"I've already cultivated this treasure to be one with my soul, so even if you take it away from here, I can recover it at a whim. On top of that, you won't be able to make use of the treasure's full power, especially not in that puppet body of yours. I'll impart upon you a mantra for you to activate the power of your spiritual sense to control the Five Dragon Chopper. Even though you won't be able to wield this treasure for long, it should be more than enough to take care of those intruders. However, if you choose to do this, the spiritual sense that you've infused into this puppet will be severely damaged; are you sure you want to take this course of action?" the elderly man asked.
Green eyes flashed in the puppet's eyes upon hearing this, and it quickly replied, "If we don't stop these outsiders, I'll be punished by the elders of our race even if I were to make a safe return. I'd rather take the risk and sacrifice this portion of my spiritual sense if required."
"Good. Seeing as that's the case, I'll teach you the mantra right away," the elderly man chuckled before his voice trailed off.
However, the crimson-armored puppet's eyes were flashing incessantly with rapt focus as if it were listening intently to something.
After a while, the puppet exhaled before extending a final respectful bow toward the cave. "Thank you for your kindness, Senior. I must make haste, so I'll be taking my leave now."
"Not so fast. Here's a vial of pills; feed them to the other ghostly beings. As long as these ghostly beings can recover their powers, they'll be of assistance to you. The Yin Water Essence you gave me is quite precious, so I'll throw in the pills to make it a fair trade."
A gust of wind swept forth out of the cave, sending a white jade vial flying toward the puppet.
The crimson-armored puppet was naturally ecstatic to see this, and it immediately stowed the jade vial away before bidding farewell to the elderly man in the cave again. The ghostly beings also departed in silence behind the puppet.
Meanwhile, Liu Zu and the others were flying through the air above a forest filled with dead trees when a large horde of flying skeletons suddenly flew toward them from the forest down below.
These skeletons appeared to be remains of some kind of insect beast; all of them had extremely large front limbs that were like pairs of massive bone blades, and their bodies were enshrouded in balls of yellow Qi as they charged toward the army of puppets and ghostly soldiers.
In order to conserve their magic power, Liu Zu and the others refrained from engaging these insect skeletons in battle. Instead, the puppets and ghostly soldiers were deployed to face the oncoming enemies.
Swaths of saber projections and sword Qi hurtled through the air amid gusts of Yin winds, quickly slicing these skeletons into countless pieces. However, a peculiar scene then ensued.
Regardless of how severely damaged the skeletons were or how many pieces they'd been pulverized into, as soon as they fell into the dead forest, they'd be completely regenerated before flying up to join the fray again.
It was as if they possessed immortal bodies.
Han Li had also refrained from engaging in this battle, but his expression changed slightly upon seeing this.
Thankfully, they still had many puppets and ghostly soldiers left. Otherwise, these skeletons would've been quite a nuisance to deal with. It was no wonder that Liu Zu and the others had insisted on preparing so many puppets and profound ghosts before embarking on this journey.
Thus, everyone flew onward while the puppets and ghostly soldiers kept these insect skeletons at bay, and it took them the better part of a day to finally fly out of this dead forest.
After emerging from the forest, the insect skeletons were unable to continue regenerating, and they disintegrated into clouds of grey mist after their remains plummeted to the ground.
The skeletons seemed to possess a certain level of intelligence as they immediately returned to the forest after witnessing the fate that befell that less fortunate companions, and that was Han Li quite amazed by this sequence of events.
It appeared that this dead forest had to have some unique properties.
If it weren't for the fact that Liu Zu and the others were intent on forging ahead as quickly as possible, he would've been quite tempted to investigate the area.
After flying onward for a while longer, a large black lake suddenly appeared up ahead. The surface of the lake was inky-black and enshrouded under a layer of faint green mist. It was quite obvious that this was not the place for a picnic.
However, Liu Zu paid no heed to this as he flew on ahead, leading everyone directly into the mist without any hesitation.
Not long after that, sounds of battle erupted within the mist once again…
A month later, all of the puppets and ghostly soldiers had been completely eradicated, and everyone was greeted by the sight of a set of grey mountain ranges in the distance. That was their final destination; the Yinbone Mountain Ranges where Divine Infernal River Elixir could be found.
At this point, there were barely even any high-grade demon beasts left aside from the demon monarchs. With Han Li and Jin Ling's powers, they were naturally still alive and well.
Yuan Yao and Yan Li encountered perilous situations on several occasions during the journey, but Han Li had made an effort to look after them, so they managed to survive those ordeals with only minor injuries.
At this moment, the group stopped around 50 kilometers away from the mountain ranges. The demon monarchs had gathered together to discuss something with grave expressions on their faces.
Han Li was looking on at the mountain ranges up ahead with a heavy heart.
The second half of the journey had not gone as he'd expected.
