"Could it be that Mr. Jian has made a mistake? In that case, it would indeed be normal that the blood sacrifice ritual fail to summon this treasure." A soft female voice echoed from the altar. The speaker was a middle-aged beauty dressed in a white cloak, with a pair of vibrant, five-colored feather wings shimmering behind her. Her tone clearly carried a touch of satisfaction tinged with relief. "Whether there truly exists the Heavenly Treasure is something only the two Daoist friends presiding over the array know. As for us, we are merely carrying out our assigned duties in cooperation with them." An elder dressed in a soot-colored robe, who bore two pairs of gray wings on his back, added calmly. He held a dragon-headed walking stick in one hand, clearly conveying a subtle undercurrent of sarcasm in his words. As for the other flying spirit族 members, though they said nothing, their glances toward the young unicorn and the fish-eyed being were clearly reserved and somewhat unfriendly. The young unicorn said nothing in reply, merely exchanged a glance with the fish-eyed being. The two moved their lips slightly, yet no sound emerged—instead, they silently communicated through inner speech. Observing their unconstrained demeanor, the flying spirit族 members on the scene grew increasingly displeased. "Since our first attempt failed, we shall immediately conduct a second blood sacrifice. With the blood energy still lingering, this should be feasible." "As long as that celestial treasure of Xuan Tian remains within your Fei Ling clan's territory, it will surely be summoned in response." After apparently reaching an agreement, the young unicorn suddenly turned to say, his expression somewhat gloomy. "We shall conduct the ceremony once more. Would you consider our spiritual strength to have been earned for nothing? The blood sacrifice we just underwent has already depleted half of our vital energy. Should we have to perform this ceremony again, we may well suffer a significant loss of true essence." The elderly man in the soot-colored robe suddenly tapped his walking staff with a sharp "thud," causing the entire altar to tremble slightly, and then spoke with a cold tone. "I, Min, fully understand that this request may be difficult. Yet even more difficult is the prospect of extinguishing two entire clans within six months and slaying tens of thousands of wild, monstrous beasts. Should we lose the precious opportunity to recover the Xuan Tian treasure because of this, and thus delay the matter, would any of you be able to bear that?" The young unicorn narrowed his eyes, yet spoke with complete indifference. Upon hearing this, the elder in the long robe grew visibly irritated, stepping forward a few paces as if to deliver a sharp reprimand. Yet at that moment, a soft cough echoed from among the crowd, followed by a hoarse voice: "Yao, calm down a moment. Ming, you are here as the representative of the Jiaochi clan—how can you be so unreasonable?" The speaker was a hunched, bent figure, veiled in a faint white mist, barely visible in form. "Indeed, what Brother Heng says is true. It is I who have been overly agitated," replied the elder in the soot-colored robe, his face suddenly pale, retreating to his original position with deep courtesy. "Does Brother Heng have anything to add?" The young man with a single horn immediately recognized the speaker, his expression growing serious, yet he managed a composed smile and asked. "There are indeed a few things I'd like to say. You've asked me to expend my vital energy to assist in the blood sacrifice once more—this is not difficult. But what of this latest attempt? Has it not yet succeeded?" The hunched figure chuckled softly, then spoke with a colder tone. "If we are unable to summon it successfully twice, then it truly must no longer be within this region. In that case, we will immediately turn around and depart, and we will absolutely not revoke our earlier promise." The unicorne youth replied without hesitation. Meanwhile, the fish-eyed figure remained silent by the side, as though implicitly accepting the statement. "Excellent! With your pledge, that's all we need. We'll assist you one more time. You all—don't be overly stubborn—make one more attempt." The humpbacked figure spoke to the others with a tone half-direct, half-encouraging. It's strange indeed! Upon hearing this, the senior beings among the flying spirit race showed no signs of dissatisfaction at all, and each silently nodded in agreement. Soon afterward, ripples began to spread across the surface of the blood lake, black vapors started to emerge and coalesce upon the water, and the blood-colored mist sea began to surge violently. At the heart of the lake, the altar was completely enveloped in a shimmering, blood-hued radiance, from within which faint, obscure incantations gradually echoed. …Then, a piercing pain as though his skull were being torn in two, finally carried him slowly back to consciousness. He found himself seeing only darkness, and with great difficulty tried to open