Chapter 1484: The Chance to Escape

Almost the instant Han Li’s figure vanished, another group of green-haired, naked fiends surged out from the nearby mist. Finding the area empty, they froze in momentary confusion.

By then, Han Li was already thousands of feet away, relying on his spiritual vision to avoid several battle zones as he navigated the fog.

When encountering small groups of ghosts, he swiftly annihilated them with thunderous force. If the numbers were overwhelming, he simply evaded them.

Thus, Han Li managed to stay unharmed within the eerie mist. However, the dense gray fog made it impossible to discern direction, and before long, he found himself disoriented.

Left with no choice, he risked ascending higher, hoping to determine his position from above.

But the moment he rose several hundred feet, where the fog thinned slightly, a barrage of attacks rained down from above.

Had it not been for his protective Yuan Magnetic Divine Light and his vigilance, deflecting most of the strikes with a sweep of gray radiance, he would have been blasted out of the sky.

Even so, the close call left him drenched in cold sweat. Before the next wave of attacks could descend, he flapped his wings and dove back into the safety of the fog below.

Clearly, the higher altitudes were no place for recklessness.

Resigned, Han Li picked a random direction and plunged deeper into the mist.

Whether due to some arcane restriction or the sheer vastness of the fog, hours later, he remained hopelessly trapped, with no sign of escape.

His expression darkened further.

…

With a flick of his sleeve, several golden threads lashed out, slicing the ghostly figures before him into pieces.

Yet with eerie shrieks, the fragments merged back together, reforming the specters, which lunged at him with clawed hands.

Han Li snorted coldly and spat out a silver fireball, which burst apart with a *pfft*, scattering into multiple smaller flames.

With several *booms*, the ghostly figures wailed as the silver flames engulfed them, reducing them to nothingness.

Though these intangible wraiths were troublesome, they stood no chance against Han Li’s Spirit Devouring Heavenly Flames.

Having cleared the immediate threat, Han Li glanced around, preparing to resume his escape in his chosen direction—when a deafening explosion erupted from another direction, shaking the ground beneath him.

Black flames erupted into the sky in the distance, accompanied by the furious shouts of a woman.

Han Li stiffened, turning toward the commotion.

The voice sounded familiar—Yuan Yao’s. Was she engaged in battle there?

Though uncertain, he hesitated only briefly before enveloping himself in azure light and shooting toward the disturbance.

The source of the black flames wasn’t far. Within moments, his azure streak had covered thousands of feet, arriving at the scene.

Peering through his flight light, Han Li’s expression shifted.

A hundred yards away, hundreds of crimson skeletons with elongated limbs and grotesquely large skulls were unleashing blood-red arrows, relentlessly assaulting a group of armored ghost soldiers.

Amid the ghostly troops stood two women in black robes—one holding a small black vial, the other wielding a black palm-leaf fan—both conjuring black fireballs to aid their forces against the skeletal onslaught.

Though the black flames were potent and the ghost soldiers’ weapons exuded chilling gusts of yin energy, their adversaries were even more bizarre.

The skeletons leaped like grasshoppers, covering dozens of feet in a single bound, their movements swift as wind. Worse, their blood arrows seemed to counter both the yin winds and black flames. Under the relentless barrage, most of the black flames were snuffed out, and even when a skeleton was struck, it merely staggered before resuming its attack.

In contrast, the ghost soldiers fared far worse. Though their black armor provided some defense, a concentrated volley of blood arrows shattered their protection, reducing them to dissipating black mist.

By the time Han Li arrived, the two women—Yuan Yao and Yan Li—were desperately reinforcing their dwindling forces, now down to a precarious few.

Han Li’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the surroundings, detecting no hidden threats.

Without hesitation, he acted. His wings flared, and he vanished, reappearing above the two women.

With a sweep of his sleeves, seventy-two flying swords surged forth, multiplying into hundreds of golden blades that rained down like a storm.

Where the sword light passed, the crimson skeletons were cleaved apart as if made of mud.

