"You also know that was just a matter of the past — what's the point of bringing it up now? True, my cultivation has improved somewhat, but compared to that person, it's not even worth mentioning. To cultivate from the Deity Transformation stage to mid-Stage Integration in just over a thousand years — that kind of astonishing speed, few in the entire human race have ever managed it from ancient times to the present. I have no idea how he cultivated." Xu Qianyu shook her head, her tone tinged with a hint of melancholy.
"Since Senior Han is so powerful, why didn't Aunt try to ask him to stay? With his help, the matter we need to handle would be absolutely foolproof." Another woman spoke up suddenly after a moment of silence.
"Although the three of us have been separated from Lord Blood Spirit, he personally instructed us before — the task we're undertaking is crucial to whether Ancestor Ice Soul can return. Even within the Xu clan, very few people know about this matter. Senior Han has indeed done our Xu family a great favor, but we cannot reveal the truth of this to him. Besides, Senior Han has already driven off those evil cultivators, so this place should be safe for now. As long as we act quickly, we can retrieve the item and reunite with Lord Blood Spirit. It's best not to invite any more trouble!" After her eyes flickered a few times, Xu Qianyu spoke with a more composed tone.
Hearing Xu Qianyu's words, the other two women exchanged a glance and couldn't help but nod.
"Alright, let's go down one more time." After pondering for a moment longer, Xu Qianyu raised her brows and headed back toward the house.
The other two women followed closely behind her, their expressions grave.
--- At the same time, in a subterranean cavern countless miles away, a bewitchingly beautiful woman clad in crimson battle armor was pulling an ice blade radiating an eerie blood-red glow from the body of a high-ranking demon with disheveled hair.
The towering demon's corpse thudded heavily to the ground with a muffled sound, its eyes lifeless as those of a dead fish.
On the cavern floor lay two more dark-skinned demon corpses, motionless, each covered in a layer of deep blue frost.
The woman swept an expressionless glance over the demon corpses, then darted along a narrow passage deeper into the cavern.
After several turns and descending a few more levels underground, an ordinary-looking stone wall appeared before her.
The bewitching woman's eyes lit up. With a flick of her hand, a burst of green light flashed, and a small green cauldron materialized eerily before her.
It spun around and immediately grew to about ten feet tall, its surface shimmering with a hazy green glow, with faint phantom images of birds, insects, and fish appearing on its surface.
It was the very Void Heaven Cauldron that Han Li had once relied upon!
And this bewitching woman in crimson armor was none other than the Blood Spirit avatar formed from Ice Soul Fairy's blood soul.
After being scattered from the Xu clan members by the demon army, she had appeared here and slain the three high-ranking demons one by one using some mysterious technique.
It seemed that luring her pursuers into this underground cavern was not born of desperation, but rather served a hidden purpose.
Now that Blood Spirit had brought out the Void Heaven Cauldron, she immediately began chanting incantations, her jade-like fingers flicking toward the massive cauldron one after another.
With several "pfft" sounds, a few green magic seals shot out and vanished into the cauldron in the blink of an eye.
The massive cauldron immediately hummed with a resonant buzz, trembled, and then its lid shot skyward, spiraling into the void and disappearing without a trace.
From within the cauldron, green light flashed as several green runes burst forth, transforming in an instant into ancient characters the size of a peck measure.
Lined up in a row, the ancient characters blazed brightly one after another, then dissolved into specks of green light that shot toward the stone wall before her.
A muffled rumbling echoed through the cavern!
The instant the green light pierced the stone wall, its outer layer seemed to weather into dust in the blink of an eye, revealing a bronze-colored gate. Several gleaming silver restriction talismans were affixed to its surface!
"As I expected — perfectly intact, and no one has discovered this place. It seems my original body's decision to leave a backup here was truly wise." Blood Spirit's beautiful eyes gleamed as she carefully inspected the gate. The coldness on her face softened slightly, and she murmured to herself with a hint of joy.
Then she flicked her finger, sending a sharp gust of wind that struck the cauldron's wall with a whoosh.
The small cauldron immediately emitted a clear chime, and a burst of green radiance surged forth, sweeping toward the bronze gate.
The silver runes on the gate fell away soundlessly the instant the green radiance swept past.
With a creak!
The bronze gate slowly swung open on its own.
Blood-red light flared as Blood Spirit rose without hesitation, transforming into a brilliant streak that plunged through the doorway.
As she passed the massive cauldron, the radiance flickered, and the green cauldron vanished.
Inside the gate lay a somewhat dim hall.
It was not small — several acres in size — but utterly empty, with only a square stone table sitting quietly in the center.
And on the stone table sat yet another small cauldron.
It too shimmered with green light, its surface intricately patterned — at first glance, it bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to the Void Heaven Cauldron!
The blood-red light retracted, and Blood Spirit's figure materialized before the stone table. She raised her hand and reached toward the small cauldron.