Gui Ling held a massive silver axe, upon which the shadow of a tiger monster emerged, exhaling yellow, misty vapors. On the other side, Lin Yinping gathered with the spirit phoenix accompanied by the Xu-family youth, protected beneath the veiling hues of five-colored spiritual light, and managed to hold their own. Han Li merely glanced over at these figures, then furrowed his brows, turning his attention to the eight-spirit staff and the black wind banner floating in the sky. One of the two spiritual treasures had temporarily been corrupted by magic, while the other was an unclaimed artifact, neither able to fully unleash their true power. Yet precisely because of this, between the silver lotus of a few feet in diameter and the dark, serpent-like black dragon, the black wind surged constantly, and silver characters fluttered in the air, the two battling with equal strength. Nevertheless, positioned so prominently in the sky, these two treasures remained out of reach—even if Han Li had been eager to claim them, he could only watch and reach for them from afar. Not only the ancient demonic sage’s manifested giant wolf, but even the others would certainly not allow him to take them. Since the ancient demon sage had broken free, he found that his divine powers were beyond what he could withstand. Immediately, Han Li decided to retreat, to escape from this turmoil. Yet these places were all enclosed spaces, and at first, he found himself completely stranded, with no path to follow. Thus, Han Li could only press on, making every effort to avoid being drawn into the actual battle. Though he noticed that the divine purifying lightning proved highly effective against the unusual, ink-black magical aura of the demons, it only protected his entire body—never willing to expend his strength and simply charge forward, seeking to make a show. If the ancient demon sage noticed him and specifically targeted him, Han Li would surely be in serious trouble. Moreover, the fact that the ancient demon sage had even managed to partially concentrate and finally break free should have been a major setback for the Great Jin cultivation realm. He simply had no intention of bearing additional risks for the cultivators of Great Jin. As he pondered these thoughts in his mind, his spiritual awareness gradually extended, quietly reaching out toward the altar. To his surprise, as soon as his divine awareness touched the surface of the altar, it was instantly rebounded by an inexplicable seal, unable to penetrate even a single inch into the altar's interior. Han Li sighed quietly beneath his breath, and unconsciously directed his awareness downward toward the altar's base. There, he was momentarily startled. Deep beneath the altar, some hundred zhang down, he sensed a golden sphere about a foot in size—precisely the one he had previously secretly released when he sent out the group of golden-devouring insects. These spiritual insects had also reached the ninth layer. When he first released them, he had intended to use them to locate the barrier of the eighth layer and identify any weak points that could be exploited. However, due to the emergence of the black teleportation array, he had lost contact with them. Now it seemed that, at the very moment the spatial rift formed, they too had been teleported to the ninth layer. Perhaps because these gold-devouring insects had originally resided deep within the eighth layer of the earth, they appeared suddenly beneath the ninth layer's altar without drawing anyone's immediate notice. Han Li glanced around at the towering stone pillars flickering with light at the perimeter of the grand altar. After a moment of careful thought and slight hesitation, he quietly issued a command to the insects. Instantly, the golden sphere flashed brightly and then dissolved completely, reforming into thousands of scattered gold-devouring insects. As for the ancient corpse bear and the others on the surface—such as "Hua Tianqi"—they clearly did not wish to remain in this stale standoff. From time to time, several of them launched fierce blows at the massive stone pillars, aiming to shatter the spell array. Yet aside from the blood-blade of the corpse bear, which occasionally left shallow traces of cuts on the pillars, all other attacks struck the stones with no visible effect whatsoever. Even the seemingly imposing, milky-white, massive palm strike of Huatianqi could only cause these stone pillars to tremble slightly. The material from which these pillars are crafted remains a mystery—how remarkably hard they appear to be. Of course, if Huatianqi, or any of the others possessing the bodies of Shibi or Longmeng, had time to methodically target and attack a single pillar, they would eventually be able to break it. However, the crucial issue is that every time one of them showed any intention of retreating, the great wolf-headed creature immediately unleashed a full-force blast of dark energy, causing the magical aura to surge violently and sweeping it toward those farther from the altar. Startled, they were forced to turn around and re-engage the surging magical force, unable to truly withdraw. Han Li calmly deflected the attacks of the magic energy, constantly glancing around, as if searching for a way to escape. At this moment, under the protection of Xuanqingzi, five emerald-green circular rings had already been raised into the air by the Qiuaoshen True Person. The scholars continuously recited incantations, their fingers lightly flicking as one after another spells struck the circular rings. The five rings emitted strange, irregular sounds, growing louder and softer in rhythm, while their luminous glimmers trembled subtly. The two colossal wolves, exhaling thick plumes of black mist, ensnared the newly arrived figures in the air, then reoriented their gaze back to "Hua Tianqi" and the ancient corpse bear near the altar. In the mage's mind, these two were truly the primary adversaries. "Hua Tianqi" was no surprise—Lóng Mèng, the fairy queen, had long contested with him for possession of the silver wolf's form, and both were well aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses, thus deeply wary. As for the corpse bear, which had suddenly appeared and launched a covert assault, though it wielded only late Yuan-En stage cultivation power, its blood-blade was exceptionally formidable—indeed, not only unafraid of the mage's magical aura, but even subtly effective in countering it. Were it not for the significant gap in cultivation level between the