A faint smile appeared on Bai Qi's face as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, following which a silver talisman emerged, then transformed into a projection that was around 10 feet tall.
Han Li focused his gaze on the projection to find that it depicted a white-robed elderly man with white hair, but a set of youthful facial features, creating a rather peculiar contrast.
The Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family exchanged a bewildered glance upon seeing this, but neither of them did anything.
After all, the situation couldn't get any worse, so they were naturally eager to see if some type of change could arise.
The projection hovered in front of Bai Qi and inspected its surroundings briefly before settling a calm gaze on the black-robed young man.
The projection was clearly imbued with a wisp of someone's soul, and it cupped its fist in a salute toward the young man. "Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan; I didn't expect to see one of the three patriarchs here. Weren't Fellow Daoist Mie Qing and Fellow Daoist Wu Chang responsible for overseeing the island? Where have they gone?"
This Grand Ascension Stage Spirit being seemed to be familiar with this Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan.
Even the steadfast Han Li couldn't help but be alarmed upon hearing the term "patriarch", and the woman from the Ye Family and the Long Family patriarch's hearts sank even further.
The black-robed young man's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the projection, and he said in a cold voice, "Mie Qing and Wu Chang have some other matters to attend to, so I've been looking after this island for the past 1,000 years. Looks like you still haven't given up on the two treasures on this island, but you should be well aware that sending some Body Integration Stage beings to this place is completely futile. Having said that, if you're here in person, then that would be an entirely different matter."
"Our Spirit Race is currently dealing with an invasion from you devilish beings. Otherwise, perhaps I really would've made a trip here in person. It's been many years since we last met; have you achieved any breakthroughs in your Nightmare Devilish Arts? I'm preoccupied with other matters, so I could only send these juniors into your Elder Devil Realm in my stead. Looking at the situation now, everyone seems to have perished aside from Bai Qi; aren't you being a little too hasty, Fellow Daoist?" The Spirit Monarch said in a calm manner.
"You should be glad I've left one of your juniors alive; if you keep spouting useless nonsense, don't blame me for killing him as well!" the black-robed young man said in an impatient manner.
"Your temper hasn't changed at all compared to when we last met tens of thousands of years ago. Alright, let me keep this short then; I would like to exchange something for an opportunity for this junior of mine to obtain a Clean Spirit Lotus and enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond, would you be open to this, Fellow Daoist? I had originally planned to propose this exchange to Mie Qing and Wu Chang, but I didn't expect you to have replaced them," the Spirit Monarch projection sighed in a resigned manner.
"Haha, do you think I would believe something like this? Even if Mie Qing and Wu Chang were here, they wouldn't engage in any exchange with Spirit Realm beings. Alright, if that's all you have to say, then I'll send this junior of yours on his way; I'll be taking this wisp of your soul as well." The black-robed young man was completely unconvinced, and he raised the giant sword in his hand again as a cold smile appeared on his face.
The Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family immediately prepared for battle, and a wary look also appeared on Han Li's face.
However, the Spirit Monarch projection then suddenly said something that made the black-robed young man stop cold in his tracks.
"So I take it that you're not interested in a Realmfall Stone, Fellow Daoist?"
"What? A Realmfall Stone? You possess such a thing? Hold on, what do you know about this?" the black-robed young man exclaimed before a thought suddenly occurred to him, and a ferocious look appeared in his eyes.
"Hehe, I know far more than you imagine, Fellow Daoist. I've lived for far longer than the Grand Ascension Stage beings from the other races of the Spirit Realm, so isn't it only normal that I know some things that are beyond their knowledge? With a Realmfall Stone, you'll be able to delay the tribulation of your Elder Devil Realm for at least 10,000 years, but I'm sure you're aware of that already. Have a good think about this before you give me your verdict," the Spirit Monarch said in a confident manner.
The black-robed young man began to ponder the proposal with a contemplative expression while Han Li's trio looked on in bewilderment, trying to decipher what their conversation entailed.
"I had speculated since a very long time ago that you're definitely not originally a being from the Spirit Realm; seeing as you're aware of such an important secret of our holy realm, it looks like my suspicions have been confirmed. It's just a pity..." The black-robed young man shook his head gently as he spoke.
"A pity? Are you not aware of how important a Realmfall Stone is to your Elder Devil Realm?" the Spirit Monarch asked as his brows furrowed slightly with befuddlement.
"It's a pity that you encountered me, and you definitely shouldn't have disclosed this to me!" A peculiar smile appeared on the black-robed young man's face as he slashed his black sword toward Bai Qi while making a grabbing motion toward the Spirit Monarch projection with his other hand.
Chapter 2097: Nirvana Bead
Another black crescent was unleashed by the giant sword, and spatial fluctuations erupted as countless black threads instantly appeared around Bai Qi before converging toward him.
At the same time, an inky-black devilish hand appeared above the Spirit Monarch projection before swooping down with devastating force.
