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

64. 2035

Read A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality - Chapter 2035: Dark Blood Five-colored Bells online free - Novel Full

This was a heavily wrinkled devilish elderly man with a dark complexion, and he strode over to the stone platform with a calm expression.

He cast his gaze through the surrounding area, and a fearsome aura immediately erupted from his body, drawing awe and veneration from many of the weaker devilish beings present.

This elderly man was at the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, so he was only one step away from the Body Integration Stage.

In a place like Blood Crow City, a powerful being of this caliber was truly very formidable.

"I am Yue Liantian, one of the elders of Blood Crow City; I'm sure many of the fellow daoists present know of me. I was invited by the owner of this place to host the auction, and I ask that all of you abide by the rules of this auction. Otherwise, I'll be forced to step in. These eight fellow daoists are the guards who will be maintaining order during this auction. With their presence, I'm sure this auction won't have any safety issues," the elderly man said before clapping his hands together, and eight mid-Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings rose up from the front row of seats, then positioned themselves around the stone platform in an expressionless manner.

A stir immediately ran through the crowd at the sight of these devilish beings.

It was quite clear that they were quite renowned in Blood Crow City, and many people were appraising them with awe and veneration in their eyes.

Of course, eight Spatial Tempering Stage beings weren't going to draw any reaction from Han Li, and he was currently scanning his gaze through the crowd to see if the Long Family patriarch and the others were also in attendance.

There were potentially devilish lords in attendance as well, so Han Li hadn't released his enormous spiritual sense. Instead, he was only using his spirit eye ability to see if there were any devilish beings in suspicious disguises present, but after scouring through the crowd for a while, he didn't discover anything amiss.

Could it be that none of the others had come to attend this auction? That was quite strange.

Come to think of, following their separation, Han Li hadn't encountered any of his companions in the city. Regardless of whether it was the Long Family patriarch or everyone else, all of them seemed to be running secretive errands of their own.

Right at this moment, the elderly devilish man announced the commencement of the auction, and a nearby door swung open, following which a line of devilish women who were holding platters emerged.

All of them had elegant figures, and they arranged themselves into a row behind Yue Liantian.

Yue Liantian waved a hand without even turning his head, and one of the women immediately stepped forward in a respectful manner before raising her platter up with both hands.

"This is the top-grade devilish treasure, the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells. It's comprised of five Blood Devil Bells, and it's able to inflict upon enemies disorientation, poison, sluggishness, bloodlust, and illusion," Yue Liantian introduced in a calm voice as he removed the black cloth that was draped over the platter.

There were five thumb-sized silver bells on the platter, all of which had black devilish runes over their surfaces and were connected together by a golden ring.

"What? A treasure like this can rank in the top 10 even among top-grade devilish treasures!"

"But this is something that only Master An of Cloudsea Mountain is able to refine; how did it end up this far away in Blood Crow City?"

"Who cares? It was worth coming to this auction just for this treasure alone! I wonder what other priceless items are going to appear after this!"

As soon as the set of bells was revealed, the entire hall erupted into raucous chatter once again, and most of the people present were staring at the bells with elation and greed in their eyes.

Han Li also faltered slightly upon hearing the name of this treasure.

"Dark Blood Five-colored Bells? Why does this treasure sound so familiar? I feel like I've heard of it somewhere before."

Thus, Han Li fell into silent contemplation in his seat.

At this point, the bidding had already begun.

"5,000,000!"

"6,000,000!"

"8,000,000!"

"11,000,000!"

Even though this was only a top-grade treasure, the price was bid up to over 10,000,000 in the blink of an eye, and Han Li was quite surprised to see this.

According to the knowledge he had accrued of the prices of items in the Elder Devil Realm, a normal top-grade devilish treasure was generally only worth around 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 spirit stones, yet these bells had already far exceeded this price, and the bids were still flying in thick and fast.

Wait a minute! Dark Blood Five-colored Bells? Glazed Five Bells? Isn't that the name of a treasure recorded in the Profound Heavenly Tool Refinement Technique?

Han Li had finally made the connection.

One of the pages of the Golden Jade Tome he had obtained contained the refinement method for the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain, as well the refinement for several types of acquired Profound Heavenly Treasures, and the Glazed Five Wonder Bells was one of them.

However, even though Han Li had the refinement method for these treasures, the materials required were only rumored to exist in the True Immortal Realm, so he couldn't make use of those refinement methods.

The effects of these Dark Blood Five-colored Bells sounded remarkably similar to the abilities of the Glazed Five Wonder Bells, and that was what had led him to draw this connection.

Could it be that this was a mere coincidence, or was it the case that someone from the Elder Devil Realm also possessed the same refinement method and had unintentionally refined such a replica treasure?

Unfortunately for Han Li, even though he had sold an array of devilish treasures to the auction house and they were estimated to sell for close to 10,000,000 devil stones, that clearly wasn't enough to secure this top-grade devilish treasure.

Furthermore, even though the abilities of this treasure were quite intriguing, it was only a top-grade devilish treasure, so it wouldn't be of much use to him. At the very most, it would be something interesting for him to study.

As such, Han Li could only look on as the bidding continued.

In the end, the treasure was purchased by a mysterious masked devilish being with azure light radiating from their body for the astonishing price of 15,000,000 devil stones.

Many of the high-grade devilish beings present immediately began to plot against this masked devilish being, but after handing over the devil stones required for the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells, the devilish being immediately departed from the auction venue.

Several other masked devilish beings also departed immediately thereafter, but Yue Liantian didn't pay any heed to this.

He removed the cloth that was draped over the platter being held by the second woman, revealing a fist-sized blue crystal that was releasing astonishing glacial Qi.

"This is the inner core of an Ice Gourd Beast, and it can be used to refine ice-attribute devilish treasures or refined into several types of special pills. The starting price will be 2,000,000 devil stones!" Yue Liantian announced in a concise manner.

"2,300,000!"

"2,500,000!"

The value of this devilish core couldn't compare with that of the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells, but it was also an extremely precious material, so its price was also being quickly bid up.

In the end, it was secured by a thin devilish being for over 4,000,000 devil stones.

After that, Yue Liantian revealed the items on the platters one after another, and after they were all sold, another group of devilish women arrived on the platform with the next batch of auction items.

The items being auctioned were similar in nature to those that appeared during auctions in the Spirit Realm, in that they were mostly comprised of things like materials, medicines, and pills, interspersed with the occasional devilish treasure.

Han Li merely looked on as one auction item was sold after another, displaying no intention of making a bid for any of the items.

Only after the devilish treasures that he had sold to the auction house were sold for a high price did a faint smile appear on his face.

However, none of the auction items had been able to eclipse the staggering price of that first devilish treasure, and the item that was sold for the second-highest price was a pill that was able to increase one's chances of making a successful Spirit Refinement Stage breakthrough.

Even though the increase was only around 5%, the pill was still sold for 13,000,000 devil stones.

"Alright, we have now reached the final stage of our auction. There are only two more auction items, but I can assure you that both of them are no lesser in value compared to the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells," Yue Liantian said in a mysterious voice.

Right on cue, two gorgeous devilish women emerged from the entrance, and on this occasion, they weren't holding platters. Instead, one woman was holding a green wooden box that was around a foot in length, while the other was completely empty-handed.

All of the devilish beings present were quite intrigued to see this.

Yue Liantian raised a hand to draw the wooden box directly into his grasp, then removed the lid to reveal a white brick-like object.

He then took a deep breath before announcing, "This is a holy brick, within which is contained several types of cultivation arts used by Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling over 2,000,000 years ago. The starting price is 30,000,000 devil stones!"

"What? Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling? The Sacred Ancestor who was only below the three patriarchs in power?"

"That's impossible! How could a holy brick containing his cultivation arts possibly appear here? Even if such a priceless treasure were to appear as an auction item, it should only be in the largest auction houses in the holy city!"

The entire venue immediately erupted into a frenzy, with some devilish beings ecstatic to hear the description for the auction item, while others were more skeptical.

"Please quiet down, everyone! Our auction house has already had the item appraised, and we can assure everyone that this is indeed a holy brick left behind by Master Qiling. If it proves to be a counterfeit, then our auction house will reimburse you for 10 times the price that the item was purchased for, so please rest assured. As for why this item has appeared during this auction, there are naturally reasons for this." Yue Liantian authoritative voice immediately caused all of the raucous chatter to subside.

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"Oh? Would you be able to explain the situation to us, Brother Yue?" a devilish being who was enshrouded in black Qi asked.

This devilish being was also at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and he seemed to possess a status that was even loftier than that of Yue Liantian.

All of the other devilish beings immediately fell silent upon hearing this, and Yue Liantian cupped his fist toward the devilish being in a salute as he replied, "Of course, Brother Jin Jiao. The holy brick has appeared in our city as the owner didn't want to create too much of a stir and draw trouble to himself, and the holy brick is actually flawed. The two cultivation arts contained within it are both missing critical mantras, and neither of them was the main ability cultivated by Master Qi Ling. Otherwise, such an item certainly wouldn't be making an appearance in this auction."

"I see. With Master Qi Ling's unfathomable powers, even a pair of incomplete cultivation arts used by him would be extremely valuable for study and reference. As such, its value does indeed surpass that of the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells," Jin Jiao replied in an enlightened manner.

Not only were the other devilish beings present not disappointed to hear this, the greed in their eyes only became more pronounced.

The fact that this item was flawed only made its authenticity more plausible.

"Would you be able to reveal the names of the two cultivation arts to us, Fellow Daoist Yue? That'll help us decide whether the cultivation arts will be useful to us." A sharp voice rang out in the venue, but a secret technique had been used to make it impossible to pinpoint who had spoken.

"I'm afraid not. When the owner of this holy brick brought it to our auction house, he had raised the condition that the cultivation arts contained within the holy brick can't be revealed in advance. Alright, I've said everything that I can say about this item; let the bidding begin!" Yue Liantian announced in a decisive manner.

"I'm taking this holy brick for 40,000,000 devil stones!" A thunderous voice rang out from one corner of the venue, and it belonged to a massive menacing devilish man who was around 30 feet tall.

"You think you can take a treasure of this caliber for 40,000,000? Isn't that a little too delusional, Brother Shi? I'm offering 50,000,000!" a horned devilish man with a heavy beard chuckled coldly in response.

"60,000,000!" Jin Jiao upped the price without any hesitation.

"65,000,000!"

"68,000,000!"

Other bids also came flying in from other corners of the hall, and the wealthiest high-grade devilish beings present were all participating in the bidding.

Han Li was naturally interested in the cultivation arts left behind by a Grand Ascension Stage being, but unfortunately, they had been left behind by a Sacred Ancestor and were incomplete. Otherwise, he would perhaps be inclined to go after it.

"80,000,000!"

A frosty voice rang out, and at the same time, a glacial aura swept through the entire hall.

All of the weaker devilish beings present instantly stiffened as if they had been plunged into a glacial pit, and even the Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings couldn't help but shudder.

"It's a devilish lord!" someone exclaimed.

All of the other devilish beings were stunned to hear this, and they immediately turned toward the source of the glacial aura.

At a certain side entrance of the hall, a grey-robed elderly man had appeared, and there was faint crimson Qi emanating from his body.

"It's the City Lord!"

"Senior Bing!"

The entire venue immediately erupted into a frenzy at the sight of this elderly man.

"What brings you here, City Lord?" Yue Liantian asked as he hurriedly extended a salute from afar.

"Why can't I be here? Am I not allowed to attend this auction?" the elderly man asked.

"Of course you are! It's my honor to have you here, City Lord! I'm just rather taken aback by your arrival," Yue Liantian hurriedly explained.

"In that case, I've made the highest bid, so shouldn't this holy brick be mine now?" the city lord asked in an indifferent voice.

"Of course. If no higher bid is made, then the holy brick is all yours. Are there any other fellow daoists who would like to make higher bids?" Yue Liantian asked as he raised the brick before him.

His voice echoed throughout the hall, but it was met by complete silence.

All of the high-grade devilish beings present were still staring at the holy brick with scorching yearning in their eyes, but none of them dared to say anything.

Not only was Bing Qianren the city lord, he was also a mid-stage devilish lord; no one would be foolish enough to compete against him in the bidding.

Yue Liantian took a deep breath, yet just as he was about to make a final announcement, an unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out. "90,000,000!"

"What? Who dares to compete with the city lord?"

"Are they not afraid of being killed?"

A massive stir immediately ran through the crowd upon hearing this, and everyone looked around in bewilderment, trying to pinpoint where the bid had come from.

However, the voice of the bidder seemed to have no source, and it was impossible to track down the exact location of the bidder.

Bing Qianren's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. "95,000,000!"

"99,000,000!"

The same voice rang out again without any hesitation.

Bing Qianren's expression completely darkened upon hearing this, and the crimson glacial Qi around his body surged with fury.

All of the devilish beings in the entire venue fell completely silent in fear of incurring the city lord's wrath.

Much to everyone's surprise, the city lord paused momentarily before conceding, "Looks like I'll have to back down."

After that, he strode out of the venue without any hesitation.

Ye Liantian was also quite surprised, but he still didn't forget to do his job and immediately made a count of three. "Are there any further bids? No? Alright, then the holy brick will go to this fellow daoist."

There were several devilish beings who seemed to be tempted to bid up the price even further, but decided against it in the end. After all, this was something that the Blood Crow City Lord wanted; who knew if securing it could spell one's demise?

Everyone was looking around with wide eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of what kind of bold character had dared to compete for a treasure with a devilish lord.

In a certain corner of the hall, a humanoid figure suddenly stood up before making his way toward the stone platform.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, allowing him to instantly identify the devilish being as a blue-robed middle-aged man who was at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, and there was nothing remarkable about him at all.

However, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly at the sight of him.

"Isn't that Old Man Yang? Has he gone insane? Is he trying to get himself killed?"

Raucous chatter immediately rang out once again as everyone spotted this middle-aged man; it seemed that most of the people present were aware of who he was.

Han Li turned to a well-built devilish being seated beside him, and asked, "May I ask who this Old Man Yang is, Fellow Daoist? His cultivation base doesn't seem to be all that remarkable, so why is he so well known?"

This devilish being had thin azure scales on his face, and he had also been stunned by the sight of this Old Man Yang.

After sensing that Han Li was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being, the devilish man immediately replied in a polite manner, "You must not be from around these parts, Fellow Daoists. Old Man Yang is a renowned tool refinement master in this city, and many people go to him for devilish treasure repairs or to commission the refinement of some low-grade devilish treasures. He's been living in this city for over 100 years and has always kept a low profile, so I have no idea why he's doing something like this now. Perhaps the cultivation art that he's using is messing with his brain. Come to think of, how does he even have such a massive amount of devil stones?"

"I see. Thank you for the answer, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied with a nod before casting his gaze toward Old Man Yang again.

At this point, he had already made his way onto the stone platform, and he summoned a storage pouch for Yue Liantian to examine. After it was verified that the correct number of devil stones was in the pouch, the holy brick was handed over to him, and he stowed it away amid a flash of black light.

During this process, Yue Liantian was also appraising Old Man Yang with astonishment in his eyes.

What was even more astonishing was that after this Old Man Yang secured the holy brick, he didn't immediately leave the auction house. Instead, he returned to his seat, and it seemed that he was going to participate in the bidding for the final auction item as well.

This was naturally very surprising to all of the bystanders, and also tipped them off to the fact that something was most likely amiss.

Many devilish beings who were plotting against him immediately abandoned those intentions, and after taking a brief moment to compose himself, Yue Liantian finally moved on to the final auction item.

He waved a hand, and the empty-handed devilish woman made her over to him, then flicked a wrist to summon a green bracelet. As soon as the bracelet appeared, it released a burst of white light, and a massive object that was over 100 feet in length appeared on the stone platform.

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The object was shimmering with golden light, and it seemed to be a bone from an unknown giant beast.

Even though it was only an incomplete bone, it immediately released a primordial aura as soon as it was revealed, and even though Yue Liantian was already prepared, he still hurriedly took several steps backward in a cautious manner.

Everyone else in the venue let loose cries of alarm in the face of this powerful aura, and some were even forced to release layers of protective devilish light.

"How could a mere bone possibly possess such a fearsome aura?"

"Could this be a bone from the few types of legendary ancient beasts?"

"That's impossible! Even the bones of those ancient beasts wouldn't possess such an astonishing aura!"

"Brother Yue, please tell us what that thing is!"

Everyone erupted into a frenzy once again as they stared at the giant bone with shocked expressions.

"Hehe, all in due time, Fellow Daoist; this is an auction item, so I'll naturally introduce its origins to everyone. Seeing as there are clearly many fellow daoists who are interested in it, I won't delay any further; this isn't the bone of some ancient beast; it's the bone of a true spirit," Yue Liantian said with a smile.

"The bone of a true spirit? Wouldn't that make it a priceless treasure?"

"That's impossible! Even the Sacred Ancestors would be fighting over a treasure of this caliber; how did it end up here?"

The stir that had been created on this occasion clearly even the reaction to the holy brick, and most of the devilish beings present were very skeptical.

Han Li's expression also changed slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately focused his gaze on that giant green bone.

All of a sudden, he detected a slightly familiar sweet and fragrant scent from within that primordial aura, and it seemed to be similar to the aroma of some medicines. However, the medicinal aroma was extremely faint, and he wouldn't have been able to detect it had it not been for his regular contact with all types of spirit medicines.

At the same time, an urgent and elated cry rang out in Han Li's spiritual sense. "Master, I can sense that that bone will be extremely beneficial to me. If possible, please purchase it for me."

This was none other than Qu'er's tender voice, and it was even trembling slightly from excitement.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, but offered no response. Instead, he released a wisp of spiritual sense toward the giant bone, upon which a hint of bewilderment appeared in his eyes.

At this moment, Yue Liantian continued, "This bone isn't from this realm. Instead, it was swept into this realm through a certain spatial rift. It is indeed a bone from a true spirit being, but due to its age, we've already verified that it no longer contains any true essence or spirit marrow. As such, not only are we unable to ascertain which type of true spirit this bone once belonged to, its true spirit aura has also waned to an extremely significant extent, so it's completely incomparable to the other true spirit bones that have appeared in this realm in the past. Having said that, it's extremely resolute, and if it were to be refined into a treasure, it definitely wouldn't be any less powerful than a normal spirit treasure.

"As for why it appeared in our city, the reason is similar to why the holy brick also appeared during this auction; the former of the bone simply wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible to avoid trouble. Before we begin the bidding, I can give all of you 15 minutes to examine this true spirit bone. Those who are interested can even come onto the platform for a closer examination if you'd like."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Yue Liantian swept a sleeve through the air to release an azure incense burner, which landed on one corner of the stone platform.

There was a stick of incense that was half a foot long and had just been ignited protruding out of the incense burner, and at the same time, Yue Liantian flipped a hand over to summon a silver talisman, which he plastered onto the true spirit bone.

The astonishing primordial aura was instantly subdued, and everyone heaved a collective internal sigh of relief.

After hearing Yue Liantian's explanation, the skepticism and befuddlement on many people's faces had faded.

In essence, this could barely even be considered to be a true spirit bone; it was only roughly equivalent to a rare tool refinement material, so it wasn't all that absurd for it to appear in Blood Crow City.

Even so, there were still many high-grade devilish beings who were very interested in this giant bone, and not only were there many people releasing their spiritual sense toward it, a few of them had even made their way onto the platform for a closer examination.

However, all of them were very disappointed by the results of their examination.

Just as Yue Liantian had said, aside from some residual aura, there really wasn't anything of use to be found in the giant bone.

The true value of a true spirit bone lay primarily in the true essence and spirit marrow it contained; even if the tiniest amount could be found in the bone, its value would immediately swell by thousands of times. However, the absence of those things naturally put a heavy dent in its value.

Han Li sat in his seat for a while, and only after there were no more devilish beings on the platform did he make his way over to the true spirit bone before gently laying a finger on it.

Yue Liantian appraised Han Li briefly, but merely smiled and allowed him to do as he pleased.

Han Li only lingered momentarily in front of the giant bone with a contemplative expression before withdrawing his finger and returning to his seat.

When the stick of incense in the incense burner was finally incinerated into dust, Yue Liantian swept a sleeve through the air to withdraw the incense burner, then announced in a serious voice, "Alright, time's up. The auction will now begin, and the starting price is 50,000,000!"

In contrast with the bidding for the holy brick, this announcement was met with complete silence. No one was making any bids, but Yue Liantian simply waited with a faint smile, seemingly completely unconcerned by this.

"50,000,000!"

After a long while, the first bid was finally made.

"52,000,000!"

"56,000,000!"

Others began to join in on the bidding as well, but there were only six or seven of them, far less so than the bidders that had been interested in the holy brick.

It was no wonder that this was the case; this was indeed a true spirit bone, but its uses were severely limited, so there naturally weren't many people willing to fork out so many devil stones for it.

Even so, the price still climbed steadily, and with three or four bidders still in the running, the price was bid up to a staggering 70,000,000.

The highest bidder was a devilish woman whose get-up suggested that she was quite wealthy.

The other bidders immediately fell silent, and it seemed that they were planning to concede.

A hint of elation flashed through the devilish woman's eyes upon seeing this.

"70,000,000 going once... 70,000,000 going twice... If there are no further bids to be made, then this true spirit bone will go to this fellow daoist. Hehe, let me remind you that if you miss out on this opportunity, it will be extremely difficult to obtain another true spirit bone in the future," Yue Liantian chuckled, seemingly rather unsatisfied by this current price.

"Would I be able to sell off some items here if I don't have enough devil stones?" The person who had raised the question was none other than Han Li.

Yue Liantian seemed to be quite pleased to hear this, and he replied, "Of course. Regardless of whether it's treasures, pills, ingredients, materials, or cultivation arts, as long as it's something of value, our auction house will be willing to offer devil stones in exchange. However, we'll only be offering two-thirds of the market price, and we offer no returns even if you fail to secure the auction item you desire."

"Alright, then I would like to sell some things; please pause the auction for now," Han Li said.

"Sure, please head to the rear hall; you'll be able to sell off your valuable possessions there." Yue Liantian waved a hand, and the devilish woman beside him immediately stepped forward as Han LI's guide.

Thus, Han Li followed the woman into the rear hall...

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li returned to his seat and immediately made a bid of 80,000,000.

Such a staggering price naturally created quite a stir throughout the entire venue, and many people were scrutinizing Han Li's cloaked figure, trying to guess who he was.

The devilish woman's expression changed slightly, but she was clearly determined to secure the true spirit bone as well, and she immediately upped the price. "82,000,000!"

"90,000,000!" Han Li countered without any hesitation.

A hesitant look finally appeared on the woman's face, and after making a bid of 91,000,000, she suddenly turned toward Han Li's direction, and said, "Fellow Daoist, I am from the Hai Family of Wither City. This true spirit bone is something that will be of great use to my family; if you're willing to hand it over to me, our Hai Family will be sure to thank you with a handsome reward."

"The Hai Family of Wither City? Is that the Hai Family that's led by Sacred Ancestor Ku Ji? Why did they send someone all the way to Blood Crow City?"

"The Hai Family is one of the few major tool refinement families of our holy realm; could it be that they're interested in this true spirit bone?"

"That woman is quite powerful; could she be a direct lineal descendant to Sacred Ancestor Ku Ji?"

The Hai Family was clearly quite a powerful family, and many of the devilish beings present were appraising the woman with awe and veneration in their eyes.

However, Han Li completely ignored her and made a bid that sent a jolt running through all of the bystanders' hearts. "100,000,000!"

Even if this woman were related to a Sacred Ancestor, as long as the Sacred Ancestor in question wasn't anywhere near Blood Crow City, there was no need for him to worry.

The woman's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this, and she gave a cold harrumph, but didn't place any further bids.

"Alright, then this true spirit bone will go to this fellow daoist!" Yue Liantian hurriedly announced in an elated manner.

Han Li rose to his feet and made his way onto the stone platform, then handed over the required devil stones before stowing the true spirit bone into his storage bracelet.

Thus concluded the auction, and as Han Li departed from the auction house, Qu'er's excited voice rang out in his mind.

"You must've discovered what's so special about this true spirit bone as well, Master. With that bone at our disposal, there's a good chance we'll be able to elevate your spirit body to the Grand Ascension Stage!"

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"Those people are truly foolish; they mistook a medicine spirit bone as a normal true spirit bone! The former owner of this bone will probably die from remorse if they were to learn of this!" Han Li smiled as he replied in his mind, seemingly in a very good mood as well.

"This medicine spirit bone can virtually replace around a dozen types of legendary holy medicines for pill refinement, but it takes someone with your unparalleled discerning eye to identify if, Master," Qu'er said in a flattering manner.

"I was only able to just barely identify it as I had seen records of it in an ancient tome from a foreign race. How did you know that it was something special right away? Were you aware from the very beginning that this was a bone from a profound medicine spirit?" Han Li asked in a seemingly nonchalant voice.

"Before Master Immortal Zoysia departed, he had bestowed upon me some memories regarding profound medicine spirits. If the spirit body can refine and fuse with this spirit bone, then not only would its magic power be severely enhanced, it can even attain some of the abilities of the medicine spirit that the bone once belonged to, and that would give it a very good chance of breaking through its bottleneck to the Grand Ascension Stage!" Qu'er replied in an extremely excited manner.

After cultivating for so many years within the spirit body, Qu'er had virtually already become one with it. As such, if the spirit body's powers could be significantly enhanced, then she would benefit immensely as well.

"The spirit body is the body of the immortal zoysia, so it encountered no bottlenecks prior to reaching the Body Integration Stage. It did encounter a few bottlenecks after reaching the Body Integration Stage, but it was able to break through all of them with ease. I had been concerned that it would be very difficult for it to advance beyond the late-Body Integration Stage, but with this medicine spirit bone, that's no longer an issue. I have to say, I'm really envious of you spirit beings sometimes. The obstacles you encounter for your breakthroughs are less than a tenth as grueling of what normal living beings have to experience; as soon as you accumulate enough power, you can easily make breakthroughs," Han Li sighed.

"But Master, you have to remember that it often takes us spirit medicines hundreds, even thousands of times longer than normal living beings to accumulate magic power. If we encounter the same level of difficulty in our bottlenecks, how could a profound medicine spirit possibly come into existence?" Qu'er giggled.

Han Li smiled, and replied, "I'm naturally aware of that. Alright, this medicine spirit bone is clearly extremely old, but there should be many remnant signs left within it. Identify which profound medicine spirit it belonged to, then refine it right away. Hehe, come to think of it, only another medicine spirit like you will be able to identify the signs within this bone."

"Rest assured, Master; give me a few days, and I'll be able to determine which type of profound medicine spirit this bone belonged to. However, even if the spirit body progresses to the Grand Ascension Stage, my inferior cultivation base means that I'll only be able to make use of around 50% of the spirit body's powers at most. Also, Grand Ascension Stage medicine spirits can't compare with normal Grand Ascension Stage beings; they'll only be especially adept in concealment and movement techniques," Qu'er reminded in a hesitant voice.

"Oh? Is that so? That's alright, an ally with half the power of a Grand Ascension Stage being is enough to help me dominate the Spirit Realm," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

"That's true. However, it will most likely take over 100 years before the spirit body's magic power can reach the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, so you'll have to be patient for a while, Master. During this time, I'll need to control the entirety of the spirit body's magic power to refine this medicine spirit bone, so I won't be able to assist you in battle," Qu'er said with a smile.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he replied in a calm manner, "I'm willing to wait for such a powerful ally. I have other trump cards up my sleeve, so I should be able to ensure self-preservation during my time in the Elder Devil Realm. There's no need for you to worry about anything; you can begin refining the spirit bone right away."

Immediately thereafter, azure light flashed within his sleeve, and a small green spirit bone that was only several inches in size appeared in his grasp before instantly vanishing once again.

"Yes, Master; I'll be sure to refine the medicine spirit bone as soon as possible!" Qu'er replied in an elated manner before falling silent.

Han Li smiled and removed his cloak before continuing onward.

As opposed to returning to the inn, he was planning to visit a nearby materials shop instead.

Two days ago, he had visited this shop and hadn't found anything that had caught his eye, but the shopkeeper had told him that a large batch of materials would be arriving in two days, and among this batch of materials were several large pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal.

Han Li immediately made a mental note of this, and was naturally paying the shop a visit now that the two days had passed by. He wanted to see if he could find any other beads that contained that mysterious energy within the pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal.

After all, just a single one of those beads could save him over 100 years of arduous cultivation, so he was certainly interested to acquire more.

However, just as Han Li turned the corner, a pair of burly devilish men suddenly appeared in his path with cold expressions.

Han Li immediately ascertained both of them to be at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, and one was emanating a scorching aura, while the other was releasing a bone-chilling one, so it was quite clear that they were using special devilish cultivation arts.

He stopped around 30 to 40 feet away from them in an expressionless manner, and asked, "Do you need something? If not, then please step aside; I have important business to attend to."

"We have no business with you, but our mistress does. She would like to invite you for a chat," one of the two devilish men said in a cold voice as he pointed toward a certain direction.

Han Li turned his attention toward that direction to find there was a pub, within which a devilish woman in a long black dress was appraising him from one of the tables.

Their eyes met, and the woman put on a seductive smile. At the same time, she transmitted her voice to Han Li. "Why are you in such a hurry, Fellow Daoist? How about we have a drink together? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Are you here for that spirit bone?" Han Li asked in a calm voice.

"Hehe, you're a smart man, Fellow Daoist. Indeed, I'm here for the spirit bone. If you're willing to hand it over to me, I can offer you some other treasures that will definitely be at least equal in value," the devilish woman chuckled.

"I have no interest in handing the spirit bone over to anyone," Han Li said without any hesitation before stepping forward to pass through between the two devilish men.

The devilish woman's smile immediately gave way to a vicious expression upon hearing this, and her lips tremored as she transmitted an instruction to the two devilish men.

The pair of devilish men hesitated momentarily upon hearing this, then converged toward Han Li in a seemingly slow and steady manner, but their scorching and freezing auras were sweeping toward Han Li in unison.

The two auras intertwined and enhanced one another significantly, trying to force Han Li back.

If Han Li were an ordinary Spatial Tempering Stage being, then he'd have no choice but to comply, but Han Li remained completely expressionless as golden light flashed from his body, and the two auras crashed into his protective spiritual light.

A resounding boom akin to an explosive thunderclap rang out, and an extremely fearsome aura emerged from Han Li's body for a split second.

Two auras, one hot and one cold surged forth in a frenzy, and the two devilish beings' hearts jolted as they tried to oppose this aura with their own.

However, in the next instant, both of them let loose cries of pain, and they stumbled back as if they had become inebriated. With each backward step they took, the two of them would throw up a mouthful of blood each.

