"Lord Bao, shall I go take a look?" Black Crocodile asked from the side, his eyes darting about.
"No need. Whatever his current state, it has little to do with me. Now that I've obtained the spirit herbs I came for, the priority is to leave the Demon Origin Sea at once, find a safe place, and refine the herbs into pills so I can restore my former powers." Bao hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
"Yes, my lady. Then let us leave now. Both Yuan Yan and Ancestor Nie Pan have already seen you — lingering here any longer could prove dangerous. But once you recover your former strength, there will be no one left for you to fear." Black Crocodile nodded, a note of barely contained excitement in his voice.
If his mistress fully recovered her powers, the benefits that would trickle down to a subordinate like him would be immeasurable.
"That task I entrusted to you — did you manage to seize the opportunity just now?" Bao's luminous eyes flickered once, and she posed another question.
"Rest easy, Master. I've already planted a Bloodline Mark on that Three-Headed Flood Dragon. While I can't pinpoint its exact location with this alone, the moment it comes within a thousand li of us, I will sense it immediately." Black Crocodile's spirits brightened as he replied.
"Well done. You both share the bloodline of the Evil Dragon Clan, and that Three-Headed Demon Flood Dragon is Yuan Yan's bonded spirit beast — under normal circumstances, the two would never be separated. So if Yuan Yan ever tries to sneak up on us in the future, there's no way I won't detect it." A faint smile curved Bao's lips as she offered a word of praise.
"Heh heh, that's all thanks to the extraordinary secret technique you taught me, my lady — one that could even deceive Lord Yuan Yan. Without it, I wouldn't dare pull off something like that." Black Crocodile split his face into a wide, toothy grin.
"This technique can only be performed by someone who shares the same bloodline. Besides, this is the Spirit-Striving Island — Yuan Yan's divine sense is naturally suppressed to some degree here, so his failure to notice is hardly surprising. Now then, let's be on our way." Bao returned a smile and a few words before pressing her delicate fingers into a seal. Immediately, a radiant glow flashed behind her, and the phantom of a pink-blossomed tree materialized, swelling rapidly to an enormous size.
In the span of a heartbeat, the pink radiance blazed forth, enveloping both of them entirely.
Then, with a muffled boom, the colossal tree dissolved into countless motes of shimmering light and vanished. By then, Bao and Black Crocodile were nowhere to be seen.
In an instant, Spirit-Striving Island was once again devoid of all signs of life, restored to its customary peace.
Seven days later, above the Spirit-Trapping Valley on Spirit-Striving Island, two uninvited guests arrived!
A man and a woman — high-ranking demon race cultivators who appeared to be of vastly different ages.
The man wore azure demon armor and appeared to be around thirty years of age. As his eyes swept about, keen light radiated outward, lending his entire bearing a fierce and imposing quality.
The woman, by contrast, was a wizened old crone with snow-white hair and withered, wrinkled skin. She leaned upon a crane-headed staff, the very picture of frail old age.
The pair hovered above the valley, their gazes sweeping in every direction as though searching for something.
After a long moment, the old woman let out a cold snort and thrust her staff sharply at the empty air below.
A thunderous boom erupted!
A section of ground below caved in abruptly, revealing a crater several zhang in diameter.
"That slut Bao has indeed been here. Her residual aura remains. This time, we absolutely cannot let her slip away." The old woman's voice was hoarse and grating to the ear, but the content of her words was even more startling.
"Junior Sister, after all these years, it seems you still haven't let go of the hatred in your heart. No wonder your cultivation hasn't progressed in the slightest." The azure-armored giant turned his head to glance at the old woman and let out a soft sigh.
"Easy for you to say. If it weren't for that slut Bao all those years ago, how would I have lost my physical body and been forced to seize this decrepit one, never again to have any hope of advancing? Or perhaps your old feelings linger, and you've forgotten how she annihilated several of your incarnations in succession." The old woman flew into a rage at his words, her voice sharp as a blade.
"That was many years ago. What good does dredging it up again do? It only disturbs one's own state of mind." The giant's tone was strangely detached — a calm at odds with his fierce appearance.
"Save your hollow wisdom. Tian Qi, if you'd truly forgotten about it, why did you rush here the instant you received Yuan Yan's message?" The old woman's face was suffused with jealousy and resentment, clearly not believing a word.
"Junior Sister, whether you believe me or not, my Weeping Blood Demonic Art has already reached the Realm of Forgotten Emotions. Love, hatred — these feelings no longer exist within me. The reason I accompanied you here is actually for a wondrous treasure that Bao possesses. Only with that treasure can I have any real confidence of surviving the next Heavenly Tribulation." The giant replied calmly.
"A wondrous treasure — do you mean the Lightning-Commanding Rod in her hands?" The red-robed old woman's wrinkled face twitched as the realization finally struck her.
"Exactly. That is the treasure in question. Bao has been able to weather so many great Heavenly Tribulations precisely because she has that item. As for the woman herself, I have no interest whatsoever." The giant spoke frankly.
"Fine. I'll trust you once. According to Yuan Yan, that slut hasn't recovered her cultivation yet. As long as we find her, joining forces to capture her will be child's play. And when that time comes, I intend to give this 'Former Founding Ancestor' a proper welcome." The old woman's expression softened slightly upon hearing his explanation, though the venom in her words remained undiminished.
"Agreed. When the time comes, I take the treasure, and you take the person! We'll send word to the nearest Beast Sovereign Temple branch immediately and have every available hand monitor all the teleportation arrays. There's no way she'll escape our net."