Just as Han Li’s figure shot out of the hall door, an earth-shattering explosion erupted from behind. Startled, Han Li swiftly turned his head to glance back.
To his astonishment, the Jade Pavilion behind him had suddenly exploded, followed by the abrupt rise of a golden sun, several meters in diameter, amidst the ruins. At the center of this radiant sun, a faint human figure could be seen swaying—apparently none other than Marquis Nanlong himself, who had unleashed some unknown secret technique.
Han Li’s heart chilled. The Jade Pavilion was no ordinary structure; otherwise, he would have pierced through its walls and fled earlier. Yet now, it had collapsed under Marquis Nanlong’s single strike. It seemed that when these Nascent Soul old monsters fought desperately, none could be underestimated!
With this thought, Han Li had already teleported to the center of the hall they had entered earlier. Glancing at the walls that had already sealed shut around him, he raised his hand without hesitation and flicked his fingers, sending out a several-foot-long green streak of light that struck the opposite stone wall.
With a *pfft*, the wall was pierced through with a hole the size of a bowl, but in the next instant, a flash of white light erased the hole as if it had never existed.
Frowning at this, Han Li was about to try another method when his expression suddenly changed. He spun around with ghostly speed.
Standing silently several meters behind him was Marquis Nanlong, his body radiating dazzling golden light, though his face was ashen and his spirit utterly exhausted.
Han Li’s expression remained impassive as he glanced past Marquis Nanlong. Behind him, a massive golden bowl floated upside-down in mid-air, its golden radiance enveloping the area below. Within it, flashes of black light and white mist flickered incessantly, accompanied by faint thunderous explosions.
A trace of surprise flickered across Han Li’s face.
Marquis Nanlong had somehow used an unimaginable divine ability to temporarily trap Wang Tiangu and the white-robed elder surnamed Yun, allowing himself to escape.
“The outer restriction can only be quickly undone with the Mountain-Splitting Banner. Fellow Daoist Han, I only have one such banner, so I’ll need some time. I must trouble you to delay them for me. Although my ancient treasure is powerful, it won’t hold them for long. They could break free at any moment,” Marquis Nanlong said with a strained smile, flipping his hand to reveal a small yellow banner spinning rapidly. He then began chanting an incantation, as if certain Han Li would comply.
After a brief hesitation, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and produced a jade-green formation disk—the same artifact he had used to break the Tai Miao Divine Restriction earlier. Without a word, he swiftly drew several green runes in the air and blew on them, causing them to float gently onto the disk. The disk immediately glowed with intense green light.
“Rise!” Han Li coldly commanded, forming a hand seal. The blue crystalline walls that had vanished earlier reappeared, sealing the hall’s entrance once more—except for the wall facing Marquis Nanlong.
“Fellow Daoist, you can control the Tai Miao Divine Restriction?” Marquis Nanlong paused his incantation in surprise.
“The power I can muster is less than one-tenth of its original strength. It won’t hold them for long either. Brother Nanlong, it’s best you open the exit before they break through,” Han Li replied gravely, showing no hint of pride.
Hearing this, Marquis Nanlong noticed the crystalline walls were indeed far dimmer than before. His joy faded as he flung the small banner forward, transforming it into a yellow streak that vanished into the wall. He then resumed his incantation.
At the same moment, a thunderous explosion erupted from within the hall. The blue crystalline walls Han Li had erected flickered violently as the sounds of destruction echoed clearly. It seemed Wang Tiangu and the others had broken free of Marquis Nanlong’s ancient treasure and were now assaulting the crystalline walls.
Han Li glanced at the stone wall, which had begun to glow faintly white, then at the flickering blue crystalline barrier. After a brief hesitation, he tossed out a spirit beast pouch, releasing a swarm of tri-colored Gold Devouring Beetles. With a hand seal, he instantly activated the Insect Armor Technique. The cloud of insects swarmed around him before forming a tri-colored armor over his body.
Marquis Nanlong observed Han Li’s actions with a fleeting look of surprise but said nothing, as escape was their priority.
Moments later, as the crystalline walls flickered wildly on the verge of collapse, the opposite stone wall rumbled and shook before splitting apart in a flash of white light, revealing a stone staircase.
