Han Li watched the retreating purple figure. Though he had relied on the power of his sword array to repel this fully consolidated being, he firmly believed his own abilities did not surpass the elder's in any fundamental way, nor could he certainly defeat him. Moreover, given the stranger's elusive speed, he had been unable to catch up with him at first. Han Li himself fully understood this. The elder's retreat stemmed from two factors: first, he had been struck by the vital energy blades, which caused bleeding and a noticeable suppression of his own cultivation, leaving him somewhat at a loss; second, the renowned reputation of the gold-devouring insects, combined with Han Li's final display of overwhelming strength, made the elder aware that even if he dared to engage in a bold confrontation, his chances of victory remained slim. Thus, he had been compelled to retreat temporarily. In reality, as long as the elder maintained his agility and engaged in a prolonged, tactical defense, neither the bleeding from the vital energy blades nor the drive exerted by the gold-devouring insects could sustain themselves for long. By that time, it would be difficult to predict who would ultimately prevail. Han Li certainly did not wish to risk a decisive, all-out battle without clear advantage. This was also the reason why he was unwilling to abandon his sword formation, even at the cost of withdrawing it entirely, and instead relied solely on his vital energy to make a desperate, final stand. While the elder's threats weighed heavily on him, he was more concerned about the pursuing forces of the Jiaochi clan. As he watched, under the gaze of his spiritual sight, the elder vanished into a swirl of purple light, completely gone without a trace. Without hesitation, Han Li gathered his cultivation techniques and the precious artifacts in his hands, transforming himself into a streak of silvery thread and swiftly moving off. However, his direction of flight naturally shifted, shooting off toward the side that had been left behind. In just a short while, the silvery thread disappeared at the far edge of the sky. The once chaotic forest, now restored to stillness after the battle, fell quiet once more. Yet only a single hour later, a flash of luminous light appeared in the heavens, and two brilliant streaks of light surged forth from the direction of Lüguang City, arriving at the forest's sky within mere moments and then circling around it. As the streaks faded, two figures of Daoist practitioners emerged. One of them was precisely the elderly Another figure—precisely another Entity at the Consolidated Stage—was the middle-aged man in silver robes. "Indeed, he has already departed. With his speed of retreat, this much time is sufficient for him to have already traveled over ten thousand miles away." The elder scanned the area below, his expression filled with palpable disappointment. "That's certain. This man isn't mad; how could he still remain here? Over such a distance, even if he activated the Tianxuan Compass, it would be of no avail. Moreover, the Compass has already been used once today. The next activation won't be possible until three days from now. I'm genuinely curious—how can a mere Entity at the Lianxi Stage inflict such damage upon Brother Tu?" The middle-aged man gazed at the vast depression below, pondering. Upon hearing this question, the elder's face momentarily flushed with embarrassment, yet upon glancing at his shoulder, his expression instantly hardened. "I was indeed careless. I inadvertently became ensnared within his sword array. And the strength of that array—truly nothing short of remarkable." Moreover, this person also possesses several powerful techniques and carries no ordinary treasures, which compelled him to reluctantly withdraw. By the way, the other side has dozens of mature-bodied gold-devouring insects. "Gold-devouring insects?" The middle-aged man, who had previously seemed indifferent, suddenly grew visibly agitated. "Had it not been for this, I would never have abruptly turned around and returned." The elder sighed with frustration. "Dozens of such insects are indeed formidable—worthy of some caution even against true royal lineage beings. However, as long as there are not over a hundred, top-tier treasures made of wood or stone should be sufficient to temporarily contain them." After a few moments of fluctuation, the middle-aged man regained his composure. "Heh. If there were hundreds of mature-bodied gold-devouring insects, I would have fled long ago—there's no way I'd have dared to come back here to see you again." The elder chuckled wistfully. "Should the number grow even larger—into thousands or tens of thousands—then even royal lineage beings would likely be trapped and ultimately perish." It was said that many years ago, in a corner of the Thunder Roar Continent, a group of mature gold-devouring insects appeared. Their numbers once reached tens of thousands. As a result, four or five nearby small clans were easily wiped out. Had it not been for a powerful clan at the time using the Heavenly Treasure "Breaker Hammer" to forcibly create a spatial rift, channeling all the immortal insects into other realms beyond the Spirit World, many more clans might have perished. "Thinking about it, though—raising gold-devouring insects is no small feat and demands immense dedication. It's one of the most difficult types of spirit insects to cultivate. It's no wonder this person can summon dozens at once. What clan does he belong to? Is he from the Tianyun Thirteen Clans?" The middle-aged man, suddenly recalling something, brightened and asked. "No. My accompanying artifact shows no response." His appearance was indeed quite ordinary—unclear which ethnic group he belonged to. The elder paused briefly, then shook his head. "Then things would become rather troublesome. Should he truly carry the jade boxes with him, we'd find it difficult to recover them." The middle-aged man furrowed his brows. "Ning Daojun, how many boxes did you receive?" The elder's gaze flashed, suddenly asking. "I received two. That