"Yes, Mistress!" The short furry figure shuddered as it ducked its head even lower.
"Go, now. I'll be returning to the third level on my own," the woman instructed before tapping a foot on the massive black flower beneath her.
Black light immediately flashed from the gigantic flower as silver formations of different sizes appeared over its surface. Silver light then flashed and bursts of inky-black mist billowed out from these formations, forming a sea of mist that enshrouded the entire giant flower in the blink of an eye.
A rumbling thunderclap erupted from within the mist, following which the sea of mist was dispelled by gusts of fierce winds amid a few arcs of flashing silver lightning.
The flower and the slender woman abruptly disappeared on the spot, and only the furry figure remained, still half-knelt on the ground.
After around the five minutes, the short humanoid figure finally rose to its feet and slowly raised its head, revealing a set of ape-like facial features and two pairs of ears. Its green eyes were quite small, but they were shimmering with a cold and sinister light.
This was a Resentful Ape Beast with dark yellow fur, and it seemed to have attained intelligence. The demonic ape appraised its surroundings before abruptly opening its mouth to expel a burst of yellow mist that enshrouded the remains of the giant flower.
An incredible turn of events unfolded!
Within this yellow mist, the Giant Spirit Flower quickly disintegrated into a vast expanse of viscous green liquid. The mist then swept up this green liquid and drew it into the demonic ape's stomach.
The ape then closed its eyes while green light appeared within its nostrils and four ears. At the same time, its yellow fur had turned green and was shimmering faintly.
This Resentful Ape Beast stood still on the spot for a long while two of its four ears suddenly twitched slightly.
Not long after this, a ball of red light flashed from the distance.
There was a portly man within the red light who appeared to be in his thirties, and he had a pair of green wings on his back, as well as a pair of sharp horns on his head. A cunning light was shimmering from his beady eyes, and he was a holy disciple from one of the other branches of the Flying Spirit Race.
For some reason, he had chosen the same route as Han Li and the others, and he appeared to be traveling alone. However, this man appeared to be extremely cautious, so it had naturally already noticed the demonic ape up ahead.
Thus, the fatso stopped in mid-air several hundred feet away from the demonic ape before looking down at it with a hint of surprise on his face.
Even though the demonic ape had converted the remains of the Giant Spirit Flower into liquid and consumed it, the fissures on the ground from when the giant black flower had emerged were quite astonishing to behold.
Meanwhile, the demonic ape stood motionlessly on the spot with his eyes tightly shut while green light flashed within his nose and ears. It seemed to have completely detached itself from the outside world.
As such, this scene struck the onlooker with the illusion that the ape had just fought some kind of gargantuan being and had sustained severe injuries in the process. As a result, it was forced to entering a state of recuperation, thereby rendering it completely defenseless.
That was clearly the conclusion that the holy disciple had arrived at, and a hint of excitement appeared on his face at the sight of the demonic ape.
Even though the objective of this trial wasn't to kill demons, being able to slay a high-grade earth abyss demon beast would undoubtedly earn him bountiful rewards such as its demon core, as well as other ingredients and materials that could be procured from its body.
No one would be willing to give up a chunk of delicious meat that was there for the taking.
However, this holy disciple was extremely cautious and didn't spring into action in a reckless manner. Instead, he surveyed the demonic ape in silence from afar.
After a long while, the demonic ape still hadn't moved at all, and he was finally lulled into a sense of security. A sinister smile appeared on his face as he abruptly rubbed his hands together.
A ball of flames erupted from between his palms, and the flames then transformed into a log fiery spear that was around 20 feet in length.
The tip of the spear was extremely sharp, and it was enshrouded in a layer of scorching crimson flames.
The holy disciple then spread its wings and sped toward the demonic ape as a streak of red light.
Even though this holy disciple had a rather portly figure, he was unleashed some kind of secret technique that not only allowed him to fly extremely quickly, it also ensured a soundless flight, thereby resulting in an extremely stealthy approach.
In the blink of an eye, the streak of red light had appeared just over 100 feet away from the demonic ape, yet the demon beast remained standing motionlessly on the spot.
The holy disciple was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately thrust forth his spear without any hesitation.
The spear whistled through the air as a streak of red light before puncturing the demonic ape's body in a flash.
However, an elated expression had only just appeared on his face before it changed drastically.
The body of the demonic ape had vanished right after the fiery spear had punctured it, and it was thus revealed to have only been a projection.
"Crap!"
The holy disciple immediately flapped his wings with alarm to try and flee the scene.
However, it was already too late.
A blurry green figure suddenly appeared in the air above before pouncing onto the man's body in a flash. A dull thump erupted, and a ball of green mist exploded before enshrouding the holy disciple's entire body.
A bloodcurdling howl rang out as the red spiritual light around the man's body vanished like snow melting under the scorching sun, having been completely eroded by the green mist.
