"What kind of devilish beast could pose a threat to four devilish lords?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.
"This is a rather embarrassing story for me to tell, but I once faced the beast in battle once. However, I was unable to make out its exact appearance. It was enshrouded in a ball of green flames the entire time, so I could only see a rough outline, and it seems to be something that resembles both a rhinoceros and a cow. The beast possesses powerful fire-attribute abilities that can virtually melt through space, and I was almost killed by it after being caught off guard," the purple-haired woman said in a serious manner.
"Fire-attribute abilities? That is indeed rather troublesome. Once cultivated to the extreme, fire-attribute abilities are far more destructive than abilities of other attributes; it's no wonder that you fell into such a perilous situation against it," Han Li said.
"There's no need to try and flatter me, Brother Han. Even if that devilish beast didn't possess fire-attribute abilities, its powers would still be well beyond mine. I'm guessing it's most likely comparable in power to a pinnacle late-stage devilish lord, so we would only stand a chance after recruiting as many powerful allies as possible," the woman said with a wry smile.
"It's comparable to a late-stage devilish lord? No wonder you're being so cautious. What do you approximate our chance of success to be? Facing such a powerful devilish beast is no laughing matter; perhaps I could be risking serious injury or even death," Han Li said with a grim expression.
"It would naturally be close to impossible to kill such a devilish beast, but if we only want to wound it and chase it away, then our chance of success should be around 60% to 70%. With your inclusion, I think that will increase to 90%," the woman immediately replied.
"Hehe, you seem to have a great deal of confidence," Han Li chuckled.
The purple-haired woman could see that Han Li was rather unconvinced, and she hurriedly explained, "That's because the two allies we recruited are no less powerful than I am, and one of them cultivates glacial powers while the other possesses an extreme Yin-attribute treasure. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to be so optimistic. If we still fail even after all this, then we may just have to give up on that mine."
Han Li nodded with an enlightened expression before continuing, "I see, that does indeed justify your confidence. However, there's still one thing I'd like you to explain to me."
"Go ahead, Brother Han," the purple-haired woman prompted with a smile.
"A devilish beast with that level of power should've already attained quite a high level of intelligence; why has it taken over your family's mine? On top of that, your Bai Family seems to hold this mine in very high regard; may I ask what kind of precious material the mine produces?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.
"The mine produces Firecloud Stones of the highest quality. Not only is the mine very large in scale, the supply of Firecloud Stones within it is extremely abundant, so it can profit our Bai Family for thousands of years," the woman explained.
"Firecloud Stones? I see, then that devilish beast must've been trying to devour the True Fire Qi of the entire mine to further its cultivation," Han Li said with an enlightened nod.
"Indeed. Only some special types of devilish beasts possess the innate ability to devour the True Fire Qi within such mine. If a normal being of our holy race were to attempt something like this, no matter how advanced their cultivation base may be, they would immediately self-detonate. This is why we're trying to recover the mine as soon as possible. Otherwise, once too much True Fire Qi is lost, the mine's value would depreciate significantly. If you're willing to assist us, our Bai Family is willing to offer you an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard and a large sum of devil stones as repayment regardless of whether we succeed or fail," the woman promised.
After a brief pause for contemplation, Han Li said, "It would be remiss of me to turn down such a sincere offer, but I must ask where this mine is located in the Illusion Howl Desert, and how long will it take to get there? If this is going to take too long, then I'm afraid I won't be able to join you."
"Rest assured, Brother Han; it'll only take just over a month to get to the mine. Even if we get delayed slightly along the way, three months should be enough to make a return trip," the woman hurriedly replied.
"In that case, I'll agree to this. When are we setting off?" Han Li said without any further hesitation.
The purple-haired woman was naturally ecstatic to hear this. "Thank you, Brother Han! One of the two fellow daoists I've invited has already arrived, but the other one will take around a month to get here. Once everyone's here, we'll set off right away."
