All of a sudden, the light emanating from the treasure became extremely bright, and it abruptly shattered amid a dull crack.
The woman's expression stiffened upon seeing this, following which she swept her sleeve through the air to cast the fragments of the treasure aside.
"How strange, my divination completely failed to derive any information on that man," the woman murmured to herself.
The woman was accompanied by a burly black-armored man, and he asked in a surprised manner, "Mistress, could it be that he possesses the spirit medicine that you need, and it's concealing itself from your divination?"
The woman paused momentarily before shaking her head in response. "The spirit medicine that I'm searching for does indeed possess extraordinary properties, but it definitely does not possess the ability to conceal itself from divination. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to track it down from so far away. If he really does possess the spirit medicine, then I should be able to sense it from this distance even without using divination. In any case, it's very strange that I couldn't derive any information at all from my divination."
"How could he be capable of doing something like this? Only a Grand Ascension Stage being should be able to completely ward off your divination," the black-armored man said with furrowed brows.
"That is indeed quite strange, but it's not impossible; if he possesses the same level of divination abilities or possesses one of the several types of immortal spirit physiques, then he'd also be able to conceal himself from my divination," the woman speculated.
The burly man drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, then immediately began to shake his head vigorously. "It's very implausible that he possesses the same level of divination ability; there are only a handful of beings in the entire Spirit Realm that possess divination abilities comparable to yours. As for the legendary immortal spirit physiques, almost all of them can bestow upon one the power to reign supreme over an entire realm; how could a mere human like him possibly possess such a physique? If he really did, then he would've been hidden away by the human race like a precious treasure already!"
"I also think those are both very implausible options. In that case, he most likely possesses a fragment of a Profound Heavenly Treasure or a Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact; the power of laws imbued within such treasures will also prevent my divination from working as intended. Those types of treasures are also exceedingly rare, but it's the only plausible option," the woman mused.
The woman had automatically omitted the possibility that Han Li had a complete Profound Heavenly Treasure sealed within his body, thinking that he only had a Profound Heavenly Treasure fragment or replica treasure.
"You already recovered that Profound Heavenly Fortune Blade fragment last time from him, yet he still has another incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure in his possession; this brat is wealthier than some of our race's Sacred Ancestors!" The burly man drew a sharp breath as he cast his gaze toward the valley in the distance with a hint of greed in his eyes.
"Don't forget our objective for this trip; don't touch him before we track down the spirit medicine," the woman warned in an indifferent voice.
The burly man shuddered upon hearing this, and he hurriedly lowered his head as he said, "Rest assured, Mistress, I wouldn't dare to attack him without permission."
"He's already reached the late-Body Integration Stage, so you would be no match for him anyway. Come to think of it, he was only at the mid-Body Integration Stage when we last saw him; it looks like he's harboring some other secrets aside from just an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure," the woman mused as a peculiar look appeared in her eyes.
The burly man could see that the woman had truly developed an interest in this human, so he most likely wouldn't be let off the hook even if he didn't possess the spirit medicine that she was searching for. On the inside, he was lamenting the fate of this unfortunate human cultivator, but he still put on a respectful expression as he asked, "What should we do next, Mistress? Should we keep watching him?"
"These two are among the most powerful beings in the human race, yet they've gathered here instead of staying in any major human settlement; they must be plotting something, and it looks like there are more people to come. Let's keep waiting until everyone else gets here. After all, I've already confirmed through my divination that the woman with the heavenly phoenix bloodline will lead me to the spirit medicine I'm searching for, so it's best not to alert them to our presence," the woman replied.
"That's true. Once everyone arrives, the whereabouts of the spirit medicine will naturally be revealed. If we sense something from someone else, we'll be able to rule out that man."
"It would indeed be best if things could go that smoothly. However, from the looks of it, it'll take quite some time before everyone else arrives, so let's wait and meditate for now," the woman said before raising a hand to release a cloud of pink mist, contained within which was a pink floral tree that was several tens of feet tall.
The burly man gave an affirmative response, then flew into the floral tree and vanished without a trace. As for the woman, she merely laid a hand on the tree and also disappeared into it amid a flash of light.
......
Five days later, rainbow light suddenly appeared in the sky thousands of kilometers away from the valley, and a giant azure ark emerged before hurtling directly toward the valley.
The ark was around 1,000 feet in length and was split up into three levels. It was completely green in color, and judging from the layers of runes and formations engraved upon it, it was clear that this was a rare flying treasure.
On a platform on the top level of the ark, there were four people standing side by side, conversing with one another in quiet voices.
One of them was an indistinct humanoid figure enveloped within a layer of white light, one was a beauty in a yellow dress, one was a thin man in a set of coarse cloth robes, and the final person was an elderly scholar who appeared to be in his sixties.
