A Record Of A Mortal's Journey To Immortality

by S.H.A aifu

A poor and ordinary boy from a village joins a minor sect in Jiang Hu and becomes an Unofficial Disciple by chance. How will Han Li, a commoner by birth, establish a foothold for himself in his sect? With his mediocre aptitude, how will he successfully traverse the path of cultivation and become an immortal? This is a story of an ordinary mortal who, against all odds, clashes with

46. 1483 - 1511

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Mu Qing turned her head to the side at almost the exact same moment, and a peculiar look appeared on her face.

There in the distance, a vast expanse of grey mist was visible, and it stretched for as far as the eyes could see. The white bones beneath this grey mist all rose up and formed skeletons of strange configurations.

These skeletons weren't very large, but they had eyes that glowed with unsettling red eyes, and all of them turned their attention to the earth abyss army.

In the blink of an eye, the grey mist had spread to an area that was quite close to the earth abyss beings.

All of the low-grade demon beasts were becoming quite uneasy.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he couldn't help but take a glance at Mu Qing, only to find that she remained completely calm and collected, as if she'd already predicted this well in advance.

Just as Han Li was feeling rather perplexed, a low cry suddenly erupted from the rear. Two streaks of crimson light then shot forth from the puppets behind him, heading directly toward the oncoming grey mist.

The two streaks of crimson light transformed into two gusts of crimson winds before crashing into the grey mist.

A string of resounding booms rang out as the crimson winds and grey mist clashes, and both sides transformed into massive pillars of wind that rose straight up into the sky.

As the grey mist and crimson winds intertwined, hordes of nearby skeletons were swept up and completely pulverized.

However, the remaining troops in the skeletal army rose into the air with grey mist revolving around their bodies, hurtling toward the earthy abyss army at low altitudes.

These skeletons filled up virtually the entire sky, and there were far too many of them to count.

Han Li was feeling quite astonished upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the white-haired beauty at the front of the party let loose a strange cackle as she rotated on the spot. A massive ghostly shadow with disheveled hair abruptly appeared behind her, then grew to several thousand feet in size in the blink of an eye.

The ghostly shadow suddenly opened its cavernous mouth to blast forth a burst of green Qi, which swept up vast numbers of skeletons up above.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

As soon as the green Qi came into contact with the skeletons, the grey mist around the skeletons' bodies dissipated, and they fell from the sky, having been completley dismantled.

Furthermore, there seemed to be no end to the green Qi emanating from the ghostly shadow's mouth, and in conjunction with the two gusts of crimson winds, they quickly eradicated the immense horde of skeletons. Thus, the crisis was averted even without the need for intervention from Mu Qing and Liu Zu.

Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing this.

When the crimson gusts of wind disappeared, the two crimson-robed figures flew back as two streaks for crimson light. The green Qi then dissipated, following which the massive ghostly shadow behind the white-haired beauty also vanished in a flash.

"Those were just some Yinbone Monsters; they're the easiest beings to deal with in the infernal river. The things that we encounter next won't be so easy to ward off," Mu Qing suddenly murmured.

She seemed to be speaking to herself, but also disclosing information to the nearby Han Li and Jin Ling, both of whom glanced at one another upon hearing this.

A contemplative expression had appeared on Han Li's face, but Jin Ling's furry face remained completely emotionless.

The party continued onward under Liu Zu's command.

Two days later, hordes of strange crimson bats appeared in the air over a crimson swamp, and they began to attack the earth abyss demon beasts in a frenzy.

Even after being torn apart or slain by the earth abyss demon beasts, their bodies would simply reform again and completely recover. Only by killing them a few more times or incinerating them into nothingness with fire-attribute techniques were they truly killed. As soon as they latched onto the body of an earth abyss demon beast, they would gulp down large mouthfuls of blood essence, and it would only take a few gulps to reduce their prey to a shriveled up corpse.

Some of these bats were as large as several tens of feet in size, while the smallest ones were only several feet long. The largest dozen or so bats among them had human faces and bat bodies, and they were capable of blasting crimson light out of their mouths. Any demon beast that was struck by this crimson light would instantly be reduced to dust.

In fact, this light was so formidable that even high-grade demon beasts weren't able to take a blast head-on.

As such, not only did all of the demon beasts spring into action to retaliate, even the four demon monarchs had unleashed their abilities to kill those human-faced bats.

Han Li had enshrouded himself in arcs of golden lightning, and the crimson bats would be reduced to clouds of crimson Qi as soon as they came into contact with this lightning.

At this point, he finally understood why all the demon monarchs held his Divine Devilbane Lightning in such high regard.

The majority of ghostly beings in the infernal river were imbued with devilish Qi, so his Divine Devilbane Lightning was extremely effective against them.

The earth abyss army was attacked by a vast number of these crimson bats, but through the retaliation from the four demon monarchs, the demon beast, the puppets, and the profound ghosts, the number of bats rapidly dwindled until there were barely any left.

The remaining two or three human-faced bats could clearly tell that their situation had turned into quite a perilous once, and blood mist erupted from their bodies as they fled into the distance.

At the astonishing speed at which they flew, they disappeared into the distance in just a few flashes.

Seven days later, within a vast expanse of strange blue mist, countless black ghostly shadows took on different shapes and forms as they danced around the earth abyss demon beasts at the foot of the mountain.

Even though they refrained from approaching the earth abyss army, all of them were capable of letting loose extremely unsettling ghostly cries that caused the low-grade demon beasts to sway unsteadily as their eyes glazed over, looking as if they could collapse at any moment.

At this moment, a large black bell flew forth from within the earth abyss army, and following just a single toll of the bell, most of the ghostly shadows were vanquished while the remaining ones screeched with anguish and horror as they disappeared into the mist.

A month later, in the air above a black lake, a three-headed giant with rotten green flesh all over its body stood atop the surface of the lake, wielding a massive beastbone club with its hands as it engaged in battle with a Purpleblood Puppet, which was comparable in size to itself.

Nearby, countless ghostly beings had emerged from within the lake to battle the earth abyss demon beasts.

At this point, there were only less than 10,000 remaining earth abyss demon beasts, and most of them were high-grade beings. Even the ghostly soldiers and puppets had suffered severe casualties.

On a certain day a month later...

Han Li raised a hand, and golden light flashed as a minotaur ghost before him was instantly sliced in half. Grey light then swept forth from behind him, sweeping toward a few oncoming bone arrows, and those arrows immediately disappeared without a trace. At the same time, he pressed a palm against the air and five-colored glacial flames erupted forth, reducing the two sinister ghosts that had appeared behind him to a pair of ice sculptures.

Right at this moment, a gust of howling winds came crashing down from above.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and his body blurred as she disappeared on the spot.

A massive mace that was over 100 feet in length struck the spot where Han Li had been standing a split second ago, and black light flashed as a huge crater that was several tens of feet deep was smashed into the ground.

The wielder of the mace was a giant cyclops corpse with green fur all over its body, and it looked around with its single eye with a perplexed expression.

All of a sudden, azure light flashed in the air above the giant corpse, and Han Li appeared before pressing a palm downward.

A small black mountain appeared out of thin air before transforming into a massive mountain of over 10,000 feet as black light swirled around it.

Following a resounding boom, the black mountain crushed the giant corpse and also pulverized all of the other ghostly beings in a radius of over 1,000 feet.

Han Li heaved a sigh of relief, and only then did he get a chance to catch his breath as well as to survey his surroundings.

There were ghostly Qi and murky mist surging in all directions, and even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he only had visibility for up to just over 10,000 feet.

He could only tell from the astonishing flashes of spiritual light and the relentless resounding explosions that there were many earth abyss demons still locked in arduous combat against this ghostly army. However, he didn't know where the four demon monarchs were, nor whether they'd been surrounded by the infernal river ghosts.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face.

During the preceding month, the first dozen or so days were filled with battles, but the going was relatively good, and they made fast progress. However, in the second half of the month, they passed through a dozen or so areas inhabited by powerful ghosts with special abilities.

Even the four demon monarchs were wary of such beings, and they had refined the 8,000 ghostly soldiers and over 10,000 puppets in advance to try and force their way through these areas. As for the low-grade demon beasts, there were almost none left in the aftermath of the previous battles.

Liu Zu and the others had already anticipated that this would happen, but they were still feeling rather uneasy. However, it was certainly far too late for them to turn back, so they could only continue onward, making sure to take any extra precautions that they could.

On this day, the army arrived at a set of highlands that Mu Qing proclaimed didn't house any powerful ghostly beings. All of a sudden, countless ghostly soldiers converged toward them from all sides, and there were so many of them that it was as if the entire heaven and earth had been dominated by their presence.

They were led by over 30 Spatial Tempering Stage ghostly generals, and they unleashed dense Yin mist in unison, surrounding the earth abyss army and taking them by surprise to scatter their entire formation. As a result, everyone was forced to fight on their own.

In the beginning, Han Li worked together with Jin Ling and the other earth abyss demon beasts nearby to ward off the attacks from these ghostly beings, but this Yin mist had an extremely unsettling property where one would immediately lose all sense of direction after straying even slightly too far away from their companions.

As such, even with Han Li's powerful spiritual sense and Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he still lost contact with everyone else after over a half a day of intense battle.

He could only indistinctly hear the sound of battle being waged in the distance, and there were still hordes of ghostly beings charging toward him without any fear of death.

Thankfully, even though there was an immense number of these ghostly beings, they were only at the Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation stages at best, and they weren't able to pose any real threat to him.

After battling for a while longer, he finally managed to kill all of the ghostly beings in the surrounding area, thereby earning him a brief period of respite.

However, he knew that it wouldn't take long for a new horde of ghostly beings to swarm to attack him again, and there were simply far too many of them to kill.

An indecisive look appeared on Han Li's face for a moment, following which he suddenly made a grabbing motion downward, and the massive black mountain disappeared in a flash.

He then shot forth as a streak of azure light toward the direction where the sounds of battle were the least intense.

He had to fly out of this mist to ensure self-preservation before worrying about anything else.

If worst came to worse, even though he was wary of the demon monarchs, he'd simply have to release his Weeping Soul Beast and force his way out.

Otherwise, there was a very real possibility that he could eventually be worn down and killed by these endless hordes of ghostly beings.

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Almost in the exact instant that Han Li flew into the distance, another group of sinister ghosts with crimson bodies and green hair charged out from the nearby mist, only to be completely dumbfounded by the lack of targets to attack.

At this point, Han Li was already over 10,000 feet away, and through the use of his spirit eyes, he was able to avoid several large-scale battles in succession as he attempted to fly out of this mist.

If he encountered a small group of ghostly beings, then he'd kill them on the spot. Conversely, if he encountered large hordes of them, then he'd take evasive measures instead.

Thus, Han Li managed to traverse relatively smoothly through the Yin mist. However, it didn't take long before Han Li lost all sense of direction.

As such, he could only take a risk to fly higher up into the air and ascertain his position from a higher vantage point.

Thus, he flew to altitudes of several thousand feet, where the mist was slightly thinner, but he was immediately beset with countless attacks that rained down from above.

Thankfully, he had prepared his Divine Essencefused Light in advance, and he hurriedly swept aside most of these attacks with his Divine Essencefused Light. Otherwise, he would've most likely been forced to plummet straight to the ground.

Even so, he had still been given a massive fright. Before the next wave of attacks could arrive, he flew back down into the denser mist again.

It appeared that it would be impossible for him to fly up to an altitude that would make a substantial difference in his situation.

As such, he could only decide on a certain direction and plunge headfirst into the mist.

However, it was either the case that this mist had been imbued with some kind of profound restriction or it truly did cover an extraordinarily vast area.

In any case, even after several hours, he was still trapped within the mist without any signs of being close to the edge.

Han Li's expression was growing darker as time passed by.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and several golden threads shot forth, instantly slicing in the ghostly shadows before him into several pieces.

However, those ghostly shadows merely recovered amid a burst of unsettling howls before pouncing toward Han Li again.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he opened his mouth to blast forth a ball of silver flames. The fireball then exploded into several smaller fireballs, completley incinerating the ghostly shadows into nothingness amid cries of anguish.

These formless ghosts were rather difficult to deal with for normal cultivators, but they were naturally completely powerless in the face of Han Li's Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

After eradicating this wave of ghostly beings, Han Li looked up and was just about to decide on a direction to fly toward when an earthshattering boom suddenly erupted from another direction, and even the nearby ground tremored violently as a result.

Ball of black flames shot forth in all directions in the distance, and an indistinct female cry of shock and fury could be heard.

Han Li's expression faltered slightly as he turned toward that direction.

That voice was rather familiar; it seemed to belong to Yuan Yao. Could it be that she was engaged in battle here?

Even though Han Li couldn't be sure of this, he still flew toward that direction as a streak of azure light after a brief pause for contemplation.

The black fireballs hadn't exploded very far away from Han Li, so it only took him moments to cover the distance of tens of thousands of feet as a streak of azure light, thereby arriving near the area.

Han Li focused his gaze up ahead, upon which his expression changed slightly.

Over 1,000 feet away from him, there were several hundred crimson skeletons with disproportionally massive and thin and long limbs shooting one crimson arrow after another, surrounding and attack over 100 Yin Armor Profound Ghosts.

At the center of these profound ghosts, two black-robed women stood, one with a small black vial in her hand while the other was wielding a black banana leaf fan. They were unleashing balls of black flames with those treasures to assist the ghostly soldiers, trying to keep the barrage of attacks from the crimson skeletons at bay with all their might.

The black flames were quite powerful, and the long weapons being wielded by the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts were certainly nothing to be scoffed at, either, but their opponents were even more bizarre.

Not only were these skeletons able to leap astonishing distances like grasshoppers, they moved like the wind, and the crimson arrows they unleashed seemed to be able to somewhat repress the black flames as well as the Yin winds from the weapons of the profound ghosts. With several hundred skeletons attacking in unison, most of the black flames were forcibly doused before even reaching their targets. Even the skeletons that were struck by stray wisps of these black flames merely stumbled and slowed down slightly, but they didn't appear to have been severely injured at all.

Meanwhile, these crimson arrows were also very effective against the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts.

The black suits of armor worn by these ghostly soldiers had certain defensive properties, but after being struck by about a dozen arrows, the armor would undoubtedly be shattered, and the ghostly soldier would also dissipate as balls of black Qi.

By the time Han Li had reached the scene, the two black-robed women were desperately unleashing the powers of their treasures, and seven or eight more of the ghostly soldiers around them were felled in the blink of an eye. Their situation was a very perilous one.

These two women were naturally none other than Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

Han Li narrowed his eyes to inspect his surroundings, but didn't discover any other powerful ghosts lurking nearby. Thus, he stepped in without any further hesitation.

He flapped his wings and abruptly disappeared on the spot, appearing in the air above the two women in the next instant.

He swept his sleeve through the air, and 72 golden flying swords shot forth, transforming into several hundred streaks of golden sword Qi that rained down in a torrential downpour.

Any crimson skeletons that were struck by the sword Qi were sliced into countless pieces like a hot knife through butter.

However, an extremely harrowing scene then immediately ensued.

Crimson light flashed from the surface of the remains of all of the crimson skeletons, and they all disintegrated into balls of blood-like liquid. They then converged to form a massive vibrant red ghostly being.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon seeing this, and he raised a pristine white hand before thrusting his pal toward the giant crimson ghost that was slowly taking shape.

All of a sudden, five large skeleton projecitons appeared above his fingertips, following which a vast expanse of five-colored glacial flames came crashing down.

As soon as the glacial flames inundated the giant crimson ghost, it was transformed into a huge ice sculpture, and was completely immobilized as a result.

Han Li then flicked a finger to send forth an arc of golden lightning that struck the ice sculpture amid a loud thunderclap!

The ice sculpture was instantly shattered by the arc of lightning, and the massive ghostly being was slain before it even had a chance to unleash any of its powers.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li had witnessed everything from down below, and their mouths had gaped open with shock.

These ghostly beings had almost been the death of them, yet Han Li had eradicated all of them in virtually the blink of an eye.

That was downright astonishing to them.

Yan Li was the first one to recover her composure, and she hurriedly extended a curtsey toward Han Li with a smile on her face. "Thank you for saving us, Brother Han!"

The astonishment on Yuan Yao's face was also replaced by a gorgeous smile that resembled the beauty of countless exuberant flowers blossoming at once. "If you'd come here any later, we'd most likely have been dead already, Brother Han."

Even Han Li was slightly entranced by her smile, but he quickly composed himself before asking, "Why are the two of you here? Weren't you with one of the demon monarchs? And what about these ghostly soldiers..."

"Weren't ou with Fairy Mu Qing as well, Brother Han? We were separated in the same way that you were separated from everyone else. As for these Yin Armor Profound Ghosts, the two of us participated in their refinement process, so we'll able to control some of them. However, these are all that's left of the profound ghosts under our control, and it was all thanks to their protection that we were able to survive to this point," Yan Li explained with a smile.

"This ambush was most likely led by a ghostly being with an extremely high level of intelligence. Otherwise, there was no way that such a massive and organized trap could've been sprung. They clearly want to kill all of us in one fell swoop," Han Li said with a nod of his head.

Yuan Yao's face paled slightly, and she chewed down on her lower lip before asking, "Your analysis is quite plausible, Brother Han. What do you intend to do now? We've been surrounded by far too many ghostly beings for us to kill."

Han Li didn't give a direct reply. Instead, a peculiar look appeared on his face as he said, "Have you not noticed? Up to this point, we've only encountered low-grade and mid-grade ghostly beings, but we haven't even seen a single high-grade ghost."

"What you're saying is..." Yan Li faltered slightly before catching the gist of Han Li's words.

"That's right, those Spatial Tempering Stage ghostly beings are most likely busy battling Liu Zu and the others. Otherwise, even if just a few of them were to appear, we'd be in severe danger," Han Li mused as he stroked his chin.

"What are you trying to say, Brother Han? Please make yourself clearer," Yuan Yao prompted.

"I simply think that the situation is not looking very good, and it's also quite chaotic, but at the same time, it also presents to us a brilliant opportunity to get away from the demon monarchs," Han Li said in a slow voice.

"So what you're suggesting is..." Yan Li's smile faded, and was replaced by a grim expression.

"That's right. If we can get out of this place, then the demon monarchs won't be able to come after us. We just have to find a place where pure Yin Qi has materialized so we can wipe away the tracking marks in my body. With the size of the infernal river, even if the demon monarchs try to come after us, it'd be like searching for a needle in a haystack," Han Li proposed.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li glanced at one another, and both of them were quite tempted by this proposition.

After holding a brief discussion through voice transmission, the two women finally made up their minds. "Alright, we'll do as you say, Brother Han. Here in this infernal river, the two of us are in constant peril, and we'd also like nothing better than to gety away from these demon monarchs."

A hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes, but he quickly furrowed his brows in with concern again. "Now that we're on the same page, the first hurdle in our way is this ghostly mist. I've been searching for a way out for hours to no avail."

"You're troubled by this ghostly mist, Brother Han? With our pitiful powers, we wouldn't be able to provide assistance in many other areas, but don't forget that Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I are using Ghost Dao cultivation arts, and we also possess semi-ghostly bodies!" Yan Li chuckled upon hearing this.

Han Li faltered slightly initially before his expression lit up with elation. "Are you saying you have a way to get out of this place, Fellow Daoist Yan?"

"The Yin Yang Reincarnation Arts that we're cultivating may not be extremely useful in battle, but it's provided us with many other abilities. All you have to do is follow us, and we'll lead you out of this ghostly mist. In reality, we were planning to escape from this mist as well, but we were unable to do so as we kept on being attacked by ghostly beings," Yuan Yao explained with a slightly smug expression on her face.

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Han Li repressed the excitement in his heart as he said, "It wouldn't be wise to delay any longer, so let's leave right away. Otherwise, we're only going to be attacked by more of those ghostly beings."

The two women had no objections to this, and they immediately departed with what remained of their ghostly soldiers. Along the way, Yuan Yao and Yan Li gathered together, holding hands mid-flight as they began to chant something in unison.

Black and white spiritual light then flashed from their bodies, following which they opened their mouths to expel a bead each, one of which was black while the other was white.

The two beads then combined as one to form a fist-sized black and white eyeball.

Meanwhile, Yan Li and Yuan Yao both closed their eyes, but the black and white eyeball glanced around at their surroundings before immediately leading the trio toward a certain direction.

Han Li was a little skeptical of this strange secret technique, but he could only follow the two women.

"Brother Han, using our Ghost Dao secret technique, we'll be able to escape this ghostly mist, but we can't change directions along the way. Otherwise, all of our prior efforts would go to waste," Yan Li suddenly cautioned.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he asked, "Does that mean that if we encounter any other ghostly beings along the way, we'll have to force our way through them?"

"That's right. Now you should know why we were still unable to escape from this mist even with this secret technique," Yan Li replied with a wry smile.

"Hmph, as long as we don't encounter any beings of the same caliber as the demon monarchs, we'll just have to crash right through them. All of the truly powerful ghostly beings should be engaged in battle with the demon monarchs anyway, so we shouldn't encounter any substantial obstacles," Han Li chuckled coldly.

Even though Yan Li had seen Han Li in action not long ago, she was still surprised by how confident he was, and a peculiar look appeared on her face.

Han Li immediately identified the skepticism in her eyes, and asked, "Do you think I'm being overconfident, Fellow Daoist Yan?"

"That's not the case! I'm not overly familiar with you, but I've heard on countless occasions from my junior martial sister about your ability to easily slay beings of the same cultivation base in the human world," Yan Li chuckled with pursed lips.

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this, and he cast a glance at Yuan Yao just in time to see a faint blush appear on her cheeks.

Han Li fell silent thereafter.

"Fellow Daoist Han, for you to be so confident surely indicates that your powers are comparable to that of a Spatial Tempering Stage being, right?" Yan Li asked.

"As long as we don't encounter any late-Spatial Tempering Stage beings, I can put up a fight," Han Li replied calmly. This was not the time for excessive modesty, so he merely told the truth.

"Tsk tsk, I really don't understand how you were able to cultivate your abilities. Back when Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I first met you, you were still a Qi Condensation cultivator, yet you're now as powerful as Spatial Tempering Stage beings. When I think about it, it feels like I'm in a dream," Yan Li clicked her tongue with wonder.

"Why do you sound so sad, Fellow Daoist Yan?" Han Li asked.

"Not really, it's just that both my junior martial sister and I cultivated the Yin Yan Reincarnation Arts, and I'm not sure whether this is a blessing or a curse, nor how we're supposed to progress in our future cultivation. Will we be forced to convert ourselves completely into ghostly beings and forego our humanity just to further our cultivation path?" Yan Li heaved a forlorn sigh.

Yuan Yao's expression also became rather downcast upon hearing this.

Han Li's brows furrowed, and he was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I don't know much about Ghost Dao cultivation arts, but what I do know is that the Spirit Realm is a land of miracles. Even those without spiritual roots can attain them here, and as long as you two haven't completely become ghostly beings, there should be a way to recover your former bodies given the countless incredible secret techniques in the Spirit Realm."

"Is that true? Is there really a way for us to return to our former bodies in this Spirit Realm?" Both Yuan Yao and Yan Li were ecstatic to hear this.

"Your Yin Yang Reincarnation Arts are indeed quite unique, but I don't think it's an irreversible cultivation art. If I'm not mistaken, you two should be able to recover your former human bodies as long as you dissipate the Yin Qi within your bodies. However, the process will most likely be quite painful and arduous, and your cultivation bases will most likely be damaged as well. As for the specific method to accomplish this, it's best to do some thorough research on the matter after we return to human race territory," Han Li said in a meaningful voice.

"If we can recover our former human bodies, having to endure some pain and sacrifice some of our cultivation bases is nothing!" Yuan Yao replied in a resolute manner.

Yan Li also nodded in agreement.

Han Li smiled in response, yet just as he was about to say something else, his expression abruptly darkened as he disappeared into the mist up ahead as a streak of azure light.

The two women faltered momentarily before glancing at one another.

Moments later, ghostly howls erupted from the mist up ahead, following which a dozen or so streaks of grey Yin Qi burst into the air. However, the commotion abruptly subsided after a few streaks of golden sword Qi vanquished these streaks of Yin Qi.

Han Li then returned to the two women as a streak of azure light.

"Let's keep going. Those were just a few ordinary ghostly beings," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"Ordinary?" Yan Li and Yuan Yao were both completely speechless. They weren't able to witness the battle that had just taken place due to the dense mist in their path, but those streaks of Yin Qi were extremely powerful and clearly not something normal ghostly beings were capable of unleashing.

The fact that Han Li was able to vanquish them so easily further cemented their belief in him.

Thus, they continued to focus on controlling the eyeball they'd conjured up, searching for the correct route to take.

Along the way, all of the ghostly beings they encountered were slain in mere moments by Han Li.

They'd even stumbled upon a few relative large-scaled battles between the earth abyss demon beasts and other ghostly beings, but Han Li was still able to lay waste to those ghostly beings in what seemed like the blink of an eye to carve out a path.

The two women and the remaining ghostly soldiers continued onward.

The earth abyss demon beasts had thought that their saviors had arrived, only for Han Li's trio to quickly disappear into the distance, and after a brief period of dumbstruck inactivity, they could only continue to fight for their lives.

Han Li's trio enjoyed relatively look along their journey, encountering no troublesome ghosts, nor large hordes of ghostly beings, thereby allowing them to progress in a smooth manner.

Several hours later, the mist around them finally began to thin out, and the ghostly beings they encountered also became fewer and far in between.

Han Li and the others were naturally ecstatic to see this. They knew that they'd taken the right route and were close to the edge of the mist.

After slaying a few more ghostly beings, Han Li was just about to lead the two women and the ghostly soldiers on a final charge when his expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly came to a halt as a grim expression appeared on his face.

Yuan Yao's heart jolted upon seeing this, and she asked, "What is it, Brother Han?"

Yan Li also looked on with bewilderment in her eyes.

Unfortunately, their spiritual sense was rather limited, so they weren't able to glean the scenes up ahead.

"Looks like leaving this place won't be so easy, after all," Han Li replied expressionlessly. Right at this moment, a female giggling voice suddenly sounded from within the thin mist up ahead. The giggling grew louder and louder, reaching them in the blink of an eye and ringing out in all directions.

Yan Li and Yuan Yao initially paid no heed to this. After all, with their semi-ghostly bodies, such simple Ghost Dao captivation techniques wouldn't be able to harm them in the slightest.

However, within moments from when the laughter first erupted around them, the two women were suddenly struck by a sense of feebleness, and their eyelids drooped as if they'd suddenly become countless times heavier.

Yuan Yao reacted quite quickly, forcibly retaining a hint of clarity in her mind to try and repress this debilitating sensation.

However, when she tried to summon the Yin power within her body, her heart immediately sank as panic surged through her heart.

She discovered that there wasn't a single trace of Yin power left for her to draw upon! "What's going on?" Yuan Yao knew that her current condition definitely had something to do with what giggling female voice, but the overwhelming wave of sleepiness was too much for her to resist. Her eyes slowly fell shut, and her body swayed as if she were about to collapse at any moment.

Yan Li was in the same boat, and some of the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts had even dropped their weapons before plummeting from the sky.

"Hmph!" A cold harrumph suddenly sounded from beside them.

Even though the voice wasn't very loud, it was particularly clear to the two women, and both of them felt a sharp pain in their spiritual sense in unison. The two of them shivered as their drowsiness completely faded, and at the same time, Yin power began to surge through their bodies.

Yuan Yao was elated to have to escape that ordeal, and she immediately summoned a protective layer of grey spiritual light around her body.

She turned to discover that Yan Li had done the same thing, and even the profound ghosts that were falling out of the sky were rising into the air again.

Yuan Yao heaved a sigh of relief before turning to Han Li, who remained as still and stalwart as a mountain.

It was quite clear that he was the one who had saved them from that crisis.

At this moment, Han Li stood in a completely expressionless manner, completely unaffected by the ghostly giggling around him. All of a sudden, blue light flashed through his eyes, and he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air, sending a streak of sword Qi hurtling toward a certain spot in the air.

A faint white shadow suddenly appeared in the spot where the golden sword Qi had just passed through.

The white shadow twisted its body slightly, and the sword Qi flashed passed without inflicting any harm to it.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as one of his hands turned black while the other turn white, and he thrust his palms through the air like lightning. A vast expanse of grey light and a burst of five-colored flames immediately appeared out of thin air above the white shadow, then swept downward in unison.

The two powers created an inescapable net that afforded the white shadow no avenue for evasion.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li were elated to see this.

They'd witnessed Han Li unleash these two abilities on multiple occasions, and all of the ghostly beings that had been struck by them had been instantly eradicated.

However, the scenes that unfolded next caused their expressions to stiffen. The white shadow let loose a low chuckle before splitting into four parts, then further dividing into eight parts. In the blink of an eye, faint white shadows had appeared all over that area, and they were still multiplying relentlessly as if there were no end to them, and many of those white shadows had appeared outside the area enshrouded under the grey light and five-colored flames.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li glanced at one another upon seeing this, only to find their own astonishment mirrored in each others' eyes.

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Han Li's pupils contracted upon seeing this, but he quickly made a hand seal, and the grey light, as well as the five-colored flames, suddenly dispersed, transforming into countless grey threads and streaks of fiery five-colored light that rained down from above. The white shadows that were struck by those attacks instantly vanished, but the remaining white shadows continued to multiply relentlessly.

Grey threads and five-colored light encompassed most of the entire sky, but the white shadows simply refused to be completely exterminated. Not only were Yuan Yao and Yan Li stunned to see this, even Han Li was a little dumbstruck.

However, right at this moment, his spiritual sense detected something, and his body blurred as he turned around in a flash to face behind him. He then fixed his gaze on a patch of empty space nearby, and a cold expression flashed through his eyes as a gash appeared on his glabella. The gash split open, following which a black eyeball emerged from within. It was none than his Law Destruction Eye!

Having been nurtured for so many years, the eyeball had become darker and darker, and at this point, the mere sight of it made the beholder feel as if their soul were being sucked out of their bodies.

Black light flashed deep within the eyeball, following which a pillar of light as thick as a human thumb shot forth, then disappeared into that patch of space in a flash. A resounding boom erupted, and the nearby space twisted and warped. Immediately thereafter, a black ball of light that was several tens of feet in radius appeared out of thin air, then disappeared in a flash.

At the same time, a white shadow stumbled out of that patch of empty space, then hurtled back to over 100 feet away.

At this point, the white shadow was no longer as blurry and indistinct as it had been before. Instead, its appearance had become very clear. It was a woman dressed in a set of white robes. The robe was shimmering with light and completely pristine and spotless, seemingly having remained completely unscathed in the aftermath of that explosion. The woman herself was quite tall and slender with a curvaceous body and a head of glossy black hair.

Due to the fact that she had her head lowered, Han Li was unable to glean her true features, but she appeared to be quite a beauty. Han Li appraised this woman through narrowed eyes, and a wary expression appeared on his face.

He had just attempted to sweep his spiritual sense toward her, only to have it repelled by her white robes, thereby thwarting his attempt to ascertain her cultivation base. However, he could tell from that previous clash that this was most definitely not some kind of normal high-grade ghostly being.

Just as the woman had been forced out of space by Han Li's Law Destruction Eye, the white shadows on the other end that were relentlessly multiplying finally all disappeared.

Han Li waved a hand without even turning his head, and the grey light along with the five-colored flames in that direction also vanished.

A burst of unsettling giggles suddenly escaped from the woman's mouth, and she raised an arm before grabbing the air toward Han Li in a seemingly harmless gesture.

However, her arm along with the sleeve of the white robe abruptly disappeared amid a flash of white light.

Han Li couldn't help but falter slightly upon seeing this, but before he had figured out what was going on, the arm that had just vanished suddenly reappeared right in front of him.

The sleeve on the arm was rolled up, revealing a set of white bony claws that flashed over to Han Li's neck as if by instantaneous teleportation, then made a vicious grab for his throat. Cold light of around an inch in length shimmered from the tips of each of the five claws. "Argh!"

Even Han Li was given a massive fright by this sudden turn of events, and the claws were far too fast for him to evade or defend himself against.

Thus, the bony claws grabbed onto Han Li's throat amid a dull thump, but in the instant that they made contact with his skin, golden light flashed from Han Li's neck of its own accord, following which a few golden scales appeared. The sharp bone claws were repelled amid a flash of golden light.

Han Li also stumbled back a couple of steps, but thankfully, his throat remained completely unscathed, having been protected by those golden scales.

A thunderous expression appeared on Han Li's face as he rapidly swept a sleeve through the air, sending forth a streak of golden light that instantly swept up the white arm. Golden light flashed as the entire arm was completely inundated by streaks of sword Qi. The golden sword Qi struck the arm with all their might, but they were only able to cause a few ripples to appear on the white sleeve of the robe while the arm itself remained completely unscathed.

Han Li's expression changed slightly and he immediately opened his mouth to blast forth a ball of silver flames. However, it was too late. The white-robed woman had recovered from the shock of her failed attack and she shrugged her shoulder, upon which the white arm that had been detached from her body abruptly disappeared, leaving the silver fireball to strike nothing but empty air.

At the same time, white light flashed by the white-robed woman's side, and her arm returned to her body.

Han Li took a deep breath upon seeing this before rustling a sleeve, and four or five azure beads rolled soundlessly into his hand. At the same time, spiritual light flashed from his wrist, and a palm-sized spirit beast bracelet appeared in his other hand. This ghostly possessed extremely bizarre and troublesome abilities, and Han Li didn't want to take any further risks. As such, he was planning to immediately summon his Weeping Soul Beast, then assist the beast by attacking the white-robed woman with his lightning beads to end this battle as quickly as possible. This was not a time where he could afford lengthy delays.

The white-robed woman seemed to have realized that Han Li was quite a formidable opponent, and she wasn't in a hurry to attack again. Instead, she slowly raised her head to reveal her true appearance.

"Argh!" Yan Li and Yuan Yao had just been flabbergasted by the rapid series of blows traded between Han Li and the white-robed woman, and both of them suddenly let loose involuntary cries of surprise upon seeing the woman's true appearance. Han Li also drew a sharp breath at the sight of her facial features. An extremely terrifying half of a face was laid out before his eyes.

One half of the face was covered in shriveled eerie green skin while the other half of the face was comprised of fair delicate skin and half of a pair of supple red lips, the kind that one would expect from an exquisite beauty. The ghostly being's eyes were both green and completely emotionless, appraising Han Li in a cold manner.

If this face had been present on some kind of sinister ghostly being with a hideous body, then it wouldn't have been much of a shock. However, this woman possessed an extremely seductive figure with a head of flowing gorgeous hair, creating the illusion that she was a fine beauty. As such, the stark contrast between expectations and reality naturally sent a bone-chilling sensation running down the beholder's spine.

Low ghostly sobs suddenly sounded from the white-robed woman's body, and clouds of white mist began to surface in the nearby area.

These clouds of mist contained all types of ghostly figures, some of which were baring their fangs in a menacing display, some of which were letting loose ferocious roars, and all of them were putting on menacing displays.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock, and azure light flashed from his spirit beast bracelet as he sprang into action to summon his Weeping Soul Beast. However, an earthshattering roar suddenly erupted deep within the mist at this moment, and the roar was so thunderously loud that Han Li's ears were ringing in its aftermath. Even the clouds of ghostly mist were surging erratically from that explosive roar, and the two women accompanying Han Li were completely petrified.

