After about five minutes, the crimson light radiating from the bead suddenly receded, and the voice of an elderly woman sounded from within. "What is it, Di Xue? Don't you know I'm doing something very important right now?"
The owner of the voice seemed to be quite displeased that she'd been contacted at a time like this.
"Hehe, it's been several decades since we last talked. Are you so busy that you don't even have time to chat with an old friend?" the red-robed being chuckled.
"Quit the chit-chat and tell me what you want. Otherwise, don't blame me for cutting off the transmission." The elderly woman's patience was clearly quickly on the wane.
"Hehe, last time, what we decided on was for Mu Qing to conduct the sacrificial ceremony, Liu Zu to gather Yin Soul energy, while I'm responsible for refining a large number of puppets. As for you, you were assigned the duty of nurturing the 8,000 Yin Armor Profound Ghosts, which are the most important elements of our plan. How are you going with that?" the red-robed being asked, paying no heed to the impatience in the woman's voice.
"Hmph, why are you asking a question that you already know the answer to? I don't even know how many spies of you've planted among my subordinates; are you telling me that you're unaware of what my progress is like?" the elderly woman replied in a cold voice.
"Haha, it's not like you haven't done the same; your subordinates often appear at the location where I'm refining my puppets as well. However, I want to hear you tell me about it in person this time," the red-robed being chuckled.
"Alright, it's not like this is a well-kept secret anyway. The nurturing of the 8,000 Yin Armor Profound Ghosts is progressing quite smoothly. As long as Liu Zu can supply sufficient Yin Soul Energy, it's only a matter of time before I successfully nurture them. The only problem lies with the eight Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs required to lead these ghosts. I can only successfully refine them if I can obtain the soul of a being with a powerful spiritual sense. Such premium soul materials are not that easy to find," the elderly woman said in an indifferent voice.
"Oh? How many of those ghost monarchs have you managed to refine?" the red-robed being asked.
"Only three at the moment. The success rate is quite low," the elderly woman replied in a slightly awkward voice.
"Hehe, that's why I've contacted you, Fellow Daoist, I want to provide you with that premium soul material you're looking for." The red-robed being rubbed his hands together with glee.
"Since when did you develop an interest in Yin souls?" the elderly woman asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.
"I'm not you or Liu Zu; I don't know much about ghostly beings. However, I just discovered a Flying Spirit Race being who was able to detect a wisp of my spiritual sense that I injected into a mud puppet. Even though it was only a wisp of my spiritual sense, that's sufficient indication of just how powerful that man's soul is. It should be ideal for you to refine those ghostly monarchs of yours," the red-robed being said.
"Is it time for the Flying Spirit Race's earth abyss trial again? For one of them to be able to detect your spiritual sense; could it be that one of those old monsters came down in person?" A hint of caution crept into the old woman's voice.
"Don't worry, it's just a little Spirit General, so he won't be able to do anything," the red-robed being said in a nonchalant manner.
"If it's just a Spirit General, then we should be fine. However, he must indeed possess quite a powerful soul to detect your spiritual sense. I'll be taking this gift, then. What do you want in exchange?" The elderly woman was clearly aware that this information wasn't going to be offered to her free of charge.
"Hehe, I love dealing with smart yet straightforward people like you. It's very simple; one Myriad Year Blood Fish will suffice as payment for the provision of detailed information on the target. If you want me to capture the target and deliver him to you in person, then that'll cost you two blood fish," the red-robed being replied.
"Hmph, do you think Myriad Year Blood Fish grow on trees? There's no way that one Yin soul can be worth two of them. I don't have any spare time right now. Bring the soul to me, and I'll give you a Myriad Year Blood Fish. Even then, it's a massive bargain for you," the elderly woman harrumphed coldly.
"Alright, one blood fish it is, then. I'll deliver the soul to you in 10 days," the red-robed being immediately agreed, clearly also of the opinion that this deal was quite a bargain for him.
"By the way, what do Mu Qing and Liu Zu suggest we do with the holy disciples of the Flying Spirit Race? Should we kill all of them or allow them to scurry around on the first three levels like always? They're not going to impede our plan, are they?" the old woman suddenly asked.
"We're at quite a critical juncture at the moment, so we can't attract the attention of the Flying Spirit Race. As long as they don't negatively affect us and don't enter any level below the third one, just let them do as they please. I'm sure Mu Qing and Liu Zu think the same," the red-robed being immediately replied.
"We'll do as you say, then."
After an indifferent reply, the old woman's voice abruptly cut off, and the crimson light radiating from the bead also disappeared.
The red-robed being made a grabbing motion, and the bead instantly flew into his grasp before disappearing.
"Their group consists of a mere late-Spirit General and a couple of early-Spirit Generals, so three early-Great Spirit General Blood Wood Puppets should be more than enough," the red-robed being murmured to himself before rustling a sleeve.
