"You want to enter the Elder Devil Realm? Have you gone senile, Old Man Long? If you want to die, go on your own! Don"t try to take us with you!" the Lin Family grand elder exclaimed in an enraged manner.
In contrast, a thought seemed to have occurred to the Ye Family grand elder upon hearing this, and a contemplative look appeared on her face.
As for Han Li, he was also rather bewildered by this outrageous suggestion.
"At ease, now, Brother Lin; I"m not suggesting a suicide mission. I"m at least 70% to 80% confident that we"ll be able to survive a venture into the Elder Devil Realm, and I certainly have no intention of dying anytime soon," the Long Family patriarch replied in a calm manner.
"Hmph, even so, the Sacred Ancestors of the Elder Devil Realm are extremely fearsome beings. If we encounter one of them, there"s no way we could get away alive, and that isn"t even taking into account the countless high-grade devilish beings in that realm. Perhaps we can combat them using the power of formations in the Spirit Realm, but if we enter their territory, we"ll be feeding ourselves to the wolves!" the Lin Family grand elder condemned.
"What if I were to tell you that I have a way to convert our auras to be temporarily identical to those of ordinary elder devils, and the disguise is so convincing that even Body Integration Stage elder devils won"t be able to see through it? What do you think now, Brother Lin?" the Long Family patriarch asked as he narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Are you being serious, Brother Long? The high-grade elder devils of the Elder Devil Realm are adept in all types of unfathomable abilities; how could we possibly be able to fool them?" the woman from the Ye Family asked with furrowed brows.
The Long Family patriarch merely chuckled in response before turning to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns. "Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns, please demonstrate."
"Of course," the yellow-robed woman replied with an elegant smile, then flipped a hand over to reveal a thumb-sized black bead that she placed into her mouth and swallowed.
In the next instant, she made a hand seal, and a layer of black mist appeared over her body, completely inundating her in an instant.
The black mist then surged like living tendrils, and Han Li"s pupils contracted at the sight of it as he murmured to himself in a barely audible voice, "That"s true devilish Qi!"[1]
Even though he was speaking in such a faint voice, all of the people in the hall were Body Integration cultivators, so they naturally managed to overhear him.
The man from the Lin Family and the woman from the Ye Family exchanged a glance, and their expressions both changed ever so slightly.
In contrast, the Long Family patriarch turned to Han Li with a meaningful gaze, and remarked, "You must be using some kind of powerful Devil Dao cultivation art for you to be able to identify this true devilish Qi so quickly, Fellow Daoist Han. Come to think of it, the golden body that you displayed earlier in the day is rather similar to some elder devil avatars of the Elder Devil Realm, so that does make some sense."
"You truly possess a sharp discerning eye, Brother Long," Han Li replied with an ambiguous smile.
Right at this moment, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns let loose a delicate cry, and the true devilish Qi converged toward her in a frenzy. Within mere moments, all of it had been converted into black liquid that was absorbed into her body, and once the mist dissipated, she was revealed once again.
However, there was something different about her. In terms of physical appearance, there was no difference whatsoever, and judging from that alone, one could easily be forgiven for thinking that whatever she had just done had completely failed.
However, right before everyone"s bewildered eyes, her aura suddenly transformed and a burst of astonis.h.i.+ng devilish Qi suddenly erupted from her body. Several inky-black devilish patterns appeared over her fair and delicate cheeks, and a black bead emerged on her glabella.
Even though half of the bead was embedded into her glabella, it was quite clear that this was the very same bead that she had swallowed.
Han Li"s expression changed slightly, and he immediately directed his spiritual sense toward the woman, following which a surprised look appeared on his face.
He discovered that the magic power flowing within her body had become extremely pure true devilish Qi, and the aura that she was giving off was completely identical to that of the elder devils he had encountered back in the human world.
Not only was Han Li quite stunned by this, the grand elders of the Lin Family and the Ye Family were also very alarmed.
After a brief silence, the woman from the Ye Family said in a cautious manner, "That is indeed very convincing, but we"re not devilish beings, after all, so perhaps we"re unable to see through this disguise, but the elder devils may be able to."
"Rest a.s.sured, Fairy Ye, this Devilfeign Bead of mine was refined from the devilish core of a deceased elder devil. After the true devilish Qi within it is expelled using a secret technique, there"s no way that the average high-grade elder devil can see through it. In order to test the efficacy of this bead, I mingled myself with several elder devils that our Spirit Race captured during the last devilish tribulation, and I was held captive with them for several months. During that time, none of them managed to see through my disguise. While it is indeed true that we still have to be wary of the Sacred Ancestors and some other devilish beings who possess certain special abilities, the chances of encountering such beings are almost negligible. After all, according to the legends, the Elder Devil Realm is no smaller than our Spirit Realm," the yellow-robed woman said in a serious manner.
