Chapter 1190: Blood Moon Seeks Spirit

Volume 6: Heavenly Treasures

Several hours later, Han Li finally flew out from the ice fissures of the Inner Valley. However, he immediately stopped his flight, his body hovering motionless in the cold wind.

In the Inner Valley, his spiritual sense was still significantly restricted. Searching with only his spiritual perception would likely prove quite laborious.

After a moment of thought, Han Li patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

Immediately, a loud buzzing sound arose as countless Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed out of the pouch, transforming into a golden insect cloud that hovered above his head.

He quickly formed hand seals, striking the insect cloud with several consecutive incantations. Then, he sat down cross-legged on the spot and slowly closed his eyes.

With a "whoosh," the golden insect cloud burst apart, transforming into thousands of golden specks that shot out in all directions, disappearing in an instant.

Han Li had employed the "Thousandfold Spiritual Sense Transformation" ability, using it to begin searching for the three women's traces.

He reasoned that the three women, including Miss Song, only had Core Formation cultivation. Not being rash individuals, they wouldn't venture too deep even if they entered the Inner Valley.

This naturally greatly narrowed the search area. With tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles dispatched simultaneously, large swathes of land were searched repeatedly. After finding no clues, Han Li would fly out another hundred *li* and continue to send out the Gold Devouring Beetles for a new search.

As a result, when Han Li reached the large mountain where the three women had collected spirit herbs, he naturally and easily discovered some traces they had left from picking herbs that day. After detecting these through the spiritual sense attached to the Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li was overjoyed. He immediately went to these places himself to examine them carefully.

As expected, he found some clues, confirming that the three women had indeed entered the Inner Valley and stayed on this mountain.

However, when he expanded the search range further, there were no more traces of the three women.

Finally, Han Li had no choice but to return to the mountaintop and ponder.

After thinking for a while, he suddenly let out a long whistle. The Gold Devouring Beetles, spread out over dozens of *li*, flew back swiftly and were re-collected into his spirit beast pouch.

But immediately, Han Li threw out another pouch.

This time, twelve snow-white centipedes with wings flew out of the pouch.

These were precisely the twelve Six-Winged Frost Centipedes!

Han Li formed hand seals, and with a surge of his spiritual sense, the twelve snow-white centipedes scattered in all directions simultaneously, transforming into twelve gusts of cold wind that vanished in an instant.

Han Li remained motionless on the spot.

After an unknown period, Han Li's expression shifted. He instantly transformed into a streak of clear light and shot back the way he came.

After flying for only a short while, he saw a snow-white centipede circling hesitantly in the air, simultaneously emitting a low hiss.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly. With a flash, his escape light immediately reached the spot beneath the snow-white centipede.

He lowered his head and looked towards the ground.

A black, slender object appeared in Han Li's line of sight.

This object lay in a pile of weeds, resembling an unassuming black dead branch. No wonder his Thousandfold Spiritual Sense Transformation had failed to detect it earlier.

Han Li frowned, raised a hand, and with a gesture, the branch-like object was drawn into his hand.

But upon closer inspection, his expression subtly changed.

It wasn't a dead branch at all; it was clearly a small section of a tentacle. Moreover, judging by the icy coldness emanating from it, it was a tentacle from a Six-Winged Frost Centipede.

However, a Six-Winged Frost Centipede's tentacles should be snow-white, yet this one was as black as ink. And the gloomy aura mixed within it was remarkably familiar to Han Li.

Profound Yin Demonic Qi! And so pure, seemingly even surpassing that of Patriarch Extreme Yin.

Han Li lightly stroked the small section of tentacle with his finger, his mind churning with tumultuous thoughts.

He knew that Profound Yin Demonic Qi originated from the demonic art of the Profound Yin Grand Technique. The only ones who had cultivated this technique were Patriarch Extreme Yin and Wu Chou, both of whom had met their end at his hands. It was highly unlikely that other disciples of Patriarch Extreme Yin had received the true transmission of this demonic art, nor could they have cultivated such pure demonic qi and come to the Southern Heavenly Region.

Han Li's expression flickered erratically as he fell silent in contemplation.

"No, wait," he thought. "There's one more entity that knows the complete incantations of the Profound Yin Grand Technique, has also cultivated Profound Yin Demonic Qi, and seems capable of cultivating it to such a pure degree." A flash of insight struck Han Li, and he remembered something, his expression immediately turning strange.

"The Supreme Wood Nascent Soul... could this entity also have returned to the Southern Heavenly Region?" Han Li looked up at the sky and murmured softly to himself.

He had always been concerned about this lost second Nascent Soul.

After returning to the Southern Heavenly Region, he should have immediately set off to search for this Nascent Soul. However, Nangong Wan had not yet escaped from the ice wall, and he was uneasy, naturally unwilling to travel far again.

Moreover, so many years had passed. If this second Nascent Soul could develop spiritual consciousness, it would have already done so. A few more years wouldn't make much difference.

Therefore, he had simply put the matter aside for now, planning to make a dedicated trip to the Mulan Grasslands in a few years. But now it seemed that the second Nascent Soul, formed from the Supreme Wood Nascent Soul, had actively returned to the Southern Heavenly Region and was hiding in the Devilfall Valley.

