The black bell soared into the air with a clear chime as soon as it was summoned.
The moment the sound reached Han Li’s ears, his consciousness was struck by a deafening “boom,” and his entire body convulsed as if electrocuted, nearly causing him to plummet from the sky.
Shocked, Han Li instinctively activated the Great Development Art within him, sending a surge of cooling energy to his mind, which swirled protectively. After his face paled several times, his body finally stabilized.
“Indeed, a spirit treasure! Ordinary artifacts could never possess such power!” A flicker of fear passed through Han Li’s heart, but his anger surged, prompting an immediate and fierce counterattack.
With a single hand seal, his divine sense condensed into a dense mass before violently lashing out toward his opponent.
The man with the drooping eyebrows, who had forcefully activated the Thousand Soul Bell to launch a soul-seizing attack, watched from afar as Han Li merely swayed before recovering as if nothing had happened. His shock was even greater than Han Li’s.
Though the soul-seizing attack was not the Thousand Soul Bell’s ultimate ability, it was incredibly effective against enemies of the same or lower cultivation level, nearly impossible to resist.
Gritting his teeth, he prepared to expend even more spiritual power to intensify the assault when a searing pain tore through his consciousness, as if a sharp awl had been driven into his skull.
Unlike Han Li, he lacked such formidable divine sense. After being struck by the “Soul-Piercing Spike,” he let out a piercing scream, clutching his head as his body curled up like a shrimp.
His Nascent Soul instantly retreated into his body, vanishing from sight.
In that instant, he lost control of the Thousand Soul Bell in the air.
Seeing this, a cold glint flashed in Han Li’s eyes. Ignoring the towering puppet charging toward him, he instead pointed toward the massive golden lotus in the sky.
The golden lotus spun rapidly before descending with overwhelming force, instantly enveloping the black bell in a burst of golden light.
As the golden lotus effortlessly trapped the Thousand Soul Bell, the emerald-green puppet had already grown to a height of sixty to seventy feet, charging toward Han Li and swinging a massive fist at him.
With a thunderous “boom,” the puppet’s fist was blocked by the giant cauldron transformed from the Void Sky Cauldron.
However, the cauldron emitted a resonant hum, shrinking by half in size.
The puppet possessed astonishing strength, far beyond ordinary.
Meanwhile, from within the rapidly spinning golden lotus, eerie wails suddenly erupted. A shadowy bell, about ten feet tall, materialized at the lotus’s center, seemingly unaffected by the slicing petals as if it were intangible.
Simultaneously, black threads emerged from the bell, entangling the golden lotus and slowing its rotation to a sluggish crawl.
Han Li let out a surprised sound and was about to reinforce his control when, several yards behind him, a black flash appeared—a massive black wolf materialized like a ghost, lunging at him as a faint shadow.
The beast’s claws pierced through the gray barrier formed by the Magnetic Divine Light without resistance.
Though the Magnetic Divine Light was formidable, it was powerless against entities unrelated to the five elements.
Just as the wolf’s emerald eyes gleamed with triumph, believing its sneak attack successful—
Two golden fists abruptly appeared before its claws, striking mercilessly.
With two deafening “booms,” the wolf’s claws were instantly shattered upon contact with the golden fists.
The wolf let out a pained howl as it was sent flying backward by an immense force.
By then, Han Li, who had been facing away, had somehow turned around, his body now gleaming like a golden deity.
Watching the wolf hurtle away, Han Li’s expression turned icy. His figure blurred, leaving behind a trail of afterimages as he shot forward, appearing above the wolf’s head in the next instant.
Having regained his spiritual power, Han Li had forcefully executed the Misty Step midair.
Though this technique was not as fast as the Wind Thunder Wings nor as unpredictable as the Ninefold Gale Transformation, his formidable physique allowed him to maneuver with astonishing agility in close quarters.
Seeing Han Li above it, the black wolf’s ferocity surged. It spat out a black energy sphere at Han Li, who was now within arm’s reach.
With a casual swipe of his golden palm, Han Li batted the sphere away as if swatting a fly.
At the same time, he channeled spiritual power into his eyes, which erupted with piercing blue light, instantly seeing through the wolf’s entire body.
His expression cold, Han Li vanished, reappearing beneath the wolf’s belly.
