Chapter 1985: Feint East, Strike West

The huge jade disc had already transformed into a blazing ball of fire-red sun, and the crimson spiritual light radiating from it enveloped the valley below in a thick, solid layer.

Within this crimson light, countless pale silver 'colored' runes flickered incessantly, as if containing some mysterious power within.

Inside the jade disc, three blood-light incarnations stood side by side, making hand seals, with blood light flickering on their bodies, staring unblinkingly at the crystal wall before them.

In the crystal wall's image, numerous crimson light orbs were searching everywhere in the valley, whether in the sky or on the ground, these orbs encountered no obstruction and wandered about freely.

As these light orbs moved, the crystal wall's image changed accordingly, but aside from some stones, trees, and some wild beasts that had not opened their spiritual wisdom, there was nothing else of note.

The faces of the three incarnations grew increasingly grim, yet they continued to drive those light orbs, inspecting every inch of the area.

Not long after, a tearing sound came from the horizon behind, and a ball of white light shot down from high altitude.

It was Yuan Cha riding the stone hall to this place.

The stone hall almost trembled, then whistled to a stop over a thousand zhang away from the jade disc, and halted its escape light.

Almost simultaneously, a white light flashed on the crystal wall within the jade disc, and a slender figure appeared.

"Yuan Cha Daoist, you have finally arrived." The central blood-light incarnation, upon seeing the female image, immediately showed a hint of a smile and asked.

"No need for idle talk. Was that brat truly trapped by you in the valley?" Yuan Cha glanced at the three, then spoke lightly.

"That is naturally true. How could I dare deceive a Daoist friend? After I chased that brat down, he actually burrowed underground, hoping to use earth escape to flee, but instead I seized the opportunity to use the Qiankun Disc to seal this place, making it impossible for him to escape outside. However, I do not know what concealment technique he used, for a time I could not find him. This is where I must trouble Yuan Cha Daoist." Another blood-light incarnation replied somewhat coldly.

"Hmm, that is best. I will personally deploy the magic element** to force this brat out." Yuan Cha nodded and agreed in one breath.

"Do not worry, let one of us accompany Daoist friend into the valley; it can also serve as guarding the Daoist friend one or two, to prevent that brat from taking advantage to launch a sneak attack." The last blood-light incarnation, however, said coldly.

"Guarding the Dao? Hmph, are you trying to monitor this seat?" Upon hearing this, the woman not only did not like it, but her expression immediately darkened.

"Hehe, Yuan Cha Daoist, do not misunderstand! That brat has many tricks and also possesses several great treasures on his person, so we must still be on guard against this." The central blood-light incarnation, however, gave a hehe laugh.

"Do as you wish; if you want to send someone along, this seat will not stop you. But it is best not to harbor other intentions. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, do not blame me for not showing favor." The woman's eyes flickered a few times, then she replied expressionlessly with two sentences.

Afterward, this woman did not wait for the blood-light's reply, and with a hand seal, she vanished from the crystal wall.

"Good, as previously discussed. You go monitor this woman; once that brat is truly found, notify me immediately. We must absolutely not let this brat fall into Yuan Cha's hands first." The central blood-light incarnation's smile vanished completely, and he spoke gloomily to the other incarnation.

"Rest assured, I will adapt as needed. That brat, even if his magic power is insufficient now, could not possibly be captured by Yuan Cha in one or two moves. However, before that brat appears, you two must absolutely not relax the Qiankun Disc restriction, lest he take the opportunity to escape again."

The remaining two naturally nodded in agreement!

……

At the same time, the distant stone hall suddenly emitted a tremendous rumbling, and with countless runes flashing on its surface, it actually split apart from the middle and re-formed into two huge stone men.

Yuan Cha and this woman stood tall and graceful on the head of one stone man, made a hand seal, and led the two great stone men straight toward the valley's center.

On the other side of the jade disc, a ball of blood light flew out, within which a faint blood shadow flickered and then shot downward.

After a short while, Yuan Cha and a blood-robed youth landed on a rocky plain on a platform in the valley.

"Is this the place? Stone Elder, you two transform." Yuan Cha looked around, then commanded the two stone giants beside him.

"Yes, Yuan Cha my lord!"

The two stone men immediately responded with a humming sound.

They then rolled onto the ground, and gray-white light burst from their bodies, instantly transforming into two stone pillars over a hundred zhang high, their surfaces engraved with strange patterns and talismans, appearing extremely mysterious.

"Stone Lun Totem!, tsk tsk, I never imagined that these two subordinates of yours had actually cultivated this thing." The blood-robed youth, upon seeing this, could not help but exclaim in amazement.

"In the Stone Demon race, their cultivation may not rank in the top three, but it is sufficient to be in the top ten. If they could not even accomplish this, why would I bother protecting this lineage in the Holy World for so many years?" Yuan Cha said bluntly.

"Hehe, if my Stone Demon kin also had Stone Demon elders with such profound cultivation, I would protect them to the end. Well, no more talk of this. Daoist friend, you have summoned these totems—could it be that you intend to use them to enhance the power of your magic element**?" The blood-robed youth stroked his chin and said with a low laugh.

