Han Li glanced at the azure-armored man and felt his heart tremble.
His cultivation was unfathomably deep, no lesser than the three grand elders that have rushed to meet him. It was no wonder they were so polite.
Furthermore, this person’s azure-armor was somewhat particular. Its designs were quite simple and its surface was a dull grey, but it has its talisman characters similar to decorative patterns. But when Han Li brushed his spiritual sense past the armor, it gave him a familiar sensation. He took another glance at it, then suddenly widely opening his eyes as if he saw something inconceivable.
If he was correct, the so-called azure armor should’ve been something condensed from extremely concentrated baleful Qi. This explained why the aura gave him a familiar feeling.
Despite the amount of baleful Qi on his body, he appeared well and was able to use it to create armor.
This ability was truly outrageous.
In his alarm, he looked around and noticed others that were wearing azure armor among the Flying Spirit Tribe.
Each of them wore armor of varying colors.
Blue light flashed from Han Li’s eyes and he narrowed his sight.
Their armor was also formed from baleful Qi. But because of their weaker cultivation or lacking baleful Qi, their armor appeared vague as if they weren’t as condensed.
When Han Li saw the different armors formed by baleful Qi, he was deeply shocked and began to ponder about them.
At that moment, the azure-armored man looked at the crowd behind the three grand elders and wore a smile.
“How could I forget about our tribe’s three hundred year trial. However, the demons in the closest earth abyss are agitated. If you wait another two years, I wouldn’t agree with having the trial.”
The old man chuckled, “That is why we moved the date of the trial earlier when we heard your news. There shouldn’t be a problem starting now, right?”
The azure-armored man indifferently answered, “No. Although the dark Qi is more dangerous than usual, an official eruption will take a year at least. However, the dark demons underground will not stay in the nest levels, so I can’t guarantee that the demons on the first three layers will be spirit general grade. The chances of encountering high-grade earth abyss demons will be much higher, but those at demon king-level won’t likely appear. As the dangerous ones, if you find them to be too harmful, don’t blame me for not warning you.”
“So long as no demon king-grade existences appear, the trial will go on,” the white-haired man said with a firm voice.
The old woman frowned and slowly said, “I have no objections. If we miss this opportunity, we won’t be able to conduct the trial for at least another hundred years. Many of our branches cannot wait that long.”
The tattooed old man muttered to himself for a moment and nodded with a sigh.
The azure-armored man chuckled at their approval and raised his hand to the air.
A fist-sized azure light ball shot out. In a flash, it strangely appeared a kilometer in the air.
Following the explosion of the light ball, a huge world-shaking boom shook the air and a halo of azure light rushed out from the result.
Soon after, a ten-meter-wide azure sun rose to the sky, s.h.i.+ning with a blinding light.
The armored Flying Spirit Tribe beings behind the azure-armored man immediately separated into two lines, forming a path in the air.
Their cultivation all differed, but their silent and disciplined movement produced a formless pressure.
When the others saw this, the various elders were better off, showing only a brief change in expression, but Han Li and the other holy disciples became restless with most wearing expressions of astonishment.
The three elders in front then waved their arms behind them before moving forward together.
Suddenly, the entire group went ahead and slowly pa.s.sed through the armored soldiers in the air.
Mounted on top of a huge bird, he narrowed his eyes as he looked at the armored soldiers to either side.
He found that most of them wore cold, indifferent faces apart from occasionally looking at them with curious eyes. There were also those that were younger and possessed lesser cultivation.
The lowest cultivation among them was at Core Formation level.
And there were many from higher cultivation levels, many of which included those at Great Spirit General-stage.
Han Li felt apprehension.
The earth abyss guards that are stationed here were about the same as the guards of Deep Heaven City.
However, their numbers were far less than the Deep Heaven Guards. But their elites were at a level far beyond those from Deep Heaven City. And considering the people stationed here often fight the demons that emerge from the earth abyss, they have richer combat experience than other Flying Spirit Tribe members.
From the buildings constructed here, it also appears that earth abyss guards live here as well.
As Han Li’s thoughts churned in his mind, the group of holy disciples and elders arrived in front of the span of buildings.
The group of elders separated and started guiding the disciples to nearby residences to rest. The trial would soon begin on the morning of the next day.
