Bai Bi and Lei Lan had well and truly been won over by Han Li, and a hint of awe and veneration also appeared in Qin Xiao's eyes after her astonishment had subsided.
However, Han Li's expression and demeanor remained completely unchanged as he waved a hand toward the three holy disciples, then continued onward in silence.
The other three immediately followed along behind him as streaks of spiritual light.
"Fellow Daoist Qin, I recall that the Green Night Race sent more than one holy disciple. Where are the other fellow Daoists?" Lei Lan asked.
"Our race sent a total of three holy disciples, but we were attacked by several holy disciples from opposing branches after entering the second level, and the other two have all perished. I originally intended to try and sneak into the third level and perhaps obtain an Infernal Flame Fruit by some miraculous stroke of luck, but I encountered those Yellow Wind beings along the way, and was hunted all the way here," Qin Xiao replied with a bitter expression.
"Oh? Six Yellow Wind beings were deployed just to hunt you down?" Lei Lan asked with a meaningful look in her eyes.
Qin Xiao hesitated momentarily before elaborating in a careful voice, "Perhaps it's because I'm carrying several treasures from our race."
"I see." Lei Lan wanted to continue her line of questioning, but it didn't seem appropriate to do so.
However, Bai Bi suddenly interjected, "For the Yellow Wind Race to expend so much manpower; could it be that you're carrying one of the three paramount treasures of your race?"
Qin Xiao's expression changed slightly, and she was silent for a moment before giving a resigned admission. "I did indeed bring our race's Chaotic Flask with me."
"The Chaotic Flask? You mean the treasures capable of unleashing the power of chaos to combat enemies?" Both Bai Bi and Lei Lan stirred upon hearing this.
"Indeed. Without that treasure, a mere mid-Spirit General like me wouldn't have been able to escape from the Yellow Wind beings for so long. Unfortunately, every time I use this flask, it requires the expenditure of several Chaotic Crystals. Even though I took all of the crystals our Green Night Race had, I've exhausted the entire supply by now," Qin Xiao sighed.
Both Lei Lan and Bai Bi cast a glance toward Han Li upon hearing this.
However, Han Li didn't turn back even once this entire time, as if he couldn't even hear their conversation.
Seeing as Han Li was completely disinterested, Lei Lan and Bai Bi exchanged a glance before speaking no further on this matter. Instead, they began to discuss some other matters about the third level of the earth abyss with Qin Xiao.
Qin Xiao heaved a massive internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.
The Green Night Race and the Tian Peng Race did indeed have an alliance agreement, but that was only a verbal agreement with no way to actually bind the two parties to the agreement. As such, with Han Li's insane abilities, she would be completely powerless to resist if he decided to take her treasures.
On the contrary, if she could win over Han Li as an ally, she would be a lot safer here in the earth abyss.
With that in mind, Qin Xiao showed no intention of leaving, instead choosing to chat with Lei Lan in an extremely friendly manner, trying her best to befriend the Tian Peng Race holy disciple.
Soon, they were as close as sisters, and Bai Bi couldn't help but furrow his brows upon seeing this.
Two days, later, the group finally emerged from the mountain ranges, having slain many waves of mid-grade and low-grade demon beasts along the way, only to emerge in a world of ice and snow.
Thus, they were forced to slow down and carefully survey the scenes up ahead.
There was a vast expanse of translucent black glaciers that extended for as far as the eyes could see, and countless black snowflakes were blown through the air amid gusts of frosty winds. Sharp cries could also be heard all around them, as if there were countless malicious ghosts wandering within the depths of these glacial lands.
From a distance, the land up ahead was completely black and devoid of light, as if it were leading straight into the underworld.
"This must be the renowned Baleful Glacial Lands of the second level. I've heard that there are many low-grade and mid-grade baleful glacial demons in here, and there are even some people who have occasionally encountered Baleful Glacial Demon Monarchs," Han Li murmured to himself.
"These are indeed the Baleful Glacial Lands, Brother Han. However, most of the demon beasts here have to yet to attain intelligence. As for Baleful Glacial Demon Monarchs, there have only been rumors about their existence here, and almost no one has actually seen them in person," Qin Xiao immediately replied.
"This place looks quite treacherous, but with our powers, it shouldn't be much of an issue for us to pass through it," Bai Bi said with a confident smile.
Han Li nodded before spreading his wings as he said, "Theoretically, this place isn't very dangerous, but the earth abyss beast torrent is imminent, so it's best to be more careful. Alright, let's go in."He sped to around twice his original speed, disappearing into the world of black ice and snow in just a few flashes.
Lei Lan and the others glanced at one another before quickly following suit.
From a distance, one could see streaks of spiritual light flashing through the air, but those streaks of light quickly disappeared into the darkness.
…
A rhinoceros-like demon beast that was over 100 feet tall crashed heavily to the ground amid a resounding boom, causing the nearby ground to tremor with its enormous weight.
