Beyond just a few dozen paces from the paved path, Xie Lian and Lao Zi of Green Stone also noticed something unusual. As the four of them passed through one stone tower after another, flying only about two hundred paces, a sudden vista opened up before them—there, clearly visible, lay a massive, deep depression measuring seven or eight zhang in width. Around the rim of the depression, seven or eight stone towers lay tilted and half-collapsed, their remains scattered. On the ground nearby, countless furrows and sword-like incisions crisscrossed in intricate patterns, as though the area had just endured a fierce battle moments before. At the very center of the depression, a blackened, charred insect corpse lay motionless—its body reduced to only half its original size. Despite the fragmented limbs, the creature's fierce, grotesque appearance still caused Xie Lian and Lao Zi of Green Stone to gasp in astonishment. The body of this insect corpse is about the same size as a typical stem-borer, covered with a smooth, glossy exoskeleton. However, atop its long, slender neck rests a most unattractive human-headed skull—though only half of it remains. The eyes, ears, and nose are all clearly present, and it is crowned with a wild, tangled mass of green hair. The corpse lies half-crouched on the ground, motionless, with no trace of blood around it, clearly having been there for some time now. "This is indeed the true descendant of the stem-borer mother," said Xie Lian, gazing at the remains, his face slightly pale. "It's truly rather unpleasant!" "Hmph. I wouldn't be surprised. I never expected these dreadful insects to take on such a strange appearance. It seems the stem-borer mother herself must have been even more repulsive. Does Brother Han also find it so?" Elder Lüshí coldly exhaled, then turned to ask Han. "Perhaps so." "Before I had personally witnessed that monstrous mother insect, I wouldn't dare make any definite judgment," Han Li said with a calm smile, then suddenly shook his sleeve toward the massive crater. A resounding boom echoed as an invisible force pushed the lying insect corpse, causing it to roll and finally flip over so that its abdomen now faced upward. Xie Lian's eyes narrowed in sudden awareness, and her expression on her jade-faced countenance subtly changed once more. Upon closer inspection, she noticed several dozen incomplete limbs growing from the abdomen of the corpse—some sharp, covered in dense black bristles, resembling ordinary insect limbs. Others, however, had smooth, delicate skin, remarkably similar to human hands, though their tips were not five-fingered but instead divided into three segments—thick at one end and slender at the other—each forming a jointed finger-like structure. Upon seeing this, the old master of green stone slightly drew his face, then raised one hand. A deep rumble followed, and instantly a blue-hazy orb of flame appeared in his palm. With a gentle flex of his fingers, the flame surged forward, flying toward the insect corpse. The surface of the fire ball showed no change in temperature, yet the surrounding void grew hazy and indistinct, clearly indicating that the blue flame possessed extraordinary power, far beyond ordinary true fire. With a soft "pfft," the fire ball immediately ignited and surged into vigorous flames the moment it touched the remains of the insect corpse. A moment later, Lao Shi, the Green Stone Elder, raised his hand and pressed a series of gestures, then lightly pointed toward the insect remains. A deep resonant sound followed, and the blue flame instantly vanished, revealing the insect corpse beneath. The remains, though slightly darker than before, showed no significant changes in appearance—there was no sign of true melting. Lao Shi's expression grew serious, and his face darkened noticeably. The expression on Xie Dao Ren's face remained unchanged, though his eyes flickered slightly. "Interesting. Let me give it a try!" Han Li smiled lightly. As soon as he finished speaking, he lifted his arm and, with a sudden motion, had three fingers emit a crisp, metallic sound before lightly tapping them. A sharp, resonant crack echoed through the air! Three strands of faintly misty swordlight shot forth in succession from his fingertips, and upon unrolling the scroll, they struck the insect corpse. "Boom," "boom," "boom"—three distinct sounds echoed out, yet the results of the three swordbeams upon the corpse were entirely different. The first beam struck the corpse and instantly flashed, then rebounded. The second beam cleaved through a section of the insect's exoskeleton. The third beam, though brief, gently split the corpse in two down the middle. Witnessing this, both Xie Lian and Lv Shi could not help but express a moment of surprise. Han Li, after lightly stroking his chin, looked thoughtful. Xie Lian pondered briefly before directly asking, "Brother Han, the power of the three swordbeams was clearly different, wasn't it? Otherwise, how could the results have been so varied?" "Their powers indeed differ! The first beam carried only five-tenths of my inner energy. The second beam contained a full ten-tenths." As for the third beam of swordlight, I directly fused a flying sword that is spiritually connected to my heart and mind into the beam, and only then did it succeed," Han Li replied calmly, as if he had no intention of withholding any details. Xie Lian and Lun Shi naturally did not know that, while Han Li had stated that the first two beams of swordlight contained only a portion of his spiritual power, he had actually used the standard measure of a typical great transcendence cultivator's power reserves. In fact, considering his own far surpassing the ordinary great transcendence