“What, do you recognize that corpse?” Han Li asked without turning around.
After a moment of deliberation, Gui Ling sincerely replied, “For the time being, I do.”
Han Li then cocked his head around and asked, “The time being?”
“Before he turned into a refined corpse, he was a spirit beast,” Gui Ling explained, “We were somewhat acquainted in the past. His master was a human cultivator that descended from the Spirit Realm, but I haven’t seen him after Kunwu Mountain was sealed. I don’t know how he ended up like this.”
Han Li’s expression stirred, “You mean to say he was originally a demon beast from the Spirit Realm?”
“That’s right,” Gui Ling sighed, “In the past, cultivators and demons that descended into the mortal realm had restrictions on their cultivation. Any accompanying spirit beasts that descended with their masters, like me, had their original memories erased.”
“Then you mean to say you don’t remember anything?” Han Li’s heart trembled, and he soon felt disappointed. His brief hope of having her explain a bit about the Spirit Realm was extinguished.
“Apart from knowing my origin, everything else is blank,” Gui Ling spoke with a sad expression.
Han Li remained silent in thought before Silvermoon came to mind.
As her identity was quite important, she could have memories of the Spirit Realm. As his heart began to stir, he immediately stifled his curiosity as it was hardly the time for this. His gaze quickly swept to the area below.
His cursory search discovered that the surroundings outside of the seal had changed.
The area was barren. Not only did the Eight Spirit Ruler floating above the palace disappear, but the restriction created from the Black Wind Flag also left. It was no wonder why they had easily broken through the seal.
Giant holes and ten-meter-deep claw grooves littered the ground, and half of the palace looked as if it had been shredded.
Han Li’s spiritual sense had already swept past the ruins of the palace, but he wasn’t able to discover anything as there were restrictions warding off spiritual sense.
Regardless, he still felt relieved. The pressure that Devil Ancestor emitted was truly too great. If he directly encountered her, he wouldn’t last long.
However, the sole teleportation formation in the area was still sealed by the Black Wind Flag. He would have to think of another way out.
With wandering eyes, he began to ponder on a way to escape.
His train of thought was soon interrupted by Lin Yinping’s anxious voice, “Fellow Daoist Han, if you agree to rescue us, I will personally resolve the hatred between you and our Endless Sky Temple.”
Han Li bluntly answered, “How could this hatred dissolve after you pursued me for so long? I have no interest in helping!”
“Brother Han, don’t forget that we still have three other grand immortals. Will they let you go if Grand Immortal Xu and I were to die here?”
When Han Li heard this, he chuckled and looked back at the sea of blood.
Lin Yinping was currently using a shining silver embroidered cloth to forcefully repel the assault of Ghostfiend Threads for the time being, but her face was deathly pale. It was clear that she was using a secret technique to forcefully raise the power of her magic treasure.
Grand Immortal Xu was also in dire straits. Because of the injuries he sustained from the ambush and his entrapment in that sea of blood, he was on the verge of collapse despite the formidable resistance he raised with his magic treasures.
The Keen Spirit Peacock found itself in the best situation of the three.
Although the bird wasn’t able to escape from the purple mist, the Lion Hawk also wasn’t able to harm it in turn. its formidable golden shockwaves were completely restrained by the peacock’s golden light.
With a calm expression, Han Li continued, “Even if your words were credible, I would still not act. To tell the truth, if you weren’t on the edge of calamity, I would’ve thought to take advantage of the situation as well. As for your three grand immortals, let them come, I wouldn’t mind comparing our abilities.”
After slaying the Elder Devil, Han Li was able to approximately gauge his own abilities. With the human-like puppet hidden nearby and Gui Ling obediently following his orders, he shouldn’t find himself at much of a disadvantage against three late-Nascent Soul cultivators.
Not to mention that it would be impossible for the three to all travel there at the same time.
If the Moulan discovered that there were no Soaring Sky Grand Immortals in the plains, they would mount an invasion in an instant.
With that in mind, Han Li paid no mind to Lin Yinping’s threat.
The white-haired refined corpse was somewhat worried that Han Li would interfere, but he relaxed. He let out an inhuman laugh, “Fellow Daoist Han is truly sensible. As I have no intention of attacking him, why would he come to the aid of rabble like you? You should give yourselves up!”
