"Even so, this place isn't that far from there. Fellow Daoist Li should have returned by now. Could it be he ran into some trouble along the way?" Lord Lan raised a hand to stroke the demonic patterns on his cheek, murmuring thoughtfully.
"Ran into trouble? How is that possible! With old freak Li's powers, unless he ran into a human cultivator at the Body Integration stage, what other human cultivator would dare provoke him?" The bald high-ranking demon's fleshy whiskers at the corners of his mouth twitched several times, and he shook his head repeatedly.
"Not necessarily. Among the humans, there are quite a few secret treasures with the extraordinary power to fight across realms, and a few late-stage Void Refining cultivators skilled in combined techniques could also prove quite troublesome." Lord Lan chuckled.
"The human strongholds in this area are all completely surrounded by us. What are the odds of such a coincidence?" The bald demon let out a dismissive laugh, looking thoroughly unconcerned.
But just as his words fell, a low hum suddenly emanated from his body, startling them both.
However, the bald demon immediately waved his hand. A dark light swirled, and a bone-white formation plate materialized in his palm. He tapped a finger gently upon its surface.
A transparent ripple instantly spread outward, and with a flash of white light on the plate's surface, the solemn, careworn face of an elderly man appeared.
It was none other than old freak Li himself — the very one they had just been discussing!
"Brother Li, you failed to return on schedule and instead used the Rosen demonic artifact to contact us. What does this mean?" The bald demon addressed the old man's image on the plate, his tone tinged with displeasure.
"Indeed. The demon illusion stones this artifact consumes — even we don't have many spares. Brother Li, using this item carelessly is truly rather inappropriate." Upon seeing that the old man did not appear entirely unharmed, Lord Lan's expression relaxed slightly, though he spoke with a note of irritation.
"Hmph, you two may not know this. My beloved grandson was recently killed by human cultivators, and I am now in pursuit of the killers. However, there may be a human Body Integration cultivator among them, and I may not be able to exact revenge on my own. I need you two to come and lend me a hand. Once this is done, I am willing to offer half of all the spoils from this holy sacrifice as compensation to you both." The single-horned old man's eyes flickered with vicious light, his expression one of gnashing fury.
"What? Such a thing happened? But Brother Li, how do you know the perpetrators are human Body Integration cultivators?" The bald demon started in surprise, the whiskers at his mouth curling back reflexively.
"Hmph. I've already been to the place where my grandson was killed. When my beloved grandson and his subordinates were slain, not even the slightest trace of combat energy was left behind. How could ordinary Void Refining cultivators achieve such a thing? Moreover, although the killers left some time ago, the likelihood of them being human Body Integration cultivators is very high." The single-horned old man's mouth twitched as he replied.
"If that's the case, then it does seem possible. But Brother Li, do you know the exact number of these human cultivators?" Lord Lan asked gravely as well.
"Mm. I've sensed them. There were only two residual human auras." The single-horned old man answered without hesitation.
"Oh. If that's so, then the three of us should have absolutely no trouble. But the key issue is that we already have important duties to attend to. If something were to go wrong during the pursuit, I'm afraid the Holy Ancestor would hold us accountable." The bald demon hesitated.
"Since human Body Integration cultivators have left their stronghold and appeared here, they must surely be plotting something against our Holy Race. If we can kill one or two of them and thwart their plans, the Holy Ancestor will only reward us generously — why would he blame us? Besides, with the three of us joining forces, those human Body Integration cultivators might amount to only a single person. Even if it's a perfected Body Integration cultivator, we can take them on. What risk is there? How about this — as long as you two help me get my revenge, I'll give you half the holy sacrifice spoils, and I'll also gift you my Rot Thread Mushroom that I've treasured for many years as additional compensation." The single-horned old man gritted his teeth, raising the offer considerably.
"Oh, it seems Lord Li is truly desperate for revenge if he's offering up even that treasure. If that's the case, then Mi doesn't mind lending a hand. Brother Lan, what do you think?" The bald demon's eyes lit up, greatly tempted.
"Fellow Daoist Li, can you be certain there are only two of them?" Lord Lan's expression also showed some interest, but he pressed one more time with great caution.
"Hmph. Does Fellow Daoist Lan doubt my abilities? If the number turns out to be wrong, I certainly won't force you two to act." The single-horned old man snorted, a flash of anger crossing his face before he forcibly suppressed it.
"Very well. With your word, Fellow Daoist, that's good enough. The two of us will set out immediately to rendezvous with you. But do make sure you don't lose track of those two human cultivators." Lord Lan's face broke into a slight smile.
"Those two humans killed a descendant who carries my bloodline. Unless they flew hundreds of millions of miles away in a single breath, they can't escape my secret tracking arts even if they fled to the ends of the earth." The single-horned old man let out a savage laugh, his tone brimming with confidence.
Then the white light on the formation plate flashed, and Lord Li's illusory image collapsed and vanished — he had severed the connection on his own.
"Heh heh. I was wondering why old freak Li was so slow — turns out he ran into this sort of thing. Can't blame him, really. If my only descendant had been killed, I'd want to capture the killer alive and torture them for a year or two before finishing them off." The bald demon sneered.
"At our level of cultivation, it's basically impossible to have more descendants, so naturally we place greater importance on the existing bloodline. If one had several descendants, that would be one thing. But old freak Li's situation — having only a single descendant — is rather unusual among us. No wonder he's so furious this time, willing to spend so generously." Lord Lan also smiled faintly.
"If it's only two humans, it shouldn't be a problem. Let's set out now! If they're human Body Integration cultivators, killing them might net us some more treasures!" A flash of greed flickered through the bald demon's eyes.
"Naturally. Since we've agreed to help old freak Li, we should give it our all. Let's go!"
Lord Lan nodded, and with a sweep of both arms, blue lightning arcs crackled and popped in rapid succession as his arms transformed into a pair of blue flesh-wings.
The wings were ghastly beyond belief — not only were they covered in blue bone spikes, but countless lightning arcs writhed around them, as if the Thunder God of heaven had descended.
With just a single beat of those wings, the demon shot forward amid pealing thunder. A blue lightning arc flashed through the void and vanished; when it reappeared, it had already traveled several hundred zhang.
Seeing this, the bald demon chuckled softly. With a flick of his sleeve, a ball of red light shot forth, circling before expanding into a mass of crimson cloud that enveloped his entire body.
Then, with a flash of red light, the crimson cloud streaked after the lightning arc at breakneck speed.