"Something is indeed quite odd! According to what the old ancestor of the Long family and those people from the Spirit Race said, this cross-realm passage shouldn't be valued by the demon race. But now it's become like this — either they deliberately lied from the very beginning with the intention of deceiving us, or something unexpected happened on the demon side, causing them to suddenly place importance on this place. In my view, it's most likely the latter." Han Li was also gazing at the scene in the bronze mirror, his voice flat and indifferent.
"How can Senior Han be so certain?" Zhu Guo'er was stunned upon hearing Han Li's words, and asked in surprise.
Daoist Xie stood to the side with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing with great interest toward the fortress. He seemed to disregard spatial distance entirely, as though he could observe everything within the massive structure directly.
"It's quite simple. Although the fortress walls ahead are tall and imposing, judging by the age of the bricks, it's clear they were constructed only within the last decade or so. By that time, we had already entered the Demon Realm, so this naturally couldn't be a trap set by others." Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly and replied slowly.
"I see. This junior was careless and failed to notice that. But Senior, since there's been an unexpected development here, should we look for another passage instead?" Zhu Guo'er grew worried again.
"There's no need! The nearest alternative spatial passage is still several months' journey away. That's far too long — the chances of complications arising would be considerable. In general, even a fortress of this magnitude would only have a few Demon Sovereigns stationed there at most. Their strength alone isn't enough to stop me. The only real trouble would be the arrays deployed around the fortress. If I'm even slightly delayed by those restrictions, it would become truly difficult to disengage." Han Li gazed at the various barrier lights flickering faintly around the fortress, his brow furrowing slightly.
When they had originally entered the Demon Realm, it had taken over a dozen Integration-stage cultivators from the Spirit Race working together to break through the various restrictions in a single push and breach the passage. Now only he remained alone, and the fortress before him was far larger than the one they had infiltrated back then — the arrays and restrictions deployed within were naturally far more sophisticated as well.
Zhu Guo'er couldn't help but look distressed, though naturally she had no particularly good solution to offer.
"If you find those arrays troublesome, I happen to possess a secret technique that could help you destroy them all in an instant." At that moment, Daoist Xie suddenly turned his head and spoke.
"Daoist Xie has such an ability? If that's truly the case, I would be eternally grateful!" Upon hearing this, Han Li was naturally overjoyed.
"There's no need for thanks. This technique is extraordinarily draining on immortal spiritual power. Of the residual action counts retained from your previous tributes, I would consume nearly half in a single use. Think carefully before deciding whether you truly want my help." Daoist Xie replied expressionlessly.
"That's no problem! Right now, I simply want to return safely to the Spirit Realm. Those action counts can be spent — it makes no difference." Han Li was briefly taken aback but answered without hesitation.
With that mysterious small bottle in his possession, he naturally had no concerns about matters of tribute.
"Very well. In that case, I'll strike the moment you begin your advance. Also, because this technique is overly domineering, my cultivation will drop by an entire realm for a period after I use it. If we happen to encounter other powerful enemies, I'll only be able to protect myself — I won't be able to shield you much." Daoist Xie nodded and added a few more words that made Han Li's heart tighten.
"Ordinary high-ranking demon cultivators, I can handle on my own. As for Mahayana-stage demon Saint Ancestors, they aren't so easily encountered." After considering it carefully, Han Li replied with renewed certainty.
"As long as you've made up your mind!" Daoist Xie nodded and turned away, saying nothing more.
Han Li offered a faint smile, then began carefully planning the specifics of their breakthrough.
As the sky gradually darkened, clusters of white light orbs for illumination flickered to life along the fortress walls.
Han Li, seated cross-legged on the ground, extended his spiritual sense once more to probe the general state of the fortress from afar. Finding no significant changes from what he'd observed during the day, he rose to his feet and uttered a single word: "Move."
Daoist Xie swept his wide sleeve, and a massive burst of silver light erupted forth, sweeping up Han Li and Zhu Guo'er nearby. The three of them vanished within the silver radiance in a flash.
A short while later, in the void roughly a dozen li from the colossal fortress, a flash of silver light appeared, and the three of them materialized soundlessly.
The moment Han Li took form, he raised one hand without a word, and the gray flying chariot materialized once more before him in a flicker.
Zhu Guo'er obediently flew onto it at once, while Daoist Xie immediately sat cross-legged in the void. He reached out with one hand and grasped at the empty air, producing a gold and a silver command token. The two tokens then spun rapidly in his hands with a whirring sound, transforming into orbs of gold and silver light.
At the same time, Daoist Xie's aura contracted until it was nearly nonexistent, yet his body's surface flickered with green light as eerie dark-green spirit patterns surfaced across it, covering almost his entire body — a truly bizarre sight!
From within the two orbs of gold and silver light that the command tokens had become, waves of resonant chanting began to emanate. Strands of gold and silver luminescence drifted rapidly from them, intertwining and flickering as they converged above Daoist Xie's head.
A sphere of gold and silver light, roughly ten feet in diameter, coalesced in midair and continued to swell violently in size.
Such a massive disturbance was naturally spotted by the demon sentries atop the fortress walls immediately. A piercing alarm gong sounded along the nearest section of the wall, and a squad of some thirty to forty demon guards took to the air without delay, hurtling straight toward Han Li's position.
Upon seeing this, Han Li narrowed his eyes but remained rooted to the spot without the slightest intention of moving to intercept them.