In the distant sky, a massive cloud of insects stretching dozens of zhang had appeared at some unknown time, dyeing half the sky in hues of gold and silver. The immense buzzing sound faintly emanated from this insect cloud.
Beneath the insect cloud, Han Li stood expressionless, his gaze icy cold as he stared at the freakish man as if looking at a corpse, and uttered a single word: “Go.”
Instantly, the enormous insect cloud descended upon the freakish man like a crushing storm.
The freakish man felt his hands and feet turn cold. This swarm, at least ten times larger than before, was something he could never hope to withstand. Overwhelmed with terror, he immediately thought of retreat.
With a grim expression, he waved his hand, recalling the flower basket as a streak of white energy back into his grasp. He then fired two blood-red incantations at the two ghost heads and muttered a cryptic chant. Without even bothering to retrieve the entangled flying sword, he turned and fled without hesitation.
The freakish man’s decisive escape took Han Li by surprise.
The two ghost heads spewed several bursts of fierce phosphorous flames and attempted to follow him in flight, but Han Li had no intention of letting them escape.
Under his command, the massive insect cloud instantly engulfed them. No matter how much phosphorous fire they spat, it was immediately devoured by tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles, leaving not a trace behind. Soon, the ghost heads were completely covered in the beetles.
Seeing this, Han Li knew they were finished. Just as he was about to recall the beetles and pursue the freakish man, two enormous explosions suddenly rang out.
The area where the ghost heads had been engulfed erupted in self-destruction, enveloping a large number of Gold Devouring Beetles in emerald-green flames. Han Li was initially startled but quickly reassured himself.
Through his spiritual sense, he could tell that aside from a few hundred beetles at the epicenter destroyed by the strange flames, the majority of the beetles remained unharmed.
It was clear that these not yet fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles were not entirely impervious to harm; beyond a certain threshold, they could still be destroyed.
Nevertheless, Han Li was greatly satisfied. After all, the beetles had forced two extremely powerful ghost heads to self-destruct upon their first deployment. He was confident that even Core Formation cultivators would be no match for the swarm.
With this thought, Han Li transformed into a green streak of light without another word, recalling the swarming beetles and giving chase to the fleeing freakish man.
Han Li’s reasoning was simple: since he had already incurred a deep enmity with this freakish man, he needed to eliminate him once and for all. There was no way he would let him escape so easily.
At the same time, under his mental command, Qu Hun transformed into a yellow streak and merged into Han Li’s green light, joining the pursuit.
As for Hu Yue, Jin Qing, and the others, they remained where they were, exchanging bewildered glances, seemingly unable to process the fact that Han Li alone had forced the freakish man into a desperate retreat.
The freakish man’s escape technique was remarkably skillful. Even with Han Li pushing his Green Brilliance Sword to its limits, the distance between them gradually widened. In the blink of an eye, the two had traveled dozens of miles, nearly leaving the barren island behind.
Seeing this, a cold glint flashed in Han Li’s eyes. Taking a deep breath, seven palm-sized emerald-green small swords shot out from within him.
The small swords circled around him once before merging into a single giant green sword. Han Li swayed slightly, and both he and Qu Hun landed atop the giant sword. A brilliant green light erupted as Han Li transformed into a ten-zhang-long emerald streak, soaring through the sky at nearly twice his previous speed.
Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Han Li caught up.
Gazing at the dark streak fleeing ahead, Han Li raised his hand with an icy expression. Two identical emerald small swords shot forth, while Qu Hun’s Primordial Chaos Bowl transformed into a yellow streak and launched simultaneously.
The fleeing freakish man evidently noticed Han Li’s relentless pursuit. As Han Li and Qu Hun released their treasures, the freakish man immediately summoned a skull, which opened its mouth and lunged forward to intercept. Without a backward glance, the freakish man continued his escape on his artifact.
In the freakish man’s mind, the skull would at least buy him some time.
Han Li’s expression darkened. Silently forming a sword seal, the two flying swords flickered with green light and suddenly split into four indistinguishable sword beams. Two of them, along with the Primordial Chaos Bowl, charged toward the skull, while the other two silently merged into a single foot-long flying sword. Its speed instantly increased as it shot silently toward the freakish man’s back.