That voice didn't belong to any of the four demon monarchs, so there was most likely some other powerful ghostly being nearby. Han Li's expression darkened as that thought occurred to him, yet before he had a chance to formulate a plan, an inexplicable turn of events suddenly unfolded.

As soon as the white-robed woman heard this roar, green light flashed from within her eyes, and the ghostly weeping emanating from her body abruptly cut off. Following a brief hesitation, the white mist around its body quickly swept toward it as a gust of white winds, and it hurtled directly toward the direction where the roar had erupted from.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to chase down this opponent, but his eyes were flashing with indecision as he cast his gaze toward the direction where the thunderous roar had just erupted from."Brother Han, what should we..." Yan Li couldn't help want to ask something, but Han Li immediately cut her off. "Let's get out of here as quickly as we can. It's quite possible that one of the demon monarchs is nearby. Otherwise, that ghostly woman wouldn't have dropped everything to go and assist her companion."

Yuan Yao and Yan Li found this to be quite a plausible theory, and the trio immediately flew away along with the ghostly soldiers. On this occasion, no more ghostly beings appeared to hinder them, and the mist up ahead was thinning at a noticeable rate. Two hours later, the three of them finally emerged from the mist.

All three of them were ecstatic to see this, and they immediately prepared to fly away into the distance. However, right at this moment, an unfamiliar male voice suddenly sounded from high above them. "Hmm? I didn't think that anyone would be able to make it out of my restriction; looks like I underestimated your abilities."

Han Li and the others were all shocked to hear this, and they raised their heads in unison, upon which all three of them were stunned by what they saw. In the air over 10,000 feet above the nearby ghostly mist, there were two groups of beings locked in a tense confrontation.

One of those groups was comprised of none other than the white-haired beauty and Mu Qing, as well as a dozen or so high-grade demon beasts and the eight Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs.

There were thousands of ghostly soldiers situated further away, and they were all organized in an orderly formation as gusts of Yin winds and bursts of baleful Qi erupted into the air around them.

However, they were faced with several times the number of beings they had on their side, comprising an army of around 7,000 to 8,000. All of these beings were around 20 feet tall and were clad in suits of crimson armor. They were wielding all types of weapons such as sabers, spears, swords, halberds, bows, and crossbows, and all of them hovered completely motionlessly in mid-air, clearly indicating that this was an exceptionally well-trained army.

What was even more surprising to Han Li was that there were over 100 azure war carriages among this crimson army. These war carriages appeared to be rather antiquated with azure light flashing erratically over their surfaces. There were a dozen or so crimson-armored beings on each carriage, all of which were wielding long weapons. There were two strange black beasts with lion heads and wyrm bodies drawing each carriage, and they were also clad in suits of armor.

At the forefront of the army were three general seated atop different beastly steeds. The one who had just spoken was a man in a suit of purple armor with a pair of golden war hammers strapped to his back. Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty also turned their attention toward Han Li's trio. The white-haired beauty remained completely motionless, making it impossible to glean her thoughts, but Mu Qing wore a hint of a smile on her face, and Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this as he lamented his terrible luck.

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Yuan Yao and Yan Li's faces immediately paled at the sight of the white-haired woman.

"Oh, so there's a couple of semi-ghostly beings among the three of you; no wonder you were able to emerge from my restriction." The purple-armored general was somehow able to immediately identify Yuan Yao and Yan Li's constitutions, and he lost interest in them as a result.

He then turned his attention toward Han Li, and the latter was immediately struck by a bone-chilling burst of spiritual sense sweeping toward him, attempting to completely see through his entire being.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he activated his Great Development Technique to repel most of the armored general's spiritual sense.

At the same time, he also swept his spiritual sense toward the man.

As a result, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he discovered that the body of armored general was extremely cold, and was not a body of flesh and blood, but there was no Yin ghost energy within it, either.

He then swept his spiritual sense toward the other two generals as well as the crimson-armored soldiers behind them, and he discovered that aside from the carriage-drawing beasts, all of them were also completely devoid of life.

"These are puppets?" Han Li was shocked as he arrived at this verdict.

These puppets seemed to have already controlled the ghostly beings of the infernal river. Setting aside the crimson-armored soldiers, the three armored generals each had different auras, and they'd most likely been possessed by the souls of extremely powerful beings.

Furthermore, the fact that the two demon monarchs hadn't attacked these puppets yet was a clear indication that both sides were evenly matched. Otherwise, such an impasse couldn't be maintained as the two women would've destroyed their opponents already.

Liu Zu and Di Xue weren't present, so they were presumably still trapped within the ghostly mist, battling the powerful ghost that had unleashed that thunderous roar earlier.

"Get over here!" Mu Qing suddenly waved a hand toward Han Li.

There was certainly no chance for them to escape in this situation, so Han Li could only do as he told, flying over to the two demon monarchs before cupping his fist in a respectful salute. "I pay my respects to my two seniors!"

"Fellow Daoist Han, why isn't Jin Ling with you? Where is it right now?" Rather than asking about why Han Li and the others had escaped from the ghostly mist, she instead enquired about that golden ape.

"I'm not sure. Brother Jin and I were forcibly separated by the ghostly beings in the mist," Han Li replied truthfully.

"Is that so?" Mu Qing's brows furrowed upon hearing this.

Han Li glanced at the puppets they were facing off against, and asked, "Senior Mu, what are these beings? Were they the ones that set up this ghostly mist?"

"Fellow Daoist Han and I have only just recently escaped from this mist as well. We were just about to unleash some techniques to break this restriction, only to be forced into this confrontation by those beings, and we haven't had a chance to ask them anything yet. However, I didn't see these things last time I was in here, so I think they're just like us in that they also came into the infernal river from the outside." Mu Qing was clearly also rather perplexed.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"As you've figured out already, we're facing an army of puppets, but they're certainly nothing to be scoffed at. Those three puppet generals are all extremely powerful, and even if Fellow Daoist Lan and I were to attack in person, we're still confident in our ability to kill them," Mu Qing said in a grave voice.

On the other side, the white-haired woman didn't ask Yuan Yao and Yan Li any questions. Instead, she looked on at the three puppet generals, and asked in a cold voice, "I don't care what you are, but answer me this; are you going to withdraw this restriction or not?"

"Withdraw this restriction? What a joke! You outsiders have infiltrated the holy land of our Mayfly Race, and you're trying to get your hands on our holy artifact. You're the ones who attacked us last time as well, right? We let you get away on that occasion, but that won't happen again!" the purple-armored general replied in a cold voice.

"The Mayfly Race?" The white-haired beauty's expression changed drastically while Mu Qing's heart jolted upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, Han Li's brows furrowed in befuddlement. He had no recollection of seeing any records about such a race.

"You know of our race? Then that makes things easier. If you surrender and hand yourselves over without a fight, we could perhaps spare your lives. Otherwise, even if you manage to get away this time, our race will deploy troops to wipe you off the face of the Spirit Realm." The purple-armored general was initially slightly taken aback, but a menacing tone then crept into its voice.

Mu Qing and the white-haired woman glanced at one another upon hearing this, and their expressions at turned quite grim in the face of the threats made by the purple-armored general.

The two of them then began to transmit their voices to one another in a silent conversation.

The purple-armored general merely chuckled coldly upon seeing this, but did nothing to stop them.

As the voice transmission continued, an indecisive look appeared on the white-haired woman's face, and Mu Qing's brows were also tightly furrowed; it appeared that neither of them could arrive at a decision.

"You proclaim this to be the holy land of the Mayfly Race, and you'll to support these claims. Since when did the Mayfly Race switch to cultivating in Yin ghost powers?" the white-haired woman asked in a cold voice.

"You don't need to be made aware of that! Do you really think that the infernal river surrounding this space appeared out of thin air?" the purple-armored general replied with a cold chuckle.

Mu Qing and the white-haired woman's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, and they seemed to be growing a little more convinced by the armored general's claims.

After a brief silence, the white-haired beauty adopted a cold expression, and said, "Hmph, who knows if you're truly from the Mayfly Race or merely imposters? Even if you really are from the Mayfly Race, I'd only be wary if a Heavenly Mayfly Tier being from your race were present; you think a few puppets like you can force us to surrender?"

Mu Qing didn't say anything to stop her, and a layer of azure Qi had appeared over her body. Red light flashed within the eyes of the purple-armored general upon hearing this, and it wasted no further time with words as it slammed a palm onto the back of its rhinoceros steed.

The beast immediately reared its head before inhaling deeply.

All of the surrounding air seemed to have been sucked away by the rhinoceros, following which it opened its mouth with a low roar. A ball of azure light then shot forth amid a piercing flash of light, heading straight for the two demon monarchs.

A thunderous rumbling nose was erupting from the ball of azure light, and the white-haired woman's expression darkened as she made a hand seal. Grey light flashed behind her, and a massive ghostly projection with a head of disheveled hair appeared, then swelled drastically in size. It opened its massive mouth and blasted forth a ball of black light in retaliation.

The two balls of light clashed amid an earthshattering boom! Azure and black light intertwined, creating a massive mushroom cloud in the aftermath of the explosion.

A vicious light appeared in the white-haired woman's eyes upon seeing this, and she let loose a long shrill cry.

The thousands of ghostly soldiers then transformed into gusts of pitch-black Yin winds as they swept toward their opponents, led by the eight ghost monarchs.

The opposing purple-armored generally harrumphed coldly before drawing the two golden war hammers from his back.

"Even though this is only a puppet body, I should be able to unleash half of my full power," the purple-armored general murmured to himself in an unintelligible voice, then swung his golden war hammers through the air.

The war hammers were then released from his grasp and flew into the air before radiating boundless golden light, manifesting over 100 golden war hammer projections that came crashing down soundlessly toward the gusts of Yin winds.

Eight long cries erupted from amid the Yin winds at once, following which the eight Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs appeared at low altitudes. The either hurled their weapons through the air as streaks of black light, or thrust their palms violently into the air a few times, or opened their mouths to expel bursts of black light.

In any case, eight bursts of black light hurtled forth, combining to form a black barrier of light.

All of the golden war hammer projections that struck the barrier of light were completely trapped like fish in a net.

"Nice party trick!" The purple-armored general's expression darkened as he let loose a derisive harrumph. All of the golden war hammer projections caught within the light barrier then exploded in unison, and the barrier was completely pulverized by the resulting blasts of violent golden light. The golden light then descended onward, trying to engulf all eight of the ghost monarchs.

However, right at this moment, Mu Qing sprang into action.

She flipped a hand over before grabbing the air, and a rich peculiar fragrance suddenly wafted through the air beneath the golden light. Rainbow spiritual light then flashed, following which countless giant flower projections appeared out of thin air.

These projections kept the golden light at bay as they clashed amid a resounding boom, and the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts down below took advantage of this opportunity to charge toward their enemies.

The purple-armored general merely waved a hand in response without saying anything, and a row of crossbow-wielding crimson-armored puppets immediately stepped forward at once, then let loose their arrows in unison.

Countless crimson arrows descended into the Yin winds like a torrential downpour.

Balls of crimson light exploded within the Yin winds, and a series of ghostly figures began to plummet from the sky.

However, during this split-second, the Yin winds plunged headfirst into the army of crimson-armored puppets, led by the eight ghost monarchs.

An extremely fierce battle ensued. None of the ghost monarchs nor normal Yin Armor Profound Ghosts attacked the three puppet generals. Conversely, the three puppets paid no heed to the ghostly soldiers, either, as their attention was entirely focused on the two demon monarchs.

As for Han, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li, they were naturally also disregarded.

The two women were naturally looking back at the three puppets with rapt focus.

Aside from the purple-armored puppet, the other two puppet generals both had rather strange appearances.

One of them was around 400 feet tall with three eyes on its head, and a massive ax in its hands. It wore a suit of azure armor that was riddled with sharp black spikes, and it was truly a harrowing sight to behold.

Meanwhile, the other puppet general was only around 20 feet tall and clad in a suit of crimson armor. However, it had two heads and four arms, each of which was holding a different weapon in the forms of a saber, a sword, a spear, and a halberd.

Both of their steeds consisted of the same type of crimson water-buffalo-like beast, and neither of these puppets had uttered a single word up to this point, seemingly content to allow the purple-armored puppet to speak on their behalf.

However, the three-eyes puppet suddenly spoke for the first time.

"There's no need to meet their assault head-on; we just have to stall them for a while. I've already notified the others, and they'll assist those ghostly beings to kill the other intruders, then come and reinforce us."

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The purple-armored puppet and two-headed puppet both nodded in agreement, making it seem as if the three-headed puppet was the true leader of the trio.

The three-headed puppet made no effort to lower its voice, so not only did Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty hear it, it was clearly audible even Han Li, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li.

Mu Qing adopted a peculiar expression while a deriding sneer appeared on the white-haired beauty's face.

"Hehe, Sister Mu, seeing as they want to wait for some reinforcements, why don't we wait with them?" the white-haired woman chuckled as she turned to Mu Qing.

"My thoughts exactly! We'll do as you say, Sister Lan," Mu Qing agreed with a smile.

The white-haired woman nodded before withdrawing her hands into her sleeves, and the massive ghostly projection behind her hovered motionlessly in mid-air.

Mu Qing also crossed her arms and stood completely still atop her golden flower.

The two of them really did seem to be planning to wait!

Meanwhile, the high-grade demon beast, as well as Han Li and the others, naturally stood still on the spot, having received no orders to attack.

Hints of curiosity flashed through the eyes of the three puppets upon seeing this, but what the two women were doing played right into their hands, so they also merely remained on the spot with cold expressions on their faces.

Weapon projections, Yin winds, and streaks of spiritual light intertwined relentlessly in the air amid relentless strings of explosions.

Shattered puppets and ghostly soldiers plummeted from the sky from time to time before disappearing into black mist amid a string of dull thumps.

Meanwhile, the five Body Integration Stage powerful beings continued to engage in a tense standoff.

The crimson-armored puppets clearly had the advantage in numbers and were more proficient in teamwork. Meanwhile, the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts were more powerful individually, and with the eight ghost monarchs among their ranks, they were forcing the crimson-armored puppets back into retreat, seemingly having completely gained the upper hand.

Thankfully for the crimson-armored puppets, the armored warriors on the hundred or so war carriages on their side were fighting without any fear of death, and the carriages themselves along with the beasts they were drawn by all possessed powerful abilities. Thus, they were able to combine their powers to ward off most of the ghost monarchs. Otherwise, the situation would've most likely been even worse for them.

A contemplative look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

The normal crimson-armored puppets moved quite slowly and clearly had lackluster reaction speed. These were only ordinary puppets with no spiritual sense imbued within them. In contrast, the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts that had been trained by the white-haired beauty were displaying their immense powers, lashing out with Yin winds and all types of weapons to vanquish their enemies, and the opposing puppets were often either frozen into black blocks of ice or sliced into countless pieces by the blades of wind.

The eight Yin Armor Demon Monarchs were even more dominant; all of them had transformed into massive black-armored ghosts that were over 100 feet tall with gigantic bull horns on their heads and sets of sinister menacing facial features.

The puppets fought with all their might, only to be easily torn into shreds by these ghost monarchs.

However, the three puppet generals paid no heed to this, as if the subordinates that were being destroyed were completely inconsequential.

Meanwhile, the white-haired beauty and Mu Qing were naturally happy to maintain this standoff, seeing as their ghostly soldiers were annihilating the opposition.

After a while, most of the crimson-armored puppets had been destroyed, as had all of the war carriages on their side. Conversely, a small portion of the Yin Amor Profound Ghosts had disappeared, and the eight ghost monarchs were also all riddled with wounds.

A cold light flashed through the white-haired woman's eyes, and she turned around to glance at the other high-grade demon beasts, seemingly about to issue some kind of instruction.

However, right at this moment, a burst of silent fluctuations erupted from deep within the mist, and the air in the area near Han Li and the others began to tremor and quake.

This strange occurrence naturally drew everyone's attention.

However, they could only tell that the sea of mist in the distance was tumbling and swirling violently, but they were unable to see through the mist and ascertain what was going on in there.

Just as Han Li had also narrowed his eyes in bewilderment, a low buzzing sound swept toward them from the extremely far distance.

A speck of white light flashed from afar, following which another earthshattering roar rang out, and a scintillating white sun appeared within the mist. The sun then expanded rapidly, illuminating almost the entire sea of mist with its incandescent light.

The white light then receded, yet an unfathomable burst of spiritual pressure began to wreak havoc within the space with reckless abandon.

"Crap!"

Everyone had reflexively closed their eyes in the face of that brilliant sun, and as soon as they sensed that burst of fearsome spiritual pressure, all of them turned around and fled the scene without any hesitation, flying away from the mist.

Han Li was also among the people fleeing the scene.

He flapped his Thunderstorm Wings and disappeared on the spot as an arc of lightning.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao and Yan LI suddenly gathered together as grey mist surged around their bodies, and they flew away amid gusts of Yin winds that they'd conjured up.

As for the other high-grade demon beast, all of them were also scattering as quickly as they could.

A rumbling thunderclap rang out from the distance, following which a white hurricane erupted into the air at the center of the sea of mist, as if it were a white true dragon rising into the skies.

However, the pillar of wind then abruptly shattered in the face of that explosive thunderclap.

Howling winds began to sweep forth in all directions, and the winds were so fearsome that they seemed to be threatening to tear this entire space open.

Even though a restriction had been placed on this mist in advance, there was no way that it was able to withstand such fierce winds. As such, the sea of mist was completely swept away without being able to offer any resistance.

When Han Li reappeared over 10,000 feet away and turned toward back to assess the situation, his heart abruptly jolted with shock.

The dense sea of mist that had stretched for as far as the eyes could see now ceased to exist, and countless gusts of furious white winds had taken its place.

The place that they'd been situated at before had been completely transformed into a world of howling winds with countless wind blades that were invisible to the naked eye surging through the air. This windstorm was extremely fierce!

The puppets and ghostly soldiers that weren't able to get away in time were all swept up into these ferocious winds, and they were struggling with all their might to remain intact.

However, the winds were simply too powerful to contend with, and after a series of explosions and howls of anguish, almost all of the puppets and Yin Armor Profound Ghosts were instantly eradicated into nothingness.

Only the eight ghost monarchs still remained, resisting with all their might as black light flashed over their bodies, but their situation was also very dire.

The white-haired beauty's expression darkened upon seeing this. All of a sudden, she let loose a sharp cry, and all eight ghost monarch immediately let loose shrill cries of their own to resonate with her. They then barely managed to transform into balls of black light before hurtling toward the same spot.

Brilliant black light erupted, and the eight balls of light combined into one.

Ripples then ran along the surface of this ball of light, following which it transformed into a gargantuan ghost that was several hundred feet tall.

As soon as this ghost took shape, it fled toward a certain direction, escaping the area encompassed by the vicious winds in just a few flashes before rushing directly toward the white-haired beauty as quickly as they could.

At this moment, the three puppet generals were appraising the windstorm with contemplative looks in their eyes, seemingly in deep thought about something.

All of a sudden, heavy footsteps sounded from deep within the gusts of wind. The ground tremored slightly with each and every step, and each successive step seemed to be heavier and closer than the last one. It was as if a colossal creature was making its way toward everyone, and it was doing so at an alarming speed.

Everyone looked on at the windstorm with grave expressions on their faces.

Moments later, a mountainous black shadow began to appear from within the gust of wind, and it only seemed to be expanding further as it progressed onward.

The ferocious winds didn't have any effect on the black shadow at all, and after a hint of blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, an expression of enlightenment appeared on his face.

A thunderous roar suddenly erupted from within the howling winds, following which the black shadow leaped out of the windstorm, revealing itself to be a purple giant.

It was none other than Di Xue's Purpleblood Puppet.

At this moment, the two crimson-robed figures were standing on its shoulders while a black-robed man stood atop its head. The black-robed man was none other than the most mysterious being among the four demon monarchs, Liu Zu!

The white-haired beauty was elated to see this, yet before she had a chance to say anything, green light suddenly flashed through the eyes of the three puppets in the distance, and the three-eyes puppet exclaimed, "How did you two come out alive? Where's everyone else?"

"Everyone else? You mean these things?" Liu Zu said in an indifferent voice before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and four round objects suddenly tumbled down from above the Purpleblood Puppet's head.

Han Li focused his gaze on those objects to find that they were all crimson heads that were wearing strange helmets.

"You killed all of them? That's impossible! The four of them are even more powerful than us three, and they had so many ghostly beings to assist them!" The purple-armored puppet was completely incredulous as he looked at the heads on the ground.

"Hehe, if your true bodies were here, seven Golden Mayfly Tier beings really would pose a stern challenge, even for me. However, you're all merely puppets, and you'd be lucky to be able to unleash even half of your power in your current state, so of course you're no match for me. Fellow Daoist Mu, Fellow Daoist Lan, kill them all!" Liu Zu instructed with a sinister chuckle, and astonishing killing intent erupted from his body.

The three puppets were all horrified to hear this, and one of them yelled, "Split up and run!"

The three puppets then urged their steeds into action in unison, instantly transforming into three streaks of light of different colors that fled toward different directions.

Following just a few flashes, they were already several thousand feet away. All of their steeds possessed strange movement techniques that were extremely fast.

However, Liu Zu and the others seemed to have a tacit understanding between them the white-haired beauty let loose an unsettling chuckle before hurtling toward the purple-armored puppet as a plume of azure smoke, followed closely by the Body Integration Stage gargantuan ghost, which flew through the air as a ball of black light.

Mu Qing stomped a foot onto her golden flower, and a black formation of light appeared out of thin air, following which both she and her flower disappeared. In the next instant, she reappeared far closer to the twin-headed puppet than she was a moment ago.

One of the crimson-robed figures let loose a long roar, and the Purpleblood Puppet strode forward as purple and red flames erupted all over its body, covering a distance of over 1,000 feet with just a single stride, pursuing the three-eyes puppet.

Thus, all of the Body Integration Stage beings disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only Han Li, Yuan Yao, Yan Li, and a dozen or so high-grade demon beasts.

Right at this moment, Yan Li transmitted her voice to him. "Take this opportunity to get away, Fellow Daoist Han; these demon beasts won't be able to stop you."

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Han Li remained completely expressionless upon hearing this, but he really was tempted to make a move. However, he then cast his gaze toward a certain direction, and what he saw there immediately made his heart sink.

"Haha, you really are an extraordinary man, Fellow Daoist Han. As expected, my concealment abilities weren't enough to fool you." A burst of hearty laughter suddenly erupted from empty space, following which golden light flashed and a golden figure appeared.

It was none other than the golden ape, Jin Ling.

Even though the ape was chortling in a raucous manner, it wore an extremely cold expression as it looked at Han Li.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li's expressions changed in unison upon seeing this.

They had spent many years in the earth abyss, so they were naturally well aware of just how powerful this golden ape was. The two of them were extremely confident in Han Li's abilities, but they knew that there was no way he'd be able to directly oppose a being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage.

With this ape present along with all of the other high-grade demon beasts, it would be impossible for him to get away.

"I'm glad you're safe, Brother Jin. After we were separated in that ghostly mist, I was worried about you for a long while, but it appears my concerns were unnecessary. With your immense cultivation base, those ghostly beings never stood a chance," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"I do have some self-preservation skills, but I can't compare with you, Fellow Daoist Han. You were able to emerge from the mist as a Spirit General; that's very much worthy of my admiration," Jin Ling praised with a smile on its face.

"I don't have such abilities. It was all thanks to Fellow Daoist Yuan and Fellow Daoist Yan that I was able to escape from this mist," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"Those two may have certain methods to find their way out of this mist, but without Brother Han's assistance, they wouldn't have been able to deal with the powerful ghostly beings along the way," Jin Ling continued.

Han Li merely smiled in response, and didn't say anything further. However, his mind was quickly scrambling.

He was confident that his powers were not inferior to Jin Ling's and even weighing those high-grade demon beasts into the equation, he was still confident that he had a 70% to 80% chance of getting away.

However, that was only if he were to escape on his own. If he were to take Yuan Yao and Yan Li with him, then that probability fell to less than 50%. This was not a worthwhile risk for him to take. In any case, this infernal river was an extremely perilous and unpredictable places, so it was best to find another opportunity in the future.

Thus, Han Li made his decision and began to chat with Jin Ling.

Seeing as Han Li seemed to have no intention of getting away, the golden ape also relaxed a little, and the two of them engaged in a pleasant conversation as if they'd been good friends for many years.

Just as they were conversing with one another, a ball of green light suddenly sped back toward them from afar.

Mu Qing was standing atop her golden flower as she flew soundlessly through the air, and Han Li faltered initially upon seeing this, a little surprised that she was back so soon, but he then recalled back to the teleportation-like movement techniques that she'd unleashed in the past, and he was quickly enlightened.

Following a few flashes, the ball of green light appeared overhead before fading to reveal Mu Qing's slender figure.

"I pay my respects to My Mistress!" The golden ape immediately extended a respectful bow.

"I'm glad you're safe, Jin Ling." An elated look appeared on Mu Qing's face at the sight of the golden ape.

"It was all thanks to the protective treasures you bestowed upon me, Mistress. Otherwise, there was no way that I could've managed to remain unscathed in the face of so many ghostly beings. In the end, I was only able to escape with assistance from Master Liu Zu and Master Di Xue," the golden ape replied.

"That windstorm in the end was clearly Fellow Daoist Liu Zu's handiwork. This is the first time I've seen him unleash a wind-attribute ability," Mu Qing said in a slow voice, and there was a hint of unidentifiable emotion in her tone.

"Master Liu Zu's powers are indeed quite unfathomable, but it was exactly because of this that those puppets and ghostly beings were vanquished so easily," Jin Ling said in a slightly grim voice.

"You're right. In a perilous place like this, the more powerful Fellow Daoist Liu Zu is, the better. Seeing as I've already taken care of my opponent, the others most likely won't take too much longer, either." Mu Qing nodded after a brief silence before casting her gaze into the distance.

Coincidentally, in the instant that she raised her head, a speck of spiritual light flashed in the extremely far distance in the direction that she'd cast her gaze toward, following which a ball of black Qi appeared and hurtled toward them.

Moments later, the ball of black Qi appeared before everyone like a shooting star before receding to reveal the white-haired beauty.

The woman appeared to be completely unscathed, but her aura was slightly more feeble than when she'd set off, indicating that she'd expended quite a bit of magic power.

She looked around before her brows furrowed as she asked, "Why aren't Liu Zu and Di Xue back yet? With their abilities, I would've thought that they'd be the first ones to take care of their opponent."

"I'm not sure of that myself. Perhaps they encountered some mishaps along the way. Where are your eight ghost monarchs, Sister Lan? Didn't they go with you to hunt down that puppet?" Mu Qing asked with a curious expression.

"The puppet self-detonated on the brink of death, and the eight ghost monarchs were all severely damaged as a result, so I've stored them away into my Yincloud Pouch for recovery. I really at getting rather worried about Liu Zu and Di Xue, though. If you and I are the only ones remaining, there'd be no chance for us to secure the Divine Infernal River Elixir." A concerned look appeared on the white-haired beauty's face.

Mu Qing was just about to say something in response when a resounding boom suddenly erupted from a certain direction. That direction was none other than the one that Liu Zu and Di Xue had departed toward earlier.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty exchanged a glance upon hearing this earthshattering commotion, and both of them could see their own surprise mirrored on one another's faces.

"Could it be..." The white-haired beauty's brows furrowed with concern.

However, before she had a chance to finish her sentence, a sharp screech suddenly rang out from the direction where the explosion had just taken place.

As soon as Han Li heard this unbearable sound, his vision blacked out and the plummeted from the sky.

"Crap!"

Han Li almost immediately reacted by sealing off his sense of hearing, then activating his Great Development Technique.

However, what was quite astonishing to him was that this sharp screech completely disregarded his attempt to seal off his hearing, piercing directly into his spiritual sense anyway. The Great Development Technique was indeed quite useful in such situations, but its activation had been cut off halfway by that sharp screech, so its effects were naturally severely hampered.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he let loose a loud roar, unleashing the Spiritstun Thorn on himself to send a burst of searing pain piercing into his spiritual sense. As such, he was temporarily able to recover his clarity of mind and regain control over his own body.

He then unleashed a layer of golden lightning around his body amid a loud thunderclap, then abruptly slammed his black and white palms together in front of his chest.

Five-colored flames and grey light immediately erupted from his hands in unison, then intertwined with one another to form a dual-layered barrier of light that encapsulated his body.

With these defensive measures in place, the effect that the sharp screech had on his spiritual sense was severely dampened, and he managed to right himself in mid-air again.

However, he then caught sight of Yuan Yao and Yan Li, both of whom were still rapidly plummeting out of the sky, and they were going to crash heavily onto the jagged rocks down below very soon.

Thus, he immediately made a grabbing motion toward them, upon which countless grey threads shot forth from within the grey light, instantly latching onto the two women before drawing them toward him.

Han Li then expanded the flames and grey light emanating from his body to encompass the two of them as well, and a hint of color returned to their cheeks as they regained the ability to hover in mid-air again.

At this moment, a string of dull thumps rang out from down below as the dozen or so high-grade demon beasts fell heavily to the ground, having been unable to withstand the effects of the sharp screech.

All of the demon beasts possessed robust bodies, so falling from this height wasn't an issue at all for them. However, all of them had their hands pressed over their ears with all their might while they thrashed and rolled around in agony. All types of protective spiritual lights flashed erratically around bodies, but they seemed to be completely ineffective.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this before casting his gaze toward the others.

Jin Ling was situated beside Mu Qing, and the golden flower down below had conjured up a series of flower projections to shield them from the effects of the sharp screech.

As for the white-haired beauty, she was enshrouded in a ball of Yin winds and stood in a completely motionless manner, clearly also unaffected by the sharp screech.

However, all three of them were looking on into the distance with intense unblinking eyes as the screech was only growing louder, and an incredible phenomenon had appeared up ahead.

A massive crimson insect projection had emerged up ahead, and it was so massive that it took up virtually the entire sky. It had a pair of inky-black compound eyes that shimmered with a cold light while a pair of semi-transparent wings flapped on either side of its body like a pair of light barriers.

It appeared to be a fly that had been enlarged countless times!

The debilitating screeching sound that had almost felled Han Li was coming from none other than the wings of that insect projection. As the projection rapidly flapped its wings, fluctuations that were visible to the naked eye were proliferating from them. They then seemed to have disappeared as they surged further through the air, but in reality, they had turned into that sharp screeching sound that was clearly audible even from Han Li's location.

Even from so far away, the sharp screech possessed such fearsome might; if they were situated right before the insect projection, there'd be no need for it to do anything other than flapping its wings to kill its enemies.

However, this fly-like projection wasn't only flapping its wings; it was also blasting countless thick pillars of crimson light out of its compound eyes.

These pillars of light rained down from above, virtually encompassing the entire space down below.

Even though Han Li couldn't truly experience the might of these pillars of light for himself, they were still a formidable sight to behold, even from afar.

Beneath the massive net constructed from these intertwining pillars of light, there were two beings evading these pillars of light with all their might.

These two beings were each around 100 feet in size, but they were so tiny and insignificant compared to the gargantuan insect projection that they weren't immediately noticed.

Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, and he immediately identified these two beings.

One of them was the Purpleblood Puppet, which had shrunk down drastically, while the other being came as a massive shock to Han Li!

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This was an inky-black monster with six feelers extending from its head and six blade-like limbs.

This being wasn't much smaller than the Purpleblood Puppet, and its entire body was covered in steel-like strands of hard fur. Its two eyes were long and thin and shimmering with an eerie red light while the two pairs of bird wings on its back were flapping rapidly.

It was also a massive strange insect.

The insect and the Purpleblood Puppet remained unaffected by the sharp screech even though they were so close to the insect projection, and they were flashing through the air like wraith-like apparitions. On many occasions, the pillars of red light seemed to have punctured their bodies, only for those to revealed as mere afterimages.

As the Purpleblood Puppet was taking evasive measures, it produced a massive ax and unleashed a relentless barrage of crescent ax projections.

In contrast, the giant black insect was attacking with its six limbs, which were flashing through the air to unleash streaks of black light that resembled sharp spikes.

Most of their attacks were vanquished by the red pillars of light, and even the ones that snuck through were kept at bay by a layer of invisible power.

"What is that? Could it be that it's a Heavenly Mayfly Tier being?" the white-haired beauty exclaimed as she stared at the insect projection.

"I'm actually more intrigued by Fellow Daoist Liu Zu's true form," Mu Qing murmured as her pupils contracted.

The white-haired beauty repressed her shock as a dark expression appeared on her face, and she said, "Now's not the time to be arguing about such trivial matters, Fellow Daoist Mu. Heavenly Mayfly Tier beings are only second to true spirits within the Mayfly Race. If that thing is truly such a being, then none of us would be able to escape."

"Sister Lan, have you still not figured it out yet? That thing is just the projection of a Heavenly Mayfly Tier being, and it must've been forcibly summoned here through the use of a secret technique by the puppet that Liu Zu and Di Xue were pursuing. As soon as this projection exhausts all of its power, it'll disappear. Liu Zu and Di Xue are clearly well aware of this, which is why they're merely doing all they can to stall for time," Mu Qing sad in a calm voice.

"A projection?"

The white-haired beauty faltered upon hearing this before carefully appraising the gargantuan fly up ahead. Only after a long while did she heave a sigh of relief as she said, "That is indeed just a projection; it possesses only around a fifth of the power of a true Heavenly Mayfly. Furthermore, none of the actual being's spiritual sense had been imbued within this projection. Otherwise, the two of them wouldn't have been able to last so long. Even so, this thing's attacks are extremely powerful. If the puppet or Liu Zu were to get hit by any one of those attacks, they'd be in real trouble."

"Of course. Even though it's only a projection, Heavenly Mayfly Tier beings are only second to true spirit beings, after all, so this is certainly not something we can contend with," Mu Qing sighed in a resigned manner.

After ascertaining the nature of this projection, the two women naturally weren't going to charge int battle against it. They merely looked on from afar, patiently awaiting the moment that the power of the insect projection would run out.

Meanwhile, Han Li listened to their conversation off to the side with a peculiar look in his eyes.

The situation unfolding before their eyes naturally wasn't something that he could meddle in.

At this moment, the white-haired beauty looked down at the high-grade demon beasts, which were still rolling around on the ground below, and her brows furrowed as she swept a sleeve downward.

A swath of black light swept forth, instantly enshrouding all of those demon beasts within.

The demon beasts immediately returned to their senses and finally stopped thrashing and writhing, but all of them were still completely feeble and unable to rise to their feet.

However, the white-haired beauty showed no intention of doing anything else to help them as she turned toward the colossal insect projection again.

It was just as Mu Qing had said; the devastatingly powerful insect projection suddenly began to radiate piercing red light a while later, then exploded into countless pieces amid a rumbling boom before finally disappearing without a trace.

The pillars of crimson light raining down from above also instantly vanished.

The strange black insect and Purpleblood Puppet both heaved a massive collective sigh of relief before standing still on the spot to recover both their composure and energy. After a brief period of recuperation, both of them few toward Mu Qing and the others.

