Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, and he merely swept a sleeve upward, upon which the balls of golden light instantly disappeared down his sleeve.
Han Li then flipped a hand over, and a fist-sized golden beetle appeared on his palm.
This was none other than one of three faux beetle monarchs that he had sent after the Black Owl Monarch.
Han Li appraised the golden beetle momentarily before his brows furrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, "So the Black Owl Monarch managed to escape. Having said that, close to half of his body was devoured, and he was wounded far more than I anticipated, so this isn't a bad result."
After that, Han Li stowed the beetle away before a jade slip appeared in his grasp amid a flash of green light.
Han Li cast his gaze toward the jade slip, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Even though he had witnessed quite a few powerful techniques in the Heavenly Tome Library, his true objective was the second half of the Lightningwield Technique.
Back when he had obtained the Lightningwield Technique from the demon monarchs of the earth abyss, it was an incomplete version. The Divine Devilbane Lightning that it could unleash was extremely powerful, but it took a very long time to set up and had no use in practical battles.
After learning from Master Black Rain that the holy island had the second half of the Lightningwield Technique, he had immediately made up his mind to get his hands on it.
After finding the second half of the Lightningwield Technique and discovering that it could match up with the first half, he was naturally ecstatic and immediately took a jade slip containing this technique.
As for all of the other secret techniques he had taken with him, those were mere accessories.
However, there were some of them that had caught his eye, and he planned to cultivate those when he got back.
After quickly assessing the Lightningwield Technique recorded in the jade slip to verify that there were no issues, Han Li stowed the jade slip away before making his way toward the teleportation formation not far away.
Daoist Xie was still waiting for him there, and he gave Han Li a slight nod.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Brother Xie. Let's go and meet the elders of the holy island; I'm sure they're growing tired of waiting," Han Li said with an apologetic smile.
Daoist Xie naturally had no objections to this, and thus, the two of them quickly departed using the teleportation formation.
……
Several days later, a white jade ark emerged from the holy island before flying away into the distance.
Han Li, Daoist Xie, and Silvermoon were all on the ark, and they were accompanied by the white-haired holy island elder with the Luo surname.
Han Li was standing at the front of the ark with his brows slightly furrowed, seemingly contemplating something quite important.
"Fellow Daoist Luo, the Black Owl Monarch has been severely wounded by me, and he won't be plotting against our two races for at least several centuries. As for the other races, I'm sure they wouldn't dare to do anything without Grand Ascension Stage beings among their ranks. However, as a safety precaution, you have to ensure that news of my departure doesn't get leaked for at least the next century," Han Li instructed.
"Yes, Senior Han; I'll do everything in my power to keep your departure from the Spirit Realm a secret. Having said that, do you really have to leave so soon, Senior? You've only just reached the Grand Ascension Stage; why don't you take some time to consolidate your cultivation base before entering the Elder Devil Realm?" the elderly man asked in a hesitant manner.
"It's been a long time since fellow daoists Mo Jianli and Ao Xiao have disappeared in the Elder Devil Realm, and they could be in grave danger; how can I continue to delay? As for consolidation, that's not required for me. I progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage primarily using a body refinement cultivation art, so I don't need much time for consolidation," Han Li explained with a shake of his head.
"In that case, I won't say anything more about this matter. The spatial node that we're traveling to now is one that was used by the devilish army during their retreat. Even though the passageway has already disappeared and transformed into a spatial node, there are occasional reports of violent spatial fluctuations erupting out of it, so it's clear that the inter-realm walls in there are still quite fragile. With your powers and that Star Defying Plate, it should be easy for you to break into the Elder Devil Realm."
"As long as there are no issues with the spatial node, this shouldn't be an issue," Han Li replied.
"Senior Han, if you're willing to wait for a while longer, I'm sure the other major races will send more people into the Elder Devil Realm to investigate. After all, they also have Grand Ascension Stage beings that have disappeared in the Elder Devil Realm," Li Rong interjected.