The merged flying sword was incredibly fast, closing in on the freakish man in an instant.
Sensing something, the freakish man suddenly turned his head and caught sight of the emerald streak mere zhang away from him.
His face instantly turned deathly pale. Thinking quickly, he spat a cloud of black gas toward the flying sword and urgently boosted his escape light, attempting to veer to the side.
Under Han Li’s control, the flying sword plunged into the black gas without hesitation. A faint golden arc of electricity sparked, instantly dispersing the black gas.
A flash of green light followed as the emerald flying sword, unimpeded, pierced straight through the freakish man’s chest.
The freakish man looked down at the sword in disbelief, an expression of incredulity on his face. Before he could utter a word, a faint golden arc erupted, reducing his entire body to ashes.
Han Li swiftly darted forward, his figure flickering several times as he snatched three items mid-air. He then examined them carefully.
Aside from the ancient treasure flower basket and the storage pouch, there was also a scroll emitting a red glow. Judging by its faint spiritual energy, even if it wasn’t a Primordial Ancient Treasure, it was certainly no ordinary artifact.
Han Li unrolled the scroll with concealed delight, only to freeze in astonishment.
He stared at the depicted image for a long time before slowly rolling the scroll back up, a pensive expression on his face. Suppressing his confusion, he silently flew toward the skull.
Without its master, the black skull hovered motionless in the air. Though its sinister aura remained undiminished, it had completely lost its former vitality.
Han Li frowned slightly upon examining it. Truth be told, he had never encountered such an eerie object before. He had a vague sense that it was of dubious origin, yet he felt reluctant to discard it. After a moment’s hesitation, he stored it separately in a jade box.
After circling the area once more, Han Li flew back with Qu Hun. On the way, they encountered Jin Qing and the others, who had come to assist.
Delighted to see Han Li and Qu Hun returning unscathed, they immediately surrounded them.
“Fellow Daoist Han, what happened to that fiend? Did he escape?” Jin Qing couldn’t help but ask.
“I’ve eliminated him,” Han Li replied calmly.
“Eliminated? That’s excellent! I could sense his overwhelming sinister aura. If he had held a grudge and pursued us, it would have been extremely troublesome,” Jin Qing said, heaving a sigh of relief.
Nearby, Hu Yue and the Jian surnamed cultivator exchanged subtle glances, their expressions shifting slightly as they regarded Han Li with newfound awe and wariness.
In the world of cultivation, strength commanded respect.
The group soon returned to their original location, where Stone Butterfly was waiting anxiously.
Reunited, they briefly discussed their next steps and agreed that breaking the formation quickly was paramount to avoid any further complications.
Taking their positions once more, Han Li steadied his mind and reactivated the formation flags and disks.
The process of dismantling the final restriction proceeded smoothly. As the crimson light shield shattered, not a single Winged Malice managed to escape, all eradicated by the group’s water-attribute magical instruments.
With pleased expressions, they turned their attention to the peculiar stone pillar now exposed in the center.
Without the restrictions hindering them, even from a distance, their spiritual senses and keen eyesight allowed them to examine the pillar in detail.
The runes on the pillar were extraordinarily peculiar. From top to bottom, eight massive ancient symbols spiraled along its length, accompanied by countless strange patterns. The entire pillar was inlaid with rare Yin-Yang Jade, evenly distributed and emitting a faint interplay of black and white light.
Perplexed, the group fell into thoughtful silence, racking their memories for any relevant information.
“It’s a Spirit Sealing Pillar!” Stone Butterfly, the lowest in cultivation among them, exclaimed after a moment, her voice filled with awe.
Hearing this, Han Li and the others were first stunned, then exchanged looks of astonishment and doubt.
“Fairy Stone, are you certain? This is truly a Spirit Sealing Pillar?” Hu Yue asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
Absolutely not mistaken! My cave abode contains a tome on formation典籍 that specifically describes Spirit Sealing Pillars. This pillar’s shape and runes match the records perfectly. It may look like an ordinary stone pillar, but it’s actually forged from over a dozen extremely precious refining materials. This single pillar is worth five to six thousand spirit stones,” Stone Butterfly explained, her eyes gleaming with excitement as she gazed at the pillar.
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