A strange cry echoed as a dark shadow staggered out from the depths of the mist—a pale-red demonic bird several feet long, with blue eyes and a purple crest on its head. However, one of its spread wings was stained with blood, and a fist-sized hole gushed fresh crimson blood.
Despite its severe injuries, the bird fiercely lunged at Han Li. This was hardly surprising, as fire-attribute demon beasts were inherently more savage and aggressive than those of other attributes.
Han Li sighed and casually flicked his fingers.
A series of sharp *whooshes* followed as five crimson threads shot out, piercing various parts of the bird’s body before coiling around it and tightening abruptly.
With flashes of red light, the bird was sliced into scattered pieces of flesh and blood.
These were the hair-thin Fire Spirit Threads! Their terrifying lethality against weaker opponents was undeniable.
Han Li beckoned, and the threads flew back, vanishing into his palm.
As he ventured deeper into the misty sea, demon beasts appeared more frequently and in greater numbers. In a short time, he had already slain over a dozen.
At one point, five or six fire apes, each several meters long, attacked simultaneously. An ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator might have panicked, but to Han Li’s current cultivation, they were insignificant.
He merely spat out a small sword a few inches long, and with a single sweep, four of the so-called “copper-headed, iron-armed” fire apes were effortlessly decapitated.
However, after advancing further, he encountered his first real challenge.
A few dozen feet ahead, a shimmering red light mass, roughly three meters in size, continuously morphed—sometimes into a tiger or wolf, other times into a demonic bird—never settling into a fixed form, as if it were intangible.
Han Li watched coldly before suddenly raising his hand and unleashing several golden sword beams.
The golden light sliced the mass into pieces, but once the sword energy dissipated, the red light reassembled effortlessly.
Frowning, Han Li formed a hand seal and spat out a purple beam, which pierced a bowl-sized hole through the light mass.
This was a newly mastered secret technique after advancing to late-stage Nascent Soul—compressing refined Violet Extreme Flames and expelling them with immense spiritual power.
Though the mass eventually reformed, its recovery speed was noticeably slower.
*”Just as the rumors say, these Fire Fiend Spirits are troublesome. Even the opposing attribute of extreme cold flames isn’t very effective. No wonder Frost Li the Transcendent’s memories showed wariness toward these creatures,”* Han Li muttered.
At that moment, the red mass transformed into a crimson demonic ghost, spewing flames as it charged.
Han Li’s expression darkened. He raised a hand, summoning a massive azure palm above the ghost, which seized and crushed it effortlessly.
Yet, the red light reassembled nearby.
A cold smile curled Han Li’s lips as he reached for his storage pouch. But before he could retrieve anything, a clear cry sounded from within him, and a tiny crimson bird, only a few inches long, materialized on his shoulder.
Han Li was stunned—it was the spirit of the Lunar True Flame.
Before he could ponder its sudden appearance, the bird flapped its wings and shot toward the red mass.
Mid-flight, it expanded to a foot in length and pecked at the light, tearing a gap in its intangible form.
Within moments, a bowl-sized hole appeared, and the mass could no longer fully regenerate.
Strangely, the Fire Fiend Spirit seemed oblivious to pain, merely writhing in discomfort as it tried to shake off the Lunar Flame Bird.
But the bird’s claws held firm, and its pecking intensified. Soon, nearly half of the red mass had been devoured.
Han Li chuckled. He hadn’t expected the Lunar Flame Bird to counter the most troublesome creatures in the Fire Prison. This saved him considerable effort.
Calmly observing, he watched as the bird completely consumed the fiendish entity before returning to his shoulder, preening its feathers as if reluctant to re-enter his body.
Since the misty sea surely held more Fire Fiend Spirits, Han Li didn’t force the bird back. Instead, he resumed his flight through the fog.
The mountain range shrouded in mist was astonishingly vast. With his spiritual sense restricted, Han Li dared not fly too fast, taking three full days to reach his destination—a massive extinct volcano.
Along the way, he slew nearly a hundred demon beasts, including several peak seventh-grade creatures on the verge of eighth-grade transformation. True eighth-grade demon beasts, once sapient, would leave the Fire Prison for better cultivation grounds.
Fire Fiend Spirits were rare—only two more appeared, both devoured by the Lunar Flame Bird without issue.
However, traversing a fiery lake region forced Han Li to slow his pace. Crimson pillars of flame erupted unpredictably from the lake, powerful enough to warrant caution.
Though unharmed, he avoided unnecessary energy expenditure, proceeding carefully.
Now standing at the volcano’s rim, Han Li surveyed the scene before tossing a stack of formation flags and disks into the air.
In a flash of silver light, a second Han Li—his second Nascent Soul-controlled puppet—materialized, swiftly gathering the items before disappearing back into the mist.
Han Li sat cross-legged, meditating until the puppet returned empty-handed.
Nodding, he dismissed the puppet and soared toward the volcano’s center on a green streak of light.
Upon arrival, he hurled a white object into the air. It spun and expanded into a ten-meter-tall jade altar, landing with a heavy thud.
Next, he produced a small blue cauldron, chanting as he struck it with spells. The cauldron enlarged to ten feet, its lid flying open to release a blue halo that spread rapidly.
*Hiss—*
The ground froze under a layer of sparkling blue ice—the legendary Dry Blue Ice Flames!
The cauldron was none other than the imitation spirit treasure, the Dry Blue Cauldron, obtained from Frost Li the Transcendent.
The blue light repelled the red mist, clearing the crater entirely.
Han Li guided the cauldron onto the altar, then activated a massive formation with a blue control disk.
The ground rumbled as a colossal array emerged, integrating the altar, cauldron, and formation seamlessly.
The Dry Blue Ice Flames surged endlessly, coating the crater in blue ice.
With a few more taps on the disk, dozens of radiant blue pillars erupted from the crater’s edges, forming a colossal cage that sealed the entire space.
Each pillar towered dozens of meters, their brilliance awe-inspiring.
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