The silver-robed man was naturally none other than the holy-grade Myriad Eye Devil.
After deploying Jiu Ye to search for his son's killer, she was slain by the cave spirit that had been possessed by the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign.
Wu Qi was deployed in her place thereafter, and he'd led a massive horde of devilish beasts that had managed to intercept Han Li and the others, but they'd been split up due to the fact that there were three beings that had to be pursued at once. After that, Han Li was able to use the shadow puppet conjured up by his Armor Origin Talisman to lure Wu Qi and his two subordinates into a trap, thereby allowing him to kill the trio with ease.
As for all of the other devilish beasts, they had been led by the small five-colored beast to the entrance leading into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, where they were preparing an ambush for Han Li and the others.
As such, despite the fact that Duo Yan had deployed many of his subordinates into the mountain ranges, he was still completely oblivious to the existence of the immortal zoysia, which was why he was so taken aback by the crimson-robed man's words.
As for the other two beings present, they were naturally none other than Tie Mo and Xue Bi, both of whom were also holy-grade devilish beasts.
Duo Yan clearly didn't seem to be feigning ignorance, so it was now Xue Bi's turn to be struck by a hint of surprise. A crimson light flashed through his eyes as he asked in a solemn voice, "Your son was killed? Why haven't we heard about this, Brother Duo Yan?"
"Hmph, is this some kind of glamorous news that I should be telling the entire world? Besides, both of you have been quite busy these past few days, so it's no surprise that you haven't heard about this," Duo Yan replied in a derisive voice as his expression darkened significantly.
"Ahem… My apologies, Fellow Daoist." Xue Bi cleared his throat in a slightly awkward manner.
"Setting aside everything else for now, I'm quite interested in this immortal zoysia you mentioned. Aren't you two going to tell me about it?" Duo Yan continued.
"Hehe, it's not actually an overly important manner. A spirit being of heaven and earth barged into these mountain ranges a few days ago; even if we didn't tell you about this here, you'll most likely hear about it soon," Tie Mo chuckled in a nonchalant manner.
"Oh? What kind of spirit being could have both of you so interested in it, to the point that you're even deploying your avatars and direct lineal descendants to search for it? You can continue to try and keep me in the dark, but do you really think I won't be able to find out all of this for myself? Come!" Duo Yan's expression darkened further as he abruptly clapped his hands together twice.
Black light flashed from outside the palace, and a thin man wearing a suit of green armor walked into the room. He made his way over to the silver-robed elderly man before cupping his fist in a respectful salute. "Do you have some instructions for me, Master?"
"Go and research a spirit being known as an immortal zoysia right away. Find out what it is and its current whereabouts," Duo Yan ordered in a cold voice.
"Yes, Master," the green-armored man replied without any hesitation, and black light flashed from his body as he flew out of the gates as a streak of black light.
Meanwhile, Tie Mo and Xue Bi merely remained as they looked on from the side, and Xue Bi even had a smile on his face; they seemed to be completely unfazed by what the silver-robed man was doing.
Duo Yan turned to his companions, and his expression darkened even further at the sight of their slightly gloating reactions. He let loose a cold harrumph before continuing, "Alright, that's enough about this immortal zoysia; let's move on to the main topic at hand. A few days ago, I received news that some abnormal activity has been observed from the inter-realm passageway that we'd already sealed up. It appears that the beings from the holy realm are still unwilling to give up, and are trying to access the passageway."
"The inter-realm passageway? Didn't our Sacred Ancestor destroy it using the Profound Heavenly Treasure? How are there still beings who dare to try and access it?" Xue Bi was rather surprised to hear this.
"Do you not believe what I'm saying, Brother Xue Bi?" Duo Yan asked as he cast a cold gaze toward the crimson-robed man.
"The inter-realm passageway is an extremely important matter, so I wouldn't dare to doubt your words, Brother Duo Yan," Xue Bi replied in a slightly sheepish manner.
"If there are other holy patriarchs in the holy realm, and they also possess Profound Heavenly Treasures, then it won't be impossible for them to open the passageway again," Tie Mo mused as he stroked his chin.
"That's impossible. If it weren't for the fact that we were in a dire situation and had no other choice, our Sacred Ancestor wouldn't have forced open a passageway at the expense of the Profound Heavenly Treasure and a large chunk of her cultivation base. Even if other holy patriarchs possessed Profound Heavenly Treasures, why would they make such a sacrifice for no reason?" Xue Bi countered.
"Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions. If there are two or more holy patriarchs on the other side, and they're taking turns using the Profound Heavenly Treasure to attack the passageway, perhaps they'd really be able to open it up with the treasure and their cultivation bases all fully intact," Duo Yan mused in a grave voice.
Xue Bi and Tie Mo both faltered upon hearing this before their expressions darkened significantly.
"So be it, the abnormal activity being detected from the passageway is still very faint, so even if it does get opened up again, that'll be something that happens many years in the future. When that time comes, we'll leave it to our Sacred Ancestor to decide whether we fight or flee. Her awakening should be imminent, so there's definitely enough time," Tie Mo sighed with a wry smile on his face.
"Indeed. With our powers, there's no way that we'll be able to change the state of the inter-realm passageway at all. Perhaps our matriarch will have a way to stop this," Xue Bi said in an optimistic manner.
