Mortal: Starting with the Falling Cloud Sect, I proved my Dao through gacha pulls.

Seeing Su Mu's excited expression, the old man in the blue robe assumed that he was so frightened that he had lost his mind, and immediately put on a hypocritical smile.

"Master Xiao, I do not wish to take your life. If you hand over all the pills you possess, especially the Crimson Essence Pill, and then submit to me as your master, refining pills for me for eternity, I will spare your life."

The old man greedily sized up Su Mu, calculating in his mind that killing such a top-notch alchemist was a real pity. If he could control him and refine Crimson Essence Pills for himself every day, that would be the most worthwhile plan.

He sold the Beast Taming and Spirit Communication Manual in exchange for the Ming Shen Jade and a bottle of Yuan Replenishing Pills, intending to use them to nurture his divine consciousness and break through to the late stage of Core Formation.

Unfortunately, the backlash from his natal spirit insect was too severe, and these two treasures could only temporarily prolong his life, not cure his injuries.

In despair, he intended to leave Tianxing City and find a secluded place to die.

However, he unexpectedly ran into Su Mu and his group. Remembering that Su Mu's Crimson Essence Pill could purify magic power and perhaps alleviate his own chronic illness, he immediately regained his vitality.

Therefore, he secretly followed them for several days until they reached this sea area. He planned to wait until Su Mu and his companions were both severely injured in their battle with the demonic beast before suddenly attacking and kidnapping Su Mu.

However, the combat power of the group far exceeded expectations. Although he possessed an ancient treasure, his spiritual sense and magical power were now severely weakened, and he might not be able to defeat them. He could only endure and lie low, waiting for the best opportunity to make a move.

Now that Su Mu was all alone, the old man was overjoyed and wanted to seize him suddenly. However, before he could make a move, Su Mu exposed his whereabouts.

"That's strange. This man surnamed Xiao is no fool. Could it be that his companions also noticed my presence long ago?"

Thinking of this, the old man's excitement subsided considerably, and he secretly became more wary.

But seeing that the divine light of the Uro Umbrella had completely enveloped Su Mu and the restrictions behind him, blocking all escape routes, his confidence increased again.

He tossed out two spirit beast pouches, from which countless silver-white flying ants swarmed out, gathering into a silver streak that hovered endlessly around him, exuding a fierce and malevolent aura.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, have you made up your mind? Will you obediently follow me and leave, or will you perish here and vanish?"

The old man in blue robes raised his hand slightly, his tone sinister and intimidating, as if he would drive the ant swarm to devour Su Mu if he dared to utter even a single word of dissent.

Seeing this, Su Mu slowly withdrew his gaze from the Uro Umbrella, his eyes filled with coldness as he looked at the old man, and he sneered.

"I have another suggestion. If you offer up this ancient treasure and your head, I will leave you with a complete corpse. What do you say?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he summoned the Azure Wave Mace. The mace shone brightly and hurtled straight at the red-robed old man.

However, trapped within the dark light of the Black Umbrella, the Azure Wave Mace's speed decreased drastically, and its movements became extremely sluggish.

The old man in the blue robe's face instantly darkened, and he looked at Su Mu with the same indifference he would show to a dying man.

"They're really courting death; what a waste of their alchemy skills."

Before he finished speaking, the old man summoned a long whip magic weapon that shimmered with spiritual light. The whip's shadow swept across and directly blocked the slow-moving Azure Wave Mace in mid-air.

At the same time, he swung his sleeves and shouted an order, causing the silver ant swarm to swarm towards Su Mu.

Unexpectedly, the swarm of silver flying ants suddenly started buzzing and flapping their wings wildly in the air. Some even turned around and tried to bite the old man himself.

The old man's expression changed drastically, filled with shock and anger, his eyes flashing with a fierce light. He immediately pointed his fingertip at his brow, forcing out a wisp of blood essence, and his face instantly turned ashen white.

