His initial excitement, sparked by witnessing the power of the mature golden-sucking insects, had already waned significantly. Though he possessed eight thousand such mature insects, if he released too many, he feared he would exhaust his spiritual awareness before even seeing them successfully defeat their enemies. Yet strangely, during the period when these insects were still maturing, there had been no continuous drain on his spiritual awareness. This puzzled him deeply. He certainly wouldn't ignore such a phenomenon—he would first need to determine the cause of the gradual loss of his spiritual energy, otherwise how could he dare to summon the spiritual insects to engage in battle? After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li raised his hand and gestured toward the golden-sucking insects floating in the air. Instantly, the insect spiraled and settled gently onto his palm. He then sent a strand of spiritual awareness to wrap around its body, and everything appeared normal—no anomalies were detected. Taking a deep breath, he narrowed his eyes and pondered further. Suddenly, a thought struck him. With a swift motion of his hand, he sent the insect soaring once again through the air, and immediately re-enclosed it with his spiritual awareness. A moment later, his face turned pale. As his divine awareness circled around the insect, it gradually weakened, being steadily drawn into the massive creature's body. At this point, Han Li fully understood everything. The reason for his significant loss of divine awareness was now clear—the mature-bodied, golden-feeding insects automatically absorbed the divine awareness of the driving spirit insects whenever they moved. That explained why, once he activated the spirit insects, his divine awareness suffered such massive, unnoticed depletion. After understanding the root cause, Han Li furrowed his brows and pondered for a long time, realizing that this issue was indeed difficult to resolve. While the loss of divine awareness was only temporary and could generally be restored through quiet meditation for a day or so, it posed an absolute life-threatening risk during combat. Whether employing techniques and spells or operating magical artifacts and tools, all required substantial divine awareness. Thus, until a solution was found for the golden-feeding insect swarm, he would have to treat it as a decisive, game-changing tactic. Simply by making its appearance, this creature had sent the crimson shadow fleeing—indeed, the Gold-Eating Insect was renowned for its prowess, holding a distinguished reputation even in the Spiritual Realm. The ranking of this rare insect among the magical cultivators of the Human Realm, once held by a junior cultivator, now meant little in Han Li's eyes. Naturally, such a junior cultivator would have made numerous errors, and the ranking itself was largely obsolete when viewed against the standards of the Spiritual Realm. Yet the actual power of the mature Gold-Eating Insect far surpassed Han Li's expectations. After pondering these matters thoroughly, Han Li could not remain any longer and immediately identified his direction, transforming into a streak of jade-green light and heading straight toward the One-Line Sky. Should the other members of the group not have perished, they would likely have reunited somewhere along the way. Though their earlier spiritual markers had long since faded, they naturally maintained their own communication network—provided their distances remained manageable, they could still reach one another. Ten days later, a solitary streak of jade-green light quietly surged through the desert sky. Though the stream of light itself is naturally blue, some secret technique has caused it to grow dim and faint—something that is only easily noticed upon close inspection. Naturally, Han Li is within the light stream. No further incidents have occurred over the past十余 days, nor have any members of the Shadow Clan come to pursue them. It seems that the Red Shadow truly has been thoroughly frightened away by the Gold-Eating Insects. With his mind at ease, Han Li has simply kept moving steadily ahead. The god-like awareness, which had been completely drained, has gradually recovered during these days of flight. At present, he is gently handling a particularly smooth jade bottle, inscribed with the ancient characters for "Mingchen Pills"—the very one he received upon departure from Tianyuan City, containing all the Mingchen Pills he had collected there. This is one of the rewards he has earned for undertaking such a perilous mission. In other words, as long as he assists others in completing their tasks, he may freely regain his independence. Not only him, but all the flying cultivators who have undertaken such hazardous missions have been provided with sufficient Mingchen Pills. However, to prevent them from sneaking away en route or failing to carry out their duties, an exceptionally powerful seal had been placed on every vial of medicine. Unless the tasks were successfully completed, the vials could not be opened using normal means. Should the vials be forcibly damaged, they would instead burst, spilling and destroying the pills inside. Only after the tasks were truly accomplished and verified through various methods would the ten-thousand-li scroll reveal the method for lifting the seal. Han Li stroked the vial for a while, his expression shifting, and then a flash of spiritual light passed through his hands—by which time the vial had vanished. Suddenly, in the space ahead, a group of giant, long-beaked creatures resembling celestial cranes appeared, with pale yellow plumage and purple fleshly growths on their heads. Clearly sensing Han Li's presence, these creatures emitted several sharp calls and then changed course, swiftly approaching. As the group of creatures drew nearer, Han Li merely sighed lightly, and with a flash of his spiritual light, his form dissolved into the void. The next moment, he suddenly appeared among dozens of yellow strange birds. Without any apparent movement on Han Li's part, a brilliant robe shimmered forth from his body. This robe flashed