A Record Of A Mortal's Journey To Immortality

by Srtyi

A poor and ordinary boy from a village joins a minor sect in Jiang Hu and becomes an Unofficial Disciple by chance. How will Han Li, a commoner by birth, establish a foothold for himself in his sect? With his mediocre aptitude, how will he successfully traverse the path of cultivation and become an immortal? This is a story of an ordinary mortal who, against all odds, clashes with

58. 1843

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The fact that the entire human race only had one Grand Ascension cultivator in the form of Mo Jianli was an indication of just how difficult it was to reach the Grand Ascension Stage.

Han Li had already been blessed with immense fortune during the course of his cultivation journey, but he still wasn't confident in his ability to reach that level.

As such, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus were naturally very tempting to him. Under normal circumstances, he would have agreed to the Long Family patriarch's invitation without any hesitation, but due to his current circumstances, he could only delay in providing a response.

The issue that he was facing was naturally none other than Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha. He and this Sacred Ancestor of the Elder Devil Race were sworn enemies, so he was naturally extremely averse to the idea of venturing into the Elder Devil Realm.

If his identity were to be exposed during his time in the Elder Devil Realm, Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha would definitely hunt him down for destroying that fragment of her spiritual sense back in the human world.

Of course, Han Li was also unwilling to immediately turn down the Long Family patriarch's offer and give up on the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus. After all, an opportunity that could increase his chances of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage was an extremely rare one. If he were to give up on it, perhaps he would lose the chance to reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future. With that in mind, Han Li really was at a loss for what to do.

After contemplating this issue for a while, a wry smile appeared on his face. Of course, this wasn't a predicament that had no solution at all, but the solution would be for him to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage prior to venturing into the Elder Devil Realm.

With late-Body Integration Stage powers and the vast array of powerful treasures and abilities at his disposal, he was confident that he would at least be able to ensure his survival even in the face of Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha.

For someone else, progressing from the early-Body Integration Stage to the late-Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries was naturally nothing more than an implausible joke, but with all of the unique assets that Han Li possessed, it wasn't a completely impossible task to achieve.

In particular, he still had his agreement with Qing Yuanzi. He had already gathered enough items to fulfill the agreement, and if he could get his hands on the Divine Infernal River Elixir that was sorely sought after even by the four demon monarchs, there would naturally be a much higher chance for him to reach the late-Body Integration Stage.

As long as he could progress to the late-Body Integration Stage prior to the commencement of the journey, he was definitely willing to take a risk. However, if he couldn't achieve such a feat, then he would have to make a decision based on the situation.

In any case, he definitely wouldn't give up on the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus without putting in his best effort.

Having made that decision, Han Li cast aside this train of thought and swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a dozen or so formation flags that conjured up an invisible restriction around the room.

After that, he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

The next morning, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao came to Han Li's pavilion to pay him a visit, only to find that it was completely empty, and Han Li and Bai Guo'er were nowhere to be seen.

The two of them could only exchange a wry smile upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, Han Li and Bai Guo'er were already hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, racing rapidly through the air on an azure flying carriage.

Han Li was seated with his legs crossed in a corner of the flying carriage, inspecting a tattered book in his hand.

Bai Guo'er was standing at the front of the carriage, holding a formation plate in one hand. There was a layer of azure light flashing over the surface of the formation plate, and it was controlling the flying carriage in its flight.

Even though she had only been with Han Li for several years, she had successfully reached the Foundation Establishment Stage through the use of the pills that Han Li had provided her with. As such, she was able to just barely control this flying carriage through the help of the formation plate in her hand.

After flying for close to two hours in silence, Bai Guo'er cast a surreptitious glance toward Han Li, only to find that he seemed to still be completely absorbed by what he was reading. She pouted slightly with displeasure, and asked, "Master, where are we going next? This doesn't seem to the direction that Deep Heaven City lies in; aren't we going to meet up with my senior martial brothers?"

After accompanying Han Li for several years, Bai Guo'er had developed a certain level of understanding of Han Li's personality. On top of that, Han Li had stepped in several times during these past few years to alleviate the pain inflicted on her by her frost poison, so she had become quite close with him.

Han Li didn't even raise his head as he replied, "Oh? Do you miss your senior martial brothers? Do you miss Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi or Senior Martial Brother Hai?"

Bai Guo'er immediately blushed upon hearing the teasing tone in Han Li's voice, and she hurriedly replied, "What are you saying, Master? I don't miss them; I just think that they're very interesting."

She was still quite young, but everyone in the Spirit Realm matured very early, so she was naturally somewhat aware of the nature of certain relationships between men and women.

"Haha, I was only making a joke. Last time we went to Deep Heaven City, I already gave them all of the pills and cultivation arts your senior martial brothers will require in their cultivation, so we won't be visiting them in the next few decades as that would only hinder their cultivation. On top of that, I left your Senior Ice Phoenix back at the cave abode as well, so she should also be able to provide some cultivation instruction to them. In contrast, you have to stay by my side at all times due to your frost poison. Thankfully, you're still at a stage in your cultivation where you can improve solely by consuming pills, and I'm mainly going to be developing some abilities during this time, so I won't need to go into seclusion in the near future. Hence, we have to take advantage of this opportunity to roam all of the human regions and demon territories," Han Li replied.

Bai Guo'er hesitated momentarily, but her curiosity got the better of her in the end, and she asked, "Senior Ice Phoenix would definitely be more than capable of instructing my two senior martial brothers in their cultivation, but why are you exploring all of these places, Master? A few years ago, we explored the entire Xuan Wu Region; are you looking for something?"

A slightly dejected look appeared on Han Li's face, and he sighed, "I'm not looking for something; I'm looking for someone. If she's also ascended to the Spirit Realm, I should at least be able to find some information about her."

"Could it be that this person you're looking for is a loved one?" Bai Guo'er suddenly asked.

Han Li was rather taken aback. "Oh? How did you know?"

Bai Guo'er gave a rather bashful smile before a hint of a curiosity appeared in her eyes. "I made a guess. Whenever my grandmother speaks about my deceased grandfather, her tone and expression are exactly the same as yours just now. Could it be that this person you're searching for is your Dao Companion? Why have I never heard you mention her before?"

"Alright, there's no need for you to pry into my matters. I'm mainly embarking on this trip to search for that person, but also as a journey to consolidate my mental state. I've only recently progressed to the early-Body Integration Stage, after all, so I need to forge a strong foundation before I can try to make further advancements. We're going to the Tian Ling Region next. I heard that the region has become rather chaotic ever since the spirit sovereign's passing, so hopefully we can find some information there," Han Li replied.

"The Tian Ling Region? I heard the spirit sovereign competition to decide the next spirit sovereign is going to be held there in a few years; why don't you participate and take that title for yourself, Master? With your powers, you should have a very good chance," Bai Guo'er suggested with a smile.

"Hehe, what nonsense are you spouting now? How could I possibly have a chance at securing the spirit sovereign position with my lackluster cultivation base? Besides, I have no intention of competing for that position anyway. Alright, focus on driving the spirit carriage; I have to go back to my reading now," Han Li chuckled before ignoring Bai Guo'er and turning his attention back to the book in his hand.

Bai Guo'er still had many questions she wanted to ask Han Li, but she naturally didn't dare to ask them now. As such she pouted with displeasure as she abruptly increased the rate at which she injected magic power into the formation plate, causing it to suddenly accelerate.

However, Han Li paid no heed to this, and it seemed that he had truly become completely absorbed by the book in his hand.

Thus, the azure flying carriage continued onward as a ball of azure light, vanishing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

During the following two decades, Han Li trekked across all of the three human regions and seven demon territories, occasionally investigating leads that he discovered.

However, following the passage of those 20 years, he suddenly disappeared without a trace from the human race. During this time, there were rumors circulating among high-grade demonic beings that they had seen Han Li on occasions in some of the markets of the demon race.

However, these rumors didn't have any supporting evidence, so they remained as unsubstantiated rumors.

After several more decades, there was truly no further news of Han Li.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, 200 years had passed since the Myriad Treasure Convention. During this time, many major events had taken place in both the human and demon races.

The position of the spirit sovereign was finally claimed by a mysterious female cultivator over 100 years ago. This new spirit sovereign was only at the mid-Body Integration Stage, but she managed to defeat 11 cultivators who competed with her for this position, three of which were late-Body Integration cultivators.

This naturally created quite a stir among the two races, and it was a popular conversation topic among high-grade beings for a long time.

Even though the new spirit sovereign had only claimed the position not long ago, she was able to get the spirit sovereign's past subordinates to pledge their allegiance to her in a very smooth fashion, and not long after that, order was restored to the once chaotic Tian Ling Region.

Thus, the three sovereigns were complete once again.

Another major event was that the holy island, which was the sacred land of the human and demon races, suddenly declared that the two races would temporarily set aside their differences with the nearby enemy foreign races to form a thousand-year alliance. During the next 1,000 years, not only would there be no battles between these races, they had to provide their assistance to any of the races that were part of the alliance that came under peril.

This announcement naturally created a massive stir as well.

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Right around this time, information surrounding the imminent devilish tribulation also began to spread among the low-grade and mid-grade cultivators of the two races. There were even rumors that some mortals with special statuses had been made aware of this information as well.

However, there were still several centuries until the tribulation's commencement, and low-grade cultivators and mortals could only live for 200 to 300 years at most, so they didn't immediately fly into a panic.

Even so, many of the smaller cultivation families and powers among the mortals have begun to make preparations for the upcoming tribulation.

Some of the mortals in the smaller cities also began to move toward the major powers. Of course, the information surrounding the devilish tribulation naturally wasn't going to be disclosed to normal people, but they were moved closer to major powers for one reason or another.

As the years passed by, the atmosphere in the human regions became tenser and tenser. In the past, cultivators very rarely appeared before mortals, but they were now appearing in all of the major cities in large groups.

They were either setting up all types of defensive formations out in the open, or putting the body refinement warriors among the mortals through specific training that would better equip them to face devilish beings.

Even though the body refinement warriors that were currently being trained would die of old age long before the commencement of the devilish tribulation, these training methods had to be ingrained very early on so that it could reach a certain scale several generations into the future, thereby making the future generations of body refinement warriors a viable source of assistance to all of the major powers.

After all, there were over 100 times as many body refinement warriors as there were cultivators, and even though the most powerful ones among them were only comparable to Nascent Soul cultivators, their staggering numbers made them a force to be reckoned with.

During the past devilish tribulations, it had been proven that when properly armed, these body refinement warriors could be very effective against low-grade and mid-grade elder devils.

Batches of spirit tools that had been hidden in the secret vaults of the major powers were also being brought out and distributed to the powers among the mortals.

Meanwhile, more powerful spirit tools were being refined in large batches by the tool refinement masters of the major powers.

At the same time, pills and treasures that could be used by low-grade and mid-grade cultivators were also being refined at all costs.

As such, demand for tool refinement and pill refinement materials naturally increased to an astonishing extent, and the prices for these materials had increased by several fold compared to in the past.

Even so, demand still outweighed supply, and there were often shortages of all types of materials.

The situation in the seven demon territories was also quite similar. Of course, the situation had slowly escalated over the span of over 100 years, so the two races weren't plunged into complete turmoil.

However, this seemed to have no bearing whatsoever on a certain person, and no news of him emerged during this past century.

On this day, a streak of white light suddenly flew over the city wall of Deep Heaven City, which were now around twice their original height.

Within the white light was a slender figure, and she vanished from the field of view of the guards stationed on this section of the city wall after just a few flashes.

A black-armored man faltered slightly upon seeing this before flaring up with rage. "Who's that? How dare a Core Formation cultivator like her fly over the city gate right under our noses?" Black light then flashed over his body as he prepared to set off in pursuit.

Another armored guard standing beside him hurriedly grabbed onto his shoulder, and said, "Please wait, Brother Hu! That's Fairy Bai, and she's granted direct passage into Deep Heaven City without having to be searched by us."

"Huh? Why's that? She's just a Core Formation cultivator; why is she granted such a privilege?" the black-armored man asked.

"She may only be a Core Formation cultivator, but her master is a Body Integration cultivator, and he took only several centuries to progress from the Deity Transformation to the Body Integration. There's a good chance that he could even reach the late-Body Integration Stage in the future. As for that Fairy Bai, it's said that she only took just over 100 years to reach the mid-Core Formation Stage, so she also possesses extraordinary cultivation aptitude. You only recently joined our Deep Heaven City, and that's why you don't recognize her," the armored guard explained.

"Could it be that her master is the Senior Han who once matched the Long Family patriarch in a battle?" the man with the Hu surname exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

"Oh? So you've heard about Senior Han as well. That makes sense; even though there hasn't been any news about him for a long time, he's still a vastly renowned figure among our human race. Otherwise, the panel of elders wouldn't have granted such a privilege to that in-name disciple of his," the other armored guard replied with a smile.

The man with the Hu surname nodded before asking, "So that woman is Senior Han's in-name disciple; no wonder she's been granted free passage. Does she visit our Deep Heaven City often?"

"Not too often; at times, she visits once every one or two years, and at other times, she visits once every seven or eight years. However, I've heard from some friends of mine that every time she visits, she's always here to purchase materials from the markets. That makes sense considering how much of a shortage there currently is on all materials; only our Deep Heaven City is able to provide some materials for sale," the other armored guard replied.

"I see. Does this mean Senior Han resides somewhere close to our Deep Heaven City?" the man with the Hu surname asked.

"I don't know about that. After all, no one dares to follow this Fairy Bai back to where Senior Han is currently dwelling. In any case, it's not in our place to be discussing matters surrounding Body Integration Seniors; how about you tell me about that chunk of Purple Golden Iron you discovered in that market last time?" The other armored guard changed the subject in a rather cautious manner.

"Hehe, I really lucked out there and secured that material for a low price before selling it for a good profit. On that day, I was visiting a market and just so happened to pass by a small shop..." The man with the Hu surname seemed to be more than happy to tell this story, and he immediately gave a spirited recount of events.

All of the other guards on that section of the city wall listened with rapt focus, and the events that had just transpired were quickly forgotten.

At this point, the streak of white light was already heading directly toward a certain market within Deep Heaven City.

Several hours later, the streak of white light landed in front of the human and demon exchange center within the market.

The white light receded to reveal a silver-robed young woman who appeared to be around 16 to 17 years of age. She had an oval face and a pair of large bright eyes. Her delicate cheeks were tinged with a rosy complexion, and she had grown to become quite a beauty.

After issuing some spirit stones to the guard in front of the exchange center, then accepting a treasure that would conceal her identity, she strode into the hall, enshrouded within a ball of spiritual light.

Moments later, she appeared inside the main hall of the exchange center, where over 100 other people were present, all of whom had also been concealed within balls of spiritual light, creating quite a lively and bustling scene.

Bai Guo'er quickly inspected her surroundings before her gaze settled on a certain direction, and she strode toward a certain corner of the hall.

There, a demonic cultivator enshrouded within a cloud of black Qi was standing in silence.

As soon as Bai Guo'er approached the demonic cultivator, the black Qi around the latter churned slightly, and a pristine white hand reached out, holding half of a jade pendant.

Bai Guo'er flipped her hand over upon seeing this, and produced half a jade pendant as well.

The two halves of the jade pendant were then connected to form a whole, and Bai Guo'er was quite relieved to see this.

A pleasant female voice rang out from within the black Qi, and she seemed to be familiar with Bai Guo'er. "Hehe, so it's you again. Is your master still in seclusion?"

"Ah, I didn't expect you to come here in person, Senior Qin. Indeed, my master is still in seclusion," Bai Guo'er replied in a slightly surprised manner.

"The materials your master requested this time are extremely valuable, so I couldn't entrust them to anyone else. I must say, your master never ceases to astound me; to think that he was able to nurture you to the mid-Core Formation Stage in just over 100 years," the woman within the black Qi sighed.

"This is all thanks to the pills that Master gave me, and the efforts he made to cleanse my essence. Otherwise, there's no way I could've reached the Core Formation Stage so easily with my aptitude," Bai Guo'er replied, and the tone of her voice suggested that she was very grateful toward her master.

The woman within the black Qi was none other than the Heavenly Fox being, Qin Su'er, who had engaged in many transactions with Han Li in the past. Every once in a while, Han Li would send Bai Guo'er to this place to exchange for items with Qin Su'er in his stead.

"In any case, it's still very impressive that you were able to make such fast progress. If you continue in this manner, there's a very good chance that you could progress to the Deity Transformation Stage or even Spatial Tempering Stage in the future. Alright, that's enough rambling from me; let's begin our exchange," Qin Su'er said as she pulled out a purple wooden box and handed it over to Bai Guo'er.

"Thank you for your words of praise, Senior." A sweet smile appeared on Bai Guo'er's face, and she flipped a hand over to produce a blue ring.

Two hours later, Bai Guo'er re-emerged from the hall, then made her way over to a secluded corner before rising up into the air and flying back the way she had come from.

Two months later, she descended onto a massive mountain deep within a mountain range that was remarkably abundant with spiritual Qi.

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"Hehe, you sure got back quickly this time, Junior Martial Sister; looks like your trip must've been quite a smooth one."

As soon as Bai Guo'er appeared in front of an azure stone gate halfway up the mountain, a boisterous male voice rang out from the other side, following which the gate opened on its own after a flash of azure light.

An extremely handsome yellow-robed scholar who appeared to be around 30 years of age then strode out from within; it was none other than Hai Yuetian, who had been sent by Han Li to Deep Heaven City 200 years ago.

Following the passage of 200 years, Hai Yuetian seemed to have become even more handsome. He was now a Core Formation cultivator as well, and his physical body was also far more powerful than it had been in the past.

Bai Guo'er initially faltered momentarily at the sight of Hai Yuetian before a hint of elation appeared on her face. "When did you get back, Senior Martial Brother?"

"Hehe, I just completed a mission assigned to me by Deep Heaven City and I almost lost my life there, but I earned half a year's break for my efforts, so I returned to see if Master had come out of seclusion yet," Hai Yuetian replied with a smile.

"Did you manage to meet Master?" Bai Guo'er asked.

"No, but I did manage to get a few vials of pills from Master's second Nascent Soul. If everything goes smoothly, I'll also begin attempting a breakthrough to the mid-Core Formation Stage in the next few years. Come to think of it, it's pretty embarrassing that my cultivation base is inferior to yours, even though I'm supposed to be the senior martial brother," Hai Yuetian chuckled.

"Hehe, surely you jest, Senior Martial Brother; you're pursuing the path of simultaneous cultivation, so your true overall power is far superior to mine. On top of that, Master is also pursuing simultaneous cultivation, so you'll most likely be the one to truly inherit Master's teachings; I should be the one who's envious of you. Even if we were only speaking in terms of magic power, my rate of progression can't compare with that of Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi; he's already reached the pinnacle of the Core Formation Stage in just 200 years and is about to prepare to manifest a Nascent Soul soon," Bai Guo'er chuckled in a modest manner.

"So what? No matter how powerful we become, I can only pose as an ordinary body refinement warrior in Deep Heaven City, and I don't even dare to let others know who my master is in case they try to get to Master through me. Junior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi is also in the same boat. Every time we come back to visit Master from Deep Heaven City, we have to sneak around like a pair of thieves, whereas you can come and go as you please from Deep Heaven City as Master's disciple," Hai Yuetian sighed in an envious manner.

"I'm only able to appear in public as Master's disciple as I have to regularly visit Deep Heaven City to run errands for Master, whereas you and Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi were sent to Deep Heaven City for training, so our situations are completely different. Speaking of Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi, his cultivation aptitude and the cultivation arts that he inherited have received glowing praise even from Master, so perhaps he'll go further than us when it comes to cultivation," Bai Guo'er said with a smile.

"That's for sure. Come to think of it, Master has been in seclusion ever since he returned to the human race with you a century ago, leaving his second Nascent Soul and Senior Ice Phoenix to instruct us in our cultivation; I wonder how Master's own cultivation is progressing." A hint of concern appeared in Hai Yuetian's eyes as he spoke.

"Rest assured, Senior Martial Brother. Master spent 100 years scouring the human regions and demon territories searching for someone, but after failing in his search, he decided to temporarily give up on it and went into seclusion to try and make a breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage. If I'm not mistaken, he most likely won't be coming out of seclusion until he reaches the mid-Body Integration Stage," Bai Guo'er replied in a reassuring manner.

"Even with Master's extraordinary powers, surely it would take at least 1,000 years of arduous cultivation to reach the mid-Body Integration Stage; is he planning to be in seclusion for 1,000 years?" Hai Yuetian exclaimed.

"I don't know about how other Body Integration Stage seniors cultivate, but our master was once able to match a late-Body Integration cultivator in battle at just the early-Body Integration Stage, so his powers definitely aren't inferior to those of a mid-Body Integration cultivator, and I'm sure he has some methods to increase his rate of progression. I think he'll definitely emerge from seclusion prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation," Bai Guo'er said in a confident manner.

"That's true. Master must've made the decision to try and progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage as quickly as possible precisely because of the imminent tribulation," Hai Yuetian replied with a nod.

Both he and Bai Guo'er were very confident that Han Li would be able to reach the mid-Body Integration Stage, and it was no wonder that this was the case.

During these past years, not only had Han Li given them many powerful cultivation arts, whenever they had encountered bottlenecks in their cultivation, he had been able to assist them in breaking through these bottlenecks with ease through nothing more than some words of advice or a few vials of precious pills. This was the main reason why they had been able to progress so quickly in their cultivation, and due to this, not only had they developed a great deal of respect and gratitude toward their master, they had also developed this impression that their master was an unfathomable, almost omnipotent figure.

After that, Hai Yuetian and Bai Guo'er chatted for a while longer before the former departed from the cave abode and flew away as a streak of blue light.

As for Bai Guo'er, she entered through the azure gate and made her way toward the backyard of the cave abode through a corridor.

After passing through several layers of restrictions, she arrived on a large grassland with white clouds drifting in a blue sky overhead, and an abundance of spiritual Qi in the surrounding area.

At the center of the grassland were two small mountains, each of which was over 1,000 feet tall. One of them was inky black, while the other was as green as jade.

In between these two mountains was a white jade pavilion with three levels, and was enshrouded within a dense five-colored light barrier.

An independent small world had been manifested behind the cave abode, and it appeared to be no different to the outside world. There was currently a humanoid figure seated on each of the two small mountains, one of which was a green-skinned figure that was around 20 feet tall with purple light around its body, while the other was a shimmering golden figure that was enshrouded within black Qi.

From afar, both of these figures appeared to have facial features that strongly resembled Han Li's, and they both had their eyes tightly shut. In the instant that Bai Guo'er strode onto the grassland, the golden "Han Li" slowly opened his eyes before casting his gaze toward her.

"Greetings, Master; I've brought back the item that you requested," Bai Guo'er immediately said as she extended a respectful curtsey, then flipped a hand over to produce a purple wooden box, which she offered to "Han Li" with both hands.

"Thanks for your hard work, Guo'er. Now then, let me see if this item will actually prove to be useful to me," the golden figure said with a benevolent smile, and his voice was identical to Han Li's as well. The golden figure then waved a hand toward Bai Guo'er, and the purple wooden box immediately flew toward him before being drawn into his grasp.

He swept a hand over the wooden box, and its lid was immediately removed, revealing several egg-sized black demon cores within the box. The demon cores were giving off a strange repugnant odor that was very pungent and nauseating.

However, the golden figure was very pleased at the sight of these demon cores, and he nodded as he closed the box again before smiling as he turned to Bai Guo'er. "Well done, Guo'er, these are perfect for me; I've finally gathered all of the materials I need! From now on, I'll be withdrawing my second Nascent Soul and activating the formation here to completely seal off this place from the outside world. Don't disturb me unless your lives are in peril or the devilish tribulation strikes earlier than expected. The next century or two will be the most critical juncture of my cultivation, and requires my wholehearted attention. I've already given Fairy Phoenix all of the pills and spirit stones that you and your senior martial brothers will require for your cultivation. If you need something, you can go to see her. Hehe, I hope to see improvements from all of you when I emerge from my seclusion."

Bai Guo'er's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and she exclaimed, "What? You're going to cut off all ties to the outside world? How long will you be in seclusion for, Master?"

"That's hard to say. If everything goes well, I'll emerge from seclusion in a few decades. Otherwise, it could take 200 to 300 years," the golden figure hesitantly replied with his brows furrowed slightly.

"In that case, I can only wish you the best of luck, Master." Bai Guo'er was quite reluctant to part with Han Li for so long, but she knew that he wouldn't change his mind about something like this, so she could only extend a deep parting bow.

"Haha, hopefully, I'll be able to see you again soon, Guo'er." These words had been spoken by someone from within the white jade pavilion rather than by the golden figure. Immediately thereafter, the two humanoid figures sitting on the two mountains rose to their feet and made hand seals in unison, upon which they vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, a massive light formation appeared beneath each of the small mountains, then quickly expanded in all directions. Moments later, the entire grassland had been encompassed by the light formations, and halos of five-colored spiritual light were sweeping through the entire surrounding area.

Everything began to twist and warp, and in the end, the light faded into an all-encompassing sea of five-colored mist.

At this point, Bai Guo'er had already retreated out of the grassland, and she stared at the sea of mist in a slightly lost and disoriented manner.

After a long while, she heaved a faint sigh before departing.

Meanwhile, Han Li was seated on a yellow futon on the first floor of the white jade pavilion within the five-colored sea of mist. There was a giant golden cauldron that was around 10 feet tall and had a radius of several tens of feet hovering before him.

He was appraising the cauldron through narrowed eyes, and there were silver flames burning around the cauldron, while a strong and peculiar scent was slowly wafting out of it.

From a birds-eye perspective, one would discover that there was a type of mysterious liquid bubbling within the giant cauldron. Not only was the liquid extremely vibrant in color, it was bubbling and churning incessantly.

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This strange scent was primarily a spicy one, intermingled with an intoxicating fragrant aroma.

All of a sudden, Han Li flipped a hand over, and the purple wooden box brought to him by Bai Guo'er appeared in his hand.

Azure light flashed, and the lid of the box flew off on its own to reveal the dark green demon cores.

"With the poison from the demon cores of these Glacial Devilish Spiders, I should be able to master the final stage of the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body. If I can combine this with my 12 Awakening Transformations, my body will be virtually as indestructible as those of the legendary true spirits," Han Li murmured to himself in an excited manner.

He flicked his wrist, and the demon core cores within the wooden box all flew out before falling into the giant cauldron.

They then quickly dissolved and became a part of this mysterious liquid. After that, Han Li made a hand seal, and the silver flames down below rose up to envelop virtually the entire giant cauldron.

The liquid within the cauldron immediately began to bubble and churn even more violently, and Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he appraised the cauldron, but there was a very serious look in his eyes.

The recipe for this cauldron of liquid, which had been refined from over 100 types of extremely poisonous substances, was something that he had secured from the body refinement method that accompanied the Heavenmatch Bell he had obtained during the Black Realm Exchange Convention.

If Han Li wanted to cultivate the second stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique, then he had to improve his physical constitution, so he was naturally very interested in all body refinement methods.

The Heavenmatch Bell was largely useless to him, but the body refinement method that accompanied it was quite remarkable; that much had been made apparent to him by the sight of that body refinement warrior who had struck the bell during the demonstration in the exchange convention.

This was the main reason why he had decided to exchange for that Heavenmatch Bell. He didn't immediately study this foreign body refinement method during the course of the Myriad Treasure Convention, but he had studied it in great detail during his travels throughout the human regions and demon territories thereafter, and he was stunned and elated by what he had seen.

This Chaotic Myriad Poison Body was a body refinement method that had far exceeded his expectations.

It was split up into seven stages, and progressing up each stage allowed one to drastically enhance their physical body.

Upon mastering all seven stages, even a mortal human would possess a body as powerful as that of a high-grade demonic cultivator, and they would also be immune to all poisons. The only problem was that in order to cultivate this body refinement method, one had to bathe in a specially made pool of poison.

As one progressed up the stages, the toxicity of the poison used had to become more and more potent. Of course, this was an extremely dangerous endeavor, and according to the information enclosed in the cultivation art, the vast majority of people who attempted to cultivate it had perished.

On top of this, the cultivation art had been invented by foreign beings with bodies far more powerful than those of humans. As such, if a normal human were to try and use this cultivation art, their chances of survival would be extremely low.

The man who had struck the Heavenmatch Bell during the exchange convention was already an outstanding talent when it came to body refinement, but even he had only managed to master the first two stages and didn't dare to progress any further than that.

Of course, none of this was an issue for Han Li. His physical constitution and resistance had both reached a point that normal humans could only ever dream of, so there wasn't much danger involved in cultivating this Chaotic Myriad Poison Body for him.

On top of that, he had already begun to make use of the Crystal Moon Liquid he had received from Cai Liuying. Every once in a while, he would smear the liquid all over his body, then use a secret technique to absorb it in order to further enhance his own physical body.

As such, the possibility of him being struck by backlash from cultivating the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body was virtually negligible. Additionally, he had been drinking a small cup of Red Silk Immortal Wine once every few days for these past years, and much to his surprise and elation, this wine was also able to enhance his physical constitution.

However, its enhancement effect was different from that of the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body and the Crystal Moon Liquid. In contrast, the effect was extremely minute, but it could steadily improve his physical constitution over a long period of time.

If he didn't drink the wine for a long period of time, the effect would be virtually unnoticeable, but if he were to persist, then he would benefit immensely over the long run.

As such, Han Li naturally became more confident in his chances of reaching the late-Body Integration Stage.

Once he returned from his travels, he immediately began to search for all types of poisonous items and substances. The first few stages of the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body were quite easy to cultivate, and normal poisonous ingredients sufficed. However, the poisonous ingredients required for the final three stages were extremely difficult to find in the human regions, so he had no choice but to rely on Qin Su'er.

After spending over 100 years, he had finally cultivated the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body to the sixth stage, and on this day, he had gathered all of the ingredients required to cultivate the seventh and final stage.

The final ingredient, which were the demon cores of the Glacial Devilish Spider, were extremely rare even in the demon race, and it took Qin Su'er several decades to find them.

Of course, Han Li had also been constantly cultivating his Provenance True Devil Arts and magic power during these past years.

Through some experimenting, he discovered that the green liquid within the mysterious small vial was effective on Corrosive Poisonweed, and he had successfully germinated some seeds from the spirit medicines he had brought back from the Vast Glacial Realm. With those ingredients, he was able to refine several types of pills that could enhance even the magic power of Body Integration cultivators.

Han Li had expended a vast amount of time and effort to gather both the recipes and ingredients for these pills, and if any of these pills were to be taken to the outside world, countless Body Integration cultivators would wage war over them.

After all, there were very few types of pills in the human and demon races that could enhance the magic power of a Body Integration cultivator, and the production quantity of these pills was downright pitiful.

Even if some Body Integration cultivators were to come into possession of such pills, they would save the pills for when they attempted breakthroughs as they were far too precious to be consumed on a normal basis.

However, with his mysterious small vial, Han Li was able to take one of these pills every few days. If other Body Integration cultivators were to learn of his outrageous pill-consumption schedule, they'd most likely die of envy!

As such, Han Li was able to improve his magic power at a rate that was seven to eight times as fast as that of normal Body Integration cultivators.

As a result, he had already made drastic improvements after just 200 years of cultivation. If he could master the final stage of the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body, he was confident that he would be able to progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage after around 100 more years of cultivation.

With his immensely powerful physical body and spiritual sense, as well as his virtually endless supply of pills, his chances of breaking through this bottleneck were relatively high, even though it was virtually insurmountable to many of his peers.

All of a sudden, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he slowly rose up into the air, still in a seated position with his legs crossed. He levitated through the air until he arrived directly above the giant cauldron, following which all of his clothes were stripped away amid a flash of azure light, and he plunged directly into the cauldron down below.

The vibrant colorful poisonous liquid immediately inundated his entire body with the exception of his head, and a clear cry suddenly rang out from the silver flames outside the cauldron. Several silver Fire Ravens took shape within the flames, each of which was around a foot in size, and they flapped their wings as they flew around the cauldron while blasting constant streams of silver flames out of their beaks.

The liquid within the cauldron immediately began to heat up dramatically, and clouds of five-colored poisonous mist permeated throughout the entire room.

It was impossible to see Han Li through the mist, and only a series of crackles and pops could occasionally be heard coming from within it.

Time slowly passed by, and the restrictions around the site that Han Li was cultivating at remained undisturbed.

This place was completely silent and deserted, aside from the occasions where Han Li's three disciples came to check on the restrictions.

Several years later, Qi Lingzi successfully manifested a Nascent Soul and became a high-grade guard of Deep Heaven City.

After several decades of arduous cultivation, Bai Guo'er also finally reached the late-Core Formation Stage. However, in order to find a catalyst that would allow her to manifest a Nascent Soul, she embarked on a lonesome trip through the human regions after bidding farewell to Han Li in front of the sea of five-colored mist.

As for Hai Yuetian, he had also reached the mid-Core Formation Stage, and following Bai Guo'er's departure, he became the disciple that most frequently visited the site where Han Li was cultivating.

Thus, 120 years flew by. On this day, Hai Yuetian was flying through the air in a translucent canoe several tens of kilometers away from Han Li's cave abode. All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately made a hand seal to bring the canoe to a sudden halt.

He then cast his gaze into the distance in a bewildered manner, and was greeted by the sight of a pillar of five-colored wind.

The pillar of wind was around 10,000 feet tall, and there were countless arcs of lightning flashing around it while bursts of rumbling rang out incessantly.

The pillar of wind was situated right on top of Han Li's cave abode, and upon discovering this, a hint of elation appeared on Hai Yuetian's face as he murmured to himself, "Could it be that Master is about to make a breakthrough?"

The phenomena in the distance lingered for close to half a day before finally dissipating, and everything returned to normal.

Hai Yuetian immediately spurred on his canoe to fly toward Han Li's cave abode upon seeing this, and not long after that, he arrived in front of the azure stone gate before making a quick descent.

Hai Yuetian hurriedly strode into the hall within the cave abode, and was greeted by the sight of a man and woman sitting across from one another. The elation on his face immediately grew more pronounced as he exclaimed, "Master! You really did come out of seclusion! Are you the one who triggered that phenomenon as well? Congratulations on making your breakthrough!"