The holy disciple only flew for around 100 feet further before plummeting to the ground as a puddle of green liquid.
This holy disciple hadn't even had a chance to unleash any of his abilities before he had been slain.
At this moment, the green mist surged before manifesting into that demonic ape again.
The ape took a cold glance at the liquid on the ground before opening its mouth to consume it. In hindsight, this holy disciple really had perished in extremely unfortunate circumstances.
If everything had taken place above the ground, where he would've had full access to his spiritual sense, there was no way that he would've been deceived so easily by a projection, and he certainly would've sensed the demonic ape's presence before it had gotten so close to him.
The demonic ape smacked its lips before murmuring to itself in a thoughtful manner, "That was a Flying Spirit Tribe being, eh? That makes sense, considering the date of their trial's commencement is about to arrive soon. That means the ones who had destroyed the Giant Spirit Flower were most likely from the Flying Spirit Tribe as well."
With that in mind, the demonic ape sniffed the air before turning its gaze toward the direction that Han Li's trio had departed in.
A sinister smile appeared on its face as it flew through the air as a cloud of green mist, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.
…
"What? You want us to take this?" Lei Lan's brows were tightly furrowed as she appraised the shimmering white jade badge in her had with bewilderment in her eyes.
Bai Bi was also holding an identical object with puzzlement in his eyes.
These two jade badges were both pristine and translucent with silver runes on their surfaces, and it was quite apparent that they were extremely valuable items.
Han Li had suddenly produced them a moment ago and asked the two holy disciples to carry the badges with them.
"Aside from protective properties, the main functions of these badges are aura concealment and location tracking. If some kind of mishap occurs and we end up being separated, we may be able to find one another again using these badges," Han Li explained.
These two badges were treasures known as Limitless Badges, and he'd purchased them in Deep Heaven City for a high price. The current situation was perfect for their usage. At this moment, they had emerged from the desert and were situated on a small mountain.
As a safety precaution, Han Li had produced these two treasures and was asking the two holy disciples to take one each.
"Thank you for your kind offer, Brother Han, but I don't have a habit of carrying other people's treasures," Lei Lan refused with a dark expression.
Bai Bi also shook his head with a faint smile on his face.
Han Li didn't force the issue; he merely stowed the jade badges away with a faint chuckle.
"Seeing as you're unwilling to carry the badges, then so be it. However, seeing as mid-grade demon beasts have appeared even on the first level, it appears our journey won't be devoid of risk as we'd initially thought. I have a flying treasure with concealment abilities. If we continue in our journey using it as a transportation device, it could spare us a lot of trouble," Han Li suggested.
"I'm fine with flying treasures," Lei Lan agreed with a smile on this occasion.
Bai Bi also nodded in response.
Han Li smiled as he swept a hand over his storage bracelet, upon which a yellow flying carriage that was narrow up front and wider at the back appeared before them.
The carriage appeared to have been refined from some kind of spirit wood and seemed to be very light. However, it also appeared to have been very intricately constructed, and many formations seemed to have been set up on it.
The carriage was around 70 to 80 feet in size, so it was more than enough to house the three of them.
This was one of the flying carriages that Han Li had collected prior to departing from Deep Heaven City so he had a variety to choose from depending on the situation.
Lei Lan and Bai Bi glanced at one another before following Han Li onto the carriage.
Han Li patted the flying carriage, casting several incantation seals into it. The carriage immediately tremored before a white barrier of light appeared over it, enshrouding the entire flying carriage within.
As the barrier of light swirled, the entire carriage gradually became transparent until it was virtually invisible.
The carriage then sped into the distance.
"Brother Han, why didn't you use this treasure from the start?" Bai Bi asked with a smile after inspecting the carriage for a while.
"This carriage is very useful, but it has a flaw," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.
"And what flaw is that?" Lei Lan was also getting rather curious.
"Hehe, if I want to use this carriage's concealment ability, I have to power it with high-grade wood-attribute spirit stones, and the expenditure is quite high. Furthermore, aside from having decent concealment abilities and speed, this carriage's defensive properties are quite lackluster, so it can easily be destroyed by attacks. As such, I wouldn't normally use it unless it was necessary to do so," Han Li explained.
Bai Bi and Lei Lan nodded in response and didn't make any further inquiries.
Thus, the flying carriage whizzed through the air, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.
Unbeknownst to Han Li's trio, in the extremely far distance behind them, a ball of green mist faltered in mid-air before a low roar of rage erupted from within it. Immediately thereafter, it also accelerated as it hurtled ahead.
Within a canyon that was closes to the gate leading to the first level of the earth abyss, there was a group of seven or eight Flying Spirit Tribe beings advancing in a cautious manner.
The being leading the way had red skin and dark expression on his face. These were none other than Zhu Yinzi and the Chi Rong Race holy disciples.
