Chapter 2150: Stagnation

**Mortal Cultivation Story, Volume 7: Traversing the Human Realm**

“Lady Baohua, should I go over and check it out?” Black Alligator asked, his eyes darting around.

“No need,” Lady Baohua said, shaking her head after a moment's hesitation. “No matter his current situation, it doesn't concern me much. Since I’ve obtained the spirit herbs I wanted on this trip, what I need to do now is leave the Demonic Abyss Sea immediately. Then I’ll find a secure place to refine the spirit herbs into pills so I can quickly restore my former powers.”

“Yes, Lady,” Black Alligator said, nodding with a hint of excitement. “Let’s leave now. Lord Yuanyan and Lord Nieya have already met you, Lady, so lingering here any longer might be dangerous. But once you restore your former strength, you’ll have no one to fear.”

If his master’s powers were fully restored, he, as her subordinate, would naturally reap untold benefits as his own status rose.

“Did you seize the opportunity to do what I asked just now?” Baohua asked, a crystalline light flickering in her eyes.

“Master, don’t worry,” Black Alligator replied, his spirits lifting. “I have already planted a bloodline mark on that three-headed flood dragon. Although this won’t allow me to find its exact location, if it comes within a thousand *li* of us in the future, I will immediately sense it.”

“Well done,” Baohua said, a faint smile touching her lips as she praised him. “You both possess the Evil Dragon Clan’s bloodline, and that three-headed demonic flood dragon is Yuanyan’s life-bound spirit beast. Under normal circumstances, the two cannot be separated. From now on, if Yuanyan tries to approach by stealth, I won’t fail to notice.”

“Heh heh,” Black Alligator chuckled, grinning widely. “This is all thanks to the astonishing secret art you taught me; it can even deceive Lord Yuanyan. Otherwise, how could a lowly one like me have such courage?”

“This secret art can only be performed by those with the same bloodline,” Baohua replied with a slight smile. “Furthermore, this is Bitter Spirit Island, where Yuanyan’s divine sense is naturally suppressed to some extent, so it’s not surprising he didn’t detect it. Alright, let’s go.” With a hand seal formed by her jade-like hand, a glow of light flashed behind her. A phantom image of a pink flowering tree appeared and rapidly expanded to an enormous size.

In an instant, the pink light flared intensely, completely enveloping the two figures.

And when the enormous flowering tree vanished with a “bang,” dissolving into countless specks of glowing light, Baohua and Black Alligator were nowhere to be seen.

In an instant, Bitter Spirit Island was devoid of human presence, returning once more to its usual tranquility.

Seven days later, two uninvited guests arrived above Trapped Spirit Valley on Bitter Spirit Island!

They were a man and a woman, high-level demon cultivators who appeared to have a vast age difference.

The man wore azure demonic armor and appeared to be around thirty years old. As his eyes moved, sharp glints of light emanated, giving him a formidable and powerful appearance.

The woman, however, was a white-haired, wrinkled old crone, her face covered in wrinkles, holding a crane-headed staff, and appearing extremely aged.

The two floated above the valley, their gazes constantly sweeping around as if searching for something.

After a long while, the old crone let out a cold snort and suddenly pointed her staff at the empty space below.

With a mighty “boom”!

A section of the ground below instantly collapsed, revealing a huge pit several *zhang* in diameter.

“That hussy Baohua truly has been here,” the old crone said, her voice hoarse and extremely unpleasant, but the content of her words was even more startling. “There are still traces of her aura. This time, I absolutely won’t let her escape.”

“Junior Sister,” the azure-armored man said, his sharp gaze softening as he turned to glance at the old crone, “so many years have passed, and you still haven’t let go of that resentment in your heart. No wonder your cultivation hasn’t progressed all these years.” He let out a soft sigh.

“It’s easy for you to say!” the old crone retorted sharply, enraged by his words. “If it weren’t for that hussy Baohua back then, how would my physical body have been destroyed, forcing me to possess this decrepit old body and eliminating any major possibility of further advancement? Or perhaps you still harbor old feelings and have forgotten how she destroyed several of your avatars back then?”

“What’s the use of bringing up what happened years ago?” the azure-armored man said with a calm tone that belied his formidable appearance. “It only disturbs your state of mind in vain.”

“Stop speaking so indifferently!” The old crone’s face was filled with jealousy and hatred; she clearly didn’t believe him. “Tianqi, if you truly forgot about this matter, why did you rush here so eagerly the moment you received a message from Yuanyan?”

“Junior Sister, whether you believe it or not,” the azure-armored man replied calmly, “my Crying Blood Demonic Art has cultivated to the realm of Forgetfulness, and I have long been free of emotions like love and hate. The reason I came with you is actually for an exotic treasure on Baohua’s person. Only by obtaining that exotic treasure will I have a chance to pass my next heavenly tribulation.”

“An exotic treasure? Could it be the Thunder Control Talisman in her possession?” The red-robed old crone’s wrinkled face twitched when she heard this, and she finally seemed to recall something as she asked.

“Exactly, that’s the treasure,” the azure-armored man said frankly. “Baohua has successfully passed so many great heavenly tribulations by relying on this very item. As for her personally, I, your Senior Brother, have no interest.”