If that were the case, the disappearance of Mu Peiling and the two other women was likely connected to it, and they should still be unharmed.

After all, this Nascent Soul's memories and emotions were completely copied from his own. Even if its temperament had changed over the years, it was highly unlikely that it would cruelly harm these three women.

Han Li gravely considered the various possibilities in his mind.

However, so many years had passed. This second Nascent Soul likely already possessed its own body. Yet, since entering the Inner Valley, he hadn't sensed the Heavenly Fiend Demonic Corpse, in which he had originally planted a trace of his spiritual sense. Considering these facts, it seemed the Demonic Corpse had either been subdued by the second Nascent Soul or simply taken over through possession.

Han Li's mind raced. After a brief moment of empathetic thought, he had already guessed most of the truth in the blink of an eye.

He stroked his chin and let out a long breath.

Just then, the remaining centipedes flew back from other directions, seemingly having found nothing further.

Seeing this, Han Li felt no surprise.

The reason he had recalled the Gold Devouring Beetles and released the twelve Six-Winged Frost Centipedes was naturally because Liu Yu also carried juvenile Six-Winged Frost Centipedes on her person. Although her spirit insects were far lower in grade than his own, it was still possible to locate the three women by stimulating the mutual senses between them.

However, since the culprit was likely the second Nascent Soul, it would naturally guard against such a method.

Han Li, his face grim, collected the centipedes and quietly pondered on the spot.

"It seems the only way is to use that method to track their whereabouts," Han Li murmured with a light sigh, sounding somewhat reluctant. "This method is a secret art I obtained later. Naturally, it couldn't have been guarded against. It will just cost me some vital blood."

Nonetheless, he ultimately patted his storage pouch. A hazy white jade plate and a crimson small flag appeared in his hands simultaneously. He tossed them into the air, and after circling once, the two objects transformed into white and red light orbs, hovering motionlessly before him.

Next, Han Li opened his mouth, and a misty green essence enveloped the formation plate. He then lightly sliced his other wrist with a finger. A flash of green light appeared, followed by a clear thread, and instantly, a thin cut appeared on his wrist. Several drops of vital blood immediately flowed out.

Han Li blew, and these drops of vital blood instantly vanished into the white jade plate.

Han Li lightly pointed at the crimson small flag. The flag, under Han Li's control, immediately flew directly above the formation plate. With a slight tremor, it suddenly transformed into a sanguine mist that enveloped the jade plate.

However, the jade plate, accompanied by Han Li's incantations, also pulsed with a blood-red light. Streams of vital blood, similarly transformed into a sanguine mist, emerged from it. The two mists then intertwined and merged, becoming indistinguishable.

Suddenly, Han Li let out a low roar. A green aura flashed across his face as he gravely pointed a finger at the jade plate.

Instantly, the white jade plate erupted with a brilliant sanguine glow, transforming as if into a blood-red full moon. In just a few flashes, it absorbed all the sanguine mist.

Seizing this opportunity, Han Li let out another low roar and gravely pointed at the jade plate with a single hand.

Immediately, a jade-green pillar of light, as if something material, shot out from his finger. With a flash, it disappeared into the center of the jade plate.

The blood-red moon immediately began to hum loudly, trembling autonomously as if it possessed sentience and wanted to instantly ascend and fly away.

The divine light in Han Li's eyes dimmed by a third, and a bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"This Blood Moon Spirit Seeking Secret Art from the Grand Evolution Scripture is my first time using it," Han Li murmured. "I wonder if it's truly as miraculous as the records claim. Now, I can only try it. However, if I hadn't planted the Divine Restriction on Mu Peiling back then and left a few drops of her vital blood, this secret art would still be impossible to cast." He then swallowed a pill and immediately sat down cross-legged on the spot for a while.

Half an hour later, when Han Li reopened his eyes, their divine light was once again full and vibrant.

Without a word, he struck the blood-red moon, transformed from the jade plate, with an incantation. Instantly, the blood-red moon turned into a dazzling sanguine ray and shot away into the distance.

Han Li's figure flickered, and he too transformed into a streak of clear escape light, pursuing closely.

Moments later, the two, one fleeing and one pursuing, vanished without a trace from the vicinity of the Green Mountains.

The sanguine light orb maintained a consistent flight speed, and Han Li, expressionless, followed close behind.

After a full half-day's flight, the sanguine orb led Han Li to an exceptionally desolate, massive basin.

A wave of scorching heat immediately assaulted him.

Han Li's expression shifted slightly as he noticed that everything in the basin was black and red. The edges of the basin were lined with rounded, obsidian-black stones, while the center was a vast lake of crimson lava. The high temperatures emanating from the fiery lake caused the air above the basin to ripple and distort, creating a hazy, vibrant display.

The sanguine light orb hovered uncertainly above the lava lake, simultaneously emitting an extremely grating hum. It looked strangely as if it wanted to descend but dared not.

Han Li stroked his chin, glanced at the lava below, and a cold smile suddenly appeared on his face:

"Heh heh, it certainly knows how to pick a place to hide people. If not for the guidance of the secret art, I truly wouldn't have found this place. But now that I know where it is, a mere bit of lava won't stop me!"