"That's him up ahead, right? He really does have some skill. However, if he can escape from me, then that would be a massive joke."A female voice sounded.
The ones within the streak of black light were none other than the black shadow woman and Xue Du.
They had managed to somehow track Han Li with unerring accuracy all the way to the first level. The woman chuckled coldly as she made a hand seal, and the black light around them immediately swirled before manifesting a black formation of light.
Light surged through the formation, and the woman and Xue Du's bodies blurred slightly before vanishing.
An incredible scene then ensued.
Just as Han Li was racing through the air, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up ahead, following which a massive black spell formation surfaced out of thin air.
Han Li's heart jolted with shock, and he wanted to stop, but it was already too late.
Unleashing the full power of his Thunderstorm Wings naturally allowed him to fly at an extraordinary speed, but what he gained in speed was compromised by a lack of control.
As such, he plunged headfirst into the black formation, having been unable to arrest his own momentum.
Han Li felt his world go dark, following which streaks of black light and gusts of Yin winds swept forth from all directions, as if he'd entered through the gates of an infernal hell.
Han Li immediately unleashed countless arcs of golden lightning without any hesitation amid a string of loud thunderclaps.
All of the black light and Yin winds immediately exploded into nothingness as soon as they came into contact with this golden lightning, as if they'd met the bane of their existence.
"Divine Devilbane Lightning! You possess lightning of this caliber?" The woman's surprised voice sounded from all around Han Li, following which the black light in the surrounding area began to swirl, and it was only picking up speed in its rotation.
Han Li's heart jolted with shock as all of the golden arcs of lightning around his body formed a golden lightning garment that settled over his body.
However, right at this moment, a woman's giggling voice sounded.
"There's no need to be alarmed, Fellow Daoist. I bear no ill will toward you; I only wanted to invite you as a guest to my humble abode."
Han Li naturally wasn't going to be fooled by this as he flapped his wings to try and escape. However, the woman seemed to have predicted his actions in advance, and she suddenly thrust a palm toward him from afar.
A burst of enormous power crashed into Han Li, and such was its power that even with his current body, he was still unable to force his way through it.
Han Li's heart immediately sank. During this split-second delay, black light flashed within the massive formation, and all three of them disappeared at once. Han Li was struck by a rush of dizziness, and he immediately activated his Great Development Technique to regain his clarity of mind. Only then did he discover that he'd been teleported to a tall platform that resembled a sacrificial altar. At this moment, he was standing atop a teleportation formation.
The woman and the blood wyrm were standing not too far away from him, and it was as if they hadn't even moved a single step since the beginning.
Judging from the dense aura of darkness in the surrounding air, this was most likely a level of the earth abyss that was deeper than the second level.
What was even more concerning to him was that there were seven or eight demons of different forms standing near the platform. All of the were half-humanoid half-demonic creatures, and they were at the Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation stages.
Looking at the buildings around the tall platform, he had clearly been teleported into the nest of some kind of demon beast.
In this perilous situation, Han Li didn't dare to engage in any reckless actions, and merely appraised the woman in silence.
This was most likely the "Mistress" that the blood wyrm had been referring to. Otherwise, how could she possibly possess such extraordinary abilities to be able to abduct him to this place with such ease?
"Come and have a chat with me in the hall first, Fellow Daoist," the black shadow woman invited with a smile before flying toward the cluster of buildings in the distance.
Xue Du glanced at Han Li with a rather peculiar look on its face before also following the woman away. He didn't seem to be concerned in the slightest that Han Li would try to escape again.
Han Li looked around at the cluster of buildings, then up at the sky, and a wry smile appeared on his face.
The entire sky was filled with dense grey clouds, and there was a burst of indescribable spiritual power radiating from the sky along with flashes of black lightning. A powerful restriction had clearly been set up here, and it was definitely not one that he'd be able to escape from in a short time.
However, judging from the woman's words and actions, she didn't seem intent on killing him right away. As such, it was best to listen to what she had to say first, then see if there were any opportunities he could take advantage of.
With that in mind, Han Li was feeling slightly more assured as he followed the woman and Xue Du as a streak of azure light.
Han Li was led to the largest of the cluster of buildings by the woman and the blood wyrm.
He glanced at the demon beasts standing guard on either side of the wooden hall, and a peculiar look on his face.
All of these demon beasts were short ape-like creatures, each sitting atop a black Giant Spirit Flower with their roots planted deep into the soil outside the doors of the wooden hall.
A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and he felt as if he'd discovered why this woman was targeting him.
