The monstrous creature tossed the jade vial in its hand into the air, and a ball of azure light instantly appeared in mid-air. A projection that was completely identical to the jade vial then emerged, and after a few flashes, it swelled drastically to around 100 feet in size. A buzzing sound rang out from within the vial, following which the opening of the vial slowly aimed itself toward the sea of mist in the distance.
Almost at the exact same moment, the blue waves on the other side also underwent a drastic transformation.
A piercing pillar of light erupted from the center of the blue waves, and all of the water swept outward in all directions like a waterfall. At the very center of the waves, the projection of a blue gourd that was not inferior in size to the vial projection appeared, then also aimed its opening at the sea of Black Infernal Mist.
The two beings then made hand seals in unison, and a thick pillar of azure light erupted from the vial while bursts of blue light swept forth from within the gourd.
The two disappeared into the sea of mist in a flash, causing the mist to tumble violently before surging toward the azure and blue lights in a frenzy.
The black mist then swirled before forming two pillars of mist that gushed into the two container treasures.
The rate at which the two treasures were taking in mist was truly astounding.
In mere moments, a vast expanse of empty s.p.a.ce had been cleared out in the wake of the blue and azure lights, but the black mist quickly filled up that s.p.a.ce again.
However, there seemed to be no end to the capacity of the two containers, and they showed no sign of stopping as they continued to suck in more and more black mist.
Right at this moment, the crimson-haired being appeared in the air above the blue gourd projection, looking down in silence with a cold expression on his face.
Meanwhile, the ma.s.sive monster that had been summoned by the white-robed man was seated beneath the vial projection in a cross-legged manner with its eyes closed.
The amount of black mist sucked in by the two treasures was quite incredible, but the amount of Black Infernal Mist in the area was certainly nothing to be scoffed at, either.
The two beings persisted for two days and two nights, but they"d only sucked away a tiny portion of the sea of black mist. If they wanted to completely take all of the black mist with them, then it would take at least a month or two.
However, the two beings didn"t appear to be in any hurry as they continued to spur on their two treasures, appearing as if they had all the time in the world.
Han Li had witnessed what these two beings were doing through the use of his Myriad Dragon Beads, and he was starting to become quite uneasy again.
With these two staying here for so long, how was he supposed to cultivate with peace of mind? It would naturally be best if they departed after taking the entire sea of mist, but it would be very bad if they directed their attention to him after that.
However, fleeing the scene would likely incur just as much risk as staying, so Han Li refrained from doing so.
Even so, he had still finished packing up everything within the cave abode a day ago. Aside from the 72 Golden Lightning Bamboo plants in which his flying swords had been sealed, all of the other important items had been stowed away into his storage bracelet, thereby allowing him to immediately escape at the first sign of trouble.
A day later, both of the foreign beings cast incantation techniques to make their container treasures swell to around twice their original sizes, and the rate at which they were sucking in mist also accelerated significantly.
Perhaps they had also used some other abilities to enhance the two treasures, seeing as a dozen or so pillars of mist were now gus.h.i.+ng into the treasures as opposed to the original two pillars.
Each and every pillar of mist was rotating as they surged through the air, thereby sweeping up the mist in a wider area around them to surge into the container treasures together.
Thus, the rate at which the sea of mist was being depleted accelerated significantly, and the mist was thinning almost at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.
The crimson-haired being chuckled upon seeing this before turning to the white-robed man.
"Brother Min, looks like we"ll be able to take all of the True Spirit Yin Qi here in around a dozen or so more days!"
The white-robed man smiled upon hearing this, and he was just about to say something in reply when his expression suddenly changed slightly. Immediately thereafter, an infuriated cry erupted from deep within the sea of mist.
As soon as the roar rang out, the black pillars of mist surging toward the container treasures faltered before dissipating amid a string of dull thumps, as if they"d been struck by some kind of invisible power.
Even as the pillar of azure light and waves of blue light continued to sweep through the mist, the black mist remained completely tranquil and refused to be taken.
The two beings glanced at one another upon seeing this, and both of them could see their own grim expression mirrored in one another"s eyes.
At this moment, the monstrous cry within the mist became slightly louder, as if there were something flying quickly toward them from deep within the sea of mist.
"Is it that thing?" the crimson-haired being asked without any context.
However, the white-robed being seemed to be aware of what his companion was referring to, and his brows furrowed as he replied, "It most likely is."
"I was wondering why those Tian Peng beings hadn"t touched the True Spirit Yin Qi here; turns out such a thing was lurking within it. They"ve always regarded bird-type true spirits as divine deities, so the thing in there was most likely left behind by such a true spirit as well," the crimson-haired being said with a wry smile.
