Lin Yinping followed the young man surnamed Xu without hesitation. As the Holy Maiden of Tianlan, she was well aware of how terrifying Han Li had become, yet she was determined to rescue the avatar of the Sacred Beast no matter what.
Meanwhile, Ge Tianhao and the two other Yin Luo Sect cultivators wore uncertain expressions.
The demonic path was notorious for its cold-hearted and treacherous nature. They had initially attacked without hesitation, confident that with a late-stage cultivator present, capturing Han Li would be effortless. However, they hadn’t expected his treasures to be so formidable—just a single strike from his fan had forced even the Great Celestial Master of Tianlan to retreat in alarm.
Though the Great Celestial Master had claimed Han Li might only have one strike left, “might” was merely a possibility. If pushed to desperation, Han Li could use a secret technique to forcibly unleash his potential and strike multiple times. The three of them had no confidence in withstanding such an assault.
Moreover, from the earlier conversation, it seemed Han Li possessed an even more formidable treasure—a cauldron. This made them increasingly hesitant. While they all desired to reclaim the Ghost Luo Banner to earn great merit for their sect, none were willing to risk their lives for it. Yet, openly refusing to pursue Han Li in front of the Tianlan Grasslanders was also unthinkable.
For a moment, they wavered.
“Let’s go. We’ll follow, but if we truly have to confront Han Li, we’ll only assist from the side. As long as we avoid that fan and stay nimble, we should be fine,” Ge Tianhao finally decided, whispering to the other two.
The two black-robed elders hesitated briefly before nodding in agreement.
Thus, the three of them also took flight in pursuit.
The stone staircase leading to Kunwu Hall was exceedingly long. Even with Han Li sparing no effort in using his lightning techniques, it still took him the time of a full meal to finally emerge from the staircase, arriving before a vast expanse of stone pillars.
Though called a “stone forest,” it was merely an array of uniformly thick, several-zhang-tall stone columns rising from the ground. Their surfaces were intricately carved with runes and incantations, faintly glowing with spiritual light. Clearly, this was a restriction formation.
However, what should have been an orderly formation was now in complete disarray—many pillars were toppled, some reduced to mere stumps. The ground was littered with rubble and craters of various sizes, as if the formation had been forcibly destroyed by brute strength.
Han Li swept a cold glance over the scene before plunging into the forest without a word.
The stone forest was not large, and after a few flashes, he reached its edge. There, he encountered a sloping stone ramp paved with massive bluestones. Scattered across the ramp were broken stone statues and discarded weapons like halberds and axes.
Frowning, Han Li suddenly sensed something and raised his head to look toward the ramp’s end.
About a hundred zhang away, on what appeared to be a platform, faint spiritual light flickered, accompanied by occasional explosions—as if a battle was raging there.
“Could it be that Old Devil Qian has already engaged others?”
His mind stirred, Han Li activated his Lightbody Technique and flew toward the platform, simultaneously suppressing his aura. After a few drifting movements, his figure blurred and vanished without a trace.
Under Han Li’s deliberate concealment, he silently stepped onto a vast open space several times larger than the previous white jade plaza.
But upon seeing the scene before him, he froze in surprise.
Within a massive white light barrier, five white figures, one yellow figure, and two green figures were locked in fierce combat.
The five white figures were naturally Old Devil Qian’s Five Devils, each spewing gray mist and clawing wildly.
The yellow figure was a middle-aged cultivator enveloped by a massive bone ring emitting a hazy yellow glow. Whenever gray mist struck it, the yellow light rippled but remained unscathed. The cultivator himself wielded a pair of red-and-yellow flying swords, desperately fending off the Five Devils’ onslaught.
The two green figures were bronze lions, each over a zhang tall, relentlessly pouncing and biting at the Five Devils and the middle-aged cultivator. Their movements were lightning-fast, and occasionally, they spat out thick green beams of light that seemed quite powerful.
Though neither the Five Devils nor the middle-aged cultivator seemed overly concerned about the bronze lions’ ranged attacks, they were wary of their close-quarters assaults. Both sides moved with extreme agility, avoiding the lions at all costs. When evasion was impossible, they would momentarily abandon their opponent to strike the beasts.
Yet the bronze lions’ bodies shimmered with green light, seemingly impervious to damage. Whether struck by gray mist or flying swords, they merely staggered back a few steps, completely unharmed.
