Yuan Yan's expression darkened slightly upon hearing Han Li's threat, and he said in a cold voice, "Perhaps you'd be able to keep up with us using your Holy Nirvana Physique on this island, but are you just going to stay here forever? I'll just have to wait for you outside the Bitter Spirit Island and kill you as soon as you try to leave."
Han Li seemed to have anticipated this response, and he calmly replied, "I'm naturally no match for you two outside of this Bitter Spirit Island, but with the abundant spiritual Qi here, I can easily cultivate on this island for 10,000 years; that's not a very long time for cultivators like us."
"You sure are optimistic! Are you not afraid that I'll gather my subordinates after I leave this island to set up a super formation outside and completely wipe this island out of existence?" the black-robed young man threatened.
"That would indeed place me in an extremely perilous situation, but are you going to just give up on the Devil Refining Herb? I can assure you that if you were to do that, I will destroy all of the spirit medicines in my collection before you manage to destroy this island," Han Li replied in a completely unfazed manner.
The fury in Yuan Yan's eyes became even more pronounced upon hearing this, and he was just about to issue another threat when Bao Hua suddenly interjected, "Stop wasting time with these useless threats, Yuan Yan! I'm not going to give up on that spirit medicine, and nor will you be willing to give up on that Devil Refining Herb. Seeing as he's decided to take a gamble, what's the harm in granting him passage? Are we really concerned that another Grand Ascension Stage being will appear in the Spirit Realm? With so many Grand Ascension Stage beings in the Spirit Realm, it won't make any difference."
Bao Hua's words seemed to have enlightened Yuan Yan, and he gritted his teeth before nodding in response. "That's true. We're currently at a critical juncture in the grand plan of our holy realm, but a new Grand Ascension Stage being won't make much of a difference. Besides, he's still quite far away from reaching the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, so even if we allow him to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond, there's no way he'll be able to make a breakthrough right away. Fine, I agree to your conditions."
Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he smiled as he said, "You've definitely made a wise decision, seniors. These two spirit medicines have no use to me, so I'll be sure to hand them over once I emerge from the Spirit Cleansing Pond. However, before that, I would like both of you to swear a vow on your inner demons that you'll allow me to leave the Elder Devil Realm after the exchange, and that you won't plot against me through any alternative avenues."
"Know your place, you human brat! You're just a Body Integration cultivator; how dare you ask me to swear a vow on my inner demons?" Yuan Yan immediately flared up with rage again upon hearing this.
In contrast, Bao Hua was a lot calmer as she replied, "I wouldn't mind swearing a vow, but you have to hand over half of the spirit medicines now, then give us the rest before you leave."
"I'm afraid I can't agree to that; How do I know if half of the spirit medicines won't already be enough for your intended purposes? If I were to blindly do as you request of me, I could be walking to my own death!" Han Li refused without any hesitation.
"If you're unwilling to assume some risk, Yuan Yan and I won't be willing to swear any vows, either. Otherwise, we'll be bound by our vows, and you'll hold all of the advantages. Having said that, we can assure you that we won't attack you after the exchange," Bao Hua replied with a smile.
Yuan Yan's fury also abated upon hearing this, and he chimed in in agreement, "I can also promise you that I won't attack you if you hand over the Devil Refining Herb to me."
After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li replied, "I can't force you to swear any vows, so we'll all have to compromise. I'll enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond first, then hand over the spirit medicines after I emerge. If the two of you are unwilling to let me leave after that, then I'll have to try and leave by force." After that, golden light flashed from his body, and his second golden head and two additional devilish arms vanished at the same time.
Even though he had undone his Second Nirvana Transformation, he was still quite wary of the two devilish patriarchs, and he flew back over 100 feet before looking down at the giant formation beneath the pond.
Bao Hua also cast her gaze down toward the formation, and said, "The Spirit Cleansing Pond is located in a mysterious space below the island, and that formation is the only entrance to access that space. Just stand at the center of the formation, and you'll be teleported there. The space where the Spirit Cleansing Pond is situated is the place with the greatest abundance of spiritual Qi in our entire holy realm, and for Spirit Realm beings like you, cultivating for a day in there will virtually be the equivalent of cultivating for a year in the outside world. However, I must warn you that the space is extremely resistant to all living beings who enter it, and the greater one's cultivation base, the severer this resistance becomes. At your current cultivation base, you'll only be able to stay in there for three days at most; if you go beyond that, then you may never be able to return."