He'd thought that with how perilous the infernal river was, there would always be chances for him to get away from the demon monarchs.
However, to his surprise, they did encounter some perilous situations along this stretch of the journey, but none that were able to draw the demon monarch away. Furthermore, Jin Ling seemed to have received some kind of instruction from Mu Qing as the golden ape refused to leave Han Li's side.
What was even more depressing to Han Li was that this golden ape was also proficient in some kind of spirit eye ability, so even if he were to unleash some kind of concealment technique, it'd be very difficult for him to escape its surveillance.
Of course, if he wanted to escape on his own, he could still escape using his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.
After all, as his magic power improved, the potency of the talisman had also been markedly enhanced.
However, if he couldn't take Yuan Yao and Yan Li with him, then he wouldn't be able to eradicate the tracking marks planted in his body by the four demon monarchs. In that case, how far would he be able to get before he was simply caught again?
Han Li looked on at the grey mountain ranges in the distance as he pondered his situation.
According to Liu Zu and the others, this so-called Divine Infernal River Elixir could be found at the center of the mountain ranges. The demon monarchs hadn't disclosed what effects this divine elixir had, but for a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage like Liu Zu to risk his life just to secure this elixir clearly indicated how precious it was.
However, seeing as this was the holy land of the Mayfly Race, there were definitely going to be powerful restrictions around the source of the elixir, and it was most certainly not going to be an easy task to secure it.
All of a sudden, Han Li discovered that the demon monarchs all seemed to be looking at him.
All of them wore different expressions on their faces, and it seemed that they were engaged in a heated argument.
Mu Qing was shaking her head emphatically while a cold light had appeared in Liu Zu's eyes. The white-haired beauty wore an indecisive look on her face, while expressions of the crimson-robed figures remained a mystery to Han Li as their faces were enshrouded under layers of crimson light.
Han Li's heart immediately sank upon seeing this.
He didn't know what these demon beasts were talking about, but if the discussion involved him, then it definitely wasn't a good thing.
Han Li forcibly repressed the unease in his heart as he cast his gaze toward the mountain ranges with a contemplative look on his face.
After a long while, Liu Zu's cold voice suddenly sounded. "Come over here, Fellow Daoist Han; we ave something we need you to do."
Han Li pursed his lips and slowly flew over to them.
"What do you need from me, senior?" Han Li asked as he cupped his fist in a salute.
Liu Zu was appraising Han Li completely expressionlessly while both Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty wore rather strained expressions.
"Please have a look at this, Fellow Daoist Han." Liu Zu suddenly raised a hand to offer up the black bead for Han Li's inspection.
Han Li faltered upon seeing this object, and he felt that it was rather familiar, so he drew closer to get a better look at it.
However, as soon as he focused his gaze on it, black light flashed from the black bead, and a thin beam of black light shot forth from it like lightning.
Han Li's heart jolted as he immediately tried to take evasive measures, but the air abruptly constricted around him as if had been turned into iron and steel, completely immobilizing him.
Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty had just raised a hand each to unleash a restriction on him.
Han Li's body was immensely powerful, but there was no way that he could struggle free of a restriction conjured up by two Body Integration Stage beings at once.
Thus, the beam of black light disappeared into his glabella in an instant.
Black light flashed over Han Li's face, following which his eyes became completely vacant, and he no longer tried to resist.
"Argh!" Yuan Yao and Yan Li were naturally extremely alarmed to see this.
However, before the two of them had a chance to do anything, crimson light flashed in front of them, following which the two crimson-robed figures appeared.
They then immediately plastered a crimson talisman onto each woman's shoulder, and those talismans instantly exploded, transforming into two plumes of crimson threads that enshrouded the two women in the blink of an eye.
One of the crimson-robed figures then made a hand seal, and the crimson threads instantly disappeared into their bodies.
Yuan Yao and Yan Li felt their bodies go numb before they lost control over their motor functions, but their consciousness were still fully alert.
Their eyes were filled with fury and horror, yet they couldn't muster up any facial expressions, thereby giving them an extremely wooden appearance.
"My Body Control Talismans can control all bodily functions, including even one's spiritual Qi. You're both conscious, but you'll be forced to do my bidding as long as I don't remove these talismans," the other crimson-robed figure said in an indifferent voice.
The two of them then swept their sleeves through the air, sweeping up the two women before flying into the distance.
Following just a few flashes, they returned to where Yuan Yao and Yan Li had originally been situated.
At this moment, Liu Zu cast a series of incantation seals into the black bead in his hand while chanting something at the same time.
Moments later, a low ringing sound erupted from the bead, and it flew out of his hand.
It then embedded itself firmly into Han Li's glabella as if it had become his third eye.
Black light flashed erratically over the surface of the bead, creating an extremely unsettlings sight to behold.
