Chapter 821: Election

Han Li remained calm and collected as a Spiritual Sense Sword shot out of his glabella once again, and in the instant that Daoist Master Bone Shine caught sight of the Spiritual Sense Sword, a look of despair and indignation immediately surfaced in his eyes.

In the next instant, the Spiritual Sense Sword pierced through the bone shield with ease before shooting straight into Daoist Master Bone Shine's glabella.

Only after the Spiritual Sense Sword pierced into Daoist Master Bone Shine's glabella did Han Li discover that his spiritual sense was virtually non-existent, and his soul was also looking extremely frail, much like a candle flame in the wind.

It was clear that he had suffered some kind of severe trauma that had left his soul in a terrible condition.

While it was true that he had managed to inflict a great deal of spiritual damage upon Daoist Master Bone Shine during their previous battle, he was certain that his Spiritual Sense Sword wouldn't have been enough to leave Daoist Master Bone Shine's soul in such a precarious condition.

Despite the befuddlement in his mind, Han Li didn't hesitate in the slightest to land the killing blow, and his Spiritual Sense Sword swung down upon Daoist Master Bone Shine's soul, tearing it apart with ease.

Immediately thereafter, Daoist Master Bone Shine fell completely still.

Shi Chuankong had only just finished setting up his Twin Heavenly Silver Mirrors, and he had no idea what had happened to Daoist Master Bone Shine, but he certainly wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.

The two mirrors began to swap positions at his behest, releasing a burst of tremendous spatial force as they did so.

However, as a Great Encompassment cultivator, Daoist Master Bone Shine's body was extremely resilient. In particular, his bones were near indestructible, and his body was only slightly warped by the immense spatial power, amounting to no substantial injuries.

Despite Shi Chuankong's best efforts, there simply wasn't much that he could do.

Meanwhile, Han Li raised a hand to make a beckoning motion, and a black ring slipped off Daoist Master Bone Shine's finger before flying into his grasp, following which a silver fire raven shot out of his shoulder before engulfing Daoist Master Bone Shine's entire body.

Shi Chuankong had witnessed the power of the Essence Fire Raven in the past, and he knew that Daoist Master Bone Shine's fate was sealed. Sure enough, as soon as the silver flames engulfed his lifeless body, he was immediately set alight, and a string of cracks and pops rang out as Han Li stared into the fire in an absentminded fashion.

"What's wrong, Brother Li?" Shi Chuankong asked.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about what Daoist Master Bone Shine said when he first ran into us. It seemed like he wasn't in a very sound frame of mind," Han Li replied.

"Who cares? The important thing is that he's no longer going to pose a threat to us anymore," Shi Chuankong said with a wide smile.

Around fifteen minutes later, the Essence Fire Raven returned to Han Li, and at this point, Daoist Master Bone Shine had already been completely reduced to ashes.

The fire raven shrank down rapidly in size before landing on the palm of Han Li's hand, then opened its beak to release a vibrant and colorful finger bone.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, then covertly stowed the finger bone away.

"Let's keep going," he said as he turned to Shi Chuankong, and with that, the two of them resumed their journey.

Shortly thereafter, Shi Chuankong arrived at the irregular object that was hovering mid-air before drawing to a halt.

"Why did you stop?" Han Li asked.

"We've arrived," Shi Chuankong replied.

"You're telling me this is Night Sun City?" Han Li asked.

"It's a long story, but to keep it concise, this divine artifact is known as a spatial domain key, and it serves as an entrance to Night Sun City," Shi Chuankong explained.

"I see. No wonder it feels like it's both right in front of me, but also somewhere far away. I presume it must be something that exists in multiple planes of space at once. It makes sense now why you were saying that even a Dao Ancestor may not be able to move it," Han Li said with an enlightened expression.

"Come, let's enter the city," Shi Chuankong said with a smile, then flipped a hand over to produce a black badge, which he pressed into the lowest branch that was extending out of the spatial domain key.

The black badge immediately adhered itself to the branch like a magnet before slowly fusing into the branch, immediately following which a burst of black light emerged, giving off formidable spatial fluctuations.

Shi Chuankong gestured for Han Li to follow him, then stepped into the black light, and Han Li quickly followed suit.