"Alright, let's proceed according to our original plan. Before we get to our desired destination, we have to fully cooperate with the human cultivators. This journey to the Elder Devil Realm is going to be extremely perilous; we won't be able to succeed on our own," the figure enshrouded within white light said in a cold voice.
"Indeed. If our Spirit Race can gain another Grand Ascension Stage being out of this journey, then we won't have fear of any of the neighboring races," the woman in yellow sighed.
"Fairy Thousand Autumns, you've interacted the most with the humans, so we'll leave it to you to correspond with them. When the time comes, the three of us will offer you any assistance you require," the thin man said.
"I'll be thanking you in advance, then, fellow daoists. I'm sure the human cultivators also wouldn't dare to plot against us before we arrive at our destination, so we don't have to be too concerned about the initial portion of the journey," the woman in yellow said with a smile.
"Hmph, even if they do dare to try something, they'll only be piling more misery onto themselves," the elderly scholar said in a cold voice.
"Hehe, with the forces we have hiding in the shadows, we naturally don't have to fear the humans, but at the same time, we have to look at the bigger picture and stay out of trouble as much as possible. The agreed meeting place is just up ahead; bring out that thing and make sure to keep it under control so that the humans don't sense anything amiss," the figure in the white light said.
"Rest assured, that thing possesses incomplete intelligence to begin with, so the treasure we were given is enough to control it. It's a pity that it can't be placed in a storage bracelet. Otherwise, it wouldn't have to take up one of our slots to enter the Elder Devil Realm," the woman said in a forlorn manner.
"That thing is more powerful than all of us combined; so what if it takes up one of our slots? Let's prepare to descend into the valley now," the figure in the white light said in a nonchalant manner.
The figure within the white light was c
learly the leader of the group, and everyone immediately agreed before making their way into the ark.
Meanwhile, three streaks of light were hurtling toward the valley from different directions thousands of kilometers away. They were led by a streak of golden light, contained within which was none other than the Long Family patriarch, and he was accompanied by a black-robed man with a scar on his face, as well as an expressionless long-haired man.
Chapter 2016: Destiny Copper Coin
The giant azure ark and the three streaks of light appeared in the air above the valley almost at the exact same time, and both sides were slightly taken aback to see one another.
The three streaks of light halted, and the Long Family patriarch was revealed before greeting with a smile, "What a coincidence! Greetings, fellow daoists of the Spirit Race."
"I had thought that you'd already be in a valley; it's rather surprising to see that you've only just made as well, Brother Long." Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' voice rang out in response, immediately following which she appeared at the front of the ark.
Behind her were four other humanoid figures, three of which were the other Holy Spirits she had been conversing with earlier, while the fourth person was a young man with a very pale face. There was a faint layer of blue mist drifting around his body, and he was displaying no expression at all.
"Haha, I had indeed planned to arrive earlier, but I encountered some trouble along the way and was delayed for some time. I'm very impressed by your punctuality even though you had to travel far further than I did to get here," the Long Family patriarch said with a smile, and as he swept his gaze over the Five Spirit beings, a peculiar look flashed through his eyes as his gaze lingered momentarily on the pale-faced young man.
"You encountered some trouble? It's not going to affect our journey, is it?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked in a cautious manner.
"Rest assured, Fairy Thousand Autumns, we encountered a few high-grade devilish beings on the way here, but they've all been taken care of, so there's no way that information surrounding our journey will be leaked," the Long Family patriarch replied with a smile.
"Good. It seems that some fellow daoists have already arrived here before us; let's go down to meet them," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said as her expression eased slightly.
The Long Family patriarch swept his spiritual sense toward the valley down below, and said, "Those auras belong to Fellow Daoist Han and Fairy Ye; looks like they got here quite early."
Thus, both sides descended toward the valley while the giant azure ark lingered in mid-air. The elderly scholar among the Spirit beings then pointed a finger at it, and it instantly concealed itself into space.
The Holy Spirits and the Long Family patriarch's group landed at the center of the valley, following which a male voice immediately rang out to greet them. "Greetings, fellow daoists; Fairy Ye and I have been waiting for quite some time."
As soon as the voice trailed off, two streaks of light emerged from the other end of the valley, then faded to reveal Han Li and the patriarch of the Ye Family.
"Looks like everyone's here!" the Long Family patriarch said with a smile at the sight of Han Li's duo.
"I don't seem to recognize any of our fellow daoists from the Spirit Race aside from Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns; I believe an introduction would be appropriate," Han Li said.
"Fellow Daoist Han, you've already reached the late-Body Integration Stage!" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns exclaimed as soon as she swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li.
Back when they had first met, he had only been at the early-Body Integration Stage, yet he had since progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries; how could she not be stunned by this?
"I was indeed fortunate enough to have reached the late-Body Integration Stage," Han Li replied with a smile.
At his current level of power, he was unable to conceal his true cultivation base in the face of other late-Body Integration Stage beings unless he used a secret technique to do so.