"That"s most likely the case. We don"t know what state it"s evolved to yet, but if it"s already evolved to the final stage, then we have to retreat right away," the white-robed man sighed.
"Indeed, I have no intention of falling to that thing. Even my soul won"t be able to reincarnate in that case," the crimson-haired being sighed in a grim manner.
The white-robed man didn"t say anything in response this time. Instead, he made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the ma.s.sive gourd projection.
The projection shattered amid a dull thump, and a speck of azure light shot forth from within before landing in his grasp.
It was none other than that azure jade vial, and it disappeared without a trace amid a flash of azure light.
The crimson-haired being also made a grabbing motion in a cautious manner, and the waves down below vanished as the ma.s.sive gourd instantly shrank down to its original size before landing in his grasp.
The two beings then stood side by side, looking on into the sea of black mist in silence.
Judging from the sound of that monstrous cry, whatever they were waiting for seemed to be quite close already, but only after 10 minutes did a gust of fierce winds erupt from within the sea of mist. Immediately thereafter, a white figure appeared in a flash, revealing itself to be a gargantuan creature that was several thousand feet in size. As it flashed through the sea of mist, it swept up a rank odor, as it appraised the two beings with a frosty light in its eyes.
This was a white skeletal bird with nine different heads! Each and every one of the heads had eerie green ghostly flames burning within their eye sockets, and wisps of inky-black Yin Qi were swirling around its body, giving the bird an even more sinister appearance.
"Those are the remains of a Nine-headed Bird!" the crimson-haired being exclaimed as soon as he caught sight of the skeletal bird.
"Thankfully, it"s still only at the second stage of its corpse transformation and hasn"t yet evolved to become an Infernal Nethercorpse of the final stage, so it"s only comparable to the two of us in power. The only problem is that we don"t know how much of this bird"s vicious baleful Qi remains. If it"s retained more than half its baleful Qi, then we"ll most likely have to retreat," the white-robed man said in a calm voice, but a faint hint of fear flashed through his eyes as he spoke.
"Let"s give it a try to find out. Would you really be willing to give up on the True Spirit Yin Qi here, Brother Min?" the crimson-haired being asked with gritted teeth as he stared at the skeletal bird with a grave expression.
"Of course I don"t want to give up on it; the cultivation art I"m using desperately requires this stuff to enhance its power. We"ll each try one attack each to test it. If it"s too powerful, then we retreat right away." The white-robed man finally made up his mind.
As soon as his voice trailed off, one of the Nine-headed Birds huge heads reared up before letting loose a shrill cry, following which all eight of its other heads opened their beaks in unison.
Loud booms rang out as fireb.a.l.l.s, blades of wind, ice spikes, bolts of lightning, and other attacks of countless different attributes erupted from the eight heads at the same time, obscuring almost the entire sky.
The ferocity of the attack was truly astounding.
However, the two foreign beings suddenly became a lot calmer upon seeing this.
"I"ll go first," the crimson-haired being volunteered before making a hand seal, upon which blue light immediately began to surge around his body. He then pointed a finger toward the oncoming wave of attacks in a seemingly casual manner, and a burst of blue light shot forth from his fingertip.
The blue light was initially only a thin line, but after leaving his fingertip, it immediately transformed into a blue light barrier that s.h.i.+elded the two beings behind it.
The crimson-haired being then made another hand seal, and the light barrier flashed erratically before forming a resolute blue wall of ice.
In that instant, all of the oncoming attacks finally struck, cras.h.i.+ng into the blue ice barrier like a torrential downpour.
Loud explosions, dull thumps, and sharp screeching sounds rang out at the same time from the surface of the ice wall.
Spiritual light of all types of different colors radiated from the attacks, completely inundating the ice wall in a spectacular display of colorful lights.
The skeletal bird"s central head let loose a triumphant cry upon seeing this, but the other eight heads continued their offensive output. In fact, they were attacking with even greater ferocity, as if the bird were planning to kill both of its enemies in one fell swoop.
However, right at this moment, a cold harrumph suddenly sounded from beyond the wall of ice, following which a burst of blue light surged forth. The blue light proliferated at an incredible rate, expanding to encompa.s.s an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet in the blink of an eye.
The s.p.a.ce left in the wake of the blue light warped and blurred, and any attack that entered that area simply disappeared in a soundless manner.
The crimson-haired being"s urgent chanting then sounded from within the blue light, and the light swelled dramatically, sweeping toward the ma.s.sive skeletal bird in a counterattack.
The blue light was traveling at such an incredible speed that it was upon the skeletal bird in the span of just a single breath.