Chapter 2280: Battle of Divine Consciousness

“A Mahayana-stage being!” Han Li’s heart tightened, and the escaping light around his body dimmed as he came to an abrupt halt.

At that moment, the terrifying divine sense swept back and forth across the surrounding ten-thousand-mile radius several times before finally withdrawing with apparent satisfaction.

For the next while, no further anomalies emerged from the depths of the mountain range.

“This divine sense isn’t something an ordinary adult Rakshasa Spider could release. Could there truly be a Rakshasa Spider here that surpasses even the average Mahayana-stage being? If such a being exists, then continuing to approach would likely render ordinary concealment techniques useless against its divine sense. However, the fact that this divine sense can extend so far without weakening suggests it must be amplified by some kind of treasure.” Han Li remained motionless, his expression grave as he pondered.

If this truly was an existence comparable to a True Spirit, even he couldn’t afford to ignore it.

After a long moment of contemplation, he finally made a decision. With a flip of his hand, a purple talisman appeared and exploded into a cloud of violet mist that enveloped him. Countless runes surged forth, forming a small patch of purple fog.

When the mist silently dispersed, the space within was left completely empty.

To avoid alerting the enemy, Han Li had once again activated the Taiyi Transformation Talisman.

Now in an ethereal state, he advanced fearlessly toward the heart of the mountain range. Though his speed was limited due to his incorporeal form, each drift carried him dozens of zhang forward, and in moments, he had entered the mountains.

Thanks to a strand of divine sense he had left on the young woman, he could still clearly sense her location despite being thousands of miles away.

Thus, Han Li was in no hurry to close the distance, following her at a steady pace.

However, after traveling just over ten thousand miles into the mountains, his brow furrowed involuntarily.

He had assumed that since the Rakshasa Spiders had built their nest here, the area would be sparsely populated by other creatures, at least none too powerful.

Yet, when he discreetly scanned the surroundings with his divine sense, he discovered dozens of beasts at the Deity Transformation and Void Refinement stages, along with two at the Body Integration stage, all within just the periphery of the mountain range.

The two monstrous birds—one crimson as fire and massive as an ox, the other covered in steel-gray feathers with an ugly fleshy growth on its head—perched on a thick branch of a towering tree a thousand miles away. One stood tall, its head swiveling vigilantly, while the other appeared half-asleep, its eyes barely open.

The other beasts, meanwhile, had taken on semi-human, semi-beast forms and patrolled the area in organized groups.

These creatures of the Minor Rakshasa Realm seemed to have all been subjugated by the Rakshasa Spiders.

Han Li was both shocked and intrigued.

When the Spirit Monarch and others had spoken of the Rakshasa Spiders, they had never mentioned their ability to recruit other beasts.

Either the Spirit Monarch and his peers had underestimated the intelligence of the Rakshasa Spiders from the start, or these monsters had undergone some mutation within the Minor Rakshasa Realm. Otherwise, the current situation was simply too bizarre.

Recalling the earlier Rakshasa Spider that had taken human form at the Void Refinement stage, the latter possibility seemed far more likely.

Han Li silently mulled over this, his wariness toward the Rakshasa Spiders growing. Yet, he continued to follow the young woman from a distance without hesitation.

After traveling nearly a million miles—roughly the time it took to finish a meal—Han Li finally spotted a towering stone city rising from a plain amidst the mountains.

Built entirely of massive blue stones, the city’s walls stood hundreds of zhang high, yet the entire structure spanned no more than a few dozen miles in circumference, resembling a fortress more than a city.

Strangely, aside from various stone statues of beasts lining the towering walls, the battlements were completely deserted, devoid of any guards.

Even more bizarrely, the city had no gates—its towering walls formed an impenetrable barrier.

Han Li’s eyes flashed with blue light as he scrutinized the city’s exterior without using his divine sense, relying solely on his spiritual vision.

But when he intensified his gaze, attempting to pierce through the walls and peer inside, countless white runes suddenly surged before his eyes, followed by blooming white lotuses that blocked his vision.

“The Great Transformation White Lotus Restriction! How is this possible?”

