In the next instant, the elderly voice abruptly cut off.

"I should've known that he would come here to take a look," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan said with a dark expression.

"Isn't Nie Pan currently hibernating to recover from his injuries? In that case, that must've been one of his three clones; I wonder how long he's been here for," Bao Hua mused.

"He most likely only recently arrived. Otherwise, there's no way he would've been able to remain hidden from us. I'm just concerned that that human brat will think that we sent someone after him, and he'll detonate the spiritual sense on the spirit medicines in retaliation," Yuan Yan said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"As long as we don't pursue him in person, I'm sure he wouldn't do something so foolish, but it'll be hard to say if he finds himself in life-threatening peril. After all, it wouldn't be surprising if he were to do something insane when he's on the brink of death," Bao Hua replied.

"There's no way a clone of Nie Pan's would be able to pose a real threat to his life. Even if he can't defeat the clone in battle, he'll definitely be able to get away," Yuan Yan said as his expression eased slightly.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Don't forget that among the three devilish patriarchs, Nie Pan is the one who bears the heaviest grudge against the Spirit Realm. Many years ago, his Dao Companion was killed by a Grand Ascension Stage being in the Spirit Realm during a past sacred sacrifice," Bao Hua said with a shake of her head.

"I'm naturally aware of that, but his true body is currently in hibernation; unless all three of his clones were to combine their powers, he won't be able to do anything to that human brat," Yuan Yan replied in a nonchalant manner.

"It looks like you still don't know about that thing; Nie Pan sure is good at keeping secrets," Bao Hua said as a peculiar look flashed through her eyes.

"What are you referring to?" Yuan Yan asked as his expression darkened slightly.

"Many years ago, Nie Pan and I had once joined forces to kill a Grand Ascension Stage being from another realm, and we obtained many treasures from him. Among those treasures were two drops of diluted Heavenly Fortune Elixir, but they're far more efficacious than the drop that the Spirit Monarch possessed, and they're only around three times more diluted than Heavenly Fortune Elixir. We split the two drops among us, and I've already used up my drop, but up until I left our holy realm, Nie Pan still had his drop, so he's most likely retained it up to this point," Bao Hua explained.

"So this is Faux Immortal Elixir that's only three times more diluted than Heavenly Fortune Elixir?" Yuan Yan was stunned to hear this.

"That's right. With a drop of Faux Immortal Elixir of that level of purity, I'm sure you know what Nie Pan's going to do to kill that Han brat," Bao Hua said in an indifferent manner.

"You're saying Nie Pan is going to awaken that thing? That's certainly not impossible. Even though he hasn't witnessed that human brat in battle, the fact that he was able to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond despite our presence is a sufficient indication of his powers," Yuan Yan said as his expression darkened slightly.

"You and I are both aware that aside from the reason we gave in to that Han brat, the main reason we haven't destroyed the Bitter Spirit Island is because we're wary of that thing. There are only several types of legendary treasures that can be used to awaken that Faux Immortal Puppet, and Heavenly Fortune Elixir just so happens to be one of the most effective ones; a drop of Faux Immortal Elixir that's a third as efficacious will be enough to buy two attacks from it," Bao Hua said.

"Two attacks? That thing's not restricted by the world's origin Qi in this area! If that human brat doesn't use his Profound Heavenly Treasure to protect himself, just a single attack will be more than enough to kill him!" the black-robed young man exclaimed.

"You seem very concerned about him," Bao Hua remarked with a smile.

"Hmph, you make it sound like you're not concerned. What if he detonates our spirit medicines before he dies?" Yuan Yan snapped.

"If that thing really does get awakened, do you think that Han brat will have time to think about detonating his spiritual sense? He'll be far too busy thinking about how to save his own life. As long as we don't appear near him, our spirit medicines won't even enter his mind, and if he manages to survive using his Profound Heavenly Treasure, he'll have no reason to destroy our spirit medicines, so all we have to do is wait here," Bao Hua said in a confident manner.