Moments later, the Purpleblood Puppet and the black insect appeared in the air overhead.

Even though they had determined well in advance that this insect was none other than Liu Zu, both Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty were still staring at it with grave expressions.

Crimson light flashed from the shoulders of the Purpleblood puppets, following which the two crimson-robed figures appeared. They'd been hiding within the puppet's body this entire time.

Meanwhile, black light swirled around the black insect's body and it quickly shrank before adopting a human form.

It was none other than Liu Zu, except his black cloak had disappeared, thereby revealing his true appearance.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he cast his gaze toward the man.

Liu Zu's facial features were mostlyidentical to that of a normal man, and he possessed quite a youthful face. However, he had a pair of green compound eyes that shimmered with a cold light, creating a very unsettling sight to behold.

"It really is Fellow Daoist Liu Zu." The white-haired beauty heaved a long sigh of relief.

"Was that ever in doubt?" Liu Zu asked in a nonchalant manner as he hovered in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Brother Liu Zu, seeing as you possess the body of a spirit insect, are you related in some way to the Mayfly Race?" Mu Qing asked.

"The Mayfly Race? I originally hailed from that race. Are you satisfied with that response?" Liu Zu replied with a faint smile.

Both Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty's expressions both changed drastically upon hearing this."So you knew of this place in advance, yet still intentionally led us to this place?" The white-haired beauty's voice immediately cooled significantly.

"I'm afraid that you've wrongly accused me here, Fellow Daoists. I was aware that the Mayfly Race had a holy land, but at the time, my cultivation base was far too pitiful to be informed of its specific location. After that, I stayed in the earth abyss for countless years, and I've been stuck at my current cultivation base for almost longer than I can remember. If I'd known that there was an entrance leading to this place from the earth abyss and wanted to plot against you from the beginning, why would I have delayed so long before leading all of you here? I really did unintentionally discover that this place could be accessed from the earth abyss through the infernal river, but I truly had no idea that the Mayfly Race would send puppets to this place. According to my knowledge, the holy land of the Mayfly Race usually only opens up once every few thousand years, and it's only been several centuries since we were last here. I can only say that we were extremely unfortunate to have encountered these puppets under such circumstances. On top of that, if I were working with the Mayfly Race, why would I have only asked for puppets to be deployed to this place? I'm well aware of your abilities, and I'm certainly aware of the fact that those puppets would've been no match for you," Liu Zu replied in a calm manner.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty exchanged a glance upon hearing Liu Zu's words.

The two of them couldn't identify any holes in his logic, but both of them knew that he wasn't telling the truth somehow. It was just that they couldn't identify what exactly he had lied about.

"What do you think, Fellow Daoist Di Xue?" Mu Qing suddenly turned to the two crimson-robed figures.

The two of them had remained completely silent from the moment they'd reappeared on the shoulders of the Purpleblood Puppet.

The two crimson-robed figures exchanged a glance upon hearing this before one of them replied, "I think Brother Liu Zu is telling the truth. Even though Brother Liu Zu isn't the one who's spent the longest time among us in the earth abyss, he's definitely not the only who's been in the earth abyss for the shortest period of time, either, so if he wanted to plot against us, there really is no need for him to resort to these tactics. Could it be that two of you want to turn back now? We've already made the Mayfly Race our enemy; would you two be willing to give up on the Divine Infernal River Elixir after all that?"

The crimson-robed figure had completley sided with Liu Zu.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty couldn't help but exchange another glance upon seeing the crimson-robed figure's stance on the matter.

A short while later, the white-haired beauty's expression eased, and she smiled as she said, "Seeing as Fellow Daoist Di Xue believes in Brother Liu Zu, we're also willing to do the same. However, if the Mayfly Race has already become aware of intruders in their holy land from our last visit here, why didn't they deploy more troops or send more actual Golden Mayfly Tier beings to this place rather than station all these puppets here? In that case, it would've been very difficult for us to get away."

"That's quite simple. The Mayfly Race discovered our intrusion from last time, but they don't know when we were going to come back again, so they could only station beings here that could permanently remain in this place. Even though this is the holy land of the Maplefly Race, normal beings of the race wouldn't be able to stay here for long. Otherwise, their cultivation bases would be severely damaged at best, and in worst-case scenarios, they could even die here. If we'd encountered a true insect sea army, hehe, we'd be devoured until not a single shred of our bodies remained," Liu Zu replied.

The white-haired beauty shuddered upon hearing the words "insect sea", and she forced a smile onto her face as she replied, "There's no need to make such jokes, Brother Liu Zu. The Mayfly Race may not be particularly renowned elsewhere in the Spirit Realm, but their influence in this area is not inferior to that of the major races of the Spirit Realm. They wouldn't deploy an insect sea army just to take care of a few Body Integration Stage beings like us."

A hint of fear also flashed through Mu Qing's eyes before she gave a calm analysis. "Indeed. From what I've heard, even true spirits are fearful toward the insect seas deployed by the Mayfly Army. Conversely, unleashing insect seas is extremely taxing to the entire race, so they wouldn't do so unless the circumstances were extremely dire."

"Hehe, I didn't think that the two of you would know so much about our Mayfly Race. Indeed, it would only take a single Heavenly Mayfly Tier being to destroy all of us, so there's certainly no need to deploy an insect sea. That's enough on this matter for now; let's get away from this place. It won't be a simple task for the Mayfly Race to deploy more beings to this place, and that process would take them at least several months. That's enough time for us to find the divine elixir, then return the way we'd come. We did suffer some severe casualties at the hands of those ghostly beings, but we've also slain many of the high-grade ghostly beings in the infernal river, so the rest of our journey should be a lot smoother. By the way, how many more ghostly soldiers and puppets do we have at our disposal?" Liu Zu asked.

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"I stored away as many puppets as I could when those ghostly beings attacked, but there are only just over 1,000 of them left," one of the crimson-robed figures replied.

"My situation is even worse. Not only were the ghost monarchs severely wounded by the puppet's self-detonation, all of them remaining profound ghosts were also destroyed by the wind-attribute ability you unleashed," the white-haired beauty sighed.

"What are you saying, Fellow Daoist Lan? Even though we agreed that you had to refine 8,000 profound ghosts, the pure Yin Qi I supplied to you was far more than enough to refine that number of ghostly soldiers, so you must've refined more than the 8,000 that were revealed, right? Now's not the time to be hiding such resources," Liu Zu said as his expression darkened.

The white-haired beauty faltered upon hearing this, and a slightly awkward look appeared on her face.

"I didn't think that you were aware of this, Brother Liu Zu. Indeed, in order to prepare for unforeseen circumstances, I refined 500 extra profound ghosts. Even though that's not a lot, their individual prowess is far superior to that of normal Yin Armor Profound Ghosts."

"Alright, even though there are still several more perilous places we must pass through during the remainder of our journey, those profound ghosts on top of what's left of the puppets should be enough to get us through to the finish line. I know that you may not fully trust me, but once we secure the Divine Infernal River Elixir, we'll be able to split up and you can go wherever you please. However, I advise you not to try any little tricks before that. Otherwise, don't blame me for turning on you." A threatening tone crept into Liu Zu's voice as he spoke.

The other demon monarchs' expressions changed slightly, but none of them responded to his words, as if they hadn't heard him in the first place.

Liu Zu didn't find their reaction to be strange in the slightest. He merely waved a hand through the air, and said, "Let's go."

He then transformed into a ball of black light that flew on ahead.

The dozen or so high-grade demon beasts down below immediately followed suit.

The two crimson-robed figures glanced at one another before sweeping their sleeves through the air in unison, summoning specks of black light from within. Those specks of black light then began to glow with spiritual lights of different colors before transforming into puppets of different shapes and forms.

These puppets had clearly been carefully preserved by the two crimson-robed figures.

Not only were they all in brand new condition, most of them were extremely intricately crafted.

At this moment, the white-haired beauty also raised a hand to hurl forth a palm-sized black leather pouch, and the pouch rotated in mid-air before tipping itself over to expel a burst black Yin winds.

A group of black-armored ghostly soldiers then emerged from within those Yin winds. These ghostly soldiers appeared to be quite similar in appearance to the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts from before, but they appeared to be more sturdy and also larger in stature.

From a distance, they presented quite a formidable sight to behold.

"Go!"

The ghostly soldiers swept toward Liu Zu as a swath of black mist under the white-haired beauty's command. Yuan Yao and Yan Li could only part with Han Li to follow the white-haired woman.

At this moment, the puppet army also rose into the air and flew along at low altitudes with spiritual light of different colors enshrouding their bodies.

The Purpleblood Puppet led the way from the two crimson-robed figures still situated on its shoulders.

Mu Qing glanced at Han Li with an indifferent expression before also flying away with her golden flower beneath her feet.

"Let's set off as well, Fellow Daoist Han."

Han Li turned to discover Jin Ling appraising him with a hint of a smile on its face, seemingly intent on staying with Han Li to monitor his actions.

Thus, Han Li nodded expressionlessly before rising up into the air as a streak of azure light.

The golden ape chuckled before following closely behind him as a streak of golden light...

A few days later, in front of a cave in a set of greyish-white mountain ranges situated deep within the infernal river. There were several ghostly beings of different forms standing motionlessly on the spot.

These ghostly beings were enshrouded under a layer of azure smoke, and among them were faint white shadows as well as massive skeletons that were several tens of feet tall.

The white-robed ghostly woman who'd faced Han Li in battle once before abruptly departing was one of those ghostly beings.

However, all of them were severely wounded, and their auras were extremely feeble.

Even the ghostly woman that had proven to be a very troublesome opponent to Han Li was missing an arm, leaving her as an amputee.

Standing at the very center of these ghostly beings was a puppet clad in a suit of crimson armor.

This was one of the crimson-armored puppets deployed by the Mayfly Race.

From its outward appearance, this puppet was no different from the other normal crimson-armored puppets. However, the ghostly beings around it clearly all wore expressions of awe and veneration, seemingly rather fearful of it.

The puppet stood in a stationary manner among the high-grade ghostly beings, appraising the dark cave before it with faint green light shimmering in its eyes.

After a while, a long sigh sounded from deep within the cave, following which an elderly voice rang out. "Don't you think it's inappropriate for the Mayfly Race to be requesting for my help?"

The ghostly beings all adopted serious expressions upon hearing this, the crimson-armored puppet replied, "I'm only doing this because I have no choice, Senior. The ones who have encroached upon our holy land are far more powerful than we'd imagined, and there are four of five of them that are even more powerful than our Golden Mayfly Tier beings. Aside from myself, all of the puppets have been destroyed. I've already sent out a signal requesting for assistance, but it'll take at least half a year before reinforcements will arrive. By that time, those people would've most likely fled the scene well in advance. Seeing as you have some ties with our Mayfly Race, I can only request for your assistance, Senior!" The crimson-armored puppet extended a respectful bow toward the opening of the cave.

"Hmph, the agreement I made with your Mayfly Race was that I would only stay in your holy land for a while in order to rest and recuperate; I'm not pledging my allegiance to the Mayfly Race. I've already repaid any debts I owe you, and I even went out of my way to gather all of these high-grade ghostly beings to assist you on this occasion, yet now, you're asking me to fight for you in person? Don't you think that's gong too far?" the owner of the elderly voice harrumphed coldly, and the entire cave tremored with his discontent.

"Senior Jiang, I'm not familiar with the details of your agreement with our Mayfly Race, but with your unfathomable powers, taking care of those beings would be an extremely simple task for you. If you're really reluctant to eradicate them in person, then please allow me to borrow your Five Dragon Chopper; that will suffice as well," the puppet replied.

"The Five Dragon Chopper is one of my most prized treasures; why should I lend it to you? I paid a sufficiently heavy price to the elders of your Mayfly Race in order to enter the infernal river." The elderly man seemed to have recalled something an unsavory memory, and his voice cooled even further.

The crimson-armored puppet didn't dare to push the elderly man any further. Instead, it suddenly produced an extremely intricate thumb-sized black vial before proposing, "Prior to my departure, the elders of our race bestowed upon me a small vial of Yin Water Essence. I'm willing to offer this in exchange for your assistance, Senior."

"Yin Water Essence!" The owner of the elderly voice seemed to be quite stunned by this offer.

The puppet was filled with renewed hope upon hearing the shift in the elderly man's tone, and it continued, "It takes over 100,000 years just for a tiny drop of this Yin Water Essence to be formed, and not much of it can be found even in the entire Spirit Realm, making it an extremely rare treasure."

A burst of black light swept forth from within the cave, wrenching the small vial from the puppet's grasp before drawing it into the cave, but the puppet made no effort to stop this.

"This is indeed Yin Water Essence. Looks like those old monsters in your Mayfly Race have got me wrapped around their fingers," the elderly man sighed in a resigned manner.

"Then you've agreed to help me, Senior?" The crimson-armored puppet was ecstatic.

"I have, but I've already made an agreement with the elders of your race to repress the Yin Qi backlash of this space for your Mayfly Race. During recent times, the source the Yin Qin in this place has been rather unstable, so I won't be able to leave this place. As such, I can only lend you my Five Dragon Chopper," the elderly man replied after a brief hesitation.

"Thank you, Senior! With the Five Dragon Chopper, I'll be able to slay those intruders with ease," the crimson-armored puppet said in an elated voice.

"Alright, here's the treasure." The elderly man wasted no further time as a streak of silver light shot forth from within the cave, reaching the crimson-armored puppet in a flash.

The puppet focused its gaze to find a mundane-looking silver chopper hovering before it. Aside from the fact that the surface of its blade was as smooth and bright as a mirror, there was nothing else out of the ordinary about it.

"Senior, is... is this really the Five Dragon Chopper?" The crimson-armored puppet picked up the chopper and carefully examined it with a hint of bewilderment in its eyes.

"Hehe, are you worried that I'm swindling you?" the elderly man chuckled coldly.

The crimson-armored puppet hurriedly shook its head and tried to explain, "I wouldn't dare to think that; it's just that this chopper." However, right at this moment, the chopper tremored and flew out of its grasp, then hovered in mid-air before radiating brilliant silver light. Immediately thereafter, several clear dragon roars erupted from the chopper, following which five massive wyrm projections slowly emerged along its blade, presenting an intimidating yet spectacular sight to behold.

"I refined this Five Dragon Chopper many years ago from the souls and remains of five immensely powerful wyrms I'd slain while traveling on other continents. Back when it was first forged, it was immediately instated on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll and even now, it's still among the top few handful treasures on that spirit roll," the elderly man declared in a proud voice.

"Apologies for my foolishness, Senior. I'll immediately return this treasure after I take care of those intruders!" The crimson-armored puppet was ecstatic upon seeing the wyrm projections manifested by the chopper and it immediately made a hand seal, following which the chopper disappeared up its sleeve as a streak of silver light.

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"I've already cultivated this treasure to be one with my soul, so even if you take it away from here, I can recover it at a whim. On top of that, you won't be able to make use of the treasure's full power, especially not in that puppet body of yours. I'll impart upon you a mantra for you to activate the power of your spiritual sense to control the Five Dragon Chopper. Even though you won't be able to wield this treasure for long, it should be more than enough to take care of those intruders. However, if you choose to do this, the spiritual sense that you've infused into this puppet will be severely damaged; are you sure you want to take this course of action?" the elderly man asked.

Green eyes flashed in the puppet's eyes upon hearing this, and it quickly replied, "If we don't stop these outsiders, I'll be punished by the elders of our race even if I were to make a safe return. I'd rather take the risk and sacrifice this portion of my spiritual sense if required."

"Good. Seeing as that's the case, I'll teach you the mantra right away," the elderly man chuckled before his voice trailed off.

However, the crimson-armored puppet's eyes were flashing incessantly with rapt focus as if it were listening intently to something.

After a while, the puppet exhaled before extending a final respectful bow toward the cave. "Thank you for your kindness, Senior. I must make haste, so I'll be taking my leave now."

"Not so fast. Here's a vial of pills; feed them to the other ghostly beings. As long as these ghostly beings can recover their powers, they'll be of assistance to you. The Yin Water Essence you gave me is quite precious, so I'll throw in the pills to make it a fair trade."

A gust of wind swept forth out of the cave, sending a white jade vial flying toward the puppet.

The crimson-armored puppet was naturally ecstatic to see this, and it immediately stowed the jade vial away before bidding farewell to the elderly man in the cave again. The ghostly beings also departed in silence behind the puppet.

Meanwhile, Liu Zu and the others were flying through the air above a forest filled with dead trees when a large horde of flying skeletons suddenly flew toward them from the forest down below.

These skeletons appeared to be remains of some kind of insect beast; all of them had extremely large front limbs that were like pairs of massive bone blades, and their bodies were enshrouded in balls of yellow Qi as they charged toward the army of puppets and ghostly soldiers.

In order to conserve their magic power, Liu Zu and the others refrained from engaging these insect skeletons in battle. Instead, the puppets and ghostly soldiers were deployed to face the oncoming enemies.

Swaths of saber projections and sword Qi hurtled through the air amid gusts of Yin winds, quickly slicing these skeletons into countless pieces. However, a peculiar scene then ensued.

Regardless of how severely damaged the skeletons were or how many pieces they'd been pulverized into, as soon as they fell into the dead forest, they'd be completely regenerated before flying up to join the fray again.

It was as if they possessed immortal bodies.

Han Li had also refrained from engaging in this battle, but his expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

Thankfully, they still had many puppets and ghostly soldiers left. Otherwise, these skeletons would've been quite a nuisance to deal with. It was no wonder that Liu Zu and the others had insisted on preparing so many puppets and profound ghosts before embarking on this journey.

Thus, everyone flew onward while the puppets and ghostly soldiers kept these insect skeletons at bay, and it took them the better part of a day to finally fly out of this dead forest.

After emerging from the forest, the insect skeletons were unable to continue regenerating, and they disintegrated into clouds of grey mist after their remains plummeted to the ground.

The skeletons seemed to possess a certain level of intelligence as they immediately returned to the forest after witnessing the fate that befell that less fortunate companions, and that was Han Li quite amazed by this sequence of events.

It appeared that this dead forest had to have some unique properties.

If it weren't for the fact that Liu Zu and the others were intent on forging ahead as quickly as possible, he would've been quite tempted to investigate the area.

After flying onward for a while longer, a large black lake suddenly appeared up ahead. The surface of the lake was inky-black and enshrouded under a layer of faint green mist. It was quite obvious that this was not the place for a picnic.

However, Liu Zu paid no heed to this as he flew on ahead, leading everyone directly into the mist without any hesitation.

Not long after that, sounds of battle erupted within the mist once again...

A month later, all of the puppets and ghostly soldiers had been completely eradicated, and everyone was greeted by the sight of a set of grey mountain ranges in the distance. That was their final destination; the Yinbone Mountain Ranges where Divine Infernal River Elixir could be found.

At this point, there were barely even any high-grade demon beasts left aside from the demon monarchs. With Han Li and Jin Ling's powers, they were naturally still alive and well.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li encountered perilous situations on several occasions during the journey, but Han Li had made an effort to look after them, so they managed to survive those ordeals with only minor injuries.

At this moment, the group stopped around 50 kilometers away from the mountain ranges. The demon monarchs had gathered together to discuss something with grave expressions on their faces.

Han Li was looking on at the mountain ranges up ahead with a heavy heart.

The second half of the journey had not gone as he'd expected.

He'd thought that with how perilous the infernal river was, there would always be chances for him to get away from the demon monarchs.

However, to his surprise, they did encounter some perilous situations along this stretch of the journey, but none that were able to draw the demon monarch away. Furthermore, Jin Ling seemed to have received some kind of instruction from Mu Qing as the golden ape refused to leave Han Li's side.

What was even more depressing to Han Li was that this golden ape was also proficient in some kind of spirit eye ability, so even if he were to unleash some kind of concealment technique, it'd be very difficult for him to escape its surveillance.

Of course, if he wanted to escape on his own, he could still escape using his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

After all, as his magic power improved, the potency of the talisman had also been markedly enhanced.

However, if he couldn't take Yuan Yao and Yan Li with him, then he wouldn't be able to eradicate the tracking marks planted in his body by the four demon monarchs. In that case, how far would he be able to get before he was simply caught again?

Han Li looked on at the grey mountain ranges in the distance as he pondered his situation.

According to Liu Zu and the others, this so-called Divine Infernal River Elixir could be found at the center of the mountain ranges. The demon monarchs hadn't disclosed what effects this divine elixir had, but for a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage like Liu Zu to risk his life just to secure this elixir clearly indicated how precious it was.

However, seeing as this was the holy land of the Mayfly Race, there were definitely going to be powerful restrictions around the source of the elixir, and it was most certainly not going to be an easy task to secure it.

All of a sudden, Han Li discovered that the demon monarchs all seemed to be looking at him.

All of them wore different expressions on their faces, and it seemed that they were engaged in a heated argument.

Mu Qing was shaking her head emphatically while a cold light had appeared in Liu Zu's eyes. The white-haired beauty wore an indecisive look on her face, while expressions of the crimson-robed figures remained a mystery to Han Li as their faces were enshrouded under layers of crimson light.

Han Li's heart immediately sank upon seeing this.

He didn't know what these demon beasts were talking about, but if the discussion involved him, then it definitely wasn't a good thing.

Han Li forcibly repressed the unease in his heart as he cast his gaze toward the mountain ranges with a contemplative look on his face.

After a long while, Liu Zu's cold voice suddenly sounded. "Come over here, Fellow Daoist Han; we ave something we need you to do."

Han Li pursed his lips and slowly flew over to them.

"What do you need from me, senior?" Han Li asked as he cupped his fist in a salute.

Liu Zu was appraising Han Li completely expressionlessly while both Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty wore rather strained expressions.

"Please have a look at this, Fellow Daoist Han." Liu Zu suddenly raised a hand to offer up the black bead for Han Li's inspection.

Han Li faltered upon seeing this object, and he felt that it was rather familiar, so he drew closer to get a better look at it.

However, as soon as he focused his gaze on it, black light flashed from the black bead, and a thin beam of black light shot forth from it like lightning.

Han Li's heart jolted as he immediately tried to take evasive measures, but the air abruptly constricted around him as if had been turned into iron and steel, completely immobilizing him.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty had just raised a hand each to unleash a restriction on him.

Han Li's body was immensely powerful, but there was no way that he could struggle free of a restriction conjured up by two Body Integration Stage beings at once.

Thus, the beam of black light disappeared into his glabella in an instant.

Black light flashed over Han Li's face, following which his eyes became completely vacant, and he no longer tried to resist.

"Argh!" Yuan Yao and Yan Li were naturally extremely alarmed to see this.

However, before the two of them had a chance to do anything, crimson light flashed in front of them, following which the two crimson-robed figures appeared.

They then immediately plastered a crimson talisman onto each woman's shoulder, and those talismans instantly exploded, transforming into two plumes of crimson threads that enshrouded the two women in the blink of an eye.

One of the crimson-robed figures then made a hand seal, and the crimson threads instantly disappeared into their bodies.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li felt their bodies go numb before they lost control over their motor functions, but their consciousness were still fully alert.

Their eyes were filled with fury and horror, yet they couldn't muster up any facial expressions, thereby giving them an extremely wooden appearance.

"My Body Control Talismans can control all bodily functions, including even one's spiritual Qi. You're both conscious, but you'll be forced to do my bidding as long as I don't remove these talismans," the other crimson-robed figure said in an indifferent voice.

The two of them then swept their sleeves through the air, sweeping up the two women before flying into the distance.

Following just a few flashes, they returned to where Yuan Yao and Yan Li had originally been situated.

At this moment, Liu Zu cast a series of incantation seals into the black bead in his hand while chanting something at the same time.

Moments later, a low ringing sound erupted from the bead, and it flew out of his hand.

It then embedded itself firmly into Han Li's glabella as if it had become his third eye.

Black light flashed erratically over the surface of the bead, creating an extremely unsettlings sight to behold.

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Liu Zu was quite pleased with Han Li's current condition. "This eyeball of a Ci Lie Beast was something I obtained many years ago. Unfortunately, this treasure contradicts with the cultivation arts I'm using, so I couldn't fuse it into my body, and I could only refine it into a captivation treasure.

"Brother Liu Zu, this brat's cultivation base isn't very high, but he possesses a lot of strange abilities; are you sure he's under your control? Fellow Daoist Mu and I have already given up on the treasure in the devilish tomb; we don't want anything to go wrong," the white-haired beauty asked as she looked at Han Li with a grim expression.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Lan, Ci Lie Beasts are true spirit beings that can compare to the likes of true dragons. A captivation treasure refined using its Law Destruction Eye is extraordinarily powerful, and even beings like you and I would be susceptible to its effects, let alone a Deity Transformation cultivator. If you don't believe in me, I can use the treasure on you so you can experience its power."

"We trust you, Fellow Daoist Liu Zu; it's just that I still think it's a real pity that we've had to give up on the treasure in the devilish tomb. In order to secure the treasure there, Big Sister Lan and I have made many preparations in advance, but that'll all go to waste now," Mu Qing sighed with a wry smile.

"The so-called devilish tomb is merely the burial site for a few powerful devils that unintentionally infiltrated the infernal river, only to be slain by the elders of the Mayfly Race at the time. Those devils did indeed possess incredible abilities. As for the treasures you're referring to, those should be their remains, some special parts of which may have attained spiritual nature after being nurtured for so many years by the Yin Qi in this place. However, those treasures can't compare to the divine elixir. Don't forget that if you consume the elixir, then apply it all over your bodies, the amount of world's origin Qi that you control will increase by severalfold. In that case, it really wouldn't be a pipe dream for us to further our cultivation paths. If we're lucky, we could even have a shot at ascending to the True Immortal Realm," Liu Zu said with a rare hint of excitement in his voice.

"I understand all that, Brother Liu Zu, but one of the treasures in the devilish tomb is extremely important to me. Otherwise, why would I have spent so much time and effort recruiting Han brat to my side?" Mu Qing was still feeling a little forlorn.

"Regardless of how important those treasures are to you, we have to employ some special methods if we want to secure the divine elixir before the Mayfly Race reinforcements get here. Only through doing this will we be able to break the restriction as soon as possible and lure the Infernal Lightning Beast away. Alternatively, do you want to give up on the divine elixir for the treasures in the devilish tomb instead?" Liu Zu asked in a cold voice.

"There's no way I'd give up on the divine elixir. If I had to make a sacrifice, then it'll have to be the treasures of the devilish tomb." Mu Qing made up her mind in the end.

"Good. Besides, getting Han brat to lure the Infernal Lightning Beast away isn't imposing on him a sure death sentence. If he survives, you'll still have a chance to go and secure the treasures of the devilish tomb," one of the crimson-robed figures chuckled.

"Hmph, you and I are both aware of just how fearsome Infernal Lightning Beasts are; he really will be extremely fortunate if he could survive after luring away that beast. By the way, didn't we only discuss restricting Han brat earlier? Why have you also restricted the two girls who accompanied Fellow Daoist Lan's here?" Mu Qing harrumphed coldly before turning to the expressionless Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

"Don't be alarmed, Sister Mu; I transmitted my voice to Di Xue asking him to control these two. That Han brat won't be able to protect the two girls any longer after luring the Infernal Lightning Beast away, so it might be rather dangerous to have them running around on their own. Furthermore, the pure Yin Qi in the bodies of those two girls can assist me in refining the divine elixir," the white-haired beauty explained in a nonchalant manner.

Mu Qing fell silent upon hearing this.

"Seeing as all three of them have been restricted, let's act according to the plan. We'll break this restriction together, then get Han brat to unleash his Divine Devilbane Lightning in order to lure that Infernal Lightning Beast away from the divine pond. After that, we'll be able to secure the divine elixir with ease," Liu Zu said.

"Infernal Lightning Beasts are extremely fearsome creatures; will Divine Devilbane Lightning really be enough to lure it away? What if that fails and we only end up aggravating the beast instead?" the white-haired beauty asked in a cautious manner.

"Infernal Lightning Beasts love to devour lightning, and Divine Devilbane Lightning is one of the five divine lightnings of the Spirit Realm; how could it possibly be willing to ignore such alluring bait?" Liu Zu was clearly quite confident in his plan.

"I see. I'm feeling a lot more confident and assured now." The white-haired beauty nodded in response.

Di Xue then turned to the two crimson-robed figures, and said, "Fellow Daoist Di Xue, the final wall that we face will have to be broken down by you and you Purpleblood Puppet."

"We refined this Purpleblood Puppet for none other than this purpose!" one of the crimson-robed figures chuckled.

Liu Zu merely nodded in response.

After that, the demon monarch took close to an hour to discuss their strategy in detail, and after ascertaining that every single fine detail had been addressed, they flew toward the grey mountain ranges along with Jin Ling and the remaining high-grade demon beasts.

Han Li, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li followed along like mindless puppets.

A distance of close to 100 kilometers was naturally covered in virtually the blink of an eye for demon monarchs like them.

After entering the mountain ranges, the demon monarchs' expressions all became quite grave as they continuously surveyed their surroundings in an extremely cautious manner.

However, this stretch of the journey was remarkably smooth! They didn't encounter so much as a single ghostly being, and two hours later, they had passed through a small portion of the mountain ranges. Thus, they arrived in a massive basin. This basin was several tens of kilometers wide, and it was surrounded by undulating grey mountains.

The basin at the center of these mountains was enshrouded under a barrier of black light. This light barrier was extremely dark, making it impossible for anyone to glean the situation beyond it.

Liu Zu and the others paused in mid-air as they began to carefully appraise this light barrier.

"It's a good thing that we destroyed most of the ghostly beings here last time we were here. Otherwise, I don't think that leg of our journey would've been so smooth," Mu Qing murmured.

"But we were taken by surprise by the Infernal Lightning Beast in the restriction, and Fellow Daoist Zhu, unfortunately, fell here as a result. That mature Infernal Lightning Beast truly was very fearsome," one of the crimson-robed figures sighed.

"Let's get started. We'll destroy a small section of this Profound Light Barrier to lure out the Infernal Lightning Beast, and after that, we'll have to rely on you to conceal us, Fellow Daoist Mu Qing," Liu Zu said in a grave voice.

"As long as I don't have to attack and can focus wholeheartedly on maintaining the concealment formation, there's no way that the Infernal Lightning Beast will be able to discover our presence. However, this formation is very taxing on my magic power and spiritual sense, so I won't be able to keep it going for long. We have to get that Han brat to lure the beast away as quickly as possible, and as far away from this place as he can," Mu Qing replied with a solemn expression.

"I'm aware of this. I'll be giving Han brat a flying treasure from my collection to enhance his speed. Fellow Daoist Die Xue, plaster a few of your talismans on him. Fellow Daoist Lan, give him your All-encompassing Flag as well," Liu Zu said in a confident manner.

A hint of reluctance appeared on the white-haired beauty's face upon hearing this. "Are we really giving the All-encompassing Flag to him? It's not a Divine Spirit Treasure, but in terms of defensive properties, it's superior even to some Divine Spirit Treasures. If some kind of mishap occurs..."

"You should be aware of this by now; the safest situation for us will be on in which Han brat manages to stall the Infernal Lightning Beast for as long as possible. You can just recover the flag after all is said and done. You're the only one among us with a treasure of this nature, which can offer superb protective properties without the need for much magic power expenditure and complex mantras," Liu Zu said with furrowed brows.

"Alright, looks like I have no choice, then." After a long lengthy hesitation, the white-haired beauty finally rubbed her hands together in a dejected manner, following which a ball of white light erupted, and a small silver flag emerged.

The flag was shimmering with light and its faces were riddled with runes. Even at first glance, one could easily tell that this was an extraordinary treasure.

The white-haired beauty wasted no further time with words as she pointed a slim finger at the flag. The flag then immediately flew toward Han Li as a streak of silver light.

The eyeball situated on Han Li glabella flashed at Liu Zu's behest, and he swept his sleeve through the air in a wooden manner, sending forth a burst of grey light that swept the silver flag up into his sleeve.

After that, he stood motionlessly on the spot once again, and his expression remained completely unchanged throughout this entire process, as if he really did possess no sentient will.

Immediately thereafter, crimson light flashed behind him, and one of the crimson-robed figures abruptly appeared before raising a hand.

A few muffled thumps rang out as the crimson-robed figure plastered a dozen or so talismans onto his body in rapid succession.

Crimson light instantly radiated from Han Li's body, and his aura became significantly more powerful.

Almost at the exact same moment, Mu Qing slowly rose up into the air before descending upon ab obscure location nearby.

The golden flower disappeared in a flash, and her two feet landed on the ground below.

All of a sudden, the shoes on her feet spontaneously combusted, revealing a pair of fair and delicate feet amid a ball of white flames.

She then swept her sleeves gracefully through the air, and countless specks of light flew forth from within, then disappeared into the nearby space. Immediately thereafter, a black light formation appeared before disappearing without a trace after a few sporadic flashes.

An incredible turn of events unfolded thereafter.

Mu Qing began to chant something in a delightful voice, and her feet suddenly turned into an azure color, morphing into thick tree roots before this transformation quickly worked its way up her legs.

In virtually the blink of an eye, Mu Qing had transformed into a tree trunk from the waist down, and the tree roots that were once her feet had embedded themselves over 100 feet deep into the ground.

Countless trees and while flowers suddenly sprouted from the barren ground around them. Those flowers instantly blossomed, creating a patch of paradise amid this bleak land.

The black light formation appeared on the ground again, and every single flower, tree, and blade of grass was perfectly encompassed within the light formation, without any plan overstepping those boundaries.

Green spiritual light flashed, and Mu Qing disappeared along with the plants that had sprouted around her.

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Liu Zu immediately swept his spiritual sense toward Mu Qing's location upon seeing this, and his eyes immediately lit up in response to what he discovered.

"Good! Your concealment formation really is quite extraordinary, Fellow Daoist Mu. As long as the Infernal Lightning Beast focuses its search on this specific area, there's no way that it'll be able to find us."

Liu Zu then waved a hand and flew toward the green light barrier, followed closely by the two crimson-robed figures, the Purpleblood Puppet, and the white-haired beauty.

Green light flashed, and all of them disappeared into thin air, leaving Han Li standing alone on the spot.

Moments later, the black bead on his glabella flashed, and he slowly flew into the air above the black light barrier. After that, he remained hovering completely motionlessly in mid-air, completely out in the open.

The demon monarchs concealed under the restriction each produced a crimson saber. The short sabers were no more than three feet in length, and their design was quite peculiar.

Following an instruction from Liu Zu, the demon monarchs quickly injected their demonic power into their crimson sabers. Brilliant crimson light flashed and tremored like a series of blood vipers writhing in the air.

The crimson sabers began to emit a low ringing sound, and the demon monarchs were ready for the next step.

Everyone failed to notice that the puppet-like Han Li suddenly moved his hand surreptitiously within his sleeves.

In one hand, a silver talisman appeared amid a flash of silver light, while seven or eight azure beads had rolled soundlessly into his other hand.

Han Li hadn't actually lost control over his consciousness, and he'd actually retained his sentient will.

However, at this moment, he was rapidly contemplating his situation in a conflicted manner.

Back when Mu Qing and the others had immobilized him, thereby forcing him to accept the black thread that flew into his body, he'd thought that he really was in deep trouble.