Han Li gasped, hastily withdrawing his spiritual vision, his face a mask of shock.

The restriction he had just witnessed was a renowned, exclusive technique of a major clan from the Spirit Realm—one capable of even temporarily blocking the divine sense of a Mahayana-stage being. How could the Rakshasa Spiders have deployed it?

Before his astonishment could fade, a strand of divine sense in his consciousness suddenly twitched, and his expression darkened.

At the same moment, a thunderous boom erupted from the seemingly silent stone city, and a colossal, blood-red spider phantom materialized in the sky.

The spider’s Dharma Form turned its chilling, multifaceted eyes slightly, and the same terrifying divine sense that had appeared at the mountain’s edge once again descended upon the land, sweeping across everything within a ten-thousand-mile radius in an instant.

Though formidable, the divine sense passed over Han Li’s ethereal form without detecting anything amiss and withdrew back into the massive Dharma Form.

Yet, finding no anomalies only seemed to provoke the spider’s wrath. A bone-chilling snort echoed, followed by a hoarse woman’s voice ringing out from the city:

“Which fellow Daoist has come to my Celestial Spider City? Regardless of your intentions in leaving a trace of divine sense on my descendant, you are now a guest. I welcome you to enter the city for a discussion.”

The same words reverberated through the air several times, audible to most beings in the mountain range.

Aside from the subjugated beasts trembling and prostrating themselves, the area around the city remained eerily silent, with no sign of anyone stepping forward.

“Fine, very well. It seems you are confident in your concealment techniques and have decided to oppose me. In that case, I shall await your esteemed presence in the city at your leisure.” The woman’s voice turned shrill with fury. A violent ripple surged in the sky as the giant spider Dharma Form dissipated, and the city fell silent once more.

Han Li, standing hundreds of miles away, narrowed his eyes at the city. A faint smirk curled his lips as he unleashed his full divine sense without restraint, sending it crashing toward the city like a tidal wave.

A white lotus phantom flickered above the city, clashing violently with Han Li’s overwhelming divine sense.

A series of thunderous booms erupted in the sky as the white lotus twisted and contorted under the pressure before finally exploding with a deafening roar.

Han Li had unleashed nearly seventy percent of his divine sense—a force equivalent to the combined might of three or four ordinary Mahayana-stage beings.

Even the famed Great Transformation White Lotus Restriction couldn’t withstand such brute force.

Had this divine sense truly descended upon the city, every living being below the Mahayana stage would have had their souls crushed instantly.

“Audacious!”

The hoarse woman’s voice roared from the city as her divine sense surged upward, colliding head-on with Han Li’s.

The sky above the city trembled as if splitting apart, the deafening clashes resembling heavenly thunder.

Though the woman’s divine sense surpassed that of an ordinary Mahayana-stage being, it was no match for Han Li’s, amplified by the Spirit Refinement Technique. Within a few exchanges, she was forced into retreat.

“Old ghost, why are you holding back? Act now!” the woman shrieked in fury.

Han Li’s pupils constricted.

Almost simultaneously, a cold male snort echoed from the city, and another powerful divine sense erupted from within, merging briefly with the woman’s to jointly resist Han Li’s onslaught.

“Another extraordinary Mahayana,” Han Li murmured, his expression shifting slightly after testing the newcomer’s divine sense.

Yet when he realized their combined strength could barely hold him off, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

With a swift hand seal, he poured an additional twenty percent of his divine sense into the clash, bringing the total to ninety percent.

The sky quaked as if the heavens were collapsing.

The woman and the male Mahayana in the city paled in shock.

Under Han Li’s intensified pressure, their divine senses were gradually forced back once more.

“Impossible! How can any being possess such monstrous divine sense? Who is this man?” the two couldn’t help but wonder, a trace of fear creeping into their thoughts.

Han Li remained expressionless, though his eyes flickered as he considered unleashing his final ten percent to cripple the two in one strike.

After all, divine sense battles were perilous—second only to direct soul combat.

But before he could act, several more divine senses, each equivalent to an ordinary Mahayana’s, erupted from the city, charging toward his with ferocious intent.

This time, Han Li’s expression finally changed.