He gritted his teeth and activated his innate insect control technique, forcibly suppressing the ant swarm and forcing it to launch a fierce attack on Su Mu.

Su Mu looked at the scene before him, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, and a strange smile appeared on his lips.

He immediately saw through it; this was a sign from the Beast Taming and Spirit Communication Technique that the natal spirit insect had broken free of control and was turning against its master.

He sneered, then slightly raised his palm, and the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire burst forth.

As the spirit fire appeared, the aura of the bloodlines of countless beasts swept across the land, causing the silver flying ants to instantly become frenzied and restless. However, the spirit fire's inherent power to subdue all beasts made the ants shrink back, not daring to pounce on Su Mu in the slightest.

The old man in blue robes was shocked, realizing that the ant swarm was completely out of control. He hurriedly looked at the spiritual fire in Su Mu's palm.

But what his eyes first caught were the two clusters of transparent flames dancing in Su Mu's pupils, his pupils transforming into the vertical pupils of a snake, their sharpness piercing straight into his mind.

The old man's consciousness suddenly trembled violently, and a strange inner fire burned wildly within him, causing his divine sense to instantly weaken. His already barely maintained control over the insects completely collapsed.

The silver ant swarm lost control and, without the slightest hesitation, immediately changed direction and frantically tore at the red-robed old man.

The old man was still in a state of mental confusion and had no time to react. Before he could even let out a scream, he was instantly overwhelmed and devoured by the surging ant swarm.

After the old man died, the magical umbrella that shone with black light in the air paused for a moment and then fell straight down from mid-air.

Because of the bond between the cultivation technique and its master, the swarm of silver flying ants all died suddenly after their master's death, and the densely packed insect corpses fell into the sea like rain.

Su Mu raised his hand and cast a spell, steadily taking the precious umbrella into his grasp and examining it closely. The umbrella was entirely black, with a hard and heavy texture, and the words "Uro" were engraved on the handle.

"It turns out that this ancient treasure is called the Uro Umbrella."

Su Mu stroked it for a moment, reluctant to part with it, then casually put it into his Dream Ring. Looking at the countless insect corpses, he felt a little regretful, and with a flick of his sleeve, he collected them all.

Then he collected the spirit beast bag, storage bag, and long whip magic weapon left behind by the old man.

After doing all this, Su Mu unlocked the storage bag and examined it. Inside, in addition to dozens of mid-grade spirit stones and a large number of spirit-feeding pills, there were also dozens of volumes of cultivation manuals from the Thousand Hearts Sect.

Among those ancient texts, in addition to numerous cultivation methods and unique secret techniques, there are also several volumes of detailed illustrations of the appearance and habits of various spirit beasts and spirit insects. The records are so detailed that they are clearly the legacy of the Thousand Hearts Sect.

"Excellent, excellent! We've really struck gold this time!"

Su Mu nodded in satisfaction, his face beaming with joy, the smile on his lips impossible to hide.

He never expected to have such a windfall on this trip. The cultivators of the Chaotic Star Sea are really enthusiastic, especially those who bring their entire fortune with them. He likes them the most.

"In this way, the Thousand Hearts Sect has been completely wiped out. What a sin!"

He muttered a few words to himself, then his figure flickered and he rushed straight into the restriction.

Inside the ancient stone hall, which was protected by the barrier, Su Mu's clone sat cross-legged beside the pit, waiting for his main body to descend.

Jin Qing stood by the broken stone gate, gazing at the ancient ruins and remnants outside the hall, his expression filled with barely concealed excitement.

Hu Yue, holding a throwing knife, pried off several lustrous luminous pearls and happily put them into her storage bag.

After leaving a few lights, Hu Yue scanned the surroundings but couldn't find Su Mu. She looked puzzled and said...

"Brother Xiao, why haven't you come in yet? Have you run into trouble? Should I go out and take a look?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of water erupted from the pit, and a figure in white broke through the water—it was Su Mu.

"Gentlemen, have you made any discoveries?"