Only throwing up seven or eight mouthfuls of blood each did they barely manage to steady themselves, but both of them had turned deathly pale. On top of that, one of them had been completely charred black, while the other had a layer of white frost over his body.

Both of them wore expressions of incredulity, and the devilish woman immediately stood up in astonishment, but she could only look on as Han Li departed, not daring to pursue him.

Thus, Han Li passed through the two devilish men in a calm and collected manner, continuing on his way without even turning his head once.

Such a massive commotion naturally attracted the attention of the devilish beings nearby, but most of them only briefly appraised and discussed the situation before returning to what they were doing, seemingly not paying the incident much heed.

After all, Blood Crow City was currently filled with outsiders, and minor conflicts like this were an extremely common occurrence.

After the two devilish men forcibly repressed their internal injuries, they made their way over to the devilish woman with sullen expressions. "Mistress, please forgive us for our ineptitude."

The devilish woman took a deep breath to compose herself before speculating, "The two of you combined possess peak Spatial Tempering Stage powers; how was he able to brush you off so easily? Could it be that he's a devilish lord in disguise?"

"That's most likely the case. Do you recall the three brothers of the Nan Family that we encountered a few days ago, Mistress? The three of them combined can even put up a fight against an early-stage devilish lord, and it's very suspicious that they've arrived in this city in disguise. It seems that many unfathomably powerful beings have appeared in Blood Crow City; could it be that something big is about to happen soon?" one of the devilish men murmured in a concerned manner.

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"Blood Crow City isn't a large city, but it's the only nearby city, so it's not uncommon to see devilish lords pass through here. Besides, even if someone were plotting something here, they wouldn't dare to plot against us in fear of retaliation from our Hai Family. The true spirit bone that we discovered here is one of the vital materials for the prized treasure that our Hai Family is currently refining, so if we can bring it back with us, we'll be rewarded handsomely for sure. As such, we have to secure that bone no matter what!" the devilish woman said with a dark expression after a brief pause for contemplation.

"But Mistress, if that man really is a devilish lord, how are we supposed to take the spirit bone from him?" the other devilish man asked.

"If he really is a devilish lord, then things will be quite troublesome. He must be a vagrant cultivator, seeing as he has no qualms about offending our Hai Family. However, just because he doesn't see us as a threat doesn't mean that there isn't anyone else in the city that he's fearful of," the devilish woman chuckled coldly.

The two devilish men exchanged a glance upon hearing this. "What would you like us to do, Mistress?"

"Go and track down the three brothers of the Nan Family. In the meantime, I'll pay a visit to the Blood Crow City Lord. The Nan Family still owes our Hai Family a favor, and if I recall correctly, Bing Tianren is from the Heavenly Awn Valley, so they'll all most likely heed our request. If we can recruit their assistance, then there's a very good chance that we'll be able to secure the spirit bone," the devilish woman decided.

"That's a great idea! If the three brothers of the Nan Family and Bing Qianren confront him together, he'll have no choice but to hand over the spirit bone. Besides, we're not asking him to hand over the spirit bone for zero compensation," one of the devilish men said in an elated manner.

The other devilish man also nodded in agreement.

"Alright, then let's begin right away. With the beast tide that's currently taking place, I'm sure that man won't be leaving Blood Crow City anytime soon," the devilish woman said as her expression eased slightly.

"Yes, Mistress!" the two devilish men replied with respectful bows.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already arrived in a large shop that was around an acre in area, and he was currently carefully examining several pieces of gleaming metallic ore offered to him by the shopkeeper.

However, a disappointed look soon appeared on his face, and he shook his head before returning to the pieces of ore to the shopkeeper, then departed from the shop.

As he had expected, these pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal were all empty. It seemed that it was going to be purely a matter of luck for him to track down more of those crystalline beads.

At this point, Han Li had visited all of the shops in the entire Blood Crow City, and he returned to the inn without any intention of continuing to linger on the street.

The incident where he had just been intercepted seemed to have already been forgotten by him.

Half a day passed by in the blink of an eye, and night gradually settled over Blood Crow City.

Aside from some of the devilish guards who were returning from patrol duty, there was not a single person to be seen on the streets.

Blood Crow City had entered a state of lockdown again.

Several hours later, Han Li was meditating in his room when a hint of surprise suddenly flashed over his face. He then immediately made a hand seal and disappeared amid a flash of azure light.

Moments later, faint spatial fluctuations erupted several thousand feet above the inn that Han Li was staying in, and a barely visible streak of green light appeared in a wraith-like manner before flying into the distance after just a few flashes, completely disregarding the flight restriction in the city.

Shortly after that, another streak of grey light flew over virtually the exact same spot, and it was traveling slightly faster than the streak of green light.

Both streaks of light were completely silent and barely visible, clearly indicating that both sides had unleashed concealment secret techniques.

In the blink of an eye, the two streaks of light disappeared in the distance, one after the other.

Only then did a third humanoid figure emerge amid another burst of spatial fluctuations, then cast a cold gaze toward the direction the two streaks of light had disappeared in.

This was none other than Han Li.

With his immensely powerful spiritual sense, even without actively releasing his spiritual sense, he could still sense everything within a radius of several kilometers.

The two streaks of light had managed to avoid being noticed by the patrolling devilish guards, but they certainly weren't going to fool him.

With his current level of power, he didn't have anything to fear unless he was confronted by a Sacred Ancestor. The two streaks of light were flying through the air in an extremely stealthy manner in the dead of night, so it was clear that they were up to something, and that was rather intriguing to him.

"I've got nothing better to do anyway; I may as well take a look," Han Li murmured to himself as he also shot forth as a faint streak of azure light.

He had already locked onto the two people up ahead with his spiritual sense, and even though he could instantly teleport over to them, he intentionally followed along in the distance at a leisurely pace.

He wanted to see exactly where these two were going.

The two streaks of light up ahead were naturally completely unaware that they were being tailed by a third person, and it didn't take them long to reach the city wall.

However, there just so happened to be a small group of devilish guards who were patrolling through this area. This group of devilish guards were all wearing suits of black armor and wielding red halberds that were several tens of feet in length. The leader of the group of guards was seated atop a two-headed goat-like devilish steed.

The streak of green light faltered slightly upon seeing this, but it then immediately continued onward, giving the group of guards a slight berth and attempting to sneak around them.

The pursuer also followed suit in fear of losing the streak of green light.

Both of them had turned completely transparent from the effects of their concealment secret technique, and they would be able to easily sneak past a group of normal guards.

However, right as the streak of green light was passing by the group of patrolling guards, a sharp ringing sound suddenly erupted from the body of the leader of the guards, following which a silver thread shot forth to strike the transparent streak of green light with unerring accuracy.

The guard was carrying a top-grade sensory devilish treasure!

The streak of green light was forced to reveal itself, much to the surprise of the devilish guards. However, they were able to quickly return to their senses before slashing their halberds through the air, unleashing a dozen or so saber projections that were each around 10 feet in length.

At the same time, the leader of the guards raised a hand to the heavens to release a streak of black light, while screeched sharply as it rose up into the sky.

A cry of rage and frustration rang out from within the streak of green light, following which the humanoid figure within suddenly swayed slightly.

The blade projections flashed past, and the green streak of light was instantly torn apart, but the humanoid figure was nowhere to be seen.

The leader of the devilish guards immediately reacted and swiveled around on his devilish steed, just in time to see the streak of green light re-emerge around 300 feet away amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then continued toward the city wall up ahead.

"Stop him!" the leader of the guards yelled in an enraged voice while laying a hand onto one of his devilish steed's two heads.

The devilish beast raised its two heads and blasted forth two bolts of blue lightning at once, both of which surged viciously toward the back of the green humanoid figure in the distance.

The green figure made a reverse grabbing motion, and a ball of green light shot forth.

The two bolts of blue lightning vanished into the ball of light without a sound, seemingly having been completely nullified.

The green figure then immediately vanished into the distance, leaving all of the devilish guards who were about to surround him looking on in a dumbstruck manner.

The leader of the guards was just about to set off in pursuit in a fit of fury when all of a sudden, the same ringing sound erupted once again, followed which another silver thread shot forth.

However, on this occasion, a cold harrumph rang out, and a burst of crimson light emerged out of thin air.

The silver thread was instantly repelled by the crimson light, following which the latter vanished yet again.

A thought immediately occurred to the leader of the devilish guards upon seeing this, and his face instantly paled.

At the same time, his devilish steed, which had been poised to pounce, had also settled down.

The other devilish guards were at a complete loss for what to do, and after a brief hesitation, one of them asked in a careful manner, "Should we give chase, General? The guards up ahead most likely won't be to stop those."

The leader of the guards forced a smile onto his face, and replied, "Let them go; those two are far too powerful for us to mess with."

The other devilish guards were all stunned to see this.

They were well aware of how proud their general was, yet he was conceding his inferiority to a pair of mysterious figures after only such a fleeting encounter; this was the first time they had seen something like this.

Meanwhile, the two streaks of light had already flown out of Blood Crow City one after the other, passing through the restrictions set up on the city walls as if they didn't even exist.

Han Li also passed by the group of devilish guards in his hidden state, but the silver thread that had managed to detect the two people who had come before him displayed no reaction to Han Li.

After just a few flashes, Han Li also flew through the restrictions on the city wall.

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Throughout this entire process, Han Li had remained completely undetected.

Meanwhile, Han Li was very intrigued by the two figures up ahead. He was able to disregard the restrictions on the city wall with his immense powers, but those two were clearly far less powerful than he was, yet they were still able to pass through the restrictions with ease.

This indicated that they either possess some type of special treasures, or they were important figures in the city that could grant themselves passage through the restrictions.

Thus, Han Li continued to follow the two streaks of light, all the way to a vast expanse of rugged rocks close to 10,000 feet away from the city.

All of a sudden, the streak of green light descended onto the rocks down below, and the streak of grey light immediately followed suit.

The grey light faded to reveal a grey-robed elderly man, who immediately inspected his surroundings with a menacing expression.

"Hmm? Isn't that the Blood Crow City Lord?"

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he appraised the elderly man from above.

The Blood Crow City Lord naturally failed to discover the concealed Han Li, and he harrumphed coldly before flipping a hand over to produce a small black umbrella, which he tossed up into the air while chanting an incantation.

The small umbrella immediately swelled to around 10 feet in size and hovered in mid-air while releasing a vast expanse of black light, which encompassed an area of several acres down below.

A muffled thump rang out from a giant rock several hundred feet away from the elderly man, and a faint blue humanoid stumbled out into the open.

This was a mundane-looking blue-robed middle-aged man who wore a completely calm expression, seemingly having already anticipated that he was going to be exposed.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the middle-aged man and discovered that this was none other than Old Man Yang, who had secured the holy brick during the auction.

As soon as he was forced to reveal himself, the Blood Crow City let loose a low cry before sweeping a hand through the air.

A streak of crimson light that was over 100 feet long swept forth in a flash, slicing the giant rock in front of Old Man Yang in half amid a resounding boom.

However, Old Man Yang instantly vanished, and the streak of crimson light missed its target as a result.

A massive trench that was over 100 feet in length was immediately sliced into the ground.

Old Man Yang then reappeared some distance away from the trench with his arms crossed, and he chuckled with a mocking sneer, "Hehe, are you really planning to kill me over something like this, Fellow Daoist Bing?"

He seemed to be completely fearless in the face of the Body Integration Stage Blood Crow City Lord.

"You've succeeded in luring me out of the city; if you have any allies, then feel free to call for them," the Blood Crow City said with a cold look in his eyes.

"Allies? Why would you assume that I have allies, Fellow Daoist Bing? There's no one else here aside from you and me," Old Man Yang said with a smile.

"You're just a Spatial Tempering Stage being; how would you dare to oppose me if you didn't have any allies?" Bing Qianren asked in a cold voice.

"I can't convince you of anything if you refuse to believe me. However, the fact of the matter is that I bear no ill will; I only want to discuss a mutually beneficial deal with you," Old Man Yang replied in a nonchalant manner.

"I'm open to a deal, but you have to show me that you have what it takes to negotiate a deal with me. I can get what I want after I kill you, so why would I negotiate a deal with you?" Bing Qianren guffawed as he abruptly stepped forward, then instantly vanished amid a flash of crimson light.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations behind Old Man Yang, and Bing Qianren reappeared in a wraith-like manner before conjuring up a giant crimson hand that came crashing down toward Old Man Yang's head.

The Blood Crow City Lord was sweeping aside Old Man Yang's proposal for a negotiation and was aiming to kill him on the spot!

Old Man Yang's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and he thrust a hand backward without even turning his head.

A giant inky-black hand emerged amid a ghostly howl, and an earth-shattering boom erupted as the two massive palms clashed, following which both sides shot back in unison.

"This is mid-Body Integration Stage power! You're not Old Man Yang!" Bing Qianren exclaimed as his face paled slightly.

Indeed, the spiritual pressure emanating from the middle-aged man's body had swelled drastically to the mid-Body Integration Stage.

"Is that really important? Besides, who says I'm not Old Man Yang?" A peculiar look appeared on Old Man Yang's face.

Bing Qianren scrutinized Old Man Yang for a moment before asking in a cold voice, "Are you one of the Seven Scourges of the Lightning Sea or someone from the Heavenly Abode Mountain?"

"Your reactions are truly remarkable, Fellow Daoist Bing; I am indeed from the Lightning Sea, but I'm merely a vagrant cultivator, not one of the seven scourges. During the battle between the seven scourges and the Heavenly Abode Mountain, you looted the place where Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling passed away and stole three of the four holy bricks. As a result, the seven scourges and the people from the Heavenly Abode Mountain ended up fighting for nothing while you came all the way here to become a city lord. Tsk tsk, I wonder if there'll be anywhere you can stay in our holy realm if the Seven Scourges of the Lightning Sea or the Heavenly Abode Mountain were to learn of this."

"Hmph, looks like you've dug up quite a bit of my past. In that case, the holy brick on that auction must be a counterfeit that you made," Bing Qianren harrumphed coldly.

"How could it be a counterfeit? The item was appraised by the auction house; I merely destroyed some of the mantras within it. Didn't you pursue me all the way here for the fourth hoy brick?" Old Man Yang flipped a hand over to reveal a green wooden box as he spoke.

Bing Qianren stared at the wooden box with a dark expression for a while before continuing, "I don't care who you are; this fourth holy brick is something I'm determined to obtain. What deal do you want to propose?"

"You sure are a straightforward man, Brother Bing. In that case, I won't drag this out any longer, either. You and I are both aware that this fourth holy brick is related to the legendary hidden treasure left behind by Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling. It's said that when all four holy bricks are gathered, not only will one obtain all of Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling's abilities, they'll also obtain the map to the secret treasures drawn up by Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling himself. Setting aside everything else, just the Holy Inkspirit Canoe, one of the top three flying treasures of our holy realm, is already an extremely prized asset. If someone like you or I were to obtain it, even the average Sacred Ancestor would find it very difficult to kill us. I want to combine our four holy bricks to secure the map and split the treasures evenly; what do you say?" Old Man Yang proposed with a smile.

"I have three holy bricks, yet you only have three, and you want to split the treasures evenly?" Bing Qianren sneered coldly, seemingly having already foreseen this response.

"If you ask me, there's no difference between having one holy brick and having three. If you could piece together the map with the three holy bricks in your possession, then you wouldn't have cowered in this Blood Crow City for so many years. As such, I think it's only right that we split the treasures evenly," Old Man Yang said in a determined manner.

Bing Qianren thought about this for a moment before replying, "This is an important matter, so I need time to consider it. Prior to that, I need to verify the authenticity of your holy brick."

A hint of wariness appeared on Old Man Yang's face upon hearing this. "How do you plan to do that? You're not expecting me to just hand over the holy brick, are you?"

"Of course not. All you have to do is activate the holy brick with your spiritual power, and I'll be able to use a secret technique to verify its authenticity," Bing Qianren replied.

Old Man Yang hesitated for a long while before finally reluctantly nodding in response. "I see. In that case, I'll make an exception just this once."

Bing Qianren was naturally ecstatic to hear this. "I can see that you were truly sincere in your proposal for collaboration."

He had thought that a dispute would arise from this, but to his surprise, Old Man Yang agreed without posing any opposition.

"Take a good look, Fellow Daoist." Old Man Yang laid a hand onto the wooden box, and the lid flew off on its own, following which a long translucent brick emerged out of the box.

Old Man Yang then pointed a finger toward it before injecting a burst of magic power into the brick.

Bing Qianren immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and silver light flashed through his eyes as he stared intently at the translucent brick.

At the same time, a burst of powerful spiritual sense was released out of his glabella, and it instantly enveloped the brick.

However, right at this moment, a speck of silver light suddenly appeared at the center of the brick, and it abruptly exploded into specks of white light.

The speck of silver light then swelled drastically in size and began to suck in all of the spiritual sense in the nearby area.

"Crap!"

A layer of crimson light instantly appeared over Bing Qianren's body, and at the same time, he tilted back slightly.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed above his head, and a streak of golden light shot forth out of thin air before binding toward his neck like lightning.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted behind Old Man Yang, and a pale ghostly hand reached out in a completely silent manner before reaching viciously toward Old Man Yang's back with its five blade-like fingers.

Both of them were being struck by lethal surprise attacks at the same time!

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A furious look appeared on Bing Qianren's face as his body swayed incessantly in an attempt to evade the golden light, but he was a lot more sluggish than normal as his spiritual sense was being drawn into the silver vortex.

A crisp clang rang out as the golden light struck his neck, only to be repelled by an eruption of crimson light.

Within the crimson light was a jade badge that was as red as blood; it was a top-grade protective devilish treasure that had activated on its own to save him from that lethal strike just in the nick of time.

Even so, Bing Qianren's entire body was drenched in cold sweat, and he let loose a loud roar as fierce crimson winds erupted from his body. His spiritual sense was immediately forcibly swept back, and at the same time, he instantly vanished before reappearing over 100 feet away.

The streak of golden light shot forth toward him in pursuit in a flash, but he was already prepared and instantly opened his mouth to expel an inky-black ghostly head, which began to battle the golden light.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out from the other side, and Old Man Yang was hurled through the air by the ghostly claw. However, he seemed to also be carrying a protective treasure. A layer of silver light flashed over his body, and immediately transformed into seven or eight projections that fled in all directions, thereby allowing him to survive the surprise attack as well.

A faint cry of surprise rang out, and spatial fluctuations erupted where Old Man Yang had stood a moment ago, and seven or eight streaks of black light shot forth out of thin air in pursuit of the projections. Immediately thereafter, a ball of black Qi emerged, within which stood a brocade-robed humanoid figure who was slowly withdrawing his hand.

The humanoid figure was extremely pale, but was identical to Bing Qianren in appearance, as if they were twin brothers.

A resounding boom rang out as the fleeing projections were all destroyed by the streaks of black light, but one of them expelled a ball of green light backward that canceled out the oncoming streak of black light.

The blurry projection then stopped and became clear again. Old Man Yang cast his gaze toward the humanoid figure within the black Qi, and said in a cold voice, "I was wondering why your cultivation base hadn't improved at all during all these years; I can see now that it's because you were busing cultivating this clone."

"Do you think I would follow you here without a backup plan? Call out your hidden companion as well. Qi Ling's secret treasures can only be obtained by one of us; there's no way we can split them evenly!" Bing Qianren said.

"Hmph, in that case, there's nothing else for me to say. Show yourself, Brother Ya. He may have a clone, but it's weaker than his true body; with our combined powers, there's still a very good chance that we can defeat him," Old Man Yang said with undisguised malice in his eyes.

"I knew that the map wouldn't be that easy to secure. After all, Fellow Daoist Bing was able to steal three holy bricks from right under the noses of the Seven Scourges of the Lightning Sea and the Heavenly Abode Mountain."

Immediately thereafter, golden light flashed, and a tall and broad barefoot man with a set of hideous features appeared.

The man was completely empty-handed, but was carrying a large golden gourd on his back, and was appraising Bing Qianren with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Devilish Lord Jin Hu!" Bing Qianren exclaimed at the sight of the hideous man.

Devilish Lord Jin Hu cupped his fist in a salute as he smiled, and said, "I didn't think that you would've heard of me; I've also heard much about you, Fellow Daoist Bing. I'm looking forward to facing you today."

Contrary to his rugged and unsightly appearance, the devilish lord spoke like a refined and unfathomable being.

"Looks like I'll just have to kill both of you here to claim Qi Ling's secret treasures for myself. I guess this is well worth the several centuries I've spent plotting for this," Bing Qianren suddenly cackled as he appraised his two assailants.

"What do you mean by that?" Old Man Yang was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding upon hearing this, as was Devilish Lord Jin Hu.

However, Bing Qianren didn't offer any explanation and merely laid both of his hands onto his waist with a cold smile on his face.

Two leather pouches, one black and one red, flew out in unison, then tipped themselves over to release a ball of crimson light and a swarm of black insects.

The crimson light appeared to be quite ordinary, but it was split up into seven barely discernible layers of different shades, and was emitting a faint buzzing sound.

As for the thumb-sized devilish insects in the swarm, they were completely inky-black in color and had unsettling white skull patterns on their backs.

"Those are Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and Blackbone Devilish Insects! Fellow Daoist Yang, we have to retreat!" Devilish Lord Jin Hu exclaimed upon seeing this, and he immediately laid a hand onto his golden gourd, upon which it instantly flew up into the air, then transformed into a burst of golden light that swept him up before flying away.

Old Man Yang's heart also sank at the sight of the crimson light and insect swarm, and he knew that he had underestimated Bing Qianren. Thus, he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of green flames rose up from beneath his feet as he fled toward the same direction.

It was quite clear that the two of them were extremely fearful of the crimson light and black insect swarm.

"Don't you think it's too late to be running now? It's taken me all my years in Blood Crow City to nurture these creatures, and they were meant precisely for the two of you!" Bing Qianren guffawed as he made a hand seal, and the crimson light and insect swarm immediately surged forth in pursuit at an even faster speed than the two fleeing devils.

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu had naturally also discovered this, and they frantically expelled mouthfuls of blood essence to raise their own speed.

Bing Qianren's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he and his clone shot forth in unison as streaks of grey light, plunging into the cloud of Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi up ahead after just a few flashes.

Immediately thereafter, their bodies blurred and released layers of crimson light, and they seemed to have melted away within this light.

As a result, the Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi were sped up by about twofold, catching up to the two fleeing devils in just a few flashes before skirting around them to intercept them from the front.

The crimson light faded, and Bing Qianren re-emerged alongside his clone, both with sinister smiles on their faces.

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu were forced to stop, and they hurriedly looked back to find that they had been sandwiched right between the cloud of Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and the swarm of insects flying toward them from behind.

The two exchanged a glance upon seeing this, and both of their expressions had darkened significantly.

Old Man Yang was quite a decisive character, and he immediately decided, "Alright, you win. I'll hand over this final holy brick to you in exchange for our lives."

"Sure, hand over the holy brick so I can verify its authenticity, and I'll let you go once I confirm that nothing is amiss," Bing Qianren immediately agreed.

At this point, the swarm of insects and Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi had formed a massive circle that completely trapped Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu.

Bing Qianren's fast response came as quite a surprise to Old Man Yang, and his brows furrowed slightly with skepticism.

"Before I give you the holy brick, you have to swear a vow on your inner demons and sign this blood pact that was refined by a Sacred Ancestor," Old Man Yang said in a cautious manner.

"I can do that, but before that, you have to show me whether you actually have the holy brick. Otherwise, I'd rather destroy you, then search your souls to determine the whereabouts of the holy brick," Bing Qianren said in a cold voice.

"Brother Jin..." Old Man Yang turned to his companion with a dark expression.

"We can let Fellow Daoist Bing take a look at the holy brick. If he dares to try and attack us, we'll just have to destroy the holy brick," Jin Hu said in a cold voice.

"You're right, Brother Jin; I'll show Fellow Daoist Bing the true holy brick right away. However, just as you did before, you can only observe it from afar using that secret technique of yours," Old Man Yang said.

"Of course. If the holy brick is genuine, then I'll swear the vow and sign the blood pact right away," Bing Qianren replied in an expressionless manner.

Old Man Yang nodded before opening his mouth to expel a ball of black Qi, within which was a green wooden box that was around half a foot in length.

He laid a hand onto the box, and the lid flew off, following which a brick that was identical to the one from before emerged.

"This is the true fourth holy brick. If you want it, then..." All of a sudden, Old Man Yang's words were cut off as a spatial rift opened up in front of him, and a golden hand reached out in a casual manner before grabbing onto the holy brick.

"Crap!"

"Don't you dare!"

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu faltered momentarily upon seeing this before immediately springing into action.

Old Man Yang opened his mouth to expel several inky-black ghostly heads that flew directly toward the golden hand, while Devilish Lord Jin Hu swept a sleeve through the air to send a sword projection that was over 100 feet in length hurtling through the air, trying to slice the golden hand in half along with its owner.

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A faint chuckle rang out, and the golden hand suddenly swelled to around 10 feet in size, then released a ball of piercing spiritual light alongside a burst of powerful shockwaves that swept forth in all directions.

The black ghostly heads and oncoming sword projection were all swept out of control by the shockwaves, and the two devils were very alarmed to see this as they hurriedly made hand seals to recover their treasures.

However, the spiritual pressure imbued within the golden shockwaves was far more powerful than they had imagined, and it forcibly severed their connections with the two treasures. As such, they could only look on as the giant golden hand unleashed a dozen or so golden fist projections that instantly struck the treasures.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and the two devils shuddered as they each took an involuntary step backward and threw up a mouthful of blood.

The ghostly heads and golden light had been damaged by the ordinary-looking fist projections, and the two devils were also affected due to their spiritual connections with the treasures.

Thankfully, those weren't their bonded treasures, so they didn't sustain any major injuries. Even so, the two of them were extremely stunned, and they hurriedly backtracked as they scrutinized the giant golden hand with wary expressions.

As for Bing Qianren, he was also quite alarmed by this development, but he wasn't overly concerned as this entire place had already been surrounded by his Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and Blackbone Devilish Insects.

At this moment, the giant golden hand dissipated, revealing the azure-robed Han Li, who was holding the holy brick in a calm manner.

"Who are you, and why are you robbing me of this holy brick?" Old Man Yang asked with a dark expression.

Their earlier clash had told him just how fearsome Han Li was, so he could only repress his own fury.

"You've already decided to part with this item, so why can't I take it? By the way, you have the other holy bricks, right, Fellow Daoist Bing? You can hand them over as well," Han Li said as he turned to Bing Qianren.

Bing Qianren jolted upon discovering his inability to ascertain Han Li's exact cultivation base, but he refused to concede. "You sure are a courageous man; not only are you taking this holy brick from right under my nose, you're even going after the holy bricks in my possession now; looks like you heard our entire conversation. Indeed, I have the other holy bricks; come and get them if you think you can."

With the Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and Blackbone Devilish Insects at his disposal, even late-stage devilish lords would have to flee from him, so he naturally wasn't going to fear this unfamiliar young man.

"Alright, in that case, don't mind if I do," Han Li chuckled before making a stride toward Bing Qianren.

It seemed to only be an ordinary stride, but in the next instant, Han Li had covered a distance of several hundred feet in a blur, and he was now only several tens of feet away from Bing Qianren.

Bing Qianren's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately swept his sleeves together, upon which the crimson light around him rose up into a wave that was over 100 feet tall before crashing down toward Han Li.

Meanwhile, Bing Qianren himself had retreated to over 300 feet away.

At the same time, his clone had vanished amid a flash of crimson light.

"You think you can harm me with this baleful Qi?" Han Li chuckled coldly as golden light erupted behind him, and a projection with three heads and six arms appeared.

The projection was over 100 feet tall, and had three faces that were identical to Han Li's. It opened its six eyes and swept its arms through the air, upon which a ball of golden light emerged in each of its six hands. Immediately thereafter, they were brought together and fused as one into a golden vortex that was around 10 feet in size.

Countless golden and silver runes flew out of the vortex, then swept forth in all directions with unstoppable force.

As soon as the crimson light reached close to Han Li's body, it was drawn into the golden vortex, and within the span of just a few breaths, close to half of the baleful Qi in the air had vanished.

"Impossible!" Bing Qianren exclaimed, but he didn't miss a beat as he immediately began to make a series of hand seals.

The crimson light that was surging toward the golden vortex shuddered, then released a burst of power to try and struggle free from the suction force.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he abruptly increased his magic power output, upon which the golden vortex swelled to five to six times its original size, and the intensity of its suction force also increased by more than tenfold.

As a result, all of the crimson light warped and twisted before being torn apart, then surged toward the vortex as specks of crimson light.

Bing Qianren was sweating profusely as he frantically made different hand seals to try and recover some of the baleful Qi, all to no avail.

Soon, none of the crimson light remained, and Bing Qianren roared with fury, "How dare you take my Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi!"

He then rubbed his hands together before raising them at once, and countless bolts of azure lightning came hurtling directly toward Han Li.

The black swarm of insects in the surrounding area also converged toward Han Li at his behest.

These Blackbone Devilish Insects possessed incredible strength and bodies that were as hard as steel, making them even more fearsome than the Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi, and Bing Qianren was sure that the strange golden vortex wouldn't be able to devour them.

At the same time, spatial fluctuation erupted above Han Li, and a burst of faint black Qi swept directly down toward Han Li.

Within the black Qi was a humanoid figure; it was none other than Bing Qianren's clone.

Han Li remained completely expressionless, but with his enormous spiritual sense, he had naturally already sensed the surprise attack. The projection behind him swept its arms backward at his behest, and six golden balls of lightning shot forth directly toward the oncoming black Qi in a flash.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the six balls of golden lightning exploded to form a golden lightning formation that inundated the clone.

Within the formation were countless arcs of golden lightning that writhed like golden snakes; this was none other than Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning!

At Han Li's current cultivation base, his Divine Devilbane Lightning had become extremely formidable, even without being complemented by the Lightningwield Technique.

An early-Body Integration Stage clone was naturally no match for the lightning, and the black Qi was instantly nullified, revealing the horrified clone within it.

The clone released several devilish treasures to try and withstand the lightning, but it only managed to last a few moments before it was completely destroyed amid a howl of anguish.

Meanwhile, formidable azure light was surging toward Han Li alongside the black insect swarm, but he merely pointed a finger at the golden vortex while sweeping a sleeve through the air to conjure up a gust of fierce wind.

The giant vortex flashed erratically before exploding into countless specks of golden light, which was dispersed in all directions by the gale-force winds before falling like rain.

The oncoming azure lightning was completely destroyed by the specks of golden light, but the black devilish insects were merely momentarily knocked off course before flying toward Han Li again, having remained completely unscathed in the midst of the storm of golden light.

As expected of one of the more renowned types of devilish insects in the Elder Devil Realm, they were truly formidable.

However, as opposed to being alarmed by this, Han Li merely smiled and made a grabbing motion, then hurled forth an inky-black bracelet.

