“So this is Iron Sand Ridge. The devilish Qi here is far more abundant than in other places; there must be a lot of devilish beasts here,” Han Li murmured to himself in a contemplative manner as he stood at the front of the flying boat.

"The Azure Wing Race is adept in beast-taming techniques, so the virtually endless supply of devilish beasts here makes it an ideal place for them to settle. Otherwise, with their meager population, there's no way they'd be able to control such a large area," the woman from Ye Family replied.

"Beast-taming techniques, eh? The fact that these Azure Wing beings are relying on devilish beasts suggests that their powers are most likely somewhat lackluster," Han Li replied with a smile.

"That may be the case for normal Azure Wing beings, but I doubt the core Azure Wing beings that we're targeting will have the same weakness. After all, the Azure Luan bloodline is nothing to be scoffed at," the woman from the Ye Family replied as a slightly solemn look appeared in his eyes.

"We're already prepared to face a Sacred Ancestor clone, so those core Azure Wing beings won't be a cause for concern. Having said that, I can see that these Azure Wing beings are living in clusters of villages; it's most likely going to be rather troublesome to find a suitable target among them," Han Li said.

"Indeed. The issue is that we can't linger here for more than a month. Otherwise, we'll be late for the agreed date to meet up with the others," the woman from the Ye Family said in a slightly concerned manner.

"As long as our luck doesn't turn out to be too horrible, a month should be enough. Besides, don't you have a special treasure that can sense our targets within a radius of five kilometers?" Han Li asked.

"That is indeed true, but the core Azure Wing beings are definitely heavily guarded at all times, so it won't be easy to approach them. Perhaps we'll have to take a risk and infiltrate some of the larger villages," the woman from the Ye Family replied with a wry smile.

"As long as we're not unfortunate enough to infiltrate the village that Sacred Ancestor Ling Yuan is situated in, there shouldn't be any issues," Han Li said.

"I certainly hope so. It's a pity we don't know exactly where that Sacred Ancestor Ling Yuan is residing. Otherwise, we'll be able to significantly minimize the risk involved," the woman from the Ye Family sighed in a forlorn manner.

"I also hope that we won't alert that Sacred Ancestor clone, but it'll be down to luck in the end. Seeing as we're going after such a tantalizing reward, it's only fair that we assume some risk; nothing comes for free, after all," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Hehe, if I were on my own, then I would be feeling very uneasy, but with you here to assist me, there should be no problems. Let's enter the Iron Sand Ridge now; we'll have to get out of this flying treasure and proceed on foot now," the woman from the Ye Family said as she pointed toward the mountain range in the distance.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and he nodded before flying out of the black boat.

The woman from the Ye Family made a hand seal, and the flying boat quickly shrank down to a miniature palm-sized boat amid a flash of black light.

After that, the two conversed for a while longer before flying toward the mountain range in the distance as two streaks of light.

Shortly thereafter, both of them vanished into the mountain range without a trace.

Five days later, Han Li was traversing through a valley between a pair of sheer cliff faces at a rapid speed, covering a distance of several hundred feet with each flash.

He was traveling alone as he and the woman from the Ye Family had decided to split up after entering the mountain range.

Not long after that, Han Li had reached the exit of the valley, and he was just about to fly out into the open when a string of unpleasant squawks suddenly rang out from several caves on the cliff faces on either side of him.

Immediately thereafter, a dozen or so giant green devilish birds flew out of the caves before swooping toward Han Li in a ferocious manner.

The wingspans of these devilish birds were around 50 to 60 feet, and they resembled giant vultures with vicious yellow eyes.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged as he raised a hand and flicked his five fingers through the air in succession.

Five azure threads shot forth from his fingertips, then vanished into the bodies of these devilish birds in a flash.

The devilish birds immediately let loose a squawk of anguish as their dismembered bodies plummeted down from above.

As for Han Li, he had already passed through this area, so not even a single drop of blood had stained his robes.

Meanwhile, in an obscure valley nearby, the woman from the Ye Family was hidden behind a large tree and staring at the entrance to the valley.

The entrance of the valley was filled with dense shrubs that were almost twice as tall as an adult, and it was extremely bleak and barren.

