With a “whoosh,” a golden light flashed before the man’s eyes as the Golden Flame Stone abruptly shot into the air, streaking diagonally away.
The man was startled, caught off guard, and his reaction was naturally delayed. By the time he frantically reached out to grab it, he was already too late. The stone transformed into a golden streak, vanishing in an instant and landing in the hands of another person nearby.
This sudden turn of events left both the Jin cultivators and the bewildered Utu tribesmen stunned. The person who had caught the stone was none other than Han Li.
At this moment, Han Li held the stone in one hand, examining it carefully, completely ignoring the others around him.
The Core Formation man’s expression darkened instantly. “Hand that over, cut off one of your arms, and I might spare your life,” he said through gritted teeth, his voice dripping with menace as he glared at Han Li.
After confirming with the Great Divination Sage that the stone was indeed the Golden Flame Stone, Han Li flipped his hand and stored it in his storage pouch. He then looked up at the man with a faint smile and said calmly, “I happen to fancy this item as well. I have no intention of giving it to you, nor do I wish to harm myself. How about we all pretend nothing happened and go our separate ways?”
The man was furious upon hearing this. His fists clenched, and a foot-long white spiritual light erupted from his body, signaling his readiness to attack.
“Commander Gu, what’s going on? What is that strange object? If it’s not important, let’s not cause trouble,” the Core Formation woman beside him suddenly interjected, sensing something unusual about Han Li.
Commander Gu hesitated for a moment before whispering a message to her. Moments later, the white-robed woman’s expression turned to shock, and she fell into deep thought.
“Is it really that thing? Could there be a mistake?” she asked solemnly in the Jin language.
“Absolutely not. You know I used to be from the Artifact Refining Division. I’ve read the ‘Records of Heaven and Earth’s Marvelous Stones’ countless times—there’s no mistaking it. If we bring this treasure back to the palace master, the credit for capturing the traitor and recovering the Snow Crystal Pearl will pale in comparison,” the man replied excitedly.
The woman’s gaze flickered toward Han Li, confirming once more that he was indeed at the Foundation Establishment stage. A cold glint flashed in her eyes, and a murderous aura rose between her brows.
“Attack! Not just him—kill all the Utu tribesmen. Without witnesses, the Heavenly Prairie Shrine won’t dare to confront our Immortal Palace over a few low-level cultivators and some mortals. At worst, we’ll lower the price of this trade by ten percent,” the white-robed woman declared sharply.
With that, she opened her mouth, and a streak of silver light shot out, instantly reaching a Foundation Establishment Utu cultivator. Despite the blue protective barrier around him, the Utu cultivator stood no chance against a Core Formation cultivator’s full-force strike. A scream later, his barrier shattered, and he was bisected at the waist. The silver streak circled back, revealing itself as a gleaming, foot-long flying blade.
Upon hearing the woman’s command, the other Jin Foundation Establishment cultivators immediately summoned their magical artifacts and charged at the remaining three Utu cultivators. The mortals farther away were of no immediate concern—they couldn’t escape anyway.
Seeing the Jin cultivators attack, the three Utu cultivators were both shocked and enraged. However, with one at the early Foundation Establishment stage and two at the Qi Refining stage, they were no match for the six Foundation Establishment Jin cultivators. Despite their desperate resistance, they were swiftly slaughtered. Two of the Jin cultivators then turned toward Feng Yue’s carriage, intending to eliminate the hidden figure inside.
The Core Formation woman atop the giant bat remained indifferent—this outcome was expected. However, when she glanced toward Commander Gu, her expression changed drastically.
Upon hearing the woman’s order to attack, the man had immediately summoned his lifebound flying sword, transforming it into a white streak that slashed toward Han Li.
But Han Li sighed, flipped his palm, and a small black banner appeared in his hand. With a gentle shake, the banner expanded into a curtain of light, enveloping him completely. When the white streak struck the barrier, it was effortlessly repelled, unable to harm him in the slightest.
The man was stunned. In desperation, he activated his sword technique, and the white streak coiled into a massive serpent several zhang long, wrapping around the black barrier and biting furiously. Yet, the unassuming black barrier remained as unyielding as forged steel, impervious to the serpent’s attacks.
When the white-robed woman saw this, her heart sank slightly.
