Chapter 1727: Pu Tuan, Lingering Fragrance, Sacred Statue

Han Li calmly agreed, "It's worth taking a look. We might discover something."

Seeing that Han Li did not reject the suggestion, Bai Bi, despite some reluctance, did not voice any objections.

The three then changed direction and flew directly towards the source of the bloody scent.

After flying for more than ten li, a peculiar sight indeed appeared ahead: an oasis, roughly a li in size.

In moments, the three were hovering above it.

In reality, this so-called oasis appeared black and yellow. It had very few tall trees, consisting mostly of low-lying shrubs and unknown wild grasses.

At the center of the oasis was a pool roughly ten zhang wide, within which crimson blood bubbled and swirled. Beside the pool lay over a dozen Black Abyss beast carcasses of varying sizes, impaled by stone spikes.

Fresh blood flowed from these corpses, cascading into the blood pool.

The entire oasis was filled with a pungent, nauseating stench of blood.

"How could these beasts appear in the desert?" Lei Lan wondered, surprised after observing the scene from above. "They should be in the dense forest we saw earlier."

"They haven't been dead for long," Bai Bi remarked after a careful examination, "otherwise, the blood would have clotted by now."

After a few quick glances, Han Li suddenly moved, transforming into a streak of green light that circled the entire oasis.

Moments later, he returned to his original position, his eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze on the blood pool.

"What is it, Brother Han? Did you discover something?" Lei Lan asked curiously.

"Indeed, I did find something," Han Li replied, almost to himself, as he suddenly flicked his sleeve towards the ground.

A golden light shot forth, transforming in a flash into seven or eight streaks of sword light that plunged into the ground near the pool.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi were both startled. Before they could grasp what was happening, several screams suddenly erupted from where the sword lights had pierced the earth, followed by gurgling black blood. The nearby ground then burst open, and several ape-like demonic creatures sprang out from underground.

Each creature was several feet tall, with four ears on its head, and wielded rough stone spears whose tips glowed with a faint white light.

"Oh, Resentful Ape Beasts! This is bad, this oasis is an illusion created by a Giant Spirit Flower!" Bai Bi exclaimed, instantly recalling something as soon as she clearly saw the appearance of these demonic apes.

"A Giant Spirit Flower!" Han Li's eyes flashed, while Lei Lan gasped softly in surprise.

Just then, the ground beneath them rumbled deafeningly, then began to shake violently and incessantly.

Simultaneously, the bloody water in the oasis pool surged outward, and a crimson shadow shot forth.

In a mere flash, it appeared before Han Li, lunging fiercely towards his face.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi were startled; the red shadow was unbelievably fast. Even if they had wished to intervene, it seemed they would have been too slow.

However, Han Li merely snorted coldly. One of his arms blurred slightly.

*Bang!*

A hand as white as jade mysteriously appeared before him, and with a lightning-fast backhand grab, it firmly seized the crimson shadow.

Only then did the two Saint Sons standing nearby clearly see that it was an arm-thick, blood-red, tongue-like appendage. At its tip was a fist-sized fleshy orb, covered in inch-long black thorns that wriggled incessantly.

However, Han Li's palm seemed to be no mere flesh-and-blood limb; his crystalline fingers directly gripped the fleshy orb, ignoring the black thorns as if they were nonexistent, utterly unable to harm his skin in the slightest.

At that moment, five white bone skulls suddenly appeared on the surface of Han Li's fingers. Simultaneously, a torrent of five-colored flames erupted from his mouth, sweeping down the length of the appendage.

In mere moments, the entire appendage transformed into a slender, five-colored ice rod.

Han Li then, without hesitation, backhanded the tip of the ice rod.

A wave of green light flashed, followed by a sharp *crack* like breaking porcelain. The ice rod instantly shattered into fragments, dissolving into a shimmering light and vanishing without a trace.

A monstrous roar, seemingly from intense pain, echoed from underground. The crimson glow within the pool swirled. In an instant, not a single drop of blood remained, and then with a *boom*, the entire oasis shattered completely, revealing a colossal creature amidst the wreckage.

It was impossibly vast at the top and unusually slender at the bottom, a giant demonic flower comparable in size to the former oasis.

The demonic flower's petals were a pale, desert-like silver, but its center was crimson like fresh blood, having transformed from the blood pool. The long, attacking appendage that had just targeted Han Li was merely one of its many thick stamens.

Furthermore, dozens of the so-called "Resentful Ape Beasts" stood upon the demonic flower's colossal petals, baring their fangs at the sky. Simultaneously, they brandished their stone spears, causing dozens of foot-long stone spikes to materialize and shoot directly towards Han Li and his companions.

"So this is a Giant Spirit Flower," Han Li remarked, a smile playing on his lips rather than surprise. "Quite interesting indeed. This flower should be a mid-level demonic creature, correct? Aren't mid-level or higher demonic creatures rarely found on the first layer?"

This time, Han Li didn't need to intervene. Lei Lan and Bai Bi, standing beside him, simultaneously raised their hands. A web of silver arcs and golden threads intersected, instantly shattering the incoming stone spikes.