Brilliant red light flashed, and several tens of red threads shot forth from within the rhinoceros' body before disappearing into the body of a humanoid figure in the air that was radiating red light. There were a few other winged humanoid figures hovering in the air, and one of them said in a loud voice, "Senior Martial Brother Zhu, your Crystal Flame Threads are becoming more and more powerful. This mid-grade Black Rhinoceros' skin is harder than that of even some high-grade demon beasts, yet you were still able to slay it with such ease. Surely even Fei Ye of the Nan Long Race doesn't possess such abilities."
The one who had attacked the demon beast was none other than Zhu Yinzi of the Chi Rong Race. The other people with him were naturally the other holy disciples of the same race.
The place that they were situated in was a round base with a radius of thousands of kilometers. They were surrounded by dense black forests, yet there was a patch of barren land stretching for over 50 kilometers at the center of the basin, and this entire stretch of land was covered in grey head-sized oval stones.
At the very center of this stretch of land was a black hole that was over 1,000 feet in size, leading deeper into the ground.
The Chi Rong beings were situated near this hole, and that Black Rhinoceros had clearly emerged from the forest nearby before being slain by Zhu Yinzi.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Chi Rongzi said, "Hmph, stop trying to suck up to me. We've waited here at this entrance for three or four days already, but we've only killed the holy disciples of another minor branch; the Tian Peng Race holy disciples still haven't turned up yet. It looks like they've either gone to one of the two other entrances or are still toiling away on the second level. Most of the other holy disciples have most likely entered the third level already. We have to kill these Tian Peng beings, but we can't give up on the Infernal Flame Fruits, either. How about this? Chi Tian, Hong Sha, you two follow me down to the third level; everyone else, continue to stand guard here. I'll bring back your Infernal Flame Fruits for you."
"Senior Martial Brother Zhu, the holy disciple with the Han surname from the Tian Peng Race seems to be quite powerful. Will we be sufficiently equipped to bring them down if we split up?" Chi Tian asked with a concerned expression.
Zhu Yinzi seemed to have considered this already, and he immediately assured, "Hehe, don't worry about that. Junior Martial Brother You's cultivation base isn't inferior to mine by much, and I'll leave our race's Falling Soul Bell with him. This bell attacks in a completely soundless and untraceable manner, and even Great Spirit Generals will be forced into submission if they were to be caught off guard. With Junior Martial Brother You unleashing sneak attacks from the shadows, there's no way anything can go wrong."
He then opened his mouth to expel a ball of green light, within which was contained an antiquated little bell that was around an inch tall.
He pointed a finger at the bell, and it abruptly disappeared, only to reappear above the head of a burly Chi Rong being in the next instant.
"Thank you for entrusting me with this treasure, Senior Martial Brother. I'll be sure to complete my assigned duty!" The man with the You surname caught the bell expressionlessly, and his voice was oddly sharp, akin to the sound of metal grating on metal.
Even though he was a man of few words, Zhu Yinzi seemed to be extremely confident in his abilities. As such, after a brisk nod, Zhu Yinzi waved a hand before entering the black hole with Chi Tian and Hong Sha closely behind him.
"Listen up! From now on, all of you have to conceal yourselves so you don't betray any signs of our presence here. I'll set up a concealment formation and hide in there. Once our targets arrive, I'll use the Falling Soul Bell to unleash a sneak attack against them. You can all show yourselves after that," the burly man instructed.
The man was clearly quite an authoritative figure among the Chi Rong Race holy disciples, and none of them stated any objections as they made hand seals or summoned their concealment treasures.
Everyone else disappeared in the blink of an eye while the burly man flew into the black hole. Thus, peace and quiet resumed, and it really was as if no one was present in the area.
Elsewhere on the second level, deep within a dense forest filled with massive dark green trees, there was a massive black and yellow pillar that was visible even from 50 kilometers away, standing atop a tall hill.
Upon closer inspection, one would discover that this so-called giant pillar was actually a massive plant with a diameter of around 500 meters. It was as if it had been constructed from countless vines twisted and intertwined together before extending all the way up into the sky.
There was not even a single blade of grass growing within a radius of several tens of kilometers around this plant, as if it were situated in a barren desert.
At this moment, there was a series of explosions erupting amid flashes of spiritual light of different colors at the foot of the plant.
There were Flying Spirit Race beings here, and they had been trapped at low altitudes nearby by tens of thousands of golden moths.
There were two groups of Flying Spirit Race beings here. One of them had a dozen or so members in each group, consisting of both male and female beings. However, all of them had black tattoos on their faces. Meanwhile, the other group consisted of only four members, but all four were remarkably tall and broad men with a massive blade strapped to each of their backs.
The fist-sized moths flying around them were all of a shimmering golden hue. None of them approached the Flying Spirit Race beings; they merely flapped their wings from afar to send waves of rainbow moth powder that sweeping toward them, cutting off all avenues for escape.
The moth powder appeared to be quite mundane, but the two groups of Flying Spirit Race beings didn't dare to let so much as a single speck of powder come into contact with their bodies. All of them were unleashing secret techniques and treasures in rapid succession to protect themselves.