*So this is why he dared to snatch something from a Core Formation cultivator,* she thought. Without hesitation, she pointed at her distant flying blade, which trembled before shooting toward the black barrier as a silver streak. Yet, after several slashes, the barrier remained unscathed, not even quivering.
The woman and the man exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other’s eyes.
“Forget the person in the carriage! Set up the Flame Formation and refine him!” the woman suddenly ordered sharply.
The Foundation Establishment cultivators obeyed without question, summoning fiery red banners. A massive fire cloud, spanning an acre, materialized above the black barrier and began pressing down slowly.
“Good, very good. Saves me the trouble,” Han Li’s voice came calmly from within the barrier. Suddenly, the top of the barrier shimmered, and a black-green infant appeared, grinning as it held the small black banner.
“Spirit Infant! You—you’re a Nascent Soul cultivator! Wait, we’ll leave immediately! We wouldn’t dare to compete with you, Senior!” The woman’s face drained of color as if struck by a hammer. Realizing her grave mistake, she hastily begged for mercy while trying to recall her flying blade.
But Han Li’s second Nascent Soul let out a chilling laugh and tossed the banner into the air. The banner expanded to several zhang in height, unleashing a torrent of black demonic energy. A vast demonic cloud, far larger than the fire cloud, surged above the barrier, engulfing the silver streak, the serpent, and the fire cloud in its roiling darkness.
In an instant, the man, the woman, and the Foundation Establishment cultivators lost all connection to their magical artifacts.
“The Yin Luo Banner! You’re the Yin Luo Sect’s Law Enforcement Elder!” the man shrieked in terror, recognizing the banner. Without hesitation, he transformed into a blinding white light and fled into the sky, abandoning even his lifebound artifact.
Hearing the man’s cry, the white-robed woman gasped. She immediately channeled several spells into the giant bat beneath her and stomped down hard. The bat’s body swelled, its green light intensifying as it let out a strange cry and shot away as a green streak, fleeing in the opposite direction of the man.
Given the demonic sects’ notorious vindictiveness, she held no hope that this elder would spare her. She bitterly regretted the man’s meddling—had they left earlier, none of this would have happened.
The Foundation Establishment cultivators were equally terrified, scattering in all directions on their artifacts.
A flash of cyan light appeared in the demonic cloud as Han Li emerged atop it, watching the fleeing Jin cultivators with a cold smirk.
He patted his storage pouch, and over a dozen streaks of white light shot out, transforming into half-foot-long snow-white centipedes that chased after the six Foundation Establishment cultivators in pairs.
At the same time, the giant banner shimmered with black light, revealing a dark void several feet wide. A massive Gold Devouring Beetle, wreathed in black energy, emerged, its eyes flashing crimson before it spread its wings and shot toward the fleeing Core Formation man as a golden streak.
The black-green Nascent Soul leaped into the Yin Luo Banner, driving it into the demonic cloud below. The cloud churned violently before rising with a piercing shriek, reappearing hundreds of zhang in the air as it pursued the fleeing bat in a vast, sky-darkening wave, like the descent of a demon god.
Han Li remained floating in the air, expressionless as he observed the unfolding carnage.
The distant Utu mortals, having never witnessed such a high-level battle and seeing their own cultivators slain, fled in terror. A few brave souls lingered nearby but dared not approach Han Li.
Within moments, the six fleeing Foundation Establishment cultivators were overtaken by the snow-white centipedes.
No match for the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes—even in their larval stage—the cultivators were frozen solid by their chilling aura, their bodies and souls shredded within the ice.
The man fleeing as a white streak, deprived of his lifebound artifact, was no faster than his subordinates. Soon, the Gold Devouring Beetle caught up. Despite his desperate defenses, the demonic insect pierced his barriers and burrowed into his body. He plummeted to the ground, writhing in agony before succumbing to death.
The white-robed woman’s giant bat, though not high-grade, was exceptionally swift in flight. Even under the stimulation of her spells, it managed to stay ahead of the pursuing demonic cloud for dozens of li. But eventually, the overwhelming darkness engulfed her, and she vanished without a trace.
By the time the second Nascent Soul returned with the demonic cloud, Han Li was idly twirling the Snow Crystal Pearl in his hand, staring at an object the Jin cultivators had left behind with a bemused expression.
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