At the moment he was swallowed by the spatial rift, Han Li felt a dazzling radiance all around him, making it impossible to look directly at anything. He could only tightly shut his eyes. Simultaneously, due to the loss of his spiritual power, he felt dizzy and physically wretched to the extreme. He believed that if not for his current half-flood dragon, half-human resilient body, he would have long since succumbed to unconsciousness.
But moments later, Han Li sensed a stirring of spiritual energy within him, and it instantly flowed smoothly again—his power had been restored. Overjoyed, he swiftly regained control of his body, stabilizing his floating form. At the same time, the blinding radiance nearby flickered violently a few times before dissipating, revealing everything around him.
Han Li swept his gaze around and, with a “whoosh,” instantly teleported over ten zhang away from his original position. The reason was that the demonic soul was also floating in the air, nearly right beside him. This startled Han Li, who hastily retreated.
He didn’t take a detailed look at the surroundings, nor did he need to. The space here was only a few dozen zhang in size, and everything was laid bare at a glance. There was no one else present—just him and the demonic soul. This realization weighed heavily on Han Li’s heart.
A brief scan revealed that the spiritual energy here was astonishingly dense. The surroundings seemed to be planted with spiritual herbs and medicines, and there was also an intact stone pavilion and a half-collapsed corridor. The walls and sky of the space were shrouded in a gray haze, with nothing else visible.
This place appeared to be the remnants of a fragmented medicinal garden.
Han Li was puzzled, but with a formidable enemy before him and his life hanging by a thread, he had no mind to study the details. He coldly watched as the demonic soul opposite him began to glow with a greenish light, its fists raised, golden lightning arcs flickering across its body. At the same time, a purple fireball descended from above, hovering over its head.
This Violet Heavenly Flame had followed Han Li into this space shortly after he was swallowed by the rift, which gave him some slight reassurance—at least he wasn’t entirely defenseless.
The demonic soul, having finished surveying the area, revealed a look of astonishment on both its faces, but soon a strange expression emerged. “Haha! To think this is actually a remnant of the Ethereal Spirit Garden! A stroke of fortune amidst misfortune—this has allowed this venerable demon to escape calamity!” The demonic soul threw its heads back in wild laughter before gradually quieting down. Both heads then twisted eerily to stare at Han Li.
Han Li snorted coldly, flicking his sleeve as dozens of golden flying swords shot out, forming a wall of sword shadows before him. It was then that he noticed two of his Emerald Swarm Swords, infused with Gold Essence, were missing. This shocked him greatly! These swords were his lifebound treasures, yet he had no sense of where the missing two were. It seemed they had been left outside the spatial rift, unable to follow him here.
He couldn’t help but inwardly lament. If they had been ordinary treasures, it wouldn’t have mattered as much, but the Emerald Swarm Swords were forged as a set. Without those two, not only would he be unable to deploy the Great Golden Sword Formation, but the entire set’s power would also be greatly diminished.
This left Han Li with no choice. Since the sword formation was out of the question, he could only rely on the power of the Spirit Subduing Talisman and the Evil-Suppressing Divine Lightning to protect himself.
Seeing Han Li’s guarded stance, the demonic soul grinned hideously, its long tongue flicking in and out as a sinister aura erupted from it, instantly engulfing most of the space. The confined area was now filled with rolling demonic energy and howling winds.
Han Li took a deep breath, channeling all the remaining Evil-Suppressing Divine Lightning within him. Golden light erupted from his body as hundreds of golden arcs shot out, quickly coalescing into several thick, serpentine bolts of lightning that coiled around him, raising their heads in defiance.
“You still have this much Evil-Suppressing Divine Lightning?” The demonic soul showed surprise but soon sneered. Without another word, it raised both hands, unleashing two torrents of demonic wind that intertwined with the demonic energy in the air, transforming into countless black tendrils of varying thickness that lashed wildly through the sky.
Though the Evil-Suppressing Divine Lightning could suppress demonic energy, if the demonic energy was too abundant, it would be impossible to eradicate entirely. Both Han Li and the demonic soul understood this well, so Han Li’s expression darkened at the sight. To make matters worse, in this sealed space, his life-saving Blood Escape Technique was now useless.
With a fierce cry, the demonic soul sent all the tendrils surging toward Han Li like massive black pythons, their momentum terrifying.
Steeling himself, Han Li prepared to meet the attack head-on, the golden lightning serpents around him roaring in readiness. Meanwhile, the Violet Heavenly Flame, under his mental command, formed a massive firewall before him.
