"Is that so? I'd advise you not to underestimate them. The human and demon races aren't particularly prominent in the Spirit Realm, but all of their past Grand Ascension Stage beings have been remarkable characters; that's evidenced by the fact that they've been able to withstand all of the past invasions from our holy race.
“Furthermore, that old monster of the Spirit Race is definitely no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being; I've always suspected that the past Spirit Monarchs have actually all been manifested by the same person, and there's even a chance that he's somehow related to the True Immortal Realm. Otherwise, there's no way that a Grand Ascension Stage being from such a minor race would be able to obtain a Faux Immortal Puppet," Bao Hua analyzed in a calm voice.
"We've considered all of this before deciding on our final plan. Regardless of what trump cards those races have up their sleeves, there's no way they'll be able to resist the entirety of our race. If we weren't concerned about attracting the attention of the superpowers in the Spirit Realm, we would've already unleashed our entire race and completely destroyed the opposition.
“Hmph, even if they have someone among their ranks who's somehow related to the True Immortal Realm, it doesn't matter; our sacred race also has backers from the upper realm. Besides, the laws of the upper realm state that unless an entire realm were at risk of being completely destroyed, they won't interfere with the lower realms, so there's nothing for us to worry about," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan replied in a nonchalant manner.
"Seeing as you're so confident, just pretend as if I never said anything. However, prior to coming here, I paid the original sealed site a visit, and even though I only took a look at it from afar, I could tell that the rift in the seal has expanded to several times its original size back when I was one of the three patriarchs. On top of that, the beings emerging from the rift have also become far more powerful.
“During the two battles that I witnessed, one devilish lord and over 10 Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings perished alongside thousands of normal guards, and this was even while they were being assisted by hundreds of puppets and countless devilish beasts. However, what drew my attention the most was that Fellow Daoist Nie Pan was absent from those two battles. Instead, the army was being led by a clone of Liu Ji's," Bao Hua said.
Yuan Yan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "You didn't do anything to Liu Ji's clone, did you?"
"Of course not. I may no longer be one of the three patriarchs, but I'm still a member of our sacred race; I wouldn't do something so reckless at the original sealed site for my own personal vendetta. It seems that you weren't lying when you were talking about how dire the situation has become," Bao Hua replied in an indifferent manner.
"Hmph, do you think I would lie to you about something like this? the black-robed young man harrumphed coldly in response.
"I'm curious; aren't you afraid that that thing will suddenly awaken and use its body to attack the seal? Even with the seal in place, Liu Ji's clone would act as nothing more than a snack for that thing," Bao Hua asked with a cold smile.
A wry smile appeared on the black-robed young man's face upon hearing this, and he replied, "It's a bit too late to be asking that question now. That thing's body already awakened for the second time 6,000 years ago, and the power it displayed was far more fearsome than even back when it had awakened for the first time."
"It awakened again 6,000 years ago? That's far earlier than we predicted," Bao Hua exclaimed as a hint of fear appeared in her eyes.
"At the time, Liu Ji and I immediately rushed to the scene upon receiving news of its awakening, but by the time we got there, Fellow Daoist Nie Pan had already unleashed his Third Nirvana Transformation to force that thing into retreating. However, Nie Pan was also severely wounded during that battle, and he was forced to withdraw all of his clones and enter a semi-hibernative state. I sent one of my clones into the sealed realm following that battle, and discovered that that thing had also exhausted all of its power and gone into hibernation as well.
"Nie Pan had replicated what you had done all those years ago to give our holy realm some respite, which is why Liu Ji's clone has been enough to guard the seal during this time. After all, all of the other beings attacking the seal are merely that thing's descendants, and even the most powerful ones among them are only comparable to average devilish lords. However, the seal has loosened even further as a result of that ordeal, so it'll most likely be able to awaken even earlier next time," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan signed with a resigned expression.
"Nie Pan's Third Nirvana Transformation allows him to attain powers comparable to those of a true spirit for a short time, yet he was still severely wounded by that thing?" Bao Hua was quite stunned to hear this.
