All the pale, bone-white skulls roared, and as soon as they surged forward several zhang, countless golden threads swiftly flashed by. Yet this time, something was different. After the golden threads passed over them, though fine cracks appeared on the surfaces of the skulls, they instantly healed upon a flash of green light, as if they had never been damaged at all. The spirits pressed on without any hindrance, charging straight toward Han Li. Upon seeing this, Han Li was momentarily stunned, but then quickly realized: these ghosts had long since ceased to be flesh-and-blood beings; they had been transformed into some strange, ethereal spirits of the阴 realm. His sword threads, though powerful, could not penetrate them—since they now moved as intangible forces, untouched by blade or spear. Yet Han Li remained calm. With a renewed surge of his inner technique, a thunderous crack echoed ahead of the advancing spirits, and suddenly, a shimmering golden net, glowing with electric light, rose into the air and spread across to cover them directly. Since the opponents were spectral beings, Han Li naturally unleashed the Divine-Exorcising Thunder from his flying sword without hesitation. Yet to Han Li's surprise, upon the appearance of the golden net, the spectral heads momentarily halted, displaying a certain sense of apprehension. However, at the fierce roar of the leading angular spectral head, they all opened their mouths, and waves of emerald-green spectral flames surged upward like celestial arches, charging directly toward the golden net. The thunderous rumble intensified, and the golden net flashed with electric arcs, extinguishing many of the flames. Yet the flames, though momentarily slowed, were steadily sustained, forming a continuous resistance that prevented them from falling. Han Li furrowed his brows, clearly surprised. Ordinary spectral flames would have been instantly vaporized upon contact with the Divine-Exorcising Thunder. Yet these skeletal heads' flames, though still under suppression, managed to withstand the electric arcs with remarkable resilience—indeed, Han Li found this quite astonishing. The Ghost Robe Banner, reputedly the treasure of Yin Luo Sect, truly lived up to its name. On the other side, the young man in black robes smiled, relieved, seeing the demon within the banner successfully withstood the Divine-Exorcising Lightning. Though he appeared confident, his heart was equally anxious. If the banner had remained undamaged, and the demon's vital energy had been fully preserved, he would have felt much more assured. However, since the last great battle, the banner had not had the opportunity to absorb large quantities of negative spirits for repair. Now, facing such a miraculous force as the Divine-Exorcising Lightning, he naturally felt uneasy. With this concern now lifted, the young man displayed a fierce, grim smile. He continuously cast his hand seals upon the banner, and the original hole—only a few feet in diameter—expanded rapidly under the green light to a width of one zhang. More skeletons surged forth from the banner, emitting sharp, piercing cries, and the surrounding ghostly atmosphere intensified, rising into a chorus of wailing and lamentation. With numerous skeletons already pressing against the golden net, the other ghost heads emerging from the banner surged straight through the sword formation, charging fiercely at Han Li. For a moment, the cries of ghosts echoed continuously before Han Li. Seeing this, Han Li remained calm, silent, and merely raised his hand, gently tapping it on a spirit-beast pouch at his waist. A beam of black light shot forth from the pouch, spiraling before settling on the ground. As the light faded, a small black monkey emerged—none other than the Ti Hun Beast. The beast appeared as though just waking up, blinking slowly at first with somewhat unfocused eyes, then sniffing the air with its broad nose. Suddenly, its eyes widened in excitement. It immediately spotted the gathering ghost heads nearby and began to chirp excitedly. The initially bold skeletons, now clustered within ten zhang of Han Li, suddenly froze upon seeing the Ti Hun Beast, halting mid-step and refusing to advance further. At the same time, their ghostly cries diminished noticeably, revealing a clear sense of hesitation and fear. The young man in black robes felt his heart skip a beat; the golden threads of the sword formation suddenly seemed to draw closer to him. In his moment of urgency, he couldn't think clearly. He raised his hand, fingers splayed open, and expelled a gray glow from his mouth, gently winding it around his palm. Instantly, five blood-soaked fingers snapped off at the roots, bursting with a series of soft "pffft" sounds, transforming into five plumes of blood mist that shot out and swiftly reached the leading bent-skeletal figure. The spectral chief's inner flame flickered several times, then immediately opened his mouth wide, drawing in the entire blood mist. His ghostly flames surged upward by a foot, and a deep, thunderous roar of rage erupted from his mouth. Under the pressure of this display, the other skeletal figures also opened their ghostly mouths, exhaling waves of emerald ghost flames, which were then directed toward the Tihun Beast. Seeing this, the Tihun Beast struck a powerful blow against its chest. Its body shimmered with black light, instantly swelling to several zhang in height. It then exhaled a deep rumble, and a cascade of golden mist spiraled out from its nostrils The waves of ghost flames sweeping in immediately contacted Huang Xia, being drawn into her form. The radiance surged forward unimpeded, directly plunging into the group of spectral heads behind. Where the light passed, every skeletal head was effortlessly absorbed. The other ghost heads, witnessing this, scattered in panic. Even the wrathful bovine-headed spirits could not stem the tide. At that moment, the light reached the sky above the bovine-headed ghost, descending directly upon it. The bovine-headed ghost's eyes flashed green, and suddenly, thick green mist surged from its body, coalescing into form. A towering, two-zhang-high evil spirit with curved horns and flowing hair materialized instantly. As soon as it appeared, it raised both hands, and a deep, thunderous