"If you're not even willing to guess, then there's no point in telling you the signs that I derived. All you have to know is that before those people reach their destination, we can't disrupt them, and we have to ensure they don't discover us. In fact, we may have to assist them from the shadows if that's required for them to reach their destination smoothly."
Hei'e was very bewildered to hear this, but he still immediately said, "I'll be sure to follow your instructions, Mistress."
"You've served me very well during this journey. As long as you continue to serve me, I'll assist you during your future Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough once I recover my powers," Bao Hua promised with a serious expression.
Chapter 2023: Devilish Origin Sea
"Thank you, Mistress; I'll be sure to help you complete your objective even if it means I have to give up my life!" Hei'e hurriedly said in an elated manner as a show of his loyalty.
"Good. From now on, just follow my orders. We've already delayed here long enough; let's set off right away," Bao Hua said as she cast her gaze into the distance with a cold look in her eyes.
"Yes, Mistress!" Hei'e replied in a respectful manner.
Thus, Bao Hua swept a sleeve through the air, and the pink floral tree projection reappeared before sweeping up both of their bodies, then shot forth into the distance as a ball of pink light.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of kilometers away, Han Li and the others were also flying through the air.
Even though they had encountered a slight mishap outside the node, once they entered it, everything was identical to what the Long Family patriarch had described. Not only was the location they had emerged in right at the Bloodstone Mountain Range, there were only some ordinary devilish beings guarding the entrance into the Elder Devil Realm.
In order to avoid attracting attention, they refrained from slaughtering those devilish beings, choosing to force their way through the devilish beings instead.
After flying for around half a month and slaying a flock of unknown devilish birds, Han Li and the others flew out of the mountain range and arrived on a vast grassland with no end in sight and covered in wild flowers.
The black devilish Qi drifting through the air here was clearly denser than that in the mountain range.
Right at this moment, the Long Family patriarch called out for everyone to stop, and they gathered together to discuss the route they were going to take.
"According to our last Spirit Monarch, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and the Clean Spirit Lotus are situated on a mysterious island on the Devilish Origin Sea located in the easternmost region of the Elder Devil Realm. I have some leads on its exact location, but those leads will only be applicable once we get there. What we have to do now is get to the Devilish Origin Sea safely; I'm sure you have a plan for how we can do that, right, Fellow Daoist Long?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said in a serious manner.
"Indeed. I've been collecting an extensive amount of information about the Elder Devil Realm, and I was able to determine that there are three routes for us to take if we want to get to the Devilish Origin Sea from our current location. However, all three of these routes have their own advantages and disadvantages, so we have to make a decision together on which route to take. Perhaps we'll have to try taking all three of them before we make a final decision," the Long Family patriarch replied with a solemn nod.
"What are the three routes, Brother Long?" the long-haired man from the Lin Family prompted.
"The first route is to advance onward along this grassland, then pass through several major devilish cities, using their teleportation formations to reach the Devilish Origin Sea. If everything goes smoothly, we'll reach our destination in about one or two years. The only issue is that devilish cities with teleportation formations will definitely also have devilish lords or even Sacred Ancestor clones, as well as powerful restrictions. Even if we use the Devilfeign Beads, there's only around a 20% chance that we'll be able to fool all of the devilish beings in those cities," the Long Family patriarch said in a calm voice.
"That's far too risky! We can't take this route," the woman from the Ye Family immediately objected with furrowed brows.
"Fellow Daoist Ye is right. This is the route that conserves the most time, but it is indeed far too risky," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns chimed in with a shake of her head.
No one else said anything in response, but they clearly all held the same opinion.
The Long Family patriarch wasn't surprised to see this, and he immediately moved on to the second route. "The second route involves traveling to the center of this grassland, then following the devilish river that runs through this grassland straight to the sea. After that, we'll travel over the sea to reach the Devilish Origin Sea. Considering how vast the oceans of the Elder Devil Realm are, we won't have to worry about encountering and being identified by high-grade devilish beings. The issue with this route is that there are countless types of marine devilish beasts in the devilish sea. If we encounter a pack of tens of thousands of sea beasts, we'll have no choice but to flee. On top of that, there’s no lack of sea beasts of the devilish lord level in the devilish seas, and it's said that there are even Sacred Ancestor level sea beasts. If we take this route, we'll get to our destination in about five to six years."
"That's still too risky. I don't know much about the devilish seas, but the sea beasts in our Spirit Realm are extremely formidable even for the most powerful races of our realm. On top of that, we're completely unfamiliar with the devilish seas; if we stumble into a perilous region of the sea, we'll be in a world of trouble. What's the third route, Brother Long?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked with furrowed brows.