corpse bear and the mage who possessed the silver wolf's form, the bear might well have broken through the This caused the Yuansha Saint Ancestor to divert his attention, how could he fail to take notice? In truth, if it hadn't been at the eighth palace where it suddenly risked employing a great divine power—unanticipatedly seizing control of that human woman and unexpectedly obtaining the Dragon Seal, which governed the ninth-level altar array from her hands—it would never have appeared here at the ninth level. It had originally planned to escape the镇魔 tower before its magical energy was depleted. Now, having unlocked the seal of this altar—though only partially, merely opening a slight crevice—whenever its four limbs remain in contact with the altar, a continuous, pure flow of magical energy replenishes its body. Not only does it now stand equal to so many cultivators, even gaining the upper hand, but its previously depleted magical essence is slowly recovering. Thus, this demon has become even more cautious, unwilling to take further risks, instead calmly consolidating its position and patiently awaiting the full opening of the seal. Nevertheless, when the green light in the sky began to exert its power, this wolf suddenly sensed a terrifying spiritual force familiar from its past. Startled, it lifted its head. The Great Mage-Wolf, upon clearly seeing the five jade rings floating in the air, had a look of alarm flash across its eyes. Its black wolf head erupted in a thunderous roar, and as it opened its mouth, dark luminescence surged forth, as if ready to spew forth something more. Yet at that very moment, the Seventh Master, already finished casting his spell, gently touched one of the jade rings with a single hand, then solemnly uttered the character "Jin" — a sound not loud, yet instantly, the ring burst forth with a piercing glow and vanished from sight. Immediately, a hum resonated from the wolf's head, a streak of jade energy materialized from the void, and then, strangely, wound itself around the black wolf's neck, instantly transforming into a massive ring. Symbols shimmered on the surface of the ring, rapidly contracting. The magical aura the wolf head had been about to expel suddenly could no longer escape, and it immediately emitted a sound of deep distress. Panicked, a wolf's paw reached back and grasped the ring, its cold glimmer flashing as if to shatter it completely. Yet the jade light surged brightly, and upon a deep gasp, the wolf's paw was rebounded. The ring tightened further, and even the mournful howls from the giant wolf's mouth faltered—only low, wailing sounds escaped, its eyes filled with unbearable pain. Seeing this, the humans and immortals near the altar were overjoyed and immediately summoned their own powers, intensifying their assaults against the surging magical energies. Indeed, without the giant wolf's coordination, the magical forces lost much of their strength and were gradually dispersed and defeated.尸熊 and 花天奇 hurried toward the center. As the silver-winged yaksha and the lion-beast also moved to approach, they suddenly received several messages from 尸熊. After exchanging glances, they turned and shot toward the surrounding stone pillars. Even before reaching them, both simultaneously released gray, misty strands of soul-destroying energy and golden sound waves, targeting a single common pillar and converging their attacks upon it. Xuan Qingzi and Qi Miao True Man were overjoyed to see this. The elder immediately poured his full spiritual power into the sword, then gave a fierce slash toward the magic mist before him. A massive beam of swordlight shot forth, and where it struck, a clear, well-defined path appeared ahead. At the same time, under the continuous tapping of the scholar, the other four green rings also flashed and vanished, now floating upon the giant wolf's limbs. As the four rings emitted luminous glimmers and tightened simultaneously, the giant wolf could no longer stand on the altar and collapsed with a thunderous crash. Seeing this, Han Li blinked, and suddenly recalled an ancient artifact he had once obtained in the Xitian Hall—the "Wu Xing Rings." Aside from differing in strength, this remarkable true man's magic rings, which effortlessly bound the giant wolf in a single strike, appeared remarkably similar to the Wu Xing Rings. Could it be that the original Wu Xing Rings had been mere copies of these magic rings? At that moment, Xuan Qingzi suddenly roared in surprise and anger: "You dare?" Then, the old monk waved his sword, which instantly transformed into a streak of golden light, shooting straight toward the magical aura above. Meanwhile, the middle-aged scholar beside him, ignoring the giant wolf on the altar, also turned into a haze, fading into mist, and vanished completely from his spot. At this moment, Han Li realized that the "Flower Sky Wonder" and the white-furred corpse bear had suddenly transformed into two large hands—one white, one green—reaching out to grasp the black wind banner transformed into a serpentine dragon and the silver giant lotus floating in the air. The wood lady, however, was tightly ensnared by her sister and could not move an inch. Seeing this scene, Han Li pressed his lips together, his brows furrowing slightly, yet remained motionless. On the other hand, two streaks of swift light shot out—indeed, the spiritual phoenix peacocks embodied by Lin Yinping and the Xu-family young man broke through the air, heading directly for the two spiritual treasures floating above. Yet Guiling, the spirit beast, glanced at Han Li with a slight hesitation, and ultimately chose not to join the contest. The sky shimmered with flickering light, various thunderous sounds intertwining and pulsing ceaselessly. Those beings and spirits who had just united to combat the ancient demon now engaged in fierce struggles over just two spiritual artifacts. Han Li, however, kept his gaze fixed on the altar, observing the massive wolf seemingly trapped and immobilized by the magic ring. Suddenly, his expression darkened. With a flick of his sleeve, dozens of golden small swords shot forth from his sleeve, emitting resonant hums. (First update! The last few chapters are particularly significant, yet challenging to write—many considerations must be made, and each chapter now takes considerably longer to compose than before. As a result, updates have been less timely. I sincerely apologize for the delay. I will now carefully refine the plot and work to make the story even more engaging.)