The man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had just emerged from seclusion, and the woman beside him was the Ice Phoenix who had also been cultivating for many years within the cave abode.

"Long time no see, Yuetian; the phenomenon was indeed triggered by my breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage. Thankfully, Fairy Phoenix was present to activate the cave abode's restrictions, which severely limited the phenomenon created by the influx of the world's origin Qi. Otherwise, we could've attracted a lot of attention," Han Li replied with a smile.

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"You're far too kind, Brother Han; it was the restrictions you set up in advance that limited the phenomenon. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do anything with my powers alone," the Ice Phoenix chuckled.

"So you really did progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage! That's fantastic! You won't even have to fear late-Body Integration cultivators now, Master," Hai Yuetian exclaimed in an excited manner.

"What nonsense are you spouting? I can't compare with late-Body Integration cultivators. By the way, you came back at just the right time. I'm planning to venture into the primordial world soon, and even if everything goes smoothly, it'll most likely be a century or two before I return. Prior to my departure, I have to see you and your martial brother and martial sister so I can give you some guidance in your future cultivation. The three of you have to strive to become a lot more powerful prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation. I heard from Fairy Phoenix that Qi Lingzi has already reached the Nascent Soul Stage, and Guo'er has also progressed to the late-Core Formation Stage, so she'll be able to manifest a Nascent Soul within the next 100 years as well. In contrast, you're progressing far too slowly," Han Li said in a serious manner.

Hai Yuetian was rather alarmed by the serious tone of Han Li's voice, and he countered, "But Master, I'm a simultaneous cultivator, so it's only normal for me to progress slightly slower; I haven't slacked off in my cultivation at all."

"I'm naturally aware of how difficult simultaneous cultivation is, but do you think the elder devils will care about your hardships? Only by becoming more powerful can you ensure your own survival during the devilish tribulation," Han Li scolded.

Hai Yuetian didn't dare to argue any further, and he replied, "Yes, Master; I'll be sure to work harder on my cultivation."

"Alright, I'm going to notify Qi Lingzi and Guo'er through the Myriad Distance Talismans to return as quickly as possible. In the meantime, I'll instruct you in your cultivation, so don't go back to Deep Heaven City just yet. For now though, I have something to discuss with Fairy Phoenix in private; I'll speak to you later," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Master," Hai Yuetian immediately replied in a respectful manner before exiting the hall.

Following his departure, Han Li turned to the Ice Phoenix with a smile, and said, "Congratulations, Fairy Phoenix; not only have you recovered your past cultivation base, you've even made further improvements."

"It's all thanks to you, Brother Han. Without your generous supply of pills, there's no way I could've recovered to this extent so quickly. However, my progress is nothing when compared to yours, Brother Han. Progressing from the early-Body Integration Stage to the mid-body Integration Stage in just a few centuries is truly an astonishing feat. I presume you're planning to attempt a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation," the Ice Phoenix said with a smile.

"Hehe, I do indeed plan to do that. I'll most likely have to borrow your Heavenly Phoenix Origin Yin Qi when the time comes," Han Li replied.

"Rest assured, Brother Han, I should also be at the pinnacle of the Deity Transformation Stage by then, and my Origin Yin Qi will be even more effective for you at that point. However, even though my cultivation base is nowhere near your level, through reading the tomes in the cave abode, I've learned about just how difficult it is to break through to the late-Body Integration Stage. How confident are you in making this breakthrough, Brother Han?" the Ice Phoenix asked.

"Hehe, our human race has over 100 Body Integration cultivators, but less than 10 of them have reached the late-Body Integration Stage. All of the fellow Daoists who have reached that level are exceptional talents, so I certainly wouldn't dare to proclaim that I have any chance of progressing to that stage. All I can do is give everything I have," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

"Hehe, if someone else had said this to me, then I'd believe them, but seeing as it's Brother Han we're talking about, I'm sure you're at least 30% to 40% confident in your ability to reach the late-Body Integration Stage," the Ice Phoenix said with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before bursting into laughter. "Haha, if that's what you want to think, then I certainly can't say anything to change your mind."

"Speaking of your plans to make a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage, I must say that it's not a wise decision to leave the human race for so long at a time like this. The devilish tribulation is imminent, and we may have forged an alliance with the neighboring few races, but that'll only make the primordial world around the territories of these races even more chaotic," the Ice Phoenix continued as a concerned look appeared on her face.

"I'm naturally aware of that, but this journey is an extremely important one, and it's one that I must undertake," Han Li replied with a serious expression.

"In that case, I'm sure you have your reasons, and I won't try to dissuade you. However, you've only just made a breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage, so I'd advise you to consolidate your cultivation base before embarking on your journey," the Ice Phoenix said with a wry smile.

"Thanks for your concern, Fairy Phoenix. I have no intention of leaving right away; it'll be at least two to three years before I embark on this journey. During this time, I'll have to trouble you to look after my three disciples," Han Li said with a smile.

"Hehe, even if you didn't ask, I would've been sure to instruct them diligently, so you can rest assured, Brother Han," the Ice Phoenix replied with a smile.

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this, and he said, "Then I'll have to thank you in advance, Fairy Phoenix. By the way, following my departure, if you encounter some insurmountable problems, you can take the identification item I gave you and seek out the Gu Family or Buddhist Monk Jin Yue of Deep Heaven City..."

Two months later, Qi Lingzi hurried back to Han Li's cave abode from Deep Heaven City, and Bai Guo'er also returned after half a year.

Thus, the three disciples were instructed by Han Li in person, and all of the questions they had in their cultivation were quickly resolved.

Thanks to Han Li's efforts to keep this information confidential, the outside world remained completely oblivious to the fact that he had progressed to the mid-Body Integration Stage.

Hence, three years passed by in a flash.

On this day, the gate of the cave abode was slowly opened, and Han Li emerged in his usual set of azure robes, followed closely by the Ice Phoenix and his three in-name disciples.

"There's no need to accompany me any further than this, Fairy Phoenix. In my absence, you three have to make sure to work hard in your cultivation. If you encounter any problems, you can consult with Fairy Phoenix," Han Li said to his three disciples after cupping his fist in a salute toward the Ice Phoenix.

"Yes, Master; we'll be sure to remain conscientious in our cultivation."

"Have a smooth journey, Brother Han."

The three disciples all extended deep respectful bows, while the Ice Phoenix also extended a parting curtsey.

Han Li nodded before azure light flashed from his body, and he didn't say anything further before rising up into the air. Moments later, he had vanished into the distance.

The Ice Phoenix withdrew her gaze before turning to Han Li's three disciples. "Let's go back. Hopefully, your master will be back soon. Don't be in a hurry to leave the cave abode; make sure to thoroughly digest all of the information that your master taught you first."

The trio naturally gave affirmative replies, following which the four of them returned to the cave abode. The azure stone gate fell shut once again, and peace and quiet returned to the surrounding area.

Meanwhile, the azure streak of light flew away at a rapid speed, and within it, Han Li was contemplating something with a peculiar look in his eyes.

All of a sudden, he rustled a sleeve, and a ball of golden light shot forth from within before revolving around him.

He made a grabbing motion, and a buzzing sound rang out from the golden light before it was drawn into his grasp. The golden light then faded to reveal a menacing fist-sized beetle.

The beetle was of a shimmering golden color and was completely identical in appearance to his usual mature Gold Devouring Beetles, except it had vibrant colorful patterns all over its body.

Han Li stared at the insect before suddenly whistling at it, and the beetle abruptly spread its wings, then flapped them rapidly while the vibrant patterns all over its body lit up with piercing radiance.

An incredible scene then ensued.

The patterns on the beetle's body warped and twisted, and it gradually became transparent, blending into the spiritual light around it.

Han Li raised his hand, and the spirit insect rose up into the air before vanishing in a flash, as if it had never appeared in the first place.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he suddenly made a grabbing motion. Colorful light flashed between his fingers, and the hidden spirit insect was revealed again, caught firmly within his grasp.

However, the insect's body was still seemingly flashing in and out of existence.

"Those Rainbow Pills really are as effective as the legends proclaim; they made the already mature Gold Devouring Beetles mutate and evolve again. Not only are they now far faster than before, they also attained a concealment ability. This ability is going to be very useful in battle," Han Li murmured to himself as a pleased smile appeared on his face.

This ferocious-looking beetle was none other than one of his newly mutated Gold Devouring Beetles. The mutation had taken place after they had devoured the Rainbow Pills Han Li had refined using the demon cores of the Flying Rainbow Fish he had obtained in the Vast Glacial Realm, and Han Li had been very pleased with this result.

Not only did these new Gold Devouring Beetles attain the ability to conceal themselves at will, they've become far more powerful and ferocious than their past selves. Han Li was confident that if he could control 10,000 of these spirit insects at once, even a late-Body Integration cultivator wouldn't be able to do anything except flee for their life.

Unfortunately, even after reaching the mid-Body Integration Stage, his spiritual sense was still nowhere near powerful enough to support so many of these beetles at once. However, if he could progress to the late-Body Integration Stage, then master the second stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique, there was a very good chance that he would be able to control that many Gold Devouring Beetles. This was why Han Li was so eager to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage. Once he reached that level, he would be able to attain a new trump card.

With that in mind, he heaved a faint sigh before sending the Gold Devouring Beetle in his hand flying back into his sleeve.

The azure light around him then tremored slightly before accelerating as it flew toward Deep Heaven City.

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In the air above a boundless yellow desert, there was a bronze battle carriage drawn by a pair of giant silver falcons, flashing with faint azure light as it flew along at a low altitude.

All of a sudden, the man on the carriage raised an arm before waving a hand through the air, and spatial fluctuations erupted from beneath the carriage, following which a streak of azure sword Qi that was over 100 feet emerged out of nowhere, then slashed downward in a vicious manner.

The massive sword then vanished in a flash into the yellow sand down below, following which an earth-shattering roar erupted, and the nearby sand immediately erupted upward like a reverse waterfall.

Within the yellow sand, a giant ancient beast that was over 1,000 feet in length emerged. The beast resembled an enormous silkworm, and it's body only managed to writhe desperately a few times in the air before it suddenly separated into several segments and crashed downward amid a torrential downpour of green blood.

Meanwhile, the battle carriage merely continued onward without pause and vanished into the distance after just a few flashes.

Throughout this entire process, Han Li's eyes remained shut as he sat within the carriage with his eyes crossed. After putting an end to that giant ancient beast, he lowered his arm again and continued to cultivate.

Deep within a certain unknown sea, there was a massive palace, and in the secret chamber of that palace was a giant crimson cocoon suspended in mid-air. The cocoon had a diameter of around 70 to 80 feet, and countless crimson threads were being released by this cocoon. These crimson threads spread over every corner of the entire secret chamber, leaving not even a single pocket of space untouched.

The crimson cocoon itself was semi-transparent, and peering at it through all of the crimson threads from afar, one could make out a black shadow within the cocoon that was constantly fluctuating in size. If one were to draw a little closer to it, they'd be greeted by the sound of a periodic dull thump, resembling a rhythmic and powerful, yet extremely slow heartbeat.

In the air above a certain massive canyon on the Tian Yuan Continent, a white-robed beauty and a hideous black-robed man were hovering in mid-air, tightly surrounded by tens of thousands of foreign beings.

These foreign beings all had green skin with extremely long necks, and their front limbs were like pairs of sharp blades; they resembled a series of giant praying mantises!

The valley below was already piled full of countless corpses of their brethren, creating a very harrowing sight to behold.

The black-robed man didn't have any traces of blood on his body, but he was releasing enormous baleful Qi, and both sides of his face were covered in black scales the size of copper coins. He had also rolled up his sleeves to reveal a pair of inky-black arms, and his hands transformed into 10 sharp blades, giving him a very menacing appearance.

In contrast, the white-robed woman was standing atop a giant pink flower with an extremely calm and tranquil expression.

Even though there were only two of them, the tens of thousands of foreign beings around them could only look on in shock and fury, yet they didn't dare to approach the duo.

"I'll say this one more time: hand over the holy flower of your Green Limb Race, and I'll leave right away. Otherwise, you leave me no choice but to kill all of you, then go and take the holy flower for myself," the white-robed woman said in a nonchalant voice, as if committing genocide were merely a commonplace activity for her.

The leader of the foreign beings had skin that was of a slightly darker color than his brethren, and he cast a resentful gaze toward the black-robed man as he said, "The holy flower is the most precious treasure of our race; how can we hand it over to outsiders? You do indeed possess extraordinary powers, Senior, but this is a request we cannot fulfill."

He was a mid-Body Integration Stage being, and that already made him the most powerful one among his brethren. There were three early-Body Integration Stage Green Limb beings standing behind him, and all of them also had resentment and fury burning in their eyes.

During the horrendous scenes that had just ensued, they were completely powerless, immobilized by the white-robed woman's overwhelming aura while the black-robed man slaughtered their brethren in droves.

Their brethren resisted with all their might, but over 1,000 of them were still slaughtered in a very short time. The astonishing powers and vicious methods of this duo evoked within them burning fury, but also a crippling sense of powerlessness.

They knew that their race was truly on the brink of being wiped out.

"I don't care about all that. Either you hand over the holy flower, or I'll erase your entire race from the Spirit Realm; you have no alternative options," the white-robed woman said in a completely cold and emotionless manner.

The grand elder of the Green Limb Race hesitated for a long while before replying, "Don't you think it's unbefitting of a Grand Ascension Stage being like you to force your will on a small race like ours?"

"Don't try to goad me; the holy flower of your race is extremely useful to me, so I'm taking it no matter what. Don't think that you can somehow talk your way out of this. I'll count to 10; if you don't hand over the holy flower by then, then I'll have to take it for myself," the white-robed woman said with a smile, but all of the Green Limb beings' hearts sank at the sight of her beautiful smile.

"One."

"Two."

The white-robed woman really did begin her countdown. Her voice was extremely delightful and pleasant to the ears, but to the surrounding Green Limb beings, it sounded like death knocking on their doors.

"Alright, I'll hand over the holy flower!" the Green Limb Race grand elder finally said in a feeble and resigned manner.

"That's a very wise decision! As long as you're willing to hand over the holy flower, I naturally won't trouble your race any further," the white-robed woman said with a smile as she tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.

The rest of the process was very simple. Under the instructions of the Green Limb Race grand elder, one of the Green Limb beings immediately descended into the valley and paid a visit to the restricted area of the Green Limb Race.

Close to an hour later, the Green Limb being returned and offered a green wooden box to the white-robed woman with a look of grief and indignation on his face.

The woman didn't even open the box; she merely swept her spiritual sense toward it for a brief moment, following which her face immediately fell. The black-robed man stirred upon seeing this, and a vicious look reappeared in his eyes.

This was quite an alarming sight to the surrounding Green Limb beings, and they immediately tensed up, anticipating more slaughter from this heartless duo.

Thankfully, in the next instant, the white-robed woman merely issued an instruction to the black-robed man to depart from this place, following which her giant pink flower carried her away as a ball of red light.

The black-robed man immediately followed along behind her as a cloud of black Qi.

Moments later, both of them had vanished into the distance, and all of the Green Limb beings heaved a collective sigh of relief.

Even though they had lost their holy flower, for a weak race like theirs, it was already quite fortunate that they had managed to avoid being completely wiped out.

The grand elder issued an order, and all of the Green Limb beings immediately flew down into the valley to clean up the remains of their brethren.

Meanwhile, the white-robed woman and black-robed man were already tens of thousands of kilometers away.

After flying for a while, the black-robed man couldn't help but ask, "Sacred Ancestor, is this holy flower not the item that you're looking for?"

"No, it's only a spirit flower that's similar in outward appearance to the one I'm looking for. It's still an extremely rare spirit item in this realm, but it's not very useful to me at all," the white-robed woman replied in a calm voice.

"So our efforts were futile once again," the black-robed man sighed in a disappointed manner.

"That thing is not so easy to find. We've already searched through the major races in this nearby area; it's time to move on to neighboring areas. The Tian Yuan Continent, isn't much larger than the Thunder Continent, but there are several times as many races on this continent compared to the Thunder Continent, so it will take quite some time to search through them one by one," the white-robed woman replied.

"Yes, Mistress," the black-robed man replied in a respectful manner before falling silent, not daring to ask any further questions.

80 years later, a group of Flying Spirit beings were flapping their wings with all their might, flying rapidly over a vast blue ocean.

The group was comprised of both men and women, but they were all very young, and most of them were at the Core Formation Stage, with even the most powerful ones among them only at the Nascent Soul Stage.

As they desperately flew through the air, they were constantly looking behind themselves with horrified looks in their eyes.

In the distance, a silver thread suddenly appeared, and it began to close in on them at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye. An incessant burst of rumbling also rang out from within the silver thread, and the horror on the faces of the Flying Spirit beings were even further exacerbated.

All of them began to expel mouthfuls of blood essence, or unleashed life-saving secret techniques, or summoned all types of treasures and talismans.

As a result, all of these Flying Spirit beings accelerated drastically, but even so, they only managed to just barely maintain around the same speed as the silver thread.

After flying for close to two more hours, the Flying Spirit beings were finally running out of magic power and began to slow down once again.

The silver thread behind them immediately surged forth, closing much of the distance between them in the blink of an eye.

Upon closer inspection, one would find that the silver thread was a sea of powerful winds with no end in sight, and it was hurtling toward them at an incredible speed.

Not only was the sea of wind extremely broad, it encompassed the entire sky in the distance, and there were countless bolts of lightning and hailstones within it. An incessant rumbling rang out from the sea of wind, and it was extremely menacing to behold.

The Flying Spirit beings were only less than 100 kilometers away from the sea of wind, and they would be swept up by the winds in mere moments. Expressions of despair appeared on everyone's faces.

They had embarked on this journey out to sea as part of their training, only to encounter the "silver tide" disaster that was vastly renowned in this area of the sea. In the face of such a disaster, their chances of survival were very slim.

Even so, they naturally weren't going to just give up and resign themselves to their fates.

One of the Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit beings let loose a loud roar, and everyone gritted their teeth as they stopped fleeing. They then quickly formed a strange formation before each pulling a formation flag out of their storage bracelets and waving them in a desperate manner.

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Halos of light proliferated forth from these formation flags before forming a massive spherical ball of light that shielded them within. The ball of light appeared to have impressive defensive capabilities, but all of the Flying Spirit beings within it were still in complete despair as they looked on at the approaching sea of wind.

In the face of this vastly renowned silver tide, even their protective formation wouldn't be able to last for very long; this was something that had been verified by countless other people who had fallen to this disaster.

In the face of this silver tide, there was virtually no chance of survival for anyone below the Deity Transformation Stage. Even Deity Transformation Stage beings would have to look to the heavens for a chance to survive such an ordeal.

The only beings who could save so many of them at once were late-Spatial Tempering or Body Integration Stage beings, but the chances of such a powerful being coincidentally passing through this area at this time were next to zero.

The group was led by a man and a woman, both of whom were at the late-Nascent Soul Stage. The two of them discussed the situation in a panicked manner, but it was clear from their strained expressions that their discussion hadn't yielded any fruits.

At this point, the silver tide was only around 10 kilometers away from them, and it was going to inundate them in an instant. However, right at this moment, one of the Flying Spirit beings suddenly yelled in an elated manner, "Look, there seems to be someone in that silver tide!"

The other Flying Spirit beings were startled to hear this, and they hurriedly turned toward the same direction.

Sure enough, there was indeed a speck of azure light within the silver tide, and the azure light seemed to contain a humanoid figure.

However, due to the disruptive and chaotic world's origin Qi within the silver tide, the Flying Spirit being's were unable to identify the person within the azure light using their spiritual sense.

From where they were situated, they could see that the speck of azure light was flying in an extremely stable manner, completely disregarding the lightning and hailstones within the sea of wind.

The Flying Spirit beings felt as if a savior had been sent down from the heavens!

The two late-Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit beings glanced at one another before immediately letting loose a long cry in unison.

Their contrasting feminine and masculine voices complemented one another and managed to drown out the rumbling within the silver tide.

Their voices were also changing in pitch in a rhythmic manner; this was a special SOS signal among the Flying Spirit Race.

As long as the other person within the silver tide wasn't deaf, they would definitely notice this group of Flying Spirit beings.

Sure enough, the speck of azure light faltered momentarily as soon as the long cry rang out, and the humanoid figure within the azure light turned toward the group in a surprised manner.

"Which branch of the Flying Spirit Race do you belong to? How did you end up here?" An unfamiliar male voice suddenly rang out from within the ball of light around the group, and it was clearly audible to everyone.

The male late-Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit being was ecstatic, and he hurriedly yelled, "We are disciples of the Five Color, White Jade, and Tian Peng Races, and we came here for training! Never did we think that we would encounter a silver tide, please save us, Senior!"

However, the unfamiliar man remained silent for a long while thereafter, and didn't transmit his voice to them again.

This made the hearts of the Flying Spirit beings sink once again.

If the man wasn't confident in his ability to save all of them in this silver tide, then he naturally wouldn't take the risk to save them at his own expense.

However, he didn't depart right away and seemed to be rather hesitant, so the hope in their hearts wasn't completely dashed.

At this point, the sea of wind had already engulfed them, and the ball of light around them was being pelted by countless hailstones and struck by a barrage of lightning.

Thunderclaps and earth-shattering rumbling immediately rang out, and the seemingly secure ball of light began to tremor violently, looking as if it could shatter at any moment.

The Flying Spirit beings were extremely alarmed by this, and the two late-Nascent Soul Stage beings among them immediately let loose loud cries. In response, everyone tightened their grip around the formation flags they were holding, and injected their spiritual power into the flags with all their might.

Thus, the spherical barrier was stabilized once again, but they clearly couldn't keep up this level of magic power expenditure for too long, so their hopes for survival still hinged on that man in the distance.

Finally, the unfamiliar male voice rang out again. "Alright, seeing as there are Tian Peng beings in your group, I can't just stand by idly and watch. I'll take you out of this place."

The Flying Spirit beings were naturally ecstatic, yet before they had a chance to transmit their voices in response, a particularly loud thunderclap suddenly rang out from above them.

Thick bolts of lightning flashed violently before intertwining to form a silver lightning formation that had a diameter in excess of 100 feet.

At the center of the lightning formation, an azure-robed man with a pair of translucent wings on his back appeared.

He looked down in a cold manner before making a hand seal, and a string of loud thunderclaps rang out as the lightning formation descended from above.

In the instant that the lightning formation came into contact with the spherical light barrier, the latter was torn apart with ease, and the Flying Spirit beings were greatly alarmed by this.

Before they had a chance to react, their vision was completely inundated by silver light, and they were struck by a rush of dizziness before vanishing into thin air within the lightning formation.

In the next instant, a loud thunderclap erupted thousands of kilometers away, above a section of the ocean that the silver tide hadn't yet reached, and the lightning formation re-emerged out of thin air.

The trapped Flying Spirit beings had all been teleported to this place by the lightning formation.

Upon escaping from what they had thought to be certain death, they looked around in a bewildered manner before immediately bursting into loud cries of elation upon discovering that they had truly been saved.

The male late-Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit being looked up at the azure-robed man hovering in the air above them, and said, "Thank you for saving our lives, Senior; are you perhaps an elder of the Tian Peng Race?" He was completely unable to glean the azure-robed man's cultivation base, and he immediately extended a respectful bow as he spoke.

Everyone else in the group had naturally also discovered that their savior was standing above them, and they hurriedly extended respectful bows as well.

The azure-robed man appeared to only be in his twenties, and he replied with a faint smile, "Hehe, of course not. It's just that I have some ties with the Tian Peng Race, so I can't just stand by and watch as members of the Tian Peng Race perish right under my nose."

This man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had finally reached the territory of the Flying Spirit Race after traveling for over 80 years.

His current powers were comparable to those of a late-Body Integration Stage being, so he didn't encounter any true peril during this journey, but he did encounter quite a few obstacles along the way nonetheless.

He was forced to skirt around several extremely perilous regions, which extended his journey by over 10 years, and only then did he arrive in this place.

None of the Flying Spirit beings in the group were all that powerful, but they seemed to hold rather important statuses within the Flying Spirit Race. The female late-Nascent Soul Stage being among them had a pair of five-colored wings, so she was clearly a member of the Five Color Race, and she said in a respectful manner, "In any case, we owe you our lives. Would you be able to grace us with the knowledge of your esteemed name? We'll be sure to notify our elders of this so they can thank you for your actions!"

"There's no need to thank me; I just so happened to be passing through this place, and it was a simple task for me to save your group. However, I've been cultivating in the primordial world for a long time, so I don't know too much about the situation in the Flying Spirit Race; would you be able to fill me in on the events that have taken place in the past few centuries?" Han Li asked.

The Five Color woman replied, "Of course. During these past few centuries, many major events have taken place in our Flying Spirit Race, but the most prominent of those events by far is that our Flying Spirit Race finally conquered the earth abyss following the sudden disappearance of the demon monarchs there."

Han Li was quite surprised to hear this, but his expression remained unchanged as he said, "The earth abyss was conquered? That is indeed quite a major event. Tell me about that in detail."

"Yes, Senior. This is quite a long story, and I have to begin by telling you about the holy disciple trials that took place several hundred years ago..." Thus, the woman began her recount.

Not long after that, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he flew away from the group of Flying Spirit beings, quickly vanishing into the distance.

Following Han Li's departure, the male Late-Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit being suddenly said with furrowed brows, "Junior Martial Sister Xuan, do you think it'll be an issue that we revealed that much information to that man?"

"What do you mean by that, Brother Mian?" the Five Color woman asked in a slightly taken aback manner.

The man hesitated momentarily before replying, "It's just that that Senior never told us his name, and none of us have ever seen him before, so he may not be a member of our Flying Spirit Race."

"Surely not! That senior clearly also has a pair of spirit wings, and he appeared in this area, so how could he not be a member of our Flying Spirit Race?" someone else in the group countered.

"Indeed, that senior proclaims that he has some ties with the Tian Peng Race, and he's able to control lightning, which is one of the signature abilities of the Tian Peng Race. On top of that, if he really were an imposter trying to infiltrate our Flying Spirit Race, then why did he save us? If he only wanted to gather information from us, then he would've killed us before his departure so we wouldn't spread word of this meeting. I think you're being a little too paranoid, Brother Mian," the Five Color Woman said with a nonchalant smile.

The man still wasn't entirely convinced, but he forced a smile onto his face and nodded in response. "Perhaps so."

The Five Color woman continued, "Even if he really were a foreign being, everything I disclosed to him is common knowledge to the members of our race, so I didn't tell him any confidential secrets, which means there's nothing to worry about. For now, our top priority should be to get far away from this place. If the silver tide catches up to us again, then we'll truly fall to our demise."

"Indeed, it's best for us to get away from here as quickly as possible."

"You're right, Senior Martial Sister Xuan. The man who just saved us clearly possesses unfathomable powers; even if he really is a foreign being, it's not like we can do anything about him. We should focus on ensuring our own safety."

The other Flying Spirit beings chimed in in agreement, and some of them even began to look around with fear in their eyes.

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At this point, Han Li was already several thousand kilometers away, flying as a streak of azure light with a contemplative look on his face.

He had learned about all of the major events that had taken place within the Flying Spirit Race during the past few centuries, but most of these events had nothing to do with him, so he didn't need to pay them any heed.

There were only two things that were worthy of his attention, the first of which was that the four demon monarchs of the earth abyss seemed to have failed to return from the infernal river. As a result, the earth abyss was conquered by the Flying Spirit Race, and nearly all of the demons in the earth abyss were exterminated.

The second thing was that Bai Bi and Lei Lan, the two holy disciples from several hundred years ago, had both returned safely to the Tian Peng Race. They had then gone on to become holy masters, thereby saving the Tian Peng Race from destruction.

Both Qing Yuanzi and the Mayfly Race had ties with the infernal river, and there seemed to be other important secrets hidden within it as well, so it wasn't a surprise that the four demon monarchs had been trapped there. However, this made it slightly difficult for him to access the infernal river.

The guiding coordinate that he and Qing Yuanzi had agreed on lay deep within the earth abyss. If he couldn't get to that location, he wouldn't be able to enter the infernal river even with the replica of the Star Defying Plate that had been given to him.

Even the four monarchs had to expend a vast amount of time and effort to open up a passageway to the infernal river. His current powers may be comparable to those of a late-Body Integration cultivator, but he still wasn't confident in his ability to accomplish such a monumental feat on his own.

As for his relationship with the Tian Peng Race, that was rather ambiguous. He had once posed as a holy disciple of the Tian Peng Race and managed to obtain the 12 Awakening Transformations from them, but at the same time, the elders of the Tian Peng Race had forced him into the earth abyss, where he had almost perished by the hands of the four demon monarchs on multiple occasions.

However, if he wanted to access the earth abyss again, there was a good chance that he would have to turn to them.

After contemplating this issue for a long while, he suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a blue jade slip and a round white plate.

He placed the jade slip against his own forehead to inspect the information it contained, then removed the jade slip from his forehead and began to carefully inspect the white plate.

After some further contemplation, he seemed to have finally made a decision. He stowed the two items away, following which the azure streak of light that he was situated in abruptly accelerated to around twice its original speed.

Five months later, a ball of dazzling azure light hurtled through the air close to 100 kilometers away from the holy city of the Tian Peng Race. Prior to even reaching the city, a clear cry rang out from within the azure streak of light.

Initially, the sound wasn't very loud, but it was relentless and insistent, and it quickly reverberated in the air above the entire city.

Such an astonishing turn of events naturally alerted all of the high-grade beings within the holy city, and several humanoid figures immediately rushed out of a few of the tall buildings in the city. These figures then quickly rose up into the air before looking on at the approaching ball of azure light in a bewildered manner.

The azure ball of light was still some distance away from them, but the astonishingly powerful aura emanating from within it struck them with a sense of asphyxiation.

Curiously enough, this aura was extremely familiar to them as it belonged to the Kun Peng, the deity that was worshipped by their race. However, the only person in their entire race with such a pure Kun Peng aura seemed to be their grand elder after undergoing her Kun Peng Transformation.

With that in mind, the others all turned toward a white-robed young woman with a pair of golden wings. She was standing on the spot with a calm expression, but there was a slightly bewildered look in her eyes as well as she looked on at the approaching ball of azure light.

This was none other than the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race, Jin Yue.

She was at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, so even though she was quite alarmed by the aura emanating from the azure ball of light, she wasn't fearful of it. She quickly made a hand seal, and golden light flashed through her eyes as she unleashed some kind of spirit eye ability.

Thus, she was able to peer directly into the scintillating ball of azure light, upon which her expression took on a noticeable change.

There was an early-Body Integration Stage elderly man with a crimson beard standing beside her, and he asked, "Who is it, Grand Elder?"

Jin Yue had a rather peculiar look on her face, and she was silent for a moment before shaking her head as she replied, "You'll know soon enough, Elder Xu."

Elder Xu naturally couldn't ask any further questions upon hearing this, and the other Body Integration Stage elders also remained silent as they turned their attention to the approaching ball of azure light again.

Moments later, the ball of light in the distance arrived before them amid gusts of fierce winds, following which the light faded to reveal a giant azure bird.

The bird was around 100 feet in length with feathers that looked as if they had been constructed from iron and steel. Its talons were like hooks, and it was completely identical to the true spirit, Kun Peng.

Even though everyone had already suspected this to be the case, their expressions still changed slightly at the sight of this massive Kun Peng.

Before any of them had a chance to say anything, the giant bird flapped its wings, and the long cry emanating from within its beak abruptly cut off. In the next instant, azure runes revolved around its body, and it expanded drastically in size.

After just a few flashes, it had swelled to several thousand feet in size and resembled a small mountain. Its golden eyes were extremely bright, and with just a gentle flap of its wings, fierce winds and flashing lightning were immediately swept up in the surrounding area. The enormous aura emanating from the gargantuan bird's body forced even the early-Body Integration Stage elders of the Tian Peng Race to stumble back a few steps in astonishment. Jin Yue remained completely still on the spot, but her expression had also changed slightly, and an ecstatic look had appeared in her eyes.

"Who are you? You must be a member of our Tian Peng Race to have cultivated the Kun Peng Transformation to such a extent, so why aren't you revealing your true form to us?" Jin Yue finally spoke, and her voice was slightly hoarse from her incredulity.

The giant bird glanced at Jin Yue before suddenly speaking in a human tongue. "I'm glad to see you're looking just as youthful as you were several centuries ago, Fellow Daoist Jin."

It hadn't made any effort to raise its voice, but the elders of the Tian Peng Race were still left with ringing eardrums.

The incredulity on Jin Yue's face became even more pronounced, and a thought seemed to have occurred to her. "Could it be that you're..."

"Hehe, looks like you've recognized me."

The giant bird suddenly shrank down amid a flash of azure light, and a smiling azure-robed man with a pair of wings on his back took its place.

Before Jin Yue had a chance to say anything, Elder Xu and another woman in the group exclaimed in unison, "Impossible!"

"Greetings, elders." The azure-robed man was naturally none other than Han Li, and he turned to the two elders with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute.

The other Tian Peng Race elders were still completely in the dark, and one of them couldn't help but ask, "Do you recognize this man, Brother Xu? Is he a member of our Tian Peng Race? If so, why have we never heard of a man of his powers in our race?"

However, Elder Xu and the woman seemed to be too stunned to respond to these questions.

Back when Han Li had last been in the Tian Peng Race, the other elders were completing missions elsewhere, so they naturally didn't recognize Han Li.

As for Jin Yue and the other two elders, they had already assumed that Han Li had perished in the earth abyss, yet not only was he alive, he had unleashed such an astonishing Tian Peng Transformation and become a holy race being as well; how could they not be astonished?

"So it really is you, Fellow Daoist Han. Looks like you must've encountered some miraculous opportunities in the earth abyss to have reached the holy race so quickly," Jin Yue finally said, and her voice was far calmer than everyone else expected.

"I did indeed encounter some opportunities in the earth abyss, but that doesn't have much to do with my current cultivation base. Instead, I almost perished on several occasions to the four demon monarchs there," Han Li sighed.

"Is that so? In any case, I must congratulate you on becoming a holy race being. I didn't ever get an opportunity to thank you for your efforts several hundred years ago; let's go back to the city to catch up. I presume you didn't cause such a commotion just because you wanted to chat with us, right?" Jin Yue suddenly said with a smile.

