However, the disheveled man was, after all, a renowned Body Integration cultivator of many years. The moment the strange emotion arose within him, he immediately noticed the anomaly in himself. With a sudden bite to the tip of his tongue, he spat out a mouthful of essence blood.
The next moment, with the aid of the sharp pain, his mind finally returned to normal. But as he looked at the woman in white, his gaze was filled with terror, as if he were staring at a venomous scorpion.
“Great Ascension power—you are a Sacred Ancestor of the Demon Race!” Although the disheveled man’s magic power was greatly depleted, his spiritual sense remained as strong as ever. Yet, after just one glance at the woman in white, he had been influenced to such an extent.
This was absolutely not something a Body Integration cultivator could achieve. Naturally, he immediately thought of the one existence in the Demon Realm he least wished to encounter.
“Sacred Ancestor? You could say that. I have some questions for you. If you cooperate honestly, I will let you die painlessly and even grant you the possibility of reincarnation. If you refuse, I will have to use some special methods to ensure your soul disperses completely, leaving no trace behind.” The woman in white was none other than Sacred Ancestor Baohua, who had been following Han Li and the others all along. She spoke indifferently to the disheveled man.
“Since I’ve fallen into your hands, Senior, I have nothing left to hold onto. Feel free to ask your questions.” The Lin family cultivator’s expression flickered between gloom and uncertainty for a long while before he finally let out a bitter laugh and spoke.
“You’re quite sensible. Now, release your primordial spirit.” Sacred Ancestor Baohua smiled faintly. For a brief moment, her smile outshoneven a hundred flowers, but she immediately raised a jade-like finger and pointed it at the man within the flower tree.
“Pfft!”
A ball of pink spiritual light shot out, transforming in a flash into a hazy, peculiar flower that vanished into the disheveled man’s forehead.
The man’s expression changed drastically. After a brief hesitation, he sighed deeply and gave up all resistance, releasing his primordial spirit.
At this point, he could only gamble that this Demon Race Sacred Ancestor would uphold her status and not go back on her word, leaving him a sliver of hope for reincarnation.
The next moment, the man’s eyes glazed over, becoming dull and lifeless. Several strange pink demonic patterns appeared on his forehead, flickering with an eerie spiritual light.
The ugly burly man standing nearby watched the disheveled man’s condition with a cold smirk on his face.
After a full cup of tea’s time, the woman in white raised an eyebrow and made a hand seal with effortless grace.
The pink flower tree’s radiant mist that had been restraining the disheveled man suddenly expanded. With a series of soft pops, it transformed into clusters of pink flames, reducing his body to ashes in an instant.
Only a single point of white light remained unharmed within the flames. With a mournful cry, it shot into the sky, disappearing in a flash at a height of over a hundred zhang.
Sacred Ancestor Baohua paid no attention to this. She simply extended her hand and made a grasping motion in the air.
“Whoosh!”
A peculiar pink flower drifted out of the flames, flying straight toward the woman in white. It leisurely landed in her palm before vanishing in a flash.
Several identical pink demonic patterns appeared on the woman’s face. As crystalline light swirled in her eyes, she closed them.
With the demonic patterns flickering, her face showed no expression, as if she had turned into an ice sculpture.
The black-armored burly man took a few steps to stand beside her, obediently clasping his hands at his side.
Half an hour later, the woman’s eyelids twitched, and she opened her beautiful eyes once more, revealing pupils as dark as stars.
“Lady Baohua, did you obtain any useful information?” the black-armored man asked cautiously.
“I did obtain some. Though not much, I now know their purpose for entering the Sacred Realm. They are after the Spirit Cleansing Pool and the Pure Spirit Lotus—quite an unexpected development.” Sacred Ancestor Baohua replied thoughtfully.
“Spirit Cleansing Pool? Pure Spirit Lotus? What are those, to make them take such risks?” the black-armored man asked in confusion.
“Fewer than ten people in the entire Sacred Realm know of these two things. Even some Sacred Ancestors are unaware of them. It’s no surprise you don’t know,” the woman replied calmly.
“Then what exactly are these two things, to make these Spirit Realm cultivators so eager for them? They must be extraordinary,” the black-armored man asked, his eyes shifting with curiosity.
“There’s no need for you to concern yourself with this. While these two things are incredibly miraculous to Spirit Realm cultivators, they are harmful rather than beneficial to our Demon Race.” Sacred Ancestor Baohua replied indifferently, as if seeing through the man’s thoughts.
“If they’re useless to our race, then this humble one has no interest in them,” the burly man said, scratching the back of his head with a grin.
Sacred Ancestor Baohua did not continue the topic. Instead, her eyes flashed as she said lightly, “Now that I know their objective, I can roughly guess where they plan to go. From here on, we don’t need to follow them into the Phantom Howl Desert. We can simply wait for them at their destination. My original plan upon returning to the Sacred Realm was to settle this matter before visiting a few old friends. Now, it seems I can move that schedule up a bit.” She raised her head to look at the sky, a strange glint in her eyes.
