"This must be Iron Sand Ridge! It does look rather special — the demonic qi here is far denser than elsewhere. I imagine this place must produce quite a few demonic beasts." Han Li stood at the bow of the flying vessel, gazing at the distant mountain range as he murmured thoughtfully.
"The Azure Wing Clan has always excelled in beast-taming arts. Iron Sand Ridge, as one of their tribal bases, can indeed provide them with a steady supply of demonic beasts. Otherwise, how could a clan of relatively modest numbers control such a vast region?" the feathered-robed young woman said, standing behind Han Li.
"Beast-taming arts? If the Azure Wing Clan relies on external forces so heavily, their own cultivation and abilities must be somewhat compromised," Han Li replied with a light chuckle.
"The ordinary members of the Azure Wing Clan may indeed be so. But the core clan members we're after likely won't have this weakness. After all, the Azure Luan bloodline is no empty title." The feathered-robed young woman's expression grew solemn upon hearing this.
"Since we're already prepared to deal with the Holy Ancestor's avatar, these core clan members, no matter what tricks they have, shouldn't be much of a concern. What's actually troublesome is the Azure Wing Clan's settlement pattern — they gather in strongholds, so finding suitable targets among them will take some effort," Han Li said, still unconcerned.
"Exactly. The key issue is that we can't linger here too long — a month at most, or we'll miss the rendezvous date," the feathered-robed young woman said with a slight frown.
"As long as our luck isn't too terrible, a month should be more than enough. Besides, didn't you bring that specially crafted sensing artifact? As long as we get within ten li of the target, it can detect them," Han Li said calmly.
"That may be true, but the Azure Wing Clan's core members are certainly well protected — it won't be easy to get close. If we encounter some of the larger strongholds, we may have no choice but to risk sneaking in," the feathered-robed young woman replied with a bitter smile, having clearly considered this well in advance.
"As long as we're not so unfortunate as to stumble right into the territory where Holy Ancestor Ling Yuan is stationed, infiltrating a few strongholds should pose no problem for either of us," Han Li said with a faint smile.
"I hope so. It's a pity we don't know the exact location where that Holy Ancestor Ling Yuan avatar is in seclusion — if we did, we could simply steer clear and the risk would be greatly reduced," the feathered-robed young woman said with some regret.
"I too would prefer not to provoke that Holy Ancestor's avatar, but in the end, it all comes down to fate. If we're after benefits, taking some risk is only natural. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world," Han Li said noncommittally.
"Hehe, if it were just me alone, I'd certainly be a little nervous. But with Brother Han's help, I'm sure everything will be fine. Let's enter Iron Sand Ridge now. Once inside, we can't ride this demonic artifact any longer — we'll have to conceal ourselves and proceed on foot," the feathered-robed young woman said with a giggle, offering Han Li a bit of flattery before pointing toward the distant mountain range.
"Naturally," Han Li nodded, having no objections whatsoever, and was the first to leap down from the flying vessel.
The feathered-robed young woman then formed a hand seal, and the flying vessel beneath her feet shrank rapidly in a flash of black light, becoming palm-sized before darting into her palm.
After exchanging a few more words, the two transformed into streaks of rainbow light and shot off into the distant mountain range.
A moment later, they vanished without a trace among the ridges.
...
Five days later, Han Li was making his way through a canyon with steep cliffs on both sides. His movement light was incredibly fast and notably blurred — with each flash, he could traverse several dozen zhang.
There was no trace of anyone else in the vicinity; the feathered-robed young woman was no longer by his side.
It was clear that once they had entered the mountain range, the two had separated to act independently.
Before long, the exit at the other end of the canyon became faintly visible. Just as Han Li was about to fly out in a single burst, several harsh bird cries suddenly echoed from stone caves on both cliff faces.
Immediately after, over a dozen enormous green-feathered demonic birds burst from the caves and dove straight at Han Li with vicious intent.
When these demonic birds spread their wings, each spanned five or six zhang. Their eyes blazed with deep yellow ferocity, like giant vultures magnified dozens of times.
Han Li's expression didn't change one bit within his movement light, but he raised one arm slightly and flicked his five fingers in rapid succession.
In the blink of an eye!
A series of hissing sounds erupted as five strands of green thread shot from his fingertips and vanished in a flash toward the flock of demonic birds.
The dozen-plus demonic birds immediately let out shrieks of agony as their bodies dissolved into a rain of blood that scattered through the air.
The green movement light had already flashed past a moment earlier, completely untouched by the bloody mist.
...
Near another rather secluded little valley, the feathered-robed young woman was hiding behind a large tree in the dense forest outside the valley, silently staring at the valley entrance.
The entrance to this valley was overgrown with wild grass and shrubs nearly as tall as two men, making it appear desolate and virtually untouched by human presence.
Yet the feathered-robed young woman had been watching for a full hour without so much as blinking, as though gazing at something extremely interesting.
Suddenly, the void above the valley entrance blurred, and an invisible ripple of fluctuation spread outward. Two winged demonfolk wearing leather robes materialized eerily out of thin air.