His arms shot out like lightning, one seizing the wolf’s head and the other gripping a hind leg. Like iron clamps, they immobilized the beast instantly.
With a mighty roar, Han Li exerted his inhuman strength—
Even if this were a true beast of steel, it would have been torn apart, let alone a demonic entity condensed from a beast’s soul.
The wolf’s massive head was ripped clean off.
An unbelievable sight unfolded.
As soon as the head separated from the body, the latter erupted in black light, dissolving into swirling black mist before dispersing entirely.
The severed head, however, remained alive in Han Li’s grip, snarling and gnashing its teeth.
Han Li smirked coldly. With his free hand, he summoned a ball of silver flames, which morphed into a silver firebird.
With a clear cry, the firebird dove at the wolf’s head.
A “bang” later, the head was engulfed in silver flames, its terrified shrieks cut short as it turned to black mist.
The flames then coiled, devouring all the mist before reforming into the firebird, which spat out a silver talisman.
Han Li snatched it midair.
Upon inspection, it was the same talisman the drooping-browed man had used earlier, though its glow had dimmed, its power greatly depleted.
The firebird circled Han Li excitedly, spewing silver flames.
Han Li’s gaze shifted. His figure blurred again, reappearing above the emerald-green puppet, which was relentlessly pounding the Void Sky Cauldron.
Though each strike forced the cauldron back and shrank it slightly, this treasure had once withstood an attack from the Ancient Demon Ancestor’s split soul—it wouldn’t be so easily subdued.
The puppet, lacking intelligence, and its master still reeling from the divine sense attack, mindlessly hammered the cauldron without strategy.
Though Han Li was unfamiliar with the Spirit Realm’s puppet techniques, the Great Development Sage’s legacy in the Great Development Treasure Scripture ranked among the finest in the human realm.
Despite the puppet’s formidable strength, Han Li’s azure-pupiled gaze instantly pinpointed its weakness.
Tucking the silver talisman away, he took a light step, his golden figure flashing behind the puppet.
A series of crisp cracks echoed from his body as he aimed a devastating punch at the puppet’s flank.
Before his golden fist even landed, the sheer force of the blow left a white scar in the air, as if space itself were tearing.
A deafening “boom” followed.
Though the puppet’s body was incredibly tough, the colossal force left a deep fist imprint on its side, sending it crashing to the ground.
Without pause, Han Li rained down a storm of blows, each striking the same spot.
Soon, a muffled “crack” sounded—the puppet’s flank shattered, revealing a dark cavity.
Han Li ceased his assault, but without hesitation, he rubbed his hands together, unleashing a golden lightning bolt that shot straight into the puppet’s body.
A series of explosions erupted within the puppet before it shrank rapidly, collapsing into a motionless, foot-long figure on the ground.
From the black wolf’s ambush to Han Li’s swift annihilation of both foes, only a few breaths had passed.
By then, the drooping-browed man had recovered from the Soul-Piercing Spike’s agony, just in time to witness Han Li, bathed in golden light, delivering the final blow to the puppet.
“Great Completion of the Vajra Arts! You’re also a top-tier body cultivator!” he blurted, his face a mask of disbelief.
Outside the barrier, the scar-faced golden-armored cultivator remained silent, but his astonishment was equally evident.
“Fellow Daoist Weng, shall we continue this fight?” Han Li asked calmly, ignoring the man’s question.
Weng’s expression darkened.
“Though your dual cultivation surpasses my expectations, do you truly believe you’ve won?” he snarled, glaring at the black bell’s shadow effortlessly holding the golden lotus at bay. “Even at the cost of a century of cultivation, I’ll show you the true power of the Thousand Soul Bell!”
With that, he began chanting, blue mist swirling above his head as his Nascent Soul reappeared.
The Nascent Soul wore a grave expression, one hand forming a seal while the other shot a tangible blue beam at the black bell’s shadow, accompanied by an arcane incantation.
The shadow trembled before a speck of black light emerged—the Thousand Soul Bell’s true form.
With a gentle spin, it absorbed the blue beam, converting it into spiritual light.
Seizing the moment, Weng flicked a finger toward the bell.
A seemingly ordinary “clang” rang out.
Within the barrier, space rippled violently before a slender black rift tore open overhead without warning.
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