"There's no need to be sad, Mistress; we predicted that all of this would happen, didn't we? It's already very fortunate for us that your brother didn't reject us even though this matter concerns a Body Integration cultivator," the elderly man consoled with a wry smile on his face.
"I don't need you to tell me that! Hurry up and take the Daoist priest away!" The woman clearly wasn't in any mood to listen to reason.
The man heaved a faint sigh and could only fall silent as he made his way over to Qi Lingzi. "We'll let you keep your inherited treasure for a few more days, kid. It won't be long until your inherited treasure belongs to our Ming'er. No one will be able to stop us."
He flipped a hand over to produce the same azure copper bell as he spoke, and Qi Lingzi continued to stand on the spot like a wooden puppet.
Just as the elderly man was about to shake the bell in his hand, a cold male voice suddenly rang out in the room.
"No one can stop you? What about me?"
"He's here!" the elderly man exclaimed as he immediately hurled his bell through the air, and it instantly expanded to an enormous size before trapping Qi Lingzi inside.
His Dao Companion also reacted very quickly as her expression changed drastically, and she swept a sleeve through the air to send two streaks of black light hurtling through the air at once.
One streak of light transformed into a vast expanse of black light that swept up her son before bringing him to her side, while the other streak of light transformed into a horned black python, which expelled black lotus flowers out of its mouth to form a protective barrier around the woman and her son.
Meanwhile, the woman herself took a deep breath before letting loose a shrill shriek, but her efforts were only met by a cold chuckle of disdain.
Spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above the giant bell, and a furry golden fist suddenly emerged out of thin air before gently striking the bell.
A resounding boom rang out, and azure runes only managed to appear for a split second on the surface of the bell before it was shattered with ease and vanished as a ball of azure light.
The golden hand then hurtled toward the elderly man with a palm, and though it didn't seem to be imbued with any significant power, the elderly man was sent flying like a rucksack while letting loose an agonized cry.
Almost at the exact same moment, another huge golden hand appeared out of thin air in front of the elderly woman before grabbing toward her like lightning. The protective spiritual light and black lotus flowers around her were instantly torn apart, and the golden hand closed itself around her neck before lifting her off the ground.
Her shrill shriek was immediately cut off, and her eyes began to roll into the back of her head.
Chapter 1813: Battling the Long Family Patriarch
Her son's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately raised a hand to summon a translucent long saber, which he slashed toward the golden hand with vicious force.
A crisp clang rang out, and a burst of piercing golden light erupted as soon as its blade struck the furry hand.
The treasure then immediately exploded, and the young man was forced back several steps in succession from the resulting backlash. He threw up a mouthful of blood essence, then collapsed to the ground and was unable to stand up again.
"I've already cast a restriction around this place, so no one will hear you no matter how much you yell. You sure are daring to have captured this Daoist priest despite being aware that he has a powerful backer. Did you really think I wouldn't dare to retrieve him just because the Long Family is involved?" The frosty male voice rang out again.
Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a golden figure appeared in the room.
This was a golden demonic ape that was around 30 to 40 feet tall, wearing a suit of silver armor.
The demonic ape had a pair of blue eyes and a mouthful of menacing fangs. An extremely ferocious aura erupted from his body, and there was also black baleful Qi swirling around him, presenting a very menacing sight to behold.
"You're a demonic cultivator?! How could this be?!" the elderly man exclaimed.
A hint of astonishment also appeared in the woman's eyes as she struggled to keep them from rolling back into her head.
"Hehe, why are you so surprised? Seeing as you clearly have a death wish, I'll send you on your way!" A vicious light flashed through the golden ape's eyes, and golden light erupted from the fingers that were locked around the elderly woman's throat as Han Li prepared to snap her neck.
"No, Senior!"
"Stop!"
The elderly man and his son both yelled out to try and stop Han Li, but they had both been rendered completely powerless by Han Li's attacks, and could only look on in horror and despair.
A look of despair also appeared in the elderly woman's eyes when all of a sudden, a cold voice rang out from outside the room.
"You're also quite daring to infiltrate my territory and kill my descendants!"
As soon as the voice trailed off, a resounding boom rang out from up above, following which a huge purple hand that was around 10 feet in size tore through the roof. The hand had countless runes swirling around it, and it broke through the restriction that Han Li had set up before grabbing viciously toward the giant golden ape's head.
"Eccentric Long!"
The golden ape's expression abruptly changed as he let loose a low snarl, casting the elderly woman aside before reaching up with a hand of his own. His golden palm swelled rapidly in size to directly oppose the giant purple hand, and at the same time, he made a grabbing motion toward the puppet-like Qi Lingzi with his other hand.
"Boom!" An earth-shattering boom erupted as a massive ball of golden and purple light appeared in the room, and the enormous spiritual pressure erupting from the clash instantly laid waste to the room's roof and walls.
A cold harrumph rang out from within the dazzling spiritual light, following which a golden figure sprang forth and reappeared over 1,000 feet away in the blink of an eye.
