Chapter 1453: Advancement
At that moment, the line of white light lit up from the pitch-black sky. Soon, they scattered and white motes of light began to slowly drift down.
Meanwhile, the white light on the surface of the Leopard Kirin Beast began to turn pink.
A wondrous fragrance began to emit from this body, arousing a sense of deep hunger to those that smelled it. It was as if the Leopard Kirin Beast had turned into a rare delicacy.
Baffled by the actions of Han Li and the small beast, Bai Bi and the others were startled when they caught the scent.
“The scent of blackened meat! Brother Han, your spirit beast is about to advance,” Bai Bi said with a changed expression.
Han Li stroked the small beast’s fur a few more times before standing up, “That’s right, I’ll need to stay here for the day.”
With an unsightly expression, Bai Bi said, “The advancement of a spirit beast is a happy occasion, but it is inconvenient to happen here. Once the scent spreads, all the demons in the ice fiend territory will gather. If we’re not careful, a powerful high-grade demon could appear and put us in danger.”
An icy glint flashed from Han Li’s eyes as he indifferently said, “I know that, of course. Brother Bai, would you have me leave my spirit beast here?”
“I didn’t mean that, only...” When Bai Bi heard Han Li’s unfriendly tone, he tried to explain himself.
Han Li waved his hand and said with a resolute tone, “Regardless, if you feel it is dangerous, you may leave but I will stay.”
When they heard him, Bai Bi and the others looked at each other in dismay and they couldn't help but wryly smile.
They didn’t find Han Li’s attitude out of the ordinary. They couldn't persuade him to choose them over his evolving spirit beast over them with words alone.
At that moment, Han Li didn’t pay attention to the other three and busied himself with other matters.
The small beast’s advancement will take at least an entire day. During this period, the scent it emitted would attract the nearby demons. Of course, since this was the ice fiend territory, the most demons would be ice fiends.
Azure light flashed from his body as he soared into the air. He swept his hand past his storage pouch and summoned piles of formation flags and plates.
He lifted them all with a single hand. Tens of streaks of light scattered in every direction, vanishing into the air without a trace.
A chain of explosions sounded from the ground as ten pillars of red light rose from the ice. Soon after, a hundred-meter-wide spell formation was erected over the icy ground.
The spell formation contained strange designs and scarlet talisman characters.
A scorching aura spread out, filling the air with a burnt scent.
This was a fire-attributed formation set that Han Li spent many spirit stones to acquire back in Deep Heaven City. It was called the “Encompassing Flame Death Formation”.
Once it was laid down, when a Deity Transformation cultivator entered the formation, the formation was powerful enough that they wouldn’t be able to immediately break out. It would be even more devastating towards ice-attributed demons.
However, Han Li didn’t stop there. He formed an incantation gesture and had seventy-two small golden swords fly out his body and above his head. They hummed as they turned into hundreds of identical golden lights.
After a chant, Han Li pointed to the dense mass of swordlights.
Suddenly, the hundreds of golden lights scattered and flickered out of sight.
This was the Grand Aureate Sword Formation.
With his cultivation at the peak of Deity Transformation, even a late Spatial Tempering cultivator wouldn’t be able to escape unharmed. As for whether he’d be able to restrict a Body Integration cultivator, it’d be hard to say. He’d have to test it out first.
With that done, Han Li floated above the spell formation and narrowed his eyes in through before shaking his sleeve.
A ball of silver flame flew out, turning into a silver bird with a cry. It circled once into the air before diving into the ice.
Han Li then raised his hand and summoned the triangular spirit carriage he used previously.
The spirit carriage floated motionlessly above the spell formation and Han Li sat cross-legged inside it, resting his eyes.
At that moment, the specks of white light gathered, thoroughly gathering around the small beast and the scent it released became even more alluring. Even Han Li’s grand formations wasn’t able to stop the scent from escaping it.
The captivating fragrance and quickly spread to the distant darkness.
Lei Lan and the other three were quietly talking with each other, deciding whether to fly away and say in the spirit carriage.
The three didn’t want to deal with a frantic demon assault, but from the previous dangers they encountered, they would find it difficult to enter the third level, let alone find an Infernal Flame Fruit.