The bracelet revolved in the air and released countless golden flowers in a frenzy, each of which transformed into a massive shimmering golden beetle that was around half a foot in length, and there were over 1,000 of them.

These were none other than the mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

"Go!" Han Li instructed as he pointed toward the oncoming swarm of black insects.

The Gold Devouring Beetles immediately flew toward the black devilish insects in several golden swarms, and as soon as they clashed, the grotesque sound of engulfment rang out as countless thumb-sized black carcasses rained down from above.

These Blackbone Devilish Insects were naturally no match for the mature Gold Devouring Beetles, and they were immediately crushed.

Within mere moments, a thick layer of black insect carcasses had accumulated on the ground, and only several hundred Blackbone Devilish Insects remained.

Han Li was surprised at all by this outcome, and he turned toward the incredulous Bing Qianren before sweeping a sleeve toward him.

The Gold Devouring Beetles immediately abandoned the remaining Blackbone Devilish Insects and flew toward him instead.

Bing Qianren was already suffering from the backlash of having his clone destroyed, and his heart had completely sunk now that his ultimate trump card had been dispatched so easily. His face turned deathly pale from horror at the sight of the oncoming swarm of unknown golden beetles, and he immediately tried to flee.

However, right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out, and Bing Qianren felt as a thunderclap had erupted right beside his ears as a sharp burst of agony speared through his spiritual sense.

He let loose an involuntary howl of agony before plummeting out of the sky, and the Gold Devouring Beetles immediately inundated him.

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Chapter 2043: Beast Tide and Insect Tide

Bing Qianren only had a chance to scream a few more times before his body was completely devoured by the Gold Devouring Beetles, leaving only a Nascent Soul that was enshrouded within crimson light, holding on for dear life by frantically controlling eight black badges.

The only reason it hadn't already perished was because Han Li had instructed the Gold Devouring Beetles to hold back.

The Nascent Soul was completely petrified and began to beg for mercy, but Han Li completely ignored it and waved a hand through the air to draw a crimson bracelet into his grasp from afar.

This was none other than Bing Qianren's storage bracelet.

Han Li injected his spiritual sense into the bracelet, upon which his brows furrowed slightly. There were indeed treasures in there, but no sign of the three holy bricks.

"Fellow Daoist, I'll give you the holy bricks if you release me!" Bing Qianren's Nascent Soul yelled in desperation.

"You don't think I can find the three holy bricks myself?" Han Li chuckled coldly as he turned toward the Nascent Soul with blue light flashing through his eyes.

As soon as his voice rang out, the Gold Devouring Beetles immediately sprang into action again and converged toward the Nascent Soul.

The eight black badges were indeed quite profound, but they were no match for the mature Gold Devouring Beetles and were instantly destroyed.

The Nascent Soul was then devoured amid an anguished cry, and when the beetles flew back again, three long translucent bricks were revealed.

"So he was hiding these holy bricks in his Nascent Soul. If I hadn't used my spirit eyes to examine the Nascent Soul, I would've been fooled by him," Han Li murmured to himself as a faint smile appeared on his face.

He then swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that carried the three bricks back to him.

Not only did the four holy bricks contain all of the cultivation arts used by a Sacred Ancestor, they also contained the map to a set of secret treasures, so he naturally wasn't going to pass up on them.

At this moment, a burst of explosions suddenly rang out behind him, and they were growing louder and louder.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he turned around, upon which he was greeted by the sight of Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu battling a giant purple cauldron several hundred feet away.

The cauldron had released several massive runes, which were, in turn, releasing countless golden and silver runes, and layers of purple light had completely surrounded the two devilish lords.

The cauldron was none other than the Purple Word Cauldron, and Han Li had released it while taking care of Bing Qianren.

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu had tried to escape during Han Li's battle with Bing Qianren, but they were trapped by the Purple Word Cauldron.

The two of them struggled with all their might, with one of them releasing powerful green fiery wyrms, while the other had his golden gourd raised aloft, releasing balls of dazzling golden light that revolved around his body.

However, the ancient runes flying out of the Purple Word Cauldron were imbued with unfathomable power, and they nullified all of the opposing attacks while forming layers of restrictions in the nearby area that made it impossible for the two devils to escape.

A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

As expected of an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure; just the Purple Word Cauldron alone was able to trap the two Body Integration Stage devilish lords with ease. Furthermore, if he were to control the treasure in person, it would become more than twice as powerful as it currently was.

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu had naturally witnessed Han Li's crushing victory over Bing Qianren, and their hearts immediately sank now that he had turned his attention toward them.

They weren't as naive as to think that Han Li would decide to let them go, and he was so powerful that they couldn't even muster up the urge to oppose him.

"Brother Jin, if we don't go now, we won't have another chance!" Old Man Yang yelled in an urgent manner.

Immediately thereafter, around a dozen top-grade devilish tools erupted out of his body amid a burst of green flames, and all of them exploded in unison.

A string of earth-shattering booms rang out, and the powerful energy fluctuations from the detonating devilish treasures forced back all of the nearby restrictions.

Old Man Yang immediately felt his own body become significantly lighter, and he fled as a streak of green light without any hesitation.

Devilish Lord Jin Hu also gritted his teeth and sprang into action.

He arms tremored, and the giant golden gourd that he was holding suddenly transformed into a shimmering golden Kirin projection amid a dull thump.

The Kirin projection opened its mouth and expelled bursts of fearsome golden flames that melted through the restrictions set up by the Purple Word Cauldron.

Immediately thereafter, Devilish Lord Jin Hu was swept up by the Kirin projection and also fled the scene.

"Oh? I can sense a fire-attribute Kirin aura from that treasure; that's rather interesting," Han Li murmured to himself with a hint of surprise in his eyes, and he immediately made a hand seal before sweeping a sleeve through the air.

The swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles instantly converged to form a giant blade that was over 100 feet in length at his behest before setting off in pursuit of Old Man Yang.

At the same time, Han Li swept his sleeve through the air again, releasing an azure sword projection that sliced the Kirin projection in half along with Devilish Lord Jin Hu.

Devilish Lord Jin Hu let loose a howl of anguish, but immediately made a hand seal, upon which the blood essence flowing out of his body fused into the projection as clouds of blood mist.

The Kirin projection that had been sliced apart instantly regenerated before flying away with Devilish Lord Jin Hu again.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he yelled, "Come out!"

A golden blur shot forth out of his body before landing on the ground, revealing itself to be a small golden beast.

"Go on, I'm sure his treasure will be useful to you," Han Li instructed.

"Thank you, Master. That treasure of his seems to contain some spirit bones of a Fire Kirin, so it would indeed be immensely beneficial to me," the Leopard Kirin Beast replied in an elated voice.

It then swelled to around 10 times its original size in a flash before rushing off in pursuit.

With the Leopard Kirin Beast's speed and powers, it would have no issues taking care of a wounded devilish lord.

In the blink of an eye, four streaks of light had disappeared into thin air while hurtling toward two different directions.

As for Han Li himself, he descended upon a giant rock down below and began to meditate.

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li's expression stirred slightly as he reopened his eyes, just in time to see the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles racing back toward him from the distance.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the swarm of beetles, upon which a faint smile appeared on his face, and the swarm dispersed at his behest before all of the beetles flew back up his sleeve as golden flowers.

Immediately thereafter, a roar rang out in another direction, and the Leopard Kirin Beast also returned.

After just a few flashes, it appeared directly above Han Li, then transformed into an adorable little girl who appeared to be five to six years of age, and her face was deathly pale as she hurriedly said, "Master, we have to run!"

"What happened? Did you let that devilish lord get away?" Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this.

"No, I already killed that man, but there's a beast tide! No, not a beast tide, it's an insect tide! There are lots and lots of devilish insects coming this way!" the little girl said in a horrified manner as she frantically waved her little arms.

"An insect tide?" Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately cast his gaze toward the direction that the Leopard Kirin Beast had just returned from, only to find that there seemed to be nothing amiss.

Han Li was rather perplexed by this, yet just as he was about to pose further questions to the Leopard Kirin Beast, the situation suddenly took a drastic turn.

The distant sky abruptly dimmed, and a green line appeared before instantly becoming thicker, surging toward Han Li as a vast expanse of green mist.

Han Li was quite alarmed to see this, and he immediately released his spiritual power as blue light flashed within his eyes.

The blurry and indistinct mist immediately became clearer in his eyes, and he could see countless small chartreuse devilish beasts within it. These beasts had the butterfly bodies and lion heads with chartreuse fur all over their bodies, and eyes that were as red as blood.

"Butterflytail Beasts! Why have they appeared here? Is this the insect tide you were referring to?" Han Li asked as his expression eased slightly.

Butterflytail Beasts possessed lethal poison that posed a huge threat even to the average Body Integration Stage being, but he had cultivated the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body, granting him immunity to all poisons, so he had nothing to fear.

"Not them; behind them!" the little girl yelled as she continued to wave her arms frantically.

"Behind them?" Han Li faltered slightly as he peered into the distance beyond the green mist, upon which his expression changed drastically.

A purple cloud had appeared behind the purple mist, and in the beginning, it was only several kilometers in size. However, following the span of just a few breaths, it had spread to encompass the entirety of heaven and earth, and there was no end to it in sight.

As soon as the green mist came into contact with the purple cloud, a sharp hissing sound rang out, and tens of thousands of dismembered Butterflytail Beast limbs instantly rained down from the green mist, while thin and sharp insect limbs that were around the length of chopsticks fell out of the purple cloud.

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Chapter 2044: Devouring Devilish Ants

"Those are Devouring Devilish Ants!" Han Li immediately drew a sharp breath at the sight of the chopstick-shaped devilish insects, and a rare hint of fear appeared on his face.

"We have to get back to the city!" Han Li yelled as spiritual light flashed from his body, and he flew directly toward Blood Crow City as a streak of azure light.

After just a few flashes, he had already covered a distance of over 1,000 feet.

The little girl hurriedly reverted back into its beast form and quickly caught up to Han Li before vanishing into his body.

The oncoming insect tide was traveling very quickly, but Han Li was able to instantly leave it behind as he flew as quickly as he could.

Strangely enough, after the purple cloud completely devoured the green mist, it retreated like the receding tide and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Han Li wasn't around to see this, and he continued to fly back toward the city in an urgent manner. At the same time, he assessed the information that he had read about Devouring Devilish Ants, and his expression darkened further and further.

"What is going on in this place? First, it's a Butterflytail Beast Tide, and now, there's even a Devouring Devilish Ant Tide! Devouring Devilish Ant Tides are one of the most devastating disasters of the Elder Devil Realm; it's an unstoppable force of nature!" Han Li murmured to himself in a perplexed manner as he flew rapidly through the air.

Just a single Devouring Devilish Ant was only about as powerful as a Qi Condensation cultivator, but once they formed an ant tide, they were completely unstoppable due to their sheer numbers and innate ability to devour spiritual power and devilish Qi.

It was said that nothing could survive in the wake of such an ant tide, and everywhere they went, death and destruction would surely follow.

The Butterflytail Beast Tide was already extremely fearsome, but it couldn't even begin to compare with a Devouring Devilish Ant Tide.

It was said that there were even precedents of Sacred Ancestors being trapped in such ant tides before exhausting all of their magic power and being devoured in the end.

Han Li was very confident in his own abilities, but this was something that he definitely wanted to avoid at all costs.

Right at this moment, the giant city wall of Blood Crow City entered his field of view in the distance, but his heart immediately sank.

At this moment, Blood Crow City had been surrounded by hordes of beasts of different sizes, and there were millions of them.

These devilish beasts possessed auras of differing levels of power, but the most powerful ones among them were releasing spiritual pressure that was no less potent than that of devilish lords.

What was very peculiar was that instead of attacking Blood Crow City, all of the devilish beasts were clumped together in hordes while frantically inspecting their surroundings and letting loose the occasional uneasy snarl.

Many devilish beings had already gathered atop the city wall, among which were guards of the city, but most of them were common devilish residents.

They paid no heed at all to the devilish beasts outside the restrictions, but they were also staring intently into the distance with horrified expressions, as if something extremely fearsome were about to appear.

"Could it be that the devilish beings in the city are already aware of the Devouring Devilish Ant Tide?" A thought immediately occurred to Han Li upon seeing this.

With Han Li's incredible speed, it only took him a few moments to fly over the hordes of devilish beasts before plowing through the restrictions without any attempt to disguise himself.

The restrictions were completely unable to prevent his entry, and the devilish beings on the city wall were rather alarmed to see this, but in this current situation, no one bothered to try and stop him.

Thus, Han Li flew toward the center of the city as a streak of azure light.

At this point, Blood Crow City had been plunged into complete turmoil, and countless streaks of light were flying through the air, clearly indicating that the flight restriction had been lifted. Many devilish beings had gathered in groups within the city, and they were all holding discussions with grim expressions.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a streak of yellow light shot forth in a flash.

Han Li faltered slightly before catching the streak of yellow light, and it immediately exploded into a burst of flames while the Long Family patriarch's voice was transmitted into his ears.

It was only a brief message, but Han Li's expression stirred upon hearing it, and he immediately flew toward a certain corner of the city.

A short while later, Han Li landed in a mundane-looking courtyard, and the Long Family patriarch, the woman from the Ye Family, the man from the Lin Family, and Elder Hui were already waiting there, but the Spirit beings were nowhere to be seen.

"Thank heavens you're here, Fellow Daoist Han. If you had arrived any later, we would've most likely had to leave without you," the Long Family patriarch said in an elated voice.

"What happened? Is it because of those Devouring Devilish Ants? If so, there's no need to panic; at our speeds, we should be able to get away with no issues," Han Li said.

"The problem is that Devouring Devilish Ant have appeared around Blood Crow City on all sides, and everyone in the city knows that the devilish beasts outside have been cornered here by the ant tide. The entire area in a radius of tens of thousands kilometers has already been surrounded by the ant tide, so even with our powers, we'd have to take a substantial risk if we want to escape," the Long Family patriarch sighed.

"So this nearby area has already been completely surrounded by the ant tide? No wonder those devilish beings and devilish beasts are able to coexist in harmony. In that case, we have to escape right away. Once the ant queen emerges, Blood Crow City will be completely overrun, and it'd be next to impossible to escape then," Han Li said in a grim manner.

"I'm aware of that, but before we go, I have some things to say. In order to prevent the ant tide from focusing on and overwhelming our group, we have no choice but to split up and escape toward different directions. With how fearsome these devilish ants are, we'll most likely only reach true safety once we flee into the plains. The plains are extremely massive, so it'll be very difficult for us to meet up again. As such, the next place we gather at will be at Ilusion Night City, which lies just in front of the Illusion Howl Desert. If we can make it out of the ant tide, travel toward the city right away. Once we get there, we can discuss the matters regarding the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards and Illusion Howl Desert further," the Long Family patriarch said.

"What if we get delayed or trapped somewhere and are unable to reach Illusion Night City? We can't just expect those who get there early to just keep waiting indefinitely," the man from the Lin Family asked with furrowed brows.

"Rest assured, I've considered that as well, and I've decided that we'll gather at Illusion Night City on this same day two years later. Regardless of how many people get there by then, we'll set off right away. As for the exact meeting spot, we'll make it the largest inn in Illusion Night City," the Long Family patriarch replied.

"Two years should be enough as long as we don't encounter excessive difficulties along the way; I have no objections," Han Li agreed with a nod after a brief moment of contemplation.

"By the way, where are Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns and the others? Did something happen to them?" Han Li asked.

Peculiar looks appeared on everyone else's faces upon hearing this.

"Our fellow daoists from the Spirit Race had already left two days ago. This is a jade slip left behind by Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns; take a look for yourself," the woman from the Ye Family explained as she tossed a white jade slip toward Han Li.

A wry smile appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face upon hearing this.

"Is that so? Let me take a look," Han Li said as he caught the jade slip before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

After the span of just a few breaths, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he withdrew his spiritual sense. "So Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns and the others suddenly had to leave to take care of an urgent matter. They've also arranged to reunite with us at Illusion Night City, so there are no issues there."

"Indeed. I don't know what this urgent matter is, but it must truly be quite an important matter for them to leave in such a hurry and separate from us. The Spirit beings are no less powerful than we are, so we don't have to worry about them. Now then, let's not delay any further; many devilish beings have already begun to flee Blood Crow City," the Long Family patriarch said in a grim voice as he cast his gaze into the distance.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately released his spiritual sense in all directions.

Sure enough, thousands of high-grade devilish beings had already split up into around a dozen groups and departed from Blood Crow City, traveling quickly toward the plains in the distance.

As a result, the devilish beings left in the city became even more uneasy, and countless low-grade devilish beings were flying out of the city in all directions.

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Chapter 2045: Might of the Devouring Devilish Ants

In the blink of an eye, close to half of the residents of Blood Crow City had fled.

"With so many devilish beings fleeing at once, they'll provide great cover for us and significantly minimize the risk that we'll have to incur. However, it's very strange that the Blood Crow City Lord still hasn't appeared. If he were present to oversee proceedings, the situation surely wouldn't be as chaotic as it currently is," the man from the Lin Family said with furrowed brows.

A contemplative look also appeared in the Long Family patriarch's eye upon hearing this.

As for Han Li, his expression remained completely unchanged and didn't betray anything.

After that, they didn't delay any longer and snuck out of the city along with a huge group of tens of thousands of devilish beings.

As soon as these devilish beings left the city, they split up into around a dozen smaller groups and began to flee toward the same direction.

It was clear that they were hoping to exploit potential holes in the ant tide.

These devilish beings all had different cultivation bases, so their speeds naturally varied as well, and with no one to lead them, they quickly scattered into a disorganized rabble that extended for several tens of kilometers.

The high-grade devilish beings at the front displayed no intention of slowing down and formed a group of their own.

The low-grade and mid-grade devilish beings could only trail far behind and look on helplessly as the high-grade devilish beings disappeared into the distance.

Han Li and the others didn't join those high-grade devilish beings. Instead, they flew along at a leisurely pace among the second group.

Around 15 minutes later, an explosive boom suddenly rang out up ahead, and a huge purple cloud of Devouring Devilish Ant emerged.

Within the cloud of ants, bursts of black Qi and lightning were rumbling incessantly, unleashed by none other than the high-grade devilish beings up ahead.

The cloud of ants was over 100 acres in size, but in the face of the devastating attacks unleashed by the high-grade devilish beings, devilish ants fell from the heavens in massive burning clumps, and in the blink of an eye, close to half of the cloud of ants had been destroyed.

The devilish beings further back let loose ecstatic cries upon seeing this and also joined on the attack.

As a result, this cloud of devilish ants was wiped out within the span of just a few breaths.

Many of the devilish beings were greatly encouraged by this, and they began to form the opinion that these devilish ants weren't actually as fearsome as they were rumored to be.

However, the more experienced devilish beings still wore grim expressions and immediately continued onward after a brief conversation with one another.

Right at this moment, the entire sky suddenly dimmed, and a layer of purple mist emerged without any warning before slowly descending from above.

This mist was formed by tens of millions of devilish ants, and the entire sky had been turned purple by their staggering numbers.

These devilish ants had hidden themselves high up in the air and swooped down to surround everyone after they were delayed by that smaller group of devilish ants.

"We've been ambushed!"

"Charge! We have to get out of here for a chance to survive!"

All of the devilish beings down below were instantly plunged into turmoil, and hundreds of streaks of light shot forth in different directions.

As for how many of them would actually be able to escape, that was something that only the heavens knew.

"Brother Han, Fairy Ye, there's no need to disguise our cultivation bases any longer; let's split up here!" the Long Family patriarch said with a dark expression as he raised a hand to summon a snowy-white canoe, which he instantly flew onto.

Elder Hui and the man from the Lin Family also flew away toward different directions as streaks of light after exchanging a glance.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I'll be going ahead," the woman from the Ye Family said with a smile, and she released a burst of five-colored light, which transformed into a five-colored phoenix projection that swept up her body before vanishing into thin air.

In the next instant, the fire-colored phoenix projection reappeared several thousand feet away, then disappeared after another flash.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal, upon which a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back amid a loud thunderclap.

With a flap of those wings, he transformed into an azure and white thread of light that shot forth into the distance, and he also disappeared from view after just a few flashes.

Thus, all of them had split up and gone their separate ways, detaching themselves from the devilish beings.

They all possessed powers comparable to devilish lords, so they were naturally far faster than the average high-grade devilish being.

Even before the sea of ants up above had fully descended, Han Li and the others had already rushed out from under them and flew away rapidly.

As for the devilish beings behind them, they were instantly inundated by the purple clouds, and strings of loud explosions began to ring out once again.

Han Li flew for close to 20,000 kilometers before his expressions changed slightly, and he suddenly stopped as he cast his gaze forward with a wry smile on his face.

Several tens of kilometers away, another purple cloud had appeared, and it was rapidly surging toward him.

"Looks like I'll have to force my way through; I hope I don't attract the attention of the ant queen," Han Li murmured to himself as he made a hand seal, and he gently flapped his wings to conjure up a series of fist-sized balls of azure lightning, all of which exploded to form a silver lightning formation that was several tens of feet in size beneath him.

A loud thunderclap rang out as countless arcs of lightning sprang out of the formation, and Han Li chanted something while making a series of hand seals, following which he abruptly vanished from the center of the formation.

Within the sea of ants close to 1,000 kilometers away, the same lightning formation reappeared, and silver lightning snakes flashed in a frenzy, destroying a massive patch of nearby devilish ants.

However, more devilish ants converged from all sides and began to devour the flashing lightning.

In the blink of an eye, the lightning area had shrunk down to just over half its original area, and it was on the verge of being destroyed.

Right at this moment, Han Li emerged at the center of the formation amid a rumbling boom, and as soon as he appeared, he cast a cold gaze around himself while rapidly sweeping a sleeve through the air.

72 small azure swords shot forth in a unison, then formed a sword barrier that shielded him from all sides.

The lightning formation was finally destroyed, and countless Devouring Devilish Ant came surging toward Han Li.

Han Li remained completely expressionless, but the sword barrier around him dispersed into a series of azure lotus flowers, instantly shredding thousands of Devouring Devilish Ant into mincemeat and preventing them from approaching Han Li.

However, Han Li's expression immediately darkened slightly as he could sense that some of the spiritual power within the flying sword had disappeared; it had clearly been devoured by the Devouring Devilish Ant before they were killed.

The amount of spiritual power that had been devoured was virtually negligible, but over time, it was all going to add up.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, which transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was around 10 feet in size and began to fly around him.

This was none other than his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

At this point, the Fire Raven had already developed a hint of spiritual nature, so even without requiring any instruction from Han Li, it spread its wings and sent countless feathers flying in all directions, which transformed into streaks of azure light that plunged into the sea of ants.

These streaks of silver light then exploded into scorching silver flames within the sea of ants, and any Devouring Devilish Ant that came into contact with even the slightest sliver of these silver flames was instantly vaporized.

Thus, a pocket of empty space that was several kilometers in size was opened up within the purple sea of ants.

Han Li pointed a finger forward, and the wisps of silver flames reverted back into countless feathers that returned to the Fire Ravens. However, his expression then immediately changed slightly as he could clearly sense that some of the energy within the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames had also gone missing.

These flames were able to kill Devouring Devilish Ants with ease, but it clearly couldn't avoid having its energy devoured, either.

Han Li was naturally unwilling to expend the energy of his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, so he could only sweep a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that stowed the silver Fire Raven away again.

During this short delay, the surrounding pocket of space was instantly filled by Devouring Devilish Ants again, and they continued to pounce toward Han Li with ferocious might.

On this occasion, Han Li made a grabbing motion, and a burst of grey light and plume of five-colored glacial flames erupted out of his body, then swept forth in all directions as massive waves.

In the face of the grey light, the devilish ants were reduced to dust, while the five-colored glacial flames froze thousands upon thousand of devilish ants into chunks of five-colored ice that plummeted out of the heavens.

However, after Han Li withdrew these two types of abilities, he shook his head and heaved another sigh.

After that, he didn't conduct any further experiments and flew toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light with his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords carving out a path for him.

In the wake of his flying swords, countless devilish ant carcasses were being left behind, and he wasn't flying any slower than he would without any impediment!

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Chapter 2046: Devilish Plains

However, the rate at which he was expending magic power had accelerated slightly.

Even though it was only a tiny amount of extra magic power expenditure, it would amount to something significant over an extended period of time.

However, he possessed magic power that was far superior to other beings of the same cultivation base, so that wouldn't be a concern for a very long time.

With that in mind, Han Li abruptly shrank the azure streaks of sword Qi flying around him down from over 100 feet to only around 10 feet, then plunged headfirst into the depths of the sea of ants and was completely inundated after just a few flashes.

Meanwhile, other devilish beings elsewhere had also plunged into the ant tide.

All types of devilish treasures were summoned, and a vast array of devilish abilities were wreaking havoc, destroying large swarms of devilish ants.

However, for low-grade devilish beings, their efforts were completely futile, and they would quickly exhaust their magic power before being devoured, but in the face of these oncoming devilish ants, they had no choice but to frantically resist.

Those who had reached the Nascent Soul could last for about half a day or even a full day, and as for Deity Transformation Stage and Spatial Temperin Stage devilish, they were able to last several days or even as long as half a month against the devilish ants' relentless attacks.

There was a staggering number of devilish beings and devilish beasts that had fled from Blood Crow City, and the ant tide couldn't trap all of them, so there was still hope for some of them to escape.

Several hours later, the low-grade devilish beings finally exhausted their magic power one after another. Their devilish abilities and treasures began to fail, and bloodcurdling cries rang out one after another.

After half a day, only those at or above the Nascent Soul Stage still remained.

Due to the fact that the devilish beings and devilish beasts had fled in all directions, the ant tide was forced to split up into several tens of portions and gradually expanded along with their prey.

Millions of kilometers away from Blood Crow City, there were six devilish beings flying through a large cloud of devilish ants. They consisted of five men and a woman, and one of the devilish men was releasing scorching flames, while another was emanating wisps of white glacial Qi.

All of the devilish ants that approached them were either incinerated into dust or frozen into chunks of ice.

As for the devilish woman, she had an inky-black antiquated mirror hovering over her head, and balls of azure light were erupting out of the mirror, then exploded to force back the approaching devilish ants.

These three devilish beings were none other than the members of the Hai Family who had intercepted Han Li several days ago.

As for the other three devilish men, they appeared to be in their forties and bore a resemblance to one another, clearly indicating that they were related by blood.

These three devilish men weren't using any devilish treasures, but the inky-black Qi they were conjuring up was sweeping through countless surrounding devilish ants.

All six of these devilish beings were at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and they forced their way through the sea of ants for several hundred kilometers in the blink of an eye.

The number of ants began to gradually decrease up ahead, and it seemed that they had reached the edge.

The six devilish beings were naturally ecstatic to see this, but right at this moment, change suddenly struck.

One side of the sea of devilish ants suddenly parted, and over 100 massive ants rushed out, each of which was around 10 feet in size.

These ants were entirely green in color with translucent wings on their backs, they were extremely menacing to behold.

As soon as they appeared, they immediately pounced toward the three related devilish men.

"Look out, fellow daoists; those mutated devilish ants are far more powerful than normal Devouring Devilish Ant!" the devilish woman yelled as her expression changed drastically.

The three devilish men's hearts jolted upon hearing this, and they immediately combined their powers, unleashing a burst of devilish Qi that transformed into a black wyrm before flying toward the giant ants.

In retaliation, the giant ants opened their mouths to expel balls of purple liquid, all of which struck the black wyrm with unerring accuracy.

A dull rumbling boom rang out, and plumes of yellow smoke billowed out from the sections of the black wyrm's body that had been struck.

It was instantly shrunk down by close to half its original size, but the giant ants continued to expel more purple liquid, most of which were aimed at the three devilish men on this occasion.

The three devilish men's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and one of them opened his mouth to expel a miniature shield that was several inches in size, then immediately injected his magic power into it.

The shield instantly swelled to become a giant white shield that was several tens of feet tall. The surface of the shield was very bumpy and unsmooth, and it had been refined using countless white bones.

Following the injection of magic power, black devilish patterns appeared over the surface of the shield, forming a black light barrier in front of the three devilish men.

The balls of purple liquid struck the black barrier like rain, and white smoke rose up in a frenzy.

The black light barrier immediately began to tremor violently, and it was rapidly shrinking at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

"Lend me your assistance; I can't stop them on my own!" the man who had summoned the shield yelled in a horrified manner.

The two other devilish men immediately rushed over to him before each laying a hand on one of his shoulders.

Bursts of black Qi immediately surged along their arms into the man's body as if the devilish Qi possessed a life of its own.

The trembling light barrier was instantly bolstered, but the three men were expending magic power at an alarming rate and unable to put up any retaliation.

"Fellow Daoist Hai, please lend us your assistance!" one of the devilish men hurriedly implored.

"Rest assured, fellow daoists; I'll get rid of these mutated devilish ants right away!" the devilish woman replied before pointing a finger at the antiquated mirror up above.

The mirror rotated on the spot before turning its surface toward the giant devilish ants, as if it were about to unleash some type of attack.

Right at this moment, the devilish ants in another direction parted, and 500 to 600 additional azure ants rushed out from that opening.

The devilish woman's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and she immediately switched to a different hand seal, upon which the antiquated mirror transformed into a ball of azure light that swept up her body before flying away as a streak of spiritual light.

Not only was she abandoning the three trapped devilish men, she was even leaving her own two subordinates behind.

The two men from the Hai Family were also quite alarmed to see this, and they fled into the distance as streaks of light as well, leaving the three desperate devilish men behind to curse their treacherous companions.

Similar scenes were unfolding in many other places as well, and the emergence of these high-grade mutated devilish ants quickly spelled the downfall of many of the remaining devilish beings.

All of the high-grade devilish beings that had been able to survive thus far either had special abilities or treasures that they could use to protect themselves or had fantastic luck.

As for Han Li's group and the small handful of devilish-lord-level devilish beings and devilish beasts, they were able to carve out a path through the ant tide for themselves through their individual powers.

Even so, the Devouring Devilish Ant had no intention of allowing the remaining people to escape.

If even the slightest hint of complacency were to set in, the remaining survivors would immediately be swept up by the ant tide and be forced to fight for their lives again.

Thus, one day passed by after another, and only after half a year did the Devouring Devilish Ant Tide gradually begin to disperse.

Seven or eight of the cities on the outskirts of the grassland had been destroyed, and hundreds of millions of devilish beings had been devoured by the devilish ants.

This was a harrowing chapter in history for all devilish beings in the area, and the notorious reputation of Devouring Devilish Ants was bolstered even further.

A year later, a streak of azure light was flying over a black forest that was filled with massive trees.

Close to 10 kilometers behind the streak of azure light was a flock of crimson-fathered birds that were giving chase in hot pursuit.

