Han Li was quite elated to hear this. He hadn't actually expected that Che Qigong would be able to provide an answer to this question, but it appeared that he really did know something about this. It seemed that he hadn't been lying when he had proclaimed himself to be one of the oldest Sacred Ancestors in the Elder Devil Realm.
As Han Li was waiting in silence, Che Qigong was pondering intently and occasionally murmuring something unintelligible to himself.
After a long while, Che Qigong finally broke the silence again. "I've got it! Our sacred realm does indeed have an ancient forbidden technique passed down from ancient times that seems to be able to accomplish this. However, this forbidden technique has been lost for a very long time, and it's extremely risky to cultivate, so even back in ancient times, very few Sacred Ancestors would cultivate it. There are very few people in our sacred realm who currently know of this technique; I wonder how Xue Guang managed to get his hands on it."
"Forbidden technique? Would you be able to elaborate on that, Senior?" Han Li asked.
"This forbidden technique is known as the Great Soul Splitting Technique, and it's said that it's a technique that will allow one to completely split their own spiritual sense. Each split part possesses independent will and can control a portion of that person's magic power, but their personalities will become very extreme, thereby resulting in major potential problems later on. On top of this, one could easily deplete their soul to too great an extent by using this technique. The spiritual sense clones created using this technique can't really even be referred to as clones as every single one of them is essentially the true body; there's no hierarchical order in which they're ranked.
"That's the extent of my knowledge on this technique. The power of the clone depends on the number of times one's spiritual sense has been split. However, the fact that Xue Guang is willing to send this clone into the Spirit Realm indicates that it can't be a very powerful one. Even so, it'll still be far more powerful than the average spiritual sense clone of a Sacred Ancestor," Che Qigong said in a slow voice.
"I see. Are there no drawbacks to this technique that I can exploit?" Han Li asked with a grim expression.
"The technique naturally has severe drawbacks, but all of that will come after the event; you won't really be able to exploit any of them during your battle," Che Qigong replied with a resigned expression.
"In that case, I'll just have to react and adapt to the situation. I'm only planning to shake off these clones anyway." Han Li nodded in response and didn't seem to have any intention of asking further questions.
Thus, he extended a slight bow toward Che Qigong, and black light flashed from his body, upon which he vanished as a cloud of black Qi.
Che Qigong looked on expressionlessly at the spot where Han Li had disappeared, and remained hovering in the air above the grassland. All of a sudden, he said in an indifferent voice, "You've been watching for quite some time now; isn't it about time you came out?"
"Hehe, so you knew I was here all along." Another male voice rang out from the nearby space in response, and this also sounded like quite an elderly voice.
"I was able to break through to this level of restriction, so you're naturally able to do so as well. You were already following me back when I met that human cultivator the first time, right?" Che Qigong asked as a cold expression appeared on his face.
The unfamiliar man was silent for a moment before asking, "Why bother to ask a question when you already know the answer? Are you planning to try and punish me?"
"Hmph, do you think I wouldn't do that if I could?" Che Qigong replied in a cold voice.
The unfamiliar man's voice also cooled upon hearing this. "You've always been the cruelest one among us; if Xue Guang hadn't plotted against us, you would've most likely turned on the rest of us anyway."
"Don't make it sound like you're some kind of saint! All of us were plotting against one another back then. Setting the past aside, that human brat is the only opportunity for me to escape from this place. If you dare to ruin this for me, then don't blame me for turning on you," Che Qigong said in a threatening voice.
"Sure, I'll stay out of this as long as you give me half of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi that you obtain from that human brat. In fact, not only will I not foil your plans, I'll even help you take on Xue Guang after we get out of this place." The unfamiliar man immediately stated his own condition.
"Looks like I have no choice but to agree. However, there's no way I'll be splitting you half of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi; a quarter is all I'm willing to give up. If you can't accept that, then so be it," Che Qigong said in a calm manner.
"Hehe, I'll take it; a quarter will be enough for me to ensure self-preservation and escape from this place," the unfamiliar man agreed without any hesitation.
Che Qigong's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he continued, "In that case, once we get out of here, we'll refine this Devil Sealing Lock and return to our former powers, then seek out Xue Guang for revenge. He's currently walking our old path, so he must be in his most vulnerable state right now."