“Wherever Lady Baohua goes, this subordinate will follow, even at the cost of my life,” the black-armored man declared loudly without hesitation.
A trace of satisfaction appeared on Sacred Ancestor Baohua’s face, but she suddenly remembered something and ordered, “That other human girl is still of use to me. Bring her along when we leave. Don’t harm her for now.”
“As you command!” The burly man was slightly surprised but quickly bowed in acknowledgment.
The woman in white nodded. After glancing in the direction of Phantom Night City with a faint, enigmatic smile, she suddenly waved a sleeve before her.
Instantly, countless pink petals fluttered out, swirling into a towering column of wind that rose into the sky. Within it, the faint sounds of wind and thunder could be heard.
The black-armored man wasted no time. With one hand, he made a grasping motion toward a nearby pit, then stomped the ground with both feet. His figure blurred as he shot into the wind column like a bolt from a crossbow.
From the pit, a muffled sound was heard as a petite figure flew out, vanishing into the wind column in a flash.
It was Zhu Guo’er, her face filled with terror.
With a deafening roar, the wind column expanded and exploded. Amid the dissipating pink light, not a trace of the three remained.
Two days later, at dusk, on an inconspicuous mound at the edge of the Phantom Howl Desert, two eight-legged demon lizards lay peacefully in the sand.
On the backs of these demon beasts sat two figures—one in a blue robe, the other an elderly scholar in Confucian attire. They were none other than Han Li and the Spirit Race’s elder, the “Holy Spirit.”
Both sat cross-legged on the demon lizards, calm and silent, as if waiting for something.
They had been stationed here by the Long family patriarch to receive the others involved in the operation.
The two demon lizards were naturally the ones Han Li had obtained from the Bai family.
After an unknown length of time, a flash of spiritual light appeared in the sky from the direction of Phantom Night City. Several faint streaks of light emerged, shooting straight toward Han Li and the elder.
Both Han Li and the elder showed slight reactions.
After a few flashes, the streaks of light descended, revealing the figures of the feathered-robed young woman, the Thousand Autumns Saintess, and others on the mound.
Han Li’s gaze swept over them before he smiled and spoke:
“Fellow Daoists, it seems the operation went smoothly.”
“Brother Han is quite perceptive. Without those two Demon Venerables guarding the Zhao family, their mere restrictions couldn’t stop our combined efforts. We obtained a total of eight demon lizards—enough for each of us to have one, with one to spare!” The feathered-robed young woman replied with a radiant smile, clearly indicating the ease of their earlier mission.
“Good. Now we just need to wait for Brother Long and Fellow Daoist Bai Qi to return. With their late-Body Integration cultivation, shaking off two Demon Venerables shouldn’t be too difficult.” Han Li nodded with a faint smile, though his gaze unconsciously flickered toward the Spirit Race youth named “Zhishui,” and he inwardly frowned.
It seemed the chilling aura around this Spirit Race Holy Spirit had grown even stronger than before.
Yet the Spirit Race youth remained expressionless, his body exuding wisps of cold air, utterly indifferent to Han Li’s gaze, as if dull and wooden.
“Haha, Brother Han need not worry! Brother Long and I have long since shaken off those two Zhao family Demon Venerables.”
From high above, the Long family patriarch’s hearty laughter rang out.
A spatial fluctuation followed as the patriarch, wearing a broad smile, and a figure shrouded in white light appeared simultaneously.
“So Fellow Daoist Long has arrived as well. Where are those two Zhao family Demon Venerables now?” Han Li raised an eyebrow, his eyes brightening.
“Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han! We lured them into a prearranged formation. They won’t be able to break free for at least a full day and night,” the figure in white light—Bai Qi—replied plainly.
“Excellent. Since everyone is here, let’s summon all the eight-legged demon lizards and set off immediately!” The Thousand Autumns Saintess exclaimed joyfully.
“Sister Thousand Autumns speaks my thoughts exactly!” The Ye family’s feathered-robed young woman also voiced her agreement.
Naturally, no one else objected. The young woman and the saintess each raised a hand, releasing the demon lizards one by one.
The Long family patriarch and the others mounted the demon beasts, and the group immediately galloped into the Phantom Howl Desert, soon vanishing into the gray, wind-swept sands.
A day later, the sound of something tearing through the air came from the distant horizon. Two black lights, tinged with faint blood radiance, descended from the sky.
In a flash, two gaunt, brocade-robed old men appeared on the mound where Han Li and the others had previously stayed. Both wore furious expressions, their bodies exuding thick black killing intent.
“Their aura lingered here briefly. They must have entered the Phantom Howl Desert,” one of the old men said after surveying the area and glancing at the gray desert ahead, his face grim.
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