"That space is even more resistant to us devilish beings, so we won't even be able to enter it at all. Otherwise, I wouldn't be opposed to accompanying you," Yuan Yan said with a sinister smile.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Does that mean neither of you have ever entered that space?"
"We've guarded this place for countless years, but no being from our holy race has ever been able to enter that space," Bao Hua replied in a truthful manner.
"I see." Han Li nodded in response, then cupped his fist in a salute toward the two devilish patriarchs before descending toward the giant formation down below.
With his cautious nature, he naturally wasn't going to fully believe what Bao Hua had told him.
After descending to an altitude of just over 100 feet, he suddenly stopped and hovered in mid-air to examine the profound runes inscribed on the formation down below.
Bao Hua and Yuan Yan exchanged a glance as they looked on from above, but none of them disrupted Han Li.
Around 10 minutes later, Han Li continued in his descent.
As soon as he landed at the center of the formation, a buzzing sound rang out from all sides.
Pillars of five-colored light erupted into the heavens from all parts of the formation, and bursts of spatial fluctuations surged throughout its entirety.
A layer of five-colored light instantly appeared over Han Li's body, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.
Immediately thereafter, the pillars of light faded, and the entire formation fell silent again.
Bao Hua and Yuan Yao's expressions remained completely unchanged as they witnessed this process; it was clearly not their first time seeing this.
Yuan Yan looked down at the formation for a while longer before suddenly asking, "Bao Hua, do you really intend to let him go? Not only does he possess a Profound Heavenly Treasure, he can already put up a fight against us even though he's only at the Body Integration Stage. If he were to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, he would definitely become a formidable enemy of our holy realm."
"That's something that you patriarchs should be thinking about. In any case, I'm not going to do anything to him. Once I obtain my spirit medicine, I'm going to leave the holy realm right away. Also, it's naturally impossible for that human brat to defeat us even with the Holy Nirvana Physique and that Profound Heavenly Treasure, but if he were determined to escape, it wouldn't be an easy task to stop him even outside of the Bitter Spirit Island. On top of that, judging from the calmness he's displayed, there's a good chance that he has some other life-saving trump cards up his sleeve, so I'd advise you not to take the risk," Bao Hua replied in an indifferent manner.
"Hmph, you weren't like this in the past. Back when you were one of the three patriarchs, you were the one who had dedicated the most time and energy toward ensuring the prosperity of our race, yet now, you're not even asking about the tribulation that our holy realm is going to face," the black-robed young man said with an accusatory tone in his voice.
Bao Hua's expression darkened slightly as she replied in a cold voice, "I did indeed dedicate a lot of energy and attention toward preparing for the tribulation in the past. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for Liu Ji to successfully usurp me. However, in my current state, I'm naturally not going to worry about this matter anymore. Having said that, it seems that you've adopted the plan that I had already abandoned; you're planning to forcibly establish conquer some territory in the Spirit Realm, then gradually move all of our brethren there, isn't that right?"
Yuan Yan was silent for a moment before heaving a faint sigh. "Indeed. We've prepared several plans to address the tribulation, and we had originally planned to use the most reliable one, but after Liu Ji took your place, the situation took a drastic turn, forcing us to abandon that plan and adopt the more drastic course of action of conquering some territory in the Spirit Realm."
"From the looks of it, your plan isn't progressing all that smoothly. You've managed to conquer some territory in the Spirit Realm, but you're unable to eradicate the existing races there, and a stalemate seems to have ensued," Bao Hua said with a cold smile.
"That's not a cause for concern; this stalemate only exists as the Grand Ascension Stage beings of those races have joined forces, and they've also recruited some assistance from other races. Once we complete the preparations and are able to descend into the Spirit Realm with our true bodies, their resistance will be crushed with ease," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan replied in a proud manner.