ancient man was quite clever—finally managed to destroy the boxes to force his escape. Yet, I have a strong skill in covert attacks, especially in surprise assaults. As soon as I moved, I subdued him and managed to recover the boxes." The middle-aged man gestured with one hand, flipping it slightly, and now held two identical jade boxes in his palm, each bearing sealing incantations. The large-headed foreigner had also distributed one box to each of the Han Li and others, yet still retained two himself. The elder nodded, then gently shook his sleeve, producing one jade box—this one obtained from the green-skinned man. "If that's the case, then we now have three. Hongmie's report mentioned that Wanren should have several more?" The elder didn't know whether he had truly forgotten or simply wanted to confirm again, staring at his companion. "Five or six, I'd say! His information isn't particularly precise." The middle-aged man hesitated and replied. "Five or six. That's truly a troublesome number. So this person must have at least one himself." The elder sighed. "It's likely true. Moreover, this person possesses such remarkable abilities—Hongmie must have fallen to him. Whether on personal or official grounds, we cannot allow him to escape." The middle-aged man's eyes flashed with cold resolve, and his voice grew somber. "But the man has vanished completely now. How can we possibly catch up with him?" The elder asked, puzzled. "We couldn't manage it on our own. Yet, Brother Tu, don't forget—most of the cities in this region have already fallen into our hands." We'll immediately use the Wanli Seal to send messages to the nearest cities, instructing them to quickly seal off key routes and dispatch large numbers of personnel to search for this individual. The dispatched teams needn't be highly skilled—just enough to disturb him and expose his movements. Once that's done, we'll use the teleportation array to move in ourselves." The middle-aged man thought thoroughly and offered his suggestions in one go. "Yes, this approach is worth trying," the elder named Tu agreed, though he felt the chances weren't particularly high—having no better alternatives, he nodded his assent. As he spoke, his sleeve fluttered, and suddenly a green stone slab appeared in his hand. With swift gestures, he wrote rapidly on the slab, and instantly, rows of pale golden characters emerged. After a moment, he finished writing and gently pressed the slab with one hand. A shimmer of light flashed, and the characters gradually faded away. "We'll first return to the war vessel. The ancient being will install a self-destructing spell array at the city's entrance." But the detection devices that had been deployed after the battle had already picked up the signal, and the matter had been resolved. Still, there were many follow-up tasks remaining—enough to keep us both busy for a while," the middle-aged man smiled slightly. "We'll have to settle for that!" The elder naturally had no objections. Thus, the two of them ignited their light and sped back toward their origin. A short while later, they vanished completely into the distance. ... Han Li flew on for a distance of one million miles, confirming that the members of the Jiaochi clan could no longer catch up with him, before finally slowing his flight and resuming his ordinary speed. However, such a prolonged journey, even for Han Li, began to feel taxing. At that moment, he simply brushed his hand over his storage bracelet, instantly producing two emerald-green, top-tier wooden-energy crystals. Though these crystals were rare, given the precarious situation, Han Li was not sparing and immediately grasped one, beginning to absorb the inner spiritual energy. Fortunately, the area around was extremely desolate. Han Li casually landed on a hill and, beneath a particularly concealed tree, settled into a meditative posture to fully restore his spiritual energy. The Chun Li剑 array, though immensely powerful, demanded a considerable expenditure of his spiritual force—especially the final strike of pure qi, which had nearly depleted his fundamental essence. Throughout the following half-day, no traces of incandescent light passed by the hill where Han Li sat. When the half-day passed, he had regained most of his spiritual energy. Upon opening his eyes with delight, Han Li showed no intention of staying any longer. He retrieved a spiritual stone from his hand and instantly transformed into a streak of jade-green light, soaring skyward. However, just as this radiant streak had traveled over a hundred paces, it suddenly flickered and became hazy, fading into a mere semblance of presence. While riding the light, Han Li drew out a jade scroll. It was the map he had asked Qing Xiao, at the time of his transmission from the Huo Hu Islands to the Lü Guang City, to provide for the surrounding region. Though the Huo Hu Sea region had not maintained close ties with the Lei Ming Continent for many years, the overall layout on the map would not have undergone significant changes. Han Li immersed his divine awareness into the jade scroll, beginning to search for a suitable route. Although he was uncertain about the distribution of the Jiao Chi clan in this area, he was certain he would not visit any of the nearby cities. Instead, he intended to bypass them and proceed directly to Jin Jia City—the largest city of the Tian Yun Thirteen Clans in this region. It was said that due to its strategic importance, Jin Jia City not only served as the largest city of the Thirteen Clans in this area but also stood as the region’s most crucial fortress and pass. It was long inhabited by large numbers of elite troops from the Thirteen Clans, and was further protected by numerous high-ranking beings. Unless the Jiao Chi clan had first eliminated all the surrounding cities, it would be impossible for them to launch an immediate assault on Jin Jia City. After settling on his plan, Han Li glanced at the several blazing suns in the sky, adjusted his direction accordingly, and then spurred his evasive light, shooting steadily toward the distant horizon.