Chapter 558: Stirrings Overseas, A Hidden Strike

Chapter 558: Stirrings Overseas, A Hidden Strike

Over twenty more days passed. Within the light shield, the winds calmed and the thunder died, revealing a pair of silver-white wings.

Bones of the Roc, flesh of lesser feathered spirits, and the force of wind and thunder woven into feathers.

And so, a pair of Wind-Thunder Wings was formed!

The spirit wings appeared complete.

In truth, however, the wind-thunder energy on each long feather had only just been fixed in place, not yet truly stabilized.

Thus, the three demons led by Feng Xi, even with their magical power more than half spent, had no choice but to stubbornly pour wind-thunder energy into the shield, terrified of failing just short of the goal.

Yet, as he did so, a trace of frustration stirred in Feng Xi’s heart.

He had originally thought that trading for three drops of spirit liquid from other demon cultivators would be ample preparation against excessive mana consumption.

He had not anticipated that the actual refinement of these Wind-Thunder Wings would drain far more spiritual power than he had ever imagined.

Fortunately, judging by the current situation, by sacrificing a bit of their vital energy, they could barely hold out to the end.

Otherwise, if the treasure's creation failed because of this, there would be no place to buy regret.

Just as this ninth-tier demon cultivator sighed in relief, he suddenly sensed a faint, unusual fluctuation of spiritual energy in the refining chamber.

Though brief and weak, it was extraordinarily pure.

Feng Xi’s expression shifted slightly. His icy gaze swept across the room and finally landed on Han Li. His face darkened.

Han Li’s expression changed drastically. He forced a smile.

The demon stared back at him coldly, utterly expressionless.

“Hand it over,” the demon said tonelessly.

“What does Senior wish for?”

Han Li’s expression grew even more strained. An unnatural look flashed across his face as he surreptitiously hid one hand within his sleeve.

Feng Xi’s eyes narrowed. A glint of cold light flickered in his pupils.

Without another word, he raised a single finger. A dazzling white light emerged from its tip, pulsing faintly, brightening and dimming.

Seeing this from within the formation, Han Li was first stunned. Then he gave a sharp cry, turned, and collapsed to the ground.

His limbs twitched uncontrollably. His face was dark purple, twisted in agony.

“Hmph! You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!” A glimmer of ferocity flashed across Feng Xi’s face. He looked coldly at the small bottle that had fallen from Han Li’s sleeve. A strange expression crossed his face. He reached out with one hand, and the bottle instantly flew into his grasp.

“The taste of the Wind Spirit Restriction attacking your meridians isn’t pleasant, is it? A moment ago, you seemed to have very little mana left, but now you’ve recovered a good deal. It seems that bottle must contain some kind of spirit medicine. Fellow Daoist Li, were you planning to take advantage of our weakened state, restore your spiritual power, and then try to escape?” The Fissure Wind Beast glanced at Han Li and said bluntly.

Han Li, who had just barely managed to stand up after the demon stopped its technique, heard these words. His face instantly lost all color, as if his scheme had been exposed.

“You have some wits. Let me see what this bottle holds. I’ve never heard of anything besides ten-thousand-year spirit liquid that can restore spiritual power so instantly.” Feng Xi looked at the bottle, tossed it casually in his hand, and muttered to himself.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing either. But perhaps we might find a use for it,” said the Venomous Flood Dragon standing across from him, his face also showing curiosity.

At this moment, he and the Turtle Demon were still continuously firing various spells into the bone wings to accelerate the solidification of the wind-thunder energy. Although he seemed slightly stronger than the Turtle Demon, his own mana had also been heavily depleted. He was merely holding on with great difficulty.

Hearing this, Feng Xi was startled. Then, his interest piqued, he opened the bottle’s lid.

A strand of extremely pure spiritual energy assailed his nostrils!

The demon first glanced into the bottle, then lightly sniffed it. A strange expression appeared on his face.

“Well? What is it, in the end?” This time it was the Turtle Demon who spoke, a little impatiently pressing for an answer.

“You tell them yourself,” Feng Xi said, glancing at Han Li with a flat tone.

“A diluted solution of one drop of ten-thousand-year spirit liquid,” Han Li replied, his head hanging dejectedly, looking somewhat reluctant.

“What? This is also ten-thousand-year spirit liquid?” The Turtle Demon’s spirits lifted dramatically at these words, and he cried out in pleasant surprise.

Among the three demons, his magical power was the lowest, and he truly lacked confidence that he could hold on until the end. Hence, his joy was so plainly written on his face.

“Hmph. There should be other things mixed in here. The color is a little pale green, and there’s an excess of wood-element spiritual energy.” Feng Xi examined the half-bottle of liquid closely, a glint of suspicion flashing in his eyes.

