"There's a Grand Ascension Stage being up ahead!" Han Li's heart jolted as he immediately stopped on the spot.
Only after scanning through the nearby area several times was that burst of formidable spiritual sense withdrawn.
After that, peace and quiet returned to the area.
"An ordinary mature Asura Spider definitely can't release spiritual sense of that caliber; could it be that there really is an Asura Spider here more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being? If so, then if I get any closer than this, I won't be able to conceal myself from their spiritual sense using normal concealment secret techniques. However, the fact that their spiritual sense could be released this far without waning in the slightest indicates that they're using some type of enhancement treasure," Han Li murmured to himself as a grim look appeared on his face.
If this Asura Spider really were comparable in power to a true spirit being, then even he would be ill-advised to take it lightly.
After contemplating the situation for a long while, he finally made a decision.
He flipped a hand over to summon a purple talisman, which immediately exploded into a cloud of purple mist that enveloped his entire body, and once the mist scattered, he was nowhere to be seen.
As a safety precaution, Han Li had used his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman once again.
Now that he had attained an insubstantial form, he was able to drift deeper into the mountain range without any inhibitions.
Even though he was unable to travel at his full speed in his current form, he was still able to quickly make his way into the mountain range.
At this point, he was already quite far away from the young woman, but through the spiritual sense mark he had planted on her, he was still able to clearly sense her exact location.
Thus, Han Li wasn't in a rush to catch up to her and merely continued onward in an unhurried manner.
However, after venturing close to 10,000 kilometers into the mountain range, his brows began to furrow slightly.
He had thought that due to the presence of the Asura Spider lair here, there would definitely be very few other beasts here, and at the very least, there wouldn't be any particularly powerful ones.
However, in the scope covered by his spiritual sense alone, he had already discovered several tens of Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering Stage beasts, as well as two Body Integration Stage birds.
One of the two birds was crimson in color and was as massive as a cow, while the other was covered in steely grey feathers with a hideous fleshy lump on its head.
The two of them were perched on the branch of a giant tree several hundred kilometers away from Han Li, and one of them was constantly looking around, while the other seemed to have fallen asleep.
As for the other beasts in the area, all of them human-beast hybrids, and they were patrolling the area in several groups.
The beasts of the Small Asura Realm seemed to have all been conscripted by the Asura Spiders, and that was quite remarkable to Han Li.
The Spirit Monarch had never mentioned that Asura Spiders had the habit of recruiting other beasts.
It seemed that either the Spirit Monarch had underestimated the intelligence of these Asura Spiders, or something had to have happened in the Small Asura Realm to result in this scenario.
The fact that even a Spatial Tempering Stage Asura Spider was able to manifest a human form made Han Li lean more toward the latter option.
With that in mind, Han Li became rather wary of the Asura Spiders up ahead, but he still followed along behind the young woman without pause.
After a while, Han Li had covered a distance of hundreds of thousands of kilometers, and he finally caught sight or of an azure stone city in the distance on a plain that was situated in the middle of a cluster of mountains.
The city was entirely constructed from massive azure stone blocks with walls that were thousands of feet tall, but it only covered a radius of several tens of kilometers, so it was more like a stronghold.
Aside from some stone beastly statues, there wasn't anything else standing atop the city wall.
What was even more peculiar was that the city didn't appear to have any gates, so it was completely isolated within the massive city wall.
Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes as he examined the stone city without using his spiritual sense, but right as his gaze was about to pierce through the city wall, countless white runes suddenly appeared in his field of view, transforming into a series of white lotus flowers that obstructed his gaze.
"That's the Mystical White Lotus Restriction! How could it have been set up here?" Han Li exclaimed as a stunned look appeared on his face.
This restriction was one that was unique to a certain major race in the Spirit Realm, and it was capable of keeping out even the spiritual sense of Grand Ascension Stage beings; how were the Asura Spiders capable of setting up such a restriction?
Before Han Li had a chance to ponder this notion any further, a wisp of spiritual sense within his mind abruptly jolted, and his expression immediately darkened.
Almost at the exact same moment, an earth-shattering boom rang out from within the stone city, following which a mountainous crimson spider projection emerged in the sky.
The spider projection cast a cold and forbidding gaze throughout the surrounding area, and the same formidable spiritual sense that had appeared at the edge of the mountain range immediately swept over the entire landscape.
Despite how powerful this burst of spiritual sense was, it was unable to detect Han Li in his insubstantial form, and it could only return to the giant spider projection's body in the end.
A hint of fury appeared on the spider projection's face following its failed search, and a bone-chilling harrumph rang out, followed by a coarse female voice.
"Which fellow daoist has come to visit my Heavenly Spider City, and why have you planted a spiritual sense mark on my junior? Why don't you come into the city to meet me?"
The voice echoed several times, and it was audible throughout the majority of the mountain range.
All of the beasts aside from the ones that were subsidiaries to the Asura Spiders immediately bowed down onto the ground while trembling incessantly, but the voice was met by complete silence.
"It looks like you're very confident in your concealment technique and are determined to hide. In that case, I'll be waiting for you in my city." The female voice had spiked up a few octaves from fury, and immediately thereafter, the giant spider projection in the sky disintegrated amid a burst of violent energy fluctuations.
At this moment, Han Li was situated hundreds of kilometers away from the stone city with his eyes slightly narrowed, and all of a sudden, he released his enormous spiritual sense toward the city without hiding it any longer.
A massive white lotus flower projection immediately emerged from the city to clash with his spiritual sense.
A dull rumbling boom rang out, and the white lotus flower immediately began to warp in the face of Han Li's overwhelming spiritual sense, then abruptly exploded on the spot.
Han Li had released as close to 70% of all of his spiritual sense, which was comparable to the combined spiritual sense of three to four ordinary Grand Ascension Stage beings.
The Mystical White Lotus Projection was vastly renowned in the Spirit Realm, but there was no way it could resist his overbearing spiritual sense.
If his spiritual sense were allowed to descend upon the stone city, all of the living beings within the city that were below the Grand Ascension Stage would most likely have their souls immediately explode.
"How dare you!"
The same coarse female voice rang out within the stone city again, and the spiritual sense of the voice's owner also erupted forth to clash with Han Li's spiritual sense.
A string of deafening booms immediately rang out above the stone city alongside bursts of violent energy fluctuations that threatened to shatter this entire space.
The owner of the female voice was no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, but her spiritual sense naturally couldn't compare with that of Han Li, and after just a few clashes, she was quickly forced onto the back foot.
The woman was quite alarmed to see this, and she hurriedly yelled, "Hurry up! What are you waiting for?"
Han Li's pupils immediately contracted upon hearing this.
Almost at the exact same moment, a man harrumphed coldly within the stone city, and another burst of powerful spiritual sense rose up before combining as one with the woman's spiritual sense to contend with Han Li.
Han Li's expression changed slightly after just a brief clash with the man's spiritual sense. "This is no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, either!"
However, he quickly discovered that the two of them were only just barely able to withstand his spiritual sense, and a cold look flashed through his eyes as he increased his spiritual sense output to 90%.
Another earth-shattering boom rang out, and the man and woman in the stone city were completely bewildered as even their combined spiritual sense was gradually being forced onto the back foot.
How could anyone possess such powerful spiritual sense? Who exactly was this person?
A hint of fear began to well up in both of their hearts.
Han Li continued to look on at the city with a cold expression, yet just as he was considering whether he should release the final 10% of his spiritual sense to crush the two beings in the city, several more bursts of spiritual sense that were comparable to those of normal Grand Ascension Stage beings erupted out of the city before hurtling directly toward Han Li.