But then, something horrifying unfolded.

The severed remains of the skeletons shimmered with bloody light, melting into viscous pools before coalescing into a towering, crimson specter.

Han Li merely raised an eyebrow. Lifting a jade-white hand, he spread his fingers and struck downward.

Five colossal skull phantoms flickered at his fingertips before a wave of five-colored cold flames engulfed the monstrous apparition.

The crimson fiend, as massive as a city gate, instantly froze into a crystalline ice sculpture, immobilized.

With a snap of his fingers, a golden arc of lightning shot forth, striking the frozen figure.

A crisp *crack* echoed as the ice shattered into fragments. The fearsome entity, not even given a chance to act, had been effortlessly obliterated.

Below, Yuan Yao and Yan Li stared in stunned silence, their lips slightly parted.

The very creatures that had nearly claimed their lives had been annihilated by Han Li in a single exchange.

The sheer disparity left them awestruck.

“Thank you, Brother Han, for saving us!” Yan Li was the first to recover, offering a graceful bow with a grateful smile.

“Had you arrived any later, Brother Han, you might not have found us alive,” Yuan Yao added, her earlier shock melting into a radiant smile that seemed to bloom like a hundred flowers.

For a fleeting moment, Han Li was captivated by her beauty, but he quickly composed himself, replying calmly, “How did you two end up here? Weren’t you with the Ghost Granny? And these ghost soldiers—”

“Brother Han, weren’t you following Lady Mu Qing? Just as you were separated, so were we. As for these Yin-Armored Ghost Soldiers, we assisted in their creation long ago, so we can command a squad. But now, only these few remain. Without them, we wouldn’t have lasted this long,” Yan Li explained with a knowing smile.

“This ambush suggests the ghosts have highly intelligent leaders. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have orchestrated such a massive trap to eliminate us all,” Han Li mused, his gaze sharp.

“You’re right. But what do we do now? Even if these ghosts stood still, we couldn’t possibly kill them all,” Yuan Yao bit her lip, her face pale.

“Have you noticed? So far, we’ve only encountered low- to mid-tier ghosts. None of the high-tier wraiths or vengeful spirits have appeared,” Han Li remarked with a strange expression.

“You mean—” Yan Li’s eyes widened in realization.

“Exactly. The Void Refinement-level ghosts must be preoccupied with Six-Arms and the others. Otherwise, just a few of them would spell doom for us,” Han Li stroked his chin.

“Brother Han, if you have a plan, just tell us,” Yuan Yao said bluntly, her eyes gleaming.

“Nothing complicated. I simply think that while the situation is chaotic, it’s also our best chance to escape the control of these demon monarchs,” Han Li exhaled slowly.

“You mean—we flee now?” Yan Li’s smile faded, her tone grave.

“Precisely. If we escape now, Lady Mu Qing and the Ghost Granny won’t have the time to pursue us. Once we find a place with concentrated yin energy to remove the tracking marks from my body, the vast Netherworld River will make finding us like searching for a needle in the ocean,” Han Li explained.

Exchanging glances, Yuan Yao and Yan Li visibly brightened at the idea.

“Good! We’ll follow your lead. Now that we’re in the Netherworld River, our survival is uncertain at best. Escaping these demon monarchs is exactly what we want,” Yan Li declared after a brief, silent exchange with Yuan Yao.

“Since you agree, the only problem left is this ghost fog. I’ve searched for hours without finding a way out. It’s troublesome,” Han Li frowned.

“Other matters might be beyond us, but this ghost fog? Hehe, Brother Han, have you forgotten that my sister and I cultivate ghostly arts? We’re half-ghosts ourselves!” Yan Li chuckled.

“Oh? You two can navigate this fog?” Han Li’s eyes lit up with hope.

“The Yin-Yang Reincarnation Art we practice may not rival grand divine abilities in combat, but it has its unique uses in certain… unconventional methods. Just follow us. In fact, we were already trying to escape the fog earlier but kept getting ambushed,” Yuan Yao explained with a hint of pride.