Han Li’s return journey was remarkably smooth.
Flying at full speed, he arrived back at the yellow desert in just a day and once again saw the small demonic “node.”
From a distance, the “exit” floating high in the air appeared unchanged, with the dozens of demonic guards still dutifully stationed in the buildings below, showing no signs of disturbance.
Seeing this, Han Li was not particularly surprised.
The black mist around his body dispersed as he transformed once more into a Heavenly Phoenix. With a flap of his wings, he shot toward the node like a faint streak of light.
After a few flashes, his figure blurred and eventually vanished.
The process of entering the spatial node was also unusually smooth, with no unexpected incidents as he merged into it.
Not long after, the Heavenly Phoenix, now a swirling mass of five-colored radiance, reached the exit on the Spirit Realm side.
However, the moment he emerged from the node, Han Li’s spiritual sense had already probed outward.
As expected, he detected something, and a cold smirk flickered in his heart.
The Heavenly Phoenix’s radiance flared brightly before it disappeared in a flash within the passage.
The next instant, a faint green figure silently materialized in the void outside the exit.
Han Li had directly reverted to his human form.
Almost as soon as he appeared, a loud shout of “Attack!” rang out nearby.
Immediately, a cacophony of hissing sounds erupted as countless black streaks shot toward him from all directions. At the same time, a fierce wind howled above as over a dozen two-headed demonic birds swooped down from the sky.
Below, two massive green warships, each dozens of feet long, trembled as they unleashed two thick black beams from their prows, which arrived before Han Li in an instant.
Unbeknownst to him, hundreds of demonic guards had quietly surrounded the node’s exit and launched a furious assault the moment he appeared.
Yet Han Li seemed to have anticipated this. Faced with such a ferocious attack, the corners of his lips curled into a faint smile.
With a sweep of his sleeve, a rolling gray mist surged from the void, forming a crystalline barrier that completely shielded him.
Ignoring the black beams from below and the streaks of black light from all sides, he casually flicked his fingers toward the massive demonic birds diving from above.
A sharp whistling sound filled the air as over a dozen green sword lights shot from his fingertips.
The demonic birds barely had time to react before their bodies were sliced in two by a blinding flash of light.
A rain of blood and dismembered corpses tumbled from the sky.
The high-ranking demons watching from a distance paled in shock.
These two-headed demonic birds were known for their steel-like resilience, impervious to ordinary magical treasures. Yet they had been effortlessly bisected.
It was utterly terrifying.
But what left them even more dumbfounded was that the dense barrage of black streaks and the two thick beams vanished without a trace upon hitting the gray barrier around Han Li, as if swallowed whole.
“Not good! It’s a late-stage Body Integration monster! Retreat now!” one of the high-ranking demons blurted out in panic.
These high-ranking demons were none other than the four Nascent Soul-level commanders and the Void Refinement-level horned demon who had recently repelled the Wood Tribe’s assault.
After their victory, they had discovered the inexplicable disappearance of the guards stationed at the node and were horrified.
Though unsure of what had happened, they knew they would bear heavy responsibility if the node was compromised.
After some deliberation, they not only summoned reinforcements from nearby demonic camps but also personally led elite forces to reseal the exit.
This was a desperate attempt to make up for their negligence, never expecting to actually catch anyone.
Yet, to their shock, Han Li had spent only a couple of days in the Demon Realm before returning, stumbling straight into their newly laid trap.
Initially overjoyed, their excitement turned to terror the moment the horned demon sensed Han Li’s true cultivation level.
Exchanging glances, the high-ranking demons erupted in demonic energy and fled as streaks of black light, abandoning their subordinates without a word.
But Han Li’s spiritual sense was far too powerful. Having detected the ambush beforehand, he had already locked onto these leaders.
The moment they fled, his icy gaze snapped toward them.
“Thinking of running? Dream on.”
With a flick of his wrist, his jade-white hand reached into the void.
