Chapter 1194: Extracting the Liquid

Han Li took a deep breath at the sight, his wings trembling behind him as he vanished from his original spot in an instant.

The next moment, he reappeared beside the formation and, without hesitation, summoned the three artifacts on the ground with a wave of his hand.

The gourd, jade vial, and alms bowl immediately rose into the air, hovering uncertainly above Han Li’s head.

At that moment, the full moon in the sky tilted slightly, and a strange silver beam descended vertically from its surface, enveloping the Heavenly Spirit Beast below.

A rich fragrance filled the air as the moon’s surface rippled like water, and something seemed about to drip from it.

Han Li wasted no more time. With a flicker of movement, he transformed into a cyan streak of light, soaring into the sky with the three artifacts above him.

Just then, the moon finally released a fist-sized drop of milky-white liquid. However, the moment it left the moon, the liquid dispersed into countless specks of white light, drifting slowly down the silver beam toward the Heavenly Spirit Beast. Strangely, these specks could only exist within the beam—any that strayed beyond its confines instantly vanished.

As the white specks touched the beast’s body, they disappeared one by one into its flesh.

The Heavenly Spirit Beast, which had been weakened from resisting the heavenly tribulation, immediately perked up after absorbing just a few of these specks. It exhaled a burst of demonic energy, drawing all the remaining light specks into its mouth. As if stimulated, its body suddenly swelled even larger.

The moon’s surface rippled again, as if preparing to release another drop of liquid, which similarly transformed into countless white specks drifting downward.

Meanwhile, the cyan streak of light flickered several times as it approached the moon within the dark clouds. But when it was still about a hundred zhang away, silver arcs crackled in the surrounding air, emerging from the clouds with thunderous roars and converging toward Han Li.

For a moment, it seemed as though countless silver serpents were lunging at him, an awe-inspiring sight.

Even Han Li, who had weathered countless storms, was startled by the scene.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Spirit Beast had warned him of this in advance. Though surprised, he calmly flipped his hand, revealing a prepared object—a glowing green ruler, none other than the Spirit Treasure, the Eight Spirit Ruler!

As the silver arcs were about to strike, Han Li swung the wooden ruler within his escape light.

Palm-sized silver lotuses materialized around him, densely packed, shielding the cyan streak of light completely.

The arcs struck the lotuses, erupting in bursts of thunder as countless fine lightning bolts danced and flickered.

Under the relentless assault, the lotuses dissipated one after another, only to be immediately replaced by new ones, as if endless in number. They stubbornly resisted the terrifying lightning strikes.

In a flash, the cyan streak reached the dark clouds, now only a dozen zhang away from the moon.

Just as the second drop of milky-white liquid dripped from the moon, Han Li’s escape light halted abruptly, as though he had entered a forbidden zone. Lightning arcs surged from all directions, even more densely than before.

Encased in countless silver lotuses, Han Li ignored the arcs and instead pointed sharply at the three artifacts before him.

The gourd, jade vial, and alms bowl transformed into three streaks of spiritual light, shooting straight toward the moon.

The moment they left Han Li’s escape light, a dense barrage of lightning arcs engulfed him.

A far more violent thunderstorm erupted around Han Li, as though he were caught in a tempest of lightning. Though the Eight Spirit Ruler’s lotuses continued to emerge endlessly, they gradually showed signs of strain.

The protected area shrank rapidly, closing in on Han Li.

Yet he paid no heed, focusing entirely on guiding the three artifacts toward the moon.

Indeed, they were moving slowly—painfully so.

For some reason, as the artifacts approached within three zhang of the moon, they became as heavy as mountains, as if triggering some restriction. Their speed slowed to a crawl, inching forward bit by bit.

Meanwhile, the moon had finished releasing the second drop of spiritual liquid. Its glow flickered, growing increasingly indistinct, as though it were about to vanish.

At the same time, the dark clouds churned violently, and an immense spiritual pressure began to form—a clear sign that the ninth wave of lightning was about to descend.

Seeing the artifacts still several feet away from the moon, Han Li could no longer remain patient.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he suddenly roared, concentrating his divine sense and unleashing a Soul-Piercing Spike toward the moon.

