Chapter 2254: Old Enemy
After drawing the three Gold Devouring Beetles back into his spirit beast bracelet, Han Li closed his eyes to meditate again.
At the conclusion of the three Gold Devouring Beetles' battle, only the most powerful one would remain.
As for whether that final faux beetle monarch would be able to evolve into a legendary Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch, Han Li wasn't all that confident.
After all, it was said that Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs were so powerful than even true immortals were very wary of them.
Of course, this was only a rumor; no race in the entire Spirit Realm had ever managed to nurture a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch before.
As such, it was difficult to say just how powerful the beetle monarch would be; Han Li would just have to wait and see.
With his current powers, the average Grand Ascension Stage being wouldn't be of much assistance to him. Thus, he had already decided that once he returned to the Spirit Realm, he was going to get his Leopard Kirin Beast to go into seclusion as well.
Even though spirit beasts generally progressed slowly with age, he should be able to accelerate that process with his vast collection of pills.
With that in mind, Han Li gradually entered a state of deep meditation.
The white flying boat surged through the air without any disguise or concealment, but the Grand Ascension Stage aura emanating from it was enough to scare away all of the nearby devilish beasts.
Half a month later, a boundless snowland appeared down below.
Heavy snow intermingled with frosty winds and chunks of fist-sized hail were sweeping incessantly through the air, but the flying boat was completely unaffected, enshrouded within a white light barrier.
The two giant ape puppets continued to guide the flying boat forward, and several days later, the thick snow down below was nowhere to be seen, having been replaced by massive icy glaciers.
There were countless transparent mountains of different sizes in the surrounding area, as well as some small white furry beasts that were running around on the ice, completely disregarding the flying boat up above.
It was clear that these devilish beasts were of such a lowly caliber that they couldn't even sense Han Li's almighty aura.
All of a sudden, a streak of silver light shot forth from the flying boat, then flew through the cluster of beasts before returning to the boat in a flash.
Silvermoon reappeared at the front of the boat amid a flash of silver light, holding a small white beast with a wide smile on her face.
The beast bore a strong resemblance to a white bear, but it had a short blue horn and a pair of remarkably long ears, presenting a very adorable package.
The little beast was currently being held by the scruff of its neck and was kicking erratically with its four legs in a blind panic. At the same time, traces of blue electricity were crackling around its short horn, and it seemed to be very uncoordinated.
"How interesting! This beast doesn't possess any devilish Qi and seems to be more like a spirit beast from the human world," Silvermoon remarked as she stroked the little beast's furry head.
"That's an Ice Horn Bear, one of very few types of low-grade devilish beasts in the Elder Devil Realm that can survive without devilish Qi, and they possess innate ice and lightning attribute abilities."
A male voice sounded behind Silvermoon, and she turned around with an elated expression just as Han Li emerged from the cabin of the boat in an unhurried manner.
"You know about these beasts, Brother Han?" Silvermoon asked with a smile.
"I once did some extensive research on the devilish beasts of the Elder Devil Realm, and these devilish beasts that resemble spirit beasts really stuck out in my memory," Han Li replied.
"I see. Now that you've come out of seclusion, we must be quite close to our destination, right?" Silvermoon asked as a hint of excitement appeared in her eyes.
"According to Fellow Daoist Lan Ying, we should be half a day away from our destination at most," Han Li replied as he quickly swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area.
"Apparently, that Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling was once a vastly renowned figure in the Elder Devil Realm; I'm sure his collection must contain a lot of valuable treasures," Silvermoon said with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.
"Who knows? Devilish beings use vastly different cultivation arts compared to us humans; perhaps things that are regarded as precious treasures to them aren't very useful to us. However, I heard that the Inkspirit Holy Ark, one of the top three flying treasures of the Elder Devil Realm, was in his possession; if I can obtain that treasure, it would be worth this trip," Han Li said with a smile.
"One of the top three flying treasures of the Elder Devil Realm? That does indeed sound quite remarkable; I would also like to see it," Silvermoon said in an excited manner.
Han Li was just about to respond when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he cast his gaze toward a certain direction.
