“What if I say ‘no’?” Han Li asked calmly, his tone unhurried.
“Since you’ve returned from overseas, you shouldn’t be so foolish! No matter how precious a treasure is, it’s useless if you’re dead,” the foreigner within the red light chuckled darkly.
“You wouldn’t dare attack me here, would you? The Jiao Chi pursuers are everywhere. Do you really want us both to end up as their prisoners?” Han Li’s voice turned icy, his expression frosty.
At these words, the foreigner in the red light frowned slightly. But then, with a flip of his hand, he produced a translucent vial and held it up for Han Li to see clearly.
Inside the vial was a pill, crimson as blood yet faintly shimmering with golden light!
“Fellow Daoist Han, even if you hand that item over to the Wangu Clan, the best you’ll get is a single Wanmiao Pill. Though I don’t have that pill, I do possess a ‘Golden Blood Pill,’ second only to it in efficacy—equally capable of helping you break through the bottleneck of the upper three tiers. How about exchanging this pill for the jade box in your hands?” The foreigner in the red light stared intently at Han Li as he spoke.
“Golden Blood Pill!” Han Li’s pupils contracted slightly.
Though he had never heard of this pill before, a sweep of his divine sense confirmed the extraordinary medicinal aura emanating from the vial.
Gazing at the crystal vial in the other’s hand, Han Li fell silent, seemingly deep in thought over the proposal.
“Brother Han, you’d best decide quickly. Those Jiao Chi pursuers could arrive at any moment,” the foreigner urged, concealing his delight beneath a neutral expression.
Unbeknownst to him, however, Han Li’s shadow had subtly elongated without notice—a change imperceptible unless one had been scrutinizing it from the start.
Simultaneously, faint green threads, nearly invisible, silently extended from the soles of Han Li’s feet, vanishing into the earth.
“May I ask which clan you belong to?” Han Li suddenly inquired.
“What do you mean? We of the Huoyue Clan are unmistakable. Are you feigning ignorance?” The foreigner in the red light frowned, replying with a cold snort.
“Is that so? I thought you might be from the Jiao Chi Clan, planning to take the jade box from me before turning hostile,” Han Li said, a trace of eeriness flashing across his face.
“Are you out of your mind? I am clearly a Huoyue. How could I side with the Jiao Chi?” The foreigner’s expression darkened with anger.
“Whether you’re truly a Huoyue matters little to me. But the tricks you played earlier in the pavilion—do you deny those as well? Rather than handing my treasure to you, why don’t you give me yours instead? After all, delivering one item or two makes no difference to me,” Han Li remarked coolly.
Halfway through his words, the foreigner’s face twisted in alarm. As soon as Han Li finished speaking, the Huoyue man swiftly formed a hand seal. The red light around him swirled, and a crimson moon shot into the sky, vanishing after a few flickers.
At the same time, his figure blurred, splitting into three identical phantoms within the red light. All three stood with their hands behind their backs, staring expressionlessly at Han Li.
Faced with this, Han Li remained motionless, merely letting out a laugh as he clapped his hands. “A clever scheme—first luring the Jiao Chi with your spiritual energy, then feigning retreat to stall me, ensuring I can’t escape.”
The three phantoms showed a flicker of surprise at Han Li’s composure, but the central one spoke coldly: “I don’t know how you detected the mark I left on the puppet statue, but now that I’ve summoned reinforcements, you won’t escape. Hand over the jade box, and I might plead for your life.”
His tone brimmed with confidence—understandably so, as the Jiao Chi were mere miles away and would arrive shortly.
“Is this what you just released?” Han Li smirked, suddenly reaching into the air. A red flash later, a fist-sized crimson orb materialized in his palm.
“Impossible! How—?” The three phantoms shuddered, their faces a mix of shock and fury.
The orb was none other than the crimson moon energy the Huoyue man had just launched skyward.
Before Han Li could respond, the phantoms began retreating cautiously, their expressions wary.
Han Li sneered. With a flip of his hand, another box sealed with a red talisman appeared. He tossed it into the air, where it hovered motionless. Then, with a flick of his finger, several azure sword beams shot toward the box.
“Have you gone mad?!” the Huoyue man roared, two of the phantoms darting forward—one transforming into a giant red hand to seize the box, the other charging at Han Li as a crimson streak.
The third phantom remained in the red light, unwilling to risk its true body.
The two phantoms moved faster than Han Li anticipated. The red hand snatched the box, while the crimson streak pierced straight through Han Li’s body.
As the light faded, the phantom reappeared behind Han Li, only to watch as his figure burst into flames, vanishing without a trace.
The Huoyue man, now holding the box, frowned at how easily Han Li had been slain—something felt off.
Before he could ponder further, the jade box in the red hand shimmered and morphed into a green orb, which exploded with a thunderous roar. Countless arcs of lightning shredded the hand to nothingness.
The Huoyue man gasped, spitting out a mouthful of green blood as his face paled.
“So it’s just a soul-splitting technique. In that case, I’ll take these two avatars of yours,” Han Li’s voice echoed from all directions.
A black thread flashed beneath the second phantom, and a golden blade sliced upward, bisecting it instantly. The halves collapsed, dissolving into motes of light.
From the ground emerged a golden-armored warrior, wielding the blade.
The Huoyue man’s face whitened further, his vitality clearly waning. Yet he acted decisively—spitting out a small green bell and striking it with a finger.
A deafening chime sent invisible sound waves rippling outward.
With a vicious glare, the Huoyue man transformed into a red streak, shooting skyward—only to halt as a blue lotus materialized above him.
The lotus multiplied, filling the sky in moments, blocking his escape.
The Huoyue man flung out a silver dagger and a golden token. The dagger became a massive blade, slashing at the lotus, while the token released a winged golden flood dragon phantom.
Two thunderous booms later, the lotus shattered—only for another to take its place.
The Huoyue man’s triumph turned to dread as the new barrier held firm.
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