After just a few flashes, Han Li and the others finally reached the giant black light barrier up ahead, where they were stopped in their tracks. The long-haired man from the Lin Family immediately made a grabbing motion, conjuring up a huge azure claw that attacked the light barrier with devastating force.
A resounding boom rang out as the light barrier flashed erratically a few times, but it remained completely unscathed.
The long-haired man's expression changed slightly, and he gave a cold harrumph before preparing to unleash another attack, but right at this moment, the elderly scholar of the Spirit Race stepped in, sweeping a sleeve through the air to release seven or eight talismans of different colors that vanished into the light barrier in a flash.
In the next instant, a rumbling boom rang out from the light barrier, and it tremored violently before shattering to open up a massive hole.
The long-haired man's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he turned to the elderly scholar with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
It seemed that Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns hadn't been exaggerating, this elderly scholar really was a master in the art of restrictions and formations.
The other human cultivators were also rather taken aback, but there wasn't any time for them to ponder such a matter in this situation. Thus, all of them shot forth through the hole as streaks of light, and only then did the hole on the black light barrier seal shut again.
However, during this brief delay, the devilish guards patrolling the nearby area had already surrounded them.
Han Li and the others immediately combined as one to form a streak of rainbow light that was over 1,000 feet in length, then flew toward a certain direction. The devilish guards in that direction were very alarmed to see this, but the streak of light was far too fast for them to evade, and they were instantly incinerated into ashes.
The other devilish beings converging toward the scene all stopped involuntarily upon seeing this, and the streak of rainbow light tore through seven layers of restrictions with unstoppable force.
However, just as it was about to plunge into the dark cloud above the devilish stronghold, a roar of fury suddenly rang out alongside a rumbling thunderclap.
Thick bolts of lightning sprang out of the cloud like silver pythons, intertwining to form a massive lightning net that crashed down toward everyone.
If a normal Body Integration cultivator were facing such a fearsome restriction, they'd most likely be forced to take evasive measures. However, there were as many as four late-Body Integration Stage beings in Han Li's group, and everyone else was also at the Body Integration Stage, so they certainly weren't going to fear this lightning net.
The Long Family patriarch harrumphed coldly, "What a pathetic little trick!"
He raised a hand as he spoke to release a small silver vial, which swelled to around a foot in size as soon as it hurled through the air.
A burst of white Qi surged out of the opening of the vial, and it transformed into countless threads of light that swept upward in unison.
A peculiar turn of events immediately unfolded!
As soon as the lightning net came into contact with the threads of light, it was drawn toward the small vial, and in the blink of an eye, the entire lightning net had been drawn into the small vial.
"That's the Lightningcleanse Vial! You're from the Long Family!" the devilish being within the dark cloud exclaimed in a horrified voice.
"Oh? You recognize this treasure from our Long Family? You must be a devilish lord then. Fellow daoists, let's continue onward," the Long Family patriarch said in a nonchalant voice as he stowed the small vial back up his sleeve.
Han Li and the others naturally had no objections to this, and they plunged into the dark cloud as a collective streak of rainbow light.
There were still some other restrictions within the dark cloud, but all of them were destroyed with ease, and after just a few flashes, the streak of rainbow light reached the shimmering grey node.
However, situated in front of the node were hundreds of elite devilish beings with a huge devilish figure behind them. The devilish figure had black Qi all around its body, thereby concealing its appearance, but its large shimmering eyes were still visible, and there was clearly an incredulous look within them.
"Hmph, so it really is a devilish lord," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns harrumphed coldly with furrowed brows at the sight of the devilish figure.
"One devilish lord isn't going to be able to stop us. If it dares to attack us, then it'll simply be asking to be killed. There's no need to pay any heed to it; our priority is to get to the node as quickly as possible," the Holy Spirit enshrouded within white light chuckled coldly.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns nodded in response before flying ahead, followed by the other Holy Spirits.
"Now's not the time to be getting caught up in battles; as long as that devilish lord doesn't attack us, we won't attack it, either," the Long Family patriarch said in a cold voice before also flying toward the node as a streak of golden light, and Han Li and the others naturally followed along.
The devilish lord's face immediately paled at the sight of the oncoming Body Integration Stage powerful beings, and after grappling with an internal conflict for a long while, he gritted his teeth in the end and commanded his subordinates to step aside.
The Holy Spirit enshrouded within white light was the first to enter the node, and he vanished amid a rumbling boom.
Han Li and the others also flew in behind him without any hesitation.
A burst of powerful spatial fluctuations erupted out of the node before it reverted back to its original peaceful state.
The devilish lord appraised the node with a dark expression for a long while, and one of his subordinates approached him with an uneasy look on his face. "Those foreign powerful beings definitely aren't harboring good intentions; should we give chase?"
"Hmph, give chase? What if they're waiting for us on the other side? We'll be charging to our deaths!" the devilish lord snapped.
The mid-grade devilish being who had raised the question immediately shuddered and backed away after without daring to say anything further.
Right at this moment, a long cry rang out from within the dark cloud, following which a gust of green devilish wind swept forth, then stopped not far away from the devilish lord before revealing a thin and tall green humanoid figure.
This was a middle-aged man with a pair of wings on his back.
"Where are all the foreign cultivators, Brother Ke?" the winged man asked in an urgent manner after frantically casting his gaze through the surrounding area.
"You came too late, Brother Feng; they've already entered the node," the massive devilish figure replied in a grim voice.
The winged man's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "What? Why didn't you stop them? If the Sacred Ancestors hear of this, we'll be severely punished!"
"Stop them? That was a group of 10 beings, all of whom were at the Body Integration Stage; there were even several late-Body Integration Stage beings among them. If they weren't in a hurry to enter the node, I would've already been killed!" the first devilish lord replied in a cold voice.
"What? They were all at the Body Integration Stage? Are you serious?" the winged man exclaimed in astonishment.
"Everyone else saw them as well. Do you think I'd let them through so easily otherwise?" the devilish lord sighed in a resigned manner.
The winged man turned toward the other devilish beings present, and they all confirmed what the devilish lord had proclaimed. After a long while, he finally recovered from his astonishment, and said, "This is a very important matter; we have to report it to the Sacred Ancestors."
A peculiar light flashed through the devilish lord's eyes upon hearing this, yet just as he was about to reply, an indifferent female voice suddenly rang out. "Don't report this matter to anyone."
"Who's there?"
Both the huge devilish figure and the winged man were quite started by this voice, and they immediately approached one another with their backs facing each other. One of them summoned a pair of silver longswords while the other conjured up a long black spear, and they both adopted cautious expressions.
They knew that someone who could hide from them at such close quarters had to possess powers superior to theirs, so they naturally became very wary.
Right at this moment, a peculiar fragrance wafted through the air, following which a giant floral tree appeared up above without any warning amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
The floral tree was glittering and translucent with beautiful fist-sized pink flowers growing all over its branches.
"It's the Brilliant Treasured Sacred Flower!"
The winged man's face immediately became twisted with horror at the sight of the floral tree, and he immediately flapped his wings to flee into the distance.
However, right at this moment, the pink flowers on the tree suddenly burst into flames, and its petals drifted down from above as balls of pink fire.