"This Li Feng is a deep schemer. Even though I bear no ill intent, he is still so cautious against me... However, that spell he used to subdue those beasts... How did such a weak cultivator like him learn such a spell? He is definitely not ordinary. Perhaps it really was a good decision for me to recruit him for this mission." The more Su Jia learned about Yin Hui, the more curious she became. Everything about him was unique. She figured that there was still much more she didn't know about him, even after she interrogated him back at the camp.

Yin Hui let out a smug smile as he passed Su Jia on his way back deeper into the pass. Yu Zhuwa and the six sabertooths followed like loyal subjects behind him.

"Tch, now that a portion of my spiritual sense is with him he's acting all cocky and arrogant. Whatever, our goals are still the same. If having a piece of my spiritual sense hostage makes him feel better, then I'll be the bigger man and let him have it." Su Jia was bitter, but didn't show it. Yin Hui was not like most of the young men she encountered. Unlike them, he did not fawn over her as if she were a priceless jewel due to her beauty. Instead, he simply looked at her like an average peasant. This annoyed her, but also gave her a more favorable impression of him at the same time.

With the six sabertooths at their side, the expedition went much smoother. Along the way, they encountered a few more spirit beasts such as, giant bats, bears with skills in martial arts, and even a few flame boars. However, none of them were a match for the sabertooths and were easily taken care of.

"Hey, what did you do to these sabertooths? That last spirit beast they dealt with had power half a step into Virtue Seeking. Yet these peak Spirit Manifestation sabertooths tore it apart in a single breath of time."

"It's a side effect of the Beast Suppression spell. I don't fully understand it myself. All I know is that any beast under my influence becomes stronger than it was before." Yin Hui explained. While it was true that he did not know the exact reason why the spell empowered the beasts, he felt it had something to do with his demonic cultivation. When he used the Beast Suppression spell, Yin Hui made sure to include a portion of his own spiritual sense in the technique as well. If he didn't, then the technique would simply give control of the beasts over to Su Jia. As he did this, he also noticed that those with more of his spiritual sense ingrained within them were more powerful than those with less.

"Interesting. So as long as you have a higher cultivation, any number of beasts can be put under your control?"

"Possibly. I've never tried gathering an army before. Most of my uses only involved controlling small groups at a time." So far, the only times Yin Hui used the Beast Suppression spell was in the heat of battle. He hadn't really taken the time to analyze the full capabilities of the technique at it's peak.

Yin Hui considered testing the idea of amassing a large army of spirit beasts given the abundance within Coiling Pass. An army of spirit beasts would be incredibly useful regardless of strength. If they were to encounter a spirit beast they were unable to defeat, the army would still be able to distract it long enough for them to escape.

However, Yin Hui quickly dismissed the thought. If he lost control, all of the spirit beasts would turn against them. At that point, even Su Jia would not be able to fend them off.

"Now is not the time to dedicate myself to refining my skills. Until I reach the Storm Province, my current level will have to do. Only after joining the Striking Thunder Sect will I finally be away from the Tang Clan's reach. Then I can focus entirely on cultivation and strive to become an Earth Immortal. Once I do, I will return to this province and get my revenge! Tang Jiao, Tang Bian, it doesn't matter, I will defeat them all!"

Rumble~

Suddenly, the entire mountain began to shake. Various caves began to collapse on top of each other, revealing others that weren't present before. The sabertooths accompanying Yin Hui started to cower and whimper as the tunnels collapsed. Yin Hui didn't blame them for having this reaction. After all, the cave they were dwelling in before being suppressed had probably just been flattened. Witnessing an unknown force display such terrifying power would frighten the heart of almost anyone.

"Not good! It looks like the tunnels are rearranging themselves!" Su Jia's voice contained traces of panic. She had been preparing to move through Coiling Pass for months already, but she never knew about this particular feature. Now that the caves had been rearranged, there was no way to backtrack towards the entrance in the event of an emergency.

Crack~

A large portion of the ceiling split and descended towards the three cultivators. Yin Hui and Yu Zhuwa used the Wind Bullet to shatter the rock before it could fall on them, but one of the shattered pieces ricocheted towards Su Jia. She let out a cold snort and raised her palm. A powerful force emitted from her hand that crushed the piece of rubble into dust.

After ten minutes, the cave-in still showed no signs of stopping. As a result, Yin Hui, Yu Zhuwa, and Su Jia were constantly darting back and forth. If the descending rubble was small, they would dodge. If it was large, they would attack. Eventually, the damage became too much for the floor to handle and it began to collapse in on itself. Yin Hui grabbed Yu Zhuwa and flew into the air, Su Jia following close behind.

The sabertooths were not so lucky. They howled miserably as the ground collapsed, all six of them falling into the dark abyss below.

"We have to flee into one of these new caves!" Su Jia shouted. She took out the compass and began to calculate the best possible tunnel to choose. However, this shifted some of her attention away from the oncoming rubble. While she was calculating, a large piece of rock eluded her spiritual sense and hit her arm, knocking the compass out of her hands.

"No!!" Su Jia cried.

Yin Hui's pupils shrunk as he watched the compass fall. If they lost that compass, their chances at escaping were as good as over.

"Su Jia catch!" Yin Hui threw Yu Zhuwa into Su Jia's arms and dove downwards. He kept his body in a tight position, trying to gain as much speed as he could. In a few breaths of time, the compass was within his sight. When it was within arms reach, he extended his arm to grab it. He let out a sigh of relief as he took hold of the compass and threw it into his bag of holding.

"Li Feng behind you!" Su Jia called out.

Just as the warning entered Yin Hui's ears, a chunk of rubble that size of a small hut smashed on top of his body.

"Aghh!" Yin Hui coughed out a mouthful of blood. The compass flew out of his hands as he descended towards the chasm below.

"Big Brother Li!" Tears streamed out of Yu Zhuwa's eyes as he watched Yin Hui's limp body fall into the depths of the mountain.

Su Jia held Yu Zhuwa tight against her body as she flew into one of the tunnels. Once they were inside, she let out a silent curse. Not only did they lose Yin Hui, but they also lost the compass as well. Without it, she was not confident in navigating through the pass, especially after seeing how the tunnels were prone to changing.

Gritting her teeth, Su Jia drew some blood from her finger and touched her forehead. A pained expression covered her face and she furrowed her brows. Shortly after, a strand of qi came out that formed into a mini replica of herself. The mini Su Jia made of qi merged with the blood, turning red. When the integration was complete, it shot into the walls of the mountain, passing through it and disappearing entirely.

"What was that?" Yu Zhuwa asked between sobs.

"A call for help, in case we don't make it out on our own." Su Jia's face was pale. She had severed a portion of her soul and sent it off to call for help. The replica was ethereal and could pass through solid matter. It also had its own awareness, sharing the same thoughts and intentions the original Su Jia had.

Of course, removing a portion of your soul from your body came with a few risks. The most obvious one was that the cultivation of the original would be weakened due to the loss. The second is that if the soul fragment was destroyed, the user would never be able to get it back. Their future cultivation would be permanently affected and they would lose a portion of their life span.

"Xiao Yu, let's go. My spiritual sense hasn't returned yet, which means Li Feng is still alive. Hopefully, if he survived, he picks up the compass and finds us. For now we have to keep going."

Yu Zhuwa wiped away his tears and nodded. He held onto the belief that this was all within Yin Hui's calculations.

"Big brother Yin Hui has survived through tragedies way more dangerous than this. He's got to survive. I know he will!"