Han Li nodded and offered no response to this.
After that, the purple-haired woman invited Han Li to move to the Bai Family again and offered to cover all of his living costs during this period of time, but Han Li euphemistically turned her down again.
The purple-haired woman didn't force the issue any further, and they began to discuss some cultivation experiences and insights.
Han Li naturally wasn't going to refuse, and a conversation immediately ensued.
To his surprise, he soon discovered that even though this Layman Futian was a woman, she had many unique insights when it came to body refinement techniques, and there were even many questions that he had about the Provenance True Devil Arts that were answered by her.
This was something that he very rarely experienced when exchanging cultivation insights with other Body Integration cultivators of the Spirit Realm.
However, this made sense considering his Provenance True Devil Arts had come from the Elder Devil Realm, so it was no surprise that their body refinement techniques shared similarities. It couldn't be said that he had gained nothing out of conversing with other Body Integration cultivators in the past, but in terms of body refinement, they naturally couldn't compare with a devilish lord.
Thus, Han Li became quite engrossed in the conversation, and they talked for over half a day.
During this time, the purple-haired woman was also very surprised to discover that Han Li's knowledge and proficiency in body refinement techniques far exceeded her own, indicating that he definitely wasn't an ordinary devilish lord.
The fact that her new ally was so powerful further exacerbated her elation, and she became even more polite toward Han Li.
As day began to transition into night, Han Li stood up to take his leave.
Such a short time naturally wasn't enough for two Body Integration Stage beings to exchange all of their cultivation insights, so the purple-haired woman invited Han Li to come and continue their discussion during the next few days.
Han Li thought about this for a moment before gladly agreeing.
Only then did the purple-haired woman call for that beast-drawn carriage to take Han Li back to the pavilion he was staying in.
Following Han Li's departure, the purple-haired woman sat back down in her chair, and her smile faded slightly.
He took a sip of the spirit tea on the table, then suddenly said, "Big Brother, what do you think is that man's cultivation base? With your Vast Yin Treasured Mirror, you should've been able to see some things, right?"
"You think far too highly of me, Sister; that man is truly unfathomable and far more powerful than you think!"
All of a sudden, white light flashed from one of the walls of the hall, and it transformed into a white light barrier, following which a man who was holding a black rhomboid mirror emerged.
As soon as the man appeared, he took a seat on the chair that Han Li had been seated in not too long ago.
This was a burly man with a head of curls and faint yellow skin. There was also a short white horn on his forehead, and it was even bigger than that of the purple-haired woman.
There was also a discernible resemblance between the two, so they were clearly related.
The purple-haired woman's heart jolted as she asked in a bewildered manner, "Were you unable to glean his cultivation base even with the Vast Yin Treasured Mirror?"
"As you know, this Vast Yin Treasured Mirror of mine was refined from an ice spirit of heaven and earth. However, its effect is greatly hampered when used on someone with an extreme Yin-attribute protective treasure or has cultivated a powerful glacial ability. On top of that, that man seems to possess immense spiritual sense; he most likely detected my presence but merely pretended not to have noticed me," the burly man said with a dark expression.
"What? He already noticed you? That's rather troublesome; I'll have to explain the situation to him next time we meet. Did you really not discover anything with your mirror?" the purple-haired woman asked as her brows furrowed slightly.
"Hehe, there's no need to explain anything. He pretended not to have noticed anything, and you can just do the same, but I won't be spying on him the next time you two meet. He's only staying in Illusion Night City for a short time, so there's no need for us to expend too much effort to try and befriend him. As for whether I discovered anything, of course I did! This Vast Yin Treasured Mirror mine isn't a toy! Let me show you what I found," the burly man chuckled as he pointed a finger at the mirror, and it immediately rose up, hovering in mid-air as a ball of black light.
The burly man then made a hand seal while pointing a finger at the ball of black light and chanted an incantation, upon which an image began to gradually appear within the ball of light.
