Chapter 2091: War of the Demon Realm

His entire palm swelled, transforming into a large golden hand that seized the crystal bead. Golden light flickered from his five fingers, and countless golden runes surged from his palm, instantly enveloping the crystal bead tightly and transforming it into a golden orb of light.

Seeing this, Han Li let out a soft breath. As he muttered incantations, slender crystal threads shot out from his fingertips and instantly disappeared into the golden orb. The next moment, a wisp of faint, almost invisible grayish-white gas emerged from the golden orb along the crystal threads. It was constrained by an invisible force and drawn into Han Li's palm.

For the following period, Han Li closed his eyes and silently began to refine this peculiar energy. At this moment, a faint golden light flickered around his body, and the aura he exuded fluctuated between strong and weak, appearing quite strange.

Several hours later, when he opened his eyes again, his face was filled with joy. He clearly sensed that his magic power had increased somewhat.

"Excellent," he murmured, "this is indeed the same energy as that from the previously obtained Demonic Gold. This means that if I can find more of this Demonic Gold, directly raising my magic power to the late Integration stage, or even the Mahayana realm, might not be impossible. This would save me over a thousand years of arduous cultivation. It seems if there's an opportunity, I truly must visit Blue Waterfall Lake." Han Li murmured to himself, his expression fluctuating.

After pondering for a moment, Han Li suddenly raised a finger in front of him. A spiritual glow flashed at his fingertip, and a wisp of green gas silently emanated, gently hovering above it.

"As expected, this thing came out as well," he mused. "It seems I'll have to temporarily store it within the Demonic Infant's body and keep it sealed."

Han Li shook his head, his brow slightly furrowed.

However, the grayish-white gas he had refined was less than one-tenth of what the entire crystal bead contained. If all the energy in the crystal orb were refined, it would be enough to increase his magic power by more than ten percent, which was already an unexpected surprise. But to be safe, Han Li did not intend to refine all the energy at once. Instead, he planned to spend over ten days, refining a small amount at a time and then consolidating his cultivation level. This was to avoid his cultivation growing too rapidly at once and leaving behind any unknown repercussions. After all, the amount of mysterious energy obtained this time was ten times greater than last time.

Once Han Li made his decision, he immediately flicked his sleeve, and a dozen golden and silver talismans flew out, flickering as they affixed themselves to the golden orb, sealing it securely. Next, he took out a small, jade-white bottle. With a gentle shake, a five-colored mist sprayed out, sweeping the golden orb inside. Han Li smiled faintly. After putting the small bottle away, he placed his hands on his knees and resumed his meditation.

More than ten days later, Han Li, who had not left his pavilion, finally refined all the energy from the crystal orb into pure magic power, significantly increasing his cultivation.

In the following days, Han Li began to frequently visit various parts of Phantom Night City, collecting some ancient texts and local specialties. He made several trips to the Myriad Servant Pagoda in particular and eventually purchased a secret technique for crafting Demonic Crystal Puppets from the two Void Refinement Devil cultivators guarding the pagoda. For this, Han Li not only produced several top-tier demonic artifacts but also paid an astronomical amount of devil stones that would make even a Devil Venerable feel distressed. Yet Han Li felt it was well worth the price.

Compared to the puppet crafting methods in the Spirit Realm, this puppet crafting technique was entirely different. These Demonic Crystal Puppets are not activated by imbuing them with spiritual sense. Instead, they are activated by pre-arranged restrictions and tokens within the puppets themselves. This means that as long as the crafted puppet is powerful enough, even low-level cultivators can easily control them. Furthermore, there is no limit to the number that can be controlled by splitting one's spiritual sense; even low-level demons can easily command an army of puppets.

When Han Li learned this, his astonishment was immense. Unfortunately, nothing in this world is perfect. While these Demonic Crystal Puppets were indeed enticing, they also had quite a few drawbacks. The most significant drawback was that because spiritual sense could not control them, these puppets could only rely on their core restrictions to execute simple commands and could not carry out overly complex orders. Also, due to this flaw, Demonic Crystal Puppets had relatively simpler attacks and were considerably less powerful compared to human realm puppets of the same tier.

Secondly, crafting the core for these puppets was extremely troublesome, and the materials required were exceptionally rare. Therefore, their cost was absolutely beyond what an ordinary person could afford. The higher the tier of the Demonic Crystal Puppet, the more astonishingly expensive it was to produce.

What frustrated Han Li somewhat was that the puppet crafting technique he obtained from Myriad Servant Pagoda at such a high cost was only for crafting low to mid-tier puppets. According to the two Void Refinement Devil cultivators guarding the Myriad Servant Pagoda in Phantom Night City, high-tier Demonic Crystal Puppet crafting techniques were only held by a few Devil Venerable elders at the highest level of the pagoda and would never be divulged in the slightest. Furthermore, even these few types of high-tier Demonic Crystal Puppets were rarely sold externally by Myriad Servant Pagoda. This left Han Li with some regret.

