The woman from the Hua family was in good condition. Knowing that Han Li was a Yuan婴-level cultivator whom even the Palace Elders had to treat with great respect, though her attack seemed not to be her own, she was certain it was closely related to this "Senior Han." To eliminate a six- or seven-tiered beast, it would naturally not require much effort. "Thank you, Senior Han! These beasts have already breached our main hall of Xuling Palace. We would greatly appreciate your assistance." The female cultivator of the highest rank bowed deeply to Han Li, speaking with great courtesy. "Breached the main hall? Your Xuling Palace has such extensive defenses—how could such an event occur?" Han Li merely swept his sleeve, and a strong gust of wind instantly blew the corpses of the beasts out of the spell array, as he asked calmly. "This is precisely what we have also noticed. We were patrolling within the palace when suddenly a large number of beasts appeared inside the main hall, as if they had not even triggered the outer defenses and had directly entered the main hall." The woman hesitated, expressing her own bewilderment. "Then it seems these beastly creatures have employed some special means," Han Li murmured, noncommittal. The world is brimming with countless strange arts and treasures; thus, no matter how astonishing the events unfold, he finds them nothing surprising. Just as Han Li was about to speak again, the teleportation array suddenly flashed once more. This time, though the three young attendants from Xiao Ji Palace were still momentarily startled, the presence of Han Li—the "master"—helped them remain calmer than before. They stepped back slightly, yet kept their eyes fixed steadily on the array without blinking. When the white light faded, a plain woman in her thirties appeared. As soon as she materialized, she immediately raised a circular ring to shield herself, her expression alert. But upon seeing Han Li and the three women, she paused, taken aback. However, when her gaze shifted to the bodies of the beasts lying beside the array and she studied Han Li more closely, a look of genuine surprise spread across her face. "May I have the honor of addressing you, Yao Shishu?" Three female cultivators immediately approached the woman with great joy and bowed respectfully upon seeing her. The woman waved them aside, stepped out of the spell array, and came directly to Han Li, bowing gracefully: "Late disciple honors you, Master Han." "Have I met you before?" Han Li studied the woman closely, finding her face unfamiliar and feeling a slight sense of curiosity. "I am Yao Man, once a patrol officer in the palace. I had a distant glimpse of you during one of my patrols," the woman said respectfully. "Ah, that explains it!" Han Li nodded without further comment. "Master, may I ask if you are currently with any of the palace elders? A great beast has suddenly invaded the main hall of Xuling Palace, and I have been dispatched to seek assistance from Elder Han Li," the woman said, speaking with sincere courtesy and glancing several times toward the entrance of the hall. "Ah-ha, Elder Han Li is likely too busy to spare time right now!" Han Li smiled, maintaining his composed demeanor. "I've heard a few things about this as well—it seems the senior masters and several high-ranking elders in the palace are engaged in an extremely important undertaking. Yet this invading beast is truly extraordinary. If the Grand Elder and the others don't appear soon, our Xiaoji Palace might indeed face total destruction." Hearing this, the woman grew increasingly anxious. "Oh, is the invading beast that formidable? Your palace master is also a late-stage great cultivator, isn't she? Yet even she seems unable to handle it?" Han Li asked, his gaze flashing. "I came here at the palace master's request to seek assistance. When I arrived, she was already ensnared by a powerful beast and had no capacity to attend to anything else." The woman sighed with a wry smile. "The friends from Hanli have entered the Xuanyu Cavern. If you believe you can summon them, go ahead and proceed on your own. I'll go first to investigate what kind of beast has arrived—something that even your palace cannot withstand." Han Li spoke calmly, his form drifting as he stepped into the teleportation array. "Please be careful, Master. There are many invading beasts on that side, and the teleportation array itself may not be very stable." The woman was momentarily startled but could not obstruct him, only gently reminding him. Han Li nodded, raised his hand, and a blue spell struck the array, causing a flash of white light—teleportation began. At that very moment, however, a flash of silver light appeared behind Han Li, and suddenly a figure in jade-green robes stepped into view. Then, both of them vanished in a flash, teleporting together. "Who is that person?" the woman exclaimed, surprised. "I don't know either," replied the female disciple who had just reached the Dan stage, hesitating slightly and uncertain. "That beast just now—seems to have been slain by that person." "It's said that several senior masters from outside the palace have come this time. Perhaps that's one of them." The three of you stay here. If any enemy arrives via teleportation, hold them off temporarily. I'll head to Xuanyu Cave to see if I can summon the senior monks and others. Although the woman still felt a bit surprised that Han Li had appeared alone, she quickly recalled her own responsibility and instructed the other three female disciples. "Understood!" The three female disciples bowed respectfully and immediately set off. The woman then transformed into a streak of white light and swiftly vanished toward Xuanyu Cave. On the other