Chapter 1953: Collaboration Between Formidable Foes
The image in the mirror depicted a crimson-robed young man, and he had a rather dark expression on his face. "Yuan Cha? When did you send a clone into the Spirit Realm? If I recall correctly, you're not on the list of the Sacred Ancestors designated to descend into this realm."
"Xue Guang, I only sent a clone of mine into this realm to assist Liu Ji. I'm not ruling over any army, and I don't have any intention of getting my true body to descend into this realm, so I'm not breaking my agreement with everyone. As such, you have no right to accuse me of anything," the woman replied in an expressionless manner.
Xue Guang was furious, but he was clearly also rather wary of the woman, and he harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, no matter how you try to explain it, you're just twisting the narrative. Setting that aside for now, if you're assisting Liu Ji, then why have you appeared in this area that I'm overseeing? Don't you owe me an explanation for that? Don't tell me that the detection treasure in my battle canoe is yielding a false result!"
"I am indeed currently in the area that you're overseeing, and I'm pursuing a human cultivator. This is an order from Liu Ji as well, so what I'm doing is definitely beneficial to the army of our holy race," the woman replied as her expression eased slightly.
"You're pursuing a human cultivator? With those two giant stone devils up your sleeve, surely no human under the Grand Ascension Stage can escape from you. However, seeing as this is a matter that concerns the entire army of our holy race, it would be unbefitting of me to not lend you my assistance. I'll send out a clone of mine to meet up with you right away," Xue Guang said in a meaningful voice.
"It sounds like you still doubt me. By the way, I've heard that you sent your three clones into the Spirit Realm; aren't you afraid that something will happen to your true body in our holy realm? Besides, don't you think it's too late for you to send out a clone now? By the time your clone gets here, I'll have already taken care of the human cultivator here," the woman said as a cold smile appeared on her face.
"I have no need to explain myself to you. My clone isn't far away from where you are right now; it should be able to meet up with you in about half a day. I just so happened to have borrowed the All-encompassing Plate from Du Long; I'm sure it'll be of assistance to you," Xue Guang replied.
"What? How did you get Du Long to lend you his All-encompassing Plate? He values that treasure as much as his own life!" A stunned look appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this.
"Hehe, anything can be borrowed as long as the price is right. Who's this human cultivator that you're currently pursuing? They must be an extremely important figure in the human race to get away from you. I'll contact my clones right away so they can ambush him from the front, and we'll trap him from both sides," Xue Guang proposed.
The woman was silent for a moment before replying in a serious manner, "You can help me hunt him down, but I've had a run-in with him in a lower realm in the past, so after we capture him, you have to leave him to me. Otherwise, I'd rather take care of him on my own, even if it means I'll have to expend a bit more time."
"Oh? He's crossed you in a lower realm? That's quite interesting! I heard that a spiritual sense clone of yours was killed in a lower realm; could the perpetrator be the human cultivator that you're currently pursuing? Haha, what a coincidence!" Xue Guang chuckled as a mocking look appeared on his face.
"If you contacted me just to mock me, then there's no need for us to communicate any further." The woman's expression darkened as she raised a hand to cut off the communication.
However, Xue Guang suddenly raised a hand to stop her. "Hold on! I agree to your condition. However, after this, you have to help me do something as well, and after that's done, you have to leave the area that I'm overseeing."
"What do you need help with?" The woman was rather surprised to hear this.
"It's quite simple; I also need you to help me take care of a human cultivator," Xue Guang immediately replied.
"Didn't your three clones descend into this realm already? Why do you still need my assistance? You're not trying to recruit this clone of mine to attack a Grand Ascension Stage human cultivator, are you?" the woman asked with furrowed brows.
"Hehe, rest assured, I wouldn't be willing to sacrifice these clones of mine to attack a Grand Ascension Stage being. The human I'm targeting is a Body Integration cultivator, but he possesses many powerful treasures and abilities. I did indeed send my three clones into this realm, but they're not carrying my most powerful treasures, which is why I was unable to take that human down. With your assistance, I'm sure the outcome will be different," Xue Guang replied with a smile.
The woman's expression eased upon hearing this, and she said, "If it's a Body Integration Stage human cultivator, then I have no objections; you have yourself a deal. Tell me how to contact those clones of yours."
