Chapter 1369: Undercurrents

A cluster of faint white light rose from the forest, within which a faint outline of a tower ship over twenty zhang long could be seen.

This ship had two decks, its entire body pure white as if refined from beautiful jade, and its surface bore cloud-like strange floral patterns, with gold and silver colored runes shimmering upon it, giving it an extraordinary aura.

As the jade ship trembled, those gold and silver colored runes suddenly burst open with loud bangs, instantly transforming into fragments of white clouds that enveloped the ship, turning it into what appeared to be an ordinary giant cloud.

After the giant cloud circled once, it silently and soundlessly flew off in a certain direction.

A strange scene appeared!

Though this cloud looked light and drifting, seemingly flying extremely slowly, in the blink of an eye it had traveled over a hundred zhang away, its speed seemingly no slower than that of an ordinary Soul Transformation cultivator.

"Not bad, truly worthy of the Long family that controls the human auction house—even possessing such a spirit vessel suitable for long journeys. Though the Spirit Cloud Ship is not particularly rare, its escape speed is so fast it might be among the finest of its kind." Xiao Hong stood at the bow, surveying everything on the ship, a hint of satisfaction appearing on her face as she praised.

"Hehe, Xiao Xianzi is too kind. As a noble of one of the seven great demon races, what treasure have I not seen? My Spirit Cloud Ship merely has decent escape speed. However, the space aboard this ship is indeed quite large—over ten quiet chambers. Aside from needing one person on watch outside each day, the rest can rest in the quiet chambers. If all goes well, half a year won't be too long for us; perhaps it will pass in the blink of an eye during cultivation." Long Dong said politely.

"That works. We'll take turns on watch every ten days, with the others free to move about the ship. First, each person picks their own quiet chamber." The young woman nodded.

Hearing their words, Han Li and the others naturally had no objections. Immediately, each person selected a satisfactory chamber aboard the ship.

Of course, since these were personal chambers for rest and meditation, everyone naturally set up additional restrictions inside to prevent others from peeking.

Afterward, the five discussed briefly and finalized the watch schedule.

Coincidentally, Han Li was arranged to be last in the rotation—meaning his turn would come forty days later.

Once everything was arranged, Han Li said nothing more to the others and simply entered his own quiet chamber, activating the restriction.

The black-clad young woman and others behaved similarly.

Aside from Long Dong on watch, the others immediately entered their respective chambers.

Seeing this, Long Dong twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, then returned to the front of the spirit ship, flipped his hand, and suddenly produced a green-colored futon.

He placed it on the ground and sat cross-legged upon it.

"Half a year... I truly look forward to this day arriving." The blood-marked youth moved his lips slightly, murmuring in a voice too low to hear, then slowly closed his eyes, though a strange smile lingered on his face for a long time.

In a quiet chamber several zhang large aboard the jade ship, Xiao Hong and the white-browed youth sat facing each other on wooden chairs.

"What? You say that little girl named Ye Ying possesses the blood of the Heavenly Phoenix and is also a descendant of a true spirit clan?" The white-browed youth seemed to have heard something astonishing from the young woman, his face filled with shock.

"Why are you so surprised, Daoist Li? Your Ying Eagle race is also a rare avian species—I don't believe you feel nothing regarding this girl's Heavenly Phoenix bloodline. As for our Black Phoenix clan, though we are a branch of the Phoenix race, when it comes to the purity of the Heavenly Phoenix blood, we still cannot compare to this girl. However, sensing the Heavenly Phoenix blood in her body poses no problem at all—it will never be wrong." Xiao Hong said solemnly.

"Ah, now I understand! I wondered why, upon seeing this girl, my heart felt extremely unsettled, with a hidden sense of apprehension. That's why, back in the forest, my behavior was somewhat flustered. But when Xiao Xianzi and Li Mou speak of these matters, could there be some idea behind it?" The white-browed youth exhaled lightly, though a strange expression appeared on his face.

"Nothing much. If this girl bore the blood of another true spirit, it would be fine. But it happens to be the blood of the Heavenly Phoenix, hailed as the King of All Birds. This signifies something—Daoist Li, you surely don't truly fail to understand, do you?" The young woman smiled charmingly, but her eyes turned icy cold.

"Hmph, I naturally understand your meaning. But don't forget the elders' instructions before departure and the importance of this mission to our demon race. If personal matters delay our clan's major affairs, even if we obtain the Heavenly Phoenix blood, we won't live to enjoy it." The white-browed youth fell silent for a moment, then let out a cold laugh.

"Hehe! When did Xiao Mei say she would act before reaching our destination? This mission naturally must first ensure completion. But after completion, we can act whenever we wish." Xiao Hong said with a light laugh.

"Act after success? Hmm, if it doesn't interfere with the mission, that's not impossible. But will the other two help him? Even if we truly obtain the Heavenly Phoenix blood, how would the two of us divide it? This blood cannot be split in two." The white-browed youth's eyes flashed, he pondered briefly, then shook his head.

