flashed, and she vanished directly into the forest.

Watching her move so decisively, Dugu Yan could not help frowning.

This Spirit Hall Saintess was not merely someone who stood behind Di Yao.

Within the forest.

More than thirty black-clad Soul Masters were advancing carefully.

There were no insignias of any faction on their chests, and they had deliberately suppressed the fluctuations of their Soul Power.

Their leader was a middle-aged man with a scar across his face.

He crouched down, examined the poisonous plants on the ground, and said quietly, "The Poison Mist ahead is thinning."

A skinny Soul Master beside him let out a breath of relief and lowered his voice. "Looks like the information was right. There really are rare treasures deep in these woods. That firelight last night must have meant at least a top-grade Immortal Herb had appeared."

The scarred man shot him a cold look.

"Less talk. We only scout the location. We don't make a move."

The skinny Soul Master was unwilling to accept that. "Captain, if there really is an Immortal Herb—"

"Shut up."

The scarred man's voice sank. "Did you forget what the employer told us? This place involves a Title Douluo. Are you greedy enough to risk your life?"

The skinny Soul Master's face turned pale, and he did not dare speak again.

But the next instant, the grass around them suddenly rustled.

The scarred man abruptly raised a hand.

"Stop!"

Almost at the same moment, poisonous insects poured out from the left like a tide.

"Not good! Poisonous insects!"

The group instantly descended into chaos.

They immediately scattered Insect Repellent Powder, but the poisonous insects seemed to have gone mad, avoiding the powder and continuing to swarm at them.

More poisonous insects pressed in from the right.

The scarred man's expression changed drastically. "Go through the middle! Hurry!"

The group immediately rushed toward the "way out" Di Yao had left open.

They thought they had reacted quickly enough.

But they did not know that this path had been left for them from the start.

Hu Liena hid behind the shadow of a tree, watching coldly.

She did not hurry to attack.

Di Yao had said to let one go.

Then they could not kill too thoroughly.

By the time the Black Market Soul Hunting Group charged out of the encirclement, more than half of them had fallen.

Over a dozen had been bitten to death by poisonous insects.

Several others had been accidentally injured by their own soul skills.

The scarred man led the final six or seven people out in a wretched rush, their black clothing corroded and tattered by venom.

"Retreat! Get out!"

Fear finally entered his voice.

But just as they were about to rush beyond the range of the Poison Mist, a figure blocked their path.

Hu Liena gripped a short blade, her eyes icy.

The scarred man's expression changed.

"Someone from Spirit Hall?"

Hu Liena did not answer.

Her First Soul Ring lit up.

The power of Charm spread out in an instant.

The remaining Black Market Soul Masters staggered mentally, their movements slowing by half a beat.

Hu Liena flashed past them, her short blade slitting the throats of two men.

The scarred man barely broke free from the Charm. With an enraged roar, he used Martial Soul Possession, his arms turning into massive bear paws as he slammed them toward Hu Liena.

Hu Liena did not take the blow head-on.

She dodged sideways, her short blade cutting across his wrist, but she did not continue the fight.

Because she understood the intention Di Yao had left for her.

Kill the small ones.

Leave the big one.

The scarred man also sensed something was wrong and turned to flee.

Hu Liena did not pursue immediately. Instead, she placed a tiny Soul Power Mark on the corner of his torn clothes.

Not far away, Di Yao slowly emerged.

He watched the direction in which the scarred man had fled, his expression calm.

Hu Liena landed beside him and said softly, "The mark is on him."

Di Yao nodded.

"Good."

Hu Liena paused slightly when she heard those two words.

Di Yao had already crouched down and removed an Iron Tablet from the waist of a corpse.

The Iron Tablet was old.

Its surface had been deliberately worn down.

But near its edge, a fragment of a pattern remained.

It resembled a hammer.

Or perhaps half of an emblem that someone had intentionally scraped away.

Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan also hurried over.

When Dugu Bo saw the Iron Tablet, his expression darkened slightly. "Someone is backing them from behind."

Di Yao brushed his fingertips over the broken hammer insignia, his gaze turning colder.

Hu Liena frowned. "Clear Sky Sect?"

Di Yao did not answer directly.

"It can't be confirmed yet."

He put away the Iron Tablet.

"But at least one thing is certain: someone doesn't want me to obtain my Third Soul Ring in peace."

Dugu Yan snorted, lingering fear in her voice. "They dared to scout even this place. They've got some nerve."

Di Yao glanced at her.

"It's not nerve."

Dugu Yan frowned. "Then what is it?"

Di Yao's voice was calm.

"The price is high."

Dugu Yan was speechless for a moment.

Dugu Bo stared in the direction the man had fled, killing intent still burning in his eyes.

"You're really not going to kill the one who escaped?"

Di Yao rose to his feet.

"I will."

Dugu Bo's gaze turned cold.

Di Yao continued, "But not now."

Hu Liena had already understood his plan and said, "We'll wait for him to lead us to the people behind him."

Di Yao nodded.

Dugu Bo looked at Hu Liena, then at Di Yao, and suddenly gave a cold snort.

"You brats from Spirit Hall are all more scheming than the last."

Hu Liena raised a brow, about to retort, when Di Yao spoke calmly.

"As long as we survive."

Dugu Bo was choked up by those words.

Di Yao lifted his head and looked toward the distant sea of forest.

The captain of the Black Market Soul Hunting Group was desperately fleeing.

He thought he had escaped death.

He thought he had brought back clues to the Herb Garden's location.

But he did not know that from the moment the poisonous insects had made way for him, he had already become a thread in Di Yao's hand.

A thread that would wind itself around the master behind him.

Di Yao withdrew his gaze, his voice calm.

"Prepare the Golden Crow Vine."

Hu Liena looked at him. "Now?"

Di Yao said, "The enemy has already begun pressing us."

He raised his hand, Dark Gold Flame burning quietly in his palm.

"Then we can't afford to be any slower."

Dugu Bo frowned. "You're still going on?"

Di Yao looked deeper into Sunset Forest.

There, the sun was rising.

Perhaps some powerful fire-attributed soul beast was spreading its wings atop Broken Cliff.

A faint dark golden gleam lit Di Yao's eyes.

"The Third Soul Ring should be decided."