Xue Guang naturally gave an affirmative reply before pointing a finger forward to release a string of silver runes out of the mirror.
Meanwhile, Han Li was still hurtling through the air up ahead, completely oblivious to the fact that his two almighty devilish enemies had unknowingly joined forces to hunt him down.
He was racking his brains for a way out of this situation as he flew, but was unable to think of anything right away.
Not long ago, he had just faced Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's clones, and he had expended most of his temporary formation treasures, so he was lacking the resources to keep his pursuer at bay.
Furthermore, he had no idea what type of abilities the devilish woman possessed, and that made it very difficult for him to formulate a plan against her.
After thinking for a long while, he decided that he had to ascertain the woman's powers and abilities first before he could think about anything else. After all, only by knowing one's enemy could one assure victory.
With that in mind, countless feathers suddenly shot forth from his Kun Peng body before transforming into talismans and formation tools. He set up a dozen or so traps of different sizes, then continued on his way.
A short while later, a string of loud explosions erupted behind him, and the spiritual sense connection he had with those traps was instantly severed.
His heart immediately sank upon seeing this.
Judging from the speed at which the woman had broken through all of the traps he had set, he could ascertain that she was even more powerful than he had anticipated. Her powers were definitely far superior to those of the average devilish lord, and she was comparable to the three Xue Guang clones.
Furthermore, the familiar aura that she was giving off reminded him of a fearsome enemy, and the mere thought of her sent chills running down his spine.
Could it be that this woman was a clone of that Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha? In that case, it wasn't all that strange that she was so determined to hunt him down.
Indeed, after some careful consideration, Han Li finally realized that the aura of this woman was rather similar to that of the soul fragment of Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha that he had encountered, and that was quite an uneasy thought for him.
After arriving at this realization, he was even more determined to refrain from engaging the woman in battle, and continued to flee as quickly as he could.
He had already formulated a plan; the stone hall could teleport, but that would undoubtedly expend far more magic power than normal flight. As such, there was a very good chance that he would be able to outlast her in a contest of endurance.
Thus, he had made up his mind to keep fleeing, even though flying at such a rapid speed was also quite taxing to him.
After that, he no longer tried to set up any traps or formations; he merely summoned some pills and top-grade spirit stones that he used to replenish his lost magic power.
The stone hall continued to give chase behind him, and half a day flew by in the blink of an eye.
They had flown over a desert in the primordial world and arrived in the air above a swamp. The sky was very clear, and there was nothing obstructing Han Li's field of view aside from a few lazy white clouds.
Han Li could sense that the frequency of the stone hall's teleportation was gradually beginning to drop off, and a hint of elation welled up in his heart.
Right at this moment, a slightly feeble voice suddenly sounded in his spiritual sense. "Look out, Master; I can sense the aura of an enemy up ahead."
The voice was very tender and seemed to belong to a child. Han Li was very startled by this voice, he immediately stopped in mid-air before hurriedly asking, "Who's there?"
"Do you not recognize me, Master? I'm the Leopard Kirin Beast! I only just awakened and will need to go into hibernation again soon; but I can clearly sense that there are enemies up ahead who bear ill will toward you," the owner of the childish voice said in an urgent manner, then fell silent after a tender yawn.
Han Li was quite bewildered to hear this. The Leopard Kirin Beast had been hibernating for several centuries, yet it had suddenly woken up at a time like this to issue those words of caution to him. Furthermore, the fact that it was now able to speak also came as quite a surprise to him.
What was the enemy that the beast had just mentioned? Why hadn't he been able to sense anything?
As these thoughts rapidly flashed through Han Li's mind, he quickly cast his gaze through the surrounding area while releasing his enormous spiritual sense in all directions.
However, he couldn't sense anything suspicious nearby, and a hesitant look appeared on his face.
Meanwhile, there were three crimson-robed figures standing side by side within a mysterious treasure, appraising a giant hovering crystalline screen together.
On the surface of the massive screen was the image of a giant bird with silver arcs of lightning revolving all around its body.
The massive bird had two pairs of wings, and was appraising its surroundings with a suspicious and bewildered look in its eyes.
"Who would've thought that this would be the human cultivator that Yuan Cha is pursuing? Hehe, that makes things a lot easier for me!" the crimson figure standing in the middle chuckled coldly with barely repressed rage in his voice.