Chapter 1646: Discovery
"A handsome reward?" Han Li merely chuckled upon hearing this.
"Do you not believe me, Fellow Daoist Han? In that case, I'm willing to issue part of the reward in advance," the silver-armored man insisted with a cold expression on his face.
"Brother Han, only I've conducted enough research into the Heavenly Devilish Armor to be able to repair it. If you help me here, not only will I repair the armor for you, I'll take you here to search for the true Kirin essence again in a few hundred years, and I'm willing to split it with you." Xian Xian remained completely calm and unflustered, seemingly very confident that Han Li would help her.
Just as she'd expected, Han Li only hesitated momentarily before shaking his head as he said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to just stand by idly here. If you know what's good for you, I suggest you leave, Fellow Daoist Gui."
The silver-armored man was furious upon hearing this, and a ferocious look appeared on his face as the odor of blood and gore in the air intensified.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and a rumbling thunderclap erupted within his as arcs of golden lightning appeared all around him. At the same time, a golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged behind his back.
Simultaneously, several tens of azure flying swords flew out of his sleeves, then transformed into blossoming azure lotus flowers.
Meanwhile, Han Li merely stood with his hands clasped behind his back as he appraised the silver-armored man.
A wide smile appeared on Xian Xian's face upon seeing this, but she wasn't just going to stand by idly, either.
She flipped over both of her hands, and an azure talisman with the image of a Kirin inscribed upon it suddenly appeared in one hand, while a small black flag appeared in her other hand amid a flash of spiritual light.
Both of the objects were covered in countless runes, and it was quite apparent that they were no ordinary treasures.
She waved the two objects through the air, and a gust of black winds emerged alongside an azure Kirin projection.
Both of them then instantly combined as one, and the Kirin projection was inflated to several times its original size by the gust of black winds. It opened its cavernous mouth and let loose a string of low roars as it appraised the silver-armored man in a menacing manner.
The silver-armored man was normally quite a brutal and vicious character, but even he had to hesitate in the face of both Han Li and Xian Xian.
The latter wasn't enough for him to be concerned about, but the fact that Han Li had taken care of the cave spirit on his own had shaken him quite a bit.
He knew that if he were to face the cave spirit on his own, he'd only have a 50% chance of securing victory at most, and that probability was deflated even further by the fact that the cave spirit had been possessed by the soul fragment of a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign.
"Alright, then this is where we'll part ways. I hope that you two will both be alive and well the next time I see you," the silver-armored man said in a cold voice as a vicious light flashed through his eyes.
Immediately after his voice trailed off, he waved a sleeve through the air to expel a ball of grey Qi, which then transformed into a crimson conical flying carriage with ghostly shadows flashing within it.
The silver-armored man's body swayed, and he disappeared into the carriage before it sped away as a streak of crimson light, leaving a burst of ghostly howls in its wake.
After just a few flashes, the carriage disappeared into the distance without a trace.
The silver-armored man had been quite decisive, choosing to immediately back down after deciding that his chances of securing victory were quite slim.
Xian Xian's expression eased slightly, and she made a hand seal to dispel the Kirin projection up above, which reverted back into a talisman and a small flag before descending into her grasp.
She then turned to Han Li and extended a respectful curtsey as she said, "Thank you for stepping in, Brother Han. Otherwise, I would've been in grave danger."
"Hmph, you seem to trust me a lot. Aren't you afraid that I'll turn on you, then use a soul search technique to obtain the method for repairing the suit of devilish armor?" Han Li harrumphed coldly as he shot a glance toward her.
Xian Xian remained unfazed by Han Li's cold threats as she smiled, and replied, "I haven't known you for very long, but I've interacted with you enough to be able to tell that you're not that heartless of a person. Besides, my cultivation base my be quite lackluster, but I do know a few soul-locking secret techniques. Even if my soul were to be completely destroyed, no one will be able to get any information from me."
Han Li was a little speechless upon hearing this.
His main objective for making this trip was to repair the suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor, so he didn't want to draw any unnecessary trouble to himself.
As for this true Kirin essence, it was the first that he'd heard of such an extraordinary item. In any case, there was no way to obtain it for now, so it would naturally be best to go back and do some research on it for himself. Furthermore, the matters surrounding the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign and the Weeping Soul Beast had him feeling rather bemused, so he had to ponder those issues carefully as well.
After a brief silence, Han Li said in an implacable voice, "I'm taking all of the materials from the holy-grade devilish ape's body."
"No problem. After we go back, not only will I repair the suit of devilish armor for you as I promised, I'll offer you another present as thanks for saving my life," Xian Xian replied in an extremely obedient manner.
Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing her response, and he nodded in reply.