The other Holy Spirits instantly turned to appraise Han Li upon hearing this, and stunned expressions also appeared on their faces.
Prior to setting off, the Holy Spirits had all familiarized themselves with the human cultivators that they were going to be collaborating with, so they were naturally able to recognize Han Li right away.
"Hehe, Brother Han is a truly phenomenal cultivation prodigy of our human race. With the incredible progress that he's made, we'll have a far greater chance of success in this journey," the Long Family Patriarch chuckled.
"I had heard some rumors about Fellow Daoist Han's exceptional cultivation aptitude, but I didn't think that his rate of progression would still be so extraordinary even after reaching the Body Integration Stage. Just as you say, Brother Long; this is indeed good news for all of us. Now then, allow me to introduce my brethren here. These are all cultivators of our Spirit Race who have constantly been in seclusion, so very few foreign races know of them. This is Elder Jin Gu of our Spirit Race's Metal Faction. He's adept at using soundwave abilities, and his forte lies in dealing with large numbers of enemies at once..." Thus, the Thousand Autumns began to introduce the Spirit beings one by one, and all of the human cultivators listened intently while appraising these Holy Spirits.
According to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' introduction, the thin grey-robed man was Elder Jin Gu, the elderly scholar was Zang Xing, and he was well-versed in the art of restrictions; the man enshrouded within white light was known was Bai Qi, and he possessed several types of powerful abilities that were particularly effective against devilish beings; the final pale-faced young man was introduced to everyone by Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns as Zhi Shui, and apparently, he was very adept in spatial abilities.
Among these Holy Spirits, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and the figure enshrouded within white light were both at the late-Body Integration Stage, while the elderly scholar and the thin grey-robed man were at the mid-Body Integration Stage, and the young man known as Zhi Shui was only at the early-Body Integration Stage.
If Han Li hadn't become a late-Body Integration Stage, the overall power of the Spirit Race representatives would've outstripped that of the human representatives, on paper at least.
The Long Family patriarch couldn't detect anything amiss with the Holy Spirits, and he greeted them one by one.
The elderly scholar and thin grey-robed man both responded with a smile, while Bai Qi and Zhi Shui remained silent and expressionless.
The Long Family patriarch naturally didn't take this to heart and introduce Han Li and the others to the Spirit beings as well.
Due to the fact that this Bai Qi was giving off spiritual pressure that was even more powerful than that of Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, the human cultivators had reflexively focused most of their attention on him.
However, the white light shimmering around his body seemed to possess some profound properties, and even Han Li was struck by a sense of dizziness after looking at it for too long.
After that, both sides didn't waste any more time and sat down beside a large tree nearby to discuss their journey into the Elder Devil Realm.
The preparations for this journey had commenced many years ago, so the general plan was already settled; all they had to do now was to make some minor adjustments.
As such, their discussion was complete in no more than four hours, and they all rose up into the air again before flying into the giant azure ark that had reappeared up above.
A buzzing sound rang out from the ark as rainbow light flashed over its surface, and it sped away as a streak of azure light.
Moments later, the streak of azure light had vanished into the distance.
Unbeknownst to everyone, there was a barely visible ball of white light that was trailing them in hot pursuit less than 100 kilometers away. Within the ball of white light, a hideous black-armored man was currently appraising a woman with pink light shimmering around her body in a stunned manner. "You
're saying that there's someone among them that even you have to be wary of? Surely you're overestimating them, Mistress! Due to your injuries, you're nowhere near the height of your powers, but it shouldn't be any issue for you to take care of these Body Integration Stage beings."
The woman was holding a purplish-golden copper coin and stroking it with her finger, and only after a long while did she reply in an indifferent manner, "It's not that I'm wary of those Body Integration Stage beings; it's this Destiny Copper Coin that suddenly displayed a reaction. This indicates that one of those Body Integration Stage beings possesses a treasure that is powerful enough to pose a threat to me; I don't want to further compound my own injuries in a moment of complacency."
On one side of the copper coin that she was holding was a benevolent smiling human face, while a malicious ghostly face was emblazoned on the other side, creating quite an unsettling contrast.
"What treasure could possibly pose a threat to you?" the black-armored man asked in a stunned voice.
"At the height of my powers, there are very few treasures aside from Profound Heavenly Treasures that can pose a true threat to me. However, in my current state, it's hard to say; even some special Divine Spirit Treasures could pose a threat to me," the woman replied.
The black-armored man's expression changed slightly before he asked in a careful manner, "Did you sense the spirit medicine you're searching for from one of these people?"
"I'm getting a vague sense of it from one of them, but it's a rather strange feeling," the woman replied with her brows furrowed slightly, seemingly rather hesitant about something.
The black-armored man was naturally very curious, but didn't dare to ask any further questions.
The giant azure ark flew for three entire months, carefully concealing itself along the way and carefully skirting around many devilish settlements before arriving at the boundless ocean.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1163