"Hehe, even if that does happen, those people will only be concerned about the Grand Ascension Stage beings of their own races; no one will care about beings from small races like ours. Besides, those super races may have already sent more people into the Elder Devil Realm to investigate; I'm certainly not going to hold my breath and wait for them to go out of their way to report back to our two races," Han Li chuckled coldly in response.
Both Li Rong and Elder Luo fell silent upon hearing this.
A thought then seemed to occur to Han Li, and he said, "There's no need for you to be concerned; Brother Xie and Silvermoon will be accompanying me into the Elder Devil Realm, so I'll be able to ensure self-preservation. However, it would be unsafe to take Guo'er with me, so I'll have to get you to look after her."
"Rest assured, Senior Han; we'll take Fellow Daoist Zhu back with us to cultivate on the holy island following your departure," Elder Luo hurriedly replied with a respectful bow.
Zhu Guo'er pouted slightly with displeasure upon hearing this, but she didn't dare to raise any objections.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and his lips tremored slightly as he transmitted his voice toward Zhu Guo'er.
"It will take some more time for the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky to open up, so stay on the holy island and cultivate for now. After you make some progress, you'll be able to look after yourself once we find the Small Spirit Sky."
Zhu Guo'er's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and she immediately nodded in response.
As for Silvermoon, she was very concerned for Patriarch Ao Xiao's safety, so she was naturally more than willing to accompany Han Li into the Elder Devil Realm.
Thus, the jade ark continued onward, and after flying for around half a month, it arrived at a lush grassland.
After flying deeper into the grassland for two days and two nights, the ark stopped above the remains of a stronghold.
"This should be the place. There were once devilish troops situated here, but it's been abandoned for a long time," Elder Luo said after consulting a formation plate in his hand.
Han Li cast his gaze upward upon hearing this, and he discovered that there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary with this place aside from a blanket of grey clouds in the sky.
All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he pointed a finger at his own glabella.
A third vertical eye quickly emerged there amid a burst of black Qi, and as soon as the eye was opened, it released a beam of black light that vanished high up in the air in a flash.
In the next instant, a burst of rumbling rang out within the grey clouds, followed by a burst of faint spatial fluctuations that was detected by everyone on the ark.
Elder Luo and the others were ecstatic to sense this, and Han Li nodded as he withdrew his third eye before sweeping a sleeve through the air.
Countless formation treasures immediately shot forth in all directions before vanishing into thin air amid flashes of light.
Moments later, Han Li rubbed his hands together before thrusting them downward, releasing a thick bolt of golden lightning that disappeared in a flash.
In the next instant, a rumbling thunderclap rang out, and a giant lightning formation that was around an acre in area emerged.
Han Li then swept his sleeve downward again, and a ball of white light emerged, containing a disk that was around a foot in size.
This was none other than the vastly renowned realm-breaking treasure, the Star Defying Plate.
As soon as the plate was released, it revolved in the air above the giant formation, then transformed into a silver moon that was suspended in mid-air.
"Let's go," Han Li said before taking a step forward and vanishing on the spot.
A dull thump rang out as Han Li appeared at the center of the formation down below with lightning revolving all around him, and Daoist Xie and Silvermoon also followed along.
Han Li aimed a parting glance at Elder Luo and Li Rong, then made a hand seal before pointing a finger upward.
The silver moon above the formation immediately emitted a clear ringing sound, following which a pillar of five-colored light was released straight into the grey clouds.
At the same time, a loud thunderclap rang out from the formation beneath Han Li, and six pillars of black and white light erupted forth, disappearing into the same spot where the pillar of five-colored light had just struck the grey clouds.
An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the silver moon up above immediately vanished, only to be replaced by a giant black hole.
Han Li took a deep breath, and golden light radiated from his entire body, sweeping up the two people beside him before he flew up as a streak of golden light.
A burst of violent spatial fluctuations erupted forth, and the streak of golden light instantly vanished into the black hole.