"I find that to be quite curious. It's not like Xue Guang hasn't experienced how dangerous this technique is in the past, yet he still dares to cultivate it again; isn't he afraid of ending up in the same situation as he did in the past?" The unfamiliar man seemed to be very confused.
"Hmph, who knows what Xue Guang is thinking? Perhaps he's already found a way to circumvent the risk of using this technique, or perhaps he's had to cultivate it again for some other reason. In any case, he's definitely severely weakened right now, so this the perfect opportunity for us to exact our revenge," Che Qigong said as a hint of resentment flashed through his eyes.
"It's rather implausible that he would've found a way to circumvent the risk of using that technique. There's no use speculating about it now; all will be made clear when we see Xue Guang again." A resentful tone crept into the unfamiliar man's voice as well, and it was clear that he also harbored intense hatred toward Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.
"I can't wait to see the look his face when he sees us again. However, if we want that scenario to eventuate, we have to help that Han brat overcome his predicament first. If he fails to escape from that clone of Xue Guang's, the Devil Sealing Lock will fall into Xue Guang's hands again. The two of us won't be in any danger here, but there's no way we'll be able to escape," Che Qigong said with a solemn expression.
"Didn't you already disclose to him the method to counter those two treasures? Without the threat posed by those two treasures, that brat should be able to ensure self-preservation," the unfamiliar man said in a slow voice.
"There's no way we can judge that brat's powers from his spiritual sense clone alone, but seeing as he was able to take the Devil Sealing Lock from Xue Guang's subordinates, I assume he's quite powerful among Body Integration Stage beings," Che Qigong mused with furrowed brows.
"Hehe, I certainly hope so," the unfamiliar man replied in an indifferent manner.
Che Qigong shook his head with a wry smile before falling silent.
Meanwhile, outside the Devil Sealing Lock, Han Li's golden Nascent Soul was still seated with its legs crossed inside the mysterious space within the giant bird.
All of a sudden, black Qi emerged from the surface of the wooden box, and the black Nascent Soul re-emerged in a flash. The Nascent Soul gave Han Li a smile before instantly vanishing into his golden Nascent Soul.
The two Nascent Souls had combined as one, and the golden Nascent Soul shuddered as it hurriedly made a hand seal. A hint of discomfort flashed over its face for an instant, but its expression then immediately returned to normal.
The golden Nascent Soul slowly opened its eyes, then murmured to itself, "I see, looks like I've made the right decision to ask Che Qigong for advice; he's given me a method to counter both of those treasures. As for whether it's going to work, I'll have to try it to find out. If it fails, I'll have to abandon this Devil Sealing Lock or employ some other risky tactics."
After contemplating the situation for a long while, a faint smile appeared on its face, and it exploded into specks of golden light.
Four hours later, Han Li caught sight of a completely bleak and barren plain in the distance. His eyes immediately lit up, and he raised his beak to let loose a long cry before suddenly withdrawing his wings and reverted back to his human form amid a flash of bright spiritual light.
After taking a glance at the plain in the distance, then turning to look behind himself, he immediately swept both sleeves through the air to release 72 small azure swords, which transformed into hundreds of streaks of azure Sword Qi that began to revolve around him.
After that, he made a hand seal, and a layer of azure light appeared over his body, following which all of the streaks of sword Qi suddenly vanished into the nearby space.
In the next instant, hundreds of azure pillars of light erupted out of the surrounding area to form a massive sword formation. This was none other than the final sword formation of the Azure Essence Sword Art, the Azure Coil Sword Formation.
The sword formation had been bestowed upon Han Li by Qing Yuanzi, and he had later incorporated elements of his Sword Observation Art into it to further enhance its powers. It had been very effective against the devilish lord, Fei Ya, but as for how effective it would be against his pursuer, that was yet to be seen.
Of course, seeing as Han Li was preparing to make a stand, he naturally couldn't just use a single ability. After he had set up the sword formation, he immediately released two figures out of his own body, one of which was golden while the other was azure.
They were none other than the Provenance Golden Body and the green-skinned spirit body.
After that, he flipped a hand over to produce a purple blade segment, which he immediately tossed toward the golden body.
The eyes on the center head of the golden body sprang open, and it drew the blade segment into its grasp.