Three crimson shadows flew out from within his sleeve before landing on the ground before him.
Thus, three blurry crimson figures of different forms appeared in a half-knelt position.
Brilliant crimson light erupted from the eyes of the red-robed being as three crimson threads that were barely detectable to the naked eye shot forth from his glabella, then disappeared into the three blurry crimson figures in a flash.
The crimson figures immediately raised their heads, and at the same time, eerie green light appeared within their eyes.
"Go and kill those three and bring their souls back to me," the red-robed being said in an emotionless voice as he pointed toward the copper mirror.
Crimson light flashed and the three puppets disappeared into a nearby wall as three streaks of crimson light.
The red-robed being then lay back down in his chair and closed his eyes again as if everything he'd just done was completely inconsequential.
…
Within a mysterious set of mountain ranges on the first level, there was a sacrificial altar that was over 1,000 feet tall situated at the summit of a massive mountain that was enshrouded under grey Yin Qi. There was a massive greyish white eyeball that was around the size of a human head being offered on a platform on the altar, and the eye was completely bloodshot.
Countless grey threads were erupting out of the eye's pupil before being absorbed by the nearby grey Qi.
At the foot of the altar, a mysterious tall and broad figure in a black cloak was standing motionlessly on the spot.
…
On the sixth level of the earth abyss, within a massive palace that was enshrouded under green light, there was a beautiful woman with a head of snowy white hair and a set of pale facial features. She was standing beside a back pond that was over 1,000 feet in size while appraising everything taking place deep within the pond with a cold expression on her face.
Beside her stood two women who appeared to be in their twenties. Both of them were also very pale, but one was quite petite with a sweet and adorable oval face, striking male onlookers with the urge to hold her in their arms, while the other woman had a lithe and graceful figure, but wore a frosty forbidding expression.
There were formations of different sizes set up all around the pond, and inky-black runes were surging relentlessly from those formations into the pond.
At the center of the pond, there were several blurry pitch-black humanoid figures hovering motionlessly above the black water in the pond.
Those black runes split up into several streams, disappearing into the suits of black armor being worn by these humanoid figures.
However, these humanoid figures remained completely still, as if they were inanimate objects.
The white-haired woman's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.
"Use the infernal flames!" the white-haired woman suddenly said in a cold manner, and despite her appearance, her voice was that of an elderly woman. She was none other than the woman who had been communicating with the red-robed being earlier.
"Yes!" The two seductive women behind her immediately stepped forward, and following a flash of spiritual light, one of them produced a small black vial while a black banana leaf fan appeared in the grasp of the other.
Both of them raised their treasures in unison with solemn expressions on their faces.
A strange cry erupted as a fire wyrm with black flames all over its body flew out from within the vial, then plunged headfirst into the pond.
Black flames immediately erupted over the entire pond. Meanwhile, the petite woman waved her runed banana leaf fan through the air, seemingly with a lot of difficulty.
A vast swath of black flames immediately surged forth from her fan before also plunging into the pond.
The two flames seemed to share the same source, and they intertwined with one another, both flames burned with increased ferocity in a synergistic relationship, enveloping all of the blurry humanoid figures hovering over the pond.
The white-haired woman's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but a hint of anticipation had appeared in her eyes.
…
At this moment, Han Li was flying through the second level, and he was naturally unaware of the fact that he'd caught the interest of these fearsome beings.
However, after that strange bone-chilling sensation he'd experienced earlier, he had become a lot more cautious.
Even as he flew rapidly through the air with Lei Lan and Bai Bi in tow, he was activating his spirit eyes at regular intervals to survey his surroundings, even if doing so required additional magic power expenditure.
As a result, Han Li was able to discover some low-grade and mid-grade demon beasts in advance, thereby allowing him to skirt around them to avoid these potentially troublesome beings.
As for normal beasts, those were no longer able to survive on the second level, so they naturally didn't encounter any more of them.
Due to the fact that Lei Lan and Bai Bi had expended a lot of magic power during their descent into the second level, the three of them weren't able to fly very quickly. Both of the holy disciples were holding spirit stones in their hands to absorb the spiritual Qi within in order to recover as quickly as possible.
Thus, they flew for an entire day without encountering any troubles.
On the second day, Lei Lan and Bai Bi had completely recovered their magic power, yet there was still nothing happening, so Han Li decided to stop his frequent usage of his spirit eyes.
The three of them sped onward and entered a set of dark green mountain ranges.
During the afternoon of the second day, right after they had passed over a large mountain, a mishap finally occurred.
Spiritual light suddenly flashed in the distant sky, following which a sharp cry rang out. A streak of green light then appeared before hurtling directly toward them.
In the next instant, three balls of yellow light appeared behind the streak of green light in hot pursuit.
Han Li and the others immediately tried to take evasive measures, but it was also ready too late.
As such, Han Li furrowed his brows and came to a slow halt.