"Did you discover something, Brother Han?" Silvermoon asked.
"It seems that we've run into an old acquaintance," Han Li said with a smile as he peered into the distance with blue light flashing within his eyes.
"An old acquaintance? One that I'm familiar with as well?" Silvermoon was rather taken aback to hear this.
"That's right, both of us have quite a bit of history with her. Let's go and pay her a visit," Han Li said as he withdrew his gaze.
"It really is someone that I know? I'm very intrigued to see who it is." Silvermoon had also swept her spiritual sense toward the same direction, but her sensory range was limited, and she was unable to discover anything.
Han Li smiled and remained silent as he tapped a foot down onto the flying boat, upon which it immediately changed directions.
A distance of tens of thousands of kilometers was covered by the flying boat in the blink of an eye, and it arrived near an icy mountain that was tens of thousands of feet tall.
A string of rumbling explosions were ringing out incessantly above the mountain, sending powerful shockwaves sweeping through the air in all directions.
The mountain had already been reduced to just over half its original size, and the surrounding ground was filled with uneven craters and littered with countless chunks of ice of different sizes.
At the center of the commotion, white glacial Qi was clashing with bright blue light, and it seemed that there were two gargantuan creatures locked in a fierce battle.
Han Li looked on through narrowed eyes, and the flying boat drew to a halt at his behest, hovering still in mid-air.
Silvermoon was also appraising the battle in the distance with curious eyes, but unfortunately, the world's origin Qi was extremely chaotic there, and she was unable to see anything.
However, judging from the ferocity of the clashes, the two combatants were definitely far more powerful than the average devilish lord.
"It's her!"
Silvermoon extended her spiritual sense forward, and a hint of shock immediately appeared on her face upon sensing a familiar aura.
Han Li merely smiled and remained silent as he continued to spectate the battle from afar.
With his enormous spiritual sense, he was naturally able to see everything as clearly as if it were unfolding right in front of him.
After around 15 minutes, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted up ahead, and a ball of blue light exploded violently, threatening to destroy everything in the surrounding area.
A bloodcurdling beastly roar rang out as a white wyrm that was over 100 feet in length emerged out of thin air amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
Its body was riddled with wounds, but it didn't pay any heed to its own injuries as it frantically fled from the scene.
Right at this moment, an elegant figure appeared, and spatial fluctuations erupted up above as a giant blue claw emerged before crashing downward to slice the white wyrm's body into several segments.
Scorching black flames then erupted out of the giant claw to sweep up the white wyrm's dismembered body.
The white wyrm howled with anguish as the segments of its body thrashed violently in the flames, but it was unable to escape.
In the blink of an eye, its body and soul were all incinerated into nothingness.
Only then did Han Li break his silence.
"Looks like there's some affinity between us, Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha; I didn't think I'd run into you in such a secluded place. You don't seem to be in the best condition at the moment."
The elegant figure was an extremely beautiful woman with skin as fair as jade, and it was none other than Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha.
She was wearing a suit of blue armor, but it was only glowing with very dim light, and not only was her face very pale, her aura was also fluctuating in a very unstable manner.
What was most perplexing of all was that she seemed to only possess a Body Integration Stage aura.
"I also didn't expect to see you here, Fellow Daoist Han. Could it be that Bao Hua changed her mind and sent you to finish me off?" Instead of being all that surprised to see Han Li, a sour look appeared on her face.
"That's not the case. I did assist Bao Hua on that one occasion, but that's all; do you think I'm some sort of subordinate to Bao Hua?" Han Li asked as his expression darkened slightly.
Yuan Cha faltered slightly upon hearing this before a wry smile appeared on her face. "Please forgive me for misunderstanding the situation, Fellow Daoist Han. Come to think of it, now that you're at the Grand Ascension Stage, your powers are most likely not inferior to Bao Hua's, so there's no reason for you to do her bidding and finish off a disabled wretch like me."
"Disabled? There is indeed something wrong with your aura; why has it fallen to below the Grand Ascension Stage? Did Bao Hua do this to you?" Han Li asked.
"No, I did this to myself," Yuan Cha replied, much to Han Li's surprise.