The fleeing demons felt a disturbance above as a massive five-colored hand, over thirty feet long, materialized and slammed down.
Panicking, they accelerated their escape while hurling flying swords, sabers, and other treasures at the descending hand.
They didn’t expect their attacks to destroy it—only to buy themselves a sliver of time.
Yet, to their horror, the moment their treasures struck the hand, it exploded with a thunderous boom.
Amidst a dazzling burst of light, the hand transformed into a vast expanse of five-colored cold flames.
The chilling radiance swept downward, instantly freezing the five high-ranking demons into blocks of ice.
By then, the remaining demonic soldiers had realized the situation and erupted into chaos.
But before they could flee, Han Li flicked his sleeves, releasing a swarm of tiny green swords that morphed into countless streaks of sword light.
With a low chant and a hand seal, the sword lights shot outward in all directions like a storm.
Within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, not a single living demon remained in the fortress.
A green streak circled once in the air before darting toward human territory.
Days later, Wood Tribe scouts discovered the shocking change and reported back in excitement.
After verifying it wasn’t a trap, they swiftly relayed the news.
Within a week, the demonic fortress was overrun by Wood Tribe forces, who began setting up a mysterious formation around the node’s exit, seemingly intent on sealing it permanently.
But all this was of little concern to Han Li.
As he sped toward human lands, he silently refined the Chaos Qi within him.
The Chaos Qi, a treasure of heaven and earth, had already greatly enhanced his magic power despite only partial refinement.
By the time he returned, he expected to have fully refined it, pushing his mid-stage Body Integration cultivation to its peak.
This would pave the way for his breakthrough to the late stage.
Unfortunately, this breakthrough required the assistance of Ice Phoenix. Otherwise, Han Li would have preferred to attempt it in the wilderness, far from the turmoil of human lands.
But with the current demonic threat looming, human territory was far from safe.
Sighing inwardly, Han Li continued his flight without pause.
Meanwhile, atop the walls of Tianyuan City, rows of human cultivators stood firm, unleashing their treasures against the demonic army outside the city’s barriers.
A fierce battle raged on.
Similar scenes played out across other human strongholds and even distant demon cities.
Recently, the demonic forces had grown increasingly aggressive, launching relentless assaults despite heavy losses.
The human and demon races suffered significant casualties, with many low and mid-tier cultivators falling in battle.
Even high-ranking experts at the Nascent Soul level and above began dying in droves.
The two races were on high alert.
According to past demonic calamities, if these cities could withstand the onslaught for a few years, the worst would pass.
Thus, they clung to hope, exhausting every means to hold their ground.
Yet unbeknownst to most, on a mysterious island at the border of human and demon territories, over a dozen Body Integration experts from both races gathered in a heavily warded hall, gravely discussing a dire secret.
“So, the ancient demons truly intend to seize our lands and station their armies here permanently?” asked an elderly man with snow-white hair and clear, watery eyes, his brow furrowed.
“Worse. Our spies in the Demon Realm report that vast numbers of low-tier demons are being mobilized, soon to breach the boundary and invade the Spirit Realm,” added a middle-aged man with a red feather crest, his expression grim.
“How many low-tier demons?” someone sighed and pressed.
“Exact numbers are hard to confirm, but at least a billion—possibly far more,” the feathered man replied after a pause.
“A billion?!”
Gasps filled the room as many paled in horror.
“Surely that’s a mistake. True ancient demons aren’t that numerous in the Demon Realm. A billion would be nearly a tenth of their entire population. The Demon Ancestors wouldn’t risk so many,” countered an elderly woman in white fur robes, her eyes sharp.
“No mistake. Many demon settlements have been abandoned. A billion is a conservative estimate,” the feathered man insisted.
“Then the demons are truly committed this time. Yet despite our spies, we still don’t know why they’ve suddenly turned so aggressive. If we knew, we could counter them more effectively,” the white-haired elder lamented with a bitter smile.
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