hand, just as Han Li and his humanoid automaton stepped out of the teleportation array, still adjusting to the aftereffects of the transit, the automaton suddenly flickered and vanished from its original position. Two sharp cries followed, and then came a loud "thud" as something landed on the ground. Han Li turned to look, and there he saw a corpse of a beast lying in a pool of blood, with a man and a woman standing beside it—two junior disciples of Xiaoji Palace at the Jiedan stage—staring in wide-eyed astonishment at the humanoid automaton, who was carefully withdrawing a gleaming silver arm from the chest of another beast, which then fell to the ground. The sacred artifact caused the aura of the demons to swirl wildly throughout the hall, with explosive and roaring sounds deafening enough to create a temporary stalemate. Han Li merely glanced at it and paid no further attention. Most of the demons and cultivators present were at the Foundation or Condensation stage, so he naturally had no need to concern himself with them. With a flash of azure light around him, he transformed into a streak of azure light, enveloping both himself and the humanoid automaton, and sped directly toward the entrance of the side pavilion. After all, there appeared to be a teleportation array situated within the main hall of the Xu Ling Pavilion that could transmit signals outside. At Han Li's swift pace, he covered dozens of zhang in just one breath and exhalation, nearing the hall's entrance. Yet, just then, a strange cry erupted from beside Chunchu—a previously unknown creature, entirely black and covered in scales, spewing black mist and charging straight at him with a fierce, demonic demeanor. Upon witnessing this, Han Li sighed. Though this demon was not low in cultivation level, its intelligence clearly fell short. The other spirit beasts, seeing the intensity of Han Li's evasive light, could only scramble to escape—how could this one be so foolish as to willingly walk straight into the fray? Nevertheless, Han Li showed no particular interest in a beast that hadn't even reached the form-shaping stage. With a single hand motion, he launched a burst of five brilliant cyan beams, which vanished instantly. The spirit beast let out a piercing cry as its protective aura failed completely, and was instantly pierced through at five distinct points, its body collapsing to the ground. Though most of the other beasts had sensed Han Li's formidable presence, the ease with which he eliminated a fellow spirit beast left them stunned. They now trembled with fear, quickly drawing back from their opponents to observe the unfolding events. The young disciples of Xiaoji Palace, on the other hand, were filled with renewed spirits. Yet, as Han Li's cyan light flashed once, he had already vanished from the side hall, leaving no trace of hesitation or pause. This caused the cultivators and beast-creatures within the hall to stare at each other in surprise, yet after a brief hesitation, they soon raised their voices again, the intensity of the combat growing even fiercer than before. Following the spatial coordinates retrieved from the soul-searching of the Cold Li Master's Yuan婴, Han Li flew steadily onward from the side pavilion. Along the way, he passed through several locations where cultivators and beast-creatures fought fiercely, their battles seemingly unresolvable—indicating that the Xuling Hall had now been fully overrun by the host of beasts. Naturally, a few bold beast-creatures intercepted him unexpectedly, either pierced through by his sword strikes or eliminated by an arrow from the puppet behind him. Most of the fallen were beast-creatures of around sixth or seventh rank. After all, lower-ranked beasts were intimidated simply by Han Li's ambient spiritual pressure, and those in their initial form of transformation immediately recognized that Han Li's cultivation level surpassed theirs, thus unwilling to engage in battles they deemed unwinnable. Yet as Han Li approached a long corridor, he was suddenly blocked by two beast-creatures of the fully-formed stage, intercepting him simultaneously. A figure clad in blue robes, with long ears and green eyes, and another with a full head of white hair and rosy skin, bearing three sets of strange, feline eyes. Both of them radiated fierce determination, glaring fiercely at Han Li. Han Li glanced at the two corpses of minor Xijiao Palace cultivators nearby, his brows furrowing slightly. The turbulent flow of spiritual energy here clearly indicated a recent, intense battle—clearly won by these two beings. "Step aside," Han Li said coldly, "I am not a Xijiao Palace cultivator, and I have no intention of joining your struggle!" Another three-eyed beast also displayed a less-than-friendly expression. These two beasts—one at the eighth level, the other having just broken through to the ninth, a high-tier beast—had indeed secured their confidence in Han Li. After all, the humanoid automaton had remained concealed throughout, and even a typical mid-Centering Immortal cultivator would likely have held their own against an ordinary eighth-level beast. (First update!) I'd like to recommend a book: Hua Shen (Book No. 1479551). A grand epic masterfully orchestrated by a behind-the-scenes figure. Since a certain dull morning in a particular month and year, when an utterly unprecedented, grotesquely unattractive old man, a rarity in history, managed to win over the pure and innocent heart of Wang Xiaomao with just a single candy stick, Su Qiqi—the modern-day martial arts prodigy—had left behind the bright, bustling home he once knew. From that point on, he was plunged into a life of relentless trials and tribulations. Wang Xiaomao has two eccentric friends.