his eyes, yet his eyelids felt heavier than mountains—completely immovable. This development surprised him greatly. He immediately sensed that he was lying down and attempted to sit up with a fish-like spring, but even a single finger remained utterly still. His heart sank. With great effort, he restrained the agony and summoned a faint remnant of awareness from his spirit, quickly scanning his body’s condition. To his dismay, he could only chuckle. Not only had he lost most of his vital essence, but his internal spiritual energy was now entirely depleted. Worse still, the intense headache stemmed from a severe depletion of his spirit awareness, which had dwindled to just one-tenth of its original strength. And all this had been caused simply by an accidental sword stroke he had made only recently. As he recalled the astonishing scene of himself wielding the sword formed from the Xuan Tian Fruit, his heart surged with both excitement and quiet relief. That single strike had nearly altered the very colors of heaven and earth, not only interrupting the teleportation instantly but even cleaving through the void itself. Yet the cost had been extremely high—his inner energy and spiritual awareness were completely drawn off by the sword. This was precisely why, when the void consumed him, he instantly lost consciousness. Yet it seemed quiet all around, and he felt safe, at least having escaped from danger. Though his eyes could not open and his spirit could not extend, he could still sense the moist air and the light breeze with a hint of salt, indicating he was somewhere by the seaside. Beneath him, the ground was soft and surprisingly yielding—like a meadow. Had he not been transported too far? A moment of doubt crossed his mind, and then concern grew. But with his body and spiritual strength both in such poor condition, he could hardly move at all, and thus lay there silently. After an unknown length of time, a slight movement of his eyelids allowed him to open them just a narrow slit. A pale blue sky came into view. No strange blood clouds, as he had expected—relieved, he exhaled softly. Several more hours passed, and eventually he could turn his neck and move his head side to side, clearly seeing the place where he now lay. It appeared to be a small valley. On three sides were low hills, and on the fourth a narrow exit. The entire valley was no more than a thousand zhang in width. And he had just come to rest precisely at its center. A faint smile played on Han Li's lips, his mouth twitching slightly before he gritted his teeth in pain. At that moment, he realized that his entire body muscles had grown stiff and sore. This was a sensation he had never experienced before while practicing the Buddhist Saint True Magic Technique. It seemed that, when he waved the Xuan Tian Fruit, not only had his spiritual energy and consciousness been absorbed, but something else within his body had also been completely drawn off—otherwise, given his strong physical constitution, he would not have been in such a state. While pondering this, Han Li remained quietly lying on the grass. Half a day later, a finger on one of his arms moved slightly, and a sense of strength began to return. Han Li's face immediately brightened with relief, but before his smile could fully unfold, it suddenly froze. At that moment, a series of heavy thuds, like objects landing, suddenly echoed from outside the valley. The subtle tremor felt through the ground clearly indicated a massive entity approaching the small valley. Han Li glanced to one side and immediately fixed his gaze on the valley's entrance, his expression growing increasingly serious. A few moments later, a colossal creature, towering over twelve zhang in height, burst into the small valley—none other than a giant crab covered in sharp spines. Its eyes glowed with a green light, and its hard exoskeleton emitted a deep, serene blue luminescence, as if clad in a blue armor. The sharp spines on the armor naturally caused everyone to gasp and feel chilled. Initially, the giant crab seemed unaware of Han Li's presence, charging swiftly across the nearby hillside and reaching a mountain wall in a short while. Then, it used its massive claws to pick up a block of grayish stone that had fallen to the ground, and began to devour it in large chunks. And from its mouth came a horrifying, creaking sound of chewing. Seeing that the giant crab had not yet turned its attention to him, Han Li's expression relaxed slightly, the gravity in his demeanor easing a bit. After steadily consuming over a dozen stones without moving, the giant crab suddenly had its green eyes flash, then swiftly turned its body, directly facing Han Li. Han Li's pupils contracted instantly, and the two locked gazes. Suddenly, the crab emitted a strange hissing sound, then swung its massive claws with force, charging straight toward Han Li with vigorous momentum. Han Li's face darkened completely, his eyes flashing with cold determination, calmly staring at the charging crab, showing little sign of alarm.