Above a marsh choked with decaying muck in the realm of the demons, a great black opening trembled, and a burst of golden light erupted forth, then settled to reveal several figures standing beneath the opening. These were the three members of Han Li, who had just entered the demon realm once again. Han Li glanced around, his brows furrowing slightly. The area was empty—no figures in sight. After a brief thought, he cast out his divine awareness, extending it to sweep across the surroundings. Immediately, he discovered a large cluster of stone buildings along the edge of the marsh—various in height, numbering well over a hundred dwellings, with several protective magical arrays arranged around the perimeter. Yet now, the arrays were fully open, showing no signs of activation. Upon further scanning the buildings, he found them disordered and chaotic, with no trace of any demon presence. "Let's go," he said. "We'll head straight for the nearest demon city from here and find out exactly where we are in this realm." Han Li was somewhat surprised, but after a quick mental shift, he made up his mind. Unlike his previous visit to the magical realm, with his current stage of supreme cultivation and aided by Crab Daoist, he now felt no fear even facing one of the Three Founding Ancestors of the magical realm. With the three forms of flight activated, the three of them immediately shot toward the outside of the marsh. After flying westward for only half a day, Han Li's expression subtly changed, and he suddenly halted his flight, stopping first in mid-air. Crab Daoist, glancing toward the distance, also came to a stop. Seeing the sky ahead empty and clear, Silver Moon felt puzzled and asked, "Han brother, what's going on? Have you both noticed something?" "Yes," Han Li replied calmly, his expression unchanged, "something is approaching ahead." Silver Moon was momentarily startled, her eyes shifting toward the horizon, and quickly turned to gaze in that direction. A short while later, a strange, humming sound rose from the distant horizon, growing louder and drawing nearer. Yin Yue couldn't help but express her surprise. Yet Han Li and the Crab Immortal remained perfectly still, showing no signs of disturbance. Moments passed, and then the sky suddenly flashed with brilliance—hundreds of swift streaks of light burst forth and surged toward Han Li's position in a frantic rush. It appeared to be hundreds of magi and magical beasts, of varying levels of cultivation, desperately fleeing, as though pursued by something incredibly terrifying. Yin Yue blinked her beautiful eyes, pondering what could be chasing these beings, when suddenly the humming sound intensified, and vast, gray, misty clouds surged out from the horizon, immediately following the streaks of light with unwavering determination. Yin Yue quickly concentrated her inner spiritual energy into her eyes, carefully observing the gray clouds. To her astonishment, the combined effect left her, a fully consolidated cultivator, pale as a sheet. Those gray, misty clouds were composed of countless strange, bizarre insects of various shapes and sizes. The smallest of them were as large as a man's fist, while the largest reached the size of full-grown adults—some covered body and limbs with sharp spines, others armed with jagged fangs—each one grotesquely unlike ordinary magical insects. The magical aura surged and rippled within the cloud, with the insects densely packed and countless in number, their total count seemingly endless. Such a terrifying insect horde, combined with the monstrous appearance of these insects, naturally caused the silver moon to grow pale with alarm. The insects within the cloud moved at varying speeds; some larger specimens clearly outpaced the others. In moments, several lagging magical beasts of the mage race were overtaken from behind by these larger insects and drawn into fierce engagements. Forced to fight while retreating, the beasts struggled desperately, their roars, cries, and thunderous clashes echoing loudly throughout the sky. But once these monstrous beasts and magical beings slowed down, they were immediately pursued by the others behind, swiftly engulfed by the gray, misty swarm of insects. After a sharp cry, whether the fierce, sprawling beasts or the magical clansmen desperately activating their magical devices for defense, vanished instantly into the insect tide, turning into ripples within the sea of insects. "Upon hearing these words, Yin Yue drew in a sharp breath. 'Indeed,' said Han Li with a wry smile, 'that is exactly the insect mother I meant.' 'These strange insects, both connected to the mother of the stem-borer and now appearing so grandly in the realm of magic—could it be that the mother insect has finally broken free?' Yin Yue said, her face pale with concern. 'Not necessarily,' Han Li replied after a moment's thought, shaking his head. 