The azure light paused momentarily, and several tens of streaks of sword Qi shot forth from within it, slicing the dozen or so crimson birds at the forefront in half.

Immediately thereafter, the streak of azure light continued onward, and the rest of the crimson birds let loose a few harsh squawks of fury, but didn't dare to pursue the streak of azure light any further.

Only after flying for close to 10,000 kilometers did the streak of azure light slow down slightly, and within the azure light, Han Li was appraising a head-sized crimson crystal with a smile as he murmured to himself, "This is quite a large chunk of Windflame Crystal; I'm sure it'll be of great use to me in the future."

During the past years, he had been constantly traveling, and only after entering the plains did he truly manage to shake off the Devouring Devilish Ant.

After that, he traveled directly toward the Illusion Howl Desert as was the plan that everyone had decided on.

These plains were an extremely perilous place for normal devilish beings, but Han Li naturally wasn't concerned, and along the way, he had discovered many materials and spirit medicines that were extremely rare in the Spirit Realm, which was naturally very pleasing for him.

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Chapter 2047: The Four Holy Bricks

After picking up this huge piece of Windflame Crystal from deep within a valley, he was immediately discovered by that flock of crimson devilish birds, and he only managed to scare them away after being pursued for half a day.

Spiritual light flashed from Han Li's hand as he stowed the Windflame Crystal away and continued on his journey.

Half a day later, he arrived at the edge of the forest, and a boundless ocean appeared in the distance.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but his expression then eased slightly upon arriving at the realization that this was most likely an inland sea as opposed to an actual sea, so there wouldn't be anywhere near as many sea soul beasts in it.

Azure light flashed, and Han Li flew directly onto the ocean, covering a distance of over 10,000 feet after just a few flashes.

All of a sudden, countless blue streaks of light erupted out of the water, hurtling directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he swept a sleeve downward, releasing a burst of grey light that transformed into countless thin azure grey threads, which punctured all of the oncoming streaks of blue light.

Thumb-sized blue fish began to rain down from the heavens. These fish had no scales, and their heads were remarkably long and were as sharp as blades, giving them a very peculiar appearance.

Han Li slew hundreds of these fish with just a single attack, but even more of them were shooting up out of the seawater.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he released more grey threads out of his sleeves, killing all of the oncoming flying fish.

In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of these blue fish had been slain, and his brutality seemed to have struck fear into the hearts of this school of fish as no more streaks of blue light came leaping out at him.

Han Li calmly flicked his wrist, and the thin grey threads reverted back into a burst of light that returned up his sleeve.

At the same time, he sped up slightly as he traveled deeper into the sea, and several hours later, the devilish sun had set and day had transitioned into night.

Deep under the sea, a series of powerful auras began to emerge, and Han Li could occasionally see the limbs of some astonishingly massive sea beasts appearing on the surface of the ocean.

His brows furrowed slightly, and he decided that it wouldn't be wise to continue traveling through the night.

With his current powers, he didn't have to fear the powerful nocturnal soul beasts, but it was naturally best to avoid trouble as much as possible.

On top of that, he had already traveled for over 10 days without any proper rest, so this was a good opportunity to rest and recuperate.

With that in mind, he immediately released his spiritual sense to scan through an area with a radius of close to 1,000 kilometers.

Shortly thereafter, he suddenly changed directions, and a black spot soon appeared on the surface of the ocean in the distance.

Upon approaching the black spot, Han Li was able to identify it as an island that was several tens of kilometers in size. There were several mountains on the island that were over 10,000 feet tall, and the entire island was enshrouded within a layer of mist.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he quickly swept his spiritual sense over the entire island, then immediately descended toward it.

Moments later, the azure light receded, and Han Li appeared halfway up one of the mountains, where the entrance to a huge cave laid.

Han Li glanced at the cave before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and a small azure sword shot forth into the cave in a flash.

Moments later, a rumbling beastly roar rang out from within the cave before abruptly falling silent after a sharp screech.

The cave was extremely long, and only after traveling for around 500 to 600 feet did Han Li arrive in a more spacious area. There was a type of unknown hay spread over the floor of the cave, atop which sat two halves of a pangolin-like devilish beast carcass.

Han Li flicked a spark toward the beastly carcass, and a flame was instantly ignited, incinerating the carcass and the hay into ashes.

Thus, the entire cave became extremely clean.

Only then did Han Li make his way to the center of the cave before taking a seat, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he released four translucent bricks out of his storage bracelet amid a flash of white light.

These were none other than the holy bricks that he had obtained from the Blood Crow City Lord a year ago.

This wasn't the first time that Han Li had examined them, and he raised a hand in a well-rehearsed manner, releasing four arcs of golden lightning out of his hand, which vanished into the four bricks in a flash.

The four bricks instantly swelled to over 10 times their original size, forming four huge translucent walls with purplish-black text inscribed upon them.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he began to carefully examine this text.

Only after an hour did Han Li withdraw his gaze, and he fell into a contemplative silence.

As expected of a Sacred Ancestor who was vastly renowned in the Elder Devil Realm, the cultivation arts left behind by Qi Ling were truly formidable. It was a pity that he had already progressed so far in his Provenance True Devil Arts. Otherwise, he would've been tempted to switch to a different main cultivation art. Even so, the cultivation arts and secret techniques recorded on the four holy bricks were very intriguing to him, and there were even two or three that he could cultivate right away.

All of a sudden, Han Li made a few grabbing motions, and the four holy bricks immediately arranged themselves into a row in front of him, following which each of the bricks began to release a vibrant pillar of light.

The four pillars of light overlapped, and a map that was several tens of feet in size was projected onto a stone face of the cave.

The map was very clearly annotated, and the center of the map was a peculiar symbol depicting a black dragon with a single horn on its head.

Han Li appraised the map with a contemplative expression, and after a long while, he swept a sleeve forward to release a burst of azure light that stowed the four holy bricks back into his storage bracelet.

As a result, the map on the wall naturally also disappeared, and Han Li heaved a faint sigh as he fell into silent contemplation again.

As soon as he had escaped from the Devouring Devilish Ant, he had begun studying these four holy bricks.

It only took him several days to decipher how they worked and to piece together the map of Qi Ling's secret treasures. Unfortunately, the map appeared to be extremely detailed, but didn't provide any context for the location that it depicted.

For an outsider like Han Li, the Elder Devil Realm was an extremely foreign place, so he had no idea exactly what area the secret treasures were hidden in.

Han Li had bought some maps from Blood Crow City, but most of them were only general maps of the entire Elder Devil Realm with barely any maps of specific regions to be found.

As such, the only thing he could do was try to purchase more maps from the cities that he passed through to see if he could find more leads.

With his current level of power, it wasn't like he absolutely had to find Qi Ling's secret treasures, but as long as it didn't hamper his main objective, he certainly wouldn't be opposed to tracking down the treasures.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li set this matter aside for now and made a hand seal, upon which a layer of golden scales appeared over his skin, and the Provenance True Devil projection emerged behind him.

The projection opened its six eyes, then made a peculiar hand seal with each of its six hands.

Meanwhile, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a stack of formation plates of different colors, and he flicked his wrist to send them flying through the air as several tens of balls of spiritual light, all of which immediately vanished into the nearby surrounding space.

In the next instant, five-colored light flashed beneath him, and a formation that was several tens of feet in size emerged with him right at its very center.

Light flashed within the formation, and there were extremely profound golden runes inscribed upon the formation.

Han Li flicked his fingers toward the formation expressionlessly, and seven or eight top-grade spirit stones landed in it in a flash.

He then made a hand seal before letting loose a thunderous low cry, and the entire formation emitted a buzzing sound, then formed a five-colored light barrier that completely inundated his body.

The faint devilish Qi in the air was instantly forced out of the formation, and at the same time, bursts of pure spiritual Qi emerged within the light barrier.

Han Li took a deep breath as a pleased look appeared on his face, and he made a peculiar hand seal as an inky-black vertical eye appeared on his glabella.

Bursts of indistinguishable chanting rang out within the formation, and three faces of the true devil projection adopted the expressions of glee, rage, and sorrow, while its body began to flash erratically.

At this moment, pea-sized silver runes began to surge out of Han Li's body, and in the beginning, there were only several tens of these runes. However, as time passed, more and more silver runes began to emerge before swelling to the size of human fists as they swirled within the light barrier.

At the same time, Han Li's body gradually began to turn as translucent as jade, and the scales over his skin vanished into his body as a series of golden runes.

A low roar rang out as the silver runes within the light barrier transformed into countless shimmering silver threads, which shot forth toward Han Li like a torrential downpour.

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Chapter 2048: The Bai Family of Illusion Night City

Han Li's body shuddered as all of the silver threads vanished into his skin in a flash, and the surface of his body began to bulge in different areas, as if they were egg-sized lumps roaming beneath his skin.

At the same time, Han Li was struck by a scorching sensation in his flesh and blood while his meridians became extremely numb and itchy, striking him with the urge to claw into his flesh with his fingers.

Only with Han Li's enormous spiritual sense was he able to withstand this indescribably painful sensation. If a normal Body Integration cultivator were in his place, they would either fall prey to Qi deviation due to an inability to control their true essence, or be unable to continue to calmly cultivate. However, Han Li was able to remain completely still as he sat on the ground, withstanding the agony in an expressionless manner.

Several hours later, a series of bones that were far thicker than those of a normal human became visible through his translucent body.

Not only were these bones shimmering with faint silver spiritual light, their surfaces were also riddled with golden patterns. The patterns were barely visible and extremely thin, making them very easy to miss, but they formed a series of extremely profound golden runes that looked as if they had naturally grown on his bones.

For those who were able to identify these runes, they would immediately be able to tell that this was golden seal text. For these runes to appear as a result of a cultivation art was a clear testament to just how extraordinary the cultivation art in question was, and it would most likely be sorely sought after even by Grand Ascension Stage beings.

This was none other than the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra that Han Li had begun cultivating again.

It originated from the True Immortal Realm, and if Han Li could achieve full mastery of it, his physical body would become as powerful or even more powerful than that of a true spirit being.

However, the cultivation art was naturally extremely difficult to master as well, and he had only dared to begin cultivating it again after progressing to the late-Body Integration Stage.

As for when he would achieve full mastery of it, that would surely only come very far in the future; perhaps he wouldn't even have gotten to that point after progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage.

With Han Li's current age, he had countless years ahead of him, so there was no hurry for him to work on this cultivation art.

Time passed by slowly, and several hours later, Han Li reopened his eyes as a rumbling boom akin to a thunderclap erupted from all of his bones, and the golden light he was emanating abruptly became brighter.

He made a hand seal, and the rumbling within his body instantly subsided.

Only then did he heave a long sigh as a wry smile appeared on his face.

Cultivating the true Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra was extremely painful; even with his immensely powerful physical constitution, he wasn't able to cultivate it for long.

If he were to cultivate it for an entire day, then his meridians would be severely damaged. After that, Han Li didn't immediately withdraw the surrounding formation. Instead, he waved a hand upward to dispel the golden projection, then placed his hands onto his knees and closed his eyes to meditate once again.

Mere moments later, the golden light emanating from his body receded, only to be replaced by a layer of rainbow light that grew brighter and brighter.

A layer of light also appeared over his face, and the black demonic eye on his glabella flashed incessantly as if it had sprung to life.

After finishing his cultivation of the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, he had begun cultivating the Spirit Refinement Technique.

With his current late-Body Integration Stage magic power and physical body, he was finally able to cultivate this technique again.

If he could master the second stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique, his spiritual sense would increase by severalfold; even if he couldn't find the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, there would still be hope for him to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage.

Han Li was well aware of just how important this Spirit Refinement Technique was, so he had been cultivating it every single day following the battle of Deep Heaven City. However, he had only been cultivating it for a short time, and the second stage was far more profound than the first, so his progress was quite limited.

It seemed that it would take a long time for him to master the second stage.

Han Li had already predicted this, so he wasn't frustrated and merely continued to meditate patiently.

The next morning, a streak of azure light rose up from the island, then shot forth into the distance.

Two days later, Han Li emerged out of this inland sea and entered a lush green mountain range.

The mountain range was very humid, and there was mist of different colors that would occasionally rise up from the ground, concealing everything below an altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet.

In order to avoid being delayed by any devilish beasts that may have been lurking in the mist, Han Li was flying at an altitude of tens of thousands of feet.

There were some powerful devilish birds that even Han Li didn't want to mess with residing at altitudes of over 100,000 feet, so he wouldn't fly any higher than this unless he had to.

This mountain range was far more massive than he had imagined. He had thought that it would take him three to four days at most to fly out of it, but even after around half a month of flying, there were still no signs suggesting that he was close to emerging on the other side.

This was rather surprising to him, and he also became more cautious.

Even though he was flying at quite a high altitude, he was still attacked by several powerful devilish beasts, which posed a minor hindrance to him, but they were all incinerated by his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

After flying for a few more days, the trees and mountains down below became more sparse, and he was finally about to reach the other side.

Han Li immediately sped up upon seeing this, yet right as he was flying over a barren mountain, his expression suddenly changed slightly as he abruptly stopped on the spot.

He then cast his gaze toward a certain direction with a contemplative expression. Shortly thereafter, he seemed to have made a decision and flew directly toward the same direction he had just turned his attention toward.

A short while later, he had flown for close to 1,000 feet, and he caught sight of a giant purple tree in the distance that was over 30,000 feet tall.

In the air above the giant tree, there were a dozen or so devilish men and women battling a flock of crimson bats. These devilish beings were mostly comprised of Deity Transformation Stage beings, while three of them were at the Spatial Tempering Stage. They were setting up a formation, and had summoned several tens of treasures to ward off the crimson bats, of which there were over 30.

Each of these bats was around five feet in size, and all of them had black devilish symbols all over their bodies. With each flap of their wings, a burst of grey devilish wind would sweep forth, and they were also blasting green flames out of their mouths.

The wind enhanced the flames, creating a green sea of fire that completely trapped the group of devilish beings above the giant tree.

Even though the devilish beings were unable to escape, the three Spatial Tempering Stage beings among them were controlling several powerful treasures, and the formation they had created was quite profound, so they were able to withstand the sea of flames for now.

There was a fragrant aroma rising up from down below, and it was stemming from several thumb-sized green fruits growing on the tree's massive canopy.

Han Li didn't pay much heed to the bats and devilish beings, focusing most of his attention on those fruits instead.

"Those are the Purple Spirit Fruits of the Purple Light Tree! Such a massive Purple Light Tree is exceedingly rare," Han Li murmured to himself.

Purple Spirit Fruits were a type of rare spirit fruit, and these ones were growing on such a huge tree, so it was possible that they could have some additional special effects. However, the effects of these spirit fruits were only applicable to cultivators below the Body Integration Stage, so they were no longer useful to Han Li.

Thus, he quickly withdrew his gaze and finally turned his attention to the group of devilish beings.

Among them, the Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings were in some trouble.

Their faces had become quite pale, and it was quite clear that they were about to exhaust their supplies of magic power soon. If they were to falter, then their joint formation would fall apart, and they would all be killed along with their three Spatial Tempering Stage companions.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, yet before he had a chance to consider how he should treat this situation, one of the three Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings suddenly yelled, "Fellow Daoist, I am from the Bai Family of Illusion Night City. If you're willing to assist us, our Bai Family will be sure to reward you handsomely!"The devilish being who had spoken was a beautiful young woman in a green dress who appeared to be in her twenties. She had already noticed Han Li and was finally calling out for help. Han Li had naturally disguised his cultivation base, so he was currently only releasing a Spatial Tempering Stage aura.

"The Bai Family of Illusion Night City? The Bai Family that's renowned for producing incense?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

"I can see that you've heard of our Bai Family, Fellow Daoist. If you want, I can swear a vow on my inner demons that you'll be rewarded for saving our lives!" The woman had clearly misconstrued Han Li's hesitant expression.

Han Li was silent for a moment before replying, "Seeing as you're from the Bai Family, I'm obliged to assist you, but I hope you won't forget your promise."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and his body swelled to around 30 to 40 feet tall while black scales appeared all over his skin. His hands also transformed into a pair of black devilish claws with fingers as sharp as blades, and as soon as the transformation was complete, Han Li rushed directly toward the crimson bats amid a gust of fierce devilish wind.

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Chapter 2049: Bai Yunxin

The black wind reached the crimson bats in a flash, and close to half of them suddenly turned toward Han Li before blasting green flames toward him out of their mouths.

Before the green flames had even reached Han Li, a nauseating odor of rot and decay had already swept toward him.

Han Li immediately swept both sleeves through the air, unleashing two gusts of fierce azure winds, which kept the green flames at bay.

At the same time, he strode forward and abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, he reappeared out of thin air beside a crimson bat several hundred feet away and swept both arms through the air, unleashing over 100 claw projections that completely shredded the bat's body before it even had a chance to cry out.

The other bats were naturally very alarmed by this, and they hurriedly turned to attack Han Li, but it was already too late.

Han Li had vanished on the spot again, leaving a trail of black afterimages in his wake as he arrived beside another devilish bat that was over 100 feet away.

The same claw projections erupted forth, and that devilish bat was also sliced into countless pieces.

After that, Han Li traversed through the flock of bats in a wraith-like manner, felling a bat with each and every attack he unleashed.

In the face of his incredible movement techniques, the green flames released by the crimson bats mostly struck nothing by empty air, and the few burst of flames that did manage to strike Han Li were rendered completely ineffective by a suit of black armor that he was wearing.

Within the span of just a few breaths, over 10 devilish bats had been slain by him, and the group of devilish beings nearby were staring at him in a flabbergasted manner.

The Spatial Tempering Stage young woman was also gawking at Han Li with astonishment in her eyes.

They had been battling these devilish bats for over half a day, and they were well aware of just how hard these bats' bodies were. Even normal devilish treasures couldn't inflict much damage to them, and only top-grade devilish tools were able to harm them to a certain extent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been trapped here for such a long time.

As such, it was naturally astonishing that Han Li was able to tear through the hapless bats with ease with his bare hands.

What kind of devilish art could this man be cultivating to have attained such a powerful physical body? Could it be one of the legendary ancient devilish arts? the woman thought to herself in a stunned manner.

Despite their ferocity, the devilish bats had become quite fearful in the face of Han Li's powerful display.

However, right at this moment, a sharp cry rang out from among them, and they all parted to reveal a giant devilish bat that was far larger than all of the other ones.

Not only did this devilish bat possess a powerful aura, it had a pair of purple horns on its head, around which wisps of electricity were revolving incessantly. It immediately opened its mouth to blast forth a vast expanse of green flames, which encompassed an area of over 1,000 feet as it surged toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as a series of black runes erupted out of his suit of devilish armor to form a light barrier in front of him.

As soon as the sea of flames came into contact with the black light barrier, it was forcibly parted and completely unable to approach Han Li.

A hint of fury appeared in the giant bat's eyes upon seeing this, and it let loose a sharp screech as two thick bolts of silver lightning erupted out of its horns, crashing directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he raised a hand and pointed two fingers forward.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and two bolts of azure and white lightning erupted out of his fingertips to counter the oncoming bolts of silver lightning.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li took a step forward and vanished into space before instantly reappearing above the giant bat, then swept a devilish claw downward.

Five black claws projections descended from above, and the giant bat immediately flapped its wings in alarm, propelling itself to the side like a speeding arrow.

Despite its huge frame, it was surprisingly agile.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this and abruptly brought his fingers together, upon which the five claw projections instantly sped up by severalfold, tearing one of the giant bat's wings into pieces in a flash.

The giant bat let loose a howl of agony, and a hint of horror appeared in its enraged eyes. It frantically flapped its remaining wing a few times before releasing countless thin crimson threads out of its body.

The threads were as red as blood, and as soon as they appeared, they instantly exploded into clouds of blood mist that concealed the bat's entire body.

Han Li made a grabbing motion downward with his other arm as well, conjuring up countless claw projections amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, and the cloud of blood mist was instantly destroyed.

Right at this moment, a streak of crimson light shot forth just as the blood mist was dispersed, and it instantly appeared over 10,000 feet away, then vanished into the distance in a blur.

"Bloodshadow Evasion!"

A peculiar look appeared on his face as he identified the movement technique that the giant bat was using, but his expression then immediately returned to normal as he cast his gaze toward the remaining crimson bats.

Without the leadership of the giant bat and having had many of them already slain by Han Li, the remaining devilish bats were no longer able to pose a sufficient threat to the group of devilish beings with their green flames.

Instead, the devilish beings took advantage of this opportunity to retaliate, unleashing powerful abilities to force back the sea of flames little by little.

Meanwhile, Han Li merely crossed his arms and looked from afar, displaying no intention to take any further part in this battle.

The remaining devilish bats naturally gave Han Li a wide berth as well in fear of incurring his wrath.

Around 15 minutes later, the devilish beings finally broke out of the sea of flames and slew close to half of the remaining devilish bats.

The bats that survived quickly fled for their lives, not daring to linger around the giant tree any longer.

The young devilish woman was clearly the leader of this group, and after taking care of the devilish bats, she immediately flew over to Han Li before extending a curtsey. "Thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist. My name is Bai Yunxin; these are my brothers, Bai Yin and Bai Ying. May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?"

The woman was speaking to Han Li in a very polite manner.

As for the other two Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings, Bai Yin was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, while Bai Ying was a middle-aged scholar. The two of them also hurriedly expressed their gratitude toward Han Li.

"My surname is Han; I'm only a vagrant cultivator, but I've heard much about your Bai Family. I've heard that the incense produced by your Bai Family is capable of calming the mind and warding off sinister beings; I'd love to see it in action," Han Li said in a calm manner as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"A vagrant cultivator? I can see that you possess incredible powers, Brother Han; you must be an unfathomable cultivator who rarely shows himself in public. Otherwise, there's no way I wouldn't have heard of you," Bai Yunxin said with a smile.

"I'm no unfathomable cultivator, but it is indeed true that I don't show myself in public much. This place is quite far away from Illusion Night City; could it be that you came here for these Purple Spirit Fruits?" Han Li asked.

Bai Yunxin's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she calmly negotiated, "Indeed, our Bai Family is planning to refine a type of spirit pill that requires these Purple Spirit Fruits as one of the main ingredients. We've been scouring through these plains for many years and only just discovered this Purple Light Tree. If it weren't for your help, there's no way we would've been able to secure these spirit fruits, so we should be splitting half of them with you. However, these fruits are extremely important to our Bai Family, so would you be willing to accept devil stones in compensation instead?"

"Hehe, rest assured, Fairy Bai; I have no need for these Purple Spirit Fruits, so we'll do as you say," Han Li chuckled in response.

Bai Yunxin was very relieved to hear this, and she smiled as she said, "Thank you for your generosity, Brother Han; I'll get them to prepare the devil stones for you right away."

After that, she instructed the others to begin picking the Purple Spirit Fruits on the giant tree. After the spirit fruits were picked and placed into a special box, Bai Yunxin handed a storage bracelet full of devil stones to Han Li.

Han Li accepted the storage bracelet, then injected his spiritual sense into it before stowing it away in a calm manner.

Bai Yunxin's smile became even more pronounced upon seeing this, and she said, "Where are you traveling to next, Brother Han? If you don't mind, how about returning to Illusion Night City with us? There are some specialty local products in the city that I'm sure will be of great help to you, and on top of that, I've already sworn a vow on my inner demons to thank you for saving us. If you return to our Bai Family with us, our seniors will be sure to reward you handsomely for your efforts, so please don't refuse."

This Bai Yunxin was clearly inclined to befriend Han Li upon witnessing his astonishing powers.

"There's a senior in our Bai Family who's also very adept in body refinement techniques; I'm sure you'll benefit immensely through receiving guidance from him, Brother Han. You've just saved our lives, so I'm sure that senior wouldn't turn you down," Bai Ying also chimed in.

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Chapter 2050: Golden Dawn Mouse

"Oh? Which senior of the Bai Family is this? It looks like I really will have to pay him a visit," Han Li said with an intrigued expression.

"This senior of our family is rather renowned in our holy realm, and he's cultivated the Heaven Refinement Devilish Arts to the extreme. He's only one step away from becoming a Sacred Ancestor, and he's known as Layman Futian; have you heard of him, Brother Han?" Bai Yunxin replied with a smile.

"I haven't, but it would surely be a fantastic opportunity for me to receive guidance from a senior with such a high level of mastery in devilish body refinement techniques. I wasn't planning to go anywhere in particular next, so I'll accompany you to Illusion Night City. When are you planning to return to the city? I don't have too much time on my hands," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; we ventured into these plains solely for the Purple Spirit Fruits. Now that we've obtained them, we'll head back to the city after resting for a few days to recover our magic power," Bai Yunxin replied with an ecstatic expression.

Han Li nodded in response and didn't say anything further.

After that, they settled down at a nearby small mountain and opened up a temporary cave abode to meditate in.

Five days later, after the members of the Bai Family had recovered most of their magic power, they immediately released a giant flying ark that was over 100 feet in length, which carried them and Han Li back toward Illusion Night City.

Several months later, there were seven Nascent Soul Stage devilish beings split up into two groups locked in an intense battle on the border of the plains.

Three of them were wearing yellow brocade robes and wielding three identical black flying daggers that were releasing black devilish flames.

As for the other four, they wore long white robes and were controlling four translucent white flying swords that were releasing bursts of snowflakes that swept forth in a frenzy.

The devilish flames and glacial Qi intertwined in mid-air before exploding into balls of devilish Qi, and the seven devilish beings appeared to be quite evenly matched.

On the ground down below laid the carcass of what appeared to be a giant devilish mouse. It was over 100 feet in length with shimmering golden fur, and it was quite clear that this was no ordinary devilish beast.

The seven devilish beings were clearly fighting over this carcass.

All of a sudden, a white-robed young man harrumphed coldly as he suddenly patted a leather pouch that was hanging from his waist. A burst of black Qi immediately surged out, then transformed into a menacing two-headed devilish lion.

The lion was entirely inky-black in color and was around 50 to 60 feet tall. It opened its two mouths in unison, releasing countless inky-black wind blades.

The three flying daggers flashed incessantly in the face of the torrential downpour of wind blades, and they were forced onto the back foot by the four flying swords.

The three yellow-robed devilish beings were stunned to see this, and a long-haired elderly man among them exclaimed, "That's a Nightmare Lion! You dare to bring out your family's guardian beast? Aren't you afraid of being punished if any harm were to befall this beast?"

"Hehe, three pieces of trash like you won't be able to harm our Ning Family's guardian beast. If you know what's good for you, then piss off! I'm not handing over this Golden Dawn Mouse to you," the white-robed young man who had released the devilish lion sneered.

The long-haired elderly man's expression darkened significantly upon hearing this.

One of the other yellow-robed men transmitted his voice to the long-haired elderly man. "Big Brother, this situation is heavily against our favor; we should make a retreat."

The elderly man hesitated for a long while before a determined look finally appeared on his face. "I've already been stuck at the late-Nascent Soul Stage for centuries, and this Golden Dawn Mouse is extremely rare; it's inner core will be extremely important for me to make a breakthrough, so please lend me your assistance! If we succeed, you'll have my eternal gratitude."

"What? Are you planning to unleash that secret technique? But if you do that, not only will your true essence be severely depleted, you'll be struck by a variety of negative after-effects as well," the final yellow-robed man interjected in an alarmed manner.

"If I can't progress to the Deity Transformation, then my life will be close to coming to an end, so I have no choice but to make this gamble," the elderly man said as he gritted his teeth.

"In that case, we'll do everything in our power to protect you."

"Be careful, Big Brother; we'll try to stall the enemies for as long as possible."

The other two yellow-robed men agreed in unison after exchanging a glance, and the elderly man naturally extended words of gratitude toward them.

In the next instant, the two yellow-robed devilish men abruptly stepped forward, and the devilish flames around the two flying daggers they were controlling reared upon by about twofold. The two daggers then transformed into a pair of devilish pythons that managed to just barely withstand the attacks from the flying swords and devilish lion, but judging from their strained expressions, it was quite clear that they wouldn't be able to keep this up for too long.

Meanwhile, the long-haired elderly man pointed a finger toward his own flying sword, and it flew back to him as a streak of black light before vanishing into his body in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, he made a grabbing motion with both hands, several thin and long blades that resembled wicker leaves appeared between his fingers. However, just as he was about to plunge these blades into his own dantian, spiritual light suddenly flashed in the distance, and a giant ball of light appeared before hurtling toward them at an incredible speed.

The elderly man's heart jolted as he hurriedly stopped what he was doing and turned toward that direction.

Within the ball of yellow light was a giant flying ark that was over 100 feet in length, and it was clearly not a flying treasure that a normal devilish being could possess.

At the front of the ark stood several people, who were appraising the seven combatants from afar.

The elderly man's eyes immediately lit up with elation at the sight of this giant ark. "That's our family's Vast Yellow Wood Ark! Could it be that seniors of our family have just returned from the plains?"

Everyone else stopped what they were doing as well, and the other two yellow-robed men were also looking on with elation, while the four white-robed devilish beings were far less ecstatic.

After just a few flashes, the giant ark appeared in the air above the seven devilish beings before drawing to a halt.

Immediately thereafter, a cold female voice rang out.

"Aren't you the three brothers from my ninth uncle's family? Why are you battling these people from the Ning Family?"

The one who had spoken was none other than Bai Yunxin, and she was accompanied at the front of the ark by her two brothers and Han Li.

After several months of nonstop travel, they had finally reached the border of the plains and stumbled upon these battling devilish beings.

Bai Yunxin immediately identified the three white-robed devilish men, and a hint of surprise appeared on her face.

The long-haired elderly man's elation grew even more pronounced at the sight of Bai Yunxin, and he hurriedly replied, "Junior Bai Ming pays his respects to his seniors. These members of the Ning Family are trying to take the Golden Dawn Mouse that we killed; please stand up for us, seniors!"

"Oh? Golden Dawn Mice are quite rare; it's a brilliant stroke of luck that you were able to hunt one down at the border of these plains. This beast was slain by my juniors, so what right do you have to try and take it? Piss off!" Bai Yunxin said in a cold voice as she turned toward the four white-robed devilish men.

The four of them were naturally furious upon hearing this, and the young man who had released the two-headed devilish lion opened his mouth to try and argue, but one of his companions immediately clamped a hand over his mouth to stop him. After that, they dragged him away and immediately fled from the scene.

Bai Yunxin didn't pay any heed to this, and she turned to Han Li with a smile as she said, "Sorry you had to see that, Brother Han; that was just a conflict among some juniors. Seeing as we've already reached the border of the plains, we're not far away from Illusion Night City. Illusion Night City is situated between the plains and the Illusion Howl Desert, so we should arrive back at the city in about a month."

"I see, but aside from Illusion Night City, I'm also very interested in the Illusion Howl Desert; I heard it's one of the most renowned restricted regions in our holy realm," Han Li replied with a calm smile.

