Chapter 1027: Yuancha Saint Ancestor

If only it were that smooth," he replied faintly. "For now, we can only take it one step at a time. I'm not that optimistic."

At that moment, a loud "boom" came from behind. Without even turning, Han Li immediately knew a Gold-Magnet Spirit Wood had been cut down. However, he showed no panic, as he was now only a few dozen yards from the large hall ahead. He could even clearly see an odd, non-metallic, non-wooden plaque hanging above the hall's twenty to thirty-yard-high entrance. Three large, golden ancient characters, "Kunwu Hall," were written on it in a flamboyant, dragon-and-phoenix style.

Han Li exhaled lightly. After a brief hesitation, he again took out the jade bottle containing ten-thousand-year spiritual liquid from his sleeve and consumed a drop. His magic power, mostly depleted from resisting the Golden Heavy Light, instantly replenished within him. The green glow, golden arcs, and purple flames on his body simultaneously intensified. Han Li then quickened his pace, taking large strides towards the hall entrance.

Deep within Kunwu Mountain's Devil Suppressing Pagoda, on the seventh underground level, a crisp cracking sound echoed. The crystal wall, which had held back the big-headed monster and the ancient devil for several minutes, finally shattered under the furious assault of their treasures, disintegrating into specks of crystal light that gradually vanished into the air.

"Let's go," the monster said, beckoning with a hand and retracting the shimmering silver sword hovering above his head back into his sleeve. "This wall isn't even a treasure of the Sumeru Sect, yet it held us back for so long."

"After all this time, the people from the Poison Saint Sect couldn't have actually gotten their hands on the treasure, could they?" another Elder Ye family member asked worriedly, putting away his white jade ruler.

"Nonsense!" the ancient devil said calmly from the side. "Even if they get that Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure, they certainly won't be able to wield it immediately. If they obtain it, we'll simply snatch it back right away."

"Indeed. What Elder Han said is precisely what I intend to do," the big-headed monster said with a laugh, then strode first into the exit of the seventh level. Elder Ye nodded slightly, then could only let out a dry chuckle as he followed.

In the blink of an eye, the three passed through the sloping stone stairs and appeared in a stone chamber containing a teleportation array. Upon seeing the small, black and white teleportation arrays, the three, like the people from the Poison Saint Sect before them, were momentarily stunned. However, after a quick glance at both arrays, the ancient devil's gaze settled on the black one, and a hint of surprise crossed his face.

"Why are there two teleportation arrays?" Elder Ye muttered. "Which one leads to the eighth level? Or do both?" His eyes, however, were fixed on the white array, as residual spiritual energy fluctuations lingered from when the Poison Saint Sect members had used it earlier.

"No need to choose that one," the ancient devil said, his voice strangely resonant as he gazed at the black teleportation array.

"Use the array over there? But the Poison Saint Sect members used..." Elder Ye, bewildered, was about to ask something when the ancient devil, standing beside him, suddenly flicked his sleeve without warning. A pitch-black demonic arm shot out like lightning, moving so fast that Elder Ye only felt a rush of wind by his ear before his entire head was seized by a chilling demonic claw pressing down on his crown.

"Ah!" Elder Ye cried out in alarm, but before he could fully scream, his skull was crushed with a "bang," like a watermelon. Brains and blood splattered a foot high! But the ancient devil did not stop there. Almost simultaneously, a torrent of pitch-black demonic flames erupted from his mouth, enveloping the headless body before it even hit the ground. Wisps of green smoke rose from the flames.

Elder Ye's corpse instantly turned to ash, and from within the black flames, a nascent soul, protected by a white light shield, emerged. It clutched the pristine white jade ruler tightly with both hands, its face filled with panic and despair.

"Seventh Uncle! Help!" the nascent soul shrieked desperately towards the big-headed monster, simultaneously injecting spiritual energy into the ruler. Despite being engulfed by the black flames, it found itself unable to use teleportation.

However, a strange scene unfolded: the big-headed monster watched Elder Ye's nascent soul struggle in the demonic flames with an expressionless face, completely indifferent. Consequently, the nascent soul's protective light shield lasted only a moment before the demonic flames surged and shattered it. After a final shriek, Elder Ye's nascent soul was incinerated by the black demonic flames, turning into nothingness. Poor Elder Ye, even in his final moments before death, could not believe what had happened to him. He vanished from the world consumed by bitter resentment.

"Why act now? Didn't you say we'd only make our move on the last level?" the big-headed monster finally spoke, his tone cold, appearing somewhat displeased.

"I originally thought I'd only sense our target on the final level, but I detected its presence here," the ancient devil said expressionlessly, casting a sidelong glance at the monster. "Naturally, there's no need for this person to be an eyesore anymore. Are you perhaps having second thoughts?"

"He was merely a junior; what is there to regret?" the monster said after a moment of silence, a complex look in his eyes.

"It's best if you think that way, Fellow Daoist. As long as we can rescue the Holy Ancestor's clone, the Holy Ancestor can then bestow upon you a secret technique to infuse you with demonic energy. With your aptitude, there's at least a sixty to seventy percent chance for you to break through to the Divine Transformation stage in one go," the ancient devil said with satisfaction.