'Perhaps they are merely descendants of the mother insect who managed to escape from the seal.' As Yin Yue prepared to ask further questions, the brief delay proved costly—by the time she had paused, half of the hundred or so fleeing magical beings, glowing with ethereal light, had already been swallowed whole by the gray insect clouds. Only a handful remained, still rushing desperately, and now they had reached the trio's vicinity. The fleeing beings, all high-ranking magical races with strong magical prowess, appeared utterly disheveled and deeply frightened. Han Li, even without using his eyes, could clearly discern the faces of the leading few among them. These magical beings, upon seeing Han Li and his two companions simply hovering motionless in the air, as though ignoring the distant swarms of insects, were momentarily stunned. One of the younger female magical beings, barely in her twenties, didn't hesitate—she burst out with a sharp, youthful cry: "What are you all waiting for? The insect swarm has arrived—why aren't you fleeing to save yourselves?" As soon as she finished speaking, the glowing trails of light that had been trailing behind them flashed past Han Li and the others, swiftly shooting off toward even greater distances without further thought. Three mountain peaks began to spin rapidly, roaring with sound. Instantly, waves of gray glimmers surged forth from the black peak, sweeping across the gray creatures—where the glimmers passed, the creatures blurred and vanished into nothingness. The green peak emitted sharp cries, launching countless invisible sword-like gusts of energy. The creatures on all sides trembled and were instantly cut into countless fragments, their bodies splashing down with broad sheets of green blood. Meanwhile, the peak glowing with vibrant hues of five colors radiated an intense brilliance, expanding in waves of radiant, multicolored halos. Any creature touching these halos was instantly crushed into pulp, screaming in agony, and unable to withstand even a single round of attack. In a flash, within the vast sea of gray creatures, three massive holes suddenly appeared at the centers of the three great peaks. No matter how fiercely the creatures surged in, they were swiftly consumed by the peaks, and within moments, the dense gray cloud of creatures thinned dramatically. The lingering gray monstrosities sensed something amiss; suddenly, one of the two-headed giants gave off a piercing, mournful cry. All the creatures turned abruptly and surged in a steady stream, fleeing back toward their origin. Han Li, witnessing this, brightened instantly and pointed once more toward the distant black giant peak. The black mountain swayed slightly, then vanished into a hazy layer of gray light. At the very next moment, a ripple surged above the head of the two-headed giant, and the black peak emerged without any prior sign, its base casting a rolling veil of gray mist downward. The giant barely managed a mournful sigh before fading away, just like the other strange creatures, into the shimmering gray light. As the remaining monstrosities swiftly fled, they dispersed far beyond, scattering and vanishing one by one from sight. Han Li seemed to have no intention of pursuing the remaining creatures, merely extending his hand lightly and gesturing gently toward the distance. Three massive peaks roared and rapidly shrank, transforming into sizes of a few inches, then blurring slightly before vanishing entirely. At the next instant, a gentle ripple within one of Han Li's sleeve sleeves caused three miniature mountain peaks, each a few inches tall, to appear and then fade completely. From the moment Han Li released the three colossal mountains until he eliminated half the monstrous insects and restored the treasures, the entire process took no more than a few fleeting moments. The female mage, who had been desperately retreating toward the rear, suddenly turned her head and scanned the scene—her retreat light trembled, and she nearly fell directly from the sky. "How is this possible!" she cried out, her voice sharp and startled. The other fleeing mages, upon seeing her dramatic reaction, paused in surprise and then turned to look back as well, all of them equally stunned. The terrifying insect cloud that had once driven them into flight had suddenly vanished without a trace. As their flight slowed, they all came to a halt, gazing at the three figures of Han Li with a look of bewilderment. Everyone knew that the sudden disappearance of the cloud must be closely linked to these three. The young female mage, in her twenties, was the first to regain her composure. She stabilized her form in midair, glanced once more at Han Li and the others, and hesitated, her expression shifting between concern and uncertainty as to whether to move forward. At that very moment, the sound of Han Li's calm voice reached each of the mages simultaneously: "Please come closer, everyone. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you." The young mage was startled, and after a brief pause, she simply flew over to join them. The other mages exchanged quiet murmurs, but ultimately did not dare to resist and followed suit. With a divine skill so powerful that the other party could easily shatter the insect clouds, they would naturally not be tactless enough to provoke their displeasure.