The black-armored giant and the petite woman exchanged a nearly instinctive glance, their expressions tightening.
The white-robed youth's previously blank face also shifted, an unusual flicker crossing his features.
"With Venerable Yan's reminder, it does seem entirely possible. Considering the timeline, the chances of those two human cultivators encountering the Venerable of Strength and his two companions are actually quite high. If that's the case, this person is even more formidable than we had estimated. At the very least, with my Zang's abilities and a demon venerable's assistance, defeating the Venerable of Strength and his two companions wouldn't be difficult — but killing all three of them on the spot would be beyond me." The black-armored giant spoke thoughtfully.
"Then we truly must regard this person as a major threat. If he really is the one who killed the Venerable of Strength and his two companions, then even with the Yin-Yang Twins' help, keeping him on the battlefield will be no easy matter. With strength of his caliber, if he were truly determined to flee — unless the Sacred Ancestor personally intervened or trapped him in a dead end with no escape — there would be absolutely no way to stop him." The petite woman murmured, a look of difficulty crossing her face.
"Indeed. And with this person participating in Yitian City's defense, I fear he will become a significant variable." The black-armored giant's gaze flickered, his expression growing quite dark.
The great hall fell silent for a moment, and the others furrowed their brows, lost in thought.
"Hmph — if all else fails, we simply use that method against him once more. As long as we lure him into it, no matter how great his abilities, he won't be able to escape even with wings. Last time, didn't we use it to annihilate those two human Body Integration cultivators?" The petite woman suddenly suggested, a peculiar tone coloring her voice.
"Use that method again? Absolutely not!" The fire-armored giant exclaimed in alarm, voicing his opposition without a moment's hesitation. "The last time we deployed it, we lost nearly a thousand demon riders and over a dozen Jialun battle demons. If we use it again, the losses will certainly far exceed last time. These are all elites painstakingly trained by the Sacred Race — we cannot sacrifice them so carelessly!"
"Hmph — but if we don't use this method and let this person escape, the number of Sacred Race members who die at his hands could far exceed those losses. Moreover, if he truly is the one Lord Blood Light is searching for, and we let him slip through our fingers, who among us can bear the Sacred Ancestor's wrath?" The black-armored giant snorted coldly, countering without the slightest hesitation.
"What I said earlier was merely speculation — it's hardly likely he actually has any connection to the Venerable of Strength." The fire-armored giant's flames dimmed in his eyes, and he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Whether or not he's connected, we should investigate first. But regardless, we must prepare according to this possibility. That said, we may not necessarily need to use that method." The black-armored giant mused for a moment before continuing.
"Brother Zang, what do you mean? Just now you said we must use that method to deal with him, and now you're saying we might not." The petite woman arched her slender brow, looking somewhat displeased.
"There's no need for Fairy Yu to grow angry. Although the Yin-Yang Twins' powers are not weak, even working together they'd be roughly on par with me at best. Since the Sacred Ancestor was willing to send them to investigate the one who killed the Venerable of Strength and his two companions, he must surely have prepared a method for them to deal with this person as well. Otherwise, since this person could kill the Venerable of Strength, dealing with the Yin-Yang Twins would hardly be difficult for him." The black-armored giant explained calmly, without the slightest offense.
"Brother Zang speaks sense. With Lord Blood Light's methods, we really don't need to worry too much. Let's consider what we discussed earlier as a contingency plan, then." The fire-armored giant laughed heartily, seemingly relieved.
"Brother Leng, what do you think?" The petite woman's expression hadn't relaxed much upon hearing this. She turned her head toward the white-robed youth and posed the question.
"I don't care what methods you've prepared against the humans — that person's life must be taken by my own hand. He possesses some manner of extraordinary cold-attribute power that is extremely useful to me." A cold cyan gleam flashed in the youth's eyes, and his voice carried an icy, bone-piercing chill.
"Rest assured — I won't compete with Brother Leng over this matter. I wonder what Brother Zang thinks?" The petite woman paused in surprise, then let out a soft laugh.
"Since Brother Leng has such plans, Zang will naturally accommodate him. However, I must claim half of the treasures on this person's body. The other half will be divided between Fairy Yu and Brother Yan. I trust Brother Leng has no objections?" The black-armored giant hesitated briefly, then his eyes darted about as he spoke.
"I only want that human cultivator's cold-attribute power — you may divide the rest of the treasures however you wish." The white-robed youth replied with complete indifference.
"Little sister and Fellow Daoist Yan have no objections either!" The petite woman blinked her lovely eyes and nodded in agreement with a pleased smile.
The fire-armored giant, upon hearing this woman speak on his behalf, maintained complete silence — raising no objection whatsoever.
"Good — then it's settled. We'll send out a portion of our forces to investigate the deaths of the Venerable of Strength and his two companions first, then wait for the Yin-Yang Twins to arrive. Before the day of the Five Suns Transforming into the Moon arrives, we should have enough time to determine exactly who killed the Venerable of Strength and his three. If it truly is that human cultivator in Yitian City, we'll proceed with the method we discussed. If it's not, we follow our original plan." The black-armored giant made his final pronouncement.
……
Within Yitian City, in an elegant pavilion nestled amid a quiet bamboo grove, Han Li sat inside a sealed chamber on one of its floors. Layer upon layer of tight restrictions had been erected around him, yet in his hands he was idly turning over a milky-white wooden box, a contemplative look on his face.
This wooden box was the very spoil he had obtained after slaying that bald demon venerable. The item had been sealed by a bizarre restriction, and he'd had no opportunity to break it during the journey. Now that he'd entered Yitian City, he could finally devote some time to studying it.
Alternating pulses of bone-chilling cold and searing heat leaked out from within the box intermittently, and it could block all spiritual sense from penetrating — a truly remarkable object.
Han Li scrutinized the box carefully for a good while. Then, from deep within his pupils, two bursts of piercing blue light suddenly erupted, boring straight into the depths of the box.
As the blue light flickered in his eyes, his expression shifted subtly and unexpectedly — and he did not withdraw his spirit-eye anytime soon.
Time passed bit by bit. Han Li's posture, gazing fixedly at the box, never changed, as though he had transformed entirely into a wooden puppet.