cultivator's vitality, the first beam contained only about two parts of his power, and the second only about four or five parts. Even so, the robust physical form of this insect corpse left Xie Lian and Lun Shi's elders genuinely astonished. "This insect not only withstands Lun Shi's true flame but also effectively counters a significant portion of Han Li's swordlight. It seems this direct descendant of the mother of the stem-midge is even more formidable than we originally anticipated. Should this creature actually appear below, do any of you have effective strategies to counter it?" The Xie Lian's face darkened and fluctuated for a moment before she finally grew greatly apprehensive and asked, "What's so terrible? This creature isn't invincible—we can certainly eliminate it. If we encounter it, we'll each summon our own powers and handle it together. I don't believe that even with us four united, we'd be unable to defeat a mere single creature." The Lüshi Elder suddenly chuckled coldly in reply. "If only a few, say one or two, that wouldn't be much of a problem. But what if we face seven, eight, ten, or even more of these formidable insects? Then would the Green Stone Daoist still be so confident?" Xie Lian sighed. "Ten or more? That seems unlikely!" The Green Stone Elder, who had previously been trying to maintain a composed air of disdain, now found his composure momentarily stalled. "Ah, indeed, the probability of encountering so many is not very high. If the mother of these rice borers truly has the ability to produce such a large number of strong offspring all at once, then she must have already broken free from the ancient seal long ago. How else could she have remained so firmly sealed here for so many years?" "I hope things truly unfold as the two of you imagined. Otherwise, these monstrous insects will prove to be a real headache. From the current appearance, this one should have been slain by the Daoist who entered the underground palace in the previous wave—yet for some reason, it departed immediately, as if in a hurry. I wonder whether there are more such insects ahead." Upon hearing this, Xie Lian could only offer a wry nod and smile. "Regardless, we have already arrived here. We cannot possibly retreat now. We've already wasted considerable time in this area. Let us press on. Should our presence inadvertently delay the Daoist from the Treasure Blossom Sect, that would truly be unfortunate." After calmly delivering these words, Han Li turned and drifted back along the path he had come. Once he confirmed that these insects posed no significant threat to him, he naturally ceased to worry about them. Cai Dao Ren followed silently without a word. Xie Lian and Ling Shi, seeing Han Li's decisive departure, were both somewhat surprised. But after exchanging glances, they found韩立's arguments also somewhat convincing, and thus followed him with varied expressions. Among the four cultivators of the Great Stage, Crab Dao-ren completely obeyed韩立's instructions, and had just earlier demonstrated a notably stronger spiritual awareness surpassing the others. Therefore, despite their own reservations, both Xie Lian and Green Stone could only publicly align themselves with韩立. Not long afterward, the four returned to the original path and proceeded forward along the route marked on the map. This time,韩立 and his companions passed through several palace districts without any incident, and saw no trace of the other dangerous creatures. This brought relief to both Xie Lian and Green Stone. Though they were themselves cultivators of the Great Stage, they certainly did not feel as if they were truly facing the formidable beasts they had encountered earlier. At this moment, the deceased arrived in an exceptionally vast garden, where on either side stood low silver-flowered trees, each bearing palm-sized silver blossoms that were soft, plush, and strikingly beautiful—yet utterly fragranceless. Initially, the elder Green Stone had remained cautious about these silver trees. However, upon the subtle explanation from Xie Lian that these were a unique plant native to the realm of magic, useful only for crafting some low-tier pills and possessing no other special properties, the elder finally felt at ease. Han Li nodded, responding calmly. For some reason, since arriving at the garden, though he had not detected any anomalies, he had a strange sensation that someone—or something—had been continuously observing him. Given his current powerful awareness, it was almost impossible that he had not sensed the presence of the observer. This suggested either that the observer possessed a truly extraordinary ability, allowing them to evade his divine perception, or that Han Li himself had developed a sense of illusion due to the various seals and restrictions within the underground palace. Nevertheless, being as cautious as he was, he had naturally heightened his vigilance to the highest degree. Yet, as soon as he reached the garden's exit, this peculiar sensation vanished completely, as if it had never existed at all. Han Li was now completely puzzled, genuinely at a loss to understand what had happened. At the same time, in a dark underground cavern deep within the inner sanctum, a faint figure suddenly emitted a low, resonant chuckle: "The Art of Refining the Spirit... still at the second level. The Art of Refining the Spirit. Indeed, there are beings from the lower realms who have mastered this secret art! Hah! Heaven has not abandoned me... it is no waste that I have labored so diligently for so many years!" The chuckle began soft and somewhat indistinct, but gradually grew clearer and more frenzied, so that listeners could hardly help shivering with anticipation.