Chapter 577: Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

It was a bright and sunny day, and gusts of fierce wind were howling incessantly over a mountain with sparse vegetation, but a thin layer of mist remained lingering in the air despite the ferocity of the wind.

Right at this moment, a streak of green light appeared in the distance, then rapidly approached the mountain before fading to reveal a green jade flying carriage.

Han Li leaped down from the carriage, then inspected his surroundings briefly before making his way over to a large tree that was completely devoid of leaves. He sat down with his back against the tree, then took a pill before closing his eyes to rest.

Jin Tong and Xiao Bai also descended from the flying carriage before arriving by his side.

Both Han Li and Jin Tong appeared to be exhausted, and even Xiao Bai was hanging its head in a lethargic manner as it laid down onto the ground.

Some time later, Han Li exhaled as he opened his eyes, and he was looking a lot more energized than before, but there was still a hint of concern in his eyes.

After a brief hesitation, Jin Tong said, "It's already been over half a year, yet that thing still hasn't moved at all."

"It looks like whoever communicated with me back then had to have been an extremely powerful being. This is a late-High Zenith Stage spirit insect, and even though its spiritual sense is its weakness, it's still an extraordinary feat to trap it in an illusion for so long. It appears the Gold Devouring Immortal really will be trapped in that illusion for 20 years," Han Li mused.

"Is that person really helping us?" Jin Tong asked.

"That's hard to say for now, but given that this is the primordial land, anything is possible," Han Li replied in an ambiguous fashion.

"Even in the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, there was so much treachery going on, I don't think anyone in the primordial land would be so kind as to help us for no reason," Jin Tong sighed.

"I wouldn't say that's entirely accurate," Xiao Bai suddenly interjected. "Many of the immortals of the immortal regions appear to be wise and benevolent on the surface, but behind the scenes, they're constantly engaging in treacherous dealings. In contrast, even though the primordial land is constantly ravaged by conflict, everyone is much more forthcoming here."

"Shut your mouth!" Jin Tong snapped as she slapped Xiao Bai on the top of its head. "Have you forgotten what the Beast Race did to us after we helped them?"

"You can't just focus on a single example! The Beast Race is only a tiny race on the outskirts of the primordial land. In contrast, the major primordial races are far more honorable!" Xiao Bai countered.

Han Li's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing mention of the major primordial races, and Jin Tong just so happened to spot the change in his expression, upon which she hurriedly asked, "Have you thought of something, Uncle?"

"Seeing as that person is able to trap the Gold Devouring Immortal for 20 years and was able to communicate directly into my consciousness without my detection, they have to at least be at the late-High Zenith Stage, and they could even be a Great Encompassment Stage being. I've never met anyone of such a lofty cultivation base, but there's a chance that they could be from one of the major primordial races mentioned by Xiao Bai just now," Han Li replied.

"Does it really matter? As long as they're helping us, who cares if they come from a major primordial race or a smaller one? It would be great if they could trap the Gold Devouring Immortal for 200 years, even 2,000 years!" Jin Tong said.

Han Li was rather amused to hear this, and he jibed, "Why 2,000 years and not for the rest of eternity?"

"If I can spend 2,000 years traveling and eating with you, there's a good chance I'll become even more powerful than that thing. Once that time comes, I'll wait for it to deliver itself to me so I can eat it. That would save me the trouble of having to search for it!" Jin Tong replied in a confident manner.

"Are you sure you're not the one who's going to be eaten?" Han Li asked in an exasperated voice.

"For some reason, ever since I could remember, I've always had an innate urge to devour all of the other Gold Devouring Beetles that I encounter, and this urge became even stronger as that thing was pursuing us," Jin Tong replied with a serious expression.

"Perhaps that's simply a mission that all Gold Devouring Beetles share," Han Li mused in a contemplative fashion.

Jin Tong didn't really understand what that meant, but she didn't ponder it, either, as she asked, "What should we do from here, Uncle? Maybe we should listen to whoever helped us and return to the Northern Glacial Immortal Region."

"That's not an option. I'm definitely already a wanted a fugitive in the entire immortal region, so going back would be no different from suicide," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Then should we keep going forward?" Jin Tong asked.

"After being chased by that Gold Devouring Immortal for so long, we've already completely diverged from the route that we were supposed to take. At our current cultivation bases, if we keep forging ahead blindly, we'll land ourselves in hot water sooner or later. We can't just ignore the advice of someone capable of trapping a late-High Zenith Stage being in an illusion for 20 years," Han Li said.