"Since even you, who hold the Qiankun Disc, cannot find the trace of the Han-surnamed brat, relying solely on magic element** may not certainly succeed, but with the Stone Lun Totem's support, it will be foolproof." Yuan Cha replied candidly, seeming to have no intention of concealing anything.

The blood-robed youth nodded upon hearing this, then stood aside and fell silent.

Yuan Cha likewise did not wish to say more, and immediately moved his body, appearing in the space between the two stone pillars.

A white light flashed, and an ancient stone platform rumbled up from underground, lifting the woman up several dozen zhang high.

Yuan Cha drew a deep breath, pinched a hand seal with one hand, and with the other hand flicked his sleeve, sending out a dozen black 'colored' small flags, which circled once and then scattered, landing near the stone platform's ground and firmly 'inserted' there.

The woman gave a delicate shout, and a black light burst from behind her, then, after a twist, transformed into a huge three-headed, six-armed magical apparition!

This magical apparition wore a set of dark, gleaming battle armor, its entire body exuding a shocking, heaven-rushing killing aura, its six eyes blood-red and devoid of any emotion.

From the woman's mouth came a low incantation, and suddenly she raised one hand to cast over a dozen magical gestures in all directions, which flashed and vanished into the void.

Those black 'colored' small flags immediately began to hum, black light flashed and they swelled enormously; after a while, they actually transformed into huge black entities over a dozen zhang high.

At this moment, the huge magical apparition behind Yuan Cha suddenly moved, lifted its head to look upward, and with its six arms, it grabbed toward the high heavens.

Six black 'colored' light balls rolled and appeared in its palms, then burst with bangs into six streams of black smoke that surged toward the high sky.

In an instant, a demon cloud formed in the air, and as it writhed, it occasionally changed into the shapes of flying birds and running beasts, as if it itself possessed a spirit.

Yuan Cha witnessed this scene, stopped his incantation, raised a finger, and pressed heavily on the nearby banners.

The banners' surfaces flashed with black 'colored' rosy light, and actually "susu" transformed into over a dozen streams of black qi that shot toward the sky.

Instantly, the demon cloud surged without end, rolling in the high sky and emitting thunderous muffled roars, nearly covering half the valley beneath it.

Yuan Cha's expression became solemn, his eyes flashed with cold light, and he suddenly opened his mouth to spray several clusters of essence blood toward the demon cloud in the sky.

These essence blood turned into specks of blood rain in the wind, flashed once, and then silently sank into the cloud.

At this time, the two stone pillars transformed into totems also released rings of five 'colored' light halos.,

The spiritual light emitted by these halos, each time it swept over the black cloud, caused the demon cloud to surge by a fraction.

Not long after, a flash of blood light appeared in the demon cloud, and countless blood threads emerged, which, intertwining and tumbling with the black cloud, actually condensed into countless fist-sized clumps of black qi.

After these black qi writhed for a moment, they directly transformed in the cloud into one only palm-sized black 'colored' crows.

The caws of the crows in the air rang out in unison, covering the sky and earth, so numerous as to exceed ten thousand, making one's scalp tingle involuntarily!

"Go"

Yuan Cha flicked his sleeve toward the sky and issued a low, cold command.

Under the dance of the black crows, they instantly swarmed thickly and shot toward a certain direction in the valley.

Meanwhile, the woman on the stone platform closed her eyes, pressed a finger to her brow, and silently sensed something.

The blood-light incarnation beside him glanced toward where the crows had landed, his expression shifting slightly, then he made no further movement.

The crows themselves seemed to be formless entities; upon touching mountains, rocks, trees, rivers, or soil, they silently sank into them without a sound.

After a short while, they had thoroughly searched nearly half the valley, including the depths several thousand zhang underground.

Yet for a time, they found nothing.

When the crows were recalled by Yuan Cha and surged off in another direction, a sharp buzzing suddenly came from the blood-robed youth's body.

Startled, the youth hastily slapped his waist with one hand.

A crystal ball the size of a chicken egg shot out instantly, then flashed into a crystalline light curtain.

Within the curtain, blood-light flickered, and two other incarnations stood side by side.

"Not good—quickly summon Daoist Yuan Cha back. We just received word that another 'Han Li' suddenly appeared on our rear interception lines, broke through several waves of defenses in succession, killed two demon-venerable-level aides, and fled toward Tian Yuan City."

"This 'Han Li' actually used the Xuan Tian remnant treasure and released a swarm of Gold-Eating Insects—he must be the true body. This one before us is merely an incarnation; we were all deceived by his Golden Cicada Shell technique. We already sent orders to pursue him at all costs. If we rush over now, we might still catch up!"

The two blood-light incarnations wore expressions of shock and anger, speaking urgently in turn.

"What? Such a thing exists! Daoist Yuan Cha, did you hear that? Immediately withdraw your technique—we're leaving this place at once. Don't bother with that incarnation anymore." After understanding, the blood-robed youth's expression turned extremely grim; he spun around and shouted low at the woman on the stone platform.

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