"There's nothing surprising about that; do you think that's the extent of that thing's true power? As the seal continues to loosen, that thing will gradually recover its powers, and the next time it awakens, it'll most likely be as powerful as a true immortal from the upper realm. When that time comes, there's no way we'll be able to stop it from breaking the seal. Once it leads all of its descendants into our holy realm, there will be no place for our sacred race. Not only do those things possess incredible reproductive abilities, they can directly devour all spiritual Qi and devilish Qi to further fuel their reproduction. Countless realms have already been destroyed by them. Otherwise, the True Immortal Realm wouldn't have sent an envoy down during ancient times to seal them away.
"Unfortunately, after such a long time has passed, the seal is beginning to come undone; we need to create a new territory for our sacred race in the Spirit Realm before the seal is completely torn open. In order to avoid turmoil and unrest, no one else is aware of this aside from us and the Sacred Ancestors. However, I don't think we'll be able to keep this a secret for much longer," the black-robed young man said in a grim manner.
"I'm already quite surprised that you've managed to keep this a secret for so long. I'm sure there are some dissenting voices in our holy realm, right?" Bao Hua said.
"Hmph, of course there are; the most outspoken ones are those bastards from the Beast Lord Palace," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan harrumphed coldly in response.
"Oh? That's rather strange. Nie Pan may be hibernating right now, but you and Liu Ji aren't exactly pushovers, either; why haven't you stamped them out already?" Bao Hua asked with a perplexed expression.
"Liu Ji and I would naturally be able to stamp out the resistance if we're only talking about some normal Sacred Ancestors, but Tian Qi and He Yan are among the Sacred Ancestors supporting the Beast Lord Palace. They once competed with you for the position of patriarch, so I'm sure you're well aware of how troublesome they are to deal with," the black-robed young man replied in a grim manner.
Bao Hua's expression also darkened upon hearing those two names, and Yuan Yan didn't say anything further.
……
Meanwhile, Han Li was situated in a space with a radius of around 50 kilometers, hovering in the air above a pond that had a diameter of around 1,000 feet.
There were massive trees that were several thousand feet tall growing throughout this entire space.
All of these trees were extremely lush and emitted threads of light of all colors. There were also countless unidentifiable shrubs, flowers, and other plants growing on the ground below, and they were also releasing faint five-colored light.
On top of that, there were countless thumb-sized balls of five-colored light drifting through the air, making Han Li feel as if he were in an immortal paradise.
The pond below Han Li was completely tranquil, and the water within it was of a faint silver color. On top of that, it seemed to be extremely dense and viscous with a consistency much like that of mercury.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he looked down at the pond, but internally, he was extremely stunned as he could sense that the water in the pond consisted purely of compressed and liquefied spiritual power.
Additionally, there were several mysterious types of energy contained in the water that he was unable to identify, and they were most likely what granted the Spirit Cleansing Pond the ability to completely transform those who bathed in it.
Thus, the Spirit Cleansing Pond had been found with ease, but where were the Clean Spirit Lotuses?
Han Li quickly swept his gaze over the entire surface of the pond, but there was nothing floating on the surface of the water.
"Could they be at the bottom of the pond?" Han Li murmured to himself as he peered deep into the water.
He had already swept his spiritual sense through the entire pond, but it had been cut off by some type of unknown energy after reaching a depth of around 10 feet.
After a brief pause, blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, but even with his spirit eyes, he was only able to see just over 100 feet into the pond before his vision was completely obstructed by a vast expanse of white light.
His brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of azure light, which landed in front of him.
This was an extremely life-like azure wolf puppet that was around 10 feet tall, but it clearly wasn't of a very high caliber.
Han Li pointed a finger toward his own glabella, and a ball of white Qi emerged before forming a faint white face with a set of blurry facial features that mirrored those of Han Li.
The face vanished into the giant wolf puppet's body in a flash, following which Han Li immediately swept a sleeve down toward the pond below.
The giant wolf immediately sprang forth as his behest, descending toward the pond as a streak of azure light.
Following a series of barely visible ripples, the water in the pond returned to its original tranquil state.
After that, Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and began to wait patiently in mid-air.