Without any further delay, Han Li strode into the hall under the menacing eyes of the apes outside.
The entire hall was completely empty aside from the black shadow woman and the blood wyrm.
There were two rows of wooden chairs lined up on either side of the hall, and the woman had already made her way over to a massive golden flower at the center of the hall. She then sat down with her legs crossed while the blood wyrm stood beside her in an obedient manner.
The woman gestured for Han Li to take a seat on one of the nearby wooden chairs before clapping her hands as she instructed, "Bring some tea for our guest!"
Moments later, a green-robed female servant with a set of fine and delicate facial features appeared within the hall, carrying a wooden platter, upon which was placed two white teacups.
The servant handed one cup to Han Li and the other to the woman, neglecting to prepare one for the blood wyrm.
However, Xue Du's expression remained unchanged as if he were already accustomed to such treatment. Han Li looked at the tea in the cup, and his lips twitched.
Within the pristine white teacup was a tiny pool of inky-black liquid that was emanating a rank odor.
Even just catching a whiff of this "tea" was making his expression change slightly, let alone drinking it.
He was able to instantly identify that there were several tens of types of lethal poison in this tea, and he had only been able to identify a small portion of its constituents.
Even with the poisons that he'd identified, those would definitely be sufficient to kill a normal person the spot.
Han Li was indeed quite confident in his physical body, but he certainly wasn't going to go around drinking poison for no good reason.
The woman wore a faint smile on her face, and she seemed to have identified Han Li's reluctance. "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I brewed this tea using 81 different types of lethal poison, yet all of them cancel each other out to create a completely harmless drink. On top of that, frequent consumption of this beverage is beneficial to one's spiritual sense."
She then took a sip of this tea to set an example, and he hesitated momentarily before also taking a small sip.
With the woman's abilities, there was no need for her to try and kill him using poisoned tea as other more direct methods would suffice. As such, decided to go along with whatever she had planned. Furthermore, it appeared that she wasn't lying about this.
The putrid-smelling tea was extremely bitter, but after sliding down his throat, it transformed into a ball of heat that spread through his entire body via his meridians. At the same time, a cool sensation rushed into his mind, making him instantly feel more sharp and alert.
He quickly inspected his body with his spiritual sense, and was greatly relieved to find that he hadn't been poisoned.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Senior, but may I ask why you've brought me here? This is my first time here in this earth abyss, and surely I haven't done anything to offend you," Han Li said in a grim voice as he placed the teacup onto the table beside him.
The black shadow woman appraised Han Li carefully for a while, and only after Han Li was starting to get chills running down his spine did she reply in an unhurried voice. "I've invited you here because I have something important to discuss with you, but there's no hurry in that. You can stay here for a few days first, and I'll reveal everything to you after that. By the way, may I ask your name? My name is Mu Qing."
After a brief hesitation, Han Li decided to tell the truth. "Junior Han Li pays his respects to Senior Mu Qing."
There was no point in lying about something like this, and if his lie were to be exposed, it would surely leave a bad taste in Mu Qing's mouth.
"So it's Fellow Daoist Han. Bi'er, take Fellow Daoist Han to rest in the guest pavilion for now. Make sure to satisfy every single one of his needs." Mu Qing's voice suddenly turned quite cold as she delivered an instruction to the female servant in the hall.
The green-robed woman faltered upon hearing this before immediately falling to her knees to accept the order.
As such, Han Li could only stand up and follow her out of the hall. Thus, Mu Qing and Xue Du were the only ones left in the building.
Mu Qing looked on in the direction that Han Li had departed in, and the expression on her face suggested that she was in deep thought. Meanwhile, Xue Du remained completely silent beside as if he were a mute.
"Xue Du, don't you want to ask me why I changed my mind?" Mu Qing suddenly asked.
"My Mistress naturally has her reasons; there's no need for my lowly self to state any questions," Xue Du replied with a respectful bow.
"Hehe, you sure know how to talk! There's no reason for me to keep this a secret from you; I decided to change my mind naturally because I've found a more worthwhile use for him than using him as a blood sacrifice," Mu Qing giggled.
"Could it be that you're referring to his Divine Devilbane Lightning, Mistress?" Xue Du asked as his heart stirred slightly.
"Hehe, it's exactly because of that. Premium blood sacrifices are hard to find, but I can always gather more given some time. However, with this divine lightning to assist me, the probability of success for our grand scheme will be increased by at least 10%. Do I need to elaborate on which one is more important?" Mu Qing explained.