"Indeed, I do have something to discuss with you, Fellow Daoist Jin," Han Li admitted with a smile.

"Please come with me, then, Fellow Daoist Han," Jin Yue said as she made an inviting hand gesture.

All of the other elders of the Tian Peng Race were still completely bewildered, but no one dared to question Jin Yue's judgment, so none of them said anything.

Han Li merely smiled as he followed the white-robed woman down toward the holy city without any hesitation.

The other Tian Peng Race elders exchanged a few more bewildered glances before also following along behind them.

The commotion that Han Li had created earlier had attracted attention from countless high-grade Tian Peng beings in the city, but seeing as all of the elders had appeared outside the city, none of the Spirit Generals and Great Spirit Generals of the Tian Peng Race dared to approach them. As such, they could only look on from afar.[1]

However, they were situated too far away, and Jin Yue had set up a sound isolation restriction in the surrounding area, so they couldn't hear anything.

All they saw was that the giant azure bird had transformed into a young man, who seemed to be a member of their Tian Peng Race. He then conversed with the elders for a while before all of them flew back toward the city. As such, none of them had any idea what was going on.

Thus, Han Li entered the holy city in a calm and collected manner in front of the eyes of countless Tian Peng beings. Only after a long while did all of these Tian Peng beings disperse in a perplexed manner and continued with what they were doing before this interlude.

[1] IGT: Just a reminder, Spirit Generals = Deity Transformation, Great Spirit Generals = Spatial Tempering, and Holy Race = Body Integration

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Han Li and the others followed Jin Yue to a massive hall at the center of the holy city, and they all took a seat.

Following instructions from Jin Yue, several young female servants immediately made their way into the hall, setting down things like spirit tea and spirit fruits onto the tables.

Up to this point, Jin Yue was still treating Han Li like a normal guest, and there didn't seem to be any abnormal response from her.

Han Li calmly took a sip of the spirit tea offered to him before giving a slight nod.

"What do you think of this tea, Fellow Daoist Han? This is the Fragrant Maiden Tea that can only be found in our holy city, and only several tens of kilograms are produced per year. Not only can this spirit tea only be picked at dawn, it can only be picked by beautiful virgin maidens. Otherwise, it'll be far less fragrant," Jin Yue said with a smile as she also took a sip of tea.

"This tea is indeed quite delectable," Han Li praised.

"If you like it, I can gift some to you," Jin Yue said with a smile before clapping her hands together, then turned to a servant standing beside her, and instructed, "Go to the tea orchard and bring five kilograms of our finest Fragrant Maiden Tea."

"Yes, Grand Elder!" The servant was rather surprised to be called upon, but she immediately gave an affirmative response before hurrying out of the hall.

Han Li was also rather surprised by this gesture, but his expression remained unchanged as he cupped his fist in a grateful salute. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Jin."

The other elders were quite taken aback by this as well, but none of them said anything.

"Allow me to make an introduction. Everyone, this is Fellow Daoist Han, the human who once saved our Tian Peng Race during the holy disciple trials. I'm sure all of you have heard of him, but not all of you have seen him before," Jin Yue explained to the elders who were only meeting Han Li for the first time.

"What? That's him?"

"Didn't he die in the earth abyss?"

The other elders were quite stunned to hear this, with the exception of Elder Xu and the other female elder who had met Han Li in the past, and they both exchanged a wry smile.

"I encountered some opportunities in the earth abyss and managed to escape from the demon monarchs. After that, I returned to my own human race. You wouldn't fault me for that, would you, Fellow Daoist Jin?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"Of course not! If it weren't for your efforts several hundred years ago, there was no way that Bai Bi and Lan'er would've passed the trial and become holy masters of our race. Your actions saved our Tian Peng Race, and in doing so, you fulfilled our agreement, so you had earned your freedom. However, I must say that I'm truly stunned to see that you managed to become a holy race being even though you were only a Deity Transformation cultivator several centuries ago. I presume you had something do with the disappearance of the four demon monarchs. If you don't mind, would you be able to disclose what happened between you and the demon monarchs?" Jin Yue asked, and all of the other elders immediately turned to Han Li, eagerly awaiting his response.

However, Han Li merely smiled, and replied, "I was only made aware that the four demon monarchs had disappeared after I entered the territory of your Flying Spirit Race. Speaking of which, this has something to do with my visit. I can't disclose to you what the events that took place between me and the demon monarchs, but I can promise you that there's no way they'll be able to return to the earth abyss. As for the progression in my cultivation base, this is a result of some opportunities that I encountered in the primordial world. It seems that you've also made significant strides in your cultivation base, isn't that right, Fellow Daoist Jin?"

Han Li's blatant refusal to answer Jin Yue's question made her rather displeased, and a cold look flashed through her eyes as her expression fell slightly. "If you're unwilling to disclose the information, then I naturally won't force you to do so. However, there must be a reason why you suddenly appeared outside our holy city in your Kun Peng form. Have you returned to intimidate our Tian Peng Race now that you've reached the holy race?"

Seeing as Jin Yue had cast aside her pretenses of geniality, the other elders also turned to Han Li with cold unfriendly looks in their eyes.

As opposed to being alarmed by this situation, Han Li smiled, and asked, "What did you think of my Kun Peng Transformation, Fellow Daoist Jin?"

A peculiar look flashed through Jin Yue's eyes upon hearing this, but she harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, it is indeed quite impressive that a foreign being like you was able to refine Kun Peng True Blood to such an extent."

"Do you really think it's that simple, Fellow Daoist Jin?" Han Li chuckled in a mysterious manner.

"What are you trying to say, Fellow Daoist Han? I don't enjoy playing guessing games," Jin Yue asked in a cold voice as her eyes narrowed slightly.

In contrast, Elder Xu and the other elders were rather perplexed by this exchange.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face, and as opposed to offering a reply, he flipped a hand over to summon a white jade slip, then tossed it over to Jin Yue with a flick of his wrist.

"What's the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Han?" Jin Yue asked as she reflexively caught the jade slip.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; I think it would be in your best interest to inspect the contents of the jade slip before we continue in our discussion," Han Li replied calmly.

Jin Yue was still rather skeptical, but after hesitating a while longer, she still adhered the jade slip to her forehead before injecting a wisp of spiritual sense into it.

Moments later, she exclaimed, "This is..."

Her reaction naturally created a stir among the Tian Peng Race elders, but she was too ecstatic to pay them any heed and was completely absorbed by the contents of the jade slip.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he took another sip of tea in a relaxed manner.

Thus, a peculiar atmosphere settled over the entire hall as time slowly passed by, and only after a long while did Jin Yue finally remove the jade slip from her forehead as she heaved a long sigh.

She then turned to Han Li with an extremely complex expression, and asked, "Where did you get this cultivation art from? Don't tell me that you created it; this cultivation art is extremely profound, but it's clearly designed for us Tian Peng beings."

"As expected, you managed to identify the crux of the matter right away. However, the identity of the person who invented this cultivation art isn't important; what's important is the value that this cultivation art will bring to your race," Han Li replied with a smile, seemingly having already predicted Jin Yue's question.

"This is clearly only half of the cultivation art; I presume you're not just showing it to me for the sake of it. Tell me why you've come to visit our Tian Peng Race," Jin Yue interrogated in a threatening manner as an extremely terrifying burst of spiritual pressure erupted from her body.

"Haha, I'd be more than happy to answer your question, but this is quite an important matter, so I wish to speak to you in private," Han Li chuckled before adopting a serious expression as he turned to the other Tian Peng Race elders present.

"Alright, we'll do as you say. Elders, please vacate the hall. You can come in after Fellow Daoist Han and I conclude our discussion," Jin Yue instructed without any hesitation, and it was quite clear that she held the cultivation art in the jade slip in extremely high regard.

"Alright, we'll be taking our leave, then."

The Tian Peng Race elders were quite reluctant to leave, but they didn't dare to oppose Jin Yue, so they could only vacate the hall.

Moments later, Han Li and Jin Yue were the only ones left in the hall.

"Let's continue our discussion, Fellow Daoist Han," Jin Yue prompted as her expression eased slightly.

However, as opposed to immediately offering a response, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to summon a dozen or so small five-colored flags.

The flags then transformed into streaks of light of different colors and vanished into the surrounding space.

In the next instant, a five-colored light barrier appeared around Han Li and Jin Yue.

Jin Yue was slightly alarmed by this, but she quickly identified this light barrier to be nothing more than a simple sound isolation restriction. Even so, she was still rather displeased. "Are you concerned that someone would eavesdrop on us even though I'm here with you?"

"Please forgive me, Fellow Daoist Jin, but this is a very important matter, so I have to take all of the necessary precautions," Han Li replied in a serious manner.

"Alright, but before we continue, there's something I have to verify; do you have the other half of the cultivation art as well?" Jin Yue asked as she raised the jade slip in her hand.

"Hehe, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; I wouldn't be proposing an exchange if I didn't have the other half," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

Jin Yue's expression eased significantly as she heaved a sigh of relief. "Good. Now then, what kind of exchange would you like to propose?"

On this occasion, Han Li didn't stall any longer and cut straight to the chase. "I want to enter the earth abyss, so I'll need you to arrange that. This special refinement method of the Kun Peng True Blood is what I'm offering in return."

IGT: Okay, so after doing some edits to this chapter I felt it reasonable to leave a note here about the names "Kun Peng" and "Tian Peng". You probably know that the Kun Peng is the mythological beast that can take the form of a bird or a fish. The first part of it's name "Kun" refers to it's fish form, and "Peng" refers to it's bird form. I spoke about this with johnchenn a while back, and he explained that the term Tian Peng translates directly into "Heavenly Peng", because their race focuses only on it's bird form.

I thought about it for a bit, wondering if every instance of "Kun" should be changed to "Tian", since Han Li only ever utilizes the bird form just like the Tian Peng race, but decided in the end that Tian Peng should just be used for the name of the race, and every other reference to their True Spirit should be Kun Peng. This chapter originally kept on calling the transformation and the true spirit blood by the name Tian Peng, reminding me of this again. I'm sure there are older chapters that switch terms around, potentially leading to some confusion, so I hope this clears it up a bit.

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"You want to enter the earth abyss?" Jin Yue was quite taken aback to hear this.

"Will that be difficult to arrange? Hasn't the Flying Spirit Race already conquered the earth abyss? It should be a simple task for you to take me there," Han Li said in a calm manner.

Jin Yue stroked the jade slip with her finger momentarily before replying with a wry smile, "If you had come 100 years earlier, then it would indeed have been a simple matter to take you into the earth abyss, but now, things are not so simple."

"Oh? Why is that?" Han Li asked.

After a brief hesitation, Jin Yue explained, "Around 100 years ago, someone stumbled upon an extremely obscure mine of precious ore on the deepest level of the earth abyss. Not only is this mine extremely important to our Flying Spirit Race, it contains an astonishing amount of ore. In order to prevent the mine from being exploited in secret, the entire earth abyss is in a state of semi-lockdown. In particular, the deepest level where the mine was found is inaccessible even to the elders of all of the races unless special permission is given."

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he smiled as he replied, "The deepest level? When did I say that I wanted to go there? I only need to go to the third level of the earth abyss."

"In that case, this certainly isn't completely non-negotiable, but if you want me to agree to this exchange, you have to disclose to me the true reason why you want to enter the earth abyss. After all, the earth abyss is now an extremely important part of the Flying Spirit Race's territory, and it could contain many hidden secrets yet to be discovered; you can't just expect me to blindly take an outsider into such an important place. The cultivation art you're offering is indeed extremely important to our Tian Peng Race, but I still can't do something so irrational," Jin Yue said in a serious manner.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, but moments later, he heaved a faint sigh, and replied, "I know what you're worried about, but rest assured, I only want to enter the third level of the earth abyss as I have an agreement with a senior, which necessitates a trip to the third level. Once there, he'll be able to guide me into a separate space. This has nothing to do with the Flying Spirit Race, so there's no conflict of interest whatsoever. That is the extent of what I'm willing to reveal."

A thought occurred to Jin Yue upon hearing this, and her expression changed drastically. "A separate space? You're already at the mid-holy race; could it be that the senior you're referring to is..." [Ok, so it seems that after reaching the holy race, everything is split up into early, mid, and late again, rather than nine tiers like the upper race.]

"That's right, but please do keep this information to yourself. This senior has some ties with our human race, and it was thanks to him that I was able to escape from the demon monarchs during my last venture into the earth abyss. I was asked by this senior to return to meet him again, so if I'm unable to do so, perhaps he won't take very kindly to your race," Han Li said in a meaningful voice.

"Are you threatening me?" Jin Yue's expression immediately darkened.

"Definitely not. However, this senior has been residing in the earth abyss for countless years, and my trip to visit him is quite important to him as well. I'm sure you wouldn't want to make such a powerful enemy for your Flying Spirit Race for no reason, right?" Han Li said with a hint of a smile.

"Hmph, how do I know if you're telling the truth?" Jin Yue harrumphed coldly.

"That's simple; you can take me to the third level of the earth abyss in person, then witness the process through which I depart. I'm sure that should erase all of your doubts and suspicions. If you feel like something is amiss, you can just prevent me from making my departure. I'm sure that would be a simple task for a late-holy race being like you. Of course, if you're still feeling hesitant, then I have no objections if you bring along more people with you," Han Li replied.

"This is indeed a good plan, but I'm still not convinced. Even several centuries ago, you were already far more powerful than your cultivation base suggested. Now that you've reached the mid-holy race, I'm not confident in my ability to keep you in check," Jin Yue said in a wary manner.

"Aren't you being a little too naive, Fellow Daoist Jin? The cultivation art I'm giving you can enhance the power of your race's Kun Peng Transformation by close to 50%. With this cultivation art, your Tian Peng Race could become one of the most powerful branches of the Flying Spirit Race in the next 10,000 years, yet you don't want to incur any risk at all for such an incredible opportunity?" Han Li said in a slightly mocking manner.

Jin Yue's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and a cold light flashed through her eyes.

"I'd advise you not to try anything silly, Fellow Daoist Jin. You should be well aware that I only dared to come here alone as I'm confident in my ability to ensure my own safety. On top of that, I haven't recorded the second half of the cultivation art into a jade slip, and it exists only in my spiritual sense. If you try to obtain it through any other methods, I can destroy it in an instant, and you can try to keep me here, but I'm not sure you have the means to do so," Han Li chuckled as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

After considering the situation for a long while, Jin Yue finally sighed, and conceded, "I wouldn't do that, Fellow Daoist Han. You once did our race a great service, so I certainly wouldn't repay kindness with ingratitude. In that case, I'll find a way to take you to the third level of the earth abyss. However, you'll have to wait for some time for us to prepare everything, so why don't you stay in our holy city during that time?"

"You've made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist Jin, but I still have some other matters to attend to, so I won't be staying in your holy city. I'll return in half a month; I'm sure that'll be enough time for you to prepare everything," Han Li said with a smile as he rose to his feet.

It was quite clear that he didn't trust the Tian Peng Race enough to stay in the holy city, and Jin Yue could only offer a wry smile. "In that case, I look forward to our meeting in half a month's time. Before you leave..." Jin Yue suddenly turned toward the entrance of the hall, and transmitted her voice outside. "Bring me the spirit tea that I asked for!"

Moments later, a servant hurriedly made her way into the hall before handing a yellow leather pouch over to Han Li.

"Thank you for the gift." Han Li swept a sleeve over the leather pouch to accept it, then cupped his fist in a farewell salute toward Jin Yue before departing.

Not long after that, a streak of azure light shot forth from the holy city, then vanished into the distance after just a few flashes.

A while later, Han Li descended onto a nondescript mountain hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the holy city. He then quickly erected a secret chamber under the mountain before setting up a profound concealment formation at the entrance.

After making his way into the secret chamber, he took a seat on the ground with his legs crossed and thought back to what he had said and done during his visit to the holy city, assessing whether he had made any errors.

After a long while, he heaved a faint sigh, and the contemplative look in his eyes faded.

On this occasion, he had intentionally revealed his Kun Peng Transformation to attract the attention of the Tian Peng Race.

With his current level of mastery of the 12 Awakening Transformations, his Kun Peng Transformation was naturally extremely powerful, far more so than the innate transformation that Tiang Peng beings possessed.

However, only Jin Yue could identify the specific disparities between the two transformations, which was why she had been so astonished at the sight of Han Li.

Of course, Han Li only dared to do something like this as he was confident he would be able to protect himself, even if all of the Tiang Peng Race elders were to turn on him. He still couldn't defeat all of them at once, but no one could stop him if he were to escape; this was something that Jin Yue was naturally also well aware of. That, in conjunction with the vastly improved Kun Peng Transformation that Han Li had displayed, was why she had acted so politely toward him in the beginning.

As for the cultivation art that he had offered as part of the exchange, that was something that he had created after taking into account his knowledge of both the 12 Awakening Transformations and the Gu Family's spirit blood refinement method.

The cultivation art would indeed be extraordinarily effective to Tian Peng beings, which was why Jin Yue had been so interested. Now that he had made this agreement with Jin Yue, he should be able to access the earth abyss with no issues.

Even though the Tian Peng Race was one of the weaker branches of the Flying Spirit Race, Jin Yue was still a late-holy race being, so this really shouldn't be too difficult for her to arrange.

Without her help, it would definitely be far more difficult for him to infiltrate the earth abyss. However, he still had to constantly be on his guard when he went back to meet Jin Yue again in case she did something hot-headed.

Of course, after he had hinted at the fact that this matter was related to a Grand Ascension Stage being, the possibility of that happening was naturally far smaller.

With that in mind, Han Li set aside that train of thought and closed his eyes to enter a meditative state.

Meanwhile, the elders of the Tian Peng Race had just departed from a large hall in the holy city following a discussion with Jin Yue. Thus, Jin Yue was left by herself on the main seat within the hall, and she seemed to be pondering something with a contemplative look on her face.

Half a month flew by in a flash, and on this day, several streaks of light flew away from the holy city, traveling deeper into Flying Spirit Race territory.

Among these streaks of light was Han Li in his usual azure robes, the white-robed Jin Yue, and a young woman with arcs of lightning flashing around her body.

The woman had a pair of large bright eyes, and she was none other than one of the Tiang Peng Race's two holy masters, Lei Lan.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I'll be sending the holy master into one of the earth abyss's secret areas to cultivate her glacial baleful secret technique, and you'll pose as her guard. Under normal circumstances, there shouldn't be issues, but you still have to be careful when undergoing checks. After all, the innate abilities that some of our high-grade Flying Spirit beings are extremely unpredictable. If the guards on duty are adept in detection secret techniques, then there could be some trouble," Jin Yue said in a serious manner.

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"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I have some confidence in my own concealment techniques. As long as I don't encounter any of your race's Grand Ascension Stage seniors, there shouldn't be any issues," Han Li said in a confident manner, and his confidence certainly wasn't baseless.

He possessed the Tian Peng True Blood within his body, and his Thunderstorm Wings had also been cultivated to the point where it was virtually a part of his body, so he would naturally have no trouble posing as a guard from the Tian Peng Race.

"I'm glad you're so confident, Fellow Daoist. Holy Master Lan, we'll be counting on you," Jin Yue replied with a nod before turning to the silver-robed woman beside her.

"Rest assured, Grand Elder; I really do have a type of secret technique that requires Glacial Baleful Qi to cultivate, and I visited the earth abyss for this very same reason several decades ago, so the guard definitely won't suspect anything," the silver-robed woman replied in a respectful manner before her gaze strayed involuntarily toward Han Li again, and there was clearly a hint of astonishment in her eyes.

Even though she had already been made aware prior to setting off that Han Li had become a mid-holy race being, she was still extremely stunned to see this for herself.

Back when they were undertaking the earth abyss trials together, she could already tell that Han Li was far more powerful than his cultivation base suggested, but it was downright absurd that he had managed to progress to the mid-holy race after just several centuries!

However, as the holy maiden, it would be unbefitting of her to let her astonishment get the better of herself, so she merely extended a respectful salute of gratitude toward Han Li for assisting her and Bai Bi during the earth abyss trials, and repressed her curiosity thereafter.

As for Bai Bi himself, he was apparently cultivating some kind of secret technique in seclusion, so he was unable to meet Han Li.

A faint smile appeared on Jin Yue's face in response to Lei Lan's reassuring words, and she nodded before falling silent again.

Thus, the three of them continued in their journey, and quickly left the holy city behind.

Several months later, Han Li's trio finally arrived at the giant city guarding the earth abyss, and from a distance, they could see a row of armored figures standing atop the city wall.

Jin Yue's eyes narrowed slightly, and she led Han Li and Lei Lan on a descent before flying toward a certain city gate.

There were a dozen or so earth abyss guards with wings of different colors situated at the azure city gate, and they were appraising Han Li's trio with wary looks on their faces.

The three of them landed in front of the guards, and at this point, Han Li had already altered his own appearance. At the same time, he had restricted his own magic power to only around the Spatial Tempering Stage.

The leader of this group of guards was a mid-Spatial Tempering Stage being, and he extended a salute toward Jin Yue before asking, "Are you from the Tian Peng Race, Senior? May I ask why you've come here? It isn't time to change the guards yet."

He was unable to glean Jin Yue's exact cultivation base, but he knew that she was definitely a holy race being.

As for Han Li and Lei Lan, they seemed to have been unconsciously ignored by him.

It was no wonder that he held such an attitude; the guards here had been constantly fighting earth abyss demons for many years, so their powers far outstripped their peers of the same cultivation base. As such, they had all developed a hint of arrogance toward beings from other branches of the Flying Spirit Race.

Jin Yue remained unbothered by this and merely smiled as she raised a hand, upon which a blue jade badge shot forth out of her sleeve before landing in the guard's hand.

The guard was rather perplexed by this, but upon inspecting the jade badge, his expression immediately changed as he returned the badge respectful with both hands, then said, "Forgive me for my rudeness, Senior Jin, I didn't recognize you as the grand elder the Tian Peng Race."

"According to the agreement signed by all the races, the grand elders have the right to access the earth abyss at any time, so I'm sure you'll have no issues granting me passage, right?" Jin Yue said as she took the jade badge back from the guard.

"Of course," the guard immediately replied before waving a hand, upon which all of the guards stepped away to the side, opening up a passageway for Han Li's trio.

Jin Yue merely nodded upon seeing this before leading Han Li and Lei Lan in through the city gate.

On the other side of the city gate, Han Li was greeted by the sight of a series of cylindrical pavilions that were each around 300 to 400 feet tall. They were situated in dense clusters and spread over most of the city.

However, there were very few people inside the city; only a few groups of guards that were patrolling the entire city at low altitudes.

"Let's go, there's no reason to delay here." Jin Yue transmitted her voice to Han Li and Lei Lan before rising up into the air and flying toward the city wall on the other side.

Han Li and Lei Lan naturally followed along behind her.

Two hours later, they arrived in front of another massive azure wall, and on one face of the wall, there was a giant shimmering silver formation that had been carved onto its surface.

In front of the formation was another group of guards wearing suits of armor of different colors. However, what was rather strange was aside from these guards, there was also an azure-armored middle-aged man seated atop a futon with his eyes tightly shut.

Han Li's heart immediately stirred at the sight of this man, and Jin Yue's pupils also abruptly contracted.

This man was none other than the general of the guards of this place, Jin Feng. Han Li had met him once in the past, and he knew that this man was a being at the pinnacle of the holy race.

It appeared that he was guarding the entrance to the earth abyss in person.

Jin Yue was slightly flustered by this unexpected occurrence, but her expression remained calm as she smiled, and said, "I'm quite surprised to see you here, General Jin. It's been several centuries since we last met; how have you been?"

The azure-armored slowly opened his eyes upon hearing Jin Yue's words before replying, "Ah, long time no see, Fairy Jin. Why have you come here rather than staying in the Tian Peng Race to cultivate?"

"I should be asking you that; since when did the entrance to the earth abyss require General Jin to guard?" Jin Yue asked with a smile.

"Under normal circumstances, I naturally wouldn't be tasked with this duty, but a major event recently took place, so I had no choice but to take on this role," Jin Feng replied in a calm manner.

"Major event?" Jin Yue was rather taken aback to hear this.

"Around a month ago, I received news that someone had robbed the warehouse on the deepest level of the earth abyss and plundered all of the precious ore we'd mined during the past few years. In the process, he also killed and wounded many of the guards, and he's quite a powerful being. I've already sent a large number of guards into the earth abyss to investigate. This is the only entrance and exit to the earth abyss, and normal guards wouldn't be able to stop that man if he were to try and escape, so I had to take on this role," Jin Feng explained with a smile.

"I see. If I recall correctly, isn't Elder Qin situated on the deepest level of the earth abyss? Was the thief able to overpower even Elder Qin?" Jin Yue asked in an incredulous voice.

"The thief was very cunning, and struck right when Elder Qin left the mine for half a day as he had some other matters to attend to. By the time he received news of what had happened, the thief had already fled the scene. Now then, can you tell me why you've come here, Fairy Jin? Grand elders do indeed have the right to access the earth abyss at will, but you have to have a legitimate reason," Jin Feng said as a serious look appeared on his face.

"Holy Master Lei Lan of our race needs to draw upon Glacial Baleful Qi to cultivate, so she has to enter the earth abyss," Jin Yue explained with a smile as she pointed to Lei Lan.

Lei Lan immediately stepped forward in an obedient manner before extending a respectful curtsey toward Jin Feng. "Lei Lan pays her respects to Senior Jin."

"Ah, yes, I've heard from my subordinates that there is indeed a precedent of Holy Master Lei entering the earth abyss for this purpose. In that case, you'll naturally be granted passage. On top of that, with Fairy Jin in accompaniment, I'm sure your safety won't be an issue even with the current ongoing situation in the earth abyss. However, who is that man, and why does he need to accompany you?" Jin Feng asked with furrowed brows as he turned his gaze to Han Li.

"This is a junior of mine, and he possesses outstanding aptitude as well. He's currently acting as Holy Master Lei Lan's personal guard, so he'll be accompanying us into the earth abyss," Jin Yue replied in a calm manner.

"If Holy Master Lei already has you to accompany her, why would she still need a guard? I don't think there's any need for him to enter the abyss. With the current situation, it's best to have as few people enter the earth abyss as possible," Jin Feng said as he inspected Han Li through narrowed eyes.

Lei Lan and Han Li's expressions both changed slightly upon hearing this, but Jin Yue wasn't panicked in the slightest as she shook her head, and insisted, "I'm afraid that won't do. Junior Han may only be a guard, but he shares a very close bond with Holy Master Lei Lan, and he'll be very important for her cultivation, so he must accompany us into the earth abyss. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken him all the way here."

"What do you mean by that, Fairy Jin? How could a guard like him be connected with Holy Master Lei's cultivation?" Jin Feng asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice.

Jin Yue merely smiled before transmitting her voice directly to Jin Feng, and initially, Jin Feng was rather perplexed, but an enlightened look quickly appeared on his face, followed by a meaningful smile.

"I see. In that case, it's not in my place to say anything. All three of you will be granted passage," Jin Feng said as he cast his gaze toward Han Li and Lei Lan with a peculiar look in his eyes.

Han Li and Lei Lan didn't show it, but they were quite confused by this situation. However, seeing as they had been granted passage, the two of them naturally immediately expressed their gratitude toward Jin Feng.

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Thus, Jin Feng waved a hand, and some of the guards immediately stepped forward before purple wooden badges appeared in their hands amid flashes of spiritual light.

The wooden badges glowed bright, and two purple pillars of light shot forth before vanishing into the center of the formation on the wall in a flash.

A buzzing sound immediately rang out from the silver formation, following which a giant silver gate appeared on that section of the city wall.

The gate was several hundred feet tall and gave off a very cold light, looking as if it had been constructed entirely from metal.

Jin Feng then began to chant something before sweeping a sleeve toward the gate, and a burst of azure light erupted forth. As a result, the gate was slowly opened.

"Thank you for your efforts, Fellow Daoist," Jin Yue said with a smile.

She then led Han Li and Lei Lan through the giant gate as three streaks of light, quickly vanishing into the world beyond the gate.

Jin Feng stood in front of the giant gate and looked on as they disappeared from view. He had a contemplative look on his face, as if there were a nagging concern in his heart.

"Perhaps I'm just being too paranoid. I did sense something slightly off about that guard, but there shouldn't be any issues. Jin Yue is the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race, so she wouldn't do anything detrimental to the Flying Spirit Race," Jin Feng murmured to himself before issuing an instruction to have the gate closed again. After that, he sat down at his original spot again before closing his eyes.

On the other side, Han Li's trio was situated beneath a massive sea of mist, flying toward the entrance to the earth abyss.

Back when Han Li had been a Deity Transformation cultivator, flying through these winds had been a slightly difficult task. However, now that he was at the mid-Body Integration Stage, they naturally posed no impediment to him at all.

Even when he encountered those black glacial winds at the end, they were all easily repelled as a layer of azure light flashed from his body.

As for Lei Lan, she was being protected by Jin Yue, so her safety was naturally ensured.

Not long after that, they were greeted by the sight of the earth abyss entrance, which resembled a gigantic funnel.

Han Li looked down at the giant funnel through narrowed eyes before descending toward it without any hesitation.

Jin Yue and Lei Lan exchanged a glance before also doing the same.

After entering the earth abyss, Han Li was immediately buffeted by fierce winds from all directions, and everything was quite similar to when he had last entered the place.

Around 10 minutes later, he suddenly stopped in his descent, and at this point, he had finally entered the first level of the earth abyss.

However, as he inspected his surroundings, his brows immediately furrowed slightly. He was situated in the air above a murky grey swamp. There was a faint layer of green mist over the swamp, and it was giving off a faint odor of decaying plant matter.

It was quite clear that this wasn't the same place he had entered through last time.

Han Li turned to Jin Yue, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Jin, do you know where this place is and whether it's close to the entrance to the second level?"

"According to the map, this place is around half a day of travel away from the entrance to the second level. I suggest you take some precautions, Fellow Daoist; the poison from the swamp down below poses no threat to us, but there are special flowers that grow exclusively here, and they are home to swarms of poisonous hornets that are quite troublesome," Jin Yue replied as she looked down at the swamp below.

Now that the entire earth abyss had been conquered by the Flying Spirit Race, the map had become far clearer and more detailed than before, so Jin Yue was able to identify this place right away.

"Hornets, eh?" Han Li merely smiled upon hearing this.

Thus, after a brief discussion to determine the direction they should be progressing toward, they continued on their journey.

Half a day later, Han Li's trio appeared in the air above a certain mountain range. After flying for close to two more hours, they arrived near a strange mountain at the center of the mountain range.

This mountain was rather strange as the entire mountain was split into two halfway up, making it resemble a massive "人" character. The entire mountain was of a bare and barren grey color, and according to the map, this was where the entrance to the second level was situated.

Thus far, their journey had been very smooth. They did encounter some hornets over the swamp, but Han Li took care of them with ease with his swords, and after that, they barely encountered any further obstacles, so they almost weren't delayed at all.

It seemed that most of the low-grade demons on the first level had been wiped out. That made sense considering how those low-grade demons didn't have much value, so there was naturally no need for the Flying Spirit Race to keep them around.

Just as they were about to fly under the mountain, Han Li's expression suddenly changed momentarily before immediately returning to normal.

In contrast, Jin Yue suddenly stopped right in front of the mountain, and yelled with a dark expression, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

The space near the entrance of the mountain suddenly twisted and warped, following which a winged humanoid figure appeared out of thin air before extending a respectful bow toward Jin Yue. "Ming Zhen pays his respects to Grand Elder Jin and Holy Master Lei!"

This was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage man from the Tian Peng Race, and he wore a suit of blue armor.

The same scenes unfolded nearby as five more humanoid figures emerged one after another. However, these people merely extended salutes toward Jin Yue, but didn't say anything.

Everyone in this group was at the Spatial Tempering Stage.

Jin Yue could sense astonishing baleful auras emanating from their bodies, and she said, "Greetings, Junior Ming Zhen. If you're here, then that must mean they're all members of the law-enforcement squad as well. Could it be that you're hiding here to ambush the person who robbed the mine warehouse?"

"So you've already heard about what's happened; indeed, we were ordered to guard this entrance, Grand Elder. Why have you and Holy Master Lei come here?" the male Tian Peng being asked in a slightly hesitant manner.

"I heard about what happened from General Jin. As for why I'm here with Holy Master Lei Lan, that's because we have some important matters to attend to here in the earth abyss; we won't be staying here for too long," Jin Yue explained without going into any detail.

"I see. In that case, I won't delay you any longer. If you encounter that thief on the lower levels, please detain him. The entire second level is being guarded by the law-enforcement squad, so he should still be hiding on one of the lower levels," the male Tian Peng being said in a respectful manner.

"Hehe, I'll be sure to step in if I encounter anyone suspicious. Make sure to guard this place well; I'll be leaving with Holy Master Lei Lan now." Jin Yue nodded before immediately continuing on toward the mountain, and soon, Han Li's trio had vanished under the mountain.

After Han Li's trio had departed, a grey-winged Flying Spirit being turned to Ming Zhen, and said, "Is that the grand elder of your race, Brother Ming Zhen? She really is unfathomably powerful as the rumors suggest! With the presence of this Grand Elder Jin, your Tian Peng Race won't have to worry about its survival for at least the next few tens of thousands of years. Come to think of it, who was that other man? He seems to have a similar cultivation base to ours, but I don't think I've ever seen him before."

"Grand Elder Jin is naturally an extremely important figure in our race, but the main reason behind why none of the other races have targeted our Tian Peng Race is due to the existence of our two holy masters. As for the man who was accompanying them, I haven't seen him before, either. However, that's not anything to be surprised about. Our Tian Peng Race has always been one of the weaker branches of the Flying Spirit Race, but our population still numbers in the hundreds of millions; are you just going to be suspicious toward every single unfamiliar face you see?" Ming Zhen replied with a slightly dark expression, clearly not impressed by the suspicions raised by the grey-winged being.

"Hehe, I was only asking out of curiosity, Brother Zhen; I naturally have full trust in the grand elder and holy master of your race," the grey-winged man replied in a slightly sheepish manner.