However, much to his surprise and elation, the black thread only caused his consciousness to fade for a split second before it was completely engulfed by the Law Destruction Eye hidden in his glabella.

Thus, his consciousness returned, and Han Li himself had initially also been rather perplexed about this.

Only after hearing from Liu Zu that this black bead was the Law Destruction Eye of a Ci Lie Beast did he realize what had happened.

He already possessed a Law Destruction Eye of his own, so it naturally wasn't strange that his Law Destruction Eye was capable of nullifying and absorbing an ability unleashed by a treasure of the same nature.

There was nothing wrong with Liu Zu's plan, nor his execution, but never would he have thought that Han Li would possess a Law Destruction Eye of his own.

After a brief period of contemplation, Han Li decided to go along with what they were doing, pretending to be under their control while searching for an opportunity to free himself.

However, he was stunned to hear that they were going to use him as bait to lure away some Infernal Lightning Beast.

It was the first time that Han Li had heard such a name, but the demon monarchs were clearly all extremely fearful of this beast, and that was more than sufficient indication of how fearsome that thing had to be.

He naturally didn't want to act as bait to draw away such a dangerous creature, but if he were to do anything that went against Liu Zu's will, they'd immediately realize that he wasn't actually under their control.

Seeing as they had a captivation treasure like the eye of the Ci Lie Beast, they almost definitely had other treasures and secret techniques that they could use to control Han Li's spiritual sense, and he may not be so lucky next time.

Even though he could use his Provenance True Devil Arts to lock his spiritual sense away deep into his soul, the demon monarchs could destroy his soul out of sheer frustration, and that would be an even worse outcome for him.

Han Li remained completely expressionless, but his mind was racing rapidly. At the same time, he was experiencing the immense spiritual power surging within his body.

He didn't know what kind of talismans Di Xue had plastered to his body, but he suddenly felt his blood heat up, and the spiritual power within his body instantly increased significantly. That was quite astonishing to Han Li. Even though these secret techniques that temporarily enhanced one's cultivation base often resulted in negative after-effects, in this dire situation, it wasn't a bad thing to receive a power boost. At the very least, the benefits most likely outweighed the potential drawbacks.

On top of that, the All-encompassing Flag that had been given to him was most likely also quite an extraordinary treasure, as evidenced by the white-haired beauty to part with it.

He didn't know if this treasure couldn't be refined or if the white-haired beauty had intentionally refrained from refining it, but it had no residual spiritual sense marks residing within it. White light flashed, and the small flag appeared in Han Li's palm. He then swept his spiritual sense toward it to find that it was extremely easy to use, and he would most likely be able to easily unleash its powers.

Seeing as Liu Zu had asked the white-haired beauty to give him this treasure, it was quite clear that it would be able to at least be able to somewhat assist him in withstanding the Infernal Lightning Beast's attacks. Otherwise, there would've been no need to even bother with something like this.

With this treasure combined with the trump cards that he was carrying, it wouldn't be impossible for Han Li to escape from this Infernal Lightning Beast. The Infernal Lightning Beast was most likely not going to be an extremely fast being, thereby allowing him to open up some distance between it and himself. Otherwise, there would be no point in the demon monarchs using Han Li as bait if he were merely going to be chased down and killed in seconds.

If he were to go against Liu Zu's will and have his cover blown, even though there was a chance he'd able to escape, those tracking marks were a constant pain his backside. As such, it was better to take a risk and continue pretending to be under their control.

As long as he could escape from the Infernal Lightning Beast and separate himself from the demon monarchs, he'd be able to temporarily repress the tracking marks, thereby making it impossible for them to ascertain his location. After that, he could find an opportunity to rescue Yuan Yao and Yan Li; they were the keys to his freedom.

Even though Han Li's face remained completely expressionless, he had finally made up his mind.

Right at this moment, Liu Zu and the others finally sprang into action. Following a low cry, the crimson sabers were all thrust forward in unison, blasting forth several thick pillars of crimson light that struck the black light barrier with ferocious might.

It was quite clear that these crimson sabers had been prepared by the demon monarchs solely for the purpose of breaking this restriction.

As soon as the crimson pillars of light struck the light barrier, it created imagery much like stones being hurled into still water.

The entire light barrier suddenly began to ripple and emit a faint ringing sound. All of a sudden, a low beastly growl erupted from within the light barrier, followed by a string of explosive thunderclap that was drawing closer and closer. Liu Zu's expression darkened, and he quickly withdrew his crimson saber as he yelled, "That thing's coming; stop!"

The other demon monarchs also hurriedly withdrew their attacks.

Almost at the exact same moment, Mu Qing's crimson saber disappeared in a flash, following which she made a hand seal. Green light flashed from her tree-like lower body, and she activated the formation underfoot.

An enormous burst of invisible power erupted, completely concealing their auras.

From a distance, it appeared that there was nothing there! At this moment, black light flashed from Han Li's glabella, and he received another instruction from Liu Zu through the Law Destruction Eye.

Han Li rubbed his hands together in a wooden manner, and a loud thunderclap erupted as a layer of golden lightning surfaced around his body. He then rustled a sleeve to send the small silver flag flying through the air.

Without requiring any hand seals or incantations, the flag immediately transformed into black and white spiritual Qi that surrounded Han Li, forming a series of Yin-yang projections of different sizes. At the same time, Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings appeared on his back, and he spread them open, preparing to fly away at any moment.

All of a sudden, silver light flashed from the surface of the black light barrier, and the barrier was suddenly torn apart by a bolt of silver lightning that was as thick as a water tank.

The arc of silver lightning then circled around in the air, and there seemed to be something lurking within it.

Before Han Li had a chance to get a good look at it, Liu Zu's urgent instruction was transmitted directly into his spiritual sense, asking him to flee with all his might.

Han Li immediately spread open his wings upon receiving this instruction, and he disappeared amid a gentle breeze.

Only then did the arc of sliver lightning recede to reveal a black demon beast that was around the size of a horse.

The beast's outward appearance was quite similar to that of a wolf, but its back was covered in scales, and it had a single silver horn growing on its head. Its eyes were golden in color, and there were four thick arcs of silver lightning revolving around its body.

This was none other than the Infernal Lightning Beast that Liu Zu and the others had been so fearful of. It didn't appear to be all that vicious, but as soon as it appeared, its eyes were immediately drawn to Han Li, who had already fled to several thousand feet away. In fact, it had been drawn to Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning.

A hint of scorching yearning appeared in the Infernal Lightning Beast's eyes as soon as it caught sight of the golden arcs of lightning around Han Li's body, and after assessing its surroundings to ensure that nothing was amiss, it let loose a low snarl, then crouched down before springing froth as an arc of silver lightning.

The beast had unleashed some kind of secret technique to blast arcs of lightning out of its limbs to drastically enhance its speed, and after just a few flashes, it was close to reaching Han Li.

Han Li didn't turn around to look behind himself, but he could sense the ferocious beast approaching him from behind.

His heart constricted as he cussed internally.

This beast was most likely only lacking in speed in the eyes of the demon monarchs; for Han Li, its speed was definitely quite staggering.

As such, he didn't dare to hold back any longer. His snowy white wings suddenly took began to emit five-colored spiritual light, and after a single flap, Han Li transformed into a translucent five-colored thread that disappeared into space.

When he reappeared out of thin air, he'd covered an extremely long distance, and he wasn't much slower than the Infernal Lightning Beast behind him.

Thus, the two of them sped away into the distance, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

A short while later, green light flashed, and the demon monarchs reappeared.

"We have to make haste. Han brat won't buy too much time for us, so let's take care of this restriction as quickly as possible. "

The demon monarchs brandished their crimson sabers again as they resumed their assault against the light barrier. On this occasion, the pillars of crimson light that shot forth instantly transformed into a series of crimson wyrms, and this wave of attacks was clearly far more powerful than the previous once.

At the same time, a massive insect projection appeared above Liu Zu's head. The projection opened its mouth before blasting forth a pillar of black light, and the Purpleblood Puppet also swelled to several times its original size at the crimson-robed figure's behest.

Mu Qing instantly reverted back to her human form again before also swinging her crimson saber through the air, unleashing several streaks of crimson light that combined to form a massive saber projection, which hurtled directly toward the light barrier.

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The pillars of crimson light created violent ripples over the surface of the black light barrier, causing it to flash erratically.

Within moments, the Purpleblood Puppet had already swelled to around 10,000 feet tall, and it was like a mighty deity as it summoned its massive purple ax, then swung it down toward the black light barrier with ferocious might.

A series of rumbling booms akin to thunderclaps erupted as countless ax projections struck the same spot on the light barrier. As for the white-haired woman, she was only injecting her power into her crimson saber with all her might without unleashing any additional abilities.

The restriction barrier was extremely powerful, yet it was still unable to withstand the combined attacks from so many Body Integration Stage beings. As such, a hole with a diameter of over 100 feet was blasted into its surface, and even though the hole immediately began to seal itself, there was more than enough time for the demon monarchs pass through.

"I'll stabilize this opening with a secret technique!" Liu Zu was ecstatic, and he immediately unleashed eight balls of blue light that expanded drastically as they flew through the air.

These were eight blue pillar treasures, and all of them disappeared into the opening at once.

An incredible scene ensued.

Blue light flashed, and the opening transformed into a square passageway that was paved with blue crystalline stones, as if they'd been embedded into the light barrier.

"I'll be going on ahead, everyone," Liu Zu chortled before entering through the opening as a streak of black light.

The two crimson-robed figures glanced at one another before one of them leaped down onto the ground while the other stomped a foot onto the Purpleblood Puppet's shoulder.

The puppet rapidly shrank down to only several tens of feet in size, then entered the black light barrier with the other crimson-robed figure. For some reason, the two decided to leave one of them behind outside the light barrier. The white-haired beauty faltered slightly upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, Mu Qing swept her sleeves through the air, and countless specks of light flew toward her from all directions before disappearing into her sleeves. She had cleaned up everything that had been used to set up that concealment restriction.

"Sister Lan, are you going to go in with your two disciples? Even though the Infernal Lightning Beast has been lured out, who knows what other dangers could lurk in there? With their lowly cultivation bases, there's a good chance that they could perish in there. Jin Ling, you can stay out here." Mu Qing issued a few cautionary words to the white-haired beauty, then delivered an instruction to the golden ape before also flying into the passageway with her golden flower beneath her feet. Jin Ling bowed in response and remained on the spot as it was told.

However, the white-haired beauty's brows furrowed as she cast her gaze toward the puppet-like Yuan Yao and Yan Li. A cold smile then appeared on her face as she murmured to herself, "I'd be even more worried if I were to leave them outside. You two, come with me!"

She made a hand seal to release a gust of grey Yin winds which swept up the two women before she entered the passageway. Thus, there were only a few beings left behind outside the light barrier."Let's guard this entrance here for now. If everything goes smoothly, they should be able to return with the divine elixir soon," the crimson-robed figure who had stayed behind suddenly said to Jin Ling.

"I certainly hope that to be the case well. I'll be following your orders here, Senior." Jin Ling was acting in a very respectful manner in the presence of the crimson-robed figure."Hehe, you must be wondering if I'm the true Di Xue or merely an avatar," the crimson-robed figure chuckled.

"Surely you jest, Senior. My mistress has told me in the past that you're capable of splitting up your soul, so both bodies could be said to be your true body, and both could be said to be avatars as well, so there's no difference between the two," Jin Ling replied calmly.

The crimson-robed figure faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling to himself, "Fairy Mu sure knows about me." At this point, there were still three high-grade demon beasts remaining outside the light barrier aside from Jin Ling and Di Xue. All three of those demon beasts had adopted their human forms and were standing not far away from the two of them.

The crimson-robed figure cast his gaze toward these three demon beasts, and he was just about to say something when his pupils suddenly contracted. His hand shot forth like lightning before making a grabbing motion toward a nearby spot in the air without any premonition.

A massive crimson hand that reeked of blood and gore appeared in the air above that patch of space, then swelled to around an acre in size before crashing downward with ferocious might. A streak of silver light flashed through the air, and the massive crimson hand was sliced into two amid a resounding boom.

A humanoid figure then swayed nearby, and a crimson-armored puppet appeared amid a flash of silver light, appraising the crimson-robed figure and the others in an expressionless manner.

"Is that a puppet from the Mayfly Race?" Jin Ling was rather surprised to see such a being appear here.

"Be careful! This is not an ordinary crimson-armored puppet; a powerful being from the Mayfly Race has imbued some of their spiritual sense into this puppet," the crimson-robed figure cautioned in a grave voice.

That attack that he had just unleashed wasn't a particularly powerful one, but he was still very surprised to see it being dismantled with such ease. He narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze on that streak of indistinct silver light.

The silver light was extremely blurry, and even he couldn't see what was lurking within it. That was slightly alarming to him, and he didn't dare to look away from that silver light even for a single instant.

Jin Ling's heart also jolted with shock upon hearing the crimson-robed figure's words of caution and seeing the grave expressions on his face. As such, it also focused its gaze on the crimson-armored puppet.

Using its spirit eye ability, it was able to do what the crimson-robed figure couldn't, and identified the object within the silver light. It was a faint silver wyrm that was circling around in mid-air, creating quite a mysterious spectacle. Jin Ling's brows furrowed upon seeing this. It was unable to identify what kind of weapon this was, but it had to be something like a sword or a saber for it to be able to slice through the crimson-robed figure's attack so easily.

"You must be one of the Mayfly Race puppets that got away, right? Seeing as you were able to escape, why didn't you hide somewhere until we were gone? Are you seeking an early death by coming out to face us here? In that case, I wouldn't mind granting your wish and sending you on your way," the crimson-robed figure chuckled coldly.

"Hmph, if we weren't battling you in our puppet bodies, do you really think you'd be able to defeat us? In any case, none of that matters anymore. Aside from your group here, everyone else seems to have entered our divine pond. Looks like I'll be able to trap all of you here and kill you in one fell swoop," the crimson-armored puppet said in a cold voice."You think you can kill all of us on your own?" the crimson-robed figure chuckled at the absurdity of that notion. "That's right, with this Five Dragon Chopper, none of you will able to escape from this place alive!" The crimson-armored puppet suddenly raised a hand as it spoke.

All of a sudden, a loud dragon roar erupted as a silver chopper that was bright and smooth as a mirror came flying down from above before landing in the puppet's grasp. "Five Dragon Chopper? I seem to recall this treasure from somewhere." The crimson-robed figure stared at the chopper with furrowed brows.

"Is that so? None of that matters as you'll all be perishing to this treasure soon anyway." The crimson-armored puppet seemed to be unwilling to waste any more time with words as it raised its saber-wielding hand, then slashed it through the air.

Jin Ling and the crimson-robed figure reflexively shot forth through the air to take evasive measures upon seeing this. At this moment, three chopper projections suddenly appeared in mid-air, but they were targeting the distance beyond the golden ape and the crimson-robed figure.

The three high-grade demon beasts in that direction had also adopted defensive measures, but the projections were simply to fast for them the evade, and too powerful for them to withstand as their bodies were sliced in half before any of them could even utter a single sound.

After that, the three chopper projections abruptly disappeared in a flash.

Jin Ling and the crimson-robed figure were both stunned to see this, and Jin Ling attempt to fly into the distance while the crimson-robed figure swept his sleeves through the air to summon clouds of crimson mist.

However, the crimson-armored puppet merely stood on the spot with a derisive sneer on its face while slashing its chopper through the air several more times.

Four chopper projections came crashing down toward its two opponents in unison. The projections didn't appear to be traveling very quickly, but they reached the two of them in the blink of an eye.

Jin Ling's expression changed drastically upon seeing this as he shrugged his shoulders, following which the two shortswords he was carrying on his back flew toward the two chopper projections as rapid streaks of light. The two shortswords were then instantly sliced in half before plummeting from the sky as four segments.

The two projections then continued onward, seemingly having remained completely unobstructed by the two shortswords they'd cut down. Jin Ling's heart jolted with alarm as its body blurred on the spot. A chopper projection flashed past, and the golden ape's body was immediately sliced in half, but its remains quickly disappeared, revealing that body to be a mere afterimage. Golden light then flashed over 100 feet away, and Jin Ling re-emerged from thin air.

However, as soon as it revealed itself, the other chopper projection was already hurtling toward it, and the timing was so unerringly accurate that Jin Ling had no chance to evade. Thus, its head was sliced off, and its headless body swayed before plummeting from the sky.

Meanwhile, the crimson-armored puppet made a grabbing motion toward the silver chopper in its other hand, and a ball of green flames emerged, within which was trapped a miniature golden monkey with a horrified look on its face. The crimson-armored puppet chuckled coldly as silver light flashed from the surface of the chopper, and the miniature monkey let loose a cry of anguish before disintegrating into nothingness within the green flames.

Only then did the crimson-armored puppet turn its gaze toward the other direction.

There, the crimson-robed figure had released a vast expanse of blood mist that encompassed roughly an acre of area around his body.

The two chopper projections were whizzing through the air like a pair of lethal weapons, but the crimson-robed figure had been able to evade them so far, albeit with difficulty.

Green light flashed within the puppet's eyes, and it harrumphed coldly before suddenly tossing its chopper up into the air. Brilliant silver light instantly erupted from the chopper as countless chopper projection shot forth through the air, and on this occasion, even the crimson-robed figure was greatly alarmed.

He immediately hurtled toward the nearby blue passageway, having clearly realized that this saber-wielding opponent was not someone that he could oppose.

However, unbeknownst to the crimson-robed figure, the Five Dragon Chopper was only truly beginning to bare its fangs now.

The crimson-armored puppet made a hand seal, and all of the chopper projections in the air suddenly disappeared. A loud thunderclap then erupted from the silver chopper itself before it transformed into five wyrms of different colors. All of them circled around in the air before transforming again into five massive translucent blades, then disappearing on the spot in unison.

In the next instant, the five massive blades appeared directly over the opening of the blue passageway before descending downward, heading directly toward the cloud of blood mist that had only just made it to the entrance as well.

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The crimson-robed figure's expression changed upon seeing these giant blades, and brilliant crimson light erupted from its body as it prepared to unleash another ability.

However, right at this moment, the five giant blades suddenly twisted outward before disappeared on the spot. In the next instant, they appeared at the edge of the cloud of blood mist like five massive doors, emitting a vast expanse of five-colored light.

The five-colored light swept the crimson cloud aside without any impediment, and a horrified look finally appeared on the crimson-robed figure's face.

He didn't have time to unleash any other secret techniques, so he could only hurriedly sweep his sleeves through the air while opening his mouth at the same time.

A small azure shield, a thin crimson veil, and a round bowl were blasted forth at once.

The three treasures were radiating scintillating light, and it was quite apparent that they were all extraordinarily powerful treasures.

As soon as they were unleashed, they transformed into three barriers of light of different colors, shielding the crimson-robed figure within.

After doing all that, the crimson-robed figure abruptly inhaled before expelling a few mouthfuls of blood essence, then raised a hand to summon a purple talisman. The talisman disappeared into the ball of blood essence in a flash, following which the ball exploded to form a cloud of blood mist that settled over the crimson-robed figure.

Immediately thereafter, a suit of purple armor surfaced over his body.

This suit of armor was extremely intricately crafted, and there were arcs of electricity crackling over its surface, making it appear as if it were some kind of ethereal otherworldly treasure.

At this moment, the five-colored light had brushed aside the cloud of blood mist and reached the crimson-robed figure.

Following a few crisp cracks, the three protective light barriers that had been set up were also shattered in quick succession before the five-colored light crashed heavily into the crimson-robed figure's body.

The purple suit of armor flashed with brilliant light, and it finally kept the five-colored light at bay...

But only for a split-second!

In the next instant, the five-colored light began to revolve around the suit of armor, and it was sliced in half at the waist.

The crimson-robed figure possessed countless abilities, but none of them stood a chance against this seemingly unstoppable streak of five-colored light.

A hint of despair flashed through the crimson-robed figure's eye as over 100 talismans and a dozen or so treasures of different forms erupted from his body. However, his last-ditch efforts proved to be futile in the end, and all of these objects were pulverized in mere moments by the five-colored light.

A bloodcurdling cry rang out as the five-colored light completely inundated the crimson-robed figure, and not even his soul had been able to escape.

A cold light flashed through the puppet's eyes upon seeing this, and it murmured to itself, "The main forte of the Five Dragon Chopper is its unmatched cutting power; it's nothing more than a laughable delusion to think that you can withstand its attack using those treasures."

It then made a grabbing motion, and the five massive blades in the distance transformed into five wyrm projections before flying back toward it.

In the end, the five wyrm projections converged overhead, to form that shimmering silver chopper again, then descended from above.

A hint of elation flashed through the crimson-armored puppet's eyes and it raised a hand to catch the chopper, but the light in its eyes suddenly dimmed, and its body swayed unsteadily as it almost tumbled out of the sky.

Thankfully, it managed to right itself amid a flash of spiritual light, but a resigned look appeared in its eyes. It heaved a faint sigh before catching the silver chopper in its grasp again.

It gently swept a hand over the chopper's mirror-like surface, and a burst of ringing erupted from its blade.

"This treasure is indeed extraordinarily powerful, but the rate at which it exhausts my spiritual sense is just as staggering. Looks like I'll have to put an end to everything the next time I unleash its power," the puppet mused to itself with a contemplative look on its face.

At this moment, ferocious Yin winds were swept up in the distant sky. A vast expanse of dark clouds descended and suddenly encompassed most of the entire sky.

Several high-grade ghostly beings descended amid gusts of Yin winds before landing in front of the puppet.

"Have you done everything I asked?" the puppet asked. "Rest assured, Master, we've set up everything required. As soon as you enter the divine pond, we'll immediately seal off the area using the formation. Even if someone manages to emerge alive from in there, they won't be able to immediately get away, and we'll be able to trap them for some time," a zombie-like high-grade ghostly being replied in a careful manner.

"Half of you, come with me; the other half, stay behind and take care of the formation. Those people have managed to divert one Infernal Lightning Beast away, but what they don't know is that there's not just one Infernal Lightning Beast guarding, but a couple instead, consisting of one male and one female," the crimson-armored puppet chuckled coldly.

The zombie-like ghostly being seemed to possess a high level of intelligence, and it wore a hesitant look as it said, "Even though those Infernal Lightning Beasts were left behind to guard this place by the elders of your Mayfly Race, we'd most likely be attacked by them as well, seeing as we don't carry any badges with us to grant us entry."

"Don't worry, those people went in ahead first, so the Infernal Lightning Beast will attack them first. All you have to do is sneak over and land the killing blows when the opportunities present themselves. With this Five Dragon Chopper alone, I wouldn't be overly optimistic about my chances. However, with this Infernal Lightning Beast to assist me, it'd be strange if any of them could escape this place alive. As for the other Infernal Lightning Beast, it's a pity that it was lured away, but had it not been for the fact that it had been drawn away, those people wouldn't have ventured into divine pond. It wouldn't be difficult to defeat them on the outside, but killing them all would be very difficult, but now..." the puppet chuckled in a sinister manner.

All of the other ghostly beings immediately fell silent upon hearing this.

A thought then suddenly occurred to the crimson-armored puppet, and it said, "Having said that, we can't just ignore the Infernal Lightning Beast that was led away, either. We need to send people after it, and if that man it's pursuing is quickly killed or if something else happens to make it return in advance, then we have to be informed right away through our Myriad Distance Talisman."

"Rest assured, Master, we've already sent White Ghost after them. She's the one who's most proficient among us in concealment and movement techniques, so she'll definitely be up to the task," the ghostly being hurriedly replied.

"White Ghost? Is that the one who managed to escape with only one arm amputated despite facing the most powerful being among the intruders?" The crimson-armored puppet asked.

"That's right."

"Hmm, if she was sent out, then we should indeed have no issues. Let's go, the intruders have most likely entered the underground palace below the divine pond already," the crimson-armored puppet instructed.

All of the ghostly beings immediately heeded its command, and three of them entered the blue passageway with the puppet while the other two high-grade ghostly beings remained outside.

One of them let loose a long howl, and countless black skeletons appeared from within the nearby dark clouds.

Han Li waved a hand through the air, and seven or eight bolts of golden lightning erupted behind him, heading straight for a ball silver lightning situated over 1,000 feet behind him. It was none other than the Infernal Lightning Beast that had been pursuing it for an immeasurable distance already.

At the sight of the oncoming arcs of golden lightning, the beast wasn't intimidated nor fearful in the slightest. Instead, it immediately opened its mouth to expel a burst of silver light.

As soon as the Divine Devilbane Lightning came into contact with this silver light, it was swept up in a soundless manner before being devoured by the beast.

The Infernal Lightning Beast licked its lips as bursts of dull rumbling erupted from within its stomach, and its eyes lit up as if it had just enjoyed a rare delicacy.

Han Li was able to take advantage of this delay to open up some distance between himself and the Infernal Lightning Beast.

However, the beast wasn't flustered in the slightest upon seeing this. It merely snarled as silver arcs of lightning revolved around its four limbs before setting off in pursuit again.

Han Li didn't even have to turn around to know what the beast was doing as it had done the same thing countless times along this chase.

This beast was a sliver fast than him even when he was flying as quickly as he was capable of, so even though he was able to open up some distance, it didn't take long before the beast narrowed the gap again.

After that, it would begin to attack him from afar.

In the beginning, it would blast bolts of astonishingly powerful silver lightning out of its mouth. However, Han Li possessed his Divine Devilbane Lightning and lightning robe to protect himself, so he was able to handle those attacks with ease.

The Infernal Lightning Beast immediately stopped blasting lightning out of its mouth upon seeing this, and instead switched to unleashing azure claw projections.

The projections started off at around the size of human hands, but not long after leaving the beast's claws, they would swell to around 10 feet in size. Several of those claw projections hurtling through an area at once could even suck away all the air in that area, giving one a sense that escape was impossible.

If it weren't for Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings allowing him to combine wind and lightning movement techniques for short periods of time, he would've most likely been severely wounded by those claw projections already.

Even so, the situation was still extremely perilous for him, and he was even dealt a glancing blow by a claw projection not long ago, which had almost resulted in catastrophic circumstances.

Thankfully, the All-encompassing Flag the white-haired beauty had given him took effect on that occasion, manifesting a gigantic Yin-yang projection that nullified most of the power from the attack.

Even so, his suit of resentful armor was completely destroyed, and he had suffered some minor injuries.

As such, Han Li naturally didn't dare to let the beast draw any closer. Every time the beast drew too close for comfort, Han Li would unleash his Divine Devilbane Lightning to stall its pursuit.

The Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have realized that Han Li was a consistent source of Divine Devilbane Lightning, so it wasn't in a hurry to kill him, and merely stalked him as if it were toying with its prey.

Close to an hour had passed, and Han Li had already taken this beast out of the grey mountain ranges.

He had only been able to last this long as he possessed far more magic power than other beings of the same cultivation base, he was proficient in movement techniques, and he had a large amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning at his disposal. If another Deity Transformation Stage or even Spatial Tempering Stage being were in his position, they would've most likely fallen prey to this beast already.

It was no wonder that Liu Zu and the others weren't optimistic about his chances of survival.

In order to break the restriction on the infernal river, Han Li had already used up a lot of his Divine Devilbane Lightning, and without a large supply of that lightning left, Liu Zu and the others would naturally be led into thinking that he wouldn't last very long at all.

Han Li was keeping a constant eye on the Infernal Lightning Beast behind him while thinking of a way to escape, seeing as the demon monarchs had most likely already broken through the restriction on their end and no longer had any spare capacity to try and track him down.

There was definitely no way that he'd be able to escape from this fearsome demon beast through normal methods. The only things he could rely on were his lightning beads, the two new types of talismans he'd refined, and his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

The first two of those three trump cards were disposable items, so he was planning to use them against the demon monarchs, but unleashing the Gold Devouring Beetles was extremely taxing on his spiritual sense. As such, he would refrain from using them unless he was in a truly dire situation.

Countless thoughts raced through Han Li's mind as he tried to find a solution.

He couldn't unleash too many Gold Devouring Beetles as the after-effects would essentially cripple him. However, he could try releasing just a few to impede the Infernal Lightning Beast behind him.

The beetles didn't have to harm the beast; all they had to do was slow it down slightly, and he'd be able to escape.

As a safety precaution, he could use his new talismans to assist him in that process, thereby even further elevating his chances of success.

After much painstaking thought, Han Li finally managed to devise a course of action that was just barely feasible.

He immediately took a deep breath and injected his spiritual sense into the spirit beast bracelet hidden on his body.

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Following a string of resounding booms, Han Li unleashed his Divine Devilbane Lightning, and just as the Infernal Lightning Beast paused to devour the lightning, he rustled his sleeve to send three specks of golden light hurtling through the air.

They were none other than three mature Gold Devouring Beetles!

The Infernal Lightning Beast had just devoured the arcs of golden lightning with relish when it saw the golden beetles flying toward it. It faltered slightly in response before opening its mouth in a nonchalant manner.

An arc of silver lightning erupted forth before splitting into three to strike the golden beetles.

Thus, the beetles were completely inundated by lightning following three loud thunderclaps.

However, in the next instant, a hint of surprise flashed through the Infernal Lightning Beast's golden eyes.

After the lightning receded, the three spirit insects were revealed, and not only had they not been reduced to dust, they had instead swelled to several times their original size as they continued flying toward the beast.

Even though the Infernal Lightning Beast's intelligence couldn't compare to that of a human, it had cultivated to an extremely high level, so it certainly wasn't some brainless buffoon.

It had identified that these three beetles were rather peculiar, and it didn't dare to treat them with disdain any longer as it swept a set of claws through the air.

Three streaks of azure claw projections immediately hurtled forth, swelling drastically mid-flight before striking the three golden beetles.

The claw projections exploded amid a sharp screech, and azure light inundated the three golden beetles.

Gusts of fierce spiritual winds scattered in all directions as the world's origin Qi in the surrounding area was sucked away by the azure light, and it was as if the entire space there was going to collapse.

The Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to be extremely confident in that attack, and it didn't even bother to check the result before it shot forth toward Han Li again.

However, a faint buzzing sound then rang out from within the azure light, and an incredulous look appeared on the beast's face.

Golden light flashed within the azure light, and the three golden beetles flew forth, reaching a spot that was only several tens of feet away from the Infernal Lightning Beast in just a few flashes.

Their bodies were shimmering with golden light, and they didn't appear to have been injured in the slightest.

The Infernal Lightning Beast was truly shocked this time, and a hint of ferocious killing intent welled up in its heart.

It immediately opened its mouth to expel a swath of silver light that swept up the three golden beetles.

The Gold Devouring Beetles were capable of devouring all things, but they were unable to immediately eat their way out of this silver light.

Thus, the Infernal Lightning Beast inhaled deeply, and the silver light swept back to send the three Gold Devouring Beetles flying into its mouth.

The beast gnashed at the golden beetles violently with its sharp fangs, then swallowed them into its stomach.

It then crouched down as thunderclaps erupted from its four limbs, and it disappeared on the spot as a bolt of silver lightning again.

Han Li had already taken this opportunity to fly over 10,000 feet away, and a peculiar look flashed through his eyes he witnessed the scenes unfolding behind him. He then immediately flapped his wings and also disappeared as a translucent thread.

Thus, it appeared that the Han Li was back to square one.

However, the Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have been completely infuriated by the beetles that Han Li had released earlier, and there was a lot more ferocity in its expression as it raced through the air.

It seemed to be intent on killing Han Li now, and its subsequent actions reflected that desire.

When Han Li unleashed his Divine Devilbane Lightning again, the Infernal Lightning Beast merely passed through the arcs of lightning without any pause or delay.

It no longer had any intention of fooling around with Han Li.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he circulated his magic power throughout his body in a frenzy as he traversed through the air as a translucent thread in a wrath-like manner.

Even so, the Infernal Lightning Beast was quickly closing in on him, and there were soon only just over 1,000 feet between them.

Lightning flashed on the back of the Infernal Lightning Beast, and the silver arcs of lightning intertwined to form a pair of wings.

The wings were around 20 feet in length each, and they were completely silver in color with countless runes hovering around them.

The Infernal Lightning Beast flapped those wings, and its body turned into a blur amid a rumbling boom.

In the next instant, the Infernal Lightning Beast emerged just over 100 feet behind Han Li as an arc of silver lightning, and the projection that was situated where it had been just a moment ago also disappeared on the spot.

"Shadow movement technique!" Han Li could sense that something was amiss, and he turned around just in time to witness the aforementioned sequence of events.

His face immediately paled as a sinking feeling appeared in his stomach.

He had not anticipated that this beast would possess such a troublesome movement technique. Shadow movement techniques weren't the fastest movement techniques, but they were definitely the rarest and most mysterious.

There weren't even all that many people in the world who had witnessed such movement techniques.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had conducted extensive research on his own lightning movement technique back in Deep Heaven City, reading through many relevant tomes that were sold in the city, he wouldn't have been able to identify that movement technique so quickly.

However, he clearly couldn't afford to stand around and wallow in his astonishment under such dire circumstances. As soon as the Infernal Lightning Beast reappeared, it immediately flapped its wings toward Han Li.

The wings of lightning then abruptly disappeared amid a loud thunderclap.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to react, a loud thunderclap erupted overhead, following which a massive net of lightning came plummeting from above, and it was upon him in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock, and silver runes immediately surged around his body as he conjured up a new lightning robe, which flew through the air before also transforming into a net of golden and silver lightning to keep the oncoming arcs of silver lightning at bay.

Immediately thereafter, azure light flashed around his body, and he hurtled back in retreat to rush out of the area encompassed by the lightning net descending from above.

A hint of disdain appeared in the Infernal Lightning Beast's eyes upon seeing this, following which its body blurred once again.

Silver light flashed before Han Li, and the Infernal Lightning Beast instantly appeared up ahead. At the same time, it slowly swiped its claws through the air, seemingly in a gentle and completely harmless manner, but Han Li felt as if the claws had been enlarged countless times, affording him no avenues for evasion or escape.

Following a few rumbling booms, the surrounding air suddenly tremored before surging violently toward the spot right beneath the beast's claws, as if an invisible yet all-engulfing black hole had appeared there.

Han Li's body stiffened before he was drawn forward by a burst of immense irresistible power, forcibly dragging him toward the beast's claws.

His face paled even further, but a determined look then immediately flashed through his eyes. He suddenly opened his mouth to expel a small golden sword that was around several inches in length, and it only flashed once before transforming into a streak of golden light that hurtled toward the beast's claws.

However, not only did the Infernal Lightning Beast not withdraw its claws upon seeing this, a disdainful look appeared in its eyes instead.

The streak of golden light crashed into a beast's claws with a loud clang, only to repelled back as a small golden sword as the golden light around it faded. Meanwhile, the beast's claws remained completely unscathed, and they hadn't even moved so much as a single inch.

Not only that, but the beast's other paw shot forth like lightning to grab the sword in its claws.

A vicious look then appeared in its eyes as its entire paw turned pure silver in color, and it brought its claws together with ferocious might to completely crush the golden sword.

Not only were Infernal Lightning Beasts blessed with extraordinary strength from birth, their bodies were as powerful as top-grade treasures. With those two attributes combined, it had crushed countless treasures with its sharp claws.