The white light barrier itself was peculiar, with silver lightning occasionally crackling across its surface. Anyone approaching its edges would trigger a thunderous barrage of lightning strikes.
Though both the Five Devils and the middle-aged cultivator with his strange bone ring could withstand these attacks, none wished to endure them needlessly.
As a result, the battle within the barrier grew even fiercer.
“What is this, some kind of gladiatorial arena?” Han Li sighed inwardly.
At a glance, he could tell that the middle-aged cultivator, only at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, would have long been drained of his essence and blood by the Five Devils if not for his protective bone ring. The two bronze lions, though fearsome, were merely unmanned puppets. If either the middle-aged cultivator or Old Devil Qian had the spare focus, they could easily dismantle them.
Muttering to himself, Han Li scanned the platform’s sides.
The light barrier spanned nearly the entire platform, with shimmering restrictions blocking passage on either side.
Thus, Han Li found his path obstructed.
But when he looked ahead, he noticed a massive gate faintly visible behind the barrier—likely the entrance to Kunwu Hall.
Han Li’s brow furrowed imperceptibly.
He had no intention of stopping here. Otherwise, the young man surnamed Xu and the others would catch up in moments.
With a subtle flick of his sleeve, the Three Flames Fan slid into his palm once more.
He planned to use the fan’s power to temporarily breach the barrier and swiftly pass through. Though this would alert the two combatants inside, the risk was unavoidable—this was no place for a prolonged battle.
Just as Han Li took a deep breath and prepared to channel spiritual power into the fan, he suddenly turned his head toward a large stone block at the platform’s edge, his face flashing with surprise.
Was it an illusion? He sensed a faint, unusual spiritual fluctuation there. The ripple was so minuscule that, had he not been fully alert, he might have missed it entirely.
Suspicious, he activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, blue light flashing in his pupils.
To his shock, he spotted a pair of faintly glowing red eyes behind the stone block.
“Silver-Winged Corpse!” he recognized instantly, pouring more spiritual power into his eyes.
With his enhanced vision, he discerned a shadowy figure behind the red eyes—undoubtedly the Silver-Winged Corpse. Yet the creature wasn’t looking at him but intently observing the battle within the barrier, seemingly unaware of Han Li’s presence due to the mountain’s restrictions and his superior concealment.
But Han Li felt no relief. Instead, his heart sank.
Beside the Silver-Winged Corpse’s shadow lurked two other indistinct figures. Even with his spirit eyes at full power, he couldn’t discern them clearly. One resembled the Lion-Hawk Beast he’d encountered earlier, while the other, humanoid in shape, was unfamiliar.
These demonic creatures were lying in ambush—and appeared to be cooperating. Were they also after treasures in Kunwu Hall? Han Li’s thoughts raced.
Just then, he sensed movement behind him.
Glancing back, he saw spiritual light flickering in the stone forest below the ramp—the young man surnamed Xu and the others were about to emerge and catch up.
With no time to waste, Han Li activated the Three Flames Fan. A layer of tri-colored flames enveloped the fan as he silently slashed it toward the barrier.
A muffled boom erupted as the flames clashed with the restriction, unleashing a dazzling burst of light.
Both the hidden Silver-Winged Corpse trio and the battling Old Devil Qian and middle-aged cultivator turned in shock toward Han Li.
Seeing his cover blown, Han Li abandoned stealth. With a leap, he transformed into a blinding azure streak, darting through the newly torn gap in the barrier toward the other side.
Forcing his way through the flight-restricting formation, the azure streak moved like lightning, crossing dozens of zhang in an instant—nearly reaching the platform’s center.
“Audacious!” Old Devil Qian roared. Three of the five white figures abruptly vanished from their positions.
In the next moment, they materialized before Han Li, six cold green eyes glaring at him.
“Scram!” Han Li’s voice thundered from within the azure light. A thick golden arc erupted from his streak, twisting into a golden lightning serpent that lunged at the three white figures.
“Evil-Warding Lightning!” Old Devil Qian’s voice rang out in alarm, recognizing the divine thunder.
The three devil avatars, about to spew demonic mist to block Han Li, hastily vanished again.
The golden serpent struck empty air as the azure streak flashed past, reaching the barrier’s far side in an instant.
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