"Alright, this is not the place to be having a chat; don't forget that we're still on a mission. Hide yourselves right away," a woman with a pair of pristine white horns on her head and a pair of purple wings on her back suddenly said.

Thus, the conversation was abruptly abandoned, and everyone hurriedly nodded in response, seemingly quite wary of this woman.

All six of the Tian Peng beings present made their own hand seals, and they all vanished into thin air again.

Meanwhile, Han Li's trio was situated within a cloud of black mist, and they were flying in a downward direction.

"Looks like the warehouse robber really is quite powerful; even an entrance like this one is being guarded by six Great Spirit Generals. It seems that the thief is either a holy race being or possesses powers on that level," Jin Yue said as she flew, and there was a hint of mockery in her voice.

"Oh? It sounds like you're not overly concerned about this mine," Han Li remarked.

"Why should I care about it? The mine is supposedly there to benefit all of the branches in the Flying Spirit Race, but in reality, most of the ore mined from it are taken by the handful of the most powerful branches; our Tian Peng Race barely gets anything," Jin Yue chuckled coldly in response.

"I see. It looks like even though your Tian Peng Race managed to avoid being wiped out, your situation still isn't a very optimistic one," Han Li said in a contemplative manner.

"If not for this, I wouldn't have agreed to this deal in exchange for that cultivation art. With that cultivation art up our sleeve, the Tian Peng Race will definitely become a force to be reckoned with again in just a few tens of thousands of years. Speaking of which, you'd best make sure that there are no issues with that second half of the cultivation art, Fellow Daoist Han," Jin Yue said in a meaningful voice.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; once we reach the agreed location, I'll issue the second half of the cultivation art to you right away for examination. If there are any issues, I'll take full accountability," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Good." Jin Yue gave a clipped response before falling silent.

Moments later, the black mist began to thin out, and they finally arrived on the second level of the earth abyss.

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The second level was naturally far more perilous than the first one, but it still posed no threat to Han Li and the others. After checking the map to verify their location, they traveled west for three days and three nights in succession.

Along the way, they slew some mid-grade demons and encountered several groups of law-enforcing cultivators. Even the weakest of these cultivators were at the Deity Transformation Stage, and there were even some holy race beings among them.

Jin Yue was the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race, so these law-enforcing cultivators naturally granted her passage without much interrogation.

However, Jin Yue was gradually becoming more and more unsettled by this. It was very strange that they had deployed so many people just to hunt down a single thief. Could it be that there were some hidden details involved in this matter?

Jin Yue had been the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race for many years, so she was naturally far more intelligent and sensitive than the average being. However, despite her growing suspicions, she made no outward displays of her emotions.

Thus, the three of them found the entrance to the third level quite easily, hidden beneath an underground river.

After drifting with the flow of the water for several hours, Han Li's trio arrived on the third level of the earth abyss.

Three days later, Han Li's trio was flying over a set of barren plains that was littered with rocks, when all of a sudden, they felt a disturbance in the world's origin Qi in the distance. Immediately thereafter, a streak of silver light appeared in the distant sky, followed by a resounding boom that made the entire earth tremor violently.

Han Li and Jin Yue's expressions both changed drastically as they exchanged a glance with one another.

"It seems like there are people fighting over there, Fellow Daoist Jin. Should we go and have a look?" Han Li asked after a brief hesitation.

"If there are any law-enforcement squad members nearby, it would be apparent to them that we're hiding something if we don't go and investigate such a massive commotion," Jin Yue said.

"In that case, let's go and have a look." Han Li didn't want to have to take any detours, but he knew that Jin Yue was right, so he agreed with a quick nod.

Lei Lan naturally had no objections, either, so the three of them changed directions and flew toward the place where the silver lightning had just flashed from.

After flying for close to 10,000 kilometers, they finally stopped and looked down at the carnage below with different expressions on their faces.

A massive crater with a radius of several hundred feet had appeared on the ground below, and everything around the crater was completely charred black.

There was a faint odor of scorched earth wafting through the air, and it seemed that this was the result of a lightning strike.

All of a sudden, Han Li raised a hand before making a grabbing motion toward a certain spot on the edge of the giant crater.

An item immediately flew out from under some rubble before landing in his grasp. He inspected the item to find that it was a damaged blue dagger. Even though there were cracks running all over its surface, it was still shimmering with spiritual light, indicating that it was quite a powerful treasure.

"Looks like everyone was reduced to dust by that bolt of lightning, and even their bonded treasures didn't manage to survive. It's quite incredible that just a single bolt of lightning was able to kill a group of Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators. What are your thoughts, Fellow Daoist Han?" Jin Yue suddenly asked.

"Even from thousands of kilometers away, we could sense how ferocious this bolt of lightning was, so it's quite clear that the perpetrator is most likely extremely adept in lightning abilities. On top of that, I can sense a faint baleful aura from this dagger which still hasn't dissipated even following the death of its owner, so the victims should be members of the law-enforcement squad," Han Li replied in an assured manner as he tossed the dagger aside.

Jin Yue waved a hand through the air, and several other damaged treasures flew out from under piles of rubble. After inspecting the treasures, she nodded in agreement. "Indeed, I can sense the auras of three people who recently passed away here, and they were most likely killed by the mine warehouse thief."

"So that man is powerful enough to kill three law-enforcement squad members at once?" Lei Lan was quite alarmed to hear this.

"That's not all that remarkable. If he didn't have at least this much power, he wouldn't dare to do something so brazen. No one else has arrived on the scene aside from us, so it seems that there aren't any other members of the law-enforcement squad nearby. However, the squad members have all cultivated a sensory secret technique, someone will definitely be arriving soon; let's get out of here before that," Jin Yue said.

"Indeed, there are only several days of travel left until we reach our destination. The sooner we get there, the sooner we'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief," Han Li agreed.

Lei Lan also nodded in a contemplative manner. Thus, the three of them rose up into the air and continued onward as streaks of light.

Only after over half a day had passed did a dozen or so streaks of light arrive at the giant crater. At this point, Han Li's trio was already millions of kilometers away.

Seven days later, Han Li was situated over a black undulating mountain range with a white disk in his hand. There were several tens of small azure swords flying around him, and they were shredding hordes of oncoming giant crow-like demon beasts, sending their blood cascading down from above.

Standing beside Han Li was Jin Yue, and she was holding a golden mirror, which was expelling bolts of golden lightning that were shredding the nearby demon beasts into pieces.

As for Lei Lan, she was making a hand seal with a solemn look on her face, conjuring up a small net of silver lightning that had completely enveloped her entire body.

Occasionally, a demonic bird would crash into the lightning net, only to be instantly reduced to dust amid a loud thunderclap.

After flying onward for another hour, the black demonic birds finally began to thin our, and in the end, they dispersed and flew away after a few shrill cries.

Han Li's trio naturally withdrew their treasures and abilities upon seeing this before continuing on their journey.

For the rest of the journey, Han Li would occasionally glance down at the disk in his hand, which was clearly guiding him toward the correct location.

All of a sudden, a buzzing sound rang out from the disk, and white light began to swirl around it as it activated on its own.

"This is the place!" Han Li said in an ecstatic manner as he hurriedly stopped on the spot. Jin Yue and Lei Lan also stopped beside him.

"Is this really the right place? The surrounding space is very stable, and there doesn't seem to be any spatial nodes here," Jin Yue said as she looked around with her brows furrowed in skepticism.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; that senior gave me these coordinates, so they can't be wrong," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Alright, I'll trust your judgment then, Fellow Daoist Han. Seeing as I brought you here as promised, isn't it time you gave me the second half of the cultivation art?" Jin Yue asked with a serious look on her face.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; I wouldn't go back on my word. Here is the second half of the cultivation art," Han Li said with a smile as he turned a hand over to reveal a yellow jade slip, which he tossed to Jin Yue with a flick of his wrist.

Jin Yue's eyes immediately lit up as she caught the jade slip, then immediately pressed it against her own forehead.

Han Li then swept a sleeve through the air, and five five-colored formation flags flew out from within before revolving around him. The formation flags then transformed into five-colored pillars of light that erupted into the heavens.

He then made a hand seal before casting a dozen or so incantation seals in succession, all of which vanished into the pillars of light in a flash. Immediately thereafter, a five-colored light formation appeared at the center of the pillars of light, and it was glowing with bright and piercing spiritual light.

Han Li then began to chant something as one top-grade spirit stone after another flew out of his sleeve. Soon, over 100 such spirit stones had been released, and they all disappeared into the light formation.

Immediately thereafter, he tossed the disk in his hand forward, and it hovered in front of him as he flicked his fingers toward it in quick succession, seemingly working to activate it.

Lei Lan observed everything in silence, and as bright light began to glow from the disk, she couldn't help but turn to Jin Yue with a hint of concern in her eyes.

Jin Yue's eyes were still closed at this point, but there was clearly an elated expression on her face, so it seemed that the second half of the cultivation art was authentic. Lei Lan naturally heaved a faint sigh of relief upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, Han Li let loose a low cry before pointing a finger at the disk. At this point, it had transformed into a ball of white light, and it slowly hovered toward the center of the five-colored light formation, then fused as one with the formation amid a dull thump.

At this moment, Han Li stopped what he was doing and turned to Jin Yue. "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Jin? Is there anything you're dissatisfied with?"

"Not at all. This is indeed the second half of the cultivation art, and I must thank you on behalf of our entire race for this precious gift," Jin Yue replied in an extremely pleased manner as she finally withdrew her spiritual sense from the jade slip.

"Hehe, there's no need to thank me; this was a mutually beneficial trade, after all. In that case, I'll be taking my leave," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a parting salute.

Jin Yue returned his salute with a smile, and said, "I wish you the best of luck, Fellow Daoist Han!"

"Hehe, thank you for your kind words. Holy Master Lei, I wish you luck in progressing to the holy race soon," Han Li chuckled as he turned his gaze to Lei Lan.

"Thank you, Senior; I'll be sure to work hard," Lei Lan replied with a curtsey and a rather complex look on her face.

"Alright, it's time for me to leave." Han Li gave the two women a quick nod before stepping into the five-colored light formation, following which a burst of chanting immediately rang out.

A burst of loud rumbling then suddenly erupted from the light formation, and countless silver runes surged forth in a frenzy. The white ball of light at the center of the formation also swelled to several times its original size, taking up almost the entire light formation.

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The entire formation began to flash with silver runes and white light, and specks of starlight flashed within it to form a radiant galaxy. It was quite clear that the formation had been activated to the limit of its power.

A solemn look appeared on Jin Yue's face upon seeing this, but in the next instant, her expression abruptly changed as she yelled, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, she extended a hand out of her sleeve before making a grabbing motion, and a burst of enormous invisible force erupted forth.

The invisible force converged toward what was seemingly nothing more than thin air, but a ball of silver lightning suddenly exploded there, and a silver snake shot forth from within the lightning before pouncing toward the light formation.

The silver snake was astonishingly fast and was completely immune to the influence of the tremendous force being exerted upon it.

Jin Yue faltered slightly upon seeing this, and before she had a chance to react, the silver snake had plunged headfirst into the light formation.

Almost at the exact same moment, a sharp piercing cry rang out from within the massive light formation, following which a pillar of white light erupted forth. The pillar of light tore through over 10,000 feet of space in an instant, then vanished into a black hole that emerged out of thin air.

Only then did the five-colored light formation fade away, leaving only a shattered white disk behind.

Lei Lan looked on in a flabbergasted manner, and only after a while did she return to her senses. "Who was that, Grand Elder? They seem to have been teleported away along with Senior Han!"

"I don't know, but that person was using an extremely remarkable lightning cultivation art that allowed them to disregard my powers. He's most likely the thief that the law-enforcement squad is hunting for," Jin Yue replied with a dark expression.

"What? Will Senior Han be in danger, then?" Lei Lan drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han's powers are most likely not inferior to mine; even that thief won't be able to best Fellow Daoist Han in battle. However, the fact that he was lurking nearby indicates that he's most likely been following us ever since we visited that giant crater several days ago, yet neither Fellow Daoist Han nor I were able to sense him, so he must possess incredible concealment abilities. It's no wonder that even after deploying so many people, the law-enforcement squad was still unable to hunt him down. However..." Jin Yue's voice suddenly trailed off as a perplexed look appeared on her face.

"What is it?" Lei Lan asked.

"That man's aura was rather strange; it seemed to be have been intermingled with a beastly aura that resembles that of the Lightningcloud Falcon of the primordial world, but it's not exactly the same," Jin Yue explained in a hesitant manner.

"A beastly aura? Could it have belonged to a spirit beast that he owns?" Lei Lan asked.

"I don't think so. The aura was completely integrated with his aura, and they seem more like constituent parts of a whole rather than two separate entities. In any case, we've achieved our objective, so let's leave this place right away. We came here under the guise that you were going to cultivate in the glacial baleful area, so we have to go there to avoid suspicion. That teleportation formation created quite a massive commotion just now, so there are most likely going to be people arriving on the scene soon," Jin Yue said.

"You're right, Grand Elder," Lei Lan agreed with a nod.

Thus, Jin Yue swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of light that scattered the remnant fluctuations left behind by the light formation, then flew away with Lei Lan as two streaks of light.

Elsewhere, within a space that was filled with murky white mist, Han Li was standing mid-air, looking at the man who had barged his way into the teleportation formation with a peculiar look on his face.

"I didn't I'd meet you again, let alone under these circumstances! I presume you must the one who's been stealing from the mine warehouse," Han Li said.

In the instant before he was teleported away, he had discovered that someone else had barged into the formation, but the teleportation had already commenced at that point, so he could only allow that person to be teleported into the infernal river with him.

However, never did he think that this man would be someone that he recognized.

"Oh? From the sounds of it, you seem to know who I am." Standing several hundred feet away from Han Li was a thin middle-aged man in a set of long blue robes.

He wore a faint smile on his face, and was quite calm and collected.

"How has that Lightning Beast of yours been developing, Fellow Daoist Yu? I'm sure it must've played a big role in your progression to the holy race," Han Li said as a cold smile appeared on his face.

The man's calm expression instantly transformed into one of bewilderment upon hearing mention of the term "Lightning Beast", and he yelled, "Who are you? How do you know about the Lightning Beast?"

At the same time, his terrifying early-Body Integration Stage aura was released toward Han Li without any reservation.

This man was none other than the shopkeeper with the Yu surname that Han Li had last met in the holy city of the Tian Peng Race. [1]

At the time, the shopkeeper had promised Han Li an Azure Shifting Fruit in exchange for his services to help him tame a certain Lightning Beast. Two other Spatial Tempering cultivators had also been recruited for the task, but in the end, after they had successfully helped the shopkeeper tame the Lightning Beast, the latter had turned on them and tried to kill them.

Only after displaying his extraordinary powers did Han Li manage to survive that ordeal, and the shopkeeper had begrudgingly given him an Azure Shifting Fruit core before they parted ways.

At the time, he had already realized that this was a very mysterious figure who definitely wasn't an ordinary Tian Peng being. The fact that he had progressed to the early-holy race after just several hundred years further vindicated Han Li's suspicions toward him.

However, Han Li was now far more powerful than he had been in the past, and even though he had restricted his own aura to the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, that was still completely incomparable to his past cultivation base. On top of that, he had also altered his own appearance, so it was no wonder that the shopkeeper had been unable to recognize him.

In the face of the astonishing spiritual pressure the man was releasing, Han Li's expression remained calm, and in the next instant, he also released a burst of spiritual pressure that should only belong to holy race beings.

A resounding boom rang out as the two bursts of spiritual pressure clashed, then nullified one another, indicating that they were evenly matched.

"You're also an early-holy race being?" Shopkeeper Yu's heart immediately jolted upon seeing this.

He had been following Han Li's trio from afar, and after seeing that Han Li had a way to leave the earth abyss, he had barged into Han Li's teleportation formation without any hesitation. He had thought that Han Li was only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, so he hadn't been overly wary of him. If he had known Han Li's true cultivation base in advance, he may not have followed through with his initial plan.

A faint smiled appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and in the next instant, the spiritual pressure he released became even more powerful.

"You're a mid-holy race being! Who are you? There's no way I wouldn't recognize a mid-holy race being from the Flying Spirit Race!" Shopkeeper Yu exclaimed as his pupils contracted drastically.

However, what was rather surprising was that he still seemed to be quite calm and wasn't displaying any signs of panic.

"Who I am isn't important. You must've plundered a lot of precious ore from the mine warehouse, right? I'm not going to ask for anything excessive; hand over all of the ore you stole, and I'll let you go free. That will act as your payment for hitching a ride in my teleportation formation," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner, displaying no intention of revealing his own identity.

"I see, so you want the materials that I took from the warehouse. Indeed, I was only able to escape from the earth abyss using your teleportation formation, so it's only right that I issued some payment to you." As opposed to being enraged by Han Li's demands, Shopkeeper Yu merely chuckled before flipping a hand over to reveal a blue storage bracelet, then tossed it to Han Li with a flick of his wrist.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but a thought then immediately occurred to him, and a cold look appeared in his eyes at the sight of the oncoming bracelet.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and golden light flashed as the bracelet was sliced in half. Instead of anything dropping out of the bracelet, a loud thunderclap erupted, and it transformed into a net of blue lightning that descended toward him.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated this in advance. He abruptly flapped his wings, and a thunderclap rang out, following which a silver net of lightning also erupted from behind him.

The two nets of lightning clashed, and the silver lightning transformed into a strange lightning formation. The blue lightning net was sucked into the lightning formation in an instant, and it was unable to unleash any of its power.

Shopkeeper Yu's heart jolted upon seeing this, while Han Li merely pointed a finger at the lightning formation, and it vanished following a loud thunderclap.

"I can forgive you just this once. Here's a second chance; hand over the ore, and I'll let you leave. Otherwise, hehe..." Han Li chuckled coldly as killing intent flashed through his eyes.

This Shopkeeper Yu had tried to kill him several hundred years ago, and if it weren't for the fact that Han Li was more powerful than he had expected, he would most likely have tried to kill Han Li here as well.

As such, Han Li naturally wasn't going to show him any kindness. In fact, he was already letting him off the hook by granting him freedom in exchange for the ore that he had stolen.

Of course, if he didn't want to comply, then Han Li certainly wouldn't mind putting an end to his life.

The man's ability to remain calm in this situation indicated that he had some trump cards up his sleeve, but with Han Li's current powers, he naturally wasn't going to be fearful of him.

"Looks like you know me quite well. In that case..." After some contemplation, Shopkeeper Yu feigned a resigned expression and seemed to be about to concede, but right at this moment, a dozen or so transparent thin needles suddenly appeared behind Han Li.

These needles then shot forth toward Han Li as silver threads, and at the same time, a loud thunderclap erupted above him.

A ball of lightning emerged out of thin air, consisting of three colors, which were gold, silver, and blue.

Within the lightning was a half-human half-bird beast, and it opened its mouth to expel three thick bolts of lightning at once.

[1] IGT: Han Li first meets this guy in Chapter 1421 (near the end of the chapter)

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A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and his body blurred, leaving only an afterimage for the silver threads to pierce through.

Immediately thereafter, bright golden light erupted above his head, and a golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged. As soon as it appeared, the projection thrust all six of its palms forward at once, releasing six pillars of golden light.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and despite the astonishing power imbued within the three bolts of lightning, they were still destroyed by the six pillars of light in the end.

Before the strange beast up above could unleash another attack, Han Li flapped his wings and vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, a loud thunderclap rang out over 200 feet away, and he re-emerged with a cold expression.

"So it seems you insist on a fight. In that case, I'll send you on your way and settle our differences once and for all!" As soon as his voice trailed off, the golden projection behind him took on a substantial form and manifested into the Provenance Golden Body.

After that, he quickly laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and an inky-black Nascent Soul emerged, then disappeared into the golden body as a burst of black Qi.

The golden body immediately opened all six of its eyes at once, and it swung its six arms through the air, summoning a giant golden blade in each hand. The golden blades were then swung through the air in unison, and countless streaks of golden sword Qi surged forth in a frenzy.

After that, the golden body itself pounced directly toward the beast in the air above.

The beast within the lightning let loose a roar of fury upon seeing this, and countless balls of silver lightning appeared around it. At the same time, it flapped its wings, and countless feathers shot forth like arrows before transforming into bolts of blue lightning.

The balls of silver lightning and bolts of blue lightning were all quite powerful, but they were instantly reduced to tatters by the countless streaks of devastating sword Qi.

The golden body appeared right before the beast in a flash, and its six blades transformed into wagon-wheel-sized golden balls of light that hurtled directly toward the beast.

A vicious light flashed through the beast's eyes upon seeing this, and light flashed from its two arms before they transformed into a hammer and an awl.

Immediately thereafter, it let loose a loud screech and swung both the hammer and awl through the air. A halo of crimson light appeared around its body alongside arcs of golden lightning, and it flew directly toward the six balls of golden light without any fear or inhibitions.

Streaks of sword Qi instantly intertwined with bolts of lightning, and the two seemed to be evenly matched.

Shopkeeper Yu was stunned to see that even the Lightning Beast was unable to take care of Han Li.

He was more aware than anyone of just how powerful this Lightning Beast of his was. The lightning released by this beast appeared to be quite ordinary, but in reality, every single bolt was capable of killing a Spatial Tempering cultivator.

The law-enforcement squad members that had managed to chase him down on the third level of the earth abyss had been slain by none other than this Lightning Beast.

Despite his astonishment, he immediately made a hand seal with a hand that was hidden within his sleeve. At the same time, a dull thump rang out from behind him, and a burst of five-colored light erupted forth, then transformed into a giant peacock projection.

"You're a Five Light being!" Han Li was rather taken aback to see this.

"Hehe, why don't you come and see for yourself," Shopkeeper Yu chuckled coldly as the peacock projection transformed into a vibrant sea of five-colored light that surged toward Han Li from afar.

The space in the wake of the sea of five-colored light twisted and warped violently, as if it were threatening to make the entire sky cave in.

At the same time, the silver threads that had missed Han Li earlier shot forth again before vanishing into thin air in a flash.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and blue light flashed through his eyes, following which purple light erupted from his body. A vibrant green figure then separated itself from him before positioning itself right behind him.

The dozen or so silver thread shot forth through the air and plunged straight into the green figure, but it was as if they had struck a dead log.

At this moment, the spiritual light flashing from the green figure's body faded, revealing it to be a green-skinned "Han Li" with purple patterns all over its body.

This was naturally the spirit body that Han Li had cultivated using that immortal zoysia.

Having been regularly nourished by the green liquid from the mysterious small vial, the spirit body now possessed early-Body Integration Stage powers. Furthermore, it was at the pinnacle of the early-Body Integration Stage and was only one step away from progressing to the mid-Body Integration Stage. On top of that, after reaching the Body Integration Stage, this spirit body had attained several incredible abilities, so it was now one of Han Li's trump cards.

Han Li immediately released a wisp of his spiritual sense to control the spirit body, and he was quite eager to see just what it was capable of in battle.

After the silver threads had pierced into the spirit body, they revealed themselves to be a dozen or so silver needles.

What was quite alarming was that the skin on the spirit body around the areas where the silver needles were embedded had turned completely black, and a repugnant odor was being emitted from the affected area.

These silver needles were clearly all extremely poisonous, and they were squirming violently in an attempt to embed themselves even deeper into the spirit body's chest.

However, the green-skinned "Han Li" merely harrumphed coldly, and a layer of purple patterns suddenly appeared on its chest, causing the skin there to turn into a grey color. As a result, the needles were unable to advance any further, and it was as if they had been trapped in a wall of iron and steel.

Immediately thereafter, the green-skinned "Han Li" lowered its head and blew out a burst of green light alongside a fragrant breath onto its own chest.

An astonishing scene then ensued!

As the green light swept over its chest, its blackened skin quickly returned to its normal green color, and the silver needles tremored before being plucked out one by one, then swallowed by the green-skinned "Han Li". Shopkeeper Yu was truly becoming quite alarmed upon seeing this. However, even as a slightly panicked look flashed through his eyes, he gritted his teeth and rapidly made a series of hand seals to further increase the rate at which he was releasing his own magic power.

With this new influx of magic power, the sea of five-colored light emitted a faint buzzing sound, and countless runes appeared above it. These runes then formed layers of profound restrictions that crashed down toward Han Li.

A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this. He had cultivated the 12 Awakening Transformations, and he also possessed Five-colored Peacock True Blood, so he was naturally extremely familiar with the Five Light Race's Five-colored Divine Light ability. However, this sea of light was several times more powerful than the Five-colored Divine Light that he was familiar with.

If it weren't for the fact that he could sense the familiar aura of the Five-colored Peacock within the sea of light, he would've thought that this was an entirely different ability altogether.

It was no wonder that Shopkeeper Yu still decided to attack him without any hesitation despite the disparity in their cultivation bases; just this Five-colored Divine Light alone would be enough to take down the average mid-Body Integration cultivator.

If a normal Body Integration Stage cultivator were to be swept up by this sea of light and trapped within the restrictions inside it, it would be quite difficult for them to free themselves.

However, Han Li merely looked on at the sea of five-colored light with a cold smile on his face. All of a sudden, the spirit body beside him fused into his body again, vanishing like a projection.

Han Li then suddenly rolled down onto the ground, and five-colored light flashed from his body as he transformed into a Five-colored Peacock that was several tens of feet in length. The sea of light crashed down onto the Five-colored Peacock and completely inundated its body, but the peacock merely flapped its wings and flew out of the sea of light with ease. The layers of restrictions imbued within the five-colored sea of light seemed to be completely ineffective against it.

Even though he was unable to release Five-colored Divine Light that was anywhere near as powerful as the opposing light in his Five-colored Peacock form, it was a simple task for him to withstand his opponent's divine light in this form.

"What! Are you a Five Light being as well? That can't be; there's no way I wouldn't recognize a holy race Five Light being! Could it be... So be it, I don't care if you were sent to hunt me down by those old bastards or not. I'm going to kill you even if it sets me back over 100 years in my cultivation!" Shopkeeper Yu initially faltered slightly before his expression darkened even further, and his face became twisted with resentment and fury.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he pointed a finger into the distance in a vicious manner, and an earth-shattering boom immediately rang out from within the sea of five-colored light. The sea of light then converged toward the center and formed a gigantic ball of five-colored light, which then immediately manifested into a peacock projection that was over 1,000 feet in length.

The disparity between the sizes of Han Li's Five-colored Peacock form and the projection was night and day.

However, the giant peacock projection didn't immediately attack Han Li. Instead, it flapped its wings and abruptly vanished on the spot. In the next instant, five-colored light surged beneath Shopkeeper Yu's feet, and the peacock projection reappeared. He then stomped a foot down onto the projection, then flicked his 10 fingers toward himself, sending streaks of light rushing into his own body.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

Shopkeeper Yu's body suddenly began to melt away, and within mere moments, he had completely fused into the peacock projection beneath him.

The peacock projection immediately let loose a clear cry, and five-colored runes surged out of its body in a frenzy as it took on a substantial form.

At the same time, a terrifying aura that belonged only to late-Body Integration cultivators erupted from its body in a frenzy.

All of the world's origin Qi within a radius of several tens of kilometers converged into the massive peacock's body as threads of light that were visible to the naked eye.

The giant peacock's aura swelled once again, reaching the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage. After that, it flapped its wings, and the space around it twisted and blurred. At the same time, countless runes appeared around it, and all of them seemed to be imbued with devastating power.

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Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing this.

Not only was the Five-colored Divine Light that Shopkeeper Yu had released extremely powerful, now that he had fused as one with the peacock projection, his cultivation base had risen by two ranks.

This was simply astounding!

It appeared that this was why he had been able to remain so calm in the face of Han Li. If a normal mid-Body Integration cultivator were to encounter something like this, even self-preservation would become an issue, let alone killing Shopkeeper Yu.

However, despite his astonishment, Han Li wasn't fearful in the slightest.

Seeing as Shopkeeper Yu had displayed his trump card, he was naturally determined to kill Han Li, so even if Han Li were to propose a truce now, it would most definitely be rejected.

"I'm impressed! It seems that I also have to pull some tricks out of my sleeve to match you, Fellow Daoist!"

A cold voice rang out as Han Li's peacock body was suddenly enveloped by a ball of golden light. Immediately thereafter, another enormous creature appeared in the place of the peacock following a flash of dazzling golden light.

This was a giant golden ape with shimmering golden fur, and a pair of massive bright and piercing eyes.

In the face of this fearsome opponent, Han Li had transformed into the Giant Mountain Ape, which was his most powerful form among the 12 Awakening Transformations.

In this giant ape form, he had reached over 1,000 feet in height, and his limbs were like gargantuan pillars. He spread his hands open, and they resembled enormous canopies as they were swung viciously toward the Five-colored Peacock down below.

A pair of explosions rang out in succession, and the two giant palms crashed down with mountainous force.

Shopkeeper Yu was naturally quite stunned by this, and Five-colored Divine Light immediately swirled around him, forming a light barrier that stood in the way of the giant palms.

Five-colored Divine Light was extremely profound, and under normal circumstances, it should've been able to easily nullify a brute force attack such as this one. However, the enormous strength of the Giant Mountain Ape was one of the ape's innate abilities to begin with, and it was far more tremendous than Shopkeeper Yu could imagine.

Following a pair of resounding booms, the five-colored light barrier tremored violently before two sections of it began to cave in in unison. Following a few violent flashes of light, the barrier began to crumble.

Shopkeeper Yu was quite startled by this, but he naturally wasn't going to just remain on the spot like a sitting duck, so he immediately flapped his wings without any hesitation.

Five-colored runes instantly flashed around his giant peacock body, following which he instantly vanished on the spot.

Blue light flashed through the giant golden ape's eyes upon seeing this, and it abruptly stomped down with both of its massive feet before also disappearing into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted several thousand feet away, and the peacock re-emerged.

However, almost at the exact same moment, golden light flashed above it, and the giant ape also strode out of thin air before immediately sending both of its massive fists crashing downward in a vicious manner.

Countless fist projections immediately appeared before raining down upon the Five-colored Peacock in a torrential downpour. The golden shockwaves released by the fist projections colored the surrounding space a golden color, and at the same time, the space between the two giant beasts began to warp and tremor violently, as if it were on the brink of being torn apart.

The Five-colored Peacock was extremely huge in stature, but it was able to react extraordinarily quickly. After letting loose a clear cry, five-colored spiritual light revolved around its body before forming countless vibrant light shields, each of which was only around a foot in size. These shields stacked on top of one another to protect the giant peacock, and the seemingly unstoppable golden fist projections were only able to shatter less than half of the shields before they fizzled out of existence.

Immediately thereafter, the Five-colored Peacock let loose another sharp cry, and the remaining light shields transformed into countless five-colored flying swords, all of which appeared to be extremely sharp.

As soon as these flying swords took shape, they immediately shot forth as streaks of sword Qi toward the giant ape, and it seemed that the ape was in severe peril.

A hint of fury appeared on the massive ape's face at the sight of its fist projections being thwarted, and its rage was only fueled even further by the sight of the oncoming wave of five-colored sword Qi. It thumped its chest violently as it let loose a thunderous roar of fury, and with each thump of its chest, a metallic sound would ring out, while the golden light around its body became brighter and more pronounced.

After three consecutive thumps, the giant ape's fur had all stood up on end like the spikes of a porcupine, and three layers of golden light had also been released from its body.

Not only were these three layers of light extremely dense, there were countless golden runes distributed throughout their surfaces, creating quite a mystifying sight to behold.

This was a powerful protective ability that Han Li had learned after reaching the mid-body Integration Stage. It could only be unleashed when he was in his Giant Mountain Ape form, and it was no less powerful than legendary Buddhist secret technique, Vajra Circle.

As soon as the three layers of golden light took shape, they were assaulted by the streaks of five-colored sword Qi.

The golden light barriers immediately glowed even brighter, releasing scintillating light while also emitting bursts of buzzing sounds.

The flying swords formed by the Five-colored Divine Light were truly extraordinary; they were leaving long white trails in the space left in their wake, and upon reaching the golden light barriers, they were destroying the golden runes within the barriers at a rapid rate.

Even though most of the sword Qi was nullified by the light barriers, there were still over 100 streaks of five-colored sword Qi that crashed through and slashed viciously into the giant ape's body.

However, the scenes that unfolded next had the Five-colored Peacock completely flabbergasted.

Another layer of golden light appeared over the giant golden ape's body, and it seemed to be an indestructible fortress, repelling or destroying all of the streaks of sword Qi that struck it.

As a result, the giant ape remained completely unscathed, and it harrumphed coldly before swinging its furry arms through the air. All of a sudden, a small section of its arms vanished, and in the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted on either side of the Five-colored Peacock.

Immediately thereafter, two huge golden hands reached out of thin air before grabbing toward the peacock's wings like lightning.

The giant peacock's heart jolted upon seeing this, but it wasn't panicked in the slightest as it also let loose a cold harrumph. It flapped its gigantic wings, which then transformed into a pair of five-colored giant blades amid a flash of spiritual light. The surfaces of the two blades were extremely bright, and they resembled peerlessly sharp divine weapons as they viciously lashed out toward the two giant golden hands in retaliation.

The two hands seemed to be completely unfazed by the massive blades, and they balled up into tight fists before striking the giant blades in a flash.

Two resounding booms instantly rang out, and two balls of piercing light erupted as the giant blades clashed with the enormous fists. It was as if a pair of scintillating suns had appeared out of thin air.

The Five-colored Peacock's body shuddered violently, and it shot back without any warning. Only after flying back for over 1,000 feet did it just barely manage to arrest its own momentum by spreading its wings. Even though it appeared to have remained largely unscathed, its eyes were filled with astonishment.

In contrast, the giant golden ape up above merely swayed slightly before stabilizing itself. It was quite clear that the ape had gained a decisive upper hand during that clash.

However, that wasn't much of a surprise. Among all of the true spirits, the Giant Mountain Ape was renowned for its powerful physical body and extraordinary strength. The Five-colored Peacock was no less renowned than the Giant Mountain Ape, but it was more so known for its Five-colored Divine Light. In a contest of pure strength, there was no way that it could match the Giant Mountain Ape.

Taking advantage of the peacock's unstable base, the giant ape let loose a low roar before hurtling toward it like lightning. However, the ape's body suddenly blurred along the way, and it abruptly vanished into thin air.