As such, it had thought that it would be able to completely pulverize this small sword, just as it had done with countless treasures in the past.

However, the golden sword merely tremored in its immensely powerful grasp, and the spiritual light emanating from the sword dimmed a little, but it remained completely unscathed.

The beast had severely underestimated how robust Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were.

This sword had been refined with several types of rare materials by Han Li, and there were very few treasures as robust as it even in the Spirit Realm. The sword was unable to harm the Infernal Lightning Beast, but the latter wouldn't be able to destroy the sword in a short time, either.

The Infernal Lightning Beast was quite astonished by just how resolute this small sword was, and before it had recovered from its shock, a burst of golden light suddenly radiated from Han Li's body. He let loose a loud cry, and the golden light intensified in brightness as golden scales appeared all over his body. At the same time, golden light erupted from his back before manifesting a humanoid projection with three heads and six arms.

The projection slowly extended its six arms in unison, sending a peculiar fluctuation running through the nearby space like ripples over the surface of a calm lake.

With this split-second of respite, Han Li flapped his wings, and a gentle breeze blew past as he disappeared on the spot.

The Infernal Lightning Beast let loose a low snarl as it clenched its raised paw into a fist, then lashed out at a certain spot in the air around 300 feet away.

A resounding boom erupted as a burst of invisible power exploded, sending an invisible shockwave proliferating through the air in all directions.

A humanoid figure was forcibly revealed from empty space by its attack, and it was none other than Han Li, who wore a stunned expression as he stumbled out of thin air.

This beast had easily nullified his teleportation technique, and its powers were simply unimaginable to him.

Han Li immediately shot back without any delay, and at the same time, he swept a sleeve through the air to hurl a dozen or so azure beads toward the Infernal Lightning Beast.

Those were none other than the lightning beads that he'd painstakingly refined, and he'd used up close to a third of his entire supply in one go, so he certainly wasn't playing around.

A hint of disdain appeared on the Infernal Lightning Beast's face upon seeing this, and its body blurred again as it tried to unleash its shadow movement technique to evade these oncoming lightning beads.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly made a hand seal, and the Infernal Lightning Beast was struck by a burst of excruciating pain in its stomach, as if it were being stabbed on the inside. As a result, it was unable to unleash its shadow movement technique, and this split-second delay was all it took for the lightning beads to reach it.

The Infernal Lightning Beast was completely bewildered by the agony in its stomach, so it paid no heed to these seemingly nondescript beads. A loud thunderclap erupted as it halfheartedly conjured up a barrier of silver lightning, then hurriedly inspected its own internal condition.

The carelessness with which the beast was handling the situation was very much a welcome sight for Han Li, and his eyes lit up as he made another hand seal without any hesitation.

The dozen or so lightning beads flashed with azure light, then exploded in unison at his behest. Initially, only a dozen or so balls of azure lightning appeared. Those then swelled drastically in size as a dozen or so bursts of tremendous lightning-attribute power erupted forth.

A lightning cloud that was several acres in size appeared in an instant, completely catching the Infernal Lightning Beast off guard as it enshrouded the beast's entire body.

Lightning flashed violently amid resounding thunderclaps, and a roar of sheer fury erupted from within the lightning cloud.

The beast was naturally proficient at devouring lightning, but this attack possessed power equivalent to that of several Body Integration cultivators attacking at once, so it was naturally unable to devour such immense and volatile power. Furthermore, Han Li was spurring on his Gold Devouring Beetles with all his might to eat the beast from the inside, thereby severely debilitating it through sheer agony, and it could only withstand the power of the lightning beads with its powerful body alone.

The lightning cloud in the sky put the power of azure heavenly lightning on full display as arcs of azure lightning flashed amid deafening thunderclaps that were audible even from close to 100 kilometers away.

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Meanwhile, Han Li wasn't just standing idly on the spot. He rustled both sleeves at once, and a series of talismans shot forth before circling through the air, shimmering with silver runes.

These talismans were all quite mysterious, and 108 of them were summoned at once.

Han Li made a hand seal before rapidly pointing his fingers in succession toward the lightning clouds down below with a grave expression on his face.

The talismans immediately transformed into 108 streaks of silver light that disappeared right in front of Han Li.

In the next instant, silver light flashed above the giant lightning cloud, and the silver runes reappeared.

They surged through the air to form a strange diagram that encompassed the entire lightning cloud below.

Han Li cast an incantation seal, and all of the talismans exploded in unison, creating a massive silver light formation.

Within the formation, a projection of a large palace appeared in a mirage-like manner, as if it weren't actually a part of this world.

The palace was shimmering with silver light, and there were countless runes dancing in the air above it. At the same time, heavenly music sounded, captivating the listener with its delightful beauty.

However, as soon as the listener tried to listen more closely to the music, it would abruptly disappear.

Han Li was ecstatic to see the realization of the formation, and he hurriedly made a hand seal, upon the formation slowly descended.

Right at this moment, a thunderous roar erupted from within the lightning cloud.

Following a few earthshattering thunderclaps, the azure lighting cloud tumbled and surged violently, and several arcs of lightning that were as thick as water tanks forced their way out of the lightning.

The huge bolts of lightning circled around within the lightning cloud like a series of menacing giant dragons, and the entire lightning cloud was eradicated within moments.

After the lightning cloud was eradicated, the arcs of lightning also disappeared, and the Infernal Lightning Beast was revealed in the distance again.

At this moment, the beast was in an extremely sorry state. Not only had its scales become dull and lusterless, the parts of its body that weren't covered in scales had been completely charred black. Only the single horn on its head was still shimmering with silver light, as thin arcs of electricity revolved around it.

Those thick bolts of silver lightning had clearly been unleashed by none other than that horn.

What was even more surprising was that as soon as the beast was revealed, it immediately opened its mouth to expel a burst of crimson light, within which three flashing specks of golden light could be seen.

Those three specks of light were emitting a faint buzzing sound, and they were none other than his Gold Devouring Beetles.

They had been forced out of the beast's body by its immense magic power.

A shiver immediately ran down Han Li's spine upon seeing this.

After the beetles had been swallowed by the beast, Han Li had been overjoyed, and as a result, a hint of killing intent had welled up in his heart. Only after witnessing the scenes that had just unfolded did he realize how delusional he'd been. As such, he immediately relinquished any intention of killing this beast.

Han Li looked down to discover his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was hovering beneath one of the Infernal Lightning Beast's paws, and it was shimmering with faint golden light.

It was quite clear that the Infernal Lightning Beast had dropped the sword as it was too busy dealing with the attacks from the Gold Devouring Beetles and the lightning cloud.

In any case, the sword didn't appear to pose any threat to it, so there was no need for it to pay it any heed.

At this moment, the Infernal Lightning Beast was glowering intently at Han Li with fury and ferocity in its eyes.

Having just withstood that devastating string of attacks, it wanted nothing better than to tear Han Li apart with its bare claws. However, Han Li certainly wasn't going to stand around and wait for it. He waved a hand through the air, and the three Gold Devouring Beetles emerged from the crimson light before flying back to him. The small golden sword also tremored before abruptly disappearing on the spot.

Golden light flashed as the small sword reappeared beside Han Li, then disappeared without a trace up his sleeve.

Immediately thereafter, the Gold Devouring Beetles were also stowed away in the same manner.

The Infernal Lightning Beast faltered upon seeing this before letting loose a deafening roar of fury. Just as it was about to spring into action, silver light flashed above its head, and a massive light formation descended from above in a stealthy manner.

With such a massive formation overhead, even if the Infernal Lightning Beast hadn't noticed it at first, there was no way that the formation would continue to escape the beasts' detection.

It raised its head, and a hint of astonishment flashed through its eyes as it caught sight of the massive formation. A thunderclap erupted from its sharp horn, following which a thick bolt of silver lightning shot forth.

The bolt of lightning struck the underside of the light formation amid a rumbling boom, but it then suddenly disappeared following a flash of silver light, as if it had been engulfed by the formation.

Only then did the beast realize the perilous situation that it was in. Lightning flashed from its four limbs as it immediately attempted to flee the scene, but it was already too late.

The light formation rotated in mid-air before disappearing in a flash.

Meanwhile, the Infernal Lightning Beast had shot back over 100 feet, only for a burst of silver light to flash before its eyes, following which it found itself in a swath of white mist. It surveyed its surroundings to find countless tall walls and buildings around it, stretching as far as the eyes could see in all directions.

The beast's heart jolted with shock initially, but it quickly calmed down.

It had lived for countless years, and it had experienced more than its fair share of situations where it had been trapped in formations by its enemies, so it was able to remain tranquil and unflustered in this situation.

It raised its head to look up into the sky, only to find a vast expanse of murky silver light that completely obstructed its vision.

The Infernal Lightning Beast cocked its head to the side and contemplated its current predicament, then rose up into the air as an arc of silver lightning, slashing its claws through space during the process.

A dozen or so azure claw projections hurled forth in a flash, crashing heavily against the silver light barrier.

Silver and azure light intertwined amid a string of dull thump, and the silver light barrier tremored slightly before falling still again.

The Infernal Lightning Beast faltered in mid-air with a slightly surprised expression upon seeing this, seemingly slightly taken aback by how powerful this restriction was.

Unbeknownst to the Infernal Lightning Beast, this light formation had been conjured up by the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, which Han Li had only managed to refine after extensive periods of painstaking effort.

There were a total of 108 such talismans, and they were extremely effective for trapping enemies.

Of course, that also depended on what kind of being was trapped within this formation. At Han Li's current cultivation base, he wouldn't even be able to truly trap an average Body Integration Stage being, let alone this Infernal Lightning Beast.

He was currently standing at the edge of the light formation, injecting his magic power into one of the 108 talismans in a frenzy. When the beast within unleashed that earlier attack, Han Li had felt a burst of immense power being transmitted into his body, forcing him to stumble back a few steps as his expression changed drastically.

Thankfully, he was able to recover after circulating his magic power throughout his body.

However, it was quite apparent that this restriction wasn't going to be able to contain this beast for long. After all, the gulf in cultivation base between himself and this Infernal Lightning Beast was nothing if not night and day!

However, he wasn't counting on this formation to trap the beast in the first place; all he needed was for it to buy him some time.

Seeing as the formation had temporarily trapped his opponent, Han Li immediately withdrew his hand before flapping his wings and flying away as a streak of azure light, heading straight toward the direction he'd come from.

After a few flashes, Han Li had reached the end of the horizon, and he would disappear from view after just one more flash.

However, right at this moment, Han Li's expression suddenly changed as he swept a hand through the air. Several tens of small golden swords shot forth in unison, piercing toward a certain spot in space.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

White light flashed from the location that the golden swords were flying toward, and a white-robed woman with a missing arm suddenly appeared.

It was none other than that ghostly woman whom Han Li had battled once.

The woman was also quite stunned that Han Li had managed to detect its presence. She seemed to be about to say something, but Han Li wasn't interested in hearing what she was about to say as a cold light flashed through his eyes. All of a sudden, a loud cry erupted from within one of his sleeves, following which a streak of black light shot forth, then faded to reveal a small black monkey.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast.

Han Li was currently running for his life, and the last thing he needed was a prolonged battle with this ghostly woman. As such, he immediately summoned his Weeping Soul Beast to take care of her as quickly as possible.

As soon as the white-robed ghostly woman caught sight of the Weeping Soul Beast, she let loose a sharp shriek as an expression of horror appeared on her face. She abruptly transformed into a streak of white Qi and attempted to flee, but the Weeping Soul Beast was even faster, transforming into a massive ape that was several tens of feet tall in the blink of an eye, then letting loose a cold harrumph to expel a swath of yellow light from its nostrils.

The yellow light immediately enshrouded the streak of white Qi, then dragged it back toward the Weeping Soul Beast.

The white light faded to reveal the white-robed ghostly woman again, and in her horror, her white robes transformed into a pristine white barrier of light that completely shielded her entire body.

Surprisingly enough, the barrier of light managed to withstand the Weeping Soul Beast's soul-devouring light.

A grave expression appeared on the Weeping Soul Beast's face, and it let loose a low snarl as Yin winds were swept up around it and countless arcs of lightning began to crackle in the surrounding area. The giant ape then swelled even further in size. Its fur began to turn red and three twisted horns emerged from the top of its head. Its glabella split open to reveal a crimson demonic eye, and at the same time, its face elongated as it bared its mouthful of sharp fangs.

Three black bone spikes had also sprouted from its back, each of which was around 10 feet in length with black Yin Qi swirling around them.

The white-robed ghostly woman's horror was even further exacerbated by the sight of the Weeping Soul Beast's transformation.

She suddenly let loose a long sharp screech, sending a burst of invisible soundwaves hurtling rapidly toward Han Li and the Weeping Soul Beast.

However, Han Li was already prepared for this well in advance. He laid a hand on the back of his own head, and grey light erupted forth along with five-colored flames, shielding both himself and the Weeping Soul Beast within.

As such, Han Li managed to withstand the soundwave attack with nothing more than a slight pain in his spiritual sense.

As for the Weeping Soul Beast, it was completely unaffected. Instead, a sinister look appeared on its face, and it slowly opened the demonic eye on its glabella to shoot forth a bolt of lightning as thick as a large bowl.

The bolt of lightning was as vibrant red as blood, and it as able to completely ignore the white light barrier as it instantly punctured the body of the white-robed ghostly woman, who was completely immobilized by the Weeping Soul Beast's soul-devouring light.

The ghostly woman let loose a howl of anguish as the crimson arc of lightning bound her body like a spirit snake, then forcibly dragged her through the air, taking her over to the Weeping Soul Beast in the blink of an eye. The beast opened its mouth and devoured her with any hesitation, then furrowed its brows before spitting out a black jade badge.

Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the badge into the grasp before giving it a brief inspection.

"This is a Myriad Distance Talisman!"

Even though it was slightly different from the one used by humans, Han Li was still able to immediately identify it. A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, a burst of loud rumbling intermingled with a furious roar erupted from within the light formation in the distance.

Han Li shuddered upon hearing this before hurriedly waving a hand toward the Weeping Soul Beast. The latter shrank down rapidly before disappearing up Han Li's sleeve, and at the same, Han Li stomped a foot onto the ground, transforming in a might azure bird as he flew away like lightning.

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The large azure bird flew through the air as an astonishingly rapid streak of azure light, covering a distance of over 100 feet with each and every flap of its wings.

As Han Li hurtled through the air in his Tian Peng form, he activated the Great Development Technique with all his might, using his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly envelop the tracking marks planted in his body by the four demon monarchs.

However, those tracking marks were simply too powerful; even though he had unleashed several secret techniques from the Great Development Treasured Scriptures and also used the Tian Peng power he attained following his transformation, he was still only able to temporarily repress those marks. It would only take around a day and a night by his estimation before those marks would take effect again.

Han Li was naturally doing this to lure the demon monarchs into thinking that he was dead, thereby making it easier for him to do what he had to do next, and that was to save Yuan Yao and Yan Li, then take them to an area with immense Yin Qi so they could remove the tracking marks within his body.

Only then would be truly be freed from the demon monarchs.

Under normal circumstances, Han Li naturally wouldn't be able to achieve this, but with the Infernal Lightning Beast stirring up trouble for the demon monarchs, there was a chance for him.

He hadn't bought the demon monarchs a lot of time, so they had most likely only just entered the divine pond area not too long ago. Even if they knew that this beast was on its way back, there was no way that they'd be willing to let all their prior efforts go to waste and give up on the Divine Infernal River Elixir.

After the Infernal Lightning Beast escaped from the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, it would return to its lair, undoubtedly in a thunderous rage, just in time to encounter the demon monarchs, and all hell would break loose then.

As long as he didn't have to face any of the demon monarchs in direct battle, there was a very good chance that he'd be able to save Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

With those thoughts racing through his mind, Han Li flew rapidly through the air.

Just as he was about to re-enter the grey mountain ranges, a dull thump suddenly rang out from his Tian Peng body.

Azure light flashed, and he reverted back to his human form. He then rustled his sleeve to produce a white jade badge that landed in his palm.

There was an image of a massive nine-palace diagram carved onto the face of the jade badge, but the badge itself had already been shattered into countless pieces.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he took a reflexive glance behind himself. He then stowed away the jade badge before sweeping a hand over his storage bracelet, and spiritual light flashed as a purple talisman with mysterious silver runes shimmering over its surface appeared in his hand.

It was none other than the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

Han Li released the talisman without any hesitation, and it exploded in mid-air. Several shimmering silver runes then emerged before dancing in the air above Han Li.

The runes then transformed into clouds of silver mist that instantly enshrouded his entire body.

The silver mist dissipated moments later, and Han Li had completely disappeared.

Having attained an insubstantial body, Han Li slowly drifted downward before hiding at the foot f a massive tree, then looking up at the sky with rapt focus.

After a long while, a rumbling thunderclap finally erupted in the distant sky.

Moments later, lightning flashed overhead, and the Infernal Lightning Beast sped past with arcs of silver lightning revolving around its body, having completely failed to detect Han Li's presence down below.

Following a few flashes, the Infernal Lightning Beast disappeared into the distance.

Han Li's eyes flashed, and he remained hidden beneath the tree. After about seven or eight more minutes, he felt that enough time had passed, and only then did he slowly re-emerge within a flash of silver light.

Several silver runes flew out of his body, then combined together to form a purple talisman again.

Han Li waved a hand through the air, and the talisman disappeared up his sleeve as a streak of purple light.

Immediately thereafter, he sped into the distance as a streak of azure light, traveling along the exact same route that the Infernal Lightning Beast had just taken.

Not long after that, Han Li arrived back at the black light barrier from which he'd originally set off.

The azure light around him faded, and he hovered in mid-air to survey the situation down below, upon which his expression changed slightly.

There was an acrid smoky scent in the air, and thousands of sets of ghostly remains littered the ground below, large patches of which had been charred black. It seemed that this place had been ravaged by lightning, and there were Yin winds surging through the air, as well as residual fluctuations from an extremely powerful restriction. It seemed that a restriction had been forcibly destroyed after it had only been set up halfway.

A hint of surprise and bewilderment flashed through his eyes upon seeing this.

He was naturally unaware of the fact that the crimson-armored puppet and its subordinates had arrived at this place following his departure. After the Weeping Soul Beast had devoured the white-robed ghostly woman, these ghostly beings were completely unaware that the Infernal Lightning Beast was already on its way back. As such, they had no time to take evasive measures and were naturally destroyed by the infuriated beast.

If the crimson-armored puppet were to learn of the fact that all of its subordinates outside had been killed, it would definitely fly into a thunderous rage. If the white-robed ghostly woman had used the Myriad Distance Talisman to inform everyone of the Infernal Lightning Beast's return, then all of the ghostly beings could hide until the beast had passed through before continuing to set up their formation. That was why the puppet had asked its subordinates to deploy a high-grade ghostly being to track Han Li and the Infernal Lightning Beast, but never would it have thought that Han Li would completely ruin its plans.

Han Li circled around in the air at low altitudes, and didn't discover any living ghostly beings in the nearby area. He didn't know whether they'd all been destroyed by the Infernal Lightning Beast or if the survivors had all fled the scene. However, he didn't delve any further into this issue before turning his gaze toward the shimmering blue passageway, and he began to stroke his chin with a contemplative look on his face.

All of a sudden, he rustled a sleeve to hurl forth a stack of silver talismans, and it was another set of Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans.

Due to how difficult these talismans were to refine, Han Li only had two sets in total. He had already used one set, so this was naturally his final set.

Han Li made a hand seal and cast a series of incantation seals onto the stack of talismans.

An incredible scene ensued.

The silver talismans rushed into the passageway at Han Li's behest, then disappeared into thin air.

It seemed that Han Li had unleashed some kind of secret technique to conceal these talismans.

Han Li withdrew his hand seal before blue light flashed through his eyes as he assessed the locations where these talismans had been concealed, and he nodded with a pleased expression in response to what he saw.

A thought then occurred to him, and he flipped a palm over to produce two more silver talismans.

However, these talismans were much different compared to the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans. There weren't any runes flashing on those talismans, but there was a faint humanoid figure inscribed onto each talisman. The facial features of both humanoid figures were quite indistinct, but the suits of golden armor they were wearing were quite clearly depicted.

One of the humanoid figures was wielding a golden spear while the one on the other talisman held twin sabers in its hands.

What was strange was that these two humanoid figures were moving around on the talismans and brandishing their weapons from time to time, as if they were alive.

As soon as Han Li summoned these two talismans, he rubbed his hands together, the talismans exploded amid two dull thumps and a flash of silver light. Two golden projections emerged within the silver light, then hurtled downward and disappeared into the ground, merging with Han Li's shadow.

Han Li wasn't hovering very high up in the sky, but his shadow on the ground was still extremely faint. Even so, the two golden projections were still able to conceal themselves into his shadow without a trace.

These were none other than the Armor Origin Talismans that Han Li had refined according to the method recorded on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome. He had only refined three of these talismans in total, yet he was using up two of them here, thereby providing a sufficient indication of how seriously he was taking this operation.

It was no wonder that this was the case. After all, all of the beings within the black light barrier were fearsome beings at or above the Body Integration Stage. He wouldn't even be able to take on any single one of them, so he had to prepare as thoroughly as he could.

After using up two of his Armor Origin Talismans, Han Li still wasn't satisfied. He opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, which then transformed into the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven.

He then raised a hand to produce a dozen or so azure lightning beads, all of which were swallowed by the bird.

Immediately thereafter, the Fire Raven flew up onto a massive tree nearby before concealing itself from view.

After doing all that, Han Li exhaled to compose himself before he raised his hand to summon the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman again. The talisman exploded, and his body took on an insubstantial form as he hovered soundlessly into the blue passageway.

After passing through the black light barrier, Han Li surveyed his surroundings, and he immediately furrowed his brows.

The area around him was extremely dark, and there were only a few azure rocks situated an indeterminate distance away that were glowing with a faint light, making Han Li feel as if he'd returned to the Umbra Realm again.

However, with his spirit eyes, the darkness naturally didn't faze him.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, and everything around him became clear as day.

The surrounding area seemed to be extremely bleak and desolate with nothing on the ground aside from a few rocks of different sizes.

There weren't even any tall trees around, and the occasional patches of plant life he could see were all shot bushes and scrubs.

Han Li inhaled a few times to find that the spiritual Qi in the surrounding area was quite abundant and rich, which made the scenes around him rather perplexing.

However, he didn't remain in this place to ponder the situation for too long. Instead, he continued onward, venturing deeper into this unknown land.

Even though he didn't know where this so-called divine pond was, it certainly couldn't be wrong for him to head toward the center of the restriction.

Even after adopting an insubstantial body, Han Li was still traveling quite quickly, covering a distance of close to 10 kilometers in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's eyes then immediately lit up as he discovered a palace-like building in the distance.

The building was only several hundred feet tall and appeared to have been constructed using ordinary rugged stone blocks, it was the first noteworthy landmark he'd come across, and it indicated that he was heading in the right direction.

Thus, Han Li immediately flew toward the palace.

The entrance of the palace was a tall and rectangular one that was over 100 feet tall, and a black stone gate had been completely opened outward.

Han Li reflexively swept his spiritual sense toward the gate, upon which a peculiar look appeared in his eyes, and he paused on the spot.

There were a couple of bursts of powerful Yin Qi situated on either side of the gate, indicating that there seemed to be a high-grade ghostly being concealed on each side of the entrance.

Han Li was slightly surprised to make this discovery, but he was quickly enlightened as he thought of the thousands of ghostly beings that had been destroyed back at the entrance of the blue passageway.

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However, Han Li didn't want any unforeseen elements affecting his plans, so a hint of killing intent welled up in his heart as he injected his spiritual sense into his spirit beast bracelet.

Following a loud ape cry, a streak of black light surged through the air, heading for one side of the entrance while revealed himself and pounced toward the other side.

"Hmm?"

"Who goes there?"

Two cries of surprise erupted from either side of the palace's entrance.

Gusts of Yin winds were swept up from one end, following which a massive two-headed skeleton appeared.

On the other side, the pungent odor of blood and gore wafted through the air as a white-furred zombie with a pair of crimson eyes emerged. The zombie had a pair of green wings on its back that were extremely rank and putrid.

Black light flashed, and a giant ape appeared. It then immediately let loose a cold harrumph, blasting a burst of yellow light out of its nostrils toward the two-headed skeleton.

A burst of eerie cackling rang out from the skeleton's mouths as its arms blurred through the air, creating countless claw projections.

This high-grade ghostly being was clearly very confident in its body and wanted to tear the soul-devouring light apart with its bare hands, rather than fleeing the scene like the white-robed ghostly woman had.

As soon as the two made contact with one another, the claw projections were immediately vanquished by the yellow light, which then surged onward to sweep up the skeleton's bony claws.

Yellow light flashed, and the two-headed skeleton let loose a howl of anguish as its bone claws disintegrated into clouds of black mist.

The skeleton was shocked by this turn of events, and it hurriedly attempted to hurtle back in retreat, but it was too late.

The yellow light continued onward, sweeping up the skeleton's entire body, transforming it into a dense cloud of black mist that was then sucked into the Weeping Soul Beast's mouth.

The beast then let loose a cry of elation before turning to appraise Han Li, just in time to see Han Li hovering above the white-furred zombie while pointing a finger toward the Divine Essencefused Mountain. The mountain had expanded to over 100 feet in size, and it had trapped the ghostly being down below.

Meanwhile, two golden-armored projections had appeared, and both of them were in the process of withdrawing their weapons from the zombie's body. One of them was wielding a spear with arcs of golden lightning surging along its entire length, and the spear had punctured the zombie's heart, creating a charred wound. As for the dual sabers, they had been withdrawn from the zombie's back, following which a layer of white light flashed, and the zombie's repugnant wings were sealed in translucent glacial ice.

Han Li didn't spur on the two projections to kill this ghostly being. Instead, he indicated for the Weeping Soul Beast to do the honors.

The Weeping Soul Beast faltered slightly before immediately springing through the air with an elated expression, quickly landing beside Han Li.

It unleashed its soul-devouring light from its nostrils again, reducing this zombie into Yin Qi as well before devouring it, then thumping its chest with glee.

These two were both powerful ghostly beings that had been cultivating within the infernal river for countless years, so they were most definitely rare delicacies for the Weeping Soul Beast. Han Li smiled at the sight of the ecstatic Weeping Soul Beast, and a plan suddenly began to hatch in his mind. He carefully appraised the Weeping Soul Beast before issuing some instructions.

The Weeping Soul Beast listened with wide eyes before nodding emphatically. Black light flashed from its entire body, and it transformed into a demon beast with a single horn on its head and arcs of lightning revolving around its limbs.

It was a spitting image of the Infernal Lightning Beast that had almost hunted down Han Li earlier, except it was slightly smaller in size. Han Li nodded with a pleased smile upon seeing this before waving a hand toward the Infernal Lightning Beast", and it shrank down to only several inches in size before disappearing up his sleeve.

He then brought out his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman again to conceal himself, then entered through the palace gates.

The palace consisted of a main hall with a smaller hall on the side, and Han Li went directly into the larger main hall.

The interior of the hall was very clean, and it was completely empty aside from a dozen or so thick stone pillars.

However, Han Li paid no heed to all of this as his attention had been completely drawn to a small hole that was shimmering with white light at the center of the hall. He slowly made his way over to this hole, then peered into it to discover that it was a smooth round tunnel that led downward on a slanted angle, and there were no stairs or rungs to be seen. Furthermore, Han Li could only see a vast expanse of faint white light within the tunnel, thereby preventing him from seeing what laid at the bottom.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li slowly drifted down this tunnel. Along the way, he discovered that this tunnel was extremely deep; even after descending for over 10,000 feet, there was still no end in sight. However, there were gusts of cold winds blowing toward him from down below, so there was clearly some kind of ventilated place at the conclusion of the tunnel.

After descending for several thousand more feet, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he could hear the indistinct sounds of thunderclaps and beasty roars, as well as the occasional earth-shattering boom that made the stone walls of the tunnel around him tremor and quake.

Han Li began to slow down in his descent while releasing his spiritual sense to survey the situation up ahead.

Moments later, a film of piercing white light appeared down below, and he had reached the exit.

After sweeping through the area with his spiritual sense, he found that there was nothing lurking down there.

He was reassured by this discovery and landed soundlessly onto the ground below, then quickly passed through the white film of light. On the other side, he found himself in another massive hall that was several times larger than the one above it, and also vastly more lavish in its construction as well.

Not only was the floor paved with flawless white jade, there were gems the size of large bowls embedded onto the walls and ceiling of the hall. These gems shimmered with a gentle white light that illuminated the entire hall. The spiritual Qi in this area was also a lot more abundant than that of area up above, and there were spirit herbs and spirit flowers of all types of different colors growing in two miniature flower gardens on either side of the hall. All of the plants were extremely vibrant and shimmering with faint spiritual light, clearly having been nurtured here for countless years.

However, Han Li merely looked away with a disinterested furrow of his brows.

He was immediately able to identify that even though these plants were quite rare, they were mostly renowned for their beauty and aesthetic appeal rather than any practical applications.

However, Han Li was only able to see most of the hall as a small portion of it was currently enshrouded in dense blood mist and arcs of lightning that were flashing violently.

Clumps of blood mist and lightning intertwined with one another at low altitudes over a certain section of the hall, tumbling and exploding incessantly as they fought for dominance. However, it was quite clear that the arcs of lightning were far more powerful than the blood mist. If it weren't for the fact that there were countless green threads and gusts of Yin winds whizzing through the mist to reinforce it, it would've most likely have been vanquished by the arcs of lightning already.

Even so, fist-sized balls of lightning were still being manifested amid rumbling thunderclaps, then exploding to tear through large swaths of blood mist, thereby placing it firmly on the backfoot.

The blood mist completely obstructed Han Li's vision, but it was most likely the case that it had been conjured up by Di Xue in conjunction with the other demon monarchs. Amid the flashes of lightning, Han Li could indistinctly make out the silhouettes of two single-horned beasts, both of which were roaring with fury. There were two Infernal Lightning Beasts unleashing a relentless barrage of fearsome attacks, so it was no wonder that the demon monarchs were severely on the back foot.

Han Li was quite stunned by this observation, and after spectating the battle for a while, he turned his gaze downward, upon which his pupils abruptly contracted.

Directly down below the vast expanse of blood mist was a green pond that was several tens of feet in size. There was white mist as well as rich spiritual Qi swirling around the pond, and there was also an indistinct layer of crimson light over the surface of the water as well.

"Is that the Divine Infernal River Elixir?" Han Li made his way over to the pond, but he didn't pause to examine it for too long. Instead, he continued to survey his surroundings as if he were searching for something.

All of a sudden, his eyes lit up as he caught sight of the motionless Yuan Yao and Yan Li standing in an obscure corner of the palace.

Both of them wore stiff wooden expressions, seemingly completely unmoved by the intense battle taking place nearby.

Han Li had witnessed the restrictions being cast on these two women, so he knew that their consciousness were still intact, but they were unable to control their bodies at all. He was relatively confident in his ability to break restrictions of this nature.

After taking a glance at the intense battle that was raging within the palace, Han Li repressed te elation in his heart before carefully turning his attention to other sections of the hall.

He had not forgotten about the ghostly beings that he'd encountered on his way here, and there were definitely other high-grade ghostly beings that had snuck into this place as well.

He didn't want to save Yuan Yao and Yan Li, only to be ambushed by those troublesome beings. Prior to discovering the locations of those hidden ghostly beings, it would be very unwise to set his plan into motion.

Thus, he released his spiritual sense toward every section of the hall aside from the one where the battle was taking place, but didn't discover anything amiss.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and after a brief moment of contemplation, a hint of faint blue light flashed through his eyes.

This place was fraught with peril so he naturally didn't dare to unleash his spirit eyes to their full extent. He merely drew on as little spiritual power as possible to activate this ability before rapidly sweeping his gaze around the entire hall.

As a result, he was finally able to discover something.

In the corner of the palace furthest away from where the battle was taking place, there was a cloud of faint green Qi hovering in the air. Even looking at it using his spirit eyes, the cloud of green Qi was still extremely faint, as if it were completely transparent.

Was that the ghostly being that had infiltrated this place?

Han Li contemplated his situation momentarily before deciding to take a risk. A sharp burst of blue light erupted from his eyes as he attempted to glean the true appearance of this unknown being.

As a result, he saw a crystal-ball-like object hovering at the center of the cloud of green Qi, and it was slowly rotating on the spot.

In the instant that Han Li caught sight of that object, it immediately stopped rotating, and a wisp of green light appeared over its surface before disappearing in a flash.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and the blue light in his eyes was instantly snuffed out.

He could sense that the bead seemed to have detected his gaze in the instant that he caught sight of it, but he was confident that he'd reacted quickly enough to avoid exposing his location.

Even if that bead possessed a powerful enough spiritual sense to detect his presence, it wouldn't dare to release its spiritual sense with such reckless abandon to search for him. If it released too little of its spiritual sense, there was no way that it'd be able to bypass the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman's concealment effect, but if too much of its spiritual sense was released, then it would immediately be detected by the demon monarchs and Infernal Lightning Beasts.

Han Li was sure that this ghostly being definitely wouldn't engage in such a reckless endeavor.

Moments later, a burst of relatively feeble spiritual sense swept over the spot where he was standing, but it completely failed to detect his presence as it continued onward.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief in response. However, before he had a chance to consider how he was going to take Yuan Yao and Yan Li away from here without blowing his cover, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from within the blood mist in the hall, and the battle took a drastic turn.

The blood mist tumbled and surged as brilliant purple light erupted, following which a silhouette began to rapidly expand within the mist. In the blink of an eye, the Purpleblood Puppet emerged from the mist, having already reached over 200 feet tall, and it was still swelling in size with reckless abandon.

One of the crimson-robed figures was also standing atop one of the puppet's shoulders with his hands clasped behind his back.

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As soon as the massive puppet emerged, crimson light flashed through its six eyes, and it abruptly made a grabbing motion to summon a huge crimson ax into his grasp, then swung it through the air with devastating force.

The massive ax came crashing down like a small mountain, and even before it had even struck anything, gusts of ferocious winds had been swept upon around it.

The silver arcs of lightning down below all tremored violently as a result, looking as if they were going to split apart.

A beastly roar erupted from within the lightning, and the arcs of lightning suddenly intertwined with one another as if they had sprung to life.

They converged to form a silver lightning sword amid a series of rumbling thunderclaps, then pierced straight up into the air.

An earthshattering boom erupted as the lightning sword struck the blade of the ax, upon which both of them shattered and disappeared into nothingness. Lightning then flashed once again as several azure claw projections that were each around 10 feet in length appeared before hurtling directly toward the Purpleblood Puppet.

The crimson-robed figure standing atop the puppet's shoulder harrumphed coldly upon seeing this. He opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood essence, then made a grabbing motion before swinging his arm through the air.

The ball of blood essence transformed into a crimson spear and hurtled through the air at his behest.

The crimson spear pierced through several claw projections in the blink of an eye, and was just about to disappear into the lightning down below when silver light suddenly flashed, and a projection of an Infernal Lightning Beast's head that had been expanded to several times its actual size emerged from within the lightning.