Just as Han Li was about to engage the demonic soul in a desperate battle, the entire space suddenly trembled violently without warning. A deafening hum filled the air as the gray sky turned blindingly white before shifting to a silvery hue. Both Han Li and the demonic soul froze in shock.
The clouds above churned violently before transforming into vast waves of silver-white flames. Then, with a thunderous boom, an enormous silver pillar of light shot down from the flames, striking precisely where the demonic soul stood.
Wherever the silver light touched, the demonic energy disintegrated. The demonic soul was directly enveloped, and Han Li could clearly see the terror on both its faces before its body was instantly consumed by the silver-white flames, vanishing without a trace.
The pillar of light flared brilliantly before exploding, scattering countless silver sparks that swept away the remaining demonic energy. All that remained where the demonic soul had stood were a few damaged magical artifacts—rings, banners, and the like—floating in the air.
With the demonic soul destroyed, the silver flames in the sky rapidly receded, restoring the gray haze. Han Li stood dumbfounded, his face a picture of disbelief.
“Silver flames! Such a powerful restriction—this doesn’t seem like the work of the human realm. This is quite intriguing.” Just as Han Li was at a loss, the voice of the Great Divination Sage echoed in his mind.
“What do you mean? Is this silver flame something of great significance?” Han Li finally snapped out of his daze, his face alight with joy. Such a formidable enemy had been annihilated by the spatial restrictions here without him lifting a finger—naturally, he was overjoyed. He raised a hand, recalling the golden lightning, violet flames, and flying swords one by one.
“The spatial restrictions here are so powerful they could easily destroy an ancient demon. This is clearly beyond the capabilities of any human realm formation. And since the silver flames carried no evil aura and targeted only the demon, this must be the work of a cultivator from the Spirit Realm. It seems the ancient cultivators who ultimately defeated the demons had help from the Spirit Realm after all!” The Great Divination Sage sighed after a moment of silence.
“So you’re saying the master of this space knew Spirit Realm cultivators?” Han Li’s expression shifted slightly.
“Most likely. This should be the ruins of the legendary Ethereal Spirit Garden. In ancient times, mighty cultivators could use certain treasures to carve out small spaces with spiritual energy far surpassing that of the human realm, using them as medicinal gardens to cultivate rare herbs. Of course, such places were exceedingly rare. But later, something happened, and all the Ethereal Spirit Gardens vanished without a trace. Subsequent cultivators could never find even one. Who would have thought there’d be one here in the Fallen Demon Valley? Though it seems this garden suffered some catastrophe, splitting into several fragments—this must be one of them.” The Great Divination Sage spoke slowly, his tone filled with emotion.
“Ethereal Spirit Garden! I’ve read about it in ancient texts but always thought it was just a myth. To think it truly exists.” Han Li murmured, his gaze involuntarily sweeping the surroundings again.
After a moment, his eyes landed on the artifacts left behind by the demonic soul. A thought struck him, and he pointed at the floating objects, which transformed into streaks of light and flew into his hand.
A quick glance made him frown in disappointment. These treasures had been tainted by demonic energy and then scorched by the silver flames, their spiritual essence nearly destroyed. Even if he could refine them later, they’d only retain a fraction of their original power—hardly worth the effort.
Shaking his head, Han Li casually stored the items in his pouch. Then, with a flash of bloodlight, he dispelled the Spirit Subduing Technique. A blood-red talisman shot out from his body, which he caught and examined closely.
“Seems it can only be used once more. The Spirit Subduing Talisman really doesn’t last long.” Han Li muttered before carefully storing it away. He then descended gracefully to the ground.
As his feet touched down, his sleeve flicked, and a small white fox shot out. In a flash of silver light, the fox transformed into a curvaceous, enchanting woman—Silvermoon.
“I thought Master would summon me to assist in the earlier battle. I didn’t expect to be called out only now.” Silvermoon smiled coyly, giving Han Li a graceful bow.
“Your fox form’s cultivation is too weak—what good would summoning you have done? But since you excel in escape techniques, help me search this area for hidden mechanisms or restrictions,” Han Li replied coldly.
“As you command!” Silvermoon nodded, her figure shimmering silver before vanishing into the ground.
Han Li sat cross-legged, closing his eyes as he slowly released his spiritual sense, meticulously examining every inch of the space for hidden secrets or an exit.
At first, his expression was calm, but after finding nothing, a trace of anxiety crept in. Moments later, however, his eyelids twitched, and a strange look crossed his face. He abruptly opened his eyes.
Standing up, he strode to a corner of the space, stopping before a cluster of peculiar spiritual herbs bearing purple berries, his face alight with excitement.
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