The Five-colored Peacock had only just managed to find its footing, and a look of shock and fury immediately appeared in its eyes as countless five-colored runes erupted from its body once again. It seemed that the peacock was about to unleash some kind of powerful ability, but it was too late.

Golden light flashed, and the giant golden ape appeared right in front of the Five-colored Peacock in a wraith-like manner. It swung one of its giant golden fists through the air, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake, and the fist struck the peacock's body at an astonishing unavoidable speed.

A dull thump immediately rang out, and the five-colored light around the giant peacock's body managed to somewhat nullify the force of the punch, but an enormous burst of force still acted upon its body.

It immediately let loose a pained cry, and it plummeted toward the ground like a shooting star. At the same time, the tremendous force had completely immobilized it by forcibly binding its limbs.

The giant golden ape had no intention of affording the peacock any respite. It made a grabbing motion with both hands, and golden light flashed erratically as 36 small golden swords appeared in each of its hands. These small swords then instantly combined in each hand to form two giant golden swords that were both over 100 feet in length.

A vicious look flashed through the giant ape's eyes, and it shot forth like lightning, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake. Upon catching up to the plummeting Five-colored Peacock, it slashed the giant swords through the air, and countless huge sword projections surged forth to sweep up the Five-colored Peacock like a tornado.

A resounding boom rang out, and the giant ape stopped in mid-air, while the Five-colored Peacock was slammed viciously into the ground by the devastating sword Qi, creating a gargantuan crater.

"I didn't want to have to do this, but you've forced my hand!"

Before Han Li even had a chance to see whether his attacks had been effective, Shopkeeper Yu let loose a thunderous roar of fury.

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Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before finally catching sight of the scenes within the crater down below.

The Five-colored Peacock laid within the crater with its talons pointing up at the heavens, and its feathers were in a state of complete disarray, with many of them having been severed. However, it was quite clear that the peacock itself hadn't sustained much damage.

In the next instant, it began to chant a complex incantation, and all of the five-colored runes revolving around it suddenly converged toward a single spot.

Countless runes came together to form a five-colored light formation with a diameter of several thousand feet, and Buddhist chants rang out from within the formation, which was also radiating piercing five-colored light.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he suddenly brought his palms together, upon which the two giant golden swords instantly combined as one amid a flash of golden light.

The combined giant sword was around 300 to 400 feet in length, and it was flashing with golden light. There was faint azure wyrm dancing and writhing within the sword, looking as if it could erupt out of the sword and rise up to the heavens at any moment.

The giant ape then uttered the word "slash" in a cold voice, and swung giant sword downward.

A streak of azure sword Qi immediately erupted from the blade, and it swelled to over 1,000 feet in size in a flash before striking the giant light formation in a vicious manner.

The formation was torn apart without being able to offer any resistance, but it then immediately repaired itself, and it was as if the slash of the giant sword had been completely ineffective against the light formation.

A hint of surprise flashed through the giant ape's eyes upon seeing this, but a cold smile then immediately appeared on its face as it slashed the giant sword downward again.

With Han Li's wealth of battle experience, he was naturally aware that the light formation definitely wasn't truly indestructible; he would just have to attack it a few more times.

The second streak of sword Qi was even more devastating than the first one, but as soon as it left the giant sword, the Five-colored Peacock suddenly ceased its chanting, then pointed one of its talons toward a certain direction in a solemn manner.

A pained roar immediately rang out from that direction, and Han Li's heart stirred slightly as he turned toward the source of the roar.

There, he discovered the Lightning Beast and Provenance Golden Body still engaged in a fierce battle, and the former wore an agonized expression on its face.

A loud thunderclap rang out from its body, and bolts of lightning of three different colors erupted forth in a frenzy, covering its entire body in a dense lightning net. It then abruptly abandoned its battle against the golden body and transformed into a ball of three-colored lightning, then hurtled directly toward the giant light formation.

Han Li didn't know what the beast's intentions were, but he knew that it would be a bad idea to allow the Lightning Beast to get its way, so he immediately let loose a thunderous roar while launching a massive furry fist toward the ball of lightning in a vicious manner.

At the same time, the Provenance Golden Body also let loose a long cry and gave chase as a ball of golden light.

A resounding boom rang out, and even though the giant ape was over 1,000 feet away from the ball of lightning, its punch had created a golden fist projection the size of a pavilion, and it struck the ball of lightning with devastating speed and force.

The Lightning Beast let loose a roar of fury, and despite its incredible powers, it was still unable to take a full-force strike from the giant ape head-on. The protective net of lightning around it was instantly torn apart by the fist projection, and its body was sent flying as well.

During this split-second delay, the Provenance Golden Body caught up to the Lightning Beast, and the six golden blades in its hands suddenly transformed into six ancient golden mirrors, which released six golden pillars of light that surged toward the Lightning Beast with tremendous force.

A string of explosions rang out in rapid succession, and the Lightning Beast was sent flying again by the pillars of light. At the same time, it let loose a pained roar, seemingly having sustained some minor injuries.

An urgent look appeared on Shopkeeper Yu's face upon seeing this, and he let loose a piercing long cry, as if he were desperately urging the Lightning Beast to do something.

A sharp shrill cry rang out from the Lightning Beast's mouth in response, following which the lightning around its body became significantly brighter, and an astonishing scene then ensued.

All of a sudden, three pairs of wings, one golden, one silver, and one blue, appeared on the Lightning Beast's back. It flapped those wings in unison, and immediately disappeared on the spot amid a loud thunderclap.

Thus, the next batch of pillars of light unleashed by the Provenance Golden Body struck nothing but empty air.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately turned toward the giant light formation down below. At the same time, black light flashed from his glabella, and a vertical black demonic eye appeared.

A pillar of black light then erupted out of the eye, but immediately vanished into thin air.

Another thunderclap rang out from above the giant light formation, and the Lightning Beast reappeared. At the same time, a pillar of black light that was as thick as a large bowl also erupted out of thin air. At such close quarters, there was no way for the Lightning Beast to evade, yet right as the black pillar of light was about to strike the Lightning Beast's body, a loud buzzing sound suddenly rang out from the giant light formation.

Bright five-colored spiritual light erupted forth, and the black pillar of light faltered momentarily before suddenly turning a corner and glancing right past the Lightning Beast.

In the next instant, the Lightning Beast flapped its wings without any hesitation, and flew headfirst into the light formation, much to Han Li's dismay.

The process seemed to be quite complicated, but everything had actually taken place in the span of just a few breaths.

The Five-colored Peacock down below let loose an elated cry upon seeing this, and the five-colored spiritual light around it surged forth in a frenzy toward the giant light formation around it. It then flapped its wings, and even its body fused into the light formation as a ball of spiritual light.

Moments later, there was nothing left down below aside from the light formation itself.

However, the formation was beginning to undergo changes. Bursts of rumbling rang out from within it, and bright light radiated forth as several tens of thick five-colored pillars of light erupted from within.

Each pillar of light had a radius of around a foot, and all of them shot upward before vanishing into the white cloud and mist up above.

Han Li quickly determined that there were 81 of these pillars of light in total, yet before he had a chance to do anything, countless five-colored runes began to surge out of these pillars of light before rapidly revolving through the air.

An even more massive five-colored pillar of light immediately erupted upward from the center of the light formation, then vanished high up into the air in a flash.

In the next instant, a burst of powerful spatial fluctuations abruptly surged forth from this pillar of light, following which a silver hole appeared out of thin air right above the light formation.

In the beginning, it was only around the size of a fist, but it then swelled to around 10 feet in size in a flash, and a burst of extremely pure spiritual Qi surged forth from within in a frenzy.

Han Li was struck by a sense of familiarity in the face of this pure spiritual Qi, and after quickly searching through his own memories for an answer, he realized that this spiritual Qi was extremely similar to the spiritual Qi in the Vast Glacial Realm.

The hole was still expanding right before his eyes, and he was suddenly struck by a sense of foreboding. He immediately swung his giant golden sword through the air without any hesitation, and countless palm-sized streaks of golden sword Qi surged toward the silver hole in a frenzy, desperately trying to destroy it.

However, the events that unfolded next made Han Li's heart completely sink.

Even as the torrential barrage of golden sword Qi surged over the silver hole, it only made the nearby space warp slightly, but had no effect whatsoever on the silver hole itself.

Not only that, but a resounding boom suddenly rang out from within the silver hole, following which a silver pillar of light erupted from within it, then plunged directly into the giant light formation down below.

Scintillating light instantly erupted from the rumbling light formation, and runes of all different colors rose up while the entire light formation expanded in a frenzy.

The silver pillar of light then abruptly vanished, as did the silver hole, and at this point, the light formation had swelled to over 10 times its original size. The five-colored spiritual light emanating from it had spread over the entire sky, creating an extremely vibrant sight to behold.

At the same time, the unsettling sobbing of women and children rang out from the center of the light formation, striking the listener with a sense of disorientation.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, not because he had been affected by this strange sound, but instead due to the spine-chilling sense of peril he had suddenly been struck by.

He was sensing a very real threat that could put an end to his life here.

"Crap!"

Han Li's heart sank even further, and the Provenance Golden Body immediately disappeared in a flash at his behest, then abruptly appeared beside him.

It then raised all six of its arms in unison, and there was a golden ball of light in each of its six palms. The balls of golden light were brought together in front of its chest, forming a head-sized golden vortex.

At the same time, the golden body's three heads began to chant three different types of incantations that stacked on top of one another, and Buddhist chants rang out from within the vortex alongside loud thunderclaps.

The vortex then rapidly expanded to several times its original size, and began to revolve rapidly. Specks of spiritual light that resembled starlight could be seen within the vortex, and Han Li yelled, "Go!"

The golden body immediately hurled the golden vortex viciously down toward the light formation below at his command, and as soon as the vortex left its hands, it swelled drastically once again, expanding to over 100 feet in size in the blink of an eye, and it showed no signs of stopping there.

Right before it was about to make contact with the five-colored light formation, the vortex had expanded into a golden sea with a radius of over 1,000 feet. A burst of enormous invisible force erupted from within the vortex, causing even the nearby space to twist and warp violently.

This was the first time that Han Li had unleashed the Revolving Golden Light using the full power of his Provenance Golden Body after he had reached the mid-Body Integration Stage, and it was so powerful that it surprised even himself.

Following an earth-shattering boom, the golden vortex struck the giant light formation with devastating force.

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In the instant that the two clashed, ripples surged over the surface of the enormous light formation, and its center also tremored violently as if it were about to be shattered at any moment.

The light formation was indeed extremely profound, but even so, it was unable to withstand the power of the Revolving Golden Light.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, but his expression then quickly changed as in the next instant, the strange sobbing sound emanating from the center of the light formation suddenly became louder.

Immediately thereafter, the 81 huge pillars of light tremored before crumbling away in unison.

A terrifying aura that threatened to devour the entirety of heaven and earth then erupted from the light formation, and a giant silver hand reached out of the center of the formation amid violent flashes of five-colored light.

The silver hand then spread its five fingers and slowly raised up the golden vortex, completely unaffected by the enormous force emanating from within the vortex.

Han Li's face immediately paled upon seeing this terrifying aura.

"Impossible! This aura belongs to a Grand Ascension Stage being! There's no way such an absurdly powerful ability could exist in this realm!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the sobs ringing out from within the light formation abruptly cut off, and the entire formation itself crumbled into nothingness like an illusion.

At the center of where the formation had once stood, there now stood a gargantuan creature that was 3,000 to 4,000 feet in size.

It had two heads and eight wings, with a humanoid upper body, yet the lower body of a bird.

The two heads belonged to the Lightning Beast and Shopkeeper Yu. The eight wings on its back also consisted of the Lightning Beast's original six wings, as well as the wings of the Five-colored Peacock.

What was even more formidable was that bolts of five-colored lightning were revolving around its body, and under the illumination of this lightning, the creature was made to look even more sinister and fearsome.

The head that belonged to Shopkeeper Yu cackled while the silver hand that was carrying the golden vortex abruptly released a torrent of five-colored lightning.

An earth-shattering thunderclap rang out, and the golden vortex was torn into shreds by countless bolts of five-colored lightning.

A panicked look suddenly appeared on the three faces of the Provenance Golden Body, immediately following which golden light flashed violently around its body, and it gave a muffled groan as it swayed unsteadily.

It was quite clear that the destruction of the Revolving Golden Light it had unleashed had inflicted backlash on the golden body.

Thankfully, the backlash had only affected the golden body, and Han Li remained unscathed, but even so, he was feeling even more astonished as he could now confirm that this gargantuan creature really did possess Grand Ascension Stage powers.

Otherwise, even a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage wouldn't be able to tear the Revolving Golden Light apart so easily.

With that in mind, thoughts of fleeing the scene immediately crept into Han Li's mind. Even though he still had trump cards up his sleeve, he certainly wasn't naive enough to think that he would be able to oppose a Grand Ascension Stage being.

However, he abandoned the thought as soon as it appeared in his mind. This enormous creature had eight pairs of wings and could control that strange five-colored lightning, so it definitely possessed powerful movement techniques as well. As such, the chances of Han Li being able to outrun it were very slim.

Before the giant beast's cackling had even cut off, Han Li had made his decision. He quickly made a hand seal, and a loud thunderclap rang out behind him as a pair of translucent wings surfaced on his back.

He flapped those wings, and balls of silver lightning began to appear beneath his giant ape feet before exploding one after another.

Silver arcs of lightning flashed, and a giant lightning formation took shape. Han Li was enshrouded under countless bolts of lightning, and his giant ape body began to blur as he prepared to teleport himself away.

However, in the next instant, his expression changed drastically.

The two-headed creature down below suddenly let loose a loud cry, then flapped its eight wings in unison, and an enormous burst of the power of laws erupted from its body, instantly encompassing a radius of close to 10 kilometers.

Almost at the exact same moment, the light radiating from the lightning formation beneath the giant ape instantly faded, and the teleportation was cut off.

Han Li immediately drew a sharp breath upon seeing this.

At this moment, Shopkeeper Yu's head turned to the giant ape with a cold mocking expression, and scoffed, "Hmph, this Lightning Beast may not be the same as the Lightning Beasts of the True Immortal Realm, but after I injected my true spirit power into its body, it's still able to control some laws of lightning; you're just digging a grave for yourself if you try to use lightning in my presence!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the giant beast's other head let loose a sharp piercing cry, and a resounding boom rang out from within the lightning formation. Immediately thereafter, a dozen or so thick bolts of lightning sprang forth like silver chains and bound the giant ape, catching it completely off guard.

As soon as the lightning bound the giant ape's body, all of them exploded in unison, inundating the ape in a huge ball of lightning.

The giant golden ape immediately let loose a thunderous roar, raising both of its fists up into the air while golden light erupted from its body in a frenzy. The silver lightning was instantly dispelled by the golden light, then vanished amid a loud thunderclap.

As soon as the ape emerged from the lightning, it immediately shrank down and reverted back to its human form in the blink of an eye.

Han Li then looked up at the two-headed giant beast with an extremely dark expression on his face.

In the next instant, he took a deep breath, and a golden blade segment abruptly appeared in his hand. At the same time, he swept the sleeve of his other arm through the air, and over 1,000 golden flowers surged forth from within.

These were none other than his mutated Gold Devouring Beetles.

When they first emerged, they were each only around the size of a human thumb, but they quickly expanded to the size of human fists, and with over 1,000 of them clustered together, they created an extremely harrowing sight to behold.

At this moment, a burst of black Qi also suddenly flew out of the Provenance Golden Body's body and vanished into Han Li's body. Meanwhile, the Provenance Golden Body dissipated into specks of golden light amid a dull thump.

In the next instant, golden light flashed from behind Han Li, and the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared once again.

At the same time, an azure figure and a ball of white light also abruptly emerged, separating from Han Li's body before revealing themselves to be that other green-skinned Han Li, and a beautiful woman in white.

The former was Han Li's spirit body, while the other was his sentient puppet, Doll.

Han Li brandished the golden blade segment before himself, then looked up at the giant two-headed beast in an expressionless manner.

"Oh? So you possess mature Gold Devouring Beetles as well? You sure have quite a few trump cards up your sleeve, but do you really think a mere 1,000 such beetles can harm me? Perhaps if you had several tens of thousands of these beetles, I would be somewhat fearful, but with what you have now, haha..." Shopkeeper Yu's head guffawed in a mocking manner, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that despite his display of bravado and arrogance, he was staring intently at the golden blade segment in Han Li's hand.

Even though Han Li hadn't yet injected his power into the Profound Heavenly blade segment, Shopkeeper Yu could still sense that it was no ordinary item due to his ability to sense the power of laws.

Of course, none of this managed to escape Han Li's notice, and even though his expression remained unchanged, he was very disheartened to see this.

He had originally planned to use this blade segment as a trump card to unleash a surprise attack, but now that his opponent was clearly displaying wariness toward it, the chances of that plan succeeding were significantly reduced.

However, there was no way that his opponent could be aware that he really did have tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles up his sleeve, as well as the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword that was sealed within his arm.

If he were to use those two items at the right opportunities, there was a chance that he would be able to escape.

After all, even though the giant creature before him possessed early-Grand Ascension Stage powers, it wasn't a true Grand Ascension Stage being, so it was naturally significantly weaker than a true Grand Ascension Stage being.

Furthermore, if he were to use his Profound Heavenly Treasure in battle, perhaps he would be able to attract the attention of Qing Yuanzi, who was also situated in this infernal river. If Qing Yuanzi could arrive on the scene to save him, then he wouldn't have anything to fear.

With that in mind, Han Li raised his blade segment and prepared himself for a battle of life and death.

The giant two-headed beast raised both of its head in unison, and one of its heads let loose a sharp piercing cry, while the other guffawed in a disdainful manner.

The juxtaposition of high and low pitches stuck the listener with a spine-chilling sensation.

At the same time, the giant beast flapped its eight wings viciously in unison, and all of its silver feathers stood up on end. Immediately thereafter, an earth-shattering boom rang out, and countless bolts of five-colored lightning erupted forth in all directions.

When these bolts of lightning first left its body, they were only around as thick as human arms, but they quickly swelled to several thousand feet in thickness.

Resounding thunderclaps erupted one after another, and the entire space was transformed into a realm of five-colored lightning.

The power of laws also surged throughout the area, and even though Han Li had seen many things during his tumultuous cultivation journey, he still couldn't help but be stunned by the scenes unfolding around him.

A cold light flashed through his eyes, and he immediately prepared to use his Profound Heavenly blade segment.

However, right at this moment, something completely unexpected took place.

Just as he had tightened his grip around the blade segment, the urgent and clear cry of an ape suddenly rang out from within his sleeve.

Immediately thereafter, black light flashed, and a black spirit beast bracelet shot forth, then barged into the domain of lightning up ahead in a flash.

The two-headed giant beast was rather taken aback by this.

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In the next instant, the black spirit beast bracelet was struck by countless bolts of lightning at once and instantly exploded into a cloud of black Qi.

The black Qi then absorbed all of the lightning it was being struck by, and remained completely unscathed.

A hint of surprise flashed through the two-headed beast's eyes, but it then harrumphed coldly before reaching out and making a grabbing motion toward the black Qi with one of its silver hands.

Countless bolts of lightning immediately intertwined to form a massive five-colored hand above the cloud of black Qi, and the enormous hand then grabbed onto the black Qi at an astonishing speed with countless arcs of lightning crackling over its surface.

The fingers of the giant hand tightened, and a scintillating flash of lightning erupted as it attempted to crush the cloud of black Qi into oblivion.

However, another enraged ape cry rang out from within the black Qi, following which a streak of crimson light erupted forth and pierced through the massive five-colored hand in a flash.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

As soon as the crimson light flashed through the five-colored hand, the latter immediately crumbled away as if it had encountered the bane of its existence.

Thus, the black Qi regained its freedom, then immediately transformed into a small black monkey.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast!

However, the current Weeping Soul Beast was clearly far different from how it normally was. It was staring up at the giant two-headed beast with excitement and elation on its face, and without even requiring any instructions from Han Li, it let loose a thunderous roar before expanding to over 300 feet tall amid a flash of black light.

Crimson light then flashed within its eyes, and it thumped its mountainous chest with its massive fists.

All of its fur immediately stood up on end, and strange horns appeared on its head. It then revealed its fangs in a menacing manner, and it had transformed into a giant three-eyed monster.

The monster also had three inky-black bone spikes on its back, and it was extremely terrifying to behold.

"Xing Beast!" Shopkeeper Yu's head immediately let loose a shrill cry of horror at the sight of the giant monster, and all of the countless bolts of lightning in the surrounding area converged toward the two-headed beast to form a massive shield of lightning. The shield had an area of over 1,000 feet, and was over 100 feet thick.

The giant two-headed beast then flapped its eight wings in unison, and five-colored lightning surged forth from its enormous body in a frenzy, following which it abruptly vanished amid a loud thunderclap.

In the next instant, the giant two-headed beast reappeared close to 10 kilometers away amid a flash of five-colored lightning. It immediately flapped its wings again, and more arcs of lightning emerged from its body as it attempted to flee the scene.

Right at this moment, the Weeping Soul Beast let loose a thunderous roar, seemingly enraged by the two-headed beast's escape.

As it roared, its body expanded drastically, and golden and silver runes appeared all around it. A pillar of crimson light then shot forth out of its third demonic eye, then vanished into thin air in a flash.

Right as the giant two-headed bird had also disappeared amid a flash of lightning, the crimson pillar of light emerged nearby, then transformed into a crimson chain as it hurtled through the air.

The chain shot forth through the air before forming a massive noose, and the loop of the noose vanished into thin air again.

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the entire chain, and arcs of crimson lightning appeared over its surface. The chain then suddenly stretched taut, and an anguished cry immediately rang out, seemingly from nowhere.

The arcs of crimson lightning around the chain intensified in brightness, and the giant two-headed beast was forcibly dragged out of thin air.

Its two heads both wore expressions of shock and horror, and it was desperately flapping all eight of its wings as it cried out in alarm, but the crimson chain refused to budge. The two-headed beast seemed to have somehow been rendered completely unable to use its lightning abilities, and the power of laws that it was releasing earlier had also ceased to exist.

The Weeping Soul Beast cackled upon seeing this, and crimson light flashed from its glabella as it unleashed several more crimson chains that completely bound the two-headed beast.

After that, the chains abruptly vanished along with the giant beast, immediately following which spatial fluctuations erupted several hundred feet in front of the Weeping Soul Beast, and the bound two-headed beast reappeared.

Crimson light flashed from the Weeping Soul Beast's eyes, and it abruptly reached out with one of its huge furry hands before making a grabbing motion.

One of the three black bone spikes protruding from its back then disappeared without any warning, only to reappear in its hand in the next instant amid a flash of black light.

The Weeping Soul Beast began to chant an ancient unintelligible incantation, and rows of bright golden runes suddenly began to appear along the bone spear, creating quite a mystifying sight to behold.

The bone spear then began to vibrate without any warning, and it also released a buzzing sound that was only growing louder and louder.

Golden shockwaves erupted from the tip of the spear, and dazzling golden light immediately erupted forth.

Some runes that were similar to the ones on the bone spear also began to appear in the surrounding air before dancing around the spear.

As soon as these runes emerged, a devastating baleful aura erupted from the bone spear. The horror in the eyes of the two-headed beast was further exacerbated by the sight, and its cries immediately became louder and more desperate as it thrashed like a deranged madman within the crimson chains.

However, no matter how much it struggled and thrashed, the chains remained completely firm and resolute.

In the next instant, an explosive boom rang out, and the golden spear shot forth through the air as a streak of translucent light.

The streak of light was extraordinarily fast, and it pierced through the bird head of the giant two-headed beast in a flash.

A fist-sized hole was punched into the giant beast's glabella, and piercing golden light instantly poured out of the hole in a frenzy.

The Lightning Beast's head instantly stiffened, and countless tiny golden cracks spread over its surface before it exploded with a dull thump.

Strangely enough, as opposed to scraps of flesh, blood, and bones flying in all directions, instead, the head exploded into balls of dazzling five-colored light. At the same time, the same golden cracks also appeared along the giant beast's severed neck, and they were quickly spreading to the rest of its body.

The Weeping Soul Beast harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and a burst of yellow light erupted out of its huge nostrils.

Shopkeeper Yu's head remained completely unscathed, but it was completely petrified by this sudden turn of events, and in his desperation, he opened his mouth to expel a short silver sword. The sword then unleashed a streak of sword Qi that was over 100 feet in length that viciously slashed his own neck, and Shopkeeper Yu was decapitated amid a howl of agony.

His severed head then toppled down from the body of the giant beast before vanishing as a streak of crimson light.

Immediately thereafter, the giant beast's entire body exploded into more specks of five-colored light, which immediately attempted to escape the crimson chains, but to no avail.

The yellow light swept forth, and the five-colored specks of light were easily gathered before surging into the Weeping Soul Beast waiting gaping mouth. After devouring these specks of five-colored light, the Weeping Soul Beast thumped its own chest again in a joyful manner with an extremely excited look on its face.

Having lost their purpose, the crimson chains disintegrated into specks of spiritual light immediately thereafter.

The bone spear also returned to the Weeping Soul Beast's back amid a flash of golden light, and it turned completely black and lusterless again, as if that last attack had completely exhausted its power.

Han Li was looking on in a completely flabbergasted manner, but he immediately returned to his senses when Shopkeeper Yu's head attempted to escape as a streak of crimson light.

He immediately let loose a long cry and adopted his Giant Mountain Ape form again, while the Profound Heavenly blade segment and Gold Devouring Beetles were instantly stowed away.

Golden light flashed from the giant ape's body, and it took a step forward before abruptly vanishing into thin air.

In the next instant, the giant ape's enormous body re-emerged several thousand feet away, right in front of the fleeing streak of crimson light, and it immediately launched its massive furry fist toward the streak of light.

Before the fist had even struck the streak of crimson light, the latter was enveloped by a burst of tremendous power.

A normal cultivator would've most likely been completely immobilized by that burst of enormous power, but the streak of crimson light managed to break free in an instant and before appearing 300 feet away.

A cry of shock and fury then rang out from within the crimson light, and the light receded to reveal a humanoid figure.

It was none other than Shopkeeper Yu!

However, at this point, his face was completely pale, and his aura had become significantly more feeble, to the point where he could barely even maintain an early-Body Integration Stage cultivation base.

"If you're intent on killing me, then I'm going to make you pay for my life!" Shopkeeper Yu roared with an expression of twisted fury and desperation.

As soon as his voice trailed off, crimson light flashed from his body, and he transformed into a giant crimson peacock that was over 100 feet in size. The peacock flapped its wings, and a gust of fierce winds immediately swept forth along with the pungent odor of blood and gore.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he couldn't help but cast his gaze toward the Weeping Soul Beast, only to find that it was joyfully playing with a head-sized crystalline core and had no intention of helping him at all.

He tried to urge the Weeping Soul Beast to come to his aid using his spiritual sense, but that proved to be completely ineffective. It seemed that the Weeping Soul Beast had completely lost interest in Shopkeeper Yu after devouring the five-colored lightning.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face, but as he turned his gaze back to Shopkeeper Yu, the wry smile had been replaced by a cold expression.

The giant ape suddenly threw back its head and let loose a thunderous roar, then flipped both of its huge hands over to reveal a pair of small mountains. One of the mountains was black, while the other was azure, and they were each over 100 feet tall.

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Golden light abruptly flashed from the giant ape's arms, and they swelled even further in size before hurling the two extreme mountains through the air as projectile weapons.

As soon as the small mountains left the giant ape's hands, they swelled to several times their original size, expanding to 400 to 500 feet tall. The mountains then emerged above the crimson peacock in a flash before crashing down with devastating force.

Even before they had reached the peacock, a sharp ringing sound had already begun to ring out in the nearby space, and invisible shockwaves also proliferated in all directions.

The crimson peacock was immediately struck by a terrifying sense of asphyxiation, which was slightly alarming, but it didn't pay this sensation much heed as it flapped its wings violently upward.

A burst of crimson light immediately swept forth before transforming into a gust of fierce winds, riding up into the air to oppose the two oncoming extreme mountains.

The crimson light wasn't as versatile and profound as Five-colored Divine Light, but it was extremely toxic and was especially potent when it came to eroding the spiritual nature of treasures. No matter how powerful a treasure was, it would be reduced to a dead object by the crimson light.

However, there was naturally no way for Shopkeeper Yu to know that these two mountains were refined using methods from the True Immortal Realm, and that even in that higher realm, they were two of the vastly renowned Five Extreme Mountains. Furthermore, the power of this attack stemmed primarily from the extraordinary weight of the two extreme mountains, coupled with the tremendous strength of the giant ape, rather than any special powers that the two mountains possessed.

Thus, the pair of mountains tore through the crimson light with ease and continued onward without any impediment.

"Argh!"

Shopkeeper Yu was extremely alarmed to see this, and he immediately tried to get out of the scope of the attack.

However, the two giant mountains encompassed an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet, so there was no way for him to evade them in such a short time.

An astonished look appeared in the crimson peacock's eyes, and in its desperation, it opened its beak to expel a scroll, which immediately unfurled as soon as it emerged.

Bright light radiated in all directions as five-colored projections of buildings and pavilions instantly appeared from the scroll. The projections were all extremely vivid and vibrant, and struck the onlooker with a sense of intrigue and mystique.

Judging from the violent spatial fluctuations triggered by the emergence of these projections, it was quite apparent that this was an extremely rare spatial treasure.

In the eyes of Shopkeeper Yu, this spatial treasure, which was his best life-saving treasure, would definitely be able to keep the two mountains at bay.

After all, no matter how much force and momentum the two mountains possessed, all of that would be rendered completely null by the scroll's spatial powers.

Of course, as a safety precaution, Shopkeeper Yu continued to fly away from the scene, as opposed to lingering on the scene to appreciate his own handiwork.

However, right at this moment, piercing light suddenly erupted from both mountains at once. One of them released grey light that cascaded downward like a waterfall, while the other released countless transparent streaks of sword Qi that rained down in a torrential downpour.

The two combined as one to strike the five-colored projections amid an earth-shattering boom, and all of the projections were torn apart before they could pose any obstacle to the pair of giant mountains.

The crimson peacock didn't even get a chance to utter a single sound before it was struck by the black mountain, and its body was instantly pulverized into mincemeat.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, but his expression then immediately darkened again.

The scraps of the crimson peacock's flesh and blood suddenly tremored beneath the mountain, following which all of it converged toward a single spot to form an extremely grotesque ball of blood and flesh. The ball then began to writhe rapidly, as it quickly attempted to revert back to its original form.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately pointed a finger at the Extreme Essencefused Mountain from afar.

The grey light emanating from the mountain immediately condensed before transforming into countless grey light threads that surged downward at once, instantly puncturing the ball of flesh and blood before instantly shredding into countless pieces again.

The grey threads showed no signs of stopping there, and in the blink of an eye, those countless pieces of flesh and blood were reduced to a cloud of blood mist, so there was no chance for it to condense back together again.

All of a sudden, a five-colored projection shot forth from within the blood mist. It was a miniature fist-sized peacock, and it was none other than Shopkeeper Yu's Nascent Soul, which he had preserved through the use of a secret technique.

However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow it to escape. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth to release a bolt of golden lightning that was as thick as a large bowl.

The bolt of lightning covered a distance of several hundred feet in a flash, then struck the five-colored projection amid a resounding thunderclap.

The miniature peacock let loose a howl of anguish and was erased off the face of this realm.

The giant golden ape threw its head back and let loose an elated cry while thumping its own chest in an ecstatic manner, then quickly shrank down and reverted back to its human form amid a flash of golden light.

After returning to his human form, Han Li heaved a sigh of relief before looking into the blood mist down below. After that, he waved a hand through the air, and two bracelets, one golden and one silver, landed in his hand.

Han Li briefly inspected the two storage bracelets before stowing them away amid a flash of spiritual light, then turned his attention back to the lingering blood mist down below.

All of a sudden, he swept a sleeve downward, and a ball of silver flames shot forth before striking the blood mist in a flash.

The mist was instantly ignited as a result, and a faint pungent odor began to emanate from within it.

Soon, it had transformed into a sea of silver flames, and Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he reached out and made a downward grabbing motion.

The silver flames instantly surged upward as a fiery dragon, and the flames were stowed back up Han Li's sleeve, while an egg-sized ball of liquid that was emanating faint five-colored light had appeared in his hand.

Han Li looked down at the ball of liquid, and a hint of astonishment flashed through his eyes. "I was able to secure such pure true spirit blood after nothing more than such a simple extraction process; as expected, that Shopkeeper Yu really is no ordinary Five Light being! If this blood were a little purer, it could easily have come from a direct lineal descendant of the Five-colored Peacock. Could it be that he really is somehow connected to the Five-colored Peacock? So be it; none of that really matters at this point." Han Li shook his head to rid himself of that train of thought.

He then flipped a hand over to produce a bright red vial, then began to chant something as he pointed at the ball of liquid hovering over his palm.

The small vial shuddered before expelling a burst of white light that swept up the ball of liquid, then drew it into the vial in an instant.

Spiritual light flashed as Han Li stowed the vial away, then made a hand seal to withdraw the two extreme mountains as well.

The combination of the fearsome might of his extreme mountains and the incredible abilities of his Giant Mountain Ape form had already become one of his trump cards in battle. If he could refine one or two more extreme mountains, he was confident that this trump card would become even more formidable.

Azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he immediately vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of the Weeping Soul Beast, and Han Li reappeared before carefully inspecting the Weeping Soul Beast with a complex look in his eyes.

He knew that the Weeping Soul Beast would become unimaginably powerful after undergoing its transformation, but he was still extremely stunned that it had been able to slay a Grand Ascension Stage beast so easily.

Wasn't it only supposed to be effective against ghostly beings?

Furthermore, he had checked on the Weeping Soul Beast a few days ago, and it had displayed no signs of awakening at all. As such, when it had jumped out on its own to battle the two-headed beast, he was ecstatic, but had also been given a massive fright.

On top of that, his current spiritual connection with the Weeping Soul Beast was extremely feeble, and he seemed to have lost control over it.

This made him rather concerned, and he was at a loss for what to do as he appraised the beast with furrowed brows. After all, with the powers that the Weeping Soul Beast had just displayed, if it were to turn on him, he would be in even more trouble than when he was facing the two-headed beast on his own.