“I mixed in some aged spirit herbs. Besides, my own cultivation art is wood-attributed, so the more wood-element spiritual energy, the better for me,” Han Li said with a bitter smile, answering with surprising honesty.

Feng Xi frowned upon hearing this and was about to press for more details, but the Turtle Demon started loudly clamoring.

“Brother Feng, quickly toss the spirit liquid over here and let me have a drink first. As you know, while we can barely hold on, this is draining our very vital energy. Our cultivation will regress afterwards. I must replenish some spiritual power.” The Turtle Demon, as if afraid Feng Xi would refuse, grew somewhat agitated.

“Of course I know this. But this spirit liquid…” The humanoid Fissure Wind Beast still hesitated.

“Brother Feng! I can sense the purity of the spiritual energy in that bottle even from this distance. It’s undoubtedly ten-thousand-year spirit liquid. Even if something was done to the liquid, do you really think you should be worried about poison? Besides, my true form is a Venomous Flood Dragon that has feasted on all manner of poisons under heaven. If there were poison in the bottle, it couldn’t fool me.” The Venomous Flood Dragon spoke after being silent for a moment.

It seemed he, too, was unwilling to continue draining his vital energy.

“Heh! I nearly forgot your innate talent for distinguishing poisons, Brother Venomous Flood Dragon. In that case, my own mana is also somewhat depleted. Let the three of us share the liquid equally. That way, once this treasure is successfully refined, we won’t have lost too much of our true essence,” Feng Xi said with a sudden chuckle. His eyes spun briefly as he spoke. Then, tilting his head back, he first drank just over a third of the spirit liquid. Smiling, he tossed the bottle to the Venomous Flood Dragon.

As a ninth-tier demon beast, he was hardly afraid of something like poison. But the liquid genuinely contained spiritual energy, and he had no intention of passing it up.

The Venomous Flood Dragon took the small bottle without saying much. He drank half of the remaining liquid, then tossed the bottle to the Turtle Demon.

The Turtle Demon couldn’t wait to gulp down the rest of the liquid, then casually discarded the empty bottle.

Before long, all three felt their mana beginning to recover. They simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. The last shred of doubt lingering in Feng Xi’s mind had completely vanished.

Just then, the Venomous Flood Dragon’s eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he sent a voice transmission to Feng Xi:

“The treasure refinement is at this stage. That human cultivator is of no further use. Let me finish him off. Having a human around is an eyesore!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the demon cast a chilling glance at Han Li, a sharp murderous intent clearly visible in his eyes.

“Don’t touch him for now! Although, in theory, we won’t need his wood-element energy for the next few days, it’s better to be cautious. Wait until the spirit wings are completed before we destroy him.” Feng Xi’s gaze also swept inconspicuously over Han Li before he replied coldly.

“Fine. Let the human live a few more days!” The Venomous Flood Dragon’s tone carried a hint of displeasure, but in the end, he agreed with restrained patience.

Han Li saw only the lips of the two demons moving slightly and naturally couldn’t know the specifics of their conversation.

But seeing them sizing him up with ill intentions, he vaguely guessed a thing or two, and a chill ran down his spine.

His expression grim, he thought for a moment. Then, without another word, he sat down cross-legged on the spot and slowly closed his eyes, as if resigned to his fate.

The three demons were startled by this, but they had no intention of bothering with Han Li. Their attention returned to the spirit wings hovering in the air.

In reality, however, Han Li’s heart was pounding.

He was slowly mobilizing the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords within his body, releasing hair-thin, pale golden arcs of lightning from them while carefully controlling them to prevent an explosion. Like a golden silkworm spinning silk, he meticulously wrapped the Wind Spirit Restriction planted by the old demon, layer by layer, with dense strands of Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning.

This Wind Spirit Restriction was, of course, not something Han Li could refine away with his current cultivation, nor could the Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning completely cleanse it.

But based on his experience sealing the Freezing Azure Flame Pearl, he was fairly confident he could temporarily trap it and prevent it from activating.

By now, the Turtle Demon had recovered about a small half of his spiritual power. Relief evident, he continued calmly pouring energy into the light shield. He glanced at the Venomous Flood Dragon, seemed to recall something, and opened his mouth as if to speak.

But the instant his lips parted, his expression suddenly changed. A strange look appeared in his eyes.

The Turtle Demon’s hand seals stopped. He toppled forward and crashed to the ground, his mouth wide open, yet utterly unable to make a sound.

A shocking scene unfolded.

The demon’s abdomen began to swell grotesquely, instantly.

Then, his head, limbs, and torso followed suit, bulging and deforming, as if some evil spirit had suddenly been born inside his body and was struggling to tear its way out through his skin.

The Venomous Flood Dragon and Feng Xi, seeing this, had their expressions instantly change drastically.

At the same time, they both thought of the diluted spirit liquid from Han Li’s small bottle.