Just as Han Li and the holy-grade devilish ape were engaged in direct combat, Xian Xian and the azure Kirin projection had stopped before a black light barrier.
Over 100 feet up ahead stood an inky-black stone wall, and this was already the end of the passageway, so there was no way to progress any further.
The Kirin projection hesitated momentarily before confirming, "This should be the place!"
"You better make sure this is the right place! The formation flags used to open the spirit cave are disposable objects, and I've only barely managed to refine one set," Xian Xian said in a cautious manner.
The Kirin projection cocked its head to the side in contemplation for a short while before nodding in agreement. "You're right, it's better to be safe than sorry. Wait for me for a moment."
It then opened its mouth to expel an azure bead.
The bead rotated on the spot before suddenly transforming into a burst of azure light that swept toward the stone wall up ahead.
A peculiar scene then ensued.
After the azure light disappeared into the stone wall, a low whistling sound suddenly rang out from within the stone wall mere moments later. Immediately thereafter, black light flashed from the stone wall, and the azure light was repelled out of it by some kind of immense force.
Spiritual light flashed, and the azure light converged to form a bead again.
"There's no mistaking it; this is definitely the place!" the azure Kirin projection said in an excited manner as it swallowed the bead again.
After receiving confirmation from the miniature Kirin, Xian Xian was also ecstatic, and she said, "Alright, I'll set up the formation to open the spirit cave right away."
Thus, she flipped a hand over, and a stack of azure formation flags that she'd prepared earlier appeared over her palm.
These formation flags appeared to be rather mundane, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that there thin golden and silver lines embedded deep into the formation flags like layers of cobwebs.
Xian Xian flicked a wrist, and several tens of streaks of azure light shot forth before pausing mid-flight, then abruptly converging toward the center.
In the blink of an eye, an azure formation that was several tens of feet in size appeared before disappearing into the stone wall up ahead in a flash.
However, the stone wall displayed no reaction, as if nothing had happened.
Xian Xian seemed to have known this would happen in advance, and she wasn't disheartened in the slightest as she made a grabbing motion with both hands.
A small blue bell appeared in one hand while a white scepter appeared in the other.
The bell was entirely translucent with a ball of blue liquid flashing with spiritual light within it, creating quite a vibrant sight to behold. In contrast, the scepter was rather antiquated with a dull surface, and there were even some parts of it that were damaged.
Xian Xian was clearly quite reluctant to part with these two treasures, but she still hurtled them through the air in unison.
A ball of blue light and a ball of white light immediately flew forth at once before changing directions and suddenly crashing into one another.
The two treasure then shattered like earthenware objects, and countless fragments shot forth in all directions.
After the lights faded, two balls of liquid, one blue and one red, appeared in mid-air.
A hint of greed flashed through the miniature Kirin's eyes upon seeing this, but it immediately repressed its impulsive urges.
Even so, it still couldn't help but murmur, "The spirit blood of this Octopede Essence Beast and Undying Bird cost you virtually all of the spirit stones you've saved up in the past few centuries, and even then, you were quite lucky to have been able to purchase them. After that, they were nurtured within these two treasures for over a century. If you were to consume them as is, they'd definitely be able to cleanse your essence and widen your meridians, and even my soul will benefit greatly from it."
"Us Crystal beings are rather different from beings of other races, so consuming true spirit bloods will benefit me far less than what you think it will. Besides, these true spirit bloods are indeed quite precious, but they can't compare with the rewards awaiting us in the true spirit cave," Xian Xian replied in a calm manner.
"Hehe, you're not wrong there! You Crystal beings do indeed possess rather unique constitutions, so it'll benefit you far more to secure the items in the true spirit cave. Using these true spirit bloods as a key to unlock this cave is unavoidable. After all, the two of us may be interconnected, but without true spirit bloods, we won't even be able to make the cave spirit reveal itself. For beings who aren't true spirits, it's extremely difficult to open this true spirit cave," the Kirin projection agreed with a chuckle.
Xian Xian merely smiled and offered no reply as she flicked her 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession.
A series of incantation seals shot forth from her fingertips before disappearing into the balls of liquid in a flash.
After absorbing these incantation seals, the two balls of liquid swirled before converging together to combine as one, thereby forming a ball of blue and red liquid.
Xian Xian pointed a finger up ahead, and the ball flew slowly toward the stone wall.
The same whistling sound rang out from deep within the stone wall once again, following which azure light flashed from it, and the azure formation that had disappeared into it beforehand resurfaced.
The runes within the formation surged, and a burst of azure light flew out from within to sweep up the ball of blue and red liquid.
Immediately thereafter, the entire formation swayed before disappearing without a trace into the stone wall again.
A solemn expression appeared on Xian Xian's face upon seeing this, and she began to chant something while making a series of hand seals.
On this occasion, the stone wall didn't fall silent as it did before. Instead, blue light suddenly began to swirl erratically over its surface, as if it had come alive.
