Han Li stood atop the summit of a small mountain, looking into the distance through a pair of narrowed eyes.
After a while, he withdrew his gaze and turned to Xian Xian as he asked, "Is this the place that you were referring to? Why does it look so ordinary?"
"The wounded devilish beast chose this place precisely because it"s so nondescript. Brother Yue, your guidance won"t be required for the rest of the journey, so take a rest somewhere nearby. Senior Han and I have to make a trip over there, and we"ll be back in three to four days at most. If we"re still not back by then, you can leave us behind and go back on your own," Xian Xian said with a smile.
"In that case, I"ll be slacking off for a bit here." Yue Zong nodded before cupping his fist in a salute, then flew over to a nearby small mountain before disappearing into the mountain peak.
"Let"s go, Senior Han." Xian Xian took a deep breath as a solemn look appeared on her face.
Han Li nodded before immediately flying toward that direction as a streak of azure light.
After entering the mountain ranges up ahead, the Devilish Smoke Bird perched on Xian Xian"s shoulder immediately spread open its wings before flying into the air, then heading toward a certain direction.
Han Li and Xian Xian followed along closely behind it, flying for several thousand kilometers before the small black bird finally stopped in front of an ordinary-looking mountain.
After that, it began to circle around in the air above the mountain while chirping incessantly.
Xian Xian"s eyes lit up with elation as she said, "It"s already found the entrance!"
Immediately thereafter, she flew on ahead and drew close to the mountain peak after just a few flashes. She then quickly flew around the mountain peak a few times before stopping halfway up the mountain, where she began to appraise something with a focused look on her face.
Han Li flew over to her side and also cast his gaze toward the same directions.
There, he was greeted by the sight of a mundane-looking grey rock face that was over 1,000 feet tall. The rock face was quite smooth, and aside from the fact that there was some black Qi hovering close to it, there was nothing else that set it apart from any of the other rock faces here.
However, as blue light flashed through Han Li"s eyes, his expression suddenly changed slightly as he if he"d noticed something more than what met the eye.
At this moment, Xian Xian let loose a low cry, and the Devilish Smoke Bird that was circling around in the air above suddenly swooped down before flying directly toward the rock face.
In the instant, that the Devilish Smoke Bird came into contact with the seemingly solid rock face, ripples ran through the sheer mountain face amid a dull thump. Immediately thereafter, its surface blurred before transforming into a layer of dense black mist.
The entire rock face was the entrance to a ma.s.sive cave, and the Devilish Smoke Bird had pa.s.sed through the black mist without any impediment.
"Please wait for a moment, Senior; I"ll get the Devilish Smoke Bird to do some scouting first," Xian Xian said in a cautious manner before sitting down in mid-air in a cross-legged manner, then closed her eyes while making a hand seal.
A wisp of her spiritual sense had already been infused into the Devilish Smoke Bird"s body, and she was going to control it to a.s.sess the situation inside the cave first.
Meanwhile, Han Li stood beside her with a contemplative look on his face, seemingly in deep thought about something.
After a long while, the Devilish Smoke Bird emerged from the black mist with a clear chirp before landing on Xian Xian"s shoulder, and the latter also opened her eyes at this moment.
"Luckily for us, the holy-grade devilish beast in there is still in a deep slumber, so this is the best opportunity to strike. I"ll get the Devilish Smoke Bird to lead you directly to the devilish beast, Senior Han. However, the devilish Qi in there is quite fierce, so even you won"t be able to last very long in there. As such, it"s best to kill the devilish beast in one fell swoop without alerting it!" Xian Xian said in a serious manner before pointing a finger up ahead.
The small black bird flew into the black mist again at her behest, and Han Li appraised Xian Xian for a while before nodding in a calm manner. He then made a hand seal, and golden light s.h.i.+mmered all over his body as a layer of thin golden scales appeared.
Thus, he made his way into the black mist as a streak of golden light, and a contemplative look appeared on Xian Xian"s face upon seeing this.
All of a sudden, a ball of azure light flew out from Xian Xian"s body, and it transformed into a fist-sized Kirin projection as it said, "It"s about time we made our move as well."
Xian Xina shook her head, and replied, "Let"s wait for a while longer. Regardless of whether he can kill that holy-grade devilish beast or not, the best opportunity for us to enter the true spirit cave will be while he"s battling the beast."
"Oh? You seem to be quite wary of him," the Kirin projection chuckled.
"You"ve been in my body this entire time, so you must"ve also seen his displays of power. Even a ninth-tier upper race devilish beast is no match for him; if I were to face him in a direct battle, I have zero confidence in my ability to win. If I"m not mistaken, even though that holy-grade devilish beast is still in a deep slumber, it must have set up some defensive measures in advance, so it"ll most likely be next to impossible to approach it without waking it up. We can only sneak in and open the true spirit cave during their battle," Xian Xian a.n.a.lyzed in a calm voice.