Bai Yunxin was rather taken aback to hear this, but she put on a slightly seductive smile, and replied, "Hehe, I didn't think that you'd be interested in the Illusion Howl Desert, Brother Han. It would indeed be extremely dangerous for people outside of Illusion Night City to venture into the desert, but if you're interested, I can tell you about it in greater detail during the rest of our journey."

"That would be great," Han Li also replied with a smile.

Thus, the giant ark continued onward, and Han Li and Bai Yunxin made their way toward the guest cabin of the ark.

Meanwhile, Bai Yin and Bai Ying exchanged a knowing smile upon seeing this.

As for the long-haired elderly man, he extended an elated bow toward the giant ark before descending onto the ground with his companions and began to dissect the Golden Dawn Mouse carcass.

As for whether they had slain the beast or were stealing the prey of the four members of the Ning Family, that was no longer important.

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Chapter 2051: Illusion Night City

Around five to six days later, the giant ark finally flew out of the plains, and a vast mountain range appeared up ahead, comprised of a series of dark green mountains that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

The giant ark flew into the mountain range, then vanished into the distance after just a few flashes.

Around a month later, a giant city that had been constructed from a yellow stone material appeared in the distance within a basin. The city spanned an area of close to 1,000 kilometers, and half of it had been constructed next to a mountain, while the other half was surrounded by city walls that were over 1,000 feet tall.

The entire city was enshrouded under a yellow light barrier, clearly indicating the presence of a profound super restriction.

Han Li stood at the front of the flying ark and appraised the city in the distance with a contemplative expression.

"This is Illusion Night City, Brother Han. It can't compare with the super cities of our holy realm, but it's quite a large city considering the secluded geographic location. There are over 10 devilish lords in the city, and our Bai Family is one of the city's four major families. Regardless of whether you want to purchase something or if you encounter some trouble, you should be able to get a favorable outcome by revealing your ties with our Bai Family," Bai Yunxin said with a smile.

"Thank you, Fairy Bai; I really was planning to purchase some things in the city," Han Li also replied with a smile.

"You're all by yourself anyway, so why don't you stay in our Bai Family's guest pavilion, Brother Han? With your cultivation base, I'm sure the seniors of our family wouldn't object," Bai Yunxin proposed.

"Have you still not given up on recruiting me to your Bai Family?" Han Li chuckled upon hearing this.

"You've already reached the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and judging from how easily you were able to slay those devilish bats, you must be extremely close to progressing to the Body Integration Stage. A vagrant cultivator of your powers would be eagerly sought after by any major power, and our Bai Family is certainly no exception," Bai Yunxin replied with a completely unabashed smile.

"Unfortunately, I'll have to turn you down again. I have no intention of submitting to any power. I'm currently facing a major bottleneck, and I need to travel for some time for a chance to become a devilish lord. As such, I won't be joining any power for the next few centuries. However, I can promise you that if I do consider joining a certain power in the future, I'll definitely prioritize your Bai Family in my consideration," Han Li replied.

"I'll hold you to your word then, Brother Han. The doors of our Bai Family will always be open to you. As for your meeting with Senior Futian, I'll get that arranged once we get back. Seeing as you saved our lives in the plains, there should be no issues arranging the meeting," Bai Yunxin sighed in a slightly forlorn manner.

All of a sudden, Han Li changed the subject in a seemingly nonchalant manner. "I heard that it would be best to have an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard steed if one were to travel through the Illusion Howl Desert; does your Bai Family own any of these devilish beasts?"

"Eight-footed Devilish Lizards? Are you planning to enter the desert, Brother Han?" Bai Yunxin was rather taken aback to hear this.

"Indeed, and walking through the desert would take far too long," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"We do, but it's most likely not going to be possible for you to obtain one. None of the four major families in the city would be willing to sell any Eight-footed Devilish Lizards to outsiders," Bai Yunxin said with furrowed brows.

"Oh? Why is that? If the price is the issue, then I can assure you that I should be able to afford one," Han Li asked.

"You won't be able to purchase any of the devilish lizards no matter how many devil stones you offer. The rarity of these devilish beasts is one reason behind this, but most importantly, these devilish lizards form the basis of our major families, so they're extremely important to us," Bai Yunxin replied after a brief hesitation.

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li was truly perplexed now.

"The reason behind this concerns a secret that I won't be able to disclose to you without permission from the seniors of our family. If you'd like, you can ask Senior Futian about this when you meet him. If he decides to disclose this information to you, then there won't be any issues, and only the most important seniors of our family have the right to make decisions on these Eight-footed Devilish Lizards," Bai Yunxin replied in a slightly guarded manner.

"I see. It looks like I'll have to speak to Senior Futian if I want to obtain an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard then," Han Li said in a contemplative manner.

Bai Yunxin nodded in response and didn't say anything further.

At this point, the giant ark had finally reached Illusion Night City, and it descended right in front of a city wall that was several hundred feet tall.

There were some devilish beings entering and exiting the city, and all of them immediately gave the yellow ark a wide berth with awe and veneration in their eyes. It seemed that all of them recognized this giant ark.

Han Li and the devilish beings of the Bai Family emerged from the ark, and Bai Yunxin made a hand seal, upon which the giant ark shrank down into a tiny streak of yellow light that vanished into her body in a flash.

After that, all of them made their way toward the city gate in an excited manner.

Having been away from home for so long, they were naturally very glad to be back.

As for Han Li, he wore a faint smile and wasn't eye-catching in the slightest as he made his way through the crowd.

There were around a dozen armored guards standing in front of the city gate, and they immediately extended respectful bows toward Bai Yunxin's group, then stepped aside to grant them priority passage into the city.

The passersby paid no heed to this at all, clearly already accustomed to this discriminatory treatment.

Bai Yunxin gave the guards a slight nod before leading the way into the city, upon which Han Li was immediately greeted by the sight of countless earthy yellow houses that stretched for as far as the eyes could see.

There were several remarkably wide streets between these houses, far less so than in the average city.

Furthermore, there was the occasional giant structure interspersed among these buildings, such as pagodas and multi-story pavilions.

Han Li only briefly inspected his surroundings before withdrawing his gaze.

Not only was there a flight restriction in the city, there was also an extremely potent spiritual sense restriction. Even with his enormous spiritual sense, he couldn't sense anything with good clarity more than several kilometers away.

Of course, it wasn't that Han Li couldn't extend his spiritual sense further than that. However, if he were to do that, he would definitely trigger the restriction, thereby exposing his own cultivation base.

Moments later, the group from the Bai Family suddenly stopped after making their way onto a certain street.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask any questions.

Shortly thereafter, several carriages that were drawn by a dozen or so creatures that resembled both horses and deers arrived at the other end of the street, then quickly drew to a halt in front of Han Li and the others.

All of the carriages had a "Bai" character emblazoned on the side, and each carriage was being driven by a man in a leather robe.

The man on the first carriage jumped down before extending a respectful bow toward Bai Yunxin. "I pay my respects to the esteemed young mistress. I was sent here by Master to take you home."

Bai Yunxin nodded in response before turning to Han Li with a smile. "Brother Han, are you really not planning to visit our Bai Family? If you return to the family with us, perhaps you'll be able to meet Senior Futian today!"

"Thank you for the offer, but I plan to travel around in the city for now, so I'll pay your Bai Family a visit another day," Han Li said with a smile and he cupped his fist in a salute.

"In that case, I won't keep you any longer. This jade pendant is something that I can be identified by. With this jade pendant, you'll be able to directly come and find me in our Bai Family without being questioned," Bai Yunxin said with a slightly wistful look as she flipped her hand over to produce an azure jade badge, which she tossed toward Han Li.

Han Li caught the jade pendant before taking a look at it, upon which he discovered that there were some crimson threads interwoven into its surface, indicating that it hadn't been refined using ordinary jade.

There was an image of an ascending woman engraved onto the badge, and the woman bore a strong resemblance to Bai Yunxin.

Han Li nodded as he stowed the jade pendant away, and the group from the Bai Family departed on the beast-drawn carriages.

As for Han Li, he immediately departed toward another street and disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.

Even though there weren't any Sacred Ancestors in Illusion Night City, it was naturally still quite renowned due to the presence of over 10 devilish lords, and the number of high-grade devilish beings in the city also far exceeded that of normal cities of this scale.

In contrast with Blood Crow City, this city had far more buildings of all different types. Not only were there ordinary shops such as material and ingredient shops, there were also many dojos that taught specific devilish arts, which presented quite an intriguing sight to Han Li.

These were similar to the dojos that taught different cultivation arts in the Spirit Realm, and Han Li couldn't help but wonder if these had always existed or if the devilish beings had stolen the idea from the Spirit Realm.

While passing by a tall pagoda, a hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes at the sight of the plaque hanging above the door.

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Chapter 2052: Myriad Slave Tower

The words "Myriad Slave Tower" were emblazoned in large devilish text on the plaque, and it was the first time that Han Li had seen a place like this. Thus, after a brief hesitation, he made his toward it with an intrigued expression.

Upon entering the pagoda, he found himself in a grandiose hall. On either side of the hall were around a dozen devilish young women in silver palatial dresses, welcoming guests with elegant smiles.

At the center of the hall was a row of intricate jade tables and chairs, and there was a black-robed middle-aged man who was serving three guests with a few of the devilish young women.

Before Han Li even had a chance to inspect his surroundings, the middle-aged man caught sight of him and immediately rushed over to him after extending an apology to the other three guests.

"Greetings, Senior; is there anything I can do for you?" the middle-aged man asked in a respectful manner.

He was a Deity Transformation Stage devilish being, so he naturally didn't dare to give a powerful Spatial Tempering Stage being like Han Li the cold shoulder.

"What kind of establishment is this Myriad Slave Tower? I've never seen such a place anywhere else," Han Li asked.

"This must be your first time visiting Illusion Night City. Indeed, our Myriad Slave Tower is very rare as it specializes in selling slaves and devilish beasts," the middle-aged replied.

"Slaves and devilish beasts?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Indeed. Those guests over there have come here to purchase some slaves; you can take a look as well if you're interested, Senior. As for devilish beasts, we only have some ordinary breeds, so you most likely wouldn't be interested in them," the middle-aged man introduced with a smile.

"In that case, I'll go take a look" Han Li replied with a nod.

"Great! Please come with me, Senior." The middle-aged man immediately gestured for one of the young women to bring the three other devilish beings over, then led them all to a simple teleportation formation at the corner of the pagoda.

The three guests were comprised of two handsome men and an elegant woman. They were only at the Nascent Soul Stage, but they were only appraising Han Li with curiosity rather than awe and veneration.

Han Li took a brief glance at them to find that a nondescript "Ning" character had been emblazoned on each of their sleeves.

Could they be from the Ning Family?

After everyone stepped onto the teleportation formation, the middle-aged man cast an incantation seal toward the edge of the formation, and they were all instantly teleported away.

In the next instant, they reappeared within a similar teleportation formation on a different level of the pagoda.

Han Li opened his eyes and immediately inspected his surroundings, upon which he discovered that there was a long and narrow bluestone passageway up ahead, situated between two stone walls with countless runes carved onto their surfaces, clearly indicating the presence of a restriction.

On the other side of the passageway were several large golden gates, in front of each of which stood two burly armored guards.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the guards, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

These guards were all humanoid puppets.

The middle-aged immediately led Han Li and the others out of the teleportation formation, then strode through the passageway and arrived at the nearest golden gate.

The two puppets in front of the gate seemed to have sensed their arrival, and they turned toward the group as they brandished their halberds, looking as if they would attack anyone who dared to approach them.

The middle-aged remained completely unflustered and flipped a hand over to produce a metal badge, then waved it forward while chanting a short and simple incantation.

The cold light within the puppets' eyes instantly faded, and they also set down their halberds again.

The three devilish beings from the Ning Family paid no heed to this, but Han Li carefully inspected the pair of puppets with blue light flashing through his eyes, then suddenly asked in an intrigued voice, "These puppets seem to even more powerful than the average Nascent Soul Stage being, but the refinement method used on them seems to be quite special. Did your pagoda refine these puppets yourselves or purchase them from elsewhere?"

According to the information that he had gathered about the Elder Devil Realm, these two puppets clearly hadn't been refined using any of the several types of common refinement techniques in the Elder Devil Realm. The refinement method and materials used were both very crude, but the puppets' powers belied the rough craftsmanship, and that was quite interesting to Han Li.

"Hehe, indeed, the refinement method used for these Devil Crystal Puppets was rather special. They can't be possessed and controlled by spiritual sense, but they can complete some simple tasks while being controlled by treasures prepared in advance. They were crafted using our pagoda's secret refinement technique that isn't sold anywhere else, but if you're interested, a deal isn't entirely non-negotiable," the middle-aged man replied with a smile.

"Devil Crystal Puppets, eh? I am indeed interested in them, but we'll discuss this later," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

The middle-aged man was slightly disappointed to hear this, but he still maintained his smile as he replied, "Alright, then I'll be opening the gate now."

Immediately thereafter, he strode over to the golden gate before pressing the metal badge against it.

The golden gate opened on its own, and faint white light came spilling out from within.

The middle-aged then stepped away to the side and made an inviting hand gesture.

Even though the other three devilish beings were from the Ning Family, they didn't dare to disrespect a Spatial Tempering Stage being like Han Li, so they could wait for him to enter first.

Han Li gave a slight nod before making his way through the gate.

Beyond the gate were several formations of different sizes, which formed a series of cylindrical white light barriers, within which were trapped several tens of devilish men and women in different attire.

All of them had faint devilish patterns on their faces, clearly indicating restrictions had been placed on their bodies.

The ones with the highest cultivation bases among them were only at the Core Formation Stage, while the weakest ones were only at the Qi Condensation Stage.

The middle-aged man was about to start talking again, but Han Li interjected, "You can go now; I'll take a look here for myself."

The middle-aged man naturally didn't dare to speak any further upon hearing this. "In that case, I'll go and serve the other guests; please pardon me, Senior."

Thus, the middle-aged men made their way over to the people from the Ning Family. "Fellow daoists, if you'd like to buy some servants, then these ones should be ideal. They're Earth Yin beings from deep within the Illusion Howl Desert, and not only are they all adept in earth-attribute devilish arts, once they reach maturity, all of them become handsome men and beautiful women. Most importantly, these ones possess decent aptitude and could be nurtured to the Nascent Soul Stage with minimal effort. In fact, it's possible that they could even progress to the Deity Transformation Stage."

Han Li reflexively turned toward the Earth Yin beings upon hearing the term "Illusion Howl Desert", and there, he discovered eight disheveled young men and women who appeared to be around 13 to 14 years of age. They were all at the Foundation Establishment Stage, yet seemed to be quite feeble.

"Earth Yin beings? That's quite rare to see in this pagoda, but do they really possess aptitude that's as good as you proclaim?" a young man from the Ning Family with red scales on his face asked in a skeptical manner.

"Hehe, if you don't believe me, you're free to examine their bone age. Isn't it already sufficient testament to their aptitude that they were able to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage at such a young age?" the middle-aged replied in a confident manner.

"How do we know if your pagoda hasn't fed them some pills to tap into their latent potential?" the woman from the Ning Family asked with a smile.

A wry smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face as he replied, "Those types of pills are all quite expensive; we wouldn't use them on some slaves. Besides, there are always telltale signs that can be detected to indicate consumption of such pills; our pagoda wouldn't dare to risk offending your Ning Family over something like this. If you're interested in them, you can take them right away after issuing the required devil stones."

The three people from the Ning Family seemed to have been convinced, and they began to negotiate a price as opposed to continuing to linger on the topic of the Earth Yin beings' aptitude.

Around 15 minutes later, they finally arrived at an agreement, and the woman from the Ning Family issued a large sum of devil stones, then departed with the group of Earth Yin beings.

Following their departure, the middle-aged man made his way back to Han Li in a respectful manner. "Have any of these slaves caught your eye, Senior? If not, I can take you elsewhere; perhaps there will be some other slaves that are more to your liking."

"There's no need for that; I'm used to traveling alone anyway. Take me to see the Devil Crystal Puppets that your pagoda is selling," Han Li replied.

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Chapter 2053: Female Slave

"In that case, I'll take you to the other level to examine the puppets," the middle-aged man immediately replied in an obedient manner.

After that, he made his way out of the room, then waved his metal badge to close the gate before walking over to the teleportation formation through which they had come from.

Han Li followed along in an expressionless manner, yet just as they were about to step onto the formation, a burst of buzzing rang out, following which several humanoid figures emerged amid a flash of white light.

The middle-aged man's expression faltered slightly upon seeing this, and he peered into the formation, upon which his expression immediately darkened slightly.

The people that had just appeared in the formation were comprised of four black-armored devilish guards, a brocade-robed elderly man, and a blue-robed young woman.

The elderly man was at the Deity Transformation Stage, while the young woman was at the Core Formation Stage and was quite a beauty.

However, she had a layer of black devilish patterns all over her body to restrict her cultivation base, clearly indicating that she was a newly arrived slave.

Han Li reflexively swept his spiritual sense toward the young woman, upon which his pupils abruptly contracted with incredulity.

The elderly man's expression also darkened at the sight of the middle-aged, following which he greeted with a fake smile, "Greetings, Shopkeeper Fang; have you brought this guest here to pick out some slaves? If none of them were to his liking, I have some new slaves that may be of interest to him."

"There's no need for that. Senior Han is more interested in the Devil Crystal Puppets, so you can keep your slaves to yourself, Shopkeeper Huang," the middle-aged replied in a cold voice, and they were clearly not on good terms.

The elderly man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this before he turned to Han Li with a respectful salute. "Forgive me for my rudeness, Senior Han. If you're interested in the puppets, I have some exceptional ones that I can show you."

"What are you trying to do, Shopkeeper Huang? I'm serving Senior Han, and I have more than enough Devil Crystal Puppets in my collection for Senior Han to choose from, so you should focus on what you're doing. Take this new slave of yours, and... Hmm? This slave has no trace of devilish Qi in her body! She's not from our holy realm!" the middle-aged man exclaimed as he turned his attention to the young woman.

"Hehe, have you only just figured that out? This woman is no ordinary slave, and I expended a lot of effort to acquire her. Setting that aside for now, I've seen the Devil Crystal Puppets in your possession. They may be enough to fool some Nascent Soul Stage beings, but they would surely be an insult to Senior Han's eyes," Shopkeeper Huang chuckled.

"How dare you..."

The middle-aged man immediately flared up with rage, only for Han Li to suddenly raise a hand and interject, "We'll talk about the Devil Crystal Puppets later. How much are you selling her for? I'm taking her!"

Han Li pointed at the yellow-robed young woman as he spoke.

"My apologies, Senior, but she's already been taken by someone else, so I won't be able to sell her to you," the elderly man hurriedly said with an apologetic smile.

"Oh? Can slaves be reserved in the Myriad Slave Tower?" Han Li asked as he turned to the middle-aged man beside him.

"Absolutely not! Our pagoda has always operated on a first come first serve basis. Shopkeeper Huang, why can't you sell this slave to Senior Han? Are you worried that he won't be able to afford her?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.

"This is a slave that was requested by Senior Zhao Wenhao! If I hand her over to someone else, who's going to answer to Senior Zhao?" the elderly man snapped.

"What? This slave was requested by Senior Zhao?" The middle-aged man drew a sharp breath upon hearing this before turning to the young woman with a hesitant expression.

"Who is this Zhao Wenhao?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

The middle-aged man faltered slightly before replying with a forced smile, "Senior Zhao is the master of the Zhao Family. It would not be wise to offend him over a mere Core Formation Stage slave."

"The master of the Zhao Family? He must be a Spatial Tempering cultivator as well then. In any case, I'm taking her. If he has any objections, then he can come and find me himself," Han Li replied with a cold smile.

Both the middle-aged man and elderly man's expressions changed upon seeing this.

The middle-aged man still wanted to say something further, but Han Li abruptly strode forward and appeared between the four armored guards in a flash, then reached out to grab onto the young woman's arm before reappearing in his original spot in a flash.

Everything had taken place in the span of just a single breath!

The elderly man faltered slightly before immediately flaring up with rage. "What is the meaning of this, Senior? Are you planning to take a slave from our pagoda by force? You may be a Spatial Tempering Stage being, but our pagoda is not to be messed with, either!"

The four devilish guards hurriedly raised their weapons in a wary manner, and the middle-aged man reflexively took a couple of steps backward before opening his mouth to say something, but decided against it in the end.

As for the yellow-robed young woman, she was looking up at Han Li with a perplexed expression.

Han Li completely ignored the elderly man's threat and instantly injected a wisp of magic power into the young woman's body through her arm, upon which his expression changed drastically.

"There's no mistaking it; it really is that cultivation art! If you can't make a decision on this, then shut up! I'll find someone else who can make the decision for myself," Han Li harrumphed coldly as an extremely fearsome aura erupted from his body, picking up the two Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings and hurling them back over 100 feet.

Only after their backs had crashed into the walls of the pagoda did they manage to steady themselves, but their faces had turned completely pale, and their eyes were filled with astonishment.

As for the four devilish guards, they were instantly slammed onto the ground and completely immobilized by the devastating aura.

Han Li had made an effort to protect the yellow-robed young woman, so she remained unaffected, but she was also completely dumbstruck.

The aura emanating from Han Li's body continued to swell drastically, and it encompassed the entire pagoda.

All of the restrictions in the pagoda began to tremor in the face of his terrifying aura, and loud sirens had begun to blare.

Such a loud commotion naturally alerted the more powerful devilish beings in the pagoda.

There were two devilish elderly men meditating in a secret chamber on the highest level of the pagoda, and as soon as they sensed this aura, they immediately sprang up before flying out of the secret chamber as quickly as they could.

Moments later, a pair of Spatial Tempering Stage elderly men had appeared before Han Li, and they were respectfully referring to Han Li as a devilish lord right before the incredulous eyes of the two shopkeepers.

At this point, Han Li had already withdrawn his immense aura, and he appraised the two Spatial Tempering Stage elderly men coldly as he said, "I want to buy her; do you have any objections?"

"Of course not! It's an immense honor for her to catch the interest of an esteemed devilish lord like you, Senior. If you want her, you can have her free of charge," one of the elderly men said, and his companion nodded eagerly in agreement.

These two were naturally aware that all devilish lords were old monsters who had lived for countless years, and most of them had very peculiar personalities, so they certainly didn't dare to display any disrespect.

"Hehe, it wouldn't be right of me to take her for free; here are some devil stones. Aside from that, there's something else I want to discuss with you two," Han Li chuckled as he raised a sleeve to release a storage bracelet that was filled with devil stones.

One of the elderly men caught the storage bracelet, and he didn't dare to return it, so he could only stow it away. "What can we do for you, Senior? As long as it's within our capabilities, we definitely won't refuse!"

"I have something else I need to attend to for now, so we'll discuss this later. I hope your pagoda will satisfy me again when I return next time," Han Li said.

As soon as his voice trailed off, black light erupted from his body, sweeping up the yellow-robed young woman before flying toward one of the walls of the pagoda as a streak of light.

A resounding boom rang out, and the streak of light easily pierced through the restrictions on the wall before vanishing in a flash.

The two Spatial Tempering Stage elderly men could only exchange a wry smile upon seeing this.

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Chapter 2054: Encountering the Maiden Cultivation Art Again

Even though the Myriad Slave Tower had no lack of devilish-lord-level elders, there wasn't such a powerful being in the Illusion Night City branch. As such, the two Spatial Tempering Stage elderly men naturally didn't dare to offend Han Li when they knew nothing about him.

In a sense, a devilish lord of unknown origins was even more worthy of fear in their eyes than the patriarchs of the four major families.

As soon as Han Li left, the brocade-robed elderly man hurriedly made his way toward the pair of Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings. "Elders, the slave that was just taken was reserved by the master of the Zhao Family! If we let that senior take her away just like that, then I won't be able to answer to the Zhao Family!"

"She was reserved by Zhao Wenhao? That is indeed quite troublesome. Did you already take a deposit from him?" one of the elderly men asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"No, but he came to our pagoda several months ago and specifically requested a young human female cultivator at the Core Formation Stage or above, and he expressed a willingness to issue a large batch of devil stones for such a slave. There are precedents of similar arrangements made in the past, so I agreed," the brocade-robed elderly man hurriedly explained.

"That may be the case, but no deposit was issued, so we're not obliged to sell her to the Zhao Family. If he insists on acquiring a slave of her specifications, then we'll just have to take some time and source another one for him," the other Spatial Tempering Stage elderly man said as he stroked his beard calmly.

"Indeed. We'll leave it to you to sort things out with the Zhao Family. Don't offend the Zhao Family, but definitely don't incur the wrath of that Senior Han, either. The two of us have to go back to meditate now; we'll leave everything to you two," the first Spatial Tempering Stage elderly man said before the two of them stepped into the nearby teleportation formation together.

"Yes, elders!" The brocade-robed elderly man's expression was quite strained, but the middle-aged man was taking great pleasure in his misfortune as both of them bowed in unison.

"By the way, if that Senior Han returns to our pagoda, then notify us right away so we can attend to him in person," one of the elders instructed right as the teleportation formation was about to be activated.

"Yes!"

The two shopkeepers extended respectful bows once again, following which the pair of Spatial Tempering Stage elders vanished from the formation amid a flash of white light.

"Hehe, looks like you'll have your hands full Brother Huang. Having said that, you have some strong ties with the Zhao Family, so I'm sure you'll be able to handle this," the middle-aged man chuckled before also teleporting away.

The brocade-robed elderly man's expression darkened even further, and he stood on the spot for a long while before grumbling to himself, "Looks like I'll have no choice but to pay the Zhao Family a visit to explain the situation and find another slave that fits his requirements, but that's not going to be easy!"

Meanwhile, Han Li had already gotten onto a small beast-drawn carriage with the yellow-robed young woman, and the carriage was racing along the street.

Han Li sat at the center of the carriage, meditating with his eyes closed, while the yellow-robed young woman was cowering in a corner, surreptitiously appraising Han Li with a fearful expression.

Following what had happened in the Myriad Slave Tower, she was naturally already aware that Han Li was a devilish lord. However, Han Li's youthful and ordinary appearance struck her with a sense of bewilderment.

In any case, a Body Integration Stage being was something that she had never thought that she would encounter. With him as her master, the final trace of hope she had harbored for making an escape was completely dashed.

As such, she was plunged into a state of horror and despair, and she shuddered to imagine what unspeakable horrors awaited her.

Han Li didn't use any secret technique to glean the young woman's thoughts, but he could roughly guess what she was thinking.

He appeared to be quite calm and collected, but his emotions were also in a tumultuous state, and images of a white-robed beauty surfaced in his mind over and over again.

Some of the images were quite blurry and indistinct, while others were crystal clear, as if they had been captured just a day ago. Even with Han Li's mental fortitude, he couldn't help but have his emotions swayed by these images.

However, he didn't forcibly eradicate these images through the use of any secret techniques, and merely basked in the bittersweet sensation of missing a loved one.

After a long while, the carriage finally stopped, and the driver's respectful voice rang out from outside.

"Senior, we've arrived at your requested destination."

Han Li took a deep breath to repress his tumultuous emotions as he opened his eyes, then made his way out of the carriage in an unhurried manner.

Even though Han Li hadn't called out to her, the yellow-robed young woman still gritted her teeth and decided to follow along after a brief moment of hesitation.

She was quite smart, and she knew that she was completely at Han Li's mercy, so it was in her best interest to act in an obedient manner. Otherwise, with Han Li's unfathomable cultivation base, there were countless ways for him to make her regret she had ever been born!

Han Li tossed a devil stone to the coach driver, then cast his gaze forward as a pleased look appeared on his face.

He was currently situated in front of a mountain face that was over 10,000 feet tall, and there were a series of pavilions and cave abodes constructed along the mountain face.

At the very front of these buildings was a massive entrance that was several hundred feet tall with a plaque that read "Holy Spirit Courtyard" in large silver characters.

Inside the pavilion was a black wooden table, upon which an elderly devilish man was taking a nap. There were several child servants standing in silence nearby, not daring to wake up the elderly devilish man.

Han Li cast a cold gaze toward the elderly man, and his lips tremored slightly.

In the next instant, the elderly sprang up from the table, and hurriedly yelled, "Please forgive me for my rudeness, Senior!"

He then immediately caught sight of Han Li and the yellow-robed young woman before rushing over to them with a wide smile.

Not long after that, Han Li and the young woman appeared in a pavilion that had been constructed along the mountain face.

Half of the pavilion was situated inside the stone face while the other half was protruding out of the mountain, and it had been constructed with a restriction that could completely isolate the pavilion from the outside world, making it very popular among high-grade beings who liked to travel alone.

This Holy Spirit Courtyard was specifically designated for high-grade devilish beings to reside in, but the rental fees here were significantly more expensive than other similar places, so there weren't many high-grade devilish beings living here.

Not long ago, Han Li had used his spiritual sense to roughly assess all of the levels and the structure of the pavilion, and he had been quite pleased with what he had seen. Thus, he issued some devil stones to the elderly devilish man and rented this pavilion for an entire year.

At this point, Han Li had activated all of the pavilion's restrictions and taken the young woman to the highest level, then sat down calmly onto a futon before indicating for the young woman to take a seat across from him.

The young woman was naturally still feeling extremely uneasy, but she didn't dare to disobey his instructions.

After that, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release several tens of formation flags, all of which vanished into the nearby space in a flash.

In the next instant, an azure light barrier appeared to encompass the entire pavilion, and only then did Han Li turn toward the young woman with a smile before thrusting a palm toward her.

An immense burst of magic power erupted out of his palm and instantly destroyed the restrictions within the young woman's body.

As a result, the devilish symbols on her skin instantly vanished, and her magic power was free to circulate through her meridians again. She was naturally ecstatic to sense this, yet before she could say anything, Han Li asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Zhu Guo'er," the young woman replied after only a brief hesitation.

"I can see that you don't have any devilish Qi within your body; you're a pure human, right? Did you enter this realm of your own volition or were you captured and taken here from the Spirit Realm?" Han Li asked.

"I guess you can say I entered this realm on my own," the young woman replied.

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, "How did you manage to do that? With your cultivation base, you don't possess the ability to traverse through space; did you enter this realm with someone else?"

"No, I entered this realm on my own."

"I see, that's rather interesting. Who taught you the Greater Incarnation Arts that you're using?" Han Li asked.

The yellow-robed young woman hesitated momentarily before replying, "I see you've heard of this cultivation art, Senior. It was taught to me by my mother."

"Who is your mother, and how did she obtain this Greater Incarnation Arts?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

The yellow-robed young woman was clearly quite reluctant to answer this question.

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Chapter 2055: Small Spirit Sky

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he continued, "You're currently in the reincarnation phase, so your true cultivation base isn't at the Core Formation Stage, is it?"