"The final route involves heading west while skirting along the edge of this grassland until we enter the barren devilish plains. That region of the Elder Devil Realm is very similar to the primordial world of our Spirit Realm; there are also devilish beasts that can be found there, but far less so than in the devilish seas. With our powers, we shouldn’t have too much trouble navigating through those plains. The issue with this route is that not only is it the longest of the three, we'll also have to pass through the vastly renowned Illusion Howl Desert. That desert is one of the 10 restricted areas of the Elder Devil Realm; all cultivators who venture into that desert will be severely debilitated, and what's even more concerning is that no movement techniques or treasures can be used in that desert, so we'll have to traverse through it entirely on foot," the Long Family patriarch said.
Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this before asking, "Are there any powerful devilish beasts or venomous insects in this Illusion Howl Desert?"
The Long Family patriarch shook his head in response. "There are some low-grade and mid-grade devilish beasts in the Illusion Howl Desert, but even if we're severely debilitated, we'll be able to take care of them with ease. The only thing that poses a threat to us in that desert is the Illusion Howl Devilish Wind. However, even though our magic power will be severely restricted, our spiritual sense won't be affected at all, so we should be able to withstand those devilish winds as long as we remain vigilant."
"In that case, why did you specifically single out this desert as a major obstacle? Surely there has to be something else we should be concerned about," Han Li said with a smile.
"Indeed, Brother Han. If this were the extent of the issues that we had to face, then I would've chosen this route right away without even preparing those two alternative routes. The main problem is that the Illusion Howl Desert is far too big; without being able to use any treasures or movement techniques to traverse it, it'll take five to six decades to get to the other side," the Long Family patriarch replied with a wry smile.
"Five to six decades?" Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family were both stunned to hear this, while the Spirit beings remained quite composed, indicating that they already knew about the scale of the Illusion Howl Desert.
"Five to six decades is far too long! By the time we get to the Devilish Origin Sea, the
devilish tribulation will most likely already be over! On top of that, the longer it takes for us to get there, the greater the chance that something will go wrong," the long-haired man from the Long Family said.
"In that case, which one of the first two routes would you prefer, Brother Lin?" the Long Family patriarch asked.
The long-haired man hesitated momentarily before gritting his teeth, and replying, "The first one is too risky; the second one is also rather risky, but so long as we're careful, there's a chance that we could get to the Devilish Origin Sea without being noticed by any sea beast."
"Alright, what do you think, Fellow Daoist Han, Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns?" the Long Family patriarch asked as he turned to Han Li and the Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns.
Aside from the Holy Spirit enshrouded within white light who barely ever talked, those two were the only other late-Body Integration Stage beings present, so the Long Family patriarch was naturally interested to hear their opinions.
"The second route does appear to be more plausible than the other two. However, I'd much rather go with the third route if we can somehow take less time to traverse through the Illusion Howl Desert," Han Li sighed.
"I'm also of the same opinion. There's actually a method to traverse through the Illusion Howl Desert in a shorter time, but even that will take around 30 years, which is still too long," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said.
"Oh? May I ask what method this is? I was unaware that such a method existed," the Long Family patriarch hurriedly asked in a surprised manner.
"I'm also interested to hear this," Han Li chimed in with an intrigued expression.
Chapter 2024: Eight-Footed Devilish Lizard and Immortal Soul Pill
"According to my knowledge, there's a type of devilish beast known as the Eight-footed Devilish Lizard that can be found only in the Illusion Howl Desert. This type of devilish beast can't fly, but they can move as fast as the wind in the desert. If we can find a few of them to act as our steeds, we'll be able to traverse through the desert at a far faster speed," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said.
"In that case, we can consider the final route. After all, that route would be a lot safer than the sea route," the woman from the Ye Family said with a contemplative look on her face.
"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Fairy Ye. The devilish cores and bodies of the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are extremely valuable, and they've almost been hunted into extinction as a result. The remaining Eight-footed Devilish Lizards have all either been domesticated by powerful devilish forces or are residing deep within the desert, so it would be next to impossible to find them," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns sighed in a forlorn manner.
"Would we be able to replace these devilish lizards with other spirit beasts or devilish beasts? I have a few spirit beasts that are very fast when traveling over land," the woman from the Ye Family suggested.
"The Illusion Howl Desert is even more restrictive on spirit beasts; spirit beasts that are normally extremely fast and agile will immediately become completely lethargic and useless once they enter the desert. Only the devilish beasts that inhabit the desert are unaffected, and Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are the fastest among them; the rest of the devilish beasts in the Illusion Howl Desert aren't even half as fast as Eight-footed Devilish Lizards," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with furrowed brows.
A hint of disappointment appeared in the young woman's eyes upon hearing this.
In contrast, a peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes.
The fact that Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns knew so much about the Elder Devil Realm indicated that the Spirit Realm had prepared just as much if not more so for this as the Long Family had. In fact, they seemed to be even more familiar with the geography and powers within the Elder Devil Realm than the Long Family was, as evidenced by the fact that the Long Family patriarch had no idea about the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards.
"If we really want some Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, we can just destroy one of the major devilish powers near the desert and take their Eight-footed Devilish Lizards," Elder Hui of the Long Family chuckled coldly.