violently, sending out streaks of silver and golden electric arcs that surged outward and enveloped an area of over a hundred paces around. A thunderous roar echoed as the silver and golden lightning intertwined and surged, and all the yellow birds in the vicinity were instantly reduced to ashes. The surroundings became utterly empty. Han Li remained expressionless, scanning the area before subtly shifting his form into a streak of jade-green light and vanishing into the air. At a small section of stone wall near the center of the ruins, a young woman in a black robe sat meditating, while a young man in a purple robe paced back and forth nearby. Both appeared gloomy yet remained silent. These were Xiao Hong and Long Dong. The young man’s complexion had returned to normal. It seemed that the considerable vital essence lost when channeling the blood sword had been largely replenished in a short time. It remained unclear whether he had taken some special elixir or employed a hidden technique. Otherwise, given the circumstances, it would have taken him several years to fully recover. A while later, both Xiao Hong and Long Dong suddenly sensed something and turned sharply toward the horizon on one side. There, a faint golden silhouette emerged silently, drifting steadily toward them. After a few flashes, the golden glow faded, and a young woman in a white robe appeared in the sky. "Miss Xiao, Master Long, I hope you haven’t been waiting too long," she said with a warm smile, her hair and garments untouched. Upon hearing the young lady's words, the middle-aged woman managed a faint smile, though a pleased expression flickered in Longdong's eyes. "I knew from the start that Miss Ye was exceptionally perceptive and would surely not encounter any difficulties. Two of our companions have still not arrived. When Brother Li was captured by the shadow clan members, I feared he might have met with serious harm—perhaps even perished. And Brother Han has not contacted us recently; I suspect he too has been caught up by the shadow clan and may have encountered an unforeseen incident." The young man sighed as he spoke. The woman pressed her lips together, her gaze briefly shifting, yet ultimately remained silent. "Brother Li may indeed have been captured, but Brother Han is unlikely to have suffered a simple mishap. Perhaps we should simply wait a few more days." The white-robed young lady gently drifted down from the air, standing before the two of them, and spoke calmly. "Wait a few more days? Now is precisely when the one-day sandstorm is at its weakest—should we miss this window, we'll have to wait much longer. At most, only two more days." The middle-aged woman replied with quiet composure. "One day, yes— Then, with a few light steps, he reached a cleaner corner and sat down to meditate. Time passed slowly, and by midday, a series of resonant hums began to emanate simultaneously from the three of them. Their expressions varied, and after exchanging glances, Longdong spoke: "I'll activate the positioning disc. It's truly a blessing that Han has not been harmed at all!" Immediately, the young man with the red spot shook his sleeve, and a jade-colored magical disc appeared in his hands. With one hand, he chanted a seal, launching a jade-colored spell that vanished into the disc. The disc radiated brilliant light, and then, with a simple hand gesture, the young man brought both palms together, and the disc disappeared completely. Standing motionless with his hands behind his back, he remained in place. Several hours later, a silvery-blue streak emerged from the opposite direction, swiftly gliding through a few movements and arriving at the spot where the three had been. After a gentle spiral, the glow dispersed, and Han stepped forth. "Brother Han, it's good that you're unharmed as well. This time, though we were ambushed by the Shadow Clan, most of our party escaped unscathed—our luck truly hasn't been bad," Longdong said with a smile. "Indeed, everyone among you is safe—this is truly fortunate!" Han Li glanced over the group and smiled gently. "Since Brother Han has arrived, let us rest another day or so, then set out immediately. We don't want to be delayed by the Shadow Clan's pursuit." Xiao Hong proposed calmly. "Your suggestion is sound, Master Xiao. This place is certainly not suited for long stays," Longdong nodded repeatedly. Han Li and the white-robed maiden naturally agreed without hesitation. Half a day later, they took to the celestial currents and departed, flying steadily toward a chosen direction. After flying only over ten thousand li, strong winds began to build up ahead, growing fiercer as they progressed. Soon, they were fully immersed in a world of swirling sand and rushing stones. The surroundings were all yellow and hazy, with countless gusts of wind sweeping vast amounts of yellow sand rushing past them, howling around the group. Had it not been for the protective spiritual light each of them had activated, the strong yellow winds would have forcefully hurled them from the air straight to the ground. After pressing forward another thousand li under the relentless gusts, the leading figure from Longdong suddenly halted, and at that moment, the voices of the others simultaneously resonated in their ears: "We've arrived. Ahead lies a narrow pass, just a single line of sky. Heh, if it weren't for the two expendable wind-still pearls prepared for each of us from above, even a Lingxu cultivator would have hesitated to venture this way. With these pearls, we'll be able to make a safe round trip. However, everyone should remain vigilant about the group of wind-jaguars living within. Don't worry too much, though—the pass is so vast, we won't be so fortunate as to encounter them by sheer chance." "The rest of you, when you enter, should also pay close attention—there may be other dangers. After all, the Shadow Clan has clearly been waiting for us here all along There might very well be some hidden schemes within. Should anything unforeseen happen, everyone should look after themselves. The young wife also grew serious, delivering her words with gravity. (Second update!)