An ambergris scent enveloped the man, and it smelled really good. Ye Lingyue was completely frozen.

 1“Shameless!” Ye Lingyue froze.

 Just as she thought something else would happen, her hand regained its freedom. The man had already moved away, but he was holding something else.

 The man was holding Squeaky, who was struggling with all of its strength.

 So he wanted to grab Squeaky. She thought that… Ye Lingyue heaved a sigh of relief as her ears heated up.

 “An ancient beast clan has actually fallen so low to seal a soul bond with a human.” The man glanced at Ye Lingyue teasingly and then at Squeaky, who he was holding.

 He could kill it but not humiliate it, alright?!

 “Squeak!” It angered Squeaky that it raised its front claw to grab at the man.

 “Hm?” The man hummed coldly. His eyes were so cold they were suffocating.

 As if sensing the man’s scary aura, Squeaky, who was still struggling, instantly froze. Its claws also froze in midair, fear filling its eyes.

 “Return it to me.” Ye Lingyue snatched Squeaky back and carefully caressed it. After the little thing left Hongmeng Sanctuary, it had yet to encounter such a scary figure before.

 “Squeak~ Squeak~” Squeaky regained its sense of security after returning to Ye Lingyue’s arms. It snuggled against Ye Lingyue and its eyes almost turned into heart shapes. Indeed, Master’s arms were still the most comfortable.

 “It’s a male. You’re not allowed to hold him in your arms anymore,” the man domineeringly said.

 Ye Lingyue glared at him. What had that got to do with him?

 With this threat, Squeaky, who was about to snuggle into Ye Lingyue’s coat, obediently stopped moving. Its short legs twitched like it was numb. Slowly, it climbed onto Ye Lingyue’s shoulder and shrunk there, unmoving.

 Anger grew in Ye Lingyue. Glancing behind her, she saw that the man’s sword aura had ruined a good half of the cave. A huge stone had blocked the path she came in by.

 If she continued walking deeper into the cave, it would be the monster’s nest. Ye Lingyue couldn’t be sure if the monster had another friend inside.

 It seemed like she had to depend on this man if she wanted to leave the cave.

 The golden-masked man looked calm and indifferent as he ignored Ye Lingyue, and he continued to walk forward.

 Ye Lingyue first glanced at the dead monster and then at the man who was slowly walking ahead. She then stomped on her feet and hurried after the man.

 The man was tall and had long legs, so his one step was equivalent to several of Ye Lingyue’s steps. But it was a good thing that he didn’t walk too fast, for Ye Lingyue managed to follow behind him and remained a few steps behind him.

 The more they walked further into the cave, the more Ye Lingyue felt the surrounding temperature grew hotter. However, when she saw what was at the end of the cave, she was greatly shocked.

 She didn’t think that the bottom of the Seven Stars Mountain would be an entrance to an underwater volcano. The monster had probably lived there for a very long time, hence it could spit out such a powerful fire.

 The man had already stopped and his gaze landed in the middle of the volcano where a golden-syrup fruit and spirit herb rested. The spirit herb exuded a pleasant fragrance that immediately made Ye Lingyue more energized.

 Looking at the herb’s surroundings, there was a fire-like red glow.

 Bright Sun Ginseng?

 After Ye Lingyue had gotten Immortal Hongmeng and Poison Supremacy Jadehand’s true teachings, she became more familiar with the herbs available in the land as well.

 A wild Bright Sun Ginseng was a fifth-grade spirit herb and only grew at places with extreme yang. It could treat countless diseases and strengthen the body. If a patient sucked a slice of it, it would lengthen their lives for at least three years. If a martial arts practitioner consumed the entire herb, their elementary force would increase by a significant amount.

 However, a spiritual beast often lurked around where a spirit herb grew. It seemed the monster from earlier had only stayed in the cave for this Bright Sun Ginseng.

 That Bright Sun Ginseng’s golden-syrup fruit was almost red from its original gold color. When it’s fully red, that means that the Bright Sun Ginseng was completely mature.

 The golden-masked man didn’t speak at all as he leaned against the cave wall. He rested with his eyes closed, but he would open them to glance at Ye Lingyue from time to time.

 Ye Lingyue was very wary of the golden-masked man as well. However, she didn’t dare to stay too far from him, in case another monster was in the cave.

 It was a good thing that Ye Lingyue had some dried food and drinkable water with her. As for the man, he didn’t drink or eat, though it looked like he wasn’t affected at all.

 There was no day or night in the cave, so Ye Lingyue didn’t know how long she had held onto for.

 They waited, and when the Bright Sun Ginseng’s fruit turned completely red, the golden-masked man jumped dozens of feet into the air. The boiling volcano entrance seemed nothing to him.

 Clapping his hands together, he pulled the Bright Sun Ginseng by its roots, and happiness flashed in his amber eyes.

 However, just as the man was still in the middle of the air, several of the bright fruits above the largest fruit flashed and turned into a red fog. The fog instantly sprayed at the golden-masked man.

 Not good. The fog was poisonous!

 The poison might be nothing to other people, but for him at that moment… The man’s expression changed as a gust of heat spread to the rest of his body. He lost control of his body and fell to the lava rocks.

 Seeing this, Ye Lingyue, who had been standing by the side, instinctively pounced over and used her Twisting Flower and Crushing Jade.

 The power of Twisting Flower and Crushing Jade hurriedly pulled the man over.

 However, a second was enough for the golden-masked man to catch the chance to break away. His body tumbled forward in the air and threw himself higher. He landed on the floor heavily with a loud thud and the Bright Sun Ginseng he was holding dropped to the floor, too.

 Ye Lingyue stared at that Bright Sun Ginseng and without hesitation, she reached out to snatch it away.

 However, even though Ye Lingyue was quick, the golden-masked man wasn’t slow either. His tall body pounced over and pressed Ye Lingyue under him, which made the two of them roll on the floor.

 Anger filled the golden-masked man’s eyes as he pressed Ye Lingyue’s hands down.

 “Woman, you dare to steal from me?!”

 “What steal? No one owns the Bright Sun Ginseng and anyone who sees it has a share. The only one that won’t take it is a fool.” Ye Lingyue watched as the man’s eyes turned red and his breathing turned heavy.

 She suddenly remembered that the fog the Bright Sun Ginseng exuded out earlier was poisonous. The golden-masked man probably couldn’t hold on any longer.

 “Then I’ll treat you as a dead person.” The man’s voice was as chill as bones as he grabbed Ye Lingyue’s neck in the next second.

 No one dared to take his possessions before.

 He had always been a cold and heartless person. However, the little woman under him made him feel different.

 The man suddenly growled out softly.

 It turned out that Ye Lingyue had stopped struggling and bit at his hand. She had used all of her energy for this bite and blood instantly swelled out.

 “Woman, let go. Don’t force me to attack you.” The poison in him was hitting him wave by wave. The scent of blood and the faint fragrance Ye Lingyue had were both agitating the poison in the man’s body.