Right at this moment, the Weeping Soul Beast tossed the crystalline core in its hand up into the air, then opened its mouth and chewed on the core a few times before swallowing it. Only then did he turn to face Han Li, and there was also a peculiar look in its bright red eyes.

"Are you worried, Master?" the Weeping Soul Beast suddenly asked.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "Worried? Why would I be worried? Have you attained a higher level of intelligence?"

"Hehe, there are indeed many new things that have appeared in my mind. There's no need to lie to me, Master; our spiritual connection has become weaker, but I can still sense your emotions," the Weeping Soul Beast said with a smile.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before a wry smile appeared on his face. "Many new things have appeared in your mind? What do you mean by that? And what are you? Are you actually a Xing Beast?"

"I'm... not particularly sure of that myself. After awakening from my hibernation, I attained a lot of new knowledge. I seem to be similar to the Xing Beast that they speak of, but also slightly different in some areas. However, you don't have to be concerned as I'll most likely be leaving this realm soon," the Weeping Soul Beast sighed, and Han Li was quite taken aback to hear this.

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A bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face. "You're leaving this realm? What do you mean by that? Could it be..."

"Indeed, Master. After I devoured the spiritual sense of that Heavenly Devilish Sovereign in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, massive changes have occurred within my body, and I can sense the call from the other realm. Hence, I had to hibernate in the spirit beast bracelet to protect myself. Just now, I was roused by that creature, and I was unable to control myself as I instinctively acted to absorb the heavenly lightning power within its body. Now, my body is being completely rejected by the power of heaven and earth of this realm, and I'll most likely be teleported to the legendary True Immortal Realm soon," the Weeping Soul Beast replied in a slightly forlorn manner.

Han Li was rooted to the spot for a long while before a wry smile appeared on his face. "Are you sure the forces summoning you are from the True Immortal Realm?"

He had embarked on this tumultuous cultivation journey all for the chance to ascend to that legendary realm someday, yet he was still far, far away from achieving that goal, but the Weeping Soul Beast had already reached that objective, seemingly with ease.

This naturally struck him with a sense of indignation, as well as some suspicion.

"I don't know why, but I can sense that it is indeed the power of the True Immortal Realm that's calling out to me. Among the many things that have appeared in my mind, many of them are related to the True Immortal Realm," the Weeping Soul Beast replied.

Han Li's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this. "You have knowledge of the True Immortal Realm? Would you be able to tell me about it?"

"Of course, I would be more than happy to... It's coming now! I don't have any time left!" The Weeping Soul Beast initially nodded in agreement, but its expression suddenly changed drastically, and an alarmed look appeared in its eyes.

As soon as its voice trailed off, a dull rumbling sound suddenly rang out in the air above. The white mist overhead parted to reveal a vast expanse of five-colored light, which then transformed into a massive eyeball of light the size of a house.

The pupil of the eyeball was of a translucent crimson color, and its gaze immediately settled on the Weeping Soul Beast in an intent manner.

A devastatingly terrifying aura then descended from the heavens, and a chill ran down Han Li's spine, following which he was completely immobilized.

This wasn't due to a simple disparity in magic power; he had been rendered completely powerless as the eyeball was simply on a far higher plane of existence.

He could sense that the eyeball could destroy his body and soul in an instant if it pleased, and his expression became extremely strained. It had been countless years since he had last been this powerless.

He felt as if he had returned to his childhood and was facing Doctor Mo, who had been an insurmountable almighty figure in his eyes at the time.

Under the scrutiny of this eyeball, sweat began to pour down the Weeping Soul Beast's face, and its arm shuddered as it attempted to raise a hand, only for it to be forced to drop back down limply to its side.

A hint of mockery appeared in the giant eyeball, and a burst of Buddhist chants rang out from within it.

The eyeball then seemed to blink, following which an extraordinarily thick pillar of crimson light came crashing downward.

The Weeping Soul Beast was struck by the pillar of crimson light, and its body was instantly transported over 10,000 feet up into the air.

Han Li was completely unable to move, but he could still see that the Weeping Soul Beast had turned around with difficulty to take one final look at him from within the pillar of light. There was a very complex look on its face, and in the next instant, it disappeared into the giant eyeball.

The Buddhist chants ceased, and the eye fell shut before vanishing into nothingness.

The white mist converged overhead once again, and following the disappearance of the giant eyeball, that devastating aura also vanished.

Everything returned to normal, yet even though Han Li had regained his freedom, he still remained rooted to the spot, staring up into the heavens with a blank expression.

After a long while, he finally heaved a faint sigh and lowered his head in a slightly dejected manner.

The Weeping Soul Beast had been with him ever since his days in the Scattered Star Seas, and it had saved his life on countless occasions. Now that it had essentially been abducted, Han Li was naturally rather concerned for its future.

However, that giant eyeball was clearly something from the True Immortal Realm, and he was completely powerless in its presence, so he couldn't do anything except look on helplessly as the Weeping Soul Beast was taken away.

However, it seemed to have been quite calm when it was taken, so it most likely wasn't in any danger. If he could ascend to the True Immortal Realm someday, perhaps they could be reunited.

The only thing that he was rather disappointed about was that the Weeping Soul Beast had ascended before it could disclose to him any information about the True Immortal Realm. Otherwise, that information may have benefitted him in his future cultivation.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he abruptly turned toward a certain direction.

Faint golden light flashed from the distance in that direction, and a streak of golden light flew toward him before reaching him in just a few flashes.

Han Li focused his gaze on the person within the streak of light, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

The light faded to reveal an exquisite beauty with a lithe and graceful figure, and skin that was as fair as the finest jade.

"Long time no see, Fairy Yuan; how have you been?" Han Li greeted as he cupped his fist in a salute.

Yuan Yao was wearing a green palatial dress, and she was looking back at Han Li with an elated expression. "It really is you, Brother Han!"

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward her to ascertain her cultivation base, upon which a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

"I see you've reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, Fairy Yuan; looks like Senior Qing Yuanzi had expended much effort to nurture you in your cultivation."

"Hmph, Yao'er is not just my disciple now, but also my foster daughter, so of course I'd do everything in my power to assist her in her cultivation." A cold harrumph suddenly rang out.

Immediately thereafter, six streaks of azure light flew out of one of Yuan Yao's sleeves, then converged to form a miniature azure humanoid figure.

The humanoid figure wore a set of grey robes and had a small green sword on its back. It was only around a foot tall, but aside from the size disparity, it was completely identical to Qing Yuanzi.

"Nascent Soul Substantiation!" Han Li couldn't help but exclaim at the sight of this miniature figure.

"Are you that surprised to see my Nascent Soul out of my body? Come to think of it, your surprise is justified; for those who've yet to reach the Grand Ascension Stage, it would indeed be very dangerous for them to release their Nascent Soul out of their body for an extended period of time. However, I've been at the Grand Ascension Stage for countless years and my Nascent Soul has been cultivated to a completely substantial form, so a physical body is no longer indispensable to me. You'll understand when you get to the Grand Ascension Stage as well. Besides, this is only one of my three Nascent Souls," Qing Yuanzi chuckled.

"Your powers are truly unfathomable, Senior!" Han Li said in a heartfelt manner as he extended a slight bow.

"This is nothing remarkable for Grand Ascension Stage beings like us. In comparison, your progress is far more incredible; it's only been a few centuries since we last met, yet you're already at the Body Integration Stage. Even I was progressing nowhere near as quickly at the same stage in my own cultivation journey. Looks like you've truly encountered some miraculous opportunities during these years," the miniature figure said with a hint of a smile on its face.

"You're far too kind, Senior; I was merely lucky and certainly can't be compared with someone of your prestige," Han Li said in a modest manner.

"I know full well whether my praise is warranted or not. By the way, were you involved in a battle before I came here? The residual aura here is very strange," Qing Yuanzi said with furrowed brows as he inspected his surroundings.

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this. The devastating aura of the five-colored giant eye should've been detectable to someone of Qing Yuanzi's powers, even if he were situated quite far away. However, it was quite clear that Qing Yuanzi had failed to sense anything. Could it be that the giant eye had unleashed some kind of ability that had masked its own aura?

In that case, then the five-colored giant eye would be even more fearsome than he had initially imagined.

Even with these thoughts racing through his mind, Han Li maintained a calm expression, and replied, "I was indeed involved in a battle earlier. When I was teleporting to this place, one of my enemies hitched a ride, but I've taken care of him now. He stemmed from some rather special origins, so it's no surprise that his residual aura is also rather peculiar."

"I see, looks like I was just overthinking things, then. Alright, let's not linger here any longer; come with me and we'll talk further when we get back to my cave abode. It'll take around half a day to get back to my abode and if it weren't for the fact that I just so happened to be testing a type of secret technique with Yao'er, I wouldn't have been able to get here so quickly," Qing Yuanzi said as he aimed a meaningful glance at Han Li.

Before Han Li had a chance to respond, Qing Yuanzi flew away as a streak of azure light, and Han Li could only follow along behind him.

As for Yuan Yao, she flew beside him within a streak of golden light with a smile on her face.

"I thought it would take a few more years before your return; after all, the items that Father asked you to search for are all extremely rare in the Spirit Realm" Yuan Yao transmitted her voice to Han Li as she flew alongside him.

"How are you so sure that I managed to gather the items Senior Jiang requested? Perhaps I returned for some other purpose?" Han Li also transmitted his voice in response, with a faint smile.

"I'm familiar with your personality, Brother Han; without a sufficient incentive, there's no way you would go through the effort of returning to this place, and the only thing here that could currently be of interest to you would naturally be the Divine Infernal River Elixir," Yuan Yao said with a gorgeous smile.

"You really do know me well, Fairy Yuan; I did indeed come here for the Divine Infernal River Elixir," Han Li conceded with a wry smile.

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"In that case, it's going to be slightly difficult for you to achieve your objective," Yuan Yao sighed in a forlorn manner.

"What do you mean by that, Fairy Yuan? Could it be that Senior Jiang changed his mind about the Divine Infernal River Elixir?" Han Li asked in a surprised manner.

"Of course not; someone of Father's status wouldn't go back on their word so easily. However, something outside of his control recently happened. I'm sure he'll explain everything to you once we get back, so I won't say too much about it. Having said that, things aren't entirely non-negotiable, so you needn't worry too much," Yuan Yao said in a meaningful voice.

Yuan Yao's words presented more questions than answers, but Han Li merely nodded and fell silent.

Yuan Yao knew that he was contemplating what she had just said, so she remained silent in a thoughtful gesture to avoid disrupting Han Li, and merely flew by his side with a smile on her face.

Meanwhile, Qing Yuanzi was flying on ahead of them and didn't even turn his head to check on them once. Thus, the three streaks of light quickly vanished into the distance, leaving the battlefield between Han Li and Shopkeeper Yu completely empty.

Around half a day later, the trio finally returned to Qing Yuanzi's cave abode, and Han Li arrived in the hall that was still slightly familiar to him.

The miniature azure figure stretched lazily, then suddenly expanded to the size of a normal human being. He sat down on the main seat in a casual manner, then said to Han Li, "You're already a Body Integration cultivator now, so there's no need for you to be too reserved and rigid in my presence; you can take a seat as well."

"Thank you, Senior." Han Li immediately extended a respectful salute before taking a seat as he was told.

Yuan Yao strode over to Qing Yuanzi's side before standing behind him in an obedient manner, and right at this moment, a white-robed young woman with a round face emerged into the hall, carrying a platter with several cups of spirit tea.

She placed one of the cups onto the table in front of Han Li, then said with a smile, "Welcome, Brother Han. I didn't think that you would return to this place so soon."

This woman was naturally none other than Yan Li.

Han Li turned to her with a smile, and said, "Long time no see, Fairy Yan. You look just as youthful and beautiful as ever."

"I possess a half-ghost body, so my appearance naturally won't change. Hmm? I can't seem to ascertain your exact cultivation base now; could it be that you've already reached the Body Integration Stage, Brother Han?" Yan Li initially had a smile on her face, but that smile quickly gave way to a stunned expression as she swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li.

Yan Li was currently at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, so it was naturally impossible for her to glean Han Li's current cultivation base.

"Indeed, I was very fortunate and managed to progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"The mid-Body Integration Stage?" Yan Li was completely rooted to the spot.

A hint of impatience appeared on Qing Yuanzi's face, and he said, "If you want to catch up with Fellow Daoist Han, you can talk to him all you want after we're done with our discussion here."

"Ah, my apologies for my rudeness." Yan Li finally returned to her senses before offering the other cup of spirit tea on her platter to Qing Yuanzi, then situated herself beside Yuan Yao.

"I also didn't think that you would come here so soon, and my main Nascent Soul is currently in seclusion cultivating a powerful ability, so I won't be able to greet you with my true body," Qing Yuanzi suddenly said to Han Li.

"It's already a great honor for me to be graced by the presence of one of your Nascent Souls even though you're at a critical juncture in your cultivation, Senior," Han Li replied in a sincere manner.

Qing Yuanzi nodded at the sight of Han Li's respectful display, then cut straight to the chase.

"You returned to the infernal river using the treasure I gave you, so you must've gathered a lot of the materials I asked for, right? Roughly how many of the materials have you gathered? As we agreed, you only have to gather two-thirds of all the materials on the list to complete your mission."

"All of the materials I've gathered are in this storage bracelet; please inspect them for yourself, Senior." Instead of giving a direct reply, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a green storage bracelet, then stood up and offered the bracelet to Qing Yuanzi with both hands.

As opposed to being irked by Han Li's refusal to directly answer his question, a hint of elation flashed through his eyes, and he said, "Hehe, you seem very confident, Fellow Daoist Han; looks like you must've completed your mission with flying colors. Now then, let me inspect the fruits of your efforts." Thus, he reached out to accept the storage bracelet, then closed his eyes and injected his spiritual sense into it.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li both turned to appraise Qing Yuanzi in unison. They naturally couldn't inject their spiritual sense into the storage bracelet as well, but they could gauge Han Li's degree of success by inspecting Qing Yuanzi's reaction.

In contrast with the slightly anxious looks on their faces, Han Li was very calm and collected.

With Qing Yuanzi's immensely powerful spiritual sense, as well as his vast wealth of knowledge and experience, it naturally wouldn't take him long to inspect all of the materials in the storage bracelet.

Initially, he remained completely expressionless, but not long after that, a hint of astonishment had appeared on his face, and as more time passed, the astonishment gave way to shock and elation.

Yuan Yao was quite relieved to see this, and at the same time, she turned to Han Li with a curious look in her eyes.

As Qing Yuanzi's foster daughter, she was naturally aware of what materials were on the list that had been given to Han Li.

The quantity and rarity of the materials on that list had been truly astonishing to her, and she had always been concerned that Han Li wouldn't be able to complete this mission.

However, judging from Qing Yuanzi's reaction, Han Li had to have gathered a very significant proportion of the materials on the list.

Initially, Qing Yuanzi hadn't actually harbored very high hopes for Han Li. He had merely given Han Li a list of materials as it couldn't hurt to do so, so it was a low-risk endeavor for a potentially high reward, albeit only with very slim chances.

These materials were very important to Qing Yuanzi to begin with, and the fact that he was unable to leave the infernal river made the materials even more precious to him.

Yan Li was also staring at Han Li with an astonished look in her eyes, but that was also tinged with some other complex emotions.

"Very good! Aside from a few materials that even I wouldn't be confident in finding, you've found all of the materials on my list. You have truly surprised me, Fellow Daoist Han. With these materials, I'll have a 20% better chance of transcending my next lightning tribulation," Qing Yuanzi said in an excited voice as he opened his eyes.

"These materials can only result in a 20% increase?" Han Li was stunned to hear this.

All of the materials that he had gathered were extremely difficult to find in the Spirit Realm, and he had only found some of them in the medicine garden within the Vast Glacial Realm. In Han Li's opinion, many of those materials most likely couldn't even be found in the Spirit Realm anymore.

"Hehe, once someone reaches my cultivation base, normal methods are completely ineffective when it comes to increasing the chances of transcending a tribulation, and there are extremely limited external forces that can be drawn upon, so 20% is already an optimistic estimate. Alright, setting that aside for now, you delivered the materials I asked for, so I'll naturally give you some Divine Infernal River Elixir in return. But before that, are you still planning to exchange these materials for the elixir? If you're open to alternatives, I can offer you items that are no less valuable than the elixir," Qing Yuanzi said with a smile as he carefully stowed the storage bracelet away.

"I'm sure you're aware of how important the elixir is to me now that I'm at the Body Integration Stage, so I'll have to turn down any alternatives," Han Li replied without any hesitation. Yuan Yao had already hinted that there would be an issue with this exchange, so he was ready for such an offer.

"In that case, things could be a little troublesome." Qing Yuanzi's brows furrowed slightly as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

"You seem troubled, Senior. Would you be able to tell me what the issue is? If I recall correctly, didn't you already have some Divine Infernal River Elixir?" Han Li asked.

"Truth be told, if you had come 100 years earlier, or 200 to 300 years later, there would be no issues at all, but I recently lent my elixir to someone else who had an urgent need for it. If you wait another few centuries, perhaps I can source some more," Qing Yuanzi said in a resigned manner.

"You lent out the elixir?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Indeed. The one who borrowed the elixir is one of the grand elders of the Mayfly Race, and we're close acquaintances. He's one of the reasons I've been able to reside in the infernal river, so I couldn't turn him down," Qing Yuanzi revealed.

Han Li's expression naturally became rather strained upon hearing this.

However, Qing Yuanzi then suddenly smiled, and said, "But rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; if you really want the elixir, it's not impossible to obtain it."

"What do you mean by that, Senior? Are there other avenues through which the elixir can be secured?" Han Li immediately asked as an elated look appeared on his face.

"Of course. Divine Infernal River Elixir is very rare, and every time it's produced, I always make sure to get my hands on some. However, there are also several other tremendously powerful beings who inhabit this realm, and they'll also take a share each as well. Generally, half of the elixir produced is taken by the Mayfly Race, while the rest is split among us. However, these people all have rather peculiar personalities and are no less powerful than I am. I have no ties or relations with them, and I'll have to pay them a visit in person to see if I can borrow some elixir from them. Rest assured, even if I'm unable to do so, I'll make sure to issue you satisfactory reparations for your efforts," Qing Yuanzi said in a confident manner.

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Han Li was feeling slightly more reassured by Qing Yuanzi's promise, and he asked, "In that case, I guess I'll just have to wait. Pardon me for asking, but roughly when would I be able to expect a response?"

"I naturally can't send this second Nascent Soul of mine to visit those old geezers, so I'll have to visit them in person. My true body will be coming out of seclusion in around a month at the very least and around half a year at the most. You should be able to wait for that much time, right, Fellow Daoist Han?" Qing Yuanzi replied in a calm manner.

"Of course," Han Li replied with a rather sheepish smile.

All of a sudden, Qing Yuanzi smiled, and asked, "By the way, how are your Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords coming along? I'm sure you've already refined them again, right?"

Han Li was rather taken aback by the sudden change in topic, but he still replied, "I did indeed refine all of the flying swords again following your instructions, I've cultivated the final Azure Coil Sword Formation as well. It's just that the sword art you passed down to me is truly profound, and I was only able to glean a small portion of it."

"In that case, would you like me to instruct you in the sword art? I developed some new insights regarding this sword art during the past years, and I'm sure those insights would be beneficial to you. On top of that, now that you're at the mid-Body Integration Stage, I'm sure it'll only be a matter of time before you encounter your late-Body Integration Stage bottleneck; I also have some insights on this area if you'd like to hear them as well." Han Li was naturally both surprised and ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly rose to his feet before extending a deep bow. "Thank you, Senior! It would be a vast honor for me to receive instructions from you!"

He was naturally aware that Qing Yuanzi was only willing to do this as he had gathered far more materials on the list than Qing Yuanzi had expected.

"Alright, then you can stay here for now. I'll go organize these materials first; you can come directly to my secret chamber to find me tomorrow. In the meantime, Yao'er, Yan Li, please keep Fellow Daoist Han company," Qing Yuanzi instructed as he turned to Yuan Yao with a smile.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li naturally hurriedly extended curtseys, and the former replied, "Yes, Father; we'll be sure to look after Fellow Daoist Han."

Qing Yuanzi nodded in response before giving Han Li a nod, then departed from the hall, leaving only Han Li, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li in the room.

A faint blush appeared on Yuan Yao's face, and just as she as contemplating what she should say to Han Li, Yan Li suddenly said in an intrigued manner, "I can't believe you've managed to progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries, Brother Han; your rate of progression truly puts us to shame."

The two women shared quite a close bond with Han Li, so even though Han Li had far outstripped them in power, Yan Li was still regarding him as an equal, much like good friends did.

"You've done quite well for yourself, Fairy Yan; you've managed to remain by Senior Jiang's side and reached the Spatial Tempering Stage after just a few centuries. I'm sure countless fellow Daoists would be envious of your situation. On top of that, I can see that a lot of the Yin Qi within your bodies has faded, so I presume you've found a way to revert back to human bodies; I must congratulate you on that as well," Han Li said with a smile.

"Your powers are truly unfathomable, Brother Han; I didn't think that you would be able to spot the changes we'd undergone right away. Indeed, Senior Jiang did find a way for us to return to our human forms. It's just that this method is extremely slow, and even after all this time, we've only displayed slight changes. At this rate, it'll probably take 2,000 to 3,000 more years until we complete our transformations," Yan Li replied with a smile, and it was quite clear that she was also very pleased with this development.

"Not only did the two of you come from the same human world as I did, you're also two of the very few good friends I have in the Spirit Realm, so I'm very glad to see that you're doing well," Han Li said with a smile.

"Brother Han, if it's not too much trouble, would you be able to tell us about what you've been through these past years? Of course, you can omit the more sensitive details. The two of us have been trapped in this place ever since we ascended to the Spirit Realm, and we're very curious about your experiences," Yuan Yao finally said.

"Indeed, I'm also quite interested to hear what you've been up to all these years, Brother Han," Yan Li chimed in in an excited manner.

Han Li chuckled in response, and obliged with the request. "Hehe, I've been to many places since we last met, including even another continent. If you'd like to hear about my experiences, then I'd be more than happy to give you a recount. Back when I left this place several hundred years ago, I first returned to the island I resided on prior to coming here and then went into seclusion for a while, progressing to the Spatial Tempering Stage in the process..."

Thus, Han Li gave an account of his experiences to the two women, and even though he had omitted a lot of important details, it was still a spectacular story for the sheltered pair of sisters.

Yuan Yao's eyes were sparkling as she listened to Han Li's tale, and Yan Li also occasionally gave cries of surprise.

After a long while, Han Li finally concluded his story, and he naturally enquired about how the women's cultivation had progressed during these past years.

Thus, Yuan Yao and Yan Li told him their stories as well, but compared to the spectacular tale Han Li had just told, their experiences were admittedly extremely drab and boring.

Aside from cultivating and occasionally going out into the infernal river to gather items for Qing Yuanzi, there wasn't really anything else to speak of.

Thus, Han Li continued to chat with the two women, and after they had had their fill of conversation, the two women organized a silent cultivation chamber within the cave abode for Han Li to stay in. He was left to rest on his own there, and after meditating for a night, he was led to Qing Yuanzi's secret chamber by the two women the next morning.

Time flew by, and three months passed in a flash.

On this day, a streak of golden light and a streak of azure light suddenly rose up into the air above Qing Yuanzi's cave abode before flying toward a certain direction.

Within the streaks of light were a grey-robed elderly man, and an azure-robed young man who appeared to be in his twenties; they were naturally none other than Qing Yuanzi and Han Li.

However, as opposed to Qing Yuanzi's Nascent Soul, this was Qing Yuanzi's true body that was flying alongside Han Li.

He had finally emerged from seclusion the day before, and Han Li had benefited immensely in his cultivation from being instructed by the Nascent Soul for the past three months.

At present, they were heading toward an obscure place in the infernal river to visit a certain mysterious individual. What Han Li found to be rather strange and perplexing was that Qing Yuanzi had asked Han Li to join him on this trip.

After traveling for half a day, Han Li finally couldn't help but ask, "Would you be able to tell me who we're going to be visiting, Senior?"

"I'm taking you to one of the old geezers in here who is relatively easier to talk to, so there should be a greater chance that we'll be able to get some elixir from him. As for exactly who he is or what his origins are, I'm not particularly sure. However, what I can be sure of is that he definitely isn't a Flying Spirit being or Mayfly being. Instead, it seems that his true form is some kind of powerful beast. In terms of experience and age, even I can't hold a candle to him. He'll be slightly easier to talk to than the others, but he has a rather peculiar personality as well, so make sure to be on your guard when we meet him," Qing Yuanzi said in a serious manner.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior; I'll be sure to exercise caution," Han Li hurriedly answered.

"Haha, there's no need for you to be too concerned. He owes me a favor from many years ago, so barring any mishaps, we should be able to achieve our objective for this trip," Qing Yuanzi chuckled in reassurance.

"That would naturally be best," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Haha, alright, let's focus on traveling now. That person resides in a very secluded corner of the infernal river, so even at our speed, it will take over 10 days to reach his abode," Qing Yuanzi said as golden light revolved around his body, and his speed abruptly doubled as he shot forth through the air as a golden thread.

Han Li naturally also sped up upon seeing this, transforming into a rapid azure thread that followed closely behind Qing Yuanzi.

10 days later, Han Li and Qing Yuanzi arrived above a strange azure lake that was enshrouded under a vast expanse of faint grey mist.

Not only was the entire lake enshrouded under mist, it was extremely massive, and the water within it was of a vibrant green color.

Han Li released his spiritual sense toward the water down below, and was shocked to discover the vast abundance of spiritual Qi within the lake. Countless giant fish were swimming through the lake, and all of them were demonic fish that possessed magic power and were giving off astonishing auras.

However, these fish seemed to have been somehow restricted. Not only did not a single one of them float to the surface, even as Han Li and Qing Yuanzi flew over the lake, the fish displayed no interest toward them whatsoever.

Han Li was slightly surprised to see this, and after flying for several tens of thousands of kilometers further, an island appeared on the surface of the lake.

The island was very eye-catching as it was entirely of a shimmering golden color. On top of that, there was a giant radiant golden palace that took up roughly two-thirds of the area of the island, while the rest of the area had been reserved for all types of exotic flowers and plants. The island was as beautiful as an immortal paradise, but it was entirely enshrouded within a white light barrier, from which Han Li could sense powerful restriction fluctuations.

"This is where that man lives. Come with me, Fellow Daoist Han," Qing Yuanzi said with a smile as he stopped in front of the island.

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"This senior sure lives in a rather unique place!" Han Li looked down at the dazzling golden island in a stunned manner.

"Hehe, this is just one of his strange indulgences. You'll know what he's like when you meet him," Qing Yuanzi replied as a slightly peculiar look appeared in his eyes.

"I'm quite curious about this senior now," Han Li mused with a contemplative look on his face.

Meanwhile, Qing Yuanzi swept a sleeve toward the white light barrier up ahead, and a burst of golden light immediately shot forth before transforming into a giant golden sword that was over 100 feet in length.

The sword swept toward the light barrier without any hesitation, and a resounding boom rang out as ripples ran over the entire surface of the light barrier.

Almost at the exact same moment, several roars of fury immediately rang out from the island.

"Who dares to attack our Golden Flame Island?"

"Are you unaware that this is Master Golden Flame's abode?"

Several figures instantly appeared within the light barrier before revealing themselves to be four golden-armored guards, all of whom immediately turned toward Qing Yuanzi and Han LI with furious expressions.

However, upon catching sight of Qing Yuanzi, the four guards hurriedly extended respectful bows. "Ah, it's Master Qing!"

It was quite clear that all of the guards recognized Qing Yuanzi, and their enraged expressions immediately faded.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward these four guards and discovered that they were all at the Spatial Tempering Stage. However, there were violent auras within all of their bodies, so they clearly weren't ordinary people.

"Golden Flame Baron, why don't you come out to meet your old friend?" Qing Yuanzi called out toward the golden palace, paying no heed to the four golden-armored guards

Even though his voice wasn't very loud, he had clearly used some kind of secret technique that made his voice audible over the entire island.

"Come in on your own, Qing Yuanzi. Are you asking me to come out to greet you?" An indifferent male voice rang out from within the golden palace in response. It was coming from somewhere quite far away, but it was also very clearly audible to Han Li and Qing Yuanzi.

"Hehe, pardon my intrusion, then. You can lead the way for me," Qing Yuanzi said to the four guards with a smile.

The four golden-armored guards hurriedly replied in a respectful manner, "Yes, please come with us, Senior."

Thus, Han Li and Qing Yuanzi were led through the light barrier by the guards before descending toward the palace on the island.

Not long after that, Qing Yuanzi was seated in a spacious hall in a casual manner, while Han Li was seated beside him in a more rigid and respectful posture.

On the main seat in the hall sat a golden-robed middle-aged man with a golden dragon crown on his head, and a calm look on his face.

"I can see that this fellow Daoist is a mid-Body Integration cultivator; could it be that you accepted him as your disciple, knowing that your life is about to come to an end soon? Someone of his powers at his age is indeed worthy of being your heir. However, last time I visited Old Man Yan, I recall he told me that you have a female disciple," the golden-crowned man said.

This man had skin that was as fair as jade, and a very graceful and refined appearance.

He was the owner of this place, a Grand Ascension Stage being by the name of Golden Flame Baron.

Almost every single inch of his body was adorned by shimmering golden accessories, and Han Li was left feeling rather speechless at the sight of him. At the same time, he finally understood what Qing Yuanzi had told him earlier.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Fellow Daoist Jin; Fellow Daoist Han is just one of my acquaintances. I'm sure you recall an incident that took place several hundred years ago, where members of the Mayfly Race hunted down a few people who tried to steal some Divine Infernal River Elixir; it was during that time that I first met Fellow Daoist Han. As for the female disciple you're referring to, she's already become my foster daughter, and even though she also possesses outstanding aptitude, she's still only at the Spatial Tempering Stage at the moment," Qing Yuanzi explained with a smile.

"Oh, you must be the one who diverted the Infernal Lightning Beast away for those who were attempting to steal the elixir. If I recall correctly, didn't everyone in that group get captured by the Mayfly Race in the end? How did this Fellow Daoist Han manage to escape? Could it be that you were the one who saved him?" the golden-crowned man asked with a hint of befuddlement in his eyes.

"That's not exactly what happened, but it's close enough. I was indeed the one who sent Fellow Daoist Han away from the infernal river, but please don't misunderstand; I only did this as Fellow Daoist Han is from the same race as I am, and I also required his services to do something in my stead in the outside world," Qing Yuanzi said in a calm manner.

"I see. Come to think of it, it's been over 1,000 years since you last came to visit me. Now that you're here with Fellow Daoist Han, I'm sure you haven't just come to me for a chat, right?" Golden Flame Baron asked in a serious voice.

"I do indeed have something I need to discuss with you, Fellow Daoist Jin," Qing Yuanzi admitted with a smile.

"Hmph, I knew it. We're slightly closer with one another than all of the other old geezers in the infernal river, but we're certainly not close enough for you to pay me a visit right after you come out of seclusion. What do you want to see me for?" Golden Flame Baron asked in an expressionless manner.

Qing Yuanzi was rather displeased by Golden Flame Baron's cold and forbidding demeanor, and his expression fell slightly as he said, "I'm not here to force you into anything, Fellow Daoist; I only want to propose a mutually beneficial exchange. If there's anything you're not satisfied with, I definitely won't force the issue."

Golden Flame Baron took a meaningful glance at Qing Yuanzi before a smile appeared on his face. "Haha, forgive me, Fellow Daoist; I haven't had company for a long time, and it seems that I've forgotten my manners. Now then, what would you like to propose? As long as it's not an exchange that's too lopsided, I would be happy to consider it."

"In that case, I'll get straight to the point. I recall during my last visit that you expressed an interest in my Nine Eye Bead, and that you were willing to exchange some treasures for it. However, at the time, I required it for something else, so I turned down your offer. On this occasion, I've brought this bead along with me and would like to exchange it for something I need. What do you say, Brother Jin?" Qing Yuanzi swept a sleeve over the table beside him as he spoke, and a vibrant green jade box appeared amid a flash of golden light.

Golden Flame Baron's composed facade immediately cracked slightly upon hearing this, and he focused his gaze intently onto the box on the table. Only after seemingly expending a lot of effort did he finally manage to forcibly wrench his gaze away from the box.

It was quite clear that he held this Nine Eye Bead in extremely high regard, and he said, "Seeing as you're being so straightforward, I won't waste any time, either; what would you like for this treasure? As long as it's not one of my indispensable treasures, I can consider anything else."

Han Li was quite elated to see this. Judging from the current situation, it seemed that there was a very good chance that he would be able to secure some Divine Infernal River Elixir.

Qing Yuanzi smiled, and replied, "I want three vials of Divine Infernal River Elixir, and a chunk of Self-creating Soil."

"Absolutely not! This Nine Eye Bead does indeed have extraordinary abilities when it comes to tool refinement, but it's nowhere near valuable enough to exchange for those items. Setting aside the Divine Infernal River Elixir for now, Self-creating Soil is one of the best earth-attribute materials in existence, and there are almost no other earth-attribute materials that can compare with it. I'm only in possession of a very small amount of this soil, and I'm planning to use it to refine a treasure for my next tribulation transcendence; I certainly can't give it away like this," Golden Flame Baron said as he shook his head vehemently.

"I'm naturally aware of this, but what if I throw in these three things as well?" Qing Yuanzi wasn't surprised in the slightest by Golden Flame Baron's rejection, and a confident smile appeared on his face as he swept a sleeve over the table again, summoning three strange rhomboid items.

These three items resembled fist-sized spearheads that were of a shimmering golden color.

These items were covered in strange red runes and were quite mystifying to behold.

Golden Flame Baron faltered slightly at the sight of these items, then carefully inspected them, but didn't seem to discover anything. Thus, he made a grabbing motion to draw one of the items into his grasp for closer inspection.

"Could this be..."

At the same time, Han Li was staring intently at the other two golden items on the table as he could sense an extremely familiar aura emanating from them.

After inspecting the golden item in his hand for a while longer, Golden Flame Baron's expression began to change slightly.