Han Li did not overly dwell on this matter. High-tier Demonic Crystal Puppets, if not produced in significant numbers, would not be of great help to him at his current stage. The reason he spent such a high price was merely to verify his own puppet techniques and see if he could integrate and master them, thereby advancing his puppet crafting skills.

Han Li then secluded himself in his dwelling and began to painstakingly study and comprehend. During this period, he attempted to craft some low-tier Demonic Crystal Puppets to verify his understanding, and gained considerable insights.

One day, while he was within the restrictions on the top floor of his pavilion, attempting to activate a four-armed Demonic Crystal Puppet, a low hum suddenly emanated from his person. A ball of white light flew out from his waist, flashed, appeared before him, and transformed into a piece of silk-like material.

Upon seeing this, Han Li's expression shifted. He raised a hand and pointed at the silk, and a beam of green light entered it. The next moment, the silk shimmered with a faint silver light, and a row of small silver characters appeared on its surface. Han Li's gaze sharpened as he quickly scanned the characters. After a brief moment of contemplation, he raised his hand and beckoned. The silk immediately transformed back into a white light and flew into his sleeve, while Han Li immediately turned and walked down from the pavilion.

In the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, Zhu Guo'er was holding a somewhat yellowed beast-skin book, intently reading something. Upon seeing Han Li descend the stairs, she immediately stood up in surprise and hastily paid her respects, then cautiously asked:

"Master, is there anything this servant needs to do?"

"Has anyone come to visit me these past few days?" Han Li asked casually.

"No! This servant has been guarding here recently, and no senior has come to visit Master," Zhu Guo'er replied cautiously.

"Alright, I understand. There's nothing for you to do, so continue staying here. I'm going out for a bit!" Han Li nodded faintly. Without waiting for the young girl to say anything more, he waved his sleeve and walked out the main door.

Zhu Guo'er blinked, still looking somewhat bewildered. Han Li had already flashed out of the pavilion, and shortly after, hailed a beast carriage on the street, heading straight out of the city gates.

Several hours later, Han Li appeared atop a secluded mountain several hundred miles outside Phantom Night City, riding a streak of light. He looked down. All he saw was a vast expanse of hazy white mist enveloping the entire mountain. Ordinary people would be utterly unable to see the scenery beneath the mist.

Seeing this, Han Li's expression relaxed, and he let out a soft breath. He then raised his hand, and a fiery light shot out, disappearing into the mist below in a flash. A moment later, a faint male voice suddenly came from the mountain below:

"Is that Fellow Daoist Han? I will now open the restrictions to let you in."

The speaker, having apparently confirmed Han Li's identity, caused the hazy mist to instantly part, revealing a pathway. Hearing the voice, Han Li's expression changed. His escape light flickered, and he transformed into a green rainbow, directly entering the pathway. When the mist before him blurred and vanished, Han Li's figure appeared on an open space on the mountaintop.

On two relatively clean boulders not far away, two figures were seated cross-legged. One had a faint golden complexion, and the other wore a black robe. They were none other than Old Ancestor Long and another elder of the Long family, surnamed Hui. However, as Han Li's gaze swept over the two, his eyes involuntarily narrowed slightly. Old Ancestor Long seemed fine, only a bit paler than usual, and he smiled at Han Li. However, Elder Hui's face was tinged with black gas, and he looked haggard. Furthermore, he was clearly missing an arm.

"Fellow Daoist Hui, what happened to you?" Han Li asked, his expression serious. "Did you two encounter a formidable enemy on your journey?"

"This is a long story; I'll explain it in detail to Brother Han later," Old Ancestor Long said with a bitter smile, but then immediately asked with a serious expression, "First, I'd like to ask, Brother Han, are you the only one who has arrived at Phantom Night City so far?"

Han Li frowned as he replied, "If Brother Long has already used your treasured item to summon others and no one else has arrived, then it is likely just me. At least, I haven't seen anyone else at our previously arranged inn in the city."

"If that's the case," Old Ancestor Long said after a slight hesitation, "then let's wait a little longer. It won't hurt to wait a moment."

Hearing this, Han Li nodded, showing no objection, and casually found a boulder to sit down cross-legged on.

Time passed slowly. After a full hour, Han Li's expression suddenly shifted. He raised his head and glanced at the sky, his pupils faintly gleaming with blue light, and calmly stated:

"It seems other fellow Daoists have indeed arrived. I wonder who it is."

Hearing this, Old Ancestor Long was slightly startled and likewise gazed intently into the high-altitude mist. A moment later, a pleasant female voice came from the sky:

"Which fellow Daoist is below? I am a bit late; I hope you don't mind!"

From the sound of the voice, it was clearly Old Ancestor Ye, who appeared as a young girl! Hearing this voice, Old Ancestor Long's face showed a hint of joy. He made a hand seal, causing the mist in the sky to part once more. A burst of colorful light immediately plunged down from the sky.