"You think you can get away?" the owner of the purple hand roared in a cold voice, following which a streak of purple light shot forth in pursuit of the golden figure, and the former was even faster than the latter.
Such a massive commotion had naturally alerted all of the people in the entire fortress, and countless streaks of light rose up into the air from all directions to see what was happening.
In the blink of an eye, the golden figure and purple streak of light had rushed out of the city walls and flown into the white mist outside.
By the time many of the Long Family's cultivators arrived at the edge of the mist, a string of explosions were already taking place within the murky white mist.
Immediately thereafter, a series of roars and enraged cries rang out, and two bursts of astonishing spiritual pressure erupted from within the sea of mist, causing the illusionary formation up above, which was simulating the sky, to warp and twist violently.
The two bursts of spiritual pressure seemed to be evenly matched, and all of the nearby Long Family cultivators couldn't help but exchange astonished glances with one another.
They were naturally already aware that one of the people in the mist was none other than their patriarch, yet the other person still managed to hold their own. Could it be that this was another late-Body Integration Stage being? In that case, Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators like them would essentially be committing suicide if they were to rush into the mist to join the battle.
The Long Family cultivators were led by none other than their family leader, who was the purple-robed middle-aged man.
He was staring into the sea of mist with a shocked and enraged look on his face, but he was also quite hesitant to join the battle as he sensed the enormous spiritual pressure emanating from within the mist.
"Hehe, Family Leader Long, would you like me to step in to separate them?" A pleasant female voice suddenly rang out from behind the Lon
g Family Leader.
The purple-robed man's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately turned around to find a beautiful yellow-robed woman who appeared to be around 17 to 18 years of age. The woman was standing behind him and appraising him with a faint smile.
If Han Li were present on the scene, he would immediately be able to identify this woman as the vastly renowned Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns of the Artifact Spirit Race.
The purple-robed man was slightly skeptical toward the yellow-robed woman's motives, but he feigned an elated expression, and hurriedly said, "Senior Thousand Autumns! It would naturally be brilliant news for us if you could step in to help my father capture than man."
"Capture him? I can't do that. Even if I were willing to, I may not be able to. Besides, I may be on good terms with your Long Family, but I certainly can't just offend another Body Integration cultivator for your sake. All I can do is to separate them and end this battle," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a smile.
The Long Family Leader hesitated momentarily before agreeing, "That would suffice as well. My father has expended some energy while taking care of some matters a few days ago, so it wouldn't be ideal for him to fight a powerful enemy at a time like this."
"Alright, in that case, I'll... Hmm? It looks like I won't have to step in, after all." Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns cast her gaze into the sea of mist as a slightly grim look appeared on her face.
"What do you mean by that, Se..." The purple-robed man faltered slightly upon hearing this, yet before he could even fully articulate his question, the ground near the entire fortress suddenly tremored violently. Immediately thereafter, an earth-shattering boom erupted within the sea of mist, followed by a sharp screech.
A burst of violent golden and purple energy surged forth from within the sea of mist, blowing all of the mist away before sweeping directly toward the Long Family cultivators.
This immediately sent the Long Family cultivators into a panic, and those with weaker cultivation bases hurriedly fell back to seek refuge behind the city wall.
Meanwhile, the high-grade cultivators who were at the Spatial Tempering Stage all released protective treasures to shield themselves, and also retreated a few steps to a safer distance away.
Only Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns allowed the energy to sweep over her while remaining completely still on the spot. However, her smile had already faded, and had been replaced with a grim expression.
All of the white mist was eradicated by the eruption of energy, and only then were the two figures in the distance revealed to everyone.
One of them was a mountainous golden ape that was over 300 feet tall, and it was holding a Daoist priest in one hand while its other hand was clenched into a tight menacing fist.
The normal-sized humanoid figure before the giant ape was none other than the Long Family patriarch. At this point, a pair of golden dragon horns had appeared on his head, and golden scales had emerged on the sides of his face. Even his pupils had taken on a shimmering golden color, and just like the ape, he wasn't wielding any weapons, either.
The ground that the two of them were standing on was filled with craters of different sizes, having clearly been severely ravaged by their battle.
"Hehe, as expected of a late Body Integration cultivator from the number one true spirit family; to think that you can contend with me using nothing more than your physical body. However, you won't be able to prevent me from getting away," the giant golden ape roared.
"Who are you? From what I know, there are no other ape-type demonic cultivators who have reached the Body Integration Stage aside from that Daoist Master Yellow Brow," the Long Family patriarch asked in an expressionless manner.
"Hehe, you can speculate about who I am in your own time. Seeing as you've stepped in in person, I'll let those people live. However, if the same thing happens again, don't blame me for putting an end to them!" the giant ape roared in a menacing voice.
Immediately thereafter, a layer of shimmering silver flames appeared over its body, and it crashed toward the air nearby.
