All of the high-grade cultivators present immediately flew away in different directions upon hearing this with a few exceptions, but those outliers were also forced to retreat in the face of the cold glare aimed toward them by the white-haired elderly man.
"Hmph, I can"t believe those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were planning to take the world"s origin Qi gathered by Fellow Daoist Han at such a crucial juncture!" the white-robed elderly man harrumphed coldly.
"It"s no wonder that some people would try to take such a risk. The world"s origin Qi that Fellow Daoist Han has gathered is of the highest level of purity; if they can even take a tiny portion of it, they would benefit immensely," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue chuckled.
"But if we were to allow that, it could affect the reformation of Fellow Daoist Han"s soul. The effect would be virtually negligible, but we certainly wouldn"t want Fellow Daoist Han to become dissatisfied with our city over something like this," the white-robed elderly man said as a complex look appeared on his face.
"Indeed. Besides, if something were to go wrong during the reformation of Fellow Daoist Han"s soul, he definitely wouldn"t let those opportunistic individuals off the hook. In any case, Fellow Daoist Han"s successful breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage is fantastic news for our city. Even now, I still feel like I"m in a dream. I had quite a great deal of confidence in Fellow Daoist Han, but even I didn"t think that he would be able to transcend such a fearsome tribulation so smoothly," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed.
"It"s only taken Fellow Daoist Han several centuries to progress from the early-Body Integration Stage to the late-Body Integration Stage. Compared to him, I feel like I"ve wasted my entire life! Perhaps there really is a chance that he"ll become a second Grand Ascension cultivator of our human race," the white-robed elderly man mused as he stroked his long beard.
"Indeed, with Fellow Daoist Han"s stunning apt.i.tude, it"s certainly not impossible. However, while progressing to the late-Body Integration Stage is already extremely arduous, it still pales in comparison to a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough. Even for Fellow Daoist Han, there"s only a very slim opportunity," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied with a nod.
"Of course, but he still has a sliver of an opportunity to attain immortality in the future. In contrast, that s.h.i.+p has already sailed for us, and we can only await the conclusion of our lifespans," the white-robed elderly man said in a slightly dejected manner.
"There"s no need to dwell so much on this matter, Fellow Daoist Gu; very few people in the entire history of our human race have managed to reach the Grand Ascension Stage; we"re already immensely fortunate to have Senior Mo in our generation," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied.
"Hehe, you sure are enlightened, Fellow Daoist Jin. Indeed, you"re right. Even for Grand Ascension cultivators, there"s one final major obstacle to be overcome before immortality can be attained. I"ve heard occasional tales of mighty figures in foreign races successfully ascending to immortality, but no one in the recorded history of our two races has succeeded, so it"s certainly far from a simple task," the white-robed elderly man chuckled.
"There have been several seniors who have attempted to transcend ascension tribulations in the past, but all of them did so in secret, so no one witnessed their tribulation transcendences. Perhaps some of them managed to succeed in the end," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a hopeful manner.
"Perhaps. In any case, that has nothing to do with the current state of our city. Seeing as Fellow Daoist Han has already succeeded in his tribulation transcendence, let"s not delay here any longer. Otherwise, it would be quite troublesome if Fellow Daoist Han were to misconstrue our presence as a sign that we"re harboring malicious intent," the white-robed elderly man replied.
Buddhist Monk Jin Yue naturally had no objections to this, and the two of them instantly flew away from the scene.
In the distance, the giant projection was still gathering the world"s origin Qi in a frenzy, and at this point, over half of the entire Deep Heaven City had become a funnel for the world"s origin Qi.
In the end, the projection swelled to around 50,000 feet tall, and it was visible to everyone in the city, thereby naturally creating a ma.s.sive stir.
Not only were the humans and demons in the city able to see the projection formed by Han Li"s soul, the devilish beings in the devilish strongholds and pyramids further away were also able to see a blurry silhouette in the distance, as well as sense the surging world"s origin Qi within Deep Heaven City.
In the tallest of the devilish pyramids, there was a crimson-robed young man looking out the window toward Deep Heaven City with crimson light flas.h.i.+ng within his eyes.
