The Soul-Crying Beast had already awakened its spiritual intelligence. After a brief communication with Han Li, he learned that the beast had suddenly sensed a terrifying ghostly force deep within the mountain range—something so powerful that even it felt threatened, becoming restless and agitated.
Given that the Soul-Crying Beast was naturally adept at suppressing spirits, the fact that it felt threatened by this ghostly force spoke volumes about the horror of the entity.
Though the beast might not be entirely powerless against it, Han Li had no intention of taking such a risk.
Thus, he immediately abandoned his plan to enter the mountain range, opting instead to take a longer detour.
These matters involved the Soul-Crying Beast’s secrets, so Han Li naturally didn’t explain in detail to Lei Lan and Bai Bi, offering only vague excuses.
This left the two Tianpeng Clan Saints slightly dissatisfied. Han Li inwardly sneered but paid them no mind.
He had no intention of staying long with the Tianpeng Clan, so why should he care about their opinions? As long as they didn’t hinder him during this trial, that was enough.
With this in mind, Han Li offered no further explanations to Bai Bi and Lei Lan, and the two Saints also lost interest in pressing the matter.
For a time, the spirit carriage fell into an eerie silence.
Among the three, Han Li stood at the front, gazing into the distance, Bai Bi lowered his head in thought, and Lei Lan simply closed her eyes to meditate.
Under Han Li’s full control, the spirit carriage soon veered away from the mountain range, flying farther and farther until it disappeared back into the dim wilderness.
After an unknown amount of time, Han Li’s expression suddenly shifted. He withdrew his gaze from the distance and turned his head to look at the void behind the carriage, his eyes narrowing slightly.
His movement naturally caught the attention of Lei Lan and Bai Bi.
One raised his head, while the other opened her eyes.
Following Han Li’s gaze, they saw only a hazy gray expanse around the carriage—nothing unusual. Due to the suppression of divine sense in the Abyss, they couldn’t even extend their senses to investigate. After a moment of confusion, they turned questioning looks toward Han Li.
Han Li stood motionless in the carriage, his face expressionless, but a faint blue light flickered in his pupils as he remained silent.
“Brother Han…” Bai Bi finally couldn’t resist asking what was happening, but just as he spoke, Han Li suddenly raised two fingers and lightly slashed through the air.
With a *whoosh*, a streak of golden light flashed past the rear of the carriage.
A startling scene unfolded before Bai Bi and Lei Lan.
Where the golden light passed, a burst of green mist suddenly appeared out of thin air, only to be sliced in two by the strike.
From within the mist came a series of furious growls. The two halves of the green mist shot backward before merging back together.
The mist churned and transformed into a bizarre yellow-furred demonic ape—the same Vengeful Ape that had killed a Feiling Clan Saint.
It had finally caught up to the spirit carriage and, overjoyed, had planned to sneak close and envelop the vehicle in poisonous mist to eliminate Han Li and the others.
But to its shock, Han Li’s divine sense far surpassed that of a typical Spirit Transformation cultivator, and his Brightsight Spirit Eyes easily saw through its illusions. With its concealment broken, it had no choice but to reveal itself.
At the sight of the demon ape, Lei Lan and Bai Bi gasped, darting out of the carriage to flank it.
Even though their divine senses were suppressed, the fact that they hadn’t detected the ape at such close range spoke to the potency of its illusionary techniques. Yet Han Li, also at the Spirit General level, had somehow seen through it.
The two stared warily at the ape, deeply puzzled.
Meanwhile, the spirit carriage came to a steady halt under Han Li’s control. He gazed silently at the creature behind them.
“Was it you three surface-dwellers who disrupted my master’s ritual?” the Vengeful Ape demanded coldly, its eyes wide with fury.
“Ritual? What ritual? When did we do such a thing?” Bai Bi replied with a forced smile, though he showed no surprise at the ape’s ability to speak human language.
“In the desert ahead, did you destroy a Giant Spirit Flower? That was meant for my master’s ritual!” The ape’s pupils gleamed with cold light as it snarled.
“No,” Han Li replied flatly, his expression unchanging despite the mention of the Giant Spirit Flower.
