Han Li felt the spiritual power within his body congeal, unable to be drawn out in the slightest. Clearly, these strange soul-binding threads had sealed his true essence.
A wave of dread washed over him, and he hurriedly focused his gaze on the black threads. They densely covered every part of his body, pitch-black and glossy, emitting a faint Yin energy. They were clearly extremely sinister and malicious artifacts.
Han Li’s face twitched involuntarily. When he had first obtained the golden net, he hadn’t been without suspicion that the other party had tampered with it. However, after carefully inspecting it several times, he had found nothing unusual.
With no other pure gold magical tools on him, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and use it. But after successfully capturing the spirit ginseng’s avatar with the golden net, he had temporarily set aside his doubts. Little did he expect that as soon as he turned against the other party, he would be immediately ambushed using this very item, leaving even his spiritual power and true essence temporarily unusable.
However, the ashen color on Han Li’s face lasted only a moment before returning to normal. He immediately realized that the protective formation outside was still active; the other party wouldn’t be able to do anything to him for a while. That was enough time for him to employ a method to break free from these restraints.
Thinking this, Han Li let out a cold laugh and was about to summon the Gold Devouring Beetles above his head when a soft *pfft* sound came from behind him.
The sound was extremely faint. If Han Li hadn’t already expanded his spiritual sense to cover the entire formation, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the anomaly. His hair stood on end, and without a second thought, he spun around sharply while emitting a sharp whistle. The swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles in the air surged toward his rear like a tidal wave.
A loud *boom* echoed from behind, and Han Li’s expression darkened.
He saw the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles blocking the path of a bizarre, emerald-green figure, frantically assaulting it.
Although the figure’s features were blurred and it was shrouded in ghostly energy, its two arms had transformed into two massive emerald pythons, wildly thrashing about, knocking away any Gold Devouring Beetles that came near, preventing them from getting within half a step. For the moment, the beetle swarm was unable to achieve anything.
What baffled Han Li even more was that the formation’s protective barrier behind him was still intact. How had this ghostly figure entered behind him without triggering the restrictions?
Before Han Li could recover from his shock, a stream of curses erupted from the green figure.
“What kind of damned bugs are these? They can even devour my intangible form! This is too sinister!” The voice was that of the unfamiliar man from earlier, now sounding rather flustered and exasperated.
Only then did Han Li notice that although the two green pythons were knocking the Gold Devouring Beetles away, upon contact, the beetles managed to bite them once or twice, swallowing specks of green light into their abdomens. No wonder the other party was so alarmed and furious.
But this person had just been speaking from within the clouds. When had he lurked behind him to launch a sneak attack? Han Li was utterly baffled, but the thought only flashed through his mind for an instant—now was not the time to dwell on it.
He had no intention of engaging in conversation with the other party. Another sharp whistle left his lips. Immediately, a small portion of the Gold Devouring Beetles broke away from the battle and flew toward him, instantly covering his body and beginning to voraciously tear at the black threads.
Due to the loss of his spiritual power, Han Li could only barely command the beetles using sound. He needed to break free before the other party found a way to deal with the Gold Devouring Beetles. After all, he vividly remembered how the beetles had been severely weakened by ghostly howls within the ghost mist. He feared the other party might employ a similar tactic, which would be disastrous.
Just then, the protective shield around him shuddered as if struck by something heavy. Yellow light flickered several times before the light wall began to sway.
Seeing this, Han Li coldly glanced back. It was Xuangu, high in the air, who had launched an attack at this moment to coordinate with the green figure’s actions.
Massive black Qi projectiles, each about ten feet in diameter, shot out from the dark clouds, striking the light shield fiercely. It seemed the restrictions wouldn’t hold much longer.
A strange light flickered in Han Li’s eyes, but he turned back without paying it further mind. He stared expressionlessly, lips sealed, at the frenzied green figure held back by the beetles over ten zhang away.
In this short moment, the soul-binding threads on his body had already been chewed through by nearly half by the flying insects. Han Li could feel his true essence and spiritual power stirring restlessly, and he couldn’t help but feel a sliver of joy.
