At the very instant when Han Li's figure had just shot through the hall door, a thunderous roar erupted from behind. To his astonishment, the Yu Ji Pavilion suddenly exploded in a cascade of fragments, and then, amid the wreckage, a golden sun of several zhang in diameter rose suddenly. Within the heart of this radiant disc, a figure seemed to shimmer faintly—clearly the Nanlong Count himself, having apparently employed some mysterious technique. Han Li's heart leapt with alarm. The Yu Ji Pavilion was no ordinary pavilion; otherwise, he would have flown through the broken walls and vanished into the distance during his flight. Yet now, it had collapsed under the force of the Nanlong Count's single blow. Clearly, each of these Yuan Ying elders, after their fierce struggles, had demonstrated capabilities far beyond ordinary. As this thought formed in his mind, Han Li had already materialized at the center of the hall where he had entered. He glanced at the walls now seamlessly restored and, without hesitation, raised his hand, then flicked his finger—sending a streak of emerald light several feet long, which struck precisely against the opposite stone wall. A soft "pffft" sound, and a hole the size of a large bowl appeared in the wall—yet instantly, a flash of white light caused the hole to vanish. Han Li frowned at this, about to devise another method when suddenly his expression changed, and he swiftly turned around, his movement as swift and ghostly as a phantom. Friend Han, I only have one mountain-breaking banner, so it will take some time. I'd be greatly obliged if you could delay them a bit. Though my ancient artifact is powerful, it won't be able to hold them for long—within a moment, they might break free. Nan Long Hou managed a weak smile, lifting his hand and producing a small yellow banner that spun continuously. Then he began chanting incantations, as if he were certain Friend Han would surely comply. After a brief flicker of his gaze, Han Li didn't hesitate—he simply raised his hand and tapped once on his storage pouch, revealing a jade-green array disc in his palm. This was the very artifact used back when he had broken the Tai Miao Divine Seal. Without a word, he swiftly drew several silvery symbols and blew them gently onto the disc, which immediately glowed with vibrant green light. "Activate," Han Li said, pressing two hand seals and coldly uttering the command. Besides the wall directly facing Nan Long Hou, the previously vanished blue crystalline wall reappeared, once again sealing the main door of the inner hall. "Can you command the Tai Miao Shen Jin?" Nan Long Hou paused mid-sentence, his incantations momentarily interrupted, his voice filled with surprise. "The power of the seals I can currently unleash is still only one-tenth of what it originally was. I won't be able to hold them for long. It would be best if you open a way out before they break through the seals." Han Li's face did not reflect any sense of pride, but instead bore a serious expression. Upon hearing this, Nan Long Hou realized that the crystalline walls indeed appeared noticeably dimmer than before. He immediately withdrew his small banner, sending it streaking into the wall as a yellow glow, then resumed his incantations. At the same time, a thunderous roar echoed from within, and the blue glow of Han Li's crystalline walls flickered erratically, accompanied by clear bursts of cracking and exploding sounds. It seems Wang Tiangu and the others have already broken through the ancient treasure of Nanlong Marquis and are now launching a fierce assault on the crystal wall. Han Li glanced at the stone wall, which had begun to faintly glow white, then at the flickering blue crystal wall, hesitated slightly before waving his hand and launching a spirit-beast bag into the air. Instantly, a surge of three-colored gold-devouring insects poured forth. With a swift gesture of his hands, Han Li activated the "Insect Armor" technique, and the swirling insect cloud danced wildly around him before settling into three layers of insect armor encasing his body. Nanlong Marquis observed Han Li's spell-casting, noting a brief flicker of expression, but now, with survival being the immediate priority, he did not ask any further questions. A short while later, as the crystal wall flashed erratically, appearing increasingly unstable, a deep rumbling sound emerged from the opposite stone wall. The stone wall finally split open in the white glow, revealing a staircase. Upon seeing this, Nanlong Marquis emitted a flash of golden light, instantly transforming into a golden streak of light and shooting off from his original position at incredible speed. Han Li also vanished suddenly, as a flash of wind, thunder, and lightning swept past him from behind. At the next instant, he appeared before the Nanlong Marquis, his form materializing in the middle of the corridor—only for a crisp, sharp crack to echo from beneath the passage. Han Li's face tightened; his wind-thunder wings fluttered once more, and in an instant, he found himself at the entrance of the stone steps. Then, he fully activated the Lightning Transcendence Technique, swiftly vanishing into the distance. Just as Han Li had just slipped away several hundred paces, a piercing, high-pitched cry rang out from within the corridor, followed by a brilliant golden arch that flashed and vanished instantly. This golden arch had slightly spiraled outward from the entrance, and then the Nanlong Marquis's resentful, cold voice resonated clearly. "Remember this," he declared. "From now on, do not fall into my hands. Otherwise, I shall ensure that you are utterly annihilated—both in form and spirit!" "As soon as these words, spoken like a curse, were finished, the golden rainbow flared brilliantly, then began to fade and blur. When a silver streak of light shot forth from within the passageway, the golden rainbow suddenly transformed into an exceptionally fine, delicate thread of light. After a few flickers, it surged forward toward the distance at such speed that it vanished almost entirely within the span of a single breath—completely untraceable. At this moment, Han Li, hovering at the edge of the sky, also flickered in and out, appearing as a small black dot. 'What kind of teleportation technique are these two using? How fast is that!' Immediately after the silver light emerged, a black glow followed, then condensed into a human figure, who respectfully inquired, none other than Wang Tiangu. 'Nanlong Marquis employs a unique secret technique created by the late Cangkun Master—'Ten Thousand Feet, One Thread.' This technique requires a great expenditure of vital energy and even blood, enabling instantaneous long-distance travel. It allows the light trail to be refined into a fine, thread-like form, completely concealing the user's presence so that no one can detect or track them. Though the Marquis himself has As for the young man named Han's evasive technique—it seems to originate from those strange wings that manipulate lightning, likely the rumored ability of brief teleportation via lightning bursts! After the silver glow faded, the figure of the elder named Yun emerged, speaking with an extremely grave demeanor. At that moment, the elderly woman and the black-faced cultivator also emerged from the passage, just in time to hear Yun's words. "Their evasive techniques are so unusual—they must have ruined the young couple's prospects! What shall we do now?" The elderly woman's face subtly revealed concern, her complexion slightly pale as she asked. "The young man named Han is not such a pressing matter. But if the Nán Lǒng Marquis escapes, we shall be in serious trouble. Wang and Yun, you both promised that this journey would surely result in the elimination of the Nán Lǒng Marquis—this is precisely why we agreed to join forces!" The black-faced man's expression was no better than before. "Rest assured! Did you think that when he initially held his own against us all, it was merely due to his current level of cultivation?" Despite his severe injuries, he had still dared to activate a secret technique to forcibly enhance his spiritual energy. Now, he has further employed the 'Ten Thousand Li in a Single Thread' technique—another method that greatly drains his vital energy. Even if we do not pursue him, he will surely be severely injured upon returning. Even if it takes him over a hundred years to recover his energy, he will no longer be able to maintain his mid-stage Yuan婴 (Immortal Infant) state. Moreover, when did I ever say I would be unable to track him?" The elderly man with the cloud surname sneered, speaking with a cold, steady tone. "Ah! So, Brother Yun means..." The man with the dark face perked up, eager to ask. "Since I have decided to eliminate him right here, I have already taken measures in advance. As long as he cannot travel more than three hundred li without stopping, we will be able to locate him. Given his current condition, he will certainly not be able to sustain the 'Ten Thousand Li in a Single Thread' technique for long. Once that happens, we will simply follow up and destroy him." The cloud-surname elder spoke with confidence. "Then that settles it. I am finally at ease This time, if it weren't for Wang Dao-you first presenting a piece of 'Black Jade Lotus' and promising to share the secret of the Valley of the Fallen Demon with us upon our return, I would never have taken such a risk. To have fallen out with a Yuan-Enlightened cultivator at the mid-stage is truly not a wise move." Not only did the broad-shouldered man breathe a sigh of relief, but the elderly woman also relaxed her expression, sighing as she spoke. "For the Valley of the Fallen Demon, you two have truly invested a great deal of effort! However, what we hadn't expected was that Yun Dao-you, originally thought to be an independent cultivator, is actually a senior disciple of the Gui Ling Sect—this truly comes as a surprise to us! Does it mean there are many such senior disciples of the Demon Sect who remain unacknowledged in the public eye?" After saying this, the broad-shouldered man's face revealed a touch of complexity. "I myself came from the Gui Ling Sect early in my career, yet I have always been relatively inactive in affairs. As a result, few even within the Sect are aware of my true status, and I have never deliberately concealed it from anyone To be honest, this southern Daoist, as a descendant of Master Qiongkun and having been acquainted with me for many years, originally did not intend to eliminate him. However, later I discovered that he had secretly formed close ties with several senior monks of the Zhengdao Tianji Gate and even expressed intentions to join that order. After gently probing him on several occasions, he showed no willingness to change his stance and even actively sought to leverage the Tianji Gate's influence in order to retrieve treasures from the ZuiMo Valley. With such developments, I could no longer afford to miss the growing strength of the Zhengdao forces, and thus had no choice but to take this decisive action." The elderly man with the Yun surname shook his head and spoke calmly.