A sputtering sound rang out as the space there was melted by the silver flames, revealing a black hole.
The giant ape vanished into the black hole in a flash, and the Long Family patriarch made no effort to intervene. He merely remained on the spot and stared at the rapidly shrinking black hole, seemingly in deep thought about something.
Only then did the purple-robed man hurriedly approach him in a respectful manner along with the Long Family elders. "Are you alright, Father?"
"Hmph, of course I am! Do you think that ape is capable of harming me?" the Long Family patriarch replied in a cold voice.
"That's certainly not what I was implying; I was merely slightly concerned as you had even activated your half-dragon body, Father," the purple-robed man said in a respectful voice.
The Long Family patriarch suddenly asked in a cold voice, "You heard what that demonic cultivator said before he left, right? As the Long Family Leader, I presume you know something about this."
"This matter concerns my sister, Lady Li. I was just about to report this to you, and I didn't think that such a powerful demonic cultivator would be involved, nor did I think that he would get here so quickly," the purple-robed man replied with a wry smile.
Chapter 1814: The Holy Island
"Lady Li? Is that the one who married someone outside our family? When did she get here? Forget it, tell me about it later," the Long Family patriarch said in an implacable voice.
The Long Family Leader hurriedly answered in a respectful manner.
Even though he was the Long Family leader and the son of this Long Family patriarch, all of that ceased to matter ever since the patriarch had begun using that Heartless Dao cultivation art, which had gradually rid him of all emotions.
It was quite a treacherous task to be interacting with the Long Family patriarch on a daily basis, and even as his son, the Long Family leader didn't dare to let his guard down for a moment.
"Was that the half-dragon transformation granted by the True Dragon bloodline? It really is quite an eye-opening experience for me to see you face a demonic cultivator on equal footing with just your physical body alone," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a smile as she slowly flew over from afar.
"I'm a late-Body Integration cultivator, yet I wasn't even able to take down that early-Body Integration Stage demonic cultivator; am I supposed to be pleased with myself? Are you perhaps mocking me, Holy Maiden?" the Long Family patriarch asked in a cold voice.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was completely unfazed by the Long Family patriarch's cold demeanor, and replied, "Hehe, of course not, Fellow Daoist Long. As we all know, demonic cultivators are vastly renowned for their powerful bodies, and in particular, ape-type demonic cultivators excel in this area. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate to you why it's impressive that you were able to face a Body Integration Stage ape-type demonic cultivator in direct battle with your physical body alone. If you had unleashed some other powerful abilities, you would've definitely been able to take down that demonic cultivator in a short time."
"If you truly think that, I'm afraid you're dead wrong, Holy Maiden," the Long Family patriarch suddenly said with a peculiar cold smile.
"Oh? Did you discover something during your fight earlier?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked in a befuddled manner.
Instead of replying to her question right away, the Long Family patriarch turned to all of the nearby Long Family cultivators, and instructed, "All of you, go back for now; I wish to speak to Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns alone."
At the same time, the dragon horns and scales on his head and face faded away, and his golden eyes also reverted back to their original black color.
All of the Long Family cultivators naturally answered in a respectful manner before flying back to the fortress together, leaving the Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns to converse on their own.
"From the precautionary
measures that you're taking, I can't help but think that that demonic ape seems to be no ordinary being," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns remarked after everyone had departed.
"I suspect that he's from the holy island," the Long Family patriarch said, and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was quite surprised to hear this.
"The holy island? Isn't that the sacred realm shared by your human and demon races?" she asked.
"That's right. Otherwise, it's very difficult to explain how that Body Integration Stage demonic ape could’ve appeared in the demon race. Once every 1,000 years, the holy island would select bright young talents from our two races to replenish their ranks. Countless years have passed since the establishment of the holy island, and no one knows exactly how many Body Integration Stage beings there are on the island, but I estimate that there will at least be 20 to 30 Body Integration Stage beings there. Aside from when matters that concern the survival of our two races arise, the Body Integration Stage beings living on the holy island are prohibited from leaving the island. It's exactly due to the existence of this island that our human and demon races have been able to survive in the Spirit Realm to this point," the Long Family patriarch explained in a solemn manner.
"Hehe, it sounds like your holy island is similar to the holy shrine of our Spirit Race. I'm also unaware of just how many Holy Spirit level beings there are in our holy shrine," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns sighed.
After a brief silence, the Long Family patriarch continued, "There's also another reason behind my theory. According to my knowledge, the holy island is guarded by a demonic army, and one branch of that army is comprised of the extremely rare Vajra Apes. That giant ape resembles a Vajra Ape in appearance, and is far more powerful than the average early-Body Integration cultivator. I didn't use any powerful abilities during that battle, but that giant ape definitely had more tricks up its sleeve as well. Even if I had fought with all my power, I'm still not confident that I would've been able to prevent that ape from escaping. On top of that, if he really is from the holy island, then that would be another reason why I wouldn't want to force the issue."
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