The mid-stage Nascent Soul Celestial Master of the Tu tribe, whose physical body had been destroyed that day, had managed to escape with a portion of his remnant soul clinging to the split Nascent Soul fragment. However, the mature Gold Devouring Beetle that had been spiritually linked to him, left without its master's command, had been easily captured alive by Han Li—well-versed in the beetle's habits—using his second Nascent Soul, and subsequently sealed within a jade box.
Han Li had originally intended to study the mature Gold Devouring Beetle at his leisure, comparing it with his own. But now, with his cultivation drastically diminished, he needed to deal with this insect promptly. Otherwise, if the mature beetle's abilities far exceeded his expectations and it later broke free from the seal, the trouble would be immense.
With his current level of cultivation, capturing this beetle a second time would be nearly impossible.
Thinking of this, Han Li took a deep breath, then turned his palm over, and several formation flags of various colors appeared in his hand.
With a light flick of his finger, the formation flags shot outward in all directions. A restrictive barrier roughly ten feet in diameter materialized out of thin air inside the carriage.
Han Li placed the jade box flat on his knees and slowly closed his eyes.
Above his head, dark light flickered, and a black-green Nascent Soul appeared atop the crown of his head. The tiny figure rubbed its hands together, and the pitch-black Yin Luo Banner materialized in its grasp.
This demonic banner, having been entrusted to the second Nascent Soul for refinement and control from the very beginning, had now become the only magical treasure he possessed that was not restricted by the Five Ghosts Soul-Locking Great Art.
The Gold Devouring Beetle's body was impervious to both water and fire, and no blade could pierce it. His only method of destroying this insect was to use the pure demonic energy within the Yin Luo Banner to extract its Primordial Spirit, then place it inside the banner to refine it into a Primordial Yin Demon Head that could serve him.
The specific refinement method had long since been obtained from the consciousness of that Yin Luo Sect elder.
This process, naturally, could not be completed in a short time.
In truth, had this Gold Devouring Beetle's master not suffered severe damage to his Primordial Spirit—which in turn had left the beetle weakened and near death—he wouldn't have dared entertain such a notion!
His wariness toward a mature Gold Devouring Beetle was far from light.
But even so, he had set up the restrictive barrier first, fearing that something might go wrong.
At that moment, the black-green Nascent Soul tossed the small banner overhead, and it transformed into a demonic cloud roughly a foot across that hovered in place. The Nascent Soul then leaped into the cloud and vanished. Immediately after, the demonic cloud descended, enveloping the jade box on his knees entirely within it.
From inside the box came sharp, chittering insect cries—low in volume, but radiating extreme fury.
The demonic cloud wrapped around the jade box and began to churn and roil violently. The insect cries within grew shrill and piercing.
But Han Li remained unmoved, his hands forming seals, his body utterly still.
Within the confines of the barrier, he had no fear that the insect's cries would alert the Heron Tribe mortals outside. He simply needed to focus all his attention on extracting this beetle's Primordial Spirit.
And so, a grueling refinement process began.
Outside the caravan, the people of the Heron Tribe were greatly curious about this "Immortal Han." But ever since the immortal had entered the carriage, he had not emerged. Naturally, they could not catch a glimpse of him.
The chieftain Ying Lu strictly forbade the tribe members from disturbing the immortal's cultivation, which left the rest of them deeply disappointed.
Over the next dozen or so days—whether thanks to Immortal Han's blessing or simply good fortune—not only did they find a herd of wild goats in a canyon they passed through and obtain ample game, but the caravan remained entirely safe and undisturbed for the following half month.
This brought tremendous relief to Ying Lu, who had been on edge the entire time.
He calculated the remaining distance: in just a few more days, they would reach a highly secure resting place. It was a temporary outpost established by the Heavenly Skyfall Holy Temple using magical power at great speed, designed specifically for the various small and large tribes traveling long distances to gather and rest.
Once the Spirit Awakening Day concluded, this outpost would be immediately dismantled.
Ying Lu was silently mulling over this when suddenly, something seemed to pass overhead. He instinctively looked up and saw a blinding streak of white light slash across the sky, with what appeared to be a faint human silhouette within—but in the blink of an eye, it vanished without a trace.
The other young members of the Heron Tribe stirred with commotion upon seeing this.
But the old man furrowed his brow, his mind filled with quiet unease.
Based on his past experience during the Holy Wars, those lights were clearly the escaping lights of high-ranking celestial masters flying at low altitude. Such a sight was extremely rare. High-ranking celestial masters typically flew at great heights, virtually undetectable from the ground.