The monster tossed the jade vial into the air. Instantly, a shimmer of emerald light floated into the sky. With a deep resonance, a spectral form identical to the vial appeared—flashing and expanding in a series of movements until it grew to ten zhang in height. As the inner hum of the vial intensified, the vial's mouth gently swayed, turning toward the distant misty sea. At the same moment, remarkable changes unfolded on the other side, where the blue waves surged. A brilliant beam of light erupted from the center of the waves, causing the entire surface to roll outward like a cascade of waterfalls. At the very heart of the surge, a large, translucent blue gourd—no smaller than the spectral form of the vial—rose into view, spinning gently, its opening now directed toward the black, misty sea. With the two beings from the other realm simultaneously channeling their spells to activate their treasures, two distinct sounds—puffs—echoed. From the spectral form of the vial, a remarkably thick column of emerald light burst forth, while from the gourd, a cascade of shimmering blue radiance spiraled upward. Immediately after the two vanished into the mist, the surrounding black fog surged violently, rushing toward the beam of light and the streaks of blue radiance. The black fog then spun once, transforming into two slender columns that shot upward, pouring vigorously into the two vessels. The two treasures absorbed the mist at an astonishing pace. Where the light and blue radiance had passed, a vast open space was cleared in mere moments—yet soon, the black fog rolled in once more, swiftly covering the area again. The capacity of these two artifacts seemed boundless; no matter how continuously the black mist flowed into them, they showed no sign of saturation. At that moment, a faint silhouette on the blue gourd suddenly materialized, revealing the fish-eyed being who now stared coldly downward, silent. On the other side, the young unicorn, having transformed into a massive creature, now settled cross-legged beneath the vessel's shadow and closed his eyes. Despite the immense volume of black mist absorbed by the two artifacts, the expanse of black mist proved truly vast and formidable. These two foreigners stayed in the vicinity for two full days and nights, absorbing only a fraction of the black mist in the fog sea. It clearly appears that to completely absorb the entire Black冥Fog Sea would take no less than one or two months—something utterly beyond their current reach. Yet, these two foreigners showed no urgency, merely continuously activating their two precious artifacts. To them, spending this amount of time seemed entirely inconsequential! As a result, Han Li, who had been observing all this remarkable scene from within his dwelling, using other Lóngzhūs from elsewhere, found himself growing increasingly puzzled and uneasy. With these two guests remaining here for such an extended period, how could he possibly feel at ease while concentrating on his own cultivation? The best scenario would be if they finally collected the fog sea and departed. But what if they harbored other intentions? That would indeed be problematic. Yet, the risks involved in his now leaving were no less than those of staying put. Thus, he had remained steadfastly unmoved, hesitating to take any decisive action. Yet even so, Han Li had already gone through a thorough cleanup of his dwelling's contents half a day prior. Aside from the seventy-two golden thunder bamboo poles used to seal his flying swords, all other important items had been carefully stored in his storage bracelets, ready to flee at a moment's notice should anything go wrong. One day later, both of the two foreign beings cast spells simultaneously, causing the two container treasures to swell in size by nearly a factor of two and significantly increasing their capacity to absorb mist. Moreover, it appeared that the two foreign beings had also employed other mysterious techniques or incantations upon the two treasures. As a result, the black mist columns that rose from the mist sea—originally just two—now surged into dozens. Each column, swirling and rotating, carried vast amounts of black mist into the air, spiraling toward the two treasures. Consequently, the mist sea shrank at a pace far exceeding double, and its density changed continuously, becoming visibly dynamic to the naked eye. At sight of this, the fish-eyed beings chuckled softly, then turned to the young unicorn who had just restored his original form after casting the spell. "Min, based on the speed at which we've been performing the 'Nayuan' technique, we likely only need a dozen or so days to absorb all the true spiritual yin qi here and achieve our goal!" The unicorn smiled at this, intending to respond, but suddenly his expression changed. From deep within the misty expanse, far beyond what seemed possible, a long, furious roar erupted. As soon as this roar reached them, the black mist columns that had been steadily flowing toward the gourd and bottle silhouettes halted, then, as though struck by an invisible force, shattered with a series of heavy, booming sounds. Below, the green light beams and azure halos swept through the mist, yet the black fog remained completely still—undisturbed, as if it had become a single, unified mass. Seeing this, both the unicorn and the fish-eyed beings exchanged a glance, each of them expressing a sense of seriousness. At that moment, the strange cry that had come from afar grew louder, as though something were speeding rapidly from the deepest part of the misty sea toward this edge. "Is it that thing?" the fish-eyed being asked, without any clear context. "Probably!" Yet the single-horned youth seemed to sense something, his brows furrowed as he replied. "I've always wondered