The projection opened its mouth to devour the crimson spear, then blasted forth an extremely thick arc of lightning in retaliation. The bolt of lightning transformed into a silver wyrm mid-flight, but right at this moment, crimson light flashed within the Purpleblood Puppet's eyes, following which two streaks of crimson light shot forth, striking the lightning wyrm with unerring accuracy. Both the lightning and streaks of crimson light clashed and disappeared in unison.

Following their first lightning-fast exchange, the Purpleblood Puppet and the crimson-robed figure appeared to be evenly matched with the Infernal Lightning Beast.

However, countless green threads suddenly shot forth from the blood mist in the air, instantly converging toward a single spot amid a flash of green light to form a slender humanoid figure standing atop a golden flower. It was none other than Mu Qing.

At the same time, fierce Yin winds swept up nearby, and the white-haired beauty also appeared.

Both of them wore grave expressions as they scrutinized the projection of the beastly head before them with intense unblinking eyes.

A ferocious look appeared on the projection's face upon seeing this, following which lightning flashed violently down below, and another similar projection appeared, except this one was slightly smaller, and the horn on its head was a little thinner than that of the first projection.

The white-haired beauty's expression darkened even further at the sight of the two Infernal Lightning Beast head projections, and she murmured, "To think that there were two Infernal Lightning Beast here. It had always been a mystery to me how Fellow Daoist Zhu had fallen here, but everything makes sense now."

"What's the point of thinking about such things at a time like this? The divine elixir here is connected to the spirit vein in this place, so we have to buy Liu Zu more time for him to sever this connection and secure the elixir. The three of us have no choice but to risk our lives here," the crimson-robed figure harrumphed coldly, seemingly in a rather foul mood.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty glanced at one another upon seeing this.

The crimson-robed figure's attitude wasn't all that strange. After all, any one of them would be absolutely furious if their avatar had been destroyed under inexplicable circumstances.

"Fellow Daoist Di Xue, it's been a long time since your avatar was destroyed outside, and that happened before the second Infernal Lightning Beat returned, so there must be a third party involved. They've either remained outside to ambush us as soon as we leave or they've entered this place as well. Perhaps they're right here in this hall, spectating our battle against these two Infernal Lightning Beast," Mu Qing said with a cold light in her eyes.

"So what if that's the case? We're too busy fending off these two beasts to worry about anything else. Speaking of which, I've been unable to detect the tracking mark I planted in Han brat's body this entire time, so it looks like he really was killed by the other Infernal Lightning Beast. That's a real shame," the white-haired beauty sighed.

"For the Infernal Lightning Beast to return so quickly indicates that Han brat is most definitely dead, so there's no point in thinking about him now. Our main priority is to take care of these two Infernal Lightning Beasts! Even though they're not very intelligent, their lightning-attribute powers are extremely troublesome for us to deal with. Only Fellow Daoist Liu Zu among us isn't susceptible to the powers of lightning, but he's also the only one who can sever the spirit vein, so we can only hold on to the best of our abilities here. As for the ones that killed my avatar outside, they've been too scared to reveal themselves even after all this time, so they're clearly not powerful enough for us to worry about. All we have to do is be a little more cautious so we don't get struck by any sneak attacks from those cowards," the crimson-robed figure said in a cold voice.

All of a sudden, one of the beastly head projections before them suddenly swelled dramatically in size before opening its cavernous mouth and hurtling toward the three demon monarchs. Meanwhile, the other projection lowered its head, and dazzling light flashed from its single horn as it blasted several thick bolts of lightning toward the trio.

At the same time, the two Infernal Lightning Beasts down below were summoning their powers of lightning to create more balls of silver lightning before hurling them toward the blood mist in a frenzy.

The white-haired beauty's darkened as a massive ghostly projection with a head of disheveled hair appeared behind her. Gusts of violent grey Yin winds erupted from the projection's mouth while countless azure threads shot forth from Mu Qing's body.

Neither of them dared to grow complacent in this perilous situation.

As for the crimson-robed figure, he merely stood still on the spot, but the Purpleblood Puppet beneath his feet had opened all six of its eyes as wide as it could to blast forth six pillars of crimson light.

At the same time, the blood mist down below tumbled and surged violently, sweeping toward the balls of lightning in retaliation.

Thus, the fierce battle between the three demon monarchs and the two Infernal Lightning Beast continued.

Tumbling blood mist and powerful flashes of lightning instantly inundated the three demon monarchs again while Han Li stood near the entrance of the hall with his brows tightly furrowed.

Without that cloud green Qi lurking in that corner, everything would be quite simple. All he had to do was rush in when the demon monarchs and Infernal Lightning Beasts were completely absorbed in their battles, then rescue the two women before making his escape.

All of the demon monarchs clearly held the Divine Infernal River Elixir in extremely high regard, so it was very unlikely that they'd risk jeopardizing all their plans by coming after him.

However, with that mysterious cloud of green Qi hanging there, Han Li's main concern was that it would step in as soon as he sprang into action. In that case, he would be in deep trouble!

Han Li didn't want to take such a risk, so his mind was rapidly scrambling for a viable alternative.

As time slowly passed, the Infernal Lightning Beast and demon monarchs began to unleash more and more of their abilities, and the battle had become extremely intense.

The two Infernal Lightning Beasts seemed to be aware that the demon monarchs were only buying time for Liu Zu, so the longer the battle dragged on for, the more violent and frustrated they became. As such, their attacks were also growing more powerful, and every single bolt of lightning erupting from their horns had become several times thicker than they were during the initial phase of the battle.

With every blast of lightning, one of the demon monarchs was sure to be forced back a few steps, and it was quite clear that the two beasts held a significant upper hand.

However, it was still an extremely difficult task for them to defeat the demon monarchs and evict them from this place in a short time.

Han Li surveyed the situation through narrowed eyes before slowly drifting through the air.

Regardless of what happened, he had to get closer to Yuan Yao and Yan Li first. As for what happened after that, he would just have to adapt as the situation continued to unfold. In any case, he had to save these two women.

In order to avoid blowing his cover, Han Li was naturally moving very slowly. All of the beings within the hall far outstripped him in terms of cultivation base, and even after using his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, there was still a very high chance that he could be discovered if a Body Integration Stage being were to focus their spiritual directly toward his general vicinity.

Thankfully, the demon monarchs and Infernal Lightning Beasts were far too busy engaged in battle to be searching through the hall with their spiritual sense.

Thus, Han Li was finally able to land beside the two women after skirting around the battle taking place within the hall, and he heaved a long sigh of relief before immediately turning his attention to Yuan Yao.

At such close quarters, Han Li was able to identify that there was a series of barely visible crimson lines running along the delicate skin on her face. These crimson lines were as thin as strands of hair, and without his spirit eyes to further enhance his vision, he wouldn't even have been able to see them despite how close he was standing to the two women.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this.

These two women had been restricted through the use of some kind of strange blood talismans, and it was quite clear that this was a type of extremely potent evil technique, so both his Divine Devilbane Lightning and Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames would most likely be quite effective here. However, he had stationed his Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven at the entrance, so his Divine Devilbane Lightning was the only tool available to him to lift this restriction.

Of course, this wasn't a good time to strike. If he were to break this restriction now, his cover would immediately be blown, and he couldn't afford for that to happen at this point.

With that in mind, Han Li withdrew his gaze before turning his attention toward the cloud of green Qi.

This thing definitely had something to do with those ghostly beings outside, and Han Li didn't believe for a single instant that it was merely a neutral bystander. This was most definitely not the right time to strike, so he could only engage this mysterious in a contest of patience.

As these thoughts flashed rapidly through Han Li's mind, he quickly decided to take a conservative approach.

Furthermore, the factor the most important factor to be taken into consideration here was that the most powerful being among the earth abyss demon monarchs, Liu Zu, was still nowhere to be seen.

Prior to ascertaining Liu Zu's location, Han Li definitely wouldn't dare to take any reckless risks.

Thus, Han Li turned away from the cloud of green Qi and fixed his gaze on the strange pond in the hall, wondering if Liu Zu was situated deep within this pond.

After all, this pond was the only place that anyone could hide within this palace.

Unfortunately, the mist hovering around the pond was capable of cutting off one's spiritual sense, so Han Li was unable to glean the situation within the pond. He could only sense that the white mist was imbued with abundant spiritual Qi, the purity of which he had never seen before. He felt as if just inhaling a lungful of this mist would save him several days of arduous cultivation.

This was why Han Li immediately determined that the water in this pond was the so-called Divine Infernal River Elixir.

Han Li was initially quite perplexed, wondering why the demon monarchs didn't simply scoop up the elixir in the pond before running away. After all, despite how powerful the two Infernal Lightning Beasts, there was no way that they'd be able to keep the demon monarchs from securing the divine elixir, particularly when they were situated directly over the pond.

However, Han Li quickly understood why this was the case after a brief moment of contemplation. The pond either had some powerful restrictions set up around it that even the demon monarchs were wary of or some other prerequisite had to be satisfied before they could try to secure the elixir.

Perhaps Liu Zu's absence had something to do with this.

With that in mind, Han Li was even more intent on waiting for the situation to unfold further.

Thus, he stood still beside the two women, waiting for the outcome fo the battle above the green pond or for the cloud of green Qi to finally do something.

Even though he couldn't repress the tracking marks in his body for too long, it was quite apparent from the intensity of the battle raging within the hall that it wasn't going to be a prolonged one, either. An opportunity could present itself at any moment.

Sure enough, after a short while, the two Infernal Lightning Beasts had finally lost their patience and begun to truly attack with all their might.

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The mist around the green pond down below surged, and a burst of pure spiritual Qi seeped forth while the nearby ground began to tremor.

The two Infernal Lightning Beast exchanged a glance to see their own expressions of shock and fury mirrored in each other's eyes. The two beasts let loose a collective thunderous roar, following which the arcs of lightning revolving around their bodies faded, and they rose up onto their hind legs like a pair of bipedal beings.

Gusts of pitch-black winds appeared in the surrounding area, revolving around the two beasts and inundating both of their bodies.

The three demon monarchs' hearts jolted upon seeing this.

With their extensive battle experience, they knew that nothing good could possibly happen next; these two Infernal Lightning Beasts were clearly preparing to unleash some kind of powerful ability.

Thus, the white-haired beauty immediately let loose a low cry, and her head of white locks suddenly grew to incredible lengths before she whipped her hair through the air.

Countless streaks of white light shot forth to enshroud the gusts of black winds. These streaks of white light were as straight as arrows, and they appeared to possess immense penetrative power.

Meanwhile, Mu Qing made a hand seal, and brilliant azure light erupted from her body. Projections of flowers appeared all around her before blurring and transforming into wheels of all types of different colors.

The edges of these wheels were extraordinarily thin, and they shot forth soundlessly through the air along with the streaks of white light, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.

However, an unexpected scene then ensued.

The two beasts did nothing to prepare themselves from the oncoming attack, simply allowing them to strike the black winds surging around their bodies.

However, a sharp screeching sound akin to that of metal grating on metal then erupted, and all of the attacks were repelled as if they'd struck an indestructible wall.

The two women both faltered upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the black winds dissipated to reveal a pair of sinister humanoid demon beasts that were each around 100 feet tall.

The two demon beasts each had a single horn on their heads as well as silver scales all over their bodies, indicating that they were still the same Infernal Lightning Beasts.

However, the shape of their limbs and bodies very closely resembled those of a human.

What was even more unsettling to the three demon monarchs was that as soon as the two beasts emerged in this humanoid form of theirs, they immediately began to make hand seals while each expelling an object out of their mouths.

One of them was a small black flag that was flashing with black light, while the other was an intricate disk that was emanating brilliant white light.

The crimson-robed figure was the first to realize what they were up to, and he hurriedly yelled, "Stop them! They're trying to activate the restriction left behind by the Mayfly Race!"

He then immediately swept his sleeves through the air to hurl forth a pair of short swords that were only several inches in length each, which flew toward the two treasures summoned by the Infernal Lightning Beasts as two streaks of crimson light.

However, the Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have anticipated such an attack, and they both shook their heads in unison, upon which their horns detached themselves before transforming into two bolts of lightning.

The bolts of lightning manifested from the two horns clashed with the streaks of crimson light amid two resounding booms, and the immense powers of lightning instantly pulverized the two short swords with devastating might.

These horns were the hardest body parts of these two beasts, and they'd been refined for countless years, so it was no wonder that they were able to destroy the crimson-robed figure's spirit swords so easily.

However, the two horns weren't done just yet; both of them disappeared on the spot before reappearing several tens of feet in front of the crimson-robed figure amid a loud thunderclap, then hurtling forth at an astonishing speed.

The two Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have identified that the crimson-robed figure was the weakest of the three, so they decided to combine their powers to kill him first.

The crimson-robed figure's heart jolted with shock, but the two horns flying toward him were too fast for him to evade. As such, he could only conjure a layer of crimson light around his body, which then shot forth as a pair of crimson shadows to shield him.

These were none other than the blood puppets he'd refined.

Immediately thereafter, his long robes bulged as a crimson light barrier surfaced over his body.

The two blood puppets were quite powerful, but the two horns suddenly merged as one, forming a sharp lightning spike that punctured the two puppets' bodies with ease before continuing on toward the crimson-robed figure.

The crimson light barrier only managed to stall the lightning spike for a split second before the former was punctured as if it were nothing more than a papier-mache structure.

An earthshattering boom erupted as a gaping wound as wide as a large bowl appeared on the crimson-robed figure's chest.

The crimson-robed figure rapidly slammed his palms all over his own body, plastering a dozen or so crimson talismans to himself in one fell swoop.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

Not only was the gaping wound on his chest not shedding so much as a single drop of blood, the flesh around the edges of the wound squirmed in a grotesque manner before regenerating at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty's expressions eased upon seeing this. If the crimson-robed figure really were killed in a moment of complacency, then the two of them wouldn't be able to last very long at all against these two Infernal Lightning Beasts.

However, right at this moment, the lightning spike suddenly circled around in a flash, aiming for the crimson-robed figure's head on this occasion.

Before Mu Qing and the white-haired woman had a chance intercept, a giant purple palm hurtled through the air, moving at an astonishing speed that completely belied its massive size.

The hand streaked through the air like an illusionary blur before catching the lightning spike in a vice-like grip.

However, a loud thunderclap suddenly erupted within the massive hand in the next instant, and countless arcs of lightning erupted from the lightning spike as it squirmed through the fingers on the huge hand like a silver snake.

Following a few flashes, the lightning spike returned to the Infernal Lightning Beasts, where it split into two again before reattaching themselves onto the heads of the two beasts as their horns.

The two horns were still shimmering with silver light, having been remained completely unscathed in the aftermath of that intense clash.

During this brief delay, the two beasts had managed to activate the treasures hovering before them, and they opened their mouths in unison to expel mouthfuls of blood essence onto the pair of treasures.

Black and white light flashed respectively from the flag and the disk, completely absorbing all of the blood mist down below.

The flag then transformed into a dark cloud that rose up into the air, disappearing into the ceiling of the palace in a flash. Meanwhile, the disk transformed into a streak of white Qi that plummeted and disappeared into the ground.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty's hearts jolted with shock, yet before they had a chance to do anything, brilliant spiritual light suddenly erupted from the ceiling of the palace, following which a series of black patterns emerged.

Those patterns rapidly spread long the ceiling before combining to form a massive formation.

Black light was flashing all over the formation, and there was a black hole at the very center, within which violent winds were howling incessantly. It was as if a passageway into another space had been forced open.

At the same time, scintillating white light erupted from the ground as a series of fist-sized runes appeared. In the very instant that those runes emerged, a massive golden light formation appeared within the green pond amid the tumbling mist.

As soon as this light formation appeared, it enshrouded the entire pond beneath it, and it was shimmering with piercing golden light that forced one to shield their eyes.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty were both shocked and infuriated upon seeing this.

They had enough belief in Liu Zu's abilities to know that he wouldn't actually be trapped in the pond by this golden formation, but with this formation acting as an obstacle, it was clearly extremely unlikely that they'd be able to secure the divine elixir in a short time.

What was even more troublesome was that the black light formation overhead was still expanding rapidly, quickly encompassing all of the demon monarchs down below. It then slowly detached itself from the ceiling and descended at the behest of the two Infernal Lightning Beasts.

As such, they'd either have to take evasive measures, thereby forcing them away from the green pond, or face the power of this restriction.

Just as Mu Qing was hesitating about how to proceed, the voice of the white-haired beauty suddenly sounded in her ears. "Fellow Daoist Mu, let's join forces to break this formation. Brother Di Xue, please cover us."

After a brief hesitation, she nodded in response. This appeared to be the only feasible cour of action.

At the same time, the crimson-robed figure had also heard the same voice transmission.

At this moment, the gaping hole on his chest, which would've been lethal to a normal person, was already almost completely healed, and aside from the fact that the light in his eyes had dulled slightly, the wound didn't appear to have affected him much.

He furrowed his brows upon hearing the white-haired beauty's proposal, then cast his gaze toward the Purpleblood Puppet's massive hand, which it had used to catch the lightning spike earlier.

The entire palm of the hand had been charred black, and there was an acrid burnt smell emanating from it.

The crimson-robed figure heaved a long sigh before also slowly nodding his head.

He then abruptly stomped a foot onto the Purpleblood Puppet's shoulder, then reached a hand up his sleeve before tossing out a wooden box that was golden in color.

He began to chant something while pointing at the box, and its lid flew off as seven streaks of light of different colors erupted from within.

The streaks of light faded to reveal seven puppets of different forms; some of them were in the form of demon beasts, some resembled Flying Spirit Race some were a mix between human and demon, and there were even two insect puppets. One of those was a massive worm while the other was a giant ant.

All seven of these puppets had been refined from metallic materials, and their bodies were covered in runes. They had quite clearly been painstakingly crafted by Di Xue with great care and effort.

The white-haired beauty chuckled upon seeing this, and she rotated on the spot as eight bursts of black Qi flew forth from her body, within each of which there was a blurry humanoid figure clad in black armor.

These were none other than the Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs that the white-haired beauty had stored away for recovery and recuperation.

As soon as these ghost monarchs appeared, they immediately sat down in a cross-legged manner around the white-haired beauty. Inky-black Yin Qi emanated from their bodies, forming a massive black cloud around an acre in area in the blink of an eye.

On the other side, Mu Qing's skin had turned completely green, and she made a hand seal as countless azure threads surfaced around her.

Patches of strange and exotic plants then instantly appeared in the surrounding area with her at the very center.

Meanwhile, the two Infernal Lightning Beast paid no heed at all to what the three demon monarchs were doing. They merely maintained their hand seals as spiritual light flashed all over their bodies, injecting their power into the formation overhead in a frenzy.

They appeared to be extremely confident in this restriction.

Seeing as the battle was finally about to be decided, Han Li's expression suddenly changed as he rustled a sleeve and tipped out a dozen or so azure beads into his hand. He then narrowed his eyes as he cast his gaze over to another corner of the hall.

There, the cloud of green Qi and the bead within it were finally making their move!

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Blue light flickered within Han Li's eyes as he looked on with rapt focus, and the bead suddenly disappeared from within the green Qi right before his eyes.

Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was unable to track down its location.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he hurriedly released his spiritual sense to encompass an area with a radius of several tens of feet.

The last thing he wanted was for the bead to sneak up on him and unleash a surprise attack. Even though that was extremely unlikely to happen, he still had to take all the precautions he could.

Han Li turned to glance at the two women beside him, then cast his gaze toward the fierce battle that was still taking place, and his fingers reflexively tightened around his lightning beads.

Even though he'd experience countless tumultuous twists and turns during his cultivation journey, he was still extremely tense and nervous.

He knew that he would only have one chance to save these two.

If he were to fail, then this palace was going to be his final resting place, and over 1,000 years of arduous cultivation would go to waste.

This feeling of teetering on a knife's edge between life and death was making Han Li's heart pound in his chest.

At this moment, Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty began to attack the black spell formation.

Meanwhile, the crimson-robed figure, the Purpleblood Puppet, and the seven other metallic puppets he'd just summoned stood in front of the two women, acting as their guardians.

A sharp ghostly screech suddenly erupted from within the Yin clouds that the white-haired beauty was situated in, following which a white bony ghost claw suddenly reached out before making a grabbing motion.

Ball of egg-sized grey light erupted from between its fingers before surging violently into the air above.

As for Mu Qing, the plants that had appeared around her all disappeared into her body, and she slowly opened her mouth amid a burst of erratically flickering spiritual light to blast forth a pillar of green light.

The pillar of light was of an extremely vibrant green color, yet somehow struck the onlooker with the impression that it was quite viscous, thus creating an extremely peculiar sight to behold.

The two attacks flashed through the air, reaching the underside of the black formation in the blink of an eye.

The grey balls of light expanded and shrank sporadically while the green pillar of light struck the center of the formation in a completely soundless manner.

A ferocious light flashed through the eyes of the two Infernal Lightning Beasts upon seeing this, and they immediately injected more power into the black light formation up above.

A loud rumbling boom erupted as a gust of black winds blew out of the center of the formation.

The gust of wind was extremely fierce and as scathing as a sharp blade. Furthermore, there were specks of light shimmering within the wind, and there seemed to countless glittering particles of sand intermingled within the wind.

As the gust of wind came into contact with the pillar of green light and balls of silver light, a string of resounding explosions rang out while balls of light of different colors flashed beneath the formation.

Moments later, a burst of grey and green light rose up into the air to suppress the black light formation's descent, thereby resulting in a temporary impasse.

As more gusts of black winds continued to surge forth, the black particles of sand created a mass of inky blackness in the wind, slowly forcing back the grey and green light.

A peculiar look flashed through Mu Qing's eyes she flipped her hand over to produce a small section of a tree branch.

The branch was no more than three feet in length with a few soft green leaves growing from it. Even though it had clearly been detached from the tree that it once belonged to, there was still abundant spiritual Qi revolving around it, and it was showing no signs of yellowing or wilting at all.

Mu Qing tossed this branch into the air, and a ball of green light blossomed. The branch transformed into an exuberant gree tree in the blink of an eye with lush shimmering branches and leaves, as if the entire tree had been carved out of a block of exquisite green jade.

Mu Qing wore a grave expression as she chanted something, and the tree trunk swelled drastically in size while the branches elongated. Countless leaf-shaped green projections then flew forth from the tree, all of which surged upward to fuel the assault against the black light formation.

"Nicely done, Fellow Daoist Mu!" A cry of surprise and elation sounded from within the Yin winds.

"Hmph, Fellow Daoist Lan, it's about time you put in some work as well! Don't tell me this is the extent of your capabilities," Mu Qing replied in a cold voice.

"Hehe..." the white-haired beauty chuckled within the Yin cloud, following which all eight of the ghost monarchs let loose long howls in unison. Boundless Yin Qi surged toward the center and converged, with countless ghostly shadows weeping and cackling within the Yin Qi.

Moments later, the Yin Cloud dissipated, and a massive figure emerged in its place.

This was a gargantuan being that was around 70 to 80 feet tall, and was clad in a suit of antiquated black armor. It was wielding a huge war hammer, and the surface of the armor was covered entirely in sharp black spikes that were around a foot in length each, as well as a series of extremely profound silver patterns.

As for the war hammer, it was even more peculiar in design. It was pitch-black in color, just like the suit of the armor, but there were eight white skulls embedded onto the hammer, and all of those skulls were squirming incessantly as they let loose howls of anguish, blasting forth bursts of black Qi in the process, creating a harrowing sight to behold.

This gigantic being was none other than an enlarged version of the white-haired beauty, and the eight skulls on her war hammer had been manifested from the eight Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs.

Mu Qing's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but before she had a chance to raise any questions, a cold look appeared on the white-haired beauty as she hurled her war hammer into the air before making a strange hand seal.

The hammer rotated in the air, and the eight skulls screeched in unison, expelling eight bursts of green flames that swept directly upward.

Thus, the Yin flames and green leaf projections stacked on top of one another, encompassing the entire black formation up above, thereby completely halting its momentum again.

However, the two Infernal Lightning Beasts weren't flustered in the slightest upon seeing this. Both of the merely let loose a few sharp cries toward the air above them, upon which their bodies further expanded slightly before they raised their hands up high above their heads.

Countless silver threads appeared again amid a string of thunderclaps. The silver threads rang along their arms, transforming into massive bolts of lightning that hurtled upward before disappearing into the black light formation.

All of a sudden, a loud rumbling sound erupted from within the formation, and it suddenly swelled to almost twice its original size. At the same time, the sand particles within the black winds multiplied by severalfold, and the formation was able to firmly wrest back the upper hand again.

The white-haired beauty and Mu Qing were stunned to see this, and they hurriedly unleashed mroe abilities.

One of them expelled a mouthful of blood essence while the other raised her head and let loose a long cry of fury. Their magic powers received a boost as a result, thereby allowing them further enhance the powers of the treasures they'd unleashed.

Thus, leaf projection and Yin flames were both bolstered significantly, yet the two demon monarchs were still unable to completely halt the formation's descent.

Both of their expressions changed drastically upon seeing this.

It appeared that this restriction really was too powerful for them to handle.

Mu Qing took a deep breath before turning to the Purpleblood Puppet as she yelled, "Lend us your assistance, Fellow Daoist Di Xue. If this thing falls on us, we'll be in big trouble!"The crimson-robed figure standing atop the Purpleblood Puppet didn't say anything in response, but the seven metallic puppets he had summoned suddenly flew forth as seven streaks of light, hurtling directly toward the two Infernal Lightning Beasts.

The black light formation was indeed quite powerful, but its powers would be severely hampered if the two beasts weren't directly controlling it.

As such, the seven puppets didn't have to engage the two beasts in a direct battle; all they had to do was distract the two beasts, thereby preventing them from being able to focus wholeheartedly on the formation.

As the seven streaks of light sped toward the two Infernal Lightning Beasts, a cold light flashed through the beasts' eyes, and they switched to an alternate hand seal.

All of a sudden, a massive black hole with a diameter of around 100 feet appeared behind them.

The two Infernal Lightning Beasts swayed, and their bodies instantly blurred as they vacated themselves from the area encompassed by the black hole. Immediately thereafter, a rumbling boom rang out from the center of the black hole, following which a vast expanse of black light shot forth like lightning, sweeping up all of the oncoming puppets.

An astonishing turn of events then unfolded.

All seven puppets abruptly disappeared within the swath of black light, then reappeared at the right in front of the black hole before being drawn in and disappearing in a flash.

The demon monarchs all drew sharp breaths upon seeing this.

The two Infernal Lightning Beasts let loose a few triumphant snarls before making quickly making a hand seal, and the black hole blurred before also vanishing on the spot.

A thunderous roar of rage immediately escaped the crimson-robed figure's mouth, clearly indicating that he had been extremely infuriated by the inexplicable loss of those seven puppets.

He immediately laid a hand on the back of his own head, and crimson Qi surged forth before forming a massive crimson ball right before him.

The crimson-robed figure swept an arm through the air, seemingly to attack the Infernal Lightning Beast with this crimson ball, but right at this moment, Mu Qing abruptly turned toward a certain direction as she yelled, "Who goes there? Show yourself!"

Before the words had even left her mouth, she had already swept a sleeve through the air toward that direction, sending a plume of azure threads hurtling forth striking what appeared to be empty air.

A faint cry of surprise suddenly sounded, following which a ball of green Qi abruptly exploded.

The azure threads instantly punctured the green Qi, but didn't manage to strike anything of substance.

In the next instant, extremely feeble spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above Mu Qing, and a translucent bead emerged.

As soon as the object appeared, it began to emanate scintillating light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes in order to avoid being blinded.

A crisp crack sounded, and the bead suddenly transformed into two humanoid figures, one of which was white while the other was crimson.

The crimson humanoid figure immediately raised a hand, sending a streak of silver light flying through the air before striking down toward Mu Qing like lightning.

There was a silver chopper with a smooth mirror-like finish within the streak of silver light; it was none other than the Five Dragon Chopper!

As for the faint humanoid figure, it was naturally none other than the crimson-armored puppet.

Due to the flash of piercing white light that had appeared overhead, Mu Qing was forced to close her eyes, but she had already released her spiritual sense, so she could clearly "see" everything in a radius of several tens of feet around her.

As such, she was able to react in a calm manner as she pointed a finger toward the descending silver chopper.

Azure light instantly flashed near the chopper as countless azure threads appeared out of thin air before intertwining with one another. Some of them surrounded the silver chopper in a watertight barrier while the rest of those threads formed a thin azure veil that hung above her.

Mu Qing had prepared countless spirit threads of this nature prior to entering this palace in preparation for any surprise attacks that may be thrown at her, which was why she appeared to be quite well prepared.

However, the Five Dragon Chopper was far more powerful than she could imagine.

The barrier of azure threads around the chopper was sliced through with ease before it descended onto the azure veil without any pause.

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The azure veil was sliced apart as if it were a papier-mache structure, and the chopper continued to descend toward Mu Qing.

Mu Qing's expression changed drastically, and only then did she realize just how dangerous this chopper was.

She wanted to try and evade, but it was already too late.

The chopper manifested a series of projections during its descent, all of which disappeared in a flash.

Mu Qing's heart jolted upon seeing this, and she only had time to conjure up a suit of azure armor over her body before a series of massive shimmering silver appeared around her in all directions.

As sharp screeching sound erupted from the surfaces of these giant blades, and bursts of frosty light emanated from them to form a watertight barricade around Mu Qing, affording her no avenues for escape nor evasion.

Mu Qing's face immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this, but she then gritted her teeth before rustling both sleeves at once, and a short black rod appeared in each of her hands.

She swung these rods through the air, and mountainous staff projections instantly appeared before her, then crashed straight toward the massive blades around her.

Mu Qing was well aware of the fact that she had already lost the initiative, and that if she were to stay rooted to the spot, she would definitely be killed.

A rapid string of clangs rang out as the staff projections were able to smash open the frosty light, opening up an escape path for Mu Qing.

However, more waves of frosty light surged forth to replenish the chink that had been inflicted by the staff projections, and it was as if there were no end to this lethal light. All of a sudden, the two black rods were sliced apart by the frosty light, and the staff projections immediately faded as a result.

Mu Qing was stunned to see this, and she immediately withdrew her hands to try and unleash other abilities, only for the frosty light around her to completely inundate her body in a flash.

The suit of green armor that she was wearing only managed to remain intact for a few moments before it was also sliced apart, and a howl of anguish rang out, followed by deathly silence.

It appeared that Mu Qing had been killed, just like that.

The white-haired beauty looked on with wide eyes and her mouth gaped open, unable to believe what she had just witnessed. She was well aware of the fact that Mu Qing was definitely no less powerful than her, yet the crimson-armored puppet had managed to kill her in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

At this moment, the puppet pointed a finger toward the frosty light, and the light converged to form the silver chopper again.

Beneath the chopper, Mu Qing's body had been sliced into countless pieces, and her remains were hovering in mid-air. Strangely enough, the pieces of her body weren't shedding so much as a single drop of blood, as if she didn't even possess a body of flesh and blood.

The crimson-armored puppet merely took a brief glance at her remains before paying them no further heed.

It had already identified that Mu Qing possessed a wood spirit body, so it wasn't strange at all that she didn't bleed like normal living beings.

The puppet let loose a sinister chuckle as it cast an incantation seal with one hand, and the chopper immediately flew forth again, heading for the Purpleblood Puppet this time.

With the puppet's massive body, it was an ideal target.

The crimson-armored puppet had originally intended to strike only after the demon monarchs had expended all of their magic power, but Liu Zu had descended into the pond, and he knew of a method to sever spirit veins.

This made the crimson-armored puppet a lot more flustered and concerned.

If the connection between this pond and the spirit vein really were severed, he'd still be dealt a severe punishment even if he managed to kill these intruders.

That was why it was unable to wait any longer.

However, much to its surprise, Mu Qing had been extremely alert and set up countless invisible spirit threads in the nearby area, thereby allowing her to detect the puppet's location.

However, that didn't matter to the puppet anyway.

He possessed the insanely powerful Five Dragon Chopper and he had the Infernal Lightning Beasts on his side, while his enemies had already expended a lot of their spiritual power in the preceding battle. With so many factors in its favor, it would be a simple task for it to kill all of the intruders.

The crimson-robed figure stood atop the Purpleblood Puppet's shoulder, and a hint of fear flashed through his eyes at the sight of the oncoming silver chopper. He immediately pointed a finger toward the chopper, and the massive crimson ball before him tremored, then shot forth at a streak of crimson light.

Almost at the exact same moment, the Purpleblood Puppet beneath his feet began to rapidly shrink amid flashes of purple light, reverting back down to the size of a normal human being in the blink of an eye. Immediately thereafter, its six eyes flashed in unison, and six pillars of crimson light erupted from within its pupils, hurtling forth in hot pursuit behind the crimson ball.

The crimson-robed figure descended beside the Purpleblood Puppet just as the silver streak of light plunged soundlessly into the crimson ball, and this was quite a welcoming sight to him.

This crimson ball was not something that was manifested by normal blood essence. Instead, it was something that he'd refined from the Myriad Year Impure Qi that he'd collected, and it specialized in corrupting all types of treasures with a 100% success rate to date.

The silver chopper was indeed quite powerful, but there was no way that it would remain completely unaffected by this crimson ball.

Just as these thoughts were flashing through the crimson-robed figure's mind, a loud explosion erupted, and the smile on his face immediately stiffened.

The crimson ball had been punctured by boundless silver light in a flash before exploding into a cloud of repugnant blood mist.

The mist only drifted in the air for a few moments before it dissipated as putrid black Qi.

At this moment, the silver streak of light that was the Five Dragon Chopper crashed into the six pillars of crimson light.

As soon as the two opposing forces made contact with one another, the silver light wavered slightly, and it was slowed down a little for the first time.

The six pillars of light struck it one after another, causing the silver streak of light to tremor as it reverted back to its original chopper form.

The crimson-robed figure's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly made a hand seal.

The pillars of crimson light then immediately converged to form a massive crimson sword, which clashed with the Five Dragon Chopper.

The chopper was incredibly sharp, but it was unable to immediately slice the crimson sword in half, and its progress was temporarily stalled as a result.

A vicious light flashed through the crimson-armored puppet's eyes upon seeing this, and it recited a mantra in its mind.

Brilliant silver light immediately erupted from the Five Dragon Chopper as boundless frosty light erupted forth again.

In the end, the crimson sword was sliced into several segments by the frosty light before disintegrating into a ball of crimson light.

The crimson-robed figure in the figure hurriedly opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood essence upon seeing this.

The blood essence then transformed into several crimson runes that swayed in front of him before abruptly disappeared without a trace.

In the next instant, crimson light flashed erratically in the distance before converging again to form another crimson flying sword.

The flying sword emitted a faint ringing sound as it clashed with the Five Dragon Chopper again, not allowing the fearsome treasure to continue down its intended route.

After witnessing Mu Qing's spontaneous death, the white-haired beauty had become quite fearful of the Five Dragon Chopper, but she was ecstatic to see the crimson-robed figure's flying sword keeping it at bay.

Thus, she turned her attention away from the black formation descending from above and hurriedly flipped her hand over to produce a black leather pouch, which she tossed up into the air.

The pouch gently tipped itself over, and a burst of grey Yin Qi gushed forth from within in a frenzy. Over 100 Yin Armor Profound Ghosts appeared within the Yin Qi, but these ones were far more imposing in stature than the normal ghostly soldiers she'd refined.

