Chapter 1910: Mysterious Wooden Box
Tie Long and the woman's expressions stiffened slightly upon hearing this, and they reflexively exchanged a glance. A hint of surprise also appeared on Fei Ya's stoic face.
"Now that you mention it, that is indeed quite possible. Judging from the time when Lord Li's trio was killed, there's a good chance that they would've encountered the two human cultivators as they were traveling to Heavenlean City. In that case, that human cultivator must be even more powerful than I imagine him to be. With the assistance of another devilish lord, it won't be difficult for me to defeat Lord Li's trio, but even I wouldn't be able to kill all of them if they were intent on fleeing the scene," Tie Long said in a contemplative voice.
"In that case, we really must regard this man as a formidable enemy. If he was able to kill Lord Li's trio, then it may be quite difficult for us to ensure his death even with the help of the Yin Yang Twin Devils. If he's determined to escape, then only a Sacred Ancestor will be able to trap him with absolute reliability," the woman murmured as her brows furrowed tightly.
"Indeed. On top of that, now that this man has joined Heavenlean City, he could prove to be a major volatile factor in our plans as well," Tie Long said with a dark expression.
The entire hall fell silent, and the four devilish lords had become rather concerned.
"Hmph, if worse comes to worst, then we'll just have to use that strategy again. If we can lure him into our trap, there's no way he'll be able to escape. We managed to kill those two Body Integration Stage human cultivators last time, didn't we?" the woman suddenly suggested.
"We can't use that strategy again! The last time we did so, it was at the expense of close to 1,000 devilish cavaliers and over 10 war devils. If we use it a second time, the cost will definitely be far greater than last time. These are all elite forces that were painstakingly trained by our sacred race; we can't just sacrifice them like this," the red-armored giant countered vehemently.
"Hmph, but if we don't use that strategy and let that human cultivator escape, he might end up killing more of our brethren than what we'd have to sacrifice to trap him. On top of that, if he's the man that Master Xue Guang is searching for, and we let him escape, which one of us is going to bear the wrath of Master Xue Guang?" Tie Long harrumphed coldly in response.
"I was only speculating just now; how could there be such a coincidence that he's the one who killed Lord Li's trio?" the red-armored giant backtracked with a wry smile.
"We'll have to launch an investigation to see if he's indeed the perpetrator. In any case, we have to treat this as a case of guilty until proven innocent; I would rather expend the necessary resources to kill him rather than wrongfully allow him to escape. However, I don't think we'll have to employ that strategy again to kill that man," Tie Long said.
"What do you mean by that, Brother Tie? First you say we'll only be able to kill that man through that strategy, and now you say we may not have to; which is it?" the woman asked as she raised her eyebrows in exasperation.
"Allow me to elaborate on my thought process, Fairy Yu. The Yin Yang Twin Devils are indeed quite powerful, but even when combined, their powers are only roughly comparable to mine. Seeing as Master Xue Guang has sent them to hunt down the perpetrator behind the deaths of Lord Li's trio, then he must've given them a way to kill that man. Otherwise, if that man is able to kill Lord Li's trio, then it won't be very difficult for him to kill the Yin Yang Twin Devils as well, and I'm sure Master Xue Guang is aware of this," Tie Long explained in a calm manner.
"That does indeed make sense. In that case, there really is no need for us to be overly concerned; we can just reserve that strategy as a last resort when all else fails." The red-armored giant was very relieved to hear this.
However, the woman seemed to still be rather unconvinced. She turned to the white-robed young man, and asked, "What do you think, Brother Fei?"
"I don't care what measures you prepare to trap that man, but I have to be the one to take his life. He possesses a type of glacial power that will be extremely useful to me," Fei Ya said in a bone-chilling voice.
The woman faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling, "Rest assured, I'll be sure to leave him to you. How about you, Brother Tie?"
Tie Long hesitated momentarily before replying, "I'm naturally more than willing to let Brother Fei do the honors as well, but I'll be taking half of that man's treasures, while the half is split between Fairy Yu and Brother Yan; I presume you have no objections to that, Brother Fei."
"All I want is that man's glacial power; you can do with his treasures as you please," Fei Ya replied in a nonchalant manner.
"Brother Yan and I have no objections, either," the woman agreed with a smile.