why the sky-pheasant people haven't stirred these true spiritual essences—seems they're somewhat wary of this thing. They've always treated various avian true spirits with the reverence of deities, so this one is likely a remnant of some ancient sky-fowl spirit." The fish-eyed being chuckled faintly. "Most likely! But I still don't know how far it has evolved. If it's reached the final stage, we'd better start retreating now." The single-horned youth sighed. "That's certain! I certainly don't want to meet my end at its mouth—then even my spirit and soul would be unable to reincarnate." The fish-eyed being took a deep breath. This time, the young solitary one made no remarks; instead, he pressed his palms together in a gesture, and focused his attention on a large bottle-shaped image within his mouth. A deep resonance followed, and the bottle-image shattered like foam, from which a beam of emerald light surged forth, spiraling to land in the young one’s hands. The jade bottle, which had vanished without a trace just moments before, now disappeared completely as it shimmered in his grasp. The fish-eyed being also acted with care, gently reaching out to grasp it, and as the surrounding waves dissipated, the massive gourd instantly shrank to a fraction of its original size and settled into his hands. Then, the two beings stood side by side, silently gazing toward the direction from which the strange cries had originated, saying nothing at all. Though it seemed the strange cry was right nearby, it wasn't until after a full cup of tea's worth of waiting that a sudden gust of wind roared from the distant misty sea. Then, a pale figure flashed into view, and a colossal, misty creature—hundreds of zhang in height—burst forth from the sea, swiftly maneuvering into the sky near the edge of the misty expanse, its icy gaze coldly fixed upon the two demons. It was a white bone monster bird with nine distinct heads! Each head glowed with steady, greenish ghost flames flickering in its twin eyes. Along its massive bone body, dark, ink-black阴 qi curled and undulated, making the creature even more fearsome and menacing. "Nine-headed bird," the fish-eyed man exclaimed, his face suddenly pale as he recognized the creature's form. "Though it seems the remains of this fearsome bird are still in the second stage of corpse transformation—having not yet evolved into the final stage of the Nine-Deep冥尸! It's merely comparable to us." The only trouble is that the fierce, oppressive aura of the nine-headed bird—how much of it still remains? If more than half persists, we may have to abandon our current course altogether." The young unicorn's eyes flickered with a hint of apprehension, yet his voice remained calm. "Let's try it, then. Can Master Min truly be willing to give up such pure, vital yin energy?" The fish-eyed man stared at the bone bird with a shifting expression of uncertainty, then suddenly bit his lip and said. "Of course not. My subsequent cultivation technique urgently requires this energy to enhance its power. Let us each demonstrate our techniques." With a slight lift of his eyelid, the young unicorn resolved firmly. As soon as he spoke these words, he had not even waited for a response from the fish-eyed man when the massive bird with nine heads suddenly raised its central head, emitting a piercing, mournful cry. Immediately, the other eight heads opened their mouths in unison. A roar erupted, as countless attacks of diverse attributes—fire balls, wind blades, ice spikes, lightning bolts—spewed forth simultaneously from the eight heads. Dense and continuous, they covered half the sky. The intensity of the assault was truly astonishing. Yet the unicorne youth and the fish-eyed being remained calm. The fish-eyed being declared, "I'll go first!" and then, with a swift gesture of both hands, a deep blue glow surged across his body. With a seemingly casual point of his hand toward the overwhelming attacks coming from the opposite side, a sharp "pffft" sounded as a beam of blue light shot out from his fingertip. Initially slender, the beam immediately expanded into a broad, shimmering blue curtain that enveloped both him and the unicorne youth. As he chanted his incantation, the curtain flashed rapidly, then transformed into a solid, translucent blue ice wall, standing firmly in place. At that very instant, all the attacks surged forth, striking the blue light shield as if raindrops hit a fence. Explosions, sharp cries, and sharp thuds erupted simultaneously across the ice wall. Amid the interweaving flashes of attacks, vibrant hues of spiritual light blazed brilliantly, even engulfing the entire ice lance in their radiance. Seeing this, the nine-headed bird's central head emitted a proud cry of satisfaction! Yet the other heads continued their breaths without pause, and in fact, due to the overwhelming density of attacks, their power grew even more intense by a third compared to the beginning. It seemed the bird intended to eliminate both opponents in one decisive blow. But at this moment, a cold exhalation suddenly rose from among the colorful lights, followed by a crisp "crack." Instantly, a deep blue glow surged forth from the midst of the light, spreading with an astonishing speed—within just a few flickers, it had reached a radius of over a hundred paces. Wherever the blue light passed, the entire space warped and blurred. Any attack entering its range vanished silently. Urgent incantations from the fish-eyed beings echoed within the light. As the light spun swiftly, it suddenly burst forth with intense brilliance, sending vast streams of blue light rushing backward toward the massive bone bird. The speed was astonishing—within the span of a single breath, the strange glow had reached within striking distance of the bird.