"Hmph! If it weren't for my approaching lifespan limit, why would I betray the Ye family so easily to help a demon like you?" the monster snorted coldly, his gaze flickering.

"Demon?" the ancient devil sneered, a slight curl of his lip. "If you successfully infuse demonic energy, you'll also become a member of our Saint Race. In our Saint Realm, human cultivators like you who transform into descendants of the Saint Race are not uncommon. What is there to hesitate about?"

"Less talk, more action. Let's go quickly, lest we invite complications!" The monster, seemingly unwilling to discuss the matter further, flashed and stood upon the black teleportation array. Seeing this, the ancient devil sneered, then took a few steps onto the array as well. As soon as the black teleportation array was activated, their figures vanished in a flash of spiritual light.

The next moment, the monster and the ancient devil suddenly appeared in an identical array, surrounded by flickering, dim, and hazy spectral light.

"Where is this?" the monster asked, recovering from his dizziness, immediately looking around with a startled and questioning expression.

"Fellow Daoist, just look up," the ancient devil's slightly excited voice came from beside him. "It's up there."

Upon hearing this, the monster immediately looked up as instructed, and was startled. He saw, a hundred yards above, dense, flickering spiritual lights from various restrictions. At the center of these restrictions, a mountain-like black shadow floated motionless, bound by countless wrist-thick black chains and covered with numerous restriction talismans of various colors. Nearby, copper mirrors, each emitting a yellow light beam, floated, forming a colossal cage that completely enveloped the black shadow.

After clearly seeing the black shadow's form, the Ye family monster gasped, his heart filled with dread! It was, in fact, a twin-headed silver wolf over a hundred yards in size. Although covered in restrictions, its fur shimmered brilliantly like pure silver, making the giant wolf appear extraordinarily majestic at first glance. However, strangely, one wolf remained silver-white, while the other's fur, from the neck up, turned glossy black and was enveloped in a faint dark aura. A single purple horn protruded from its forehead, making it appear terrifyingly fierce and vicious. At this moment, both wolves, despite their strikingly different appearances, had their eyes tightly shut, as if in a deep slumber. It was unclear if this was due to the restrictions.

"Is this the Holy Ancestor's avatar you spoke of?" the big-headed monster asked, a frown on his face.

"Indeed," the ancient devil said proudly. "This is the avatar of our Saint Realm's Holy Ancestor Yuancha. Holy Ancestor Yuancha ranks among the top five Holy Ancestors in the entire Saint Realm. Of course, this isn't Holy Ancestor Yuancha's true form; it's merely a sliver of her soul possessing a demon wolf from the Spirit Realm. Yet, even in this state, it's incomparable to ordinary Divine Transformation stage cultivators. As long as there's no interference from the Spirit Realm, it is an absolutely invincible being in the Human Realm. Back then, Holy Ancestor Yuancha was also one of the three commanders of our Saint Race who descended upon the Human Realm."

"Holy Ancestor Yuancha!" the monster murmured.

"Brother Ye, please act as my protector for a moment. I'll first perform a secret art to communicate with the Holy Ancestor's divine soul," the ancient devil suddenly said.

"Very well, go ahead and cast your spell," the big-headed monster replied, seemingly having completely abandoned his reservations, agreeing without hesitation.

The ancient devil seemed completely at ease with the monster. Seeing his agreement, he immediately formed hand seals, and a surge of pitch-black demonic energy erupted from his body, completely engulfing him. Immediately, a low roar emanated, and a four-armed demonic shadow, several yards tall, manifested amid bone-cracking sounds. Its massive demonic body exuded an astonishing, towering malevolence, causing even the big-headed monster to slightly change his expression and retreat a few steps. Following this, the ancient devil's two mouths simultaneously chanted a low, obscure incantation. His four demonic arms, covered in glossy scales, also formed hand seals and gestures, appearing like a demonic god within the black aura.

Though the big-headed monster cautiously surveyed his surroundings, his eyes were fixed on the twin giant wolves in the air, watching for any changes.

After a full fifteen minutes, the ancient devil suddenly stopped his incantation. He opened his wide mouth and sprayed a blob of black-red essence blood directly into the air. Simultaneously, his four arms lifted, and four black magic formulas vanished into the essence blood. The blob of essence blood instantly transformed into a strange blood pattern, which flashed upwards and disappeared. However, the next moment, this blood pattern eerily appeared on the black wolf's forehead. Immediately, the single horn flashed with spiritual light, the black wolf's eyelids twitched slightly, and its eyes finally slowly opened halfway. Blinding purple light shone forth, as if two purple suns had appeared simultaneously between its eyelids, making it impossible to look directly at it.

Neither the ancient devil nor the big-headed monster knew that as the massive black wolf was startled awake, in a palace within another nearby enclosed space, a silver casket on an altar simultaneously flashed with light, as if something else had also been awakened. Above this silver box, a half-foot-long emerald green wooden ruler floated, slowly rotating, its radiating spiritual light perfectly enveloping the casket below.