"Go!" the big man bellowed. The stone seal spun around several times, then blazed with light as it hurtled toward the distant radiance.
Two flying swords also transformed into red and white streaks of light, like twin rainbows from beyond the heavens, and slashed after the stone seal.
That stone seal treasure was indeed extraordinary — before it even struck the radiance, a faint rumble of wind and thunder could already be heard. Then, with a deafening, heaven-and-earth-shaking boom, spiritual lights of every color intertwined in an instant, and the ground nearby trembled slightly.
Seeing the stone seal's tremendous power, hints of gratified smiles appeared on the other two men's faces. But those smiles froze on their lips almost at once.
Because within the intertwined spiritual lights, the seven-colored radiance suddenly blazed with renewed brilliance, and the spiritual light of all three treasures was actually suppressed beneath it for a moment. Then a clear ringing sound came from within the radiance, and all three treasures were simultaneously sent flying.
Stunned, the three hurriedly reclaimed control of their treasures and exchanged alarmed glances.
This restriction's power seemed far beyond their expectations.
The big man snorted and was about to say something when the surrounding radiance flickered simultaneously, taking on a fiery red hue.
The three were stunned and hadn't yet figured out what was happening when, above the restriction, countless fire clouds began to coalesce and churn.
A wave of scorching heat instantly filled every corner within the radiance.
"What's going on? Didn't they say — didn't they say this restriction had no offensive capability?" the scarred big man roared in alarm and fury.
But the other two had no time to answer his panicked question, because the fire clouds in the sky were already descending upon them without mercy.
At this, all three — the big man included — spurred their treasures in terror, desperately shielding their entire bodies, while frantically slapping talisman after talisman onto themselves. Protective barriers of various attributes flickered to life around them.
The blazing red mist engulfed the three of them in an instant.
A moment later, three piercing screams rang out from within the fire clouds, and then all fell deathly silent.
After a while, the fire clouds dissipated on their own, the radiance withdrew and scattered, and the rocky ground lay completely empty.
Only three treasures lay on the ground, their brilliance dimmed to almost nothing, as if they had lost most of their spiritual nature.
...
The number of cultivators who met with disaster upon entering Devilfall Valley was not particularly large — only seven or eight cases. But of those, more than half had perished.
In this valley, the slightest mishap almost immediately spelled death. This even included a Nascent Soul cultivator from a mid-tier sect who, through a moment's carelessness, perished beneath a spatial rift.
Han Li did not know what had befallen the others, but in this most dangerous place in the Tian Nan region, he naturally proceeded with utmost caution at every step.
At this moment, however, he was feeling a pleasant surprise.
Above a stretch of barren land, he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, eyes wide open and fixed ahead, a blue light circulating ceaselessly within his pupils, almost dazzlingly bright.
To any onlooker, Han Li — with his eyes glowing blue — would have appeared somewhat eerie and unnatural. But Han Li had no mind for such concerns.
Ahead lay nothing at all — even after sweeping the area with his spiritual sense, everything appeared normal.
But with his Clear Bright Eyes operating at full power, Han Li could see a hazy arc of light, several feet long, flickering faintly some dozen zhang ahead.
Han Li took a deep breath and gradually dimmed the blue light in his eyes. His expression shifted to one of indecision.
He could now be completely certain — the divine ability of his spiritual eyes could indeed detect invisible spatial rifts that spiritual sense could not perceive.
This pleasant surprise made it worth all the spiritual liquid he had spent, preparing Clear Bright Spirit Water to cleanse his eyes for so long.
With this, his life in Devilfall Valley was now far more secure. The only trouble was that although his Clear Bright Eyes could detect these rifts, he had to exert them at full power. Otherwise, the slightest lapse in attention would cause him to miss one.
The small amount of spiritual power consumed by using his Clear Bright Eyes was nothing. But if he ended up traveling with Marquis Nanlong and the others, and they noticed the oddity in his eyes — that could be troublesome.
He did not want anyone to know he possessed such a divine ability.
Han Li lowered his head in contemplation, but before long he had an idea.
He slapped his storage pouch, and a cloak shimmering with cyan light appeared in his hand.
This was no ordinary garment — it was one of the spoils Han Li had acquired in the past, a top-grade spirit tool.
It served no other purpose than to conceal the wearer's face, preventing others from seeing through to their true appearance.
Of course, this effect required a continuous infusion of spiritual power into the cloak, and the gap in cultivation between the one peering and the one wearing it could not be too great.
Han Li estimated that with this cloak on, apart from the scholar surnamed Zhong and Wei Wuya — who might possibly still be able to see through it — no other cultivator in the valley would be able to detect the abnormality in his eyes.
Donning the cloak, Han Li cast one last indifferent glance at the barely visible spatial rift, then transformed into a streak of cyan light and swept past it.
...
In a dense forest towering with ancient trees, a tall woman of plain appearance was flying low through the woods.
Her looks were entirely unremarkable, but her eyes were extraordinarily clear and captivating, her gaze darting left and right ceaselessly as though searching for something.
After a while, the woman finally passed through the forest. Then, at the far edge of the trees, she halted her flight, her expression turning blank and dazed.
"This doesn't seem to be it either. There's no mark left by that Ghost Spirit Gate elder. It must be somewhere else. But — asking me to find the mark first and then wait for him for a while... what exactly does that mean? Could he have some other objective in Devilfall Valley?" The woman raised her delicate head and gazed at the hazy yellow sky, murmuring these words, a hint of bewilderment visible in her clear eyes.
Suddenly her delicate brows twitched, her figure flickered swiftly, and she retreated back into the forest in an instant. At the same time, she concealed her breath and cast several concealment spells upon herself in rapid succession, then hid beneath a massive tree, perfectly still.