roar erupted—countless dark, crackling bolts of lightning shot forth from its palms, aimed directly at Huang Xia. Silent and undisturbed! The lightning entered the radiance without a sound, vanishing completely without a trace. The evil spirit, now pale with fear, turned to flee—but it was too late. Immediately after the glow of Huang Xia descended, it was instantly drawn into the form, leaving the original spot completely empty. The luminous radiance shot back into the啼魂兽's mouth and then expelled from its nostrils, repeatedly, sweeping away all the skeletal heads in the air within moments. The black-robed young man within the sword formation was both astonished and furious. Though he was aware that Han Li possessed a strange, giant ape capable of consuming the essence of corpse spirits, and that most of the bronze-armored corpses from Yin Luo Sect had been swallowed whole by this ape, he had not considered it significant at the time. Yet he had never imagined that this spiritual creature could directly consume the earth-origin, yin-magical head of Yin Luo Banner, even the main demonic head, which was effortlessly absorbed by the giant ape without any resistance. How could he not be both stunned and deeply alarmed? If he had known that the spiritual creature possessed such a power of devouring demons and ghosts, he would never have volunteered to come alone. And the other senior elders of the sect, upon learning of such a capability, would surely be restless and uneasy. This threat surpasses even the danger posed by the Golden Thunder Bamboo to Yin Luo Sect. The young man in black robes swiftly went through a thousand thoughts, his regret swelling within him. Now, with the golden threads only a few feet away, the threat of total annihilation loomed directly before him, and he could no longer remain composed. He urgently clapped his hands against his storage satchel. Several to eight precious items shot out from the bag, varying in size, transforming into colorful luminous orbs and flying outward in all directions. As the sword array's seal activated, countless golden threads flashed and shimmered. All the treasures were shattered into fragments, turning into scattered copper and iron debris, falling to the ground. The young man's face instantly turned pale and lifeless. In his moment of chaos, he no longer cared about his most sacred treasures. With a sudden motion, he reached out and summoned the Ghost Luo Banner lying before him, which instantly condensed into a streak of black light and came into his hands. Then, gritting his teeth, he held the banner in both hands and spun in place, his body and banner merging into a single, dense, greenish mist. This mist suddenly broke through the air and shot upward toward the sky. Now, he relied solely on the power of this sacred banner, Otherwise, with the power of this sword formation still active, staying in place would mean certain death. Han Li observed the situation and realized that his opponent was likely running out of options, desperate and cornered. With a mere thought, he opened his mouth, and a golden sphere of electricity erupted from it. As soon as the sphere emerged, it shot upward and exploded in the sky. A vast golden net unfolded from above, enveloping an area of several dozen zhang in diameter. At that moment, the shadowy mist formed by the young man in the black robe was precisely caught by numerous golden threads strung along the edges of the sword formation. Hundreds of golden threads interwove and flashed continuously outside the mist, each flicker slicing off a portion of the mist; within moments, half of its protective aura had been eroded. The mist struggled to escape, darting here and there, but the golden threads were too numerous and dense—there was no way to break through. It collided with the threads and was instantly intercepted by several at once, then bounced back. The young man in the black robe had now become a trapped beast, fighting for survival. "Do you truly intend to wipe out every last one of us?" "I don't need the method to unseal the soul-sealing spell." As the gloom thinned to a mere veil, a young man's sharp, angry cries echoed through the mist. "Rest assured," Han Li said calmly. "I will know everything you wish to reveal from within your spirit." "By using the soul-siphoning technique? You'll never succeed—ah—" The young man, overwhelmed with fear, managed only a few more words before his protective veil of shadow was finally severed by the golden silk infused with blood. With a piercing cry, his body was instantly shredded into countless fragments by the golden threads, leaving only a green glow encasing his spirit embryo, which burst forth at the opportune moment. But outside, a golden net formed from divine, protective lightning had already been laid. Han Li merely uttered the character "receive" and pointed at the net, and instantly, the vast net contracted. The spirit embryo struggled desperately within the net, each time it touched the golden lattice, sparking with electric arcs and emitting cries of pain—trapped with no way out. "If you wish to employ the soul-siphoning technique, then I shall protect my spirit embryo and ensure you do not succeed." "Suddenly, the Yuan婴 emitted a sharp, piercing cry, full of bitter resentment, shouting, 'Self-explosion of my Yuan婴!' Han Li furrowed his brow, and the golden net instantly halted, stopping its shrinking motion. Seeing this, the Yuan婴 was overjoyed and immediately cried out again, 'As long as you allow me to depart, I will reveal the method to you, so that you may rescue your partner in the dual cultivation bond. Otherwise, it's certain death for me—there is no way out, and I will absolutely not tell you the method, no matter what.' Han Li remained silent, his gaze flickering, as if weighing the pros and cons. At that moment, a flash of light appeared above the Yuan婴, and a purple net suddenly unfurled, instantly encasing the Yuan婴 within it and swiftly contracting to tightly bind it. Meanwhile, a series of flashes of white light appeared behind the Yuan婴, and the figure of Yin Yue materialized silently there. With a gentle smile, she exhaled a soft, rosy mist from her lips, while simultaneously snapping her fingers ten times, sending out a dozen bright silver beams.