“That’s true. We’ve already heavily injured the rebels and have their tracks. So long as we guard the entrance to the human realm, they won’t be able to escape. When reinforcements come, it will be impossible for them to escape.” Huang Shi said.
The green-robed woman nodded in agreement.
The two spirits continued their discussion for a moment more and their lights flickered before they disappeared from the tree.
At that same moment in a hidden room in Setting Sun City, there were several people of unordinary bearing sitting around a table.
A skinny monk wearing a necklace of black prayer beads turned to the white-robed middle-aged man and asked, “City Lord Lan. You say that these spirit clan men are trapped in the Setting Sun Tomb and that we must recuse them?”
The white-robed man sullenly said, “That’s right. I just received this information. As they fled, they were heavily injured by pursuers from the spirit clan. With more spirit clan pursuers close on their tail and their grave injuries, they won’t be able to make it to the city. We will need to receive them.”
A dark-skinned man built like iron suddenly asked, “Brother Lan, what are these spirit clan men carrying? Now that matters are so close, tell us the truth. Not only did you call for us, but you also invited Senior Huang Liang out from seclusion. You would only do this for something of grave importance.”
The last of them, a pale man wearing wide yellow robes heard his name mentioned and said, “Fellow Daoist Jin is right. I rushed over here at the city lord’s request while my recent efforts still remain unstable. I am also quite interested in what the spirit clan men are carrying. Can City Lord Lan shed some light on this?”
The pale man was the renowned Spirit Lord Huang Liang, and the white-robed man was the Setting Sun City Lord!
The city lord wryly laughed and said, “Senior Lu, Fellow Daoist Jin, if I knew what they were carrying, I wouldn’t have kept silent. However, I have received orders from the Sage Sovereign’s palace to receive them.”
“Orders from the Sage Sovereign?” The monk and the large man revealed alarm, and a glint lit up from the city lord’s eyes.
The monk said with a doubtful tone, “Then this matter must be personally related to the sovereign.”
City Lord Lan respectfully said, “I don’t know, but even if the sovereign didn’t personally issue the command, it still came from the palace, so there may as well be no difference. Furthermore, when the palace issued the order, they sent a special envoy to our city. Considering the vast distance from Heavenly Origin City and the many lands with unstable spatial tears in between, it should take them quite some time to arrive. We will need to protect the spirit clan men and ensure they aren’t harmed, so the envoy can see them.”
Huang Liang smiled and said, “Since they are orders from the sovereign's palace, there is nothing to discuss. However, I am quite interested in what those spirit clan fellows are carrying.”
The monk and the large man exchanged a glance but kept silent.
“Since Senior Lu and you Fellow Daoists have no objections, let’s head into the Setting Sun Tomb within two days and find those spirit clan members. They have concealed themselves…”
“Who is there!” When City Lord Lan was about to speak of the spirit clan rebels’ location, Huang Liang yelled and swept at a wall.
Boom. A yellow crystalline hand appeared outside and flew out.
In a flash of grey light, something was caught from the outside. Soon after, the object in the crystalline hand exploded into countless grey strands, scattering off in every direction.
“Not good! Myriad Ghost Threads!” Huang Liang shouted out. He waved his sleeve and released a yellow mist concealing his body.
When the others heard this, they were also vastly alarmed.
The monk quickly grabbed the prayer beads on his neck and turned them into black clouds that covered his body. As for the large dark-skinned man, he snorted, taking out a black iron shield to block his front.
The city lord spat out a crystalline ice lotus. In a flare of blue light, he disappeared from sight.
Just as the men were preparing to deal with this surprise attack, the overflowing threads suddenly flashed and disappeared.
The men were stunned in the following moment.
“An illusion!”
Spirit Lord Huang Liang was the first to react and he waved his arm.
The yellow crystalline hand flew back to him.
Under closer inspection, the hand held a trace of silver dust that faintly sparkled.
Huang Liang extended his finger and rubbed it on before bringing it to his eye.
A short moment later, the silver dust turned red, then yellow, and eventually disappeared.
Huang Liang wore an icy expression and said, “It was a mature Illusion Flame Moth doppelganger that detonated. The spirit insect was able to turn its body formless for a short time and sneak into this place, and a trace of its spiritual sense should’ve been able to escape during the distraction. I am certain its true body must be near Setting Sun City. I suppose it heard much of our conversation. Ah yes, the moth dust possessed the Qi of other demons. The insect should’ve been nurtured by the demon clan.”