His tone was so calm and decisive that the ape faltered for a moment. But when it scanned Lei Lan and Bai Bi’s faces and noticed their unease, its fury reignited.
“You reek of the sacrificial blood of the Giant Spirit Flower! How dare you lie to me? I’ll devour you whole and report back to my master!” The ape spun rapidly, transforming into a vast green mist that surged toward the three.
“Seeking death!” Bai Bi’s smile vanished as he flapped his wings violently toward the mist.
A sharp whistling sound filled the air as countless golden threads shot forth, riddling the mist with holes.
Yet the mist merely shimmered with green light before reforming seamlessly.
On the other side, Lei Lan, sensing danger, formed a hand seal and unleashed two thick silver arcs from her sleeves. They struck the mist and exploded in the center, leaving two massive gaps.
Before Lei Lan could even smirk, the ape’s mocking laughter echoed from within the mist.
The mist swirled and reformed, swelling ominously as it descended once more.
Bai Bi and Lei Lan paled, stunned that a mere vengeful spirit ape could be so formidable. One hastily summoned a green wooden comb, while the other wreathed herself in lightning, preparing another spell.
But Han Li merely snorted and acted.
A vast azure light erupted from his back, forming the phantom of a giant roc. The bird opened its beak and unleashed a deafening roar as a beam of cyan light shot forth, piercing the heart of the mist.
The beam dispersed into countless threads before detonating.
A violent gale erupted, sweeping up the green mist and scattering it into the sky until nothing remained.
Lei Lan and Bai Bi stared in shock.
Had such a troublesome creature been wiped out so easily?
Yet Han Li’s expression flickered as he suddenly twisted his shoulders, releasing eight thick golden sword beams that slashed toward eight points in the void behind him.
Eight strange shrieks rang out as eight green shadows flickered into view, narrowly dodging the attacks.
“You can truly see through our movements!” one of the shadows—smaller and fuzzier than the original ape—exclaimed in disbelief.
“Such paltry illusions are nothing special. What kind of creature are you? You’re no Vengeful Ape—they don’t possess such cloning abilities,” Han Li said coolly, his figure blurring as he turned to face the green shadows.
Lei Lan and Bai Bi hastily spun around, their hearts pounding.
This reaction showed that despite their considerable cultivation and skills, they lacked true life-and-death combat experience. No wonder the Tianpeng Clan elders had doubted their ability to survive the trial alone.
“Surface-dweller, you think to pry into my origins? Dream on! You’re no ordinary Feiling clansman. On the surface, I might not be able to touch you, but in this Abyss, even if your cultivation surpasses mine, you stand no chance!” Another shadow spoke this time, and all eight burst into laughter before solidifying into identical demon apes.
Each ape brandished a sinister green cleaver, its blade curling backward as they lunged at the trio.
Han Li’s brow twitched. He raised a jade-white hand and splayed his fingers.
A five-colored flame erupted from his fingertips, sweeping up all eight apes in an instant.
The flames blazed with radiant light, slowing the apes’ movements to a crawl.
Seizing the moment, Han Li spat out a ball of silver fire.
With a mental command, it exploded into eight silver arrows that shot forth like lightning.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
The arrows pierced the immobilized apes, who could only roar in fury as silver flames erupted from their chests, consuming them in seconds.
The creature hadn’t even had time to unleash a fraction of its power before being utterly annihilated—not even its soul escaped!
As the silver flames coalesced back into a firebird and vanished into Han Li’s body, Lei Lan and Bai Bi stood dumbfounded.
Though they’d only exchanged a single blow with the ape, they’d sensed its terrifying strength. They’d expected a brutal battle.
Yet Han Li had obliterated it with effortless ease. The sheer disparity left them both awed and horrified.
Only now did they truly grasp the gap between themselves and Han Li, their gazes toward him now tinged with something unreadable.
“Let’s go. That creature mentioned a ‘master.’ We may not be out of trouble yet,” Han Li said indifferently, tapping the spirit carriage with his foot.
A milky-white glow enveloped the vehicle as it resumed its flight.
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