“Alright, I’ll believe you this once,” the old crone said. After hearing the azure-armored man’s words, her expression softened slightly, but her words remained exceedingly malicious. “Yuanyan said that hussy’s cultivation hasn’t fully recovered yet. As long as we can find her, it will be no problem for us to capture her together. At that time, I’ll properly ‘entertain’ that ‘former ancestor,’ Lady Baohua.”

“Agreed,” the azure-armored man replied without hesitation. “At that time, I’ll get the treasure, and you’ll get the person! Let’s immediately send a message to the nearest Beast Venerable Hall branch and mobilize all personnel to monitor the teleportation formations everywhere. She won’t be able to escape our inescapable net.”

Seeing the azure-armored man’s ruthless demeanor, the last lingering doubts in the old crone’s heart completely dissipated. She immediately agreed, overjoyed.

“However, there’s something else that’s strange,” the azure-armored man muttered, a little puzzled, as another thought occurred to him. “Where did that old crab go? Why wasn’t its trace seen in the thunder sea? That sentient pseudo-immortal puppet, whose powers are almost on par with those of the grand ancestors, cannot be ignored. Could this matter be related to Baohua?”

“It is indeed a bit strange,” the red-robed old crone said, shaking her head repeatedly after a moment’s thought. “That pseudo-immortal puppet has existed in this realm since before our time, and for tens of thousands of years, it has never left the thunder sea for a single step. Now it’s suddenly gone, which is indeed unsettling. But to say it’s related to Baohua, that’s highly unlikely, isn’t it? If that hussy truly possessed such ability, wouldn’t she have spirited it away when she was an ancestor, instead of falling into her current predicament?”

“Didn’t Yuanyan’s ‘Immortal Extermination Order’ mention a Human Race cultivator in the Integration Stage?” the azure-armored man mused for a moment, then slowly spoke. “Could it be related to that kid?”

“Perhaps,” the red-robed old crone said, her face twisting into a snarl. “But that has nothing to do with us, as long as it doesn’t interfere with our pursuit of Baohua. The small bounty Yuanyan issued isn’t even worth our attention. There’s no need to bother with it.”

“Junior Sister, what you say makes sense; finding Baohua is more important,” the azure-armored man said, nodding despite a faint unease in his heart after considering it further. “We shouldn’t be distracted right now. Let’s go.”

With a movement of their bodies, the two transformed into a red and an azure ball of spiritual light respectively, and vanished into the sky.

Amidst the churning, turbulent waves, a Qing-colored wooden boat, seven to eight *zhang* long, steadily sailed across the sea surface.

At the front of the wooden boat stood a young man in a Qing robe, his hands clasped behind his back, gazing unmoving at the distant sea.

His expression was exceptionally calm; it was Han Li, who had now reached the edge of the Demonic Abyss Sea.

Relying on the large amount of medicinal pills he had, his injuries had recovered significantly. However, after performing the second Nirvana Transformation of the Nirvana Rebirth Technique, using the Xuan-Heaven Spirit-Slaying Sword, and engaging in a full-power clash with the Golden Giant Crab, his fundamental essence had indeed been harmed.

Even with the aid of spirit pills, it would likely take him at least half a year to fully recover his cultivation to its peak.

However, Han Li was completely unconcerned by this. With “Daoist Crab,” transformed from the Golden Giant Crab, by his side, he wouldn’t fear even ordinary Demon Saint Ancestors, provided he didn't encounter those few Ancestor-level old monsters again.

However, after obtaining Daoist Crab, this pseudo-immortal puppet, Han Li’s original intention of leaving the Demon Realm as quickly as possible changed.

He had been able to enter the Demon Realm by taking advantage of the demons’ automatic opening of a passage to the Spirit Realm. Otherwise, once the Human-Demon War ended, even if he advanced to the Mahayana stage, entering the Demon Realm again would not be easy.

Therefore, after careful consideration over the past few days, he decided to seize the opportunity to stay in the Demon Realm for a while longer and acquire several benefits that he had not yet obtained.

These so-called benefits were naturally the Demon Realm’s special product, Blood-Tooth Rice, and the crystal beads from the mysterious Exotic Demon Gold, which he hadn't fully understood yet.

One of these items could strengthen his physical body by another level, while the other could rapidly convert stored energy into True Force within his body, saving a significant amount of cultivation time. Naturally, both were things he absolutely had to obtain.

And according to the information he had obtained, both items were located in the same place.

“Azure Waterfall Lake!” Han Li murmured to himself, a glint of fiery anticipation flashing in his eyes.

The unusual glint in Han Li’s eyes quickly faded. After a brief moment of thought, he suddenly flipped his palm, revealing a golden beetle in his hand.

It was a mature Gold Devouring Beetle.

However, this Gold Devouring Beetle was curled motionless in his palm, completely devoid of aura, appearing as if it were dead or in a state of suspended animation.

What was even more bizarre was that dense silver cracks had appeared on the beetle’s body, making it look as though it could shatter completely at any moment.

Han Li gazed at the spirit insect, his brows slightly furrowed, his eyes flickering, lost in thought.

At the same time, in a cabin three to four *zhang* wide aboard the Qing-colored wooden boat, a fair-skinned young man sat cross-legged, still as a statue, his eyes tightly closed and his face devoid of expression.

Not far opposite him, a beautiful yellow-robed girl also sat cross-legged on a futon, seemingly meditating and cultivating. However, her eyes would occasionally steal glances at the young man, a faint, unusual blush subtly coloring her cheeks.