"I can't be certain, but this seems to be the legendary Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning," Golden Flame Baron said in a rather hesitant manner as he turned to Qing Yuanzi.

"You have an exceptional eye, Fellow Daoist! I obtained some Golden Lightning Bamboo leaves some years ago, and it took me several centuries to refine only six pieces of this lightning. I'm bringing out half of them at once, so I'm sure that's a sufficient show of my sincerity. Your next major heavenly tribulation won't be too far away, and Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning is an exceptional weapon against Extrarealm Heavenly Devils. Those devils can be extremely troublesome during tribulations, and normal treasures have very minimal effects on them. With this lightning, you'll be able to protect yourself against them far better than any treasure could protect you. If it weren't for the fact that I had managed to refine more than enough for myself, I definitely wouldn't be offering them to you," Qing Yuanzi said with a hint of a smile on his face.

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Golden Flame Baron seemed to have been quite tempted by this, and he fell into deep thought.

Meanwhile, a peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing the name "Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning".

It was no wonder that these three items had struck him with a sense of familiarity; they had been refined from the Golden Lightning Bamboo leaves he had given to Qing Yuanzi as the main material.

These leaves stemmed from the same source as the Golden Lightning Bamboo cane, so their auras were naturally quite similar.

Even though this lightning was supposed to be an effective weapon against Extrarealm Heavenly Devils, those were heavenly devils that would only appear when one made a breakthrough attempt to the Grand Ascension Stage or endured heavenly tribulations when at the Grand Ascension Stage, so it wasn't something that he had to worry about for now.

As for the refinement method for this lightning, Han Li had unintentionally stumbled upon that in the market of a certain foreign race, but he had been stunned by the vast amount of lightning-attribute materials required to refine it.

At the time, he knew that he wouldn't be able to gather all of the required materials and that he wouldn't be able to refine it anyway, so he reluctantly cast the matter aside.

The fact that even Qing Yuanzi could only refine six pieces of this lightning in several centuries further confirmed to him that this was beyond his reach, and it seemed that there was no chance he would be able to refine this lightning before he reached the late-Body Integration Stage.

"Three pieces of Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning is indeed enough to exchange for Self-Creating Soil, but there's one thing I don't understand; don't you have Divine Infernal River Elixir yourself? Why did you come all the way here to exchange for some with me?" Golden Flame Baron asked in a skeptical manner.

"All of my elixir was borrowed to someone else over 100 years ago, and Fellow Daoist Han requires this item to break through his next Body Integration Stage bottleneck. I owe him a favor due to an agreement we had made, so I could only come to you to try and secure some elixir," Qing Yuanzi explained.

"You promised him some Divine Infernal River Elixir? Looks like you owe him quite a big favor indeed!" Golden Flame Baron mused as he turned to Han Li with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Han Li extended a slight bow in a display of respect, and he refrained from saying something.

"I do indeed owe him a very big favor. Alright, I've told you everything I have to say. If you still can't make up your mind, then I'll have to go to someone else. Old Man Yan is about to face a lightning tribulation soon as well, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to exchange with me," Qing Yuanzi said in a meaningful manner.

"Haha, I never said I was going to refuse, Brother Qing. Seeing as you're being sincere and I owe you a favor as well, I'll agree to this exchange," Golden Flame Baron chuckled after a brief moment of contemplation.

"You've made a wise decision, Brother Jin! This is definitely a mutually beneficial exchange for both of us," Qing Yuanzi replied in an elated voice.

Golden Flame Baron smiled before suddenly opening his mouth to expel four balls of spiritual light, three of which were white while the other was yellow.

They consisted of three small white jade vials, and a yellow jade box.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and the four items immediately flew toward Qing Yuanzi in unison. At the same time, he waved his other hand toward the green jade box on the table, as well as the other two pieces of Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning, and those items were all drawn into his grasp.

Meanwhile, Qing Yuanzi had also drawn the small vials and yellow jade box into his own hand, and he immediately began to carefully inspect the items with his spiritual sense.

After a while, a pleased look appeared on his face. "I really must thank you, Brother Jin. Fellow Daoist Han, here's your Divine Infernal River Elixir."

Qing Yuanzi tossed the three small vials toward Han Li with a flick of his wrist as he spoke, and Han Li hurriedly accepted them in an elated and grateful manner.

Qing Yuanzi had initially only agreed to give him two vials of this elixir, yet he was now giving him all three vials, clearly as an extra reward for all of the materials he had gathered. It seemed that he had made a wise decision in offering all of the materials he had collected, rather than withholding some of them.

This Divine Infernal River Elixir was extremely precious, but it wasn't very useful to Qing Yuanzi, so he naturally wasn't going to be stingy with it.

Golden Flame Baron was clearly also very pleased with this exchange, and he began to make some small talk with Qing Yuanzi.

They exchanged some obscure news about the Spirit Realm, as well as some information regarding cultivation, and Han Li also benefited from listening to their conversation.

Close to two hours flew by in the blink of an eye, and Qing Yuanzi finally stood up to take his leave.

Golden Flame Baron didn't try to keep him, but he also rose to his feet to accompany Qing Yuanzi to the gate of his palace.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out in the air above the island, causing the entire palace to tremor. It seemed that something had struck the restriction over the island.

The trio in the hall were all quite alarmed by this, and they exchanged slightly bewildered glances.

This was blatant provocation!

Qing Yuanzi had struck the restriction over the island with a seemingly powerful streak of sword Qi, but it actually hadn't packed much power, whereas the massive commotion that had just rung out clearly stemmed from the restriction being completely broken.

Golden Flame Baron quickly returned to his senses, and an enraged look appeared on his face as he made a hand seal to activate some kind of ability. However, in the next instant, a male voice suddenly rang out in the air above the hall.

"Golden Flame, Qing Yuanzi, are you in there? Hurry up and come out to greet me, you little brats!" The voice was very rough and uncouth, and both Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi's expressions changed slightly as they exchanged a wry smile.

"Why has no one come out to greet me yet? Do you want me to raze this place to the ground?" The man outside seemed to have become rather impatient, and as soon as his voice trailed off, a string of resounding booms rang out in rapid succession outside the palace.

Immediately thereafter, bursts of spatial fluctuations surged over the entire island, and golden light flashed from outside the hall as a panicked golden-armored guard rushed into the hall.

"Master, the man outside is..."

"I know who he is; you can go now. Brother Jiang, it looks like you won't be able to leave anytime soon. Let's go and greet this old monster together! Otherwise, he really could destroy my entire island," Golden Flame Baron said with a wry smile.

"It seems I have no choice but to meet him. Judging from past experience, this is not going to be pleasant," Qing Yuanzi sighed in a resigned manner.

Golden Flame Baron also heaved a resigned sigh before making a hand seal, and golden light flashed from his body as a layer of golden flames appeared to completely envelop him.

A dull thump rang out, and the flames suddenly dispersed, while Golden Flame Baron also abruptly disappeared. This was an extremely rare fire movement technique!

Meanwhile, Qing Yuanzi merely flew toward the entrance of the hall as a streak of golden light, but vanished into thin air along the way.

Thus, Han Li was the only one left in the hall.

He couldn't help but wonder what kind of being could evoke such a wary response from a pair of Grand Ascension Stage beings. He didn't want to meet this mighty figure, but a meeting seemed to be unavoidable. With that in mind, Han Li heaved a faint sigh, and a thunderclap rang out from behind him, following which a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back. He flapped those wings, and vanished as an arc of azure and white lightning.

In the air over 10,000 feet above the island, Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron were facing a gargantuan creature that was over 1,000 feet in length, and both of them had respectful looks on their faces.

The giant creature was a glossy inky-black beetle, and standing atop the head of the beetle was a thin elderly man.

The man appeared to be around 60 years of age, with a pair of deep-set eyes and large nostrils. He wore a set of colorful robes and a necklace of shimmering silver beads around his neck. Each bead was around the size of an egg, and the necklace was extremely eye-catching.

What was quite alarming was that not only was the white light barrier above the island nowhere to be seen, the other three golden-armored guards had all been bound tightly by a white thread that had been expelled from the beetle's mouth.

These guards were spinning uncontrollably in mid-air, being made to look like complete fools.

When Han Li arrived behind Qing Yuanzi as an azure and white arc of lightning, Golden Flame Baron was appraising the elderly man standing atop the beetle with a forced smile on his face, paying no heed to his three bound subordinates.

"Brother Voidspirit, it's very rare that you have time to visit me. Please come down to my palace for a seat."

"Hehe, you say that, but you're actually hoping that I never come to visit you, right?" the elderly man chuckled in a forthright manner.

"I wouldn't dare to think that. By the way, how did you know that Brother Jiang had also come to visit me?" Golden Flame Baron's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly changed the topic of conversation, directing it toward Qing Yuanzi.

Qing Yuanzi was naturally cursing Golden Flame Baron internally for throwing him to the wolves, but he could only force a smile onto his face as he said, "I was also wondering how you knew that I was with Brother Jin. Could it be that you've already visited my cave abode?"

"Ha, I didn't just visit your cave abode, I visited everyone in this infernal river! Two of them were in seclusion and didn't want to see me, but they came out to meet me after I wrecked their abodes! They should've just complied from the very beginning," the elderly man guffawed in a smug manner.

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Not only did Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi exchange a wry smile upon hearing this, Han Li was also quite stunned by what he had just heard.

"I have something that I need to speak to the two of you about, so I'll come take a seat in your palace. Golden Flame, your Green Spirit Wine is pretty good; get me eight flagons," the elderly man said in a nonchalant manner.

"Eight flagons? Surely you jest, Brother Voidspirit; each flagon of Green Spirit Wine takes several centuries to brew, and I only have four flagons in total," Golden Flame Baron said with a wry smile.

"Haha, four flagons will suffice, then; that'll be enough for one sitting," the elderly man chortled.

After that, he made a hand seal, and the giant beetle beneath his feet abruptly vanished as a plume of black smoke. The black smoke then swept upward and disappeared up his sleeve like a spirit snake.

The elderly man flew down toward the palace as a streak of black light, and Golden Flame Baron could only heave a resigned sigh as he made a grabbing motion toward the distance.

The three golden-armored guards being suspended in mid-air immediately stopped spinning, and the white thread around them crumbled away.

They were still feeling very dizzy, but as soon as they stabilized themselves, they immediately extended deep bows toward Golden Flame Baron with shameful looks on their faces. "Thank you for saving us, Master. Our incompetence has brought shame upon you."

"It's not your fault; that man's powers are far beyond even my own. Just make sure to repair the restriction," Golden Flame Baron said with a shake of his head, then descended toward the palace as a streak of golden light.

"Come with me, Fellow Daoist Han. Make sure to be on your guard as that old monster is very difficult to please," Qing Yuanzi sighed before he vanished into thin air as a streak of golden light.

Han Li paused momentarily on the spot with a contemplative look on his face before also flying down toward the palace. Moments later, everyone arrived in the same hall and took their seats.

However, the main seat was now being occupied by Voidspirit rather than Golden Flame Baron.

As soon as everyone had taken a seat, Golden Flame Baron clapped his hands together, and four beautiful servants clothed in golden veil dresses immediately strode into the hall before placing some precious spirit fruits down onto the tables beside everyone.

"Where's the Green Spirit Wine? You're not trying to swindle me with this stuff, are you, Golden Flame?" Voidspirit scoffed as he rolled his eyes at the spirit fruits.

Golden Flame Baron forcibly repressed his rage, and explained, "Rest assured, Brother Voidspirit; Green Spirit Wine can only be brewed in Myriad Year Profound Ice, and I've already sent someone to retrieve it."

"Alright, but you better not keep me waiting for too long!" Voidspirit nodded before picking up a red peach-like spirit fruit, then gobbled it down with just a few bites, not even bothering to spit out the core of the fruit.

Han Li was struck by a sense of speechlessness upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the elderly man took a glance at him before a hint of intrigue appeared in his eyes. "Oh? I can see that your bone age is only just over 2,000 years, yet you've already reached the mid-Body Integration Stage; that's quite impressive. Are you a junior from the same race as Qing Yuanzi?"

Not only was Han Li not flattered by the elderly man's words of praise, a chill immediately ran down his spine, and he hurriedly rose to his feet before extending a respectful bow. "Junior Han pays his respects to Senior Voidspirit. Indeed, I'm from the same race as Senior Jiang."

Even a Grand Ascension Stage being like Qing Yuanzi was extremely wary of this man, so he naturally had to give this man the utmost respect. It was quite incredible that he was able to determine Han Li's age with just a single glance, and Han Li could only hope that the elderly man would only take a fleeting interest in him before moving on.

However, things didn't progress as he hoped they would.

The elderly man's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he clicked his tongue with wonder before continuing, "Your level of aptitude is extremely good, even in the context of the entire Spirit Realm. Qing Yuanzi, I recall that your human race seems to be nothing more than an insignificant minor race, right? Why is it that not only does the human race have a Grand Ascension Stage being like yourself, there's also someone of this Han brat's aptitude among their ranks? Could it be that you intentionally lied to me about the power of the human race?"

Qing Yuanzi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he hurriedly explained, "I wouldn't dare to do that, Brother Voidspirit! Our human race really is just a minor race; I did indeed come from the human race, but without the opportunities I encountered thereafter, there's no way I would've been able to reach my current cultivation base. However, as a result, I'm no longer purely a human. As for Fellow Daoist Han's astonishing aptitude, that's not all that strange as every race has a supremely talented prodigy or two; it's just that you happened to encounter him, Brother Voidspirit. Of course, there's no way our human race could compare with your race."

"Is that so? Our Mayfly Race is indeed quite powerful, but I've never seen anyone from our race reach such a cultivation base at such a young age. So how about it, Fellow Daoist Han? Are you interested in joining our Mayfly Race? As long as you're willing to become a guest elder of our race, we'll supply you with everything you need in your future cultivation," the elderly man said as he turned to Han Li with a hint of a smile on his face.

Qing Yuanzi's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he opened his mouth to say something, but refrained from doing so in the end.

Han Li was also very surprised by this offer, but he immediately gave a euphemistic rejection. "I'm extremely flattered by your kind offer, Senior, but our human race is about to face a major tribulation. My powers aren't all that significant, but I'm bound by duty to help our human race transcend this tribulation."

The elderly man's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this, and he accused, "Tribulation? Hmph, are you using an excuse to placate me?"

At the same time, a burst of invisible pressure erupted from his body before hurtling directly toward Han Li.

"I definitely have no such intentions, Senior!" Han Li was aware that this man had a very eccentric personality, but never did he think that Voidspirit would attack him without any inhibitions. In response to the pressure weighing down upon him, he hurriedly conjured up a protective layer of golden light around his own body.

A resounding boom rang out, and a burst of enormous force crashed down onto his shoulders, forcing him to stoop down slightly, and the protective golden light around him flashed violently as if it were about to shatter. At the same time, a string of cracks and pops rang out from all of the joints within his body in rapid succession.

If a normal Body Integration cultivator were standing in Han Li's place, they would at least sustain severe injuries from this and could easily be killed on the spot.

"Hmm? Interesting," the elderly man mused as the dark expression on his face was replaced by one of intrigue again. Immediately thereafter, he abruptly rose to his feet, and the pressure weighing down upon Han Li became even more intense.

Han Li's shoulders swayed, and his face paled slightly, but he remained firmly seated, However, the wooden chair beneath him had already been reduced to dust amid a dull thump.

"Please spare him, Brother Voidspirit!" Qing Yuanzi finally stepped in as he swept a sleeve through the air with furrowed brows, sending a burst of golden light surging forth from within his sleeve.

A dull thump rang out, and two bursts of enormous force clashed in front of Han Li, canceling each other out in the end.

The pressure on Han Li's shoulders was immediately alleviated, leaving him feeling as light as air. He heaved an internal sigh of relief, but at the same time, he was extremely stunned by this Voidspirit's powers.

It was no wonder that even Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron were so wary of him; his powers were indeed far superior in comparison.

As opposed to being enraged by Qing Yuanzi's intervention, Voidspirit's eyes immediately lit up, and he said, "Oh? Do you want to spar with me, Qing Yuanzi? I would certainly welcome a sparring match! It's been several thousand years since we last fought, and I heard you recently cultivated a new ability; I would love to see it!"

Thus, he paid no further heed to Han Li, who was at a slight loss for what to do.

He didn't know if this man really did have such a strong yearning for battle or was simply putting on an act.

Some kind of recollection seemed to have surfaced in Qing Yuanzi's mind, and his expression changed slightly as he forced a smile onto his face. "Of course not, Brother Voidspirit; I wouldn't dare to challenge you. I was only hoping that you would spare Fellow Daoist Han as he's a junior from my human race, after all."

A hint of disappointment flashed through the elderly man's eyes, and he seemed to have become significantly deflated. "So you don't want to? That's rather disappointing. So be it, I'll let him off the hook seeing as you've stepped in to intervene. Alright, let's cut straight to the chase, then."

"Brother Voidspirit, I heard that you had been in cultivation for over 1,000 years in preparation to ascend to the True Immortal Realm; what brings you here today? You mentioned that you'd visited everyone else in the infernal river as well; is there something important you have to discuss with us?" Golden Flame Baron asked in a curious manner.

"Of course I do! Do you think I would make the effort to break into this realm because I'm bored and have nothing to do? I'll cut the chit-chat; give me all of your Divine Infernal River Elixir. I brought Five Origin Pills and eggs of Myriad Universe Insects in exchange," the elderly man said in a straightforward manner.

"What? You want Divine Infernal River Elixir?"

"What use do you have for Divine Infernal River Elixir, Brother Voidspirit?"

Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron were both quite surprised to hear this, as was Han Li.

"What's with this reaction? I'm only asking for your Divine Infernal River Elixir; do you think my Five Origin Pills and Myriad Universe Insect eggs aren't worth your elixir?" The elderly man's expression darkened slightly once again.

"Of course not! It's just that I traded all of my elixir to Fellow Daoist Jiang just now," Golden Flame Baron hurriedly explained.

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"Is that true, Qing Yuanzi?" The elderly man turned to Qing Yuanzi with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"I did indeed just exchange for Fellow Daoist Golden Flame's Divine Infernal River Elixir for some other items. Isn't this elixir completely ineffective for you at your cultivation base, Brother Voidspirit? On top of that, doesn't your Mayfly Race have a huge reserve of this elixir? Other people in your Mayfly Race may not have access to it, but wouldn't it be a simple matter for you to access those reserves?" Qing Yuanzi was also quite surprised.

"Firstly, I'm sourcing this elixir for a purpose other than my own consumption. Secondly, there's a lot of routine expenditure of Divine Infernal River Elixir in our Mayfly Race, so our reserves are nowhere near as abundant as you think. I've already used up all of the remaining elixir in our Mayfly Race. Otherwise, I wouldn't be turning to you and Golden Flame. I managed to secure some elixir from the others, but it's still not enough. Hence, I don't care what you need the elixir for; I'm willing to exchange for it using something worth twice its value," the elderly man said in a serious manner.

Qing Yuanzi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he fell into deep thought.

Meanwhile, Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but his heart was thumping in his chest.

In contrast, Golden Flame Baron crossed his arms and appraised the unfolding situation with a smile, assured in the knowledge that this matter no longer concerned him.

"It wouldn't be right of me to turn down an offer like this, but unfortunately, I've already given the elixir to Fellow Daoist Han, so I can't offer it to you even if I wanted to," Qing Yuanzi finally sighed with a shake of his head.

"You gave it to him?" The elderly man furrowed his brows slightly in a display of displeasure.

"Indeed. I owe Fellow Daoist Han a big favor, and I promised him Divine Infernal River Elixir as compensation. If you want to forcibly take the elixir from Fellow Daoist Han, I'm afraid I'll have to step in," Qing Yuanzi said in a solemn manner.

"Oh? Looks like you really do owe this brat quite a big favor; it's very uncharacteristic of you to say something like this to me! I may have a short temper, but I wouldn't stoop to robbing juniors. However, if he's willing to hand over the elixir to me, you wouldn't intervene, would you?" the elderly man asked.

"Of course. As long as Fellow Daoist Han is willing to hand over the elixir, I naturally won't stick my nose into this matter," Qing Yuanzi replied in an affirmative manner.

"Good!" Thus, the elderly man nodded with a pleased expression before turning to Han Li with a smile.

Han Li's heart jolted at the sight of the smiling Voidspirit, and he hurriedly cupped his fist in a salute as he tried to offer an explanation. "Senior, the elixir..."

"There's no need to say anything! I do indeed have a domineering personality, but I won't bully juniors for my own gain. If I want your elixir, then I'll make it so that you'll willingly hand it over to me," the elderly man cut him off in a confident manner.

Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve over the table beside him, and a dozen or so jade vials of different sizes appeared amid a flash of black light.

"These are some pills that I've collected over the years that can enhance the cultivation of a Body Integration cultivator, and this quantity of pills exceeds the value of one vial of Divine Infernal River Elixir. How many vials of elixir do you have? I'll give you a corresponding amount of pills in return," the elderly man chuckled.

Even though Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron no longer had any use for these pills, they were still quite stunned by the sight of them.

Any single vial of these pills would be enough to start a war between Body Integration Stage beings in the outside world, and such a large quantity of these pills was definitely higher in value than a single vial of Divine Infernal River Elixir.

The elderly man had nonchalantly brought out several tens of vials of these pills at once, and both Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron couldn't help but turn toward Han Li to gauge his reaction.

Han Li also faltered momentarily at the sight of these pills, but instead of being elated by the sight of them, a rather peculiar look appeared on his face.

After a brief hesitation, he raised an arm before making a grabbing motion, and one of the small vials was drawn into his grasp. He removed the lid, then tipped out an azure pill and began to inspect it in a careful manner.

"This Azure Shadow Pill is considered to be the sacred pill of the Azure Sea Race. Just a single pill will produce an effect equivalent to around a month of arduous cultivation for you, and this pill is only slightly above average among all of the pills that I've brought out here," Voidspirit declared in a proud manner. It was quite clear that he was very confident in the pills he had to offer.

"These pills are indeed all extremely precious, but I'm afraid I can't offer my elixir in exchange for them," Han Li said with a wry smile.

The elderly man faltered slightly before immediately flying into a thunderous rage. "Why is that? Do you think I'm providing you with fake pills?"

Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron also exchanged a slightly bewildered glance.

"Of course not, Senior, it's just that I already have many pills that can enhance my cultivation base, so these pills aren't very useful to me," Han Li hurriedly explained.

"You already have some pills? What kind of pills are you using? Are you saying they're better than mine?" the elderly man asked in a skeptical manner.

Han Li could only heave a resigned internal sigh before continuing, "If you don't believe me, then I can only show you my pills, Senior."

He flipped a hand over as he spoke, and a small white jade vial appeared in his hand amid a flash of spiritual light. He tossed the vial toward the elderly man, who was still quite skeptical, but was beginning to believe Han Li judging from the calmness he was displaying.

He caught the vial before removing the lid, and a pleasant fragrance immediately wafted toward him. His expression changed slightly, and instead of immediately tipping a pill out of the vial, he brought the opening of the vial to his nose and inhaled deeply, following which a slightly bewildered look appeared on his face.

"Brother Voidspirit, you're an accomplished pill refinement master; what do you think of Fellow Daoist Han's pills?" Golden Flame Baron asked. He had no inhibitions as this had nothing to do with him anyway.

"There are no issues with the pills, but they have a rather peculiar fragrance." the elderly man tipped a thumb-sized pill out of the vial as he spoke.

The pill was of a fiery red color with golden patterns all over its surface, as well as spiritual light swirling all around it, making it resemble a living creature.

"This is a Corrosive Immortal Pill! There's no mistaking it; you managed to find Corrosive Poisonweed? That's an immortal plant that's long extinct in the Spirit Realm!" As expected of an old monster like Voidspirit; he was able to identify this pill after just a rough glance.

"What? This pill was refined using Corrosive Poisonweed?" Golden Flame Baron immediately rose to his feet with a stunned expression upon hearing this, and a hint of astonishment also flashed through Qing Yuanzi's eyes.

The elderly man didn't say anything further. After carefully inspecting the pill in his hand, he carefully placed it back into the vial, then tossed the vial back to Han Li.

"Corrosive Immortal Pills are indeed far more potent than the pills I have here, so you weren't lying. However, the fact that you were able to find Corrosive Poisonweed and refine these pills shows me that you're a man of great fortune. After all, Corrosive Poisonweed can be very useful even to Grand Ascension Stage beings," the elderly man said in a meaningful voice.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly, and he extended a respectful salute as he said, "I only knew that this plant could be used to refine Body Integration Stage pills; I didn't know that they could be useful to Grand Ascension Stage beings as well. Would you be able to enlighten me further on this subject, Senior?"

Voidspirit replied with a smile, "Sure, this isn't really a secret. If a Grand Ascension Stage being can extract the poison out of Corrosive Poisonweed, then directly consume this poison, they could use the stimulus to create a chance for themselves to break through a bottleneck. However, this is naturally extremely dangerous, and someone who pursues this method could easily be killed by the poison. On top of that, regardless of whether they succeed or not, their body would be severely ravaged, so it's a desperate self-mutilating bid at further advancement.

"Despite how perilous the method is, the chances of success are extremely slim, so there's a massive imbalance between risk and reward. As such, only someone who has no hope of breaking through a bottleneck through conventional means and won't be able to transcend their next major heavenly tribulation would attempt something like this. Furthermore, extracting the poison out of Corrosive Poisonweed is an extremely difficult process as well, and even back when the plant wasn't extinct in the Spirit Realm, very few people have managed to accomplish this."

Qing Yuanzi displayed no reaction to this, but there was an indecisive look of contemplation in Golden Flame Baron's eyes.

"Alright, seeing as you're not in need of pills, I'll offer you some treasures. You can pick any three treasures you like from this selection."

Voidspirit swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, and spiritual light flashed erratically, following which his sleeve abruptly expanded to several times its original size.

A faint buzzing sound then rang out, and hundreds of treasures surged out of his sleeve in a frenzy. Some of them were releasing dazzling light, some of them were emitting sharp ringing sounds, and some were flickering in and out of existence as if they had been constructed from illusionary smoke...

The one common trait among this diverse smorgasbord of treasures was that all of them were giving off extremely powerful auras. All of them seemed to be top-grade spirit treasures, and there were even a few that were giving off spiritual pressure no less powerful than that of Han Li's silver ruler.

Han Li was naturally greatly astonished to see this, and he was at a loss for words.

Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi exchanged a smile upon seeing this, and the former suddenly chuckled, "Brother Voidspirit, Fellow Daoist Han is clearly a very wealthy individual, so perhaps he may even have a few treasures on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. If you want his elixir, then these treasures most likely won't be enough to tempt him. How about you bring out some good stuff so Brother Qing and I can broaden our horizons as well?"

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"You want to see some good stuff? You sure dare to talk, Golden Flame! I do indeed have a few treasures that are on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, and they're even more valuable than Divine Spirit Treasures, but do you think I'll be willing to exchange those for Divine Infernal River Elixir?" the elderly man chuckled coldly, turning down Golden Flame Baron's request without any hesitation.

"Hehe, I see. I had heard that you had obtained quite a powerful treasure that seems to be related to Profound Heavenly Treasures prior to your seclusion, and I really wanted to see it," Golden Flame Baron said in a slightly disappointed manner.

"A Profound Heavenly Treasure?" Qing Yuanzi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Voidspirit inspected Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi through narrowed eyes for a moment before suddenly smiling as he agreed, "Hmph, you sure seem to know a lot about what I've been up to recently. The treasure that I obtained was only a fragment of a Profound Heavenly Treasure, not a true Profound Heavenly Treasure. Seeing as you've already mentioned it, it would be stingy of me not to show you."

"In that case, Brother Qing and I are truly in for a treat! This is the first time I've ever seen a Profound Heavenly Treasure!" Golden Flame Baron said in an ecstatic manner.

"I managed to witness the power of a Profound Heavenly Treasure many years ago, but my cultivation base was far lower at the time, and I was situated quite far away, so I never saw what the Profound Heavenly Treasure truly looked like. Speaking of which, as one of the major races of the Tian Yuan Continent, the Mayfly Race should be in possession of a Profound Heavenly Treasure, right?" A hint of excitement also flashed through Qing Yuanzi's eyes as he spoke.

As for Han Li, his heart stirred slightly upon hearing the mention of Profound Heavenly Treasure, and he withdrew his gaze from the multitude of treasures in the air before turning his attention to the elderly man as well.

"Our race does indeed have a Profound Heavenly Treasure, but it was given to Master Insect of our Mayfly Race countless years ago, and even I've only ever seen illustrations of the treasure before. There are only a dozen or so true Profound Heavenly Treasures in the Spirit Realm, and they are the most powerful treasures this realm is capable of producing," the elderly man said as he rubbed his hands together, and a dull thump rang out as a ball of red light appeared between his hands.

Within the red light was an object that resembled an incense burner. Its surface was riddled with pits and bumps, and there were a few golden runes inscribed upon it. At the same time, there were diagrams of unknown beasts on top of the burner. Some of these beasts had falcon heads and horse bodies, some had pig heads and dragon bodies, but all of them were damaged and missing limbs.

Han Li's trio naturally focused their eyes on the item with different expressions on their faces.

"This is a Profound Heavenly Treasure fragment?" Golden Flame Baron asked with a hint of skepticism in his eyes.

Qing Yuanzi's brows also furrowed slightly, but as opposed to being enraged by their suspicion, Voidspirit chuckled, "Hehe, I had thought that beings of your powers would've learned not to judge a book by its cover."

He gently flicked a finger toward the incense burner as he spoke, and a crisp clang rang out, following which the burner tremored slightly, and the golden runes on its surface immediately lit up. The beastly diagrams on the top of the burner also began to glow with red light, and this red light manifested into the missing sections of the diagrams.

He then flicked his finger toward the incense burner a second time, and the golden runes on its surface disintegrated into countless specks of golden light that enveloped the entire burner.

Under the illumination of the red light, the beastly diagrams also sprang to life, and it looked as if they were going to spring out of the burner at any moment.

At the same time, an enormous burst of the world's origin Qi proliferated forth from the burner, transforming into an enormous invisible force that enveloped the entire hall.

Han Li had risen to his feet earlier, and the terrifying pressure made his body sway as his expression changed ever so slightly.

Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron were still seated firmly in their chairs, but they also couldn't help but be amazed by the phenomena stemming from the incense burner.

"This Profound Heavenly Treasure fragment was something I unintentionally stumbled upon in an ancient battlefield deep within the primordial world. What I just displayed was only around 10% of the full power of this treasure. If I were to unleash the entirety of its power, it would definitely be no less powerful than the top 10 treasures on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll," the elderly man said in a smug manner as he withdrew his hand seal before drawing the incense burner back into his grasp.

"Even just a fragment is capable of unleashing such power; I wonder just how fearsome a true Profound Heavenly Treasure would be. I really do envy your fortune, Brother Voidspirit. With this treasure, you should have a greater chance of transcending your future tribulation," Qing Yuanzi praised.

"Hehe, I certainly hope so. However, the ascension tribulation is certainly not that easy to transcend. All beings from our Spirit Realm that have attempted to transcend this tribulation were extremely cautious and only dared to take on this monumental task after taking every single precaution they could, yet there are still only very few who make it in the end. If it weren't for the fact that I'm not confident in my ability to transcend my next major heavenly tribulation, I wouldn't be taking a risk to attempt ascension, either. If I had a true Profound Heavenly Treasure in my possession, perhaps I would have a decent chance, but unfortunately, Master Holy Insect has already refined our race's Profound Heavenly Treasure to become a part of his body, so there's no way for me to borrow it," Voidspirit sighed in a wistful manner.

All of a sudden, Qing Yuanzi said something that made Han Li's heart skip a beat, "I've heard that a new Profound Heavenly Treasure seems to have appeared in our Spirit Realm several hundred years ago."

"Is that true? Why have I never heard of this?" Golden Flame Baron exclaimed in an incredulous manner.

"I received this news too, from Elder Hua of my race. He told me that a Profound Heavenly Treasure had appeared on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll over 100 years ago, and it created a massive stir. Even the Jiao Chi Race had traveled all the way to our continent in search of the treasure, and I had heard that they even performed a blood sacrifice to find the treasure, but to no avail. After that, no further news emerged of this treasure. No one knows if it developed intelligence of its own and hid itself, or was obtained by a mighty figure who used some kind of concealment technique to hide it. In any case, no one has any leads of where it may be. The elders in our race who were adept in divination expended an astonishing price to try and find the treasure, but they ultimately failed as well, so they could only give up," Voidspirit said in a solemn voice.

"I see, but how could a Profound Heavenly Treasure be concealed even from divination? Could it be that it's fallen into the hands of a true spirit being?" Golden Flame Baron said as he shook his head in shock and disbelief.

"It's rather unlikely that the treasure fell into the hands of a true spirit being. Most true spirit beings are born in realms lower than the True Immortal Realm, but once they come of age, the majority of them would ascend to higher realms or create their own abode by opening up an alternate space. Hence, there's virtually no chance that they'd come into contact with a Profound Heavenly Treasure. If you ask me, I think this Profound Heavenly Treasure has something to do with a Profound Spirit Artifact that was born in an alternate realm. If that really were the case, then divination may work on it once or twice, but once this Profound Heavenly Treasure develops intelligence and awareness, it won't be strange for it to develop the ability to conceal itself from divination," Voidspirit mused in a solemn manner, and his hypothesis wasn't far from the truth.

"That does make more sense. Perhaps that really is what happened. Otherwise, all of the major races would still be searching for it. After all, no one is going to search aimlessly for something throughout the entirety of the vast Spirit Realm. I really am in awe of your vast base of knowledge and experience, Brother Voidspirit," Golden Flame Baron said in an admiring voice.

Qing Yuanzi also nodded with an expression of approval.

"Haha, I didn't think of all this myself; the elders of our race arrived at this verdict. Alright, you've had some time to think now; have you picked the treasures you want, Fellow Daoist Han?" Voidspirt chuckled before suddenly turning toward Han Li, almost as if he had forgotten about him.

Han Li's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this, and a peculiar look appeared on his face as he mustered up his courage, and said, "These treasures are indeed quite extraordinary, Senior, but I would still rather keep my Divine Infernal River Elixir."

