The pit Yin Hui was falling through seemed to be endless. Fifteen minutes had passed and the bottom of the chasm still wasn't in sight. He struggled to move his body to no avail. The upward force caused by the speed of the free fall kept him firmly pressed against the rubble behind his back.

"This fall has got to stop eventually. If I don't escape by then, I'll be reduced to a pile of flesh and blood when I reach the bottom."

Yin Hui tried using the Living Earth spell to manipulate the walls around him. He wanted to slow down his descent by forming some kind of net that was soft, but strong by adjusting it's solidity. Unfortunately this was not possible, as the walls seemed to be protected by some kind of spell that made them immune to his power.

"Damn it, the walls are enchanted with some kind of protection!" Since he couldn't manipulate the walls, Yin Hui tried to control the rubble instead. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the enormous rock behind him. As he did, the shape of the rubble began to change.

"Yes! It looks like the protection only extends to earth that is still connected to the pass! If I can reconstruct the rubble behind me into a thin spring-like sheet, then I'll be able to float down gently like a feather!"

Yin Hui began altering the texture of the collapsed rock so that it would become softer. However, due to the sheer size of the rubble, the process was very slow.

"This is taking too long. I feel like I'll need at least another hour before I can fully transform this giant rock. I also don't know if I have that much time. The rubble is manipulatable so what else can I do?" Yin Hui pondered.

"Hmm, the smaller the change, the faster I can do it. Manipulating the shape is much faster than manipulating the texture. In that case..."

Gradually, the rubble behind Yin Hui began to part and it looked like he was being absorbed inside. This was Yin Hui's plan. Instead of trying to slow his descent, he would ignore it completely. If he could burrow to the top of the rubble, it didn't matter what happened to the rest of it. Once he was there, he would regain his mobility and could fly back up from where he came.

After a few minutes, Yin Hui broke through the final layer of the rubble and reached the top. He stretched his limbs as he relished the feeling of being able to move his body again. Sadly, the feeling didn't last long as more debris began to fall on top of him. Using Living Earth, he formed a shield above his head that protected him from most of the falling rock. Now the only thing he would have to worry about were the exceptionally large pieces.

Yin Hui took out Su Jia's compass from his bag of holding. The compass didn't sustain any damage since it was kept safe inside the pocket dimension within the bag. He let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that the route he needed to take wasn't back up. Pacing around the still falling rubble, Yin Hui found the direction he needed to go and flew into the closest tunnel. When he entered the tunnel, he was met by a pack of snow leopards staring him down with preying eyes. With his spiritual sense, Yin Hui discovered that each leopard only possessed Spirit Waking power. He immediately activated the Beast Suppression spell and put all of them under his command. The leopards eyes turned red and each of them grew twenty five percent larger.

"Hmm... Since my own spiritual sense is strong enough to suppress these leopards, let's see if I can make them even stronger!"

Yin Hui began to imprint more of his spiritual sense into the snow leopard's minds. As he did, noticeable changes started to appear in each of one. Some had longer fangs, some had sharper claws, while one even grew a horn. Furthermore, each leopard was now double its original size.

However, there was one leopard that caught Yin Hui's attention the most. This leopard did not have the longest fangs, the sharpest claws, or even a special horn. Instead, all the fur on its body had turned pitch black.

"With the power provided by my spiritual sense, each of these leopards should now have the strength of a Spirit Manifestation cultivator. It also seems like they evolved in their own unique ways as well. This thick aura of demonic qi radiating from each of them... I never knew demonic qi had such an effect on spirit beasts!"

Pleased with the results, Yin Hui climbed onto the back of the black leopard. He took out the compass and pointed towards the tunnel it was telling him to go to.

"Time to test out the abilities of my new companions. Into that cave over there!"

The black leopard let out a terrifying roar and its body began to turn into black smoke. This ability spread to Yin Hui as well and his body also began to turn into smoke. However, despite turning into a cloud of smoke, Yin Hui was still himself. He knew that to others he was just a cloud of smoke, but from his perspective he still had his head, arms, and legs. Confused, Yin Hui ordered one of the other leopards to attack him. When the leopard pounced towards Yin Hui and the black leopard, it passed right through them as if nothing was there.

