Chapter 2250: Black Gourd City

The demoness was the first to fly near Han Li. She dared not approach too closely, stopping her flight seven or eight zhang away. She hastily bowed and said, "Greetings, honored sirs. Thank you, esteemed senior, for saving my life."

After briefly sensing their presence with her spiritual sense and realizing that the auras of Han Li and the other two were unfathomable, her demeanor naturally became even more respectful and cautious.

"Who are you all, and where is the nearest city?" Han Li asked curtly, his face expressionless.

"My companions and I are crystal gatherers from Chaotic Cloud Mountain. The nearest city is Black Gourd City to the north. If Senior wishes to go there, I am willing to personally lead the way," the demoness replied without hesitation.

"Black Gourd City? I haven't heard of it before. There's no need for you to lead the way, but give me a map of this area," Han Li ordered unceremoniously.

"I happen to have the most detailed map of this nearby region. It would naturally be my honor if Senior would accept it," the demoness said. She immediately took out a dark, unassuming stone tablet from her person and presented it with both hands.

Han Li nodded. With a single gesture of his hand, the stone tablet whooshed into his grasp. After sweeping his spiritual sense through it, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.

By this time, the other demons had also flown to stand beside the woman, but they all stood respectfully with their hands at their sides, not daring to even breathe heavily.

"Good. Now, who can tell me what these 'Blight Insects' you mentioned are about? I recall never having seen such swarms of insects in the Sacred Realm before, and their auras also seem somewhat different from ordinary demonic insects," Han Li asked, sweeping his gaze over the demons after putting away the stone tablet.

"Ah, Senior doesn't know about Blight Insects?" The demoness was startled by his words, a hint of hesitation appearing on her face. The other demons also stirred, glancing at each other, none daring to speak easily.

"I have indeed not been active in the world for several centuries. Is it strange that I don't recognize these Blight Insects?" Han Li said noncommittally, his expression unchanged.

"So, you are a reclusive senior who has been in arduous secluded cultivation. No wonder you are unaware of these Blight Insect swarms. These malevolent insects have actually only appeared in the last century. It is said that they were originally ordinary demonic insects of the Sacred Realm, but somehow, they suddenly underwent mutations, transforming into their current ferocious forms. Now, these Blight Insects are rampant throughout the entire Sacred Realm. I've also heard that in some areas with excessive Blight Insect swarms, towns have been besieged and even massacred by them. Consequently, the entire Sacred Realm is now in turmoil, and people are living in fear," the demoness quickly explained after her thoughts raced.

"Massacres! Heh heh. With such chaos in the Sacred Realm, have the Three Grand Ancestors and other Sacred Ancestors not intervened to suppress these Blight Insects? Although these Blight Insect swarms are much more powerful than ordinary demonic insects, they are utterly defenseless against Sacred Ancestor-level beings," Han Li said, pondering for a moment before slowly asking.

"My cultivation is low, so I truly do not know about the matters concerning the Grand Ancestors and Sacred Ancestors. I only know that since the appearance of these Blight Insects, apart from occasionally hearing that in some severely afflicted areas, a few Sacred Ancestors have appeared to suppress certain Blight Insect swarms, the Sacred Ancestors in most other regions and all three Grand Ancestors seem to have simultaneously disappeared," the demoness replied carefully after a moment of hesitation.

"All Sacred Ancestor-level beings have disappeared! When did this happen?" Han Li's eyes flashed upon hearing this, and he pressed on without hesitation.

"I cannot say the exact time, but it seems to have happened around the same time as the appearance of these Blight Insects," the demoness replied respectfully.

"Very good, I am satisfied with your answers. You may leave now." Upon hearing this, Han Li no longer had any doubts in his mind, and he gave a calm command.

"Yes, we shall take our leave now," the demoness said respectfully, a sense of relief washing over her. After backing up a few steps, she turned and flew away.

The other demons hastily bowed and then quickly followed her.

In the blink of an eye, only Han Li and his two companions remained in the nearby void.

"Brother Han, it seems that the Grand Ascension stage beings in the Demon Realm and our Spirit Realm have truly encountered trouble. Otherwise, the situation in the Demon Realm would not have deteriorated to such an extent," Yin Yue said with a sigh, as soon as the demons had gone far.

"Indeed, the situation in the Demon Realm is not looking good. But to know the specifics, we will need to investigate further. Black Gourd City, I presume, has a Demon Venerable stationed there. Given their status as Venerables, they should surely know something about the Sacred Ancestors and the Grand Ascension stage beings of our Spirit Realm," Han Li said, his expression becoming somewhat solemn.

"Brother Han's words are reasonable. Then let us make a trip to Black Gourd City," Yin Yue said, smiling sweetly upon hearing this.

"Heh heh, before we go to that city, there's one more thing we need to do first," Han Li chuckled softly. He then suddenly shook his sleeve, and a patch of hazy gray light swept out.