An invisible force rippled around the moon, creating a disturbance like water waves. The three artifacts, caught within this ripple, suddenly accelerated.

Without hesitation, Han Li spat out a mouthful of essence blood, flicking his fingers rapidly to disperse it into a mist that vanished in a flash.

A bizarre scene unfolded.

The three artifacts, originally of different colors, suddenly emitted a bloody glow. Trembling, they broke free from their restraints and plunged into the moon in the void.

Yet, at the same moment, the already indistinct moon flickered and disappeared entirely, leaving only the three artifacts floating alone in the void.

Whether they had retrieved anything from the moon or returned empty-handed, even Han Li couldn’t say for sure.

With a deafening thunderclap, all the lightning arcs surrounding Han Li’s escape light vanished into the dark clouds.

Instead of relaxing, Han Li’s expression grew solemn.

With a flicker of his gaze, he beckoned toward the distance.

The gourd and other artifacts shot back to him.

Without a word, he enveloped them in cyan light and descended swiftly, landing beside the formation below.

After a quick glance, he grabbed the yellow gourd, peered inside, and then made it vanish with a flip of his hand.

The other two artifacts were stowed away into his storage pouch without a second look.

Throughout it all, Han Li’s expression remained unreadable, betraying no emotion. Yet, the faint fragrance emanating from the artifacts suggested his efforts had not been in vain.

The Heavenly Spirit Beast, meanwhile, paid no attention to this matter, its focus entirely on the heavenly tribulation above.

Though the scattered lightning arcs in the sky had disappeared, an immense fluctuation of power gathered in the dark clouds directly above the beast, demanding its full concentration.

The beast’s silver demonic clouds had completely dissipated, leaving it standing bare within the formation, not even releasing its usual gray-white demonic energy—apparently aware that such energy would be useless against the coming tribulation.

Just as Han Li was about to speak, a deep, muffled thunderclap echoed from the sky.

A colossal silver arc, as thick as a water vat and over twenty zhang long, emerged from the dark clouds. After several flashes, it transformed into a massive silver flood dragon, hurtling toward the Heavenly Spirit Beast below.

Before it even struck, the silver lightning radiating from the dragon illuminated half the sky, its momentum truly terrifying.

The Heavenly Spirit Beast’s expression changed drastically. Without hesitation, it spat out a grayish orb—its life-bound demon core—which spun rapidly above its head.

But before the silver dragon could reach it, Han Li, standing outside the formation, acted.

With a flick of his hand, a small silver shield shot out, expanding into a silver barrier that enveloped the Heavenly Spirit Beast. Han Li then watched calmly as the silver dragon descended, a faint smile on his lips.

Seeing this, the Heavenly Spirit Beast visibly relaxed.

With a thunderous boom, the silver dragon struck the barrier, erupting in blinding light. Though the barrier trembled violently, it held firm.

Instead of dissipating, the silver dragon coiled around the barrier, striking repeatedly. Each impact reduced its size, and after over a dozen strikes, it was only half its original size.

“Enough. Fellow Daoist, you may withdraw your treasure now. I can handle the rest,” the Heavenly Spirit Beast called out from within the barrier.

Han Li wasn’t surprised. With a wave, the silver barrier vanished.

On their journey here, the beast had explained: while others could assist in mitigating the heavenly tribulation, the final resistance had to be borne by the recipient alone. Otherwise, the tribulation would repeat endlessly. Thus, Han Li’s role was merely to weaken the majority of the remaining three waves.

With the barrier gone, the silver dragon lunged at the beast, only to be intercepted by the gray-white demon core.

The massive lightning strike caused the orb to tremble slightly, but it held firm, effortlessly blocking the weakened attack.

No matter how the dragon attacked, the core always moved to block it. With each thunderous collision, the dragon shrank further.

Watching this, Han Li stroked his chin and glanced at the sky, musing silently:

*”It seems handling the last two waves won’t be an issue. After all, this is merely the tribulation of an eighth-grade demon beast. No matter how terrifying it is for them, it’s nothing to me. The real question is whether this beast can endure the remaining tribulation on its own.”*