Even though the woman was speaking on the red-armored man's behalf, the latter didn't seem to find this to be inappropriate at all.
"Alright, then it's decided. We'll send out some people to investigate the deaths of Lord Li's trio, and wait for the arrival of the Twin Yin Yang Devils in the meantime. I'm sure we'll be able to track down the perpetrator prior to the arrival of the day when the five suns transition into moons. If it really is that human cultivator, then we'll address the situation through the methods we just discussed. If it isn't him, then we'll act according to our original plan," Tie Long concluded.
...
Within Heavenlean City, Han Li was seated in a secret chamber on the first floor of an intricate pavilion. There were restrictions set up all around him, and he was inspecting a white wooden box with a contemplative look on his face.
This wooden box was none other than the one he had obtained after killing that bald devilish lord. However, the item had been sealed with some kind of profound restriction that he had been unable to crack, and he finally had some time to study it now that he had arrived in Heavenlean City.
There were alternating bursts of frosty and scorching energy seeping out of the box, and it was able to keep out all spiritual sense, which made it all the more intriguing.
After carefully inspecting the wooden box for a long while, two bursts of piercing blue light suddenly appeared in Han Li's eyes, and he peered directly into the depths of the box.
As he did so, his expression began to change slightly, and he continued to stare at the wooden box in a completely still manner, as if he had transformed into a statue.
Time slowly passed by, and three days and three nights flew by in the blink of an eye. At this point, Han Li's face had paled slightly, and the blue light in his eyes had also dimmed somewhat.
Around 10 minutes later, Han Li made a hand seal with a peculiar look on his face, and the blue light in his eyes completely faded.
"Interesting. So this box is a Xumi treasure, and it's been sealed by 13 types of ancient restrictions. If I didn't possess my Brightsight Spirit Eyes ability, it would've been very difficult for me to study it. However, all of these restrictions are extremely powerful, and it would take at least several centuries for me to break each one. There's no way that bald devilish lord could've cast such profound restrictions; I wonder just what could be in this box," Han Li murmured to himself.
He then laid the wooden box down onto the ground before him and began to stare at it in a contemplative manner. After a while, his eyes suddenly lit up, and a thought seemed to have occurred to him.
"I'm unable to break the restrictions cast on this box for now, but if I use that foreign secret technique, I should be able to inspect its contents. However, if there's a vicious creature or being contained within the box, then things could become a little troublesome." Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he weighed up his options. However, he quickly arrived at a decision.
"So be it. Even in the worst-case scenario, I'll only be losing some of my spiritual sense, and half a month of meditation will allow me to make a full recovery, so it's definitely worth the risk."
With that in mind, he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, and a dozen or so translucent five-colored beads flew out of his sleeve amid a flash of light. These beads then transformed into balls of spiritual light that hovered in mid-air, and within them were a series of five-colored eyes that were flashing with peculiar light.
Han Li then flipped his hand over to produce another five-colored bead, which he held in front of his chest before immediately uttering a foreign incantation.
Meanwhile, he laid his other hand onto the top of his own head, and a nude golden Nascent Soul emerged.
It made a strange hand seal with its pair of tiny hands and also began to chant an incantation.
All of a sudden, bright light erupted from the five-colored eyes within the balls of spiritual light, and they released thin beams of five-colored light that vanished into the Nascent Soul in a flash.
At the same time, the golden Nascent Soul let loose a low cry before abruptly pointing a finger toward the bead being held in front of Han Li's chest.
A golden projection erupted from the Nascent Soul's body, then immediately vanished into the bead. A blurry Nascent Soul projection then took shape within the bead, and the golden Nascent Soul waved a hand toward the bead upon seeing this.
Five-colored light swirled over the surface of the bead, and it quickly flew into the wooden box on the ground down below as a streak of light.
Within a murky grey space, a streak of five-colored light suddenly appeared before transforming into an indistinct humanoid figure. Even though its facial features were rather blurry, judging from its attire, this appeared to be Han Li.
As soon as he appeared, he inspected his surroundings with blue light flashing within his eyes.
"Hmm? This seems to be an illusionary restriction rather than a Xumi space. Could it be that the wisp of spiritual sense was trapped in a certain level of restriction?" Han Li murmured to himself in a perplexed manner.