Han Li had anticipated this situation well in advance, and despite the fierce attacks being aimed at him, a faint smile appeared on his face.
He abruptly swept a sleeve forward, and a burst of grey light swept forth before forming a translucent light barrier that completely shielded his body within.
He then flicked his fingers casually up toward the giant devilish birds, paying no heed to the oncoming streaks of black light around him.
Around a dozen streaks of azure sword Qi shot forth in a flash from his fingertips, and before they even knew what had happened, each of the devilish birds had been sliced into two.
Their carcasses crashed down from above amid a rain of blood, and the high-grade devilish beings appraising the proceedings from afar were extremely alarmed to see this.
Those two-headed devilish birds possessed bodies that were more resolute than iron and steel; even the average treasure wouldn't be able to harm them in the slightest, yet they had just been sliced apart by Han Li with ease!
However, whatever was even more astonishing to them was that all of the streaks of black light and that pillar of light had vanished as soon as they had struck the grey light barrier around Han Li's body; it was as if they had all been devoured by the light barrier!
"That's a Body Integration Stage human cultivator! Retreat at once!" one of the high-grade devilish beings hurriedly commanded.
Those high-grade devilish beings were none other than the four Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings and that brocade-robed late-Spatial Tempering Stege devil.
After they had dealt the Wood Tribe resistance force a heavy defeat, they discovered that the devilish beings guarding the node had disappeared, and this had naturally been quite an alarming discovery for them.
They had no idea what had happened, but if some kind of mishap were to befall the devilish node, then they would all be held accountable.
Thus, following some discussion, they contacted the other devilish strongholds nearest to them and gathered a group of elite devilish warriors to surround the node.
In reality, they were doing this just for show, and they didn't actually think that they would catch anyone, but much to their surprise, Han Li had returned after staying for only a few days in the Elder Devil Realm.
As soon as he returned, he immediately fell into their trap, and initially, they had been ecstatic to see this, but their elation soon gave way to horror when the brocade-robed devilish being ascertained Han Li's cultivation base.
The high-grade devilish beings exchanged a few horrified glances before immediately flying away as streaks of black light. In order to not alert Han Li to their escape, they didn't even notify their subordinates of what they were doing.
However, with Han Li's immense spiritual sense, he had naturally already spotted these high-grade devilish beings. As soon as they attempted to flee the scene, he cast a frosty gaze toward them.
"You're dreaming if you think you can get away!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li made a grabbing motion with his pristine white hand, and spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the high-grade devilish beings, following which a giant five-colored hand that was over 100 feet in size abruptly appeared before swooping downward.
The high-grade devilish beings were horrified to see this, and they accelerated with all their might while releasing all types of treasures to attack the giant hand.
They weren't actually expecting their treasures to destroy the hand; they were simply hoping to delay it slightly and buy themselves some time for escape.
However, in the instant that the treasures struck the massive hand, the hand immediately exploded into a vast expanse of five-colored glacial flames that encompassed an area of around an acre.
The five-colored glacial light swept downward, and the five high-grade devilish beings were all instantly frozen solid.
Only then did the devilish beings that had surrounded Han Li realize what was happening, and they immediately flew into a blind panic.
However, before they had a chance to retreat, Han Li swept his sleeves through the air to release several tens of small azure swords, all of which transformed into streaks of azure sword Qi.
He then let loose a low cry and made a hand seal, sending the streaks of sword Qi flying in all directions.
......
Around 10 minutes later, not a single living devilish being remained in the entire devilish stronghold.
A streak of azure light circled around high up in the air, then flew back toward human territory.
Several days later, the Wood Tribe scouts discovered what had happened here, and they were naturally filled with elation.
After doing some further scouting to ascertain that this wasn't some kind of trap, they immediately hurried back to report the situation.
Seven or eight days later, the devilish stronghold was taken over by Wood Tribe beings, who began to set up some kind of profound formation at the exit of the node in an attempt to completely seal it off.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with Han Li.
He was currently refining the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi within his body while quickly flying back toward human territory.
Even though he had only refined a small portion of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, his magic power had been greatly enhanced, and he had benefited immensely.
He estimated that the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi should be close to fully refined by the time he returned to the human race, and that would take him to the pinnacle of the mid-Body Integration Stage. After that, he would be able to make a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage, but for that, he would require the Ice Phoenix's assistance.
Otherwise, Han Li would've settled somewhere in the primordial world to make his breakthrough instead. After all, the human territory was rife with devilish invaders, and it certainly wasn't a very safe place.
With that in mind, Han Li could only heave a resigned sigh and continue onward.
Meanwhile, there were groups of human warriors and cultivators situated atop the city wall of Deep Heaven City, controlling their treasures with all their might to attack the devilish army outside of the city's restrictions.
An extremely fierce battle was taking place, and similar scenes were unfolding all throughout the human and demon territories.
During the recent period of time, the devilish army had suddenly become a lot more ferocious and began to launch wave after wave of fierce assaults without any regard for the casualties they suffered.