Bai Qi clearly hadn't expected Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan to suddenly attack, and his expression changed drastically as he released a layer of protective white light around his own body while expelling a small dark green shield out of his mouth.
As soon as the shield emerged, it swelled to around 100 feet in size, and green light flashed over its surface as a giant turtle projection emerged, shielding Bai Qi behind itself.
Additionally, a loud bell chime rang out as a huge silver bell flew out of Bai Qi's body.
The ball was around 10 feet in size with an extremely bright surface that was riddled with countless silver runes.
The bell tolled, and layers of silver patterns surged forth from its surface in a frenzy.
In this dire situation, Bai Qi had revealed his true form in an attempt to withstand the oncoming attack.
However, just because Han Li was able to survive an attack from the Black Devil Dagger didn't mean that Bai Qi was capable of doing the same.
The black threads converged like lightning, instantly tearing through the silver patterns and giant turtle projection with ease.
After that, all of the black threads vanished into thin air, immediately following which countless specks of black light erupted over the surface of the silver bell.
Bai Qi didn't even get a chance to cry out before his true body was sliced into countless pieces.
As for the Spirit Monarch projection, even though it contained a wisp of a Grand Ascension Stage being's soul, it possessed no magic power whatsoever, so it was also instantly destroyed by the black devilish claw.
Han Li and the others were all completely rooted to the spot by this sudden turn of events.
The black-robed young man swept a sleeve toward the fragments of Bai Qi's body, and a burst of black light swept forth, drawing several storage bracelets into his grasp in a flash.
He quickly assessed the contents of the storage bracelets with his spiritual sense, upon which his expression darkened significantly.
"As expected, that old bastard didn't give the Realmfall Stone to any of these juniors of his."
After arriving at this conclusion, the black-robed young man turned toward Han Li's trio with a hint of killing intent in his eyes.
"Which on
e of you has the Realmfall Stone? If you hand it over, I can spare your life!"
Han Li and the others exchanged a bewildered glance upon hearing this.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Senior. Even our fellow daoists of the Spirit Race don't have what you're looking for; how could it possibly be in our possession?" Han Li sighed in a resigned manner.
Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan had already anticipated this answer, but he was still infuriated nonetheless. "In that case, there's no need for me to keep you three around any longer; you can all disappear!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, he abruptly raised his giant black sword before slashing it upward.
Black runes immediately appeared on the surface of the black sword, and an inky-black sword projection swept up into the air.
"Stop him! He's trying to break through the restriction to draw devilish Qi into this place!" the Long Family patriarch yelled as he immediately raised a hand, sending three small golden tridents hurtling through the air.
As soon as the tridents emerged, they transformed into three streaks of golden light, which released a burst of enormous force that weighed directly down upon the black sword projection from above.
A resounding boom rang out, and the sword projection only faltered for a split-second before slicing through the golden light, breaking the three tridents into six pieces, all of which plummeted down from the heavens.
However, during this split-second delay, a crimson bead that was enveloped in five-colored light had flown through the air before striking the sword projection with tremendous force.
The woman from the Ye Family had also summoned a disposable treasure that she had been unwilling to use before this.
The crimson bead crashed into the sword projection with a dull thump, following which a crimson fiery cloud that was around an acre in size erupted forth, staining the entire sky a bright red.
Within the fiery cloud were countless golden and silver threads, and the surrounding temperature instantly began to spike at an alarming rate; even the pond down below was beginning to bubble and churn.
It was as if the entire Spirit Trapping Valley were about to be set alight!
"Nirvana Bead!" Han Li exclaimed in a surprised manner.
This was a vastly renowned treasure even in the context of the entire Spirit Realm, and it could only be refined through the use of a secret technique by someone with a true spirit bloodline, thereby imbuing the bead with a wisp of Nirvana Flames.
True spirit blood had to be expended to refine the treasure, and the Nirvana Flames was a type of fire that only some fire-attribute true spirit beings possessed, so it was naturally extremely fearsome.
Even though this was the first time Han Li had ever seen such a treasure, he was confident that the average late-Body Integration Stage being wouldn't be able to withstand these Nirvana Flames.
This was most likely one of the most powerful trump cards that the woman from the Ye Family had retained, but it was yet to be seen whether it would actually be effective against the sword projection unleashed by the Black Devil Dagger.
At the same time, the two extreme mountains that Han Li was holding were beginning to emit a faint buzzing sound. All of a sudden, arcs of golden lightning sprang out of his giant ape body, and they intertwined to form a massive net around him.
The black-robed young man's expression changed slightly at the sight of the Nirvana Flames, and a layer of translucent black light suddenly appeared over the surface of his giant sword as he injected more magic power into it.
A sharp screeching sound rang out from the sword projection up above, and it pierced through the crimson fiery cloud with unstoppable force before rising up toward the green light barrier.
The sword projection was slightly thinner than when it had been first released, but it had become even more fearsome following that influx of magic power.
Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted beneath the green light barrier, and Han Li abruptly appeared with golden lightning surging all over his massive ape body.
