Yuancha's eyelids fluttered, and her previously closed eyes opened once more. Green light flickered within them, lending her gaze an exceptionally cold quality.
"Hmph, can you be certain you won't get it wrong this time? I've gone to such great lengths, and success is within reach. Even if the one before us isn't the original body, capturing it alive would still serve my purposes well. If you feel you can't wait any longer, you're free to leave first. Once I've taken this one alive, I'll naturally rejoin you," the woman said coldly.
"Since Fellow Daoist Yuancha puts it that way, I suppose I'll have to take my leave first. A mere avatar should pose no problem for one of your abilities. However, the original body will be far more troublesome — you and I must join forces to have any hope of success. I trust there won't be any… alternative thoughts." The blood-robed youth looked somewhat surprised upon hearing this. After a brief flicker of doubt in his gaze, he spoke a few words in a warning tone.
"Rest assured! I understand perfectly well that cooperation benefits us both. I want this avatar for reasons of my own — important reasons. Perhaps you'll find out before long." Yuancha let out a cold laugh and replied without the slightest concern.
Though somewhat taken aback by the woman's words, the blood-robed youth saw no grounds for further objection and could only say flatly, "I'll leave half my forces behind to follow your orders. The numbers aren't large, but they should still be of some small help."
"Much appreciated!" Yuancha's expression softened somewhat as she gave a slight nod.
The blood-robed youth's body erupted with light as he transformed into a streak of blood-red radiance that shot toward the heights. After a few flickers, the crimson glow plunged into the jade disc overhead and vanished without a trace.
Moments later, the barrier of blood-colored light radiating from the jade disc flickered once and disappeared. Strangely, the elite demon cultivators who had been clustering around the disc had also decreased by more than half.
The next instant, the jade disc trembled, transformed into a ball of white light, and tore through the sky, vanishing.
The remaining hundred or so demon cultivators, led by a tall demon of the late Spatial Tempering stage, descended toward Yuancha's position one after another.
The demon stepped forward a few paces and greeted her with a deep bow. "Lord Yuancha! Lord Xue Guang has departed. Do you have any orders for us, my lady?"
Even though this demon served under Xue Guang, he remained utterly deferential in Yuancha's presence.
"That won't be necessary. Just stay nearby and keep watch," the woman said, giving the demon a cursory glance.
"At once, my lord!" The demon had no objections whatsoever and immediately bowed to accept the command.
And so, the hundred-odd demon cultivators scattered around the stone platform, settling into stillness with no further movement.
Yuancha's eyes flickered briefly upon seeing this, and she slowly closed them once more.
Meanwhile, the black cloud formed by the flock of ten thousand crows had finished searching another corner of the valley in short order. Under the demoness's urging, they surged menacingly toward yet another area.
This time, it wasn't long before the crows revealed something unusual as they fluttered about.
Over a hundred of them, upon flying past a patch of low shrubbery, suddenly began circling the thicket without cease, emitting strange, shrill calls.
"Found it!"
Yuancha's eyes snapped open as she let out a delighted cry. With a stomp of her dainty foot, she instantly transformed into a white rainbow and shot into the sky, hurtling straight toward the thicket. Given her speed, she could cover the distance in just a few flashes.
At the same moment, a burst of purple-hued radiance suddenly exploded from within the thicket. The void warped slightly, and a faint wisp of black qi shot outward, letting out a bizarre shriek as it fled through the air.
But it was already too late.
From behind, Yuancha witnessed this and, without a word, pointed a finger toward the sky above the fleeing shadow.
The black crows that had been circling nearby immediately let out grating, raucous cries and, spreading their wings, dove toward the shadow en masse like moths plunging into flame.
One or two, even a dozen, might have been insignificant — but with hundreds or even thousands diving together, the sheer force of the assault compelled the black qi to halt its flight and reveal its true form.
It was a Nascent Soul, entirely black, its features identical to Han Li's, yet its entire body radiated dense demonic qi.
It was none other than the second Nascent Soul that Han Li had cultivated.
The second Nascent Soul's cultivation naturally could not compare to that of the primary Nascent Soul, but through Han Li's constant consumption of spirit medicines and the great fortune of the body infusion he had experienced in the Glacial Plane years ago, it had reached the Spatial Tempering stage. Its demonic cultivation techniques were extraordinarily refined.
Though forced to halt, it showed no panic in the face of the crows hurtling toward it from above. Instead, it let out a mighty shout, rubbed its palms together fiercely, then thrust them outward simultaneously.
A violent gust of black wind erupted, from which two streams of pitch-black demonic qi surged forth. They roiled and transformed into two massive black serpents that plunged headlong into the flock of crows.
The serpents thrashed and coiled as they went, trailing gusts of black wind in their wake. Wherever they passed, the crows were torn to shreds by the violent gales, the beasts seemingly unstoppable.
Seeing that the black serpents had gained the upper hand, the second Nascent Soul showed no intention of stopping its hand movements. After rapidly forming several hand seals, its entire figure began to spin rapidly in place.