Countless low-grade and mid-grade human and demonic beings had perished during these intense battles, and the number of casualties among high-grade cultivators at or above the Deity Transformation Stage was also spiking drastically.
This made both races extremely nervous and apprehensive. During past devilish tribulations, these cities should be fine after withstanding a few years of attacks from the devilish army.
As such, all of the cities were using everything at their disposal to ward off the attacks, eagerly hoping for the arrival of the day when the devilish army would run out of steam.
Unbeknownst to everyone, there were currently around a dozen human and demonic Body Integration Stage beings gathered on a mysterious island situated on the border of the human and demon territories. At present, all of them were discussing a secretive matter in a hall that was surrounded by layer upon layer of restrictions.
"So the Elder Devil Race is planning to conquer our territory, then settle permanently in the Spirit Realm," an elderly man with snowy white hair mused with furrowed brows.
"That's not the extent of it; the scouts that we sent into the Elder Devil Race have discovered that a huge group of low-grade elder devils have been mobilized, and they're about to force their way into the Spirit Realm soon," a red-haired middle-aged man said with a dark expression.
"Low-grade elder devils? Approximately how many have been mobilized?" someone sighed before asking.
"We don't have an accurate figure, but i
t's going to be at least 1,000,000,000," the red-haired man replied after a brief pause.
"1,000,000,000?!"
Everyone gathered in the hall was astonished to hear this.
"Is this figure really reliable? There aren't that many pure elder devils in the entire Elder Devil Realm; 1,000,000,000 will comprise of close to 10% of all of the elder devils in the Elder Devil Realm! How are the Sacred Ancestors willing to take such a huge risk?" a white-robed elderly woman asked.
"The information we've received is definitely reliable. Many of the cities inhabited by the elder devils have already been completely vacated; 1,000,000,000 is already only a conservative estimate," the red-haired man replied in a confident manner.
"Hmph, it looks like those devilish beings are preparing for an all or nothing invasion. It's a pity that we were unable to ascertain the reason behind their act of desperation even after we sent so many scouts into the Elder Devil Realm to investigate. Otherwise, we'll be able to target them much more effectively," the white-haired elderly man sighed.
Chapter 1973: Arrival of Ao Xiao
"It seems that only the Sacred Ancestors are aware of the reason behind this desperate devilish invasion; even the average devilish lord has been kept completely in the dark. We've taken huge risks in the past to capture devilish lords alive, but we've been unable to glean any relevant information even after using soul search techniques on them," the white-robed woman said in a resigned manner.
"Hmph, regardless of why the Elder Devil Race is doing this, we definitely can't allow them to do as they please. The backup measures we've prepared have all been implemented, and two of them are mostly complete; they should be enough to put a severe dent in the devilish army. Even if the true bodies of some Sacred Ancestors were to descend into the Spirit Realm, it won't make any difference. The only matter of concern is that our sources have confirmed that the three patriarchs of the Elder Devil Race will descend into the Spirit Realm together. If that happens, even if all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings of our races join forces, we most likely won't be a match for them. I've heard that all of the three patriarchs are old monsters who have lived for hundreds of thousands of years and are only one step away from ascending to become true devils," the red-haired man said with furrowed brows.
Everyone's expressions darkened even further upon hearing this, and the white-robed woman sighed, "The three patriarchs of the Elder Devil Race are all Tribulation Transcendence Stage ancient devils. Even in the entire Spirit Realm, there won't be many beings who can defeat them, let alone our races. The only beings that would be capable of defeating those patriarchs would be the true spirits revered by the major races, but our races are far too weak; where are we going to find a true spirit that would be willing to help us? If we can't find a way to counter the three patriarchs, our fate will be sealed even if we can withstand the attacks from the devilish army."
Just as everyone was beginning to exchange concerned glances, a clean-shaven man suddenly spoke for the first time. "There's no need to be overly concerned. Back when Master Mo Jianli left the holy island, he said that he would seek out the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the other races to devise a way to counter the devilish patriarchs. A long time has passed since then; perhaps they've already found a way."
"Is that true, Fellow Daoist Xun? Why haven't we ever heard of this?" the red-haired man hurriedly asked as a surprised look appeared on his face.
Everyone else was also both surprised and elated to hear this.
"Only Brother Luo and I are aware of. Prior to Senior Mo's departure, he had told us not to reveal this information unless the situation demanded it, so we never mentioned it to anyone. Now, the situation seems to be dire enough for me to divulge this information," the clean-shaven man sighed.
"Is that true, Brother Luo?" the white-robed woman immediately turned to the elderly man for confirmation.
"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Xun speaks the truth; Senior Mo did indeed inform the two of us of this prior to his departure," the white-haired elderly man confirmed with a smile.
"That's great! That must mean that Senior Mo already has a plan. It looks there's a good chance we'll be able to transcend this devilish tribulation in the end."
......
Everyone was very relieved to hear this, and they immediately began to discuss this new information among themselves.