Duo Yan stroked his beard with a nod upon hearing this, and he opened his mouth to say something else.
However, right at this moment, scintillating light suddenly erupted from the massive stone gate before them, following which countless bright pink runes that were flashing incessantly appeared over its surface.
"Our Sacred Ancestor has awakened!" Xue Bi immediately exclaimed upon seeing this.
Expressions of surprise and elation appeared on the faces of all three holy-grade devilish beasts, and they all stood up straighter as they faced the stone gate.
The light swirling over the stone gate finally faded after around 10 minutes, and at the same time, the bright pink runes on its surface also instantly dimmed before disappearing completely.
All three of the holy-grade devils were staring at the stone gate in an unblinking manner, but there was no impatience in their eyes at all.
However, the stone gate remained completely silent, and nothing out of the ordinary happened.
After close to two hours, the stone gate finally creaked open on its own.
All three devils immediately stirred upon seeing this.
"Oh? All three of you are here already. Your diligence is quite commendable. Come in." A heavenly female voice with an indescribably gentle and mellow undertone sounded from the other side of the stone gate.
Beyond the half-open stone gate, a vast expanse of pink light was flashing erratically in a rather intriguing manner.
"Congratulations on your awakening, Sacred Ancestor; we'll come in to see you right away," Duo Yan replied in a respectful manner as he extended a bow on behalf of all three devils.
After that, the trio strode side by side toward the stone gate, and they were barely able to contain their excitement.
As soon as they emerged on the other side, pink light flashed before their eyes, and they found themselves in a completely foreign landscape.
The sky was of bright blue color with not a single cloud to be seen, and lush greenery stretched as far as the eyes could see, meeting the skyline at the horizon. It seemed that this was an infinitely vast realm.
In the extremely far distance, there was a massive floral tree that was around 1,000 feet tall standing on the grasslands.
The tree was entirely purple in color, while unidentifiable pink spirit flowers grew all over its branches. They appeared to be huge lotus flowers, and each of them was comparable to the size of a large bowl.
Standing at the foot of the tree was a white humanoid figure who was so beautiful that she didn't even seem to belong to this world.
The massive floral tree seemed to be extremely far away, and the woman had her back facing the trio, but just sight of her gorgeous profile alone was enough to completely intoxicate most of the men under the heavens.
The three devils all bowed in unison toward the woman from afar.
"You've already come in, so why don't you come closer?" the woman chuckled as she raised an arm in a graceful manner, plucking down a large pink flower that was right above her head before tossing it behind her in a seemingly nonchalant manner.
The giant pink flower rotated on the spot before exploding with a dull thump to form a burst of pink light.
Pink light flashed before the eyes of the three devils, and their surroundings suddenly blurred. In the next instant, they found themselves less than 100 feet away from the giant floral tree.
The three of them were rather startled by this development before hurriedly extending another collective bow with surprise and elation etched on their faces.
"There's no need for formalities. You've all followed me for so many years, so I'm sure you know that I'm not a fan of such gestures." The woman didn't turn around, but her voice was extremely gentle and soothing.
Despite what the woman was saying, the three devils didn't dare to skip any formalities as they extended another respectful bow unison before standing up straight again. "Thank you, Sacred Ancestor. Congratulations on returning to the height of your powers!"
"I wouldn't say I've returned to the height of my powers. Even now, I've only regained a small portion of my magic power. The remaining chunk of my cultivation base can't be recovered through slumber and cultivation alone; I have to recruit the assistance of some external items," the woman sighed in a resigned manner.
"External items?" The three devils glanced at one another upon hearing this.
"Indeed, and they're not ordinary items, either. However, this Spirit Realm is not inferior to our holy realm, so there should be a good chance that we'll be able to source those items," the woman murmured to herself, but the concerned expression on her face belied the confidence in her words.
"Tell us what these items are, and as long as they exist in the Spirit Realm, we'll be sure to find them, Sacred Ancestor," Tie Mo vowed as he cupped his fist in a respectful salute.
The other two devils also chimed in to express their loyalty.
"Hehe, I appreciate the thought, but this isn't our holy realm. Even though you're all holy-grade beings and Spirit Realm beings with lowly cultivation bases won't be able to glean your true identities, your covers would most likely be blown if you were to encounter beings of similar cultivation bases. In that case, you'll all be in grave danger, so how will you find the items I'm looking for? I'll have to make a trip in person," the woman decided after a brief pause.
"You're going to go out in person?"
"You can't, Sacred Ancestor! Your powers still haven't fully recovered; what if you encounter a being of the same cultivation base?"
"Please reconsider, Sacred Ancestor!"
……
All three devils were quite alarmed to hear this, and they immediately tried to dissuade her.
"Don't worry, there's a negligible chance that I'll encounter a being of the same caliber as I am in the Spirit Realm. Most beings of that cultivation base would be in seclusion in their cave abodes, cultivating arduously to prepare for the heavenly tribulations that await them. Besides, even though I've only recovered a small portion of my magic power, I'm still more than capable of escaping even if I were to encounter beings on my level. Beings like us who are so close to taking that final step aren't that easy to kill," the woman consoled in a gentle voice.