"I should've known that you'd be able to identify this considering you're aware of the existence of the Greater Incarnation Arts," Zhu Guo'er conceded as her expression darkened slightly.

"What's your original cultivation base? Nascent Soul Stage or Deity Transformation Stage?" Han Li asked.

Zhu Guo'er bit down on her lower lip for a moment before replying, "I am at the Nascent Soul Stage. If I hadn't been stuck in the reincarnation phase, then I wouldn't have been captured."

"I can see that you're truly quite young, yet you've already cultivated the Greater Incarnation Arts to quite an impressive degree. Aside from your brilliant aptitude, I assume you must be receiving guidance from someone who's extremely adept at using the same cultivation art. Your mother must be at quite an advanced stage in this cultivation art as well, right?" Han Li asked.

Zhu Guo'er's expression changed a few times before she finally gritted her teeth, and said, "If you want to ask about me, then I can tell you anything you want to know, but if you want to ask about my mother, then I have nothing to say."

"Oh? You're a very good daughter, but do you think I won't be able to find out just because you refuse to tell me?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

A thought immediately occurred to the young woman upon hearing this, and her face turned deathly pale as she drastically sped up the circulation of her own true essence, as if she really were planning to self-detonate at any moment. "If you're going to use a soul search technique on me, then I'd sooner detonate my own Nascent Soul than let you have your way!"

However, Han Li merely chuckled, "You'll have to ask for my permission if you want to self-detonate in my presence!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept a sleeve toward the young woman in a nonchalant manner, releasing a burst of grey light that encompassed her entire body.

As a result, Zhu Guo'er was instantly immobilized and rendered completely unable to muster up any magic power. The true essence that she had gathered in her dantian had also completely faded, so self-detonation was completely out of her grasp.

"What did you do to me?" Zhu Guo'er yelled in rage and horror.

"Nothing, all I want is for you to answer my questions truthfully. Now then, look into my eyes," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"What? Your eyes..." Zhu Guo'er was quite young, but she still knew that she definitely shouldn't follow Han Li's instructions. However, she found herself completely unable to resist his wishes as she raised her head to meet his gaze.

All of a sudden, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and Zhu Guo'ers consciousness immediately began to fade as her eyelids suddenly became extraordinarily heavy.

However, before she could do anything, she had already fallen unconscious.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, and he cast an incantation seal toward Zhu Guo'er while the blue light in his eyes became even brighter.

If one could peer into Zhu Guo'er's body right now, they discover that her Nascent Soul had been completely bound by layers of grey light threads, and it was also in an unconscious state.

In the instant that the azure incantation seal vanished into Zhu Guo'er's body, her eyelids fluttered as she opened her eyes again, but they were completely glazed over and as lifeless as those of a puppet.

"Where did you learn your Greater Incarnation Arts from?" Han Li asked in a compelling voice as blue light flickered within his eyes.

"From my mother," Zhu Guo'er replied in a clear voice despite her wooden expression.

"Who normally instructs you in your cultivation? Is your mother using the same cultivation art?"

"My mother instructs me, but she cultivates the Clear Qi Arts instead."

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this, but his tone remained unchanged as he asked, "Clear Qi Arts? That's quite common among Buddhist cultivators. What cultivation base is your mother at? She must possess quite an advanced cultivation base for her to be able to instruct you in the Greater Incarnation Arts even without cultivating it herself."

"My mother is only at the Nascent Soul Stage. As for her ability to guide me..." Zhu Guo'er's voice suddenly trailed off here as a slightly lost look appeared on her face.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately asked, "Is there something out of the ordinary about the way that your mother is instructing you?"

"Indeed. Everything was quite normal before I reached the Nascent Soul Stage, but after that, my mother is often unable to answer my cultivation questions on the spot and can only provide answers several days later. I suspect that there's a master of the Greater Incarnation Arts behind my mother."Han Li's heart rate immediately began to speed up upon hearing this. "Have you asked your mother whether this is the case?"

"I have on many occasions, but my mother always denied it."

"What is your mother's name, and what does she look like?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"My mother is Ling Feixian, and she bears a strong resemblance to me," Zhu Guo'er replied.

Han Li fell into silent contemplation for a long while upon hearing this before finally shaking his head as he murmured something to himself. After a while, a thought occurred to him, and he asked, "How did you enter the Elder Devil Realm, and where did you come from before you came here?"

"I was being pursued by enemies and accidentally fell into a spatial rift to enter the Elder Devil Realm. Prior to this, I was from the Small Spirit Sky," Zhu Guo'er replied.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Small Spirit Sky? Where is that?"

"The Small Spirit Sky is the Small Spirit Sky," Zhu Guo'er replied.

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this, and after a long while, he heaved a faint sigh as he murmured to himself, "So be it, I'll just have to gather this information myself."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he switched to a different hand seal, and a translucent thread shot forth out of his glabella before vanishing into Zhu Guo'er's forehead in a flash.

After that, the blue light in Han Li's eyes became even more pronounced.

Zhu Guo'er was only at the Nascent Soul Stage, so Han Li was naturally being very careful in his soul inspection to avoid harming her.

After around 15 minutes, Han Li easily procured all of the information that he wanted, and the translucent thread shot back into his glabella.

As soon as the translucent thread vanished, Zhu Guo'er collapsed onto the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this, then closed his eyes as he began to process the information he had obtained from her.

Shortly thereafter, he reopened his eyes and murmured to himself in a stunned manner, "So this Small Spirit Sky is a fragmented realm like the Vast Glacial Realm, and there are over 100,000,000 humans residing within it! That's truly very unexpected."

Indeed, as it turned out, the Small Spirit Sky was an independent realm that was once a fragment of another realm. According to what he had seen in Zhu Guo'er's memories, the realm seemed to be around the same size as the Vast Glacial Realm, but the spiritual Qi within the realm was even less abundant than that in the Spirit Realm.

There seemed to be around seven or eight foreign races residing in the Small Spirit Sky alongside the human race, and what was quite surprising was that many of the people in the realm had ended up there after while attempting to ascend to the Spirit Realm from lower realms.

As such, there was a very good chance that Nangong Wan could be there, and that would also explain why he had been unable to find any leads on her whereabouts in the Spirit Realm.

Even with his current level of mental fortitude, the thought of his beloved wife still lit a fire within his heart, and he wanted nothing more than to travel to Nangong Wan's side right away so they could be reunited.

Only after a long while did he finally manage to recover from his tumultuous emotional state, but his expression instantly darkened again as he considered the issue of how he was going to get to the Small Spirit Sky.

In contrast with the Vast Glacial Realm, the Small Spirit Sky was a realm that was constantly slowly moving through space, so it was virtually a matter of complete luck whether he would be able to find an entrance into the realm, and Zhu Guo'er's arrival into the Elder Devil Realm through that spatial rift was also purely by chance.

However, this information had all been derived from Zhu Guo'er's memories. As for whether it was all true, he would have to do some more research.

However, seeing as Zhu Guo'er was able to accidentally enter the Elder Devil Realm, there had to be people from the Small Spirit Sky who had stumbled into the Spirit Realm, so he should be able to find some relevant information.

After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Han Li cast his gaze toward Zhu Guo'er again.

He wasn't completely sure that her Greater Incarnation Arts had been bestowed upon her by Nangong Wan, but there was a very good chance that this was the case. After all, he had been in the Spirit Realm for a very long time, and he had never heard of any human sect that possessed such a cultivation art. It seemed that this cultivation art was extremely rare, and the Masked Moon Sect had to have obtained it through an enormous stroke of luck.

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Chapter 2056: Layman Futian

After thinking through all these matters, Han Li heaved a faint forlorn sigh, then flicked a finger toward Zhu Guo'er.

A ball of azure light was expelled before vanishing into her body in a flash, and her eyelids fluttered before she slowly awakened.

However, as soon as she recalled how she had fallen unconscious, she immediately sat up with a dark expression.

"Did you search my soul?" she asked as she glared at Han Li.

"If I didn't search your soul, how would I have found the information I wanted? Rest assured, I only obtained the specific pieces of information that I'm interested in, and I didn't harm your soul during the process. It came as quite a surprise to me to learn that you're from the Small Spirit Sky as opposed to the Spirit Realm," Han Li said in a calm manner.

Zhu Guo'er bit down on her lower lip upon hearing mention of the Small Spirit Sky, and she didn't say anything.

"I've already planted a restriction in your body, so act as my servant for now here in Illusion Night City. If you serve me well, I can consider freeing you when I leave the city. You can go and find a room to rest in now; don't come to me unless it's an important matter. Also, you have to start referring to me as master from now on," Han Li continued in a nonchalant manner.

"Yes, Master; I'll be taking my leave now," Zhu Guo'er could only reply in a resigned voice before extending a curtsey toward Han Li, then obediently departed.

She was well aware that it would be both futile and foolish to try and resist a Body Integration Stage devilish lord.

However, judging from her dejected expression, it was clear that she wasn't very hopeful that Han Li would fulfill his promise.

Following Zhu Guo'er's departure, Han Li looked up at the ceiling and became engrossed in his own thoughts once again.

For the next three days, Han Li remained on the top level of the pavilion to meditate, and didn't go anywhere else.

However, on the fourth day, someone came to see him.

"Did the master of the Zhao Family send a messenger?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Zhu Guo'er replied, "Yes, Master. An elder of the Zhao Family just delivered a message, and he insisted that I relay it to you."

"Let me take a look..."

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he made a grabbing motion to draw the letter into his grasp, then gently opened it.

A ball of golden light immediately erupted out of the letter before transforming into the projection of a graceful and refined middle-aged man.

The man had black scales on the corners of his eyes and a pair of golden pupils; it was none other than the master of the Zhao Family!

The projection cupped its fist in a salute toward Han Li, then relayed two things in a polite manner.

The first thing was that he had heard from Shopkeeper Huang of the Myriad Slave Tower about the arrival of Han Li, and he wished to befriend Han Li while explicitly stating that the Zhao Family wouldn't hold any grudge against him over a mere slave. The second thing was that the Zhao Family was going to hold a ceremony to worship their ancestors in a month, and he was inviting Han Li to attend as a guest.

After that, the projection extended another salute toward Han Li before fading into nothingness, leaving only the letter behind.

Han Li looked down at the letter to find that it was covered in black devilish symbols with a shimmering golden "Zhao" character at the center.

He rubbed his hands together expressionlessly, and a ball of silver flames emerged to instantly incinerate the letter into ashes.

"When the Zhao Family sends someone for a reply from me, tell them I accept their invitation," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Master," Zhu Guo'er replied before taking her leave.

Han Li closed his eyes again to meditate, but to his surprise, he was paid another visit by Zhu Guo'er the very next day, who informed him that a woman with the Bai surname had come to visit him.

Han Li immediately guessed that this was most likely Bai Yunxin.

It seemed that the Bai Family had become aware of his status as a devilish lord, after all. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so eager to pay him this visit.

Even so, Han Li had no intention of turning away. Thus, he instructed Zhu Guo'er to take her to the hall on the first floor, and only after a while did he make his way down from the top floor in an unhurried manner.

As soon as he arrived at the hall on the first floor, he discovered that it was indeed Bai Yunxin who had come to visit him, and a smile appeared on his face as he said, "Greetings, Fairy Bai. Please forgive me for my tardiness."

Han Li released his Body Integration Stage aura without making any attempt to disguise it as he spoke.

Bai Yunxin swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which she immediately stood up from her seat before hurriedly extending a curtsey.

"I was unaware that you were a devilish lord, Senior Han; please forgive me for any offense I may have caused you!"

"You didn't know, so you're not to blame. I disguised my own aura precisely because I was worried that you would be too stiff and reserved if you had known the truth," Han Li chuckled as he motioned for Bai Yunxin to take a seat, and he also calmly made his way over to the main seat before sitting down himself.

Bai Yunxin's heart eased slightly upon hearing this, but she still didn't dare to sit down as she extended words of gratitude toward Han Li in a careful manner.

Han Li didn't force the issue any further and allowed her to remain standing as he asked, "You didn't come here just to apologize, did you, Fellow Daoist Bai?"

"Indeed, Senior; I had already informed Senior Futian of your arrival in the city, and I was sent here to extend an invitation to you on Senior Futian's behalf," Bai Yunxin replied.

"I see. In that case, I would be more than happy to meet Fellow Daoist Futian. Please lead the way, Fellow Daoist Bai," Han Li said with a nod.

Bai Yunxin was ecstatic to hear this, and she immediately gave an affirmative response.

Han Li instructed Zhu Guo'er to remain in the pavilion, while he followed Bai Yunxin out of the room.

When they arrived at the massive entrance, there was already a giant carriage being drawn by eight unicorns weighting for them.

There was a purple banner with an inky-black "Bai" character emblazoned on its surface protruding from the top of the carriage, and it was clear that this was a carriage that the Bai Family reserved for esteemed guests.

On either side of the carriage were 16 black-armored guards atop two-headed giant wolf steeds, all of which were also clad in suits of black armor.

The guards were each carrying two huge swords on their backs, and they were all at the Deity Transformation Stage.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he glanced at these armored guards, and Bai Yunxin smiled as she introduced, "These Baleful Tiger Guards are the elite guards trained by our Bai Family. All of them have once lived along on the plains for over 100 years and have slain countless devilish beasts; what do you think, Senior Han?"

"They seem to be no less powerful than the elite guards of major cities," Han Li replied with a nod before making his way into the carriage, where he sat down and closed his eyes.

Bai Yunxin naturally didn't dare to ask any further questions, and she also got onto the carriage before issuing an instruction.

The carriage immediately set off with the 16 Baleful Tiger Guards following along close to the sides.

All of the ordinary devilish beings on the streets immediately parted for the carriage and armored guards with reverent and envious looks in their eyes.

Thus, the carriage raced along without any impediment, and after several hours, it finally drew to a halt in front of a fortress within the city.

Han Li emerged from the carriage, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze toward the fortress.

This was naturally where the Bai Family was situated, and not only was the entire fortress completely seamless, its walls were as smooth as jade virtually without any gaps.

On top of that, the material used for the walls was neither metallic nor jade in nature, and he couldn't identify exactly what it was even with his vast wealth of knowledge and experience.

Judging from the menacing aura being given off by the fortress, so it was clearly laden with restrictions and definitely wasn't as simple as it appeared.

Directly in front of the fortress was a giant gate that was over 1,000 feet tall, and on either of it were several tens of devilish beast statues of different sizes, creating a long path.

All of the statues were dull and black, but they were extremely life-like, and there were also eight yellow-robed devilish beings standing in front of the gate in an expressionless manner.

Under Bai Yunxin's guidance, Han Li strolled through the gate past the slightly bewildered yellow-robed devilish beings, and around 15 minutes later, Han Li was seated on a purple chair in a hall with antiquated decor, sipping from a silver teacup.

A fragrant scent was emanating out of the cup, and there were four extremely beautiful devilish female servants standing off to the side in an extremely respectful manner.

Bai Yunxin was currently nowhere to be seen, and the entire hall was completely silent.

A short while later, gentle footsteps suddenly rang out from outside the hall, and a person strode into the room in a graceful manner.

The newcomer turned to Han Li with a faint smile, and said, "I am Layman Futian; it's a pleasure to have you at our Bai Family, Fellow Daoist Han."

"You're Layman Futian?" Han Li asked in a slightly dumbstruck manner.

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Chapter 2057: Trouble

The person who had walked in was a tall and slender purple-haired woman who appeared to be in her twenties with a short white horn on her forehead. She had a graceful disposition, and was appraising Han Li with a faint smile.

The appearance of this Layman Futian had truly come as a surprise to Han Li.

"Were you not aware that I'm a woman, Fellow Daoist Han?" the purple-haired woman chuckled.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Bai Yunxin didn't mention this to me. Please forgive me for my rudeness," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute toward the woman, and his expression immediately returned to normal, but there was still a hint of shock in his eyes.

"That's alright, this isn't the first time this has happened to me. After all, the title of Layman Futian is quite prone to causing misunderstandings. It's just that the past patriarchs of our Bai Family had all been referred to as such, so it wouldn't be right of me to change the title," the woman explained with a smile.

Han Li was quite enlightened upon hearing this.

There were indeed some families in which certain titles were passed down in order to improve cohesion and as a piece of heritage.

This may seem like a bit of a gimmick, but it was actually quite effective in some cases.

The purple-haired woman took a seat across from Han Li, then waved a hand to dismiss the servant in the room, all of whom obediently departed, making sure to close the door behind them.

The woman swept her spiritual sense briefly over Han Li's body, and said, "I heard from that junior of mine that you don't show yourself in public much; it's no wonder I've never heard of you. However, I can sense that you're very proficient in your devilish art; you must've become a devilish lord quite a while ago, right? Even I'm unable to ascertain your exact cultivation base."

"I cultivate in the dao of slaughter, so I'm always cultivating in the plains where there's an abundance of devilish beasts, and as a result, I don't interact much with others. As for the time I've spent as a devilish lord, I'm afraid you're wrong there; I only became a devilish lord several centuries ago. The only reason you're unable to ascertain my exact cultivation base is because I've cultivated a special secret technique," Han Li replied with a smile.

At the same time, he also swept his spiritual sense toward Layman Futian, only to find that her cultivation base was completely unfathomable to him as well.

It was clear that this woman either had an aura concealment treasure or had cultivated an ability of that nature. With Han Li's current level of power, there was surely no one of the same cultivation base who could possess magic power that was unfathomable to him, so that wasn't a viable alternative.

The woman's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and a barely detectable hint of elation appeared on her face. "The dao of slaughter? I haven't come into contact with devilish arts of that nature much, but I'm aware that all fellow daoists who cultivate in the dao of slaughter possess combat prowess that's far superior to others of the same cultivation base."

"Devilish arts of the dao of slaughter are indeed very powerful, but they're also very difficult to cultivate. I'm aware that I won't be able to break through my current bottleneck through cultivation and slaying devilish beasts alone, and that's why I've decided to emerge from seclusion," Han Li explained.

Han Li's words seemed to have resonated with the purple-haired woman, and she sighed in agreement, "I'm not cultivating in the dao of slaughter, but I've also been stuck at my current bottleneck for over 1,000 years. Making progress after becoming a devilish lord is a very arduous task, and fortune often plays a big role."

Han Li nodded before suddenly changing the subject. "I've heard that the Illusion Howl Desert is a renowned restriction area in our holy realm, and I was planning to rest in this city for a few days before entering the desert to continue my cultivation. If I can encounter some opportunities in there, then that would naturally be ideal."

"Our Bai Family isn't exactly a massive powerhouse, but we have some influence around these parts and we know quite a bit about the Illusion Howl Desert. If you need anything, feel free to tell me; I'll get my juniors to fulfill your needs as best as possible," the purple-haired woman said.

"In that case, I really do have something to ask of your Bai Family," Han Li said with a smile.

"Oh? Go ahead, Fellow Daoist. As long as it's something within our Bai Family's capabilities, I definitely won't turn you down," the woman replied.

"I heard that any being who enters the Illusion Howl Desert will be rendered unable to use any movement techniques, and that the only way to traverse through the desert is by walking, which would take 50 to 60 years. I intend to cultivate in the Illusion Howl Desert for a while, but I don't want to spend that much time in there, so I was planning to purchase an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard from your Bai Family as a steed; would you be able to sell me one?" Han Li asked in a straightforward manner.

"Truth be told, Yun'er already told me about this earlier," the purple-haired woman sighed upon hearing this.

"Is this a difficult matter for you?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Let me put it this way: if anyone other than a devilish lord like you were to mention this to me, they would perhaps have already been evicted," the purple-haired woman replied.

"I had heard that Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are extremely important to all of the major families in the city and that they were strictly not for sale; would you be able to explain to me why that is?" Han Li asked as he stroked his own chin.

"Of course," the woman replied after a brief pause, "Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are very valuable; their devilish cores, bones, and even blood and flesh can be used to refine a type of extremely rare Qi refinement pill. However, that alone isn't enough for our major families to hold the lizards in such high regard. As I'm sure you're aware, Illusion Night City has only managed to exist here due to the mines and spirit medicines that can be found in this area. Sales of those items earn the city high yearly profits, which are enough to cover the costs of our major families.

"However, the city was founded here tens of thousands of years ago, and the nearby mines and spirit medicines have already been completely exhausted. As such, all of the specialty local products we currently produce are sourced from deep within the Illusion Howl Desert. Even though there's a good supply of such items in the desert, Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are necessary to ensure that they're transported back to the city promptly and safely. Otherwise, with all of the perils present in the desert, it would be virtually impossible to make it back on foot.

"After all, the desert is a renowned restricted area even in the entire holy realm, and it's very difficult for the average person to enter and leave it at will. As much, the lizards are vital to our major families for their ability to traverse through the desert, and less lizards would mean less yearly profits for our families; I'm sure you can understand why we're so unwilling to part with them now," the woman explained.

Han Li's brows also furrowed slightly upon hearing this. This made things quite troublesome.

The prosperity of these families hinged on these Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, so it would be very difficult for him to source them through conventional means.

As these thoughts appeared in his mind, Han Li reflexively glanced at the woman to find that there seemed to be something that she wanted to say, and a faint smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Futian, you didn't turn me down outright, so there must be some margin for negotiation. How about you tell me what I have to do for you to sell an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard to me? I'm sure the price alone isn't the issue here, right?"

The purple-haired woman faltered lightly upon hearing this before chuckling, "It seems you're a very skilled observer, Fellow Daoist."

Han Li merely remained silent and awaited a response.

The woman's smile faded upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, she continued, "If you had come three years ago, then there would've been no way that our Bai Family would've sold an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard to you, but now, there's room for negotiation. Our Bai Family has encountered some trouble, and we need someone of your powers to assist us."

"Oh? I'm sure you're not the only devilish lord in your Bai Family; what kind of trouble could stump you?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

"Truth be told, the issue lies in an extremely important mine in the Illusion How Desert that belongs to our Bai Family. Several years ago, it was taken over by a devilish-lord-level devilish beast. The beast is extremely powerful, and our Bai Family has been unable to evict it, so we could only recruit other allies to help us. If you can lend us your assistance, then we'd stand a far better chance. If we succeed, I can give you an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard as repayment," the woman replied with a wry smile.

"How many devilish-lord-level allies have you already recruited?" Han Li asked after a brief pause.

"I've already invited two. In addition to myself and another grand elder of our Bai Family, we have a total of four devilish lords thus far," the woman replied.

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Chapter 2058: Vast Yin Treasured Mirror

"What kind of devilish beast could pose a threat to four devilish lords?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"This is a rather embarrassing story for me to tell, but I once faced the beast in battle once. However, I was unable to make out its exact appearance. It was enshrouded in a ball of green flames the entire time, so I could only see a rough outline, and it seems to be something that resembles both a rhinoceros and a cow. The beast possesses powerful fire-attribute abilities that can virtually melt through space, and I was almost killed by it after being caught off guard," the purple-haired woman said in a serious manner.

"Fire-attribute abilities? That is indeed rather troublesome. Once cultivated to the extreme, fire-attribute abilities are far more destructive than abilities of other attributes; it's no wonder that you fell into such a perilous situation against it," Han Li said.

"There's no need to try and flatter me, Brother Han. Even if that devilish beast didn't possess fire-attribute abilities, its powers would still be well beyond mine. I'm guessing it's most likely comparable in power to a pinnacle late-stage devilish lord, so we would only stand a chance after recruiting as many powerful allies as possible," the woman said with a wry smile.

"It's comparable to a late-stage devilish lord? No wonder you're being so cautious. What do you approximate our chance of success to be? Facing such a powerful devilish beast is no laughing matter; perhaps I could be risking serious injury or even death," Han Li said with a grim expression.

"It would naturally be close to impossible to kill such a devilish beast, but if we only want to wound it and chase it away, then our chance of success should be around 60% to 70%. With your inclusion, I think that will increase to 90%," the woman immediately replied.

"Hehe, you seem to have a great deal of confidence," Han Li chuckled.

The purple-haired woman could see that Han Li was rather unconvinced, and she hurriedly explained, "That's because the two allies we recruited are no less powerful than I am, and one of them cultivates glacial powers while the other possesses an extreme Yin-attribute treasure. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to be so optimistic. If we still fail even after all this, then we may just have to give up on that mine."

Han Li nodded with an enlightened expression before continuing, "I see, that does indeed justify your confidence. However, there's still one thing I'd like you to explain to me."

"Go ahead, Brother Han," the purple-haired woman prompted with a smile.

"A devilish beast with that level of power should've already attained quite a high level of intelligence; why has it taken over your family's mine? On top of that, your Bai Family seems to hold this mine in very high regard; may I ask what kind of precious material the mine produces?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"The mine produces Firecloud Stones of the highest quality. Not only is the mine very large in scale, the supply of Firecloud Stones within it is extremely abundant, so it can profit our Bai Family for thousands of years," the woman explained.

"Firecloud Stones? I see, then that devilish beast must've been trying to devour the True Fire Qi of the entire mine to further its cultivation," Han Li said with an enlightened nod.

"Indeed. Only some special types of devilish beasts possess the innate ability to devour the True Fire Qi within such mine. If a normal being of our holy race were to attempt something like this, no matter how advanced their cultivation base may be, they would immediately self-detonate. This is why we're trying to recover the mine as soon as possible. Otherwise, once too much True Fire Qi is lost, the mine's value would depreciate significantly. If you're willing to assist us, our Bai Family is willing to offer you an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard and a large sum of devil stones as repayment regardless of whether we succeed or fail," the woman promised.

After a brief pause for contemplation, Han Li said, "It would be remiss of me to turn down such a sincere offer, but I must ask where this mine is located in the Illusion Howl Desert, and how long will it take to get there? If this is going to take too long, then I'm afraid I won't be able to join you."

"Rest assured, Brother Han; it'll only take just over a month to get to the mine. Even if we get delayed slightly along the way, three months should be enough to make a return trip," the woman hurriedly replied.

"In that case, I'll agree to this. When are we setting off?" Han Li said without any further hesitation.

The purple-haired woman was naturally ecstatic to hear this. "Thank you, Brother Han! One of the two fellow daoists I've invited has already arrived, but the other one will take around a month to get here. Once everyone's here, we'll set off right away."

Han Li nodded and offered no response to this.

After that, the purple-haired woman invited Han Li to move to the Bai Family again and offered to cover all of his living costs during this period of time, but Han Li euphemistically turned her down again.

The purple-haired woman didn't force the issue any further, and they began to discuss some cultivation experiences and insights.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to refuse, and a conversation immediately ensued.

To his surprise, he soon discovered that even though this Layman Futian was a woman, she had many unique insights when it came to body refinement techniques, and there were even many questions that he had about the Provenance True Devil Arts that were answered by her.

This was something that he very rarely experienced when exchanging cultivation insights with other Body Integration cultivators of the Spirit Realm.

However, this made sense considering his Provenance True Devil Arts had come from the Elder Devil Realm, so it was no surprise that their body refinement techniques shared similarities. It couldn't be said that he had gained nothing out of conversing with other Body Integration cultivators in the past, but in terms of body refinement, they naturally couldn't compare with a devilish lord.

Thus, Han Li became quite engrossed in the conversation, and they talked for over half a day.

During this time, the purple-haired woman was also very surprised to discover that Han Li's knowledge and proficiency in body refinement techniques far exceeded her own, indicating that he definitely wasn't an ordinary devilish lord.

The fact that her new ally was so powerful further exacerbated her elation, and she became even more polite toward Han Li.

As day began to transition into night, Han Li stood up to take his leave.

Such a short time naturally wasn't enough for two Body Integration Stage beings to exchange all of their cultivation insights, so the purple-haired woman invited Han Li to come and continue their discussion during the next few days.

Han Li thought about this for a moment before gladly agreeing.

Only then did the purple-haired woman call for that beast-drawn carriage to take Han Li back to the pavilion he was staying in.

Following Han Li's departure, the purple-haired woman sat back down in her chair, and her smile faded slightly.

He took a sip of the spirit tea on the table, then suddenly said, "Big Brother, what do you think is that man's cultivation base? With your Vast Yin Treasured Mirror, you should've been able to see some things, right?"

"You think far too highly of me, Sister; that man is truly unfathomable and far more powerful than you think!"

All of a sudden, white light flashed from one of the walls of the hall, and it transformed into a white light barrier, following which a man who was holding a black rhomboid mirror emerged.

As soon as the man appeared, he took a seat on the chair that Han Li had been seated in not too long ago.

This was a burly man with a head of curls and faint yellow skin. There was also a short white horn on his forehead, and it was even bigger than that of the purple-haired woman.

There was also a discernible resemblance between the two, so they were clearly related.

The purple-haired woman's heart jolted as she asked in a bewildered manner, "Were you unable to glean his cultivation base even with the Vast Yin Treasured Mirror?"

"As you know, this Vast Yin Treasured Mirror of mine was refined from an ice spirit of heaven and earth. However, its effect is greatly hampered when used on someone with an extreme Yin-attribute protective treasure or has cultivated a powerful glacial ability. On top of that, that man seems to possess immense spiritual sense; he most likely detected my presence but merely pretended not to have noticed me," the burly man said with a dark expression.

"What? He already noticed you? That's rather troublesome; I'll have to explain the situation to him next time we meet. Did you really not discover anything with your mirror?" the purple-haired woman asked as her brows furrowed slightly.

"Hehe, there's no need to explain anything. He pretended not to have noticed anything, and you can just do the same, but I won't be spying on him the next time you two meet. He's only staying in Illusion Night City for a short time, so there's no need for us to expend too much effort to try and befriend him. As for whether I discovered anything, of course I did! This Vast Yin Treasured Mirror mine isn't a toy! Let me show you what I found," the burly man chuckled as he pointed a finger at the mirror, and it immediately rose up, hovering in mid-air as a ball of black light.

The burly man then made a hand seal while pointing a finger at the ball of black light and chanted an incantation, upon which an image began to gradually appear within the ball of light.

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Chapter 2059: Entering the Illusion Howl Desert

The image depicted Han Li sitting in the hall, and even though there was no sound, the image was extremely vivid and life-like, as if time had just been reversed.

The burly man urged the purple-haired woman to pay attention, then flicked a finger toward the image, sending a speck of black light vanishing into it.

In the next instant, layers of light suddenly appeared over Han Li's body. The outermost layer was inky-black in color, followed by a layer of purplish-golden light, while the innermost layer was of a murky grey color.

"What's that?" the purple-haired woman asked in an intrigued voice.

"Hehe, this is the first time you've seen this Vast Yin Secret Technique, right? This indicates that Fellow Daoist Han seems to be using some special cultivation arts. The outermost black layer represents the purest true devilish Qi of our holy realm. That's very normal; without this layer of black light, I'd have to wonder whether he's actually from our holy realm. As for the purplish-golden light, it indicates that's using cultivating some kind of powerful body refinement devilish art. On top of that, he's already close to reaching the legendary Golden Bone Purple Marrow stage. Aside from some Sacred Ancestors, I've never heard of anyone who's been able to reach that level," the burly man introduced in a serious manner.

