Once the colorful light split apart, a young woman wearing a five-colored feathered robe suddenly appeared atop the hill.
The young woman had snow-white skin and refined features — she was none other than the Ye family's Body Integration female cultivator.
"Sure enough, it's Fairy Ye. But arriving only now — could it be that you weren't staying in Phantom Night City before?" Ancestor Long asked with a trace of a smile on his face.
"This junior only arrived half a month ago. I don't cultivate any demonic techniques, so even with a Pseudo-Demon Pearl to conceal myself, I didn't dare enter the city lightly. I wanted to observe a few more days before considering entry. But from the looks of Brother Long and Daoist Hui, it seems you two only arrived not long ago either. And Daoist Hui's condition... doesn't look too good!" The feathered-robed young woman blinked her eyes, glanced at the black-robed man, and said with a hint of confusion.
"It's a long story. Long suffered numerous setbacks along the way and only arrived here yesterday — not as early as Fairy Ye. As for Daoist Han, he seems to have been here for quite some time. As for my younger brother Hui — he happened to run into that ant queen while breaking through the ant sea and was careless enough to be poisoned by it. Fortunately, he took an Antidote Pill, and I helped him circulate his energy to refine it along the way, which is what caused such a delay. Thankfully, Brother Hui is now mostly out of danger." Ancestor Long sighed and replied.
"Poisoned by the ant queen — no wonder Brother Hui looks like this. The reason I arrived late was because I accidentally stumbled into a dangerous area in the wastelands and was trapped there for several months before finally managing to escape by sheer luck." The feathered-robed young woman first showed a look of realization, then explained herself with a lingering sense of fear.
"Fortunately, I didn't run into too much trouble on the road. I arrived in Phantom Night City several months ago and have been staying inside the city. However, apart from the three of you, there's still no sign of the Spirit Tribe or Daoist Lin! They haven't arrived yet — could something have happened to them?" Han Li said with a furrowed brow.
"That shouldn't be the case. Daoist Lin is also a Body Integration cultivator and is proficient in several top-tier escape techniques. Even if he encountered a powerful enemy he couldn't defeat, escaping wouldn't be a problem at all. And the Spirit Tribe group is traveling together — it's even less likely anything happened to them." Ancestor Long's expression darkened slightly. After a moment's thought, he spoke.
"That's hard to say. This junior originally thought the same. But in truth, the Demon Realm's wastelands are clearly far more dangerous than our Spirit Realm's barbarian regions. Even this junior was trapped in one place for several months — so if they encountered some insurmountable trouble in the wastelands, it's not impossible." The feathered-robed young woman's expression turned serious as she voiced her disagreement.
"Enough. There's no use discussing it further now. The agreed-upon time hasn't passed yet, so we'll just keep waiting. By the way, since Daoist Han has been here for so long, you must already know the lay of the land inside the city. Could you fill us in and see whether we can get our hands on those Eight-Legged Demon Lizards first?" Ancestor Long fell silent for a moment before saying this to Han Li.
"Naturally, that's no problem." Without hesitation, Han Li agreed at once.
"Phantom Night City is currently controlled jointly by the Four Great Families and the Ten Thousand Slave Tower, among other factions. However, the Eight-Legged Demon Lizards can only be obtained through the Four Great Families. If you want these demon lizards, you have to go through one of those families. But these lizards are extremely important to the Four Great Families — they concern each family's footing in Phantom Night City — so obtaining them through ordinary means of purchase is simply impossible. I've been rather fortunate. When I first arrived, I happened to establish a connection with the Bai family and helped them resolve a troublesome matter, which earned me two Eight-Legged Demon Lizards from them. But getting more lizards from the Bai family is probably unlikely at this point. However, the three of you could try your luck with the other families and see whether you can trade some rare treasures for a few lizards. From what I understand, the Ning family and the Fang family seem to..."
Han Li held nothing back, recounting every piece of intelligence he knew in thorough detail.
It took a full meal's worth of time before he had covered the situation in Phantom Night City and the various major factions more or less completely.
At first, when Han Li mentioned that he had already obtained two Eight-Legged Demon Lizards, Ancestor Long and the others perked up with visible delight. But as they listened more carefully to the details of the city's situation, their expressions one by one turned to contemplation.
When Han Li finally fell silent, Ancestor Long said thoughtfully: "Congratulations, Brother Han, on solving the demon lizard problem ahead of us. But I just heard that these Eight-Legged Demon Lizards are the foundation for the Four Great Families' presence here. Why is that — could you elaborate? And roughly how many lizards might each family have?"
"From what I know, each family only has a few dozen of these demon lizards. The reason they're so valued by these families is that they can freely pass in and out of the Phantom Roar Desert. With these lizards, the great demon-tribal families can venture deep into the Phantom Roar Desert, locate various deposits of rare materials, and transport them out in a steady stream. Think about it — with such enormous profits at stake, these families can only feel they never have enough of these demonic beasts. How could they ever part with them easily to outsiders?" Han Li said calmly.
Ancestor Long and the other two heard this, and their expressions unconsciously turned grim. It seemed they too realized just how thorny the situation was.
After a long pause, the feathered-robed young woman softly asked Han Li another question: "What exactly did Brother Han do for the Bai family that they would gift you two demon lizards in one go?"
"Nothing much. I was simply invited by the Bai family to deal with a demonic beast in the desert. But that sort of thing requires being in the right place at the right time — it probably can't be replicated." Han Li replied with a faint smile.
"It seems your luck really is quite remarkable!" The feathered-robed young woman said with considerable envy.
"Just a bit of fortune, that's all." Han Li chuckled, wearing an air of casual indifference.