She had kept this ghostly army up his sleeve this entire time as a trump card of sorts.

The white-haired beauty then let loose a sharp screech before pointing a finger at the crimson-armored puppet in the distance.

All of the ghostly soldiers immediately heeded her call, brandishing their weapons as they rushed toward the puppet atop gusts of Yin winds.

The crimson-armored puppet merely chuckled coldly upon seeing this.

It turned to the ghostly being beside it, which had the head of a horse and the body of a human, and asked, "Can I count on you to take care of those things?"

"Rest assured, Master, I'll eradicate these low-grade ghostly beings with ease." The horse-headed ghostly being's body was remarkably translucent, and it gave a respectful bow in response to the puppet's question.

The puppet nodded, and the ghosty being's body flashed with glazed light before it flew through the air as a five-colored streak of light.

Moments later, it plunged headfirst into the gusts of Yin winds before manifesting a pair of long sabers out of thin air to battle the ghostly soldiers around it.

The crimson-armored puppet paid no heed to that battle as it began to chant something, and unleashed the powers of the Five Dragon Chopper at the expense of its spiritual sense.

The silver streak of light immediately let loose a crisp ringing sound as it clashed with the crimson sword before splitting up into five streaks of light of different colors.

One of those streaks of light continued to clash with the crimson sword while the other four split up with two of them hurtling toward the crimson-robed figure while the other two sped toward the white-haired beauty.

The white-haired beauty's expression changed slightly, and she looked up at the descending black formation up above, then at the crimson-robed figure and the Purpleblood Puppet, and an indecisive look appeared on her face.

There was clearly no hope for victory in such a situation, and she couldn't help but consider a retreat.

However, right at this moment, a long cry erupted from below the golden light formation over the green pond, following which the surface of the formation rippled, causing the nearby ground to tremor slightly.

The crimson-robed figure's cold voice suddenly sounded in her ears. "Fellow Daoist Liu Zu is about to back soon."

The white-haired beauty faltered slightly, and she hesitated for a moment longer while the two streaks of light sped toward her at an alarming rate.

In the end, she could only heave a resigned sigh as the projection of the disheveled ghost appeared behind her again. She then made a grabbing motion with both hands, and the massive black ghost's huge hands reached out toward the oncoming streaks of light.

At the same time, the white-haired beauty summoned a small white bone flag before sweeping it through the air, sending forth a burst of grey light that also sped toward the two opposing streaks of light.

On the other end, even with the crimson-robed figure and the Purpleblood Puppet combining their powers, they were still engaged in an arduous battle against the two streaks of light that had flown toward them.

Right at this moment, a sense of foreboding welled up in the white-haired beauty's heart, and she suddenly turned toward a certain corner of the palace, following which the veins on her forehead immediately bulged with fury.

In the corner of the palace where Yuan Yao and Yan Li were standing, a young man had appeared beside them. He had his hands placed on the shoulders of the two women, and countless thin arcs of golden lightning were flowing from his palms into their bodies.

The young man was naturally none other than Han Li, and the two women were trembling uncontrollably with expressions of agony on their faces as crimson threads were expelled from their body one after another.

"Don't you dare!" the white-haired beauty yelled with shock and fury in her voice.

However, Han Li completely disregarded her rage, merely intensifying the power of the arcs of golden lightning flowing into the bodies of the two women instead. After all of the crimson threads were forced out of their bodies, the Divine Devilbane Lightning disappeared, and the two women slumped over, having fallen unconscious from the excruciating pain they had just endured.

Azure light flashed from Han Li's body, sweeping up the two women before he hurtled directly toward the exit of the hall as a streak of azure light.

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The white-haired beauty was struggling to withstand the attacks from the two streaks of silver light while expending a portion of her magic power to delay the rate at which the black formation was descending from above, so she was completely unable to do anything to Han Li.

However, in her fit of rage, she still gritted her teeth as she swept a hand toward the streak of azure light from afar.

During this split-second lapse in concentration, the formation descended by around another 10 feet.

The white-haired beauty's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, and she immediately injected more power into her war hammer, spurring on the eight skulls to blast more green Yin flames out of their mouths, thereby slowing down the formation's descent again.

At this moment, Han Li was about to reach the exit when his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he abruptly diverged away from his original route.

Immediately thereafter, Yin Qi converged in the air right above where he had been just a moment ago, and a grey ghostly claw appeared before swiping down like lightning.

The pitch-black claws were around 10 feet in length each with green flames revolving around them, and as they swept through the air, even space itself was twisted and warped.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had reacted extremely quickly and evaded well in advance, he would've been struck by that attack.

Thankfully, even though the attack was devastatingly powerful, all of its power was dedicated to a single strike, so the ghostly claws immediately disappeared amid a dull thump after failing to make contact with Han Li.

Han Li was quite elated to see this, yet just as he was about to fly toward the exit again, a sharp screech suddenly rang out from behind him.

At the same time, a sharp gust of wind hurtled toward him, and his expression changed drastically as his body turned into a blur, covering several tens of feet in a rapid lateral movement.

At this moment, a streak of green light flashed past the spot where he'd just been situated, then immediately disappeared.

Han Li abruptly made a hand seal without even turning his head while he swept his other sleeve back behind him.

Brilliant golden light immediately erupted from his back, manifesting a golden projection with three heads and six arms, and the projection lashed with ferocious might with all six of its fists in unison.

Six fist projections appeared before combining to form a powerful gust of golden wind that swept through the air.

Meanwhile, a dozen or so azure beads emerged from his sleeve before flying out behind him as well.

At the same time, Han Li activated his Provenance True Devil Arts to its maximal extent, and a layer of golden scales appeared over his body. Simultaneously, black Qi revolved around him, and a suit of black resentful armor also surfaced.

In the instant that this suit of black armor appeared, a loud thunderclap erupted, and a lightning robe also draped itself over Han Li's body.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had set up three layers of protection around himself.

Only then was he feeling slightly more assured as he cast his gaze behind him.

However, before he had a chance to catch sight of anything, he heard an earthshattering explosion erupt from behind him, following which a powerful shockwave swept through the air in all directions.

Around 300 feet behind him, golden and green light had intertwined to sweet up gale-force winds, and within the piercing light stood an azure humanoid figure.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and only then was he able to identify the humanoid figure behind him.

As a result of this discovery, an incredulous look appeared on his face.

"Impossible!" Han Li exclaimed.

The humanoid figure swept her sleeves through the air and forced her way through the powerful winds. However, the azure lightning beads had also reached her at that point.

The humanoid figure harrumphed coldly and swept a sleeve through the air again, sending for a burst of light to brush these nondescript azure beast aside.

Of course, she had completely underestimated the power of these lightning beads.

As soon as the swath of light she'd unleashed came into contact with the azure beads, the latter swelled to the size of wagon wheels, then collectively sped toward her.

Loud thunderclaps erupted as the beads exploded to create a devastatingly powerful azure lightning clouds. The humanoid figure was completely caught off guard, and her heart jolted with shock as spiritual light abruptly flashed from her body, forming a green tree projection around her.

Despite how fiercely powerful the lightning cloud was, it was successfully kept at bay by the tree projection.

The humanoid figure wore a dark expression as she appraised Han Li with a cold look in her eyes.

She was none other than Mu Qing, who should've already perished.

She had used some kind of secret technique to escape with her life, and had been hiding in the shadows thereafter.

However, when Han Li reappeared before trying to escape again, there was no way that she could stand by idly any longer. As such, she immediately sprang into action, only to be trapped in this lightning cloud in a moment of complacency.

The lightning cloud certainly wasn't capable of killing her, but she wouldn't be able to emerge from it anytime soon.

A chill ran down Han Li's spine at the sight of Mu Qing's frosty gaze, and his body swayed ahs he appeared at the exit.

A ball of azure light was keeping the unconscious Yuan Yao and Yan Li hovering in mid-air, and he quickly waved a hand to draw the azure light toward him before tucking the two women under his arms.

He took a deep breath, and a thunderclap erupted from behind him as he flapped his wings to escape from this perilous place.

However, right at this moment, an unforeseen development struck again.

Spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted beside him, following wich a ball of blood mist appeared. A burst of sinister cackling rang out from within the mist, and a massive hand that reeked fo blood and gore shot forth like lightning, grabbing directly toward Han Li.

The crimson hand had appeared completely out of the blue extremely close to his body, so regardless of how fast he was, there was no way that he could evade it. His face paled, and golden light erupted from his body as he was forced to withstand this attack using his body.

A resounding boom erupted as the crimson hand clawed through Han Li's lightning robe and black armor, then grabbed onto his shoulder.

It was quite clear that the owner of this hand merely wanted to restrain Han Li rather than kill him.

However, they had clearly underestimated the defensive properties of the layer of golden scales on Han Li's body. Han Li's azure robes naturally stood no chance in the face of the crimson hand, yet when the fingers of the hand clawed onto those golden scales, they were struck by a cold slippery sensation, thereby preventing them from piercing through Han Li's skin.

Meanwhile, Han Li certainly hadn't enjoyed that attack, either. After being struck by the crimson hand, his body stumbled back, and he was also launched through the air.

Thankfully, he possessed far superior movement techniques compared to normal cultivators, and his body twisted before turning into a blur, and he disappeared on the spot before the crimson hand could make a second grab for him.

At this moment, brilliant crimson light erupted nearby, and a crimson humanoid figure appeared. It was none other than a blood puppet, but this one was no less powerful than a Body Integration cultivator.

It was certainly far more formidable than the two that Han Li had slain in the past.

As the Purpleblood Puppet in the distance was blasting crimson pillars of light out of its six eyes to combat the two streaks of silver light, the pair of eyes on the back of its head suddenly turned toward Han Li with a cold expression.

Of course, Han Li was unaware of this, yet what he did know was that he definitely couldn't afford to be stalled here by this blood puppet.

Otherwise, if any of the demon monarchs received some respite from the ongoing battle, then it would be impossible for him to escape.

On top of that, the golden formation over the green pond had been rumbling incessantly, and Liu Zu appeared to be close to breaking free as well.

Right at this moment, the blood puppet turned to Han Li in an expressionless manner before slowly raising both hands.

There was crimson light shimmering erratically on the tips of its fingers, and Han Li was greatly alarmed as he let loose a low cry before conjuring up several projections that fled into different directions.

All of the projections were also carrying replicas of Yuan Yao and Yan Li, so there was no way to tell which one was the real Han Li.

Crimson light flashed through the blood puppet's eyes, and it immediately turned its gaze toward one of the projections. It let loose a sinister cackle before abruptly disappearing amid a flash of crimson light.

In the next instant, crimson light flashed next to the projection that the puppet had set its eyes on, and the blood puppet reappeared before instantly sweeping both hands through the air.

Countless crimson claw projections were immediately launched toward the projection.

This projection was naturally the real Han Li, but he didn't appear to be surprised at his inability to swindle the blood puppet. The expression on his face was remarkably calm as black light flashed from one hand to summon a rapidly expanding miniature black mountain before him, while he swept his other hand through the air to hurl forth a pair of azure scissors.

The blood puppet's claw projections were indeed extremely powerful, but it was naturally unable to claw through the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

Streaks of crimson light exploded over the surface of the small mountain, and it tremored violently amid a sharp screeching sound, but it was able to withstand the attack completely unscathed in the end.

The blood puppet was quite taken aback by this development.

At this moment, the azure scissors that Han Li had hurled through the air reached the blood puppet in a flash, and it transformed into a pair of azure lightning wyrms that rushed directly toward the puppet.

This was none other than the pair of Lightning Wyrm Scissors he'd obtained from the Tian Peng Race!

The blood puppet remained completely expressionless as it raised its hands to grab the oncoming lightning wyrms.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he suddenly took a few steps backward.

He flapped his wings amid a flash of brilliant azure light, transforming into a translucent line along with Yuan Yao and Yan Li before disappearing into space.

The blood puppet let loose a low roar as it thrust its palms forward instead.

Two bursts of crimson light swept forth to swat the two lightning wyrms flying, and the blood puppet's body swayed as it prepared to set off in pursuit of Han Li.

Right at this moment, golden light flashed from the ground below as a streak of golden sword Qi and two streaks of bright saber Qi broke the through the ground before hurtling toward the puppet.

The blood puppet was caught by surprise, and it immediately rushed several tens of feet to one side. Only then was it able to just barely evade those surprise attacks.

It looked down to discover that two golden humanoid figures had appeared down below, both of which were around 10 feet tall and clad in suits of golden armor. One of them was wielding a golden spear while the other was wielding twin sabers.

They were a pair of expressionless golden-armored warriors.

The blood puppet turned toward Han Li, only to discover that during this split-second delay, he had already flown far away as a streak of azure light.

The puppet harrumphed coldly, yet just as it was about to give chase, the two armored warriors down below blurred before appearing on either side of the blood puppet.

One of them thrust its spear forward, and it transformed into a massive golden python that pounced with ferocious might. Meanwhile, the other warrior slashed its twin sabers through the air, sending countless golden blades of wind sweeping toward the puppet.

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These two golden-armored warriors were none other than the two shadow puppets summoned using Han Li's Armor Origin Talismans. The two of them each possessed around 70% to 80% of Han Li's power and abilities, yet even so, they were still certainly not to be scoffed at.

The blood puppet flew into a thunderous rage, but it was too wary of these golden puppets to pursue Han Li. Otherwise, it would only get attacked as soon as it tried to unleash a teleportation technique.

It swept its sleeves through the air, and a gust of putrid crimson winds surged forth, sweeping aside the oncoming giant python and blades of wind.

It then opened its mouth to blast forth two pillars of crimson light which punctured the bodies of the two armored warriors, easily blowing large holes into their chests. However, the crimson puppet's pupils immediately contracted at the sight of what happened next. The gaping wounds on the chests of the two golden-armored warriors healed amid a flash of golden light, and they were back to perfect condition again.

One of them raised its golden spear, and a loud thunderclap rang out as a dozen or so arcs of golden lightning surged forth, transforming into golden lightning snakes mid-flight. Meanwhile, the other golden-armored warrior tossed its twin sabers into the air, and they revolved around as five skull projections emerged within a burst of golden light. The skull projections opened their mouths in unison to expel a wave of five-colored flames.

"Hmm?"

The surprise in the blood puppet's eyes grew even more pronounced. However, it wouldn't have been fazed even if Han Li had unleashed those attacks in person, let alone the fact that these puppets only possessed around 70% to 80% of Han Li's full power.

As such, it made a hand seal, and specks of crimson light appeared all around its body. Those specks of crimson light then abruptly expanded to form balls of crimson light. The puppet swept an arm through the air, and the balls of light hurtled toward all directions in a soundless manner.

The ball of light crashed into the arcs of lighting and wave of glacial flames amid a dull thump, and the balls of light transformed into balls of crimson flames. The attacks unleashed by the two golden-armored warriors were quickly vanquished, following which the crimson flames completely swept up their bodies.

The two shadow puppets resisted using their weapons with all their might and also unleashed swaths of grey light to protect themselves, but that only managed to stall the crimson flames slightly before they burst through and incinerated the bodies of the two puppets, rapidly melting them down into two puddles of blood.

The blood puppet didn't pause in the slightest as it sped out of the palace as a streak of crimson light. Even though Han Li had already long since disappeared from view, the puppet wasn't fazed by this in the slightest.

As long as Han Li was still somewhere within a radius of several hundred kilometers, it would still be able to easily detect his location with its spiritual sense before hunting him down.

When the crimson streak of light rose up into the air, Han Li was already nowhere to be seen. However, the blood puppet merely chuckled coldly as it closed its eyes before making a hand seal, releasing its spiritual sense toward all directions.

Mere moments later, the puppet opened its eyes before letting loose a long cry and setting off as a streak of crimson light again, heading directly toward the exit of that blue passageway. After just a few flashes, the streak of red light had disappeared into the distance.

At its full speed, the blood puppet truly was astonishingly fast. It didn't take the blood puppet long at all to reach its destination, and the blue passageway was still itact there.

According to the blood puppet's spiritual sense, Han Li had already fled to over 100 kilometers away, so it didn't pause in the slightest before flying into the blue passageway.

Just as the crimson streak of light was about to emerge from the passageway, it was suddenly greeted by a beastly roar coupled with rumbling thunderclaps.

The blood puppet was rather startled to hear this, and it hurriedly focused its gaze up ahead.

There, an Infernal Lightning Beast that was several tens of feet in size stood in the air above the entrance to the blue passageway with silver arcs of lightning flashing erratically around its body.

A loud roar erupted once again as the Infernal Lightning Beast came rushing down with ferocity in its eyes.

"Impossible!" the blood puppet exclaimed in astonishment and horror.

There were already two Infernal Lightning Beasts in the palace; how could there possibly be a third one here?

In the face of this fearsome beast, the blood puppet clearly wasn't going to continue in its pursuit of Han Li. Spiritual light immediately flashed from its body as it summoned a wooden badge.

The wooden badge rotated in mid-air before expelling a swath of light that protected its body within.

The blood puppet then made a hand seal, and clouds of blood mist emanated from its body to create an additional layer of protection.

In the face of an Infernal Lightning Beast, which was a fearsome being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, it had chosen to unleash its most potent defensive measures.

Only then would it have a chance of withstanding the initial round of ferocious attacks from the Infernal Lightning Beast, then think of a way to flee for its life.

However, just as these thoughts were running through the blood puppet's mind, a burst of buzzing suddenly rang out around it. A series of silver runes then emerged out of thin air, and space was torn open amid flashes of spiritual light. Brilliant silver light radiated throughout the area as a massive silver formation of light slowly took shape. These were none other than the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans that Han Li had set up in advance!

He had unleashed some kind of secret technique to activate this trap even from such a long distance away.

A peculiar look appeared on the Infernal Lightning Beast's face, and it suddenly stopped in mid-air directly above the light formation. The blood puppet immediately sensed that something was amiss, but after taking a glance at the Infernal Lightning Beast up above, it hesitated momentarily before plummeting toward the ground.

However, after it had descended for several tens of feet, a pleasant bird call rang out, and silver light flashed as a silver Fire Raven appeared out of thin air.

The bird was only around a foot in size, and it opened its mouth to expel a dozen or so azure beads that hurtled toward the blood puppet. The puppet found those beads to be slightly familiar, and its heart jolted with shock as it realized what they were. It had just witnessed the power of these beads, so it certainly wasn't willing to take on their fearsome might head-on.

However, at such a close range, it was already too late for it to evade.

As such, it could only abruptly spring back in retreat to temporarily open up some distance between itself and those lighting beads.

However, unbeknownst to the blood puppet, what it was doing took it directly into the area encompassed by the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, and the formation immediately took effect.

The puppet saw a flash of silver light before it eyes, and the surrounding scenery blurred before it found itself situated within a vast expanse of murky white mist.

The blood puppet hurriedly surveyed its surroundings, only to be greeted by the sight of tall walls and buildings that stretched as far as its eyes could see in all directions. Furthermore, the sky above had also been obscured by a vast expanse of silver light. The blood puppet was rooted to the spot upon making these observations.

It was naturally able to immediately identify that it had been trapped in quite a powerful restriction, and that it wouldn't be very likely for it to escape in a short time. Meanwhile, outside the light formation.

In the instant that the azure beads were also going to fly into the light formation, they suddenly stopped in mid-air, and the azure light shimmering around them was abruptly snuffed out. The beads then flew back and were calmly swallowed by the silver Fire Raven again.

The bird then flapped its wings a few times and let loose a few cries of delight, seemingly quite elated with itself.

The Infernal Lightning Beast up above also let loose a few ape cries as the silver arcs of lightning around it disappeared. Black light flashed, and the Infernal Lightning Beast quickly shranks down to become a small black monkey that was only around half a foot tall. It was none other than Han Li's Weeping Soul Beast.

Seeing as the blood puppet had been trapped in the formation, the Weeping Soul Beast immediately flew away as a streak of black light.

Meanwhile, the silver Fire Raven circled around in the air a few times before dissipating as specks of silver flames.

Over 100 kilometers away, Han Li was flying through the air as quickly as he could while carrying Yuan Yao and Yan Li in a swath of azure light.

All of a sudden, an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

He made a hand seal before grabbing the air before him, and a dull thump rang out as a ball of silver flames appeared out of thin air before transforming into a silver Fire Raven.

As soon as the Fire Raven appeared, it immediately opened its mouth to expel the dozen or so lightning beads again.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to sweep up the lightning beads, following which the Fire Raven also disappeared into his body. A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and he slowed down a little in his flight.

Moments later, a streak of black light approached him from afar before landing beside him. The black light then faded, and the small monkey that was the Weeping Soul Beast sprang onto his shoulder. A smile appeared on Han Li's face as he stroked the little monkey's fur.

Han Li had witnessed the flawless teamwork between the Weeping Soul Beast and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven from the wisp of spiritual sense that he'd infused into the bird's body. It was quite surprising that they were able to trap the fearsome blood puppet so easily, but he certainly wasn't going to complain.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and the small monkey also disappeared into the spirit beast bracelet hidden up his sleeve as a streak of black light.

After that, Han Li didn't hold back any longer as he flapped his wings with all his might, and five-colored spiritual light flashed alongside azure light as he streaked through the air as a translucent thread. After just a few flashes, he had disappeared without a trace. Meanwhile, Mu Qing was still trapped within the lightning cloud in the underground palace. In the face of her relentless attacks, the lightning cloud was finally approaching a spent force.

Above the green pond, the white-haired beauty, the crimson-robed figure, and the Purpleblood Puppet were still engaged in an arduous battle against the Five Dragon Chopper. One giant blade after another had appeared in the air around them, and they were unleashing countless streaks of frosty light that had destroyed a dozen or so of their treasures already. Their situation had truly become quite dire, and they were holding on by the skin of their teeth.

The black formation up above was also only just over 100 feet away from them, and it appeared as if it could fall on them at any moment.

The ghostly soldiers that the white-haired beauty had summoned earlier was engaged in battle with the high-grade ghostly being under the crimson-armored puppet's command. After joining forces, the ghostly soldiers held a decisive upper hand, and had completely trapped the high-grade ghostly being.

As for the crimson-armored puppet, it was making a hand seal, but it wore an indecisive expression, seemingly wanting to do something, but also quite hesitant at the same time.

In this extremely chaotic situation, the golden formation over the green pond finally shattered, and the white spirit mist within came surging out again.

A long cry erupted from within the pond, and black light flashed as a tall and broad humanoid figure emerged.

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Close to an hour later, a string of earthshattering booms suddenly erupted from within the area encompassed by the black light barrier.

The light barrier then began to tremor violently, and a string of relentless explosions erupted from underground. Several thick pillars of light then burst into the air in a radius of several kilometers with the smaller palace above the ground at the center, and the entire ground in that area completely crumbled as the result.

The palace collapsed in its entirety, and a massive crater took its place.

There were several long fissures near the crater that were several tens of feet wide and extended for close to 10 kilometers.

All of a sudden, a few roars of fury erupted from within the crater, and several balls of spiritual light flew out from within.

One of the balls of light led the others by over 1,000 feet. In the blink of an eye, all of the balls of spiritual light reached the blue passageway before exiting the black light barrier and hurtling away into the distance.

At this moment, a battle suddenly broke out between the balls of spiritual light that were lagging behind the first one.

All of them were attacking one another while relentlessly pursuing that ball of light at the forefront.

One of the balls of light suddenly faltered before detaching itself from the battle, flying off alone in another direction.

Thus, silence returned to the area around the black light barrier.

Han Li sped through the air with the two women while carefully using his spiritual sense to internally inspect the tracking marks within his body.

Thankfully, the marks were still just as resolute as ever, and showed signs of coming loose.

Only then was Han Li feeling slightly more reassured, but he couldn't allow himself to breathe a sigh of relief just yet. He knew that the demon monarchs were clearly engaged in some other important activity, so they didn't have any time to come after him. Once they finished the tasks at hand and thought of Han Li, they'd activate the tracking marks within his body, and he wouldn't be able to repress them for much longer after that.

Thus, Han Li didn't intend to continue fleeing like this.

After traveling for close to 1,000,000 kilometers, a set of undulating hills that were enshrouded in dense Yin Qi appeared up ahead.

Han Li paused for a brief moment of contemplation before descending with the two women, disappearing into the black Yin Qi after just a few flashes.

The hills weren't as bleak and desolate as Han Li had imagined. Aside from some short grey bushes and scrubs that were growing over the bumpy terrain, there were even several types of tall trees here.

The bark on these trees were all quite dull and lusterless, but they were extremely lush, and the branches and leaves extending from them encompassed close to half of the hills in the area.

Han Li flew for a while longer through the black Qi before stopping at one of the hills.

He swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, and after ensuring that there were no powerful ghostly beings nearby, he immediately rustled his sleeve to summon a small golden sword.

The small sword swayed before transforming into several streaks of golden light that crashed violently toward a rock face.

Following a series of dull thumps, a large cave was carved out, and the streaks of golden light squirmed into the cave like a group of spirit snakes.

Han Li stood before the cave with his hands clasped behind his back, and after about five minutes, the small golden sword returned to him.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he flipped a hand over to produce a stack of small flags of different colors.

He tossed the flags through the air, and they disappeared into the cave as streaks of light of different colors.

A burst of seemingly ordinary black mist then billowed out of the cave, perfectly merging with the nearby Yin Qi.

Han Li waved a hand toward the swath of azure light behind him before entering the cave that had just been carved out.

The two women were being carried within the swath of azure light, and they also drifted slowly into the black mist.

The deepest part of this temporary cave abode wasn't very large; it was only just over 100 feet in radius. However, it was situated right at the center of the hill, so it was extremely deep and discreet.

Han Li appeared at the end of the stone tunnel before taking a seat with his legs crossed as the center of the makeshift cave abode.

The two women had also been carried here by the azure light, and they were gently laid onto the ground.

The azure light disappeared in a flash, but the eyes of the two women were still tightly shut, and both of them remained in an unconscious state.

Han Li didn't find this to be surprising at all.

Those crimson threads were clearly extremely sinister items, and he had to forcibly inject his Divine Devilbane Lightning into their bodies in order to rid them of those crimson threads as quickly as possible. On top of that, these two women possessed semi-ghostly bodies themselves, so they were naturally unable to handle the excruciating pain of having his divine lightning course through their bodies.

Of course, this was also very much a result of the fact that these two women didn't possess powerful enough physical bodies. If they possessed bodies as powerful as Han Li's, they'd be able to shrug off this pain with ease.

However, seeing as Han Li was willing to employ this method to rid the crimson threads from their bodies in the first place, he was clearly confident that he'd be able to rouse the two from their unconsciousness after the event.

Spiritual light flashed from his hands as a dozen or so thin and long silver needles appeared on his palm along with a stack of azure talismans.

He raised a hand, and the silver needles shot forth, piercing into the bodies of the two women until only half of the needles remained exposed.

The two women still didn't wake up, but expressions of pain appeared on their faces.

However, Han Li paid their reactions no heed as the azure talismans in his other hand descended toward the two women as a collective swath of azure light.

As the azure spiritual light shimmered around their bodies, the pain on the two women's faces gradually eased, and their complexions also improved significantly.

Han Li then made a hand seal and cast one profound incantation seal after another through the film and azure light and into the bodies of the two women. As he cast those incantation seals, the silver needles also began to tremor gently in an extremely rhythmic manner while flashing with silver light.

Han Li exhaled as he waved a hand through the air, and silver light flashed from the two women's bodies as the silver needles flew back before disappearing up his sleeve.

After doing all that, Han Li said in a calm voice, "It's time to wake up, Fellow Daoists!"

Han Li's voice wasn't very loud, but he'd unleashed his Spiritstun Thorn ability as he spoke. Of course, he only unleashed the ability to an extremely slight extent so that it was just enough to rouse them, but not powerful enough to harm their spiritual sense.

Yuan Yao moaned as her long eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes with a disoriented look on her face. A thought then suddenly occurred to her, and she immediately rose up into a sitting position with a shocked expression in her eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Han?" Yuan Yao's expressions eased significantly at the sight of Han Li, and she was just about to say something when Han Li waved a hand to cut her off with a grim expression on his face.

"If you have something to say, you can say it later. For now, check to see if there are any residual crimson threads in your body."

Yuan Yao adopted a serious expression as she nodded and crossed her legs before closing her eyes.

Moments later, Yan Li also awakened, and received the same instruction from Han Li.

After a short while, both women heaved a collective sigh of relief as they opened their eyes again.

"Those things within my body have already been completely removed. Thank you, Brother Han. If it weren't for you, my junior martial sister and I would've never been able to escape from that nightmarish situation," Yan Li said as she extended a grateful bow toward Han Li.

Prior to falling unconscious, they had been unable to control their bodies, but they remained full aware and alert. As such, after having the restrictions placed on them, the two women were filled with horror, thinking that they'd be reduced to mindless slaves for the rest of their lives. Much to their surprise and elation, Han Li was still able to save them in such a dire situation.

Yan Li didn't know how Han Li had managed to accomplish this near-impossible feat as she'd already fallen unconscious at that point, but it had to have been an extremely perilous process.

As such, her words of gratitude were quite genuine and earnest.

Yuan Yao also bowed alongside Yan Li. Even though she didn't say anything, the gratitude in her eyes was plain to see.

"There's no need to thank me, Fellow Daoists. By saving you two, I'm also benefiting myself. I've managed to forcibly seal away the tracking marks in my body, but I won't be able to keep this up for long. The demon monarchs could activate them at any moment, so I'll have to ask the two of you to see if the Yin Qi in this area will be sufficient to help rid me of these tracking marks." Han Li's survival hinged on whether he could expel these tracking marks from his body, so he immediately raised the issue without any delay.

The two women glanced at one another upon hearing this before surveying their surroundings while detecting the Yin Qi in this place.

After a while, Yuan Yao turned to Han Li, and asked, "The Yin Qi here isn't as abundant as we'd like, but we have a 60% to 70% chance of being able to expel those tracking marks. Do you think we should find another place with more abundant Yin Qi or take a risk here?"

"60% to 70%? That's already enough. We most likely won't have enough time to search for a more suitable place. Those demon monarchs are already aware that I'm still alive, and as soon as they finish what they're doing, they'll definitely activate these tracking marks and come after me," Han Li replied in a resolute manner following a brief moment of contemplations.

He was normally quite conservative and didn't like to take risks, but if a risk had to be taken, then he certainly wasn't going to hesitate.

Yan Li wore an expression of approval as she said, "Alright, my junior martial sister and I will immediately set up the Reincarnation Yin Gathering Formation and use the power of this formation to gather a vast amount of Yin Qi in a short time. Using this Yin Qi, the three of us should be able to combine our powers to eradicate those tracking marks."

It was quite clear that she was also of the opinion that they should take a risk here rather than searching for any alternative venues.

Yuan Yao was slightly more hesitant, but she quickly banished her indecision and nodded in agreement as well.

Time was of the essence, so the three of them naturally weren't going to delay any longer. After arriving at an agreement, the three of them rose up into the air at a low altitude within the temporary cave abode.

Yan Li swept her gaze around the surrounding area before immediately raising a hand. Yin winds abruptly converged within her palm, then transformed into a small grey flag in the blink of an eye.

She tossed the flag into the air and began to chant something at the same time.

The flag rotated in mid-air and emitted countless strands of grey Yin threads that danced through the air at her behest.

Han Li inspected the small flag in the air above through narrowed eyes.

The countless Yin threads suddenly converged to form a sharp straight spike that pointed a certain direction; it was aimed directly at another nearby hill.

"Found it! That should be the place in the nearby area where the Yin Qi is most abundant. That's the most suitable location to set up the core of our formation," Yan Li announced.

Yuan Yao's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and the three of them hurriedly flew over to that nearby hill. After that, Han Li stood off to the side to ward off any potential unwelcome intruders while the two women began to set up their formation.

The formation covered such a vast area that encompassed the entire hill down below.

Han Li looked on at the formation that was gradually taking shape, and a contemplative look appeared on his face as he stroked his chin in an absentminded manner.

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After two hours, the two women were still setting up the formation, and even the normally calm and steadfast Han Li was starting to become a little anxious.

After all, time was not a luxury that he could currently afford much of as the demon monarchs could activate the tracking marks within his body at any moment.

However, Han Li was quite proficient in the art of spell formations himself, so he knew just how complex this giant formation was to set up. As such, he forced himself to repress the urgency and concern in his heart as he waited in silence in the air above.

After around another half an hour, the two women flew over to Han Li.

Yan Li wore a wide smile as she said, "Brother Han, the formation is ready. We can gather Yin Qi to eradicate the tracking marks within your body now."

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this, and he was just about to give a reply when his face suddenly paled and he shuddered as a layer of azure light surfaced around his body.

Both of the women were given a fright upon seeing this.

Golden light flashed around Han Li's body as he righted himself, but he wore a grim expression on his face as he said, "Someone's activated one of the tracking marks; I don't know which demon monarch it is, though."

The spiritual pressure emanating from his body fluctuated erratically as he spoke, and the two women exchanged a glance with concern in their eyes.

"It's alright, I can still suppress the tracking marks for now. Once we eradicate them, I'll be fine," Han Li said as he forced a smile onto his face.

You're right, Brother Han. Let's get started right away, then," Yuan Yao said as she took a deep breath to compose herself

"Of course. However, before we start, I have to tell you something, Brother Han. This secret technique to draw Yin Qi into one's body is meant to be used on ghostly cultivators and ghostly beings. With your human body, this process will be excruciatingly painful, and even you're not careful, you could even fall unconscious from the pain. If you do that, you'll be unable to guide the Yin Qi into your own body, and all our prior efforts will go to waste. Do you understand what I mean, Brother Han?" Yan Li cautioned with a grave expression.

"Excruciating pain, you say? I may not be good for much else, but I'm rather confident in my body," Han Li chuckled nonchalantly.

Han Li wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. His physical body had reached a ridiculous powerful level. He had cultivated several types of body refinement secret techniques and also refined his body through the use of many rare spirit medicines. Pain that was excruciating to others was something that he could simply ignore.

Yan Li nodded at the sight of Han Li's confident expression and immediately led him to the core of the formation, which was that aforementioned hill where the Yin Qi was most abundant.

There was a small plateau of just over 100 feet in size at the summit of the hill, and small formation had been set up there at the center of the larger formation.

The three of them walked into the small formation side by side, and Han Li sat down with his legs crossed at its center while the two women sat on either side of him.

Han Li slowly closed his eyes, and the two women opened their mouths in unison to expel a black bead each.

The beads rotated in mid-air before flying toward two opposite directions, embedding themselves into the slots that had been prepared well in advance on either side of the formation.

After that, the two women both made a hand seal at the same time, and a faint ringing sound erupted from the formation.

Bursts of black light emerged all around the formation before rippling outward.

All of a sudden, the entire massive formation around the hill was activated.

Balls of Yin Qi rose up into the sky from many locations on the formation before rapidly rotating in mid-air to form a massive vortex at an altitude of over 1,000 feet.

The vortex was so vast that it encompassed an even larger area than the massive spell formation down below, creating quite an intimidating sight to behold.

