Several hours later, Han Li floated in the air, gazing at the distant, faintly visible crimson city walls, and murmured softly: "This is the Blood Crow City? It does indeed seem rather small." "Heh, though the city is not large, it is built from stones from the vicinity of the Blood Light Crystal mines, and it's said to possess certain protective properties against spells. If one directly attacks it with magic, its power will be somewhat diminished," the elder of the Long family said with a calm smile. "So, this city still has the capacity to withstand attacks from the Butterfly-Tailed Beasts. Our decision to stay here appears well-founded," the young lady in flowing robes smiled brightly. "When I previously sealed the memories of those two demonic beings, I took a moment to examine the area and found that while there are frequent outbreaks of beast surges, attacks on the Blood Crow City itself are rather rare. It seems this city is not as simple as it first appears. Still, it appears to have no specific enchantments designed to counter the false demonic pearls." "Shortly after I enter the city, I'll simply reduce my cultivation to the stage of Huashen or Lianxu, so as not to draw too much attention," the elder of the Long family said without hesitation. The others nodded in agreement, showing no objections. Immediately, the elder shook his sleeve, and a surge of dark magical energy erupted from his body, sweeping the group along and rushing them toward the distant crimson city walls. A short while later, once the magical aura dispersed, Han Li and the others found themselves before a dark, imposing city gate. At the gate, thirty or forty magi guards in green battle armor stared at them with intense vigilance. However, upon the elder of the Long family emitting a low hum and releasing the vast presence of a Lianxu cultivator, the guards—most of whom were at the Yuanying stage—immediately exchanged their wary expressions for one of deep respect. A magus of Shén stage, appearing as a commander, hurried forward to pay his respects, asked a few careful questions, and then immediately waved his guards aside to allow Han Li and the others to enter the city with ease. For a small town, beings of Lianxu stage and above were already considered inviolable. The guards' thorough inspection was merely due to the current state of martial alert. Under normal circumstances, given the constant mingling of magi and demons entering and exiting Xueya City, such scrutiny would hardly occur at all. However, as soon as Han Li and his party passed through the city gate, his eyes, glowing with a subtle blue light, briefly scanned the magical array formed by several dark demonic runes inscribed on the black gate. Yet his face remained expressionless. While he was unaware of the magical defenses elsewhere, the one at the city gate was quite ordinary and required no special attention. As soon as they entered the city, they were immediately struck by rows of buildings of varying heights, mostly in black and red, with a few others in different colors that clearly appeared to be temporary constructions. Yet, between these rows, wide streets—wide enough to accommodate three beast-carts side by side—intersected and crisscrossed. Overall, the city was clearly not as vast as the great cities of the Spirit Realm with populations in the hundreds of millions. In fact, it was merely a larger town surrounded by city walls, housing no more than five to six million magical beings. Nevertheless, the city had activated a sky-sealing spell, so that apart from a few patrol guards exempt from the restriction, no other magical beings were flying about in the upper air. After walking a short distance, the party found that while the city was not crowded to the point of being bustling, it was certainly lively and bustling at this moment. Magical beings of various appearances move in and out across the streets—ranging from fierce, beast-like humanoid creatures to those who resemble ordinary human beings. Along the sides of the streets, nine out of ten buildings are shops or ordinary structures similar to inns. Many magical beings pass through these buildings frequently, hurrying from one to another. Most of them possess strong magical attainments, primarily at the Yuan Ying or Jie Dan stages, with a smaller number reaching the Hua Shen level. Those at the Lian Xu stage are rarer, and only occasionally encountered—usually in their early stages. After walking with Han Li and his companions for some time, one can spot a small stone mountain hundreds of feet high standing at one corner of the town. Along the edge of this mountain, a series of gray-white, tower-like structures have been built, densely clustered and completely enclosing the mountain. Between these towers, one can see well-dressed, elite magical beings in armor patrolling back and forth. Halfway up the mountain stood a