"There"s no mistaking this aura; someone must"ve made a late-Body Integration Stage breakthrough. Hmph, that"s rather troublesome; this enormous aura suggests that this isn"t just some ordinary late-Body Integration Stage being. I"ll have to prepare some countermeasures for this," the young man murmured to himself as his eyes narrowed slightly.
The young man was none other than the final Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clone, which was the commander of the devilish army in this area.
Seated on a stone chair not far away from the window was a burly man in a silver beasthide garment. He was currently munching on the b.l.o.o.d.y hindleg of a certain beast, and he said in a slightly garbled voice, "A mere late-Body Integration Stage being is nothing to be worried about; rest a.s.sured, just leave them to me. Hehe, you invited me all the way over here precisely because you wanted me to clear out some obstacles for you, isn"t that right?"
The man had an extremely muscular physique with gleaming bronze skin, and he was giving off a bone-chilling aura akin to that of a vicious beast.
"There"s no need to trouble you over something like this, Brother Xiong; I invited you here to deal with an even more troublesome fellow. I can"t be sure if he"s returned to Deep Heaven City or not, but if he"s not present in the city, then I"ll leave this late-Body Integration Stage being to you," Xue Guang replied.
This burly man was clearly only a late-Body Integration Stage devilish being, but Xue Guang seemed to be quite wary of him and was referring to him as an equal.
"Oh? Is the opponent you want me to take care of going to be even more formidable than this late-Body Integration Stage being?" the burly man asked with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"I believe so. I"m not sure of the specific details; all I know is that my three clones pursued him twice, and they returned after a failed first attempt before being wiped out during their second attempt," Xue Guang said with furrowed brows.
The burly man was astonished to hear this, and he tossed the half-eaten hindleg aside as a solemn look appeared on his face. "What?! Now that you mention it, I do recall hearing some fellow daoists mention that you sent three clones into this realm at once, but how could all three of them have been killed at once? Are you asking me to face a Grand Ascension Stage human or demonic being?"
"Hehe, rest a.s.sured, Brother Xiong; I wouldn"t make you battle a Grand Ascension Stage being for me. The target in question is merely mid-Body Integration Stage human cultivator, but he possesses a set of incredible abilities, and even the average late-Body Integration Stage cultivator is no match for him. Those three clones of mine most likely perished by his hands. As the number one devilish lord of our holy race, you"re the best choice to deal with such an opponent," Xue Guang replied.
"Stop trying to flatter me! If that man could kill all three of your clones at once, then even if his powers are inferior to mine, it wouldn"t be by much. You have to double my compensation! Otherwise, I"m not taking this job," the burly man said without any hesitation.
"Alright, but you have to leave all of his treasures to me," Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang agreed, also without any hesitation.
"Oh? Looks like this human cultivator is either carrying some powerful treasures or has something that you desperately need. Otherwise, you wouldn"t have agreed so easily. So be it, the original compensation you promised me was already quite a hefty amount; now that you"re doubling it, I"ll agree to leave all of his treasures to you. I"m really curious to see what kind of abilities this human cultivator possesses that allowed him to kill all three of your clones. Looks like I"ll be able to enjoy a good battle this time!" the burly man said with a ferocious smile as he cracked his knuckles.
In that instant, he truly resembled a vicious beast that was just barely able to contain its killing intent.
Xue Guang was very pleased with the man"s reaction, and he nodded with a smile as he said, "I"m offering such a large sum in compensation precisely because I"m confident in your abilities, Brother Xiong. It won"t be long until we launch our main a.s.sault against Deep Heaven City. Prior to that, you should take some rest to recover from the energy you expended to descend into this realm so you can face this opponent in your best condition."
"I don"t need to rest to recover from such a trivial amount of energy expenditure. Seeing as there"s nothing for me to do here, I"ll go take a stroll and see if I can entertain myself. This is the Spirit Realm; surely you Sacred Ancestors won"t continue to restrict me here." A cold look suddenly appeared on the burly man"s face as he spoke.
Xue Guang"s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he then immediately smiled, and replied, "Of course, you are free to do whatever you want here, Brother Xiong."
The burly man immediately rose to his feet and departed without even bidding farewell to Xue Guang, leaving Xue Guang to look on with a resigned expression.