The young Grand Elder of Xiao Jiguang truly proved himself exceptional—unknown to him, he had cultivated some unique body-attuning technique. As the Magedrain Blade flashed, poised to penetrate his heavenly crown, his neck suddenly snapped sideways with astonishing force, stretching out by several inches like that of a mythical creature. A flash of black light followed, and the blade severed not only half of the neck of Han Li but also his lower torso, sending the head rolling down with a smooth motion. The golden armor that had been coalescing around him, as well as the blue ice dragon at a distance, instantly dissolved and vanished. Upon witnessing this, Han Li could not help but smile—yet that smile froze instantly upon his lips. For the head that had rolled down suddenly burst forth with a shimmer of golden light, enveloping the head, then spiraling upward toward the celestial Qilin phantom above. Seeing such an unusual occurrence, Han Li was naturally startled, yet quickly understood what had transpired—the opponent's Yuan婴 was concealed within the head.
His face darkened, a faint silvery glow appearing on it. With a quiet utterance, he breathed out the character "Pò." Though the sound was soft, the head that received it felt as though a sharp spear had pierced through its consciousness, delivering a searing, tearing pain. Instantly, the head gave out a piercing scream, with streaks of blood flashing from its ears and nose. Without the support of a body and with his vital energy severely damaged, the coldly serene Han Li master could not withstand the full-force strike from Han Li's lost-stance attack, and thus collapsed. The head swayed in the air, the blue flame surrounding it trembling. At that moment, the black short blade flashed once more and appeared upon the head of Han Li master. Amid the head's expressions of shock, the blade mysteriously vanished, only to reappear on the opposite side. A slender streak of blood emerged from the center of the face, gradually thickening. Almost simultaneously, thunder rolled. Han Li, floating mysteriously in a silver arc several zhang away from the head, immediately cupped his hands and then spread them out.
A thunderous roar erupted, and a vast electrical grid descended directly upon them. The head split in two right down the middle, and a sphere of blue light surged forth, enveloping the Yuan婴 of Han Li, who was then hurled out. From the small opening in the Yuan婴's mouth, a blue-bladed sword jetted out. The sword expanded rapidly in the wind, soon growing to a length of several zhang, and then struck straight at the golden net without hesitation. Even before the blade made contact, the astonishing spiritual pressure radiating from it caused the golden net to tremble and sway violently. Han Li's face tightened slightly, and with a thought, he intensified the golden arcs he was projecting from his hands. A tremendous crash followed as the blue and golden lights collided—the blue sword proved to be remarkably powerful, managing to tear through the golden net with several fierce strikes, creating a gap just a few chi in width. Though modest in size, this opening was more than sufficient for the Yuan婴 that followed closely behind. As the Yuan婴 pressed two fingers together and formed a seal, his figure vanished in a sudden rush, as if he had stepped through the air.
Beyond ten or twenty paces from the early golden net, a blue glow flashed, and the Yuan-Embryo reappeared once more. It had even employed teleportation, vanishing instantly.
The Yuan-Embryo displayed a look of relief, as if emerging from a near-disaster, and with a gentle wave of its pale, slender hands, gestured toward the massive sword behind it.
The blue sword suddenly shrank in size, attempting to slip through the gap and take flight.
Han Li's eyes flashed with sharp intensity; he snorted coldly, then pressed two hands together in a series of gestures. Immediately, thunderous crackling sounds erupted along the nearby golden net, which then contracted, and the newly formed gap vanished within moments. A dense cascade of golden arcs surged forth, layer upon layer, tightly enveloping the blue sword.
Though the sword had been refined and strengthened over many years by Han Li's master, Han Li, its power far exceeding that of ordinary artifacts, it now trembled under the impact of the cascading golden arcs, emitting bursts of cracking sounds. Its luminous glow flickered intermittently, and ultimately, it was completely submerged and concealed beneath the radiant golden light.
Han Li then waved his hand once, and the Virtual Sky Cauldron floated before him, appearing in the air. With a reverse flick of his hand, a strand of silvery thread shot out from the cauldron, rushing toward the Yuan婴 of Han Li, who was over ten zhang away. Seeing this, the cold and distant master Han Li, who had been desperately trying to recover his life essence artifact, was deeply startled. He hurriedly glanced back at his flying sword, unwilling to let go. With a firm breath, a flash of blue light rippled through his body, and he vanished once more.
Han Li, gazing into the eyes of Han Li, instantly felt a chill run through him, his heart sinking as his last shred of hope vanished.
A soft "shriek" sounded.
The Yuan'ing, no longer hesitating, leapt directly onto the cauldron and vanished into it. Moments later, the small cauldron emitted an odd cry, then rose into the air, flashing several times before appearing at the entrance corridor leading to the cave mouth. The cascade of silvery hair, however, could not keep up with the Yuan'ing's rapid teleportations, dissolving and dispersing along the way.
The young Grand Elder of Xiao Ji Gong felt a weight lift from his heart, just as he was about to instantaneously teleport again, when suddenly several strands of cold light shot forth from a nearby pyrite mine, rushing straight toward the cauldron.
Master Han Li, unimpressed by these pyrite cold energies, saw the azure flames on the small cauldron gently swell, attempting to push the cold light away.
But then—suddenly—miraculous events unfolded!