The Tian Peng also entered one of the residences.
Jin Yue and Elder s.h.i.+ guarded the first floor while the holy disciples were each given their own floor so they could rest without disturbance.
Han Li frowned. Although he was happy there was a night of rest, Jin Yue and Elder s.h.i.+ had ordered them to remain inside and stay on different floors. It would interrupt his earlier plans.
Han Li sat cross-legged on his bed, but he didn’t meditate. Instead, his eyes wandered as his mind began to sink into thought.
Not long after, he seemed to have thought of something and chuckled to himself. He then stood up and went to the first floor.
When he appeared at the bottom of the stairs, he saw Jin Yue and Elder s.h.i.+ with their eyes closed as they sat down. But immediately after, they open their eyes at the same time and looked over in his direction.
Han Li felt his heart tremble.
“Fellow Daoist Han, why aren’t you getting proper rest? Could it be that you have something urgent to attend to?” Rather than Jin Yue, it was Elder s.h.i.+ who spoke.
“I have something I wish to do and I want to take a trip outside,” Han Li calmly stated.
“What is it?” Jin Yue said with a trace of dissatisfaction.
With the trial right around the corner, she hoped that Han Li would obediently rest in his room, rather than be distracted by other things.
Han Li smiled and gave an honest answer, “In truth, it isn’t much. I found that the earth abyss guard’s armor was quite peculiar as it was formed from baleful Qi. I was hoping of finding someone that could explain the mysteries behind it.”
Jin Yue paused and then said with an odd expression, “You mean the Four Fiend Armor Technique? The technique requires an immense amount of baleful Qi to use. Otherwise, the technique would be too weak. What do you plan to do with it?”
Elder s.h.i.+ also felt somewhat surprised.
Han Li smiled and formed an incantation gesture. Golden light s.h.i.+ned from his body, emitting an astonis.h.i.+ngly deep aura. A dense wave of baleful Qi soon burst out from the depths of his body.
The baleful Qi he refined with the Vajra Arts began to concentrate all over his body.
Both of the elders were astonished by the display of baleful Qi.
“With such dense baleful Qi, it is no wonder you’re interested in the Four Fiend Amor Technique. Hehe, but you don’t need to go outside. The technique isn"t kept secret, and I’m proficient in it as well. I can hand over the entire cultivation art to you. With the immense baleful Qi on your body, you may even use the technique tomorrow during the trial.” As Elder s.h.i.+ heartily laughed, he spoke the words that Han Li already antic.i.p.ated.
When he saw so many ordinary earth abyss guards comprehend this technique, the Tian Peng elders likely knew this technique as well.
Now, his a.s.sumption was proven correct.
Suppressing his joy, Han Li respectfully answered, “Senior s.h.i.+, I can’t thank you enough. But are the techniques easy to comprehend? Would I be able to use them after a night?”
Elder s.h.i.+ waved his hand and casually said, “Hehe, so long as Fellow Daoist Han a.s.sists Lei Lan and Bai Bi through the trial, I’m the one who should be thanking you. Don’t worry, the technique isn’t particularly complicated, and with your cultivation, you’ll be able to cultivate several layers in a single night. As for the last few layers, they require immense baleful Qi, so you won’t be able to use them.”
Han Li nodded several times in response.
Jin Yue raised no objections. Instead, she simply closed her eyes again.
Elder s.h.i.+ took out a finger-sized bamboo tube from his robes and muttered to it for a moment before tossing it over to Han Li, “I’ve put the technique in there. You may return.”
“Many thanks, Senior!” Han Li then took the tube and climbed up the stairs without delay.
He sat cross-legged on his bed and pressed the tube against his forehead and immersed it with his spiritual sense.
Suddenly, an ancient green script flowed through Han Li’s mind, his face becoming entirely still.
Not long after, Han Li put away the tube into his storage pouch and his face relaxed.
The set of techniques was as Elder s.h.i.+ had described. They were simple and he’d be able to condense a layer of baleful armor.
With that thought, Han Li rested his hands on his knees and began to comprehend the technique.
During this time, a layer of faintly black baleful Qi began to appear from his body.
The baleful Qi roiled and went still for a time. Not long after, his surroundings began to violently stir, creating a faint black wind around him and blurring Han Li’s figure from sight.