Chapter 1914: Initial Encounter with the Demon Lord

“Even so, this place isn't too far from there. Fellow Daoist Li should have returned by now. Did he encounter some trouble on the way?” Venerable Lan muttered thoughtfully, raising a hand to touch the demon tattoos on his cheek.

“Encounter trouble? How is that possible! With Old Monster Li's divine abilities, unless he met a human cultivator at the Integration Stage, no other human cultivator would dare provoke him.” The bald high-ranking demon shook his head repeatedly, his facial tentacles twitching a few times.

“That's not necessarily true. There are quite a few secret treasures among humans that possess immense power, allowing them to fight above their cultivation level. Even several Late Void Refinement cultivators skilled in cooperative techniques can be quite troublesome,” Venerable Lan said with a chuckle.

“But human strongholds in this area are all surrounded by us. How could such a coincidence happen?” The bald demon chuckled dismissively, looking unconvinced.

Just as he finished speaking, a low hum suddenly emanated from the demon, startling both of them.

The bald demon immediately waved a hand, and with a flash of dark light, a pale white magic disk appeared in his grasp. He lightly tapped it with a finger.

Instantly, a transparent ripple spread out. A white light flashed on the disk's surface, revealing the face of an old man with a solemn expression.

It was none other than Old Monster Li, whom they had just been discussing!

“Brother Li, you didn't return on time. Instead, you used the Rosen Demonic Artifact to contact us. What's the meaning of this?” the bald demon said, sounding somewhat displeased, to the old man's face on the disk.

“Exactly. This magical artifact consumes demonic illusion stones, and we don't have many spares ourselves. It's quite improper for Brother Li to use it carelessly.” Seeing that the old man was not entirely unharmed, Venerable Lan's expression relaxed slightly, but he still spoke with some annoyance.

“Hmph, you two fellow Daoists don't know the situation. My beloved grandson was just killed by human cultivators recently. I'm currently pursuing the culprits. However, those involved might include a human Integration Stage cultivator, and I might not be able to avenge myself alone. I need you two fellow Daoists to come and lend me a hand. Once this is done, I am willing to give half of all the gains from this Holy Sacrifice as compensation to you two fellow Daoists,” the horned old man said, his eyes flashing with murderous intent, gritting his teeth.

“What? Such a thing happened? But Brother Li, how do you know the perpetrators are human Integration Stage cultivators?” The bald demon asked in surprise, his facial tentacles curling back.

“Hmph, I've been to the place where my grandson was killed. My beloved grandson and his subordinates showed no signs of struggle when they were struck down. How could an ordinary Void Refinement cultivator achieve this? Moreover, although the culprits left some time ago, it's highly probable they were human Integration Stage cultivators,” the horned old man replied, his mouth twitching.

“If that's the case, it's certainly possible. But Brother Li, do you know the exact number of these human cultivators?” Venerable Lan asked gravely.

“Hmm, I've sensed it. There are only two lingering human auras,” the horned old man replied without hesitation.

“Oh, if that's the case, then there should definitely be no problem for the three of us. But the crucial point is that we already have important duties. If anything goes wrong during the pursuit, I'm afraid Lord Holy Ancestor will blame us,” the bald demon hesitated.

“Since human Integration Stage cultivators have left their stronghold and appeared here, it's clear they must have designs on our Saint Race. If we can kill one or two such cultivators and thwart their plans, Lord Holy Ancestor will only heavily reward us; why would he blame us? Besides, with the three of us Venerables working together, that human Integration Stage cultivator might just be one person. Even if it's an Integration Stage Completion cultivator, we can still fight them. What risk is there to speak of? How about this: as long as you two fellow Daoists help me avenge this, besides half the benefits from this Holy Sacrifice, I'll also give you my rare Corrosive Silk Ganoderma, which I've cherished for years, as additional compensation,” the horned old man gritted his teeth, significantly increasing the offer.

“Oh, it seems Venerable Li is truly eager for revenge, even bringing out this treasure. If that's the case, I, Mi, wouldn't mind lending a hand this once. Brother Lan, what do you think?” The bald demon's eyes lit up, greatly tempted.

“Fellow Daoist Li, are you sure there are only two culprits?” Venerable Lan's expression also showed some movement, but he asked again with extreme caution.

“Hmph, Fellow Daoist Lan, are you doubting my abilities? If the number of culprits turns out to be wrong, I certainly won't force you two fellow Daoists to act,” the horned old man snorted, a flash of anger appearing on his face before he forcibly suppressed it.

“Good, your word is enough. We two will immediately rush to meet up with Fellow Daoist Li. But Fellow Daoist, make sure you don't lose track of those two human cultivators,” Venerable Lan said with a hint of a smile.