Contemplative looks appeared on everyone"s faces upon hearing this.
After some contemplation, the woman from the Ye Family sighed, "Alright, even if we were to accept that this is a plausible course of action, venturing into the Elder Devil Realm is still an extremely perilous endeavor; you have to tell us exactly what we"re searching for. If an opportunity to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage really does exist in that realm, then I"m willing to take a risk even if there"s only a sliver of an opportunity awaiting us."
The grand elder of the Lin Family faltered slightly upon hearing this before awaiting a response with a surly look on his face.
"Do you think I would propose taking such a ma.s.sive risk without a suitable corresponding reward? Have you heard of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and the Clean Spirit Lotus?" the Long Family Patriarch chuckled coldly.
"Spirit Cleansing Pond? Clean Spirit Lotus?"
Both Han Li and the man from the Lin Family were rather perplexed by these two names. In contrast, a flash of recognition flashed through the eyes of the woman from the Ye Family.
"Hehe, looks like you"ve heard of it, Fairy Ye. That"s no surprise, considering you were once an in-name disciple of Senior Mo," Elder Hui chuckled.
"What are you trying to say, Brother Hui? Are you expressing displeasure toward Master Mo?" the woman from the Ye Family asked in a cold voice.
"Hehe, I wouldn"t dare to be so insolent. I"m just saying that Senior Mo has presumably ventured deep into the Elder Devil Realm on more than one occasion, so it wouldn"t be a surprise if he knew of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus in that realm," Elder Hui replied.
"I know of the two items you"re referring to, but that has nothing to do with my master. Instead, one of the forefathers of our Ye Family slew a high-grade elder devil during a previous devilish tribulation, and learned this information by searching that elder devil"s soul. However, the information is very rough and unspecific. All I know is that those two items aren"t very useful at all to devilish beings, but they can have incredible effects on the beings of our Spirit Realm," the woman from the Ye Family explained in a cold manner.
"I see. Looks like I misread the situation," Elder Hui chuckled, and it was impossible to tell whether he truly believed this alibi.
A contemplative look appeared on the Long Family patriarch"s face upon hearing this exchange, and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns smiled as she said, "You may not have heard of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, but I"m sure you"ve heard of the Immortal Transformation Pond and Enlightenment Attainment Lotus, right?"
The man from the Lin Family immediately shook his head in disbelief as he exclaimed, "What? Are you saying that they"re the same thing? That"s impossible! The Immortal Transformation Pond is something that only exists in the True Immortal Realm, and it"s said that only newly-ascended cultivators will be granted the opportunity to enter the pond and attain an immortal body. As for that Enlightenment Attainment Lotus, it"s a spirit item that only exists alongside the Immortal Transformation Pond, and can drastically improve one"s spiritual root and intelligence. It"s said that even a severely mentally disabled person could attain extraordinary intelligence upon consuming this flower."
Han Li was naturally quite stunned to hear the names of these two legendary items as well, and he stared intently at Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, trying to identify whether she was telling the truth.
As for the woman from the Ye Family, she remained completely silent with a dark expression on her face.
"The Immortal Transformation Pond and Enlightenment Attainment Lotus are extremely rare even in the True Immortal Realm. It would take tens of millions of years for them to take shape, so they"re naturally not the same as the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus. However, even though the effects of the latter pair of items are far inferior, they"re still more than enough to drastically enhance us in all areas. The connection between them is that the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus are the pre-evolved forms of the Immortal Transformation Pond and Enlightenment Attainment Lotus," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a mysterious smile as she tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.
"I see. In that case, why do such precious spirit items exist in the Elder Devil Realm that"s rife with devilish Qi, rather than here in our Spirit Realm? Also, how do you know if they actually exist in the Elder Devil Realm?" Han Li asked in a serious voice.
After a brief hesitation, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied, "This information was revealed to us by the last Spirit Monarch of our Spirit Race. He had once ventured deep into the Elder Devil Realm as well, and had witnessed those two spirit items for himself. Unfortunately, he was discovered and wounded before he could enter the spirit pond, and was forced to return to the Spirit Realm. Hence, the information comes from a credible source. As for why such extraordinary spirit items are growing in the Elder Devil Realm, that"s something known only by the heavens. However, I think that those two spirit items took shape there precisely because the Elder Devil Realm is so rife with devilish Qi. I think that all of the spiritual Qi within that realm has been forced to a single place, thereby giving rise to these two items. In contrast, our Spirit Realm is indeed more abundant with spiritual Qi overall, but it"s not condensed enough in any place to allow such spirit items to take shape."
[1] IGT: Note: true devilish Qi = perfect devil qi (the higher grade devil qi that was used in earlier arcs to corrupt the lower realm. Made multiple appearances, one of which was in chapter 1060)