"Why come out and mix if you fear danger? As the saying goes, fortune favors the bold; this is the moment that could make or break us."
Chiqian Dao wanted to say more, but Wan Lei had already set off. There was no choice but to follow.
The three of them quickly charged towards the bead. The demons behind them were startled and immediately shouted for them to come back.
"My brothers, please focus on defense. We will take care of that bead, and the evil spirit tide will collapse on its own. Do not worry about us!"
Wan Lei shouted as he flew.
The over a thousand demons behind them had already lost more than half their numbers. Although most of the fallen were of the mortal realm, it still showed the ferocity of the evil spirit tide.
In just this short while, the evil spirits that had charged to attack the demons numbered at least tens of thousands. This was only a portion of the evil spirits; the ones absorbed by the bead numbered at least a hundred thousand.
Furthermore, this was just the present. Over countless ages, this bead had likely absorbed an unknown number of evil spirits.
In terms of divine artifact power alone, this bead had probably reached the quasi-divine artifact tier, slightly inferior to the Rose Sword, but on par with the Origin Thunder Hammer.
It was no wonder Wan Lei's heart burned with desire. Such a treasure was hard to find even with a thousand pieces of gold.
With lightning crackling around them, they flew against the evil spirit tide and finally reached the bead.
The bead emitted a black light. From a distance, its size was unclear, but now that they were close, they could see it clearly.
It was much smaller than ordinary formation beads, even smaller than a pill. It was about the size of a pinky nail.
And it wasn't round, but oval. Rather than calling it a bead, it was more like a small gemstone.
The kind that could be set into a ring or an earring.
Wan Lei, with his advanced skills and bold spirit, reached out to grab the bead. The moment his hand touched it, his soul felt as if it had been critically hit. The intense pain almost made him faint.
He mustered the last thread of his consciousness and released the bead.
Wan Lei gasped for air, and then black demonic energy instantly enveloped the three of them.
"What's wrong?"
Qi Man Yao asked with concern.
Wan Lei had already reverted to his true form. He had used the demonic guise to grab the bead, but the demonic form was a disguise. His hand was still covered by the Lei Yao Battle Armor.
However, the Lei Yao Battle Armor was now crackling, emitting white smoke, and the palm area had been corroded to black.
After two to three seconds, the black portion disappeared, and the armor on his palm automatically repaired itself to its original state.
For a moment, Wan Lei didn't know whether to marvel at the bead's formidable power or the Immortal Venerable Armor's defense.
"This bead has absorbed evil spirits for a long time, and it's also a treasure of the demons. Its power of death and darkness is extremely potent, its corrosion of life force and living beings is incredibly overbearing. Fortunately, my hand was covered by the armor just now. Otherwise, that single touch would have been enough to take my life."
Wan Lei looked at the bead, his gaze much more serious.
"Do I need to tell you? Anything here must be incredibly powerful. Since this is a demon item, we from the Prime Plane likely cannot use it. And they can't take it away now, so why don't we leave?"
Qi Man Yao said worriedly.
"How can we give up so easily when we've encountered such a good item? Since it's a treasure, there's no such thing as 'someone can use it and someone cannot.' When our Prime Plane's treasures are captured by demons, can't we still use them? Can't your Five Elements Divine Thunder and Chi'an Dao also use them?
This treasure can't be used now, simply because it hasn't been refined. Divine artifacts aren't like technological weapons where anyone can pick them up and use them. Without refinement and acknowledgment of ownership, they can't be taken away."
"Then how do you establish ownership? By dripping blood or using divine consciousness?"
"How can a treasure like this be that simple? The most important thing is refinement. Without refinement, it cannot acknowledge ownership."
"How do you refine it?"
"In the Five Elements Hall, there is a supreme Dao technique called 'Great Universe Tiny Dust.' Legend has it that this move was the reliance of the Immortal Venerables when they swept across the lands. With this move, they refined entire universes into their Golden Immortal Venerable bodies. They refined the Heart of the Thunder Wind Realm, and thus the Thunder Wind Realm gained spiritual energy and spirit stones.
It was also with this move that they refined the Origin Plane, altering the rules of the Prime Plane, establishing energy as supreme, and suppressing the Three Unique Gods. This move is also our Immortal Venerables' capital for restraining the Demon Venerables."
Qi Man Yao's eyes lit up. She said joyfully,
"I have heard of Great Universe Tiny Dust. This Dao technique can refine anything in the world. Anything that the Immortal Venerables of that era saw, they could turn it into theirs. It's incredibly overbearing. Are you going to use this move?"
"Where would I learn this move?"
"...Then you've been talking for so long for nothing. I thought the Immortal Venerables valued you so much that they taught you this move."
"Although I don't know this move, I know its predecessor, the Myriad Star Tiny Dust Array. Although it's not as overbearing as Great Universe Tiny Dust, it can also refine things. Refining a planet into a speck of dust is effortless."
"...Stop the nonsense and hurry up. Don't you feel the evil spirits biting you?"
Qi Man Yao urged, releasing lightning to attack the evil spirits.
Wan Lei swatted away a few evil spirits and then shouted,
"You two guard me. I'm going to start refining."
With that said, Wan Lei pushed forward with both hands, and a formation half a meter square appeared from his hands, enveloping the bead.
A powerful refining force entered the bead. The bead immediately began to sizzle as if it were in hot oil. Following that, countless evil spirits emerged from the bead and lunged at Wan Lei.
This was the bead sensing danger and counterattacking.
"Holy crap!"
Wan Lei was greatly startled and immediately strengthened the formation's power, trapping all these evil spirits within.
Although the evil spirits were large, the formation space was too small for them to break out. They could only extend their arms or poke their heads out to bite and attack.
Despite the terrifying scene before him, Wan Lei could at least determine that the bead had merely absorbed the evil spirits, not devoured them. The evil spirits could still be released.
Wan Lei fully focused on suppressing the evil spirits and refining the bead. The evil spirits on the periphery were entirely handled by Chi'an Dao and Qi Man Yao.
Fortunately, Qi Man Yao had spent so much time in the Five Elements Hall that she possessed some treasures. She had a white jade flower that could protect the soul and suppress spirits, helping her resist the evil spirits' attacks.
As the refinement progressed, the physical body of the bead was completely refined by Wan Lei, leaving only its core unrefined.
At this time, Wan Lei could also clearly see the scene inside the bead.
Within it, there was a vast space, densely packed with evil spirits.