“Since those two human cultivators killed a descendant with my bloodline, unless they can fly hundreds of millions of miles away in one breath, they won't escape my secret tracking art, even if they run to the ends of the earth,” the horned old man sneered, speaking with great confidence.

Then, with a flash of white light on the formation disk, Venerable Li's illusion dissipated and vanished, as he had unilaterally cut off the connection.

“Heh heh, no wonder Old Monster Li was being so slow; it turns out he encountered such a situation. It's understandable. If my only descendant were also killed, I would certainly capture the culprit alive and torment them for a year or two before finishing them off,” the bald demon sneered.

“With our level of cultivation, it's generally unlikely for us to have more descendants, so naturally, we value our existing bloodline more. If one had more descendants, it might be different. But a situation like Old Monster Li's, having only one descendant, is quite rare among us. No wonder he's so enraged this time, willing to pay such a heavy price,” Venerable Lan said with a slight smile.

“Just two humans shouldn't be a problem. Let's depart immediately! Since they are human Integration Stage cultivators, we might even obtain some valuable treasures if we kill them!” the bald demon said, a flicker of greed in his eyes.

“Of course. Since we've agreed to Old Monster Li, we should do our best. Let's go!”

Venerable Lan nodded. He immediately shook both arms, and amidst a crackling of blue electric arcs, they transformed into a pair of blue fleshy wings.

These wings were incredibly ferocious, not only covered in blue bone spurs but also wrapped in countless electric arcs, as if the Thunder God himself had descended.

With a single flap of the demon's wings, he shot forth amidst continuous thunderous roars. A blue electric arc flashed and vanished in the void, reappearing hundreds of yards away in an instant.

Seeing this, the bald demon chuckled lightly. With a shake of his sleeve, a ball of red light shot out, then spiraled and transformed into a crimson cloud that enveloped his form.

Then, with a flash of red light, the crimson cloud sped away like lightning, quickly pursuing the electric arc.

One after another, the two swiftly vanished hundreds of miles away in the blink of an eye, disappearing without a trace from the nearby void.

Meanwhile, the horned old man in another location showed no intention of stopping his escape light to wait for his two companions. Instead, he employed a certain secret technique, increasing his flight speed by another third.

This demonic venerable clearly knew that even though his bloodline secret art allowed him to temporarily pinpoint the target's location, there was a natural time limit. Moreover, if the target noticed anything unusual or simply used a teleportation array to escape hundreds of millions of miles away, he might lose track of them.

Therefore, he wouldn't relax in the slightest until he caught his target.

In any case, he had powerful reinforcements behind him. Even if the target proved truly troublesome and he couldn't kill them alone, he could easily hold them off first.

Thinking this, the horned old man continued his frantic pursuit, filled with burning rage.

Meanwhile, Han Li was naturally unaware of all this and continued traveling with Silverlight Immortal toward Yitian City.

Since they weren't fighting for their lives, their escape speed, while not slow, was naturally inferior to that of the three demonic venerables behind them by more than just a little.

As time passed, the distance between them gradually shortened.

A day and a night later, as Han Li and Silverlight Immortal were casually discussing matters related to Yitian City's Four Great Sects, his expression suddenly changed. With a flick of his sleeve, a silver short ruler flashed into appearance and transformed into a colossal ruler shadow, over ten yards long, which then struck out behind him.

With a "thump," a black staff of similar colossal size abruptly extended from the void there and collided solidly with the ruler.

A deafening crash!

A blinding halo instantly emerged, and a terrifying ripple, capable of shattering even the void, spread out, causing the entire void to seemingly collapse.

Silverlight Immortal was startled. Her figure materialized from the white clouds, and she looked towards the source of the disturbance with a trace of surprise and doubt.

Han Li's eyes narrowed, and his expression returned to its calm state. He then raised a hand and beckoned.

With a whoosh, the silver short ruler tore through the void and reappeared in his palm.

As the blinding halo subsided, all the ripples finally dissipated. The figure of the horned old man was revealed in the void there.

At this moment, his body had grown to about five or six yards tall. He held a dark staff in one hand and glared fiercely at Han Li.

“A demonic venerable!”

After Silverlight Immortal's spiritual sense swept over the opponent, her beautiful face registered surprise. Without hesitation, she formed a hand seal with one hand, and as silver light circulated around her body, two silver curved hooks emerged from it.

Under a cold glint, one hook bore the imprint of a white crescent moon, and the other, a crimson full sun.

With a slight sway of the two weapons, countless stars faintly flickered in and out of existence nearby, clearly indicating they were extraordinary treasures.

Han Li's gaze flashed as he saw the horned old man. Without a word, he suddenly struck his own chest with a palm.

A dull thud!

His body glowed with golden light, and opening his mouth, he actually spat out a hazy green gas mass tinged with a wisp of black.