As long as his spiritual power could recover, he had numerous methods at his disposal.
But at that moment, the green figure let out a low roar. Its body suddenly spun rapidly like a top, transforming into a swiftly rotating giant top, and plunged into the beetle swarm ahead, charging several zhang forward, getting closer to Han Li.
Nearly ten thousand Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed forward relentlessly. Although most were flung away by the rapidly spinning top, a small portion managed to cling to it, drastically reducing its speed.
Seeing this, the other beetles unceremoniously piled on. Moments later, the green figure was completely covered in beetles, unable to rotate any further. It seemed the scene of the swarm devouring the ghost within the mist was about to repeat itself.
But Han Li grew wary! Faced with what seemed like a suicidal move by the green ghostly figure, he felt not joy but a strong sense of foreboding. And what happened next immediately confirmed Han Li’s premonition.
The green figure, covered in Gold Devouring Beetles, inflated rapidly between one breath and the next, instantly swelling into a bloated, round ball while emitting a dazzling green radiance.
“Not good!” Han Li inwardly exclaimed, wanting to recall the beetles. But before he could make a sound, with a deafening *BANG*, the ball exploded. An intensely Yin-cold aura instantly engulfed all the flying insects.
Then, from the center of the explosion, where the green light was brightest, a faint green streak shot out under the cover of the blast, flashing toward Han Li—who was still partially bound by the remaining black threads—in the blink of an eye.
“Your body belongs to me now!” Amid maniacal laughter, the green streak suddenly flickered and transformed into a ferocious ghost head several chi in size (about a foot wide), pouncing fiercely.
Seeing this from above, a smile appeared on Xuangu’s face, and he immediately ceased his attack, even though the protective shield seemed on the verge of breaking after just a few more hits.
Han Li stared coldly at the ghost head lunging toward him. But when it flew within just a zhang’s distance, a sinister glint flashed in his eyes, and an intense murderous aura erupted from his body.
This murderous aura was so fierce it seemed almost tangible, causing the ghost head, which had flown right up to him, to pause momentarily in astonishment.
Han Li suddenly opened his mouth, and a thick golden lightning arc shot out, piercing through the ghost face—which was too close to dodge—instantly. The ghost head let out a mournful cry, immediately dispersing into a cloud of green Qi under the golden arc. It emitted a shocked and furious roar before desperately trying to flee backward.
But how would Han Li let it escape so easily now? Immediately, pale golden lightning arcs surged around his body. The black threads binding him shattered completely in that instant.
Without hesitation, Han Li’s figure blurred. After several afterimages, he actually overtook the retreating green Qi from behind.
Then, expressionlessly, he raised his hand and reached out fiercely. Pale golden lightning arcs suddenly appeared on his five fingers. The green Qi instantly dissipated into nothingness, and Han Li’s hand now held a sparkling emerald-green bead, emitting a strange light as if it were alive.
Han Li merely gave it a cold glance before unceremoniously closing his fingers. With a *snap*, the bead, struck by the lightning arcs, turned into powder.
A Han Li who could wield the Evil-Suppressing Divine Lightning without restraint could easily kill even a ghost king-level green shadow without a physical body in an instant. The ease of it surprised even Han Li himself.
However, Han Li now raised his head to look at Xuangu in mid-air, his expression unchanged, and said, “Hand over the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng to me, and I can pretend nothing happened. We can continue cooperating! Otherwise, it will be your death or mine!” Han Li’s voice was very calm, but the chilling intent within it made Xuangu’s expression extremely grim.
“Good! Good! Good!” Xuangu the Transcendent stared straight at Han Li and, after a long moment, actually blurted out three ‘goods’ in succession.
This made Han Li narrow his eyes, staring fixedly at the other party.
“Since his soul possession failed, that means his skills were lacking. Naturally, I will only cooperate with the victorious party. Here is the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng; catch it.” Xuangu in mid-air retracted the dark clouds around him, revealing his form.
Then, with a wave of his hand, a golden box shot straight toward Han Li from the air.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage