Wait a moment longer—still, the blood cloud remains a hazy mass, silent and motionless. The little spirits vanish instantly the moment they approach the densest parts of the mist. Now, Wang Chan can no longer sit still. With a swift gesture of his hands, the floating skeletons on the surface of the blood cloud open their mouths, and dozens of thick streams of black light—each as wide as a bowl—burst forth, shooting directly toward where Han Li had been standing. A soft "thud" echoes through the mist. Faint flashes of white light ripple within the haze, and as the white and black radiance collide fiercely, a translucent white light barrier gradually emerges, shimmering faintly within the mist. This surprises the young master of Gui Ling Sect slightly, but he immediately recalls that Han Li had already summoned a pristine, scaled shield at the very beginning. Wang Chan frowns, hesitates, then murmurs, "For the sake of securing so many fine artifacts, let's just sacrifice a bit of my own vital essence. I don't want this young man to play some trick and escape." After saying this, Wang Chan suddenly extended her right index finger and lightly bit down on her lower lip, squeezing out a drop of thick, rich blood from the wound, which she gently dripped onto the blood cloud beneath her. Then, she deeply inserted both hands into the blood cloud, focusing intently and channeling her internal technique. As Wang Chan slowly recited her incantations, the originally surrounding fresh red blood cloud gradually began to rotate, speeding up over time and gradually compressing inward toward the center, while the blood ghouls automatically dissolved and vanished. The pale to deep crimson mist, swirling faster with the blood cloud's motion, was swiftly drawn into and absorbed by the cloud, allowing the center to gradually clear and reveal a large, luminous white dome. This dome, centered on a white scales shield, arched downward like a bowl. At the center of the dome, Han Li held a peculiar, handle-equipped small knife in one hand, radiating an astonishing yellow glow, and a stack of shimmering talismans in the other, preparing to launch an offensive. Floating beside him were two spherical orbs—one green and one red—continuously emitting thick vapors of vivid green and red. Wang Chan observed everything with clear precision. "You…" The young master of Gui Ling Sect sneered, intending to add more scornful remarks. Yet as he had just uttered the first syllable, a sudden movement from Han Li caught his attention. Han Li raised his hand, and the small blade swayed gently, transforming into a brilliant yellow glow several zhang long, rushing straight toward Wang Chan. At the same time, the stack of scrolls in his other hand was thrown into the air, materializing into a dozen fiery dragons surging forth in unison. "Boy, your artifacts won't penetrate my Blood Spirit Aura—unless…" Wang Chan had initially been unconcerned, summoning his skull once again to emit black mist. But as he spoke the word "unless," a sudden realization struck him, causing his expression to instantly shift from calm to alarm, and he launched himself skyward, soaring out of the blood-colored cloud. At the same time, the yellow glow emitted a series of "puff" sounds, successively shattering several skeletal heads blocking the way, and then, together with the fire dragon, broke through the blood cloud, surging forth violently from where he had been meditating. Subsequently, a beam of white light shot out from the breach and sped off swiftly, while the yellow glow turned around and followed closely behind. "A seal artifact!" Wang Chan exclaimed, both astonished and furious. He had momentarily overlooked the fact that, although he had assumed the mist was merely a distraction, it was actually being used by Han Li to gain precious time for activating his own seal artifacts. Otherwise, even if Han Li possessed such artifacts, he would have ensured that he had no time to deploy them. Indeed, it was rare for a Foundation Stage初期 cultivator to carry a seal artifact, which had led him to overlook this point. Yet, even if Han Li did possess one, how could he possibly fear him, given Wang Chan's status as the junior master of the Gui Ling Sect? Wang Chan himself carried two seal artifacts, one of which was particularly rare due to its unique properties—certainly not allowing Han Li to escape so easily. The King Cicada, furious beyond measure, leapt into the blood clouds, drawing them up once more and riding the Blood Flight like a meteor, swiftly pursuing. After one incense stick's worth of time, Han Li stood upon the Divine Wind Boat, coldly observing the blood clouds drawing closer. Suddenly, he raised his hand, and a yellow glow that had been trailing behind him executed a sudden counterattack, unexpectedly striking the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect, who was hiding within the clouds. However, the King Cicada, already well-prepared, threw a carefully arranged object into the air—golden skeleton head, expanding in the wind, its massive mouth instantly seizing the yellow glow, trapping it completely and preventing any further advance. Han Li was startled, quickly attempting to draw back, but the yellow glow merely bounced around within the golden skull before losing all strength. The King Cicada sneered, and the blood clouds around him surged once again, sending Han Li a shiver of dread, as the scene of being once more trapped seemed destined to repeat itself. Just then, the blood clouds that had only recently begun to boil suddenly stilled, and Wang Chan, who had been concentrating intently, grew pale—his flight speed slowed noticeably, and a faint bluish-black hue began to spread over his face. Having been closely observing him, Han Li was momentarily stunned. Then, seeing Chan's face fill with alarm, he gave a sharp cry, completely disregarding the golden skull head he had been holding in battle. With the blood clouds enveloping him, he rocketed back toward his origin at lightning speed, leaving Han Li standing motionless, utterly puzzled. Han Li could only hesitantly transform the golden skull head and the yellow glow into two seals, easily gathering them into his hands. Standing there, gazing at the ghostly young master's retreating figure fading into the distance, he didn't know what to do—though he felt he should go after him, he simply lacked the courage. Yet, as he listened to the gradually fading cries, he immediately realized what was happening, and promptly directed his divine wind boat to change course, vanishing into the horizon. ...Not long after, Han Li, having just escaped the peril, grew deeply regretful upon careful reflection. He now fully understood why the opponent had chosen to retreat instead of pursuing him. The opponent had been poisoned—by that exceptionally potent ink-jade venom. This stemmed entirely from the fact that the opponent had dared to draw in large quantities of the toxic mist emitted by the "Green Fire Miasma" into the blood-clouds. During the ritual, as per Han Li's instructions, these mist droplets had been fully integrated with the residual dan-toxin of the ink-jade dragon. Now, as these blood-clouds, having absorbed the mist and thus carrying substantial toxins themselves, pursued Han Li, they were inevitably drawn back into the opponent's body each time he activated his internal energy. How could he not then be overwhelmed by the renewed poisoning and panic, retreating in alarm? The more Han Li thought about it, the more regret he felt. He now believed he must have gone mad. What a splendid opportunity to eliminate a powerful adversary and seize even more of their treasures—yet he had allowed it to slip away so completely! Han Li found himself genuinely frustrated. Yet, he still couldn't understand why the other party, who had such a powerful talisman—the golden skull—hadn't even retrieved it before fleeing. He remained puzzled! Han Li didn't know that the young master of Gui Ling Sect, equally cautious and who had already fled at the first sign of trouble, was now furious to the point of being completely agitated! Right beside him stood the two Dan-stage cultivators from the Li family, who were now staring at each other, utterly at a loss. Originally, Wang Chan had rushed back a short distance before encountering these two Gui Ling Sect elders, who had already swept away the cultivators from the other seven sects. They had decided to follow closely, out of concern for the young master's safety and for thoroughness. Now, upon seeing Wang Chan poisoned, they immediately used their profound cultivation techniques to swiftly expel the toxins. The young master, now with the initial effects of the poison beginning to subside, had already begun to suspect the cause of his illness. However, he mistakenly believed that Han Li's unintentional actions had been deliberately orchestrated as a trap for him. This deeply humbled Wang Chan, who had never before suffered such a crushing defeat, immediately resented Han Li intensely, and began to see him as a formidable rival. Driven by these two sentiments, Wang Chan, though his body still felt weak and his spirits wavered, persisted in chasing after the two elders in the original direction for hundreds of miles—only to return empty-handed. Yet the frustration that lingered within him remained as sharp as a fishbone, lodged firmly in his heart. As for the golden skull talisman, which he had been unable to retrieve due to the need to hold onto the opponent's sealing artifacts and thus had to abandon, he didn't particularly care. After all, it had already been used several times and likely its power was now waning—it would probably only be useful to Han Li for a couple of uses at most, and thus wouldn't make a significant difference. What truly incensed him, however, was the news he received shortly after returning to the small mountain peak where he had set up his ambush: a group of magistrates from the Conghuang Sect, one of the six major sects of the magical path, had suddenly launched a surprise attack on them. Though no one was injured, the two nuns who had been subdued were taken by the opposing party. The young woman at the head of the group, with her striking beauty, was none other than Tian Buke, the second son of the Héhuān Sect's patriarch—a rising star of the younger generation, not far behind in reputation. Upon hearing this bad news, Wang Chan's outward expression merely darkened slightly, yet within, he felt as though he were about to burst with rage. Both Han Li and Tian Buke had long been on his personal list of must-eliminate targets since he assumed leadership. "Go, inform the elder of the Yan family immediately and begin the evacuation!" After a pause, Wang Chan finally said, coldly, as he exhaled a long breath. Meanwhile, Han Li did not hesitate, swiftly flying toward Huangfeng Valley. However, halfway there, he encountered a combined group of cultivators from Hua Dao Workshop and Yan Yue Sect. And upon the announcement by a senior cultivator at the head of the group—now at the late Foundation Stage—he was unexpectedly summoned and assigned to serve. (Sorry!) The household has been quite busy lately, so updates might not be as stable as usual—thank you for your understanding! However, we will strive to publish two chapters each time, and this one serves as a make-up for last evening's update.