As such, the three could only force themselves to face the demons.
Fortunately, Han Li had made ample preparations and they viewed Han Li as someone of profound mystery. So long as they didn’t face any excessively powerful demons, it was acceptable to remain there for the day.
As time slowly passed, the white motes that drifted down from the sky became larger and fell in greater number, concealing the small beast entirely.
The Leopard Kirin Beast had finally broken its silence and let out soft groans of pain inside the white light.
Qin Xiao looked at the white light and muttered, “The beast’s advancement is much different from others. Each time, its body will be greatly strengthened unlike us from the Flying Spirit Tribe.”
“That’s true, but the pain of cleansing one's essence and meridians isn’t something we can handle,” Lei Lan added with a smile.
Bai Bi then raised his brow, looking at the distant dark canyon with a solemn expression.
At the moment, it was rather too peaceful. Apart from some faint whistling winds, they heard no other sounds. And the beast’s fragrance had already spread far, at least fifty kilometers away.
Bai Bi felt ill at east and couldn't help to glance at Han Li. He had his eyes shut and appeared serene.
Bai Bi blinked and he thought to say something when Han Li opened his eyes, revealing a bright crystalline glint from his eyes.
Meanwhile, rustles began to sound from the darkness as if countless things were flocking in their direction.
In that next moment, all of the other three ceased their whispering and watched what was happening.
Countless red eyes were glowing through the darkness. A swarm of foot-tall black silhouettes began to pounce forward.
Their bodies glowed back and they moved with great speed as their limbs rustled.
This swarm of malevolent creatures were ice spiders. At a glance, the spiders seemed endless, filling the entire canyon in an instant.
However, these were the lowest level of ice fiend demons. Since Han Li didn’t need to deal with them, Qin Xiao let out a shout and waved her sleeve, releasing a dozen green lights onto the spiders.
Several booms later, a dozen three-meter-tall puppets appeared amongst the spiders.
These puppets appeared to be huge lizards. With only faint movements, the lizards began to release beams of green lights from their mouths.
The spiders seemed to melt away like evaporating dew as the green light passed them by.
The puppets were standing in a line and simply moved their heads as they launched their attacks, preventing the ice spiders from moving forward even a single step. In the blink of an eye, countless piles of dead spiders littered the ground.
However, the spiders were truly too great in number. Even with the incisive beams of green light, they eventually began to advance slowly in complete disregard of their lives.
Under this unceasing assault, the spirit stones in the puppets began to dwindle in power. Soon, the puppets' beams began to dim in light and could no longer hold the spiders back.
As such, the spiders soon broke through the line and approached the puppets.
Pu. Pu. Countless black threads shot out from the spiders and enveloped the puppets thoroughly. The threads then dragged the puppets to the ground, rendering them entirely still.
Within the carriage, Qin Xiao was somewhat alarmed, but she merely whispered, “You don’t need to take action. Hand over these small things to me. Soon after, the woman flew up in a green ball of light and arrived before the ice spiders in front of the grand formation.
The spiders immediately sensed her and they hissed, releasing countless black threads into the air.
Qin Xiao’s expression sank. Suddenly, a dark green flame emerged from her body. When the black threads touched her, they combusted into smoke.
The woman shouted and straightened her arm. A green fire sword appeared in her hand and she swung down.
A huge wave of flames suddenly spread out from the strike. With a huge explosion, a three-meter-wide trench appeared in front of the spiders. Green flames still burned inside it, turning the spiders that touched it into ash in just a moment.
Qin Xiao faintly smiled at the sight and just as she thought to expand the trench, furious cries sounded from the distance, followed by the appearance of several three-meter-tall bodies.
Under closer examination, the woman’s expression changed.
The huge figures were giant four-headed spiders. Each one was covered in black fur with sharp fangs from each of their mouths, each of them roaring.
Qin Xiao raised her brow and bluntly waved her fire sword at them.
In that instant, a series of black light roamed across their bodies, creating a pair of black cicada wings.
With a tremble, their wings took them into the air.
Qin Xiao’s relaxed expression instantly changed when she saw this.