The two of them vanished from the spot, and the black light also faded, while the spatial domain key returned to normal.

Han Li was overcome by a rush of dizziness, and bursts of spatial power were tearing at him from all directions, but this dizzy sensation only persisted for a brief moment before he found himself in a bright space.

There was a bright sun hanging in the sky, while down below was a stretch of short hills and lush greenery, presenting a refreshing sight to behold.

The devilish qi here was roughly twice as abundant as it was outside, and there were dark purple clouds up above that were formed by devilish qi.

In comparison, the world's origin qi in the area was far sparser.

"So this is where Night Sun City is," Han Li mused as he inspected his surroundings.

"That's right. This place is known as the Night Sun Domain. It's a domain that my father created. It's good to finally be back," Shi Chuankong sighed.

"The Devilish Monarch created this entire domain?" Han Li exclaimed.

Creating a small secret area wasn't overly difficult, and it was something that even he was currently capable of. It was only a matter of creating a small and relatively stable space, and he could easily complete the task given sufficient materials and time investment.

However, this space was completely different. It was no different from the Devil Realm outside, and it even had its own set of celestial bodies. Han Li couldn't even begin to imagine how one would go about creating such an extraordinary domain.

At the same time, he was struck by a sense of inspiration and motivation. As long as he continued to work hard in his cultivation, there was no reason why he couldn't also reach that level someday.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Shi Chuankong summoned his black flying carriage, and it set off with him and Han Li onboard.

However, after flying for a while, Shi Chuankong's brows furrowed slightly, and he said, "It'll take us about half a month to reach Night Sun City from here, and we've already taken too long to get here, so we need to speed up a little."

Immediately thereafter, a purple talisman flew out of his sleeve, then released a flurry of purple runes that encompassed the entire flying carriage.

The front of the carriage immediately became curved to form the head of a bird, while a pair of huge purple wings that were each over a hundred feet in length emerged.

After completing this transformation, the flying carriage's speed was significantly enhanced, and it sped through the air as a streak of dark purple light.

"Seeing as your brothers and sisters are already aware that our target destination is Night Sun City, the journey ahead may not necessarily be smooth sailing, so we should be on our guard," Han Li cautioned.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li. If we were in the outside world, we'd naturally have to proceed with caution, but this entire Night Sun Domain is under my father's supervision, so no one would dare to attack us here. Now that we've made it into the Night Sun Domain, we're completely safe," Shi Chuankong assured.

Han Li was slightly awestruck by the Devilish Monarch's unfathomable power upon hearing this, but at the same time, a sense of dismay also welled up in his heart.

He was certainly not a fan of being under constant supervision.

Shi Chuankong seemed to have sensed his apprehension, and he continued, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li, my father will keep an eye on the Night Sun Domain for security purposes, but he won't go out of his way to spy on anyone in particular."

Han Li nodded in response, then said, "Fellow Daoist Shi, there are some things that I've been meaning to ask you. Now that we're close to reaching Night Sun City, I would like you to enlighten me."

Shi Chuankong didn't seem surprised at all to hear this, and he prompted, "Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Li."

"You've returned to Night Sun City on this occasion to take part in some type of important event, right? I don't know exactly what's happening, but there have been multiple instances over the course of our journey where I've heard people mention that a significant event is currently unfolding in the city," Han Li said.

"I was going to explain this matter to you once we reached Night Sun City, but seeing as you've raised the question, I may as well explain it now. You are correct to assume that I've returned to Night Sun City over an important matter. This matter concerns the entire Holy Realm, and it requires me to safely deliver the Virata Lute no matter what," Shi Chuankong replied.

"What is this important event?" Han Li asked.

"The next Holy Monarch Election," Shi Chuankong replied with a faint smile.

"Why is there an election being held? Is your father abdicating his throne?" Han Li asked with a surprised expression.

After overcoming the five decays, one would attain true immortality, so there would be no reason for the Devilish Monarch to hand over the throne to a successor unless some type of unforeseen mishap had taken place.

"I'm afraid I don't know exactly why an election is being held. Many years ago, my father suddenly declared that he wanted to select the next Holy Monarch, and no explanation was given," Shi Chuankong replied with tightly furrowed brows.

"Could it be that you've returned to Night Sun City in order to try and claim the berth of successor?" Han Li asked.