The purple-haired woman's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "Golden Bone Purple Marrow? Is his physical body really that powerful? Could it be that the Vast Yin Treasured Mirror made a mistake?"

"Most likely not. The effect of the Vast Yin Treasured Mirror on that man is greatly hampered, but it wouldn't make such a grave error. On top of that, he's only close to reaching that level. Otherwise, that outermost layer of true devilish Qi would've been completely absorbed into his body and meridians, so it wouldn't even show up in the mirror," the burly man sighed.

"Doesn't that mean that man would be able to crush most devilish lords with his physical prowess alone? Also, what's that layer of grey light? Is he also cultivating some other type of powerful ability?" the purple-haired woman asked.

"Grey light represents something that even the Vast Yin Treasured Mirror is unable to ascertain, but it's presumably something quite extraordinary as well. This is already the limit of my capabilities; if I had injected even more magic power into the mirror, then I would've run the risk of truly offending him, and that's certainly not worth it. However, seeing as he was able to notice me even while I was in the restriction, he must possess an immense spiritual sense as well," the burly man analyzed.

The purple-haired woman was silent for a while before a wry smile appeared on her face. "So he possesses an incredibly powerful physical body, abilities that even the mirror can't identify, and even his spiritual sense is that powerful; it seems like a freakish talent has come to our Illusion Night City. It's a good thing that he doesn't seem to intend to stay here for long and our Bai Family was the first one to befriend him. With his assistance, we should have no issues taking care of that devilish beast."

"From this perspective, this is indeed good news for us. This is a man that we definitely can't offend, but there's no need to try and recruit him to our family, either. With his unfathomable powers, there's no way a family like ours can contain him. Just make sure to exercise more caution when interacting with him in the future," the burly man said in a serious manner.

"I definitely will," the woman replied with a nod.

Meanwhile, Han Li was seated in the beast-drawn carriage, inspecting a white crystal ball with a hint of a smile on his face.

All of a sudden, a black light barrier erupted out of his body to encompass him entirely, following which he pointed a finger at his own glabella while tossing the crystal ball forward.

Black light flashed from his glabella, and his third demonic eye appeared before blasting forth a golden pillar of light that struck the white crystal ball with unerring accuracy.

In the next instant, the crystal ball began to shimmer with golden light before also releasing a golden light barrier.

The light barrier was initially quite blurry and indistinct, but soon displayed a burly figure holding an antiquated rhomboid mirror.

It was none other than the burly man from the Bai Family.

The man was in the process of casting an incantation seal toward the antiquated mirror, and Han Li appraised him briefly with a cold smile on his face before the third demonic eye on his glabella abruptly vanished.

Just as this devilish lord of the Bai Family had said, Han Li was able to almost instantly sense his presence through his enormous spiritual sense. He displayed no outward reaction, but he had also unleashed a secret technique to observe the man, and he was relieved to find that the man was only a mid-stage devilish lord.

With the devilish Qi from his Provenance True Devil Arts and Devilfeign Bead, no one in the Elder Devil Realm would be able to see through his disguise aside from Sacred Ancestors.

The crystal ball reverted back to its original translucent appearance, and the projection of the burly man also vanished.

Everything was dispelled in the blink of an eye, as if he hadn't done anything at all.

After that, Han Li closed his eyes and began to meditate again.

During the next few days, Han Li would visit the Bai Family every day to exchange cultivation insights and experience with the purple-haired woman. Aside from body refinement techniques and normal devilish arts, they even discussed some secret techniques and obscure cultivation arts, and both of them benefited immensely from the conversations.

During this period of time, Han Li had scoured the city and discovered that none of his companions had arrived; he was the first one to have made it to Illusion Night City.

This was rather concerning to him, and he couldn't help but wonder if the others had encountered some trouble along the way.

However, he wasn't overly concerned. After all, everyone in his group was very powerful even among Body Integration Stage beings. Even if their covers were blown and they were surrounded by several devilish lords, they'd still at least be able to escape and ensure self-preservation. However, the issue surrounding the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards was quite a problem. Even though he had been promised one by the Bai Family, everyone else would have to secure devilish lizards for themselves through different avenues.

However, all of them were old monsters who had lived for countless years, so Han Li was confident that they would be able to take care of this matter themselves.

After assisting the Bai Family, he would wait until everyone else arrived.

During his period of time, the other two major families of the city had also been made aware of the arrival of Han Li, and they all extended invitations toward him. Han Li turned down all of these invitations in a euphemistic manner, but he attended the ancestral worship ceremony of the Zhao Family.

During the ceremony, he met a devilish-lord-level grand elder of the Zhao Family, and they shared a brief conversation.

The grand elder of the Zhao Family was a short and thin elderly man, and he was clearly quite relieved to hear that Han Li was only passing through the city and wouldn't be staying for long.

Han Li was naturally aware of why the elderly man was displaying such a reaction, and after exchanging some more pleasantries, he departed from the Zhao Family.

After that, he didn't visit the Bai Family, either, but 10 days later, the purple-haired woman came to meet him.

She informed him that the final ally she had recruited had finally arrived, and that she had decided to venture into the Illusion Howl Desert to chase away that devilish beast in two days.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and the purple-robed woman immediately extended ecstatic words of gratitude before taking her leave.

During the next two days, Han Li spent all his time meditating on the top floor of the pavilion to get himself into prime condition.

He was confident that a devilish beast wouldn't be able to pose much threat to him, but he didn't want to make a fatal error due to a moment of complacency.

Two days later, Han Li issued some instructions to Zhu Guo'er before traveling toward a certain city gate in a beast-drawn carriage.

Several hours later, Han Li met up with the group from the Bai Family on a hill outside the city.

Aside from the purple-haired woman and burly man, there were two more devilish lords, as well as six Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings, one of whom was Bai Yunxin.

The purple-haired woman greeted Han Li with a smile before introducing him to everyone else.

Only then was Han Li made aware that the burly man was named Bai Xijiao, and that he was the elder brother of the purple-haired woman.

As for the other two devilish lords, one of them was a rotund fatso who introduced himself as Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon. His entire body was covered in rolls of flabs, and his eyes were squashed down to a pair of narrow slits, making him resemble a fat pig far more so than a dragon.

The other devilish lord was named Han Qizi, and he was a middle-aged man wearing a green ghostly mask. There was white glacial Qi emanating from his entire body, and one was struck by a bone-chilling sensation even by just getting close to him.

Bai Xijiao was very polite toward Han Li, but the fatso merely exchanged some aloof pleasantries with Han Li, while Han Qizi didn't say anything at all, as if he really had been carved out of a chunk of glacial ice.

Han Li merely replied when spoken to, and didn't say anything further than that.

Thus, not long after that, the group flew toward the Illusion Howl Desert.

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Chapter 2060:

After flying for roughly 500,000 kilometers, a black line appeared in the distance.

Upon getting closer, it became clear that this was a boundless desert; it was naturally none other than the Illusion Howl Desert.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly as blue light flashed through his pupils, and he discovered that this was a grey desert that stretched as far as the eyes could see. Aside from some short shrubs, the desert was completely devoid of life, and it seemed to be no different from an ordinary desert aside from its peculiar color.

The sky over the desert was quite dim and covered in dark yellow clouds. Even though the sky within and outside the desert were only separated by a fine line, it was as if they were two different worlds.

After reaching close to 10 kilometers away from the desert, the burly man led everyone on a descent.

"From here onward, our movement techniques could fail, so we'll have to advance on Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. Our Bai Family only has around 30 Eight-footed Devilish Lizards in total, and all of them are extremely precious. We've brought 11 of them with us for this trip, and that's already out limit; please make sure to look after them during this trip, and if we encounter any danger, withdraw them into your spirit beast bracelets right away to keep them safe," the burly man said as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Haha, rest assured, Brother Bai; we're all aware of how important these Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are to your Bai Family. However, why didn't you decide to bring along these juniors for this trip? If they had remained behind, you wouldn't have had to bring out so many Eight-footed Devilish Lizards," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon asked in a curious manner.

"The six of them have a combination technique that makes their combined powers comparable to those of an early-stage devilish lord, so we decided to bring them along," the purple-haired woman explained with a smile.

"I see, my apologies for jumping to conclusions," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon replied with a nod.

A peculiar look flashed through Han Qizi's eyes upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything in response.

As for Han Li, he merely smiled and remained silent, but he was wondering if he would be able to secure these devilish lizards during this trip.

However, the thought only occurred to him for an instant before it was abandoned. He was very confident in his own powers, but it was still too risky to face four devilish lords at once whom he knew nothing about.

On top of that, plotting against the Bai Family could alert the other major families of Illusion Night City to what he was doing, and that could attract powerful enemies, perhaps even Sacred Ancestors.

Thus, it simply wouldn't be worth the risk.

At this moment, the purple-haired woman flicked her wrist, and an azure bracelet flew forth before expelling a burst of five-colored light, releasing 11 giant devilish beasts that were around 50 feet in length and roughly 20 feet tall.

At first glance, they resembled massive lizards, but their bodies were entirely covered in black scales, and each of them had eight identical thick legs. On top of that, there were shimmering silver saddles on the backs of these devilish beasts, so they were clearly already tamed.

So these are Eight-footed Devilish Lizards? Each of them is only releasing a Core Formation Stage aura, and there doesn't seem to be anything special about them, Han Li thought to himself as he glanced at these devilish lizards.

Everyone was given a devilish lizard and a beast controlling badge by the burly man, and Han Li immediately flew onto his devilish lizard before looking down at it.

The silver saddle had some simple devilish runes inscribed on its surface, and it was very comfortable to sit on. Han Li waved his beast controlling badge toward the devilish lizard, and a streak of silver light shot forth before vanishing into the lizard's body in a flash.

The devilish lizard let loose a low roar before immediately galloping forward, and even though it wasn't very fast, its eight legs ensured a very smooth ride.

The burly man and everyone else had already gone on ahead, and the line of 11 devilish lizards progressed toward the desert.

The distance of less than 10 kilometers was covered in a short while, and as soon as the devilish lizards entered the desert, sand came billowing toward everyone from all directions. All of a sudden, silver light flashed from the saddles on the backs of the devilish lizards, creating a white barrier of light that kept all of the wind and sand at bay.

However, Han Li didn't pay any heed to that; what had attracted his attention was that once they entered the desert, the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards suddenly sped up by severalfold, and they had become even faster than galloping stallions.

At the same time, a peculiar type of energy fluctuations was emanating from their bodies, allowing them to slowly absorb the scorching energy within the desert.

In contrast, Han Li was struck by a burst of indescribable power as soon as he entered the desert, restricting his magic power by as much as 90%. On top of that, both devilish Qi and spiritual Qi were extremely sparse due to a certain type of chaotic power of heaven and earth that was rejecting both types of energy.

The Illusion Howl Desert was certainly living up to its status as one of the restricted areas of the Elder Devil Realm.

Han Li was quite surprised by this series of changes, but everyone else displayed no reaction, clearly already accustomed to all of this.

Around half a month later, Han Li's group found themselves surrounded by a nest of green foot-long scorpions atop a massive sand dune.

The scorpions were emitting sharp hissing sounds, and streaks of dark green poisonous light were shooting out of their pincers toward Han and the others from all sides.

However, Han Li and the other Body Integration Stage beings merely sat back and watched as Bai Yunxin and the Spatial Tempering Stage beings fought the scorpions with their devilish treasures.

Even though the majority of their magic power had been sealed away, these devilish lizards were still nowhere near powerful enough to pose a threat to Bai Yunxin and the others. Bursts of devilish Qi surged and exploded, and countless devilish scorpions were reduced to dust before they could approach Han Li's group.

Several days later, the Eight-footed Devilish Lizard that was leading from the front suddenly stopped and let loose a low roar.

The burly man who was riding atop the lizard raised a hand with furrowed brows to unleash an attack toward an empty patch of sand several hundred feet away.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the sand exploded upward, creating a giant crater with a diameter of close to 100 feet.

In the next instant, a giant yellow python that was around 500 to 600 feet in length erupted out of the sand before pouncing toward the burly man.

Bai Yunxin and the others were quite alarmed to see this, while the burly man's brows furrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, "I didn't think we'd encounter a Golden Sand Python; those juniors won't be able to handle it. Looks like I'll have to expend some magic power to take care of it myself."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he flipped a hand over to produce a black bracelet, then tossed it toward the oncoming giant python.

The bracelet swelled to several tens of feet in size amid a flash of light, then vanished into thin air.

Immediately thereafter, the burly man pointed a finger at the giant python, and black light flashed around the python's neck, following which the giant bracelet reappeared before compressing with ruthless might.

The giant python immediately let loose an anguished cry before tumbling out of the sky, then writhed violently on the sand in unbearable agony.

The burly chuckled coldly upon seeing this before making a hand seal, and the giant bracelet suddenly shrank down to around the size of a human hand.

A geyser of black blood erupted several tens of feet up into the air, and the giant python was decapitated, falling dead onto the sand.

However, the burly man didn't stop there. He immediately opened his mouth to expel a ball of crimson devilish flames, which struck the python's corpse and quickly incinerated it into dust.

The giant python's soul attempted to escape during the process, but it was also swept up and incinerated into nothingness by the devilish flames.

"That Golden Sand Python looked to be at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage; it's very impressive that you were able to kill it so quickly, Brother Bai," Han Li said with a smile as he made his way over to the burly man.

"You're far too kind, Brother Han. A devilish beast of this caliber will be rather troublesome for Yunxin and the others to deal, but it naturally poses no threat to the likes of us. If I were to encounter the three devilish scourges of the Illusion Howl Desert, I would have to run for my life," the burly man replied with a wry smile.

"The three devilish scourges?" Han Li was rather intrigued to hear this.

"Have you not heard of them, Fellow Daoist?" The burly man was rather taken aback.

"I've heard of them, but don't know the exact details about them. They must be quite powerful for you to be so wary of them," Han Li replied as he stroked his own chin in a calm manner.

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Chapter 2061: Bloodtooth Rice

"It seems like to me you're simply not taking them seriously. I have to caution you that the three devilish scourges are extremely powerful, so don't underestimate them if you're going to cross this desert. As I'm sure you're aware, the three devilish scourges are the Soul Fall Winds, Earth Annihilation Sand, and Illusion Howl Devilish Wolves. These three things all present different levels of danger, and among them, the Illusion Howl Devilish Wolves are only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, but they hunt in packs, and even the smallest packs will have seven or eight mature wolves.

"They would be quite troublesome to deal with for most beings, but they would most likely pose the least threat to you. Illusion Howl Devilish Wolves are able to move very quickly in the desert, but not as quickly as Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. As long as you can notice them in advance, you'll be able to shake them off with ease. Of course, if you didn't have a devilish lizard steed, it would be a different story. As for the Earth Annihilation Sand, the peril that it presents is second only to the Soul Fall Winds in the Illusion Howl Desert..."

Thus, the burly man began to offer an explanation, and even though Han Li was already aware of some of this information, he still listened intently.

Over half a month later, Han Li was meditating on his devilish lizard steed, but he suddenly opened his eyes and cast his gaze toward a smudge of green in the desert, which lay close to 10 kilometers away.

In the next instant, the purple-haired woman's voice sounded from up ahead.

"Fellow daoists, the Silver River Oasis lies up ahead. Our Bai Family has set up a small stronghold there, so we can go and rest there for a while before we face that devilish beast. The mine is only around half a day away from the oasis."

"That's great! I've gotten really sick of riding on this thing. Once we get there, I'm going to take a good rest and have a huge meal. Brother Bai, I think it's time you gave me what you promised me," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said with an expectant expression as he patted his own large belly.

"Haha, rest assured, Brother Luan Dragon; I know that you have to consume that thing to unleash the full power of your special devilish art, so I'll be handing it over to you as soon as we get to the oasis," the burly man chuckled in response.

"Good. After I consume that thing, my magic power will increase by at least 30%, and that'll give us a better chance of chasing away that devilish beast. That thing truly is extremely delicious; I've only had it once many years ago, but I still can't forget it to this day," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said with a pleased nod.

"Of course, even our Bai Family had to expend extensive efforts to secure just a small amount of that thing," the purple-haired woman said with a smile.

Han Li was rather bewildered by this conversation, but he didn't think much of it.

Shortly thereafter, the group arrived at the Silver River Oasis.

As soon as they entered the oasis, the sandstorm abruptly stopped, as if it had been kept at bay by some kind of invisible power.

The oasis was only several kilometers in size, and there were shrubs of different sizes growing all around its edge. At the center of the oasis was a dark green lake that was around 250 meters in diameter, and beside the lake was a series of grey buildings that were constructed from sand, but seemed to be very sturdy.

These buildings only took up an area of several acres, but there were special energy fluctuations radiating through the area, indicating that restrictions had been set up around them.

After taking a glance at the small lake, Han Li turned his attention toward that cluster of buildings.

These were a series of semi-spherical buildings that were no more than 30 to 40 feet tall.

The burly man jumped down from his devilish lizard and stowed it away into his spirit beast bracelet, then cast his gaze toward the buildings in the distance with furrowed brows before suddenly letting loose a long cry akin to a dragon's roar.

The sound erupted straight up into the heavens, rumbling through the sky like a dull thunderclap, but even after a long time had passed, no one emerged from the buildings.

The burly man's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he made a peculiar hand signal toward everyone behind him.

The six Spatial Tempering Stage members of the group immediately jumped down from their devilish lizards as well before approaching the buildings in a careful manner.

While approaching the buildings, Bai Yunxin pulled out an inky-black metal badge before waving it forward.

A layer of black Qi immediately rose up from the ground to conceal the six of them, following which no more sound was heard.

Everyone else looked on with wary expressions, while Han Li merely calmly appraised the situation.

No one noticed that there was blue light flashing through his eyes, allowing him to see everything that was happening within the black mist up ahead.

Having refined his Brightsight Spirit Eyes for over 1,000 years, they had become incredibly powerful, and it was a simple task to see through a restriction.

After around 15 minutes, the black Qi suddenly dispersed, and Bai Yunxin and the others reappeared. Bai Yunxin extended a curtsey toward the burly man from afar, and said, "Senior, the restrictions of the fortress are completely unharmed, but all of the disciples here have disappeared!"

The burly man's expression darkened upon hearing this. "There's only this oasis in this nearby area; where could they have gone?"

"I'm not sure; I was unable to find any signs of battle anywhere within the stronghold, either," Bai Yunxin replied in a slightly fearful manner.

The burly man's expression darkened even further, and he was just about to say something else when Han Li suddenly interjected with a smile, "How about we go in first, Fellow Daoist Bai? This is not the right place to be discussing anything."

The burly man faltered slightly upon hearing this before a thought suddenly occurred to him, and his expression eased slightly as he said, "That's true; please forgive my oversight. Let's go in, fellow daoists."

"I'll be going on ahead then," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon chuckled as he vanished from atop his devilish lizard steed, then suddenly reappeared behind Bai Yunxin and the others before making his way toward the largest of the buildings.

The burly was quite amused by this, and everyone else also jumped down from their steeds before walking toward the cluster of buildings.

Moments later, all of the Body Integration Stage beings in the group were gathered in a hall that was over 100 feet in area, while Bai Yunxin and the others were ordered to stand guard outside.

"I've already swept my spiritual sense through this place, and it's just as Xin'er said; there are no signs of battle, and the restrictions are completely undamaged, so the disciples clearly left this place of their own accord," the purple-haired woman said with furrowed brows as she sat down onto a futon.

"We instructed those disciples to survey that devilish beast in shifts; could it be that they were all eaten by that thing? That doesn't make sense, either; even if that devilish beast had gone on a rampage, someone should've been left behind to guard this place," the burly man said with a perplexed expression.

"Just forget about it; it's just a group of low-grade disciples anyway. Hurry up and give me that thing so I can have a good meal first," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon urged in an impatient manner.

"Hehe, rest assured Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon; we made a promise to you, and we're certainly not going to revoke it. Sister, bring out that thing for Brother Luan Dragon," the burly man said with a smile.

The purple-haired woman smiled as she flicked her wrist, upon which a burst of white light emerged out of her storage bracelet before releasing a translucent jade box onto the table before her.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately made a grabbing motion toward the table, upon which the jade box was drawn into his grasp.

The lid was quickly removed, and Han Li and Han Qizi naturally turned to see what it was, upon which both of them displayed slightly surprised reactions.

Within the jade box was a grain of rice, but it was around half a foot in length and as thick as an infant's arm. One of its two ends was very sharp, and it was entirely crimson in color. On top of that, it was giving off a mouthwatering aroma.

"That's a Bloodtooth Rice!" Han Li murmured to himself in a stunned voice.

"You must be quite knowledgeable to recognize something like this, Brother Han. Indeed, this is a rare thousand-year-old Bloodtooth Rice. Consuming this rice will enhance both one's blood essence and physical body, and for Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon, who's cultivating a blood-related devilish art, it can stimulate the latent potential of his blood essence as well. This is one of the things we promised Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon as a reward for his efforts, and it's an delectable delicacy with a rich flavor that will linger in one's mouth for as long as several months following consumption."

"I've only ever heard of this thing but never seen it before. Not only are the conditions required to grow this Bloodtooth Rice extremely rigorous, it can only come into fruition after being watered by the blood essence of a type of special beast. Even Bloodtooth Rice of the lowest quality will require over 100 years to grow; it's truly impressive that you were able to obtain a thousand-year-old one, Brother Bai," Han Li said with a slightly complex expression.

This Bloodtooth Rice was a specialty local product in the Elder Devil Realm that was exceedingly rare, and it was something that Han Li was also searching for as it was one of the few types of things that he knew of that could still enhance his body.

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Chapter 2062: Blood Essence Pendant

Han Li had only unintentionally stumbled upon information surrounding Bloodtooth Rice while going through countless ancient tomes written about the Elder Devil Realm prior to entering this realm.

According to the book that he had read, Bloodtooth Rice could only be found at a place called the Blue Waterfall Lake, which was extremely far away from Illusion Night City. Due to its scarcity, none of the local devilish beings would sell this rice and kept it solely to themselves, so it was quite remarkable that the Bai Family had managed to secure one of such a high caliber.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon glanced at Han Li and Han Qizi, and said, "Are you two interested in this Bloodtooth Rice as well? It's a pity for you that I've already claimed it. If you two want one as well, then you'll have to ask Brother Bai."

After that, he immediately took a bite out of the Bloodtooth Rice, devouring a third of it in just a single mouthful, then began to slowly chew it in a blissful manner.

A rich fragrant aroma instantly filled the entire hall.

"Do you have more of this Bloodtooth Rice, Brother Bai?" Han Li asked.

Han Qizi also immediately turned his attention toward the burly man and purple-haired woman.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon; our Bai Family only has this one Bloodtooth Rice in our possession," the burly man said with a wry smile.

"I'm afraid I find that very difficult to believe, Brother Bai. Everyone knows that the more Bloodtooth Rice is consumed, the more pronounced the enhancement effect it would have on the consumer's body. If you're able to obtain this rice, then how would you have only obtained one?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

Han Qizi was clearly also unconvinced.

"Truth be told, our Bai Family did manage to purchase several pieces of this Bloodtooth Rice, but they've all been consumed by my sister and myself. We only kept this one as a seed or as a pill refinement ingredient. Otherwise, we wouldn't even have this one left," the burly man hurriedly explained.

Han Li was silent for a moment before continuing, "Seeing as your Bai Family was able to obtain this Bloodtooth Rice once, I'm sure you'll be able to do it again. If you can purchase some for me, then price won't be an issue."

"If you can purchase a Bloodtooth Rice of this caliber for me, I'll be willing to assist your Bai Family one more time if you encounter any trouble in the future." Han Qizi finally spoke for the very first time, and his voice was very raspy and dry, as if he really hadn't spoken in a very long time.

The purple-haired woman seemed to be rather tempted by these propositions, but the burly man replied without any hesitation, "We only managed to purchase these pieces of Bloodtooth Rice by chance when we encountered some fellow daoists from the Blue Waterfall Lake; our Bai Family doesn't have a consistent avenue through which we can obtain these things, so there's no need to discuss this matter any further."

Han Li and Han Qizi exchanged a glance upon hearing this, but they didn't press the issue any further in the face of the burly man's stoic response.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon was still munching on his Bloodtooth Rice, but a hint of disappointment also flashed through his eyes.

After that, everyone began to rest and meditate in the hall. Around two hours after Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon finished consuming that piece of Bloodtooth Rice, his aura suddenly swelled drastically, and his face became bright red. Only after a long while did he manage to digest the power of the Bloodtooth Rice, and Han Li became even more interested in Bloodtooth Rice upon seeing this.

It seemed that this Bloodtooth Rice was far more efficacious than the records on the book suggested.

During this period of time, the burly man and purple-haired woman were discussing the disappearance of the Bai Family's disciples through voice transmission, but they were unable to arrive at any reasonable conclusions due to the complete lack of leads.

As such, they could only set the matter aside and began to meditate as well.

After all, they had only left some low-grade disciples here, and overall, they were inconsequential to the Bai Family.

The group stayed in the stronghold for a day and a night, then continued onward on their Eight-footed Devilish Lizard steeds after recovering to their prime conditions.

Less than half a day later, the burly man looked up at the dim sky, then suddenly turned to Han Li and the others, and said, "Fellow daoists, that devilish beast is truly quite formidable, so we'll have to exercise caution from here onward. Please conceal your auras and stow away your devilish lizards."

Everyone knew that this was a crucial juncture, so there were naturally no objections raised. All of them jumped down from their devilish lizard steeds before stowing them away in their spirit beast bracelets, then continued onward, flying at a low altitude.

Even though no movement techniques could be used in the desert, flying at a low altitude was possible. However, doing so expended several times more magic power than it normally would.

Thankfully, the mine wasn't far away, and after flying for around two hours, a massive sand dune suddenly appeared on the horizon.

The sand dune was tens of thousands of feet tall and resembled a massive mountain. At the same time, ghostly howls and unsettling cries could be heard coming from within the sand dune.

At this moment, the burly man raised an arm and indicated for everyone to proceed with caution, then suddenly descended toward an area that was several kilometers away from the sand dune.

Everyone else followed along behind him, and Han Li also trailed along with blue light flashing through his eyes as he appraised a patch of ground over 100 feet away from them with a contemplative expression.

All of a sudden, the burly man reached into his own sleeve, then made a grabbing motion toward the spot that Han Li was scrutinizing.

A dull thump rang out, and a huge pile of sand that was as large as a room rose up from the ground before being dropped elsewhere.

The burly man repeated this process a few times to dig out a hole that was over 100 feet deep, at the bottom of which was an azure copper gate.

"What's this?" Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon asked with a surprised expression.

"The main entrance to the mine is situated at the top of the sand dune, but that's already been taken over by that devilish beast. As a safety precaution, we have to enter through another entrance. My sister and I are the only ones aware of the existence of this entrance, and not only did we set it up in an extremely discreet place, we placed no restrictions around it, so the devilish beast shouldn't have discovered it yet. If we enter through here, perhaps we'd be able to catch it off guard," the purple-haired woman explained with a smile.

"I see." Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon nodded in response as the puzzlement in his eyes faded.

Meanwhile, the burly man pointed a finger at the copper gate from afar to release an enormous burst of invisible power.

The gate tremored slightly before it was slowly pushed open, revealing an inky-black passageway.

The burly swept his spiritual sense toward the passageway, upon which a hint of elation appeared on his face, and he immediately drifted toward it. "Let's go, that devilish beast is still yet to discover this entrance!"

Everyone else naturally followed him into the passageway, and as Han Li did so as well, blue light flashed through his eyes, making the dark passageway as clear as day for him.

To his left and right were faint azure stone walls that completely kept out the sand of the desert, and what was even more remarkable was that these stone walls were completely smooth and seamless and released no energy fluctuations at all, clearly indicating that there really were no restrictions set up in here.

After walking along this passageway for around an hour, light suddenly appeared up ahead, and a crimson mountain face stood in their way.

On this occasion, the burly man flipped a hand over to produce an antiquated rhomboid mirror before pointing it at a few times in succession. Black Qi swirled over the surface of the mirror, following which a burst of five-colored light emerged.

The burly man peered intently into the five-colored light for a short while, upon which his expression eased slightly, and he stowed the mirror away before sweeping a sleeve toward the mountain face up ahead.

A burst of black light immediately swept forth before vanishing into the mountain face in a flash, and in the next instant, the mountain face tremored before moving to the side on its own in an entirely soundless manner.

As soon as the mountain face was moved off to the side, everyone was struck by a scorching heatwave as a fiery red underground world appeared up ahead.

Crimson rocks were littered all over the reddish-black ground, and there were countless reddish-purple stone stalagmites that protruded out of the ground.

The burly man briefly inspected his surroundings before turning to everyone behind him with a serious expression. "Let's go, the devilish beast must be lurking where the true fire Qi is most abundant in this mine. Generally speaking, devilish beasts will cultivate and absorb energy while hibernating, but that may not be the case for a devilish beast comparable to a devilish lord in power. On top of that, we still don't know what kind of devilish beast it is at this point, so it's impossible for us to speculate about its habits. Please be careful, everyone; our objective is only to wound the devilish beast and chase it away, but if we manage to kill it, then we'll split the materials from the devilish beast's body evenly."

"Hehe, when did you become such a worrywart, Brother Bai? You've said this many times already. It would naturally be fantastic for us to kill a devilish-lord-level devilish beast, but if we're unable to do so, then we won't force things, either," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said with a smile.

Right at this moment, the purple-haired woman suddenly opened her mouth to expel a white jade pendant that had a crimson pattern on its surface. She then turned to everyone else with a smile, and said, "Even though I was no match for that devilish beast the last time we fought, I was able to catch it off guard and secure a drop of its blood essence. I've refined the blood essence into this jade pendant, so it'll be a simple matter for us to track it down."

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Chapter 2063: Remains and Lava Lake

After that, she injected her magic power into the jade pendant, and the crimson pattern suddenly began to move as if it had sprung to life.

"That's fantastic! With this jade pendant telling us the devilish beast's location, we won't have to worry about any surprise attacks, so the initiative will completely be on our side," the burly man said in an elated manner.

Thus, he switched positions with his sister, allowing her to lead the way in his stead.

The group continued onward and soon made their way into a mine tunnel. Judging from the small pits that lined the entire tunnel, the Firecloud Stones nearby had clearly all been already mined.

Even so, the scorching temperature in here was noticeably higher than when they had first arrived underground.

If it weren't for the fact that this mine was situated in the Illusion Howl Desert, everyone would've already unleashed earth movement techniques to seek out that devilish beast, but as things currently were, they could only progress deeper and deeper into the mine through the tunnels.