"With our powers, we have nothing to fear as long as we don't encounter any Sacred Ancestors, but if we do that, we'll be causing a huge commotion that could attract a lot of attention from devilish powerful beings. If they begin to track us or intercept us on the other side of the Illusion Howl Desert using teleportation formations, we'll be in huge trouble," the Long Family patriarch countered with a shake of his head.
"That's true. However, is there a way where we can steal these devilish lizards without getting into a conflict with these devilish powers? Alternatively, would it be possible to exchange some things for these devilish lizards? They may indeed be very valuable, but surely they can still be bought for a price," Zang Xing of the Spirit Race objected.
"I think trekking through the Illusion Howl Desert is the best option," Jin Gu of the Spirit Race said in a concise manner.
The young woman from the Ye Family pondered the situation for a moment before giving her verdict. "I support Brother Lin's opinion. Trekking across the Illusion Howl Desert is going to take too long, and there's no guarantee that we'll be able to get enough Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. As such, flying over the sea is a more viable option."
Everyone else was carefully contemplating the issue and didn't hurry to express their opinions.
"Fellow Daoist Han, which route are you leaning toward?" the Long Family patriarch asked as he turned to Han Li.
Han Li was silent for a moment before asking in an unhurried manner, "Before I answer that question, I'd like to ask you something, Brother Long: how long will it take for us to get to the Illusion How Desert from here?"
"It'll take us around a year to get to the Illusion Howl Desert. Of course, that's under the assumption that we don't encounter any impediment along the way. Why do you ask, Brother Han?" the Long Family patriarch asked in a surprised manner.
"From a risk minimization perspective, I'm naturally leaning toward the Illusion Howl Desert route, but if we can't gather enough Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, then the journey will take too long for it to be worth it. In that case, the time saved by taking the sea route would be enough to outweigh the relative risk. Hence, I think we should take both routes at the same time," Han Li said.
"What do you mean by that?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked with a contemplative expression.
"We can go to the outskirts of the Illusion Howl Desert and search for the nearby devilish powers to see if we can gather enough Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. If we're able to do so, then we'll naturally take the Illusion Howl Desert route, but if not, we can turn back and take the sea route. At most, we'll only be delayed by about two years, which should still be acceptable for us," Han Li replied.
"That's not a bad idea! I support Brother Han's plan," the woman from the Ye Family said as an elated look appeared on her face.
After a brief pause for contemplation, the man from the Lin Family also expressed his approval. "This is indeed a more refined plan."
"What do you think, Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns?" the Long Family patriarch asked as he turned to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns.
"I'll have to discuss this with my brethren before giving you a response," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied.
"Of course, go ahead," the Long Family patriarch agreed with a nod.
Thus, the Spirit beings got into a huddle and began to discuss the options presented to them.
At the same time, the Long Family patriarch was also having a secret conversation with Elder Hui through voice transmission.
All of a sudden, the voice of the woman from the Ye Family sounded beside Han Li's ears. "Brother Han, the method that you proposed is very sound; I think the Spirit beings and Fellow Daoist Long will all agree to this in the end. However, judging from the previous interactions, it seems that Fellow Daoist Long was inclined to take the Illusion Howl Desert in the first place, while the Spirit beings
seem to be leaning more toward the sea route. We don't know what they're thinking, but regardless of what the final decision is, we have to be wary of them."
Han Li took a brief glance at her to find that she was looking vacantly into the distance, as if she hadn't just transmitted her voice to him.
Thus, Han Li also turned away and transmitted his voice in response. "Thank you for the words of caution, Fellow Daoist Ye; I'll be sure to keep my guard up."
The young woman offered no response to this, but a faint smile had appeared on her face.
As expected, after their discussion, the Holy Spirits all expressed approval of Han Li's plan, as did the Long Family patriarch.
As such, they immediately set off and skirted along the border of the grassland to the west.
Unbeknownst to all of them, there was a ball of pink light tailing them from close to 10,000 kilometers away.
At the same time, within an extremely secretive restricted area in the Spirit Race territory of the Spirit Realm, there was a giant formation with a diameter of over five kilometers that was flashing with spiritual light on a patch of charred ground.
The entire formation was buzzing incessantly, and countless runes of all colors were surging forth in a frenzy, forming a series of massive runed chains that were binding onto a giant figure at the center of the formation.
The figure was around 1,000 feet tall and was clad in a suit of antiquated golden armor. There were around a dozen crimson devilish projections flashing erratically behind him, and these projections were letting loose ghastly cries and howls.
The giant figure currently had his hands held up in the air, and there was a silver net several tens of feet above his head, trembling incessantly as it kept a massive silver bead at bay.
The bead was around an acre in size, and its surface was riddled with complex patterns. The giant humanoid figure was very handsome, but he was sweating profusely and staring up at the massive silver bead with a look of shock and fury in his eyes.
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