stone pavilion of solid black and red, likely the abode and place of cultivation for the魔尊 named Bingqianren. Han Li gazed at the pavilion from afar, his eyes slightly narrowed as he pondered. At that moment, the elder of the Long family, leading the group, suddenly halted at a crossroads and turned to the others, saying, "We shall now disperse here. Hehe, I suspect most of you prefer to act independently. Once the butterfly-beast creatures have dispersed, we can reconvene and rejoin our way. After all, this city is not large, and should anything truly arise, we'll find it easy to stay in touch." "That sounds excellent," the young lady in flowing robes replied, unexpectedly the first to agree. "I actually spotted several things of interest just now, so I'll take my leave first." With that, she bowed slightly to the group and promptly began walking back the way they had come. The thousand-year-saint maiden and her companions exchanged glances, then silently bid farewell and departed. It was clear they intended to act together. "Brother Long, then I shall also be off," said Han Li, bowing slightly to the elder of the Long family, and speaking with unchanged composure. "Brother Han, go well!" the elder of the Long family returned the bow without delay. After nodding, Han Li turned and walked toward a nearby street. The elder of the Long family watched Han Li's figure fade into the distance until it finally disappeared at another street corner, then slowly smoothed out his smile. Turning his head, he gently asked the bearded man from the Lin family: "Lin friend, how have you found my earlier proposal? May I now have your response?" "Brother Long, this matter is of great importance," the bearded man replied, still remaining in place, his eyes briefly narrowing and his expression hesitating slightly. "I shall need a little more time to consider it further." "Indeed, this matter is quite significant. It's no wonder Master Lin has been so cautious. Nevertheless, it's all right—our journey is long, so Master Lin may take his time to consider it thoroughly." The elder of the Long family, hearing this, showed no surprise at all, merely offering a gentle smile in reply. "Then Master Lin shall be most grateful to Brother Long." The man with his hair loose and flowing slightly stirred, yet spoke with courteous words. The Llong family elder shook her head without hesitation. "But Lin seems clearly only going through the motions with us. I fear that even if he eventually agrees, he won't truly commit to working with us." Elder Hui still frowned. "Hehe. As soon as he agrees, I won't let him back out. Well, this isn't the right place for a conversation. Let's discuss this later. First, let's take a look at the material shops in the city—see if there's anything we need." A faint, strange smile played on the elder's face as she waved her hand. "Indeed, the material shops are the very first places we should visit. I suspect others have gone there as well. Let's take a different route so we don't run into them." The black-robed man agreed. "I've been thinking the same thing. Let's go!" With a low chuckle, the Llong family elder then took the black-robed man's hand and continued walking forward. … The other immortal clan members, including the Saint Princess Qianqi, were walking slowly along a different street, quietly exchanging rapid conversations. "Things aren't looking good for Zhi-shui. His seal is subtly loosening— we must find a place right away and reapply the spell immediately," the Saint Princess said in a tone of serious concern. "Unlikely. The last seal we placed wasn't just recently applied—how could it have weakened so quickly?" the figure in white asked, his voice steady. "I'm not entirely sure, but it's likely due to our current location within the realm of the demons. Elder Bai should know—the very essence of this seal has long been connected to the demonic realm. The large influx of demonic qi seems to have exerted considerable pressure, causing the seal to weaken." The Saint Princess sighed lightly. "Zhi-shui must absolutely remain stable—he is our key strength. We must find a place to settle immediately. Then, with the several protectors here, you should immediately reinforce the seal." "At the sight of the white light, the figure spoke coldly without hesitation. "Indeed, that's exactly what I've been thinking," the Thousand-Age Princess nodded, and immediately led the group a little further before turning into a narrow alley ahead. At the far end of the alley stood a tall building resembling an inn, where several weary-looking demonic beings entered with grand gestures. Yet despite this somewhat disordered scene, numerous powerful magical beings lingered before these stalls, occasionally engaging in intense debates with the stall owners. Han Li watched this familiar sight before him, a gentle smile playing at the corner of his lips.