As soon as he emerged, he let loose a thunderous roar before hurling his two extreme mountains viciously toward the rising sword projection.
With his current late-Body Integration Stage cultivation base, he possessed extraordinary strength in his Giant Mountain Ape form, and the extreme mountains were sent crashing downward at an astonishing speed.
The world's origin Qi in the wake of the two mountains churned violently, and countless cracks appeared in the nearby space, as if it were about to be torn apart.
The black sword projection clashed with the pair of extreme mountains, and two resounding booms rang out in unison.
Two bursts of incredibly tremendous force surged out of the pair of extreme mountains in a frenzy, and the entire sword projection was shattered amid an anguished wail, then disintegrated into specks of black light.
Thus, the two extreme mountains were able to continue crashing down toward the black-robed young man without any further impediment.
"That's a very powerful body refinement technique; it seems to be related to the devilish arts of Elder Devil Realm as well. However, you're a fool if you think it'll work against me," the black-robed young man chuckled coldly.
Immediately thereafter, he clenched his spare hand into a fist, then unleashed two punches up into the air in succession.
Two fist projections erupted forth almost in complete unison, then struck the pair of extreme mountains with unerring accuracy.
Two resounding booms rang out, and the pair of extreme mountains were stopped cold in their tracks before suddenly flying back up toward Han Li.
Han Li was very alarmed by this, and his giant ape arms instantly expanded drastically in size before he thrust his palms down toward the two extreme mountains from above.
As soon as his hands came into contact with the pair of extreme mountains, he let loose a low roar, and his enormous body was forced back around a dozen steps. With each backtracking step he took, space beneath his feet rippled as if he were stepping onto solid ground.
A hint of shock flashed through his eyes, only now did he realize that as one of the three devilish patriarchs, Yuan Yan's powers were far superior to those of the average Grand Ascension Stage being; even his physical body was significantly more powerful than Han Li's.
Right at this moment, two streaks of light flashed through the air, and the Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family arrived beside Han Li.
They were afraid of being divided and conquered by Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan, so they immediately joined Han Li before looking down with a grim expression.
At this point, it was clear to them that Han Li was the only one who could offer some true resistance, and they could only assist him where possible.
After sending the pair of extreme mountains flying with his fists, a derisive sneer appeared on the black-robed young man's face, yet just as he was about to say something, an unexpected turn of events suddenly unfolded.
A barely visible white thread suddenly sprang forth from the fragments of the silver bell that was Bai Qi's true body, then instantly flew over to the Faux Immortal Puppet that was hovering beside Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan.
Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan faltered slightly upon seeing this before hurriedly reaching out toward the white thread like lightning, but it was already too late.
The white thread vanished into the Faux Immortal Puppet's body in a flash, and a furious look appeared on Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan's face as he grabbed toward the puppet instead.
Chapter 2098: Heavenly Fortune Elixir
However, a layer of glacial Qi suddenly appeared over the Faux Immortal Puppet's body, and it vanished on the spot before reappearing over 100 feet away. As a result, the black-robed young man was left grabbing onto nothing more than empty air.
The Faux Immortal Puppet turned toward the black-robed young man with a pair of cold golden eyes, and said, "How dare you slay my juniors in cold blood? You leave me with no
choice but fight you with this Faux Immortal Puppet body!"
The Faux Immortal Puppet had been possessed by another wisp of the Spirit Monarch's soul!
Han Li's trio was naturally ecstatic to see this.
Even though the Spirit Monarch wasn't an ally of theirs, an enemy of an enemy was close enough to an ally at a time like this.
Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan's expression darkened as he slowly withdrew his outstretched hand. "So you had concealed another wisp of your soul within your junior's body, but do you really think you have what it takes to fight me with that crude Faux Immortal Puppet as a vessel? I'll only need to use 20% of my power to crush you!"
"Perhaps that would be true elsewhere, but here on this Bitter Spirit Island, you'll only be able to use 30% to 40% of your power at most. This Faux Immortal Puppet may be damaged, but let's see how you're going to deal with it once I use this on it!" the Spirit Monarch said in an enraged voice before flipping a hand over to produce a small shimmering silver vial.
The vial had an extremely bumpy surface that had countless tiny runes inscribed upon it.
The black-robed young man was initially stunned by the sight of the silver vial, but a cold smile then immediately appeared on his face. "That's a Spirit Sealing Vial! I'm impressed that you were able to replicate this item successfully, but what is that thing going to be able to do to me?"
"The vial itself naturally won't be able to do anything to you, but the substance within the vial can dramatically enhance this Faux Immortal Puppet's powers," the Faux Immortal Puppet replied in a cold voice before tossing the vial up into the air.
The small vial tipped itself over, and the silver runes on its surface flashed, following which a drop of shimmering green liquid dripped out of the vial.
The drop of liquid was releasing astonishing spiritual Qi, as if it were entirely manifested from the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.
Han Li immediately sensed a familiar aura from the drop of green liquid, and his pupils contracted drastically with astonishment.
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