After the light gathered in front of him, a gray giant insect, about a zhang in size, suddenly appeared on the ground.

It was precisely the two-headed Blight Insect he had captured earlier!

This insect's aura was not weak, possessing power comparable to a late-stage Soul Transformation cultivator. It clearly held a not insignificant position within the insect swarm.

The moment the insect appeared, its wings immediately vibrated frantically, attempting to take flight and escape.

But the next moment, a terrifying aura surged skyward from Han Li.

The two-headed giant insect felt the air around it tighten, and its entire body was forcefully pressed back onto the ground by an invisible immense force.

The two heads of the giant insect thrashed wildly, but its body could not move an inch. It could only emit muffled whimpers.

Upon seeing the giant insect, a hint of realization appeared on Yin Yue's face.

Han Li's eyes flickered slightly. With a movement of his sleeve, a hand extended, its five fingers spread apart, and he pressed it towards one of the giant insect's heads in the air.

A hissing sound rang out.

Five crystalline threads shot out from his fingertips, piercing through the air. In a flash, they plunged into the giant insect's head.

The giant insect, which had been struggling violently, trembled, then instantly collapsed motionless onto the ground.

At the same time, Han Li's eyes were slightly closed, and faint golden light shimmered unsteadily around his body.

He was actually performing a soul-searching technique directly on this giant insect.

Time passed bit by bit. After about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Han Li's eyes opened. The crystalline threads from his fingers coiled back from the insect's head, transforming into specks of crystalline light that disappeared into the void.

With a "bang."

The giant insect's head pulsed erratically, and then suddenly exploded and shattered on its own.

Han Li moved his sleeve, and a fireball flew out, transforming into rolling crimson flames that enveloped the insect's corpse. In an instant, it turned to ashes.

"Brother Han, did you get any information?" Yin Yue couldn't help but ask.

"No. These strange insects do not possess true sentience, only some very basic conscious instincts. I wasted my effort just now," Han Li said, shaking his head with a somewhat strange expression.

"So that's how it is. That's not really surprising. Although these Blight Insects have become extremely ferocious due to mutation, their sentience cannot be instantly awakened in a short time. However, for us, it's not entirely bad news," Yin Yue said with a smile, her eyes flickering.

"Indeed! If they only rely on instinct, even if there are countless Blight Insects, they won't pose a significant threat to Grand Ascension stage beings. Let's go. We'll head to Black Gourd City now. I imagine we can get real intelligence there," Han Li replied with a slight smile.

So, the three of them activated their escape lights simultaneously, changing direction and shooting off towards the north.

A day later, Han Li and his two companions entered a plateau covered in black soil. After flying for several more hours, a dark, sprawling city, spanning three to four hundred li, vaguely appeared in the far distance.

According to the map, it was indeed Black Gourd City, as mentioned by the demoness. However, at this moment, the demon city was filled with earth-shattering cries of battle, completely surrounded from all directions by another hazy gray sea of insects, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The number of Blight Insects in this sea of insects was so vast that everywhere their eyes could see, there were overwhelming layers of gray insect shadows.

The number of Blight Insects in the swarm Han Li had seen earlier was also quite astonishing, but compared to the sea of insects before them, it immediately paled in comparison, utterly incomparable.

At this moment, Black Gourd City was covered by a layer of light black energy barrier, like a giant inverted bowl.

These dense masses of strange insects, either brandishing their sharp claws or baring their fangs, were all ferociously attacking the black energy barrier.

On the city walls and in the high air within the barrier, there were also dense masses of demon figures. They either activated demonic artifacts of varying ranks or directly unleashed demonic techniques, furiously attacking the Blight Insects on the barrier. These attacking Blight Insects were clearly not of high rank and utterly incapable of withstanding any single blow from the demons; they either exploded into showers of blood or were severed into multiple pieces and fell from the high sky.

Within Black Gourd City, countless arrows flew out like a torrential rain, piercing through and killing many Blight Insects.

In the center of the dark city, hundreds of tall towers vaguely appeared. Electrical light continuously flickered around them, and a constant rumbling sound echoed. Every moment, hundreds of black lightning arcs violently burst forth from them, then instantly transformed into countless black electrical threads that struck beyond the energy barrier, turning countless Blight Insects into ashes in an instant.

On the surface, it seemed as if the demons within the city, protected by the defensive restrictions, only needed to attack with all their might and were clearly gaining the upper hand.

But what kind of person was Han Li? With a slight flicker of blue light in his eyes, he clearly saw the true situation within the city and instinctively frowned slightly.

In just that brief moment, the black energy barrier covering the city walls had dimmed slightly compared to before. And the demons on the city walls, still desperately attacking, had evidently turned pale and were panting heavily, looking as though their magical power was already being overdrawn.

Suddenly, the rumbling sounds in the city abruptly ceased. The black electrical light on the hundred-plus tall towers silently vanished, and their attacks stopped.