"Do you think we can bind them both before the Xuan Ye old demon's avatars sound the alarm? If they slip away, we'll spook the quarry for sure." One of the two figures transmitted his words in an unnaturally sharp voice.
"Hmph! King Xuan Ye's so-called avatars are nothing but subordinates he forcibly refined into extension puppets using the Soul Extraction Spirit Transformation secret art. Their intelligence is severely impaired. They may possess early Nascent Soul cultivation, but they're far easier to handle than normal cultivators of the same rank. Working together, taking them down won't be any trouble. But for the old demon to let his avatars roam freely at a time like this — heaven itself must be helping us! Destroying them is tantamount to cutting off one of his arms. That'll put us in a much stronger position when we move." The other voice, low and sinister, replied.
"Brother Tian Feng makes a fair point. Though I do find it strange — what could those two avatars possibly be chasing that they were dispatched from the ancient tomb at such a critical juncture, only to apparently lose their target all of a sudden?" The first voice sounded puzzled.
"Who knows? Whatever the case, it doesn't affect our plans. Once King Xuan Ye leaves the burial chamber, his cultivation will plummet. This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. That old demon is cunning beyond measure — he never leaves the chamber as much as half a step. If I hadn't set this trap for him, we'd still have no chance whatsoever. After all, as long as he remains inside the ancient tomb, his powers are no less than those of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator."
"Heh heh! If the old demon knew you'd already leaked the plan to the other two families behind his back, who knows what his face would look like! I'm sure those two families have quietly brought in their backing sects by now, just waiting for the old demon to take the bait. And even if he has some hidden trick and manages to slip through the ambush, you and I will be lying in wait outside the tomb. He won't escape even with wings!" The sharp voice let out a wicked laugh.
"Exactly. We brothers have been plotting this for nearly ten years before it finally came together. From the moment we set the trap, we've had our subordinates watching the old demon's every move — that's how we caught the perfect timing. Once this demon is dealt with, his favorite concubine 'Madam Yuhua' and his son, who just barely advanced to Corpse King, won't be able to withstand a single combined strike from the three of us. When the time comes, whether it's the treasures the old demon has collected over so many years, or the thousands of corpse soldiers slumbering in the mausoleum, they'll all be ours to divide three ways. Besides, I hear this old demon's Heavenly Corpse Body is nearing completion. Given his cautious nature, the Heavenly Corpse Pearl he's been refining must be hidden somewhere in the burial chamber. If we can obtain that pearl and strip away his Primordial Spirit, we won't need to become Corpse Kings ourselves — we'll be able to use it to forge our bodies into ones of iron and bronze, impervious to fire and water. That's the ultimate treasure for tempering the physical body!" A hint of greed crept into "Brother Tian Feng's" voice.
"Heh heh! The technique I cultivate doesn't focus on body refinement. I have absolutely no interest in that Heavenly Corpse Pearl — I just want those thousands of corpse soldiers from the mausoleum. With them under my command, I can carve out my own power base in Wu Dong Mountain." The sharp-voiced one chuckled softly.
"I knew Fellow Daoist Yin would say that. Only your Great Corpse Spirit Technique can command those corpse soldiers with ease. Otherwise, with so many potential allies out there, why would we brothers have sought you out specifically? We each get exactly what we need!" The other man sounded quite pleased.
"Of course. But it's nearly time now. Brother Kuang Sha should be trailing the old demon without a hitch. To keep things from going sideways, let's hurry up and eliminate these two avatars, then circle back to ambush the old demon near the mausoleum. If he makes it back inside the tomb, we'll be in serious trouble." The thin-voiced one sized up the two green figures still lingering in the distance, then made his suggestion.
"Mm, it is about time. The old demon should've made it out of the Xueling Mountain Range by now. Let's move."
"Brother Tian Feng" hesitated briefly, then nodded in agreement.
In the distance, the two green figures were still growling in agitation.
A moment later, they suddenly sensed a terrifying burst of spiritual energy erupting from behind. They turned to look almost in unison.
What met their eyes was a vast expanse of pitch-black demonic clouds and a monstrous white tempest, crashing down from high above to engulf them completely…
……
At this moment, Han Li was standing before a stone door concealed behind a waterfall, completely unaware that a great crisis headed his way had been inexplicably averted by someone else. Had those two avatars come for him together, Han Li could have dispatched them easily — but it would have surely cost him his last chance at unsealing his magical power.
His gaze was fixed on the lower-right corner of the stone door, where a small protrusion bore a hole roughly an inch across.
Han Li swept a hand over his spatial bag, and the glittering silver key materialized in his palm.
With a flick of his finger, a streak of silver light shot forward and lodged perfectly in the hole.
The front half of the key fit exactly, sliding in until only the handle remained outside.
A faint smile crossed Han Li's face. He extended one finger and gave the key a gentle tap.
A thin thread of azure spiritual energy struck the key with pinpoint accuracy. The handle immediately rotated half a turn on its own, and the cold, grey stone door began to shimmer with spiritual light as a milky-white barrier materialized across its surface. After a slight tremor, the stone door slowly rose, revealing a small opening.
Han Li glanced at the entrance and walked in without a moment's hesitation.
After fewer than twenty paces, a teleportation array roughly ten feet across came into view. The seven or eight grooves along its perimeter were all empty.
Seeing this, Han Li chuckled softly.
If someone who didn't know the trick filled all those grooves with spirit stones, they'd have been ripped apart by spatial forces the instant the teleportation activated.
Whoever had designed this Feng family secret vault certainly had a devious mind!
Han Li strode up to the formation, his eyes flickering for a moment. Then he shook his sleeve, and five low-grade spirit stones flew precisely into five of the slots. With a casual wave of his hand, he struck the formation with an incantation seal.