When City Lord Lan heard this, his expression turned unsightly.
Without hesitation, the city lord announced. “We will head out tomorrow. We cannot allow the demons to seize them first.”
Two hours later, on a small nameless mountain fifty kilometers away from Setting Sun City, a delicate youth sat cross-legged on a boulder, meditating with his eyes shut. On his head sat a fist-sized colorful moth. It was fluttering its wings and releasing gorgeous specks of light.
There was a slender palace-robed woman that stood behind the youth. She had sharp eyes, thick eyebrows and carried a baleful aura. She was the black phoenix demon cultivator that Han Li encountered outside Yu Yuan City.
This proud woman was now obediently standing behind the youth and was respectfully waiting in silence.
When the sound of tearing air whistled, a thin grey strand returned to them and disappeared into the moth on the youth’s head.
The youth then opened his eyes to reveal a clear intelligence.
He waved his arm above him and extended a fair white finger.
The moth gracefully flew off and landed on the youth’s finger.
Soon after, light began to pulse from the moth’s body as it intermittently changed color.
After the time it took to burn a stick of incense, the moth’s light abruptly stopped and it returned to normal.
With an odd expression on his face, the youth muttered, “Old Huang Liang’s emergence to the city was related to a matter involving the spirit clan. In addition, a person has been sent by the Sage Sovereign. It appears those spirit clan rebels are carrying something important. It seems that I haven’t spent my Illusion Flame Moth’s doppelganger in vain.”
After a moment more of silence, he had the moth fly back onto his head before being climbed off the boulder.
“Niece Xiao, I heard the young girl you brought back to the Black Phoenix Clan possesses a variant of the True Phoenix Clan’s blood, an astonishing talent. I heard she’s already broken through to be a grade five demon. Is this true?” The youth asked the woman behind him.
“It is true, Senior Huan. That young girl Dai’er possesses some talent!” The young woman respectfully replied.
“Hehe, as it so happens, our Jasper Mouse Clan also acquired a talented youngster. Wouldn’t it be fine for the two of them to marry?”
The woman was momentarily stunned before replying with a smile, “This… I would agree to Senior’s deeply favorable suggestion, but Dai’er is the granddaughter of a clan elder. She is not someone I can make a decision for.”
“Of course, I am simply asking you to relay the message to Brother Gongsun. The youth I mentioned possesses an equivalent status, so I had made the suggestion.” The youth said.
The woman let out an inward sigh of relief and immediately said, “Yes, I will be sure to send the message.”
“Good. So long as Brother Gongsun agrees, I’ll send over people to your clan when the time comes to officialize the marriage. You should’ve heard me mention that a spirit is seeking shelter from the humans. It seems they carry a precious treasure that even stirs the Sage Sovereign.
While I don’t know the details, I cannot allow those humans to acquire this item. With your phoenix clan’s spatial abilities, you should be able to conceal yourself in the Setting Sun Tomb. Gather our fellow demons and inform them that they must find this spirit before the humans get their hands on them. I will secretly follow old Huang Liang.”
“Yes, I follow your orders!” The woman said with a respectful tone.
Soon after, she waved her hand in front of her and a white arc flashed in front of her.
The woman blurred, then disappearing from sight.
The youth stood in his original place and muttered to himself for a long while. Then, yellow light lit up from his body and he slowly sank to the ground, the mouth still on him.
Soon, those of the demon and human clans received orders from the higher echelons to find the spirit hidden inside the Setting Sun Tomb no matter what the cost.
Both sides were dumbstruck by the reward that was offered. They included spirit pills that massively raised one’s cultivation as well as an astronomical number of spirit stones. They even included a bottle of Huang Liang’s precious Heaven Heart Pills.
As the Setting Sun Tomb became restless from the heavy reward, everyone began to frantically search for the spirit.
Originally, when the humans and demons encountered one another and felt their strength was too similar, they would peacefully go on their own way out of fear.
Now with heavy rewards being offered, battles began to erupt between both sides.
But there was one person that was completely ignorant of this, Han Li.
At that moment, he found himself in his first dangerous battle since entering the Setting Sun Tomb.