Much to Han Li's surprise, the elderly man didn't immediately become enraged upon hearing this. Instead, his expression darkened slightly, and he said in a rather menacing voice, "None of them caught your eye? Could it be that you have a Divine Spirit Treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll? In that case, I won't force the issue, but if you don't, I'll take this as a sign of disrespect, and I may have to punish you for it."

Han Li knew that there wasn't any point in saying anything further. Thus, he merely flipped his hand over, and silver light flashed as a shimmering silver ruler appeared in his grasp.

He gently waved the ruler through the air, and an astonishing aura erupted forth. At the same, spiritual light flashed as countless silver ruler projections appeared, creating quite a mystifying sight to behold.

"Hmm? That really is a Divine Spirit Treasures on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. It looks to be one of the lowest-ranked treasures, but it fits the criterion, nonetheless." A hint of surprise initially appeared on Golden Flame Baron's face, followed by a gloating smile. He was clearly taking pleasure in Voidspirit's misfortune.

In contrast, Qing Yuanzi could only offer a wry smile.

Now that he had failed on two separate occasions to work out a deal, Voidspirit was growing rather impatient and frustrated. He glowered at Han Li for a while before a cold smile appeared on his face. "It seems that your wealth belies your cultivation base. Seeing as you're not in need of any pills or treasures, I'll show you something that you definitely won't be able to refuse!"

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"Something I definitely won't refuse?" Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this.

Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron exchanged a glance, and both of them seemed to have guessed something.

Instead of directly telling Han Li what he was going to offer next, Voidspirit said something that was rather cryptic and ambiguous. "At this point, you should already know that I'm a grand elder of the Mayfly Race. Our Mayfly Race may not be able to match up against the super races like the Jiao Chi Race and Sea Monarch Race, but in some areas, we are peerless even in the context of the entire Spirit Realm."

He then reached out and made a grabbing motion, upon which all of the treasures suspended in the air flew back into his sleeve as specks of spiritual light.

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he exclaimed, "Are you referring to insect control techniques, Senior?"

"Haha, that's right! Our race's insect control techniques are definitely unmatched in the Spirit Realm. Even if some of the other super races can compare with us in this field, they're definitely still somewhat lacking. What I'm offering you now are two of the 81 types of spirit insects that I've painstakingly nurtured. With these spirit insects up your sleeve, you'll be able to stand at the very pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage," Voidspirit said in a proud manner, then pointed two of his fingers forward, and two thumb-sized spirit insects, one purple and one green, emerged onto the table.

One of these spirit insects had arcs of lightning flashing around its body, while the other had a miniature wyrm head.

"That's a Purple Lightning Insect and Earth Wrym Insect! How could you be willing to offer these two spirit insects for exchange?" Golden Flame Baron immediately exclaimed upon catching sight of the two spirit insects.

A bewildered look also appeared on Qing Yuanzi's face.

"Hmph, you don't know anything. In the past, Divine Infernal River Elixir naturally wouldn't be worth this much in my eyes, but now, it's indispensable to me. Fellow Daoist Han, both of these spirit insects have been carefully nurtured by me for tens of thousands of years, and they can each take on an early-Body Integration cultivator. As long as you're willing to give me your elixir, I'll destroy the master recognition marks in their bodies right away and help you tame them. Hehe, even in the Mayfly Race, I'm most likely the only one capable of this," Voidspirit harrumphed coldly, and it was quite clear that he was very reluctant to part with these two spirit insects.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, and for a moment, he was tempted by this offer. However, he then recalled that he still had tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles that he was still yet to be able to fully control, and he immediately made his decision.

Even though a single Gold Devouring Beetle wasn't as powerful as either of these spirit insects, if he were to release hundreds or even thousands of them at once, these two spirit insects would stand no chance.

In the face of Voidspirit's stern gaze, Han Li could only muster ups his courage, and said, "Your spirit insects are indeed quite exceptional, Senior, but I already have spirit insects of my own..."

"What did you say? Are you saying you have spirit insects that can compare with mine? My patience is nearing its limit! Don't try to placate me with nonsense or you're going to regret it!" A furious look appeared on Voidspirit's face.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to explain anything, Qing Yuanzi suddenly said, "Brother Voidspirit, I can personally vouch for Fellow Daoist Han's claims. He really does possess a type of extremely powerful spirit insects, even more so than the spirit insects you possess."

"I know you're trying to protect him, but do you really think you can convince me with such a horrible alibi? He's just a mid-Body Integration cultivator; what kind of spirit insects could he possess that are superior to mine? On top of that, the only people to have seen the most powerful spirit insects I possess are already dead, so how would you know about them?" Voidspirit said in a cold voice.

"Hehe, perhaps you really do possess more powerful spirit insects than these two, but I'm sure you wouldn't be willing to offer them up for exchange. In that case, what you're offering really can't compare with Fellow Daoist Han's spirit insects," Qing Yuanzi said with a smile.

"Hehe, is that so? As I said earlier, I've nurtured 81 types of spirit insects. Aside from the few bonded spirit insects I've completely refined, I'm willing to offer any of them for the Divine Infernal River Elixir. Take a good look!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a layer of black Qi appeared around him, inundating most of his body. He then made a hand seal and began to chant something, and all types of buzzing and screeching sounds rang out as hundreds of spirit insects appeared around him.

The largest of these spirit insects were comparable to the size of human heads, while the smallest were as diminutive as peas. They were all of different colors and appearances, but the common trait between all of them was their terrifying and ferocious auras.

Voidspirit pointed at the spirit insects before him and introduced them one by one. "This golden-spotted insect is the Vajra Insect. Its body is extraordinarily hard, and even spirit treasures won't be able to harm it in the slightest. The one enshrouded within the five-colored light is a Baleful Silkworm. Its forte lies in its ability to devour baleful Qi, and it possesses such a powerful life force that it's virtually unkillable. Even if you tear into pieces, it can regenerate in an instant. This crimson praying mantis is the vastly renowned Ghost Mantis. Its aura isn't all that powerful, but it hunts in swarms and is one of the most vicious and violent types of spirit insects. They can devour an entire wyrm in a day, and at the height of their bloodlust, even I would have trouble containing them..."

These spirit insects were indeed all extremely rare in the Spirit Realm, and some of them were ones that Han Li had only ever heard for the first time.

What made them even more alluring was that they had all been nurtured to the point of maturity, so they would immediately be powerful allies in battle.

"How about it? How many types of these spirit insects have you seen in the past? I'll make an exception for you, Fellow Daoist Han; I'll allow you to exchange each vial of elixir you have for one type of spirit insect. That should be enough, right? If you turn me down again and don't provide me with a satisfactory reason, then don't blame me for turning on you," Voidspirit said in a slow voice, just as Han Li was inspecting the spirit insects before him with awe and wonder in his eyes.

Han Li's eyelids twitched upon hearing this, and he turned to Qing Yuanzi for help.

After a brief hesitation, Qing Yuanzi said in a serious manner, "Show Brother Voidspirit your spirit insects, Fellow Daoist Han. I'm sure he'll understand once he sees them."

"Yes, Senior." Han Li was quite reluctant to comply with this instruction, but there was no way he could refuse. Thus, he rustled a sleeve, tipping out a dozen or so thumb-sized golden flowers amid a faint buzzing sound.

As soon as these golden flowers emerged, they immediately expanded to become fist-sized golden beetles amid a flash of spiritual light, and they looked as if they had been constructed from pure gold.

"Mature Gold Devouring Beetles!" Golden Flame Baron exclaimed as he stared intently at the golden beetles with a stunned look in his eyes.

Voidspirit shuddered at the sight of these Gold Devouring Beetles, and an extremely peculiar look appeared on his face.

Qing Yuanzi's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing Voidspirit's reaction; this was not the reaction he had expected!

Even though he felt this to be rather strange, he still said, "I'm sure you recognize Gold Devouring Beetles, Brother Voidspirit; you have to admit that these spirit insects are more powerful than the ones you offered, so Fellow Daoist Han isn't trying to irk you, he simply has no reason to accept the exchange. Of course, if you can bring out better spirit insects than Gold Devouring Beetles, then I won't say anything further about this matter."

Much to everyone's surprise, Voidspirit suddenly threw his head back, and chortled, "Haha, this is fantastic..."

His voice was filled with elation, and Han Li was left feeling rather perplexed.

Meanwhile, Golden Flame Baron was appraising Han Li with a complex look in his eyes.

"Brother Voidspirit, you..."

"Say no more, Brother Qing. Let me show you another spirit insect of mine that I have never shown to anyone else."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept both sleeves through the air, and all of the spirit insects around him immediately flew back up his sleeves.

He then opened his mouth to expel a shimmering silver gourd, which then abruptly tipped itself over while its lid was removed on its own.

A burst of buzzing rang out, and specks of golden light emerged from within the gourd before hovering in the air.

"Impossible!"

Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi exclaimed almost in complete unison upon identifying exactly what these specks of golden light were, and Han Li was also completely flabbergasted.

These specks of golden light also contained golden beetles that were identical to Han Li's Gold Devouring Beetles, and they were also buzzing in a menacing manner.

Only after a long while did Han Li manage to repress his own astonishment, and he exhaled as he said, "So you possess mature Gold Devouring Beetles as well, Senior."

"Indeed. Even I've forgotten how many years it's been since I first began to nurture them, and they only reached full maturity several hundred years ago, so you can imagine how much time and effort I spent on them. They're also the reason why I'm searching for so much Divine Infernal River Elixir," Voidspirit said.

"Divine Infernal River Elixir works on Gold Devouring Beetles as well?" Han Li asked in a surprised manner.

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"You can say it's useful, but you can also say it's useless; it depends on the intentions of the owner of the spirit insects," Voidspirit said with a smile.

A hint of puzzlement flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this.

"If you only want to nurture mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then Divine Infernal River Elixir naturally won't have much effect, but if you want them to advance a step further, then Divine Infernal River Elixir becomes indispensable," Voidspirit explained in a meaningful voice.

"Advance a step further?" A thought immediately occurred to Han Li upon hearing this, and a stunned look appeared on his face.

"That's right. I'll tell you about the specific details later. I didn't think that you would possess mature Gold Devouring Beetles as well. In that case, this Divine Infernal River Elixir isn't all that important to me. I would like to negotiate a deal with you, but this is a rather secretive matter, so we have to discuss things in private. Golden Flame, Qing Yuanzi, you don't mind, do you?" Voidspirit asked in an indifferent manner.

His expression seemed to be quite calm, but the tone in his voice suggested that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Qing Yuanzi's heart stirred at the sight of the cold look in Voidspirit's eyes, and he said, "I naturally won't mind as long as you're not going to hard sell Fellow Daoist Han."

"I certainly don't mind; go ahead, Brother Voidspirit," Golden Flame Baron also said with a smile.

"Good. In that case, please excuse me." Voidspirit nodded in a pleased manner before opening his mouth to expel a miniature pavilion that was around half a foot tall and shimmering with black light.

The pavilion was entirely black in color, and its surface was riddled with runes of different colors. On top of that, the entirety of the structure was enshrouded within a layer of faint black Qi, giving it quite a mysterious appearance.

Voidspirit made a hand seal, and the pavilion immediately expanded to around 10 feet tall as he said, "Fellow Daoist Han, bring along your Gold Devouring Beetles and come for a chat here in my Black Wind Pavilion."

He then didn't even bother to wait for Han Li's response as he stowed away his own Gold Devouring Beetles, then quickly shrank down to only around an inch in height before vanishing into the pavilion in a flash.

"I'll also have to excuse myself, then." Han Li was feeling very uneasy, but he knew he had no choice in the matter, so he could only bid farewell to Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron with a wry smile.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; Brother Voidspirit has a rather eccentric personality, but he wouldn't stoop to doing something unbefitting of his status. Having said that, I suggest you agree to the exchange he offers as long as the conditions aren't too heavily weighed against your favor," Qing Yuanzi said with slightly furrowed brows.

"Thank you, Senior Qing; I know what I have to do," Han Li replied with a solemn voice, then stowed away his Gold Devouring Beetles and vanished into the pavilion as an azure thread.

In the instant that he entered the pavilion, all ties to the outside world were immediately cut off.

All of a sudden, Golden Flame Baron transmitted his voice to Qing Yuanzi. "Are you really not concerned, Brother Qing? Not only is that old geezer extremely erratic, his powers are well beyond ours. If he tries something against Fellow Daoist Han in there, neither of us will be able to stop him in time."

"I think you're overthinking things, Fellow Daoist. That old monster is indeed quite domineering, but he's never done anything unbefitting of his status before, so we need not worry. Besides, I owe Fellow Daoist Han quite a big favor, and I want to protect him as best as I can, but if possible, I really don't want to offend that old monster. Otherwise, there won't be any place for me here in the infernal river," Qing Yuanzi replied.

"That's true. With his powers, he'd most likely be able to defend himself even against a true spirit, so it's not like our concerns will amount to anything, anyway. However, why did he display such a strong reaction to those Gold Devouring Beetles? I understand that they're exceedingly rare, but doesn't he possess the same type of spirit insect as well? Can you deduce anything from that, Brother Qing?" Golden Flame Baron asked.

"You think far too highly of me, Fellow Daoist. I can only assume that Fellow Daoist Han's Gold Devouring Beetles are going to be useful to him somehow," Qing Yuanzi replied in an intentionally ambiguous manner.

"Is that so?" Golden Flame Baron clearly wasn't convinced, but Qing Yuanzi merely smiled and refused to comment further on this matter.

Meanwhile, Han Li and Voidspirit were conversing in their miniature forms within the hall of the black pavilion.

"Take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han. This Black Wind Pavilion of mine counts as half a spatial treasure. Not only can I adjust its size at will, it can keep out all spiritual sense, so there's no danger of our conversation being overheard by anyone else," Voidsprit said with a smile as he sat casually down onto the main seat.

"Thank you, Senior." Han Li extended a respectful salute before also taking a seat.

"Prior to discussing our deal, I have to verify one thing first; Fellow Daoist Han, roughly how many mature Gold Devouring Beetles do you have? Would you be able to tell me an exact number?" Voidspirit asked with irrepressible excitement in his voice.

"An exact number?" A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

Voidspirit immediately realized his mistake, and said, "Ah, forgive me, I was too direct there. The main thing that makes Gold Devouring Beetles fearsome is their numbers, so it would be taboo of me to enquire about how many you have. How about this? All you have to tell me is whether you have over 5,000 such spirit insects."

A slightly nervous look appeared in Voidspirit's eyes as he spoke. Many thoughts raced through Han Li's mind at once, but in the end, he still gave a truthful response, even though he would've much rather lied through his teeth.

Who knew if this Voidspirit would turn on him if an unsatisfactory response were given? After all, lies were extremely brittle in the face of powerful cultivators, and perhaps Voidspirit would forcibly examine the number of Gold Devouring Beetles Han Li possessed for himself.

"So you do have over 5,000; that's fantastic! In that case, we can make a deal with one another," Voidspirit said in an elated manner.

"Could it be that this deal you propose has something to do with the number of Gold Devouring Beetles I have, Senior?"

Voidspirit rubbed his hands together with a pair of glowing eyes, and said, "Of course! I only want 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles from you. As for what I'm willing to offer in exchange, you can ask for anything you want. As long as I have it, it's yours!"

"5,000 Gold Devouring Beetles?" Even though Han Li had already guessed that this would be the case, he was still rather surprised to hear this.

"You've put me in a really rough spot, Senior. I naturally have more than 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles, but that number definitely accounts for the majority of all my beetles. I was hoping to use them as a trump card if I could reach the Grand Ascension Stage someday."

Voidspirit's smile faded, and a cold look appeared on his face as he said, "Indeed, 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles are extremely valuable, but as long as value can be assigned to something, it can be exchanged. Setting aside everything else, there are a few types of spirit insects in my possession that I haven't yet shown you, and they're all at least as powerful as your Gold Devouring Beetles. On top of that, the damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure I have is surely worth more than 5,000 Gold Devouring Beetles."

"That may be the case, but those spirit insects must be your bonded spirit insects, and as for that damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure, I definitely wouldn't dare to ask for it; I'm sure that it'll only bring me misfortune. How about this? Would you be able to disclose to me why you'd like so many Gold Devouring Beetles, Senior? I'm rather perplexed as these Gold Devouring Beetles have recognized me as their master for many years, so even if you do take them, you won't be able to use them in battle. On top of that, 5,000 is a very specific number, which makes things even more perplexing to me," Han Li said after a brief moment of contemplation.

"Hmph, you dare to pry into my matters?" The cold expression on Voidspirit's face grew even more pronounced.

"Please forgive me, Senior. I invested countless time and effort into nurturing these Gold Devouring Beetles to maturity, and they're almost as important as my own life. If I don't know what they're going to be used for, I'll be very reluctant to hand them over," Han Li said in a resolute unyielding manner.

"Hehe, that's reasonable. Alright, I can tell you what I intend to with these Gold Devouring Beetles, but after you hear my plans, you can't refuse this exchange. Otherwise..." A menacing smile appeared on Voidspirit's face as he spoke.

Han Li contemplated this for a short while before finally heaving a resigned sigh, "Alright, I'll agree to the exchange."

"Haha, you've made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist Han. Now then, I want your Gold Devouring Beetles as I plan to nurture a legendary Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch. In order to nurture this beetle monarch, a large number of mature Gold Devouring Beetles is required. As for why I specifically requested 5,000, that's because I already have another 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles, and 10,000 should be more than enough for me to nurture a beetle monarch. Hence, any more than that would simply be superfluous," Voidspirit explained, and Han Li's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this.

"Then why were you collecting Divine Infernal River Elixir, Senior?" Han Li asked.

"A large amount of Divine Infernal River Elixir is one of the other methods to nurture a beetle monarch. However, if I come into possession of a sufficient number of mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then the elixir doesn't really matter," Voidspirit replied.

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"I see. Does that mean nurturing a beetle monarch requires a large number of Gold Devouring Beetles to devour one another?" Han Li asked with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"You sure are a smart man, Fellow Daoist; that's not the entire process, but it's not far from it. However, aside from the grand elders of our Mayfly Race, very few people in the outside world are aware of the existence of Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs. Judging from your reaction just now, it seems that you've already heard of Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs; Qing Yuanzi was the one who told you, right? He's quite friendly with one of the other grand elders of our race, so I'm sure he knows about this as well," Voidspirit chuckled coldly.

After a brief silence, Han Li replied, "I did indeed hear about this from Senior Qing. He told me that once a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch is born, even a true immortal would be fearful of it; is that true?"

"That's a slight exaggeration, but Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs are indeed extremely powerful. At the very least, I certainly wouldn't want to face one in battle," Voidspirit chuckled.

Han Li nodded before asking, "I see. May I ask how much of a chance you think you'd have at nurturing a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs after obtaining my Gold Devouring Beetles, Senior?"

Voidspirit narrowed his eyes and thought about this for a moment before holding up two fingers.

"20%? That's not very high," Han Li mused as his expression changed slightly.

"Hmph, what do you take Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs for? I can only claim a 20% chance of success as I've been studying insect nurturing techniques for many years and have many tricks up my sleeve. If someone else without my knowledge were to attempt this, they wouldn't even have a 10% chance. Alright, I've already answered all of your questions; it's time for you to fulfill your end of our agreement. You can state what you want for your Gold Devouring Beetles now," Voidspirit said as a cold expression reappeared on his face.

Han Li seemed to have already made his decision, and upon being prompted by Voidspirit, he immediately replied, "I'll naturally fulfill my end of the agreement, and as for what I want for my Gold Devouring Beetles, there are two things."

"Go on, then," Voidspirit said as his expression eased slightly.

"Firstly, I don't require any treasures. Instead, I would like some more Divine Infernal River Elixir. As you just said, with sufficient Gold Devouring Beetles, the elixir won't matter to you, so I'm sure I'm not asking for too much here. Secondly, I also have some knowledge in insect nurturing techniques, and I have some Gold Devouring Beetles leftover as well. Hence, I would also like to try my hand at nurturing a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch. I don't know how many years it'll take before I can gather enough mature Gold Devouring Beetles again, but I still want to give it a try. As such, I would like a copy of the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch nurturing secret technique," Han Li said in a serious manner.

Voidspirit's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, and he fell into deep thought.

After a while, Voidspirit finally said with furrowed brows, "The first condition is easy to fulfill; I can't give you all of my elixir, but I can spare you four or five vials. However, the second condition is going to be a little troublesome. The secret technique you're asking for is an extremely closely-guarded one in our Mayfly Race, and not even all of the elders of our race have seen it. Hence, it would not be right of me to disclose this information to an outsider."

"If it's only a little troublesome, then I'm sure you'll still be able to do it, right, Senior? Compared to one of your bonded spirit insects or that damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure, the conditions I've proposed are far more lenient," Han Li countered with a smile.

"Hehe, that's true. Alright, I can agree to these conditions, but you have to swear a vow on your inner demons to not disclose the secret technique to anyone else. At your cultivation base, inner demons become extremely fearsome, and if you go back on your word, there's a very good chance that you'll perish during your future tribulation. If you're willing to swear this vow, then I can give you the secret technique," Voidspirit said with a smile.

"Of course, that's a very reasonable request." Han Li was elated to hear this, and he adopted a serious expression before swearing a vow that was satisfactory to Voidspirit.

"Alright, let's begin our exchange, then. Here are a few vials of Divine Infernal River Elixir." Voidspirit nodded in a pleased manner before sweeping a sleeve through the air, sending five small green vials flying directly toward Han Li.

Han Li raised a hand to draw the five small vials into his grasp, then removed their lids one by one, using his spiritual sense to examine their contents. An elated look quickly appeared in his eyes, and produced a spirit beast bracelet before also tossing it toward Voidspirit with a flick of his wrist. "Here are 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles, Senior."

Voidspirit drew the bracelet into his grasp, yet instead of releasing the spirit insects within it, he closed his eyes and directed his spiritual sense into the bracelet.

Moments later, an excited look appeared on his face.

"These are all indeed completely mature Gold Devouring Beetles, and they've developed even better than I had anticipated! Take this jade slip, and don't show it to anyone else," Voidspirit warned.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a jade slip that he had already prepared flew out of his sleeve, then reached Han Li after just a few flashes.

"I won't, Senior," Han Li replied in a respectful manner as he gleefully caught the jade slip, then pressed it against his own forehead.

In an instant, the ancient text within the jade slip appeared in his mind like a series of vivid images.

Voidspirit stowed away the spirit beast bracelet containing the Gold Devouring Beetles, then turned to appraise Han Li with a hint of a smile on his face, seemingly very interested in Han Li. After a while, Han Li removed the jade slip from his forehead and withdrew his spiritual sense.

"So? There are no issues with the secret technique I gave you, right?" Voidspirit asked with a smile.

"Not at all, Senior! The secret technique you gave me is extremely profound, and it's answered many of the questions I had when it came to insect nurturing," Han Li replied in a respectful manner as he stowed the jade slip up his sleeve.

"Oh? You must be adept in insect nurturing if you got that much from inspecting the secret technique for a short time. However, I should caution you that even though Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs are extremely powerful, both luck and effort are indispensable if you want to successfully nurture one, so I'd advise you to exercise caution in this endeavor," Voidspirit said with a meaningful look in his eyes.

"Thank you, Senior, I'll be sure to do so," Han Li replied.

"Alright, seeing as our exchange has concluded, you can leave the Black Wind Pavilion now, and I'll come out after you. Don't keep Golden Flame and Qing Yuanzi waiting out there for too long," Voidspirit said.

"Yes, Senior. I'll be going on ahead, then." Han Li naturally offered no objections, and after extending a parting salute, he flew out of the hall as a streak of azure light, quickly vanishing into the black Qi outside.

"Hehe, a mere Body Integration cultivator dares to think about nurturing a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch? How laughable! If it really was that easy to nurture beings that are comparable to true spirits, then our Mayfly Race would be ruling over the entire Spirit Realm already! Even in the entire history of our Mayfly Race, no one has actually succeeded in nurturing a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch. It's a pity I had to hand over those vials of Divine Infernal Elixir, though. However, with these 5,000 Gold Devouring Insects, there should be a very good chance that I'll be able to refine a Myriad Spirit Umbrella that'll assist me in my tribulation transcendence. Mature Gold Devouring Beetles are virtually indestructible to begin with, so a Myriad Spirit Umbrella refined using them should also have the same quality. Looks like I'll have a greater chance of transcending that ascension tribulation," Voidspirit chuckled coldly as soon as Han Li departed.

After that, he flipped a hand over to produce the spirit beast bracelet containing the Gold Devouring Beetles, then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the bracelet.

Spiritual light flashed, and a burst of black light surged out of his fingertip, swirling around the bracelet and freezing it into a chunk of black profound ice.

He then instantly plastered several shimmering blue talismans onto the chunk of ice before stowing it away.

Around an hour later, two streaks of light, one golden and one azure, flew out of the white light barrier over the island, then traveled toward a certain direction.

The two streaks of light naturally contained none other than Qing Yuanzi and Han Li.

Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi seemed to have a tacit understanding with one another, and neither of them asked Han Li or Voidspirit about the details surrounding their deal.

After chatting about some other things and sampling some of the exceptional spirit wine brewed by Golden Flame Baron, everyone departed from his island.

Along the way, neither of them said much, and the two headed directly toward Qing Yuanzi's cave abode.

Around half a month later, the familiar tall mountain finally appeared in the distance.

All of a sudden, Qing Yuanzi abruptly stopped, and Han Li was slightly taken aback by this, but he naturally also stopped.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you've gotten what you want, so I've repaid the favor I owe you. As such, this is where we'll part ways. After I get back, I'm going to seal the mountain right away so I can focus on transcending my next major heavenly tribulation. Yao'er will only be able to assist me in the process once she reaches the Body Integration Stage, so she'll be going into seclusion together with me. I've prepared all of the pills she needs to successfully break through her bottleneck, and I won't be letting her go anywhere until she reaches the Body Integration Stage. Do you understand what I'm saying, Fellow Daoist Han?" Qing Yuanzi asked in a meaningful voice.

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Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he heaved a faint sigh before extending a salute toward Qing Yuanzi. "Of course. Please bid farewell to Fairy Yuan and Fairy Yan in my stead, Senior. I'll be taking my leave now."

Seeing as Han Li was so willing to comply, Qing Yuanzi's expression eased slightly, and he explained, "Hehe, please don't blame for being inhospitable, Fellow Daoist Han; it's just that it would be very detrimental for Yao'er to interact with you excessively during this critical juncture. If you stay with her for too long, it'll most likely be very difficult for her to overcome her inner demons when she attempts to make a breakthrough, so I must take the necessary precautions."

"You misunderstand, Senior; I see Fairy Yuan only as a close friend of mine," Han Li said with a wry smile, unsure of exactly how to explain the situation.

"You may only see her as a close friend, but that may not necessarily be what she thinks," Qing Yuanzi said with a hint of a smile on his face.

"I don't know how to explain myself, Senior, and I'm sure you don't want to hear my explanation anyway. In any case, it was all thanks to your support that I was able to obtain the Divine Infernal River Elixir, and I'll definitely remember your kindness. Hopefully, the next time we meet, you'll have already successfully transcended your tribulation, Senior," Han Li said as he extended a parting salute.

"I also wish you luck in progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage, Fellow Daoist Han." Qing Yuanzi returned Han Li's salute.

Han Li nodded upon seeing this, and he flew away as a streak of azure light, heading directly toward the spatial rift through which he had departed last time.

His cultivation base had been lacking in the past, so he could only depart through the spatial rift with Qing Yuanzi's assistance. However, now that he was at the mid-Body Integration Stage, he no longer required such assistance.

Qing Yuanzi hovered in mid-air, and only after the streak of azure light had completely vanished into the distance did he heave a faint sigh.

"That Han brat has certainly made some rapid progress. Now that he's obtained so much Divine Infernal River Elixir, it shouldn't be an issue at all for him to reach the late-Body Integration Stage in the future. However, it'll be quite unlikely for him to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage unless he encounters some opportunities. Then again, he possesses quite a vast array of powerful treasures and secrets, so it may not be impossible for him. I've assisted him to the best of my abilities here; if he does happen to become a Grand Ascension cultivator someday, perhaps he'll return the favor." After that, Qing Yuanzi withdrew his gaze and flew back toward his cave abode.

Over half a day later, violent spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above a certain nameless mountain in the infernal river, following which a giant black rift appeared out of thin air.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as a five-colored pillar of light erupted from the summit of the mountain, then vanished into the rift in a flash.

The spatial fluctuations then began to subside, and the giant rift also slowly sealed over. Soon, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

Time flew by, and over 300 years passed in the blink of an eye. To normal mortals, several generations had passed during this time, yet in the context of the entire Spirit Realm, this was only a tiny fleeting passage. To the almighty beings standing at the pinnacle of the entire Spirit Realm, 300 years was not a negligible period of time. Some powerful sects and major families could use this time to nurture several generations of brethren and disciples, and during these 300 years, massive changes had taken place in the entire human race.

At present, groups of armored guards were a common sight in the three human regions, and all of the major cities had been transformed into fortresses.

At the centers of these cities were a series of formations and restrictions that sprawled over the ground like cobwebs, stacking on top of one another and striking despair into the hearts of all potential enemies who were plotting against the human cities.

Several hundred years ago, Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators were very rare in normal cities, yet they were now frequently appearing before mortals. Some of the luckier mortals could even occasionally catch sight of a Deity Transformation cultivator.

On top of that, during the past few centuries, the number of mortal body refinement warriors had spiked dramatically to over 10 times the original population. Furthermore, they had all been equipped with far more powerful weapons and spirit tools than in the past. As for the mortals who weren't even able to cultivate body refinement techniques, they would also train in martial arts to strengthen their bodies and learn some self-preservation skills.

Almost all of these tasks were being willingly undertaken by the mortals as everyone had now been made aware of the news that the next devilish tribulation was imminent.

Over 100 years ago, envoys from the holy island had appeared at all of the major cities, and announced that the devilish tribulation would commence within 200 years. On top of that, they stated that this devilish tribulation was going to be far more perilous than previous ones, and that the human race was truly at risk of being wiped out should it fail to address the situation seriously.

Thus, the entire human race was thrown into a state of urgency, and all of the preparations were being made at several times the original speed. All of the materials and ingredients in the major markets were quickly sold out, and only some private medicine gardens belonging to powerful sects and major families still had some spirit medicines planted.

Even so, these spirit medicines were different from the precious spirit medicines planted in these gardens in the past. Most of the current ones were spirit medicines with short maturation periods, and were also very commonly used.

On top of that, all of the things that the major powers had been doing their best to hide in the past were now quickly being revealed.

Some of the major powers had even begun frequently exchanging some secret techniques and cultivation arts that they required, hoping to take themselves up another level using these new assets.

Of course, the most prominent powers within the human race were still Deep Heaven City and the three sovereign cities.

There were countless elite human and demon cultivators, as well as 10 Body Integration cultivators situated in Deep Heaven City, so it was virtually an impregnable fortress. As for the three sovereign cities, they were guarded by the three human sovereigns and all of the high-grade cultivators from the three regions, so they also seemed to be very secure.

The powers who ranked directly below these were naturally the likes of the top 10 human sects, and the true spirit families. They also attracted many mortals and vagrant cultivators who flocked to them for protection, and in just the past few centuries, their numbers had multiplied by more than tenfold, almost reaching their maximal capacity in the process.

Not only were the humans doing everything they could to prepare for the upcoming devilish tribulation, the demon race and the nearby foreign races had also mobilized in huge numbers. During the past 300 years, all of the races had frequently sent out envoys to exchange important information surrounding the imminent tribulation.

Under this tense atmosphere, there were a few hundred cultivators gathered on a mountain within a mountain range not far away from Deep Heaven City. There was a white-robed woman sitting on a giant rock at the very center of the group, and everyone was listening to her explain a certain complex cultivation art.

The woman appeared to be only 17 to 18 years of age, and her body was enveloped within layers of white lotus flower projections. There was also a deep blue lotus flower insignia on her glabella, which gave her a pure and ethereal appearance, almost as if she were a celestial maiden who had descended from the heavens.

There were cultivators of both genders and all ages listening to her pass on her knowledge, but most of them wore Daoist robe, while the rest wore blue robes with swords on their backs; they seemed to be from the same sect.

However, none of them possessed exceptional cultivation bases. There were only a few Core Formation cultivators among them, while the majority consisted of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Two hours later, the woman finally concluded her lecture, then said in a calm voice, "Alright, that'll be all for today. The next lecture will be held three months from now, and the Dao of the five elements will be discussed. You can all leave now."

"Yes, Senior!" All of the cultivators extended respectful bows toward the woman upon hearing this before departing from the mountain on their treasures and spirit tools.

The white-robed woman looked on as these people departed, and all of a sudden, her brows furrowed slightly as she turned toward a certain large tree. "Senior Martial Brother Hai, these disciples belong to you and Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi, yet you're forcing me to teach them; don't you think that's unfair?"

White light flashed at the foot of the tree, and a handsome man in a set of blue robes appeared with a smile on his face. "I never wanted to take any disciples; I was swindled by our senior martial brother and ended up with this troublesome task before I even knew what was going on. Besides, your lectures are 100 times better than what the two of us can deliver. Otherwise, these people wouldn't have been able to make such astonishing progress in just a few centuries; there are even a few Core Formation cultivators among their ranks now."

"I can't be credited for the progress that these disciples have made; most of this is due to the leftover pills that Master gave to us. We no longer have any need for these pills, so your disciples are benefitting from them now. Speaking of which, why did you get involved in this? Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi took these disciples so he could take the Mistsea Daoist Temple to greater heights; what role do you play in this?" the white-robed woman complained.

"Hey, you can't blame me here; Qi Lingzi goaded me into doing this," the blue-robed man said in an indignant manner.

Spiritual light flashed as a yellow-robed Daoist priest abruptly appeared beside another tree, and he chuckled, "Hehe, you're not telling the truth there, Junior Martial Brother. You were smiling from ear to ear when all of those disciples referred to you as master."

This trio was none other than Han Li's three in-name disciples, Bai Guo'er, Qi Lingzi, and Hai Yuetian.

Their physical appearances hadn't changed at all during the past three centuries, but their auras and dispositions had undergone drastic transformations.

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