Han Li remained expressionless, but he felt disdain in his heart.
Inside the seal, the refined corpse disguised as Master Scatterwind had stealthily released a thread of its corpse Qi, immediately alarming the Weeping Soul Beast. He then discovered that the Silver-winged Nightfiend and Master Scatterwind were exchanging voice transmissions.
As his spiritual sense was stronger than even one belonging to a common late-Nascent Soul cultivator, he was able to eavesdrop, but he couldn't closely listen in as he wanted to avoid detection.
But from what he gathered, he understood that the white-haired refined corpse planned on joining forces with the other two demons, and ambush the human cultivators when they escaped the seal and left their guard down.
Regardless of who it was, it made no difference. As such, Han Li deliberately stayed one step behind and had those two spring their trap.
In any case, Han Li wasn’t about to play along with their show.
Although he hadn’t seen the white-haired refined corpse before, from his appearance and cultivation, he was clearly the Venerable Corpse Xiong.
He was a renowned character in the Great Jin demon clans, said to have lived for tens of thousands of years and cultivated into a spirit. As Myriad Demon Valley rivaled both the High Zenith Sect and the Heavenly Devil Sect in power, it was rather odd for him, the faction leader, to appear here disguised as a vagrant cultivator.
Now, there was a mystery of whether there ever even existed a vagrant cultivator by the name of Scatterwind, or if this demon had created that identity from the very beginning.
The concealment techniques that this refined corpse used were truly miraculous. Even Han Li wasn’t able to break through. But as a result, his cultivation had been greatly limited, allowing a Nascent Soul of the Ying Sifting Sect Elder to escape when he was ambushed by the blood blade.
When Han Li looked at both the blood sea and Corpse Xiong below him, he expressionlessly pondered for a moment and a cold glint flashed from his eye.
Although he had no intention of saving the other two, he couldn't easily allow that crimson blade to absorb the blood and soul of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. If he allowed that treasure to become stronger, it would be used against him.
Even if the blood blade quickly absorbed the power of its kills, it should need some time to process them. That delay will be the prime opportunity for him to seize it.
Han Li resolved himself. It would be far safer for this wicked treasure to be in his possession.
Maintaining an indifferent expression, Han Li’s lips began to stir. At his side, Gui Ling’s eyes shifted a bit but her expression remained calm.
At that moment, Grand Immortal Xu finally broke his silence. He took a deep breath and harshly shouted, “Brother Han, if you assist me, I am willing to present you the secret to developing the Gold Devouring Beetles to their final form of maturation!”
Han Li instantly paused and his expression turned odd.
When Lin Yinping heard this, she quickly refuted in alarm, “No! That secret doesn’t leave our sacred temple under any circumstance. How can we so easily divulge it to outsiders!?”
“What use is a secret among the dead? Don't tell me that you would rather be devoured by that blood blade and lose your ability to reincarnate. If we die here, the Moulan will use this chance to counterattack. What does a trifling secret mean in the face of our people’s prosperity!”
When Lin Yinping heard this, her face grew deathly pale and she remained silent.
When Corpse Xiong saw Han Li’s pensive expression, he knew that things would turn for the worse.
The demon spared no effort as he clasped his hands in an incantation gesture and wildly poured magic power into the crimson blade. Crimson light surged from it to form a giant ghost face. It widely opened its mouth downward to the blood sea and moved to swallow Grand Immortal Xu.
Meanwhile, the blood sea surged all around and the repeated waves of crimson collapsed against one another to create a whirlpool of blood, forcefully sweeping Grand Immortal Xu into it and leaving no path of escape.
In Grand Immortal Xu’s alarm, he inwardly cursed and could only wield his azure pearl and silver hook to strike at the ghost face in desperation.
But crimson light flashed from its mouth and a crimson thread show out, firmly binding the two treasures in the blink of an eye, much to his shock.
The ghost face opened its mouth once more, this time revealing its fangs as it sinisterly laughed and it plunged its head into the sea of blood.
Grand Immortal Xu grit his teeth when he saw this, and his Nascent Soul opened its eyes in preparation to escape.