"Alright, before we begin discussing specific arrangements, I have something that I need to announce. Fellow Daoist Black Rain, who departed from the holy island not long ago to capture the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit, has, unfortunately, perished. He had been accompanied by Tian Chan of the Holy Sovereign City, who informed us that they had parted ways after the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit had been captured. However, not long after that, Fellow Daoist Black Rain's soul lamp was snuffed out," the red-haired man said with a grim expression.
The elation in everyone's eyes immediately faded upon hearing this.
"Master Black Rain is a mid-Body Integration cultivator; how was he killed so quickly? Could there be some foul play involved here?" the clean-shaven man asked in a suspicious manner.
"I don't think so. The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit is indeed extremely rare, but it's not very useful to the average person. On top of that, Fellow Daoist Tian Chan mentioned a witness. At the time, they just so happened to encounter another Body Integration Stage fellow daoist who helped them capture the stone spirit. Without his assistance, it wouldn't have been so easy for them to capture the stone spirit," the red-haired man replied with a shake of his head.
"A witness? Who is it? Is it someone else from the Holy Sovereign City?" the elderly woman asked with furrowed brows.
"No. Come to think of it, I'm sure most of you have heard of him. The other witness is Fellow Daoist Han, who progressed to the Body Integration Stage just a few centuries ago," the red-haired man revealed.
"Are you referring to Han Li? I heard that he's a freakish cultivation prodigy from your human race who only took several centuries to progress from the Deity Transformation Stage to the early-Body Integration Stage," the elderly woman said with a surprised look in her eyes.
"Hehe, I'm afraid your information is outdated, Fellow Daoist; this Fellow Daoist Han is already a mid-Body Integration cultivator now," the white-haired elderly man chuckled.
"What? He made another breakthrough? That's way too fast! I had thought that the rumors of his cultivation aptitude were mere hyperbole, but it seems that they were understatements, if anything!" The elderly woman was even more astonished now.
All of the other Body Integration Stage beings presented were also quite stunned to hear this.
"Perhaps. If it weren't for the ongoing devilish tribulation, Fellow Daoist Han would've most likely already become a member of our holy island. Setting that aside for now, have you tracked down Fellow Daoist Han to ascertain the details of what happened to Fellow Daoist Black Rain?" the white-haired elderly man asked.
"I tried to do that, but after getting into contact with Deep Heaven City, I was told that Fellow Daoist Han had disappeared. It seems that that time of his disappearance coincides with that of Fellow Daoist Black Rain's death," the red-haired man replied with a wry smile.
"He disappeared?" The elderly man's expression darkened upon hearing this.
"According to the information we received from Deep Heaven City, Fellow Daoist Han encountered the clone of a Sacred Ancestor while reinforcing Heavenlean City, and he had gone missing after that. However, according to Fellow Daoist Tian Chan, Fellow Daoist Han had most likely encountered Tian Chan and Black Rain after he had escaped from the clone of that Sacred Ancestor. However, after the three joined forces to capture the stone spirits, Tian Chan was the only one who returned safely to the Holy Sovereign City, while the other two both went missing," the red-haired man said.
"With Fellow Daoist Han's aptitude, there may be hope for him to reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future. It would truly be a pity if something has happened to him. However,
cultivators like us are constantly defying the natural order anyway, so it's common for us to die early, especially during this devilish tribulation," the elderly woman sighed in a wistful manner.
"If Fellow Daoist Han really has perished, then he can only lament his ill-fortune. However, in contrast with Black Rain, Fellow Daoist Han didn't leave behind a soul lamp in Deep Heaven City, so it's impossible to tell whether he's currently alive or not. Regardless of how Black Rain perished, the problem is that the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit that he captured has also disappeared. Without that stone spirit, the first step of our preparations can't be implemented. This is a pressing matter that concerns the survival of our two races, so we have to think of a way to rectify the issue right away," the red-haired man said with a grim expression.
"This is indeed an urgent manner."
"Is there anywhere else where we can find another Pipe Dream Stone Spirit?"
"Can we replace the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit with something else? Do we not have a backup plan prepared in case of this exact situation?"
......
Everyone quickly began to offer their opinions and insights.
"A Pipe Dream Stone Spirit is far from easy to find; the one that we sent Fellow Daoist Black Rain to capture was one that was discovered tens of thousands of years ago. As for substitutes, we did indeed prepare a few, but resorting to those substitutes will hamper our preparations, and it's hard to say whether we'll be able to achieve the intended effect in the end," the red-haired man said.
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, and a tense silence descended over the entire hall.
"Leave the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit to me; I have more important matters that I'll require your assistance with, fellow daoists."
A faint male voice suddenly echoed throughout the hall, and everyone was rather bewildered to hear it.
An ecstatic look immediately appeared on the red-haired man's face, and he sprang up from his chair as he exclaimed, "Senior Ao Xiao, is that you?"
Almost at the exact same moment, the gate of the hall was opened from the outside, and two people strode into the hall one after another.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1139