"This..."

Yin Hui was stunned. Wanting to test the capabilities of his new form, Yin Hui began to test his other spells and techniques. Living Earth, the Wind Bullet, every single skill was produced without a single deviation in effectiveness or power.

"Haha! This is great! I have truly profited this time around!"

Ecstatic, Yin Hui smacked the black leopard on the side and began to move. From an outside perspective, it looked like a giant cloud of black smoke with two red eyes was charging down the tunnel. Behind him, the other snow leopard's were following at their own pace. While the others were not necessarily slow, the difference between them and the black leopard was very apparent.

Despite the speed of the black leopard far exceeding the rest, Yin Hui felt that it was still holding back. Not wanting to waste the energy of the other leopards, Yin Hui put them all in his bag of holding. He was hesitant on whether this was possible, but after the first one went in without issue, the rest followed.

"Alright, show me what you can really do! Hyah!" Yin Hui gave the leopard a small part once more. The pace quickened and leopard was now moving through the cave at the speed of a lightning bolt.

Following the compass, Yin Hui and the black leopard passed through cave after cave. None of the spirit beasts they encountered were an issue, even those stronger than them. Any beast in their path would simply be passed through as if they were a gust of wind. They even arrived before another section of the pass that was currently experiencing a cave in like the one that almost killed Yin Hui. Once more, this was not an issue for the black leopard. As they approached the mouth of the tunnel, the leopard did not stop. It charged out at full speed and continued running on the air as if it were solid ground.

Yin Hui let out a hearty laugh. He was really beginning to like this leopard.

"Once we get out of Coiling Pass, I'll be sure to give you a reward!"

They continued moving throughout the pass with great speed until the compass started acting strangely when they entered a particularly large tunnel. Instead of pointing towards a single direction, it began rotating wildly.

"There must be something within this tunnel that's interfering with the compass..."

Yin Hui got off the black leopard and began to search the area. As soon as he left the beast's back, his body returned to normal. He told the leopard to join the others in his bag of holding, believing it deserved a good rest. Initially reluctant, the black leopard undid it's shadow-like form and leapt inside.

The tunnel Yin Hui was currently in was much longer and more spacious than the others he'd been in. The surrounding caves were all neatly aligned, as if they were intentionally dug with precision and intent.

"What is this?"

Yin Hui ran towards the clearing of the tunnel and found himself within a large catacomb, surrounded with even more uniformly aligned tunnels. In the center, a giant egg lay on a nest made of soft dirt, leaves, and tree branches. He approached the egg cautiously, wary of any potential spirit beasts guarding it. After all, an egg of that size must have been birthed from an even bigger mother.

Making it to the nest without any apparent dangers, Yin Hui examined the egg and it's home with great attention. Picking up a few leaves, he noticed that they were completely green, without the slightest hint of discoloration to them.

"These are fresh leaves! This means I must be close to an exit! However, it also means that something is supplying this nest with new leaves as well."

Yin Hui shifted his attention to the egg that lay in the nest. The egg was a whole head taller than him and wide enough to hide behind. Despite normally being very cautious, Yin Hui felt an urge to touch it. The egg gave off a familiar feeling, a kind of connection that he just couldn't ignore.

"Why am I feeling this way? Am I under some kind of spell?" Yin Hui tried to resist, but his body continued to move closer and closer towards the egg. When he was close enough, he lifted his hand and placed it on the egg's smooth surface.

As soon as his hand made contact, a giant yellow eye flashed within Yin Hui's mind. He collapsed onto the floor, his entire body weakened to the point he struggled to maintain consciousness. Sweat dripped down his neck as he tried to regain control over his body.

"What was that... some kind of spirit beast? Just its gaze was alone to paralyze my whole body..."

Still immobile, Yin Hui began to hear rumbling coming from the tunnels around him. Suddenly, giant snakes the size of small trees emerged from the caves and began to converge towards him.

"Shit! Not good! I have to move! Move!" Pushing his mind to the brink, Yin Hui mustered up enough strength to stand. However, the yellow eye flashed once more in his mind and his legs gave out. The second vision sapped all the remaining strength he had left and his surroundings began to dim.

"No... no..." Yin Hui whispered before passing out.