Immediately thereafter, the stone wall suddenly shattered layer by layer, following which a shimmering object flew out from within.
This was a large face that had no other features aside from two eyes, a nose, and a large mouth, and it was impossible to tell the face's age.
The face had its eyes closed as soon as it appeared, and it was completely still and silent.
"Quick! Now!" the Kirin projection hurriedly urged at the sight of this face of light.
Xian Xian also let loose a nervous cry as she made a hand seal, and the azure light formation appeared once again, only to vanish for the third time in a flash.
Thus, the only thing that remained hovering in mid-air was the ball of blue and red liquid.
All of a sudden, the expression on the face changed slightly, and it slowly opened its eyes as if it had been awakened by the azure light formation, revealing a pair of pupils that were as black and bright as the night sky.
It stared at the ball of blue and red true spirit blood before suddenly swallowing it whole. Blue and red light then flashed over the entire face as it put on a content and satisfied expression.
After taking a glance at Xian Xian, it opened its mouth, which then rapidly expanded to be around the same size as the entire face.
Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed, and the face solidified into white stone. The gaping mouth also transformed into a white passageway that led downward on a sloped descent.
"We've done it! The cave spirit is asleep; let's go in right away," the miniature Kirin exclaimed with elation.
Xian Xian's face was also filled with unbridled excitement as she nodded before sweeping a sleeve through the air. The Kirin projection was swept up into her sleeve, following which she flew directly into the passageway.
In the instant, that Xian Xian and the Kirin projection had entered the passageway, they'd failed to notice a discreet flash of crimson light in a certain corner.
Moments later, a ball of golden light emerged from the devilish Qi, then also flew into the white passageway.
At the same time, a streak of crimson light shot forth from outside the mountain, following which a humanoid figure appeared at the entrance to the devilish Qi passageway in a flash.
This humanoid figure wore a suit of silver armor with a dark expression on his face, and it was none other than the man with the Gui surname.
"The restriction I set up earlier has been triggered, so those two being really did come for true spirit cave. Good! I won't have to go the trouble of opening the cave on my own, then," the silver-armored man murmured with a cold expression on his face.
Brilliant crimson light then erupted from his body as he flew directly into the passageway as a streak of crimson light.
The crimson light that he had cultivated seemed to possess some mystical properties as all of the surrounding devilish Qi was repelled back as soon as it came into contact with the light, thereby allowing the man to enter the passageway with ease.
Not long after he'd disappeared into the devilish Qi, silver light suddenly flashed nearby, and a petite figured appeared out of thin air.
It was none other than the female devilish beast, Jiu Ye, and she was staring at the devilish Qi passageway with astonishment etched on her face.
"The devilish Qi here is so dense; only a few devilish beings are capable of conjuring up such powerful devilish Qi. Could this be a secret cave abode belonging to Tie Mo or Xue Bi?" the woman speculated to herself as she stood hesitantly on the spot, then stomped a foot onto the ground as she also flew into the passageway was a streak of azure light.
As a high-grade devilish beast, the devilish Qi in the area only further enhanced her powers, so she naturally didn't fear it in the slightest.
…
Han Li stood in one corner of the hall with a shimmering golden head on each shoulder. At the same time, four golden arms had sprouted from below his ribs.
The four arms were each holding a different weapon, respectively, a staff, a pestle, a wheel, and a ruler. The weapons were being held up in a criss-cross formation in two groups of two, and each group of two weapons was keeping a massive fist at bay.
The four weapons were trembling incessantly while emitting a low anguished ringing sound, as if they were being strained to a significant degree.
Meanwhile, black Qi was swirling around the pair of massive fists, and bursts of Qi blasts were erupting from the fists from time to time.
However, as soon as those blasts of Qi struck the crystalline light barrier that stood before Han Li, they were refracted off to the sides, thereby failing to inflict any damage to Han Li.
Further away in the distance, two fist-sized golden beetles were flying along in hot pursuit behind a purple blade segment.
Every time the blade segment flashed through the air, a purple streak would hurtle forth to send one of the Gold Devouring Beetles flying for over 100 feet.
However, the other Gold Devouring Beetle would then take advantage of the opportunity to approach the blade segment, thereby forcing it into retreat.
The blade segment was capable of unleashing extremely powerful attacks, but it seemed to be unable to unleash two attacks in quick succession. Furthermore, it also seemed to be rather frail, and wouldn't be able to withstand a collective attack from the two Gold Devouring Beetles.
In contrast, the Gold Devouring Beetle that had been sent flying remained completley unscathed, and it merely set off in pursuit of the blade segment again in a fearless manner.
The blade segment was more agile than the two Gold Devouring Beetles, and the purple streaks it unleashed were also extremely fast and unavoidable, but in the instant before it unleashed every each slash, it would always have to pause for a split second.
As such, even though the blade segment wanted to switch targets to attack Han Li, the two Gold Devouring Beetles would get in its way, taking its attacks with their bodies before chasing after it again.