An immense burst of suction force was emanating from the vortex, and the pure Yin Qi in the air as well as deep within the ground surged forth in a frenzy as wisps of black Qi to be absorbed by the black vortex. As a result, the vortex expanded even further, thereby allowing it to draw on Yin Qi from an even larger area.

If Han Li were to open his eyes and look up into the sky at this moment, he'd witness balls of black light rapidly rotating at the center of the vortex, crushing all types of Yin Qi before fusing them together again.

At the very center of the vortex, an inky-black ball was slowly taking shape. A burst of astonishing spiritual pressure was seeping out of the black ball, and it seemed to possess an extremely immense burst of power that could plummet through the entire vortex at any moment.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li chanted unintelligible incantations in low voices while constantly making a series of hand seals, casting one incantation seal after another toward the small formation that they were situated in, thereby causing the vortex up above to further accelerate in its rotation.

In just this short period of time alone, the vortex had already drawn a staggering amount of Yin Qi.

Right at this moment, ghostly howls erupted in the distance from all directions. It seemed that countless ghostly beings had been drawn to the vortex and were converging toward them.

Yuan Yao's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

Even though she couldn't sense any particularly powerful ghostly beings nearby, having so many ghostly beings attack their formation was certainly no laughing matter.

It seemed that they'd underestimated the appeal of such pure Yin Qi to these ghostly beings.

Before she had a chance to rise to her feet and set off to kill some of the low-grade ghostly beings, Han Li suddenly rustled a sleeve to summon a black spirit beast bracelet. The bracelet rotated in mid-air before a streak of golden light and a ball of black light shot forth from within.

The lights then faded to reveal a small leopard-like beast and a small black monkey.

They were none other than the Weeping Soul Beast and the Leopard Kirin Beast.

As soon as the two beasts appeared, the Weeping Soul Beast transformed into a massive ape that was over 100 feet tall amid a flash of black light, then leaped out of the small formation.

Meanwhile, the Leopard Kirin Beast swayed to conjure up a dozen or so afterimages before disappearing in a flash.

Yuan Yao faltered slightly upon seeing this, but Yan Li merely smiled, and said, "Rest assured, Junior Martial Sister Yuan; Brother Han was able to save us from the demon monarchs, so his abilities certainly far outstrip ours, and he would definitely have a way to repel these low-grade ghostly beings. They won't be able to disrupt our formation."

"You're right, Senior Martial Sister, it appears I was overcomplicating things," Yuan Yao replied with a relieved smile.

"You're far too kind in your assessment of me, Fairy Yan, but these low-grade ghostly beings are indeed not a cause for concern," Han Li replied with a smile without opening his eyes.

Right at this moment, a thunderous ape roar suddenly erupted in the distance, and all of the ghostly howls in that direction suddenly ceased.

In contrast, countless howls of anguish erupted from the other side, and all of those ghostly howls were filled with horror. Those ghostly howls quickly receded into the distance, and everything soon fell silent in that direction as well.

"Looks like your spirit beasts are truly extraordinary, Brother Han; to think that they were able to take care of those ghostly beings so easily." A hint of surprise flashed through Yan Li's eyes as she spoke.

She was confident that those ghostly beings were definitely no match for the two spirit beast, but she was still rather surprised that they'd been taken care of so quickly.

Han Li merely smiled and gave no response to this.

The Leopard Kirin Beast had most likely only killed a small portion of the ghostly beings on its side before scaring the rest away through intimidation, but all of the ghostly beings on the Weeping Soul Beast's side had most likely been devoured already.

After a while, Han Li said, "I've already prepared my meridians from an influx of Yin Qi, and it looks like we've gathered enough Yin Qi already, so let's begin. There's only one demon monarch activating their tracking mark at the moment; if a few more tracking marks are activated, then I won't be able to repress them."

Yan Li glanced up at the vortex in the air through narrowed eyes as she said in a solemn voice, "It's indeed about time. Let's begin, Junior Martial Sister Yuan."

Yuan Yao nodded in agreement with a serious expression on her face.

Thus, black light flashed from the hands of the two women as they each produced a small black flag that was around an inch in length, then tossed them toward either side of the formation at the same time.

The two flags immediately transformed into a pair of giant flags that stood outside the small formation.

The two women then made another hand seal in unison, and a loud burst of rumbling immediately rang out from above. The massive black balls within the vortex suddenly flashed with black light, and as it continued to slowly rotate, two streaks of black light descended, carrying two bursts of black Qi that were so dense that they were appeared to be streaks of viscous black liquid.

The black Qi then disappeared without a trace into the two giant flags.

Black Qi suddenly began to surge around Yuan Yao and Yan Li's bodies, following which they began to emit a powerful burst of spiritual pressure.

The two women let loose sharp cries as they raised their hands in unison, flicking their fingers toward Han Li in quick succession.

Countless black threads shot froth from their fingertips, disappearing into Han Li's body in a flash.

However, Han Li merely shuddered slightly in response before displaying no further signs of discomfort.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li couldn't help but exchange a glance upon seeing this, and both of them could see their own admiration mirrored in each other's eyes.

However, they didn't stop what they were doing during this process, and countless black threads surged toward Han Li like a torrential storm before instantly disappearing into his body.

Aside from the fact that Han Li's body was glowing with a faint azure light, there was nothing to suggest that he was experiencing any discomfort at all. Yuan Yao and Yan Li were truly stunned upon seeing this.

The two of them had fallen unconsciously almost immediately after the Divine Devilbane Lightning had been injected into their bodies, and the amount of Yin Qi that had been injected into Han Li's body already far outstripped the amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning that they had had to withstand.

As such, the two of them were growing rather hesitant.

Just as the two women were trying to decide how to proceed, Han Li's calm voice sounded. "Keep going. I can sense the tracking marks in my body loosening slightly."

Yan Li took a deep breath upon hearing this, and she nodded at Yuan Yao before continuing the injection process.

The black Qi around her body surged before flaring up to more than twice its original height, then converging to form a ball of piercing black light that completely inundated her body.

Yuan Yao hesitated momentarily as she took a glance at Han Li, and his still figure seemed to have instilled confidence into her heart as she also replicated Yan Li's actions.

Moments later, two inky-black pillars of light shot forth from within the Yin Qi before disappearing into Han Li's body in a flash.

With such a huge influx of Yin Qi at once, even Han Li couldn't help but groan with pain as his body swayed, the azure light around his body flickered unsteadily.

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Two hours later, the black vortex above the hill had ceased in its rotation.

An inky-black ball that was over 100 feet in diameter was slowly revealed. Black light swept down from the ball, injecting itself in a frenzy into the two massive black flags on either side of the formation.

The restrictions within the massive flags then sent bursts of pure Yin power surging toward the core of the massive formation.

At this point, the small formation on the summit of the hill had already been completely enshrouded in black light.

Han Li and the two women were no longer visible as a result, and aside from the low buzzing emanating from the spell formation, there were no other sounds to be heard.

As time passed, the massive black ball in the sky grew smaller and smaller.

This was naturally due to the fact that it was constantly losing pure Yin Qi.

All of a sudden, a loud cry erupted from within the formation down below, causing the black light to tremor unsteadily.

A resounding thump then rang out as a fist-sized ball of green light rushed out of the black light, attempting to fly toward a certain direction.

However, a streak of golden sword Qi then shot forth from within the black light amid a cold harrumph, and the sword Qi instantly pulverized the ball of green light.

The black light within the formation immediately became more sparse, revealing three indistinct seated humanoid figures.

At the same time, the buzzing sound from the small formation temporarily ceased.

Moments later, Han Li's voice rang out from within the black light, and his tone comprised of both exhaustion yet also a hint of excitement. "Thank you for your hard work, Fellow Daoists. The first mark has already been eradicated; let's keep going!"

"Brother Han, can your body really handle so much Yin Qi? How about we take a short rest before we continue?" Yuan Yao asked in a concerned voice.

"Thank you for your concern, Fairy Yuan, but time is of the essence, and we have to get rid of the three remaining tracking marks as soon as possible. Any delay could prove to be catastrophic," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"If you think it's fine, then Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I won't try to dissuade you. If you're unable to hold on, then give us a signal, and we'll immediately stop," Yan Li said in a serious voice.

"Alright, let's continue, then," Han Li said without any hesitation.

Thus, Yuan Yao heaved a faint sigh, and the black light within the formation intensified in brightness once again.

The two women then continued to inject pillars of black light into Han Li's body.

Right as the first tracking mark was expelled from Han Li's body and destroyed, the humanoid figure that was enshrouded in green light cast her gaze toward Han Li's direction with bewilderment etched on her face. The humanoid figure was situated on a tall mountain several hundred thousand kilometers away from Han Li's location, and she murmured to herself, "How could this be? My tracking mark was destroyed? Theoretically, there's no way for cultivators below the Body Integration Stage to be able to accomplish this. Could it be that he's receiving assistance from a powerful being?"

The humanoid figure was naturally none other than Mu Qing.

For some reason, she had detached herself from the group of demon monarchs and set off to search for Han Li on her own.

During the process, she unleashed a secret technique to activate the tracking mark that she'd planted within Han Li's body, thereby giving him no choice but to destroy it first.

"This is getting a little troublesome now. In the instant that the tracking mark was destroyed, I managed to gauge the direction that he's in, but it'll be almost impossible to find him over such a vast area. Looks like I can only try my luck," Mu Qing murmured to herself with her brows tightly furrowed before immediately flying away as a streak of green light.

Elsewhere, on a set of barren plains that was covered in stark white bones, three humanoid figures and a puppet were facing off against one another.

"Brother Liu Zu, we've already shaken off that Mayfly Race puppet and the two Infernal Lightning Beasts, so it's time you brought out the Divine Infernal River Elixir and split it between the three of us." The one who had spoken was none other than the crimson-robed figure that was standing atop the Purpleblood Puppet's shoulder.

"You've been ignoring us this entire time; could it be that you intend to take the divine elixir for yourself? Have you forgotten the vows we swore and the blood restrictions we placed on each others' bodies before we set off? If Di Xue and I activate those restrictions without any regard for our own safety, then your cultivation base would be severely damaged as a result," the white-haired beauty threatened in a cold voice with the eight ghost monarchs around her.

The black-robed man that they were confronting was naturally none other than Liu Zu.

He was hovering right before the white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure, and after taking a glance at the two of them, he finally replied, "I initially intended to split the divine elixir evenly with all of you, but unfortunately, it appears that someone else has recently extracted some divine elixir from the pond, and what remained of it is barely enough for my own use, so how can I split it with all of you as well? How about this? I'll take the divine elixir, but I have many precious items that I can offer the two of you in exchange; will that suffice?"

"What kind of precious items could compare with the Divine Infernal River Elixir? Unless you have some kind of miracle medicine that can help us progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, what else could compare to the value for the divine elixir for cultivators of our cultivation base?" the white-haired beauty asked in an enraged voice.

Meanwhile, the crimson-robed figure refrained from saying anything.

Seeing as the crimson-robed figure didn't immediately turn down this offer, Liu Zu turned to him, and asked, "What do you think, Brother Di Xue?"

There were two demon monarchs opposing Liu Zu at the moment, but if one of them agreed to Liu Zu's proposal, then the other one would be powerless to resist. After all, Liu Zu was far more powerful than either one of them.

"Di Xue! Have you gone senile in your old age? Are you seriously contemplating agreeing to this proposal?" the white-haired beauty asked in a cold voice.

"If there really is so little divine elixir left, then even if Fellow Daoist is willing to split it between us, it wouldn't do anyone any good, so what difference does it make if we split it or allow one of us to keep it? Unless you want to be the one to take all of the divine elixir instead, Fellow Daoist Lan?" the crimson-robed figure mused in a dark voice.

"My thoughts exactly, Fellow Daoist Di Xue!" Liu Zu chuckled in response.

The white-haired beauty faltered slightly upon hearing this, but a cold smile then appeared on her face as she said, "Who knows if there really is as little divine elixir as he claims? I haven't seen it for myself; am I supposed to just take his word for it?"

"Indeed, that's also what I'm hesitating about. Fellow Daoist Liu Zu, would you be able to present proof to support your claim?" the crimson-robed figure asked as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

Liu Zu was silent for a moment before heaving a long sigh as he said, "The Divine Infernal River Elixir only works extremely well during its first application. When consuming and bathing in it for a second time, its effects will be almost negligible; I'm sure the two of you are aware of this. I wouldn't turn on the two of you for something that's useless I've gone mad. You two still don't know how Divine Infernal River Elixir is stored, right?"

"What are you trying to say? Could it be that extraction of Divine Infernal River Elixir requires more than just severing its connection with the spirit vein?" the white-haired beauty asked in a skeptical voice.

Instead of replying to her question, Liu Zu rustled a sleeve, and an object fell into his hand. He gently raised the object for their inspection, revealing it to be a rectangular brick that seemed to have been made from a crystalline material.

The surface of the brick was quite smooth and extremely transparent.

At the center of this brick, a ball of fist-sized red liquid could be seen. Even though it was separated from everyone by a layer of crystal, the astonishing spiritual Qi emanating from the liquid had still formed wisps of white spiritual mist that drifted throughout the surrounding area.

"This is known as a Tempered Crystal Brick, and it's something used by the Mayfly Race solely for extracting and storing Divine Infernal River Elixir. If this object were to be placed in the pond within the palace, it would immediately fuse as one with the spirit vein there, and it would be extremely difficult to recover it. Once the divine elixir is drawn into this object, even Body Integration cultivators wouldn't be able to extract the divine elixir from it in a short time, unless they possessed a secret talisman produced by the Mayfly Race. The only way to extract the divine elixir without the talisman would be to use the true flames within our bodies to refine this brick for over 10 years. With this, I'm sure the two of you can see just how little divine elixir I've managed to extract," Liu Zu explained in a calm voice.

The crimson-robed figure inspected the brick with a hint of greed in his eyes, and he said in a skeptical voice, "The spiritual mist emanating from this liquid is identical to the mist around the pond, so that should indeed by the Divine Infernal River Elixir, but don't you think it's an exaggeration to claim that we won't be able to destroy this brick?"

After a brief silence, Liu Zu proposed, "It looks like you won't believe me no matter what I say. So be it; I'll set this item in the air above us, and the two of you can unleash one attack each afar to try and destroy it. If you can leave so much as a single scratch on the brick, I'll immediately hand over the Divine Infernal River Elixir. If not, I'll be taking the divine elixir, and I'll give the two of you other precious items in exchange for it. Alternatively, you can activate the restrictions you've placed on my body, but if you do that, the two of you won't end up in a much better situation than I will. Instead, a third party could come along to take the divine elixir, and in our severely debilitated states, we'd be powerless to stop them."

"Are you serious?" The white-haired beauty's eyes immediately lit up, clearly very tempted by this offer.

"Of course," Liu Zu chuckled in response.

"Alright, you have yourself a deal." The white-haired beauty was clearly very confident in her abilities.

"If I can't damage this brick, then I won't ask for items in exchange. All I ask is that Brother Liu Zu accompanies me to the devilish tomb to secure two of the treasures there," the crimson-robed figure said.

"The devilish tomb? The powerful devils buried in there have been dead for countless years, but those devilish artifacts have already attained sentient will and are even more powerful than most Divine Spirit Treasures. On top of that, the devilish Qi and Yin Qi in there are extremely dense, making it very difficult to traverse through it. Didn't you and Fellow Daoist Mu Qing already raid the tomb once already, only for the trip to end in failure?" Liu Zu's brows furrowed in reluctance.

"Why are you asking a question you already know the answer to? Seeing as that Han brat is still alive, we'll be able to make use of his Divine Devilbane Lightning to ward off the devilish Qi and Yin Qi. If you accompany us as well, then our success will virtually be ensured. Fellow Daoist Mu Qing departed halfway, most likely to search for that Han brat already."

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The white-haired beauty's brows furrowed upon hearing the crimson-robed figure's condition.

"If we go to the devilish tomb, we'll most likely be delayed quite significantly there. If the Mayfly Race reinforcements arrive during that time, none of us will be able to get away." Liu Zu's voice wasn't quite as resolute as it had been before.

"Hehe, if the Mayfly Race really can access this space so quickly, then why would that puppet have confronted us? It could've just waited for reinforcements to arrive. No one from the Mayfly Race should be able to enter this place in a short time. Of course, there will be some risk involved, but surely you should take some risks for us, seeing as you're taking all of the Divine Infernal River Elixir, Brother Liu Zu," the crimson-robed figure chuckled.

Liu Zu remained completely expressionless, but the contemplative look in his eyes indicated that he was weighing up his options. Only after a long while did he finally reply, "Alright, I an accompany you to the devilish tomb, but I'll only assist you in securing two of the treasures in there. If you want to secure additional treasures, then you'll have to do so with your own power."

"Haha, you have yourself a deal! As for the Tempered Crystal Brick, I trust that you're telling the truth, so I won't try to damage it," the crimson-robed figure chortled with glee before drifting back several tens of feet.

The Purpleblood Puppet beside him also retreated a few steps in a wooden manner.

"What do you want to do, Fellow Daoist Lan?" Seeing as Di Xue had struck up a deal with him, Liu Zu was feeling a lot more assured, and a cold light flashed through his eyes as he turned to the white-haired beauty.

The white-haired beauty's pupils contracted, and only after a brief hesitation did she reply in a cold voice, "I have the same condition as Fellow Daoist Di Xue, but before that, I want to test if this brick truly as indestructible as you claim."

"Sure, go ahead, then." Liu Zu immediately raised his hand, and the Tempered Crystal Brick hovered into the air 70 to 80 feet above his head.

The white-haired beauty stared at the brick with a hint of scorching desire in her eyes before sweeping a sleeve through the air, upon which the eight ghost monarchs behind her instantly sprang into action.

Black light flashed, and the white-haired beauty donned that suit of black armor again as the massive war hammer appeared in her hand.

Eight ghostly howls erupted from the war hammer, and Liu Zu glanced at the weapon as he warned, "Your treasure is indeed quite powerful, but it won't be able to break the Tempered Crystal Brick. I'm warning you in advance; don't try any sneaky tricks while you attack the brick. Otherwise, don't blame me for turning on you."

"Hmph, let me see if this thing really is indestructible or not!" The white-haired beauty completely ignored Liu Zu's threat as she hurled her war hammer through the air.

Ghostly Qi and Yin winds instantly erupted as the war hammer swelled drastically in size. The eight skulls embedded on its surface also squirmed incessantly as they let loose a string of ghostly howls.

Immediately thereafter, balls of green flames appeared out of thin air around the hammer, transforming it into a massive fireball.

These green flames appeared to possess immense power, and as they burned with ferocious might, even the surrounding space was being warped and twisted.

Liu Zu stood off to the side in a completely expressionless manner with his arms crossed, patiently awaiting the white-haired beauty's attack.

However, the crimson-robed figure suddenly narrowed his eyes as a peculiar look appeared on his face at the sight of the ghostly war hammer.

The white-haired beauty let loose a loud cry, and the war hammer came crashing down toward the comparatively tiny brick.

However, during its descent, the green flames around the hammer flared up significantly before manifesting over a hundred hammer projections that hurtled toward the crystalline brick from all directions.

As such, this one attack was almost the equivalent of over 100 attacks.

Liu Zu faltered slightly upon seeing this, but a cold smile quickly appeared on his face.

Loud rumbling booms rang out in rapid succession in the air above as if hundreds of thunderclaps were exploding at once, causing the nearby air to ring incessantly.

The crimson-robed figure's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

Back when this war hammer was combating the black light formation within the underground palace, it hadn't appeared to be all that powerful, and only now was the crimson-robed figure realizing the true extent of its power.

As for the Tempered Crystal Brick, it had already been inundated by piercing green light, making it impossible to glean its current condition.

Moments later, the white-haired beauty made a grabbing motion, and all of the hammer projections instantly disappeared with only the real hammer flying back as a ball of green light.

She then cast her gaze toward the crystalline brick, and her expression darkened significantly.

The Tempered Crystal Brick had remained completely unscathed following that ferocious barrage. Its surface was completely smooth with not a single scratch to be seen.

"So? You believe my claims now, right, Fellow Daoist Lan? Even I won't be able to extract the Divine Infernal River Elixir from the brick to split it among all of us," Liu Zu said in a calm voice.

"Seeing as that's the case, I have no choice but to give up on the divine elixir, but you have to accompany the two of us to the devilish tomb." The white-haired beauty heaved a long sigh as if she wanted to exhale all of the frustration in her heart.

After that, she made a hand seal, and her suit of armor dissipated along with her war hammer, splitting up to form the eight ghost monarchs again.

"I have no objections there. The devilish tomb is quite far away from here, so even if we try to get there as soon as possible, it would still take us around half a month. Before that, shouldn't we track down a certain someone first?" Liu Zu said as he waved a hand through the air, and the Tempered Crystal Brick instantly disappeared on the spot.

Even the other two demon monarchs couldn't identify how Liu Zu had stowed the brick away. The white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure exchanged a glance with one another, and both of them were feeling even warier toward Liu Zu.

"That Han brat has our tracking marks planted in his body, so he won't be able to escape our detection even if he escapes to the other side of the Spirit Realm. To think that insolent brat would dare to steal my disciples away from me; once I hunt him down using my tracking mark, I'll make him regret everything he's done!" A sinister look appeared on the white-haired woman's face at the mention of Han Li.

"Hehe, you were always aware that your two disciples were acquainted with that Han brat somehow, yet you still planned to suck away their Yin Qi, so it's no wonder that Han brat came back to save them. In all honesty, I really do admire the kid. Not only did he manage to escape from the Infernal Lightning Beasts, he stole your two disciples right under our noses! Tsk tsk, even the blood puppet avatar that I refined for so many years was unable to stop; he's got guts and powers in equal measure," the crimson-robed figure chuckled.

"Hmph! If you admire him so much, then why don't you take him as your disciple? Perhaps he'll outstrip you someday!" the white-haired beauty harrumphed coldly with a dark expression.

"I'm cultivating in the Dao of blood, so unless Han brat is willing to let me suck out his essence and exchange his blood, there's no way that he'll be able to use my cultivation arts. Besides, I've always been alone, and I've never thought about passing my abilities onto others, so what use would I have for a disciple?" Di Xue chuckled coldly.

"That Han brat's cultivation base isn't very high, but he has a staggering number of tricks up his sleeve. On top of that, he's managed to progress so far on the path of simultaneous cultivation, and his powers far exceed that of beings of the same cultivation base. If he managed to progress to the Body Integration Stage one day, then even all of us combined most likely won't be able to match him. Of course, it's yet to be seen whether he'll even be able to get to that point. After all, progression for those engaged in simultaneous cultivation is far more difficult than for normal cultivators," Liu Zu mused.

"Simultaneous cultivation? Are you certain that's the path he's taking? How do you know about this?" the white-haired beauty exclaimed in surprise.

The crimson-robed figure also faltered upon hearing this.

"I have an ability that allows me to assess the power of one's physical body. That kid is most likely a human cultivator from an obscure corner of the Tian Yuan Continent, rather than some Flying Spirit Race being. I don't know how he managed to sneak into the trial for the holy disciples of the Flying Spirit Race, but what I do know is that humans are physically one of the most feeble races on the Tian Yuan Continent, yet that Han brat's body is no less than powerful than ours. Even normal treasures won't be able to harm his body, and in terms of combat prowess, he should be able to match late-Great Spirit Generals. If he possesses some other abilities that I'm unaware of, then perhaps even a normal late-Great Spirit General wouldn't be a match for him," Liu Zu analyzed.

The white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure were both stunned by Liu Zu's glowing assessment of Han Li, and as they glanced at one another, both of them could see their own astonishment mirrors in each other's eyes.

They knew that Han Li was no ordinary being, but they merely assumed that his powers would be comparable to that of an early-Great Spirit General or mid-Great Spirit General.

"You're saying that he can stand up against late-Great Spirit Generals as a mere late-Spirit General? There are indeed some abilities in this world that truly defy the natural order, but surely he can't compare to a being with such a significantly superior cultivation base!" The white-haired beauty was quite skeptical toward Liu Zu's claims.

"Hehe, I actually believe in what Brother Liu Zu is saying here. Many years ago, I encountered a Spatial Tempering Stage human cultivator, yet that man was able to slay early-Body Integration Stage beings through the use of a sword formation. Humans may be naturally very fragile from birth, but they are certainly not to be underestimated," the crimson-robed being suddenly interjected.

The white-haired beauty harrumphed coldly as if she were unconvinced, but the indecisive look in her eyes indicated that she didn't really know what to believe.

"That's enough talk on this matter. That Han brat does indeed have many secrets and possesses brilliant potential, but he has to realize that potential first to make it count. Our priority now is to find him and make him do our bidding. I don't know how he's been able to escape our detection for so long, but if we activate our tracking marks together, he won't be able to keep this up for much longer. If we want to get to the devilish tomb as quickly as possible, then we have to make haste," Liu Zu said in a calm voice.

"Indeed, Brother Liu Zu. Fellow Daoist Lan, let's... What! My tracking mark has been eradicated!" the crimson-robed figure chuckled and nodded in agreement, yet just as he was about to say something to the white-haired beauty, an expression of incredulity and rage suddenly appeared on his face.

"Is that so? Let me try!" The white-haired beauty's heart jolted with shock and she hurriedly closed her yees before attempting to activate her tracking mark.

Moments later, she opened her eyes again, and a sinister look appeared on her face as she said, "My tracking mark is still there, but it's been completely sealed off. Brother Liu Zu, activate your tracking mark as well; we'll wear him down together."

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to do that. My tracking mark already disappeared before Fellow Daoist Di Xue's tracking mark," Liu Zu replied calmly.

"What!" The crimson-robed figure and the white-haired beauty were stunned to hear this.

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"So that means only my tracking mark still remains in his body!" The white-haired beauty's expression darkened even further.

They had taken a massive risk to venture into the infernal river, and if they couldn't secure the Divine Infernal River Elixir nor the devilish treasures, then they would've expended so much effort and incurred all that risk for nothing.

Strangely enough, Liu Zu remained very calm, and the crimson-robed figure also quickly calmed down following that initial fit of rage.

Both of them seemed to be contemplating something while the white-haired beauty sat down in mid-air with her legs crossed. At the same time, the eight ghost monarchs behind her transformed into a burst of Yin Qi that surrounded her body, thereby enhancing her cultivation base significantly to allow her to try and activate the tracking seal within Han Li's body with all her might.

The black Qi surged erratically around her, and harrowing ghostly cries erupted from within. It was quite clear that the white-haired beauty was drawing on all the power she was capable of.

Time slowly passed, and close to two hours flew by in the blink of an eye, yet the white-haired beauty still hadn't succeeded in her efforts.

Liu Zu and the crimson-robed figure merely waited patiently in silence, and neither of them tried to hurry her.

A short while later, the white-haired beauty's enraged voice finally rang out.

"My tracking mark has also ben destroyed. There's no way that he could've done this on his own; could this be Mu Qing's handiwork?"

The black Qi dissipated to reveal the white-haired beauty with a thunderous expression on her face.

"It could well be Fellow Daoist Mu. She seems to be even more interested in the treasures of the devilish tomb than she is in the divine elixir," the crimson-robed figure mused as he stroked his chin.

Despite their wiles, none of the demon monarchs had imagined that Yuan Yao and Yan Li would be capable of unleashing a Yin-Qi-gathering secret technique that could help Han Li eradicate the tracking marks one by one. Of course, that was also due to the fact that the ghost Dao cultivation arts they were using really were quite unique.

A thought suddenly occurred to the white-haired beauty, and she asked, "Regardless of who's behind this, I'll make sure they pay for what they've done! Brother Di Xue, those devilish artifacts are more important to you than either Brother Liu Zu or myself, right? Despite that, you've managed to keep remarkably calm; could it be that you have some other tricks up your sleeve?"

Liu Zu also turned toward the crimson-robed figure with a hint of a smile on his face.

The crimson-robed figure chuckled in response before replying, "I did indeed plant something else on Han brat's body, but it'll still be quite difficult to find him. I won't be able to track him down as accurately as I could with my tracking mark, but I should be able to ascertain his approximate location with no issues. Having said that, though, that Han brat sure is alert; he's resisted the urge to summon the spirit servants I gave him even once. Otherwise, he would've already fallen victim to my secret technique and none of this would've happened."

A peculiar look appeared on the white-haired beauty's face, and her brows furrowed as she said, "Now's not the time for jokes, Brother Di Xue! With Han brat's powerful spiritual sense, how could it have escaped his notice that you planted a secret technique on those spirit servants?"

"Haha, there's nothing actually wrong with the spirit servants themselves; the key lies in the captivation blood pact that I invented and infused into those spirit servants. As long as anyone injects their spiritual sense into those spirit servants and uses them once, they'll definitely be unable to escape the allure of this secret technique. They'll want to use the spirit servants a second time, then a third time, until they're completely entranced by them and lose their sense of self. It's just a pity that he hasn't even used them once up to this point. Otherwise, I'd definitely be able to detect it and control him without him even realizing that anything was amiss." The crimson-robed figure seemed to be of the opinion that there was no point in hiding anything seeing as they were about to enter the devilish tomb soon, so he decided to reveal everything to the other two demon monarchs.

The white-haired beauty's expression changed slightly, and she fell speechless upon hearing this.

Liu Zu was also clearly taken aback by Di Xue's devious plan.

"But if Han brat hasn't used those spirit servants, then how will you be able to detect his location?" the white-haired beauty asked.

"That's quite simple; I infused the bodies of the spirit servants with some Meridian Stone," Di Xue chuckled coldly in a sinister manner.

"Meridian Stone! That's an extremely strange material that takes on a Yang-attribute every noon and midnight, thereby allowing them to detect one another. In that case, you must also be carrying one of those stones yourself! Only in places rife with Yin Qi like the infernal river will this material's detection properties be able to take effect. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't be able to make use of that effect. I'm really surprised that you were able to find such a gimmicky item. As far as I know, our Tian Yuan Continent doesn't even produce this type of stone, and they also have extremely limited uses for cultivators like us." On this occasion, even Liu Zu couldn't help but praise Di Xue's resourcefulness.

"I didn't intentionally seek out this item. Many years ago, I killed a being from another continent, and they just so happened to be in possession of a small piece of this material. I decided to keep it more so due to its rarity than anything else, but who would've thought that it'd actually come in useful? The stones will only detect one another for an instant on the exact strokes of noon and midnight, and Han brat himself doesn't have another Meridian Stone, so there's no way he'd be able to notice that anything's amiss," the crimson-robed figure said with a cunning gleam in his eyes.

"Haha, that's brilliant! It's not far from midnight now, so let's head toward the direction where the tracking marks disappeared first. Using the detection properties of the Meridian Stone, we should be able to track him down. Just make sure to look out for that Mayfly Race puppet with the silver chopper. That chopper seems to be the legendary Five Dragon Chopper, which is a Divine Spirit Treasure that ranks very high on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, so it's best to directly oppose it if we do encounter it. As for those two Infernal Lightning Beasts, they won't get far away from their lair, so we don't need to worry about them anymore," Liu Zu cautioned as he looked up into the sky.

"Come to think of it, neither of us had thought that you'd have a way to combat the Five Dragon Chopper, Brother Liu Zu. It was all thanks to you that we were able to force back that puppet and make our escape," the white-haired beauty chuckled.

"You're too kind, Fellow Daoist Lan. That puppet wasn't forced back by me; it had simply overexerted its spiritual sense while using the Five Dragon Chopper and was forced to retreat of its own accord. Otherwise, if the battle had dragged on for slightly longer, I would've fallen victim to that chopper." Liu Zu shook his head with a hint of fear in his eyes.

The white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure exchanged a glance, and their faces also paled slightly as they recalled the events that had unfolded in the underground palace following Han Li's departure.

The abilities unleashed by the Five Dragon Chopper had been truly fearsome. If the puppet had unleashed the full power of the treasure before Liu Zu had broken free from the golden formation over the green pond, then there was a good chance that both of them would've already perished.

"We don't need to be overly concerned, though. Even though the Five Dragon Chopper is extremely fearsome, the puppet had completely overexerted its spiritual sense, so it's yet to be seen whether it can come after us again. As long as we remain alert and avoid being divided and conquered, we should be fine," Liu Zu said as he recovered his composure.

The white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure both nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

After that, the three demon monarchs didn't delay any longer as they sped away into the distance.

Deep within the infernal, crimson light flashed in front of a white cave, and a crimson-armored puppet stumbled out of space. It raised a foot and was just about to stride forward, only for spiritual light to flash erratically all over its body, and it fell flat onto the ground.

A ringing sound then erupted from the puppet's body as a silver streak of light flew out of its body, then disappeared into the cave.

"Why are you in such a sorry state? Could it be that my Five Dragon Chopper wasn't powerful enough?" The voice of the elderly man sounded again, and it was just as flat and indifferent as ever.

Indeed, there were very few things in this world that could attract its interest.

Green light flashed in the puppet's eyes before it struggled to its feet, and it replied in a respectful voice, "The Five Dragon Chopper is unfathomably powerful, but I was far too useless, and my spiritual sense was unable to support the chopper. Otherwise, all of the intruders would be dead already."

"Your spiritual sense was insufficient? You must've unleashed the power of the Five Dragon Chopper twice and used it for too long on both occasions, right?" The elderly voice remained completely emotionless, as if it were simply elaborating something completely inconsequential.

"I was too greedy. I didn't unleash the full power of the Five Dragon Chopper from the beginning as I wanted to lure out all of the outsiders before killing them together, but there was a traitor from our race among them who possessed an ability that was able to withstand the power of the Five Dragon Chopper for a short period of time. The backup measures that I'd set up had also been ruined due to unforeseen circumstances, thereby allowing them to escape," the crimson-armored puppet replied in a feeble voice.

"I see." The elderly voice in the cave merely gave a clipped response before falling silent.

All of a sudden, the crimson-armored puppet raised its voice slightly, and said, "Senior Jiang, I have one more request!"

"Hmm? I seem to recall that you've already requested a favor from me; don't expect me to fight for your Mayfly Race!" The elderly voice cooled slightly upon hearing this.

"I wouldn't dare to dream of something like that. I only wanted to request Senior Jiang to use this remaining shred of my spiritual sense to guide my true body into this infernal river. Those intruders have already taken the divine elixir, and if I don't recover the elixir, I'll be dealt a severe punishment," the crimson-armored puppet explained.

"Guide your true body here? Have you gone mad? Mayfly beings can't stay in this place for any extended period of time or their cultivation bases will be severely damaged by the Yin Qi here. From the sounds of it, the intruders are all quite powerful, so even if your true body arrives here, you most likely won't be a match for them anyway. Could it be that you want to borrow my Five Dragon Chopper again?" A hint of surprise had finally crept into the elderly man's voice.

"I do indeed intend to borrow your Five Dragon Chopper again, Senior Jiang, but I may not actually need to use it this time as my true body would be arriving here with a divine nest," the crimson-armored puppet replied in a grim voice.

"A divine nest? Hehe, am I hearing this right? You're going to use such a thing just to take care of a few Golden Mayfly Tier beings? Speaking of which, how to do you have the power to use such a thing? If I recall correctly, those things have always been under the control of those old monsters in your Mayfly Race. Aren't they the trump cards of your race that wouldn't be used unless your race was on the brink of collapse?" The elderly man in the cave was truly intrigued now.

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