Xian Xian glanced at the vast expanse of black dust down below, and a hint of dejection flashed through her eyes as she said, "Brother Han, that battle from earlier must've disturbed many devilish beasts in the area, so we should get away from here right away."
Han Li quickly assessed their surroundings before nodding as he replied, "We did indeed cause quite a commotion. Let's go, then."
Thus, the two of them flew through the air as two streaks of light, one white and one azure, heading out of the mountain ranges.
Moments later, peace and quiet returned to the area.
Around half a day later, Han Li and Xian Xian emerged from the mountain ranges and reappeared before the mountain where they'd parted with Yue Zong.
Xian Xian abruptly raised a hand, and a streak of silver light shot forth, whizzing around in the nearby area before flying up her sleeve.
Her expression changed slightly, and a wry smile appeared on her face as she turned to Han Li, and said, "As expected, Fellow Daoist Yue has most likely already perished. He must've been killed by either that man with the Gui surname or high-grade devilish beast that was killed by the cave spirit earlier. If we'd known that this would happen, we should've taken him into the mountain ranges with us. As things are now, our return journey may be rather perilous."
"It's indeed quite unfortunate that Fellow Daoist Yue passed away, but even if he'd followed us into the mountain ranges, he wouldn't have been able to enter the devilish Qi passageway, so his death would've been unavoidable anyway. As for our return journey, let's go back the same way we came. After all, we've already taken that route once, and it seems to be relatively safe," Han Li replied after a brief pause.
"Looks like we'll have to do that. Let's set off right away," Xian Xian sighed.
Han Li nodded in response, and the two continued on their journey.
Unbeknownst to the two of them, there were hundreds of metamorphosis stage devilish beasts gathered at a certain location countless kilometers away, and all of them were pursuing Han Li along the same route.
They were being led by the subordinate of the holy-grade Myriad Eye Devil, the humanoid devilish beast known as Wu Qi.
This devilish beast had a pair of black horns on his head, and wore a suit of black metal armor. There was a heavy expression on his sinister face, and he was taking occasional glances at a crimson bead that was being held tightly in his hand.
The bead was supposed to be quite glittering and translucent, but a deep crack had marred its smooth surface, and it had become completely dull and lusterless.
After receiving a request for assistance from Jiu Ye, the holy-grade Myriad Eye Devil was afraid that Han Li would be able to get away, so he'd immediately sent Wu Qi after him. Thus, Wu Qi gathered all of the high-grade devilish beasts in the area to head directly toward the location that had been marked by Jiu Yue.
However, not long after he'd set off, the treasure that he'd been using to track her suddenly cracked in half.
This came as quite a shock to him, and it meant that Jiu Ye had most likely already perished.
In that case, he really wasn't confident that he'd be able to hunt down his target.
However, at the recollection of the menacing light that had flashed through his master's eyes prior to his deployment, Wu Qi immediately shuddered involuntarily.
He knew with absolute certainty that if he were to return to his master with such an excuse, he'd immediately be torn in half.
With that in mind, the devilish beast let loose a low snarl of frustration and urged all of the other devilish beasts behind them to pick up their speed.
Thus, devilish winds surged through the air as all of the devilish beasts sped up even further.
In the air above an ordinary-looking small valley on the outskirts of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, there were four people locked in a tense confrontation.
On one side was an elderly man with grey hair and a woman in a palatial dress, while on the other side was a green-haired being with a square head and a thin yet lethal-looking man.
Both sides were glowering at the opposing duo with enmity in their eyes.
The elderly man was none other than the native cultivator with the Yan surname, and his expression remained calm as he said, "Don't you think you're being too unreasonable by trying to kick us out when you two arrived after us?"
The green-haired being was the foreign being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage that had been crushed by Han Li earlier, and he let loose a cold harrumph as he countered, "Hmph, this place has caught my fancy, and I want to be able to explore it without anyone lurking outside."
"You're going too far! We were the ones who found this place first, so why do we have to leave?" the woman retorted in a furious manner.
"Why? Among cultivators like us, the most powerful one gets to make all the rules. If you don't want to leave, then defeat us, and we'll leave the valley to you. Otherwise, piss off!" the green-haired being scoffed as a baleful aura emanated from his body, as if he were preparing for a battle already.
"There's no need to be so short-tempered, Fellow Daoist. Let's be honest here; you two want us to leave naturally because your formation plates have also displayed a reaction toward this valley. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the immortal zoysia is in here. We've encountered similar red herrings on many occasions in the past few days, and I'm sure you have as well. As such, why don't we go in together and ascertain whether the immortal zoysia is actually in there before making a decision? Otherwise, there's no way we're going to leave," the elderly man proposed in a calm manner.