"Well, what can we do then? Surely you're not planning to just stay here and cultivate!"

"That's exactly what I intend to do!" Han Li declared, much to the astonishment of both Jin Tong and Xiao Bai.

"We're just going to stay here in the middle of nowhere? Is that supposed to be a joke? Besides, we won't be able to make any significant progress in our cultivation in 20 years anyway," Jin Tong said in a concerned manner.

"There are no other feasible options. At this point, we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, and we can't retreat or advance, so we may as well take our chances here. At the very least, I think this is the best way to proceed," Han Li said.

"In that case, I'll place my trust in you, Uncle. You can go into seclusion and focus on your cultivation, I'll make sure you don't get disturbed," Jin Tong vowed as she puffed out her chest in a display of confidence, while Xiao Bai buried its own head under its two front paws, seemingly resigning itself to its fate.

"There's no hurry. We haven't just been traveling aimlessly for the past half a year. During this time, I've been searching for a suitable place to go into seclusion, and I've made my choice, but it's not here," Han Li said with a smile.

"Why not? There aren't any primordial beasts nearby. Isn't this a good place to cultivate in seclusion?" Jin Tong asked with a perplexed expression.

"Do you still remember that ravine that we recently passed by?" Han Li asked.

"I do, it's not far away from the valley where that tree demon was. It was so dark, and even from really far away, it reeked of blood and baleful qi. Surely you're not planning to go into seclusion in there," Jin Tong exclaimed.

"That's right. Here in the primordial land, all of the formidable primordial beasts have their own territories, and generally speaking, they won't encroach upon the territories of others. That tree demon was extremely powerful, and that's why that other primordial beast stopped pursuing us as soon as we entered the tree demon's territory. As long as we stay in its territory, we won't be disturbed by other primordial beasts," Han Li explained.

"That sounds correct, but the tree demon isn't just going to allow us to cultivate on its territory!" Jin Tong countered in a puzzled manner.

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but the tree demon's roots were spread out over the entire valley and even a large area outside the valley, but they didn't extend into that ravine. Do you know why that is?" Han Li asked.

Jin Tong hadn't noticed this at all, and she could only shake her head with an inquisitive expression.

"Water and sunlight are mandatory for the nourishment of all plant life, so plants generally prefer warm and humid environments. That applies even to plant demons. That ravine is extremely dark and completely devoid of sunlight, and that's why the tree demon wasn't willing to extend its roots there," Han Li explained.

"I see," Jin Tong replied with an enlightened expresion.

"More importantly, the ravine is extremely abundant in baleful qi, and that's exactly what I need. Alright, we've taken some time to rest, let's set off for that ravine right away," Han Li declared.

With that, the three of them flew onto the flying carriage, which sped away as a streak of green light.

Around half a month later, the flying carriage drew to a halt in the sky above a ravine that was several dozen kilometers in length and several thousand feet wide.

Han Li was standing at the front of the carriage, looking at the ravine down below with a hesitant expression.

While he had already decided that this was going to be where he went into seclusion, there was still a major element of risk associated with this plan.

The primordial land was rife with formidable beasts, and there was no guarantee that there weren't creatures even more powerful than the tree demon lurking in the ravine. Perhaps it wasn't the lack of sunlight that made the tree demon unwilling to spread its roots here. Instead, perhaps ,it was weary of some other formidable being inside the ravine.

Han Li shook his head to rid himself of those meddling thoughts. At this point, it was already too late to turn back.

In the next instant, he swooped down into the ravine, and as soon as he entered its depths, he was immediately plunged into darkness.

A nauseating bloody odor permeated throughout the entire ravine alongside an extremely fearsome baleful aura.

Han Li remained completely unfazed as he conjured up an azure light barrier around himself, and only after descending to a depth of close to 10,000 feet did he release his spiritual sense to scour the ravine.

In doing so, he discovered that the ravine was far deeper than he imagined, and not only was it impossible to determine where its bottom laid, Han Li couldn't sense any living beings inside at all.

He continued to descend rapidly along a sheer cliff face of the ravine, and the more he descended the more alarmed he became.

The cliff faces on either side of the ravine were riddled with jagged and uneven rocks, interspersed among which were slightly flatter and more even stone platforms that varied in size.

Littered all over these jagged rocks and stone platforms were piles of skeletons that were burning with fluorescent green flames. There was a huge number of these skeletons, and just like the stone platforms, they also varied drastically in size.

Han Li was rather confused to see this.

Could it be that the baleful qi here was so abundant because this was where the tree demon had been discarding the skeletal remains of its victims?