"Brother Han!" Lei Lan explained with a slight frown. "Rarely appearing doesn't mean they never appear. Furthermore, the timing of our trial is quite unfortunate; it's the preliminary stage of the Abyssal Demonic Tide's outbreak. It's not uncommon for some mid-level demonic creatures to appear on the first layer ahead of schedule."

Although they were facing a mid-level demonic creature, the level of trouble it presented was far less than that of the Yin Spider Bees they had encountered earlier. Therefore, after her initial surprise, the goddess's expression returned to normal.

"Is that so!" Han Li said with an uncommitted smile. "I've heard that this flower's nectar is an excellent material for alchemy. Since we've encountered it, let's collect some." He then suddenly flicked his ten fingers downwards.

*Puff-puff.* Ten small golden swords shot from his fingertips, instantly transforming into ten golden rainbows that streaked downwards.

The center of the colossal flower let out a strange roar, and then countless dense crimson shadows shot forth, attempting to strike down the flying swords.

An ordinary Flying Spirit tribesman would indeed find such a fierce attack troublesome, but Han Li merely frowned and, with a single hand gesture, directed the flying swords.

Immediately, the ten flying swords blazed with golden light. The moment they clashed, they engulfed all the crimson shadows within their sword aura, grinding them to dust.

The golden light then flashed again, suddenly manifesting dozens of identical sword lights that descended like an overwhelming deluge.

Upon witnessing this, the Resentful Ape Beasts, seemingly aware of their impending doom, let out shrill cries and hurled their stone spears. Surprisingly, these too transformed into dozens of white streaks of light, meeting the incoming sword lights.

Although these stone spears had undergone crude refinement by the demonic creatures, they stood no chance against the formidable sword qi of the Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords. They instantly exploded into clouds of stone dust amidst the chilling gleam.

Following this, a dozen golden rainbows merely swirled through the cluster of Resentful Ape Beasts, causing the creatures to instantly split in two and fall to the ground.

Simultaneously, the remaining sword lights mercilessly slashed at the entire demonic flower, instantly hacking it into countless fragments that plummeted heavily to the ground, spilling copious amounts of green liquid.

This Giant Spirit Flower, along with all its accompanying Resentful Ape Beasts, was utterly annihilated by Han Li's flying swords in a single encounter.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi had no opportunity to intervene further. They could only exchange wry smiles.

"Alright, let's collect some nectar and then be on our way," Han Li said calmly, beckoning with one hand to retract all the sword lights into his sleeve.

He then flickered, landing on the nearby ground. With a turn of his hand, a small emerald-green bottle appeared in his palm. He aimed it at the fragmented flower centers and gave it a shake.

Instantly, a wisp of green mist streamed out, sweeping over the flower centers and drawing out clumps of pink, liquid nectar. It then swirled back, pouring into the small bottle.

Han Li shook the small bottle, and a peculiar, sweet fragrance of nectar wafted towards him. With a faint smile, a green light flashed, and the small bottle vanished from sight.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi also descended, producing their own containers to collect their shares of the remaining nectar.

"Let's go," Han Li said calmly, then spread his wings and ascended into the sky once more.

Bai Bi, without a word, transformed into a ball of golden light and followed closely. Lei Lan smiled, and just as she was about to take flight, her gaze swept over the remnants of the Giant Spirit Flower on the ground. A sudden impulse stirred within her, and almost instinctively, she flicked her finger.

Following a clap of thunder, a silver arc flashed out and struck a nearby yellow branch that had remained connected to the demonic flower's remains, instantly reducing the branch to ashes.

Lei Lan then clapped her hands, spread her wings, and ascended, pursuing Han Li and the other ahead.

In the blink of an eye, the figures of Han Li and his two companions vanished without a trace into the distant sky. No further sound emanated from the area.

A full hour later, the nearby ground suddenly shook, then split open with a tremendous rumble. Several black tendrils, resembling colossal pillars, abruptly emerged from underground, followed by an eerily dark demonic flower, several times the size of the original Giant Spirit Flower, which slowly ascended from the earth.

This flower, resembling a colossal mountain, settled steadily on the ground, its tendrils gently tapping the earth. Just then, a soft exclamation of surprise suddenly emanated from within the flower.

"Who dares to touch the spirit flower I placed here for sacrifice? Could it be Six-Legs and its kind?" A woman's voice erupted in anger.

Looking up towards the source of the voice, at the very center of the colossal black flower, a silver wooden chair stood upright. Seated upon it was a slender figure whose face was indistinct, holding a jade-green leather whip.

"Master, there's no need to be angry," a furry, short figure said, materializing in a flash of yellow light before the silver chair and kneeling respectfully to the woman seated there. "The blood sacrifice here was only interrupted recently, so those individuals shouldn't have left long ago. Allow your humble servant to investigate first."

"Hmm, I still need to preside over the sacrifice, so I'll leave this matter to you," the woman said coldly. "No matter who they are, if they dare to ruin my plans, don't let a single one escape." With that, her whip suddenly lashed out at the empty air.

After a sharp whistle, a white streak flashed and vanished. The surrounding space rippled, and then countless black mists surged forth from the white streak, as if truly tearing open the very fabric of space in that area.