In an instant, the color of these pyrite cold energies transformed dramatically, shifting from pale, misty light into vivid crimson flames. Upon touching the dry azure ice flames of the cauldron, they instantly merged into the blue flame, completely disregarding its presence. Then, with a sudden flash, they vanished into the small cauldron before the elder could react.
The cauldron trembled violently, and Master Han Li roared in astonishment and fury. At once, strange azure and crimson flames erupted on its surface, intertwining and colliding with thunderous bursts.
The cauldron radiated brilliant luminescence, swelled dynamically, and within moments grew to several feet in size.
A sudden division occurred between the blue and crimson light flames atop the cauldron, each occupying half of the vessel. Within the blue flame, the Yuan婴 of Han Li emerged, startled and furious, gazing toward the other side. In the crimson flame, a fiery fist—clearly a great fire crow—materialized, emitting low murmurs from its mouth, as though composed of serene calm. At this critical juncture of life and death, Han Li could no longer afford to remain passive. With a sharp roar from his Yuan婴, the blue flame surged violently toward the opposite side. Meanwhile, the fire crow, undisturbed, merely flicked its single wing, and the surrounding crimson flames swept forth in unison. The two forces clashed with brilliant radiance and thunderous resonance, their battle fiercely intense. This fire crow was precisely the essence of the Taiyin True Fire. This true flame had already begun to develop sentience, and had been mysteriously summoned by Han Li from within the magical array, concealed quietly at the entrance of the cave. Protected by the cold, jade-like qi it had absorbed over the past few days, it launched an unexpected ambush and succeeded in its sudden assault.
Although the Taiyin True Fire itself was scarce and could not immediately control this cauldron, the Hanli Master's Yuan婴 was equally unable to subdue it, and thus could no longer smoothly drive the cauldron away. At this moment, after repeatedly summoning the Lightning Route with great expenditure of spiritual energy, Han Li reached the vicinity of the smaller cauldron. Seeing that he could not reclaim the Qianlan Cauldron in the moment, the Yuan婴 in the blue flame suddenly displayed a look of alarm. Suddenly, a surge of blue light erupted from the cauldron and shot upward, soaring toward the sky—the Yuan婴 had abandoned the contest and fled alone. Han Li observed this, his expression briefly shifting, yet immediately, without hesitation, raised his hand, and a slender green ruler appeared in his grasp. As he murmured a few low incantations, seven-colored Buddhist light flashed around his hand. The green ruler instantly radiated a bright glow, slightly trembling before vanishing from his hand, only to reappear suddenly above the Hanli Master's Yuan婴.
The Yuan婴 was greatly startled, clutching his small hands and chanting incantations, ready to instantly teleport away once more. However, as the green staff at the top of his head slightly trembled, a large silver lotus, about the size of a bowl, floated upward from its surface. As the lotus rotated, a soft, melodic Buddhist chant gradually poured forth, and simultaneously, a cascade of seven-colored light curtains burst forth from within the bloom.
Huan Li, the senior cultivator, felt the first touch of the Buddhist light and immediately sensed his true energy congealing—his Yuan婴 became stiff and unresponsive, its delicate face turning pale.
Silver electric arcs shimmered in the air above, and Han Li’s figure emerged from the void, gazing down coldly.
This very green staff was naturally the spiritual artifact—the Eight-Spirit Staff—that Han Li had received on that day.
Though both had only attained the first level of the Tongbao Sect’s cultivation technique, its power was truly astonishing. In terms of offensive capabilities and combat prowess, it seemed to surpass even the Xitian Ding.
Of course, now able to hold a late-stage Yuan婴 cultivator in such a firm grasp, it is largely due to the fact that the opponent's Yuan婴 body remains weakened—having previously employed a particularly powerful secret technique to harness the cold qi from Xuanyu Cave, which had already drained a significant portion of his internal energy and spiritual power. Otherwise, a Yuan婴 cultivator at this stage would have a remarkably stable and solid Yuan婴 form, making such a feat far less likely. Though he unexpectedly subdued the opponent's Yuan婴 with the Eight Spiritual Rulers, Han Li said little, simply lifting his hand and spreading his fingers. At the tips of his fingers, golden light flashed, and five golden arcs shot forth with a deep rumbling thunder, transforming into five slender golden serpents about the thickness of a thumb. These serpents immediately bit into the Yuan婴 glowing within the Buddhist light, then spiraled around before solidifying into several golden ropes, tightly binding the Yuan婴 in place. Han Li's movements never ceased. As he brushed his sleeve, several sealing scroll talismans flew out, and various colors of sealing light began to shimmer across the opponent's Yuan婴 body.
Then, with a single hand stroke on the storage pouch, he flipped his palm, and several silver needles materialized in his palm. A flash of silver light passed swiftly, and the needles instantly penetrated the vital points of the Yuan婴 body. The Yuan婴 form of Han Li suddenly convulsed, then the light in his eyes dimmed abruptly. Seeing this, Han Li finally felt at ease, clapped his hands once, and smiled faintly—half-amused, half-relieved. (First update! Hey, these past couple of days have been quite rough—power outages twice already, making me nervous every time I write, afraid the power might go out again! Heh, clearly the old circuit in the residential complex needs a complete overhaul.)