The black-robed young man thought about this for a moment before nodding in response. "That does make sense."

......

Han Li was flying rapidly through the sea of lightning with his 72 small azure swords flying around him, arcs of golden lightning coursing over his body, and his two extreme mountains shielding him like a pair of giant umbrellas from above.

Even though he didn't have his companions by his side, he was exiting the sea of lightning almost twice as fast as he had entered it, and this was naturally a result of everyone concealing their true powers while entering the sea of lightning.

Furthermore, after undergoing that complete transformation in the Spirit Cleansing Pond, his physical body alone was powerful enough to withstand this sea of lightning for some time.

After a while, a hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face.

The edge of the sea of lightning wasn't far away, and he took a deep breath as he accelerated to fly out of the sea of lightning, but right at this moment, the rumbling thunderclaps around him suddenly ceased, and the countless bolts of lightning crashing down from above abruptly parted in a miraculous scene.

All of a sudden, no more bolts of lightning were raining down from above, but a terrifying aura was emanating from the dark clouds up above alongside a vast expanse of scintillating silver lightning.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately stopped before looking up at the silver light with a wary expression.

Blue light was flashing within his eyes, and after the span of just a few breaths, the silver lightning up above faded, and a mountainous creature appeared.

The creature was of a shimmering golden color and had arcs of lightning coursing all over its body; it was none other than that golden crab!

There was currently a golden-robed middle-aged man standing atop one of the golden crab's giant pincers.

The middle-aged also had golden skin and a pair of deep set green eyes that gave off a sinister appearance.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the middle-aged man, only to discover that he was unable to detect his exact cultivation base, and that made him even warier about the situation.

It was either the case that the middle-aged man possessed a cultivation base that was far superior to his or he was using a special secret technique or treasure to hide his cultivation base. Either way, this was definitely bad news for Han Li.

However, he could sense that Bao Hua and Yuan Yan were still situated on the Bitter Spirit Island, so he wasn't overly fearful and merely appraised the middle-aged man in silence.

"You're a Spirit Realm being?" the golden-robed man asked in a cold voice.

"I am. May I ask who you are?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"All Spirit Realm beings deserve to die, and you're no exception!" the golden-robed man said as a vicious light flashed through his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

However, the golden-robed man had no intention of explaining anything to Han Li. Instead, he suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a small golden vial before tipping it upside down.

In the next instant, a drop of green liquid flowed out of it before vanishing into the golden crab's giant pincer.

"Heavenly Fortune Elixir!" Han Li exclaimed as his pupils abruptly contracted.

"So you know of this elixir as well," the golden-robed man said in a slightly taken aback manner.

Right at this moment, the arcs of lightning coursing over the giant golden crab's body suddenly faded, and at the same time, countless shimmering golden runes instantly appeared over its body. It also opened its gigantic eyes, revealing them to be a shimmering golden color as well.

"You offered me something quite good this time, Nie Pan; I can lend you my assistance for the offering that you've made," the giant golden crab said in a rumbling voice, and it seemed to be extremely intelligent.

Han Li was stunned to see this, yet before he could properly assess the situation, the golden-robed man stabbed a finger at him, and said, "Kill this Spirit Realm brat!"

"Alright, but for the elixir that you offered me, I'll only attack twice regardless of whether I successfully kill him or not; would you still like to go through with this?" the golden crab asked as it settled its gaze on Han Li, who was immediately struck by a bone-chilling sensation.

"Haha, go right ahead! With your powers, two attacks are enough to kill even the average Grand Ascension Stage being!" the middle-aged chortled in response.

"Alright then." The golden crab raised one of its giant pincers, which transformed into a pair of gigantic golden scissors that was over 1,000 feet in length before sweeping toward Han Li.

Golden light flashed on either side of Han Li's body, and the golden scissors appeared without any warning before its blades were viciously closed.