Almost simultaneously, streaks of light flashed across the sky as Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi each appeared riding brilliant rainbows, and after several flickers returned to the valley beneath the giant tree.
"Han Brother, the Spirit Tree has raised an alarm — it seems someone is approaching the mountain range. But whether the visitor is a Supreme Ancestor avatar of the demon race, we can't tell." The Wood Clan big man appeared as his radiance dimmed, and hastily asked.
"The demon race has dispatched quite a few Supreme Ancestor avatars, but scattered across the entire grand formation they're negligible. I think it's far more likely ordinary Demon Sovereigns." Fei Xiaoxi flickered and materialized beside Han Li, speaking in a cold voice.
"Whether or not they're Supreme Ancestor avatars, can't we see clearly soon enough by borrowing the power of the formation eye?" Han Li replied mildly. He formed a seal with one hand and struck the giant tree with a bolt of green light.
A buzzing sound rose!
The giant tree trembled slightly, and the formation below activated. Over a dozen pillars of light shot out from all directions simultaneously, converging into a green-tinged sphere of light before Han Li and the others in the blink of an eye.
Han Li flickered all ten fingers, and over a dozen different-colored spell seals plunged into the light sphere one after another, while he uttered a single word: "Condense!"
In an instant, the light sphere, roughly ten feet in diameter, spun around and transformed directly into a green crystal ball.
Its surface was smooth as a mirror, composed of dozens of diamond-shaped facets, each reflecting different scenes — the various views along the mountain range's edges.
Han Li raised an eyebrow, opened his mouth, and spat out a wisp of supremely refined essence qi. After it flashed into the crystal ball, he tapped it gently with one finger.
Immediately, the images on every facet blurred simultaneously, as countless scenes flashed through at dizzying speed, too fast for the naked eye to discern.
But none of the three were ordinary people. Han Li narrowed his eyes and scanned the images on each facet, while Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi stared at the crystal ball without blinking.
After just a few breaths' time, Han Li suddenly let out a low shout and flicked a sleeve toward the crystal ball.
The entire crystal ball paused, then slowly stopped rotating.
Almost simultaneously, all other scenes on the crystal ball vanished rapidly, while one facet expanded enormously until it covered the entire surface of the ball.
The image reflected on the crystal ball was the airspace above a stretch of forest at the mountain range's edge, where seven demon race cultivators hovered — three at the Body Integration stage and four at the Void Refining stage.
These seven demons had clearly triggered a nearby restriction and were being bombarded by thousands of manifested arcs of lightning without cease.
But one tall demon with a green, fanged face held a copper mirror roughly a foot across. From it he sprayed beams of light black as ink, and wherever they reached, howling winds swept through and dissolved the lightning arcs almost instantly, easily neutralizing the bulk of the attack.
The remaining lightning arcs naturally posed no further significant threat to the others, who easily fended them off with a few demon artifacts.
"Three Demon Sovereigns — two at mid-stage Body Integration, one at late-stage Body Integration. The remaining four are only at the Void Refining stage, but their auras are extremely peculiar. They don't seem to be ordinary demon cultivators." Fei Xiaoxi suddenly spoke in a cold voice.
"Those four Void Refining demons look similar in appearance and use identical demon arts — they must be of the same race and skilled in coordinated combat. The three Demon Sovereigns must also possess supreme treasures, or they would have been obliterated by the restrictions along the way and could never have reached this place so easily." The Wood Clan big man said cautiously.
"Oh? What do you two fellow Daoists think we should do about these demons? Ordinary restrictions probably can't hold them." Han Li smiled faintly, asking noncommittally.
"If this weren't the formation eye but merely an ordinary formation cluster, activating only the most powerful restrictions should suffice to kill Body Integration stage Demon Sovereigns. But right now the formation eye is accumulating energy for the entire grand formation, so we can only deploy a limited number of restrictions. I'm afraid we'll have to deal with them personally." The Wood Clan big man thought for a moment before speaking.
"If the three of us act together, we can naturally handle the three Demon Sovereigns. Leave the four Void Refining demons to the others — don't I also have over a dozen Void Refining subordinates?" Fei Xiaoxi said, her face expressionless.
"Those four Void Refining demons are all at the peak of late-stage Void Refining, and who knows what their combined abilities might be? Our subordinates are all only average Void Refining cultivators — I'm afraid they can't hold off these four demons." Cao Ji shook his head.
"That's fine even if they can't. We still have the restrictions for support. Even though the most powerful ones can't be activated, the slightly lesser restrictions are still quite useful. Under the formation's support, surely they can at least keep the enemies occupied?" Fei Xiaoxi said with confidence.
"With the restrictions assisting, that would indeed be a different matter. Han Brother, what do you think?" The Wood Clan big man considered, found no issue with the plan, and nodded in agreement.
"I'm afraid that even with the formation's support, those four Void Refining demons aren't something our dozen or so subordinates can handle. If I'm not mistaken, these four demons were originally a single entity — all manifestations of the same demon. If they merge back into one, their power would be extraordinary. It would be better for Fairy Feng Fei to handle them personally. The formation eye cannot be left unguarded, lest other demons launch a surprise attack. Daoist Cao Ji should stay behind to watch over the formation eye. As for the three Demon Sovereigns, leave them to me." Han Li pondered for a moment before speaking mildly.
"What? Han Brother, surely you're joking! Those three Demon Sovereigns may be weaker in cultivation than you, but with the three of them fighting together, they won't be easy to deal with!" The Wood Clan big man was greatly alarmed upon hearing this.
Fei Xiaoxi studied Han Li, similarly showing a look of surprise and doubt.
"Rest assured — I wouldn't say this if I weren't confident. Brother Crab, come out." Han Li smiled faintly and called toward the empty air to one side.
The moment his words fell, the air beside Han Li rippled, and a white-robed figure materialized silently, emanating a powerful aura no weaker than Han Li's own.
It was none other than Daoist Crab!
"Late-stage Body Integration?"
"This fellow Daoist — isn't he the one who was with Han Brother..."
Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi sensed the formidable aura emanating from Daoist Crab, and upon clearly seeing his true appearance, both were struck dumb.