"You"re right. Let"s keep waiting for a bit, then," the Kirin projection replied with a nod after a moment of deliberation.
Meanwhile, Yue Zong was meditating inside a new cave that he"d dug into a mountain peak outside of the mountain ranges.
All of a sudden, his expression changed drastically as he flipped his hand over to produce the box that contained the strange insect.
As soon as the lid of the box was removed, the silkworm-like insect began to screech and thrash with all its might.
Yue Zong drew a sharp breath upon seeing this, and he immediately flew out of the cave as a streak of white light.
However, as soon as he emerged outside, his expression darkened significantly as he found himself standing directly before a silver-armored man with an extremely cold and aloof expression.
It was the foreign being with the Gui surname with whom he"d been in conflict earlier.
Yue Zong"s heart sank, but he forced a smile onto his face as he asked, "I didn"t expect to see you here, Senior; I thought some other devilish beast had appeared in the area. Do you have some business with me, Senior?"
The silver-armored man appraised Yue Zong in a cold manner for a long while without saying anything before finally replying, "Where are the others?"
"Others? There are no other people here aside from myself, Senior," Yue Zong replied in a relatively calm manner.
"Is that so? In that case, I"ll send you on your way!" Crimson light flashed past the silver-armored man"s face as a vicious look surfaced in his eyes.
Yue Zong"s expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he immediately hurled the box in his hand toward the silver-armored man. Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed from within his sleeves, and several tens of talismans of different colors shot forth from within. At the same time, he opened his mouth to blast forth a white jade badge.
The strange insect flew out of the box and swelled to around 10 feet in size before slithering toward the silver-armored being like a white snake. Meanwhile, the talismans all exploded into b.a.l.l.s of light of different colors, while the jade badge transformed into a cloud of white mist amid a dull thump, covering an area of around an acre and enshrouding the silver-armored man within.
As for Yue Zong himself, white light flashed beneath his feet as a pair of white wheels appeared, and his body swayed as he disappeared on the spot, only to reappear over 100 feet away from the cloud of white mist.
After that, he fled the scene as a streak of white light. The silver-armored being chuckled coldly upon seeing this before suddenly laying a hand on the top of his own head, and his body blurred before manifesting three identical avatars.
One of the avatars raised both arms into the air, and they transformed into a pair of crimson ghostly hands with sharp fingers and black Qi revolving around them. The pair of hands grabbed onto the oncoming giant insect, then clenched together tightly, and the 10 fingers tore the insect into several segments as if they were sharp blades.
Another avatar abruptly opened his mouth to expel a burst of crimson light, which swept up all of the oncoming b.a.l.l.s of light in a frenzy.
After that, the avatar inhaled violently, and the crimson light flashed as all of the b.a.l.l.s of light were sucked into his stomach, along with a small portion of the white mist nearby.
As for the final avatar, silver light flashed through his eyes, and he suddenly transformed into a silver wyrm that shot forth through the air.
After just a single flash, the silver wyrm appeared in the air above Yue Zong as if by instantaneous teleportation, then whipped its tail before grabbing downward with its ma.s.sive claws in a menacing manner.
Yue Zong"s face paled significantly upon seeing this, but he naturally wasn"t going to just allow himself to be killed. A resounding boom erupted from his body, following which a pair of white bone flying swords short forth from within.
The flying swords had lightning flas.h.i.+ng along their surfaces, and they appeared to be quite powerful as they swept toward the oncoming claws in a criss-cross formation.
The bone swords were able to keep the ma.s.sive claws at bay for a split second, but they were then immediately shattered into two clean halves in the face of the enormous force being exerted upon them.
Yue Zong took advantage of this opportunity to expel a ball of blood essence that enshrouded his two feet, looking as if he were planning to use some kind of movement technique to aid him in his escape.
However, a cold light flashed through the silver wyrm"s eyes, and it opened its mouth to expel a crimson bead amid a clear ringing sound.
The bead rotated on the spot before suddenly emitting a vast expanse of dark crimson light, which caught Yue Zong completely off guard and instantly inundated his body.
He then essentially disintegrated into a puddle of blood before being gobble up by the silver wyrm.
Immediately thereafter, the silvery wyrm circled around while the other two avatars also rose into the air to meet it.
The three avatars then combined in one in an instant to form that silver-robed being again.
However, he currently wore a contemplative look on his face, as if he were in deep thought about something.
"Those beings also appeared in this place; could it be that they"re after that as well? But there shouldn"t be anyone else aware of that thing, unless they"re like me... Hmph! In any case, only I have a right to obtain that thing; I"ll kill anyone who dares to stand in my way!" the man murmured to himself with a ferocious look in his eyes.
All of a sudden, he turned toward a certain direction, and yelled, "Who"s there? Come out right now!"
However, there nothing emerged from that direction.
The man"s expression darkened as he abruptly raised a hand to hurl a silver flying saber through the air, and silver light flashed before a series of saber projections instantly descended upon that spot.