However, the woman stared at the entrance to the valley for two whole hours in an unblinking manner, as if she were appraising something that was extremely interesting.

All of a sudden, a burst of spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the valley, and two winged devilish beings in leather robes appeared.

The two devilish beings inspected their surroundings to ensure that there was nothing amiss, then immediately flew away, quickly vanishing into the distance.

An excited smile appeared on the woman's face upon seeing this, and she immediately made a hand seal, upon which she also disappeared on the spot.

A short while later, the woman from the Ye Family was situated in an obscure cave that was thousands of kilometers away from the valley. She had a palm pressed against the head of a winged devilish being, and there was a layer of five-colored light swirling over her face, indicating that she was using some type of soul search technique.

There was another devilish being lying facedown on the nearby ground, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

A few moments later, the five-colored light vanished from the woman's face, and she released the winged devilish being's head, upon which the latter immediately slumped down onto the ground.

"So this is only a village on the outskirts of the Azure Wing Race. Looks like I'll have to go to some of the larger villages if I want to find some core Azure Wing beings. Before that, I'll inform Fellow Daoist Han of this," the woman murmured to herself with a contemplative look in her eyes.

Immediately thereafter, she made a grabbing motion with one hand, and a white formation plate appeared in her grasp. She quickly swiped a finger over the formation plate, then gently laid a palm over it.

A dull thump rang out as the formation plate exploded into a ball of white light, within which was a line of silver text that disappeared in a flash.

After that, the woman cast her gaze toward the two devilish beings on the ground, and a cold light flashed through her eyes.

......

Han Li was flying through the air when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he flipped a hand over to produce an identical formation plate with the same silver text inscribed on its surface.

Han Li quickly glanced at the line of text before immediately changing directions in his flight.

Half a month later, Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family were standing on a branch of a massive tree situated at the edge of a small basin, which was surrounded by three mountains in a triangular formation. They were currently peering into a cloud of white mist between the mountains, which was releasing an indescribable fragrance.

"Are you sure that this is one of the four major villages of the Azure Wing Race, Fairy Ye?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"There's no mistaking it; this is definitely Incense Village. I used a soul search technique on two Azure Wing beings to secure the exact location of this village. Unfortunately, neither of them were all that powerful, so they didn't know much about this Incense Village. However, I'm sure there are core Azure Wing beings in a village of this scale. The problem is that some powerful restrictions have clearly been set up here, so it won't be easy to infiltrate the village," the woman from the Ye Family replied in a grim manner.

"This should be the right place judging from the fragrant aroma coming from the mist. As for a way to infiltrate the village, I have something up my sleeve, but we'll have to wait for the right opportunity to arise, so let's wait here for now," Han Li said with a confident smile.

The woman from the Ye Family was ecstatic to hear this. "That's great to hear, Brother Han. In that case, I'll be following your lead."

Han Li merely nodded and offered no response, but he suddenly cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

After a while, a giant flying snake that was over 100 feet in length appeared in the distant sky, and it was rapidly flying toward the mountain.

On the back of the flying snake were seven or eight Azure Wing beings, all of whom wore elated expressions.

This was a group of young men and women with the exception of the leader, who was an elderly man that was giving off a powerful aura.

"Alright, the opportunity has arrived," Han Li said in an unhurried manner as he rose to his feet while appraising the group of Azure Wing beings.

The woman from the Ye Family also stood up and turned to Han Li with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Instead of explaining anything, Han Li raised a hand to send an item flying toward the woman.

The woman from the Ye Family faltered slightly before reflexively catching the item to discover that it was a purple talisman.

Han Li then said in a calm voice, "Activate this talisman, and you should be able to sneak into the valley by following those Azure Wing beings. As long as there are no particularly special restrictions set up in this Incense Village, you'll be able to sneak in without any issues. However, take care not to unleash any abilities or the talisman will fail."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he flipped a hand over to produce an identical talisman before immediately adhering it to his own body.

A burst of purple light erupted forth right before the woman's astonished eyes, and countless silver runes surged forth in a frenzy, transforming into a cloud of silver mist that inundated Han Li's entire body.