At the sight, Marquis Nanlong’s body flashed with golden light, transforming into a golden streak that shot forward. Simultaneously, Han Li vanished from his spot as the lightning wings on his back flickered with electricity.
In the next instant, Han Li appeared ahead of Marquis Nanlong in the middle of the passage. But almost immediately, a crisp cracking sound echoed from below.
Han Li’s expression darkened. His lightning wings flared again, and in a blink, he was at the staircase’s entrance. He then activated his Thunder Evasion Technique fully, teleporting away in flashes.
Just as Han Li had fled several hundred meters, a piercing shriek erupted from the passage, followed by a dazzling golden streak shooting out.
The golden streak hovered briefly at the exit before Marquis Nanlong’s venomous voice rang out: “Remember this well—if you ever fall into my hands, I will ensure your bodies and souls are utterly annihilated!” With this curse, the golden streak flared brightly before blurring and transforming into an impossibly thin thread. After a few flickers, it shot into the distance at unimaginable speed, vanishing from sight within moments.
Meanwhile, Han Li had already become a tiny black dot flickering at the horizon.
“What kind of evasion techniques are those? How are they so fast?” A black streak followed the silver light, revealing a figure—Wang Tiangu—who asked solemnly.
“Marquis Nanlong used the ‘Thousand-Foot Thread,’ a secret technique created by the late Transcendent Cangkun. It consumes immense vitality and even essence blood to achieve instant long-distance travel, compressing the evasion light into a thread to conceal all traces. He hasn’t gone far—our spiritual sense just can’t detect him. As for that Han kid, his technique seems tied to those lightning-controlling wings, likely the legendary Thunder Evasion that mimics teleportation,” the white-robed elder surnamed Yun explained grimly as the silver light faded.
The old woman and the dark-faced cultivator emerged from the passage just in time to hear this.
“With such bizarre evasion techniques, won’t they escape? What do we do now?” the old woman asked nervously, her face pale.
“That Han kid is one thing, but if Marquis Nanlong escapes, we’re in deep trouble. Fellow Daoists Wang and Yun, you assured us this operation would eliminate him—that’s why we agreed to collaborate!” The dark-faced man’s expression was equally grim.
“Relax. Do you think he held his own against all of us earlier through sheer power? Already severely injured, he forced his cultivation higher with a secret technique, then used the vitality-draining ‘Thousand-Foot Thread.’ Even if we don’t pursue him, he’ll be bedridden for years. It might take him over a century to recover, and he’ll never regain his mid-Nascent Soul realm. Besides, when did I say we couldn’t track him?” Elder Yun sneered.
“Oh? Brother Yun, you mean…” The dark-faced man perked up.
“I planned to kill him here, so of course I took precautions. As long as he doesn’t flee beyond three hundred miles in one go, we can find him. In his current state, he can’t sustain ‘Thousand-Foot Thread’ for long. We’ll catch up and finish him then,” Elder Yun said confidently.
“That’s a relief! I wouldn’t have taken this risk if Fellow Daoist Wang hadn’t gifted me a Black Jade Lotus petal and promised to share the secrets of the Fallen Demon Valley afterward. Making an enemy of a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator is no small matter,” the old woman sighed, her tension easing alongside the dark-faced man’s.
“You’ve both gone to great lengths for the Fallen Demon Valley. But who knew Fellow Daoist Yun wasn’t a rogue cultivator but a Ghost Spirit Sect elder? Are there many such hidden elders among the six demonic sects?” The dark-faced man’s expression turned complicated.
“I joined the Ghost Spirit Sect early on but rarely involved myself in affairs, so even few within the sect know my true identity. I never meant to deceive anyone. Truthfully, as a descendant of Transcendent Qiongkun and an old friend, I had no wish to kill Marquis Nanlong. But when I learned he’d secretly befriended several Righteous Path elders from the Heavenly Extremes Sect and planned to join them, I couldn’t ignore it. I hinted for him to reconsider, but he refused. Worse, he intended to use the sect’s influence to enter the Fallen Demon Valley for treasures. I couldn’t allow the Righteous Path to grow stronger, so I had no choice,” Elder Yun explained coolly, shaking his head.
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