There were countless tunnels in this mine, with crossroads set up at regular intervals, creating a cobweb-like system. These tunnels ranged from just over 100 feet to around half a kilometer in length, and most of them had already been completely mined with only some of the more obscure tunnels still harboring Firecloud Stones that were yet to be excavated.

However, after passing through around a dozen tunnels and arriving at a crossroads leading into four or five different tunnels, Han Li's eyes suddenly narrowed slightly.

All of these tunnels were shimmering with specks of crimson light, and the walls were riddled with fist-sized crimson crystals.

However, Han Li wasn't looking at all of these precious materials. Instead, he was looking at a set of headless remains that lay slumped at the entrance of one of the tunnels.

Even though the body was complete aside from its missing head, its skin was completely shriveled up, as if its blood and flesh had somehow been completely stripped away, leaving only a pouch of skin behind.

The purple-haired woman and the burly man had naturally also seen the set of remains, and a hint of surprise flashed through their eyes.

The purple-haired woman glanced at the robes being worn by the set of remains, and her expression immediately darkened as she made a grabbing motion toward the headless body.

A small scrap of cloth detached itself from the robe before being drawn into her grasp.

Han Li took a glance at it to find that a faint silver "Bai" character was emblazoned on that scrap of cloth.

"This is a disciple of our Bai Family, but it's hard to tell which one it is," the purple-haired woman said with furrowed brows.

The burly man harrumphed coldly before also making a grabbing motion toward the headless body, and an azure leather pouch was drawn toward him before exploding at his behest, releasing a swarm of huge crimson wasps. Each of these wasps was as large as an adult human hand, and they were buzzing incessantly.

"These are Blood Sifting Wasps! If I recall correctly, Bai Yan possesses a swarm of these devilish insects, right?" the burly man asked with a dark expression.

One of the Spatial Tempering Stage disciples of the Bai Family stepped forward, and confirmed, "Indeed, Senior; these are none other than Bai Yan's Blood Sifting Wasps. I've seen him use these wasps in battle on multiple occasions." This was an elderly man with snowy-white hair, and there was a hint of sorrow in his eyes, suggesting that he seemed to have shared some type of bond with this Bai Yan.

The purple-haired woman sighed as she raised a hand to release a fireball that incinerated the body into ashes, then murmured to herself, "In that case, these must be Bai Yan's remains. He's the most powerful one among the disciples that we left at the oasis stronghold; how did he end up here?"

In reality, no one was all that surprised by the gruesome sight of the shriveled headless corpse. After all, there were countless beings in the Elder Devil Realm who cultivated by devouring the blood essence of others, so this wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence.

"Let's keep going; perhaps we'll find some leads up ahead," the burly man suggested after a brief pause for contemplation.

No one offered any objections, and they continued into the tunnel where the remains had just been found. However, everyone was proceeding with more caution, and after making their way along the tunnel for several thousand feet, they encountered five or six more headless corpses, all of whom were confirmed to be Bai Family disciples who had been left at the stronghold.

The burly man's expression darkened further and further with each headless body that was discovered, and after walking for a while longer, he suddenly turned to the purple-haired woman, and asked, "How far away are we from that devilish beast? It won't be able to detect us, will it?"

"Rest assured, Big Brother; spiritual sense is greatly inhibited in the Illusion Howl Desert in the first place, and that's only further exacerbated by the disruptive effect of the true fire Qi in this mine. We're currently still around three kilometers away from the devilish beast, so there's no way that it'll be able to detect us. However, I'm not sure if that will continue to be the case if we get any closer than this," the purple-haired woman replied after briefly glancing down at the jade pendant in her hand.

After a brief pause for contemplation, the burly man decided, "In that case, let's all unleash our concealment techniques right away."

"Do we really have to start right away? Using concealment techniques in this desert is going to be very taxing on our magic power. So be it, better safe than sorry, I guess," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon mumbled reluctantly before opening his mouth to expel a black badge, which transformed into a cloud of black mist that enshrouded his entire body.

Immediately thereafter, both the mist and Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon himself gradually faded into nothingness.

Han Li also followed suit as he made a hand seal, upon which black light swirled over his body, and he transformed into a barely visible black shadow.

As for Han Qizi, he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of glacial light, upon which his entire body became as translucent as an ice statue.

Bai Yunxin and the others each summoned a silver flag before tossing them up into the air in unison to create a silver light formation. The formation descended upon all six of them, and they instantly disappeared as well.

Seeing as everyone had already concealed themselves, the burly man and the purple-haired woman also did the same as one of them released a burst of black Qi from their body, while the other summoned a handkerchief-like treasure.

Thus, the group continued onward, and much to their surprise, this tunnel was far longer than they had anticipated. Even after walking for a long while, they still hadn't made it to the other side.

As they progressed, the straight tunnel suddenly began to wind and twist, and the stone walls around them also became very coarse and rugged; they had entered a natural underground fissure.

Other rifts of different sizes had also begun to appear around them, ranging from only around a foot in width to several tens of feet wide. Scorching winds would occasionally blow through those rifts, carrying a charred sulfurous scent.

Around an hour later, after everyone had flown out of a nondescript-looking rift, a giant underground lava lake suddenly appeared down below.

The lake was over 1,000 acres in area, and it was filled with bubbling red lava. The edge of the lake was surrounded by charred rocky ground, but there were a series of reddish-purple crystals embedded into those rocks, and they were shimmering with a peculiar red light under the lava's illumination.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this.

These reddish-purple crystals were manifestations of fire-attribute Qi that had been compressed to the extreme. Even though they were quite small, all of them were extremely rare top-grade Firecloud Stones.

At just a rough glance, he discovered that there were tens of thousands of these crystals, and they would be worth an astronomical number of devil stones or spirit stone; it was no wonder that the Bai Family was willing to pay such a heavy price to try and salvage this mine.

However, what was rather befuddling to Han Li was that there was no devilish beast to be seen here. The underground lava lake was indeed extremely massive, but its structure was very simple, and there weren't any obvious hiding places.

The burly man also seemed to be a little perplexed as he transmitted his voice toward the purple-haired woman.

"Is this the right place, Sister? Is that devilish beast really here?"

"There's no mistaking it; its blood essence is definitely pointing toward this place," the purple-haired woman replied without any hesitation.

"In that case, it's most likely hiding within the lava down below; it seems that it really hasn't detected our arrival yet. Yunxin, set up the formation right away. Fellow daoists, we'll be requiring your services soon as well," the burly man said as he turned to everyone else.

The six Bai Family disciples immediately gave affirmative responses before scattering around the lava lake, then summoned stacks of formation flags and formation plates to begin setting up a giant formation.

As for Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and Han Qizi, they also descended toward the lava down below, then stopped and hovered in mid-air over 100 feet above the surface of the lava lake.

Even though the two of them were still concealed by their respective secret techniques, they still summoned protective devilish treasures in a cautious manner.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon opened his mouth to produce a shimmering blue bowl that was emanating blue glacial light, while Han Qi Zi swept a sleeve through the air to produce 12 translucent flags, which transformed into 12 balls of glacial light that revolved around his body.

Meanwhile, Han Li gently stomped a foot down onto the air blow, and five-colored light erupted underfoot, forming a five-colored lotus flower that carried his body downward on a slow descent.

The five-colored lotus flower was extremely vibrant and was releasing wisps of glacial Qi; it had been manifested by none other than these five-colored glacial flames.

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Chapter 2064: Devilish Beast

Han Li, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon, and Han Qizi were hovering above the lava lake in a triangular formation while releasing their spiritual sense downward.

However, there were layers of peculiar energy fluctuations within the lava that prevented Han Li's spiritual sense from reaching any deeper than just over 1,000 feet into the lake.

For Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and the others, their spiritual sense was far less powerful than Han Li's, so that distance was shortened to around 00 to 400 feet for them.

A distance of just over 1,000 feet only allowed Han Li to discover that there was a massive black shadow lying at the bottom of the lake. However, due to the energy fluctuations in the lava, he was unable to see the shadow clearly, so he couldn't determine whether this was their target for this trip.

Even though the black shadow laid completely still as if it were dead, Han Li was still surveying it with great caution.

As Bai Yunxin and the others were setting up the formation, the two devilish lords of the Bai Family were also in action.

The burly man had summoned his antiquated mirror again, and it transformed into over 100 mirror fragments that spread all over the air above the lava lake, shining black devilish light down upon it.

The burly man's lips tremored silently, and he wore a slightly strained expression, clearly finding it rather difficult to unleash his abilities while the majority of his magic power was being restricted.

Meanwhile, the purple-haired woman made a hand seal, and a suit of devilish armor that was as pristine white as jade appeared over her body. At the same time, she made a grabbing motion with her other hand, and a long inky-black halberd appeared in her grasp.

She swept the weapon through the air, and an inky-black giant horned tiger projection appeared, snarling viciously as if it were about to pounce at any moment.

Around 15 minutes later, the six Spatial Tempering Stage Bai Family disciples finished setting up the formation, and balls of black Qi immediately surfaced around the lava lake. Bursts of killing intent and flashes of cold light were contained within the balls of black Qi, as if they were holding countless sharp blades.

The six Spatial Tempering Stage Bai Family disciples had concealed themselves within these balls of black Qi and were controlling the entire formation.

The burly man then transmitted his voice toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon. "The formation is ready, Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon; please force the beast out of the lava now."

A cold look appeared in Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon's eyes upon hearing this, and he immediately let loose a loud cry before pointing a finger toward the blue bowl he had summoned.

The bowl shuddered before expanding drastically in size, transforming into a blue moon, and at the same time, it released a thick pillar of blue light that shot forth toward the lava down below with ferocious might.

The pillar of light stirred up the lava lake like a giant rod, and in the blink of an eye, massive waves had been swept up over the surface of the entire lake.

In the next instant, a thunderous roar of fury rang out, and the lava parted as a burst of green Qi emerged, forcing the pillar of blue light out of the lake.

A cold smile appeared on Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon's face upon seeing this, and an astonishing aura erupted from his body. At the same time, he flicked his fingers toward the blue bowl to release around a dozen streaks of black light, all of which vanished into the bowl in a flash.

A loud ringing sound suddenly erupted out of the blue moon, and countless white runes appeared over its surface. As a result, the blue pillar of light it was releasing became around twice as thick as it had been before, and it crashed down from above with renewed might. The burst of opposing green Qi was completely caught off guard and was instantly destroyed, following which the pillar of blue light plunged deep into the lava lake again.

A resounding boom rang out within the lake, and it seemed that the attack really had struck the devilish beast that was hiding within the lake.

"How did you like that?" Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon chortled as he prepared to unleash more attacks with his blue bowl.

However, right at this moment, the entire cave suddenly began to tremor violently, and a crimson wave of light swept up over the surface of the lava, surging directly toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon, and even Han Li and Han Qizi were caught up within the scope of the attack.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as the five-colored lotus beneath his feet rotated slightly, and a five-colored glacial light barrier appeared around him, easily keeping the crimson light at bay.

Han Qizi also remained on the spot as the 12 balls of glacial light around him swelled drastically to form a barrier of glacial light as well.

In contrast, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon suddenly let loose a cry of alarm as his body was instantly flung back by a burst of enormous invisible power, and he crashed violently into a massive stone wall, sinking several feet into it as countless rock fragments rained down from above.

At the spot where Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon had been standing before, a massive beastly claw that was covered in green flames had appeared, and that appeared to have been what had sent Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon flying.

After being smashed into the stone wall, most of Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon's clothes had been torn away, but a suit of inky-black armor had appeared over his body to nullify most of the impact. As such, even though he was looking quite disheveled, the injuries that he had sustained were actually quite minor.

Even so, his face instantly turned as red as blood, and a burst of power erupted from his body, shattering the stone wall around him, thereby allowing him to free himself.

Immediately thereafter, he cussed in a furious manner as he made a grabbing motion, and a strange long-handled blade appeared in his grasp amid a flash of yellow light. Immediately thereafter, the black swirling around his body swelled drastically, and he slashed the blade toward the giant claw like lightning with both hands.

A yellow blade projection swept forth, covering a distance of several hundred feet in a flash before viciously slicing toward the beastly claw.

However, despite its massive size, the beastly claw was unexpectedly agile and instantly vanished into thin air.

Thus, the yellow blade projection struck nothing but empty space.

Immediately thereafter, violent waves surged over the surface of the lava lake down below, and a gigantic creature that was enshrouded in green devilish flames emerged. The creature was over 200 feet in size, and its roar resembled the moo of a cow.

Han Li and Han Qizi immediately shot back, and one of them rubbed his hands together before raising them to release countless threads of grey light, while two of 12 balls of glacial light around the other's body hurtled directly toward the giant beast. As soon as these balls of glacial light were hurled through the air, white icy halos appeared around them as a show of their fearsome glacial might.

However, the giant devilish beast remained completely unfazed. It abruptly raised its head, and the green flames around its body instantly transformed into layers of green light barriers. Regardless of whether it was Han Li's grey threads of light or those icy halos, they were both instantly destroyed as if they had encountered the bane of their existence.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this.

His Divine Essencefused Light was able to repress five-elemental power, so it was quite a surprise to him that these green devilish flames were able to nullify them so easily.

However, the two balls of glacial light unleashed by Han Qizi seemed to possess some type of peculiar power, allowing them to tear through the green flames and hurtle directly toward the devilish beast.

The devilish beast immediately expelled two bursts of black Qi out of its mouth in response, and after the two opposing powers clashed, the balls of glacial light reverted back into a pair of translucent flags that descended from above.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Qizi's eyes upon seeing this, but he immediately made a grabbing motion, drawing the two flags back to him as streaks of white light, which vanished into his body in a flash.

Right at this moment, the devilish beast let loose a loud roar, and the temperature within the entire cave instantly increased by severalfold. Crimson fireballs emerged around its body, yet just as it was about to unleash an attack, the burly man and purple-haired woman sprang into action.

The burly man began to chant something while pointing a finger at all of the mirror fragments in the air, and they released bolts of black lightning in unison, intertwining to form a black lightning net that descended from above.

Meanwhile, the purple-haired woman stabbed her black halberd viciously downward, and the giant black tiger projection around it let loose a thunderous roar before swooping down as a streak of black light.

The space in the wake of the black light twisted and warped, and it appeared directly above the devilish beast in a flash, completely undeterred by the oncoming balls of green flames.

However, the green flames around the body of the devilish beast suddenly swelled drastically, then formed a two-headed devilish python projection that clashed with the tiger projection.

Both of these projections were formed by devilish Qi, but it was as if a clash were taking place between an actual pair of ferocious devilish beasts.

As for that black lightning net, all of the crimson fireballs in the air immediately shot forth toward it at the devilish beast's behest, and the lightning net was completely kept at bay amid countless explosions of red light.

This devilish beast truly did possess powers comparable to a late-stage devilish lord; it was opposing several devilish lords at once, yet managed to hold its own.

However, during this brief delay, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon also appeared in a flash above the devilish beast, then suddenly patted his own belly with a cold look in his eyes. A treasure emerged from his stomach, revealing itself to be a small drum that was only several inches in size. The drum was entirely crimson in color, and had countless snowflake-like runes engraved all over its surface.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon gently patted the drum, and glacial winds were instantly swept up as countless bright red snowflakes appeared before descending from the heavens.

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Chapter 2065: Fierce Mine Battle (1)

The snowflakes didn't appear to be very large, but they were able to instantly nullify all of the crimson fireballs they came into contact with, and a burst of glacial Qi filled the entire air, eradicating the scorching heat.

At the same time, Han Li flicked his fingers toward the devilish beast in quick succession, releasing 10 streaks of azure sword Qi that shot forth toward the devilish beast in a flash.

Meanwhile, Han Qizi harrumphed coldly as made a grabbing motion with a pristine white hand, and a translucent ice mountain instantly appeared. Initially, the mountain was only around 10 feet in size, but it quickly swelled to several hundred feet at his behest, then crashed down toward the devilish beast.

In that instant, Han Li's trio had unleashed their attacks toward the devilish beast all at the same time.

However, as opposed to testing out the devilish beast's powers as they had done during their initial attacks, all three of them were using their true powers now.

The devilish beast seemed to also be aware that it was in a perilous situation, and it let loose a low roar as the green flames around its body surged upward, but at the same time, it descended toward the lava lake for refuge.

However, right at this moment, Bai Yunxin and the others activated the giant formation they had set up.

A string of loud clangs rang out from within the black Qi they were hiding in, following which countless snowy-white saber projections shot forth in all directions, creating an impenetrable net above the lava lake that stood in the devilish beast's way.

All of these saber projections were shimmering with a cold light, and were clearly extremely sharp and formidable.

The devilish beast was very confident in the power of its own body, but it still didn't dare to plunge into this fearsome net and was forced to stop in mid-air.

At this point, the snowflakes, ice mountain, and sword Qi had already swept the green flames aside and were crashing down toward the devilish beast from above.

Even in this perilous situation, the devilish beast didn't panic in the slightest. Instead, it seemed to have been fueled by its vicious instincts as it opened its mouth to devour all of the green flames around its own body.

As a result, it was revealed to be a ferocious monster with the head of a deer, the body of a cow, and the paws of a lion.

After the green flames were devoured, it threw its head back and expelled a green stone brick out of its mouth, which swelled drastically to form a massive fiery stone wall.

In the next instant, the snowflakes, sword Qi, and ice mountain struck the stone wall, amid a string of resounding explosions and flashes of dazzling light, but the stone wall remained completely unmoved.

The devilish lords present were all quite surprised to see this, and Han Li was also rather taken aback.

The sword Qi that he had unleashed appeared to be quite mundane, but they were no less powerful than the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords themselves. As such, they were capable of slicing through even some lower-grade treasures. He hadn't expected the streaks of sword Qi to kill the devilish beast, but it was still quite a surprise to him that the stone wall had been able to keep them at bay so easily.

Right at this moment, a layer of black Qi appeared over the purple-haired woman's face, and she hurled halberd violently downward with a flick of her wrist.

The black halberd instantly swelled to several times its original size, transforming into a streak of black light that was over 100 feet in length before plunging viciously into the stone wall.

An earth-shattering boom immediately rang out, and the entire space tremored violently.

Immediately thereafter, a black sun emerged in the air, and countless cracks appeared over the surface of the seemingly indestructible stone wall, looking as if it were going to shatter at any moment.

The purple-haired woman was ecstatic to see this, but the devilish beast suddenly opened its mouth to release a burst of azure light that surged into the stone wall in a flash.

The azure flames around the stone wall instantly reared up, and the cracks that had been inflicted were quickly sealed again.

The purple-haired woman's expression darkened upon seeing this, and her black halberd instantly transformed into countless massive halberd projections that came crashing down toward the stone wall like a torrential storm.

At the same time, the burly man switched a different hand seal, and the mirror fragments in the air unleashed over 100 bolts of black lightning again. On this occasion, they intertwined to form a black lightning sword that was over 100 feet in length, and it swept down with vicious force.

Bolts of black lightning came crashing down like countless black snakes, striking the stone wall and dispersing most of the green flames around it.

Han Qizi also pointed a finger toward the ice mountain that he had summoned, and it tremored before vanishing on the spot.

After that, spatial fluctuations erupted behind the devilish beast, and the ice mountain reappeared out of thin air before hurtling toward the devilish beast's back.

Before the ice mountain had even struck its target, a burst of enormous invisible power and translucent glacial light swept forth, but right in that instant, the devilish beast suddenly raised one of its paws before thrusting it forward.

All of a sudden, the paw vanished into thin air, following which a giant claw that was enshrouded in green flames appeared behind the devilish beast before crashing into the oncoming ice mountain.

The glacial light and green devilish flames exploded in unison amid a dull thump, and the ice mountain was sent flying backward while the beastly paw vanished again.

Han Qizi's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he pointed his finger toward the ice mountain several times in succession to arrest its momentum, then sent it hurtling toward the devilish beast again.

At the same time, a faint buzzing sound rang out from the small crimson drum being controlled by Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon, and all of the crimson snowflakes drifting through the air transformed into countless ice spikes that rained down toward devilish beast in a torrential downpour.

The ice spikes struck the stone wall before exploding into balls of crimson light, and a repugnant odor wafted through the air.

In the next instant, a series of pits and craters began to appear on the surface of the wall, indicating that the ice spikes seemed to have been imbued with lethal poison.

In the face of so many attacks, the stone wall was beginning to struggle. The devilish beast expelled several bursts of azure light out of its mouth, but was still unable to repair the cracks on the stone wall as quickly as they were being inflicted.

The devilish beast immediately let loose a low roar upon seeing this, and countless devilish patterns appeared over the surface of its body before swirling incessantly.

Identical green devilish patterns appeared on the giant stone wall as well, and it abruptly descended the devilish beast, then transformed into a massive stone ball around its body.

All of the oncoming attacks struck the giant stone ball in a frenzy. The streaks of azure sword Qi summoned by Han Li had transformed into over 100 powerful sword threads that plunged viciously into the stone ball, inflicting many tiny holes onto its surface, but were unable to fully penetrate.

Even so, it was quite clear that the stone ball wouldn't be able to last too long in the face of such ferocious attacks. The green flames around it were gradually dimming, and countless rock fragments were falling from its surface.

The burly mand and purple-haired woman were both ecstatic to see this, and they injected even more power into their attacks.

On top of that, the giant net of blades that had sealed off the surface of the lack had disassembled itself into countless sharp blades at the behest of the six Bai Family disciples, and these blades were also joining in on the attack.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the stone ball had been whittled down significantly, and it seemed that victory would be secured soon.

However, Han Li's brows were slightly furrowed as things seemed to be progressing far too smoothly.

Thus far, the devilish beast hadn't truly displayed its fearsome late-Body Integration Stage power.

As soon as this thought occurred to Han Li, the devilish beast let loose a loud roar from within the stone ball, and pillars of scorching hot lava suddenly rose up from the placid surface of the lava lake, converging to form a massive ball of lava that enveloped the stone ball.

Immediately thereafter, countless green devilish patterns appeared on the surface of the ball of lava, following which it transformed into a molten giant that was over 100 feet tall.

The giant had crimson flames surging all over its body and green light flashing within its eyes. It raised its arms high up into the air, and waves of fire swept forth from its body in all directions.

There seemed to be an endless supply of crimson flames within the giant's body, and a crimson sea of flames had filled the entire space in the blink of an eye.

Immediately thereafter, the giant opened its mouth to expel a vast expanse of green devilish flames, which fused into the crimson flames, forming a dozen or so green fiery pythons that each exceeded 100 feet in length, all of which pounced toward the enemy devilish lords.

Red light flashed before Han Li's eyes, and his entire body was plunged into the sea of flames.

Scorching devilish Qi revolved around him like a frenzied vortex, and he was bound to the spot by some type of profound power hidden within the sea of flames.

Under the compression of this profound power, the azure streaks of sword Qi within the sea of flame had also become very slow and sluggish.

The attacks unleashed by the other devilish lords were also significantly nullified by the sea of flames, rendering them unable to pose much of a threat to the devilish beast.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he made a grabbing motion toward the streaks of azure sword Qi, and all of them exploded within the sea of flames, forming balls of azure light that dispersed forcibly dispersed some of the crimson flames, only to be immediately overwhelmed by the sea of fire again.

After that, Han Li made a hand seal, and the five-colored glacial flames around him expanded to force back the surrounding flames, yet just as he was about to escape from the sea of fire, a bloodcurdling cry suddenly rang out from within the formation around the lava lake.

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Chapter 2066: Fierce Mine Battle (2)

The burly man's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he hurriedly swept his spiritual sense toward the black Qi down below.

That cry had come from one of the Bai Family disciples, and under normal circumstances, he would be able to instantly glean the situation within the formation, but his powers were currently severely restricted, and the power of the formation was obstructing him as well, so he was unable to see what was happening within the black Qi.

However, he could sense that one of the auras of the six disciples had already disappeared.

This was naturally very alarming to him, yet before he could do anything, two more bloodcurling cries rang out in succession within the black Qi.

Immediately thereafter, the auras of two more Bai Family disciples were snuffed out.

"Save me, Senior!"

A Bai Family disciple rushed out of the black Qi before frantically fleeing toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon, who was the devilish lord that was situated closest to him.

However, in this sea of flames, the disciple's speed was greatly hampered, and Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon remained on the spot, displaying no intention to help him.

The Bai Family disciple was plunged into complete despair upon seeing this, yet before he could do anything, a streak of black light suddenly shot forth out of the black Qi, striking the disciple in a flash, completely unimpeded by the sea of fire.

A howl of anguish rang out as the protective devilish Qi around the disciple's body was scattered, and his head rolled down from his body. Another murky white head then emerged out of the wound on his neck, and it cast a cold glance toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon with its crimson eyes.

As soon as their eyes met, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon was instantly struck by a bone-chilling sensation, as if all of the blood in his entire body had frozen solid.

This was naturally quite alarming to him, and he swept a sleeve through the air to summon a bone shield that situated itself in front of him.

At this moment, Bai Yunxin and another Bai Family disciple flew out of the black Qi with horrified expressions, and one of them flew toward Han Li, while the other flew toward Han Qizi.

The head that had emerged from the neck of the decapitated Bai Family disciple cast its gaze toward the pair, then suddenly flew out of the disciple's body. It shot forth as a streak of white light, then split up into two and flew toward both Bai Yunxin and the other disciple.

After just a single flash, it had already reached its two targets.

"Save me, Senior!"

"Senior Han..."

Both of the disciples were naturally horrified to see this, and they each summoned several protective devilish treasures to try and save themselves.

However, the white light was able to pass through the treasures as if it had no substantial form, and it plunged into their bodies in a flash.

In the next instant, both of their heads were also decapitated amid bloodcurdling cries, only to be replaced by two other white heads.

The white light had moved so quickly that it had afforded Han Li and Han Qizi no opportunity to step in.

Both of their expressions changed slightly upon seeing this.

If it weren't for the fact that they were unable to use movement techniques and restricted by this sea of flames, it would've been a simple task for them to rescue the two Bai Family disciples, but in these circumstances, they could only look on as the disciples were killed.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the first disciple who had been decapitated to find that his body had completely shriveled up. His blood and flesh had vanished, and his remains mirrored the headless bodies that they had discovered in the mine tunnel earlier.

It seemed that the other Bai Family disciples had also fallen in the same manner.

However, the monsters who had attacked the Bai Family disciples seemed to be aware that the devilish lords wouldn't be so easy to defeat, and they merely appraised Han Li and the others with their cold crimson eyes.

This indicated that these beings had a high level of intelligence, which made the devilish lords present even more wary of them.

The burly man and purple-haired woman exchanged a glance to see their own shock and fury mirrored in one another's eyes, and they shared a quick conversation through voice transmission before the burly man turned to Han Li.

"Fellow Daoist Han, please face these monsters for now with my sister; I'll take care of this devilish beast with the other fellow daoists. After we defeat that devilish beast, we'll come to assist the two of you."

As soon as his voice trailed off, bright white light abruptly erupted out of the purple-haired woman's suit of armor, forcing back the surrounding crimson flames and allowing her to fly directly toward Han Li.

Han Qizi also quickly flew toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and the burly man upon hearing this arrangement, using the balls of glacial light around him to part the sea of flames.

In the face of these powerful enemies, there was no time for debate, so he immediately decided to comply with the burly man's suggestion.

Han Li had no objections, either, and once the purple-haired woman was less than 200 feet away from him, he immediately transmitted his voice toward her. "Fellow Daoist Futian, do you know what these beings are?"

The woman hesitated momentarily before replying, "This is the first time I've seen these things as well, but I recall reading about a similar type of entity known as devilish spirits that seem to be quite similar to these things. However, I can't confirm if these are indeed devilish spirits."

"Devilish spirits?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

The woman hadn't elaborated on what they were, but these devilish spirits were clearly supposed to be quite troublesome to deal with.

"Indeed. I suspect that this thing may be a devilish spirit formed by the spiritual Qi within this mine. If that's the case, then not only will its attacks be completely insubstantial and formless, it'll be immune to virtually all physical attacks, and even its movement techniques may not be hampered much here. I don't know why it's decided to join forces with this devilish beast, but we have to be careful," the purple-haired woman replied.

"I see. Let me find out if it really is immune to physical attacks!" Han Qizi turned toward Bai Yunxin's possessed body with a cold light in his eyes, then cast his gaze toward the three other devilish lords.

Those three had already begun attacking the molten giant formed by the devilish beast, and aside from his Vast Yin Treasured Mirror, the burly man had summoned a pair of metal hooks that were revolving around the molten giant's body, inflicting a large hole upon it with each attack.

Meanwhile, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon's body had swelled to several times its original size, and he was releasing gusts of purple winds out of his mouth to force back the crimson sea of flames.

As for Han Qizi, his body had become as translucent as an ice sculpture, and he was unleashing a series of extremely powerful glacial abilities.

The devilish beast was indeed very formidable, but in the face of the three devilish lords, all of whom were attacking it with powers that held an advantage against it, it had been forced onto the back foot.

Even though the lava enveloping its body was being heavily damaged, it was able to endlessly regenerate by drawing upon the lava in the lake, so the three devilish lords were unable to truly harm the beast.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but he abruptly made a grabbing motion, and an azure longsword that was around three feet long appeared in his grasp. He slashed the sword toward Bai Yunxin's body, and it instantly vanished from his grasp.

However, in the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted from Bai Yunxin's headless body, and a translucent azure thread appeared before drifting down like a gentle breeze, slicing the white head on her body in half right down the center.

After reaching the late-Body Integration Stage, Han Li's sword thread had become incredibly powerful and unpredictable, allowing him to slice through that head with ease.

An extremely disorienting shriek rang out from the two halves of the white head, following which Bai Yunxin's headless body instantly completely shriveled upon. In the next instant, the two halves of the head flew out of her body before combining as one to form a streak of white light that shot forth directly toward Han Li.

With Han Li's immense spiritual sense, he was naturally completely unaffected by the soundwave attack. All of a sudden, he swept a sleeve through the air, and several tens of small azure swords shot forth, transforming into several tens of azure sword threads that flew directly toward the oncoming streak of light.

The streak of light drew to an abrupt halt as several tens of faint azure marks appeared all over it, following which it was split up into several tens of pieces.

However, these fragments then immediately fused back together before hurtling toward Han Li again, maintaining its original speed in the process.

"It really is virtually immune to physical attacks; looks like this is indeed a devilish spirit," Han Li murmured to himself as he swept his other sleeve through the air to release a ball of silver flames, which struck the streak of white light with unerring accuracy.

The silver flames then reared up to several feet tall and instantly inundated the oncoming streak of white light.

While keeping an eye on the other devilish spirit, the purple-haired woman was naturally also watching what Han Li was doing, and just when she thought that the silver flames would be unable to harm the devilish spirit, she was given quite a surprise.

As soon as the streak of white light was enshrouded within the silver flames, it let loose a bloodcurdling shriek before frantically rolling around on the ground, seemingly in an attempt to snuff out the flames.

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