"Though the Heavenly Phoenix blood is useful to you as well, its use is even more important to our Black Phoenix clan. Here's an idea: as long as Daoist Li helps me obtain the spirit blood, I am willing to offer three Black Flame Pills as payment. As for the other two, I will naturally find a way to distract them. Moreover, the Black Stone Forest is extremely dangerous—whether they can retreat safely remains uncertain." The young woman gritted her teeth slightly and proposed an astonishing condition.

"Three Black Flame Pills. Is this true?" The white-browed youth exclaimed in surprise, then immediately rejoiced.

"In the Black Phoenix clan, I also hold some status—three Black Flame Pills may be worth a fortune in the outside world, but after years of accumulation, I have indeed refined three. Originally, I intended to use them for breaking into the Void Refinement realm." The young woman revealed a hint of a bitter smile.

"Then it's settled. Once the mission is complete, I will assist you on the return journey. However, true spirit blood is not so easily extracted. Especially this true spirit lineage, which has likely endured for countless years, its blood nearly fully integrated into these human bodies, making it even harder to obtain." The white-browed youth recalled something, furrowed his brow, and said.

"Rest assured. Our Black Phoenix clan may have no good method for other true bloods, but the separation of Heavenly Phoenix blood has been researched for who knows how long. I at least have seventy to eighty percent confidence." The young woman said proudly.

"With such confidence from the Xianzi, that's good." The white-browed youth heard this and nodded in satisfaction.

……

In another quiet chamber, the white-robed girl Ye Ying formed seals with her hands, eyes slightly closed, sitting cross-legged on a jade bed. Behind her head, a cyan-colored halo several feet in diameter slowly rotated.

Upon closer inspection, this halo was not only perfectly round, but also had white-colored flames about a chi high flickering at its edge, and within the halo, a humanoid phantom sat cross-legged.

This light and shadow vaguely resembled the girl in appearance, though its form was several times smaller, yet similarly with eyes slightly closed and hands forming seals.

For some unknown reason, the girl's lips twitched slightly, revealing a faint, almost imperceptible mocking smile, and almost simultaneously, the phantom's face in the halo revealed the exact same expression, as if the two were essentially the same person.

This situation was truly strange to the extreme.

……

Han Li paced back and forth in his quiet chamber, his expression blank, but his eyes flickered, as if pondering something.

In a corner of the quiet chamber, on a jade table, there were two other small objects.

A leopard-like creature the size of a wild cat, limbs splayed, lay limp and listless, appearing lazy and languid.

On the furry head of this small leopard sat a tiny monkey a few inches tall, its entire body covered in glossy black fur, its eyes darting around, staring intently at Han Li, full of spirit.

Suddenly, Han Li stopped his steps, flipped his palm, and produced a small bottle and a piece of milky white jade slip in his hand.

The bottle bore ancient patterns, inscribed with three ancient characters—clearly the three large characters "Mie Chen Dan" upon close inspection.

Han Li touched the medicine bottle with his finger for a moment, let out a soft sigh, then a flash of spirit light occurred, and the medicine bottle vanished without a trace, leaving only the jade slip.

This jade slip was exactly the item left behind by those mysterious cultivators who visited him before he departed from Tian Yuan City.

Han Li played with the jade slip for a moment, then suddenly pressed it against his forehead, immersing his spiritual sense into it.

Within the jade slip lay an extremely large map, but this map appeared to be missing more than half, and at the edge of the missing portion, a dot flashed with a faint golden light.

Although he had already examined it more than once, Han Li still couldn't help but look again carefully, as if hoping to find something from it.

……

Far away, hundreds of thousands of li from Tian Yuan City, in an unusually secret underground chamber, a monk and a Daoist sat facing each other at what appeared to be an ordinary green stone table.

The Daoist was about forty years old, with thick brows and large eyes, his complexion pale gold.

The monk, however, was an old monk with half a foot of white beard, his face layered with wrinkles, his eyes narrowed into slits, as if so old he could barely open his eyes.

"Calculating the time, those sent to the several clans should have mostly gathered by now, en route, right?" The old monk said weakly.

"Indeed, the time is about right. I truly don't understand why, after Jin Yue emerged from seclusion, he suddenly changed his original plan and insisted on sending these several juniors to foreign lands. These people are all recently ascended cultivators, among the most outstanding. Others may not know, but you should be clear—these tasks of bringing back information from foreign races seem simple, but are actually extremely dangerous. The demon races sent personnel who appear to cooperate with us on the surface, but may actually have another plan." The Daoist replied, then a hint of doubt appeared on his face.

"You should know why the various clans are restless this time." The old monk did not directly answer the Daoist's words, but slowly asked in return.

"How could I not know this? It's simply that a new item, the Heavenly Treasure of the Profound Heaven, has appeared on the Chaos Myriad Spirits List, and it ranks among the top three. I heard it's called the 'Profound Heaven Slaying Spirit Sword'!" Upon hearing the old monk's question, the Daoist's heart jolted, and his expression unconsciously became solemn.

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